Morehouse College Football: Coach Gerard Wilcher On Rebuilding The Maroon Tigers Football Team.
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:08 >> All right, it's Coyote Mosley of HBCU Legends on Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation.
00:14 Man, I am here with one of my Morehouse brothers.
00:17 And it's so great to see him taking over the program.
00:23 He came from Houston, Texas.
00:25 He was here in H town with me.
00:27 I don't know why we didn't cross paths.
00:29 >> Right. >> Coach, but he is here.
00:33 Well, he's in ATL now, and he is going to do his thing.
00:38 He's putting a new dynamic on the team.
00:41 He's installing some new systems, some new philosophies to the maroon tigers.
00:46 It's none other than Coach Wiltshire.
00:49 What's going on, Coach?
00:50 >> Nothing much, man, nothing much.
00:52 Just excited to be here and excited to be a part of this journey.
00:56 >> Yeah, look, I think a lot of people are excited for you as well.
01:00 And there's a lot of anticipation for this season,
01:03 especially what you've been bringing thus far to the team.
01:07 A lot of great positive things have been coming from what I've heard thus far
01:13 from what you've installed with the team.
01:15 So let's make sure the maroon tigers show up and show out.
01:19 >> That's right, that's right.
01:20 Hey, when I got the job and I talked with the president, I tell everybody,
01:24 I only got two goals here.
01:26 I think it's quite simple.
01:27 I just want to win and graduate, and I think everything else will take care of
01:30 itself, I mean.
01:31 >> [LAUGH] Look, man, talk about graduation.
01:35 I still remember graduation in 89.
01:37 [LAUGH] I still have those nightmares.
01:41 Did I really graduate or not?
01:42 >> Right, right, right.
01:43 >> [LAUGH] Well, good, good.
01:46 Well, look, it is good to finally meet you as well.
01:50 And I know one of the positive things coming out of the SIEC meetings,
01:56 you had a chance to meet with Mason Smith, who also writes for us in Atlanta.
02:03 And Mason also was at your, I believe, one of the camps that you guys had as well.
02:09 So talk a little bit about the early on, I guess,
02:14 getting acclimated to the systems or getting acclimated to your team
02:19 as well as vice versa, your team getting acclimated to you once you took
02:24 over the program.
02:26 >> Well, I'll tell you what,
02:28 anytime you take a position like this, it's always a huge undertaking.
02:32 The kids have been great.
02:34 One thing I did in the spring, I let every kid that walked in my door for
02:39 the most part, that wanted to walk on, I let them walk on.
02:43 And then I let them cut themselves.
02:44 I'm a fair and equal dude.
02:47 But it was great.
02:48 We found a couple guys in the spring and
02:51 then coming back out that we did a pretty good job in late recruiting.
02:55 Cuz I didn't start till after signing date in February.
02:59 So everything I was doing was late recruiting, but
03:01 I feel pretty good for the most part about the class we brought in.
03:05 So I'm fired up cuz I'm like,
03:07 imagine what happens when we get a real runway and we're not behind the eight ball.
03:12 So I'll be really excited, but now the kids have been fantastic.
03:16 There's always a learning curve whenever you take over a new job.
03:20 Fortunately for me, I started division two, I've coached FCS ball.
03:25 And then I did the group of five stuff and power five stuff.
03:29 But if I came straight from power five to a place like Morehouse,
03:33 I would be so lost.
03:35 >> [LAUGH] >> Would you?
03:37 >> Yes, yes.
03:39 >> Is it because of the resources or the lack of resources, coach?
03:44 >> It's just a different world.
03:45 When I was at Rice, there were ten assistants plus the head coach.
03:49 Every assistant had an assistant.
03:52 We had a recruiting department, there's four people.
03:55 There's a director of football operations,
04:00 you get the high school relations.
04:03 The head coach has his own secretary, there's a secretary for the staff.
04:07 And then you go downstairs and we got four full-time trainers,
04:13 plus GAs, and then there's a woman in the training room that only deals with
04:17 insurance.
