USF RB DJ Crowther Joins 4th AND BULL

0:00What's up DJ how are you? I'm doing good. I'm doing all right. Welcome to fourth and ball my bad for all the struggles we had in the beginning of all the technical difficulties. How do you enjoy the day off yesterday after a hell of a performance on Saturday? Yeah, now I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it for a what's the day off? You know it's off of practice, but you know we still end the facilities watching film getting your bodies right and stuff like that. Do you do enjoy the days where you don't have to be outside and can be in the film room a little bit more special ones. Well, I guess now it's kind of getting a little bit nicer. Yeah, today's been pretty nice. I felt like today was one of the coolest coolest practice, but yeah, man, I tend to heat, man. I be no joke. It is no joke. I know you're from California. Did you guys have to deal with the humidity out there? I mean, I know someplace. California's kind of different everywhere you go. Where you're from? Was it super hot and humid like it is here? So it was super hot, but it wasn't humid. So like it will be like especially like high school for summer practices, stuff like that. It will probably be like 105, but it's just dry heat. But don't get me wrong, it's still hot, but the humidity

1:04man is different because it could be like 80 degrees at practice, but it can be really humid and you're drenched. Do you guys kind of prefer though when it's kind of hot gives you a little bit of a home field advantage? Like, yeah, next Saturday, I'm assuming you want it to be a little bit warmer for temple coming down here for Philadelphia. They don't know what that's like. Yeah, not exactly. I do feel like it does get it some shape because you know, it makes game days easy because we don't have to deal with the heat for stuff like that. So yeah, tell me about Saturday. So you had a hell of a fourth quarter. I mean, the entire game, I got I want to go through questions that people sent me for you. Some of them are just writing thank you. You know, for Saturday, you had a great performance. I know overall as a team, you guys probably weren't super happy with it, but you get out of bowling green with the win, which is most important. What was what was the message like in the locker room from coach Heartline after after that tough battle, you know, 14 to 6 and coming out with a victory? Yeah, so obviously, you know, we have some things to clean up on, but most importantly, we're hardline spoken on, you know, is we got the

2:07dub, you know, it's hard to win by the new day. We do wherever it takes to win and obviously we're unsatisfied with our performance. No, we could play to a higher potential, but you know, that's what the film's for. Clean it up, get back and get prepared for this week. As a running back went when a team struggles, you know, up front, what is the conversation in the huddle? Like that kid Miles Bradley, which I'm sure you guys were aware of before the game, you know, he started off the game pretty strong and forced those fumbles. What are the conversations like in the huddle with the offense? Like is there frustration or do you guy like what are the conversations like in the huddle trying to when you get up to the line of scrimmage and you're going against a guy who just he had a hell of a first quarter against you guys? Yes, sir. Yeah, so obviously, you know, you're frustrated, but you don't want to be too frustrated because you can't you can't dwell on the next play. I've lied to the mind, say, you know, go have an next play mentality and obviously picking every teammates, you know, encourage them to do better. So when you guys are going through that game, you're held scoreless for the first three quarters. What's the mindset going in the fourth quarter?

3:08Like what are you like what is it like for you on the sidelines of that game? Because I would imagine there's probably a frustrating one for you up until, you know, you guys really just took over. What is it like on the sidelines? What's coach Tim Beck saying to you? What's hard line saying to you? What is just the mood and the vibe on the sidelines of a game like that? Yes, sir. So like like you say, you know, obviously there's frustration because we know the potential we have, you know, you definitely don't want to go all four quarters are out scoring, but you know, I think the day, you know, we just dwell on the leaders, you know, keeping our teammates up, keeping our heads up and just taking like, all right, like we got to continue making the routine, plays routine. And other than the day, that's going to lead to the score. So yeah, sir. Who's the who's the leader on the on the offense that, you know, keeps you guys fired up on the sidelines, making sure, hey, you guys, we're still in this at six nothing. Let's get going. Like who is that guy? Yeah, I would definitely say Mike Vembeer. He definitely does a good job of that. Caleb Cook as well. And then me and myself as well, you know, just trying to get the guys head right, make sure nobody, you know, how it's home faces and heads down. So what would you say changed at the end of the game where you guys just started finding your

