Quest for Success
Victor Leva | From NFL Glory to Coaching Future Stars: A Tale of Passion, Mentorship, and Life Lessons from the Gridiron
Victor Leva's legacy reaches far beyond the football field, and as we welcome him to our podcast, he shares a lifetime of wisdom from his journey as an NFL player to a coach and Highway Patrol Officer. The heartbeat of his story is the dedication to the sport and the relentless spirit he champions, serving both as a guide to young athletes and a testament to the power of passion. As he reminisces about the influence of sports titans like Pat Tillman and Tom Brady, Victor's narrative becomes a playbook for success, full of strategies for not just winning games, but winning at life.
Stride alongside Victor as he recounts his serendipitous introduction to football, his evolution into a disciplined multi-sport athlete, and the pivotal role his coaches played in his personal and professional growth. The conversation moves from the exhilarating challenges of high school athletics to the demanding balance of college sports at Arizona State, providing an insider's look at the sheer perseverance it takes to succeed on and off the field. Victor's story is a celebration of the human spirit, as he shares the trials of his NFL career, the intellectual demands of professional play, and the enduring love for the game that powered him through each transition.
Now, as a coach and mentor, Victor Leva continues to shape the future of sports, instilling resilience and a love for the game in our youth. He offers an unvarnished perspective on the rewards and struggles of coaching, emphasizing the value of multi-sport participation and the evolving landscape of youth athletics. His dedication to the community is unmistakable as he discusses the importance of being a positive role model and the profound impact sports can have on young lives. Victor's journey is not just a chronicle of athletic achievement but a beacon of inspiration, highlighting the influence one individual can have on future champions.
Quest for Success Links | https://linktr.ee/questforsuccess
Victor Leva's legacy reaches far beyond the football field, and as we welcome him to our podcast, he shares a lifetime of wisdom from his journey as an NFL player to a coach and Highway Patrol Officer. The heartbeat of his story is the dedication to the sport and the relentless spirit he champions, serving both as a guide to young athletes and a testament to the power of passion. As he reminisces about the influence of sports titans like Pat Tillman and Tom Brady, Victor's narrative becomes a playbook for success, full of strategies for not just winning games, but winning at life.
Stride alongside Victor as he recounts his serendipitous introduction to football, his evolution into a disciplined multi-sport athlete, and the pivotal role his coaches played in his personal and professional growth. The conversation moves from the exhilarating challenges of high school athletics to the demanding balance of college sports at Arizona State, providing an insider's look at the sheer perseverance it takes to succeed on and off the field. Victor's story is a celebration of the human spirit, as he shares the trials of his NFL career, the intellectual demands of professional play, and the enduring love for the game that powered him through each transition.
Now, as a coach and mentor, Victor Leva continues to shape the future of sports, instilling resilience and a love for the game in our youth. He offers an unvarnished perspective on the rewards and struggles of coaching, emphasizing the value of multi-sport participation and the evolving landscape of youth athletics. His dedication to the community is unmistakable as he discusses the importance of being a positive role model and the profound impact sports can have on young lives. Victor's journey is not just a chronicle of athletic achievement but a beacon of inspiration, highlighting the influence one individual can have on future champions.
Quest for Success Links | https://linktr.ee/questforsuccess
All right. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Quest for Success podcast. Today we have on a former professional NFL player for the Cincinnati Bengals spent some time with the Dolphins Patriots Arena Football League as well. He's currently a Highway Patrol and a coach at Portable High School. He spent a lot of time coaching with different programs. We're super excited, grateful, to have on Victor Leva to the podcast. Thank you for taking the time to be with us today. We're excited to kind of share your story and share some insight. Oh, thank you guys.
Speaker 2:Thank you guys for welcoming me yeah.
Speaker 3:Thank you for making the visit. Every episode. Mental minute questions. Get the juices flowing, right, here we go. So you know, as athletes, we all approach the game a little bit different, right? How did you approach the game of football?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, it's just something that I fell right in love with. You know, from day one I got out there and it was challenging, it was hard, it was just something that, like I said, I fell in love with and my approach to it was just wanting to be the best out there, wanting to work hard, and from a early age, you know, I was able to learn those lessons. So every time I stepped foot at practice games or whatnot, I just, you know, I want to try my hardest, I wanted to succeed, I wanted to do good by the team.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You might bring the mic just a little closer. Yeah, probably like a little bit.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, you got to bring it pretty close yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, Second question what isn't the most important thing, or what's the most important thing? I guess you learned playing football throughout your journey. You know you've played at Arizona State all Pac-10 player of the year. How many times?
Speaker 2:I was all Pac-10 first team, one time First team. Yeah yeah, auto-roaming. And you were a four-year starter for the Sun.
Speaker 1:Devils yes. So when you played at the professional level, what are some of the things that you kind of took away and you learned from the game of football?
Speaker 2:You know, just never give up mentality. I think that's been in grain at every level, you know high school, college and in the league. It's that never give up mentality, it's to always get back up, always fight for your spot. You know all those good things that we've all heard about with football. I just learned that. You know hard work does matter. I guess another important thing and I, you know I bring that to light now when I coach particularly you know, the youth and whatnot, because it's in an age where they're starting to mold themselves and that's one of the most important things that you know you can give to them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so high school, college NFL. You know I'm sure you've had some people that are giving you some sound advice. What would you say is one that comes to the very top of your head right now? What is some advice that somebody gave you about playing the game of football that you still remember today?
Speaker 2:And again, it's something that you learn throughout. You know all your years playing, but it's all about. You have to have some level of talent, obviously physicality, but the thing that always stays in my mind is your heart. You have to have the heart and the love for it, and that's what actually, ultimately, is going to get you through everything you know, and. I just kept that so I went through. You know, high school, throughout the league. It's the heart, and how much you have to give to the game to be successful.
Speaker 3:You had a lot of pride in everything you did.
Speaker 1:You played with a lot of you know hall of famers, different pro-wollers and whatnot, but who was like a player, whether it's at the high school, college level or the professional level that like made, like, made people better around them that you kind of remember playing with and was like. That was it? That was a dude like.
Speaker 2:Real easy in college. I'll start with college Pat Tilman. You know I got to play with Pat Tilman. I actually got to be on the field within one year, two years with him at Arizona State. But he talked about the love of the game, how guys like that just make everybody around them better just with how they act, how they carry themselves out there, that 110% drive practice, the games and just how they carry themselves even in school.
Speaker 2:I mean you see it through all aspects of their life. And then the NFL. It's easy also because I played with a lot of you know, I've been around a lot of good guys. But I mean, we all know Tom Brady and I got I was very fortunate to be a little, spend a little bit of time with New England and just seeing how he carried himself and everything that you've heard about him is true, you know, seeing it firsthand, like I. You know, my first day there I had to show up at what was it like five in the morning and I show up to the weightlifting, you know, to get all my stuff set up. And I come into a gym, just kind of like this, you know, and I go in there and at the very back there's one guy working out and it's him and you're still, you know, even in the league you're still like starstruck.
Speaker 1:Right. Oh, that's Brady right.
Speaker 2:And you know, and right when he saw me walking in there, I was talking with my weightlifting coach and whatnot. He saw me walking in there, comes right up to me and he knew my name. He said are you doing, victor? Good to have you here. You know, and I kind of remember all the little things, but I'm just sitting there like the heck you know, and yeah, and in my name.