04:19 And then you go in the weight room, it's four full-time strength coaches,
04:22 and each one of them got an intern.
04:24 And then you get two full-time people in the equipment room,
04:29 plus they get interns, right?
04:30 And so we have none of that.
04:33 >> And we're talking about Rice University, not a large program,
04:38 it's a very prestigious university in the South.
04:43 But when we talk about Rice,
04:45 we're not talking about a national powerhouse any longer.
04:48 That's long gone from the days from the 40s and 50s.
04:51 >> Right, right, but in Division I, Group of Five,
04:56 FBS Ball, that is basically the industry standard.
05:02 That's what everybody is doing or trying to do.
05:04 So when you come from a place like that and I get here,
05:07 I have no full-time strength coach.
05:10 There's really no operations person.
05:12 You have to wear so many different hats and do so many different things that if I
05:16 hadn't started at small schools, I would be lost cuz I would be used to having all
05:21 this help, people to do stuff for me.
05:24 And like, no, you gotta do it.
05:25 >> [LAUGH] I remember those days, man, when old coach over at Morehouse,
05:32 he was the one taking out the water and doing everything early in the morning.
05:36 You go over to BT Harvey, and it was like you were a one man show,
05:41 and you played on that team, right?
05:43 So- >> Yeah, yeah, I played.
05:44 >> You understood.
05:46 >> I totally understand, and I'm just so fired up that I was able to get,
05:51 I got, I think, four full-time coaches.
05:54 And then I supplement that, and I have another, shoot, six or
05:59 seven part-time.
06:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]
06:04 >> Okay, we lost you for a quick sec, coach.
06:07 >> You know what I'm saying?
06:10 >> Yeah, okay, got you back, all right.
06:11 >> Yeah, yeah.
06:13 >> Well, good, good, that's good to know, man.
06:16 So let's talk what's gonna happen in September, September 16th.
06:22 You guys are going to be featured and
06:25 showcased in the second annual HBCU NYC Classic against Albany State.
06:32 I was there for the first one when the Maroon Tigers took on Howard University,
06:39 our nemesis from the east.
06:41 [LAUGH] >> Right.
06:43 >> And one thing that was great to see from my perspective,
06:49 and being one of the two media guys that were there,
06:54 it was the fact that the stadium had over 35,000 people.
06:59 But outside the stadium, you had another probably 8 to 10,000 people just tailgating.
07:05 So there was a lot of, I guess, anticipation and
07:09 enthusiasm about the event and what's happening with the event.
07:13 And I had a chance to speak with Albert Williams, again, the CEO of the event.
07:19 Talk to me of how important is it for
07:23 the Maroon Tigers to go back up to New York in the Big Apple
07:28 at MetLife Stadium to be able to really showcase what you have to offer
07:34 in front of a national audience that's gonna be streamed, what, on CNBC and
07:40 Paramount and all those other stations?
07:42 >> Well, I tell you what,
07:43 anytime we get a chance to play in front of a national audience, it's amazing.
07:49 As a head coach, I'm always thinking about recruiting.
07:53 >> Yeah.
07:53 >> So for me, it's huge because the state of New Jersey does not have any
07:59 Division II schools, right?
08:02 So that's me then, I'm about to own New Jersey, right?
08:07 New York has a few Division II schools, but they're so huge and
08:11 people are very transient from Atlanta to New York and things like that.
08:15 So I'm always thinking in terms of recruiting, it's a great opportunity for
08:20 us to not only showcase ourselves, but to really, really up our brand.
08:24 Recruiting wise, maybe I can go up there, we do a great job,
08:28 we can pull a handful of kids from that area.
08:30 I think this past year, we have three kids from New York, New Jersey area.
08:35 >> Okay.
08:36 >> And really, it should be three to five every single year,
08:41 just because they don't have any Division II schools.
08:44 And what I can do with scholarship dollars and what have you,
08:47 I can probably make it cheaper than going to a Division II school in
08:50 the state of Pennsylvania.
08:51 So just thinking about the metrics of it, it's a good deal for us.
