SPEAKER_07 0:03

Welcome to the official wins.

SPEAKER_05 0:35

Here's your host, Chris Houston.

SPEAKER_04 0:38

All right, welcome back to another episode of the official Heisman Trophy Podcast. I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend watching all those games. I gotta tell you, there's nothing quite like sinking into the couch cushions and letting college football wash all over you. We've got another great show for you this week featuring this guy. If you don't know about Boise State junior running back Ashton Genti, you soon will. He rushed for a school record, 267 yards, and six touchdowns in the opener against Georgia Southern. But it wasn't just a matter of him going up against an overmatched opponent. This is one of the best players in the country. He's gonna kick off this week's episode, and then we're gonna follow that up with Nicole Auerbach of NBC Sports, who is simply one of the best college football writers around. And I think you're gonna appreciate her insights on everything that happened this past weekend in college football. And then we're gonna close out the show by featuring one of the many charities that is supported by the Heisman Trophy Trust. We'll be joined by Bridge Lacrosse Executive Director David Higby to tell us about his efforts in bringing lacrosse to underserved communities in Texas. So let's get started with our first guest, Ashton Genty. We actually recorded the first part of this interview last week before his first game, and we were fortunate enough to check in with him afterwards to get his reaction to what turned out to be an incredible performance against Georgia Southern. And let me tell you, there's a propensity among college football observers out there to just dismiss players like Ashton Genty. And just because he wasn't hyped up during the recruiting process, and just because he didn't end up at one of the quote-unquote elite power five teams, doesn't mean he's not a great player. And so I challenge you to go watch his highlights on YouTube and tell me who's a better running back than this guy. Boise State is certainly excited. They've begun a Heisman campaign on his behalf. They're selling Heisman t-shirts, promoting Genty on the school website, and these are worthy endeavors on behalf of a player who seems primed to have a huge season. So let's play the interview. Ashton Genty was possibly the best kept secret in college football last season. As a 2023 sophomore, the Boise State Broncos running back rushed for 1,347 yards and 14 touchdowns, despite missing almost three full games. He also showed his versatility by catching 43 passes for 568 yards and another five scores, making him the first player since 2019 to rack up 1,000 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in the same season. This year the word is out, and he is a preseason All-American and one of the best players in the country, which is why he joins us today on the official Heisman Trophy podcast. Ashton, thanks for coming on the show.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yeah, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_04 3:30

You know, one of the things that really sticks out about you and which everyone talks about is your unique strength. You can squat 600 pounds or so, maybe maybe more by now. I don't know. You're very hard to wrap up in the open field, and defenders just seem to bounce off you. Where does all this strength come from?

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Yeah, I mean, uh I'm just blessed um by God with, you know, just natural strength. But I'll say I get it from my dad because you know, he used to work on the farm and stuff uh when he was younger, so I think he passed that over to me. And then just, you know, how the strength staff has helped us make gains in the weight room, just pushing us each and every single day. And you know, this is the strongest I've been, and not only me, but the team has been since I've been here.

SPEAKER_04 4:12

Well, being in a military family, you spent time in Naples, Italy before you went to high school and you play it on an Italian team. What's the football like there?

SPEAKER_01 4:21

Uh it's not like it is out here, but uh, you know, it's definitely great football, and you know, I'm glad that I got to experience um playing football over there and you know travel to different countries to play games, which was really cool and you know, a great experience, but competition levels definitely isn't as high as it is in the US.

SPEAKER_04 4:42

Right. Parli Italiano.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Uh no.

SPEAKER_04 4:47

I was gonna ask you uh if if it's true that Naples has the best pizza in Italy. I was gonna do it in Italian, though.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

But uh Yeah, I I don't know. I'd probably, I mean, because I had pizza all over, but I'd probably say when I was in Rome, they had some of the best pizza for sure.

SPEAKER_04 5:05

All right. Um, your family moved back to the States in time for high school, and you wound up in Frisco, Texas. That's class 5A uh in Texas football, which is big time. How was that adjustment for you coming from Italian football and playing in that style, coming over uh back to the U.S.? What was that adjustment like?

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Yeah, it definitely was a big adjustment just to the speed and you know the level of players that I was playing against week in and week out. And then, you know, I came in as a sophomore and we had a lot of great players, so I actually didn't even get to play um on offense at all. I was playing defense, I was playing um edge, linebacker, safety, a lot of special teams, so wherever they needed me, but um I was able to just hone in on my skills and you know get better each and every day and keep developing and to you know be able to become the player that I am now.

SPEAKER_04 5:55

Well, what made them decide to move you from defense over to offense? Did you get an interception and look really good with the ball in your hands or something? What was the process that made them change their way of thinking?

SPEAKER_01 6:05

Yeah, so I think they were just able to see my athleticism every day, me playing on defense, and then some games. Um, we actually, I think it was when we were playing uh Liberty, they had a mobile quarterback, so they had me play quarterback on the scout team for the defense, and you know, I was running around juking guys, you know, kind of showing off my offensive ability pretty much. I think that's what really did it.

SPEAKER_04 6:27

Yeah, were you were you thinking like this is my chance, I'm gonna get get away from this side of the ball? I want the ball in my hands.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, I was trying to show them that I could be a player for us on offense every day, like every chance I got.

SPEAKER_04 6:40

Well, as a senior in high school, you rushed for over 1,800 yards, 31 touchdowns, had over 800 receiving yards, already showing the versatility, 41 total touchdowns. I saw some highlights of you at Lone Star, and a couple things stood out. First, you're great at making the first guy miss. Second, when a defender tries to tackle you high, you just kind of brush them off like it was no big deal. You know, you're just like blowing them, you know. And then lastly, you've got this incredible balance. You know, you you even when you get tripped up, you've got this great center of gravity, able to stay on your feet. Was there anything you did in particular to develop these skills, or did this all kind of come naturally?

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Uh yeah, I think some of it came naturally, but I worked a lot on, you know, my agility, making different cuts, you know, just being dynamic. And then I would just say, you know, the weight room, the work in the weight room, you know, it goes a long way to breaking tackles, especially at running back, you know, having strong legs and a strong upper body, you know, it's easy to shrug those guys off for you when you're running full speed.

SPEAKER_04 7:37

Right. Now, given your size, I'm sure you get a lot of comparisons to various running backs. A lot of there's a lot of great, you know, smaller backs out there. But to me, the comparison I see is to the great Maurice Jones Drew. Who do you model your game after?

SPEAKER_01 7:51

I mean, I'd definitely say a lot. Like more modern day, I would say Alvin Kamara, just with him being versatile. But I would just say with mentality, I would say for sure, um, Marshawn Lynch, just that mentality to run through the whole defense. Um, you know, but I get a comparison to a lot of different running backs, but um, with that, I try to take something um from all the different great running backs, you know, just look at all the things they were able to do well and you know, just try to apply that to my game.

SPEAKER_04 8:22

Yeah, you had your pick of several schools during the recruiting process. What led you to decide to play for Boise State? Was it the Blue Field?

SPEAKER_01 8:30

That was definitely a part of it. I mean, blue field is special. Um with that, but definitely just you know, the culture, you know, the winning tradition here. I mean, everybody wants to win, and you know, what more what's better than to go to a program that has a winning history, you know, since before I was even alive.

SPEAKER_07 8:48

Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

You know, and just the constant, constant development and producing running backs, you know, um every every year, honestly. Um, you know, it's just a high level of development for that position here. And you know, I wanted to be the next person, you know, in line um, you know, to carry on the torch.

