Latest news with #Wink
Technical.ly
07-05-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
15 years in, Philly Tech Week still brings the city's tech scene together
2025 marks 15 years of the Philly tech ecosystem coming together for Philly Tech Week — and a lot has changed since that first scrappy conference was announced in 2010. The 15th annual Philly Tech Week (PTW) started on Monday, kicking off over 40 tech and innovation-themed events throughout the city. Today, the celebration is presented by Comcast and hosted by 1Philadelphia, and has turned into a citywide collaborative effort. But it began under as a way for orgs from different sectors and sizes to get to know each other, cofounder and CEO, Chris Wink said. While it'll continue to change, Wink said, the ethos of community gathering that brought innovators and technologists together from the start should remain at the heart of it. So far, it's met that goal, but what that looks like going forward will have to keep evolving to meet the needs of the participants, according to its leaders. 'Philadelphia needed the last 15 years of Philly Tech Week,' Wink said. 'I'm not sure if Philadelphia needs another 15 years of the same, but Philadelphia absolutely needs a place where its entrepreneurship, tech and innovation community comes together.' People across sectors and throughout the region come out to engage with the ecosystem, and 2025 is no exception. Events like the Department of Commerce's Level Up Your Pitch workshop, Out in Tech Philly's PTW Mixer and Builders Conference are happening throughout the city until May 10. kicked it off, but PTW belongs to the entire ecosystem founders, Wink, Brian James Kirk and Sean Blanda, hosted the first PTW in 2011, taking inspiration from the annual beer festival Philly Beer Week and joining the 2010s trend of cities hosting startup weeks. They found through their early reporting that traditional institutions like the Chamber of Commerce and big corporations were not connected to tech meetup groups and the startup community, Wink said. These groups were all relevant to the ecosystem, but they weren't connected, he said. The idea was that the city would be more powerful as a collective than as individuals. 'It was more about people who liked each other, coming from very different jobs,' Wink said. 'It's not an industry at that point. It's a community.' It wasn't until 2013 that PTW started to hit its stride. Event attendance doubled, people recognized the format, and they started to lean into the 'spectacle' of the week, Wink said. That year, Drexel University professor Frank Lee organized 'Pong on the Cira Center,' setting a world record for the largest architectural video game display. The goal of having many different organizations host a variety of events across the city was coming to fruition and the community calendar of events was keeping existing stakeholders engaged while also bringing in new people, Wink said. 'Philly Tech Week mattered because we established the format,' Wink said. 'The idea of having a week of events related at all to this topic is ours first.' From a wider lens, PTW puts a spotlight on the potential of Philly's tech and innovation community, Danae Mobley, executive director of 1Philadelphia and CEO of Coded By, said. The legacy of PTW is the collaboration among the community and the people who still care about coming together under a shared vision, she said. 'We've seen the evolution of [PTW],' Mobley said. 'While the people may have changed, I don't think the energy or the sentiment behind wanting Philly to succeed as a tech market has changed.' Bringing the city together and catching the mayor's attention Many memorable and impactful tech moments happened at PTW over its first 10 years. Local data project OpenDataPhilly launched at the very first Philly Tech Week's opening event, providing a resource for Philadelphians to access publicly available data. 'It was a great rollout of an open data catalog for and by a community,' Robert Cheetham, founder of software company Azavea, told The following year, Mayor Michael Nutter signed an executive order to establish an Open Data Policy for the City of Philadelphia. The city's open data program went on to see a lot of progress over the last decade, but the project has lost momentum over the last few years. PTW has also broken more than one world record, once again for the largest architectural video game display. Drexel's Lee returned in 2014 to organize games of Tetris on the Cira Center that year. This event is a favorite PTW memory for Mobley. Now that 1Philadelphia runs PTW, the memory feels like a full circle moment, she said. 'I thought that that was just so amazing, that there were people that just had that spirit of ingenuity and playfulness and fun around something that brought the city together,' she said. 1Philadelphia takes over to make PTW part of its mission Last year, began the process of handing PTW off to 1Philadelphia, and the org is fully hosting this year's lineup of events. 