08:57 >> Yeah, when I was at Morehouse, the East Coast guys, New York, New Jersey,
09:04 you have the triangle with Washington, those guys.
09:10 And you have those guys along with Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham area as well.
09:17 There was a large contingency of East Coast guys that came to Morehouse,
09:22 as well as the ladies over at Spelman.
09:26 So it would help you, of course, to get some of that talent from that area,
09:31 because there's a plethora of talent for you to grasp.
09:35 So I like the fact that you're looking at it as a great recruiting effort for
09:40 the team.
09:41 And talk about the team, man.
09:44 This season, I know it's hard to kind of anticipate and say, look,
09:49 we're gonna go challenge for the SIAC title.
09:52 But of course, that's always a coach's aspiration to do so.
09:56 Who are these guys?
09:59 What's the identity of the team?
10:01 Let's talk about that first thing.
10:03 We can identify some of the major guys that we should keep an eye on
10:09 during the season.
10:10 >> Well, I'll tell you what, we're still honing in on our identity.
10:13 But one thing I came in from day one, I've challenged the offense.
10:17 We have to be able to run the ball.
10:20 To win games, you gotta be able to run the ball.
10:22 What it is to run the ball in the fourth quarter, to run the clock out.
10:26 You got the lead, you wanna keep the lead.
10:30 It all comes back to you have to be able to run the ball.
10:33 I think Stan Clayton, our officer coordinator, is doing an amazing job.
10:37 He's an NFL guy, played in the NFL.
10:39 He's coached in the Ivy League, Patriot League, and Pioneer Leagues.
10:42 And shoot, he's even coached in the SWAG.
10:45 So and he played, I think, five, six years in the NFL.
10:49 He's done a tremendous job on molding the offensive line, so
10:52 I'm really excited about that.
10:54 David Clowney, coaching the quarterbacks, has done a tremendous job coming in.
10:58 Cuz to be honest, when I first got there,
11:00 I thought we was gonna have to go get a quarterback.
11:03 Cuz I was like, man, this dude can't do it.
11:05 Now that he's been underneath Coach Clowney's tutelage and
11:08 gaining some confidence, I'm like, we can win the league with this dude.
11:11 So I'm very excited about that.
11:13 Corey Russ has been on staff.
11:16 We moved him over to receivers.
11:17 He's doing a great job.
11:18 And then we hired a late, we had to bring in tight ends coach Kenton Evans,
11:23 who's been a Division I offensive coordinator.
11:26 And then a running back coach, Derek Vaughn,
11:28 who's actually played for me at Morehouse when I was here the first time.
11:33 And he was just recently a head coach in the Atlanta area.
11:37 So just bringing in experience and guys that I don't have to coach,
11:42 cuz they can do it on their own.
11:43 And then, man, that's that offense.
11:45 But that defense inside the ball now,
11:47 they can be coming at some folks like some crazed dogs.
11:51 And I didn't mention this, me and Coach Clayton worked together at the OC back
11:55 97 at UMass, and then we interned together with the Bears.
11:59 And then in DC, we worked at Lehigh together.
12:01 We won a championship together at Lehigh.
12:04 And Charles Alexander doing a great job.
12:07 But George Copeland was on staff last year at the DC, he's still here.
12:12 Coaching linebackers, special teams, anything I need him to do as assistant head
12:16 coach, he does a tremendous job.
12:18 And then Adrian Billisley coaches the D line.
12:21 He's been here and John Jefferson coaches the corners.
12:27 And then I have a wild card, Kevin Boyle Jones, a long time,
12:32 very successful Atlanta area high school coaches working with us as an analyst.
12:37 So it's great cuz I brought in a lot of, not necessarily college head coaching
12:42 experience, but just head coaching experience that guys I can go to and
12:47 just have candid conversations about how we doing, what we doing,
12:51 what's the process looking like.
12:52 So you always gotta surround yourself with talented people.
12:55 So I'm just so fired up at the coaching staff that we're able to get and
13:00 put those guys in place and I let them go to work.
13:03 >> Yeah, man, sound like a great ensemble that you have collected there.
