Speaker 1: The volume. So I was looking today at a story
Speaker 1: on the internet that ticket sales stub hubs college football
Speaker 1: ticket sales are up forty two percent year to year.
Speaker 1: So one of the things I bang on, and I'm
Speaker 1: going to bring in my guest, Greg McElroy, the host
Speaker 1: of Always College Football, former BAMA quarterback twenty ten national champ.
Speaker 1: One of the things I bang on consistently in my
Speaker 1: audience is the sky has falling. I see it in politics.
Speaker 1: You know, if you if you elect Kamala Harris, we'll
Speaker 1: go into anarchy, will be venezuela. It's like it's conspiracy theories.
Speaker 1: The world's ending. And I kept saying on the twelve
Speaker 1: team playoff and the NI on the transfer portal, college
Speaker 1: football will be different. It'll be magnificent. It'll still be lobsided,
Speaker 1: the big You'll still have the best rosters, but it'll
Speaker 1: look a little different. It'll end differently. It's going to
Speaker 1: be fine. So the audience, the consumer is telling you, Greg,
Speaker 1: we're more excited for college football than ever. In the South,
Speaker 1: where you have your footprint, there was a lot of
Speaker 1: consternation about change because the SEC was king and you
Speaker 1: worry about the Texas money in the Michigan, Ohio State
Speaker 1: Notre Dame money. What is the sense about nil transfer
Speaker 1: portal twelve team playoff as of today in the South?
Speaker 2: Well, it's still, actually, Willie wrote, really well received, Colin.
Speaker 2: I mean, the thing about the SEC is they still
Speaker 2: are going to have more access to talent just because
Speaker 2: of just your proximity. And while I've used this analogy
Speaker 2: a couple of times, the alumni network is not nearly
Speaker 2: as big as that of an Ohio State, where they
Speaker 2: have a million living alumni sixty thousand undergrad for the
Speaker 2: last hundred years. However, many years it's been the level
Speaker 2: of intensity and passion that we have in the southeastern
Speaker 2: part of the United States for the sport and for
Speaker 2: the teams is unrivaled. So while you make a hundred,
Speaker 2: I make a hundred. You live in Los Angeles. I
Speaker 2: live in Birmingham, Alabama. I'm going to give twenty two
Speaker 2: dollars out of the one hundred to Alabama because that's
Speaker 2: the team I support, whereas you might give eleven. It's
Speaker 2: just kind of the way things have worked. But for
Speaker 2: all intentsive purposes, it's kind of been viewed as a
Speaker 2: personal challenge to the teams in the Southeast to step
Speaker 2: up from an nile standpoint, compete with the big dogs,
Speaker 2: and even if they don't have the deepest pockets, they
Speaker 2: have access to the most players. And then the portal.
Speaker 2: When guys might leave for the big payday as a freshman,
Speaker 2: when they go in the portal after year one, they
Speaker 2: might be more likely to come back home at their
Speaker 2: second stop. So a lot of programs have taken that
Speaker 2: route as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so there's a lot of different things to talk about.
Speaker 1: I've said that we need to temper not only expectations
Speaker 1: but criticism of coaches when they go to schools. Look
Speaker 1: how long it took Dabo Sweeney or Jim Harbaugh. So
Speaker 1: when Harbaugh and Lincoln Riley are interesting comps, so we
Speaker 1: know they're both good coaches, nobody disputes that Jim had
Speaker 1: a longer resume. And obviously the transfer portal is a
Speaker 1: more vigorous. I mean, there were people transferring ten years ago,
Speaker 1: but not to the level now. The machine it is right,
Speaker 1: And I said, but if you really look at Brian
Speaker 1: Kelly and Harbaugh, you know they doubled the wins very quickly,
Speaker 1: but it was sort of pseudo not can't compete with
Speaker 1: Alabama Georgia, but they won the games they should have won.
Speaker 1: And Brian Kelly gets to Annatty and gets blown out
Speaker 1: and Michigan, you know, would face Ohio State.
Speaker 3: And it was fools gold.
Speaker 1: It took both about seven years, eight years to stockpile
Speaker 1: talent where they could play at Georgia Bama and the
Speaker 1: games are good and you could on television You're like, oh,
Speaker 1: there's pros on both sides. You know, the Mantai Teo
Speaker 1: Notre Dame team in the National Championship, you know, it
Speaker 1: felt like it would have finished third in the PAC twelve.
Speaker 3: But a lot of it's scheduling.
Speaker 1: So I say, with Lincoln Riley, as bad as Notre
Speaker 1: Dame was in Michigan was, I don't think they were
Speaker 1: as bad as USC under Clay Hilton. Not only were
Speaker 1: they four and eight, but people inside the program believed
Speaker 1: they only had like twelve NFL maybe late round players.
Speaker 1: That it was Lincoln Riley identified after two practices, there's
Speaker 1: maybe thirty guys we can keep, and so by being
Speaker 1: a play away from twelve wins in his first season
Speaker 1: was fairly remarkable through those of us closer to the program,
Speaker 1: and then the second year they had injuries, Jordan Addison
Speaker 1: was gone and frankly, they just know NFL players. It
Speaker 1: was Caleb and they kind of shut him down once
Speaker 1: they lost a couple of games. They had a defensive
Speaker 1: coordinator completely over Ski. So my takeaway is this idea
Speaker 1: that USC was going to buy for national championships. They
Speaker 1: were way better year one than expectations. That's not really
Speaker 1: who they were. They were an early Notre Dameer Harbaugh team.
Speaker 1: You know, Harbaugh got from five to ten wins year
Speaker 1: one and won the national championship. Team USC couldn't beat
Speaker 1: any good teams. They were just beating the crappy teams
Speaker 1: on their schedule because of the wizardry of Caleb and
Speaker 1: the coaching of Lincoln. So my take is, I think
Speaker 1: we're being too unrealistic, even with a transfer portal to
Speaker 1: Brian Kelly right now in Lincoln, in that it's still
Speaker 1: the sport still comes down to high school recruiting in
Speaker 1: chemistry and culture, and you can't do it in two years.
Speaker 2: Your thoughts, the problem is you've had guys that have
Speaker 2: ruined it for everybody, the Josh Heipels of the world
Speaker 2: that in year one progress, year two, game changer. Right.
Speaker 2: We've seen it with urban Meyer his second year at Florida.
Speaker 2: I believe they won the national championship, and we've seen
Speaker 2: it a handful of other times. Nick Saban at Alabama
Speaker 2: two thousand and seven, six and six, six, seven and six,
Speaker 2: twenty eight twelve know with the chance and the lead
Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter to go to the national title.
Speaker 2: So yeah, you're right. In normal circumstances, I think it
Speaker 2: takes four years to get a real evaluation on the
Speaker 2: trajectory of your team. That's my personal opinion. I understand
Speaker 2: that big dollars are in play here, and also along
Speaker 2: with I think Temper's player and egos are involved, and
Speaker 2: the collective doesn't feel like they're getting what they have
Speaker 2: paid for, they're going to be quicker to pull the trigger.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, I completely agree with you
Speaker 2: and those that have said that Lincoln Riley is he's
Speaker 2: not he doesn't know what he's doing. He doesn't he's
Speaker 2: he's way out of his so far. I saw an
Speaker 2: analyst and national analysts call on the other day say, oh,
Speaker 2: his his tenure at SC has been a quote disaster.
