We talk about the alphabet, Bobby Petrino’s comments on completion percentage, and then DQ has thoughts. And a summer time ritual….condiment talk!
Eastside Liquor Halftime Podcast: 8-14-24
Catching up with Grant Hall and Clay Henry, talking about the future of the NBA after the Olympics put a spotlight on international basketball. How defensives schemes have evolved in modern football, and how that affects who we see on defense for the Hogs at the second and third level.
Guests: Grant Hall and Clay Henry!
Razorbacks’ co-defensive coordinator on overall unit, his linebackers’ group
Hogs’ Travis Williams on the new faces bringing a boost in talent to defense and how they keep recruiting players.
Razorbacks’ linebackers on new group, who’s standing out in summer
Brad Spence and Anthony Switzer with the media Wednesday morning after camp practice on development of linebackers.
Chuck Barrett, Bo Mattingly on new morning show coming Aug. 26
A preview of what they expect from Razorbacks with Bobby Petrino back in town on The Morning Rush on Wednesday.
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: 8-14-24
Casino companies duking it out for a monopoly on good PR and NIL funds, is Razorback football team chemistry on the rise in spite of that? Discussing Bobby Petrino’s comments on his QB’s and the outlook for that position in 2024.
Guests: Bo Mattingly, Clay Henry.
CLAY HENRY: Chuck and Bo ready to start your morning
Can you imagine Johnny Carson and David Letterman co-hosting?
We are about to get that in Razorback Nation sports talk morning radio. It’s a stunning development.
The Chuck and Bo Show, with Bo Mattingly and Chuck Barrett hosting, begins Monday, Aug. 26, on ESPN Arkansas. Tune in 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on 99.5, 104.3, 95.3 and 96.3 as you travel through the state. You can also listen to it on HitThatLine or download the app on Apple and Android mobile devices.
It’s big stuff. I can imagine Eddie from Clarksville letting loose a few Ric Flair “woos” that bounce sweetly from Mount Magazine to Mount Gaylor.
They will be fantastic. It’s going to be juicy. Don’t lose sight that Bart Pohlman, part of Mattingly’s ace crew, returns as Executive Producer.
I did 25 years of radio with those two, split evenly, first with Barrett and then with Mattingly.
Hawgs Illustrated was a struggle until I began joining Barrett on drive time radio. He coached me to paint the picture. Suddenly, our sales man began to bring contracts to the office. Business owners all over the state knew of the magazine because of the radio show.
Mattingly took over the show when Frank Broyles picked Barrett as the Voice of the Razorbacks.
There was a suggestion that talk radio might not be a perfect marriage for the school’s play-by-play man. That faded recently and Barrett returned to the medium ever so gently with Tommy Craft’s ESPN Arkansas.
Mattingly was practically hand-picked by Barrett to take over his time slot. I stepped in and it was another good marriage. Bo was an expert at drawing out my stories. He has great interviewing skills.
After growing his business in new areas the last five years, Mattingly became fascinated with a return to talk radio, too. He began to talk about it this spring and figured out the schematics through some coaching from Steve Graves, Mattingly’s former partner with Sport & Story and long time mentor. Eventually, while Barrett and Mattingly were talking shop things took a turn. Barrett had called about wanting to do his own show and Mattingly said, “What if we did one together?”
“Bo was the heart and soul behind this,” Barrett said. ”That’s the truth. He’s the whole reason and the only reason I’m doing this. When we began to talk, it was clear we had the same passions.
“I’m going to say this as I look back on my career, the only person I’ve ever seen that has the same passion for this type of work is Bo. He’s smart as a whip and the most talented to come through this market that I’ve seen the past 20 years.
“I didn’t plan to be back in talk radio full time when I came back with ESPN Arkansas two years ago. There was a part of me that wondered if I could even do a daily show like this.
“But with Bo I can. He’s the full package. He knows how to put together all of the bells and whistles, with a producer’s mind. He’s got the brains to execute this and also to teach others to do what he needs. I’m really excited.”
Mattingly said he’s changed plenty since his days of hosting statewide radio. He’s worked on several projects of national scope and gone through life changes.
“A lot has happened in two years,” Mattingly said. “That’s work and my personal life.
“But my life is better and that’s my heart and Faith. I give a lot of credit to Steve Graves, Jonathan Beasley, Gary Oliver and Jimmy Dykes.
“You can understand it a little when you read Steve’s book, Flourishing. I’ve read it several times and it’s helped me with a reset.