4:11groove and just having some success? And of course, the running game got going. I know you guys want to be a running team, which I'm sure that excites you as a running back. That's what you like to do. What changed in the fourth quarter from the first three quarters that led to such so much success? Yeah, I think I think the biggest thing I changed, it wasn't, we preached a lot about us, like, you know, we, they got to play us. I think a lot of times early on in the game, you know, we're making simple mistakes. I was just causing us to drive, harming us. So I think that day, I think we were just doing a good job, you know, executing our job assignment and just making the routine replace routine, which we do all the time. Do you feel like you guys learned a lot because you had you had FIU, then you have the dramatic game against Army, right? And then you guys play a really good game against Delaware State. And then, you know, a little bit of struggles, but you come away with a victory and at the end of the day, you're four now. Would you say getting into conference play coming out this week against Temple? I mean, you can take everything from these four games. I would imagine you guys learned quite a bit going into the season. What have you found out about this team that's going to help you guys going forward? Yeah, I think I think there's a couple of things

5:13and I found out about this team a lot is, you know, what happens when we face adversity, you know, a lot of times throughout these four games, you know, adversity hits, you know, it's not, it's not inevitable, but it's about how you respond, you know what I'm saying? And the other thing I also learned too was, you know, it's being the toughest and hardest playing team in the country. You always talked about that, you know, going back to January, Matt Drew, Spring Bull, Fall Camp, you know, just well on our discipline. We got to be disciplined and, you know, the toughest hardest playing team in the country. So, yeah, sir. I have a crazy stat here and I know I can already tell just by talking to you, it's not something that you'll care about because I could tell you're a team guy. In fact, everybody I've talked to from you guys, you're like one of the closest teams I've ever seen, which is strange for this transfer portal era. But did you know that you accounted for 69.1% of the net total offense and that was number one in all of college football last weekend? No, I even know that. That's crazy. You were 69.1%. Number two was Mason McKenzie, the quarterback at Boston College 61.7%. You were 69.1% of the, I mean, a day like that for you.

6:20I know overall as a team, you guys always want to get better, but I would hope that when you go home and you wake up Sunday that you feel good about yourself. Like what was Sunday like for you? No one you just, I mean, you crushed it, man. It was awesome. Yeah, no, I feel like it definitely felt good. And, you know, it just goes to show like, you know, I've been put in the work for this moment, and you know, it just felt good having all the hard work pay off. And you know, I can't do it on my own line. Like obviously there are some things you got to clean up on. By the end of the day, I can't execute my job without them. Yeah. And in the old line too, I feel like they've just kind of been shuffled around quite a bit. And I would have met you know, like maybe you can tell me from an offensive, from a running back perspective. But you know, Shredder going from like guard to tackle. Like that's not easy for a guy to just do, right? Midgame. Yes, sir. Exactly. Exactly. But you know, you guys got it together. And at the end of the day, you came out that victory, which was nice. What attracted to you? What attracted you to USF? Like what was your portal experience? Like leave indictment to come to USF? Yeah, now I'll say the portal experience. It was hectic, you know,

7:22especially having, you know, a small window. You got to make a decision fast, but you know, with the guy, you know, it all worked out. And you know, USF attracted me. It was really Florida area. I've never been to Florida before us, you know, being the first time out here in Florida. Yeah, it was definitely nice. And you know, just a coach stack, you know, Brian Hardline, my own running back coach coach Brooks, Tim Beck, Mike Hardline, all those like-minded people, you know, they got a great experience. I was believing in what their appreciation. And at the end of the day, I left it up to God, prayed to him and I made the right decision. What's it like when you put your name in the portal? Like, do you do you put it in the portal? And then you just wait for a call or do you have a pretty good idea? Someone's going to call it. What is that like for someone that doesn't know? Yeah, it's kind of all of in the air, but my agent, you know, I had an agent, so I was able to put my name in the portal. And after that, they'd contact him or contact me through Twitter and stuff like that. You know, he's on the phone all day just talking with them, shopping up, trying to get to know you, talking about your film, all that kind of things like that. But I would definitely say, you know, with a certain window, it's definitely a lot more hectic, you know, receiving calls all throughout the day and

