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Tom Brands Media Day Presser Transcript

LaxHawk174

HR All-American
Jan 15, 2014
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https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestli...ber/08/Tom-Brands-press-conference-transcript

Haven't seen a video of the full thing yet, but there is some gold in there. Tom literally lays out his recruiting paradigm shift, talks about negative recruiting against Iowa, and basically says Spencer Lee is probably going to go this year. The written transcript is awesome, but the best part of these interviews is Brands personality when speaking can't wait for the video!
 
I suspect Carl was being Carl again.
I’m sure you won’t believe it anyway, but during Spencer's Flo (?) interview after his verbal, he had good things to say about Cael’s efforts but dropped serious hints that other major players for his services went way negative and that turned him off.

As an aside, that PC is full of good stuff. I think he realized that nowhere sells itself. Even if you hate selling, you either have to get better at it or hire people who can. Don’t cede the discussion about your product to others. As a further aside, I’d be a horrible recruiter as I hate selling (picture early in Tommy Boy’s efforts on the road with Richard to save the company)
 
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It is obvious that TnT are trying to do a little PR work to change outsiders perception of them and their program. If a wrestler has a weakness, someone is going to exploit it at some time. PR seems to be the Hawks weakness and TnT are going to change that. Good for them! D1 wrestling gets more and more interesting by the day.
 
I love it! I can't wait for some people to go on record with what is happening in recruiting.

This is targeted more towards Ohio State and Oklahoma State I would think.

Tom has recognized that PSU, tOSU, and OSU have past them in popularity among everyone 18 and younger right now and the recruiting pitch of "we work harder than everyone" and "We put ourseles through more pain than everyone else and come out stronger" pitch doesn't appeal to kids who have been training year round for a decade already.

That used to work amazingly well when most kids were coming from high school programs where they were the most serious person in the room and they wanted the season to go longer and couldn't wait for the season to start again. Now the season never really ends for elite kids, so the idea of the season being "f**" while still winning was an easy sell to some kids. That part was obviously targeted at PSU.
 
Tom and Terry are tremendous people. Absolutely salt of the earth, loyal, ethical, and compassionate. The more recruits, fans, and the media learn about them, the more they’ll like them. They’re wise to speak out and give the media access, because they’re the genuine article and they have nothing to hide (cough, cough, unlike some others in the sport, cough, cough).
 
Tom and Terry are tremendous people. Absolutely salt of the earth, loyal, ethical, and compassionate. The more recruits, fans, and the media learn about them, the more they’ll like them. They’re wise to speak out and give the media access, because they’re the genuine article and they have nothing to hide (cough, cough, unlike some others in the sport, cough, cough).
Because 50 years, 23 as a coach/assistant coach isn't enough to get to know a guy and have your wrestlers and fans convince others how great he is. That's almost as silly as the "Oklahoma is closer to Oregon than Pennsylvania" reason for Wittlake.
 
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SPENCER LEE! What a shot in the arm for our program this kid is going to be. I know it takes more than one guy, but when your 125 sets the tone, the whole team feeds off it.....(Gilman, Ramos, McDonough)....the kid is special on and off the mat. Let’s get him out there!
Setting the tone is a good phrase for his impact. I’ve been watching him for about 5 years and he’s a pit bull with technique for days.
 
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Because 50 years, 23 as a coach/assistant coach isn't enough to get to know a guy and have your wrestlers and fans convince others how great he is. That's almost as silly as the "Oklahoma is closer to Oregon than Pennsylvania" reason for Wittlake.

Then you must have known about Sandusky, because he was like a coach for 40 years. How come you didn't turn him in to the authorities????
 
I broke my own rule to never mention Sandusky, but I just wanted to point out how dumb that troll's post was.
Never realized that child molestation was a personality trait. But, Brands personality traits have been shining through for 50 years. And, yet, now, he's going to show how great his personality is. Good for him.
 
Some good comments by Tom that give me more confidence about his ability to right the ship, starting with recognition of past recruiting errors and the reality of the current landscape. (I suspect some Perry influence there.) Still a little too much "the way they are coming to work every day" blah-blah-blah. I've been hearing about intestinal fortitude for the past seven years. Show me a f-ing team title.