Speaker 2:He knew the position of either Lyman, you know, and it was just stuff like that that just made me feel great about the end. And I mean, you can tell, you know, why he's so successful. Sure, so much attention to detail. And I was, you know, I was a guy that got released. I didn't play as much in the league, but he knew exactly what I was.
Speaker 1:He knew everything about me, you know, and I've never met the guy before, yeah, anyway, Going back to Pat Tillman he was coming in when you were going out, or other way around.
Speaker 2:No, he was on his way out. Yeah, he's on his way out.
Speaker 1:So for those people that don't know who, especially the younger generation doesn't know who Pat Tillman is, kind of briefly share who I guess he was and kind of what he did, because he's selling every year, you know you, not just Arizona State celebrates him, but the NFL, the military world, and you don't have to go into all the details, but kind of like just a brief summary of what his story was.
Speaker 2:Well, he's a high moral guy. He played football for the love of the game. He didn't play it for any kind of personal accolades or anything like that. He's just a would you say, a great, all around guy. When he, you know, he's a undersized type guy too. He was playing linebacker with us at Arizona State at what was Pat like 510, 200 pounds maybe, but, like I said, he was just on it, just nonstop type guy.
Speaker 2:So when he got to the NFL he's under underway whatever you want, under size, whatever you call it that through his hard work and everything you know, he got himself to the starting position with the events that were happening at that point in time, with, you know, the wars and whatnot. Basically, he was on his transition year for his second contract and NFL Arizona Right, yeah, so he. He felt very strongly about the politics of what was going on with the wars and all that stuff. So he basically gave up his NFL career and listed in the army and you know from there, you know I don't know how long he was in there before, you know, he lost his life and whatever event it was. So, yeah, so he was that type of guy, had a lot of pride for everything did football, his personal life and obviously his country.
Speaker 1:Selfless, selfless yeah, service guy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. So we like asking this question right, explain, you know, to everybody that's going to be listening to this and viewing this. You know your childhood, your upcoming, you know when, when a football you know get introduced to you and things like that you know.
Speaker 2:Well, it's a. My family is not a very sports family.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:I mean, you know, I have little glimpses of like my brother's playing like what water pool, maybe cross country, my sister's playing tennis, but it was never something that was out. We never sat and watched the baseball game, we never sat and watched the football game, so sports kind of was just something right.
Speaker 3:Sure.
Speaker 2:Through elementary school we had, you know, we had basketball, we had flag football. So I was always very interested in that. I always participated, but just kind of it's like just a hobby. So fun funny story is just the summer before my freshman year my now father-in-law told my now brother-in-law to call me and see if I wanted to join football at Menachie. And before that I was like one's football. I had no idea One football. So you know, nobody in my family played or whatnot. So that was my starting football. My, basically my now father-in-law drove over to my house, dragged me out of there, took me to Menachie and that's how I got started with football.
Speaker 1:Full circle, so started late for youths football.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, so when did you develop, victor Like? When did you get that gross prayer? Were you always somewhat of a big guy? I was always a bigger guy, yeah, I was always bigger.
Speaker 2:I was about six, one and eighth grade. I always felt like I could compete. You know, even in that sense, I always felt like I was okay playing basketball you know, doing little stuff like that. But I'll tell you what my first couple of days out there in the freshman field. It was bad. I was getting my butt wub, the little guys just getting underneath me, you know, driving me out whatnot.
Speaker 3:Was it because you weren't a physical guy, or was it more of the form and the technique that you, you know they had on top of you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely it was more of the form, the technique. I was still kind of like, oh, do I hit this guy, do I not hit?
Speaker 1:him.
Speaker 2:You know cause all my life I was the big guy and all my life I had my mom telling me to be nice, don't hit that guy. So I had that. And then, once it clicked for me it was actually, you know, some of the freshman coaches that I had One state kind of allowed me to hit that switch. Oh, watch out. And then, yeah. So then that's when it became easier, yeah, easier for me.
Speaker 1:And you wrestled at a high level, right yeah, you went to state.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you wrestled. And when did you find track or throw in the shot? Put it to discus.
Speaker 2:Well, I know you guys had Jim Short here and so I did football and then Drew Williams was the head coach. Jim Short, I think at that time, was just helping out or I don't know what involvement he had, but he was always there. So it was just a transition. You know, they're like, hey, wrestling will help you with football, vice versa, and it was kind of. You know, I saw a lot of my teammates also go into wrestling. So it's just the thing that you did. You progressed to a different sport to learn a different skill.
Speaker 2:So I did that and I did that for four years. I did a wrestle one year in varsity because we also had a really good heavyweight at the time. It was very successful too. But so track kind of happened kind of by mistake, because I originally went out for baseball, because I used to play a little bit of baseball in elementary school and stuff like that. So that kind of transition. I went out for baseball and one of the coaches there, I think, had some health complications, that he was out there for a while. So I look out in the field and I see some of the guys throwing discus and I was like, oh, that's kind of interesting. So then I was kind of looking and I saw a couple of my friends over there so I asked about it and they're like, yeah, come on on. So that's how that started. So then I just kept that through.
Speaker 1:And you're a big advocate for pushing athletes to play multiple sports. I see stuff you post the conversations you and I have had out on track and things like that, with you helping our Burton track program and your kids kind of coming through there and growing that program. But you're a big advocate for getting kids to play multiple sports, whether it's wrestling to help football, track to help football and all those things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I mean I think it's just. I think all sports, for one reason or another, complement each other. So you learned a lot from wrestling that you can give back to football, right, and you learned a lot from wrestling that you give back to track and I mean advice versus with other sports basketball, even swimming. So all these sports have a lot to do with each other and I mean we don't think about it that way, but if you're a better wrestler or if you work hard as a wrestler, it's going to translate to football and other things, because of the balance, because of the strength, because of all the physicalities of it, and I mean all these sports complement each other really well. So that's why I believe, especially at the young age, kids should be introduced to a variety of things.
Speaker 3:Exposed.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Exposed and then ultimately I mean you never know, you know there could be a guy getting a scholarship about wrestling where he wouldn't be able to get a scholarship in track or football or whatever you know, or whatnot. So there's all that stuff that goes hand in hand with each other. So I definitely believe in that. Yeah, I mean don't ask me about travel teams or stuff like that, but now I mean there's some good stuff to that too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you mentioned a few coaches earlier. You know who are some coaches that had a large impact on your career.
Speaker 2:Well, right away in high school, see, when I went to, when I went to Menachie I just was very fortunate to go to Menachie at the time that it was, without a doubt, it was Menachie's golden age and football, wrestling definitely, and other sports also. So Mike Anderson had established the football program. What's establishing the football program? You know, probably a couple of years before I got there it was so he was starting that. So when I got in there, I mean we had everything you know, we had the mindset, we had the commitment. He held kids accountable. We had the machine in the weight room that was just producing, producing.