Speaker 2: Well to be a win away from the college football
Speaker 2: playoff in year one with the Heisman Trophy winner. Sign
Speaker 2: me up for that disaster most of the week. Most
Speaker 2: of the NFL.
Speaker 1: Two NFL players, one of them, Caleb is a sophomore
Speaker 1: team had no talent.
Speaker 2: And he did a great job with him. The one
Speaker 2: thing that does concern me and I've known Lincoln when
Speaker 2: I was a commit to Texas Tech. Lincoln picked me
Speaker 2: up at the airport. I've known him for twenty years,
Speaker 2: so it's a little bit close to home with me,
Speaker 2: and followed him to his years at East Carolina, followed
Speaker 2: him in his time at obviously Oklahoma. So I'm wanting
Speaker 2: what's best for him as a fan of his, and
Speaker 2: it's a fan of the sport. I think it's great
Speaker 2: when s he's relevant, So I acknowledge all that he's
Speaker 2: done offensively, But I don't know. This is my observation
Speaker 2: from a distance. I don't know if they practice the
Speaker 2: way they need to practice to be as good along
Speaker 2: both lines of scrimmage to compete for championships. And that's
Speaker 2: the only question I have. And will he be too
Speaker 2: proud to adjust maybe the amount of full contact periods
Speaker 2: that they have, will they maybe do some things offensively
Speaker 2: in a drill setting that might give the defense a
Speaker 2: slight advantage. Will they do things like that to help
Speaker 2: a track more defensive personnel and to create a tougher,
Speaker 2: more physical mindset, because I saw last year they were
Speaker 2: a little banged up in spring. This was spring of
Speaker 2: twenty three. They said, after like nine practices, Yeah, we're good.
Speaker 2: We're just gonna do, you know, walkthroughs or whatever. At
Speaker 2: Georgia They're like, I don't care if we have managers
Speaker 2: putting helmets on. We're practicing. So I think that's the
Speaker 2: mindset that I'm just a little concerned about. But I
Speaker 2: think the I think the hey, the jury's out right now,
Speaker 2: and i'd be I'm actually really optimistic about SC this
Speaker 2: year more than most calling to be completely honest.
Speaker 1: They get a schedule break no Oregon in Ohio State
Speaker 1: Michigan in a total rebuild. Same with Washington and LSU
Speaker 1: lost Jayden Daniels. That's the loss on their schedule. Everything
Speaker 1: else is winnable. Their only cold weather game is first
Speaker 1: week in November and Seattle, and I'm from there. You
Speaker 1: may get a sunny, sixty four degree day. I mean, seriously,
Speaker 1: you don't know what you're getting until Thanksgiving, so they
Speaker 1: got a scheduling break. Ohio State and Oregon are clearly
Speaker 1: the best two teams. I think Penn State third in
Speaker 1: the Big Ten, and they get Penn State at home.
Speaker 1: By the way, they get Notre Dame at home, so
Speaker 1: they got a huge It's almost like the conference said,
Speaker 1: let's give them a break as Lincoln Riley builds up,
Speaker 1: So they got a huge scheduling break. So I don't
Speaker 1: think eight or nine are out of the question. But
Speaker 1: I don't think they're in the same class as Georgia,
Speaker 1: Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, Bama. I don't even know if
Speaker 1: they're in the same class as Missouri. I think Iowa
Speaker 1: is better than people think. I think Utah is actually good.
Speaker 1: Oh miss is excellent.
Speaker 3: I don't think.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I guess my pushback is, if
Speaker 1: you go back to the first year, folks, they were
Speaker 1: a play from twelve wins with two NFL players, and
Speaker 1: that was if you recall, the last two years have
Speaker 1: been by pack twelve historical standards, the conference was about
Speaker 1: as good as it's been. Our basketball school, Arizona won
Speaker 1: seven straight to end the season. Beat Oklahoma, like we're
Speaker 1: not the SEC. It was really good by Pack twelve
Speaker 1: standards we had like Oregon State was viable, no question.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I'm with you though.
Speaker 2: I am curious, though, what does success look like in
Speaker 2: year three because I look at what was lost with
Speaker 2: Caleb Williams, and well, I think Caleb Williams was the
Speaker 2: ultimate neutralizer. Yeah, if there was a talent advantage on
Speaker 2: the other side, like Caleb could elevate and neutralize that talent.
Speaker 2: But oftentimes he played so much out of the system.
Speaker 2: And this is not a negative. I mean, he improvised
Speaker 2: so much and he just didn't really stay true to
Speaker 2: what made Lincoln Riley an eight figure a year head coach.
Speaker 2: I think that's going to be okay with Miller Moss
Speaker 2: or you know, there's buzz about Mayava having really good
Speaker 2: and kind of having some momentum. I'm not buying it,
Speaker 2: but I still think with that weaponry, I think they
Speaker 2: have four game changers at wide receiver, all sophomores. But
Speaker 2: my dad, I really like SC's personnel offensively, and I
Speaker 2: think it will allow Lincoln's exo acumen to shine this
Speaker 2: year as opposed to just seeing Caleb run around and
Speaker 2: create magic. The last two seasons, it's.
Speaker 1: It's like I have a source inside USC football.
Speaker 2: No, there's no way. I'm shocked to hear that. Based
Speaker 2: on how much insider information you have, you.
Speaker 1: Have literally touched on something that is the great unspoken
Speaker 1: with the program is that they played actually in more
Speaker 1: structure in Caleb's first year. By the second year injuries
Speaker 1: to the O line. Lincoln got very tentative once the
Speaker 1: National Championship playoff was out to get Caleb hurt, and frankly,
Speaker 1: he felt the almost owed it to Caleb. You know,
Speaker 1: he got a heisman.
Speaker 3: He didn't want to.
Speaker 2: Get him hurt.
Speaker 1: They didn't trust the offensive line, and it became kind
Speaker 1: of an ad libby offense in the last three or
Speaker 1: four stars for Caleb, and there are people that have
Speaker 1: told me it'll go back to being Lincoln Riley's offense.
Speaker 1: It was the first year with Caleb and parts of
Speaker 1: the second it's sort of dovetailed. And it's not a
Speaker 1: criticism of Caleb. It's they didn't want to get him hurt,
Speaker 1: They didn't trust the old line. They didn't call stuff
Speaker 1: because they didn't want to put him in a bad spot.
Speaker 1: And it really became. There was a backyard feel to
Speaker 1: a lot of what as he was doing, and Lincoln,
Speaker 1: Lincoln felt he lost the offense a little. So Miller
Speaker 1: Moss at the Holiday Bowl ran Lincoln's offense and looked fantastic.
Speaker 1: And so I think to your point, you're literally touching
Speaker 1: on some That's why you're so connected. You're really touching
Speaker 1: on something that in the program. There's a feeling that
Speaker 1: Miller's going to play.
Speaker 3: The tempo.
Speaker 1: It won't look like Oregon, Dan Lanning and bow Knicks
Speaker 1: where it's like, you know, you know, like they're dialing
Speaker 1: up where to go. It won't be quite that, because
Speaker 1: I do think they have really good young perimeter talent.
