The Dino Babers Show - before Boston College | Syracusefan.com

The Dino Babers Show - before Boston College

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Coach Babers’s show this year show will be Thursday nights at 7PM except when the game is not on a Saturday. This year it will be 90 minutes, with the first hour being with Dino and the last half hour being with a ‘special guest’, who in the past just got a couple minutes at the end of the show.

The show originates from Heritage Hill Brewery in Jamesville:
3149 Sweet Rd · 3149 Sweet Rd, Jamesville, NY 13078

You can also listen to the show live each week on the Syracuse IMG Sports Network and Cuse.com. Wednesday's show will be on 99.1 FM and 97.7 FM, as well. The show will regularly air on 99.5FM (Syracuse) 99.1 FM (Utica) and 1200 AM.”
You can also get it on: Listen to Free Radio Online | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn

There hasn’t been any change in the phone numbers, which last year were 315-424-8599 (local) or 1-888-746-2873. You can call to ask questions or submit them via Twitter at: https://twitter.com/CuseIMG
#AskDino or through Cuse.com, (the SU Athletic website):
Submit a Question! - Syracuse University Athletics

You can (or could last year, anyway), listen to a podcast of the show, probably the next day, at: Search results for babers | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn


My Question(s) or Comments

First segment question:

“Coach, Andre Szmyt came into this year having hit 86% of his field goal attempts, (56 of 65) and 98% of his extra points, (123 of 125). From 40+ yards out, he was 17 for 24, 71%. This year he’s 7 for 12 on field goals (58%), 29 for 31 on extra points, (93.5%) and 1 for 5 from 40+. What’s happened? Is he hurt? How much of this is his fault and how much of it is the people around him?”

Second segment question:

“Coach, we’re known as “Punter U.” (I’d rather go back to being known for our running backs.) This year, for the first time in a long time, our punting has been sub-par. James Williams, per his bio “Rated five stars and the No. 4 punter and No. 13 placekicker in the 2020 class by Kohl’s Kicking.” Yet it says that in his senior year, “he averaged 35.8 yards on 25 punts”. I would think punting would be the one thing that was the same on all levels of competition. Should we be surprised that he’s the 92nd ranked punter in the country with an average of 36.7 yards? Why was he rated 5 stars?”
NCAA College Football FBS current individual Stats | NCAA.com



The Show
(I sometimes re-arrange the comments so that statements made on the same subject are reported together, even if they came at different points of the show.)

Matt asked for a description of the “arc of the game” over the final five minutes at Virginia Tech. Dino: “We had to score quickly, (down 9), so we had to go to the air attack, even though we’re a running team. The quarterback and the offensive line were extremely efficient. We scored and decided to kick away. The defense did their part. They threw on first down and got a first down. But that was only one play. They then ran the ball 3 times. We had all our times outs and used them. We got the ball back with a minute and something left. Bambi went down the sideline with the safety and the cornerback let it go. Then came the spookiest decision, although I don’t like that word, (the only thing he likes about Halloween is the candy): to kick away. What if that guy returns it all the way? They tried a return they hadn’t used all year, bouncing to the field but Luke Benson was there to tackle him. But it still came down to the ball hitting the ground in the end zone. The fans got a big thrill but I lost 5-6 years of my life.

Matt suggested that the BC game will be no different, although they, like Syracuse had, have a 3 game losing streak and quarterback issues. Dino said that close games like this will be “the new norm with the transfer portal. There are not enough people to survive injuries, unless you are one of the few teams with usual depth. (Of course there’s the same amount of players and teams but I think he means that guys like Howard, Harris and DeVito leave and they aren’t going to play the rest of the season, so the available talent is less.)

John in Baltimore praise Garrett Shrader for being ‘dynamic’ but wondered if we should be getting our # quarterback, Justin Lamson, “a feeling for the game”, (last year we got down to Jacobian Morgan when he was #3. He also wanted to know why we were so much more efficient at the end of the game than at the end of the half. Typically, Coach answered the last question first and then had to remember what the first two questions were. He said that the last 5 minutes they placed most of the decisioning making with the quarterback, who “ran things fast and efficiently, NFL style. In the first half, we wanted more control from the sidelines.” He talked about being ‘live’ with the quarterbacks, by which he means allowing them to be hit in practice. During the season he doesn’t permit that because he wants them healthy for the game. During the spring the #3 and #4 guys can get hit because he wants to see if they can take the hits and still make the plays, as Shrader did. But if he’d done that with Shrader in the spring, when he was the backup, he might not be our quarterback now.

