Welcome to episode number seven of the Dan Time podcast.
Hey, I'm your host, Dan McCardell.
Hey, thanks for checking out the show.
Whether this is your first listen or you've been here all along.
I appreciate you making Dan Time a part of your podcast rotation.
So how'd your team do last weekend?
Are you, who you pulling for?
Are you playing fantasy football?
Are you three and oh, or maybe like me, you're oh and three.
Look, it's an exciting time of the year for sports fans, whether you're
celebrating, you're on the edge of your seat, or you're pulling your hair
out and you're wondering what is going on.
I brought on today's guests with football season in mind, ladies and
gentlemen, Vic Penn joins Dan Time today and he's got a Dan story to tell.
Vic played opposite Peyton Manning, opposite Drew Brees.
He was a redshirt freshman quarterback at the University of South
Carolina during the 1997 season.
He then transferred to junior college and to the university of central
Florida, where he would set passing records and cement his legacy.
This is a guy who knows what it's like to compete head to head with the best of the best.
He has thrived in hostile environments.
He's been the guy who was too small yet still figured out how to study
defenses and keep his teams in games until time expired.
He's a student of the game and Vic knows what it's like on the field and in life
to get back up when you get knocked down, as is the case in life.
Things didn't always go perfectly for Vic.
You'll hear in this conversation.
He's still a guy who knows how to put it all in perspective and he knows what it's
all about, it's about relationships.
Today, Vic is thankful for the various stops that he made, whether he wanted
to be there or not, because now he's got a rich network of friends.
In the 1999 season, Vic Penn was among the best quarterbacks
in all of division one football.
Vic finished sixth in the nation in total plays in 1999 and 10th in past attempts.
Vic and I became friends about 11 years ago.
When I met him, he had the presence of a guy who had been places and faced challenges.
Well, I'm excited to bring this conversation to you today.
So sit back, buckle up, enjoy the ride.
If you remember these days, take a trip down memory lane.
And it is my pleasure to bring to you guys Vic Penn.
Vic, how is it going, man?
I am, I'm so glad to have you here.
I understand that you've got a very unique dance crew.
I'm going to tell you a very unique Dan story to tell.
Absolutely.
Dan, thanks for having me on the show.
It's a pleasure and I'm honored.
My Dan Marino story is I grew up in Miami, Florida.
And of course I was a quarterback and I did play quarterback till high school,
but I grew up watching Dan Marino play for the dolphins and I emulated him outside
when I'm playing with the kids in the street of Miami.
And Dan Marino was always known for having a quick release.
And when I copied his style of play, I too ended up being known for having a quick release.
And I really didn't know why I had a quick release or why Dan had a quick release.
It was not until my little brother was at a karate lesson where I kind of put two and two together.
And the karate instructor came up to me and he said,
look, the karate punch is thrown from the shoulder.
And in order to throw the karate punch from the shoulder, you have to, as a right hand punch,
you have to step to the left and throw the punch from the shoulder.
Because if you step towards your opponent or towards your receiver, if you're playing quarterback,
you can't really throw it from your shoulder and step forward.
So the quarterback quick release was a step to the left.
And if you watch Marino highlights, you'll see him.
He doesn't step towards the receiver.
He steps to his left, rotates his hips and throws the ball from his shoulder just about nine out of ten times.
And that's how the quick release is very similar to the karate punch.
When I played high school football in Miami at Miami Senior High,
it was time for me to be recruited by the colleges.
And my dad and I had to separate ourselves from every regular highlight tape.
So we made a highlight tape called the quick release.
And in that highlight tape, I compared myself to Marino and showed some Marino highlights
and then showed some of my highlights that were the step to the left and throw from the shoulder,
which is how you develop the quick release.
But you can't step towards the receiver and towards front and throw from the shoulder.
You have to come over top like a traditional quarterback would come over the top as he's stepping towards the receiver.
So it was the karate karate punch motion.
It's the step to the left and the throw from the shoulder, which how the quick release was really demonstrated to me.
And we sent that video to every Division 1 college in the United States of America.
And thankfully, I received a few scholarship offers before selecting to accept the take the scholarship from University of South Carolina Gamecocks.
And that's how I got my my scholarship to Division 1 football is through comparing myself to Dan Marino.
What a great story. Did you did you get a chance to see Marino play live? Did you go to any ball games as a?
I went to just about every home game when the Dolphins were playing.
My dad was childhood friend with Stuart Weinstein, who was head of security for the Dolphins.
I think he still is head of security for the Dolphins.
But back in the Shula years and the Marino years, he always had tickets for us.
We sat in the club seating. So I saw Dan play many, many, many, many, many times.
And he was definitely my favorite player. Sorry, he never won a Super Bowl, but he didn't really always have the team around him.
But he threw he threw the ball like nobody I've ever seen to this day.
Well, he's obviously one of my favorite quarterbacks.
And, you know, some of those seasons, even late in his career, he was so competitive, but his defense didn't always hold leads for him.
And some other things out of his control, but still an all time legend. Absolutely.
You never had a running game either. Right.
Now, growing up, I heard that you played a lot of baseball through all your childhood years, early teenage years.
It really wasn't until you hit high school that you tried out for organized football. And that was the first time that you played.
That's true. My dad wouldn't let me play organized football until I got to high school.
So I primarily played baseball. And I recommend this to the quarterbacks.
If I train them these days, I always recommend at a young age that they played the position of catcher because a catcher one will toughen you up.
And because it's a tough position and you're involved every play.
If you're planning on playing quarterback, I always recommend a year or two of catcher.
Now, I primarily played shortstop, but I did spend a couple of years playing catcher.
And catcher has that similar quick release style. When the runner's stealing second, that catcher has to pop up and throw from his shoulder.
And the only way he can do that, if you watch him, is the karate motion. It's the step to the left and it's the throw the runner out at second.
So I did play baseball my entire childhood, primarily with shortstop.
But I did pitch a little and I played catcher a little. And I think that toughened me up to play quarterback, the catcher position.
And I'm thankful I did that. But I didn't play organized football until high school. My dad wouldn't let me.
And there were other kids that were playing. And a lot of them got hurt. A lot of them tore their knees at young ages.
Some of them broke their bones and were injured severely at a young age.
So I'm very thankful that he held me out of football until high school.
And it wasn't until high school where I finally played the quarterback position in a league, in an organized setting.
And I mean, Miami-Dade County, this is not just any district. This is a hotbed of talent.
I think your dad had some legitimate concerns about you playing.
But you got right into the Lions' Den and probably some great exposure looking ahead to your college career and some offers that you would receive.
Your high school experience. I mean, I know a lot of players remember exact plays and the whole narrative of entire games.
Do all your high school games still stand out to you really vividly?
Some of them do. I played, I went to the local high school at first, Southwest Miami High.
And I played JV as a freshman and then I started varsity as a sophomore and played the whole season there.
And we got our butts whipped. I think we won one game.
And it was watching and reading the newspaper and seeing the news every Saturday or Friday night.
Miami High had a quarterback by the name of Wilkie Perez and he was getting all the hype.
And I said, I need to get on that guy's level.
So after my and he ended up signing a scholarship to the West Virginia University, I was still coming out of 10th grade, about to be into the 11th grade.
So middle 10th grade before spring practice, I transferred over to Miami High to play football, which was a scary, scary process.
Because I didn't have my childhood friends there any longer. It was primarily Hispanic and African American.
I think I was the only white guy, if you will, in that school.
And I changed my mind a couple of different times and I ended up saying to my dad, no, I got to go.
And this was before the transfer transfer portal.
So we had to rent an apartment in Miami High's address so that I could have a legal address to use to be able to make the transfer.
So the great dad that my dad was, he actually went out and got an apartment there in Miami Heights district and we were able to use that address.
Of course, the other school hated it because I had to play them twice the next two years.
But before spring practice of my 10th grade year, I transferred to Miami High, made a lot of great friends, played the spring game there in spring practice at Miami High, and then played two more years out at Miami High.
And my senior year, we went 10 and 0. We were number one ranked in the state and number 11, excuse me, number nine in the nation by USA Today.
And we were blowing everybody out, and we lost to Miami Killian, who had the number one rated defense in the state of Florida at the time and the first round of the playoffs.
We had Cedric Irvin, our running back, who ended up playing for Michigan State and the Detroit Lions.
And we drove the length of the field under two minutes and our final possession, we were down by six, excuse me, we were down by five, a touchdown would have won the game without the extra point.