Speaker 1: But it'll be more it'll be Lincoln's team. I'll give
Speaker 1: you an example in the NFL when Aaron Rodgers was
Speaker 1: there with.
Speaker 3: A young Matt Lafleur.
Speaker 1: It was kind of Aaron's offense right completely if you
Speaker 1: watched them last year with Jordan Love. It was the
Speaker 1: first time I had said this on the air, that
Speaker 1: I watched the Packers and thought, oh, that's Matt Lafleur's offense.
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: And your Knight's not a.
Speaker 1: Knock on Aaron, but superstar quarterbacks are gonna blow off
Speaker 1: the coach. They're going to go on the huddle, roll
Speaker 1: the eyes sometimes for self preservation.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do.
Speaker 2: You wouldn't do that with save It. No, But that.
Speaker 1: Happens more than people think, and I think it happened
Speaker 1: at SC.
Speaker 3: That's my point.
Speaker 2: It's a completely fair assessment. But tell me this, if
Speaker 2: you're Caleb Williams, are you going to hand it off
Speaker 2: in an RPO? Probably not? Why would I We're better
Speaker 2: with the ball in my hands. I think I'll just
Speaker 2: kind of I'll take this thing over and we'll see
Speaker 2: where we go. What do you make of the Big
Speaker 2: Ten as a whole? Because I I think you, obviously
Speaker 2: with your alignment and do an amazing job covering the sport.
Speaker 2: And I appreciate, frankly on your national platform, how you
Speaker 2: cover the sport because so many people are like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: we'll do college football because we have to. You do
Speaker 2: it because you love it, and I appreciate your coverage.
Speaker 2: But when you look at the Big Ten, I'm I
Speaker 2: think that they're solid. I think at the top they're
Speaker 2: super elite the High States, best team in the country,
Speaker 2: fewest questions beyond them. I think Oregon. We've kind of
Speaker 2: put Oregon in kind of the chosen group of Hey,
Speaker 2: this group's right there, and they didn't like their wins
Speaker 2: last year were fine. Blowing out a Utah team was impressive,
Speaker 2: but it's not like, you know, we got way bent
Speaker 2: out of shape about Oh, they beat cal by thirty,
Speaker 2: like we kind of annoyed them, I think before we
Speaker 2: needed to, and then we found out against Washington that
Speaker 2: maybe there's still work to be done. I think they've
Speaker 2: done that work. So I think they are now on
Speaker 2: the inside looking out at the rest of the college
Speaker 2: football world. But how do they stack up against the SEC?
Speaker 2: Like when you look at the Big ten, you size
Speaker 2: them up, cut them up eighteen deep versus the SEC sixteen.
Speaker 2: Who do you think is SUPERI well.
Speaker 1: I think Oregon is something that we haven't seen out
Speaker 1: west since Pete Carroll and ed Orgeron. They've just done
Speaker 1: it differently. They've purchased big bodies, So I think Oregon
Speaker 1: stacks up in the train. I mean, they went out
Speaker 1: and they bought the best left tackle on the West
Speaker 1: Coast in the last several years two years ago he started.
Speaker 1: They've went, and Phil Knight has essentially said, before I die,
Speaker 1: I won a national championship, and I'll spend whatever it takes.
Speaker 1: People talk about the Texas nil Oregon's is unlimited. They'll
Speaker 1: just buy whatever they have to. That's really how it's done.
Speaker 1: USC's is thirteen million. I have that on thirteen million.
Speaker 1: Depending on the ascension of the program, it could get
Speaker 1: to fifteen. But USC's fine. They're not Texas, they're not
Speaker 1: A and M. They're not Ohio State, they're not maybe
Speaker 1: not Georgia. They're not Oregon for sure. So I think
Speaker 1: Oregon has purchased. And this is not a criticism. This
Speaker 1: is all legal now right right, it's they've gone. All
Speaker 1: their marketing is enhanced, even with Mario Crystaball they're recruiting
Speaker 1: to me is the best on the West coast, the
Speaker 1: best on the West coast. USC's is consistently second because
Speaker 1: of the name brand. But Oregon's been recruiting the West
Speaker 1: coast crystal Ball landing very well. If they want a
Speaker 1: receiver or a dB, they get them. If there's a
Speaker 1: top edge rusher, they just get them. If they own
Speaker 1: the Northwest, mostly for the players they want. It's a
Speaker 1: very weak recruiting year in my opinion in the West
Speaker 1: coast this year, especially the Northwest. I think they match
Speaker 1: up fine. I think eye test Texas looks really big.
Speaker 1: When they faced Alabama last year the last couple of years,
Speaker 1: I looked at it and I thought, God, this is
Speaker 1: what Alabama looks like the last ten years against everybody else.
Speaker 1: You're like, man, Texas passes the eye test. I think
Speaker 1: the I think Oregon's going to beat Ohio State in
Speaker 1: Eugene because I think Dan Lanning has done something that
Speaker 1: I didn't think a Southern guy was going to do
Speaker 1: with no head coaching experience. He's immediately I know what
Speaker 1: Oregon is. I really do they play their They're a
Speaker 1: little Detroit Lions, relentless, they play hard. They got I
Speaker 1: think privately they would admit Kaylan de boorr Out coached
Speaker 1: him and Washington had a bizarre set of great offensive talent,
Speaker 1: almost no NFL bodies, and they matched up with Oregon.
Speaker 1: I mean, frankly, Pennis.
Speaker 3: Beat ball h A. Dunze. Oregon wasn't getting beat because
Speaker 3: they were being fooled.
Speaker 1: It's just it was just a bad matchup. I said
Speaker 1: it before Washington was gonna beat Texas, they were not
Speaker 1: gonna beat Michigan is and so I think it was
Speaker 1: I think I watched Oregon play Washington twice once live.
Speaker 1: I thought Oregon had more good players. I just thought
Speaker 1: Washington was a terrible matchup. So I think Oregon matches
Speaker 1: up with Ohio State, and I think if you match
Speaker 1: up with Ohio State, you match up with everybody. I
Speaker 1: think Alabama's underrated. I think Kayland Boor is magnificent. I
Speaker 1: think he you know what he is, reminds me of
Speaker 1: he's really Chris Peterson.
Speaker 2: Where have some Peterson vibes for sure.
Speaker 1: Where you're like, they will never be out coached at Alabama. Ever,
Speaker 1: there are games with Nick Saban where I felt if
Speaker 1: you had a quarterback that was good off script, you
Speaker 1: could frustrate Nick. I didn't think he was out coached.
Speaker 1: I thought there were things Nick did better than other coaches.
Speaker 1: Klin de Boor it's almost magical. Like Washington's talent on
Speaker 1: the defensive side is they had an interior defensive lineman
Speaker 1: who I think the Rams got undrafted free free agent.
Speaker 2: I mean Tully Nasan Noa. They just have any talent,
Speaker 2: so a lot of it was magical. And Chris Peterson
Speaker 2: gets the Huskies do a playoff, and you're like, how
Speaker 2: they don't have Alabama's players. So I think Oregon has purchased,
Speaker 2: recruited and developed players. I think Landing has a plan.