8:25having to get everything set up. It's got to be exciting, though, because you're like, all right, I'm going to figure out where I'm going to live next. I got a new mission ahead of me. And then you realize that you SF, you come to Tampa. I would imagine you're probably, I mean, Tampa's a great city. You got to be loving this city, right? There it is. What are some things you like to do around Tampa when you're not playing football? I'm playing football. Definitely got to go to the beach, you know, check out the beach because it can't, can't beat that. I did a lot of jet skis in the summertime. Some of my teammates, I was definitely fun and get out there in the water at jet skis. And also, you know, gotta get some good eats. That's definitely definitely number one. You got a good favorite spot in Tampa. You like Dita? I wouldn't say favorite. But I do, I do try to try like a lot of new food spots. So anybody from you on, I'll definitely, definitely tap into that. I always tell everybody here when we're talking about food, man, you guys got the best Mediterranean food over on campus. Like I would probably eat that just about every single day. I was looking at your, I was looking at your bio on the website. Hey, fishing camping, river rafting. I read that, right? Yes, sir. What kind of camping though? Is this like camping with no electricity whatsoever,

9:31or is this like nice RV kind of camping almost like a house? See, like growing up, uh, being my family, we would go camping, you know, we in the tents, uh, you know, we got marshmallows, we got our fishing poles, all that type of good stuff. You know, I fly to only electronics, we really have as our phones, you know, we just been in time with each other with the cousins, you know, it's a great time. And another thing we would do too is like we'll go out to the, uh, it's this place called Clearwater in California. Uh, so they actually have like houses or like little apartments, uh, on the shore where Clearwater's at, Clearwater Lake. And you know, we probably spend a weekend out there and stuff like that, you know, just spending quality time, barbecuing, fishing and stuff like that, playing games or whatnot. You guys competitive with games? Because I know you got a lot of football players in your family. Yeah, we do, we do. Yeah, definitely competitive. Uh, yeah, because my cousin, he's actually, he plays on the sea ox right now. Uh, he's got drafted there. So yeah, we definitely, definitely competitive. Okay. So he's with the sea hog. Do you guys communicate often throughout the season and, and he talked about, yeah, yeah, we communicate pretty often. Is that the same

10:33cousin that was at Fresno State? Yes, sir. He, uh, he played an Arkansas last year. He transferred, to Arkansas. Oh, he transferred. It is so hard keeping up with all you guys. Like, transfer board and stuff. Yeah. I'm trying, you know, it's like, I got to Bulls Fest, you know, before the season, there's like 61 new bulls. I'm trying to learn. It's, it's exhausting. What's it like coming into a new team when there's so many new people? Like, how, how did you guys end up just like jelling so fast? Cause like, when I talked to racing, pup, how are these like, I got to have so many people at my wedding from this team because we're just all friends. I mean, how, how did this unit just click so fast? Yeah, I did, I didn't just started a good job with, uh, you know, like, as you said, like, there was a whole bunch of new faces on the team. By the, you know, we've talked about it, like, we going through the Kusbo training before the off season. So, you know, we got winter workouts, uh, Matt drills and stuff like that. Not to end the day, like, you're going to do it for the love of your brother because you've been through the hard with them. So stuff like that. So I fight that's really, you know, it molded us and joked us together. All right. I want to get to, uh, I want to get some of these, uh, questions I got

11:34here from, uh, people who are watching, listen to the show. Uh, South Florida Water Tower asked, what is life, uh, after football like for you? You got any plans? Have you thought about that? I mean, yes, that's something I definitely, you know, took into consideration, you know, especially, you know, being able to have my undergraduate degree in sociology. And right now I'm pursuing my master's, uh, I'm interested in business and also time on real estate taking the avenue. I don't have a clear understanding, but those are some things I'm definitely interested in. Yeah, man, especially here real estate. I got, I got my real estate license. Uh, and then I, I didn't use it and I let it expire. What a waste of time that was. You got to, uh, resubmit, uh, get it. Yeah, there's so many things that you got to do to keep up with the, but it's the business to be in, man. Um, uh, Tally Bull wants to know what your favorite uniform combination over at USF to wear. We ain't worried yet. I like the, oh, black, oh, blackly nice. Do you know when you guys are going to wear those? No clue. How do you find out what you're going to wear on you? Cause you know, social media nowadays, they love to show game day threads. How do you

