S7 | E2 | Texas Tiger Podcast | Football Preseason | Scott Brock - Defense | Aug. 18, 2026

ETBU Director of Broadcasting Jacob Bumpas sits down with ETBU Defensive Coordinator Scott Brock talking his new staff and players for the upcoming season. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

A brand new era for Scat Brock and the Tiger Defense. I'm the Pump, Jacob Pumpus, and you're listening to the Texas Tiger Podcast on the ETV Plus Network. Defensive coordinator Scott Brock in his third year with the Tigers is eager to see this fresh new Tigers defense come to life this season, headlined with the complete brand new staff and only four returning seniors.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Well, first of all, I've got a new staff, completely new staff on defense, excited about these guys. Got uh Coach Keyshawn Kelly on the back end who is coming in and has added a lot to the intensity of the room and getting them going with the defensive backs. And then we got Coach James Wright, who played here at one time as a defensive lineman, and now he's coaching the defensive line, and he's extremely excited about everything that's going on. So these guys bring a lot of energy to the defense, excited about working with them and just kind of holding back on the reins right now before letting them go. You know, right now, probably probably the thing that really shocks me is we only have four seniors coming back. And but at the same time, we've got some young guys that are stepping up, and like I told them at the very beginning, the first meeting, last year we started two freshmen at inside linebacker, and one of those guys has has moved on to an FCS school in Louisiana, and the other one is going to Texas AM to major in construction management. So those are wide open as of right now. So looking forward to some great competition there. Some young, very young defensive linemen that are working and working out hard and in the secondary, some young guys too that are coming in to uh compete for a starting job.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Coach says that age really isn't a factor when it comes down to who will be starting for them come fall time, and everybody will have a competitive chance to prove themselves on the practice field.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Listen, I'm about putting the best player on the football field no matter how old they are. I can remember many years ago that I was coaching and I told him I said, I don't care if you are 12 years old, you will start. And sure enough, I had a quarterback that was 12 years old that started and he ended up being cornerback for the Indianapolis Colts. So if you've got talent, it doesn't really matter what uh year in school you are. We're gonna try to play the best and get these guys going in the right direction and having some fun with them.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Coach Bronk has coached at pretty much every level when it comes to football, but says you won't find a better group of passionate athletes that love the game as much as these division three football players.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

I always wanted to coach at a division three school, guys with academics and really didn't care about money and NIL deals and all that, and found out real quick that these guys are just like anybody else. It's unbelievable because the majority of them, one of the one of the stats that I put up every year is I do a breakdown of the NFL draft, and I think it was 99.7% of those guys that got drafted this past year were Division I football players. And I'm telling them, I said, hey, I'm not telling you that you're not going to go to the NFL, but I'm telling you right now, you need to get a degree. And they know that. And a lot of them do have that passion that they want to continue to play until they cannot play anymore. And so out of the 254 in the NFL drafted, I think only two came from an FCS school. So, you know, it's it's just not D3, it's the the the rest of the divisions as well. But D three is special because we do have some really good guys, character guys on this football team.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Coach says that the facilities in the campus here at ETBU has really been a huge selling point to get recruits throughout the years.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

I think Dr. Blackburn and Ryan Irwin have done a great job in trying to upgrade all the facilities and even if it's just a fresh coat of paint. Like I know I walked into the gym and they're painting and fixing up offices and doing some other things, but this campus is really a hidden gym. A lot of people that even grow up here in Marshall have never been, and when they come, they go, wow, I never knew this was here. So they've done a they've done an excellent job of making sure that the campus looks great, and uh I'm appreciative of that.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

With the look of the ASC conference changing once again, and new competition added to the Minx, Coach Bronck has made the point to make sure his guys focus on the here and now, improving on the little things, going over the fundamentals, making the little plays in practice that will eventually win them games down the line, come conference play.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

You know, last year there were 241 teams in Division III football, and we finished, I believe, 24th in sacks. And the big reason was Dominic Williams. They had several of those, but we were really proud of that. But we also finished like 27th in the nation in in takeaways. So we're just going to continue to build on the fundamentals and get right. But I think I think that's something that we take a lot of pride in is working those things and having some success at doing that. You know, I know we have line opening up. It may be Bellhaven second. I don't know. I just I don't get ahead. Right now, it's concentrating on fall camp and making sure we finish strong. And the thing is, is we only have like seven days before we have our first scrimmage against Texas College. So I'm not even thinking about that. I'm just thinking about trying to find guys right now who are doing well, what we want to ask them to do. We have four seniors, and my starting linebacker today that was one of those seniors that separated his shoulder. So, you know, next man up, and it's probably gonna be a young guy. Probably gonna be the possibility of another freshman stepping into his place.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

The legendary Scott Brock, the defensive coordinator of the ETB Tigers. I'm the bump Jacob Bumpus, and you've been listening to the Texas Tiger Podcast on the ETB Plus Network.