Speaker 2: I think they match up.
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Speaker 1: I am not as confident with Ohio State because I
Speaker 1: just have felt for three years. And I'll ask you, Greg,
Speaker 1: it's not that Michigan beat him as how they beat him.
Speaker 1: They just don't rushed them. They took over all the
Speaker 1: second half. Ohio State has never been prettier, but they've
Speaker 1: never been more finesse. I'll ask you what are they
Speaker 1: beyond talented.
Speaker 3: What are they?
Speaker 2: I think it's a look. They have been a sports
Speaker 2: car where winning the Big Ten the last couple of
Speaker 2: years has required a big diesel via goal, a duley
Speaker 2: if you will, Like I don't want to say gmc
Speaker 2: or ford and like tick people off, I would say Ford.
Speaker 2: It's Michigan, So that feels fair, right, let's just go
Speaker 2: with that. They have an F one fifty or an
Speaker 2: F two to fifty that was one in the Big
Speaker 2: Ten the last couple of years. Just the reality. So
Speaker 2: I don't think that they're finesse though, Like I don't
Speaker 2: know if that's entirely and I understand the characterization and
Speaker 2: the way Ohio state standards. They're finesse compared to the
Speaker 2: Urban Meyer version twenty fifteen Ohio state versions, that's finesse.
Speaker 2: But that was a group that was so outrageously talented.
Speaker 2: I remember watching that game in twenty fifteen against Bama
Speaker 2: on New Year's Day. The first iteration of the college
Speaker 2: football Playoffs was Zeke Elliott and Cardial Jones. Like, these
Speaker 2: guys are freaks. Now not only can they fly, but
Speaker 2: these guys will pound you. They're so crazy physical, And
Speaker 2: I think that the Big Ten has long been a
Speaker 2: league that was won with physicality, and then Ohio State found, hey,
Speaker 2: we can win with physical but we also have some
Speaker 2: high octane machines on the outside that we need to feed.
Speaker 2: So I think they've kind of gotten away from themselves
Speaker 2: a bit. And that's why the hire of chip Kelly
Speaker 2: was so massive, because if you look twenty three consecutive Beers,
Speaker 2: the team that has outrushed the other in the game
Speaker 2: between Michigan and Ohio State wins the game. You ain't
Speaker 2: gonna out rush chip Kelly's that's who he is, that's
Speaker 2: what he believes in. And while people will look at
Speaker 2: the Oregon Nears and think, oh, they were finesse, No,
Speaker 2: they weren't. Just because they used tempo doesn't mean they
Speaker 2: were finesse. Look at the UCLA years. Oh, because they
Speaker 2: wear the like blue, they're finesse. No, no, No, Ucla was
Speaker 2: far from finesse. Ucla ran it down LSU's throat, yep
Speaker 2: in the Rose Bowl a couple of years ago. He
Speaker 2: has gone out and prioritized running back. They go out
Speaker 2: and got quinch On Judkins. They already had Trevon Henderson.
Speaker 2: The offensive line is a question mark. But what Chip
Speaker 2: Kelly can do is they're gonna play hard and they're
Speaker 2: gonna get by a little bit running the football with
Speaker 2: smoking mirrors. So I think they're traditional run sets that
Speaker 2: they've used the last couple Ye you're not going to
Speaker 2: beat Michigan with that because Michigan's got better D lineman
Speaker 2: than you have O linemen. I don't know why. They
Speaker 2: just do and they've had that for years and they're
Speaker 2: probably going to have it again this year based on
Speaker 2: what they bring back up front defensively. But if you
Speaker 2: have one side of the offensive line blocking one play,
Speaker 2: the left side of the offensive line blocking another play,
Speaker 2: two completely different plays, you're reading a guy right in
Speaker 2: the middle. You can't block him, so you might as
Speaker 2: well read him, and you got a pass play off
Speaker 2: of it. Now you're cooking them with gas. So I
Speaker 2: think chip Kelly being hired by Ryan Day. Ryan Day
Speaker 2: acknowledged that his run game was a blind spot, and
Speaker 2: that's a really hard thing for coaches to do too.
Speaker 2: I mean, hey, I've won a lot of games. I've
Speaker 2: lost five games in my career as a head coach, Like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I got to acknowledge though, that that's a little bit
Speaker 2: of a blind spot for me. I need Chip Kelly
Speaker 2: to come in. I'll handle the pass concepts, he handles
Speaker 2: the run concepts, and now we're going to make this
Speaker 2: thing work together perfectly. So I really like Ohio State
Speaker 2: this year, but your one hundred percent right. I mean,
Speaker 2: Michigan had their number. Is a terrible matchup, much like
Speaker 2: you just talked about with Oregon and Washington. Terrible matchup
Speaker 2: for Ohio State, and I wasn't all to see Michigan
Speaker 2: went three straight against him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I'm predicting Oregon beats Ohio State and Eugene,
Speaker 1: but Ohio State gets further in the playoff and plays
Speaker 1: for the national championship. I don't know who they'll play.
Speaker 1: I think Alabama is the most underrated team, you know.
Speaker 1: I think Texas and Sark's history. Let's talk Texas.
Speaker 3: I love Sark.
Speaker 1: There's things he does very well. He really knows. He
Speaker 1: understands because he lived in LA. He understands under Pete Carroll, branding, recruiting.
Speaker 1: He can really sell Texas. I mean he watched the
Speaker 1: master in Pete Carroll take over college football. Like he
Speaker 1: gets branding, he gets recruiting, he gets you know all gas,
Speaker 1: no breaks. He really gets that. That's really It's like
Speaker 1: a marketing mentor. His teams can be a little light
Speaker 1: on the details. Sometimes I think they play with more
Speaker 1: passion than smarts. I think sometimes I'm pulling my hair
Speaker 1: out watching his team play.
Speaker 3: But I like him.
Speaker 1: I like his story. He had some personal issues, He's
Speaker 1: overcome them. Impossible not to root for him. I like him,
Speaker 1: I really do. I root for people who have been bullied,
Speaker 1: or of struggle, or of you know, people who just
Speaker 1: fall off the edge and climb back. So I love
Speaker 1: that story. Hey, Nick Saban made a career out of
Speaker 1: hiring guys whose careers looked over. He was a life
Speaker 1: preserver for Lane, Kiffin and Sark and I think that's
Speaker 1: an incredibly redeemable part of Nick Saban. But you tell me,
Speaker 1: and I love Texas, but I don't trust Texas. There's
Speaker 1: a big diff I fell in love with girls when
Speaker 1: I was younger. Didn't trust them, but I loved them.
Speaker 1: You know, there's no right like and.
Speaker 3: That's my perception.
Speaker 1: I trusted Harball teams, I trusted Saban teams. I trust
Speaker 1: Georgia teams. Got it Texas is there's in a big spot.
Speaker 1: I'm just like, eh, eh, how do you view them?