1Philadelphia, an initiative of tech education nonprofit Coded by, launched in 2020. Coded by had always participated in PTW and the org saw how it brought the community together, according to Mobley. It made sense to get more involved with Philly Tech Week because of 1Philadelphia's mission to bring stakeholders together and create a more equitable tech ecosystem in Philly, she said. 'Because of the work that we were doing as a convener with some of our signature events,' Mobley said. 'We really wanted to see how we could come in and support and bolster this long-standing tradition of a great innovation festival that happens in Philadelphia.' For 1Philadelphia's takeover made sense, too. Wink said he's been thinking about handing the reins to someone else since 2019, but the pivot to online celebrations for its 10th anniversary stalled the process of searching for the next leader. Last year was a transition period. 1Philadelphia cohosted Philly Tech Week alongside helping to organize the community calendar, contributing to the marketing and hosting its own events. This year, the org is ready to fully take over coordinating PTW. As for what's next, it's up to the community that rallies around PTW each year. 'Philly Tech Week is for everyone,' Mobley said. 'It is not the ownership of one entity.' Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
Technical.ly
06-05-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
Why every city has a ‘startup week' now — and whether they should
When first launched Philly Tech Week 15 years ago, the logic was straightforward: gather scattered entrepreneurs and technologists together, put the city on the map, and throw a few great parties along the way. A decade and a half later, nearly every US city with entrepreneurial aspirations seems to host a version of a 'startup week.' But as economic conditions, work habits and generational preferences shift, some are reevaluating whether the week-long event model is still effective — or necessary. 'The 'week' was proof that a city had arrived,' said Brian Brackeen, general partner at Lightship Capital and co-organizer of Black Tech Week, a national conference hosted since 2014. 'You had enough happening to fill multiple days.' The model flourished because it allowed cities to showcase a critical mass of entrepreneurial activity while providing flexible attendance options. 'If someone couldn't make Thursday or Friday, they could still attend events earlier in the week,' said Maria Underwood, a veteran ecosystem builder based in Birmingham, Alabama, which hosts the multi-day founded in 2015. Victor Hwang, founder of entrepreneur advocacy network Right to Start, believes a full week's slate of events encourages more local partnerships. Multiple groups could host their own gatherings under the larger banner, he said, relieving pressure from a single organizer and fostering greater community participation. Yet some old-school supporters — including CEO Chris Wink, who was instrumental in creating the original Philadelphia model — are skeptical the format still fits. 'Funding isn't there anymore to sponsor beer-soaked warehouse parties,' Wink said. He described the era of 'throwing 300-person parties subsidized by private equity firms' as 'insane by today's standards.' Instead, Wink said, founders now emphasize business value, intentional connections and efficiency in events — priorities that seem to clash with sprawling multi-day schedules. 'Happy hours are a dime a dozen' Brackeen, of Lightship Capital, echoed this shift toward intentionality. Black Tech Week, for example, has evolved to include highly structured investor-founder matchmaking sessions and corporate 'biz-dev days,'maximizing direct business outcomes rather than casual networking. Birmingham's Underwood agreed. 'Happy hours are a dime a dozen,' She said. 'The events that will sustain are ones creating intentional, strategic connections for founders.' Economic realities have also changed. CEO Wink cited the post-pandemic reevaluation of work-life balance and tighter capital environments as reasons why the sprawling event model might no longer be economically sustainable — or desirable. Still, 'weeks' remain valuable to emerging ecosystems. 'There's still a 26-year-old who was 12 when you first threw those parties,' Brackeen reminded Wink. 'They deserve their chance to experience it, too.' Though some places are still launching 'week'-themed editions — DC Tech Week was new on the scene last year, offering two dozen events across several days in the nation's capital — a rising trend is the startup 'weekend' instead. That's the branding for a program offered by Techstars, which partners on the three-day events in cities from Pittsburgh to New Orleans to Rome and Sao Paulo.. Ultimately, ecosystem leaders agree that while the week model once signaled vibrancy and ambition, its future might lie in hybrid, focused programming emphasizing specific business outcomes over sheer volume of activity. 'The vibe has shifted from 'cool and fun' to practical resilience,' Hwang said. 'People still care, but they care differently.'