We drove to their one yard line under two minutes in our two minute drill, and they stopped Ced four times in a row from the one yard line.
Killian's D had a goal line stand, stopped us four times in a row, and that is one of the toughest losses I've ever experienced as an athlete, period, because we drove the length of the field under two minutes.
We were prime set and ready to take the win, we gave it to Ced four times, and they had a tremendous goal line stand, they stopped us four plays in a row from the one we lost, and the rest is history.
But that game stands out, I'll never forget it. I still have the VHS tape, I watched it from time to time, hoping Ced would get in there at one time, but he just falls just a hair short.
And Ced went on to play for Michigan State, became one of their all-time leading running backs and then played for the Detroit Lions.
He went on to coach with Nick Saban, because Saban was the coach of Michigan State then, at Alabama, he was a key coach in their undefeated years, he was a running backs coach.
So that Miami Killian game, the first round of the playoffs, four stops from the one, something I'll never forget.
Do you think that some of those tough losses, almost inexplicable losses sometimes, where you just replay it over and over, do you think that at a young age that was, you were being primed to deal with situations when you're playing in the SEC, for an SEC school and then later for an independent, and almost pulling off an upset and not quite getting there, but do you think those early experiences helped you handle some of the games that you just couldn't?
No, it never got any easier.
It never got any easier.
I had some tough losses in college, Georgia Tech, Georgia Auburn, where we were neck and neck to the final minute, final seconds, some of those games and they're all tough, but I wouldn't change a thing, you know, everything happens for a reason.
And you look back and sure you would have liked to won some of those games, but even though they were close losses, it still has an impact and you know football in general, you know, has a way to develop discipline and character and integrity and things like that.
So I'm thankful for the way it turned out.
Now, I really wanted to play for Florida State coming out of high school.
I could have used those extra three or four games in the playoffs to maybe solidify that scholarship for Florida State because they were hot on me, but we lost first round. I ended up going to South Carolina, but I had some great coaching there.
John Reeves was my quarterback coach and Coach Reeves held the NCAA passing yardage record as a Florida Gator quarterback in the early 70s.
For some 30 years before Danny Werfel, another Gator, ended up beating him and I had tremendous coaching from Coach Reeves there as my quarterback coach and then when I went to UCF, I ended up having Mike Krusak, former Pittsburgh Steeler, Terry Bradshaw's backup as my quarterback coach for two years and head coach at UCF.
So between the two, I really got some phenomenal coaching at the quarterback position and as I watch quarterbacks today, sometimes I just think, man, these guys just don't know what they're doing at times because it wasn't really until Coach Krusak and Coach Reeves where I really learned the game of quarterback and how to look at a defense and kind of eliminate receivers based on what they were going to do.
And then the post snap of the football, I was able to see and by game film watching, I was able to know what defense they were going to be in by a couple key indicators that would give it away every time.
They could look like they were in cover two, but number 42 on the defense would give it away when he was a half a yard to the right or a half a yard to the left and then they were going to drop into a cover three.
So they were showing one defense, I was able to get out audible, change the play at the line of scrimmage into a play that would successfully have a chance to beat the defense they were going to drop into.
So I learned the quarterback position in a whole different light from these guys. And for that I'm very thankful that it ended up the way that it ended up because I really learned the quarterback position very well.
Now at South Carolina, when you sign with the Gamecocks, you're not sure when you're going to be the starting quarterback at first year. Are you third on the depth chart?
Right. I was redshirted my freshman year, but I was still traveled with the teams as a third string quarterback. Would be able to play in an emergency, but I redshirted my first year as a freshman.
So Peyton Manning's final season, final home game. Yeah, you're the backup. Just take me through. Let's just say that morning you wake it up in the team hotel.
You're, I guess you always prepare as if you're going to come into the game. But what's it like when you're in Knoxville?
And you guys, you know that you're about to be, whether on the field or on the sideline, there's gonna be 100 plus thousand people there.
Right. Are you ready to be the starter or are you just, you know, yes, yes, yes and no. And let me tell you why.
It was Peyton Manning's final home game at the time they had a record crowd of 110,000 people.
And my job as the backup was to signal the plays into our starter Anthony Wright.
And I was very involved in the game as the, as it's getting the plays down from our offensive coordinator to the headphones and then signaling them in to Anthony.
But there was no way I was going to play in this game. Anthony was a phenomenal athlete, phenomenal player.
I think he played 11 years in the NFL after that. Made some starts for the Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens.
But I didn't have my ankles taped because I was going to get them taped at halftime because I knew the only time I was going to play was either if we were blowing them out or more likely it was Peyton Manning then blowing us out.
And I had only played in mop-up duty up until that point. I was a redshirt freshman. And so I'm standing there was pouring rain too.
It was another element that I had to deal with because it was just a rainy day Peyton's final home game.
And the end of the first, the very beginning of the second quarter, Anthony tears about every ligament in his knee and is out for the season.
So I had to go in without my ankles taped and it's not a, I mean it wasn't a big deal, but you asked the question if I was prepared.
I was prepared mentally and ready, but I remember not having my ankles taped in because I just wasn't going to play until the fourth quarter.
So I went out there the first half, played the second quarter. They ended up beating us 22 to 7, but I was able to throw a touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone.
But that was my first touchdown pass happened to come against Peyton Manning's final home game, which is something that I'll always remember in Knoxville in New England Stadium.
And I did get my ankles taped at halftime.
And you know, it's not some small footnote that you avoided the shutout. I mean that score could have been 22-0 in the Annals of History.
And then you turn around and start against, is it Florida next?
It was the defending national champion, Florida Gators, because they had won it in 96.
And now Tennessee, Tennessee goes on to win the SEC title that year and then the next year I think they won the national championship.
That's correct. When T. Martin came in after Peyton and then they won it the following year, my first ever start was back home at Williams-Brice Stadium in South Carolina against the defending national champion, Spurrier-led Florida Gators.
And that was a close one to the fourth quarter. It was 14 to 14. I had thrown a touchdown pass and I was having a pretty darn good game.
And it was 14 to 14, the start of the fourth. They ended up beating us I think 42 to 21 because Fred Taylor, their running back, ran for 200 plus yards in the fourth quarter alone.
And I ended up throwing a second touchdown pass in the fourth, but we lost I think 42 to 21 or something like that.
And it was a great game, great experience. Took a lot of hits in both games.
You know playing against those two powerhouse SEC schools as a redshirt freshman was something I'll never forget.
A lot of fun. But I got beat up and bruised pretty badly, but I was a little guy. I mean I was only 6'1", 175 at the time, which is tremendously small for a quarterback of the SEC.
But I then went on to play against Clemson after that and they beat us also.
But it was a good game. Made a lot of great plays. Had some unfortunate turnovers that cost us.
But at the conclusion of that season I was named the 1997 All-SEC Freshman Quarterback of the Year, which at the time I really didn't think too much of.
But looking back on it, it was an honor that not a lot of players, not a lot of quarterbacks are able to obtain.
And I look back and I'm very thankful for it and the way that it turned out.
It was a great experience in South Carolina. Love the Gamecocks to death of this day.
Their fan base is tremendous. I mean they sold out every game years in advance.
That Clemson South Carolina game was rivalry week. It's a great rivalry and it's on TV ESPN.
Usually every night game and great game. You can still find it on YouTube and memories that I'll always remember.
Oh and I also want to go back. This is kind of an interesting statistic from the Tennessee game.
Now Peyton, probably the second half, wasn't throwing the ball a lot compared to the first half.
But you actually had more completions than Peyton Manning in that game.
Yeah, I remember there was an article in the Atlanta paper that my aunt sent me because they were living in Atlanta at the time that said something like,
it wasn't Peyton Manning, it wasn't Anthony Wright, it was Vic Penn who stole the show or something of that nature.
Yeah, you had more completions and a better completion percentage.
Well, that I didn't know. I appreciate you telling me that. But again, it was raining. It was raining. He did play the whole game because it was close.
It was like 16 to 0 and then I think they kicked two more field goals, made it 22 later in the game.
But it was a tight game. I think most of the game it was 9 to nothing Tennessee.
And then I threw the touchdown in the fourth quarter, made it 22 to 7. I went 9 for 16, 110 yards. I think it was accurate.
I went 9 for 16, 110 yards. They didn't let me throw as often as I would have liked. Again, it was raining.
I was new. I was just a redshirt freshman. I had just some mop up experience.
I had won the spring game the year before, South Carolina spring game against Anthony.
