- 10 hours ago
"You can't get bored doing the basic things over and over." Coach Mike Locksley drops by to talk Saban memories, halftime quarterback swaps, and why the Terps' upcoming Big Ten matchup against Rutgers.
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00:00It's Bishcake, CB, and JP joining us right now on the Rude Guest Hotline.
00:04Rude's the most reliable heating and air conditioning products in the DMV.
00:07It's Mike Loxley, head football coach at Maryland.
00:10What's up, Mike?
00:11What's up, fellas?
00:11How you guys going?
00:12Hey, Coach.
00:13Coach, Coach, Coach.
00:15There we go.
00:15The energy is up.
00:16Coach, ESPN has that documentary, Saban.
00:20I think it's like a six-part series.
00:21Were you interviewed for that?
00:23Yes.
00:24I think I did about two days' worth of interviews, but maybe on the editing flow.
00:30Who knows?
00:30I didn't get the final views of it, but no, I haven't spent three years there.
00:36I did about two days' worth of interviews.
00:38What stood out for Coach Saban, if you can, in like a minute or two,
00:42that was different than other coaches that you worked with or worked for?
00:47The thing that probably gets me in the most trouble here is staying very steady
00:52to the process, like really eliminating slash, as I call it,
00:57going underwater, outside, influencing into your program,
01:01meaning there's a process you have to go through.
01:04You have to remain consistent with it.
01:06You can't get bored with doing the basic things over and over and over
01:10until they get right.
01:12And that's what development is.
01:15That's what the process is.
01:16And then every time it doesn't go right, you quality control it.
01:20Even if it goes right, you still quality control it to say it went right
01:24because of this, it didn't go right as well because of this,
01:28and then you go about fixing it.
01:30And that's the recipe.
01:33With what you're struggling with, you know, do you know what winning process,
01:40right?
01:40You've been around it.
01:41You know what you're striving for.
01:43Do you ever think, well, maybe here we need a different –
01:46do you ever think, do I just need to do something different?
01:47Or is it just still, this process works, I know it works,
01:51and we just have to keep hammering the same thing?
01:53No, it always has to adjust because that process was going in an era
01:57where you weren't paying players.
01:58And there's a reason why some guys like Coach got out of the business
02:02because it's a shift.
02:04And these shifts are things you have to anticipate.
02:07And if you didn't have a plan, you kind of find yourself behind
02:10and then you're playing catch-up.
02:12And so, no, you definitely have to adjust.
02:14And that's the thing that I think we've done a decent job at here.
02:19When Jim came in, the business approach to RevShare NIL
02:24and having a plan in place.
02:26And, you know, I think you're starting to see the fruits
02:29when you look at the retention of some good players, but they're young.
02:32Yeah.
02:35What's Malik's confidence level right now?
02:37Is he still okay?
02:38Oh, unbelievable.
02:40Okay.
02:41That's where the energy comes from me from these guys
02:43because, you know, every time the kid's foundation is his faith.
02:48And it's always been that way, even when he was in high school.
02:51So I think that's the consistency of his process
02:54and that his highs never get too high and his lows never get too low.
02:58And the kid is every day shows up and, I mean, it's unbelievable.
03:02If you had a chance to walk in that locker room
03:05and see the interaction and watch him as a person
03:08from a leadership standpoint, he's made of what you want it to look like.
03:11Just curious, when's the last time you talked to Coach Saban?
03:15What, two weeks ago?
03:16Oh, okay.
03:17Two weeks ago?
03:17Three weeks ago?
03:18Okay.
03:19Did you talk about the season, talking about the team or other things?
03:23I mean, I stay in touch.
03:25Coach, he's part of my foundation that I have.
03:28And he and I obviously speak often there.
03:31But just sometimes for advice.
03:33Good.
03:34Yeah, I was wondering, do you?
03:35No, he's definitely on the Rolodex for me.
03:39Good.
03:39Yeah, do you have guys where you say,
03:41hey, dude, what am I missing here?
03:42Look at this.
03:43Watch this tape.
03:44What am I missing?
03:44Give me some things.
03:45Like, is that part of the process?
03:47So everybody has a coaching tree or a coaching family.
03:50Right.
03:50And I'm like the Uncle Nears of the Saban family.
03:53And so we share, for instance, practice schedules.
03:57You know, we all have the same type of practice set up and schedule
04:01because we learned it from working under coach.
04:04Well, now in this era of NIL, load management, players' safety getting hurt,
04:10injuries, you know, you say, were we doing too much?
04:13Because when you had all the players where you had depth,
04:16you practiced a certain way.
04:17Well, now you have to adjust.
04:19So maybe instead of having 78 reps in practice, you go to 54,
04:24and you're now not developing your threes and fours anymore
04:27because they may not be on your team next year.
04:30And so those are the shifts that happen that we all have to adjust to.