SPEAKER_04 9:07

Yeah. You had a really nice freshman year, a couple breakout games against Fresno State in North Texas, over 800 yards rushing. Then last year you took over the starting role, had a great season. Uh what are your personal goals for this year?

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Personal goals would be for sure um just to be a great leader on this team and you know, bring guys along with me each and every single day. And then I mean, for us to win, you know, go undefeated this year and you know, win the Mountain West Championship and make it make history, you know, make our first um appearance in the college football playoffs. And I mean, my O line, me and my O-line man uh Mason Randolph, we actually made a bet. Um if I rush for 2,000, um, then well, we just changed it now, so I don't have to cut my dreads. So if I don't rush for 2,000, then I gotta cut my dreads off. But so I'm I'm I gotta get 2,000 rushing yards for sure.

SPEAKER_04 10:02

Wait, so so you aren't gonna cut your dreads off if you get 2,000?

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Or I thought you changed the bet, or we changed it. So if I get 2,000 rushing yards, then I don't have to cut them. So if I get like 1,949, then I gotta cut them off.

SPEAKER_04 10:15

Oh man. So how long did it take you to grow? Have you just been growing those for most of your uh most of your adult life now?

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Or uh yeah, pretty much since I've gotten to college. So it's been about two and a half years now.

SPEAKER_04 10:26

Well, it won't be it won't be that much of a loss. I'm sure it's an easy trade-off for you. Um that's a great uh great goal, 2,000 yards. Um when did you come up with that and and and you know why that number?

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Um I've kind of always that's kind of always been my goal um in my career as a running back to rush for 2000. I feel like you know that will really put me on top and you know solidify me as one of the best um pure rushers in the nation.

SPEAKER_04 10:55

Yeah. Well, that's a great goal. You've been named a team captain for this year. How has that changed your mentality heading to it into your junior season? You know, you know, you're underclassman, now you're upperclassman. Um, you know, what's changed for you?

SPEAKER_01 11:08

Yeah, I feel I've always had the mentality of just being a leader and being a great example. But now that that spotlight has been put on me as one of the team captains, you know, just taking it to the next level and you know, really understanding that um I have to come ready each and every single day, and I have to bring guys along with me. And not only that, just you know, serving my teammates, being able to help them with ever, whether it's on the field or off the field, and you know, having great relationships with them so that when you know it's time to hold them accountable, you know, they understand and we have that type of relationship where you know they take it well and you know they're they want to be better.

SPEAKER_04 11:46

Yeah. What kind of changes have you seen at Boise's since the hiring of Spencer Danielson? You guys up with two games on the road, you got number three Oregon. Uh, you know, what's the outlook on the team uh from the inside?

SPEAKER_01 11:59

I mean, number one, just the love. Um, you know, Coach D says he loves us every day. So just him spreading love and you know, like the care factor, like guys really care about their teammates, guys really want to be here. Guys really want to work hard and you know, go to battle, go to war for their brothers, and you know, that's raised the urgency level um each and every day, just how we attack practice, meetings, weight lifting in the weight room. Like every single thing matters, every detail matters because we're not we're not just coming to do you know regular things, we're coming to make history this year.

SPEAKER_04 12:37

Yeah. What do you know about the Heisman Trophy? Do you have any favorite winners in the past or people that you followed?

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Yeah, I would say uh I think it was in 2016, right, when uh Derrick Henry won the Heisman Award. Uh definitely just him being from uh Florida, actually, um Jacksonville, um, or I was I'm from Jacksonville, but you know, a few of my family members grew up in South Florida, and you know, they were just always talking about how he was crazy in high school, and you know, so just to see him go and win that award and you know, it being hard to win it as a non-QB, I think, you know, that gives me more motivation that you know it's been done before and not too long ago, honestly.

SPEAKER_04 13:19

Well, you certainly are the modern running back with the receiving and the ability to be versatile and you're taking snaps out of the shot out of the wildcat and you're there's there's putting you in motion and stuff. Uh with the changes in the running back position, is this something that you're you're really continuing to work on because you want so you can be more valuable at the next level?

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Yeah, I definitely take it serious, you know, especially with the way um the game has changed. You know, if you can be a versatile, versatile back and you know, receive the ball out of the backfield, even lining up in the slot and the outside and you know getting the ball in space and you know making plays, it takes your game to the next level and it makes you more valuable to NFL teams and also college football teams.

SPEAKER_04 14:03

Now let's jump forward a few days to Tuesday when we caught up with Genty following his epic performance. Wow, uh 267 yards, 20 carries, six touchdowns, 13.4 yards per carry, Mountain West record for touchdowns and a 56-45 victory over Georgia Southern. You know, what got into you? How do you feel after that great game?

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Feeling great, of course, but you know, I gotta give kudos to my old line. You know, they did a great job of blocking the whole game. I mean, just some of those lanes I ran through, like I would have been mad at myself if I didn't score. Right. And just to my offensive staff, you know, just getting us great run looks and a great run game plan for this week. And, you know, we just were able to bring that to life on Saturday.

SPEAKER_04 14:51

Now, if it's okay, I want to go over a few of your scores because I think they really reflect the kind of player you are. TD number one, counter-left play from your own 23. As usual, you make the first guy miss. Then the strong safety comes over, you break his tackle at around the 40, you break one more around the 15 or so, and you jaunt in 77 yards, you crack the Heisman pose at the end. Tell me about that play.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Yeah, um, yeah, once again, O line did a great job blocking. And um, like kind of like you said, I feel like that shows who I am as a runner. Um, you know, first guy's not gonna make the tackle, but you know, when I get that much space, you know, I'm gonna go score, you know, break however many tackles I have to. And then, I mean, just to set the tone um for the year, that you know, um, I'm fully chasing um after that award, and I fully feel like um I can get to that.

SPEAKER_04 15:43

T number two, a simple off-tackle play to the strong side from the opponent 26. You picked up an amazing block on the edge, double team. You again make the first guy miss. You have an amazing spin move. And when you stuck that spin move, what really struck me is you were already moving forward when you landed. And then you had four more miss tackles, and then you're in the end zone. Tell me about how that one transpired.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Yeah, so I think week in and week out, um, my running back coach, Coach James Montgomery, he does a great job of giving us footwork drills, different drills, um, to get our footwork better each and every single day. And then just working on that every day. I mean, during the offseason up until now, I mean, footwork each and every single week. So that when it um comes into the big moments, you can make big plays like that. Um, but you know, I sometimes I even watching it, I don't know how I do it, but um it's just a testament to the work that I put in. And you know, you keep working on your craft and perfecting it, and the you know, the big plays will come.

SPEAKER_04 16:39

Now, at this point in the game, you're feeling it, touchdowns three, four, and five. You punch it in from short yardage, showing your abilities a short yardage back, and then touchdown number six was pure speed going to your left, 75 yards, basically untouched to the goal line. How did you have the gas left in the tank at this point to just run away from people at this point in the game?

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Uh I'd say from the way that we practice, I mean, we work very hard and strain and practice. Um, and you know, Coach D says all the time like, you know, it's practice is supposed to be harder than game day. So on game days, just like that, I can make plays like that and be able to finish um in the end of the game, you know, it was a hard one. I actually caught a cramp on that run. It was crazy. And I hit 22.

SPEAKER_04 17:22

Yeah, I thought I saw you coming off the field.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

Yeah, yeah, I was I was laid out, man. It was it was pretty bad. But um just that that extreme conditioning we have in practice to be able to finish plays and you know, during practice, um, even if it's not actually gonna be a touchdown, you know, I'm still running, still finishing like I'm about to go score.

SPEAKER_04 17:40

Your school is now promoting you for the Heisman Trophy. There are T-shirts touting you for the Heisman. What do you think about all this Heisman buzz?