13:09 One thing about the defensive coach, it was funny because my son made a point
13:13 about this because he's my videographer, photographer.
13:17 And he was down on the field during the game last season.
13:23 And he said, man, that defensive coordinator,
13:25 he was on those guys the whole time.
13:29 I say, well, hey, you have to be.
13:32 Because Morehouse did a great job that first half shutting out and
13:37 shutting down Howard, the second half not so great.
13:40 But I was impressed what they were doing and what they were able to be able to do so
13:47 over a team that was highly favored and heavily favored over them.
13:51 So go ahead.
13:53 >> No, it's always a little difficult.
13:56 Like Morehouse, we don't have a full time strength coach.
13:58 We're trying to get one.
13:59 We're working on getting one.
14:01 So inevitably, when you're playing up a level, and we only have 36,
14:06 we're supposed to have 36 scholarships.
14:09 We only have about 30, give or take.
14:11 And when you're playing somebody that has 63 full scholarships,
14:15 that's a big difference.
14:17 You're going into the fight underhand, you know what I mean?
14:20 As the little man all the time.
14:22 But at the end of the day, I tell my dudes, that's just an excuse, right?
14:27 When I was at Lehigh, we were non scholarship and
14:31 we was destroying scholarship teams, right?
14:33 >> Really? >> I coached at Morehouse before,
14:35 we beat them.
14:36 We beat Howard in 91 and in 93.
14:40 Excuse me, I'm sorry, 92 and 94, we beat them when I was assistant coach.
14:45 So it can be done.
14:48 And our goal is not to, hey, you guys played great.
14:53 It was a great show.
14:54 And I was like, I don't care about that.
14:56 I care about wins and losses.
14:58 Our goal is to win.
14:59 >> Man, I love it.
15:02 I love it.
15:03 I love it.
15:04 It's getting me pumped up because I know coach Freeman for a long time.
15:08 He was there and he put in his work.
15:11 But I like the new attitude.
15:13 I like the new energy.
15:15 I like the new passion that you're bringing to the table, man.
15:18 So kudos for that.
15:21 Let's talk about the offense, the quarterback.
15:24 Who's gonna be your quarterback?
15:25 Who's your starting quarterback?
15:26 >> It's gonna be Derek West.
15:28 >> Derek, okay.
15:29 What about your running backs?
15:31 >> It's gonna be running back by committee.
15:33 Be honest with you, I'm so excited.
15:37 We got about, I was telling somebody today, I got right now,
15:40 I'll probably go down that line.
15:42 I got six running backs I could put in the game and not lose, right?
15:46 We're gonna run the rock and I got some dudes.
15:49 They're all a little different.
15:50 But when you get six, that means you get competition.
15:55 >> Okay, all right.
15:56 Talk about your offensive line.
15:58 >> Offensive line's coming into shape.
16:00 We had a few guys coming back off of injuries.
16:02 But again, Coach Clayton, he's master with that offensive line.
16:06 He's molding them.
16:07 The offensive line is like your unit.
16:10 You gotta mold that thing.
16:12 And again, I challenge them and I think they're shocked cuz they see me as like,
16:17 Coach Wilt, he coaches DBs.
16:19 I was like, no, I'm a football coach.
16:20 I coach all 11.
16:22 So I'll get on the offensive lineman just like I'll get on the DB or receiver.
16:27 So but they're jelling and they've been able to do some things.
16:31 So I'm excited about them.
16:33 >> Any guys returning at the receiver position?
16:36 >> We got a few guys, Marquez Pry,
16:41 Brogan Cordo, RJ Howard,
16:46 Cameron Brunson played a little bit last year.
16:51 So but I'll be honest with you, when I came in, I did not watch a lot of tape.
16:56 Because to me, the past is the past.
17:00 >> Right.
17:01 >> Let's start, let's give it a fresh set of eyes.
17:03 Plus, when I came in and I was recruiting,
17:06 I wanted to have the same set of eyes that I had when I was at Rice.
17:10 I wanted to recruit dudes that could play for me at Rice.
17:14 The thing that drives me nuts is when people be like, I got a great player.