12:35guys find out what you're going to wear? And then do you have someone that puts that out so like, nobody wears the wrong socks or anything like that? Uh, so yeah, I mean, sometimes I couldn't be, they'll tell us. Uh, and then obviously, you know, they put some social media and then, yeah, they give us all the stuff on our loop. Uh, we all wear it. So you know, they sure are uniform and stuff like that. Uh, most valuable bull wants to know, uh, are there any running backs that you model your style after? Model my style. I would say growing up, uh, you know, being from California, uh, group in the Bay Area. I did like watch a lot of March on Lynch. Uh, and also, you know, I like Lavy on Bell. Autumnberry, Barry Sandler, Gray Ponds, stuff like that. Yes. I'm a big, Barry Sandler's guy, man. I grew up on Barry too. Just don't, uh, just don't do a March on Lynch after a victory. Grab the golf cart, start driving around the feet. It was, and I appreciate you coming on here. Not saying you're here just so you don't get fined. I appreciate that. Um, Coach Brian Hartline fan club. As you can see, these guys are all USF fans because their Twitter names are all about you guys. Uh, he wants to know, does, uh, do you feel you can be used more in the passing

13:40game? Is that something that interests you? Yeah, that definitely sometimes interests me. Uh, I feel like we do a good job. You know, uh, Mike does a good job of checking down, uh, the ball, like we did his past game first play the game, uh, checked the ball down to me. I think the previous game I had about two cash for like 40 hours. Yeah. Uh, Marco says no question. Just thank you. Uh, and then the last one, the Wizard of USF said, did you feel like the offense found something when you were forced into tempo down 14 against Army? I felt like those three minutes looked like you guys were the most comfortable and explosive. Yeah. So I think, uh, you know, it just came down to, you know, we, we had to find a way, uh, to put the ball into in zone and we were just making the routine plays routine like we would do every day at practice. Uh, real quick. Before I let you go, tempo this weekend, uh, as you get prepared for them, what are some things? Temple does really well. Yeah, I feel like they do, uh, really well. They're front seven, the D line linebackers. They do really well, uh, a storm into the ball, things like that. You know, they got, they got great athletes all over the field. So we's gonna do a good job, uh, making the routine plays routine and just,

14:42it's about us. What's practice been like this week? Sometimes coaches co-charder after when, sometimes like, co-charder after a loss. Uh, what, what did co-chard line do with you guys, uh, after the bowling, green gamehouse practice this week? Uh, practice has been the same. You know, I feel like he does a good job either after a win after a loss. He does, he says what he says, like, you know, he will have the same speech if we won, we have the same speech that we lost because at the day, you know, we got the goals in our mind that we're looking forward to. So that's, you know, what we're practicing for. What are, so you got temple this Saturday and then a short week UTSA after that. What's a short week like for you guys? I mean, those are tough turnaround. I know there's always conversations with the NFL doing the Thursday night games. People are always talking about the short rest and it's hard. Uh, what is it like for a football player to turn around, play on Saturday and then turn around and have to play on a Thursday night? Yeah, I think the biggest thing is, you know, just recovering, you know, we got to hydrate, eat the good foods and stuff like that, get nutrition in our body and just, you know, recover as much as we can. And then if you play on a Thursday and you're off on Saturday, do you and the boys watch college

15:45football or what are you doing? Yeah, definitely got to watch calls football, tapping the calls for it. That's definitely up there for you. Do you watch on, do you watch on Sundays? Because I feel like what was I talking about Xavier Hamilton? I had on last week. He did not pay attention to NFL. He didn't really have a favorite NFL team. You followed the NFL? Yeah, I do, I do follow the sun. I fly sometimes kind of tough on Sundays because we be in the facilities all day. We got live practice meetings stuff like that. So I kind of keep up the scores, but yeah, growing up as a kid and I always like the 49ers. So that's my team. Oh, man, Mike Evans, the 49ers. You enjoy Mike Evans and the 49ers, man. Um, that would be the hardest, like I'm not a college football player, obviously, but that would be the hardest part for me is trying to focus on a Sunday because I'd be wanting to know what's going on in the league. Yeah, yeah, Sundays, you know, because Monday's are all day Sunday's we busy like all day, you know, trying to meet in, live practice stuff like that. So yeah, look, man, great, great job Saturday. We look forward to watching you play against temple this week. You're having a great year. I mean, two back-to-back games

16:47over a hundred yards. Keep doing what you're doing. I know the Bulls fans are appreciating your service right now and just keep doing what you're doing and good luck this weekend and good luck the rest of the way, man, we're rooting for you. They got appreciate that. Yeah, man. We'll talk to you soon. Yes, sir. Appreciate you, dude. That is DJ Crowder joining us here on 4th and Bull presented by Blue Tara. So thank you, DJ for coming on while I'll have another episode for you on Thursday. We will preview preview the USF Bulls taking on temple on Saturday night.