Business Mayor
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Mayor
Prize crossword No 29,685
1 Garment with knitted top taken in by 5 down neighbour (3,5) 1 across. Garment with knitted top taken in by 5 down neighbour. 3 letters and 5 letters. 6 Recovered well, sparkle's back after a bug (6) 6 across. Recovered well, sparkle's back after a bug. 6 letters. 9 Attention-seeker in energetic lover, more sentimental (6) 9 across. Attention-seeker in energetic lover, more sentimental. 6 letters. 10 Exceptional currency (8) 10 across. Exceptional currency. 8 letters. 11 Youth having organised most of trek, pony brought in? (9) 11 across. Youth having organised most of trek, pony brought in? 9 letters. 13 Wink is dodgy when confronted by judge (5) 13 across. Wink is dodgy when confronted by judge. 5 letters. 15 Ending in clink after venture backfiring, fill up again (6) 15 across. Ending in clink after venture backfiring, fill up again. 6 letters. 17 5 down notable in 'beastly couple' as observed from the far right? (6) 17 across. 5 down notable in 'beastly couple' as observed from the far right? 6 letters. 18 Capitalist and interventionist with company investing in gas (6) 18 across. Capitalist and interventionist with company investing in gas. 6 letters. 19 Have on end (4,2) 19 across. Have on end. 4 letters and 2 letters. 21 East 5 down town in Battle, we surmise (5) 21 across. East 5 down town in Battle, we surmise. 5 letters. 22 Ridicule can go either way, reportedly, for historical character (3,6) 22 across. Ridicule can go either way, reportedly, for historical character. 3 letters and 6 letters. 25, 3 5 down event charging partner with freethinking power (8,5) 25 across, 3 across. 5 down event charging partner with freethinking power. 8 letters and 5 letters. 26 European city where nothing left, heading for oblivion (6) 26 across. European city where nothing left, heading for oblivion. 6 letters. 28 Strangely repulsive, how 5 down town sounds to a minibeast? (6) 28 across. Strangely repulsive, how 5 down town sounds to a minibeast? 6 letters. 29 That is written into draft I surprisingly endorsed (8) 29 across. That is written into draft I surprisingly endorsed. 8 letters.
Times
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Wink Martindale obituary: American TV game show host
Sometimes childhood names stick and so it was with Wink Martindale. In infancy, a young playmate had trouble saying his given name, Winston, and it came out as 'Winkie'. Shortened to Wink, he went on to use the name on his Top Ten hit Deck of Cards and throughout his long career as the king of American television game shows — with just one exception. When he took over his first in 1964, hosting NBC's What's This Song? the network decided 'Wink' sounded juvenile and billed him as Win Martindale. Common sense prevailed and for the 20 further game shows he went on to host he reverted to Wink. He joked that the name had served him well but that as long as he was
USA Today
23-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Everything Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said on In the Trenches after spring ball
Everything Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said on In the Trenches after spring ball Spring ball for the Michigan Wolverines has come to a close with the final of 15 practices having culminated in the annual spring game this past Saturday. Fans who didn't trek to Ann Arbor to see it in person will be able to watch it on Big Ten Network on Sunday, as the game was tape-delayed for eight days due to the transfer portal. Now that spring ball is in the books, head coach Sherrone Moore is ready to discuss what he's seen from his team. Appearing on the In the Trenches Podcast with Jon Jansen, Moore broke down everything about the offense and defense, from the front seven to the quarterbacks to the wide receivers to the offensive line. Here is everything he had to say. All right, coach, spring ball's in the books. What'd you learn? Just some broad strokes about your team this year. Well, very excited about the energy. It feels like a youth movement. A lot of young guys that are being starting roles, new guys in starting roles, and guys that have been here for a long time getting roles that they've really earned and then worked their opportunity for, and then obviously some new faces, so it was an awesome spring, physical spring, and it went by super fast. You sometimes wish that you had a couple more practices and a couple more times, but it ended with a good, healthy spring game, and I was proud of the team. Is the spring game something, I know there were some concessions made this year about delaying the viewing of the game on Big Ten Network. We didn't have a radio broadcast. Is that something that