By: Colby Wilson, Associate Director of Athletics Communications (Exclusive for LetsGoPeay.com)
10:00 AM | Tennessee Room, Embassy Suites Nashville Airport
It's time once again for OVC Media Day!
Once upon a time, Ohio Valley Conference Football Media Day came and went. Austin Peay was picked last or next to last, nobody much cared what was said and then we didn't think much of it until September when football season actually kicked off.
No longer.
The Govs are a major player in the OVC. They've got a new head coach in the highly-touted Mark Hudspeth and two outstanding young men in town to trumpet the triumphs of Austin Peay football. Kentel Williams is a preseason All-OVC choice. Juantarius Bryant was one of the best stories from the 2018 season. LetsGoPeay.com will be rehashing the day, all day, covering every movement made by the trio.
10:15 AM | Outside the Tennessee Room, Embassy Suites Nashville Airport
Here they are.
Hudspeth, Williams and Bryant are in the building. On time, bright eyed, ready to go. Bryant, signature locks built atop his head (that's @TheyLoveMyHair_ on Twitter, for the curious) is a presence you can spot from anywhere; despite his quiet nature, he's someone for whom his play and his style do the talking. Hud (@APCoachHud) is rocking pinstripes. Williams (@5K_Dot), a gray blazer.
The trio cool their heels for a few minutes, Hudspeth chatting up opposing coaches, Bryant and Williams posing for photos. There's always a little apprehension for the first-timers at OVC Media Day (Kyle Anderton from last year excepted). Between the usual circus, the Instagram takeover over @LetsGoPeay and everything else involved with the day, they'll be old hands by the time wrap this up a little after 2 p.m.
10:40 AM | Tennessee Room, Embassy Suites Nashville Airport
Today's crew on behalf of Austin Peay and LetsGoPeay.com: myself, football SID Stefan Nolet, Director of Video Services Taylor Wiseman and freshly-minted intern Casey Crigger. Stefan forgot the podcast equipment; feel free to yell at him at your leisure.
Hud heads over to WNSR (560 AM in Nashville) to talk to Greg Pogue and Joe Dubin for a local radio spot. Topics: everything, really. Pogue goes long on the stadium (as part of TSU's broadcast team, he's familiar with Fortera), Gerald Harrison, Clarksville and the hiring process. Hudspeth talks about the kind of players he wants, the program he wants to run and overall, sells himself once more. This is his first OVC Media Day after all; despite the media blitz he went on after his hire, there are still people here he's meeting for the first time.
Kevin Ingram records a spot for his morning show on 104.5 FM in Nashville. HERO Sports scribe Brian McLaughlin pulls him aside for a quick spot. Everyone wants a piece of Hud. And we've only just begun the day.
11:10 AM | Corridor, Embassy Suites Nashville Airport
Hudspeth continues to hold court. Mike Organ (Gannett Tennessee), George Robinson (Leaf-Chronicle) and Kyle Schwartz (Ohio Valley Conference) vie for his attention at different moments.
During the early scrum around Hudspeth, what are Bryant and Williams up to? Hanging out with Director of Player Development Maurey Bland in a small holding area off the main corridor. Nothing. Yet. That's about to change.
11:20 AM | Tennessee Room, Embassy Suites Nashville Airport
Williams goes live (sort of; a snafu put the interviews to tape-delay) with Bob Belvin for ESPN3. Kentel was a little apprehensive about his appearance today; I was actually supposed to coach him through the process last week but I... got sick. It happens.
But it would be tough to find a better starting point to the day's slate than Belvin, one of OVC Game of the Week voices for ESPN3. Gregarious, good-natured and a Clarksville product, Belvin knows just how to poke and prod and ask the right question to get the reserved Williams to open up. By the end of the interview, a chuckling Williams has to admit, "Not bad," when asked how it went.
Hud goes next. "Enthusiastic" barely describes it. The man is champing at the proverbial bit to talk Austin Peay, football, Clarksville and anything else to sell the program.