17:18 He will be great for you at Morehouse.
17:20 I'm like, I don't care.
17:22 No, I want the best player.
17:24 Don't give me the guy you think would fit us, that would be nice for us.
17:28 I'm trying to go steal dudes and in recruiting.
17:31 So that's just my little recruiting spiel.
17:35 That drives me nuts.
17:36 When people say, that he would be nice for you.
17:39 Like, no, that's not who I want.
17:40 >> Yeah, but coach, you gotta be aggressive, right?
17:44 >> Yeah.
17:45 >> And you gotta have that, man, look, we come to ball.
17:49 [LAUGH] If you don't have that type of mentality, the attitude, and
17:53 that's a part of how we were trained as Morehouse men too, right?
17:57 We gotta be the ones on top.
18:00 And if you can be able to do it, speak it, and
18:03 see if these guys are gonna gravitate to it, right?
18:07 So I appreciate it, man.
18:09 Let's flip it.
18:11 Let's talk about the defense, man.
18:12 Who is in the trenches?
18:14 Who are those guys, those grunt guys?
18:17 >> Well, we have DeJuan Wright, he's back.
18:24 Steven Singleton is back.
18:27 DeeDee, I'm gonna slaughter his last name, Atupu.
18:30 It's kinda like the first three guys out, but we're building.
18:35 One thing I really, really went in hard in recruiting is building depth.
18:39 So we brought in two transfers, Bryce Nelms, who started at Pitt, and
18:43 then came out of Lackawanna, and then Maxwell Martin,
18:47 who came out of West Virginia State.
18:50 So we really, really tried to bulk up the defensive line.
18:55 Very excited to have Dalyn Lamb back as a playmaking machine, a linebacker.
19:00 He missed most of last season with a knee injury.
19:03 We're different when he's on the field.
19:05 And then we have so many dudes in the secondary, Tyler Davis,
19:09 Joe Gertman, Taylor Harris, Devlin, Oluwamie.
19:17 We just got so many guys back there, I'm so excited.
19:20 It's gonna be hard to play them all, but that's all right.
19:23 Again, competition makes you better.
19:25 >> Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely.
19:28 When do you guys go to your first game?
19:31 Who were you playing the first game coming out of the shoot?
19:35 >> So we're playing Virginia Union, actually in another classic.
19:39 Black College Hall of Fame classic in Canton, Ohio.
19:42 We actually be on the NFL network, but I'm just fired up.
19:46 It'll be my first game as a coach at Morehouse since 1994.
19:51 >> Yeah, yeah, now were you with Doug?
19:55 >> No, no.
19:56 >> Okay, I was about to say, this guy here,
19:59 you know what he did at Morehouse his first season.
20:01 [LAUGH] >> Right, right, no.
20:04 So it's funny, Mo Hunt and Willie Hill recruited me.
20:09 They were there with me for three years.
20:12 And then we had a disaster and they hired the white scales.
20:15 That was an absolute disaster.
20:17 And then Craig Kaysen came in.
20:19 And Coach Kaysen had been at Howard.
20:21 He played at Howard.
20:24 He had been at Princeton and Dartmouth.
20:26 And he's the one that really, really taught me about how to handle the financial aid
20:30 and do things like that with the scholarships.
20:32 He was a master at that.
20:34 So that's actually who I won my last season, '91.
20:38 We won the conference championship under him.
20:42 And then he was there for my senior year, plus two more years.
20:47 And he left to become the tight ends coach at Georgia Tech.
20:50 And then Coach Williams took over, and then I left.
20:54 >> Okay, all right, gotcha, gotcha.
20:56 Well, I know for the classic up in Canton, you're gonna have a chance to
21:01 be with Doug Williams and James Shaq Harris and those guys up there for
21:06 the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic.
21:09 That's gonna go on with Virginia Union.
21:11 That's gonna be awesome.
21:12 All right, last thing, Coach.
21:14 How do you, and I hate to say, what do you want to goal yourself, right?
21:21 But how are you planning out this season for the Maroon Tigers?
