Boomo Bugg Show 041626

[0:00] Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the tie, Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9. The Sports. Good afternoon and welcome here to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us a street ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, welcome in where Alabama picked up literally a big man on the hardwoods while Georgia loses a big dog on the gridirons.

Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you? Happy Thursday to you and the listeners. As you alluded to, Alabama adds a second basketball transfer portal commitment to Marion Davis Fleming from Mississippi State, all 6'10", 250 of him. Zach Pounders of the Shell Sports Report tells us about some big changes coming to high school football and basketball next season, but BB is here right now to look at some spring football games Saturday and who are his top quarterbacks in the NFL draft. B-squared is Bill Bender, the National Voice, with the Sporting News.

Bill, welcome in. How are you? Hey, bud. Let's see if Bill is hiding out behind door number two there. Are you with us now, Bill? There we go. There we go. I think we found out where that on button is. Is it finally feeling like spring in Ohio? Are you guys still trying to dig out from the snowman? Well, I mean, we're supposed to get some rain this afternoon, but it has warmed up a little bit. And, you know, obviously going through, as you know, the Ohio State spring game is this weekend.

So, a lot going on. You know, spring football, the NFL draft, there's plenty to cover here at Sporting. Bill, is there any reason to play the season this year? Because everybody's got Ohio State already penciled in. So, is it going to be that easy that your neighbors there in Columbus are going to be number one? Is it just a race for number two? You're close to the Buckeyes. Your take on his team? They're going to be good. I wouldn't pencil them in as a national champion.

I think offensively they'll have a ton of firepower with Jeremiah Smith, Julian Say, and Bo Jackson. Always fun saying that name out loud again. Yeah. Yes. You know, Indiana and Notre Dame are both going to be very good, which is the dynamic up here. Ohio State won one. Indiana won one. Notre Dame's pretty loaded. And those school guys are, you know, I always have to get my map out, but those schools are only separated by, you know, 250 miles in any direction. So, it will be interesting to see if the Irish can do it this year.

A lot of buzz around the Alabama spring game last week, in particularly the performance of Keelan Russell. I've told several Alabama fans this week, we're not going to give him the Heisman Trophy just yet, but he did look quite impressive, 21-33, 240, four touchdowns. Alabama's added a lot of depth at a lot of key positions, in particularly the line of scrimmage. The offensive line still work in progress. I was impressed with the defensive front, and I know you probably read or saw a few clips about Russell and some of the A-Day highlights.

Your thoughts about Alabama's spring game? Yeah, you know, they, you know, obviously Russell will be the key, and, you know, they've got a five-star pedigree there. Last year, the issues were running the football in the second half of the season. I'm sure that's been talked about at length up your way, and whether or not the offensive line can power that through. And, you know, Brett, the NFL draft's going to be a reminder to me that Alabama guys drafted this year, and, you know, if that happens, you know, the talent coming in, like you said, they've filled some gaps, and it's a big year for Keel and DeBoer, and I think they're going to be right back there in the mix.

We saw some of the preseason polls, and it's a fun thing to do this time of the year. How in the world, in this modern era, can you ever make a prediction with all the new guys coming in? We were talking to some of my friends yesterday from LSU. They got like 50, 60 new guys. Auburn, pretty much the same. And any camp's going to have 20, 30, or 40 brand new names. But one of the polls we saw was we talked about the big O, Ohio State and Oregon, one and two in the ESPN.

I know that's a cuss word in your neck of the woods, but it kind of gives us an opportunity to sit here and compare and contrast the news that was coming rolling down this way, part of the punt if you're a Crimson Tide fan. They had Bama at 16 or 17, which gave Nick Saban almost a heart attack. Your thoughts about where ESPN has Bama right now? Oh, I mean, we have them in that 12 range, 11 to 12. I mean, the SEC, after you get past Georgia and Texas, which I think will be the top two teams ranked, then you get into that clump of teams that includes Alabama, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, LSU, even LSU probably a little bit behind Alabama, because I just don't know what to expect from Lane Kiffin in year one.

[5:41] But Alabama has their talent to compete and play with all of those teams. And Texas A&M is another one I forgot. I don't know if I would put them at 17. I think they're right about where they were to end last season to start this year, which is like right on that fringe of the playoff conversation where it could go either way. You mentioned Georgia. Let me ask you about the impact of the latest news. And if you're a Georgia fan, it ain't good. Amaris Williams looks like he has sustained a season ending injury to his knee.

He's a transfer from Auburn, a class pass rushers. They don't grow those on trees. Your thoughts about the impact that's going to have on Georgia? Well, I mean, you know, obviously that's not a good injury. They do have, they're another school that when we watch the NFL draft, you're going to be reminded of how many good players they do produce. TJ Allen and Monroe Freeling will probably go in the first round. You lose Williams, you lose some depth there. I think they need some of those four and five star recruits to flash.

And Kirby does a good job developing those guys. You know, the other side of the ball, you're looking at, you have Gunnar Stockton back, retooled offense around Nate Frazier. They're still going to be, it's a, just because they lost in the playoff the last two years. I mean, we're still talking about back-to-back SEC champions. And I think, you know, that's why Greg Burns comments. I don't know if we talked about them last week. I'm apologizing if we already did, but they hit me because that, that is definitely on the minds of the SEC brass knowing that, Hey man, like you can win a conference championship, but I'm going to hold that last trophy up.

Well, that's a big deal to Nick Saban. And once again, Kirby, and I've agreed with him for years. It's a big deal to win the SEC championship. And I know that gets poo-pooed in the national media sometimes. And the other point about Alabama being 16 with Mark Slabog and ESPN, if Ty Sampson was returning at quarterback, Alabama being number 10, that, that, that's the difference in these way too early rankings. When you've got a veteran quarterback at that spot, it makes a difference. Before we get into your, um, quarterback mock, the quarterback mock, thought it was interesting.

Florida trying to get off with Jon Sumrall, uh, Aaron Philo coming in with Buster Faulkner from Georgia tech, uh, and Jon Sumrall literally named, named Trammell Jones jr. The C the quarterback to begin the season. Now we'll see if he changes that in summer camp, Jane balls there. I think their defense is going to be much better, but I thought that was interesting that John Sumrall is already named a season starting quarterback. You know, he's aggressive and he is in your face a little bit of the way that he handled you and we've talked about him for years.

I really like his approach. I like how he's worked his way up to this spot in his career. And so it doesn't surprise me that he's trying to lead something different and aggressive turnaround at Florida, which is kind of that SEC school that. Quite frankly, over the last couple of years, I've probably talked just been on off the radar. So it is an interesting year. And, uh, it doesn't surprise me that he did that bill Bender. Check him out. The sport of news bill. Let's talk about another one of our neighbors here, uh, international brand, Tennessee.

Uh, obviously Tennessee fans are trying to get back to hit their standard, but a lot of question marks right now at the quarterback spot, George McIntyre was the heir apparent. It's like, he's going to have to go to the buffet line twice to get up. The standards are as far as weight. Uh, the other criticism, maybe he holds onto the ball too long. The answer is maybe you got to go to a true freshman. And you know what that means, Bill, that's never a good thing.

Maybe with some exceptions, but not usual. Your thoughts about Tennessee pays on the five-star freshman, right? I forget if he was the top quarterback or not, but you know, the one thing with Josh Heupel's offense is it is definitely quarterback friendly. Um, you know, the thing that stood out late last year, remember, this is a team that took Georgia to the last year and really should have won that game. Um, so they are going to put points on the board. They are going to throw the ball down the field.

You know, you'll see if their defense pans out, but how they respond to, uh, a late season slide of sorts that not only entailed losing to Vanderbilt, then let me ask you about your quarterback, Mark. Uh, you've got Fernando Mendoza, number one, uh, in fact, the number one, I'm sorry, go ahead, but you know, yeah, we missed you for a minute. Go ahead. With Russell, um, you, uh, you had a tie and I think that's the. Yeah. Let me, uh, let me introduce real quick. You've got Fernando Mendoza, number one overall, and then the debate, Ty Simpson, is he a late first round pick or a early second round pick?

[10:59] And I know you've got him going number 34 in the draft to the Cardinals. Um, it's six, one, two, he's put on 20 pounds since the end of the season. I could tell, uh, where does Ty Simpson end up in the NFL draft? Well, I, I mean, he's the big question, you know, is the team, uh, back half of the first or the second round and either way, he's in that spot where we all know Fernando. But the combine accurate. Well, I hate to jump in. Obviously we've got a little bit of a hiccup between here and there.

Uh, yeah, I apologize, Bill. I'm sure you may, may not have heard that we've got a little bit of a hiccup as far as staying on the same page with you there, but we'll get the big ironed out and see if we can't get that ironed out between that next time. How's that sound to you? Sounds good. All right, buddy. Thank you so much. Bill, Bill Bender again, check him out at the sporting news coming up. It's time to check out the Alabama Crimson Tide with Michael Southern on deck.

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Start your journey today at goodfeet.com. Hello again, everybody. I'm Roger Hoover. On Thursday's edition of Crimson Drive, driven by NASCAR, we were joined by Alabama baseball outfielder Sam Christensen. But no, it was fun. When I got here in Alabama, it was kind of just like, Alabama is just a cool place to be at. So I was like, this is cool. And then me and my teammates, we'd walk around the campus and stuff. And the facilities at the baseball field were sweet. And I was just like, dang, this place is like awesome.