Speaker 2:I mean, if you look back, I mean there's so many guys that throughout his as a coach there's so many players that D1 scholarships, so many players not only for football but other sports. So I went to Menachie at a time where it was just, you know, nice place to be. Everything was working. Then we'd go from football to wrestling, which wrestling was just, you know, and it's heyday also with Drew Williams. So I was very fortunate for that. So I take a lot from coach Anderson who instilled all this the mindset, the accountability. That's where you see your coaches there all the time. You see your coaches working hard. They're not just there, they're working hard, and that you know. Obviously other sports have that too, so it's very fortunate.
Speaker 1:How about at the college and professional level? Were there some coaches that had a huge impact on you, not just with football, but those kind of leadership skills and also like the coaching, coaching style that they had?
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, you know, and it's such a, there's so much competition all the way around with coaches and whatnot. But yeah, definitely, in college my coach, dan Zetto he's my old line coach at Arizona State and just the level of toughness I mean you're talking about this guy was mean. This guy was just mean, loving and just brought out the best in you. I mean it's the type of guy that one day you're so mad at him and then the next day you just want to hug him.
Speaker 1:Love hate relationship. It's tough love baby, but they get everything out of you.
Speaker 2:So I mean, he's one of those coaches that, yeah, I needed that. When I was going through, I needed the yelling, I needed the, you know, the, not the put downs, but I needed that. I needed somebody to put things in perspective for me to work harder. So, and it's another one, dan Zetto, but you know there's so many other coaches yeah, the strong criticism, sometimes players don't take it that way yeah definitely so.
Speaker 3:going from from high school right to the division one level, what was the greatest challenge and transition in that? You know, maybe it could be the physicality or, whatever the case may be, the academics part of it, but what was the biggest challenge for you?
Speaker 2:You know, the biggest challenge for me was just leaving home, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, because I was. I was 18. I was never. I think Arizona was the first time that I went out of the state, and so I actually I took a recruiting trip there, and I tell people this all the time too. You know, I'm going up the escalator, I'm by myself, you know, you're all freaked out, and they had two of the guys waiting for me. You know some of the players over there already Juan Roque, glyn Gable which are monsters, or six, eight, six, six. So I'm coming up the escalator, I'm looking at these guys and I'm just thinking I'm never going to play, you know, because I feel like you know, I have size. But you're looking at those guys and you're like, wow, you know. But then getting there, you know, it's obviously you got to.
Speaker 2:I came from a good program, so I renew to work hard. I renew to have a good mindset. I renew that nothing is easy. You always have to work for what you have. So, being there, I didn't have a struggle with that part, because I already knew that. But yeah, just being away from home, having everything so structured and getting used to that, you don't have any time off, it's you know, it's just it's new.
Speaker 3:Yeah, how were those days?
Speaker 1:So once you got to Arizona State, you know you're playing in the pack 10 at the time High level conference. What's that whole, what's your day to day kind of look like and the structure of that? I mean, you're having to not just attend class but you're having to go to lifting and your scheduled practices as well as traveling that whole thing. So was that difficult for you and kind of, what are those days that look like during the season?
Speaker 2:Well, depending on what point of the year it is, it's yeah, it's time consuming. It's very structured. If you're talking about off season, it's waking up at six in the morning doing your workouts. We call them mat drills. Or we got together as a team, it's like a team building thing, but it's at six in the morning You're doing drills, working together, doing that stuff. Coming back, going to study hall and then talk about eating. Eating is a hassle because you don't have time. You have to go to school and if you don't get to the chow hall in time, then you're gonna miss out your first meal and then you know that. So the time constraint is just bearable sometimes, and then during the season, during the season is even worse, because now you have practice, now you're tired, now you're hurting all the time. So, yeah, definitely it's depending on what time of the season it is. It's just nonstop and I mean there's different time frames and stuff like that, but yeah, it's all day and probably a little different time back when you play.
Speaker 1:I mean, things have definitely come a long ways, especially in the big conferences, whether from the nutrition. You see these weight rooms now, it's like state of the art weight rooms kitchens and state of the art. So I'm sure that those things, especially in the last 10 years, have come so far to help the athletes stay, to help get any type of advantage right, cause everyone else is doing it, you gotta be doing it too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. I mean, like you said, the weight room when I was there. It's a nice weight room, by far the best weight room I've been to when I was there, and then they redid that whole thing, so now, yeah, it's twice as big. I mean you're talking about everything you could ever. Now they have an indoor facility when we're there. You know, in Arizona is hot, you're in there and 120 degree practices. But you know, times change and still interesting, still fun.
Speaker 3:Clearly you were a good athlete, right. How were you with the academics? Were you a good student as well?
Speaker 2:I will not lie, I struggled a lot. And it wasn't that I struggled, it was because I wanted all my time to go into sports. And I say struggle only because you know I wasn't, you know, the 4.0 kid. I wasn't you know that type of kid. I was always more interested in the physical stuff. I always wanted to work out, I always wanted to practice. So I didn't struggle in that. I didn't, you know, do my classes. I graduated in four years. Like I was opposed to, I took a year of the master's program in college.
Speaker 2:So I just say struggle, because it was something that I didn't at the time was drawn to. Everything was just based on your sports and I mean, but for me, I mean I needed that.
Speaker 3:I needed that.
Speaker 1:It was required it was non-negotiable you had to do school in order to do this?
Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:So you also threw the shot putting discus at Arizona State correct? Yeah, I did so. What was that like? Because I mean, but you know that's pretty hard to play one sport, let alone be a multi-sport athlete at the division one colleges level, in the pack 12, or in the pack 10 at Arizona State. So how were you able to manage that and what was that kind of experience like being a multi-sport athlete at the division one level?
Speaker 2:Well, first of all, I had to kind of beg to be able to go play no kidding To ever to be able to go off for track, because yeah once you're in the track you're committed to your program, and then your coaches. Anything else you do, they see it as Elaborability possibly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, liability you're taken away from it. You know I had to explain hey, what's track? It's just going out there, it's throwing, it's not running, it's nothing physical. But I did it for the one year and it was just. You know, I love track. You know I love track and I love shot and disc and all that. But it was hard because I was still expected to do all the football stuff and then in the limited time off that I had then I could go do track. So I did it for the whole, for I did it for one season. I started going for my second year but then at that point I kind of realized that I have to focus on football if I'm gonna keep going with football, which I would have loved to have kept going with track. But you know it was just one of those things, but you know I was fortunate I did it for one year.
Speaker 2:I thought I did pretty decent. I still saw a lot of potential that I could have you know fixed or I could have done better with that, but I mean I did it for the year.
Speaker 3:You knew what was required, then we'd get to the next level, though for football.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, yeah, you have to make a choice.
Speaker 1:When you're playing at that level, it's take such a high, it's such so demanding, right? You start spreading yourself then and it's like you've seen that vision of wanting to go to the league and play professionally. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3:It's very hard, or almost damn near impossible, to be two great things at once. Oh yeah, of course so, but you know, sometimes more isn't necessarily always better, right Cause? I'm sure I mean, while you already said it earlier, before the podcast even started, you dealt with the injuries. You know what were some of the injuries that you had to. You know that you went through.
Speaker 2:You know, in college string growing, string hamstrings, kind of minor stuff, calves, you know, and then obviously your fingers get sprained here and there being this alignment and stuff like you learn to deal with it. You learn to kind of play around some of these injuries Mm-hmm. But you know it's just part of the game.
Speaker 3:No surgeries or anything like that.
