 Welcome to the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Get the home field advantage with health care coverage from Farm Bureau Health Plans. They've been protecting Tennesseans since 1947. I'm Mike Keith. As the Titans head back to Miami for the first time since playing the longest game in NFL history, we thought this would be a great opportunity for you to get to know Brent Akers. Brent is the vice president of team operations for the Titans, but he's been with the organization since we were the Tennessee Oilers. Brent is a native middle Tennessean who started with our club as an assistant in ticketing and has worked his way up because of his willingness to do anything and everything and incredibly to do all of it well. Throw him a problem of any sort and he'll find a way to make it work. Brent has one of the most fascinating jobs with the Tennessee Titans, coordinating all elements of team travel, training camp, day to day operations of Ascension St. Thomas Sports Park and more. Brent Akers and his crew and ops make the trains run on time for the Tennessee Titans. So now you'll get a chance to hear some of his stories. This OTP was taped as we drove to East Tennessee to go eat fantastic pizza at Big Eds in Oak Ridge in one of our follow me through Tennessee episodes. We hit the 2018 Miami game, the longest game in NFL history. We also talk about how the Titans got all of their gear to London. Working with coaches and so much more. So here is Brent Akers on the OTP. We are headed to Oak Ridge, Tennessee because you are the pizza expert. You are one of the world's foremost pizza experts. We are. Stop telling me what to do. Seriously. I know what to do. I'm not sure if expert is right or not. I do like to travel around the world and eat pizza. You do like to travel around the world and eat pizza. It's funny because you said the thing with the top 15 pizza places in America from USA Today. Right. And you had actually been to 12 of them. Yes. That's crazy. And you didn't agree with the list because you had been to some other places that you thought were actually better. There's a few more I would add to that. Why is pizza your thing? You know I grew up eating pizza. My mom said I was picky. I told her I was discerning. Right. I've eaten lunch with you a lot of times. I would say you're picky. Picky. Yeah. So yeah. Starting when I was a kid it's shaky. Do you remember Shaky's? I love Shaky's pizza. I had my 8th birthday party and Shaky's pizza. The player piano and all the games. Did you have the window that you could go see? I did. Yep. So I guess that's where I really started. Watching pizza. Because you did restaurants before you actually came to work for the Titans? I did. I bartended in the way to tables in Shaly's. Good spot. The original. Still a good spot. So Big Ed's Pizza is famous. It's been open over 50 years now which is crazy. It's still in Big Ed's family. Okay. Which is really great. John Harris the general manager is going to meet us today. Awesome. And I have told him that you're coming because you are the pizza expert and that you have requested. Watch out. Vehicle on shoulder ahead. You have requested cheese and pepperoni. And so he is going to set you up. But this place what's so amazing about it is all they do is pizza and beer. I don't hate that. I know. I know. I don't hate that. It's not like everything I believe in. But there's really something to that based on the fact that they've never said we're a calzone place or we're a salad place. I mean this is what you're going to get. You're going to walk in and you're going to smell the pizza. And you know what you're going for. And everybody understands it. And so it's not terribly complicated for the customer or I would imagine for the people who work there. I'm excited. Keep it simple, right? Keep it simple and do what you do well. That's exactly right. But I remember going out there for the first time in 1976. How far was your home from there? Well we lived at that time in Chattanooga. But we were up for a football weekend and we went there after a game on a Saturday night. And waited, got laid, had to wait well over an hour. I remember it's because my dad would not wait. He would walk in somewhere and if there was a way we turned around and left. And he knew even going in you were going to have to wait. Watch out, ankle on shoulder ahead. And the best part was you got Big Ed standing at the bar. And Big Ed was a Marine. Good. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And he was a big guy. He wasn't tall. I think he's probably six feet, six, one. But I mean he was imposing and had that look on his face. And I mean it was clearly Big Ed's place. Clearly, not just in the name. But I mean he was, it was his deal. So part of the reason you went was to see Big Ed. And then to see them make the pizza, they cut the pizza with scissors. So it's not Chicago style. Not Chicago. But do you think Chicago style is sacrilegious? Is that what you say? I don't think so. I think it has its pluses and minuses to me. It's more like a casserole. It's like I get Nikish. Now I do love some of the Den style Chicago style. It's underrated. I think. Because they talk about it and I love the Chicago style. When we go to my wife's hometown, we've been to a place called Broncos. Which is just, I mean it ain't a chain. Right. I don't know if Broncos in there or not. But I mean they make their own deep dish pizza. And I like the ones from the brand names, the Geno's and all those people in Chicago. But the local ones in, you know, the Illinois towns, the suburbs of Chicago. My wife's hometown is basically a suburb of Chicago. It's fantastic. Because it's got a different, it's different than just your basic deep dish. And I love it. But I'm a person. I'm less discerning than you. I claim I've never had bad pizza. Well and that's one of the reasons I started pizza. When I would travel. You know I'd be gone five or six days. One of the fortunate things I've got to travel pretty much all over the country with this travel. And bad pizza's gonna be alright. Even the worst pizza's gonna be alright. And that's the whole thing. I mean you get it out of the box at Kroger. You know out of the freezer case. It's still good to me. Now some's better than others. Sure. Clearly. But it's kind of like a hamburger. It's hard to go wrong. By the way, so I was going through the Tennessee Titans.com website. Because I was looking for your formal title. Team Operations Vice President. Or are you Vice President Coma Team Operations. Which is it. That's it. What's the deal with your picture? The picture? Yes. From last year? From last year. That is so bad. You are still using the picture of you from when you got hired. That was in 99. Yes. So you, I mean they have never forced you to get an updated picture. HR hasn't said you have to commit. It's funny you say that because you know this year the league is talking about requiring pictures on all credentials throughout the city. Right. Kansas City's one that's done it. So Chris and Nick and Luke are trying to get me to get any pictures. It's kind of fun now. So now it's a game. Now it's a game. There's no chance it changes. I still look the same. Don't I like it? I mean you do. I don't. I mean it's kind of like all of this to happen. It's a couple years ago. It's a couple, it was a minute ago. I think the other thing in that picture is I'm wearing a tie. Yes. But we all did. We were a tie culture. I mean in 98 when we came to work for the team you had on a tie every day. Yes. In the office. More with Titans vice president of operations Brent Acres coming up on the OTP. But first a word from Seat Geek the official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans. Whether you're buying or selling tickets to Titans games or any other live event in Nashville. Seat Geek is the place to do it. Seat Geek the new official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans. So Titans fans can fan. We continue with Brent Acres on the OTP. So how many people work in the Ops department take go through everybody who works at Ops. So Christmas music was a long snapper and MTSU and he worked there for I think 12 years 14 years. And then he started in 16. So he's our director of team operations and facilities. So Chris has done a great job with our new building and really maintaining the whole football side of it. Okay. And then with that we both kind of handle the grounds crew kind of the grass and everything associated with the building. Luke Morrow went to A&M. He's been with us. That does. He's been with us since 17. Nick Hardesty former UT ball. Nick was our intern training camp intern in 16. Well you got to say to Nick Hardesty's dad Rick Hardesty is one of the all time without question great friends of the program. Absolutely. So it's only natural that Nick Hardesty would be awesome anyway. They are both. And Chris does a great job. So they're full. Full? Nobody knows. It's crazy. What are we doing? One of my big things is the food. Starting in 14. We didn't have a kitchen like that. We had elements on the side. Everything had to be made off site. It could be warmed and you could grill. Right. But there wasn't any. And now it's phenomenal. Did you design that? We did. So I traveled all around looking at different facilities, different places. Went to Knoxville to visit Nick and look at UT setup. We took bunch of colleges. Multiple proteins. You know it's so funny