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[16:21] So I was very fired up when they gave me a call. I'll have more in a moment. This is Christian Miller for the Good Feet Store. I know from playing football at Alabama and in the NFL that if you have foot, knee, hip, or back pain, it can be a huge challenge. The Good Feet Store is designed to personally fit you with art supports that alleviate and even eliminate your pain altogether. Try them before you buy them during your free, no obligation, personalized fitting, and you can wear them home the same day.

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Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. Time to say hello to Michael Southern. He's got it all covered there. Co-host of the Blue Collar Podcast and basketball contributor for Locked on Bama, Tide Hoops History, The Tide Machine, and also former sports writer for the Tuscaloosa News and the Gadsden Times. Michael, welcome in. How are you? Hey, I'm doing well today, guys. How are you doing? Doing good. Doing fantastic. Michael, we may not be geography majors here, but in the history of transfer portals with the shortest drive between his old school and his new school, Alabama may have just landed him.

Would you agree? Yeah, that's a, look, we all know Mississippi State is the closest SEC school in Tuscaloosa. So, it's going to be a pretty easy move for Jamerion Davis Fleming. So, that's going to be pretty interesting. But, yeah, you know, Nato's and company, like I had mentioned, you know, they are portal ninjas. They work in the shadows. And then, yes, you know, word started breaking about, you know, the visit from Jamerion Davis Fleming going well. And you also saw the tea leaves, you know, kind of changing with the news that Cade Phillips was getting a pretty strong offer from Texas A&M.

So, I imagine this is just a one-for-one there. The staff just pivoted and went all in with Jamerion Davis Fleming and said, hey, come on board. We've got a spot for you. And let's talk a little bit about that. Obviously, when you start looking at big men, you don't always look at someone who's going to light up the school board or maybe put out the big stats there. It's a different era. But Alabama last year was no secret. Needed to go big. And so far, your thoughts not only about getting a big dog from state, but the big cat from Kentucky.

Yeah, it's pretty obvious what the staff is wanting to accomplish here. Look, you've lost Aiden Sherell. You lost him to Indiana. You lost a big body. You need big bodies. You basically get two players who are almost identical in stature as far as size. You're both looking around 6'10", 6'11". They're both around 240, 245. They're both very athletic. They're not shooters, but that's okay. When has Alabama's offense flown through the guy at the five position? It hasn't. They ask their bigs to do different things. They don't post up.

They get their points off pick and rolls, alley loops, and putbacks. And Alabama just didn't have the bigs to fight for that many putbacks. And you really never saw that many pick and rolls with the big guys like they have done traditionally in the past. So, you can see what the staff is going for. I do like the athleticism of these two players. Again, not the most skilled when it comes to just outside shooting. But they have athleticism. They have length. That's the most important thing.

And they have bulk. Just think of it like this. Taylor Bo Bowen was the same height, but he's 50 pounds lighter than these two guys. So, just think of it like that. That is a huge, huge difference. And the other thing I was kind of looking at, and again, this is just no high-falutin analytics, just a top-level look at things. You know, we always say that Alabama plays money ball. Well, they lost Aiden Sherell, which is basically 11 points, six rebounds, two blocks, and one assist per game in about 24 minutes.

If you take what Jim Marion and Brandon did this last season combined, if you do that, you're going to get about 8.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, and 1.8 assists. So, almost replacing the production with these two, but they are very much more athletic than Aiden. Aiden is skilled and can shoot the outside shot. We know that. But these two are much more athletic, and I think they're going to be able to get in there and fight a lot harder for rebounds. Great point. I know a lot of fans are waiting on Amari Allen's decision.

Will he declare for the NBA draft and say, I may be coming back? One that Jimson, I think, would be a big get. Let me ask you, with your sources, listen, we've heard 50 names, the same thing as you have, but Jacksonville Johnson at Kentucky, John Blackwell at Wisconsin, Donnie Freeman at Syracuse. I heard Cole Cloer at North Carolina State. I'm not going to try to throw out 20 more names at you, but, you know, the simple question you get asked probably four times a day, now that these two are in the house, who's next?

[21:33] Yeah, so I think, and you brought up definitely some names that have been in play. Obviously, I think the staff was very interested in Donnie Freeman, but I don't think, you know, it's going to be a bidding war with Kentucky. We also have a ton in the mix. The two that I keep hearing that the staff is really focusing in on now is, you know, Alex Wilkins from Furman. He's a freshman guard last year. He's a good-sized guard. He's 6'5", averaged almost 18 points a game on almost five assists a game.

He's a pretty good shooter. That's the one that I've heard they're really targeting. And then, yeah, you mentioned the other one, Cole Cloer. Alabama recruited him out of high school. He signed with NC State. He was an early enrollee. He enrolled in school in January. And then when Will Wade left to go back to LSU, you know, he decided to enter the portal. So I'm hearing that the staff are really zeroed in on these two. The thing with Jasper Johnson is, yes, the staff would love to have Jasper Johnson, but they're not going to get into a bidding war with Missouri.

They're not going to get into a bidding war with anyone. That's why Kate Phillips just committed to Texas A&M. I guarantee you Alabama laid out a plan that this is what we would love for you to do in the program. We would love for you to come back, and this is what we can afford on the NIL. And that's it. They're not going to sit there and barter back and forth saying, oh, you know, you want more? No. The staff has always been pretty clear on how they operate when it comes to NIL.

We got the big A word. It's not Alabama. It's adios. Michael Southern looking at where they said, Michael, let's switch gears. We would, let's talk a little football. We would never, make sure we would never put you on the spot. But, Michael, if you were the head coach, who would you pencil in as Alabama second quarterback? Well, let's be fair here because, you know, it is known that, you know, obviously Austin Mack wasn't 100%. He was dinged up, I think, like the last couple of days heading into the A-Day scrimmage.

But, you know, you did see some nice flashes from Keelan Russell. And, look, let's not lie here. He's got the it factor. And, look, we all know what the it factor is. It's hard to describe, but you know when you see it. That's a black helmet. That's a black helmet. And when you see it, you want more of it because you can't imagine not giving that it factor a chance to do even more. So, you know, the quarterback race is far from settled. Let's see what happens in fall.

Look, you guys know how this goes. If it's really close, they're going to go with the guy who's probably a little more experienced and doesn't turn the ball over. But that also means the first time they mess up, they're not going to hesitate to let the other guy get in there and give it a shot. Absolutely. Let me ask you about it. We talked to Rodney Orr about this yesterday, about the inside linebackers. When they lost Lawson Jefferson and Hill Green and they only brought in Caleb Woodson, I thought maybe they should have picked up one more inside linebacker in the transfer portal.

But once again, after seeing QB Reese, Luke Metz, Kane Jones, Duke Johnson, Abdul Sanders, and oh, by the way, throw in the true freshman, Xavier Griffin, who had a tremendous move on Jabin' James to get to the quarterback. These guys are quick twitch. They're not saving size linebackers. But I'm impressed with how these guys get to the ball. Well, the staff on football is very similar to the staff in basketball. You know what they're going for. They're looking for athleticism. And maybe it's not just like it doesn't have to be maybe a set and measurable like, you know, the saving rules where you have that certain definition of the size, the weight, the speed.

And if it didn't fall into that mold, you had to give a reason why you wanted that player. These guys are just looking for athletes because, you know, their emphasis is on speed and attack. Same thing on offense. They want to be quick and fast and attack you vertically. And they want to do the same thing on defense. So you're seeing a change of the guard. This is year three for Kalen DeBoer and for that whole staff. So this is, without question, a 100% Kalen DeBoer team.

So I'm very eager to see exactly now what does a 100% Kalen DeBoer Alabama team look like because we're about to find out this fall. You know, I think something that a lot of fans saw Saturday and maybe they didn't see, and I'll try to explain myself here, is with a nine-game schedule now in the SEC, you would believe it's going to be a lot of close games. Translated, you better have a pretty good kicker. How do you feel about Alabama now at the special team spot?

Game on the line, 47 yards, makes the difference of making the playoffs or maybe even going to the SEC championship game and, who knows, maybe even winning a national championship. If you play in those games, the special teams are really special. Your thoughts about Alabama now with the special teams? Yeah, if there's anything that gives Alabama fans more consternation, it's a clip in a crucial situation. You just talk about eyes rolling and stomachs churning. That's just sheer misery and agony. But, I mean, you've got to give credit to the fact that you have a legit competition going on.

[26:34] You would hope that only makes each one of them better. I mean, it's going to be the same thing. You know, after they made the snapper change, too, Connor Tolte actually, you know, did much better. Obviously, he didn't endure himself with the fans, you know, embarrassing a teammate like that. But I do like the fact they have competition. It's going to be very interesting to see which one actually, you know, handles it going through the fall. Yes, Alabama fans will always have night terrors when it comes to a clutch kick, no matter what.