Speaker 2: It's perfectly fair. Uh, here's my frustration with Texas. You
Speaker 2: see what they should be, and you see what they
Speaker 2: could be and what they sometimes are. Allah the Alabama
Speaker 2: game last year, the Texas Tech game at the end
Speaker 2: of the season. Yeah, the Oklahoma State game in the
Speaker 2: Big Twelve title, it's like, you see what they're capable of,
Speaker 2: and it's like, my god, there's no one. This is
Speaker 2: the most complete team in the sport. Like they're they're
Speaker 2: winning it. Like Michigan doesn't want to see them, Bama
Speaker 2: doesn't want to see them, Florida State didn't want to
Speaker 2: see them. Nobody wants see Texas except for Washington because
Speaker 2: they're going to throw it over their head. Yeah, but
Speaker 2: for whatever reason, you don't still get that performance every week,
Speaker 2: and you don't really get that performance every quarter like
Speaker 2: when I saw and you look, if you watched the
Speaker 2: best teams in the sport for a number of years,
Speaker 2: whether it was the Urban Meyer led Ohio State teams,
Speaker 2: whether it was the Nick Saban led Alabama teams, the
Speaker 2: Pete Carroll led USC teams, something miraculous had to happen
Speaker 2: for them to lose games. Yeah, I mean it was
Speaker 2: like miracle, right, Like Sanchez has to go to Corvallis
Speaker 2: on a Thursday. It's ring sideways, you know, and it's
Speaker 2: like the team has no business losing Oregon State, but
Speaker 2: because of the circumstance, they lost Urban Meyer at Florida,
Speaker 2: Like Jevins Dated the game of his life, scored twenty
Speaker 2: one and beat him twenty one twenty on the last
Speaker 2: second field goal or whatever it was. Nick Saban, I mean,
Speaker 2: Johnny Manziel had to have the most ridiculous thing ever.
Speaker 2: Cam Newton had to have the most ridiculous thing ever
Speaker 2: kick sixes. Like weird stuff had to happen for those
Speaker 2: teams to lose. You look at Texas, They'll play to
Speaker 2: the level of the competition. And I can't understand why
Speaker 2: Oklahoma last year you have three turnovers in the first quarter,
Speaker 2: biggest game of the year at that point, after beating
Speaker 2: Texas or beating Bama three four weeks earlier, you have
Speaker 2: you know, you block a punt to get back in
Speaker 2: at your you know, you end up almost winning the game,
Speaker 2: and then you give up drive at the end quarterback
Speaker 2: draw really to set the drive up and then they
Speaker 2: go right down the field score. Then you look at
Speaker 2: TCU five and seventeen, you win by three. You look
Speaker 2: at the offensive performance against s Iowa State and you're like,
Speaker 2: what was that? You know, there's just some perform Kansas State,
Speaker 2: they're in overtime and can't State's got the ball inside
Speaker 2: the five for four consecutive players can't score. I mean
Speaker 2: that to me is strange. The year before that, if
Speaker 2: you want to go back a year before the lose
Speaker 2: to Texas Tech on the road, you have, I mean,
Speaker 2: just circumstantial losses that just really don't make sense. So
Speaker 2: I understand the thought process because they are navigating to
Speaker 2: a league now where the TCUs of the world don't
Speaker 2: exist anymore. There's no disrespect to Texas Christion at all.
Speaker 2: They're a good program. They're going to do great things.
Speaker 2: They're going to be back in the playoff hunt again
Speaker 2: at some point because of the league that they play in.
Speaker 2: But if you took TCU and put them in the SEC,
Speaker 2: I don't think it fared very well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's the reality.
Speaker 2: We saw that on the national Championship stage a couple
Speaker 2: of years ago. So they're going to have to play
Speaker 2: on a consistent basis with more regularity. And that's I
Speaker 2: think the next step in the evolution to building Texas
Speaker 2: foundation that Sark wants to build is that doesn't matter
Speaker 2: who you're playing against, where it's at, what's the score,
Speaker 2: this is the expectation, this is the standard, and we
Speaker 2: got a played to that standard every week.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's I think what's happening in the Big Ten
Speaker 1: in the SEC is Texas and Oklahoma are both going
Speaker 1: to discover that you can end up going and facing
Speaker 1: Missouri and you think, oh, LSU in two weeks, We've
Speaker 1: got you know, we got better personnel. And you look
Speaker 1: up and you trail Georgia went to Missouri?
Speaker 2: Was it last year? The year before?
Speaker 1: And you're like, Missouri is kicking their ass. You don't
Speaker 1: get that in the Big Ten. Now, Purdue once rushed
Speaker 1: Ohio State. I think that was an urban team. It
Speaker 1: was like, what is happening?
Speaker 2: I think he had one twenty seventeen. Yeah, the end,
Speaker 2: it was like what was that?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 1: Yeah, but that happens a lot in the SEC where
Speaker 1: you're like, you think it's the game before the game
Speaker 1: and you're you're in Columbia and you're like, we're getting
Speaker 1: pushed around, and and so I don't think Texas and
Speaker 1: Oklahoma you can talk about it, you have to live
Speaker 1: it for a year. That doesn't exist in the Big Ten.
Speaker 1: Whereas Ohio State has significantly better personnel than a good
Speaker 1: program like Wisconsin, like almost every position. So it was
Speaker 1: like you may have had a Penn State rhody in Michigan.
Speaker 1: They kind of match up the differen And so the
Speaker 1: difference is whereas Texas Oklahoma are going to go into
Speaker 1: the SEC and go, all right, we gotta we gotta take.
Speaker 3: A deep breath here.
Speaker 1: This is a little more consistently difficult than we thought.
Speaker 1: I think the inverse is true. I think Ohio State's
Speaker 1: gonna go oh shit at Seattle at Eugene. I think
Speaker 1: the Pac twelve teams going are more creative. I think
Speaker 1: they're much better at home. People have no idea how
Speaker 1: good tough it is to play in Seattle in November.
Speaker 1: Everybody's talking about the cold weather in Purdue. Go to
Speaker 1: Seattle when it's raining November eighteenth. So I think the
Speaker 1: Ohio States, I mean, buck guys don't go to Eugene. No,
Speaker 1: it's fifty eight thousand, it's the loudest stadium I've ever
Speaker 1: been in my life except Gainesville. So I think the Ohio,
Speaker 1: the Big Ten is thinking all these soft teams Washington,
Speaker 1: Oregon plan crappy weather Ohio. UCLA's irrelevant now that Chips
Speaker 1: left USC. Lincoln's very clear. You don't face a lot
Speaker 1: of Lincoln Riley offenses, by the way in the Big Ten.
Speaker 1: So I think the SEC is going to be shocking
Speaker 1: to Texas, Oklahoma. I think the PAC twelve schools, creativity,
Speaker 1: Jedfish Lanning, Lincoln Riley, You're going to find out they're not.
Speaker 1: Iowe perdue that they both of those programs, Oregon and
Speaker 1: USC are buying good players. They have real collectives. So
Speaker 1: that's my take. Your thoughts on that, my take on that.