Speaker 2:I didn't have any surgeries through football, Just like I said, well, in college was like those strings, I missed a couple of halves of the games that come back and you know you learn to play with pain, which is super hard, super tough. But you know, moving forward to the NFL, that's where those little things started kind of. You know getting more and more Adding up, yeah, adding up yeah. Really kind of limiting, you know, my time there with that.
Speaker 1:So so you're eventually going to get drafted in the fifth round to the Cincinnati Bengals, but to in your career at Arizona State. I mean, obviously, like we kind of mentioned before, you're playing in a, you know, a Power Five conference. What was kind of the difference that you noticed between the guys that had a potential to go play professional football and the guys that didn't? I mean, sometimes I guess it's out of their control, the physicality of it, but with, like, work ethic, what were some of those character traits and also athletic traits that really set the guys that kind of in their career there and the guys that move on, you know, and it's what I call finish.
Speaker 2:It's how I grade the kids, even though that I coach them. It's a stat on our board when we're watching film and it's one of the categories. That's your finish block and I think that you know, along with technique and stuff, that's one of the things that differentiate you from somebody else because, for example, you're running a play and you can do your assignment, you can do your block, but what are you gonna do extra? You're gonna run down field. Are you gonna take your guy? Are you gonna move them all the way down the field? Are you gonna run down field make a play? It's that finish. It's that extra little bit of drive that people look for, and I mean that does translate to everything else.
Speaker 3:How you?
Speaker 2:work at this in the weight room, how hard you're gonna work at practice, and it's one of those things that, like said, it differentiates and makes somebody more likable, more coachable. So that's probably the biggest thing. It's just the level of these guys, how much more they're gonna be willing to give every play.
Speaker 1:Cause I mean everyone's good at that level. I mean if you're playing D1 football in the pack 12 or back 10 at the time, or any Power Five conference, or I mean really anywhere in the country you're good.
Speaker 3:So we kind of covered, you know, your transition from high school to college. Right, you're going up the escalator and you see these six, eight guys. Right Now you're going to the NFL. You're gonna introduce to that. What was the transition like? Going from the D1 level now to the NFL.
Speaker 2:Now you're getting into the speed of the game, because there is quite a big difference in speed. I mean, you think in college you know guys are big, they're strong, but then you get there and everybody's big, strong, athletic, but then it's just the speed. It's just like another notch. I use this story, you know I played a couple of times against Warren Sapp, you know, just a bad ass for that or yeah, no.
Speaker 2:You know, I didn't get to block him a whole lot, you know, likely, but I've seen that guy. If you look at him and I'll just use him for example, just because he's a big-time guy If you look at him, you're like man, this guy, how can he move like this? You know cuz, yeah, he's big and everything. Yeah, you know You're just like wondering how this move that fast. But then I've seen him run down, running backs from behind. You know, just from his effort, just from that finish, that we're talking about the guys taking off.
Speaker 2:I mean he could have been like other guys, just standing back there and just kind of let, but now this guy would go after him Tackling, running backs from behind, which is kind of crazy. So that speed that you that you don't know how these guys can actually do it when I was in the Bengals. To the guys over there I will name their names because they're my friends on Facebook but one of the guys that they're both linemen one of the guys is trim. He's one of the most trim guys you know as far as linemen. He's 295, just probably has like 8% body fat. Then we have another guy that's he's probably I don't know 350, about 2070% body fat.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it is that a race, you would think the guy that looks like the part right yeah right, no, the other guy, you know, just smoke them in a 50-yard race and that's wild cuz.
Speaker 3:It's one thing to watch it on TV. It's another thing to be on the same field as these guys, right?
Speaker 1:so so I mean, what was you? Obviously get draft. What's a whole experience like Going getting drafted In the fifth round and then kind of starting your career in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals? You're obviously. How long were you with the Bengals?
Speaker 2:I was there. I got released the beginning of my fourth season so I made the team my fourth year. I got released at the beginning of the season around that time. But I mean it was just all the prep going into draft, going into the draft to go to the combine or, yeah, doing all that stuff.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's just a process, your your mindsets for it, you know you. Finally, I was in Arizona. I just wanted to be by myself. So I was in Arizona Watching the draft and I was kind of thinking third or fifth round just from what I've heard. And then the first day I kind of knew I wasn't getting on the first day. So funny is, the next day I kind of overslept a little bit. I woke up and it was already at the end of the fourth and I was like what the hell? So I'm looking at it.
Speaker 2:You know, you feel a little bit disappointed, sure. But then at the same time You're just anxious. I'm just sitting there, watching, watching, watching and no phone calls, nothing. I talked to my agent the day before and all that, but not a call. So I'm just sitting there and then all of a sudden you see your name come through and you're like, okay, now I got a big old, you know, relief, sense of relief. Then, right after your name gets called, you get the phone call, you know, welcoming you, so it's after like your name is called there.
Speaker 2:So then after that you get a little bit of relief. Now you have focus. Now, okay, and I got so many months to go out there, get ready, so you go into focus with that and then, obviously, getting there is just you know, the shock, just kind of like the shock I got to college from high school. Now it's another shock, right.
Speaker 1:Because you still have to make the, the. Oh yeah, the 53 man roster go through preseason.
Speaker 2:You're trying to, I mean the tryout still yeah oh yeah, I mean you know the, the, nothing is guaranteed. I mean we, you know first, second round guys. I mean I know people talked about they do get a little bit of more leeway because they're sure more money invested and when? Not the later round, guys, yeah, you still have to make the team, you still have to go through all the stuff and you know you're not guaranteed any position. So it is very, very stressful, yeah.
Speaker 3:You. So we kind of covered you know the whole transition things. You know College these dudes are big now. Nfl these dudes are fast now you obviously you got to do your part to make sure that you keep up and stay on top of your game, right. So off seasons and things like that I'm assuming that you were big on the weight room right and training and off seasons and things like that. You know, can you talk to us about your style of training and things that you did to keep yourself on top?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know. Okay. So back in high school, like I said, I was fortunate to be in the program, I mean our waylifting coach. We had a waylifting coach.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Terry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I mean that was just so nice because back then was bigger, faster, strong.
Speaker 3:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:So we had that already and then when I got to college it was a powerlifting type of format. So we're, we're big, we're strong and then going to, and then so you're building. You know you're building through your early years once you get to the league. Now you're, you are building, but you're more on the sense of Not rehab but kind of keeping yourself at a decent level, because you're at that point you just want to maintain, you want to alleviate any of your little injuries looking for longevity?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you train a little bit different. You get off of the heavy weights Right. You start doing all the little things that you never did before working on your hamstrings, working on your flexibility, your shoulders, just thanks to pro long your career.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean because you're now coaching at the high school level, right, yeah. And so I mean just to share a quick message with them, you know, tell them how important it is to get into a weight room. You know little, I mean, let forget the whole. You know Structure. So I mean we obviously want our kids to have structure, we want them to be safe, we want them to be able to progress, you know.
Speaker 2:But just Briefly, share with them how important a weight room is for their athletic career, even if it's short now it's uh, it's probably one of the biggest things you can do to prolong your career, and anything you do not only just you know for not only to get stronger you know to affect sports in that way but also to prolong your career, to keep yourself away from injuries.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and just getting in the weight room doesn't mean that you have to be the strongest guy. Getting in the weight room Just means you have to go through a good range of movements to strengthen up your body Right and make your body useful, because people have different body mechanics. Some people do good with squats, some people do good with front squats. So, getting in there, figuring out what works for your body, yeah, how do you? How to shape your body in the way that you know is beneficial for yourself.