It's just the way it is. Same thing in basketball. We have night terrors about free throws. So, missing free throws and missing field goal kicks is just something that is going to always be the albatross around the fan base. I mean, the nine-game schedule, I'm sorry, I don't know if you guys agree with this, but I just really think Greg Sanky got bushwhacked by the Big Ten. There's no reason. Yep, he walked right in. Yeah, the SEC should have never, there is no need for them to continue going to nine games.

Never. I don't understand why they did that, and that's just a terrible decision. That's one of the reasons why the Sandestin meetings in the spring and May are going to be a little spicy, because I've heard the coaches were not happy about that. The defensive front, this staff has quietly put together, I think, an effective front. Again, we'll see Devin Tompkins coming in, Terrence Green, London Simmons, Steve Bolo knocked A.K. Deer in the next week. Kenley Bingley-Jones, Edrick Hill. I mean, we could go on here, but they've got seven to nine players that they could actually rotate.

What are your thoughts about what could potentially be, quietly, a very good defensive front? Well, the good news is, even if it's not early, they're going to have time to develop, because you're going to have one of the best secondaries in the country that's going to give you a little extra time if you're doing the pass rush. Look, you know, Kaylin DeBoer has always said, and I believe it's also the velocity of Ken Walnut, but they don't hesitate playing a lot of people because they want as many people to get as much experience as possible, and they want to have depth, and they want to be able to rotate.

So you brought up a good point. You threw out a lot of names. You're going to see all those names play. I have no doubt about that. And they're going to get a chance to become playmakers and showcase what they can do. So that is just the philosophy of the staff. It's a little bit, I mean, it's 180 degrees different from the Saban philosophy, where the best guy plays until he can't play, if he gets injured or hurt, or we're up by 50. You know, that's not what the staff does.

I mean, you see how many people they play. I'm wondering, too, that's probably one of the great, you know, recruiting advantages or selling points that they give these high school kids because, you know, they still are doing a very good job in recruiting, even with the NIL challenges. So they're still getting a lot of talent here from the high school level. They offer opportunities to freshmen, and you saw, they don't hesitate. If you're good enough, they're going to throw you right in there and give you an opportunity.

Listen, I was impressed with Josh Jacobs, excuse me, Treshawn Brown, and his running ability. That was a nifty little juke that he had on a flat pass. Your thoughts on him, and we can mention 50 other players. Who else caught your eye Saturday? Well, you know, I'm a little hesitant just to put too much emphasis on A-Day because, you know, Brett, you're the same way. You've seen a lot of A-Day heroes that never came back and did anything in the fall. Yes, Ajaya Hall for one. You beat me to the punch because I was going to bring up, for people, for recent short memory, I was going to say Ajaya Hall.

He was an A-Day hero, and you saw what he developed into. Brett, I'm going to go really old school on you. I remember the spring game in 1991, and we all thought Danny Woodson was going to be All-American quarterback. Yeah, absolutely. You saw what happened there. You know, he couldn't do anything, and Jay Barker took the job away from him. So, again, I don't want to – I take A-Day games or scrimmages with a grain of salt. Again, you still don't have all the players there, too, as well.

I did – you know, I still have concerns about that offensive line when it comes to run blocking. I have a lot of concerns with that. So, and that also leads back to the Austin Mack, Keelan Russell discussion. I think if you had a good pass-blocking offensive line, I think Austin Mack could do great things. If it's not as good, Keelan has a little more athleticism and scalability, which you may need, just like Bryce Young had to run for his life in 21 and 22. So, you may be in that circumstance.

Absolutely. Listen, great discussion and conversation, as always. Tell us about Tide Hoops' history real quick, and where can we get you on social media? Oh, absolutely. Right now, with all the Transfer Portal news, we're trying to stay on top of it and trying to see how this roster's going to shake out. And once we get it, we'll give updates on players. But, yes, just follow us on X, at family history. Fun time – well, I won't say fun time. It's a stomach-churning time right now for basketball fans.

[31:37] So, let's see. You have to wait until the 21st. I hope no other Alabama players jump in the portal. So, we'll see. We've got to get to the 21st to see what happens. Do the roster and pencil with a good eraser, I guarantee you. Listen, Michael, thanks for your time today and have a great rest of the week, okay? All right, you too, guys. Always appreciate it. Thank you, bud. Michael Southern, with us amongst other places, the Blue Collar Podcast. You mentioned Danny Woods, and I remember he was walking on the Warrior River and he was playing Penn State, and everybody was talking about the strength of his arm.

I was in the end zone for that particular game. He dropped back. He threw a pass, and he had an arm on him. I could not believe, B.B. The only problem was it was about 40 yards over the head of his receiver. I was going to say 20, but yeah, it may have been 40. Coming up, let's go north to Tennessee Country and Ryan Callahan next. Stay with us. At Family Credit Union, we believe every great team starts with a strong community. We're proud to help our neighbors save, borrow, and build brighter futures together.

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And speaking of which, let's go to the great state of Tennessee and say hello to R.C. Ryan Callahan. Got it all covered there at Go Balls 24-7. Ryan, welcome in. How are you? Hey, guys. Doing well. How are you? I'm good. We're doing all right. Is it true, Ryan, that after that spring game, Tennessee fans are reserving their tickets to the national championship game? Or what is the vibe coming out of the spring fling? Yeah, well, you know, I think like any spring game these days, it seems like, at least the ones I've seen in Tennessee, a lot of people aren't quite sure exactly what to take away from it.

Because you get a little bit of a glimpse, and we're glad to see live football after not really seeing any live football throughout the rest of the spring. But, you know, even fans, I think they had to come away from that spring game at least a little bit concerned about the quarterback situation, just knowing the youth that Tennessee has there. George McIntyre, Faison Brandon, both former highly ranked prospects, and Brandon in particular, the one that I think most fans think, at least in the long run, is going to be pretty good, is the number three overall player in his class on 24-7 sports.

But he looked like a freshman a lot of times. It wasn't an especially great day for either one of those guys. And then because it's an inter-squad scrimmage, you've got to ask yourself, is that partly because the defense played pretty well? Because Jim Knowles' defense seems to have picked things up pretty quickly in his new system. We had talked about that throughout the spring, but seeing it out there on the field, there really wasn't a lot of separation in the secondary. So you've got to give Tennessee a lot of credit for the coverage.

And you've got to wonder how much of that is what Jim Knowles' defense has thrown at these guys, because they did not give them any opportunities, I don't think, to complete stuff down the field. So hard to say, coming out of a scrimmage like that, where exactly Tennessee stands, aside from to say, based on what we saw. You know, George McIntyre helped himself. I think after a couple bad scrimmages, he probably had the better day between the two quarterbacks. But, again, neither was great. And Tennessee's got some work to do on the offensive side of the ball.

And on the flip side, the defense looks like it's ahead of schedule, at least. I think these head coaches, that's exactly what they want. They want fans to not know what's going on right now, because they don't want to sit here. You're not going to go too deep in that playbook and see what's going to happen on the spring game. But you can have a great defense. You're going to stay in the game. But to win championships, here's some rocket science stuff. You've got to have a quarterback.

We know Heupel's good. He knows how to squeeze all the juice out of a quarterback. But is he this good? If McIntyre can't live up to his expectations, do you have to sit here and rely on the potential? You know what to say about that. Potential, if you rely on it, can make you, Po. Is this kid ahead of the class when it comes to two freshmen? Some of these kids are. But as far as your gut, where are you right now as far as the quarterback situation being in good hands?

Man, you know, where I leave the spring is thinking it's a real battle. And honestly, before the spring game, I thought it was maybe a type situation where George McIntyre had played his way back into making it enough of a race that you could absolutely see Faison Brandon and winning the starting job as a true freshman, which is, I don't think, a great thing. I don't think any coach these days is looking for a true freshman to start. But, you know, if that's the best option, then I think they're willing to go that route.

But that being said, you know, McIntyre doesn't have a lot of experience himself. He played in two games last year through a total of nine passes in those games. Just doesn't have a lot of experience. And they didn't take full advantage of the year that he has under his belt because he wasn't the number two quarterback last year. He was the number three. So they, you know, arguably maybe wasted some reps on Jake Merklinger last year that could have helped George McIntyre come along a little bit further.

And, yeah, so you've got two really inexperienced guys, and I think they're willing to start whichever one earns the job. And at times you see Faison Brandon, and you see, man, the ball jumps off his hand. The talent is there, and it's very obvious at times. And then you saw some moments in the scrimmage. And, you know, he didn't throw a pick six like he did in the second scrimmage. He didn't make any catastrophic mistakes. They just didn't make a lot happen that day. And, again, there's things around them that could explain that.

[42:05] You know, I had a starting receiver that wasn't out there that day, and Mike Matthews had some interior line issues that were evident kind of throughout the last couple scrimmages, it sounds like. And, you know, again, the defense is playing pretty well. So is that a knock on both quarterbacks, or is the defense maybe that good? So it's hard to say, but I think overall the quarterback competition is enough of a concern that if you're assessing, I mean, the over-under on Tennessee is seven-and-a-half wins for a reason.

And I think the bottom line is they don't have an experienced quarterback in an era where everybody wants one. And no matter who wins that job, it's a concern. But, yeah, I think it's the spring. You come out of it thinking either one legitimately could win the job because they're both talented, but neither one has really stepped forward and made claim that they're going to be the guy to lead this team this season. I think you made the best point is the defense is further advanced than a lot of people thought it was.