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Um, I think it's um a great place to be, but also um I don't want to lose myself um in that. And you know, I just want to keep focusing on the main thing, and that's winning each and every week. And, you know, things like that will keep coming along with that our um team performance.

SPEAKER_04 18:05

You traveled to number six Oregon on Saturday. Outside stadium is always a tough place to play. How are you feeling physically after that cramp? And what do you have to do to help your team pull off the big upset?

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Yeah, body's a little sore, but you know, that's the name of the game. But, you know, just getting in the room, um, getting recovery and getting my body back right. But um, it's the same thing as last week, just being elite in our preparation. And, you know, our coaches are giving us a great plan to go attack Oregon, and just like we did last week, um, you know, executing and bringing that to life. And, you know, no matter where we're playing at, you know, we're we come to dominate.

SPEAKER_04 18:48

Ashton Genty, 267 yards, six touchdowns, school records against Jojo Southern last week. Plays Oregon on Saturday. Good luck against the Ducks, and hopefully we'll see you down the road.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Yep, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Hi, this is Billy Simons, the 1978 Heisman Trophy winner. You are listening to the official Heisman Trophy podcast.

SPEAKER_04 19:21

Boomer! The Heisman is handed out every December, but the history of the trophy lives year-round at Heisman.com. Home to the most iconic trophy in sports, Heisman.com tells the stories of all 88 of our winners and features news, bios, and statistics on all your favorite Heisman heroes. Heisman.com also highlights our Heisman humanitarians, the many charities supported by the Heisman Trust, and so much more. Make Heisman.com your first stop for all things Heisman. Nicole Auerbach is NBC's leading college football insider. Prior to her current gig, she was a senior writer at The Athletic, a studio analyst for the Big Ten Network, and a radio host for Sirius XM in 2021. She became the youngest ever winner of the National Sports Media Association's coveted National Sports Writer of the Year Award. Nicole, thanks for coming on the show.

SPEAKER_03 20:08

Yeah, happy to be here.

SPEAKER_04 20:11

You know, the last nine days, starting with the uh the game in Dublin with Florida State and Georgia Tech, have been a bit of a whirlwind. All kinds of intriguing matchups and outcomes, but there are three games between ranked teams that loomed largest, I thought. Obviously, uh, number one, Georgia beat number 14 Clemson, number seven, Notre Dame beat number 20 Texas AM, and number 23 USC beat number 13 LSU. What were your main takeaways from these games?

SPEAKER_03 20:35

Yeah, I mean, I think that there were a lot of blowouts across the board over week one where we learned what we thought about different teams. But then, like, some of these results were really interesting. I mean, the fact that Miami could be back, the fact that Miami puts it together and like on paper coming into the season, you're saying, hey, this should be a contender. Like, this could be an ACC favorite, this could be a college football playoff team. And then to actually see it come into fruition and to pull away at the swamp to see Cam Ward be capable of a Heisman trophy campaign, like all of that was incredibly impressive, I thought. Um, and and really you got to consider them the favorites in the ACC, especially with how FSU and Clemson started their seasons. Um, and then I think the the a couple other main takeaways was that USC really does seem to be improved defensively. And boy, is Miller Moss good. I wasn't sure, right? Like, you know, Lincoln Riley didn't go into the portal and get some high-profile quarterback transfer. He went with the guy who's been there, who's been waiting in the wings, and he was phenomenal under pressure, especially down the stretch in that game against LSU. Um, other big takeaways, I mean, Georgia is Georgia. Like, that is clearly, I think, the best team in college football until proven otherwise. Clemson was able to hang with them for a half, right? Defense is still really good, still got a lot of questions offensively for the Tigers, but Georgia just wears everybody down. They are so So, so talented and so so good. And they've always got somebody who can step up as a receiver. So it was just a really interesting opening weekend. I feel like we actually got some answers about some of these teams that we've been waiting to see if they were going to fix things or address things or take a next step forward. And they did.

SPEAKER_04 22:16

Yeah. I'm kind of curious where you stand on this question. I asked Pat Fordy a couple weeks ago and Tom Frernelli about the sort of there's the extreme of going out and getting guys in the transfer portal and really relying on that. Everyone talks about Ohio State's huge efforts in the offseason. Oregon, of course, is uh you know continuously just bringing in players. And then you have other approaches where it's like a maybe a like a mix of those two things, and then you have Dabo Sweeney over there not wanting to do as much NIL. And I think this seems to be uh two positions where some coaches are like, well, I want to build a team and I don't need to have uh buy all these players and I'm gonna develop guys over time, and then there's these other programs that are just like we're just gonna try to get these guys in, plug them and win now, plug them in and win now. And I thought based on the first week, and obviously it's way too early to say for sure, but you know, Oregon kind of struggled a bit. Ohio State um got off to a slow start, and obviously Georgia pummeled uh Clemson, but USC, which has been taking more of the the uh you know the long-term approach, looked pretty good. Where do you stand on on what's gonna be the we're like the final outcome of of this argument about which is the best way to uh to run your program?

SPEAKER_03 23:37

Well, I think it's probably going to include a good healthy dose of the portal because it's such an important piece of roster construction because it allows you to address a weakness or deficiency quickly. Like that's where I think Clemson has really struggled, is it's not like they need to be Colorado and like a full overhaul and use the portal, but they're not using it the way like some of the teams you're giving as examples. Yeah, they're not using it even the way Georgia used it this offseason, right? Like Florida State's been a great example the last couple of years because they've had a really high hit rate on the guys that they've brought in. But it's like supplements. It's like, oh, hey, we could use a really great receiver or we could use some depth in the receiver room. That's where we're gonna go. And meanwhile, Clemson, and I get that they think that they're they they're still getting great high school recruits, like they really trust that, but it's just not an immediate fix. So if you have issues in the receiving room, or maybe the quarterback was either misidentified or not developing the way that you want them to, it takes multiple years to get somebody to the position, A, to get them into your program, but then to be developing them or them in the weight room to be able to play and to be an impact player, where all of your competitors, at least at the top echelon of college football, they're fixing it faster. They're addressing their needs faster. So to me, I think even if you have some of these slow starts or um it takes a little while to break somebody into your offensive scheme or defensive scheme, it's still worth it because this is something that the coach has identified, an area of need, and they're addressing it quickly, and they know that it'll take a little bit to piece it together, but they trust in that process versus not addressing it or saying, like, we're gonna address it next year or in the next recruiting class. Like, that's just not how anyone else is operating at that top, top level of college football.

SPEAKER_04 25:21

Right. And it's a whole new process because the coaches that can most quickly adapt these new guys into their program are gonna be the ones that make it actually work the most, right?

SPEAKER_03 25:30

Yeah. I mean, and that's where like I think Dan Lanning is such a good example of like where college football is today, like a great head coach example of that because he embraces all of that. They have one of the most enviable quarterback rooms in the country. They got two of those guys. They bring in Dalen Gabriel, most experienced. Um, we've seen him go out and win games like Red River. Like, we we we know a lot about him. And I trust that he is going to have a really good season at Oregon. He put up great numbers despite the score and despite the closeness and weirdness of that Idaho game. But they've also got Dante Moore waiting in the wings. So next year they're well positioned and they actually have depth in that room, which is also really hard to do. But, you know, he gets it. Like he gets what he needs to have from an NIL standpoint, a resource standpoint, how he wants to approach guys in the portal and also recruit at an incredibly high level out of high school. Like he embraces all of the things that we hear a lot of coaches complain about in college football today. And I think the portal is absolutely part of it. And you see the guys that embrace it or at least have honest conversations with the players that they're looking at, those are the ones that are getting the best players out of the portal and putting them in positions to be impact guys.