Speaker 2: I think it's one hundred percent accurate. And we've all
Speaker 2: said and I had got into an argument with a
Speaker 2: buddy of mine who I respect greatly, and I asked him, Hey,
Speaker 2: what kind of style of football will win out in
Speaker 2: the Big Ten and the RPO and the high volume
Speaker 2: offense to that potentially, you know, find its way to
Speaker 2: immediate success in the Big Ten. Or is it going
Speaker 2: to be a line of scrimmage league where hey, you're
Speaker 2: not running it on us, Like, no matter what, I
Speaker 2: don't get you. Look at all the Big Ten teams
Speaker 2: and I don't care if you're Northwestern or if you're
Speaker 2: Michigan State, Like the whole identity of Big Ten football
Speaker 2: is like, you're not running it between the tackles. Like
Speaker 2: we're going to have three hundred and thirty pounds, six
Speaker 2: foot one dudes that grew up on farms that have
Speaker 2: been doing farmers walks with four hundred pound dumbbells for
Speaker 2: twenty years since childhood, and just on a for fun,
Speaker 2: they go bail hey, like you're not moving these defensive tackles.
Speaker 2: So they got to get a little creative in the
Speaker 2: run game from time to time. But that's been the identity.
Speaker 2: The Pac twelve played the game on the perimeter, right.
Speaker 2: It doesn't mean they can't go to toe to toe.
Speaker 2: I mean they can't. They can, but it was a
Speaker 2: perimeter game. And that's why Utah I think found great
Speaker 2: success in the Pac twelve in the last few years
Speaker 2: because they could play the perimeter game. But they really
Speaker 2: were rooted with brass knuckles, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: Like their core was brass force their tight ends to block. Yes,
Speaker 2: So here's the thing that I'm curious about. I don't
Speaker 2: care how bad SC's defense has been. If Iowa has
Speaker 2: to score thirty to win, can they do it? And
Speaker 2: and Iowa is a team that they're in the ap
Speaker 2: top twenty five, like they're a team that I have
Speaker 2: great respect for. But in the event in which hey,
Speaker 2: it's a race to twenty eight, you ready to go?
Speaker 2: I I really don't know how many teams, the Minnesota's
Speaker 2: of the world, the Iowa's of the world, the Illinois
Speaker 2: of the world, how many of those teams are going
Speaker 2: to be comfortable getting into shootouts because I know SC
Speaker 2: will be perfectly fine. Hey, you want to play to fifty,
Speaker 2: We'll go first one there. Yeah, I think Washington will
Speaker 2: be perfectly fine. And that's as well. And the event
Speaker 2: in which the defense is a bad day, the offensive
Speaker 2: step ahead. Are you comfortable getting the forty two to win?
Speaker 2: Because I don't know how many teams at the Big
Speaker 2: ten are The other thing is SC comfortable whinn are
Speaker 2: you game thirteen to ten because you go play a
Speaker 2: team like Nebraska or a team like Iowa and creepy weather.
Speaker 2: If a game that you run into and I don't know,
Speaker 2: will Lincoln get frustrated, Will Lincoln get impatient like he
Speaker 2: did at Oklahoma? And the reason why Iowa State became
Speaker 2: a thing under Matt Campbell is because he could frustrate
Speaker 2: Lincoln Riley because it can never manufacture a big plays.
Speaker 2: They would just play three stageties at the top. You're
Speaker 2: not throwing a deep. You'd to take a bunch of checkdowns.
Speaker 2: And I bet if you have to snap the ball
Speaker 2: seventeen times on an offensive drive, you're gonna get greedy,
Speaker 2: you're gonna get impatient, and you're gonna throw us one.
Speaker 2: So that was kind of the the mo So I
Speaker 2: just think it's gonna be fascinating to see how that
Speaker 2: all works. But I think the Big Ten is probably
Speaker 2: collectively sleeping on how physical the Pac twelve is. Not
Speaker 2: that that's their bread and butter. It's not, and they
Speaker 2: won't be as physical as the teams that they face
Speaker 2: in the Big Ten, but I think that there they
Speaker 2: can go toe to toe more than people are probably
Speaker 2: assuming at the moment. Hey, what's up, everybody?
Speaker 5: John Middlecoff here for the Three and Out podcasts. The
Speaker 5: NFL season is right around the corner, and if you
Speaker 5: want some of the best football content out there. I
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Speaker 5: entire season. Subscribe and follow the Three and Out podcast
Speaker 5: with me John Middlecop on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you
Speaker 5: listen to your podcasts.
Speaker 1: So I want to address something people. I always think
Speaker 1: it's funny because I have defended Jim Harbaugh, who I
Speaker 1: think was viewed as my pesky rival years ago because
Speaker 1: a clunky interview I did, but that was not the truth.
Speaker 1: Behind the scenes, I had reached out to him and
Speaker 1: his family so and Jim's been great that The reason
Speaker 1: I have defended Michigan and Connor Stallions is this, if
Speaker 1: in society we decided suddenly that bank robberies were legal,
Speaker 1: I would have a hard time buying into throwing somebody
Speaker 1: in jail for jaywalking. That the number one thing you're
Speaker 1: you were never allowed to do in college football. It
Speaker 1: was the death penalty was by high school players, by
Speaker 1: any player, But you buying a high school player is
Speaker 1: a death penalty that's now not only legal, it's encouraged.
Speaker 1: It's the model. So I'm not a crooked mustache on
Speaker 1: a sideline pass with a fuzzy iPhone. It just it
Speaker 1: seems ticky tacky. Now is it appropriate? No, it's not appropriate.
Speaker 3: Is there a level two violation? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: But when I read that, of the multitude of level
Speaker 1: two violations, one of them was verifying an Instagram account
Speaker 1: by a Michigan assistant, I'm like, time out, so you
Speaker 1: can get into a bidding war for a sophomore linebacker
Speaker 1: from ann arbor that. So my take has been it's
Speaker 1: all nonsense, is that the culture in the world changed
Speaker 1: and jaywalking doesn't matter to me anymore.
Speaker 3: Let you let.
Speaker 1: Bank robberies now are legal, and we see this stuff
Speaker 1: in tech politics. The world changes. So ten years ago,
Speaker 1: I would have been much more punitive on Michigan, like, hey,
Speaker 1: you can't do that, because you couldn't do anything. Now,
Speaker 1: I'm like, guys, it's bidding wars for high schoolers. I
Speaker 1: don't even care anymore. I really don't care whatever you do,
Speaker 1: you do. So that's my take. Throw it back at.
Speaker 3: Me and why I'm wrong.
Speaker 2: I don't entirely disagree with you. I think that when
Speaker 2: you look at look at the world of coaching through
Speaker 2: a lens of morality. Here probably let's just be honest,
Speaker 2: like it's it's one of those. If you're not cheating,
Speaker 2: you not, you're not trying. If you can't beat them,
Speaker 2: join them. It's like that, it's daw it's eat or
Speaker 2: be eaten. And I'm not condoning what went down at Michigan.
Speaker 2: I will never do that. But here's my thought. And
Speaker 2: I come from the Nick Saban school of personal accountability. Right, Okay,
Speaker 2: this is my own personal opinion. If you steal my signs,
Speaker 2: that's on me. That that's my own personal opinion. Now,
Speaker 2: I played college in the NFL. Every single time I
Speaker 2: was sitting on the sideline, not as a starter. I'm
Speaker 2: trying to steal signs every single time NFL go and
Speaker 2: look twenty thirteen Cincinnati Bengals against New York Jets. I
Speaker 2: had gotten cut by the Jets earlier in the year.