We're in a different era now. Coaches can come in like Alex Golich at Auburn and bring 19 players from his own team with him. And that's a little bit about what Jim Nose did. He brought in Anthony Poindexter, Andrew Jackson, and another coach, Derrick Jones, who's quite familiar with him, from Duke. And then they bring in four players, Xavier Gilliam, the defensive lineman. Now, I know Chance Coleman's had some issues, but four players from Penn State. And, right, is that one of the other reasons why this defense is a little bit ahead of the game?

He brought some assistive coaches and players who are very familiar with his system. Yeah, I think they believe that's really helped, especially the staff part of that. You know, again, having a player at each level of the defense that's played for Jim Nose before, certainly that gives a bit of an example for guys at his position to follow and maybe can help speed up the learning curve a little bit. But the staff part is a big deal, I think, to have guys who have worked with him in the past.

You're not having to worry about getting people on the same page. They know what he wants. And he's a pretty clear communicator about what he wants to do, and I think that's helped. The other thing is that, you know, I think we've talked about it enough, certainly, that I think they're aware of it, that the perception and maybe the reality that Jim Nose's defenses in year one have not been as good at previous stops has allowed them to make some adjustments to maybe help with that.

You know, being aware of that I think helps to say, hey, what do we need to do to speed things up a little bit this time? Because we can't afford to have a year one that's sluggish. And that's probably helped, and maybe they've streamlined some things. But whatever it is, they seem to have struck a good balance. And I thought this was a knock on Tim Banks' defense, the former defensive coordinator, who did a good job at Tennessee and had them at the top ten defense in 2024.

But it was not – it didn't look like an overly complex defense, but it seemed very difficult for players to grasp at times. This defense seems like it's the opposite. It plays complex, but it doesn't seem like it's been difficult for players to grasp at this point. And that's – they can continue to strike that balance. That's what you want these days in college football. The good news for Tennessee, according to ESPN, they're one of the top 25 teams in the country. The bad news for Tennessee fans, you're at number 25 or right there at it.

Your thoughts, too high, too low, or just about right right now, according to the so-called smart people at ESPN? Yeah. You know, I think it's a good reflection of the fact that no one really knows what to do with Tennessee this year. I think you're going to see some people that have them in the back end of the top 20. 25, I think you're going to have some people that have them outside that. And it's really – again, it's a reflection of the quarterback situation, the fact that you didn't get Joey Aguilar back in court.

And on the flip side, it's that you don't know if their defense is going to take enough of a step forward to counteract any issues they might have on offense. They've got a lot returning on offense aside from the quarterback. But, you know, polls these days, it's all about returning starters and what people think you're going to look like. And, again, they're coming off an eight-and-four season last year, too. So not a lot to go on that really makes you think they're going to be a playoff team.

But at the same time, you know, Josh Heupel's had a couple teams that have overachieved and people have maybe had that in the back of their minds. And so it maybe gives them the benefit of the doubt that they'll end up being a top 25 team. But tough schedule, tricky quarterback situation with some youth there. I mean, I don't think you're going to see a lot of people having them ranked ahead of that. But, yeah, you can see the justification to have them kind of in the back end of the top 25.

And that's not a terrible place to be given where they are. But I'm not going to be surprised, honestly, if they open the season outside the top 25 and the A.B. and coaches. We'll see about that. We've talked a lot about the quarterbacks. What about who the quarterbacks are throwing to? Mike Matthews, Braylon, Staley, two known commodities, two very solid to good receivers. I know Rodarius Jackson is another option. I've heard he's been a little bit inconsistent. Travis Smith, Jr., a five-star freshman. T.K. Keyes may be in the picture.

And something else that Heupel does is lean on his tight ends. Ethan Davis, Deshaun Brown. Your thoughts about, again, developing receivers. Yeah, Mike Matthews wasn't out there in the spring game. But even with he and T.K. Keyes not out there, and Keyes is, of course, the star freshman. Everyone was eager to see at that position. But he's been banged up coming off of an injury he suffered at the end of his high school career. So with those guys not out there, you know, it didn't look overwhelmingly good, just with what you saw out there this spring.

[47:34] But, you know, you can see the pieces there, at least with a couple of those guys, that if they're able to get Mike Matthews that we saw last year again, an 800-yard receiver, and then throw in, you know, or Darius Jackson or someone else, that's potentially a very good-looking unit. But, yeah, you didn't see a lot of that in the spring game, at least nothing eye-popping in that way. And that's, again, I think Tennessee's struggling to push the ball down the field in the spring game because of the coverages they saw, or just, you know, guys not separating.

It was not an overwhelming offensive performance. But, yeah, on paper, that should be a good unit for them. And, like you mentioned, the tight ends, I think, definitely can help with that. These should be the most athletic top two tight ends that he's had under Josh Heupel, Ethan Davis, and DeSan Brame, both really talented guys. So if they can take advantage of what they have there, there's no reason those guys can't help whoever wins the quarterback competition. But, yeah, as you said, I think Rodarius Jackson has to come along a little bit.

He had some drops and a couple scrimmages, had one in some pass skeleton work in the spring game as well. So they've got to clean that up and had some drops overall as a team. You know, that's one of the concerns, I think, coming out of spring practice. Ryan Callahan, Govales, 24-7. His daddy played quarterback at Alabama. He played basketball last season at Tennessee. He'll play at Texas A&M come next season, according to the latest reports. Anyway, your thoughts about the news of the day with Cade Phillips?

Yeah, I mean, not shocking to see him end up in a pretty good spot. That was one that Tennessee did not want to lose to the transfer portal. That was a guy that they were pretty excited about his potential and just dealt with some injuries and things like that. But he's a guy that they really, really think has a bright future. And, yeah, I kind of had a feeling that he might end up in the SEC somewhere. You know, heard some initial talk of people wondering if he was on Alabama's radar and things like that.

So not sure who all was involved in that one the most down the stretch. But, yeah, certainly not surprised to see him surface at a program that, you know, got off to a really good start this year in Texas A&M. And we'll see how he does there. But that's certainly one Tennessee will be wishing they could have held on to somehow, I think, no matter how things turn out. They're probably going to get their own nice additions in the transfer portal. But definitely feel like they lost a pretty good player in Cade Phillips.

And certainly he's got the chance to give Texas A&M a boost next season. Let me ask you about some of the guys. Again, we talked about this a couple weeks ago. On the surface, it looked like Rick Barnes lost most of his team. Brown is coming back, of course, from Hoover. But he has picked up Miles Rubin from Loyola, Chicago. Tyler Lundblade from Belmont. That's a very good program. Jalen Harrelson from Notre Dame. Day of Day of Ames, I'll let you correct me on that, from Cal.

And I know they're involved if they haven't already picked up Terrence Hill, Jr. from VCU. I know one thing about these guys. They can score. They can. They've made some nice additions so far. Now, Terrence Hill is still on his visit to Tennessee, I believe. He arrived yesterday afternoon for an official visit around the same time that Harrelson was departing. Harrelson committed the Notre Dame transfer just yesterday. So they've made some nice pickups there. Tyler Lundblade, as you said, one of the best three-point shooters available in the transfer portal.

One of the best three-point shooters in the country, really. He shot 48% a couple years ago, 40% this past year. Great story. Started off his career as a walk-on and kind of worked his way up. And, yeah, we'll see how much defense he can play. But that's always a concern with a Rick Barnes player. He values defense so much. Can you have a three-point shooter out there that's not a great defender? But that's a nice addition there. And then Cal guard Day-Day Aims, is how you say that, committed on Saturday.

And then Miles Rubin on Sunday. So they've made some nice pickups. Rubin gives them a nice shot blocker inside. They've got some scores in that group for sure. So we'll see what they can continue to add. But Terrence Hill, we mentioned him, he averaged 15 points a game this past season in 25 minutes. VCU shot 37% from three. Looks like, you know, again, they lost some pretty good players, but they're definitely looking to add some offense. And it seems like they understand they've got to take the offensive punch to another level.

If they're going to finally get over that hump and make it to a Final Four, three straight Elite Eights is nice. But they've been asking themselves, what do they have to do to take that next step? And clearly they know they need to have more scoring. I'll tell you one thing, I know everybody wants to talk about the transfers. I know Tennessee got two big dudes on the offensive line. Maybe one of their more impressive additions was strength and conditioning coach Derek Owens. I mean, they literally stole him away from Indiana after winning a national championship.

I've heard a lot of good things about him so far. Great stuff, as always. I know you beyond recruiting, that's going to get hot and heavy here in the next six, week's, uh, recaps on spring. Uh, Patrick Brown on GoVoss247 and had some great, as far as questions for next year, great article about that. Where can we get your stuff and the team's great stuff? Yeah. GoVoss247.com. Tons of hoops transfer portal coverage, baseball and softball still in full swing. Lots going on. And a great time to check out the site.