because it was so different starting in the 90s how players ate. Yes. And how they wanted to eat. And I always say the only guy I ever saw doing it the right way to start with was Eddie George. Absolutely. And then there were others that sort of ticked through that you could see they, I like a donut. But they weren't going to have a donut. And then you hear all the Tom Brady stuff. And it's funny because the public hears about his avocado ice cream and they think that is just gross. And while I don't think I want avocado ice cream, I get what they're talking about with him in terms of how he takes care of his body. And now more guys do that than do the other one. Because you remember and I try not to tell the same stories over and over when I feel like I am. The period from when the offseason program ends in June to when training camp started, it was for the coaching staff. It was almost hell because they were so fearful that guys would go off and gain 30 pounds. And some of them did. I mean, there were guys in the late 90s who would show up and they'd be 20, 25 pounds heavier because they were so big and they just started eating and not do anything. Now, gosh, that never happened. Never happens. And we're extremely fortunate that Amy built this beautiful kitchen for us and they can eat anything they like for the most part. You like avocado ice cream, you don't like avocado ice cream. But they also, these guys have started in their power five and most of these big schools are learning about nutrition, learning about what to eat in college. But they're still 18-year-olds wanting a chicken finger, but they know at some point we need what's right for them. And we have a nutritionist. We have a nutritionist, which ironically enough was me for a bunch of years. You were the nutritionist. And we're going to eat pizza. Well, but I mean, this is, this is different. And I mean, you do, you still have some fun things in there. I've walked through there and smelled a couple of things. But yeah, that's, because you have to, because you've got to get them to eat or if not, they're going to go somewhere else. I think you remember Samari Roe, all he ate was like Skittles or something. I mean, it was great. Mac and cheese. Mac and cheese. I had to get it specially made at hotels. The hotel meals. Right. How, what's that like? So it's very calculating what we do. We have usually lean meat, some sort of fish, always have chicken. Chicken is everywhere. It's kind of a statement. It's like pizza to me, chicken and broccoli. We'll have various stations, always have a pasta bar. So multiple starches and Lawrence done a great job of really fine-tuning that menu for what we do. But a lot of teams do the same. We're all pretty similar to how we feed our mothers. And then we also try to do the similar thing every week. Just like staying in a hotel every week. So you get in a routine and you kind of have a plan going. Some guys don't eat breakfast and you've seen them. They might have a smoothie or a table. I mean the pre-game meal part of it is so individualized. Because some guys come down and they have breakfast. Right. Some guys want a steak or pasta. And then some guys have a hard time eating. Because they're nervous. Because they're nervous. But you know, that's the incredible thing to me. Is they're going to come down and get a meal at let's say 8.30 for a noon game central time. And then they're not going to eat again until 4.30. It's starving. It's starving. It's crazy. So silly as it is, peanut butter and jelly is like a staple in a lot. So that leads me to the peanut butter and jelly story. I want to know what really happened when the Titans played the season opener at Miami. It wouldn't turn out to be the longest game in NFL history. Seven hours and eight minutes. Yes. Two long delays. Yes. Is the story true that someone or someone's from the ops staff went to the grocery store to get bread and peanut butter? True story. Okay. True story. We used to carry a trunk with us full of peanut butter and jelly. Okay. With all the bread in there, typically. But when it happened and I want to say, Mike, it was the second quarter it started. We started making PB&Js and the guys were hungry. So they came in and then they changed their sweat and socks under shirts. We started making PB&Js. Even the general manager was helping make PB&Js. And then the second break, we started making more PB&J. And then we ran out of bananas and ran out of oranges. And I think it was the third or fourth break. Then it went to half, which was shorter. Was it not even? I think it was normal. Was it normal? Yeah. More PB&Js. And then our post game food came, which was Mission Barbecue. So next thing you know, in the third quarter, we're