I strongly suspect Lee is going to be the sparkplug that reignites Iowa Wrestling the same way Tom & Terry reignited it in the late '80s. I want Lee and Downey in the lineup this season so we don't drift further down the pecking order in the meantime. This is a critical time for the program. Momentum must begin this year.
 
Some good comments by Tom that give me more confidence about his ability to right the ship, starting with recognition of past recruiting errors and the reality of the current landscape. (I suspect some Perry influence there.) Still a little too much "the way they are coming to work every day" blah-blah-blah. I've been hearing about intestinal fortitude for the past seven years. Show me a f-ing team title.

I strongly suspect Lee is going to be the sparkplug that reignites Iowa Wrestling the same way Tom & Terry reignited it in the late '80s. I want Lee and Downey in the lineup this season so we don't drift further down the pecking order in the meantime. This is a critical time for the program. Momentum must begin this year.
With Lee and Downey in the lineup this year, and operating under the assumption that everybody remains healthy (which has not been a given) I see this years team outscoring last years team by 25+ team points at NCAAs. Lee-Downey-Kemerer-Sorensen-Marinelli-Stoll-Wilcke-Gunther/Young-Turk-Glynn/Laux is how i would rate them in terms of expected point scoring at NCAAs, at least in my opinion. I think everyone in the lineup has at least R16 potential. With 8 weights having AA potential (excluded 133&141-hard to tell this early though). 4 weights with finalists. I think thats a pretty damn formidable team if they can start throwing up better bonus point numbers in the early rounds of tournaments than we have seen in the past 7 years (mainly 1st rd through Quarterfinals).
 
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“Larry Lee, who was close to that process, they gave us a portfolio of gold intel of how we were being recruited against by You Know Who and You Know Who and You Know Who, and there's a reason why we were getting our pants beat off. We've addressed that.”

Wonder what Tom meant by this. By “addressing that”, did Larry Lee teach him how to recruit and is now doing what other prigrams are doing or did he mean he’s blowing the whistle on them.
 
“Larry Lee, who was close to that process, they gave us a portfolio of gold intel of how we were being recruited against by You Know Who and You Know Who and You Know Who, and there's a reason why we were getting our pants beat off. We've addressed that.”

Wonder what Tom meant by this. By “addressing that”, did Larry Lee teach him how to recruit and is now doing what other prigrams are doing or did he mean he’s blowing the whistle on them.

It means, other programs are saying things like,

"being in the iowa room for 2 years is like being in a wrestling room for 10"

"you'll end up living in a van under a bridge after graduation"

"Tom and Terry will make you hate wrestling"

"You'll be completely worn out by nationals, they don't know how to peak"

"there is no fun there"

All the things we've heard, but Tom and Terry haven't necessarily. Tom said it himself, he always worried about the program, didn't negatively recruit, and never addressed the quotes that we've all heard. While refreshing to hear that he doesn't have rabbit ears, it's been kicking us in the rear for the past decade. So, it sounds like, when recruiting, Tom and Morningstar, et al, are making a beeline to those concerns. Like Tarp said, we're all tired of the blah, blah, blah. Let's get the job done. But we can't do it without horses.
 
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Some additional negative quotes

"They don't shoot"

"They don't have offense"

"they're robots"
 
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It means, other programs are saying things like,

"being in the iowa room for 2 years is like being in a wrestling room for 10"

"you'll end up living in a van under a bridge after graduation"

"Tom and Terry will make you hate wrestling"

"You'll be completely worn out by nationals, they don't know how to peak"

"there is no fun there"

All the things we've heard, but Tom and Terry haven't necessarily. Tom said it himself, he always worried about the program, didn't negatively recruit, and never addressed the quotes that we've all heard. While refreshing to hear that he doesn't have rabbit ears, it's been kicking us in the rear for the past decade. So, it sounds like, when recruiting, Tom and Morningstar, et al, are making a beeline to those concerns. Like Tarp said, we're all tired of the blah, blah, blah. Let's get the job done. But we can't do it without horses.
So one of the “you know who’s” isn’t Cael? Or was Spencer not being honest when he said Cael and PSU were great during the recruiting process?
 