When they split up the teams, they have our spring game. And I was playing well, but they put me in a lot of third and long situations, then tried to throw.
Run the ball first, run the ball on second. Next thing I know it's third and 12 and I got to come up with a play.
And that was difficult, but it was a great experience and it toughened me up.
And again, I was named all SEC freshman quarterback, which if you remember Jesse Palmer for the Gators, he was another freshman that year that came in and played quite a bit.
So he's my claim to fame because he went on, you know, he's ESPN, the bachelor and did all these shows after that.
But Jesse Palmer was my competition for the SEC and I was able to get the award and just great memories.
Well, it's well earned. And those of you listening who are around our age and you remember Vic Penn, do yourself a favor.
Go back on YouTube, relive some of these these old SEC matchups that Vic was involved in.
If you're a young guy and you want to see a Vic, I was going to mention this, just your your footwork.
Do you think that your size at that time actually helped you scramble and evade would be tacklers?
I was always a student of the game and I was always very fast, even as a kid.
You know, when playing baseball, if I got the first base, I was on third, I was stealing second, stealing third.
I was always very fast, always paid attention to mechanics and I always knew that mechanics were going to help my accuracy.
So being small, a 6'1", 175, the first thing I would tell them is that doesn't bother me.
I have more room on the airplane flights. I would look around and I'd see all these guys and they're crammed up in their seats and they've got no room.
And I'm sitting there relaxed, you know, kicking, kicking back.
And so I so that that was a plus. But when I went to UCF, I had to, quote unquote, fill the shoes of Dante Culpepper, who was UCF's quarterback for four years.
And he had just got drafted by the Minnesota Vikings and I was the very next quarterback to take his place at UCF.
I had a stint in Garden City, Kansas, because when you transferred back then, D1 to D1, you had to sit out of here.
I don't think that's the rule anymore.
But so I went to a I went to a junior college after South Carolina and played a season in Garden City, Kansas, Junior College, the Bronckbusters.
And that was tough. That was tough playing in front of 100,000 people in the SEC on television to go out to Kansas.
Playing in front of, you know, 100 people who are all parents and in a high school field at nighttime.
Very difficult to get up for those games. We went nine and three, won our bowl game and a great experience.
I still made great friends and great coaches out there also.
And it was a tremendous experience. And I give it to Coach Jim Gush, who actually found me.
He said, you know, I was going to go transfer to another Division one school. And he said, why don't you come out here, play for a year in junior college?
You get to take your five recruiting trips, get re recruited again, just like if you're coming out of high school.
This way, you don't have to sit out a year and you get to play here.
So he contacted me and he was the only one to contact me.
And I'm still great friends with Coach Gush today.
And that's how I ended up signing a scholarship to UCF coming out of Garden City, Kansas for a year, Junior College.
I could see where you wanted to get back to a primetime high exposure.
Well, I guess they didn't call them Power Five schools at that time. But absolutely.
You know, want to get back into that environment. Yeah.
Vic, you must have seen that schedule. I don't know how many years in advance the schedules were released back then.
But Purdue, Florida, Georgia Tech, Georgia. I mean, bang, bang, bang. Did you just look at that and eyes?
That's what sold me. Yes. Wide open.
Like, I got to get it. I got to be a part of that. Well, being out in Kansas that young of an age and getting a call from UCF.
First, I wanted to come back to my neck of the woods and from Miami.
They play in Orlando and I had a lot of friends that were going to UCF at the time.
And I knew that they didn't have a quarterback that hadn't played other than Culpepper there.
And I knew that it was going to be top news of who was going to replace Culpepper at UCF.
So when they called me up, Coach Scott Fountain was the first one to call me.
And they told me Purdue, it was against Drew Brees, Florida, Georgia Tech and then Georgia.
Then we had some home games that were Louisiana Tech and good teams.
But then we had Auburn, you know, midseason and Bowling Green and some real.
I think the schedule, the first four games were rated at the time the toughest in the nation.
All four teams were ranked Purdue, Florida, Georgia Tech and Georgia.
And we lost all four, but we almost beat Georgia.
We lost 24 to 23.
But what a great experience it was.
And to be able to learn under Mike Krusak, who was Terry Bradshaw's backup as a stealer,
has two Super Bowl rings, to learn the quarterback position from him changed the way I played quarterback completely.
We didn't have the freedom to audible.
We were required to audible because he said to me, Vic, look, I can only be right a certain amount of times when I call plays.
There's going to be times where you come up to the line of scrimmage and I've called a play and they come out in the defense.
That's going to stop that play.
I need you to be able to recognize that, get out of that play and get into a play that has a chance of being successful.
So we were required to audible based on what we saw pre snap at the line of scrimmage.
And that was just a completely different way to play the game.
We were able to eliminate receiver number one, receiver number two, because the traditional way of teaching quarterbacks is to drop back, look at number one, look at number two, look at number three.
He's not there. Come down to four. Right.
And he taught us, look, eliminate one and two based off we knew they were going to be covered pre snap as they were dropping into a zone or a specific defense that was going to have number one and two covered.
And hit your fifth step and come right to number three because number three is the one that's going to be open.
So we were at Marina was like that too. Old Dan, he was able to eliminate receivers at the line of scrimmage based off what he knew the coverage was going to indicate and what they were going to drop into.
So that helped with accuracy because when you drop back and you get your fifth step and you're not worried about one and two because you know they're going to be covered and you're able to have one fluid motion, hit your step, come up and throw right to number three and one blue motion.
It was all about rhythm. Your accuracy is much better when you know what you're doing.
And I compare it to a shortstop playing baseball. The shortstop's there and he knows that there's no runners on. There's one out. The ground ball gets hit to him. He's going to field it.
Take a hop step in a jump and throw it over to first and 10 times out of 10 that ball gets hit to him. He feels it. He takes his nice hot step in the jump. He's nice rhythm, nice fluid motion, and he throws a strike right over to first base.
You never see him stop and wonder and look and move his feet to the right and then try to throw to first. It's that one fluid consecutive motion that's able to be accurate to that throw at first because he knows what he's going to do before that ball is hit.
He knows there's no outs. He knows that there's nobody on base. If a ground ball's hit to me, I'm throwing right to first. And sure enough, in the quarterbacks, it's the same way.
So when you eliminate receiver one and two, you hit your fifth step in a nice one fluid motion or able to come to number three or four because you know that one or two are going to be covered.
The mind and the smarts of the quarterback and the preparation of the quarterback helps with accuracy along with the fundamentals, if that makes sense.
Absolutely. And Krusek, he saw something in you. I read this in the Orlando Sentinel. I think it was before the start of the 99 season. Quote, Vick's already been in battle.
Speaking of your year at South Carolina, he already knows how to prepare for big opponents. So he saw something that he liked in you and probably knew that you were going to fit in well with their system.
And I think following in the footsteps of Culpepper, you probably had the benefit of not being around him and not shadowing him, but just kind of coming in and being aware of him, but not having some intimidation factor.
Right. Well, first of all, he was 6'4, 260. I was 6'1, 175.
So there was quite a big difference there, but I've met him a couple of times and spoken with him a few times. But like you said, he was drafted and on to Minnesota by the time I ended up at UCF.
So he wasn't there on campus, you know, as an intimidation factor. So you're exactly right. He was gone. I came in. I wasn't behind him at UCF for two years. I came in from another school.
So you're exactly right. But I still had to answer all the questions and everybody, even after we played Purdue, our first home game, our first game of the season against Drew Brees, the questions were, you know, were you thinking about Culpepper?
Were you, you know, Culpepper this, Culpepper that? And I remember saying, listen, Dante's gone. He's never going to be here again. Y'all need to move on.
But still an honor to have followed such a great athlete and great player. And he had a great NFL career also. Several Pro Bowls. Got to play with Randy Moss and Chris Carter there at Minnesota.
And he would always call me, you know, throughout the season and give me some words of encouragement and tell me I was playing well and doing things like that. And he was a very strong supporter.
But yeah, to answer your question, he wasn't there. I wasn't there as his backup for four years or two years. I came in from a different school. So he wasn't there on top of me when I got to UCF.
Well, that's a really nice side note, though, that he actually is still keeping up, following up with the Golden Knights and who their quarterback is. And he's reaching out to you.
I mean, I know that goes on a little bit nowadays, but you figure some guys are there off to the NFL and.
Right. Well, our starting receiver, Kenny Clark, is his first cousin. When I played to UCR, our starting receiver, the Z position was Kenny Clark.