At this point is missed a small part of the show: I’d been trying to call in and kept getting messages, (after 10 rings) that my call couldn’t be completed as dialed, (I used the same speed dial button I always use). I final got through and then, after identifying myself and telling the producer what I wanted to ask about, asked him to have Matt describe the upcoming schedule for this show and the Jim Boeheim Show, which he later did. There’s no Dino Babers Show next week due to the off week but there is a Jim Boeheim Show, this season’s premiere, in the same time slot. Anything beyond that will be announced as they go along.

When I got back to listening to the show, they were praising Chris Elmore. Matt noted that only two teams have two running backs with 10TDs- Michigan and Syracuse. (They are 7-0 and we could have been 8-0.) Matt asked about how we emulate opposing quarterbacks in practice. Dino doesn’t try to do it with his #1 or #2 guys. That’s where 3, 4 and 5 come in. For Lamar Jackson, they used two guys, one for his arm and one for his feet. “God make just one Lamar Jackson so we had to use two guys.”

This is homecoming and there will be several former players coming back. Dino expects they will talk to the players now wearing their former numbers and urge them to “wear them with pride”. (Of course, if they wore #44, they won’t be able to do that.)

I got on and told the coach that I had received Homer Smith’s book and was reading it. Dino laughed and said “I knew you would”. I said that it had arrived at halftime but that I couldn’t find an explanation for what I’d just seen and they both laughed. I told him that Homer would have been proud at the way our team conducted itself at the end of the game. Dino said that Homer’s wife, (he is deceased), lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home of the Crimson Tide, but is a devout SU fan who watches all the games. He said that she actually did most of the work, typing the book. Matt said that if I sent the book to Coach, he could autograph is and get Ms. Smith to do the same. I told them I want to finish reading it first.

I asked my question about Andre Szmyt. Dino said he wasn’t going to answer part of it because he didn’t want to “call out family members. He did conform that Andre was physically OK. “It’s a lot like golf Sergio Garcia used to bounce his club 21 times before he hit the ball. A Golf coach got him to stop and he started winning. It’s about how they feel. They need to “try less harder”. Find a way to go to your happy place.” I wondered where I asked Dino to call out Andre Szmyt’s family members. Then I realized what eh meant “La Familia, Ohana”. He didn’t want to criticize members of the team. But he didn’t. In effect, he criticized Andre. My question didn’t ask him to single out individual members of the team. It was an opportunity to say that it’s not all Andre’s fault. He didn’t take it, suggesting that it isn’t. But that left Andre to take the whole blame, even if it isn’t all his.

Matt took written questions from the patrons at Heritage Hall. Peter from Jamesville wanted to know Dino’s true feelings about the transfer portal. DB: “It’s just different. It’s like the dinosaurs. You have to adapt or die. Transfers are normally unhappy about something. You have to figure out if they could be happy here. You also have to consider the academic aspect as well as the football reasons.” Matt brought of Bill Snyder of Kansas State, who has success bringing in junior college players. Dino said that with JUCOs, “you’ve got two years to figure out if this guy can be a good player for you. With the transfer portal, you might have one. You’ve got to be careful.”

Jason, who said he was from Tallahassee, asked what Dino’s’ favorite and least favorite ACC teams were. Matt said that the betting line on Coach answering the second part of that was zero and Dino confirmed that. He most likes playing Clemson because it’s the biggest challenge, he’s going to get the least criticism for losing to them and the players seem to play well against them because they have extra motivation: it’s Clemson!

Matt said that the Dome has been BC’s ‘Happy Place’- they’ve won here three times in a row. Dino: “Their guys are comfortable playing here. We need to make them uncomfortable.” BC is using two quarterbacks in the wake of the injury to Phil Jurkovec, their starter at the beginning of the season. Dino: “When we used two quarterbacks it made it difficult for defenses but for us, too. To fully develop as a starter, you need most of the reps in practice – 75% to 25%. It’s tough when you got 50-50. They may have a starter but with a short leash…. Josh Ilaoa will be the center and Airon Servais will be at tackle. I don’t want to make them mad but every center and quarterback combination is different. The only thing closer to you is your girlfriend. Peyton Manning used to have a silent signal with Jeff Saturday – he’s slap his butt. But just to make sure, he’d slap each one!”