[52:52] 60% off an annual subscription right now to take advantage of that hoops transfer portal activity at GoVoss247.com. Christmas in April, right? Listen, man. Thanks so much for your time, Dave, and have a great week and weekend, okay? You guys do the same. Thanks a lot. Thank you, bud. Thank you. Ryan Kellyanne, GoVoss247. BB, what about those Atlanta Braves? Uh, 63 last night. Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Matt Olson went deep for Braves. And Bryce Elder, Bill Shane's favorite player, who we'll talk to you about tomorrow. One again, ZRA, Harold Bugg, 0.77.

Is that pretty good? Yeah, well, it's even better. The team leads the league in ERA. A big whopping three-game lead. Hey, well, Braves, good job. Take the night off. In the meantime, coming up the next hour, Ryan Fowler talking tides. Zach Panerstein, what's taking in the shows, and Logan Fowler about a game on the planes this weekend. Details straight ahead. Stay with us. Hi, this is Ike Fowler with Alabama Health Guidance. Whether you are looking for a Medicare health plan or you are under 65 and exploring individual health care options, Alabama Health Guidance can help you find the plan that fits your needs.

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Um, why are you dressed like a hockey player? Because America's energy security is on thin ice. We're facing an overburdened electric grid, rising fuel costs, and severe weather. But here's your power play. Propane. It's affordable, abundant, safe. Propane is reliable energy. Even when the grid isn't. Advantage propane. Learn more at propane.com slash power play. 1819 News. The six Republican primary candidates running in the Alabama Senate race all took part in a forum held last night by the Republican Women of Madison. Candidates answered a series of questions about various issues, including their stance on the H-2A and H-2B visa programs, which allow for foreign nationals to be hired by U.S. employers.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall says that the H-2A visas are valuable for helping Alabama farmers, while the H-2B program is being exploited by big tech companies. Former U.S. Navy SEAL Jared Hudson says he wants to prioritize Alabama workers over either of those two visa programs. Congressman Barry Moore says he wants both programs to be well managed so that it actually contributes to American industry. Cattle farmer Rodney Walker called the visa programs broken, but he also admitted that there will always be a need for immigrant labor when it comes to agriculture.

Cardiac surgeon Dale Deese Jr. said that both visa programs are necessary to fill the jobs that Americans are unwilling to do. And submarine commanding officer Seth Burton said the visa programs must be more clearly defined. I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Where I was living was not a great place to live anymore. I began to pray for a place to go, praying for all of these things that a nine-year-old would want. I wanted horses, big house with a bunch of people my age.

[58:17] I wanted parents. I wanted a mom and a dad. Before I even prayed it, the Lord had already answered my prayer with the Big Oak Ranch. Who would that nine-year-old be if she never came to the Big Oak Ranch? I would be trying to fight for survival instead of fighting to break a cycle. Big Oak Ranch, a Christian home for children needing a chance. Students and staff at Ramsey High School in Birmingham are mourning the loss of one of their seniors today. 18-year-old Layla Hicks died in a house fire along with her parents, Edward and Farentina.

The fire broke out in the family's home on Wednesday morning. I'm Andrea Tice. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter. Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores. Sports Radio 93.9, The Score. Boomo Bugg, on 93.9, The Score. What do you say we go to literally the home of the champions? Wife wins national championships in football. Husband wins national championships in basketball. Andrea Adelson from ESPN. What's in the water at the Adelson House in Orlando, Florida?

How are you? Well, I'm doing great, fellas. You know we're home to the two best universities in the whole entire world. I've heard that, I've heard that. It's natural that those schools win championships. Right. By the way, you may not have heard this, but Arch Manning is the starting quarterback in Texas. You can confirm that? What? You can confirm that? The summer of March. You heard it first here. The summer of March. Hey, Rhys Davis, take that. Oh, baby. Yeah. The Boomo Bugg Show, weekdays, noon to two on 93.9, The Score.

93.9, The Score weather. Today, a 30% chance of afternoon showers with a high around 85. Tonight, mostly clear with a 30% chance of showers overnight and a low near 60. Tomorrow, sunny with a high around 90. Tomorrow night, partly cloudy with a low near 65. And for your Saturday, partly sunny with a 50% chance of afternoon showers and a high around 85. Your weather from 93.9, The Score. Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show.

Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9, The Score. Welcome back in, our tour of the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg, alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley. With that, we say hello to Logan Fowler. He's got the Auburn Tigers covered at 1819 News. Logan, welcome in. Are you ready to take the curtain up on another era of Auburn football? I am. I am ready to get to cover the inaugural season of Alex Golesh.

I've been excited and everything that I've heard from him throughout the offseason and throughout the spring. So, it's football time on the plains, and I'm ready for it. The weather's going to be promising. Logan, obviously, it's April, and any time you get a brand new can open of coaches, optimism seems to be the common theme across the college football landscape of picky sport, for that matter. He's doing a lot of talking. Your thoughts about being able to back it up so far, Logan? He seems to be saying all the right things.

Yeah, you know, I think that Alex Golesh, again, like you mentioned, he's saying all the right things. Obviously, giving fans confidence with what he's saying on the mic, but again, you've got to go out and back that up on the field. I think he's a pretty straightforward guy, and not to say that, you know, the previous regime wasn't. I thought that, you know, Hugh Freeze was a pretty straightforward guy, and he was going to give you what you asked for. But, you know, I've noticed with Alex Golesh, like, hey, the effort wasn't there today, and if we want to win championships here at Auburn, then that can't happen.

You know, he's pushing for leadership roles outside of Byron Brown. Like, obviously, that guy's going to come in, and he's going to be a leader. But, you know, guys like Jeremiah Cobb, who have, you know, been productive on the field, but maybe need to step up vocally as a leader and lead, you know, a completely new running back room. And then, obviously, you've got guys like Xavier Atkins, Elijah Melendez on defense. You know, Atkins obviously was a huge leader by example last year at an All-American campaign in his first season on the Plains last year.

But can he step it up and be, like, you know, the vocal leader that that defense needs? Be the DJ Durkin on the field, right? So, you know, I like what I've heard from Alex Golesh. I think that, you know, he's very intentional in what he says. The energy, that's big. That's obviously what everybody's talking about right now is the difference in the energy in that building. So, you know, I think, you know, Auburn fans have lots to be excited for, and obviously they're going to get a big show this weekend on A-Day.

[1:03:41] Let me ask you about the offensive line. When you bring in as many as he did, that's going to be one position that a lot of people are going to look at. I know they've been mixing and matching, but I heard a lot of good things about Joe Simmons and Cole Best. Derek Plaz, the Miami transfer, Cole Skinner has been there. Wilson Zier has had his moments, some with the first team. Stanton Ramel has been hurt and missed a lot of the spring, and this will go on until summer camp.

But your thoughts on an intriguing offensive line? Yeah, lots of new faces on that offensive line. Like you mentioned, Stanton Ramel, obviously you'd have liked to have had him full speed this spring, but he seems to be coming along a little bit better here in recent weeks and recent days after an all-season procedure. So you're hoping you can get him back full speed for the fall and slot him into one of those two tackle positions. Actually, I think Wilson Zier right now is sidelined with a minor injury.

You know, so this is a group that I'm going to have my eye on on Saturday. You know, I think that you could probably pencil in Joe Simmons, like you mentioned, and Cole Best for a tackle in that center spot, respectively. You know, and after that, maybe up for grabs. Like you mentioned, Derek Plaz, Cole Skinner, Ty Buster. I think that you're going to have those guys battle it out for those two guard spots. And Ty Buster's been getting a lot of run, you know, on the outside as well.

So lots of new faces, lots of options. Just been injury played, you know, offensive line room for the most part this spring. You know, you've got Jack Larrier, T.J. Hedrick coming over from Ole Miss. Jacoby Ward was getting talked about a lot in the, you know, beginning parts of spring camp. Cal Ellis, obviously, he was the youngest player in college football last year. He grew a lot. And he's going to be a valuable option to have, either behind Cole Buster. Could he step up and take one of those guard spots as well?

And then maybe you get something from Jacob Strand, another transfer offensive line at one of those tackle spots. But lots of new faces, lots of fluctuation going on throughout the spring in that group. So that is definitely a group that I'm going to have my eyes on on Saturday. Logan Fowler, I got it all covered when it comes to Auburn 18-19 news. Logan, we were joking earlier with some of the fans saying, well, there's no competition at the quarterback spot. We know about that. But we were quickly reminded, yes, there is for the number two spot.

Because you hope you never have to go that route if you're a fan. But sometimes things happen. And your thoughts about the competition for the number two spot. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I mean, all eyes are going to be, you know, on Byron Brown and rightfully so. I'm ready to see what he can do in an orange and blue uniform. But, you know, we continue to see and hear nothing but positive things about just the overall arm talent of Tristan Tia. You know, one of my former colleagues and good friends, Mike G of the War Report, posted this morning on X, a video of Tia throwing.

And, you know, he sees that Tia can, you know, blossom into a high-level SEC quarterback. So, you know, I would expect Tristan Tia to probably take over that number two spot, you know, if you were to play a game tomorrow. But, again, you've got to think about, you know, Lachlan Hewitt has a year in this Alex Golesh and Joel Gordon offense. So, he's kind of, you know, he knows the ins and outs of what they want to do. Can he, you know, would they feel comfortable throwing him in the fire?