And he was Dante's first cousin from Ocala, Vanguard and Florida. So he still had ties, but he's still a big supporter even to these days of UCF football.
He still gives back. He's still part of the Letterman's Club and things of that nature. So Dante's just a great guy. He's a tremendous athlete, tremendous size, gifts and ability.
He runs, you know, I think back then, you know, four or five, four, four, four, five, 40 at his size.
He looks like a defensive end playing the quarterback position. So they asked me how I was going to fill his shoes because he was so much bigger than me. I said, I have to let my toenails grow.
He triples me in size.
Now, I might jump around a little bit in this 1999 season, but before I forget, you set a record that year that stood for close to 25 years, I think, until Plumlee.
Yes. Broke the single game rushing record. You ran for 122 yards versus Middle Tennessee State.
Yep. That was at the time I didn't know. All right. So Coach Cruz saw a hole in their defense and he called some quarterback draws in that game. And I broke one for like 55 and I in the first quarter, second quarter.
And then the second half, I broke another one for 50 some odd yards and then had some other scrambles in there. And I totaled 122. And I remember being on the plane going home. It was at Middle Tennessee State on turf.
And Coach Cruz came back to me while I was on the plane in flight and he showed me the stat that rushed for 122 yards. And I was the first quarterback in UCF history to ever rush for over 100 yards in the game.
And I was the first quarterback to ever rush for 122 yards in the game. And I remember being on the plane in flight and he showed me the stat that rushed for over 100 yards in the game. And I remember being on the plane in flight and he showed me the stat that rushed for over 100 yards in the game.
And then the second half, I broke the record. I think you hit 176. You know, it was fun because every year, every time a quarterback got close and there were a couple that got close. 121, you know, 120, 117.
I would always get text messages from my friends. He's going to do it. He's going to do it. And they'd always fall short. This time, I'm sitting there on Saturday. I forget what I was doing.
my buddy Chris Askew who was our long snapper at UCF at the time and he said
Plumlee's got 156 in the first half. I said wow it's over. It was 20 some odd
years and it was a great record and always remember it but that son of a
gun beat me and I think he ended up with 176 and a tremendous athlete though
great runner and I think he's hurt right now he's not playing this year he played
the first couple games without hurt but the record did get beaten last season
but I did have it for 20 some odd years. And speaking of all-time records with
Central Florida and this is folks you got to remember that the 2000 season
which will get to the last six games of the year he didn't play due to injury
right but Vic you're number nine on the all-time passing list for the Golden
Knights and if you fill out that whole 2000 season if you're say you're there
98 I mean my gosh you're probably in the top five. Well I appreciate that and
you're right I only played a season and a half at UCF while the other
quarterbacks are playing three four years but because of Kruzak and because
of the coaching in that 1999 year I was able to finish 12th in the nation in
total offense and we had that schedule Purdue Florida Georgia Tech Georgia
Auburn Bowling Green Louisiana Tech Middle Tennessee State we had a pretty
good schedule and at the time like again it didn't really seem that big of a deal
but when I go back and look at the list the list that of the top 50 oh yeah like
Drew Brees number three you know I was number one in Florida beat out Doug
Johnson at Florida and Chris Winky at Florida State and then the greatest of
all time Tom Brady finished 44th that year in total
offensive Michigan so to be on the same list of those guys didn't really mean
much at the time because you're just young and not really thinking it but as
I look back and see all these great names Michael Vick on that list and a
lot of great quarterbacks Chad Pennington and Drew Brees and it's an
honor to be part of that list and be associated with some some great
quarterbacks and probably the greatest of all time and Tom Brady. Well and
another name that's on this list Doug Johnson from Florida and you competed
against him in that game in 1999 another quote Vick that I really I just loved it
when I saw this I was doing some research this is from the Orlando Sentinel I
think it might be a photo caption I wasn't intimidated by them one bit and
that's speaking of the Florida Gators or being at the swamp take me through that
day I mean do you have jitters when you're getting ready for a game like
that or are you just absolutely because I the week before we had played Purdue
and they beat me up pretty good and I remember I couldn't bend my legs until
midweek my thighs were so bruised my jaw was felt like it was up in my ear I had
a warm-up my jaw every morning just to be able to talk and then I said great
now I'm playing the Gators this week no relief I remember sitting in my locker
before the game I was well prepared and confident but the jitters were so bad
this the stomach butterflies that I just remember sitting in my locker after
warm-ups after everything and just praying like you wouldn't believe asking
God to just protect me and help me this game and I remember just praying praying
praying all the way up until I went out on the field but when I got out
there on the field in the swamp it's so electrifying and it's so loud that it's
almost like you're on some kind of a drug because your adrenaline comes up so
high and I had one of my best games of my career I think I threw 36 completions
of 55 attempts had several drops in that game but I threw for 379 and three
touchdowns we ended up losing but I had a great game and I and I attribute that
to the crowd because the crowd it sounds like it's so loud that you almost are
like a machine out there and I wasn't expecting that when the adrenaline kicked
in out there the butterflies went away and I had one of my greatest games
against those Florida Gators now do you and like the opposing quarterback whether
it's Breeze or Doug Johnson or or Peyton are you guys having a postgame
moment are you helmet to helmet saying hey man good game absolutely I was able
to shake hands with Peyton after that game and Drew Breeze was actually my
favorite because Drew Breeze came up to me and we shook hands and he said you're
a great quarterback and I said well so are you and that was it and told me I
was a great quarterback and went on to be one of you one of the all-time grades
and Purdue actually they were interested in you I think you were like you said
yes you were really looking at Florida State for a while there but Purdue did
show some interest for he came down to Miami High and watched me their coaching
staff two coaches came down and watched me practice one day and they sent me a
letter about a week later that said Vic we think you could throw the balls as
well as anybody we've seen but we think you're too small we don't think you can
take the pounding of the college football beatings that the quarterbacks
take and they didn't offer me a scholarship but they did send me a
letter they were hot on me for a while they came down and visit with me in Miami
but they told me I was too small it wasn't my height it was my weight I mean
Drew Breeze is always known as a small quarterback but he was 225 pounds and I
was 175 pounds in high school probably 169 170 I was really skinny and I ended
up signing with the Gamecocks and the rest is history I think Drew Breeze had
signed the year before me I don't think he came out the same year I did I could
be wrong but in the event that I'm wrong and they did sign Drew Breeze in lieu of
me I think they made the right decision well that is I mean something else so
that he said hey I think you're a great quarterback and I've always respected
Breeze everybody's got their favorite NFL quarterback he's never been my
favorite but I just always respect the guy just a good guy and you know when I
when I nothing against anybody else I'm not saying that I shook hands with
Peyton he said good game but when Drew Breeze looked me in the eye shook my
hand and was very respectful of me said you're a great quarterback I said so are
you and we shook hands and then true story we mingled around the field again
you know like everybody does and then we ran smack into each other again and we
shook hands a second time he said you're a great quarterback we laughed and I
said so are you and we shook hands again so we had we actually shook hands twice
after that game because we really just ran back smack into each other after the
crowd of people come on the field and everybody's kind of mingling around so
that's a great story and and always cherish that but I always pulled for
Breeze even before that I looked up to him like he said he's always been a
class act and a great quarterback and I'm very happy that his career turned out
the way it did and he ended up winning the Super Bowl because he he well well
deserved a Super Bowl because he was one of the hardest working and toughest
quarterbacks both physically and mentally that that ever played the game
absolutely Vic one thing I just want to speak about with these big-time
opponents you guys are going in you kind of have an interesting perspective as
feeling like we know we can hang with these guys we're not gonna be favored in
any of these games so we're not supposed to win but we know we can hang with them
and then you nearly pull off some upsets the Auburn game I think a lot of people
forget that you're holding a slim lead it's a pretty defensive game I guess
what was it six to three no ten to seven it was ten to seven our lead most of the
game we dominated on offense I think I threw 300 close to 400 yards in that one
we just couldn't get the ball in the end zone but we moved the ball from 20 to 20
the whole game we managed the clock we controlled the time of possession I had
another great game there Auburn's at the time away locker rooms were the worst
away locker rooms in all the schools I've ever played against it was very
tiny they had no air condition you were in a full-blown sweat your jersey was
soaking wet by the time you even went out to warm up and I'm pretty sure they
did it intentionally now they revamped everything since then but back then they
had a very very tiny locker room we got 50 some odd guys that are huge coming
into this locker room and no air condition you there's no room to move
you're up on top of each other tiny little lockers there are way locked
rooms were the worst and I think they did it intentionally which is smart in
my opinion if you're gonna take advantage of everything you can so that's
really unacceptable I mean most of these places have nice you know they're not
they're not the home locker room that's a beautiful in most schools including
