The Most Accomplished Running Back in UCONN history Wilbur Gilliard
Hall of Fame UCONN Running Back Wilbur Gilliard with Steve Cully
Hello and welcome to husky talk I am Your host Steve cly the best podcast Host in the universe and with me today a Very special guest one of the top Running backs in Yukon History Wilbur Gillard Wilber thanks for Having thanks for yes yes yes I believe Hounded you for months to try to get you On and we finally Lenny finally got it Done for me so I appreciate it and uh Yeah mean we wanted to have you on for a While you just had an amazing career and I figured we we we couldn't do husky Talk without one of the best Huskies Around so that's how we got you yeah Appreciate it appreciate it um so I Don't know originally where are you from Exactly uh was born in New York but I Grew up in uh yeah I I grew up in uh in Harford Connecticut oh you're a Connecticut kid I didn't know that yeah Went yeah I grew up I grew up in Harford um is that that where you went To school and yeah yeah I went to I went To Catholic school for eight years oh my God Timothy's Catholic school for eight Years and then uh ended up going to Hall High School in West oh you went to is uh Hamon Hall no Hall High School Hall High School okay got yeah there like the two Public schools at Hall and you had Conor Which was on the other side of yes yes Of town and that actually uh that's Where Marcus cambi went for years right
Right before he transferred to to school In har in no I remember Conor cuz I I Coached at Windsor for a couple years Okay and uh Conor beat us up pretty good So I remember them never scored more than Six points more than one touchdown six Points against Conor my whole uh High School career that makes that that Makesense that was tough they had some Real tough guys back there that makes Sense they shut me down too I was the Offensive Coordinator I ran out of ideas I said Plays if you want I I don't I don't know What else to do like I'm lost um did you Start playing football uh in an early Age did you play at a young age never Organized football never yeah we would Uh coming up where I was in in Sands Yeah and then uh when I moved to Capman Street in Harford we always we play a Game called fumble Tackle where you just basically throw The ball to one guy and everybody tried To tackle him bu the carrier yeah yeah Yeah and like so all of my my cousin a Few of my cousins they were a little bit Older they played organized football Yeah but I didn't yeah so they would Come home and we would play these games Where I was the runner and three of them Were tackling me and um they would Always for some reason we had the first
Down marker for some reason I would all They would beat me up for three downs And then they say all right fourth down You got a little bit more to go and I Would always miraculously get the first Down I'm thinking I'm doing good but They were just doing that so they could Keep beating me up you know the whole The whole time through they just wanted To keep hitting you yeah yeah that that Was it that was it um that's funny That's fun yeah and then so I had a Friend of mine Rocky uh it was like four Of us Rocky Tyrone uh Cano a few other Guys we used to play football every day And we were really competitive so Whenever we got into an argument it's Like all right we settled it by playing Football you know one onone And these guys were bigger than me Especially my boy Rock and um I go Upstairs with headaches every day we Back outside playing my mom's looking at Me like I was crazy so I say all that to Say once I started playing organized Football well in high school yeah now There's a man for a man it's 11 on 11 You know and as a running back they Always teaching you gotta beat one Person that was like so easy for me you Were used to that yeah true story my First Carry in freshman football I went 99 yards for a touchdown so you didn't Play junior high or anything none of
That ninth grade yeah ninth grade um I Had really strong legs yeah ride I used To ride my bike from Harford to West Harford had the you know the dirt bike Was into the BMXs so I would just ride every day my Legs was you know incredi yeah yeah That's that's a ride yeah that was it Once I started playing organized ball That was it met Steve SP Nola my Sophomore year high school the DC of the Chiefs yeah oh my God's cantic guy I Didn't know yeah he was yeah he was a Defensive backs coach oh my God sophore Year he started you know we're talking Starts recruiting me him my uh myself And Brian gleon Right so he used we used to get tickets To the Yukon games and you know the Kimbe Matumbo died today but we I used To go I used to go to the Civic Center To see Yukon play Georg toown and that's When him and alono morning were on the Team yes yes of course oh my God I Remember that yeah yeah that's right That was the early 90s wow I can't Believe you started in ninth grade I I That's crazy I hear other other alumni that I've Talked to had started like at eight and I was like shocked by that right but for The talent you had to start in ninth Grade a new sport to learn football I Mean there's so many so many intricacies
That go into it that's just incredible And Steve Spagnola wow yeah listen I was I was all State defensive back because I Play offense and Defense uh took defense very seriously Because like you know my best friends on The team in high school played defense You know I was sure you know good on Offense great on offense but you know I I wanted to hit people so yeah I played De back I W you know uh my boy JJ we Started out playing early JJ Sullivan um When I really got serious about football He kind of like took me in and I you Know I used to stay at their house you Know what I mean during the week didn't Have to go back and forth to Har it kind Of made it easy for me to stay involved In sports and then um started getting Recruited you know and started taking Football Seriously and uh here you go you know I Went toon just like Lenny say because I Was promised that I could play running Back right recruited by other schools For defensive back but I didn't want to Play defense I want I wanted to score I Wanted to run the Rock um I was gonna say because you were Riding your bike and were you playing Varsity as a freshman no Hall High School uh JV Frank Robinson you weren't Even had no chance of playing varsity Yeah they didn't kind of like yeah so