you wanna try and keep as a part of the spring program? Yeah, I think we'll see. I think we'll see as we go, and different factors weighing on options of things we need to do with the spring game, so I felt like that was the best decision for us at this time, and then we'll see what happens next year. Let's start on the defensive side of things, because the defense that we saw against Alabama in the bowl game, large part is the defense that we saw all spring. What were your takeaways, and how do you replace some of those key pieces like Will Johnson, Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant? Yeah, those guys, I feel like on the defense, they just kinda rolled into what they did in the bowl game, what they did against Ohio State, really felt like they just took the momentum and ran with it. Even the new guys that came in, they just assimilated to the culture, and it looks like we're gonna be a deep defense, fast, physical, long, tall, so super excited about them and see where they're at, and it feels like now that there's staff camaraderie, because the same staff is there, and the players understand the staff, the players understand Wink, Wink understands the players, it flows really well, and it's cool to watch. Let's talk about the defensive tackles, because I know when you talk about depth, and this might be the deepest position on the team, but all six guys that have been rotating in there, not only do they play similar, they almost look similar. And I mean, they're like cookie-cutter guys. What have you seen from that defensive tackle position? It is super deep. You know, you start with a guy like Rayshaun Benny, who's been here and played a lot of football, has been an impact player, and he's been sitting behind guys every year, but he's played every year, so he's got the experience in the big games. He's got the experience in every game possible to know what it looks like and how it prepares, and he's been great. A guy like Ike Iwunnah, to watch him where he's been -- he was a guy that's been on the scout team two years ago, and now I got a guy that's in the rotation. And I can go down the list, Damon Payne, transfer, Tré Williams has been an impact player for us, Trey Pierce is a young guy who played a lot in the bowl game, and then Enow Etta. So you got six guys right there that you feel like you can throw in the game, and be ready to play. Is the goal for those guys, one, you wanna play the best players, but to also keep them fresh, so you always have fresh bodies out there? 100%, especially if you go to a long season, you want all those guys that not play so many snaps, so being able to rotate guys is a huge piece for us. What'd you see from the edge position? Because there's some talent there, and some guys that didn't get a chance to shine. I think right now you got four guys with TJ Guy, Derrick Moore, Dom Nichols, and Cam Brandt who, you find me a better edge room in the country. I gotta see it, because those guys are all unbelievable, and you got two older guys with Derrick and TJ, and then you got the two younger guys who just follow suit, and they all have a little bit something different, but all have the same mindset. So it's been great to watch, and those guys have been giving the tackles fits, but made them a lot better. The linebacking group, we've seen Jaishawn Barham, and we've heard Wink talk about different creative ways to use him. We've seen Ernie now going on his third year here. But a guy that really jumped off the film to me, I saw him at practice, Jimmy Rolder. Looks like he is just ready to really allow those other guys, and Wink to be creative with them, knowing they've got Jimmy there in the middle. Yeah, Jimmy to us is another starter. I feel like we got three true starters in that room with those guys, and then adding a guy like Cole Sullivan, who really can play multiple spots too, but those three, and all three of those guys are seniors, but they're all guys that there's many packages where they're all three on the field at the same time, and we're gonna feel like we're gonna need that to win the big games. The secondary, you lost to some talent there, and there, but there's other guys. Rod Moore, first of all, is there an update on Rod Moore? Do you expect that he'll be a part of this, this team on the field come fall? Yeah, Rod's trending in a super positive direction. Feels like he's going to be in a great place just for summer workouts, and be working his way in the fall camp. How excited are you to see him back on the field? Oh, so excited, man. I mean, a guy who's went through so much, went through the whole year, sat out and watched him be a leader off the field, and what he did, and how he's been now, and he's felt the best he's ever felt, because he had