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Some additional negative quotes

"They don't shoot"

"They don't have offense"

"they're robots"
How about having their marketing departments put together high dollar and well produced video productions of cherry picked breakdowns of Iowa guys careers so they can sit down with recruits and specifically show them why they shouldn't go to Iowa. What this tells me is that these coaches see Iowa as their biggest threat and will do about anything to stop us from getting reawaken. They know if Iowa gets the right guys to go there that the Brands will start out coaching them like they did time and time again at their time in Ames.

It is no wonder the crooked one blew a gasket and berated him when Spencer told him he was going to Iowa. He knew that a bunch of intel and tactics were going to come back to bite him. It is also no wonder he does his best to not let any of the guys he is recruiting take a visit to Iowa. That along with he doesn't want even more of these recruits telling other coaches what kind of "packages" they are getting offered.
 
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How about having their marketing departments put together high dollar and well produced video productions of cherry picked breakdowns of Iowa guys careers so they can sit down with recruits and specifically show them why they shouldn't go to Iowa. What this tells me is that these coaches see Iowa as their biggest threat and will do about anything to stop us from getting reawaken. They know if Iowa gets the right guys to go there that the Brands will start out coaching them like they did time and time again at their time in Ames.

It is no wonder the crooked one blew a gasket and berated him when Spencer told him he was going to Iowa. He knew that a bunch of intel was going to come back to bite him. It is also no wonder he does his best to not let any of the guys he is recruiting take a visit to Iowa.
Who you talking about? And can I get a link to this story?
 
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How about having their marketing departments put together high dollar and well produced video productions of cherry picked breakdowns of Iowa guys careers so they can sit down with recruits and specifically show them why they shouldn't go to Iowa. What this tells me is that these coaches see Iowa as their biggest threat and will do about anything to stop us from getting reawaken. They know if Iowa gets the right guys to go there that the Brands will start out coaching them like they did time and time again at their time in Ames.

It is no wonder the crooked one blew a gasket and berated him when Spencer told him he was going to Iowa. He knew that a bunch of intel and tactics was going to come back to bite him. It is also no wonder he does his best to not let any of the guys he is recruiting take a visit to Iowa.
+1,000,000
 
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How about having their marketing departments put together high dollar and well produced video productions of cherry picked breakdowns of Iowa guys careers so they can sit down with recruits and specifically show them why they shouldn't go to Iowa. What this tells me is that these coaches see Iowa as their biggest threat and will do about anything to stop us from getting reawaken. They know if Iowa gets the right guys to go there that the Brands will start out coaching them like they did time and time again at their time in Ames.

It is no wonder the crooked one blew a gasket and berated him when Spencer told him he was going to Iowa. He knew that a bunch of intel and tactics were going to come back to bite him. It is also no wonder he does his best to not let any of the guys he is recruiting take a visit to Iowa. That along with he doesn't want even more of these recruits telling other coaches what kind of "packages" they are getting offered.
Also, I’m sorry but the biggest threats to PSU right now are tOSU and OSU. I know that hurts but it’s true. Ironically because they too are whipping Iowa in the recruiting battle.
 
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How about having their marketing departments put together high dollar and well produced video productions of cherry picked breakdowns of Iowa guys careers so they can sit down with recruits and specifically show them why they shouldn't go to Iowa. What this tells me is that these coaches see Iowa as their biggest threat and will do about anything to stop us from getting reawaken. They know if Iowa gets the right guys to go there that the Brands will start out coaching them like they did time and time again at their time in Ames.

It is no wonder the crooked one blew a gasket and berated him when Spencer told him he was going to Iowa. He knew that a bunch of intel and tactics were going to come back to bite him. It is also no wonder he does his best to not let any of the guys he is recruiting take a visit to Iowa. That along with he doesn't want even more of these recruits telling other coaches what kind of "packages" they are getting offered.

A more slimy worm does not exist in wrestling.
 
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