Speaker 3:You're trying to get the most out of it. Yeah, you can never start too young.
Speaker 2:You know I have my 10 year old who's yep, right my place. He's one bit. You know he works out. I've had my kids working out their whole life pretty much and you can see the difference. Yeah, see a big difference. Injuries go down.
Speaker 3:Confidence goes up, yeah, yeah so.
Speaker 1:So, as you kind of progressed into your professional career and the NFL, what, what was it? Because I mean every year, especially at that level you know you're fighting for your job and you're trying to prove yourself. What was it for you that kept you playing? You know how many years did you end up spending from when you got drafted to when you retired?
Speaker 2:So three full years with Cincinnati, right a little bit of my fourth year, and then a brief offseason with the Dolphins and another when I got signed with the New England. New England it was probably what three, four months, maybe a little bit longer, so and all and then I spent a little bit time with the LA adventure arena team, so I think in total almost five years, I would say, you know, consistent which is long, I mean.
Speaker 1:I think the average NFL career now is like three and a half years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, yeah, depending what position, position right.
Speaker 1:So I mean you spent almost nearly five years playing professional football you know for a living. Yeah what was it for you? That kind of kept you in the league Year after year for those five years, like I said, longer than the average career nowadays, like you said, depending on what position.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it definitely is the love of the game. You know, I will say that because I mean anything you do, you have to have some kind of commitment to it and love of what you do, and I think that's the biggest thing. And just Liking that whole environment where you're somewhere where you're competing or somewhere where you're working or somewhere where you can see yourself grow, and I mean you know those faces I mean that's something that you know it's hard to attain. So once you're there you don't want to give it up. You know it's like it becomes a part of you.
Speaker 3:So yeah, yeah so you know, maybe. So this question is it's you played, obviously at the highest level. You played in the NFL, you're right. You played even at the highest level at division one level. And then you played at a high level even in high school, right? So what would you say, in your opinion, is a difference between the guys who get the playing time and the guys that don't get the playing time In your, in your, in your way?
Speaker 2:well, I think in college you get away with a lot more of just your drive and being the guys first to everything. Being the guy, it's the hardest worker. You're gonna have a little bit more flexibility of getting in and you know playing more right and the NFL. Unfortunately, there's a lot of things that tie into that. That does tie into it being a hard worker. You know, obviously, being skilled when not but there is.
Speaker 2:There isn't a league a little bit of you know. If you're a first-rounder, you're gonna get a little bit more benefit than right.
Speaker 2:So there is a lot of that too. And then on top of that in the league You're one injury away from the next set coming up. So you know it's harder and I fell for that reason. But I would just say what keeps guys going longer is their personal drive Injuries. You can make it with the least amount of injuries. I think for me, you know, and I don't blame anything else other than you know I had some bad breaks but a lot of the injuries that I started having later in my career really start, you know, hampering, hammering on you and kind of slowing you down and it just becomes harder and harder. So if you can get it and you can have a career where it's relatively Injury, fear free or just minor stuff here and there, yeah of course it's gonna prolong you a lot more, right. And then obviously a lot has to do with kind of what team you go to. You know some teams might have more of a use For you.
Speaker 2:Yeah than other teams and you know a lot has to do with your lunch ever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what was your mindset when you're in Cincinnati? I mean, were you one of the guys you were locked in when you were there fighting for your spot, like what was, I guess, the mentality? Because you do have and I could be wrong about this, but just from hearing guys you have a little bit more freedom playing in NFL than when you do in college, right, a little bit less structure. Was that true or is that not nice?
Speaker 2:You have a lot more time in the offseason.
Speaker 1:You're not going to class every day anymore, but you but it is a full day.
Speaker 2:I mean, the only things that we lost going to the NFL is the classroom stuff, because Right, but you make it up with their classroom stuff, film study yeah, makes sense.
Speaker 2:It's a lot more complex. I mean, if I could show you my college playbook to my NFL playbook, I mean it's just three times as big, like everything you have to know. Every play has five different calls to it. The blocking assignments, the defenses are so much, there's so much structure to them. There's so many variables with complex blitzing, with different looks, how they try to hide just the three men versus the four men blitzing. So there's so many things. There's so many calls. Every play is just. You know, when I look at a playbook now I'm like okay, let's make it as easy as we can so the kids get it. But when you go to those levels, there's so much studying going on and I mean that's just alignment perspective. I mean imagine the quarterback perspective and all those guys. It's just ridiculous.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was looking at I think there was like a video of practice. I can't remember what team it was with, Maybe it was Tennessee or something, but the quarterback he was talking about that. One of the biggest differences is literally the Not just a playbook but trying to make the calls Remember the calls from the coach, because you have your embed in those calls for the linemen, for your receivers, running backs, everyone and it's like a frickin' whole paragraph you're trying to call off.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's this funny video of John Gruden. He has like three QBs and he's trying to this this, this, and the QB goes back.
Speaker 1:He can't repeat one thing that John Gruden said this is the video I'm talking about. Oh, it is, yeah.
Speaker 3:It's complex and you're trying to make it as simple as possible, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it comes out you fast. I mean the first couple of meetings in a train camp, it's, you're writing notes nonstop. I mean, it's basically like a classroom setting You're going through your plays, writing all your notes, and then on top of that you still have to study. So then, once your day is done, you have to go back to your room, you have to go back and look at your plays, you have to go through your calls, because the next day they don't, they don't back up. It's adding more and more and more.
Speaker 3:If anything, you're more of a student to the game than ever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely, it's pretty complicated, it's pretty complex, but that's what's kind of cool about it too. Then at the end you're like, oh okay, cool, I see this, I see that. Yeah such a click in yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:What was the day in the NFL? Like a busy day, just kind of a normal day, still early workouts in the morning, Like what did that all look like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it just depends, like you know, preseason or during the season, but it's usually getting up at six, getting to stay around seven, seven, 30, starting your meetings. Breakfast we have our walkthrough every day. Come back for lunch, come back for treatment you got to get your weights in Then you come back and do your practice and then after practice or sometimes be more meetings, more film. But everything you do in the NFL is taped. So every practice you have you have to watch it the next day. So we have practice one day, the next day you're watching practice, everything gets screwed nice. So it's a long day and I tell people once training camp starts, you don't have a day off. They say you have a day off. I mean you don't have a day off. Usually your day off is what? Monday or Tuesday or whatever it is, but your day off you're expected to go back and do more film, do more studying, do kind of a recovery workout.
Speaker 2:And if you're not doing those things, guess what? There is somebody that's doing it, so you don't have a day off.
Speaker 1:I mean it's just nonstop.
Speaker 2:But you know, you just learn to deal with it, and that's just how it is.