21:28 >> Well, I'm gonna be honest with you.
21:31 I don't think past the first game, right?
21:34 One day at a time, one play at a time, one game at a time.
21:38 It's killing me now that I gotta make flight reservations and
21:43 do rosters and stuff for two games down the road.
21:47 >> Yeah. >> I'm like, my mind's not there.
21:49 This is gonna change.
21:50 This is all fluid information.
21:52 So it's killing me a little bit, but I gotta do what I gotta do.
21:55 So my biggest thing is we're gonna take it one step at a time.
21:58 I don't care who's next.
22:02 I only care who's now.
22:04 That's our focus.
22:05 Once we get through this coming Sunday, we'll bang it around a little bit on Sunday.
22:11 And then our focus turns to Virginia Union.
22:14 And little known fact, the president of Virginia Union is a Morehouse alum.
22:20 >> Yeah. >> Class of 99, I believe.
22:22 So if that don't get your blood pumping, I don't know what will.
22:26 But no, we just try and stay focused on the moment.
22:32 And I tell my guys, that's what's important now is the moment.
22:36 My DC at Rice will actually play for me at UMass.
22:41 Brian Smith has something he brought from NFL.
22:43 He say, be where your feet are at.
22:46 >> Okay, I like that.
22:49 >> That's my approach.
22:50 We're gonna be where our feet are at.
22:52 Our focus is on Virginia Union.
22:54 We worry about everybody else after that game.
22:57 >> Awesome.
22:59 Do you have an opportunity to come across Steven Jackson,
23:04 who used to play for the Oilers and now he was defensive back coach for
23:11 the Bengals that Super Bowl year, and now he's with the Atlanta Falcons.
23:17 >> Okay, no, I have not.
23:18 >> Okay, all right.
23:19 I'm trying to get him to reach out to you, man.
23:21 That's my cousin.
23:23 >> Okay.
23:23 >> And his son is at Morehouse.
23:26 >> Wow.
23:27 >> Yeah, his second year at Morehouse, he's entering.
23:30 So really talented young guy.
23:33 He doesn't play sports like his dad, but very smart young man.
23:38 All right, coach, last thing, man, let's talk about HBCUs.
23:44 You come back to HBCUs and you are now going to put your stamp
23:50 at Morehouse on how to do things and how to write the ship.
23:55 Talk about the importance of being there, especially with Morehouse having
24:00 another huge freshman class that just came into the building.
24:06 So talk about that as well as why it was important for
24:10 you to accept this position.
24:12 >> Well, let me say this.
24:14 It's kind of funny cuz I always say I never left HBCUs, right?
24:20 My two oldest kids graduated from Delaware State.
24:23 >> Really, the Hornets?
24:25 >> Yeah, the Hornets, my youngest started at Prairie View before she went to Air
24:29 Force.
24:30 So my wife is the only one, she's HBCU honorary cuz all of us are.
24:38 >> [LAUGH] >> You know what I mean?
24:39 So I've never considered myself leaving.
24:42 And my five years at Rice, my D-line coach at Rice,
24:45 I recruited him to Morehouse.
24:47 So you had two Morehouse guys at Rice, so we was HBCUed up.
24:51 But it's a great time, it was the right time in my career to come back,
24:57 to have this opportunity.
25:00 And all the pieces are falling in place.
25:03 Harold Ellis just got named athletic director.
25:06 We were here at the same time.
25:09 So our whole thing, and just from conversations with him,
25:14 is that we're trying to blow the roof off of this thing.
25:17 I think at times Morehouse has not always acted like they're in the present
25:22 with their athletic department, right?
25:26 We're trying to get to the present and set ourselves up for
25:29 the future, is our mindset.
25:32 >> Love it.
25:33 >> And I think it's something we can do.
25:35 The president has been very supportive.
25:38 And he said, coach, you know we can build Morehouse through athletics.
25:43 I said, say no more, I already knew that.
25:45 I was waiting for you to say it, waiting for you to realize it.
25:49 But he believes that, and I think we can do this thing the right way.