South Carolina's I've never been in South Carolina's away locker room but I
can definitely say that Auburn's was the worst in the SEC for sure because it
was just pitiful we were we were winning that game 10 to 7 up until the last
couple minutes of the fourth and they scored two touchdowns or one touchdown I
forget and ended up beating us and the next year 2000 Georgia Tech same way
final two minutes were up in that game and they ended up beating us but later
that season we ended up beating Alabama on their homecoming I didn't play that
game but Ryan Schneider came in as my when I got hurt but I was still very
much involved in that game and signaling the Snyder and helping Snyder and Ryan
Schneider turned out to be one of UCF's greatest quarterbacks I'm still a good
friend of mine today he's coaching down there in Cocoa Beach high school and
he's doing a tremendous job yeah I mean having lived up here in Panhandle
Florida and with all the Alabama fans they can roll tight all they want but
I'm always able to say to the day I die that I was on the team that beat
Alabama on their homecoming so I'm always pulling for Alabama because the
better they do the better that legacy ever becomes to be able to say that we
beat Alabama on their turf at home on their homecoming is something I'll never
forget yeah I mean and you can never take that away from anybody whether it's
this Nick Saban era which very few teams non-conference teams have had those
moments but anytime you beat Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium Vic what is it like
when you get back on the bus versus the games where you almost pulled off the
upset I was gonna ask about how guys treat each other when you lost a real
close one is it quiet is anybody getting on to anybody is anybody saying hey man
you should have made that play or is it the Georgia game we lost 24 to turn to
23 which they nicknamed the burglary between the hedges all right we're at
Georgia I think they were ranked number nine at the time and I throw a touchdown
pass to my good friend who recently passed away a couple years ago fullback
Paige Sessoms and we throw the touchdown pass with five minutes left to tie it 24
to 24 but our extra point hits the upright okay so it remains 24 to 23 they
get the ball back we stop them we get the ball back with under a minute down
one point and we drive them all the way down to Georgia's 19 where we're now in
field goal range but because of the missed extra point because we weren't
sure of the kicker at the time who was young I think was a sophomore only we
call a fade in the end zone sorry we're gonna try a fade to Kenny Clark and
if we get it we get it don't throw a pick if we get it we get it if we don't
we'll come back and kick the field goal at least try the fade once because our
offense was the strong point of the game and we were rolling so I throw the fade
in the back of the end zone and we get called for offensive pass interference
now the ball ends up being out of bounds the players go up for the ball in the
end zone but outside out of bounds so it was the infraction that it that occurred
should not have been any defensive or offensive pass interference it should
have been a no-call but they called offensive pass interference on us and
backed us up 15 yards while in the next play I throw a 15 yard out to Tavarius
Davis back down to the 19 and they called us for not having enough men on
the line of scrimmage in the film clearly shows that there may be a
centimeter of the toe of the foot of the guy that they called it on but he was
clearly on the line of scrimmage but that backed us up another 10 yard put us
out of field goal range and we lost the game so that was now nicknamed entitled
that game the burglary between the hedges because in Georgia you're playing
between the hedges so that game that game was tough we weren't mad at the
kicker we were because we were all teammates we're all brothers there's a
lot of things that can happen during a game that could change the outcome in
the first quarter the second quarter if I had done that if I had done this the
kicker would have done that if the receiver wouldn't drop that if the
quarterback didn't overthrow that and there's a lot of things like that that
happened throughout a game that can change the outcome but in this
particular game is what stands in my mind because the refs they took the game
from us they called two bogus penalties and I remember when I was a game talk
coach Reeves always told me now you know we're going to play an SEC school we're
on the road we're gonna have to beat them and the refs so the SEC officiating
was always known to have a little home field advantage even when I was in the
SEC so when I was at UCF as an independent playing against an SEC
school I looked back and said sure enough those sons of guns they called
two bogus penalties at the end of the game and even in the referee the coach's
meetings later the next season when they all got together they admitted to
blowing the calls and one of them I think even admitted to our coach that
there were some home cooking going on there so that's why they called it the
burglary between the hedges which we should have won that game and upset
number number nine ranked Georgia at their home field well yeah no doubt some
of that home cooking was going on back then pre not quite pre-internet but you
know pre Twitter and and social media who knows but yeah back-to-back
tiki-taki stuff we can kind of put it together here what's going on absolutely
it is what it is there's not much you can do about it now one quote that I
think you'll appreciate this is another quote that I pulled from the Orlando
Sentinel after the game this is from Georgia coach Jim Donnan there's a lot
of teams in our league that would like to have that central Florida offense and
I would like to think he's speaking specifically about you and your key
playmakers well we had a lot of talent on that team and especially at the at
the wide receiver position but I attribute that to coach Krusak because
we had a professional offense like I mentioned earlier we were required to
audible at the line of scrimmage he taught us so well and I knew this from
our first meeting with him that this guy was gonna teach me quarterback in a way
that I had never been taught before we were required to change the play at the
line of scrimmage if he called to play and we came up there and they were in a
defense that was gonna stop that play we better check out of that immediately it
was very similar to a way that Peyton Manning played the game where you always
Omaha this and changing the play that Peyton would change that play 17 times
at the line of scrimmage because the defense was always doing different moves
and they're trying to audible up based off his audible you know so they were
trying to change the play defense based off Peyton's audible so coach Cruz
really instilled our offense and taught us how to play the game of football in a
professional way and what to look for what to know pre snap of the football so
that when the snap of the ball occurred they would drop into whatever coverage
but we knew what they were gonna drop into based off indicators that he would
pick out during the week he would say look a lot of times they show cover to
and they end up in cover to but every time that they show cover to and drop to
a man-to-man or drop to a three it's 42 that gives it away look at it every time
they they're into and they stay into he's lined up here every time they're
into and they switch to cover three he's lined up a half a yard to the right
every time they're in two and they switch to man-to-man he's lined a half
a card to the left or half a yard forward is very small things so we're
able to come up to the line of scrimmage and just look at one guy and know what
they were gonna do pre snap it was very very good at that and he started
watching the film on the plane home of the following team or right when he got
home because we didn't have tablets and iPads and those types of things and
everything was VHS back then but as soon as he got off the plane he wasn't
celebrating or he wasn't worried about the game we just played he was already
scheming for the next game so that quote by Jim Donovan is you know I appreciate
very much I attribute that to coach Gruszak preparing our offense he's a
well-respected offensive mind like you said was he a guy that if it's fourth
and a half a yard fourth and inches would he call for a sneak or did you did
he ever let you go up there and call a fullback dive or something like that he
liked to run me he knew I could run we ran the option quite a bit and he'd call
quarterback draws but yeah he called plenty quarterback sneaks in my day and
and I remember I go back now and I forget a lot of the plays during the
games I'm just amazed at some of the things that we did because we are only
division one at that time in 1999 I think four or five seasons UCF was one
double-a I think during the early Culpepper years or right when Culpepper
came is when they moved to D1 and they're not affiliated with a conference
it's an independent school did you pause at all you know when you were thinking
about when you're considering transferring to UCF that okay you know if
we win seven or eight games where we're not gonna compete for a conference
championship did that was that a no I always looked at it because I grew up a
Notre Dame family that my dad's a Notre Dame grad so I would even in Miami I
grew up die-hard Notre Dame who has always been independent so to me I was
I was in the same league as Notre Dame in my mind but not to have a conference
game and never really even crossed my mind and back then it wasn't like you
just win six games and you automatically get a bowl bid right as many bowl games
as there are now that's for sure the 2000 season you guys go seven and four
but do not get a bowl invitation that season I know you it comes with high
expectations and you know your goal is to to get the Golden Knights to AP top 25
and you got another tough schedule take me through I guess your thought process
you're coming off that that 99 year there's a lot of attention on Vic Penn
you got to be pretty proud of yourself and the coaching staffs behind you how
was it with just those high expectations and staring down that new schedule well
we opened up a Georgia Tech and he started off really well in that game and
we played really well in that game we lost it at the end there's a couple
things and that happened in that game that if things would have went one way
or the other you know the way the ball bounces but I'll explain it like this
when you go out against the Florida Gators in the second game of the season
the year before I opened up with the touchdown pass in the first drive against
Purdue and I set the bar really high and when you set the bar really highly like
that you're expected to play at that level every week and if you fall short
of the bar that you set it's kind of a letdown even though you may have played