Speaker 3:How did you handle game days? Did you ever feel like a ton of pressure, anxiety or anything like that? What was that?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I mean game days, college. I had a lot of fun in college because you feel you know you're younger. Football is a little bit more fun at that point, and the NFL, it's all business. It's all business Because all you're thinking about, okay, on this play, I got to watch for this, this and this, and I better not mess it up, you know, because there's so many variables. So you're completely focused. I mean, there's some guys that are just sitting there and going back through the playbook Me myself, personally, that's all I would do would go back to my playbook, read all the cues that we had, and then you know, you know your opponents.
Speaker 2:So in your head you're constantly going back and back and back. Okay, what does he do on this? What does he do? How does he pass rush? How does he, you know, how does he handle the run blocks? What are you doing? Your combination is everything goes through your mind when you're doing this your prep time, and then it's. You know, it's just a time for you to kind of reflect on what you need to work on, what you want, your goals, what you want to accomplish in the game. So, yeah, it's very.
Speaker 3:That's good you know. Did you have any pregame rituals?
Speaker 2:Not really I mean other than I mean just taping. I would always tape all my stuff. That was my stuff, that I did. I didn't want anybody to mess with that. I listened to music, but nothing crazy, Just something to kind of you know, relax me a little bit before going out there.
Speaker 1:What are those last couple of years? Look like You're going to spend a little bit of time with Miami and then with New England just for a short period of time and then eventually to the arena football league. What did that? What are those kind of years and months look like that transition of maybe a little bit of unknown, probably fighting for your job, you know, kind of seeing the business side of it, probably a little bit more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. I mean, you know, when I got released from Cincinnati I did have a chance to go back back to the team. After I got released there were some things that happened, but I did have a chance to go back and sometimes I kind of regret not doing it, but other times I I know why. I did it because I wanted to go somewhere and get a fresh start. I wanted to go somewhere that maybe kind of would give me a spark, because at that point, like I said, I was going through some injuries and whatnot. So Miami wasn't really anything other than being there in the off season. I forgot who their coach was at the time, but I know Nick Saban got hired right after the end of that year. So Nick Saban came in. I really didn't practice at Miami, which is kind of more working out with the team and stuff like that, but Nick Saban came in and he wanted to make room for guys that you know that he would have wanted. And then when I went to New England, that did give me a little spark because I just loved everything about the organization. So I feel really good going there.
Speaker 2:Obviously didn't work out, but so when it comes down to that time, I mean, you're still trying to stay in the game, you're still trying to do your work as I don't know how many workouts I did with various teams and you're still trying to keep your mindset going. Because then at that point you do start doubting yourself. You start thinking like, oh man, is this coming to the end? What's going on here? And you're doing everything you can. Obviously you're fighting to keep your livelihood and whatnot. And then when I did do arena, that was just kind of me trying to stay in there because at that point you know I wasn't having too many NFL workouts or whatnot. So I did arena. You know to start, try to stay relevant, try to keep my conditioning up. But you know what happened with the arena I just started getting hurt and all these injuries started coming back.
Speaker 2:So yeah at that point I was just like I think this finally starting to come down.
Speaker 1:Yeah, did you have any interactions with, like Bill Belichick or when you're at New England for that short?
Speaker 2:period of time.
Speaker 1:What was his? How was he?
Speaker 2:I mean not that the coaches at Cincinnati were bad or anything like that. Bill was the head coach when I was, when I got drafted a real cool dude, a real cool guy. He ended up. You know, he had a great career. He went to the pitch for Steelers. He was a defensive coordinator there. Marvin Lewis came out there. So I had really good coaches. But the thing that was lacking there and I won't go into it, but when I got to New England and the way that machine ran at that time, I mean Belichick's everywhere, all the coaches are everywhere. You have contact with all of them. Nice, I mean he was around every day.
Speaker 1:So he was. That's so I heard like Julian Edelman was talking about Bill came up to him and was like hey, who, who, who's that guy? Yeah, all the time he's like.
Speaker 2:I don't know coach. He's all you know you dumbass.
Speaker 1:You should know. You should know his name and know his number.
Speaker 2:He's all you better know it by next week. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, Exactly like that. I mean it was nonstop. He'd go walk up to you and ask you this walk.
Speaker 2:You know he'd ask you what you're blocking assignment in this play, what's your blocking assignment in that play? But all he's relevant, I mean you're talking about you're going in there and doing your workouts. You see your position coach working out right there. So that that system was just very involved.
Speaker 3:High tune, yeah, High tune, I'll give you an example, like in our breaks in.
Speaker 2:Cincinnati guys are playing Madden. You know they had big screens, so they're playing Madden. Guys at New England were playing chess, backgammon, stuff like that, so it's uh not that there's anything wrong with that and stuff like that. So it's uh not that there's anything wrong with.
Speaker 3:Madden and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:I can go on and on with those kinds of stories, but you see the difference. There's like a different mentality and it's not, and over there it's, you know, a little bit more clicky. But at New England it was all everybody's playing chess, everybody's doing this, so, and you can tell when you get to the field, everybody's on the same page, everybody. There's no, there's no wasted time out there. Yeah, it's a big unit. I forget about it. You're doing everything as far as like any little competition, as far as running springing, everybody's trying to be first there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so how was like just a little details, like practice plans and like the uh, how the practices were ran? Was that a lot different between Cincinnati and New England and how just they did the little things?
Speaker 2:Uh, the structure was kind of identical, um, but, like I said, in New England it was everybody is on the same page as far as there's, like I said, no wasted time. Why was that, you think? I think just because the mentality of there, the coaches, and, like I said, there's there's nothing wrong with the coaches at Cincinnati. It was just that maybe at that time the chemistry between the guys and the players and the coaches maybe wasn't as tuned up. I mean, it showed when I was at Cincinnati we didn't have I don't think we maybe once 500, one time maybe.
Speaker 2:And then in New England, like I said, everything's just in tune with each other, coaches all around doing even the little things like like quizzing, like bell chicks, and they're quizzing you little stuff like that. They were just more in tune. And I mean plus, I mean they had some good players too, yeah, but if you look at New England, new England, um, when they had the rain, um, they were winning, not just with superstars, I mean, they were winning with all kinds of guys. They were, they had some I don't know how many different times. You look at, uh, tom Brady's line and there's a bunch of guys in there that were undrafted, yeah, you know, and so I mean even like his everyone talks about.
Speaker 1:You know he, he made a lot of these guys big names. But yeah, like Danny, I'm a dola.
Speaker 2:Danny Woodhead.
Speaker 1:Julian Edelman, all these guys that dudes going down to next guy mentality, right yeah, and they made it work.
Speaker 3:So you see you kind of covered. You know talking about differences. You know from your time playing at the high school level to now coaching at the high school level, what is the biggest difference from then to now?
Speaker 2:Um, biggest difference, I think, just the, I think the mentality of the kids nowadays. Um and I think we talked about it a little bit it's not that kids are soft or anything like that, it's just they have a harder time adapting to, uh, working hard, working longer hours, stuff like that.
Speaker 3:I mean I, I had to be yeah criticism.
Speaker 2:I had to be negative about that. I think that's a big thing. I mean, when we went through back in the day and I didn't play youth sports but just in high school and stuff, it seemed like we handle uh, the yelling, we handle the practices. Just with a little bit better mindset Nowadays. You have to really tune your practices and how you talk to people, because everything gets portrayed as you're being too rough, you're being too tough on them and then you're really not, because I mean, if you're a coach and you care I mean most of the kids that I coach and they're older now they all come back and talk to me. They all talk, tell me how. You know how cool it was back in the day.