SPEAKER_04 26:37

Yeah. You mentioned USC earlier, but what other teams were were way better than you thought they'd be or looked way better than you thought they would be uh in week one?

SPEAKER_03 26:45

Yeah, so Miami is number one on that category. Not just like it's just that I thought they could be really good and they actually showed it. Um, and Cam Ward was phenomenal, right? Like that the Cam Ward sweepstakes of where he was gonna go in the offseason and when he if he was gonna go to the NFL, like absolutely worth all the hype because he is that type of game changer. Um but I'm gonna say Penn State. I thought that the Penn State offense, it's our first look of what they look like with head coach or offensive coordinator Andy Kodelniki. That was a confident, explosive, and really productive offense. And we have been waiting a couple of years to see that. Like Drew Aller looked totally different. That's the best we've seen him. He was emotional, but he just felt like he had command of an offense that could beat you in a lot of different ways. They were aggressive right before the half. They were going for the jugular, like they were just doing things that we haven't seen because they've been so conservative the last few years. And the whole narrative around them last year was like, can they have a single explosive play? And you saw that they were really pushing it and they were really trying to control a game that way. I thought Penn State, West Virginia, I love that they play each other. I would love them and Pitt to just kind of like cycle for each other every single year because of the regionalness of those rivalries. I thought it would just be a closer game than it was, and it just wasn't because Penn State uh really showed us something different. And I think, you know, for a team that I think faces a lot of pressure in the first year of the 12-team playoff because they've been the poster child for this of like, hey, you would have been in this if this existed over the last decade. Uh, I think there's a lot of pressure with that to make it this year. And this was, I think, maybe the best coordinator hire of the entire offseason cycle. And we're seeing that play out because I I did wonder, you know, hey, is he gonna be able to do the stuff that we saw him do at Kansas with this roster, with this talent? And I think you've got to be incredibly excited about what you saw from from the Nittany Lions.

SPEAKER_04 28:32

Yeah, there are definitely some um major changes in the offseason that really showed the sense of urgency amongst some coaches flipping things around. What teams look worse than how you thought they'd be in week one?

SPEAKER_03 28:43

Well, I mean, like the the teams on the the losing end of some of those marquee games, right? So um, you know, I think gotta have the concerns about Clemson. We were just talking about them about uh an offense quarterback, receivers that look average. Like we were used to not seeing average players in that offense. Um, they've had different coordinators, they've had different quarterbacks, and they still have the same kind of issues over multiple years. So I think you still gotta have, you know, the alarm bells going off there. Florida, that was, you know, just a really frustrating performance. I think not just because it's in state rival that also needed to prove something, but the penalties, like the little things that you would think would be cleared up a couple years into a head coach's tenure. Um, there's just nothing to be excited about. And I think that's what's really frustrating there. And the reason that the the hot seat gets even hotter for Billy Napier is because of a performance like that, that it wasn't a competitive game that Miami really like, and we saw the videos, right? Of all the recruits, the Florida recruits, like the Miami players like dapping them up and being like, you know, basically saying, hey, you should just come to Miami instead. That's like a terrible look. Like that's just like, you know, salt in the wound um for Florida. And it was just a no-good, very bad day for them. So I think that that puts, you know, obviously an even hotter seat under Napier. Um, and then LSU, like, you know, Brian Kelly pounded the table. We've all seen the clips of how angry he was after that game. But this is the third straight season opener he's lost at LSU. There were a couple even before that with with Ed Augeron. Um, but you know, it's the way that they're losing these games that I think is really frustrating because they're right there in them and they could win them if they could just get a couple stops, they could just complete a couple passes. Um, and they, I think you had a lot that you liked out of Garrett Nasmeier. You saw defensive improvement on that side of the ball for them as well in this game. Um, but for USC to win the game the way that they did, especially I think for it to be a touchdown when it looked like they were setting up to win on a field goal. Um, I can see why Brian Kelly was so frustrated. But like that's not what those are not the types of games that you should and could lose at LSU. If you want to be a true national title contender, and they do, right? They they wanted to fix the defense. They go out and they make um Brian Baker the highest paid defensive coordinator, and then they have a game like this that's just it was there for the grasping and they couldn't do it. I think that's really, really frustrating. And it's not gonna get easier. I mean, these SEC and these Big Ten teams, the schedules are so much harder this year because of expansion and realignment. So um, yeah, I think you've got to be very angsty and antsy if you're an LSU fan.

SPEAKER_04 31:18

Yeah. A couple individual performances really stood out to me. Ashton Genty of Boise State, who, by the way, is one of the guests on this episode, ran for a school record 267 yards and six touchdowns. And then Tetro McMillan of Arizona caught 10 passes for 304 yards and four scores for Arizona. Obviously, these numbers are came against lesser competition, but they were impressive nonetheless. I'm curious, do you think these kinds of opening statements help to put these two in the spotlight moving forward when it comes to talking about Heisman consideration?

SPEAKER_03 31:46

Yeah, because you've got entire offenses that would have taken that stat line as like their entire offensive production for a game and been thrilled with it. Like that, that these are the kinds of performances, um, regardless of where they're played or the competition or what time of day, that like they stick with you and they keep you in the Heisman conversation, really all the individual award conversations for longer because you become a household name if you get it, you know, if you get brought up like this and you get highlighted. And all you need is the highlights, literally, of what we saw from these guys. Um, I hope that did you did you get Ashton? Like, was that already locked in, or was he like just you're lucky to get in there in the on demand after the six touchdowns?

SPEAKER_04 32:25

Well, you know, it's funny. We um we uh we've had a little knack here on the show of of getting guys just before they blow up. We had we had uh Cam Ward on the show early last year, uh obviously Ashton Genty. Um we had Miller Moss on the last episode too. We actually were doing a a segment on Moss and Nusmeyer, the replacements, uh replacing the Heisen winners. And um we couldn't get um Nussmeyer, but we did get Moss and he won the game. So it's kind of an inside joke over here that if you come on the show, it's uh a little bit of good luck.

SPEAKER_03 32:52

You should can you tell me like your schedule for the coming weeks just so I know what's about to happen in college football. That'd be really helpful.

SPEAKER_04 32:58

I'll shoot you a text uh as soon as I find out.

SPEAKER_03 33:01

Um but yeah, I mean like though like those guys, I think I I think it's awesome. Uh you know, and I would I would also so so throw I know it feels like it's been forever ago now, but Travis Hunter and what he did in Colorado's opener as a two-way player. Like, I just you know me. I mean, I love guys that are when we talk Heisman that are not just quarterbacks, right? And I love when guys stay in the mix um because they're incredible talents, but also defensive guys, guys that are, you know, doing an insane workload like Travis Hunter. But all the players that we've been talking about, they're all like must-CTV. I mean, I don't care what the score is in the game that they're playing, because I just want to see what they might be capable of doing anytime the ball's in their hands.

SPEAKER_04 33:38

They're great players, and and even if they're playing against lesser competition, uh, a great play is a great play. And seeing them do things physically that other people other people can't do, it's very impressive. About Genty, Boise State goes to Oregon this week. If he has a big game, regardless of outcome, uh, does he move up into that elite group of Heisman candidates?