04:35And those are the things you kind of learn when you have a strong foundation.
04:38Talking to Mike Loxley, head football coach at the University of Maryland,
04:42who coached underneath Nick Saban, won a national championship while they're at Alabama.
04:47And watching some of the clips from that Saban series,
04:50it goes through the national championship game, which I believe you were part of,
04:55where Jalen Hurts gets benched.
04:57Yep.
04:57And then Tua comes in and you win the national championship.
05:00What do you remember about that halftime?
05:03Yeah, it was an intense, what do we need to do to get the offense going?
05:08You know, we'd just come off of a sluggish Sugar Bowl win over Clemson,
05:13and we hadn't played well on offense.
05:16Defense was playing extremely well.
05:18And we stunk the first half of the national championship game.
05:22And he said, what do we need to do to get this offense going?
05:25And, you know, I think somebody said, how about maybe take a look at putting Tua in the game?
05:31And he looked around and said, is that what y'all think?
05:33Was that Dable?
05:35No, I don't know.
05:37I'm going to keep that for another day.
05:39Okay.
05:39All right.
05:40But he went and made the decision, and coach made the decision to put Tua in.
05:46I think at least the way it was presented on the series, from what I've seen,
05:50Saban tells Brian Dable, who I think is the offense coordinator,
05:53he's like, we've got to go with Tua.
05:55And Dable's like, do you want me to tell him?
05:58Yeah.
05:58That's what Saban talked about.
05:59That's an awkward conversation.
06:00Saban talked about that on college game day this past Saturday.
06:04He told that story.
06:05Yep.
06:05We also said –
06:06That's why I don't want to – you've got to watch the series.
06:09We also kind of insinuated that he knew eventually he was going to have to make that move.
06:13Like, it was in the back of his brain sort of all year.
06:15Yeah.
06:15Well, as a coach, you definitely – I mean, that's the part of having three years behind the curtain there
06:22and being a part of Jalen's first year as a starter.
06:26Tua's still signing after Jalen is freshman of the year in the SEC, and Tua's still coming.
06:31And watching that – how it was navigated.
06:34I mean, that's why Coach is the GOAT.
06:37Right.
06:37So, Coach, obviously, we talk a lot about the Commanders each week and, you know, a lot of –
06:44Favorite pro team, man.
06:45My favorite pro team.
06:46I know.
06:46And we can get into that a little bit later.
06:48But just in terms of just salvaging the season, because in the NFC East, you know, no one's really running
06:54away with it.
06:54And it's still – you know, they've got a tough schedule, but it's still winnable.
06:58The division's still winnable if they start playing well.
07:01Let's not talk about the last four weeks that you guys had, okay?
07:03Let's talk about going forward.
07:05Well, man, I'm a big boy.
07:06What we could talk about that?
07:08Well, I know, but it was a tough part of the schedule and just the way you guys lost.
07:12Let's just forget about that.
07:13Now you've got Rutgers.
07:14And I'm sorry, Coach, you have to beat Rutgers, okay?
07:17Okay, their only win was Howard.
07:19Their quarterback just got hurt.
07:21I'm not even sure if he's going to play against you guys.
07:25They're terrible offensively and defensively.
07:28How are you feeling when you're looking at Rutgers on film right now?
07:31You want to trash Rutgers right now?
07:32Well, they've got to beat Rutgers.
07:34I'm sorry.
07:34Got to beat Rutgers.
07:36They lost to UMass, Coach.
07:38They lost to UMass.
07:39And here's how I look at it.
07:41All I've got to do is do – we've got to do our job the best way we can do
07:45it on Saturday.
07:46And if we do that, we'll have what we want and we'll have what you guys want, man.
07:51I mean, that's the key to coaching it.
07:53I've got to get these guys to go do their job on Saturday to the best of their ability with
07:58great detail.
07:59And we'll all have what we want.
08:01They played USC to a touchdown.
08:04I'm really excited to see how the team responds.
08:08Hey, Coach, let's go back to last week, the loss to Ohio State.
08:11Let's put you in a fictional spot here.
08:13If you had the number one overall pick, if you were an NFL GM, even if you had like a
08:18big need at quarterback,
08:20would you select Jeremiah Smith at number one overall?
08:23You got to see up close how special he was last week in Columbus.
08:27No, I mean, when you build teams, it's hard to build them around receivers.
08:34We just saw – I mean, Marvin Harrison was, I guess, the Jeremiah Smith of his era.
08:40And then he's getting traded.
08:41So I'm a passer on the number one pick.
08:44I'm not saying he won't be one of my top picks if – you know, now, if I was building
08:49a team,
08:49no, I'm not going to start with a receiver as a pick.
08:52You got to start with a quarterback.
08:55Yeah.
08:56Or a foundational piece, a left tackle, a pass rusher, guys that can influence it quickly.