eating our post game food. You get a call that we're out of bread and out of PB&Js. So I go to the concessionaire in the front of mine that works for the Dolphins helping me get two more loaves of bread that we wouldn't do very quickly. So at the end of the game, I was out of peanut butter. We were out of barbecue. We were out of everything. Crazy. And finally at one point, we're sitting there and everybody's about to lose their mind, as you probably heard as well. And the quarterback at the time, Marcus, said, I really just want a pepperoni pizza. So a little tomorrow on our staff, I gave him my credit card. He goes into the concourse and gets a pizza. So Marcus is eating pizza. Maybe that was the fourth quarter at that point. And then next thing you know, players see it, you're like, I want a pizza. Oh, wow. Here we go. So next thing you know, Luke's up there and he takes a cooler. And he fills a cooler full of personal pizzas. And the players take pizza. Not what I would recommend is for the nutrition staff. But you got to keep fuel. Because those guys, I mean, that was so crazy. That's a one o'clock local time start. It's September. It was incredibly humid before the rain started. It was so hot. Oh, it's brutal. And so everybody is sweating their hind end off. And wasn't it just like freezing in the locker room? Freezing in the locker room. Then they ended up setting up chairs and took all the chairs out of the locker room. I'm not the main lobby part of the underbelly of the stadium. I've never worked that hard night. I bet Chris and I handed out 7,000 cups of water on Sunday. I've never seen anyone. Because in your job, I mean, the amazing thing, I mean, 25 plus years with the club and doing what you do. The job is whatever it takes. Whatever it takes to help the players do whatever we do. I mean, no matter what your title is or no matter how long you've been there or what you get paid or your status. You're there to serve the head coach and the general manager and anybody who needs anything to keep the train running on time. Absolutely. Is that the best way to describe it? It's pretty much a little bit of everything. I mean, we cover a lot of different areas. A player's family needs a car or whatever we can help. I mean, it's amazing. It's amazing. But from everything that we do is very calculated to take care of the players too. Whether it's the meals in the plane and we have customers. Whether it's the snacks, the kind bars, whatever we do on the plane that's passed through us. How hard is it to set up the planes? The planes are difficult for us and especially after COVID everybody's traveling again. Right. So the availability of these planes have gotten more difficult. So let me ask you one that I get all the time and you can give a better answer. Why do NFL teams, with the exception of the Patriots, not have their own jumbo planes? Why does that not make sense? You don't use it enough. You look at, if you're going to Austin, Texas tomorrow, you can find, you have a 10 o'clock flight. That plane that you're on has probably been to four other places before it picks you up. And it's probably changed crew two to three times. And then it's going to change crew again and probably go to five more places. So those planes never sit. And it's actually bad for them. So it just doesn't make any sense? If you're, I mean, I guess if you're an NBA team, it might make sense. You don't make sense. How big are the planes, Jim? 7-6 is for the most part. 7-6-7, 300 and 400. See, it's about 225 people basically depending on the configuration. How many can we actually travel in terms of people? We can use about 155 doctors and emergency medicine people and trainers. And our coaching staff, Mike, has grown as you've seen. I mean, when you started in Ops, what was the normal travel part? We were on a 7, like 737 smaller plane. It was around 120. And going to London, we're going to get over 200 rooms for that. How hard is the London trip to coordinate from the standpoint of everything? You know, the hard part is it's just another game. But it's really not. It's one of 17, but it's really not. It's really not. One of the harder parts is getting all our stuff there, getting accustomed. So every year we go through every trunk we have. Last year we traveled with 19,200 pounds. That includes extra shoes. Say that again. 