SPEAKER_03 33:57

Oh, yeah, I think so. Um, I have been excited about this game for a while. And I think especially coming off of week one, where you saw what Boise State did, um, even beyond Genty, I mean, because like just to win that game the way that they did, um, I thought was really impressive. And and to me, they're my favorite to get the group of five spot in the college football playoff. I just think with the way they'll be tested throughout the Mountain West season. Um so I was already excited to see them. And then you see Oregon an uncomfortable win against Idaho, where you thought that they were just gonna roll, you thought that they would be one of those, you know, 40-point blowout wins. So I think it creates really interesting storylines. I do, I do really like Oregon. I think it's an incredibly talented team and play a lot better than they did in their opener, but it's a great time to catch them if you're Boise State, right? And they're still figuring some stuff out or they're they're struggling to finish drives. Um, so it's gonna be really fascinating. I think a lot of um great offensive players in this game. I think Dylan Gabriel is someone who's an obvious favorite uh to win the Heisman Trophy, assuming that you know Oregon has the type of season that they're capable of. So I think it's a great spotlight, and especially against um a defensive front that Dan Lanning has built to replicate SEC fronts. Um they're gonna be really physical. Like it's going to be one where we won't have to say anything about the level of competition. I think that's awesome. Like you need these spotlight games, uh, no matter when they fall in the season. You'd love to have, you know, your Heisman moments and your opportunities in November, certainly. Um, but again, a lot of this, especially when you're, you know, maybe not in a team that's in Alabama or Georgia or Michigan or Ohio State, is about getting on people's radar. It's about having those moments. So then you're tracking them, you're following them over the course of the season. So that's what I think is so huge for Genty coming up here this weekend against a team that is kind of reeling a little bit off of a less than stellar opening debut.

SPEAKER_04 35:47

Yeah, absolutely. Uh going into the season, what players were on your short list for the Heisman?

SPEAKER_03 35:52

Well, Dylan Gabriel and Cam Ward. I know we've talked a lot about them so far today. Um, but I just think that, you know, I I love the experienced quarterbacks when they go into the portal and and really like you're you're hoping that they find a great fit and they can have that kind of season that we saw like out of a Michael Penix um or a bonex, where like it that's that's the goal of the portal. And so I think that Dylan Gabriel um is gonna be that guy for Oregon. I think Cam Ward just showed us in week one that he can be that guy for Miami. So I think though that's where I start. Um I I think there's some players, you know, like a Travis Hunter that, you know, we're on people's radars and and you're gonna have to see, right, about the usage and about like um, you know, Colorado might lose some games. Can he still stay in the mix there? Um, but that's the kind of player that I I hope does. Um, you know, there's been the last couple of years we've had really high expectations for like a Harold Perkins at LSU. You know, maybe defensive players, you're you're trying to figure out like, hey, where can they get the stats and the moments to really stay in the mix? But ultimately, like it is gonna be a lot of quarterbacks. Um, and it is gonna be the quarterbacks of the best programs in the country. Um, I I do think that there's uh, you know, a chance for maybe some of the skill position players, maybe at an Ohio State, like we saw with Marvin Harrison Jr., um, they're really high in Jeremiah Smith. I know he's a freshman, so maybe that's not a Heisman watch for this year, but that's obviously a player to watch moving forward. Um I think Jackson Dart, he again, lesser competition, but was spectacular, right? He's putting up video game numbers and Ole Miss's opener. I think that that's a team that's gonna make the playoff in in year one of the 12-team college football playoffs. So him and Nico at Tennessee. Um, I think those players are gonna be so key for the success of their uh their programs this year with an SEC schedule, with the spotlight that comes with being the quarterback at Ole Miss and Tennessee, that I think those are guys that can absolutely, if they're not already in the mix, can play their themselves into the mix. And and what we saw out of them in week one shows that they're ready. Like all cylinders are firing um for those quarterbacks. So I would love to see that. I think Dart would be probably in my upper tier already, though, I would say.

SPEAKER_04 37:56

Okay. And were there any other players that emerged out of week one besides McMillan or Genty who you think might be able to position themselves going forward?

SPEAKER_03 38:04

I mean, I think those are the two clear players. Um, I think, and then maybe Miller Moss, because I think seeing that it wasn't a fluke in the bowl game, that he has this skill set in a Lincoln Riley offense on a team that has an improved defense, they'll have a real chance to maybe contend in the Big Ten in year one. I think that opens up a lot of opportunities for Miller Moss. And especially just coming off of a when you have a head coach that has coached so many Heisman Trophy winners, you just know that that conversation will be there around him. Um so I would put him in that grouping. But but no, I think it's I think it's the two guys we've been we've been highlighting. I mean, their stat lines are better than a number of teams, entire offenses through week one. So um you got you gotta go with those guys. And I think I think it's absolutely deserved, and I hope they stay in the mix.

SPEAKER_04 38:51

Yeah, one stat I actually uh speaking of Moss, I thought of this morning was you know, in his first two starts as a player, he's beaten two ranked teams away from home, 750 yards in the first two games, 194 efficiency rating, seven touchdowns. I'm just curious if do you know of any players who have or quarterbacks who have had their first two starts away from home and beaten two ranked teams?

SPEAKER_03 39:13

I nothing's coming to mind because it's a the the idea of actually playing like on the road or neutral sites, like for multiple games to start a career seems so rare. Um, but also, yeah, just the the the level of competition that they faced um was just I think really impressive. And so I I love that. And then actually, you know what? I'll give you one more guy who impressed me um coming out of week one, Dylan Rayola. Huge expectations for the five-star freshman starting right away at Nebraska. Um, and he puts up offensive numbers that like that entire offense did not have last year, 200 passing yards. Um, doesn't make mistakes, not turning the ball over. The things that like Nebraska really needs. And they have a huge spotlight game against Colorado this week. So I think I'm gonna give you prediction for, you know, like I'm gonna try to do my little voodoo magic that you guys are doing of looking into the crystal ball. I think that's who we're gonna be talking about coming out of week two.

SPEAKER_04 40:07

You know, that's uh that's a great tab because I've you know, just uh we've been looking at him uh for a while in the offseason just since seeing that spring game. Uh, you definitely look very impressive. So uh Dylan Riola, we're keeping an eye on you too. So looking ahead to next week, uh not a huge week, but we've got a big matchup with uh Texas at Michigan, Tennessee and NC State. Those are the only two matchups between ranked teams, although I don't think we've had the uh reconfigured rankings yet at this point in the recording. Uh, what are you looking forward to the most from for this weekend and those matchups in particular?

SPEAKER_03 40:37

Yeah, I mean, I I think the big questions with Michigan are, you know, about the offensive line and complete turnover, right? Um, at the O-line, but also most of the offense, you know, Colson Loveland, the only returning starter on the offense. And you really saw them struggle. I mean, Fresno State is a good group of five program, but they were really pushing them around at the offensive uh at the line of scrimmage in that opener, which was kind of uncomfortable for a large portion of the game for Michigan and Michigan fans. Um, so they have a lot of work to do. I think they need to figure out like it looked a lot harder for them to run the ball than it has in years past. That's such a staple of the way that Jim Harbaugh and Sharon Moore wanted to win games and control games. And I think that's gonna be a huge challenge against a Texas team that is just loaded, coming off a CFP appearance. They rolled in week one. Um, they're they're just they have all of that continuity and experience and confidence. Yes, they've had some injuries at the running back position on their side, but I just feel like they're so much more ready for this game uh to be here in week two than Michigan, which still needs to figure out a lot of things, including so much turnover on the coaching staff. So I trust the Michigan defense. I think that that versus Quinn Ewers and company will be a fascinating matchup. But you know, if Michigan is getting pushed around when they're on when they have the ball, if they can't run the ball and eat some clock, if they can't keep their offense on the field, um, then it's gonna be a struggle. So that's kind of what I'm focused on in that game. But I think uh we'll we'll learn a lot about both teams. We if Michigan loses, don't have to write them off completely because we know 12-team playoff. But for Texas, like really big opportunity to get a giant feather in the cap uh for their playoff resume. And I I think they're I I think they're gonna win the game. Um I think they're going to make that statement. And uh, I think Quinn Ewers, you know, he's a guy, we we haven't talked about him a ton today, but that's a guy that's obviously in the mix for for the Heisman as well. And I think that he was a huge part of Texas breaking through last year, and they don't have plans to go anywhere. And so I think they're gonna try to make a statement here in Ann Arbor on the road in this environment early in the season.

