Photo by Stewart Wade
Texas A&M Football
“I appreciate that (on getting into radio), coming from someone who has been in the business for a while. I have been on with DA (Damon Amendolara), I did a show with him back on ’04 and ’05. DA reminds me of Cody (Stoots), just up and coming but you could tell that he was going to be great at what he did. Like you said, he is a pro, a pro’s pro, he has the sound, he prepares well, and he knows his sports. He is also just an entertaining guy, on and off of the air. I have hung out with him away from radio and this guy is just amazing to be around just as a person. I think Cody has a lot of those same attributes. As far as myself being good in this business, I think I am just going to bring a perspective of a person that has just seen it all. The experiences that I have been fortunate and blessed to have, along with my personality, I kind of have a loose tongue and a loose mouth, I just say what I think and feel. You couple that with the experiences that I have, I think it is a great lane for me to be in. A great post-NFL career lane for me to dive into.”
“Getting into the lab, I was getting into the lab because I wanted to coach and train guys. I wanted to stay within sports, but what happened was, I got to New York, and it just is not a football area, it just isn’t. So, those plans got altered, I have always wanted to remain close to the game, I love sports and I have a great passion for all sports, not just football. When I said ‘getting in the lab’, I was basically trying to find my lane, find where I could plant seeds and find a way that I could help these young guys coming up. Whether it be coaching, whether it be training, whatever it may be, but I knew that I wanted to find a way that I could enjoy helping others and helping these young athletes come up. I had a couple of opportunities, I trained some guys and I have stayed active throughout the nation in regards to staying involved in sports. I still work closely with the Chiefs, I still do a lot of things with them, but all in all I just found that the New York-East Coast area is not a big mecca for football. This opportunity presented itself and I had to jump on the opportunity and bring my family and bring myself back.”
“The radio show being from 10 am-2 pm will be great; it allows me to still do other things. I am going to look to do more things along the lines of training guys and being a mentor to young athletes in general. I am just going to look for other ways to stay involved in sports, so I think it will be a lot easier being back in Texas, my hometown, my home state. I’m sure there will be other opportunities but I am pretty sure I will be going down the lane of basically training athletes. Training athletes gives you the opportunity to mentor as well as train the body. You can train the body and train the mind and still be involved and I think that is a really good lane. Look for me to put some things intact moving forward into the future, as well as in radio obviously.”
“My daughter was born September 3rd. She will be 1 year old really soon. It has been a joy watching her grow. Watching her personality, it is amazing to watch children grow. I have a son, but I wasn’t privy to being around for the day-to-day activities and day-to-day growth and nuances of child growth and development. Having my daughter with the woman that I love and to be able to watch the day-to-day ins-and-outs of child development, I have to tell you it is one of the most amazing things that I have ever witnessed.”
“I haven’t spoken with any of the A&M players that I worked with, but I have definitely kept my eye out on the program, with the likes of Speedy Noil and Ricky Seals-Jones and those guys. Just watching those guys grow and see where they are in their careers, to see if they would grow and develop, and what type of athletes that they have turned out to be for the program or what type of pro chances they would give themselves. I must admit I have been really disappointed with the progress of the program. When I was there, looking at the facilities, looking at the talent that was on the field, I just thought that Texas A&M was ready to take the next step. So to see where the program is being a middle of the pack program, I just don’t think that is acceptable. I’m not pointing any fingers, but during my time there I thought the program was ready to join the likes of the Alabama’s and the Auburn’s and teams like that. So hopefully A&M can get it together and turn it around this year. It will be tough.”
“Being all about team and all about winning is big, but one of the problems that I think Trevor Knight is going to find is that anytime you are coming into a new situation there are going to be a lot of new parts, new coaches and things of that sort. It is just difficult, you spend a lot of time learning each other and building a rapport. So as important as it is to have talent, it is just as important to have camaraderie, rapport, and cohesiveness. Bringing in a new offensive coordinator, bringing in new players, he is coming to College Station, Knight wont even be here for a year. All of these new things tend to have an effect on your play on the field. So yes, you are right, I think this kid has a great talent, but now he has to come in and learn a new language, a new offense, new players, and new receivers. So, can you do that in one offseason? I’m not sure, but it will be remarkable if he can.