BC’s two running backs “are in the top half of the conference” and “Zay Flowers is on the cover of all those magazines in the East. He’s going to be the most dynamic receiver on the field. That may make my guys mad. If it does, I want to see them prove me wrong. Their offensive line is who they are…. Their defensive front seven is legit” Matt asked what “the biggest difference between 4-0 and 0-3” was. DB: “I can’t talk about someone else’s team. We’ve got to find away to get somebody out there who will get things done to get one more point than BC.” And that folks, is how you say nothing.

The noted that the NFL Thursday night game was actually interesting this week: the 7-0 Cardinals hosting the 6-1 Packers. Dino: “That cardinals coaching staff was in trouble at the start of the season and now they are undefeated.”

They brought on Chip West, the cornerbacks coach. Dino said that he has “unique confidence in himself. On the golf course, he’s Tiger Woods. He does a fantastic job coaching our young corners.” Matt said that Jake Crouthamel told him that he never hired a coach with less than an 18 handicap- if it was lower, they weren’t concentrating on their job!

Chip said that Garrett Williams was banged up with “a couple of lower body dings but is still the leader of the room. He learned from Iffy, Trill and Cisco and now he’s teaching Duce. It’s about work ethic, preparation, a willingness to sacrifice. Life is not just having fun. You’ve got to work on your craft. They are always working on the press, the pedal, supporting the run and coverage.” Matt noted that Duce had gotten off to a great start on the season by making a great TFL on the first play.

Gomez came on and they talked about Halloween. Dino said that “I need to win this game to pay for the candy.” Gomez asked if he was handing out full candy bars or minis. “They are o-linemen size candy bars.”

Gomez asked about those last 19 seconds. “What was the chatter in the headsets?” DB: “Everybody has fantastic ideas about what to do before the game and when it’s 0-0. You set to the end of the game and it’s, (Dino attempted to imitate nature sounds when all else is silence: in other words, crickets). there are 1-2 people talking, going through scenarios”. (And reading Homer Smith’s book).

Gomez asked “What does it do for the rest of the team when a quarterback makes a pass like that?” (Shrader’s) DB: “It’s good for young people to struggle together. It’s the school of hard knocks. It makes them play harder.” Gomez noted that Dino had said that Shrader threw a ‘catchable pass”. What does that mean? Dino said it meant that “it’s easier for your guys to catch it and it’s easy for the other guys to catch it too”. (That was always my opinion of Dungey.)

Gomez said that he’d once seen Wayne Gretzky play and his hockey passes featured “no wasted effort: he pushed the puck just hard enough to get there. It wasn’t like a lightening strike.” Dino said that he’d bene to two hockey games in his life. One was to see Wayne Gretzky and the other was to see Mario Lemieux. “They’re different. I’m bigger that Wayne. Mario is huge. Both were dynamic, but in a different way.” Gomez described a game where a fan was pounding on the glass – until it fell over and broke. Lemieux move dover and just stared at him. The guy sat back down.”

Dino said that when we was Arizona, they won a national championship in basketball. One game was against LSU. The football offices were in the same building as the basketball arena. I got into an elevator and looked up to see the largest human being I have ever seen: Shaquille O’Neal. I’d been in NFL locker rooms. I’d played volleyball and racquet ball with Wilt Chamberlain but Shaq was the biggest guy I’ve seen. And he hadn’t even filled out yet.

Somehow, they got around to talking about Jim Boeheim’s acting career. Dino had been unaware of it until he was watching “Blue Chips’ in his bedroom and he heard Jim’s voice. He didn’t realize Jim was in the film and wonder why he was in (Dino’s) bedroom. Dino was almost in that film. A big scene was filed at Purdue when he was an assistant coach there and he was offered a role as a security guard accompanying Nick Nolte onto the court. But he had to attend a family reunion. (La Familia, Ohana) he could have collected all those residual checks for the rest of his life. I called in for my second question at this point and noted that Jim had also been in Spike lee’s ‘He Got Game’ a few years later. Dino: “he must have a Guild card” Gomez: “Yeah and he gets royalty checks for 28 cents.”