I think so. Will his talent, you know, transition to the SEC? That's yet to be seen. But I think Auburn overall is in a good spot with Tristan Tia, Lachlan Hewitt. And then, obviously, you bring the freshman in and brush. Who's probably going to need some time to develop. But, overall, I'm, again, Saturday, I'm really eager to see Tristan Tia and, you know, kind of see if that arm talent translate to game-like reps. We talked about the offensive line, the defensive front. D.J. Durkin's defense was very good last year.

I've heard a lot about Cody Sigler. Dallas Walker has come back. St. Farrier, Malik Altry, and then defensive ends are edge. Deshaun Womack, Jared Smith. I mean, again, you've got about 17 or 18 dudes here. Who has caught your eye on the defensive line, the defensive front? Yeah, I mean, it starts with Cody Sigler. He's been disruptive all spring. But, I mean, again, another group I'm going to be watching closely, probably defensive line and offensive line are going to be two that I'm really keen to end on on Saturday.

You know, Malik Altry, he looks a lot better this year than he did a year ago just physically. Deshaun Womack has come on really strong. Alex Golesh has raved about him. And then Jared Smith as well coming off the edge. Those are probably four guys that I'm going to have my eye on in particular. You know, I'm also really hoping that this is a year that Jordan Crawford breaks out. Like, obviously, true freshman last year, hard to get on the field. But just you talk about an uber-athletic guy, just probably the strongest guy on the football field at all times.

[1:09:12] Kind of reminds me a little bit of Nick Fairley, just in a sense of how athletic he is at that size. So, can Jordan Crawford break out and get to run behind St. Farrier and Dallas Walker? I really hope so. I'm rooting for that kid. But, yeah, I mean, Jared Smith is one that on Saturday I think that he has all the intangibles to be a really disruptive pass rusher off the end. Obviously, you lose, you know, Geldrick Fogg, Amaris Williams, and tons of guys off the edge from last year.

So, can those guys step up and, you know, again, take a leadership role on that defensive line? Who's going to step up and be, you know, your vocal leader when things get tough down the stretch? Logan, obviously, we need to lose a guy like Cam Coleman. How in the world do you answer this question? How can it be this good at the wide receiver spot as far as a room? But your thoughts, Cam is in a special class. He's earned those strikes. But your thoughts about the wide receiver room?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm eager to get a look at the USF guys. So, that's, you know, Chaz Nimrod, Keyshawn Singleton, Jeremiah Koger. Christian Nettoon is held out with an injury right now. But, you know, eager to see those guys. Chaz Nimrod has just been absolutely raved about from his coaches and his teammates. He's often talked about as the fastest guy on the field. So, you know, I've kind of compared him in a sense, not, you know, straightaway speed. He doesn't possess as much as this guy did.

But Anthony Schwartz, like, can he kind of be like that guy for you, right? Just go out and make a play, run after the catch type guy. And then, obviously, Keyshawn Singleton and Jeremiah Koger, you know, big catch radius type guys. You need some of those guys in this league. But, you know, you talk about the freeze four. They're obviously not all intact anymore. But Bryce Kane decided to stay on the plains for another year under a new regime. You know, I've seen him do some crazy things in practice and warm-ups.

And you talk about another just insanely athletic guy. So, for him, I think it's just a matter of putting it all together and kind of showcasing his talents. You know, buying into the scheme. Obviously, he's getting coached up by Cody Burns. So, can Cody get the most out of Bryce Kane? I think that, you know, he's kind of an under-the-radar guy to have a breakout season. Absolutely. And the 8-8 game is going to be very similar to a game, even a 20-minute halftime, 15-minute quarters. They've got a little of a convoluted scoring system.

I've seen even Nick Saban did that one year where the defense would get rewarded for making good plays, sacks, interceptions, et cetera. Great stuff. Logan, I know you're looking forward to it. Auburn basketball still bringing in some players, as everybody else in the country is. We'll see how that comes out in the next week or two. Where can we get online to get all your good stuff online? Yes, sir. You can catch me at 1819news. Check out all my written work over there. And then you can also follow me on x at Logan F. Fowler.

There's some good baseball content coming out over there as well. Make sure you pack some sunscreen this weekend. You may need it, Logan. Have fun. And thanks for your time today. Absolutely. Thank you, guys. Thank you, bud. Logan Fowler hooking up with us. 1819news. Coming up, what's the news in the shows in the greater areas? Zach Pounder is on that and more. Spread ahead. Stay with us. You're on the Boomo Bugg Show. Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well, trying to find a needle in a haystack.

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The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in my, oh my, what a few days makes as far as a different look coming up on the high school world. Coming up, as a matter of fact, as soon as possible. Zach Paners on that and everything else. When it comes to covering the Shoals, that's because he's the founder and editor of the Shoals Sports Report. Zach, welcome in. How are you? Doing good. How are y'all? Doing good. Well, we're sitting here trying to take this big jigsaw puzzle and put all the pieces in the right place.

Zach, first of all, your reaction to the 35-second shock clock that will be implemented for the 26-27 season. My first question would be, how many schools already did not have been installed? Have to find the funds for it or install it? I know Tom said it yesterday on it. And Bell Rain's principal said that's a lot of money for us to come up with. We're going to have to find creative ways to fundraise. That's for boys coach, Brian Pounders. He said, six times daily, that's going to be about $500 a year to run when you pay the operator.

And it was about $2,500 or so to install it, to buy it and install it. So that's $3,000 up front, roughly, for every school. And it doesn't sound like a lot, but in some schools, that's a ton of money. Well, yeah. I mean, let's face it. You've got some of the smaller schools. We won't call them out for obvious reasons. But where they're already counting every nickel in the crack of the couch, it's a nice theory, but making it happen. I mean, what do you do? Go to the booster club and start leaning on the booster club even more than what you're doing now?

I guess that's outside of that, unless the state steps in and say, we can give you some type of supplement. How do you do it? My first thought was, you say, we'll do the next cycle. And so you have 10 more years to raise the funds, and then 28, 29, it comes in, official, or 27, 28, whatever year, that would be the next cycle. But, yeah, I agree on that. Some of the schools have football clubs or whatever you want to call it for basketball that raise their own money, and they probably have the funds sitting back.

[1:19:58] I got to ask a few more to get where they can be fine. And some schools have one booster club for the whole school, so it's one lump fund for every program, and they split it evenly. And very rarely do they get to divvy out X amount of each program. It's usually evenly divided. Well, I know there have been a lot of coaches advocating this for years as far as improving the flow of the game. And I'm like you, that was my number one concern going in.

Because a lot of the smaller schools coming up with that kind of money, that might be a pinch. Again, we'll see what, as far as being creative and coming up with that. Speaking of being creative, the Super 7 is now going to be called simply the football championships. Five days of games, five days of games, four flag football games on Tuesday, two private school championship games on Wednesday. And then on Thursday, they're going back to, well, they're going to be having games 1A and 4A at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

They've actually eliminated the 3 o'clock game. But then on Friday, class 2A at 11, class 5A at 7. Then on Saturday, it wraps it up with the class 3A championship game at 11 a.m. And they finished, which they've done for years, with the 6A title game at 7 o'clock. Now we've got a little more clarity on the public schools and flag football. Listen, your thoughts on eliminating the 3 o'clock game and now going from basically what used to be three days to four days, now to five days. My initial thoughts were this, initially.

The flag football game on day is awesome. I think with the Olympics in two years, having flag football, it's going to showcase flag football across the state. And hopefully they get the same TV coverage that the football will get on the weekend. Hopefully they get the same TV coverage over the last few years. The flag that's been on NFHS while the football got on PBS or APT, whatever you want to call it. But also, that 3 o'clock game, my first thought was, when you eliminate that, that tells me this.

They're going to clear the stadium, so we had to pay twice to get in as a fan. Right. So if you were just to watch the ball all week, you're going to have to pay twice on the football days to get in twice. Because that four-hour window, they can clear the stadium, clean and all that. It would be better for the cleanliness part of having a fresh stadium and all that and a warm-up, too. Because I always wondered this. If you're in that 3 o'clock, 7 o'clock game, how do you warm up from 6-15 to 7?

Or from 2-15 to 3 and not have your normal routine if you're in that 11 o'clock game from 9 a.m. or 8 a.m. on? Because every team plays 14 games to that point of the season, has a routine in place. How do you adjust your routine to 45 minutes, maybe 40 minutes, who knows? And unless you have overtime or a marathon game, it never ran overtime. I'm not a fan of the five-day format for the sole purpose of the five days. That's a lot of time to do a little too few games in.

I think it's a test run, though, and they'll finish it in the next few years. Yeah. Zach Panner, second of the show's sports report. Quickly, before we wrap up the new provision as far as the shot clock, in your opinion, and I know only time is going to tell, but based on history, what team of the shows does that benefit? What team of the shows might it now be a problem for? The ones that benefit will be our industrial boys and the smart boys who want to run and go in and run and shoot all the game long, want to play you in the 70s and 80s.

The ones that will hurt will be your smaller schools, who have the coaches, who slow it down. And one specifically, Josh Bryant, he was indifferent on that physical boys. He was indifferent on it. They went ahead and got the shot clock already when they put the scoreboard out this offseason. But he can play both ways. He can play run and go in, but if he can play you in the 40s and 30s, he can really be. Coach Trigger at Wilson, he wants to run and go in like Coach Panner does at Deshler.