During my experiences, anytime you changed offensive coordinators and changed systems, change environments, all of these things take time to grow. We will just have to see where this goes. I honestly am a big A&M guy obviously, I root for my guys, but I am also a realist, too. I just don’t see it. I don’t only see it only because of those points I just mentioned, I think it is going to be tough to bring in all of these different parts and get it all on the same page in less than a year. I think it will be tough.”
“I think A&M better lean on our defensive guys. Guys like Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall. I think we need to get back to the old school A&M football, back in the Wrecking Crew days where we had a good, solid, strong defense, and a good solid running game and we didn’t put so much on our quarterback. I think we have gotten away from that being in the Big 12 for so long. If we come up with a solid running game, take the pressure off of the passing game, and rely on our defense, which I think is our strong suit this year, we give our self a chance. If we try to come out and throw the ball 50 times, make Trevor Knight a ‘Johnny Manziel’ type of guy right off of the bat, I think it could be doom for A&M.”
“’In the Loop’ starts today, it is my first day. We are on Monday through Fridays from 10 am to 2 pm. I am sitting outside now, I’m about to go in and prepare for my first day. I feel like a rookie all over again, or like my first day of practice at A&M. Gig ‘em, Ags.”
Dante Hall details new radio gig, shares thoughts on Texas A&M in 2016
May 31, 2016
6,235
Key quotes from Dante Hall interview
“I am going to get my ‘Gabe Bock’ on. I am jumping into the radio world. It’s a natural fit for me. I love talking sports and the opportunity presented itself and I’m excited about it. The opportunity is with Sports Radio 610 in Houston, CBS Sports Radio. I will be a co-host along with John Lopez and Cody Stoots co-hosting ‘In the Loop’. ‘In the Loop’ was a 6 am-10 am program but now it is a mid-day program. That opportunity came about and I am just excited about it. John Lopez has been in the business for over 25 years, so to be able to partner and team up with a guy like him, to get pointers and learn from him as I go along on this venture, it is just a great opportunity. The other co-host, Cody Stoots, I had a chance to meet and talk with him over the past few weeks. I think he is going to be a great, great star in this business. He has impressed me at such a young age, I think he is well on his way to being a great one.”“I appreciate that (on getting into radio), coming from someone who has been in the business for a while. I have been on with DA (Damon Amendolara), I did a show with him back on ’04 and ’05. DA reminds me of Cody (Stoots), just up and coming but you could tell that he was going to be great at what he did. Like you said, he is a pro, a pro’s pro, he has the sound, he prepares well, and he knows his sports. He is also just an entertaining guy, on and off of the air. I have hung out with him away from radio and this guy is just amazing to be around just as a person. I think Cody has a lot of those same attributes. As far as myself being good in this business, I think I am just going to bring a perspective of a person that has just seen it all. The experiences that I have been fortunate and blessed to have, along with my personality, I kind of have a loose tongue and a loose mouth, I just say what I think and feel. You couple that with the experiences that I have, I think it is a great lane for me to be in. A great post-NFL career lane for me to dive into.”
“Getting into the lab, I was getting into the lab because I wanted to coach and train guys. I wanted to stay within sports, but what happened was, I got to New York, and it just is not a football area, it just isn’t. So, those plans got altered, I have always wanted to remain close to the game, I love sports and I have a great passion for all sports, not just football. When I said ‘getting in the lab’, I was basically trying to find my lane, find where I could plant seeds and find a way that I could help these young guys coming up. Whether it be coaching, whether it be training, whatever it may be, but I knew that I wanted to find a way that I could enjoy helping others and helping these young athletes come up. I had a couple of opportunities, I trained some guys and I have stayed active throughout the nation in regards to staying involved in sports. I still work closely with the Chiefs, I still do a lot of things with them, but all in all I just found that the New York-East Coast area is not a big mecca for football. This opportunity presented itself and I had to jump on the opportunity and bring my family and bring myself back.”