Speaker 2: Gino Smith was playing quarterback, pac Man Jones is playing
Speaker 2: left corner. I'm staying on the sideline. I know Martin
Speaker 2: Morningwig and the entire West coast offen signals. Geno signals
Speaker 2: under to the wide receiver. I tell Batman under under
Speaker 2: pac Man jumps it takes it to the house. All
Speaker 2: is fair. If Marty morning Wagon they know that I
Speaker 2: was with them in camp and I was now on
Speaker 2: the Bengals, and you are going to just keep it
Speaker 2: as is. You're going to keep the same signal if
Speaker 2: I were, if I were Marty morning Egg, this signal
Speaker 2: the under signal, that would have been a stop and go.
Speaker 2: That would have been an under and go because pac
Speaker 2: Man would have jumped it and they would have been
Speaker 2: out the gate for a touchdown. I thin if we
Speaker 2: won that game, like forty nine to seven or something
Speaker 2: along the lines of that, it was a lot too
Speaker 2: a little. So I think back at my career and
Speaker 2: if you wouldn't change your signals and that gave me
Speaker 2: access to them, I would be able to create a
Speaker 2: competitive advantage. No, a bridge too far is using recording
Speaker 2: devices that to me is completely uncalled for and unnecessary.
Speaker 2: But the gamesmanship of stealing signals on game day, that's life.
Speaker 2: And we're trying to get other information about guys that
Speaker 2: might have played there in the past or whatever. And
Speaker 2: if you can get information, say hey, guy transfers from
Speaker 2: Michigan to Ohio State, you think the Ohio State coaches
Speaker 2: aren't asking the player that transferred in from Michigan about
Speaker 2: Michigan schemes. Of course, they are. It's not illegal, but
Speaker 2: it probably wouldn't be very smart for the Michigan coaches
Speaker 2: in that scenario to use the same signals that they
Speaker 2: used when that player was on their team. So I
Speaker 2: think that while it looks really bad in the court
Speaker 2: of public opinion, and while people think it had an
Speaker 2: impact on the integrity of the game, it's hard to
Speaker 2: disagree with that. But also things could have been done
Speaker 2: by the opposing team to not allow Connor Stallion's information
Speaker 2: to become relevant on game day. So that's my whole
Speaker 2: thought process on it. But I think you're I think
Speaker 2: your reasoning for feeling the way you feel is perfectly fine,
Speaker 2: But my reasoning is coming from a player's perspective. We're
Speaker 2: kind of saying the same thing, it's just coming from
Speaker 2: at a slightly different angle.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Ohio State felt two years before it was announced
Speaker 1: it was happening, And my take is, okay, if you're
Speaker 1: not switching stuff up, especially for Michigan.
Speaker 3: It's one thing.
Speaker 1: If you keep some of your signals, but the Michigan
Speaker 1: game is you prepare for that differently, and if you
Speaker 1: knew two years out they were doing it, I don't
Speaker 1: want to see I don't want to hear that you
Speaker 1: know they stole our signs if you don't have to
Speaker 1: your initial point separate signs for the Michigan game. I mean,
Speaker 1: Urban Meyer talks about they were they scouted Michigan. Every
Speaker 1: week you win that game. John Cooper won eleven games
Speaker 1: a year. He couldn't beat Michigan, right, harpball was above
Speaker 1: four years ago he was winning eleven a year. He
Speaker 1: couldn't beat Ohio State. So to me, it's like, if
Speaker 1: you knew about it two years ago and you were
Speaker 1: investigating it, then you had to have been changing your
Speaker 1: signals or you have bad coaches. So I think we
Speaker 1: both get to the same spot is that it's not perfect.
Speaker 1: It's kind of there. But it's murkier than people are saying,
Speaker 1: is what I'm saying. It's it's murkier everybody's stealing signs.
Speaker 1: I love your Marty morning Went stuff because I've had
Speaker 1: role players. The backup quarterback's job in the NFL is it,
Speaker 1: That's it.
Speaker 2: That's why I have an NFL pension. So I was
Speaker 2: good at that. Hey, I couldn't throw it, but I'm
Speaker 2: gonna figure out your signals. I'm gonna know your protection adjustments,
Speaker 2: like we're gonna figure this thing out. It might be
Speaker 2: quarter four before I get it, but I'm gonna try.
Speaker 2: I can promise I'm gonna try.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm gonna let's do. Let's do most overrated underrated
Speaker 1: teams and close it out this way. I think Michigan's
Speaker 1: the most overrated in the in the top twenty five.
Speaker 1: They lost not only depth, they lost like leaders. They
Speaker 1: lost like locker room leaders, you know, fift year seniors.
Speaker 1: They also lost the best quarterback Harballs had who I
Speaker 1: watched him before he got hurt. Meniscus Tear had a
Speaker 1: terrific debut. It's very difficult to lose not only quality starters,
Speaker 1: but veteran quality starters like who who were clubhouse leaders.
Speaker 1: I think Michigan will not be a top twenty team. Overrated,
Speaker 1: I think underrated.
Speaker 3: I I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think Brian Kelly's gonna figure it out. Jas so good,
Speaker 1: He's so good, and I look at all those teams
Speaker 1: above him, and I'm like, yeah, they're not going to
Speaker 1: beat Georgia, maybe Alabama, Ohio State, but people have them eleventh, twelve, thirteenth,
Speaker 1: I'm like, nah, they're better than Utah, and I love Utah.
Speaker 3: They're better than Utah, though.
Speaker 1: Utah returns a guy that's I think has been starting
Speaker 1: quarterback for them for eleven years, Cam Rising. So a
Speaker 1: little underrated, Lsu, a little overrated, a lot overrated Michigan,
Speaker 1: what say you?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm good with the Michigan on the same page there.
Speaker 2: My problem with Michigan is I've just heard a lot
Speaker 2: of buzz and it's hard a little bit with that
Speaker 2: place too. All Right, is this real or is it not.
Speaker 2: I've heard a lot of positive buzz about their offense
Speaker 2: and Alex Orgy and how much he's progressed. And I've
Speaker 2: seen him run. I know he's a superstar with the
Speaker 2: ball in his hands, but I've also only seen him
Speaker 2: throw one pass. I've heard that he's got a monster arm,
Speaker 2: and I tried to watch him in preseason or in
Speaker 2: pregame warm ups every time I've called a Michigan game,
Speaker 2: And when I was on the field, I stood right
Speaker 2: behind him and watched him throw it. I thought Tundle
Speaker 2: threw it pretty good too, by the way, for Michigan,
Speaker 2: so I thought, hey, when JJ leaves, they'll probably going
Speaker 2: to be all right. A quarterback regardless. But I just
Speaker 2: I look at the rest of the top ten. Ohio State,
Speaker 2: They're going to be there, no doubt. So if you're
Speaker 2: going to quantify it as quote overrated, Ohio State's gonna
Speaker 2: be there. George is going to be there there safe bet.
Speaker 2: I think Texas and Oregon are going to be there.
Speaker 2: I think BAM is going to be there. So the
Speaker 2: top five feel very very safe. People have been saying
Speaker 2: Notre Dame look at their schedule, Like Notre Dame, they
Speaker 2: could go nine to three and not be a team
Speaker 2: ranked in the top twenty five.