Dino opened up his answer to my second question about punter James Williams by saying “I’m not going to go into detail about individual family members. James came here and kicked for Coach Lustig, who is now at another University and had an unbelievable leg, super strong. He can be a punter, place kicker or holder. When you’re the guy you have to be able to handle it until the game slows down for you and you can clean up the details.” I asked if punting was the same on all levels. He said that it was but that where you kick isn’t always the same. Down in West Texas, where they kick outside, the wind can be such that in one direction you’ll kick it 70 yards, the other 30 yards. And it could be raining. And don’t forget about altitude if you are in the mountains. At the kicking camps where they rate them, the conditions are the same for everybody.” (Actually James is from Georgia… I don’t think Dino liked it when Coach Lustig went to another university.)
James Williams - Football - Syracuse University Athletics

Ed from Auburn wondered if Dino remembers a mutual acquaintance, Dave (Somebody) and could he tell the story of how he got an Italian guy to wear a kilt. The strength coach at Bowling Green used to wear a kilt and Dino asked who on the current staff would be willing to try one and Dave volunteered.

John in Baltimore made a second call and asked who in our “fantastic freshman class” would shine in the future that we haven’t see so far. He was especially interested in Enrique Cruz and Umari Hatcher. Dino said that he didn’t like to talk about them for two reasons. But he was willing to say that Cruz “knocks people down in the old-fashioned way”, that “Justin (Barron?) is performing well on the scout team” and “Omari will be really good. They are growing mentally. We need to change their bodies physically. They have high school bodies, and they need to have ACC bodies.”. What were the two reasons? “In this era of the transfer portal, we don’t want them to be offered NIL at other schools. Also an SU is expensive and the education is good.” (Meaning, I assume, SU has higher standards than some schools.) “There are fewer walk-ons. We’ve got to get the frat guys to get us some of their young people.”
 

Coach Babers’s show this year show will be Thursday nights at 7PM except when the game is not on a Saturday. This year it will be 90 minutes, with the first hour being with Dino and the last half hour being with a ‘special guest’, who in the past just got a couple minutes at the end of the show.

The show originates from Heritage Hill Brewery in Jamesville:
3149 Sweet Rd · 3149 Sweet Rd, Jamesville, NY 13078

You can also listen to the show live each week on the Syracuse IMG Sports Network and Cuse.com. Wednesday's show will be on 99.1 FM and 97.7 FM, as well. The show will regularly air on 99.5FM (Syracuse) 99.1 FM (Utica) and 1200 AM.”
You can also get it on: Listen to Free Radio Online | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn

There hasn’t been any change in the phone numbers, which last year were 315-424-8599 (local) or 1-888-746-2873. You can call to ask questions or submit them via Twitter at: https://twitter.com/CuseIMG
#AskDino or through Cuse.com, (the SU Athletic website):
Submit a Question! - Syracuse University Athletics

You can (or could last year, anyway), listen to a podcast of the show, probably the next day, at: Search results for babers | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn


My Question(s) or Comments

First segment question:

“Coach, Andre Szmyt came into this year having hit 86% of his field goal attempts, (56 of 65) and 98% of his extra points, (123 of 125). From 40+ yards out, he was 17 for 24, 71%. This year he’s 7 for 12 on field goals (58%), 29 for 31 on extra points, (93.5%) and 1 for 5 from 40+. What’s happened? Is he hurt? How much of this is his fault and how much of it is the people around him?”

Second segment question:

“Coach, we’re known as “Punter U.” (I’d rather go back to being known for our running backs.) This year, for the first time in a long time, our punting has been sub-par. James Williams, per his bio “Rated five stars and the No. 4 punter and No. 13 placekicker in the 2020 class by Kohl’s Kicking.” Yet it says that in his senior year, “he averaged 35.8 yards on 25 punts”. I would think punting would be the one thing that was the same on all levels of competition. Should we be surprised that he’s the 92nd ranked punter in the country with an average of 36.7 yards? Why was he rated 5 stars?”
NCAA College Football FBS current individual Stats | NCAA.com



The Show
(I sometimes re-arrange the comments so that statements made on the same subject are reported together, even if they came at different points of the show.)