25:53 I said in the interview, I talked about the power of the M.
25:58 We're one of the few schools in the country, I can walk into anybody's house.
26:02 And they pretty much know what Morehouse is, or at least have an idea, right?
26:07 So we can go anywhere and recruit, and so that's great.
26:11 So that's what we're looking to do.
26:14 We're looking to take this thing to the next level.
26:17 Do it like it's never done before.
26:19 And inevitably when there's change, there's gonna be some resistance.
26:24 >> Yeah. >> But just like I tell my players,
26:26 like I have one of my players,
26:28 he was upset cuz somebody wasn't doing something the right way.
26:31 I said, hey, don't worry about it.
26:33 Cuz when the train leave the station, you're either on or off.
26:36 And if you're not on the train, you're gonna get left behind.
26:39 Shoot, Willie Hill used to be like,
26:41 that diesel fuel make you sick when the bus leave.
26:44 >> [LAUGH] >> So I was like-
26:47 >> You don't want to smell that exhaust.
26:49 >> Right, I was raised by, I tell everybody, I was raised by Willie Hill.
26:53 So I tell them in a minute, we get first three games, we flying.
26:57 I'm like, that jet fuel is strong when you're standing behind it.
27:01 So don't get left.
27:02 But at the same time, we have a roster of about 104 kids.
27:07 So inevitably, some people are gonna get left.
27:11 But my message to them is it's all about competition.
27:14 Come back, ready to compete every week.
27:16 Every week, the roster is fluid.
27:18 It's like the NFL, I gotta post the travel list, that's all right.
27:23 And we're gonna compete, and that's what's gonna make us better, is competition.
27:26 >> Well, look, I'm chomping at the bit.
27:32 I'm ready for you, man.
27:33 And I'm so happy that you took the job.
27:36 Nate Griffin told me, hey, man, y'all got Joe over there now.
27:40 I ain't know y'all think I'm gonna be, yeah, we're gonna be good.
27:44 >> [LAUGH] >> That's my man, Nate.
27:46 >> Yeah, we're gonna be good, Nate.
27:47 Yeah, I said I had to tell him, man, let him know.
27:50 He's a Morehouse man, what else do you expect?
27:54 >> Right, right, right.
27:56 Well, you know one thing's funny that Harold Ellis told me.
27:58 And when freshman orientation was going on,
28:03 football players weren't in orientation, we were at practice.
28:07 >> Okay.
28:07 >> Right, it's changed a little bit now.
28:09 But I had to let him go.
28:11 But when Harold being a basketball guy, he got to go through orientation.
28:15 He said when he was in orientation, they told him that we better.
28:19 So that's our mindset, we better.
28:22 So if that's what you say, that's the standard.
28:26 We gonna hold Morehouse to and everybody that's associated to us,
28:29 that we have to be better.
28:31 If we're supposed to be better, then we have to prove it.
28:34 And that's our job.
28:35 We're gonna make sure that we're proving it on and
28:37 off the field every single day.
28:39 >> Yeah, well, Coach, you know how it was when we were sitting in sale hall.
28:45 >> Yeah. >> And look to your right,
28:47 look to your left.
28:48 The guy next to you may not be here.
28:50 >> May not.
28:51 >> [LAUGH] >> But you made it.
28:54 [LAUGH] >> Made it through by the grace of the Lord,
28:58 man, a lot of prayers from home, back home, man.
29:02 Look, it's been a pleasure talking to you, Coach.
29:04 It's not gonna be our last.
29:06 We're gonna chop it up a little bit during the season if you don't mind.
29:09 >> Okay, not a problem.
29:10 >> I'll let you try to pick your brain and see how things are going.
29:13 And anything you need from us over at HBCU Legends, always reach out to me.
29:19 Let me know how things are going.
29:21 And man, I'm here to support, okay?
29:23 >> Thank you, thank you, thank you.
29:25 >> All right, that's Coach Gerald Wiltshire of the Maroon Tigers of Morehouse College.
29:33 Take care.
29:34 >> All right, have a good one.
29:35 [MUSIC PLAYING]