“I think what I see is that I’m not chasing things so much. I have realized to focus on my gifts. Everyone has a calling. I understand that mine is the kind of thing that go into sports talk radio. It’s strategic planning and performing. That’s having a show.”
Developing a new sports talk radio show sounds like it’s joy for both Barrett and Mattingly.
“It’s been a three month process in thinking this through,” Mattingly said. “It created a peace. I know there will be stress in the process, but it’s the kind I want.”
Part of the process for Mattingly was brainstorming with John Tyson.
“We’ve done that three of four times a year for quite some time,” Mattingly said. “Recently we talked about the hire of John Calipari and the NIL changes. During that talk John explained something I’d probably known, but not thought through.
“We discussed what the Razorbacks mean to our state and community. He said, “The Razorbacks are an amenity to our state, and it brought the idea to mind that the media covering them is an amenity too.”
Mattingly recalled his early days of sports radio in his hometown of West Palm Beach, Fla.
“It’s not like here,” he said. “You can cover something there and no one knows you exist. With the Razorbacks, you are talked about and that makes it an important job and something that’s exciting to pour into on a daily basis.
“To state it simply, I missed not being able to improve the way the Razorbacks were presented to the community. I get emotional talking about the way it matters here. That means something to me.”
Clearly, these two radio giants like each other, but for many years it was an appreciation of what the other was doing from afar.
“This has never been told,” Mattingly said, “when I got here in 1998, I’d hear about Chuck and I thought, ‘Well, no one has seen real talent here.’ I told myself, ‘No one has seen what big market talent could do here. ’
“I went to Hog City Diner (now Cheers in the middle of the square, once the old post office) and saw banners that Chuck was going to do a show there. I wasn’t impressed.
“But I learned, he was different. I listened and developed such respect. I listened to his baseball play-by-play. Honestly, baseball is the hardest to do. There are dead spots, unlike football and basketball. He knew how to do a broadcast and hold you. He amazed me. Chuck was masterful.
“I’d listen to him do Sports Rap. He was often by himself for hours and was as good as the national guys like Dan Patrick. He could carry a show all by himself and few can. No bells and whistles.”
That’s what Mattingly always wanted on his broadcasts, with a wide range of national guests. The late Chris Mortensen took him to ESPN headquarters and Mattingly latched onto some of the national media greats. He brought them to his program on an almost daily basis.
“When Chuck left sports talk and I got his spot, I was scared I was not up to his standards,” Mattingly said. “I leaned heavily into the production elements and guests. I wasn’t going to rely on myself to carry it. Not like him.
“I’d say to compare us, I am more the producer and Chuck is more the performer. My strength is connecting the dots. I probably didn’t know that until I began to do it.”
They know each other well enough to expect rocky moments. My dad once explained their type as “strong medicine.” It was his way of explaining confidence.
“I tend to talk long,” Barrett said. “I am sure he will have to tell me to shut up. I hope he does. But I think we will figure it out and will complement each other. My style is different, more to just talk to our fans.”
Barrett laughed when asked about the name of the show. Why did he get top billing?
“It was discussed at length, but to be honest, we decided that Chuck and Bo sounded better than Bo and Chuck,” Barrett said. “We just were not comfortable with the rhyming possibilities if Chuck was last. This is why it’s going to work. Neither one of us cared.”
Both names are highly recognized by radio listeners.
“Neither one of us are trying to climb any more,” Barrett said.
They both beam about the business environment in the state.
“We’re so proud of the success the companies in our state have shown the world can happen right here,” Mattingly said. “ We’re not just little ole Arkansas. That’s our inspiration. We want to do whatever we can to keep adding to that example. And we want to do it with the most talked about thing in our state, the Razorbacks.”
The mountaintop is a sweet place and it’s fun to look at the stars. It reminds of the late-night TV hosts. Carson and Lettermen wanted to finish your day. Barrett and Mattingly are going to get you started from the top of Razorback Nation.
Ruscin & Zach on the future and QB play in Tuesday’s podcast
We give some thoughts on QB play this season, react to ESPN Arkansas’ big announcement, and talk about waking up in the middle of the night.
CLAY HENRY: No major alarms for Razorbacks so far
The more I hear about Arkansas fall practices and then listen to Bobby Petrino’s explanations of what’s going down, I feel up.
We probably would feel the same about most fall camps around the SEC. Maybe everyone has taken a step forward. Football has changed with the portal and payment plans associated with Name, Image and Likeness. You should be able to fix what ails a football team.
But it seems clear from those at practice that the 2024 Razorbacks are completely different in body and spirit to the team that floundered then went in the tank last season. A lot of the fixes attempted the last nine months — from coaches to players — seem to be on the right track.