well you didn't play as well as you did before so the pressure is really really
tough being in the quarterback position I think it's one of the hardest
positions to play in sports especially at that high of a level but the 2000
season started off we should have beat Georgia Tech we were the better team we
lost at the end George Godsey who I became friends with later on was the
quarterback at Georgia Tech and he threw two late touchdown passes and he ended
up becoming the offensive coordinator at UCF when George O'Leary was their head
coach later on and he and I became friends because I was the president of
Letterman's Club and we associated quite a bit together we lost that Georgia Tech
game and I ended up getting hurt a couple a few more games after that a
couple more games after that and Ryan Schneider came in and was playing really
well he ended up becoming one of UCF's all-time leading passers he played four
straight seasons there and we ended up beating Alabama later on in that year
Alabama coach Dubose was their head coach as you mentioned it wasn't a Nick
Saban you know powerhouse but they were I think six and five that year but they
were beating us that whole game at the first half I think it was 24 to 7 at
halftime Alabama and they were running the ball down our throats and then they
came out the second half and started throwing the ball and nobody understood
why but we didn't care we picked one for six and brought the score closer they
came out they threw again we intercepted it again and we got back into the game
and ended up winning but the Alabama head coach Mike Dubose got fired two
hours after that loss after we beat them they fired coach Dubose two hours after
that game and I'm telling you Dan they were running the ball down our throats
we couldn't stop the run to save our lives they were up 24 to 7 I think at
halftime and they came out throwing and they blew the game and got us back into
it where Schneider came and led a great drive at the end and we kicked the field
goal to beat them which if you YouTube UCF the kick YouTube UCF the kick you'll
see that final kick where Javier Borlegui kicks that game-winning field goal and
I'm so glad he did because I never anticipated living up on the living up
here at the Panhandle where it's Crimson Tide territory and being in an elevator
with somebody and them having an Alabama hat or roll tide this and roll tide that
I thought you can roll tide all you want I don't care what year it was we beat
that Crimson Tide of Alabama and that's something that can never be taken from
us and you really I mean I'm sure Dubose was he was on the hot seat but one game
Central Florida changes the trajectory of Alabama football you know if he if he
makes it through the year if Dubose coaches through the rest of the year
maybe they don't hire the next guy and then the next guy Franchione I think it
was and then things just the coaching staff in Alabama history was altered
that game and we played a part in it never really thought about it now when
you got hurt I was also doing some reading and it was one of those things
where I kind of leaned back and was just it made me smile I guess because Ryan
had some really complimentary things to say about you and really stuck up for you
said Vicks a great quarterback and I think I actually saw a picture of you
guys in the newspaper where it looked like you were probably friends you know
to this day I can call Ryan up and he'll answer my calls and he calls me up and
we talked football and Ryan as a freshman he had never played it down and
I was coming into the season and 99 he red-shirted and he would come up before
every game and he would bless my football he would make this like the
crossover the football he'd always blessed my football we were great
friends off the field of course you know we competed against each other you know
in practice but off the field we hung out on Friday nights and he'd come to my
apartment I'd go to his and we'd hang out we were always good friends so yes
I always pull for Ryan and I watched his career and to this day I still say that
he was one of the greatest passers that ever played in UCF and there's been some
good ones you know but Schneider was Ryan was was a great great quarterback
and he's doing really well down there as the head coach of Cocoa Beach High
School I know that you mentioned on a previous episode another podcast that
forgetting the name now but I'll remember but you were saying that at
each stop you know whether you're in Kansas Garden City for that one season
or South Carolina for that one season and I know this to be true just from my
connection with you that you've picked up a lot of friends along the way and
you don't forget people when you make a connection that's that's one of your buds
is that one thing you can look back on your football career and say hey whatever
happened I've got all these rich friendships with these people that we're
gonna be friends for life absolutely friends for life and it what's really
cool you're absolutely right to answer question as a quarterback I've always
tried to be the same way to the starting receiver as I was the walk-on guy that
never saw the field but was a practice every day you know because people are
people and and it's about respect and the thing that I didn't really
understand when I was playing and making the transfers but now especially with
like Facebook and social media is that I have a group of brothers at South
Carolina a group of brothers at Miami High a group of brothers at Southwest
because when you play it a season with a team those guys become your family your
brothers you're going to quote-unquote war with these with these guys and and
and are battling and gaining game out so when you go a season with you so now in
my older years I have all these networks of people that you don't really realize
at the time but and I always say they always ask me in my UCF fan or a South
Carolina fan I always say well it depends on who's having a better season
but reality you have just this network of South Carolina people that I'm close
with the network of UCF people that I'm over the amount of people that it
brought me around in two and the experiences that I went through because
of it later in life really look back I'm very thankful for all of that because
like you said I made a lot of friends you know even in Garden City Kansas I
still talk daily to some of those guys in Kansas who went on to do their own
lives and our other professionals in other areas and it's a it's a great
network of friends I'm very thankful for it which is something I didn't realize
as it was happening who is somebody one of your old friends at any of these
stops who was just it was just the funniest guy are there any anybody that
stands out that just had everybody laughing I always had I always got to
throw Chris ask you a bone my friend Chris asked you he's a fireman down in
Orlando God bless him I think he has five kids similar to your age I think
they're all six and under seven and under so he's just got his hands full
down there he's a paramedic in there but he was our backup long snapper in his
claim to fame was that he actually dressed and was at the Middle Tennessee
State game because he dressed for home games but he didn't dress for away games
but they let him come to the Middle Tennessee State game and that was the
game that I set the rushing record on and so he's the one that always texts me
you know the quarterbacks getting close he's at 103 you know those years he
always listens to the podcasts and he always says hey I could be doing to
mention me so Chris ask you is is one of the guys that I always like to mention
he was the backup long snapper is a hell of a long snapper probably deserved
more playing time than he actually got but he's a good friend of mine and Chris
always stands out in my mind that's a good quality whether it's the long
snapper the punter I'm sure you talked to the punters the guys on special teams
or walk-ons you know and and didn't just stay in one click of guys how about Rico
Joseph how about that guy Rico Joseph was a safety for us at UCF and he had a
big role in you know in that Georgia game and a lot of the games Rico was a
tremendous athlete and and I still connect with him on Facebook here today
and tremendous assets UCF but I'll tell you what one of the greatest defensive
backs of all time was our teammate at UCF his name was
Tante Samuel and he played DB for the New England Patriots and for the
Philadelphia Eagles and he I think had more interceptions and it was all pro
many many years should be in the Hall of Fame in my opinion here eventually and
one of the one of the greatest greatest defensive ends of all time signed with
my recruiting class at South Carolina John Abraham if you look up John Abraham
he has more sacks NFL now than Lawrence Taylor and Bruce Smith and these guys I
think he had 103 total sacks in his career as an Atlanta Falcon and New York
Jet and nine some disgusting number of Pro Bowls and Jonathan Abraham was a
good friend of mine in South Carolina still talked to him today and I have a
play in one of our spring games where I rolled out or I dropped back and he came
unblocked and I was able to scramble around him and I put I put that up on
Facebook couple years ago because I came across the spring game tape and I said
here's one of the greatest defensive ends in all time I'm telling you he's
got more forced fumbles he ranks like third and all-time sacks or something of
that nature I mean I'm ahead of guys like Lawrence Taylor and Bruce Smith and
Reggie White and all these guys and he's a Hall of Fame candidate also he should
be in the hall yeah like you treat those guys the same way as as you treat the
walk-on I was always a holder so I was always close with special teams always
it was good friends with the kickers and the punters because I was a holder you
know I held the extra points and field goals so those guys are you know you
just look at it from a respect point of view as human being human being and you
know I was thankful to be raised by two great parents and just to be able to
make friends with everybody on the team no matter what their role was or what
their position was you know it's great to hear that Vic and it's not surprising
just my friendship with you to hear those things Vic what about did you get
to call many fake plays or did Crusette call any fake field goals fake punts
did you get to be a part of you know like say you're the holder well funny you
mentioned that the first touchdown I ever scored in college was as a game cock
against Vanderbilt they called a fake field goal is at South Carolina I was
South Carolina game cock and they called a fake field goal from like the five or
seven yard line and I was able to run it in and what it was is that the coaches
noticed an alignment mix-up on Vanderbilt's special teams extra points
field goals and they said look if we just run the option with Vic as the
holder put the kicker as the running back as the option guy all he has to do