Right so me and my I I was saying me and My buddy JJ we like we dominated Freshman football but there was like no Way they were going to pull us up yeah So the following year they're like Making me you know play JV and I'm like Man I don't want to do JV what I'm Thinking I'm better than the running Backs that are there so that JV lasted About two games you know ridiculous yeah I was I was like scoring every time I Touched the ball I was like look if I Gotta play another JB game I gonna quit Qu and then I started playing varsity so That was that's amazing so you started On Varsity from your third game on Yeah Well yeah I was yeah I was I didn't Start you were in the rot right away but I was there you know and that's why and That's when I learned to take advantage Of the little bit of time that I would I Would get and my thing was scoring you Know what I mean I I can't describe it But there were times where I get the Ball and I don't I don't see anybody Yeah I just see the end zone and I'm Scoring and then you watch the tape and You can see me dodging people or doing And I don't remember any of that because You get That yeah yeah you see the end zone and That's it that's crazy that's crazy how That worked out play a little bit of Basketball too you played Hoops okay
Yeah yeah yeah I was terrible but I Always tell the stories I got some good Pictures where it looked like I was Doing some good stuff you know what I Mean that's all right so know I Embellish on the pictures and tell People I was dunking but I was really Grabbing a rebound you know what I mean That's okay that's okay that's okay you Lie all the time yeah I was the 15th man On a 2 and 18 basketball team so I know That's like but you were you were a Natural athlete like like you could have Done yeah I mean anything my families I Come from a family of basketball players Uh and football players so you know it Was just me trying to live up to what my Uncles and my older cousins were doing You know I have cousins played Basketball Springfield uh East Carolina Oh wow yeah my uncle uh was uh six five Left-handed guard you know played at Maryland Eastern Shore um Tommy Thompson yeah he was Awesome man so I had some athletes Before me so like for sure me playing Football it's like I had to be good Because if I wasn't they were gonna tell Me about it and yeah you hear about it You hear about it for sure from your Family yeah listen I I had a cousin uh Derek he played basketball he went to For high so the whole family is at the Game my cousin's like 6 6'2 63 you know
He's good height he steals the Ball and has a fast break and he lays The ball up he didn't go for the dunk he Didn't go for the dunk you know that my Whole family in attendance we booed him And the co turned around he's looking at Us like he made this stop we like no boo He was afraid to Dunk that's hilarious we never let him Live that down so I I witnessed all of That stuff comp playing I said look I Gotta show out when I play did you love Football immediately when you started Playing it as a ninth grader or did you Kind of no it was kind of easy to me and To be to be honest like some some people Took it a little too seriously and I Kind of turned off you know I agree with That I figure you Know what does that have to do with this You know we're playing football we Should be able to you know be around you Know have a normal life yeah yeah yeah Yeah so that that I never had a let Himman jacket I wasn't into that type of Stuff yeah you know what I mean like so That was that's you know never never so I agree you know I agree with you there Um especially today when you see see Especially the younger kids the youth Kids how specialized it gets yeah they Can play one sport all year round like They can't play multiple sports right They have a trainer and there's a club
Team and they they basically play year Round for one sport and they and they Take it way too seriously and I also I Coached at the college level um I Coached at Holy Cross and Dartmouth and we'd be in meetings all Night and I'd be Like football's not that complicated Like I know what they're going to do we Have a game plan watching the film for The 10th time isn't going to change what They're doing like exactly you know We're GNA see we know we're going to run Like we're just here it's like just busy Work it used to drive me nuts but I Totally agree with you that it it just Was got taken way too seriously yeah um Did you get recruit recruited naturally Like were were coaches coming in and out Of your school or out tapes okay Definitely they were coming I was I was In the newspaper like every day I never Sent I never sent out one recruiting tap Oh my God I mean people will call and Request information but my high my my High school coach uh Jak Kone he had some college experience he Knew some people um but like I said Steve Spagnola was the first one to Reach out so we kind of had a natural Relationship so when everybody else Started recruiting me right he was kind Of like I was comparing everything to Steve he was the barometer and Steve
Didn't talk to me the way these guys did You know it wasn't about promising it Was more so how you doing how's your day How's your mom doing it was person mean Like yeah like I didn't even realize I Was being recruited until other people Came into the picture you know what I Mean it felt like he was just kind of Looking out for me and telling me to Kind of take this seriously you could You might be able to do some things with It down the line and um yeah I remember When I committed to Yukon uh Rhode Island Syracuse was recruiting me I Called URI the guy hung up the phone on Me like yeah I'm like yeah I just went To Yukon I think I'm he's like click Just like y that's what they do yeah Yeah yeah that happen yeah but but back Then the big thing was the recruiting Letters you know yes yes and I had like Shoe boxes and shoe boxes and that stuff You know what I mean yeah so that was a Bigal I wish I saved it but I like I Said I wasn't I threw all that stuff out Yeah you weren into that yeah yeah they They sent so many of those out and I Remember back then they actually had to Type everything and lick it and mail Everything crazy did you um did you take Any visits like did you see Syracuse did You go out no the first trip that I Could make I actually I went to Yukon it Was Yukon okay right so interesting
Thing about my recruiting trip is Jamal Davis and Jason Applebee were my hosts Yeah uh I ended up I didn't leave with my mom I stayed on Campus I didn't go back to high school Until Monday Morning Oh Monday that's went I went home Monday Morning got to school on time oh my God That's and if you get Jamal or Jason Applebee on they'll tell you I had Already made friends there so they never Lock their door it's spring weekend come They come in the room room and like I'm Sitting in their room they're looking Like are you kidding Me the phone rings and I'm pick up the Phone like yeah I'll be right down They're looking at me like this kid Is so I was in Yukon before I was in Yukon yeah yeah and see like I'm from New York so when they were recruiting me Like I didn't even know they had a Football team which was crazy right so You so you were going from that's crazy You were probably going from a young age You were going yeah the they were older Guys at Hall like Stephen and Jason Seabo these are like big huge guys yeah They went to um Yukon so I knew Yukon Had a football Team and you know just being there you Know take George hitting the shot just Being local yeah you know I knew about