But we saw in area play and area tournament how both styles contradicted each other. And I think it was the play-in game at Brooks in area tournament. It was like in the 20s at halftime. And at Wilson, Central had it like a 20-15 game at halftime. So it wasn't a 30-20, whatever. It was like a 20-15 at halftime and like five points in the second quarter. Now, he doesn't slow it down to the point of stall ball, holding the ball out of Fairfield. There's a boy, but he can slow it down to like a 40-second.

[1:25:03] And the big key was going to be this. The 25 is going to reset. You can kill a minute, minute-and-a-half steal on the clock if you get a rebound. All that's a rebound, if it's a foul, it's reset to 25. You can pull it out to the top, 35 seconds on the clock, take a shot at five seconds left, all that's a rebound, 25 seconds on the clock. That's a minute or a third of gameplay. Yeah. A minute-and-a-half. Two minutes. You can still stall ball, but you've got to be very strategic about it now versus the old way.

And also, the two-for-one that's going to be interesting as well. The two-for-one is where you're – if it's about 45 seconds on the clock or 40 on the clock at the end of a half or quarter, you take a shot then to reset the clock for the opponent where they have to take a shot to get a violation, and you're guaranteed the ball at the end of the quarter, in theory, it'd be a rebound where they meet up. So, the two-for-one, you can go four or five points at the end of the quarter.

You can take a two-point lead to a seven-point lead or a three-point lead to a ten-point lead. Or however you want to do the math on it. With that two-for-one now. And it's going to make playoffs. It's really interesting, too, because we see it right now in baseball with ABS and MLB. Wait for a game that means a lot to be decided by that. And wait for a game in the playoffs to be decided by a shot-not violation. A hundred minutes ago in the fourth quarter, violation, turnover.

The team crumbles before they fall apart. And they lose because of that. Yeah. Baseball, softball, postseason, I mean, right around the corner. Carter Graves had five RBS for Florence. They beat Lauderdale County earlier this week. Falcons, 19-10. Two teams you know very well. Morris Hill wins his 20th game, beating Brooks 11-8. Brooks, 20-10. Morris Hill, 20-7. Belgrin picking up their sixth straight playoff berth. They beat Thartown, who we'll get into this a little bit more next week, obviously, with the playoffs. Who's playing well right now going into the playoffs, particularly in baseball?

On the baseball side, Deschler is still top of the top in that area as far as in the region, my bad. But Morris Hill also, they're the top two, arguably, in the coverage area and everybody else. On the softball side, Central, Deschler, Carbett County still, Hayley Davis, Carbett Hott, Morris Hill, and Sheldon Christian is a two-seed in their area this year. So, they'll be a two-seed against Waterloo in the first game of the area tournament. That's something to watch also. And foreign softball last night had a big win in 29 under James Clemens.

Hadn't won an area game all year until now. And that's a huge win to get. Yep. Last week, he's been big for a lot of softball, beating in the tournament. And getting an aerial win. So, the softball side is also getting interesting. Central has hattened today. And if Central wins, it's a two-way tie to top, which will go to a cornball. If Central loses, Deschler will host that area. And that's important because Deschler is a turf field with a potential of dirt. Out of the rest of the areas, we want to be on dirt.

It's a turf for the sole fact of we're used to it. And Deschler hadn't lost the game on turf all year until Tuesday when Central beat them. Yeah, that's exactly right. Central improving to 33-5. Izzy Miller with four RBIs there. And before we go, tip of the cap, again, to Florence, soccer, shutout Bob Jones, 3-0. They're 18-1-1. That was their 14th shutout. Wow. That's hard to believe. 14 shutouts on the season for the Florence soccer. Listen, you do a great job with the standings for both baseball and softball.

Again, you'll have the tie, the tiebreakers, the scores, the recaps. You do a great job with that. Where can we get online and get the standings, get the scores? And I know you're going to be previewing the playoffs probably in the next couple of days. Facebook, Shows, for support, and Twitter, at lowercase, S-H-O-A-L-S-P-O-R-T-S. We'll be out of the match tournament all weekend with softball this weekend, teams for them all over coming in. Scott's part of the far south is Hoover, Hill City, and far north is Stockton County, Tennessee.

I think Loretta's coming down, too. By 70 teams, you can buy a varsity and JVS tournament. Wow. And about 50 varsity coming in to Florence. Huge waking for the city of Florence, too, for businesses, hotels, and all that as well. Kind of a test run for regionals in a few weeks off. Logan, you need to hit the buffet, my friend, Zach, because you know why? Because you're going to be spending some calories. Listen, man, as always, good luck with you. Before you get away, where can we get the very latest with you, Zach?

[1:30:07] Facebook, Shows Sports Report, and Twitter, at lowercase, S-H-O-A-L-S-P-O-R-T-S. Sounds great. Listen, man, stay safe out there, and thanks so much for your time today. Thanks for your time, y'all. Peace. Thank you, bud. Zach Pounders, founder and editor of Shows Sports Report. Coming up, time to head on down to a place called Tuscaloosa and get the latest time talk with Ryan Fowler next. Stay with us. Baseball season is back, and there's no better place to catch every inning than Sam's Sports Grill in Florence. For 26 years, we've been bringing you quality food, consistent favorites, and service that feels like home.

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Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score. The Atlanta Braves were winners yesterday at home. They beat the Miami Marlins 6-3. Bryce Elder earned the win. He went 5-2, giving up four hits and striking out seven, while walking two as he improves to 2-1. The Braves had three home runs in the game, including shots from Austin Riley, Matt Olsen, and Ozzy Albies. The Braves are 12-7. They're off today. They'll start a series tomorrow night in Philadelphia against the Phillies. Bundle auto and home, renters or condo, and save with Progressive.

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[1:35:37] Welcome back in. Time to take a little road trip down to a place called Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where Ryan Fowler drives you home afternoons as host of the game when tied 109 FM in T-Town. Ryan, welcome in. How are you? Doing good. Good to talk with you guys. Hope all is well. And I did apologize to your producer. I apologize to Brett. So, I guess, Harold, I owe you one, too. I don't think I've ever missed an interview, but I did last week with you guys. I was having a little bit of a battery issue.

So, anyway, I apologize for that. And you guys were calling, and I was trying to get my car jumped off and trying to get to the radio station. So, I missed you guys last week. I do apologize for that. Hope all is well. Let's talk a little football. Let me ask you this. Do you have something in common with the rest of us? Are you imperfect, Ryan? If so, then you're totally excused, okay? Well, I know how it is as a radio host when you've got a guest that is scheduled and you can't get in touch because you're trying to, okay, I don't know if I'm going to open up another segment.

I don't know where I'm going to go. So, I know how inconvenient that can be as a host. And we all have to do live radio. But I was dealing with something. I was mad. Heck, I thought I was going to have to get somebody to fill in for me. And I've never not had to show up for a radio show because, well, I was trying to get jumped off. I kid you not. If your producer was calling me, I literally had jumper cables on the front of my car trying to get jumped off.

And I thought, okay, in another two minutes, I've got to call an Uber because if it doesn't jump off, because I got, I mean, I was, you know, I looked, I was, I was at about 10 minutes away from the radio station. It wasn't like it was bad, but I wasn't going to run. I can promise you that. You don't want to see me running down that far on the boulevard because they'd probably be like, what's wrong with Fowler if they see me running? But anyway, appreciate you guys as always.

And just wanted to make that public. Well, it was your car. Brent and I had to have jumper cables just to get out of bed in the mornings. Wait till you get this to age, right? What are you going to do for an uncle? I'm getting there. I'm getting there. No, I'm getting there. I know you are. I know what you're talking about. I mean, there's some mornings I feel like I need a pair of jumper cables. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Just make sure you get them connected, right?

That really can make you day long. But, Ryan, let me ask you this. What do you do for an uncle after last weekend? Football in your backyard and your impressions of that. And where do you go from here? We've got a Morgan Wallen concert. Now, listen, I don't know anything about Morgan Wallen, okay? If you played a song for me and you said, Fowler, you've got to be able to pick who this is. Now, I'm telling you, I don't think I would be able to pick who sings.

You know, if you played me in a Chris Stapleton song or an old country, I'd be able to tell you, hey, that's George Jones. That's a little Willie Nelson. That's a little bit more old there. Brooks and Dunn. But Morgan is going to help them. And, you know, it's kind of ironic that you've got an Auburn girl in Ellie Langley and a Tennessee volunteer fan in Morgan Wallen. Who put this together, man? Well, a Georgia fan in Tuscaloosa raising money, you know, the concert is going to benefit, no doubt, in their pocketbooks.

But it will also be a big initiative for the athletic department. It's going to be a big fundraiser for the university. So we've got a Tennessee, you know, you could write a headline, and this would be a false headline. But Alabama's so bad, broke, that a Tennessee and an Auburn fan's got to help us raise money. Now, that would be a false headline, but you know what I mean. I mean, it doesn't really matter in 2026. So, yes, yes. We could ask you about 70 players, but I wanted to ask you about one position, and it's still a work in progress, and that's the offensive line.