Speaker 3:So um they still have that high level respect.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I mean I think we all have those coaches Like I mean Chris, likewise whoever it was. Like you know, there's times it's like you get after your ass a little bit, but we know we still have connections with those coaches that we played for 10 years ago and it was that same thing with basketball baseball and the guys that you, uh played under as well.
Speaker 3:I mean other than that, so to say. I mean how many years have you been coaching now?
Speaker 2:For a while I started coaching. Actually, the first time I coached was in 07. I coached at Portable High. I did track and then I did a 2008. I did football with Rick Stewart.
Speaker 3:Sure.
Speaker 2:The first time coaching here. Then I'd left and I came back. I coached at Exeter for four years. I came back coached with Menatch and then that's when I was doing double duty. I was doing football at the high school and then football with the youth, and then I started coaching track, also at Burn.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you know that's been a while. It's been a while, yeah. So what is it exactly that you love so much about coaching?
Speaker 2:You know, it's giving back in a way. I mean, obviously I love sports, I love what they do, I love the fact that it keeps kids healthy, it gives them a good mindset, it gives them a good building block, you know, for their careers, whatever they get into later on. And, like I said, it's a way of giving back. There's a lot of people who gave to me.
Speaker 2:You know going through my stuff and I liked very much to do be involved with their lives, be involved in them. You know something good in their lives to make some better person. You know when you coach the youth and whatnot, you don't expect everybody's gonna make it you know as a professional athlete but you do want them to have a good life career.
Speaker 3:Right, exactly, you want the best for them.
Speaker 2:Yeah definitely.
Speaker 1:So when you eventually are gonna kind of hang up the cleats, hang up the helmet from your professional career, what was that kind of period like, where you trying to find your purpose of like what you wanted to do after that Cause you're still, you're 27, 28, at the time something like that 26.
Speaker 1:So you're still young, obviously, and trying to figure out, kind of what you want to do, cause by that point I mean from what? 14 to 26 years old, 12 years like football and athletics, and that's all it's been. They're focused. I mean it has to be to reach that level. So what was that kind of period of that unknown and trying to find your purpose? Did you know what you kind of wanted to do? Or it's just kind of trying to figure it out.
Speaker 2:You know you're trying to figure yourself out because it's kind of sad, you know, leaving that world because you spent so much time with it, it's your identity huh, yeah, it's my identity.
Speaker 2:Everybody knew me as, oh, you know, victor and a field guy or whatever, and I mean, I didn't think of myself in that, I just wanted to keep playing. But I guess, in just fine, I knew I wanted to coach, I knew I possibly wanted to get into teaching, and then at that point in time I was just trying to make my transition, I stumbled upon CHP, just because my sister had gone through it long time before me. And you know just, it came up, I went with that and I figured I could still coach, but I didn't know at that point that I did want to get back and I wanted to get into coaching in some capacity. So, yeah, it was just hard man, it was just hard trying to figure it out. And then obviously I wanted to come home. But I didn't want to come home.
Speaker 2:So, figuring out there's not too many things you can do in town. I mean, there's very specific niches you can get into. But yeah, it was just tough.
Speaker 3:So being a coach to many young men throughout the years now and you coach your son correct. So what advice would you give the parents you know that do have student athletes. You know how would you, what advice would you give them to approach that relationship?
Speaker 2:I would say to expose your kids to as many sports as they can handle at a young age. I mean, that's what I would say. I would tell them to expose them to sports, to let them fly a little bit, let the kids find what they'd like to do, but keep them motivated into it keep them active. That would be my best advice and maybe kind of stay away a little bit.
Speaker 2:Let the kids kind of handle adversity kind of. You know, support them but let them handle adversity and, you know, let them get coached by a variety of different people.
Speaker 3:Yeah, guide them, don't push them. Yeah definitely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I was going to kind of ask the kind of challenges with youth in high school sports. You kind of talked about it already. Just, you know, trying to get kids to be coachable, all that type of thing you know you've. You're currently coaching high school football at Portable High School with Keith Thompson and those guys, and you also are involved with our youth track and field program at Burton as well. So you get to see, you know all ages and you coach your own kids as well. What are some of those things that, not just the challenges of coaching youth in high school athletics, but what are some of the rewards of it as well? So I guess, what?
Speaker 2:what are some of the challenges today we face, but what are some of those rewards that, whether it's coaching your own kids or other kids, yeah, the challenges is just, you know what all they have to go through I mean they, you know they're in a stage where they have school. They're sometimes tired, they get out there, they don't have a good spirit for it. So you're just trying to overcome all that. You're trying to show them how to have good work ethic, how to be consistent. You know that's the biggest thing with some of these kids.
Speaker 2:They don't want to be consistent.
Speaker 2:And they get upset because they're not doing as well as they should. So that's kind of one of the biggest challenges just keeping them on the track, helping them set goals for themselves to keep them going. So it's it's hard but it's doable and once you figure it out you know it kind of falls into itself Some of the benefits, like I said, just keeping them going, seeing them when you see them get to their goals, pass their goals, and that kind of the satisfaction they get from doing something positive.
Speaker 2:That's what we strive for, you know. Seeing that and then just seeing how they light up when they hit a PR or one and they made a touchdown or where they got it like a finished type of block. I mean just looking at that, I mean that makes you feel just as good as you know those guys out there.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, it's awesome when you can get a kid to start getting momentum. Yeah, once they start getting momentum and they get a feel and that feeling and that high, it's like all right. And then everybody else around them same thing. But so we obviously don't want to live life with regret. But if you could go back and do it again, is there some things that you might have do differently, or are you pretty content with the way that you handle your business?
Speaker 2:Now, there, there is quite a bit. I mean, once you think back through it, there's a lot of things that I would like to do, waylifting wise, you know cause? I still work out as much as I can, as much as my body lets me handle. But there's some things, workout wise, that I would change up a little bit maybe not going so heavy, maybe doing a little bit more plyometric type workouts, maybe working on my flexibility you know, so in those aspects, yeah, I would definitely change some of the stuff.
Speaker 2:As far as on the field stuff, you know, I feel like I, for the most part, I would give it my all. Maybe if I could just tune up my eating habits back then that's a big thing.
Speaker 3:You know my nutrition.
Speaker 2:Back then I was. I think there was a couple of years in college where I was living off fast food because you know it's hard to get your food and it's hard to go to the child hall and get all the stuff. So yeah, you're living off fast food. So definitely the nutrition part. I think there's a couple of years where I look back and I'm like, oh man Dang could have been a little bit different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, could have been better, yeah leaner, healthier, you know that kind of stuff, Maybe able to recover a little bit better.
Speaker 3:So yeah, it does make a difference. Oh, it makes a huge difference, it does, I mean. But it's it's hard to sell sleep and nutrition. You know we could sell supplements all day. You may make them all pretty infomercials having this person flex their bicep saying this is the way they got it, but it's hard to sell sleep and nutrition, but that's like that's the tip of the spear right there. That's what we need to be focusing on the most, so to say.