Yukon having a football team so I was Wasn't really unar I mean did you want To stay close to home did you want to Stay in Connecticut if you could I just Wanted to get out of Harford you wanted To get out of Harford yeah and then you Know the N the 90s were were absolutely Bananas in Harford that's when yeah the Gangs were like you know rough yeah it Was yeah between all the gangs that you Had there you know so when I went to Yukon like I was I could have been it Felt like stores was like hours away From I didn't go home you know my Friends wouldn't let me come home yeah Smart you know what I mean like I have Uh I have a friend of mine I went to High school with I won't mention his Name but he just came home about five Years ago yeah between the last five to 10 years and you know I graduated in 1991 so right imagine the time there so But these guys always always protected Me always kept me safe kept me out of Trouble well they knew you were special I think yeah they knew my mom wasn't Going for it either you know what I Mean yeah that's for sure yeah you know I had you know my cousins had reputation So like you know I was good I was good That's awesome that's awesome so you did You commit on your visit to UK you Committed okay and then you then you Stayed an extra day you stayed stay
Extra day I actually went up uh start Went to summer school uh To start early like they have the summer School program yeah oh wow and that was That was like amazing because you know That's huge on campus early yeah U the Our summer school Camp coming in uh so Most of the guys that were on my Recruiting trip committed right like That like that was like the class of the That recruiting trip was the core of our Class like we all committed right um Myself uh I met Eddie Long on on a Recruiting trip yeah his his his his Parents and my mom you know got close on The recruiting trip you know what I mean So even though like we competed like we Had a bond from the beginning that Wasn't gonna be broken you know what I Mean like in school so was like me him Monte um Lamont Parker Henry Thompson You know what I mean Justin steno You know what I mean uh Brian gleon like All stuck together like from wow very That's a class I I didn't know those all Yeah all the same class and my freshman Year was the first year of the big Allamerican recruit from basketball so That you had Kevin Oy Rudy Johnson who was Mr basketball in Florida Donnie Marshall and Danielle Danielle Marshall right yeah tamboo Willingham all of these like we all came In together that's when that's when
Everything started to turn around yeah Rebecca Lobo all of them that was all my Freshman year Jamal Elliott like Everything so you know we were there When the like we used to go to the Women's basketball games and you would Get in with your with your school ID Yeah you didn't need a ticket you didn't Need a ticket yeah we sit all the way up In the top you know what I mean have fun And then by the time our senior year Lines were around the door man right Know we had to sneak in you know but I Knew how to get in the GLE Yeah that's right yeah yeah you could go In through the back you remember what a Football locker room was yeah yeah yeah That door was always open you just go Downstairs and you know what I mean go Through walk through yeah Like wow that's right so I mean you were Really there for the rise of Yukon Athletics because you were there you Were there with um with Coach Jackson Right coach Jackson yep we had coach Jackson and then skip came later okay so You were there for skip yeah yeah I was I was there for two years of skip did You red shirt I red shirted y okay did You did they tell you you were gonna red Shirt I yeah I wasn't ready to play yeah Okay yeah I wasn't ready so you knew That yeah yeah I mean Eddie Long didn't Eddie Eddie played freshman year okay
Eddie came in like a specimen dude like Yeah yeah I heard about it come on man This dude's like RI I heard about the Three a body like Michael Johnson that Star like Eddie Was I heard I heard man I like I heard Um between you um Lenny and Eddie like It was just wow yeah had such a such a Great backfield and everyone brought Different things to the table and it Like coach Jackson was like one of the First guys that kind of did a running Back by committee where he would he Would use everyone and everyone had a Role we had there was like uh different Color jerseys that we used to wear yes Right the yellow green and then blue Right and the three of us had blue Jerseys right so it was good to be in a Blue jersey but I didn't like being in The blue jersey I wanted them to tell me That I'm not starting like don't play With me you know what I mean like yeah But again we were so close that it was Hard to really complain you just kind of Had to get in where you fitt it yeah you Were you were close but you were Competitive too because you still all Wanted to be the best yeah definitely 100% 100 um how did they rotate you did They rotate You by series or did they Just like kind of go with the hot hand Was so random man it was it was random Okay yeah I mean you say hot hand um we
Played James Madison I think I had five Touchdowns and maybe like 11 or 12 Carries yeah so like there was no hot Hand you had theot hand I was scoring Every time I touched the ball but they Still were pulling me out of the game You know what I mean like yeah so that's Crazy yeah yeah and then even then I Could have had another touchdown but you Know they sub they called the guys in And Jerome you know he called the play For me and Jerry Was supposed to be Blocking so he's like oh let me get this One so I let him get it but Like that eats me up to this day because Like that could have been a six to seven Touchdown day you know what I mean well I you had the record for most most Touchdowns in a single game for forever I remember yeah man yeah could Have um that's that's just so crazy like That that it it was rotation but when I Remember I had heard from your Generation they had already been talking Kind of about um going division one in Football was that mentioned to you yeah Wow that still BL yeah that was Mentioned to me um I was you know I used To l was a very intimidating person he Was but you know very nice I would go to The office all the time and there was a Sweet lady there named Pat Babcock Patty B of course P you know what I mean got