SPEAKER_04 42:36

Well, certainly if you're a fan of Michigan and you live in Ann Arbor and go to the games, you get in Texas this week and USC a few weeks later, kind of a, you know, just a great series of matchups. Okay, lastly, you've moved on from the athletic to your new job at NBC. Tell us about your new responsibilities, how you're enjoying the new position, where our listeners can find you and on the various platforms.

SPEAKER_03 42:59

Yeah, it's uh it's been great so far. I did some work with NBC last year. So it's kind of just expanding on that and making it the full-time role. Um, so I'm part of our uh Big Ten countdown shows. So these are the pregame shows for the Big Ten uh primetime Saturday night game. We do halftimes as well. We do the pregame and halftimes for all the Notre Dame games and everything that's on Peacock too. So we're, you know, in that halftime uh that you know, don't turn us off in the middle of a peacock game either.

SPEAKER_02 43:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:27

Uh so that's really fun on Saturdays. Get to watch all the games um in our green room with my colleagues and just have like, you know, 16 screens up at all times. So you get to watch everything. And then um, I'm writing a few times a week for nbcsports.com and podcasting uh each week with Joshua Perry, uh former Ohio State national champion, uh, one of my closest friends. So it's a really great mix. I feel like, you know, we were talking about this before we you know started recording, but kind of got to do a little bit of everything these days in media. Um, but this role has all of that. So really excited about it. Um Um, but yeah, you can you, you know, I'll still be on Twitter, I'll be telling you where I am all the time. Um, but Saturday is pretty much, you know, NBC and Peacock all over it all day, start to finish, including we got Boise State, Oregon. So that's gonna be a late game, but we'll be we'll be there, we'll be watching it um and excited to bring that one to you.

SPEAKER_04 44:15

Very exciting uh to see you uh at NBC. Uh, congratulations on the new uh new gig, and we appreciate you coming on and appreciate your insights and uh look forward to talking to you down the road.

SPEAKER_03 44:26

All right, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_04 44:27

And we'll be right back with David Higby of Bridge Lacrosse. Thanks so much for tuning into this week's official Heisman Trophy Podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please take a moment to like, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Your support helps us reach more listeners just like you and keeps us motivated to bring you great content each week. Don't forget to follow us on social media for updates, behind-the-scenes content, and more. Any other feedback or questions, just email us at pod at heisman.com, that's pod at heisman.com, or drop me a note on x.com at Heisman Pundit. You don't need to throw for over 4,000 yards or rush for 2,000 yards to attend the Heisman Gala. That's the annual celebration in New York to honor the Heisman Trophy winner the day after the announcement. Tickets to the gala are open to the public and will go on sale soon, so be sure to keep checking at Heisman.com for information on how to secure your seat and witness Heisman history. David Higbee is the executive director of Bridge Lacrosse, uh, taking over the role in 2011 after becoming involved in the organization as a volunteer coach and serving as a member of the board of directors. David is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma where he received a BS in biomedical sciences and played midfielder for the Oklahoma Club team. David Higbee, thanks for coming on the official Heisman Trophy Podcast.

SPEAKER_06 45:50

Wonderful. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here and uh looking forward to chatting.

SPEAKER_04 45:54

Yeah, it's always a big priority for us to highlight the nature of the trust's humanitarian mission. So we try to feature and promote as many of these great charities as possible. Can you just start by telling us about the mission and vision of Bridge Lacrosse and how it was founded?

SPEAKER_06 46:09

Yeah, absolutely. So the mission of Bridge Lacrosse in the simplest term is to use the sport to help broaden horizons. And so as Lacrosse players and fans, coaches, parents, former players, current players, we all kind of understand that the network of lacrosse and the relationships that come from it are pretty unique. And I think there's opportunities, or we all think there are opportunities from the sport that are pretty unique to the neighborhoods, the demographic that we want to serve. Lacrosse is not a traditionally well-known sport. It's certainly not like football, basketball. And so there's something about having access to the sport that benefits a lot of the kids that we work with greatly. And so our mission is to expose kids and provide them a great relationship, a great, safe and fun environment. Obviously, we'd like them to be competitive and enjoy the sport, but it's really more about the relationships and then obviously the opportunities that come from those.

SPEAKER_04 46:57

And and you're primarily uh you started out at least in the Dallas area. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_06 47:01

That's correct. So Dallas is uh kind of our home base for Bridge Lacrosse. It was founded in kind of a mixed genesis timeline, but you know, we're about 20 years old in terms of programming, organizationally, maybe a little younger. But our founder was a woman who just wanted to see the sport grow. Her daughters played. She'd been very involved in Texas lacrosse, getting it started, obviously a little bit slower to grow here in Texas versus the East Coast and the Northeast. And so she just had a passion for the sport and um really wanted to connect the sport to kids of color and low-income communities. Um, but that that is our Dallas base. We actually very recently branched out to and expanded into Austin. So learning a lot about the Austin landscape, the lacrosse landscape, just making new connections and certainly trying to replicate much of our success and accomplishments in Dallas down to Austin. So it's been a lot of fun to be down there.

SPEAKER_04 47:50

Yeah, you know, in Texas, as you know, football is king. Uh I'm kind of curious. I I feel like lacrosse is one of those sports that if if you are into football um and you play it, it it certainly could could help your uh be a be a addendum to your physical skill set as a football player. I mean, the great Jim Brown, who you know was arguably uh, they say even better as a lacrosse player. It certainly didn't hurt him that he had that uh that toughness. Now, my the what I hear about him is that he just basically barreled over everybody, every play and scored.

SPEAKER_06 48:23

You know, you you go back and find some old clips of him playing, and it is, you know, he's just an absolute monster of an athlete on the field. And lacrosse in in those days was a little bit different. And yeah, he was an absolute force to be reckoned with on the field. And yeah, there are a lot of there's a lot of football players that cross over into lacrosse as a spring sport versus a fall sport. So yeah, we try to pull some of those kids in, and they find a lot of success on the field coming from the white opposition or quarterback position. We have, you know, good number of our current kids are also football players or had grown up playing football.

SPEAKER_04 48:53

Right. Huh. Interesting. So, what challenges did you guys face in the early stages of building out Bridge Lacrosse and how did you guys overcome them?

SPEAKER_06 49:01

Yeah, the you know, the really the biggest hurdle is just the legibility around the sport. Texas, just as a whole, just doesn't have a lot of lacrosse, and and programs 20 years ago were much smaller and much uh much fewer. And so a lot of it was just like going into schools and just showing some, showing kids, families, parents, schools, something that just had never been seen before. And that's changed obviously a lot over time. It's still very much a small sport, it's non-sanctioned in in Texas. Um, it's still kind of predominantly in affluent areas. And so for us, it's you know, how do you expose kids to a sport and get them excited about a sport? And you know, what's the you know, what's the the in-between, right? How do you you go into a school? Here's a lacrostic, I'm coach David, come on out, you know, this weekend and throw around. And yeah, that's a that's a big jump for a lot of kids and and a lot of families when football, soccer, basketball, or you know, those are you know kings of of the sporting world down here in Texas. Um, so it is tough. It is a lot of you know risk taking on behalf of our kids of like, I maybe I'll try something completely new, completely different. And we also we also run into the issue too, where kids maybe have some you know familiarity with the sport, but they see it as kind of the affluent white kids' sport. And so there's definitely kind of a barrier of entry there where kids do believe that, hey, this is not really a sport for me. I'm gonna stick to you know these traditional sports that are offered, you know, in my neighborhood, in my school or you know, rec center. So there is there is a challenge in pulling kids into something that you know is brand new, and I think it takes a little bit of a risk, a risk taking to try it. Um we have a lot of kids who love the sport, but it took a little while for them to develop that passion for the sport.