to have another surgery that really took care of the rest of it, and he's felt the best he's ever felt. He ran, and he's in a good place. A couple of transfers back there, the Metcalf brothers, along with some other guys that are, we saw more at the end of the year, like Mason, or I'm sorry, Mason Curtis, Brandyn Hillman. What, just in terms of your expectations of talent rotation, how deep is that group? How talented is that group? It's super talented, yeah. Start with Mason Curtis, I mean, 6-foot-5 safety. You don't see that very much, so a guy that can flip his hips and move and run like him, he's a special talent, and then Brandyn Hillman, arguably, probably gonna be one of the hardest hitters in college football. Sometimes I gotta tell him, hey, make sure you don't hit the guy in the helmet. Save it for the game. Save it for the game. Well, against Indiana, I mean, that was a great example. Knocked two guys out, but he did it. He did it. He said he's pretty aware of where his head is and being across the bow and bottom. OK, let's just make sure there's no mistakes in the game. But he's been awesome. Both those guys have really grown over the spring, and then a guy like T.J. Metcalf, brought in experience, but he is super talented. He may be one of the best players on the defense, so excited about where he's at and how he's gonna help this football team. We've watched Jyaire Hill. We've heard about the talent. We've seen it at times, but it's all about consistency. It's about being available. What have you seen from him this spring? Confident. Super confident. Super confident in his abilities and definitely grown as a player. Him and then Zeke on the other side. Zeke going from nickel to corner to safety. Like, he's just meant to do it all. So, he's been outstanding. You know, Shamari Earls is a young guy we're really excited about. That's really taken off and put himself in position to be a player for us. When you construct these 15 practices that you just had, and I know we'll talk about the quarterback, so this will be our transition to the offense, but was there a time where you told Wink, hey, let's hold back just a little bit, or was it full go and it's baptism by fire for this offense? We built up. We definitely built up in the first few practices of, you know, base install and doing different things and toning down a little bit to make sure, not only for the offense, but really for the defensive guys too, because we're so young of those guys learning the whole defense and even the new guys, learning the defense, the whys, the what, the when -- things will get called and why we do it and then the plays off of those things, kind of like offense. So, I thought we did a really good job as a whole team and really as a defense doing that. Well, let's start with the wide receivers. We'll save the best positions for last, which will be obviously offensive line. That's right. But, the passing game. And I'll throw some questions at you about Chip Lindsey as well, but wide receivers, got some more height in that room with McCulley and some freshmen. What do you see and do you expect to be more productive in the passing game this year? Yeah, I mean, I'm excited to see where it goes this summer and fall camp. Feels like we're trending in a really good direction. You know, Donovan McCulley's a guy that's coming and really earned the respect of the team really fast. Didn't take many practices, but a guy that's six-four-and-a-half, six-five, 200 and something pounds that can go get the jump ball. Something we haven't really had since like Nico, you know, so he gives you that ability. Fred Moore's really stood out. Semaj Morgan's played really well. A guy like Andrew Marsh, a new freshman that's been really good for us. Channing Goodwin's probably taken the biggest leap of anybody in the room and put himself in a position to be a, hey, I could be a starter, I'm going to play a lot of football here. And, we've got a guy with some size with Jamar Browder. But we got a lot of good players in that room. I'marion Stewart is another guy who's really sparked. So that room, that room's talented and excited to put the pieces together. What's it been like breaking a new coordinator? Oh man, it's been awesome. Just because Chip is so opening and welcoming to new different ideas, but hearing the things that he's done in his past, being in the spread element, doing those different things, doing the uptempo, but mixing it in with what we do. So it's been, it's been cool to be able to hear his perspective on things and how he looked at it with different players. The hiring process for him, I don't think I had a chance to talk to you, definitely not hear about it, but what were some of the reasons why? I mean, you kind of just went through