The checks yeah and it was like every Time I would see him like I would be in Her office he come in and talk and he's Like a completely different person yes Around her yeah yeah so I I got to you Know I got to see a different side him Right 100% respected him but I knew he Was cool and had a heart because I used To see him interact with with with Uh and she was a sweetheart you know Sure we all we got our money you Know those checks I used to love it yeah Yeah but she how get the checks yeah see She how no punches man you know what I'm Saying oh my God because I couldn't Believe that either because I I I talked To you now talking to you I talked to Like Shane Stafford I talked to Carl Bond and and Lenny and I I just couldn't Believe that going back that far they Had started already discussions yeah Definitely division one and then you Know by the time I got there was when it Finally happened I didn't know that it Was like promised and it took years and Years and years let me ask you a Question was the library finished when You were there or were they still Working on it they were still Working it got finished it got finished When I was there they were still on my Recruiting trip like it was just like The biggest I saw yeah and way they were Talking it was like it was gonna take a
Few months you know to get that done Yeah it took years there was Construction everywhere and that's why Like I I went back I went back a few Years ago for the first time and it was Like unrecognizable Yeah they have no idea how lucky they Are to I I like it's a real college now Like I I I got lost like I I didn't know Where to go it was so different like you Know now with the football facility Obviously the basketball facility now They got volleyball they got hockey like They've done so well with that and I Just I just hope they can keep it going Listen I I know for a fact that it has a Lot to do with um Women's basketball it does course be to Be right there and to see how that thing Turned the corner yeah and they just Started dominating and he just snatched College basketball away from U coach Summit like Gino snatched away from Coach Summit was amazing man you know Amazing amazing was good good to be There and be a part of it he did he did And you know Sals Fromi right right He continued that level it was like After they won they had nikesha Allamerican right from Bloomfield and You got the rest of the all Americans Behind it yeah she started that you know The big big time high school all
American recruit you're right because I I keep forgetting basket women's Basketball won the National Championship First before the and that's really kind Of what spearheaded everything and there Was ention because coun ran Connecticut and they Tried they tried to make comparisons Always if the women would beat the men And you could just see his face steam up When they would ask him that question Yes yes it would it would always be that Or it would always be if they switched If Gino coached the men and if Jim Coached the women how would they do that Would always be question and I I don't Think Jim could have coached women There's no way Jim would have had a Meltdown um but I mean so you red Shirted and I mean you played pretty Steady all four years I mean and you put Up great numbers and you had been the Leading you were the leading rusher in Yukon history for a while um and they All everyone had told me like you didn't Have like Breakaway blazing speed but You ran hard you ran physical and you Ran through people and and that's what Made you successful that's what I have Been doing since I was a kid you know That's what I said so you Know I wasn't gonna outrun all of my Friends you know what I mean so even I'm Fast I'm never gonna be the fastest guy
Out there I mean some of these kids I Play with like just yeah amazing you Know but it was about getting to the Getting to the end zone yes and my thing Was angles you know always knew I may Not be faster than you but I can get to That end zone because I can dictate how You're gonna chase me right right there Was you know there was a lot of run I Had longer touchdown runs than guys that Were faster than me you did I had you Know Eddie long was he had track speed Yeah on the field you Know it's different than you know Yeah I remember I remember watching you I remember watching my thing yeah I'm Gonna get to the end zone like that's Not that's not the problem but like just Just The I mean like I the way I watched you Run it was like old school Christian AO Power running well just going my running Back Idols growing up were earol Campbell yeah Franco Harris yeah had Billy Sim so I've got pictures of me I Mean we as kids we would have we would Play like right in the fall when all the Leaves were falling we would you know We' be playing ball in the street and The touchdown was the leaf Pile but always had somebody standing in Front of the leaf pile so when you got There you had to jump over the person That was in front of the leaf pile or
Run him over into the leaf pile and that Was how we scored right right That's crazy so That's putting pads on I mean we would We would do this when there's snow in The street yeah you know and then Sometimes you guys we would play in the Street and like out of bounds was like Literally a car so you get yeah pushed Into the car I was slaming I mean that's What we did man I got you for a helmet And pads you know I was I didn't I Didn't mind them yeah yeah I was good I Have to mention our sponsors at proon Partners proon partners your full Service Financial firm president Shan Rabinowitz Pro uh provides exceptional Results for his clients and is a proud Supporter of husky talk so go to proon Partners for all your financial Needs Um after I mean that just watching you Run and the way and the style that you Ran for that time and it fit the offense That coach Jackson ran I mean it was Downhill iny face physical and I think I Think you Had did you did you have one or two 10,00 yard years because I know you Split carries yeah I split carries so I Had I had I only had one 1,00 yard you Had one right I had nine 79 I think a Nine and some change my first year in my Sophomore year I did well but my junior