is read this one guy if the guy goes to the kicker Vic runs right in if the guy
comes to Vic he pitches it to the kicker and the kicker runs right in so we called
the fake field goal at South Carolina against Vanderbilt and the the option
guy ran straight to the kicker so I was able to run it in for the touchdown that
was the first collegiate touchdown that I ever scored against Vanderbilt as a
game cock that's great I've actually got in my notes here one rushing touchdown
South Carolina so that's it what an exciting play I like I'm always
watching for fake punts I mean they're just so exciting when they happen
especially when you're you know when they're not on their own 45 and it's
it's just an unusual situation I was I like the direct snap to the halfback
sometimes on a fake punt oh yeah Kruzak at UCF was very good at scripting a
first drive and our first play of the game very often was usually some kind of
a reverse with a pass we had Tyson Hinshaw with one of our receivers whose
brother Darren Hinshaw is now the was a quarterback before me at UCF learned
from Kruzak and is now the offensive coordinator at UCF but Tyson Hinshaw his
younger brother was our wide receiver who could throw the football so we opened
up a lot of games with like you know a pitch to the tailback reverse to the
receiver Tyson who would end throwing up throw throw the ball downfield to a
fullback or somebody that was forgotten about but we scored on our first drive
just about every game because he was so well a coach it's scripting a first
drive better than anybody I've ever seen because he'd watch how they come out
game after game on their first drive he knew what defenses they were gonna be in
and he was able to script the first drive better than anybody I've ever been
around and we scored nine out of ten times on that first drive and a lot of
times he would call a little fake fake little play a reverse pass or something
of that nature on the first on the first play of the game. Vic I know after the
it's many times as you threw the ball in the 99 season coming into 2000 I
remember you saying that ideally you'd like to be maybe throwing 20 times a
game as opposed to 40 or 50 but it just the the game flow and the opponents in
the just situations were calling for it. Yeah anytime you're playing the
quarterback position you want to you want to throw as little as possible
anytime you can hand that ball off to a running back and have him you know or
multiple running backs to carry the load take the pressure off it makes it that
much easier when you're getting down in a game or your running game's not doing
so well and you're forced to pass defense can really just pin their ears
back and blitz you and take a lot more hits and you've got to be on top of your
game but anytime you can throw the ball about that 20 25 times a game that would
be ideal for me but most games I think I set in 99 the passing attempt record at
UCF also I think was 455 times I'm not sure if that record still holds or not
but that's 45 times over 11 games roughly and it was 455 attempts I had
that year which at the time was a UCF record I forgot to check to see if that
one's still still the record but they say well that's just attempts that doesn't
mean anything I said yeah well it does because in order to get those attempts
you have to be getting first downs you know you're going three and out three
and out so you have to make completions in order to get more attempts so that
was one of the records that I left with the UCF was was held for a while I'm not
sure if that got broke or not but again I only played 16 total games 17 maybe
total games I got in at the final game against Virginia Tech Michael Vick he
didn't play that game he had a hurt ankle but Schneider got knocked out at
the end of the fourth and I was able to come in I got a standing ovation from
the Citrus Bowl crowd we played at the Citrus Bowl UCF now has an on-campus
stadium but when I played we played at the Citrus Bowl downtown Orlando you
know it was a good way to go out and to be able to live in Orlando for several
years after that and be a part of the Letterman's Club and when Larry came in
and really revamped that whole program and got that on-campus stadium and
watched the quarterbacks year after year Blake Bortles Ryan Schneider
McKenzie and then for the record the rushing record which was I thought would
never be broken from they came in and broke it last year and the rest is
history but you know your your legacy really is solidified with the Golden
Knights and like you said I think the fan base the people that have been around a
long time they know who you are and this episode is really for again guys our
age that may have forgotten some of those games and the games that you were
a part of and you know I want them to say oh yeah I remember Vic Penn and to
go check out the highlights and then for the young kids that you're only watching
stuff going back to maybe 2016 dial it back a little ways I mean didn't have
flat-screen TVs in the 90s yet but there's some great game action and if
you're a young quarterback Vic is you're also really interested in teaching the
things that you picked up along the way to younger athletes and helping them be
successful yep during Kovac during the lockdown I started virtual QB training
and I was able to actually train a few quarterbacks and I trained one
specifically out in Iowa his father contacted me and I trained him virtually
and he would send me that I would tell him look I need to see a three-step
drop to the left a three-step drop to the right a five to the left a five to
the right a couple rollouts and that would have them send me specific videos
that I would request and then I would critique them and make them videos of
how to do it I would say because each quarterback was different I would say
look this is what you're doing wrong you're good on this but your balls too
low you got to hold it up higher you got it too high you're taking too long of a
hitch step there things of that nature but then what it turned out is that they
would send me the game tape and they have this thing called huddle now where
you can all all of the games are right there at your fingertips so but I was
really able to help the quarterback very well he was only in 10th grade and I
trained him for an entire season and then he went out and became an all-time
high school leader and three-pointer basketball after that season and I don't
even think he played football the next year which is smart he stuck with
basketball but it was a very interesting concept and it was it was about
training the mind of the receive of the quarterback excuse me and I was teaching
them things that were taught to me by some great quarterback coaches and I
wanted to give back and it really paid off it really helped a few quarterbacks
and it was a blessing and it got me back into the game a little bit and I was
able to give back and train a few quarterbacks and Vic as your college
career is winding down you're obviously exploring some options and you compete
in the new AF to take me through just some of those you know some of those
seasons some of the guys that you met or experiences well out of college I signed
a contract with the BC Lions who's in the Canadian Football League and Marcus
Allen's brother Damon Allen was the starting quarterback they had just won
the Grey Cup which is the Super Bowl for Canadian League so I played in the CFL
from that I went to the arena football leagues I played with the arena to league
for a couple years in the arena league for for a year I was Orlando Predator
for a year and I learned from Jake Gruden who is the younger brother of
John Gruden who's obviously a Super Bowl champion coach and Jake Gruden has
coached some of the NFL also and I got to able to learn from him also the
arena game was tremendous a lot of fun because you're throwing every down
and you got a wide receiver coming full speed in motion towards the line of
scrimmage at the snap of the ball and you're throwing six seven eight
touchdowns a game and really high scoring games that was a lot of fun it
was indoors shorter fields walls on the side of the field where there's no out
of bounds so you can't run out of bounds on arena ball you get smacked into the
wall but I played a couple seasons there met a lot of great friends and it was a
great experience and got to make an impact on you know more teammates and
maybe the fans that go to these games I went to some arena league games when I
was younger but if you're a little kid you get to see these guys up really up
close oh yeah I always I always look back put myself in the shoes of a young
kid and I remember how I was at football games so anytime I could give a
wristband or a towel or something that I was allowed to give away I always made
sure I gave it all the way to the fans and the kids that were there at the
game so that knew how much it meant to them because I know how much it meant to
me when I was their age and you know my younger brother he's 32 now but he was
13 when I was excuse me I was 13 when he was born so when I was 18 19 and 20
playing college football at a high level he was 5 6 7 years old so I was able to
get him down to the fields and you know there's one incident not incident but
one memory where I got him down in the field he's over there and all the cheer
leaders are of I think was the Gators he's you know so now that he's 32
years old you've met Joe you know Joe so oh yeah great guy I always say hey you
know I need you know can you can you shoot me 20 bucks or can you you know
hey I need a favor remember that time when I got to you on the field with
those cheerleaders he says he got he got there down on his own but we joke around
that now that he's older but being in that that close level and in the arena
league really was a difference but I always remember bringing my little
brother Joe who's like five or six at the time you know his brothers playing
against the Gators was the big big thing for him you know at that young of an age
so when you see Joe make sure you remind him of that absolutely I mean he really
must have thought that you were larger than life I mean you're his brother and
he sees you sees you out of uniform but what a special a special memory there
it was great I love Joe my little brother and you know Joe yeah the three
of us have gotten to hang out go to a ballgame together and I've got brothers
as well so when it was me hanging out with the two of you I really appreciated
the bond that you two had it showed me that you as the older brother had put in
the time with him to be a positive influence and yeah I really liked your
connection with your brother because that's important to me as well yes and
we got to get back and give it a couple of the principle of all these games and get a chance
absolutely I just I cannot believe it's been as long as it has been and I know
time flies it's crazy we I say this a lot on the on the podcast but I really
mean this Vic we may have to do a part two I don't know there's just sure I