Matt asked for a description of the “arc of the game” over the final five minutes at Virginia Tech. Dino: “We had to score quickly, (down 9), so we had to go to the air attack, even though we’re a running team. The quarterback and the offensive line were extremely efficient. We scored and decided to kick away. The defense did their part. They threw on first down and got a first down. But that was only one play. They then ran the ball 3 times. We had all our times outs and used them. We got the ball back with a minute and something left. Bambi went down the sideline with the safety and the cornerback let it go. Then came the spookiest decision, although I don’t like that word, (the only thing he likes about Halloween is the candy): to kick away. What if that guy returns it all the way? They tried a return they hadn’t used all year, bouncing to the field but Luke Benson was there to tackle him. But it still came down to the ball hitting the ground in the end zone. The fans got a big thrill but I lost 5-6 years of my life.

Matt suggested that the BC game will be no different, although they, like Syracuse had, have a 3 game losing streak and quarterback issues. Dino said that close games like this will be “the new norm with the transfer portal. There are not enough people to survive injuries, unless you are one of the few teams with usual depth. (Of course there’s the same amount of players and teams but I think he means that guys like Howard, Harris and DeVito leave and they aren’t going to play the rest of the season, so the available talent is less.)

John in Baltimore praise Garrett Shrader for being ‘dynamic’ but wondered if we should be getting our # quarterback, Justin Lamson, “a feeling for the game”, (last year we got down to Jacobian Morgan when he was #3. He also wanted to know why we were so much more efficient at the end of the game than at the end of the half. Typically, Coach answered the last question first and then had to remember what the first two questions were. He said that the last 5 minutes they placed most of the decisioning making with the quarterback, who “ran things fast and efficiently, NFL style. In the first half, we wanted more control from the sidelines.” He talked about being ‘live’ with the quarterbacks, by which he means allowing them to be hit in practice. During the season he doesn’t permit that because he wants them healthy for the game. During the spring the #3 and #4 guys can get hit because he wants to see if they can take the hits and still make the plays, as Shrader did. But if he’d done that with Shrader in the spring, when he was the backup, he might not be our quarterback now.

At this point is missed a small part of the show: I’d been trying to call in and kept getting messages, (after 10 rings) that my call couldn’t be completed as dialed, (I used the same speed dial button I always use). I final got through and then, after identifying myself and telling the producer what I wanted to ask about, asked him to have Matt describe the upcoming schedule for this show and the Jim Boeheim Show, which he later did. There’s no Dino Babers Show next week due to the off week but there is a Jim Boeheim Show, this season’s premiere, in the same time slot. Anything beyond that will be announced as they go along.

When I got back to listening to the show, they were praising Chris Elmore. Matt noted that only two teams have two running backs with 10TDs- Michigan and Syracuse. (They are 7-0 and we could have been 8-0.) Matt asked about how we emulate opposing quarterbacks in practice. Dino doesn’t try to do it with his #1 or #2 guys. That’s where 3, 4 and 5 come in. For Lamar Jackson, they used two guys, one for his arm and one for his feet. “God make just one Lamar Jackson so we had to use two guys.”

This is homecoming and there will be several former players coming back. Dino expects they will talk to the players now wearing their former numbers and urge them to “wear them with pride”. (Of course, if they wore #44, they won’t be able to do that.)

I got on and told the coach that I had received Homer Smith’s book and was reading it. Dino laughed and said “I knew you would”. I said that it had arrived at halftime but that I couldn’t find an explanation for what I’d just seen and they both laughed. I told him that Homer would have been proud at the way our team conducted itself at the end of the game. Dino said that Homer’s wife, (he is deceased), lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home of the Crimson Tide, but is a devout SU fan who watches all the games. He said that she actually did most of the work, typing the book. Matt said that if I sent the book to Coach, he could autograph is and get Ms. Smith to do the same. I told them I want to finish reading it first.

I asked my question about Andre Szmyt. Dino said he wasn’t going to answer part of it because he didn’t want to “call out family members. He did conform that Andre was physically OK. “It’s a lot like golf Sergio Garcia used to bounce his club 21 times before he hit the ball. A Golf coach got him to stop and he started winning. It’s about how they feel. They need to “try less harder”. Find a way to go to your happy place.” I wondered where I asked Dino to call out Andre Szmyt’s family members. Then I realized what eh meant “La Familia, Ohana”. He didn’t want to criticize members of the team. But he didn’t. In effect, he criticized Andre. My question didn’t ask him to single out individual members of the team. It was an opportunity to say that it’s not all Andre’s fault. He didn’t take it, suggesting that it isn’t. But that left Andre to take the whole blame, even if it isn’t all his.