Year I got hurt and my senior year I got Hurt right and I never really had the so Watching these guys play now and some of The guys that broke my records you know The only thing I would say is that I Would feel envious that they actually Got a whole season yeah all the carries Yeah to get all the carries in and be be The feature back but but your single Season record is still in like the top Six I know that and your yards per carry Is still in like the top five and your And your total rushing is in the top 10 So I mean my total russan my the total Rushian touchdowns no one's I still have That yes yes that you do yes yes so I Mean those are tremendous tremendous Accomplishments I wish I wish I wish I Would have known you was gonna have Shane On you gotta talk to these guys about my Um my inter basketball oh okay I will I Was like a great GM you know I mean I Used to have crazy nml basketball Team Steve M who played uh who ended up Playing for Yukon and end up getting Paralyzed later um he came he trans he Was at Yukon he transferred from army And before he tried out for the Basketball team we used to he would be In the gym playing ball and you could Not move this guy like he was a beast Like it was just like who the heck is This yeah he's you you know who who Sten
No no no I don't he's actually um in the The Michael Jordan documentary oh the Guy in the wheelchair yeah like he had An accident in college and he end up Being paralyzed but Steve um we used to Play in murals against him like all the Time and play in the gym and then he Ended up playing for the team ended up Being really good friends with Scott Barrow okay and in the documentary you See him and Mike talking Mike took a lik To him he's really good cool guy I will Uh I will definitely Ask Shane I do Another show with Shane so I will be Sure I be I will be sure to bring that Up yeah ask him about my skills my Basketball skills I will I will because Well Shane was a basketball guy too he Loved Basketball he would have loved to have Played basketball uh but he knew his Calling was football and that's where That's where he excelled a little pup Was uh he had some balls on him man I Like I Lov and when he first when he came in When the when Zeke got hurt he came in And everybody's mouthing off in the Huddle and I just shut everything down I Told everybody like basically shut the Up this is Shane's huddle I don't want To hear a word out of anybody else's Mouth and Shane looked at me like gave Like what's up and afterwards thank me
For it but you know I loved his attitude Coaches used to like used to love to try To scream at him and get on him and just Roll right off his back and I love that About because he was a gamer you know It's not about he wasn't a big talker he Was a good really really good dude Really really Smart to go with the balled defense as Well yeah yeah I appreciate him from day One man he told me that the Opportunities every opportunity he got To play was because of an injury of some Sort yeah and he would do well and he Wouldn't come out and that's that's like That's how he succeeded even playing Arena ball NFL Europe whatever he said That you know he would he would never be The starter but then once he got his Opportunity he always made the most of It and then that was the end of it and He he took control I think Um knew Danielle from high school as Well he did he did yes yeah he did he Did he talked about that uh because he He's again he wanted to play basketball But yeah he did mention that um what uh What did you end up majoring in in Yukon Uh I I wanted to be a business major but I ended up just doing all the regular Political science yeah you were like us It was just Ma you know what happened Very well in summer school right yeah That was that was that was the only time
Yeah I'm signing up for classes and I'm Not really listening or taking anybody's Advice you know yeah for what you need For each major right dude I get in these Math classes and because of my test and Then I got these Indian teachers that Like I can barely understand understand Word they're saying first day in class And we're on like chapter three already I'm like yeah what I was lost I was lost Too I was lost it was always stats class me Up yeah it took me a while to adjust to That and then obviously the lifestyle up There so yeah yeah no we were I mean we Were the same way it was um sociology Like Polyi um and then they had Hdfs everyone called it you majored in Graduation trying to get you out of There they wanted to make sure you Graduated and got you out of there um so You you graduated where did you go from There did you did you end up staying in Connecticut I ended up I ended up Staying in Connecticut okay I had a few Opportunities to leave do some other Things I actually um Mr Perkins had Called me up to actually work uh to come Back to school oh wow and uh get in the Masters program to help bring Yukon to That next level But coach Holtz was still there oh okay I didn't want any parts of him you
Weren't a coach you weren't a coach Holtz guy no no no you're one of the few That everyone loved coach Holtz you're One of Coach Holtz everyone was worried about him um And look I I'll tell you Like I know he had to have his favorites Or whatever but just like you said like If you look at me or you look at my Measurables in the gym in the weight Room you would say oh this guy you know Can only do this you put me in the box But I always felt like you had enough Game film and you had enough of as far As my toughness to give me the Respect to to stay at tailback when he Put me at Fullback you know I really took that as A sign of Disrespect wait a second wait a second He put you a fullback yeah Yeah that's how I got hurt oh I did hear That that's right because he wanted to Run that Option had me with my feet yeah my hand In the dirt three yards from the center I can't see anything like you know I Can't I that's right they did tell me That I I totally forgot about that they Told me that he came in trying to run The Notre aame option yeah and they put You at fullback and I was like they got To be out of their mind to do that And my thing was you know little did he
Know I read the book under the golden Dome that his father R you did really yeah dude so he Actually when he came he was like Quoting stuff verbatim from that book as If it was like yeah he didn't know any Better so he yeah like he's think you Know right and then yeah yeah he told a Story um about Eddie Long at the uh Orientation that really was a story that His father told about rocket Isma oh that's aw the thing about him Playing tennis but he's so fast he's Like tennis by himself I don't like that That's so my boys they call me like yo We just at the orientation this Guy's didn't play tennis you know what I Mean so yeah to me like you know that's Big you know everybody has their own Experience but I have yeah yeah no That's messed up I I thought it was Messed up when I heard about it when I Heard that move you to fullback because You don't you know yeah after my most After my most productive Year yeah you don't Eddie Eddie and I Could have still split the tail back Position me the fullback you work great Together yeah yeah so now I'm competing With Ed Nook who's my who was my Fullback he moves me to fullback so now Schuman going over the Defense a million fullback and I love Playing with schum yeah Schuman loves