Speaker 2:And I would say, you know you asked me about the challenges. That's another big challenge with the youth. You know you're always trying to tell them hey, man, maybe you cut down a little bit in this, Maybe add a little bit more of that. So that's another challenge with these kids that you see out there, oh man, phones.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah the phones Things like that you know it's a different world. I mean like, and I feel like even today, like recruiting has definitely changed as well. Like I know a lot of recruiters they're not just, yeah, they're still going to games and showing up on Friday night or you know, basketball games and stuff, but now they're, you know, they're getting, they're being able to see kids through social media, through this type of thing, they don't even have to leave their office. They don't even have to leave the office.
Speaker 1:So, you know, it's definitely changed the game. Sometimes it does kind of affect culture. It could be a good thing or a bad thing. Yeah, when you know, because it does sometimes create a little bit of selfishness as well, and kids want to get the highlights and they want to that type of thing which has pros and cons.
Speaker 2:It's a double-edged sword?
Speaker 1:It definitely is, but it could also help a kid from small town get looks where he may have not if it wasn't for that video that got to the right person or something like that. So it's definitely changed. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've heard a lot. I mean, it's a different. You know, when I went through it Obviously a long time ago, I always knew that Obviously had to do good in your sport and you had to do all that stuff. But what I was always told a lot is if you're good at another sport, that makes it even better.
Speaker 2:So yeah even though you know I did what I did in football, that we still played in a small town and you still very rarely played. You know the bigger schools where the scouts would come and kind of compare you oh yeah, you did this, but it was against this team. You didn't play any big school, so we don't know. But if you wrestle or you did track and you're beating all the big schools, that's another way that you get looked at. So that's another reason why you know playing other sports. It's really important more exposure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, more exposure. But now, yeah, like you said, with the social media it's a little bit different, right? You know it's like you said, they don't really come down and, you know, scout you as they would back then. But so it was just a different time. You know, when I went through it it was at the fortune, the fortune of that coaches would go to my wrestling meets. They go to the track meets too, you know.
Speaker 3:So yeah it's just different media is different now at the high school level. Man, it's, it's, it's a whole different beast, yeah back then.
Speaker 1:I mean especially with baseball, and baseball specifically I mean a lot of times the guys from the small towns would get seen because, recruit, you're going to, they're going to see a opposing team, you're playing like you might catch their eye and I know lots of guys have gotten Either drafted or picked up because of that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, do you? This is kind of just a curious question for me. He saw watch the NFL.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah. I don't catch the full game. Okay. A lot of times I'm like okay, that's. I hate to say, but it seems a little bit boring. I kind of watch towards the later part of the season. That's when I'm like, okay, it's a little more interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, because sometimes I hate to say it, but I'm like man, it doesn't seem like they're even playing that hard, it seems like they're just. But then you know, later on, I mean, we start watching a little bit more and more, I mean. But it is also hard because you know I'm coaching and you're trying to prep weekends for all your stuffs.
Speaker 3:Right, you're still playing the game yourself. Yeah definitely, just in a different way. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you played in Pac-10, pac-12 at the time. So the I mean, yeah, I guess yesterday was the last, last of the Pac-12. What's your? You still watch a lot of a lot of college football and follow the yeah, not as much as I stayed, or?
Speaker 2:I follow them, but you know we haven't been doing too good or whatnot. But yeah, it's a little bit harder for me to catch up with the games for college and I know whatever's happening with the Pac-12 now in days, I know a lot of people are up in arms about it and you know I haven't been able to go to any of the games. But it's just like you said, it's different times. I don't know all the Background. Yeah, what's going on with the.
Speaker 1:Pac-12?. I know Arizona State went through a little with the Herm Edwards. There was kind of a mess there but, they have a new staff, that it seems like it's going ahead in the right direction. So, yeah, hopefully it was.
Speaker 2:The future holds that promise you know it's surprising because I don't know if you guys ever been to Tempe or went up at that area. It's just, it's an awesome place.
Speaker 2:You know, it's really nice, and especially now when I went there was nice, and now they it seems like they just remodeled the whole area around. I haven't been back there and I don't even know how long anymore, but it's just a whole different place. It's exploded. Yeah, it's really nice that the facilities are just top-notch. So it's kind of hard for me to understand why they can't. They can't seem to land a lot of recruits there, because that's a nice place, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:So we ask this question on our, on our last podcast. You know, coaches, right? We don't, we don't how would I put this? I don't want to say this incorrectly. We don't want to play favorites. You know, don't play your favorites, but at the end of the day, coaches have favorites. You know the hard-working kids, the hard-nosed kids, the kids that are gonna go out there and give it their all. What's your favorite type of football player to coach?
Speaker 2:Just, you know, the coachable kid, the coach, the kid that it doesn't have to be the most athletic or the Highest achieving kid, is just that kid that shows up day after day with a good attitude, with just a good spirit, does what he's asked to do and affects your other kids with a positive attitude.
Speaker 2:Right, you know, those are the type of kids that you always want and you always Want, you know, then, to become your favorite kids, not just because they're the best kids, right, because they're the hardest workers, and I mean every team that I've had, you've had your kids that you know they're not the most athletic or not, but they show up, they play hard and yeah they're consistent, consistent. Yeah obviously those. Those make your day so much easier. You can rely on them I. There's times where those kids are the guys that are leading. You know the calisthenics. They're leading some of the plays you know so you put a lot more on them, and yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, those are the type of kids that develop successful programs right there.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, thanks for thanks for your time, victor, any final thing you want to say, or I?
Speaker 2:appreciate being here with you guys. You know More than anything, you know I, like I told you before I, I love giving back to the community. I love, you know, working with the kids, not only in high school but in the youth. I think it matters. In our town, I think there's a lot of.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of good things that we do and that way there's a lot of good people that About, and I mean the more like you guys are doing a great thing here, exposing those people that you know, that put in a lot of work in the community and also making the community aware of what we have in this town. Right, there's a lot of good people in this town.
Speaker 3:There is a lot.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it kind of gets lost because we don't, you know, not that we have to put them on a pedestal bit. We should show our kids that there is a lot of good that's come out of here.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's nice to give credit when credit is due. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a nice thing because we're doing for that.
Speaker 1:Thank you so well, thanks for you know, being willing and taking the time to To come on and share your story. And you know, we, we have a lot of High school, college athletes that follow this, youth athletes, a lot of parents and stuff like that. So we always want to share your story, number one, but also provide those leadership, those character traits to these younger athletes because you know, especially in this generation, people complain oh, are these kids today to have no respect? Whatever that, whatever it is. But if we could continue to influence and spy and put good role, role models like yourself, yeah, in front of them, yeah, like that makes the world of difference. So we appreciate it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because I have such. I don't know you very well, but I have a high level of respect for you because you know you played at the highest level and here you are, coming back to Portoville and coaching, like that's. That's usually not how the story goes, you know, but here you are and you're doing that for our youth and community and I really want to say thank you for doing that my pleasure, it's my home, it's my hometown.
Speaker 2:Yeah, then you're supposed to do right bits yeah.
Speaker 1:Zach and I were talking about it before you showed up just playing at the highest level. Then you know you're coming back and helping out with a youth track program at the Middle school and Burton school district. So I mean that just shows what kind of person you are and shows what athletics means to you and what these kids and this community means to you.
Speaker 3:Thank you, thank you, thank you for making the time Appreciate it. Thank you, thank you.