19,200 pounds. So that's nine and a half tons. Yes. Good math, Mike. Thank you. And everything has to be docked to the input side. This trunk, we have all labeled, all weighed, and very specific data on what it is inside. So this is 12 pairs of Nike shoes. Well, then you also have a value associated with it that you have to give for tariffs in London. So that takes a long time, a lot of detail for that. So you can't fly at all? You can't. So we will have an ocean ship. We have a big container coming in the loading dock. That when we went in 18, we filled it full of everything that you can think of that you can't get an ankle in. What can't you get an ankle in? You can't get barbecue sauce. Really? You can't get hot sauces. Some of the different things, they're just different. Even the ketchup's different. We had ketchup. We had cases of ketchup. So you have to have to think about all of that. So what will be the weight, or what was the weight in 18 of the container that went across the ocean? I have no idea. So when do you have to have, when would that have to be ready to go? How much before the game? Because it's a ship. It's not fast. So it'll leave right there in the middle of China. Probably August 1st. How long will it be for the whole period of time before the game? It'll take it to Rocket Cargo as the company that does it. It will get on a ship and it will sail across and they'll hold it in their facility. Then it has to go through customs. They'll take it and bring it to our hotel. And then our advanced guys, Chris and Nick and Luke, will go through it and set it all up. When did they have to get there? The hard part, because you lose a whole day just for the travel. So they'll leave Monday night and I have Tuesday night. Because we will have just had a game? Just had a game. Yeah. A road game. So that's a tough turn. Because the food in England is not the same. It's different. Everything's different. So we went a couple weeks ago and actually... Oh you went to England? Yeah. Luke and Chris and I spent four days there at the hotel. I'm looking at the hotels and going to the stadium and trying to get a plan. Which is a beautiful stadium by the way. It's a real life football stadium. It is a real life football stadium. It's just one of 17. You've got to be just as good in Indianapolis. Right. For a week before, as you do in London. And yet, in Indianapolis once a year. But it's still a game too? Oh, it's a division? Yeah, it's a big game. I mean, can you guys almost do Indianapolis in Jacksonville and Houston with your eyes closed? I don't think eyes closed. But people change, hotels change, contacts and stadiums change. From an operational standpoint, it is a very good city. As you know, it's like three miles from the... That's great. Our hotel is typically within a five minute bus ride. It almost takes longer to ride the bus than it does to walk. Is that where you had someone come and near a bus one time? That is a true story. You had a staff member just decide he would take his own bus? Yes, he did. Then he threw a little tantrum and he and I almost got into a fight. Because that threw off your schedule? And a bus. We only had five of them. So he just decided? He missed the bus. He missed the bus? Yeah. And then he threw a fit because he missed the bus and threw a smoothie on the sidewalk. And then he and I came to blows in the locker room. He was shorter than me, which is hard to do. And he got in my face in the locker room. And I remember Rocky Boyman was like, get him! Y'all fight! You just said that that's the maddest you've ever been. I was furious. And then Jeff Fisher found me later. And I was like, oh, you guys, you got a second. And I said, sure, Coach. He was telling me about what happened. This staff member decided to take his own bus. Because he missed the bus. Oh my goodness. He was not telling me about the altercation. Did you really throw? We didn't throw. Okay. I mean, I would have won. Oh yeah, I know. I was hot. I don't mess with you. I was wearing an actual suit that day. Yeah. And I threw my jacket down. I never forget it. That's so great. But Jeff, he was great. He just would tell me this. He goes, was it ever a fight? I said, no, sir. No, sir. Nothing. Everything was great. He was great. Good. We're going to move on. We're going to win this game. He stops me again. I said, hey, Coach. He said, all right. Just tell me one time. Kicked his ass. And I said, Coach. There's no doubt that I would have won. That's Brett Akers, the Tennessee Titans vice president of team operations. A special thanks now to our friends at Duncan, who reminds you that's always game on with Duncan. So grab a coffee and kick off the action, whether that's drinking a cup on your way to the game or grabbing one to go before listening to the game at home. Duncan is always there to help you get your game on. Just like the pros, we need to be at our best come game time, which is why Duncan is the most important part of your game day ritual. It's always the best call for football. America runs on Duncan. I'm Mike Keith thanking you for joining me for the OT.