You yeah you know what I mean like Yeah we were close you know yeah yeah he Was one to G your number he loved you I Mean like we had a bond I love playing With him so yeah no he loved fullback Too and he was he would have loved to Have stayed but yeah that's right he Told me about that yeah so so you had The an opportunity to stay on you didn't Where did you end up going after that oh Which I I ended up I ended up working For Liberty Honda oh you did you were Selling cars okay yeah and you know What's funny I Wasa great at that yeah I Was just right I was there with a friend Of Mine the the general manager saw my Resume on the dad of the Car this dude starts talking to like He's walking me around the dealership And asking me how much money you know This job that I'm going to interview is Paying and blah blah blah and then he Basically SS me look this is your desk Man I'll I'll see you back here on Monday he goes I guarantee you'll make Twice as much money as you're gonna make At that other job yeah I I could see That yeah and dude it was the best thing I ever did on my mom and dad must loved It no they hated me they're like you're Selling cars you know You loved it I'm saying I loved it but Then when my mom came and she saw how
Much money I was making she kind of left Me alone yeah yeah well I mean it's a Great job to have yeah you gotta know What you got to know what the hell You're talking about and you gota the Biggest thing is connecting and forming Those relationships with people Everybody earning their trust listen There's I have no sales job that I've Ever had that's like it all the training All the the tricks of the trade all the Things that I learned selling cars like Just like if you can sell cars you sell Anything oh yeah yeah I mean I was you Know so and then I work and do cell Phones and things like that so and I'm In New York okay so you you did cars and Then you moved on to cell phones right So and so so I started working at Sprint This is when Sprint PCS first opened up Yeah I used to work at a moving company Uh we us to work at Nationwide in the Summer time yes yes they still do that So but at n you know what we were doing Nationwide no we were converting the Analog Towers to digital so we were Stick in the mountains with these cell Phone towers taking out all of the Analog and then going back and Installing the digital equipment oh my Was coming like analog yeah going back And forth so I did all That job at Sprint yeah but it was Digital so let me tell you the the great
The marketing genius that I Was the quot was like something small Like 30 phones yeah yeah yeah y I can S I was selling 30 phones like week yeah Like a week week so then I started doing Marketing So uh Ray Allen Um Richard Hamilton I got him his his First cell phone Nika sales I'm doing These autograph Signings So campus do an autograph signing in the Store yeah and then so when I did that You know I couldn't really pay them but I would get them company cell phones That they could use and back then cell Phones were Extremely very expensive yeah yeah wow Expensive and then what I would happened Was all the phones that that that were Sold that day that were better than the You know everything over the average Went towards my commission oh that's Awesome yeah so that is brilliant that You were able to do that yeah yeah yeah So had the mindset yeah I'm still Connecting the dots with stuff that I do Right now that's why I have my you know My own marketing company now um okay Yeah yeah so uh you did that and then Did you is that when you started your Own marketing company well I just well I Started my moning company a few years Ago but after that I ended up shutting
Down the cell phone company uh because I Had a a bad partner yeah shut the cell Phone company down I was gonna go work On Um not on Wall Street but in Philadelphia for a stock you know Stock that was in the World Trade Center Yeah the World Trade Center go blows up and I went for my Final in I had my final interview set up At like in at the end of September so This isn't Philly so I'm not putting two And two Together I'm still getting mail about The interview dude I go to Philly to the Office where I was going to be working I Go upstairs and I I come off the Elevator and I there's a lady there's One lady in there and she's just like Balling she's in Tears she's like who are you how can I Help you and I'm looking she's like Where she's like everybody's gone yeah They're all gone oh my God a lot of them Were in New York like everybody's dead I Don't know do I'm looking at her like I've been getting letters for months Yeah dude yeah so I just packed up moved To New York I left Connecticut came to New York and I've been here ever since New York okay so you're in the city yeah I'm in the city now yeah okay and and You do marketing yep okay do you do um I'm in the health I'm in the health care
Space as far as healthare okay yeah yeah I work with um urgent cares primary Cares different doctors and specialist Like podiatrist and things then I Health Senior Center so yeah like with health Insurance too or no no no no no okay I Just provide the services and connect The doctors with the patients and oh Okay kind of squeezed in in between There okay how long have you been doing That for uh past 10 years 10 years okay And you like it you like it love it you Love do you love the city yeah yeah okay But my wife's ready to get out of there She can't stand the city so yeah City's Tough I love it though because in Connecticut everybody knows you you know Home hey so and so saw you earlier today I'm like you're a legend in Connecticut You're a legend you can do about that Yeah that I love the anonymity that New York Brings what do you think of the state of Yukon football right now or I think They're going in the right direction man We're trying to yeah we're Tapp to the Right People get some of these big guys from From the south man you got to start Bringing them to that farm yeah I know Showing them what's out there man like The Agriculture and everything that's There like is is bananas man like so I Think if we tap into the right recruits