some of them, but what was it that sold you on Chip? First of all, he wanted to be here. It was a huge emphasis for him and to tell me like, hey, like there's other opportunities, but I want to be at Michigan. I want to help this program be great. So that really sparked because there's always something for somebody that wants to be somewhere and put their all into it. But every person I talked to, very selfless, all about the team, and then his knowledge of the game. And he'd been a coordinator at a high level. He's been a head coach at a high level. He's been a high school head coach. So he's done it. He's had his own room. He's ran it and he's helped me as well. What have you learned about him as he's put this install, as you've seen him on the field? It's one thing to do an interview and know that a guy wants to be here. A hell of a lot of guys want to be here, but to actually see it in action. What have you seen from him? You've seen a really smart football coach that knows how to put his players in position to be successful and created some explosive plays that I think we needed for the offense to be successful. Cause, you know, obviously we're a brand of football that knows how to run the ball, and we'll do those things and try to do those things at a high level. But, you know, pushing the ball down the field and adding some little wrinkles in what we do is going to be a huge piece to it. Bryce Underwood, Jadyn Davis. There's quarterback competition, quarterback development. They're both young guys. How did you see, let's start with Jadyn Davis because he's been here the longest. What did you see from him this spring, and describe his development? What are you looking for him to continue to do? Yeah, continues to just make those little decisions, the really good decisions, pre-snap and post-snap, you know, whatever the play call is and what it is. But he's definitely done a really good job of developing. His confidence is, you know, he's helped himself with his throwing accuracy and things he's done throughout spring. But just excited to watch him just keep progressing in those things and pushing himself that way. And then, Bryce, same thing. He's a young guy, he's talented, he's got ability, and obviously he's got the high ranking, but he's still got to work to be great, to be where he wants to be. So all those little things that you got to do to be a great quarterback, it's a lot more than just throwing it down the field. It's processing pre-snap and post-snap. So he's got to continue to work on that. So many things have changed since you and I were players. And so many things have changed even in the last five years. There's a lot more going on for Bryce, the expectations. How do you, what's the conversations, and how do you handle developing him as a player, but also as a person to handle everything that's going on? Yeah, I mean, I think that starts with his background, his foundation of his parents, Jay and Beverly, his mom and dad. They're just outstanding people who are very humble, and they make sure he's humble, you know? So that's a huge piece to it too for us is to know the type of kid he is already and what his foundation is. So that's huge. But also just telling him like, look, dude, you're a kid, like you got to go have fun. Don't put the pressure on yourself because there's plenty of it outside there on you. So you make a mistake, which you're going to make. Don't think you're going to be perfect. And I think once you make a mistake, fix it, move on, and then just try to be better that next rep. I know Mikey Keene wasn't able to practice this spring. When do you expect him to be available? And looking at the fall, when do you want to be able to make a decision on who's your starter's going to be? Yeah, he'll be available full, I mean, he's throwing right now. He'll be full-go, available in June. So he'll be able to do everything with the team, workouts, throws, everything. And then, as far as fall camp, I think there's just a feeling you kind of know where the team is, they're with somebody, and they're grasped by somebody. And obviously they've made all the throws, they've met the reads, the completions, but they kind of become the leader of the team. You know, we always talk about the offensive line running the team, but someone's got to lead it. And you'll know at some point who that person is. Tight ends. You lose Colston Loveland, but we saw a lot of Hogan Hansen in the bowl game. We saw a number of different tight ends. Where do you see that position? Yeah, I mean, obviously losing Colston, he's one of those guys you don't get, you get once in a while, you know? So we're super excited for him and his future, but feel good about that room. Start with Max Bredeson. Obviously he's not the