Matt took written questions from the patrons at Heritage Hall. Peter from Jamesville wanted to know Dino’s true feelings about the transfer portal. DB: “It’s just different. It’s like the dinosaurs. You have to adapt or die. Transfers are normally unhappy about something. You have to figure out if they could be happy here. You also have to consider the academic aspect as well as the football reasons.” Matt brought of Bill Snyder of Kansas State, who has success bringing in junior college players. Dino said that with JUCOs, “you’ve got two years to figure out if this guy can be a good player for you. With the transfer portal, you might have one. You’ve got to be careful.”

Jason, who said he was from Tallahassee, asked what Dino’s’ favorite and least favorite ACC teams were. Matt said that the betting line on Coach answering the second part of that was zero and Dino confirmed that. He most likes playing Clemson because it’s the biggest challenge, he’s going to get the least criticism for losing to them and the players seem to play well against them because they have extra motivation: it’s Clemson!

Matt said that the Dome has been BC’s ‘Happy Place’- they’ve won here three times in a row. Dino: “Their guys are comfortable playing here. We need to make them uncomfortable.” BC is using two quarterbacks in the wake of the injury to Phil Jurkovec, their starter at the beginning of the season. Dino: “When we used two quarterbacks it made it difficult for defenses but for us, too. To fully develop as a starter, you need most of the reps in practice – 75% to 25%. It’s tough when you got 50-50. They may have a starter but with a short leash…. Josh Ilaoa will be the center and Airon Servais will be at tackle. I don’t want to make them mad but every center and quarterback combination is different. The only thing closer to you is your girlfriend. Peyton Manning used to have a silent signal with Jeff Saturday – he’s slap his butt. But just to make sure, he’d slap each one!”

BC’s two running backs “are in the top half of the conference” and “Zay Flowers is on the cover of all those magazines in the East. He’s going to be the most dynamic receiver on the field. That may make my guys mad. If it does, I want to see them prove me wrong. Their offensive line is who they are…. Their defensive front seven is legit” Matt asked what “the biggest difference between 4-0 and 0-3” was. DB: “I can’t talk about someone else’s team. We’ve got to find away to get somebody out there who will get things done to get one more point than BC.” And that folks, is how you say nothing.

The noted that the NFL Thursday night game was actually interesting this week: the 7-0 Cardinals hosting the 6-1 Packers. Dino: “That cardinals coaching staff was in trouble at the start of the season and now they are undefeated.”

They brought on Chip West, the cornerbacks coach. Dino said that he has “unique confidence in himself. On the golf course, he’s Tiger Woods. He does a fantastic job coaching our young corners.” Matt said that Jake Crouthamel told him that he never hired a coach with less than an 18 handicap- if it was lower, they weren’t concentrating on their job!

Chip said that Garrett Williams was banged up with “a couple of lower body dings but is still the leader of the room. He learned from Iffy, Trill and Cisco and now he’s teaching Duce. It’s about work ethic, preparation, a willingness to sacrifice. Life is not just having fun. You’ve got to work on your craft. They are always working on the press, the pedal, supporting the run and coverage.” Matt noted that Duce had gotten off to a great start on the season by making a great TFL on the first play.

Gomez came on and they talked about Halloween. Dino said that “I need to win this game to pay for the candy.” Gomez asked if he was handing out full candy bars or minis. “They are o-linemen size candy bars.”

Gomez asked about those last 19 seconds. “What was the chatter in the headsets?” DB: “Everybody has fantastic ideas about what to do before the game and when it’s 0-0. You set to the end of the game and it’s, (Dino attempted to imitate nature sounds when all else is silence: in other words, crickets). there are 1-2 people talking, going through scenarios”. (And reading Homer Smith’s book).

Gomez asked “What does it do for the rest of the team when a quarterback makes a pass like that?” (Shrader’s) DB: “It’s good for young people to struggle together. It’s the school of hard knocks. It makes them play harder.” Gomez noted that Dino had said that Shrader threw a ‘catchable pass”. What does that mean? Dino said it meant that “it’s easier for your guys to catch it and it’s easy for the other guys to catch it too”. (That was always my opinion of Dungey.)