mean you played against the best of the best I mean just to be able to have that
moment with Drew Brees and take some of those hits I mean my gosh Marcus Stroud
I think for Georgia I mean that was no walk in the park to have him barreling
down on you no doubt Marcus Stroud we were Javon first for the for the Gators
or they nicknamed the freak played against a lot of great defense events
and a lot of a lot of those guys I think Marcus Stroud there's a picture of me
that I actually think was on USA Today the cover of the sports section USA
Today was Marcus Stroud sacking me yeah to play against some of the athletes
that I played against that just at the quarterback position but all the all the
positions it was a tremendous experience well Vic I usually ask some questions
here at the end that are just oddball questions do you have a favorite sports
movie of all time my favorite sports movie of all time I think would have to
be the movie Rudy again I grew up a Notre Dame fan and I just I still get
goosebumps and maybe a little tear in my eye when he gets that sack at the end
I was you know a die-hard Notre Dame fan my dad my dad was Notre Dame grad so I
grew up just a die-hard Notre Dame fan in the city of Miami which hated
Notre Dame you know back in the day so that's probably my favorite sports movie
and since we're the same age do you like Netflix and all the stuff that we can
just watch and stream movies or do you sometimes miss blockbuster video and
going to the theater I know we can still go to the theater but do you miss some
of that stuff yeah I used to I used to be pretty active in Netflix I happened
in a few years since COVID everything kind of got thrown out of whack and
been focusing on you know my business and that so I haven't really hit Netflix
that hard but I was just talking to my dad the other day we were sitting out
there in front of a store and there was one of those red box machines you know
where people go up and rent movies and and how we used to go to blockbuster
video and you know hope that our favorite movie wasn't rented out yet and
you know hope that when we did get it it was rewound in the beginning that's
right kids don't really kids these days they don't know what it's like to like
you said go to the video store and then you see that wall of empty or just the
front boxes but there's no there's no cassette there you have to go check the
recent returns and hopefully somebody just returned it as a kid were there
teams that you liked I know you like the Dolphins and Dan Marino but were there
any teams that you like based solely on their uniforms like you just loved the
uniforms Notre Dame I was die-hard Notre Dame I don't care what they would come
out in those green jerseys every now and again I loved it I would sometimes be
brought to tears at like 10 years old if Notre Dame would lose especially if they
lost to the Hurricanes because late 80s early 90s Miami Hurricanes had great
football then too and those Notre Dame Miami games were always huge especially
when I went to school with every hurricane fan in town or my best
friends but here I am with my Notre Dame shirt you know in fifth or sixth grade
and if they would lose I would I couldn't I couldn't take it it would ruin
my day so I was just a die-hard Notre Dame fan die-hard dolphin fan too but
probably more so Notre Dame than Miami Dolphins and what going back to your
high school playing days and like you said you're in an environment where
there's not a lot of guys like you and you stand out how long did it take to
win over those locker rooms or all of a sudden you're on the bus and you're
cutting up with a couple guys or did they did you know I transferred to Miami
High that was probably the hardest because I was you know going to a school
that was 50% Hispanic 48% African-American 2% others it was me and
the Chinese kid other there wasn't a white category but I but so it took me
it took me a while to earn the respect of those guys but once I did they're
still friends to these days you know I still talked to many many of them at both
schools at my first school Southwest High School which was my childhood friends
and then I had to end up playing against them twice at Miami High I had to go
head-to-head with them we won both games but you know I remember hanging out with
them the week before or the week during the game and saying look I got to play
you you know tomorrow night you know my best friend Donnie March who was the
defensive end for Southwest High School and I had to play against them they
played us tough we end up winning 14 to 7 we're blowing everybody out and they
played us tough but he sacked me that game he pushed me out of bounds but it
was a yard behind the line of scrimmage I was I was rolling out right and
everybody was car I should have thrown it away but Donnie came and he kind of
pushed me a little as I stepped out of bounds and it was the one yard behind
last cremation so he actually sacked me and he's somebody else might been my best
friend since you know nine ten years old being the quarterback and being a leader
you're respectful and you know and just being just being the way that I was
raised and person that I am and thankful to you know my parents and my you know
in my relationship with God and my spiritual life it wasn't too hard for me
to earn the respect plus I could throw the ball like Dan. Old Dan. Did you ever
get a chance to meet Marino I know he's not the easiest guy to to get to but any
no I I saw him at a camp that my dad took me to and he was there but he had a
mob of people around him so I never really got up there to meet him but I
did stand pretty close to him and watched him and he was definitely my
childhood quarterback hero and I emulated everything that he did to
include that quick release which is what really got me the scholarship.
Vic was there if you had to play on the other side of the ball if you had to
play a defensive position is there one that you maybe it just wouldn't work
size-wise but a position on defense that you would like to play? I would have
played free safety I probably would have been a good corner but these guys are so
tremendously talented I would have been better at as a free safety to be able to
read the quarterback size and anticipate plays and I think I would have made a
good free safety if I played defense. Well all right a couple wacky questions and we'll
wrap up here if you could be one of these two animals for just one day and
just live their life would you rather be a bird or a fish? Definitely a bird I
think I have a better chance of survival as a bird if I was a fish fish I could
get in any second or it could be used for bait or even if I got off the hook and fell
through the hit the dock and fell into the water I get eaten again so bird might
be my best chance of survival so I would probably choose a bird. If you had to
participate in a food eating contest would you do a hot dog eating contest or
or pie? I remember the movie I remember the movie Stand By Me and what happened
to him after eating all that pie so I'd probably have to say hot dogs. Well Vic this has just been awesome I mean if
you're on YouTube Vic is this right you just plug in Vic Penn. That's all the
highlights and that's the best way to see the highlights in the games is on YouTube absolutely. And the virtual QB
training website is still up. VirtualQBTraining.com.
All right well hey Vic anything that you'd like to plug is there anything
that you're jamming to music wise or? You have you have three kids now so you can
relate to this. Once I became a dad I stopped being cool. I don't really keep up too
much with the with the good good songs of today because when I became a dad I
stopped being cool. So my son's 17 now and so it goes through phases as you'll
see. There'll be the especially when you're when not only the music but the
the Nickelodeon shows and the kids shows that they watch you know they go through
the Lego phase that's the Mighty Machine phase and it's you know then it turns
into the gaming phase and you'll see how those phases go by but always remember
this hold your kids as often as you can and carrying them as often as you can
because there will come a time where you can't carry them anymore and so cherish
those times if they want to be let down always say hold them as long as you can
because at some point they're gonna be too big to hold and they're gonna walk
the rest of their lives and you won't be able to hold them anymore so hold those
kids as much as you can. That's some great advice Vic and it reminds me of
when you and I when our our paths crossed and I was still about say six or
seven maybe eight years away from my first boy but I knew deep down that I
wanted to be a dad and I loved just hearing you talk about your little boy
at that time yes which he would have been somewhere between five six seven
yeah he was five or six I think when you and I first met he's 17 now so that it
goes by fast and I know the cliche is they grow up fast but boy do they grow
up fast things like yesterday he was just born and man he's about to be a
senior in high school is a senior in high school and guys especially listening a
big part of this podcast is I want men to to be men and there's there's
different ways it's not all I mean masculinity is sometimes you can look at
one dimensionally but a lot of that is if you're a dad be a dad if you can't be
there every day for your kids for certain situations do the best you can
because Vic going back to the very start of this episode you said that your dad's
involvement in your life spent a time with you and your brothers
no doubt probably a big a big turning point for you it's like if you take him
out of the picture completely during those years I wouldn't be the person that
I am today without my dad so this day he's still you know he's 76 years old
I've worked with him as a business partner too for the last 15 16 years to
this day if there's an issue if I need something it's dad I'm calling dad he's
been my my guy so I admire what you just said there and it's right he was always
been my dad he's always been there and I try to be the same way to my son great
stuff Vic well I love you brother love you too Dan thanks for coming on the
show okay well guys thanks for listening today and remember if you're getting
that update on your laptop and you've been clicking you've been clicking X on
it and it says to update this or that or your malware software it's time to run
that thing take the three or four minutes to just deal with it and save
yourself the headache and remember if you're looking to improve your game or
you just want to go back and check out some of the great quarterbacks of the
past quarter century do yourself a favor and check out some of those old
highlights alright guys that's been it for this episode of Dan time you have a
great week go out there and make a difference in somebody's life thanks
thank you Vic
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we'll see you next week