pass catcher, even though he's got good hands. People don't think he does, but we saw him catch a couple. Yeah, he's the neighborhood head thumper. And he takes pride in that, and he's the captain of the team. And he's just been outstanding. Him and Marlin Klein. Marlin's really taken the next step in his development as a tight end. So feel good about him, as well as Hogan. And then, the guy that really took the next step was Jalen Hoffman. You know, Jalen Hoffman's a guy we've seen flashes. We kind of knew he had the talent, but to watch him in that game, and it just not really fazed him. He's done that all spring. So I feel like we're in a really good place with that room. With the back and to all the other guys, as well. Justice Haynes comes in as a transfer. You got Jordan Marshall, and we saw a number of other guys get opportunities in the spring game. But your lead two backs, what did you see from them, and your expectations of the run game going into fall? Yeah, I feel like it's gonna be explosive and physical. Justice reminds me, his running style, a little bit of Blake. I think he's a little wider, a little bigger than Blake is. But, he's got a lot of shoes to fill, big shoes to fill if he's gonna play like Blake, because Blake was a legend here. But, running style's similar, too, but a tough kid, man. Runs physical, runs hard, but has that breakaway speed to take it to the house. And Jordan's that really -- you say lightning, thunder, and lightning. They're kind of a mix of both of them. But, Jordan's more of the I'm gonna stick it, cram it right downhill, and be physical, and try to run you over. And it's gonna be fun to watch them both. We saw Blake back as one of the head coaches. And I saw him running around with the headphones on. Did you listen in? No, I didn't listen, but I heard some conversation. It was funny, but he had khakis and cleats on, too. So, it was outstanding. He was playing the whole part. Oh, yeah, it was outstanding. And then, now let's talk about that offensive line. Where is the development? I know you had mentioned there was a couple of guys after the game that you thought were starter guys. How do you -- you're developing an offensive line. Walk us through the process again. Yeah, I think, first of all, you have a depth chart that you have day one, these guys go out. But I think every day there has to be competition. So, even those guys that are starters, they gotta be pushed by people, whether it's the guy that's right behind them, or the guy, if I'm playing right tackle, maybe it's the guy that's playing left tackle, because he might be the next best guy, and maybe you flip him over. So, it's gonna be continuous competition, not only in fall camp, but in the summer. Everything they do, they're gonna compete, and to make sure we see who the best five are. And ultimately, you want 10 guys to be able to help you go run and go win championships. I know we saw Evan Link flip over during the bowl game to the left side. What was the thought process of putting Sprague at right, and then moving Link over to left tackle? Yeah, just putting the best guys out there. We always thought Sprague, highly-recruited guy, but had a lot of talent and back healthy. He had a little bit of a knee injury early, earlier on, and that he was recovering from an ACL in high school, and he was getting back to that, feeling good. And once he felt healthy, you saw, like, OK, this dude's really, really good. So, thought that he was mentally ready to go on there, and really didn't phase him. As soon as we told him he's starting, he's like, OK, cool. I'm like, OK, great, this is a true freshman starting against Alabama, and he doesn't even care. So, felt like we invested in the time in him, and he deserved it, and he went out there and did a heck of a job, and I think he's put himself in a position to be that guy for the future. What'd you see from Nathan Efobi, getting some run at right guard there? Yeah, I thought he's probably as improved as anybody on the O-line, and I think that he's finally taking this, it's starting to click for him. The physicality part, the mental piece was the biggest piece for him. It wasn't the strength, it was more the mental, so it was good to see him have some success. No. 1 overall draft pick, Babalola. What, everybody is always amazed at when big, talented, five-star guys come in here, they expect him to come in and play right away, and he may have that opportunity, but what have you seen him, how have you seen him grow through these 15 practices? Probably one of the smartest human beings besides Grant Newsome that I've ever met in my life. We call him Newsome Jr., because they're, I mean, he was a direct admit to Ross Business School, so that takes him intelligent, but the kid is