Speaker 1: By the way end the year on the road in LA.
Speaker 1: And Also, I don't know how good Riley Leonard is.
Speaker 1: I have no idea what he is.
Speaker 2: I know that Mike denbrock th row c though, did
Speaker 2: a pretty good job with Jayden Daniels, whose skill set
Speaker 2: was similar to Riley Leonards when he arrived from Arizona State,
Speaker 2: So I think the development portion of bringing him along.
Speaker 2: Ryley Lembage has been naturally kind of an inaccurate passer
Speaker 2: on the downfield throws that's.
Speaker 1: Got to grow his whole career, his whole crazy wild Yeah.
Speaker 2: Still optimistic though that it's in there because I've seen
Speaker 2: the underneath throws. If you can throw the underneath stuff,
Speaker 2: you can throw the intermediates, you can throw the deeps.
Speaker 2: It's just changing an arm, angled changing the shoulders, changing
Speaker 2: the trajectory. All that. I think den Brock will do
Speaker 2: a pretty good job with them. I really do, because
Speaker 2: I think it's a comparable player to what they brought
Speaker 2: in with Jayden Daniels, and that obviously worked out very well.
Speaker 2: I can't take him out of the top twenty five though.
Speaker 2: Their schedules too manageable. I mean, the toughest games book
Speaker 2: in the season sc and A and M. And people say, well,
Speaker 2: Florida State. I think Florida State going to South Bend
Speaker 2: is a pretty good spot. People say maybe Louisville, Well,
Speaker 2: you don't think Notre Dames had that one circled. They
Speaker 2: got blown out by Louisville last year at their place,
Speaker 2: so I think I think Notre Dame's appropriately ranked ole Miss.
Speaker 2: If people are not on their bandwagon, it's because they
Speaker 2: aren't familiar with what Lane Kiffin's done. From talent acquisition standpoint.
Speaker 2: They're not overrated, they're appropriately rated. You're just not comfortable
Speaker 2: with seeing them ranked that high. Then you look at
Speaker 2: Penn State, They're going to be rock solid. I am
Speaker 2: worried a little about their offense, but their defense will
Speaker 2: keep them minute. Especially with their schedule they have, They're
Speaker 2: gonna be fine. Their schedule's very manageable. In the Pac
Speaker 2: twelve or in the Big ten. I think Missouri, I think,
Speaker 2: is the other that I would say maybe slightly over
Speaker 2: our skis there. So Missouri and Michigan the two that
Speaker 2: I'm just not so sure about. Missouri I think it's eleven,
Speaker 2: Michigan at nine as far as underrated. Now you're gonna
Speaker 2: say I'm crazy. I know this. I'm comfortable with this.
Speaker 2: I've been singing the praises all off season. I did
Speaker 2: this last year for a team and ended up working out.
Speaker 2: I love Miami this year, I love Miami the year
Speaker 2: they coming at number nineteen. Now, a lot of people
Speaker 2: are going to sit there and say, well, it's Miami.
Speaker 2: We do this every year. You know the same people
Speaker 2: that are saying Matt right now are the same people
Speaker 2: that said, well, why are we building up Texas? Like
Speaker 2: Texas hasn't done anything since two thousand and nine. Why
Speaker 2: are you continuing to say that they're going to be
Speaker 2: good this year because they were on paper. Texas going
Speaker 2: into last year was great. Now it's about allowing it
Speaker 2: to come to fruition. Miami on paper is great now,
Speaker 2: it's just about can they take the next step as
Speaker 2: a program and not beat themselves. This was one of
Speaker 2: the best teams in America in the first half of
Speaker 2: the season last year, and they turned the ball over
Speaker 2: against Georgia Tech, give up the big play on the
Speaker 2: fumble and the couple touchdown. You know, then they end
Speaker 2: up that has a huge ripple effect throughout the rest
Speaker 2: of the season. Tyler Van Dyke can't shake the turnover
Speaker 2: woes and he gets benched. Then they give Florida State
Speaker 2: all they want, and then their starter who replaced Van
Speaker 2: Dyke gets hurt. Van Dyke's back in the lineup. I mean,
Speaker 2: it was just it was a disastrous season last year.
Speaker 2: They've upgraded a quarterback with cam Ward. He doesn't turn
Speaker 2: it over. They couldn't score in the red zone with
Speaker 2: any regularity last year. Well, what helps in the red
Speaker 2: zone quarterback run game. Cam Ward can run it. They
Speaker 2: went and got the best running back available in the
Speaker 2: portal in Damian Martinez and that was kind of a
Speaker 2: revolving door of players last year with three or four
Speaker 2: different guys. We're all solid. None have rushed for twelve
Speaker 2: hundred yards in the season like Damian Martinez did last year.
Speaker 2: The offensive line was a strength last year. It's strength
Speaker 2: again to get their top two wide outs back. Defensively,
Speaker 2: they have the best edge defender in the ACC who's
Speaker 2: only going into his sophomore year in ruben Bain. They
Speaker 2: added three more five stars and a couple guys in
Speaker 2: the portal like they are stocked. The one question mark
Speaker 2: is the secondary, and by all accounts, that group is
Speaker 2: playing well above what they anticipated at this point of
Speaker 2: the season. So I think Miami people are gonna be
Speaker 2: I think people are going to look at them and say, well,
Speaker 2: we're just here. We are again. We always pump up
Speaker 2: the blue blotz. I think Miami's extremely capable with the
Speaker 2: personnel they have, and I'd be surprised if they're not
Speaker 2: in the mix in the ACC and ultimately in the
Speaker 2: mix of the playoff.
Speaker 1: Greg McElroy, what a pleasure to see you rushed it.
Speaker 1: You are as thorough and as entertaining and fair, and
Speaker 1: that's that's the thing college football can be regional and tribal.
Speaker 1: Despite the fact that you live in the South and
Speaker 1: cover uh, you know the sec I've always thought in
Speaker 1: a sport that is often way too regional, you are
Speaker 1: the king of common sense and I just love.
Speaker 3: You, really are.
Speaker 2: You know your that means a lot.
Speaker 3: No, you know your stuff.
Speaker 1: You really bring a lot of credibility in my opinion
Speaker 1: to what you do because I have to cover everything.
Speaker 1: I'm a mile wide, you're a mile deep, and your
Speaker 1: knowledge is just supreme. You're really great, and I just
Speaker 1: I think I hope the audience enjoyed this as much
Speaker 1: as I did.
Speaker 3: Buddy.
Speaker 2: Well, it's always so great to visit with you, and
Speaker 2: I told you already in the interview. Thank you for
Speaker 2: all you do for college football. It really means a lot.
Speaker 2: I don't say that in your tongue in cheek either,
Speaker 2: Like you could cover the NFL three hours a day,
Speaker 2: and the fact that you carve out a little slice
Speaker 2: for college football almost every day, it means a lot.
Speaker 2: And you do so much for us in the fall,
Speaker 2: so we appre hit the coverage you give us.
Speaker 1: Good seeing you man, Good to see you, buddy the volume.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed the podcast,
Speaker 1: take a moment, rate and review