Gomez said that he’d once seen Wayne Gretzky play and his hockey passes featured “no wasted effort: he pushed the puck just hard enough to get there. It wasn’t like a lightening strike.” Dino said that he’d bene to two hockey games in his life. One was to see Wayne Gretzky and the other was to see Mario Lemieux. “They’re different. I’m bigger that Wayne. Mario is huge. Both were dynamic, but in a different way.” Gomez described a game where a fan was pounding on the glass – until it fell over and broke. Lemieux move dover and just stared at him. The guy sat back down.”

Dino said that when we was Arizona, they won a national championship in basketball. One game was against LSU. The football offices were in the same building as the basketball arena. I got into an elevator and looked up to see the largest human being I have ever seen: Shaquille O’Neal. I’d been in NFL locker rooms. I’d played volleyball and racquet ball with Wilt Chamberlain but Shaq was the biggest guy I’ve seen. And he hadn’t even filled out yet.

Somehow, they got around to talking about Jim Boeheim’s acting career. Dino had been unaware of it until he was watching “Blue Chips’ in his bedroom and he heard Jim’s voice. He didn’t realize Jim was in the film and wonder why he was in (Dino’s) bedroom. Dino was almost in that film. A big scene was filed at Purdue when he was an assistant coach there and he was offered a role as a security guard accompanying Nick Nolte onto the court. But he had to attend a family reunion. (La Familia, Ohana) he could have collected all those residual checks for the rest of his life. I called in for my second question at this point and noted that Jim had also been in Spike lee’s ‘He Got Game’ a few years later. Dino: “he must have a Guild card” Gomez: “Yeah and he gets royalty checks for 28 cents.”

Dino opened up his answer to my second question about punter James Williams by saying “I’m not going to go into detail about individual family members. James came here and kicked for Coach Lustig, who is now at another University and had an unbelievable leg, super strong. He can be a punter, place kicker or holder. When you’re the guy you have to be able to handle it until the game slows down for you and you can clean up the details.” I asked if punting was the same on all levels. He said that it was but that where you kick isn’t always the same. Down in West Texas, where they kick outside, the wind can be such that in one direction you’ll kick it 70 yards, the other 30 yards. And it could be raining. And don’t forget about altitude if you are in the mountains. At the kicking camps where they rate them, the conditions are the same for everybody.” (Actually James is from Georgia… I don’t think Dino liked it when Coach Lustig went to another university.)
James Williams - Football - Syracuse University Athletics

Ed from Auburn wondered if Dino remembers a mutual acquaintance, Dave (Somebody) and could he tell the story of how he got an Italian guy to wear a kilt. The strength coach at Bowling Green used to wear a kilt and Dino asked who on the current staff would be willing to try one and Dave volunteered.

John in Baltimore made a second call and asked who in our “fantastic freshman class” would shine in the future that we haven’t see so far. He was especially interested in Enrique Cruz and Umari Hatcher. Dino said that he didn’t like to talk about them for two reasons. But he was willing to say that Cruz “knocks people down in the old-fashioned way”, that “Justin (Barron?) is performing well on the scout team” and “Omari will be really good. They are growing mentally. We need to change their bodies physically. They have high school bodies, and they need to have ACC bodies.”. What were the two reasons? “In this era of the transfer portal, we don’t want them to be offered NIL at other schools. Also an SU is expensive and the education is good.” (Meaning, I assume, SU has higher standards than some schools.) “There are fewer walk-ons. We’ve got to get the frat guys to get us some of their young people.”
Great write-up, as always. FYI Justin (in your last paragraph) was referring to Lamson (I know Jon from Baltimore very well and he asked about Lamson, as well as Cruz and Hatcher).
 
Great write-up, as always. FYI Justin (in your last paragraph) was referring to Lamson (I know Jon from Baltimore very well and he asked about Lamson, as well as Cruz and Hatcher).

That makes sense.
 
That makes sense.
I thought it was very interesting that they do allow the # 3 and #4 QB's to get hit in the Spring. I think it's a good idea. There's always a chance of injury, but as with everything in life, you need to weigh the risks & benefits and the chance of not having and then needing your #3 or #4 QB from a Spring injury is very low and the benefits of seeing what they can do and then learning from it could be great. I would say the same would be true about letting them get hit, (though not crushed) in practice towards the end of the season, especially in a scenario where there may not be bowl practices.
 
i think we now know the title of dino's biography. TRY LESS HARDER !
second time in two weeks he's gone to this well.
 

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