12:00 PM | Tennessee Room, Embassy Suites Nashville Airport
While the triumvirate head out for lunch, OVC Commissioner Beth DeBauche gives her annual State of the OVC address. While I always enjoy hearing from Madam Commissioner (as Van Stokes, the Austin Peay football color analyst seated to my right) calls her, I'm hungry too. Alas, I remain.
The Commissioner talks about the 150th anniversary of college football. She officially announces Austin Peay's placement in the league preseason poll (fourth from the coaches and SID's), which also, I suppose, makes official Williams and Anderton as preseason All-OVC choices. Well-deserved, but don't sleep on Bryant; he was a second-team selection last year and has improved by leaps and bounds every year he's been a Gov.
Toward the end of her remarks, the Commissioner brings up a surprise guest: Christion Abercrombie, the Tennessee State player who suffered a severe injury last year, receives the OVC's first Courage Award.
12:40 PM | Tennessee Room, Embassy Suites Nashville Airport
After a hurried lunch, the Govs take their turn in front of the assembled television media.
Bryant goes first. A Nashville native, the Maplewood High product is cool as a cucumber under the lights. Poised and proud, he drops the opening salvo.
Next is Williams. Calm, poised... hard to believe he was apprehensive about this. By the time he's done, he's borrowing a camera to take photos and get an impromptu tutorial from one of the photogs on hand.
That leaves Hudspeth. The cameras whir. WSMV's Chris Harris leads the way, but plenty of the Nashville media have questions. How to build on success. How to capitalize on excitement. How to develop a program.
Boom. Boom. Boom. No "Well, um," no stutters. Hudspeth has an answer for everything.
12:55 PM | Arkansas Room, Embassy Suites Nashville Airport
Have you ever watched the OVC Game of the Week or checked out a quick feature on OVCSports.com and wondered, "Wow, how did they get this incredible footage of these guys in suits, sitting down, during a week full of practice and games and studying and everything else?"
Well, that's why this day exists. The OVC tries to get as much footage as it can on a day when the conference--spreading from Richmond, Kentucky to Cape Girardeau, Missouri in football--is gathered in one spot. It's hard to overrate convenience.
Your humble narrator doesn't follow the gang into this room, but I've been in enough to know what unfolds. Despite all the overhead lights being off, the heat from the staged lighting is swelteringly, appallingly hot. The players are asked about sportsmanship, student-athlete success, the importance of football in their lives and their aspirations. Hudspeth gets a similar line of questioning, albeit on a different line of thought.
1:20 PM | Tennessee Room, Embassy Suites Nashville Airport
The final run of today's race: the one-on-one sit down interviews with various media outlets.
This 40-minute sojourn features journalists from all walks of life, from students in Barry Gresham's Sports Interviewing classes at Austin Peay to Russell Vannozzi, who hustles for various outlets, to Robinson, the grizzled veteran of the room.
Rather than wearing down from four hours of near-ceaseless questions, the players are hitting their stride. This is where Media Day hits a good spot; the players are now relaxed and the coaches have now workshopped their quotes to the point of refinement. Williams is relaxed in shades; Bryant and Vannozzi spend a lot of time discussing the journey his career has taken. Hudspeth welcomes all comers, no matter the question.
Not necessarily covered, but worth celebrating nonetheless: Congrats, JO and Maeve.
2:00 PM | Lobby, Embassy Suites Nashville Airport
Our day has ended.
Hudspeth, Bryant, Williams and Bland are headed over to the 104.5 the Zone studio at Music Circle East to spend the afternoon on 3HL. Your on-the-ground correspondents for LetsGoPeay.com are putting the finishing touches to work, finishing graphics, fleshing out quotes and putting together photo galleries. It's been a pleasure to bring you today's coverage. For me, at least. Intern Crigger had an eye-opening experience, I suspect.
The coaches, players, admins and reporters have had their day, this day, to get the message out and drum up the goodwill. But now, the real work begins. The season-opener for the Govs is just 38 days away.