I plan to see my first practice later this week, but some old heads that saw everything last week bragged about all phases of the team, especially the way the linemen moved. These are not the views of media slouches.
These old reliables did not see anything like this new bunch over the last few seasons at Arkansas.
Most expect the throwing game to improve with Petrino’s arrival. He sounded as if he likes it Tuesday in a long session with the media. He spoke well about the quarterback room. I love when he talks about Taylen Green, the 6-6 transfer signal caller, changing his motion to “over the top” in the offseason.
Basically, Petrino thought his lower arm slot reduced him to a “6-footer” in the spring instead of the “outlier” that the coach loves in a 6-6 passer. Interceptions are down. Tipped passes result in interceptions with the speed in an SEC secondary, but those are reduced this fall with the No. 1 quarterback.
Petrino loved the way the Hogs ran the ball in the spring, but maybe the passing game wasn’t as crisp as most of his offenses in the past. It’s rounding into form this fall.
The running game started slowly in the fall, but that’s come around, too. Defenses are generally ahead of the offense early in August camp. One bust up front ruins a play, but the mesh is coming around. Tight end blocking has improved. That will help the tackles, better than last year’s group that slumped start to finish.
There seem to be more than enough weapons to suit Petrino, although he’s still reserved about pinpointing the identity of this offense. No use tipping his hand. You don’t have to know it right now.
Petrino is still challenging his quarterbacks to attempt the tough throws. He asked Green to list his most challenging throw in a meeting a few days ago. Then, a day later when asked what he wanted to work on, Green went straight to that throw. Basically, he said, coach, let’s fix that. Petrino loved it.
Those that have seen practice are clear on one thing; this is the Petrino offense, complete with crossing routes. They weren’t there last year at Texas A&M. It’s no secret that Petrino was running the Jimbo Fisher offense, not what we’d seen over the last 20 years, especially those zone and man busters that Petrino ran with Joe Adams, Jarius Wright, Greg Childs and D.J. Williams.
I think Petrino has the talent he needs and it sounds like Sam Pittman has gotten things more like an SEC team in the offensive line. The tackles can hold their own. They are battling a good defensive front. So their successes in protection are worth noting.
But this is the tidbit that I liked most from a trusted source on the defense, the front can really move and that’s linemen as well as linebackers. Another emerging topic from the fall is the big jump made at strong safety from Jayden Johnson. No one says he’s turned into Steve Atwater, but I’d take a Ken Hamlin or a Kenoy Kennedy. If that is happening as some suggest, the sky is the limit.
I’m told there is a nice mesh between defensive coordinator Travis Williams and Petrino. They have known each other for a long time. Williams was a linebacker at Auburn when Petrino was offensive coordinator. Williams was a player when Petrino was head coach for the Atlanta Falcons. There have been no issues.
Players seem to be following the lead of their coordinators. Strength coach Ben Sowders spoke about the instant respect Petrino got from players. He said the offensive players “like” Petrino and have been sponge-like ever since the veteran play caller arrived.
Petrino had slow wide receivers in the spring from doing too much on off days. He didn’t want them worn out for midweek practices during installations.
I’m sure the defensive players like Williams. They gobbled it up when he surprised them with some rapping. His jingle jangle stressed “standards not starters,” the constant refrain in all my TWill interviews.
Petrino has a few standard old lines that are starting to matriculate into the mantra for this team. In the past, he’s demanded his players “vocalize their goals,” something his father preached as coach at Carroll College. He’s asked for goals in his quarterback room of late.
It’s still early in fall camp. Two weeks is a small snapshot. They have scrimmaged only once and pads are still new. But I bet this team is capable of reaching some decent goals, perhaps loftier than those held by fans. There are a few in Razorback Nation that don’t have much hope anymore for football. They have been beat down.
I’m not in that camp, as long as injuries don’t hit after another Thursday scrimmage.
I used to talk to my dad about my sports ventures. I’d announce our practice accomplishments after dinner. He’d temper his outlook or prediction.
He’d ask, “So what you are saying, so far so good? We will see.”
That works two weeks into August for the 2024 Razorbacks. It may be that things slip over the next two weeks, but it could be that we are in for a surprise. We will see.
Eastside Liquor Halftime Podcast: 8-13-24
Catching up with Chuck Barrett, Alyssa Orange and Bill King.
Hogs’ offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino with media after practice
Discussing development of quarterbacks, including Taylen Green, Malachi Singleton and freshman KJ Jackson working on what’s improved as season nears.