You know get get the show the show the Right guys that that place I think we Can we can get things going I'm kind of Upset with Randy etu because he left man He had a lot he had a lot of momentum I Know they I mean that Stadium would have Like probably 50 60,000 it was sold out It was sold out for years and um it it They had plans because it could have Been expanded to 60,000 and once you left the that's how They built the stadium right built the Stadium make it0 right so they can build Up and make it 60 but I mean he should have looked at he Should have looked at uh Gino and Um I know I mean believe me I Know man Gino built that thing and look Look at it man look at what did like you Gota be kidding me I I believe me I Agree with you I agree with no with no Professional sports team in Connecticut Gotta take advantage of that man I Believe you I I had him on the podcast Um and we you know he was candid about It and he didn't have the best Relationship with the athletic director With h with Jeff Hathaway at the time Yeah and Connecticut was Raising its Academic standards to get kids in so he Didn't think he was going to be able to Get the recruits that he needed to Continue that success and Jeff haway was The assistant ad on the L when I was
Correct correct cor but they never got Along he never got along with thate well You know it's proba it's you know why I Think Lou was a tough act to follow of Course of he didn't take anything so I Don't know if Jeff standing his ground And trying to be he was he was tough Yeah he was tough he was tough I I I I I Can't fault him because you know he got Double or whatever his salary he took Shot you know he knew that he was at the Pinnacle he didn't think he was going to Be able to consistently win at Yukon From there on out so he took his shot he Went he got his payday but look I was Loving those times though man those were The best times when I you know you could You really it was hard to get me to go To a game yeah because I was enjoying Watching them so much on TV they were Hearing announc talk about Yukon yeah Just like it was it was the as a former Player that was like the best thing for Me just like to be able to watch Yukon On TV ABC or major Network ESPN was like That was everything to me man I turn the TV up loud I mean just to hear them talk About Yukon so that we were we were Bigger than basketball at one point we Were bigger than basketball um which Reminds me Mike Burton is doing all he Can for our nil Collective bleeding blue For good in stores Central we want to Continue to win and have success in all
Sports he raised $1.5 million and he did It with 10 donors I refused to let him Do that alone so we are going to do all We can to help him if you can go to the Website bleeding blue for good .org or Stor Central.com give to football whatever You can um he's not looking for the $10,000 donations he's not looking for The $5,000 donations if you can give $200 if you can give $500 we just need More people giving instead of relying on 10 people and if we can do that we can Get continued success because what we're Seeing on the field now is the result of The work Mike put in every player from The quarterback to the receiver to the Running back they're on nil deals and They're going to have to continue to get Paid and for us to have continued Success we're going to have to keep Raising money and keep raising more Money so bleeding blue for good and Store Central are essential for our Success so anyone who can go to the Website bleeding blue for good you get a Tax exemption store Central it's $10.99 A month and you get Insider information And that is what uh he is one of our Sponsors now we are GNA try to help him Out he's been on the show a few times And God bless him you know he whenever He's been asked he answers the call and He'll donate and he started the
Collective we had nothing before this And it now we're seeing it payoff and I Think if you you've watched the last few Games like this team can get to I I I Think eight wins isn't out of question I Think you know six six would be the Minimum right I think um I think we can Beat Temple next week the they're They're gonna have a byee after that Then they have wake Wake Forest will be The tough game then they have like UAB Georgia State uh Syracuse in UMass so I Mean if they can win if they can get to The eight wins they're going to win in Basketball they're going to win in Women's basketball they've been Successful in baseball they've been Successful in Soccer uh that will get us into a Conference because I don't think we can Survive in this environment without Getting into a conference no we yeah we Need to 100% 100 yeah yeah I think Big 12 or ACC we have to get into one of Those because we're missing Out we can win three national Championships in basketball and I hope We do but the problem is the money isn't There in basketball the money the Revenue is in football so where are Where are you guys on um the the are They building something on Campus um no they're not building Something bleeding blue for good is the
The website so you go to the website and Then you can pick which sport you want To donate to okay okay yeah so we're so The as far as the stadium are we getting A stadium no no no the stadium staying Where it is believe me we want it on Campus we we we all we all wanted it on Campus But everyone complained on one about 195 That there'd be too much oh yeah yeah That's they're like there's gonna be Traffic they traffic for basketball yeah I was gonna say yeah Yeah I don't think stores can handle That I mean they they bust the students To the games right and it's it's doing Better now and as you know winning cures Everything yeah so they had they've had Two two good wins in a row Florida Atlantic and they beat up on Buffalo um If they beat up on Temple this week They'll go into the by week four and two Which is huge and then and then from There I I really think wake Wake Forest Will be a coin toss they should be able To beat Georgia Southern they should be Able to beat be UMass Syracuse will be Tough and then I think they'll beat UAB So seven games seven and five six and Six would be the minimum bowling man we Just need to go bowling yeah we need to Go bowling we need to we need to go Bowling but the the talent has been Upgraded
Significantly when I got to watch the Game Saturday and the running backs they Have the receivers uh those guys are Nice man yeah Bell Sheffield the Quarterback I hope he's okay Evers cam Newon uh cam Edwards um but now that we Have the nil money that's why we're Starting to have success so that's why It's been so important and that's what You know that's what Mike said Mike said We did this with 10 people he said if I Can get everyone to donate $200 he said Then we got a chance then then you know Because we need to get $3 million for Next year we had 1.5 for this year to Keep the players that we have they're Going to want more because they've been Successful and to bring in you know the Transfer portal which Coach Moore has Been doing a good job with and freshman So that's that's why it's big and that's Why you know I told him with the podcast He um he's he's sponsoring the podcast And we're going to try Dave Schuman and Myself we're going to try to help him Raise donations Um for send me some information send me A text with I will I will if you can Donate yeah I would appreciate it that Marke I can figure something out yeah we You know what we're we're we're and and You're you know what you're probably the Right guy to talk to so um I I would Like to talk to you eventually because