“The radio show being from 10 am-2 pm will be great; it allows me to still do other things. I am going to look to do more things along the lines of training guys and being a mentor to young athletes in general. I am just going to look for other ways to stay involved in sports, so I think it will be a lot easier being back in Texas, my hometown, my home state. I’m sure there will be other opportunities but I am pretty sure I will be going down the lane of basically training athletes. Training athletes gives you the opportunity to mentor as well as train the body. You can train the body and train the mind and still be involved and I think that is a really good lane. Look for me to put some things intact moving forward into the future, as well as in radio obviously.”
“My daughter was born September 3rd. She will be 1 year old really soon. It has been a joy watching her grow. Watching her personality, it is amazing to watch children grow. I have a son, but I wasn’t privy to being around for the day-to-day activities and day-to-day growth and nuances of child growth and development. Having my daughter with the woman that I love and to be able to watch the day-to-day ins-and-outs of child development, I have to tell you it is one of the most amazing things that I have ever witnessed.”
“I haven’t spoken with any of the A&M players that I worked with, but I have definitely kept my eye out on the program, with the likes of Speedy Noil and Ricky Seals-Jones and those guys. Just watching those guys grow and see where they are in their careers, to see if they would grow and develop, and what type of athletes that they have turned out to be for the program or what type of pro chances they would give themselves. I must admit I have been really disappointed with the progress of the program. When I was there, looking at the facilities, looking at the talent that was on the field, I just thought that Texas A&M was ready to take the next step. So to see where the program is being a middle of the pack program, I just don’t think that is acceptable. I’m not pointing any fingers, but during my time there I thought the program was ready to join the likes of the Alabama’s and the Auburn’s and teams like that. So hopefully A&M can get it together and turn it around this year. It will be tough.”
“Being all about team and all about winning is big, but one of the problems that I think Trevor Knight is going to find is that anytime you are coming into a new situation there are going to be a lot of new parts, new coaches and things of that sort. It is just difficult, you spend a lot of time learning each other and building a rapport. So as important as it is to have talent, it is just as important to have camaraderie, rapport, and cohesiveness. Bringing in a new offensive coordinator, bringing in new players, he is coming to College Station, Knight wont even be here for a year. All of these new things tend to have an effect on your play on the field. So yes, you are right, I think this kid has a great talent, but now he has to come in and learn a new language, a new offense, new players, and new receivers. So, can you do that in one offseason? I’m not sure, but it will be remarkable if he can.
During my experiences, anytime you changed offensive coordinators and changed systems, change environments, all of these things take time to grow. We will just have to see where this goes. I honestly am a big A&M guy obviously, I root for my guys, but I am also a realist, too. I just don’t see it. I don’t only see it only because of those points I just mentioned, I think it is going to be tough to bring in all of these different parts and get it all on the same page in less than a year. I think it will be tough.”
“I think A&M better lean on our defensive guys. Guys like Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall. I think we need to get back to the old school A&M football, back in the Wrecking Crew days where we had a good, solid, strong defense, and a good solid running game and we didn’t put so much on our quarterback. I think we have gotten away from that being in the Big 12 for so long. If we come up with a solid running game, take the pressure off of the passing game, and rely on our defense, which I think is our strong suit this year, we give our self a chance. If we try to come out and throw the ball 50 times, make Trevor Knight a ‘Johnny Manziel’ type of guy right off of the bat, I think it could be doom for A&M.”
“’In the Loop’ starts today, it is my first day. We are on Monday through Fridays from 10 am to 2 pm. I am sitting outside now, I’m about to go in and prepare for my first day. I feel like a rookie all over again, or like my first day of practice at A&M. Gig ‘em, Ags.”
Never miss the latest news from TexAgs!
Join our free email list