very cognizant of what he's doing, doesn't make the same mistake twice, and from a physical standpoint, he's still growing. I mean, he's already -- I think he came here about 280, he's about 305-310 now, and he's 6-5, 6-6, but he's a basketball background, so he's got great feet, great balance, and great flexibility, and he's surprisingly strong. So he's a guy that's gonna be competing for that left tackle spot in the fall, and we're excited about it. I do wanna ask you this, because as we sit here right now, transfer portal's open, and Brian and I were doing a show last week, and in the middle of it, guys are entering the portal. How difficult of a time is this for you now? One of guys where it hasn't worked out here, they're leaving, but also then trying to fill those and dip into the transfer portal. How much do you expect to be active in the portal? Yeah, I think you always have to have your ears to the ground in the transfer portal, because it's just part of it. We don't wanna live in it, but you definitely have to use it to supplement your roster, to fill some holes, whether it's depth, needs, or it's we need somebody to compete to help start, so those are pieces we're always gonna use, and then as far as guys, there's guys that are gonna leave based on, hey, it's attrition, there's guys that are here that I don't think I'm gonna play, and there's guys that are, then the other factors that we're dealing with, right? It's the financial piece that really isn't the control of the players, it's more the agents and all those outside factors that you have to deal with in college football now, so. Did you ever think you'd have to deal with agents? No. On a daily basis? Not on a daily basis, no, that's why I hired Sean Magee, so he handles it, but it's something you just have to work with and work through, so you gotta be able to adjust to it and adapt. Speaking of the financial side of things as well, I think one of the great travesties is that we may lose walk-ons, and you may have to have conversations with guys that no one wants to have. Have you had to have some of those, like, hey, if this happens, this is the route we have to go? What have those conversations been like, or how do you plan on handling that? Yeah, I mean, I just try to be very transparent with everybody, you know, like, hey, this is exactly where we're at, you know, if there's a 105 and if that happens, you can come into camp, but if we have to cut, get to the game week, then you can't be on the 105, which is an awful thing to have to say, and you never want to do that. And I don't agree with it, but that's where we're at. So, I just want to be open and transparent for them that if they have the opportunity to go find somewhere else to play that they can, but would love to keep around. Have you thought at all about what Week 2 will be like? I know it was a long time between now and then. Not too deep, not too deep, yeah. We'll get there, and I'll dive into that in the summertime. Is there a restaurant you want to hit in Norman? Probably not. No, the hotel pre-game meal, and I won't be leaving my room. So, I'll be in the meeting rooms, and I'll be in my room getting ready for the game. All right, the last thing, when you look at this off-season, where does this team, to become a championship-level team, what do you expect from them to do this off-season, this summer? Yeah, I mean, pretty simple, do the little things extraordinarily well. Just attack every little thing, be on time for everything, make sure the locker room is clean, attack the weight room, because they love football, they love the playbook, they love doing all that stuff, but it's all the little things, and if we do that, we'll be in a great place. When you watch, or if you see any of these predictions about what's gonna happen on Thursday night, the draft, and you read the evaluations of your players, what goes through your mind as to, OK, this is accurate, this is total BS? That everybody has their opinion, and I only trust my own, so like, some of them are like, yeah, yeah, but the great thing is the head coaches and the GMs, they'll just call us, and the ones that respect us -- which is all of them in the NFL -- they'll just call us and ask us, 'Hey, what do you think of this guy? What do you think of this guy?' I had three conversations yesterday with head coaches and GMs about all of our guys that are probably gonna get drafted in the first round, and just to understand and hear them and hear their feedback on what they think, that's what really matters. Where are you gonna watch the draft? I don't know yet. You know, I haven't even planned it yet. I've got meetings with our players and probably catch the beginning of the year, and then might be probably heading home after that.
