Football can change your life.

I’ve shared this story a few times but it’s worth repeating. Years ago, I was in Northern California visiting San Jose State and Stanford. I was expected to fly home after practice on a Wednesday but was convinced by both Brent Brennan and Mike Bloomgren to stay in NorCal for one more night. 

I obliged and had a blast.

The next day I walked onto a Delta flight and met the love of my life, my now-wife Amy.

I often think about that and am reminded how falling in love with football at age 14, walking on to Pitt in college, moving to Los Angeles to coach at USC and persuading the Pac-12 Network to hire me in 2012 literally led me to my heartmate, Amy, who has changed my life.

In a unique way, the same can be said of Khalil Tate.

He was a special athlete in Los Angeles growing up. He had a powerful work ethic, a supportive family and a bright future. From the outside, it seemed like everything came natural to him. I vividly recall him at the Elite 11 QB camp, as he would take a snap at quarterback, then move to wideout, then transition to safety. It was effortless.

When he arrived in Tucson, things stopped coming that easy to him. He had to work, and work he did, as Khalil Tate poured into his craft. The reward did not come quickly, but when it did, it came like a tidal wave.

It was a perfect night in October of 2017 and football also changed his life.

The setting was sparkling Boulder, Colorado and he went off, running for 327 yards, an FBS record for a quarterback and I had a front row seat. Current Los Angeles Rams broadcaster and close friend J.B. Long and I called that game and to this day, it is one of the most memorable games either of us have ever broadcasted.

Few players have games like that, but even less have follow-up performances. For the next month Khalil was the face of college football. He broke records, won games and cleaned up awards. Yes, football changed his life.

The next few years were promising in Tucson but did not meet that pinnacle of the fall of 2017, but it did shape him in a powerful way.

In our conversation brought to you by our founding partner 76, he joined the Y-Option podcast and examined how the game he loved changed his life, what life could have been like for him in the NIL world and opened up like never before about the tweet he famously deleted.

In my life, I’m so grateful to meet young men like Khalil Tate when they are 17 years old, be around their meteoric rise in college football and also continue a relationship beyond the game. While Khalil Tate’s football career may not yet be done, our conversation is a reminder that what is often under the helmet is even more unique than what we get to witness on the field.

I hope you take a listen, learn from Mr. October and discover something new about one of the greats in Arizona football history.

This episode is executive produced by Jim Thornby with cinematography & editing by Blue Ox Films.

This podcast is a Best Coast Media production.

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