We've heard good things about him. Jackson Lloyd, literally from the start of the spring, was named the starter. William Sanders coming back in summer camp at left guard. Others have played there. Grayson Delgati pretty much has manned the center for day one. Michael Carroll's moved inside to right guard, and Javon James at right tackle. And we know there's still a lot of work to do there, Ryan. They ran for about 120 yards unofficially. What did you catch? Again, I know you've had limited viewing with media viewing throughout, once again, maybe 20 or 30 minutes.

Your thoughts on the offensive line. Well, there's several different things here. And I did ask Coach DeBoer on Monday about the offensive line, and I'll answer it the same way that he did because I think it's a really good answer. I am pleased with the direction they're headed. I'm not pleased with where they're at. And I know that sounds like Coach talk, but I think he's being transparent. He's not pleased with where they're at currently, but he's pleased with the direction that they're going. And I think that's fair to go back and say, I saw some developing in that offensive line.

[1:40:48] And I don't mean to put this all on Coach Kapp, but that offensive line as a group did not work together as a unit. Why is that? Well, Auburn, you guys may see a little dose of Coach Kapp because I believe he's down across the state. And I don't know if it was relationships. I don't know if he just can get the guys to play for her to a level. But it's one of those things that when I look back, I mean, guys, here next week, this coming one week from today, Caden Proctor's name is going to be called.

It will be called. Okay. His name will be called. Parker Browsford, over the weekend, his name will be called. Yep. That offensive line had a lot of talent, but they just struggled to play together as a unit. Now, some of that was probably because of the quality of backs, that it did not work. It did not, you know, they did not run the football very well. And that's one of the things that they're going to have to find a way to do better. I didn't see enough in the rushing attack to get me excited about that unit.

But I do think that there's some talent. Rayshawn Brown showed us a little something, something that was good. But I also think that we've got to see what EJ Crowell is going to be able to give you. What's he going to be able to give you? Because we know that K-Bill is him. And if he can give you what I think he can give you, you know, there should be a reason Alabama fans should be excited because I think this offense under both of these quarterbacks can click.

And if you can find a rushing attack that can make you a little bit balanced, then I think this offense can be very, very good in Tuscaloos. I think the other way of looking at it, if you can keep that defense off balance with a running game, that would certainly help things too. Ryan Fowler, host of the game, tied to 109 FM. Ryan, everybody's talking, of course, about the obvious quarterback. I mean, what's Kellen DeBoer going to do? Come out and name somebody and have him leave town the first chance.

So he's got to be half political here. But is there any scenario where Keelan Russell is going to be sitting on the bench next year? I can see Austin Mack out of loyalty, may getting the early edge, but Russell showed the it factor Saturday. Not only that, just what we've been talking about. Doesn't take a rocket scientist over at the Arsenal here to come up with this. But when you have a line that's kind of iffy, you better have somebody that's kind of shifty when it comes to quarterback.

Yeah, I think when you look at it, you've got to go back to what Kellen DeBoer said about Keelan Russell on Monday. I asked him, Harold, if you said, if you look at Keelan Russell, I said, is it time to pump the brakes with him? You know, what would you tell the audience based on that one practice if they're coming away saying, Keelan Russell is your starting quarterback? Well, he pretty much refused to pump the brakes and kind of get the gas on the way to the brakes a little bit.

And he said, listen, I'm not going to overhype the guy, but I'm also not going to downplay what he did at A-Day that can get the fans excited about their, you know, one of the quarterbacks. But that being said, is this still a competition? It is, and I'll tell you this, I know that Austin Mack has also fought back this week and had a pretty solid week on Tuesday and Thursday. You say, hold on, practice? Yes, they had a Tuesday and a Thursday practice. They finished up another couple of practices there.

So, yes, yes, they do. They do. And I think when you look at it, I still think that Keelan Russell has the higher ceiling, but will that win the job? I don't know. Possibly, if I'm betting, guys, I'm betting that it's Keelan Russell. But I'm not, you know, but I'm not Coach DeBoer. I'm a long way, if I had his money, I wouldn't be betting anyway. But I'd just, I'd be happy with what I have. But, yeah, when you look at what these two quarterbacks have, I think they can play winning football, both of them.

I really do. That's not just me doing the little, I think they are that good of quarterback. And I'm willing to say that this may be, this may be one of the best quarterback rooms in the country. Because off the bottom, there's a lot of talent because, and Rodney Orr and I was talking about this. I've got to give him credit, but Jet Tamala, 12, 13 practices in, guys, look at what they've been able to do with him and getting him college ready. Like, he looked like a guy, you know, in an emergency situation that could give you a little something.

So, they're, and it looks like they're going to sign a couple more in this class here that's upcoming. I mean, maybe what Kalen DeBoer is going to set up for college football, the player trades that's coming. And they'll trade quarterbacks for, you know, other positions of need if they need one. I'm just, you know, exaggerating. But you know what I mean. They're going to have a lot of quarterbacks. But they're also probably going to have some guys that, you know, may not be a part of next year's team, and they need to recruit because there's a lot of buzz about Elijah Hayden possibly leaning towards the University of Alabama.

[1:46:15] Yeah, that's an April 25th declaration about where he's going. We have probably talked about 30 players this week on both sides of the ball. And by the way, that Irish kicker's pretty good. Who else, in particular, caught your eye Saturday? Treshawn Brown. It's been a buzz here in Tuscaloosa. That's because, you know, those recruiting services now, and I promise you, if you looked it up five years from now, they go back and they change their recruiting rankings, if you notice. I don't know if you guys noticed that.

Don't tell anybody. I told y'all that they do that. But they'll go back because nobody had Josh Jacobs where the stars have him. If you go look him up as a recruit, I promise you they've inflated those numbers to where they were at. He was a midnight addition out of Oklahoma. Nobody warned him. And all of a sudden, he came in under the midnight clock. And, Brett, you may know more than I do, but I don't think Treshawn Brown had a ton of big-time offers. Alabama may have been the only big-time offer.

I saw that today, Ryan. You're correct. Yeah. This guy's special, man. I really do. I think he can be a big-time player. I think he can be a bell cow back. I mean, he looks the part when you look at just his agility, his moves, his speed. He gives you a little something that you really don't have right now in that running back room. So, I think there's a – you know, I think Daniel Hill looks like a different back. He does. But I still think that there's still – and why show anything?

You don't have to show anything. Thank you. You're showing the fans. You're trying to create some excitement. But there's no reason to go crazy and show anything. So, I think they were pretty vanilla. But my biggest takeaway is depth. And I told Coach DeBoer this when I interviewed him on Monday. My biggest takeaway was the amount of depth that they've got at a lot of different positions. There was no doubt a conscious effort to fix some of those because it kind of got them – you know, Georgia, the SEC title game, they run out of players in that game.

And so, when you look at the depth situation, I think Alabama's in a better spot from a depth standpoint than they've been in a long time at certain positions. Now, the wide receiver with Noah Rodgers getting hurt, that's going to hurt. That's going to hurt. But I think when you look, wide receivers is probably the only group where you feel like the numbers are just not fair. They can't afford another injury at that position. That would put them in a big bind. No, that's exactly right.

That was – we talked about that on Monday as far as – and particularly on the defensive front, linebacker, and I think they've got the best secondary in the country. Who have you got on the show? By the way, congratulations on getting Cailin DeBoer on Monday. A lot of different media quoted Ryan Fowler in the game with Cailin DeBoer. Who else have you got on the show today and where can we get online and listen? Well, we've got Rod Dior coming up. We've also got Brad Cowers. But we also are going to be talking with Ryan Kelly, who just retired in the National Football League.

He's going to lead us out right at 2 o'clock. And we're going to visit with him for a few minutes as we look back at what Alabama, you know, has been able to accomplish with producing these big-time players. So, Ryan Kelly is going to join us coming up here in about 12 minutes in Tuscaloosa. Ryan Kelly, actually, he just sent me a message and said, I'm confirmed. I will be a part – because he told me to send him a reminder. He's getting old, too, see? So, he said, send me a reminder.

I did. But he's going to be joining us in the center. Three national titles won at the University of Alabama, 2011, 2012, 2015. So, we'll be talking with Ryan Kelly coming up here in a couple of minutes. I appreciate you guys, as always. Todd109.com in Tuscaloosa. You guys have a great rest of your day and have a great weekend. You do the same, Ryan. Hope those jumper cables continue to work. Ryan Fowler, host of the team, one tied, one under nine FM, down in Tuscaloosa. Baby, what are you going to do with no Braves on 93.9, the score tonight?

That's a good question. I will have – you know, I normally work out at night, but I will have to find something to fill that Braves vacuum this evening. So, Mr. Muscles and the Braves will return coming up tomorrow night. A big night for the Braves. Hope they get done. They took on the Marlins. They increased their lead to three. They take on the Phillies tomorrow night in the City of Brotherly Love. Talking about a misnomer. City of Brotherly Love. Are you kidding me? That's going to take care of business for now.

On behalf of B.B., Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here. Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again tomorrow, noon to two, with the B.B.O. Buck Show, back here on Sports Radio, 93.9, the score.