SPEAKER_04 50:35

Yeah. How many kids do you have involved now in in the sport in the area?

SPEAKER_06 50:38

Yeah, it's a great question. We're kind of an a-carte program, so kids kind of come to us in different seasons, but I believe at the end of this year we'll have worked with roughly about 800 kids. And of those 800, I'd say about 200 to 250 are what we call our core kids, kids that we see at all of our programming, you know, spring season all the way to the end of the uh winter season.

SPEAKER_04 50:57

Yeah. And have you seen any of them go on to get scholarships on the East Coast where where the sport's a lot more popular?

SPEAKER_06 51:06

Yeah, absolutely. One of the things we're really proud of is we do have a group of alumni who are currently playing in college on big campuses, you know, even smaller liberal arts schools, division three, even uh we have one of our first kid, newly grad, who's at an NAIA school, which is starting to pick up lacrosse within kind of their sports universe. So yeah, it's it's a wonderful accomplishment on our part to see our kids mature into really great lacrosse players, go through the recruiting process and find a new home to play lacrosse. One of the things that we do emphasize is hey, if you never pick up a lacrosse stick after you graduate high school, that's totally fine with us. We hope the journey was productive and successful. We hope you loved it along the way. Um, but we're glad that you came through. And if you have an opportunity to be somewhere maybe different or somewhere new that came from Bridge, that's our bigger wins. But absolutely love seeing our kids play college ball. I try to visit as many of them as I can. It's just a fun kind of again maturation of their journey and seeing them go somewhere um, you know, big to play.

SPEAKER_04 52:03

Yeah. You clearly love the sport. You've been involved in it for a long time and you like working with the kids. There must be scores of examples over the years of lacrosse bringing great benefits to the kids. Could you share with us one of those success stories where Bridge Lacrosse made a difference in someone's life?

SPEAKER_06 52:18

Oh, we have tons of these uh stories and anecdotes about just the relationships. I'll share a personal one for me that I think is a great metric of success. Is we just recently had an alum hosted like an alumni happy hour. We've been around long enough to where kids I used to coach as third and fourth graders are now in college, out of college, in the workforce. We actually hosted an alumni happy hour just a couple weeks ago, and we had 30 alums show up, all in different you know, levels of their career or in college. And I'd realized I had coached at one point I'd coached every single one of them. And so to have them all come back in the organization, want to stay involved, want to stay engaged, that was kind of a huge sort of personal win for me. As an organization, you know, we have these just great stories from families and parents that because of the organization, my kid has this opportunity academically or a relationship that came and stemmed from this organization. So, you know, we have kids. I, you know, I go back to from the academic standpoint, exposing our kids to incredible universities that they never knew existed. We had a few kids go off into schools like Notre Dame. We had one girl go up to Dartmouth who had basically found the school from a lacrosse trip that we had taken. And so those are really, really great anecdotes that we'd like to share is that listen, like this is about exposure and this is about sort of broadening the buffet of options for you all. And uh the academic side's obviously very important for us. Um, you know, sm you know, smaller scale. It's just fun to have kindergartners running around with our high school kids and these relationships and building them in a way that's very family-oriented, very, very, excuse me, very family-centric is a big deal for us.

SPEAKER_04 53:48

Yeah, that's awesome. Uh, you sound like the John W. Heisman of Texas Lacrosse at this point. It seems like uh you have your finger in everything around around there when it comes to lacrosse. Speaking of the sport, what are some of the unique aspects of it that make it particularly effective uh for youth development?

SPEAKER_06 54:05

You know, one thing that we love to share, and especially in the recruiting side, is if you have some familiarity with other sports, which obviously most kids do football, basketball, soccer, baseball, you know, a lot of kids they they grow up with some level of exposure to sports. And so what we do is we'll go in and say, hey, listen, if you like football, you know, if you've got if you've got wheels and you can run, hey, I've got a position for you on the field. Um, if maybe you're a smaller player, maybe you're kind of put in that cornerback position, you're not maybe not as tall as the next kid, you know, we've got a place for you. Um we have this really great range of skill set, of athletic types, athletic size that we can inevitably put somebody on the field with whatever level of skill set or athleticism they have. And I think that's the one thing that are that makes lacrosse very unique is that you don't have to actually be the biggest, strongest, fastest. Yeah. We've had players who, you know, maybe not as athletic as you know the next player, you know, the starting quarterback of this team or that team, but they're a great attackmen. They're great on the crease. They don't need to, you know, sprint around 100 miles an hour on the field. We can put them in a single location, they can score goals, they can produce. So things like that are really important to us. It's like this isn't really about coming in with like a strong athletic size type prototype. It's about, you know, what do you have currently and where can we put it on the field? And I think lacrosse has more opportunities like that than maybe other sports.

SPEAKER_04 55:25

Now, I I I may be remembering wrong, but is it now? Is it going to be an Olympic sport in the next Olympics? Is that what I heard?

SPEAKER_06 55:32

Oh, so excited about that. So LA uh in 28, it's coming in as a brand new sport. You know, USA lacrosse, the international lacrosse scene has been you know growing you know exponentially, and this is the the big kind of moment, the big breaking point for the sport. So LA in 2028, hoping to make my way out there, see some of these teams go. And you know, obviously USA lacrosse is going to be a dominant force, but it's it's really fun to watch you know these smaller teams, smaller countries really develop great lacrosse programs. Uh Japan, obviously, Canada is a big, uh, a big power player, but you know, Israel's got a great team. You've got these small Mexico, Brazil. Um, you know, there was a uh the Ugandan team a few years ago in the World Games was the darling of the whole tournament. Um their unique journey into the world of lacrosse out of Uganda. Um so yeah, the international scene's growing and the Olympics is uh is obviously kind of the pinnacle of uh of that type of uh environment that we want.

SPEAKER_04 56:26

Yeah, and it's gotta be a little bit of a selling point if there's any kids out there who have dreams of being an Olympian and you know who who are practical about about the nature of the challenges and the competition that it takes. If you're looking at a sport that's relatively undeveloped in in the US and and you can uh have a chance to get involved with it from an early age, um, then certainly this uh probably be makes you uh gives you a much higher chance of becoming an Olympian than if you were uh doing basketball or or uh track and field or you know, it's just one of those things where where it's kind of a great opportunity at the right time.

SPEAKER_06 57:04

Absolutely. I I'll tell you the number of you know, during the Olympics and they were starting to kind of announce that you know this is kind of the future of the sport in the international scene, you know, probably no less than a dozen text messages from my high school kids of, hey coach, I'm gonna win a gold medal, and you know, I can't wait to play for the in the 28 games when I'm at that age level. So cool. It it's a lot of fun, and it really kind of brings the the sport together uh in a fun way for us, of just kind of adding a new, you know, raising the ceiling essentially for a lot of the sport and certainly for our kids.

SPEAKER_04 57:32

So, how do you measure the success of your programs, both in terms of the athletic achievement and also the broader life skills?