09:02So, all right, so getting back to the commanders,
09:04what were your thoughts on how that game ended in a tie against the Giants?
09:07I really – I swear to you, when I tell people I'm in a bubble and underwater,
09:12I have not seen a down of anything.
09:17I've gone underwater with – I'm really insulating myself to just staying focused on what I can do best
09:25is to get this team ready to go play this weekend, man.
09:29How are the guys?
09:30Is it hard to motivate the guys?
09:32Super pumped up.
09:33They are.
09:33Not at all.
09:34No.
09:34Not at all.
09:35Okay.
09:35I mean, if you watch this team, they're not hard because it's kind of like, you know,
09:41when you talk to my leadership council, when you're pulling the lawnmower,
09:46if you ever had one and you hadn't turned it on for the season
09:49and it's kind of clunking, clunking, and then it starts catching a little bit,
09:53I think they feel that energy.
09:56So you can get something going and get on a little run here.
10:00Just got to get started.
10:01Yeah.
10:01Yeah.
10:02Well, it starts at 1230 on the Big Ten Network on Saturday.
10:06Early game, man.
10:07Early game.
10:07What time is, you know, late breakfast on a 1230 kick?
10:13What time do you guys eat?
10:14We usually are in pregame meal by 8 o'clock, three and a half hours prior to kickoff.
10:20Got you.
10:208 o'clock.
10:21All right.
10:21All right.
10:22Let's get a win, Coach.
10:23All right.
10:23Let's go.
10:24All right.
10:24Best of luck.
10:25All right.
10:26Yep.
10:28Jason, am I crazy for considering the Terps as my Big Ten pick in the survivor pool?
10:33That's kind of, it's a little bit crazy.
10:36Yes.
10:36Well, hold on.
10:37It's crazy.
10:37Who do you have left?
10:39Jason's dismissing Rutgers and deservedly so for some of those wins, but I looked at
10:42their schedule.
10:43So they played USC.
10:45USC had to travel all the way across country.
10:48It was a one touchdown game.
10:49Okay.
10:50But they allowed 45 points in that game.
10:53They lost to UMass.
10:54I might have to put my faith behind the Terps here.
10:56Indiana just killed them.
10:57Might just put them out on the table and gamble a little bit.
11:00Didn't you pick them a couple weeks ago when they lost to UCLA by 50?
11:04I did.
11:04I lost two bucks to EB.
11:05Yeah.
11:06I was just saying, if you're going to kind of salvage the season, which is what I was
11:09bringing up, this is where the run starts.
11:12Rutgers at home, Illinois at home.
11:14Purdue's been better than people think.
11:16You got to go there.
11:16That won't be easy.
11:17But the next two, very winnable games.
11:19Malik's got to play better.
11:21But you've got to beat Rutgers.
11:23I'm sorry.
11:25Both teams searching shockingly for their first Big Ten win this season.
11:29By the way, Nick Saban is the GOAT.
11:32He's won all those national championships.
11:34But imagine a team where you have both Tua and Jalen Hurts to choose from in a national
11:42championship game.
11:43Well, not only that.
11:44Just look at all the other sick talent that's gone through Tuscaloosa in the last 20 years
11:49has made its way to the pros.
11:51If you remember, though, I mean, Jalen wasn't...
11:53They wouldn't have all those guys now.
11:55People weren't sized for his passing.
11:56No.
11:57At all.
11:58He was there for leadership.
11:59A lot of people aren't that sized for it now.
12:01Yeah, but it's dramatically better.
12:03No, he was a...
12:04In certain spots, it is.
12:05He was a running quarterback who could throw, not a passing quarterback who could run.
12:09Yeah.
12:10And the way Saban tells that story, and Jason, I guess you watched him tell the story on
12:14college game day, was that he was kind of prepping all season because he knew there
12:19was going to be a game where they wouldn't be able to run.
12:21And Georgia took away the run.
12:23And so at halftime, Dables, his offensive coordinator, I don't know, Loxley's like an
12:29offensive assistant.
12:30I don't know how it all went down, but Saban was like, we got to go to the passing guy.
12:35And then you see the video of Jalen Hurts just standing there, kind of dumbfounded.
12:42Yeah.
12:43No, he's not being an ass.
12:44He's just standing.
12:45JP, I'm not saying that Maryland 100% will beat Rutgers.
12:50Rutgers, I'm saying if you're going to salvage your season, this is where it starts.
12:53Well, I agree with that.
12:54You've got to beat Rutgers.
12:55I'm just saying it's not a gimme.
12:57They're not a big favorite.
12:58I mean, and I understand why, but Rutgers is not good.
13:03Believe me, they're not good.
13:05I mean, they've lost to UMass and Boston College.
13:07I watched them.
13:08They're not good.
13:09And their quarterback got hurt last week, so they might be down to the second.