We're trying to figure out the best way To monetize the nil deal and the nil Stuff and you know the the podcasts are Are great tools for it but we we need I I think alumni events different things Because you know marketing and sales Different things that we can do to offer The alumni so they have an incentive to Donate that's the biggest thing that's Missing right now okay um we have very Very poor alumni engagement like has Anyone called you and and as you to come To a game asked you for a donation has Do they interact with you no not not not N wise act for money yeah yeah that's See that's that's but I mean does does The football alumni they contact you They invite you back to games oh yeah 100% Co baylock is that's my man and I Keep in B's the best I keep in touch With Kevin Freeman as well so Freeman Good yeah K free is always one text or Call away Good if he does if I don't get him right Away he always responds yeah also too um Phil hunt who I play with yes Phil President so yeah so are you talk Because I got a lot of stuff going on I Got a few of my clients I have a client Of Mine marketing company who I think um Might be able to to offer some Assistance as oh that'd be great because That's projects and Investments with the
Nil that's that's what need because Coach bok's great he's just not great at Like managing the money the NL stuff so That's why Burton Mike Burton's been Doing it and he's been doing a great job With it and and my guy could probably Talk directly to um to Mike oh that'd be Perfect because he's a numbers guy and Oh perfect we've got tons of products And things that we're pushing so we Could probably yeah make the nil a part Of that so that the nil is actually That's a great idea making anur you know Making some money over the years I tell You what Mike would love that so I I'll Definitely I'll text you and I'll talk With you about that because um the more Help he can get the better and that Sounds like a great idea are you gonna Make it out you think to any games this Year yeah I just went on Saturday oh for The captains yeah they honored the Captains and I'm Pro I'm trying to come Back for homecoming oh good okay yeah Because I was with my um wife I'm gonna Come for that yeah I was with my wife And my son okay good I want to come back And uh and hang out awesome awesome she Won't let me drink or anything so that's No because I I'll go to homecoming too So I'll I'll uh I'll meet you but I'll I'll send you some of the information on The ni nil stuff and then um I'm gonna Talk to Burton and if it's okay with you
I may I may just give him your number Yeah no 100% give him number because I Yeah and then I can put him in touch With my guy maybe we could just do a Zoom call oh that's Beautiful we could set up a zoom or Something like that that's beautiful Well you you uh you made it through your First podcast yeah yes I Did wasn't Asad yeah nothing crazy to go Viral you know what I'm saying so no You're not gonna go viral I kept all the Other stories out you know so I know a Lot of a lot of guys were nervous when I Was telling them Going you talk about Like we kept it Tain we kept It but no thanks and I'll um I'll I'll Definitely put this up um I put it on Facebook LinkedIn and Instagram um if you want to send me a Picture that I can use send me a picture That I can use and I'll I'll put that up For sure and then I'll I'll text you the Links it's on all the platforms but most People listen on Spotify or iTunes yeah Yeah I join Spotify and then so yeah so I can I'll text you the link and then You can text it to all your friends all Right um and then it goes on Dave Schuman I I partner with him his YouTube Channel has a million followers yeah so We we get get bab involved in the Recruiting process man believe me I we
The heck going on we talked about it we Talked about it we talked about I so Upset I'm like Dave what's we talked About it all these kids man and they're Not going to Yukon we talked about it I Said I said Mike Mike is gonna talk to Mora and and I said Dave is a resource Dave knows every player every coach Every contact in the state and you're Not using him not even just not just in The state but what he's done with his Business like Country you kidding me yeah no I do Because I got mad yeah I yeah I get Frustrated like come on man I said the Exact same thing so I know that Mike is Talking to MOA and H Benedict the Athletic director so whoever recruits Jersey is gonna get Dave involved more Because Dave has all the contacts with The coaches the parents and the kids and Like you said that'll make the Difference but we're going in the right Direction ction and I definitely think We're going to make a bowl game this Year and that will get us into a Conference definitely man but again you Were uh the leading rusher for a while It was a pleasure watching you play Thank you so much Wilbur for coming on Husky talk hus talk great shout out to Coach Martin man God Bless yeah rip to Him too rip to him as well um I also Have to say thank you to Green Street
Trust International they're our newest Sponsor ryell jump and his team work on Protection through asset management and Uh they have strategy sessions for tax Reductions um go to his uh calendar at Uh calendly.com Greenre trust.com to schedule a strategy Session today with ronell jump so re Jump that's like so another running back Right RC was the running back ronell was Lin yeah ronell was his cousin he was a Defensive lineman oh okay yeah yeah yeah Yeah yeah well so but I remember him Because these guys look like running Backs like yes Yes yeah yeah I'm gonna tell him you Said that gu like man if I was like that Yeah said That I love watching him rock man you Know yeah there's a guy Kevin Wesley who Was built like that these guys were Stocky yeah they're low to the ground Physically yeah low to the ground yes Yes so thank you again this is Steve cly The best podcast host in the universe Remember when life gives you lemons Don't make lemonade take two oranges and Throw them back at Life E E E E E
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