SPEAKER_06 57:39

Yeah, it's it's a you know, it's a hard, it's a it's a hard metric, right? Of you know, how do you know that what you're inputting into these kids is gonna ultimately lead them to some level of success, and and there's no perfect metric for what a successful adult looks like or a successful childhood looks like. And you know, for us, it's we ultimately just want to make sure that you know these all the kids that come to organization took advantage of all the opportunities and you know, perhaps they're in an opportunity, they're in an avenue, a career, a relationship that they wouldn't have otherwise had. And so one thing that we do to kind of measure that kind of on the short and midterm is social emotional learning and intelligence. So we kind of do the surveys and we put the data together and have you know much smarter people than myself analyze all that information and come back with a nice little dashboard and say, hey, you know, what you're doing for these kids is making a difference. They're more confident, they're more short of their college readiness, they have um greater social capital because of Bridge Lacrosse. And so kind of anecdotally, we have other you know great stories in that, but the data that we have from those um from this organization we partner with is pretty important to us as well.

SPEAKER_04 58:42

That's awesome. Uh, what role do partnerships, uh like the one you have with the Heisman Trophy, uh, what role do they play in advancing uh your organization's goals?

SPEAKER_06 58:50

I I mean partnerships are huge. And you know, we are obviously a very small organization, one now two cities, and and so to partner with organizations that have the name recognition, that have this you know massive fan base and branding, uh it's crucial for us. You know, we can't grow without partners who can help kind of you know help raise us up in a in a lot of ways. And the Heisman Tropry Trust has certainly been a huge factor in that. In fact, the first um grant we received really helped us catalyze a lot of our growth. Um, it can't they came in at a great time, great partnership, and they were help us, they were able to help us uh scale a lot of our capacity. So partnerships are huge, and and we continue to look for big name partners that can again elevate what we do kind of you know on the on the ground.

SPEAKER_04 59:35

That's wonderful. Can you discuss some of the current initiatives or future projects that Bridge Lacrosse is focusing on?

SPEAKER_06 59:42

So I'll I'll tell you the two that we're really excited about is obviously we're a lacrosse organization. It is our tool, it is our vehicle, it is what we spend the majority of our time with our kids in and on the field with lacrosse tech. Uh, one thing that we're getting better at and stronger at is our off-field programming. It's the academic resources, it's the you know, sort of informal mentorship that we're trying to build out, it's the college readiness program, it's the workshops, and then it's even just the enrichment programs that we run. These are kind of our, you know, almost like field trips. You know, we take kids rock climbing, we take them to cultural museums and the aquarium, we took a group to do some college visits. Those are really important to us right now because it's a way to build a you know, this culture away from the lacrosse field. And so those have been really fun for us. We're our hope over the next few years is to grow out the off-field programming to where it's in line in terms of dosage and participation with our lacrosse programming. And then second to that, it's it's Austin. Austin is still brand new for us. We're still learning the ins and outs of the of the city. Um, but again, we want to replicate a lot of our success um in Dallas down to Austin. And you know, I'm sure there's some other expansion that's um been planted somewhere else, and and Texas is obviously a uh a great market to grow organizations like ours.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:53

Sounds like a lot's going on uh with uh bridge the cost right now. What advice, finally, what advice would you give to other nonprofit leaders who are working to make a difference in underserved communities, especially when it comes to uh being involved with sports as well?

SPEAKER_06 1:01:09

Oh, uh, you know, honestly, it it's you have great coaches and find great coaches who care about the kids, who, you know, they may not be the best at the X's and O's, they may not have been, you know, a former pro or collegiate player. Um, we do really well with finding coaches who just really care about these kids. They care about the mission organization, they want to input their you know, love and passion for a game and a sport into the next generation and a generation that has traditionally been left out of um you know the lacrosse landscape. So we have incredible coaching staff, we have incredible volunteers that come through. We want to support and cultivate them as much as possible. I can only coach so many teams in a day. And so having these incredible volunteers and coaching coaches come to us and say, hey, I want to give back and give back to an organization that's doing something pretty different is pretty substantial. So find those coaches, find those volunteers. Um, you know, don't limit them. You know, they want we have volunteers who want to continually do more and more. And so if they have an idea, we let them run with it. So it's been it's been a lot of fun to see our staffing ranks grow, our volunteer ranks grow, um, because they it is crucial to our mission.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:12

Yeah. How can people get involved with Bridget Cross, whether it's through volunteering or giving?

SPEAKER_06 1:02:18

I mean, a little bit of everything, right? So a nonprofit like ours obviously sustains itself with financial support and donations. Again, you know, referring back to the Heisman Trophy Trust as a as a great sponsor and supporter of ours. Um, we have a website, obviously, with you know, a way to give and find out more about how to potentially sponsor a team or you know, give to our you know, enrichment program. Um, the other thing is advocating, you know, we have a smaller footprint and we have organizations out there that um we'd love to connect with. So, you know, whether it's your company, whether it's another nonprofit group that does something similar, we love to work with anyone we can because we just know kind of a rising tide lifts all shifts. And that's that's been a lot of our mentality is you know, who we can't do this by ourselves. We have to work with schools, we have to work with community centers, you know, reach out to us, we'll reach out to you and build something uh, you know, kind of together. And then and then finally, yeah, the volunteering. If you even have um a little bit of lacrosse background, if you want to learn more about lacrosse um and being a part of the organization, we can absolutely put you on the field, we'll put a stick in your hands and and you know, put you out on the field with kids. Um we have coaches in our organization who have moved up the food chain, had been around for a while. They have almost, they started with almost no understanding of lacrosse. One of my best coaches had never played the sport before, but just was incredible with kids, great passion for the work, and eventually just kind of learned how to coach and play the sport on his own accord, um, remains one of my best coaches. And so we we kind of make the joke that knowing anything about lacrosse does not um you know prevent you from coaching lacrosse in bridge.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:48

Right. Well, that's not you know, it's yeah, I'm pretty hyped up now. I'm ready to go grab a stick and get out and play. I've never played before, but it looks like fun.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:56

It's easy to get started. We can get you started right away. So it's a lot of fun, and we have again a lot of volunteers who love what we do, and and we try to support them as much as we can so they can support our kids.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:05

Well, the Heisman Trophy Trust is definitely excited to uh, you know, for to be a part of uh what you guys do, to be a partner with you guys. And uh David Higby, uh, we are uh really excited to have heard everything you you had to say about uh your organization and uh look forward to uh touch and base with you down the road.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:25

Absolutely. Thanks again, Chris. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:28

Did you know that the Heisman Trophy Trust has donated more than $20 million to a huge variety of charity-based groups via its Heisman Trophy Fund for Youth Development? That's right. The fund has helped countless charitable organizations that use sports to engage underprivileged young people in educational activities. If you are part of an organization or know of one, that would like to apply for funding, visit Heisman.com and click on the charities link at the top of the site. Well, that's gonna do it for this week's episode. Thanks to Boise State and Ashton Genty for coming on, thanks to Nicole Auerbach, thanks to David Higby over at Bridge Lacrosse. Be sure to come back next week, and we'll have another great guest in Missouri wide receiver Luther Burton. Have a great week. The official Heisman Trophy podcast streams every Wednesday during the college football season, and it's hosted, co-produced, edited, and engineered by Chris Houston. Paul Goldberg is the executive producer and editor. Special shout out to Isaac Lohnencrock, and big thanks to the Heisman Trophy Trust and its executive director, Rob Whalen, and Associate Director Tim Henning. The official Heisman Trophy Podcast can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, and anywhere you listen to your favorite podcast. You can also find clips of our show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Just go to Heisman Trophy.