Speaker 1: Welcome to the solid verbal.
Speaker 2: I'm that for me, I'm a man, I'm forty.
Speaker 3: I've heard so many players say, well, I want to
Speaker 3: be happy.
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Speaker 1: Hey everybody, and welcome to the bonus. Only Homers allowed,
Speaker 1: which we of course named after this, but.
Speaker 3: You let in Homer Clublet look it just no Homeers.
Speaker 3: We're allowed to have one.
Speaker 2: I feel so lift yoed.
Speaker 1: And today, as you already know because you've looked at
Speaker 1: the name of the episode you've downloaded or are streaming
Speaker 1: this episode, we are talking about LSU. And we're not
Speaker 1: just talking about LSU because the Alabama game is tomorrow,
Speaker 1: I guess depending on when you're actually listening to this.
Speaker 1: If you're listening to this in like mid January, congratulations,
Speaker 1: I appreciate your patience and just savoring this like a
Speaker 1: nice old bottle of wine. But for everybody else, this
Speaker 1: isn't really about the Alabama game. This is just about
Speaker 1: you know, nine weeks into the season, we stand here
Speaker 1: with LSU at seven and one, with some pretty big,
Speaker 1: if not unexpected wins. I think seven of the eight
Speaker 1: teams that they've beaten our FBS teams with winning records,
Speaker 1: which is a pretty crazy accomplishment. Not that LSU can
Speaker 1: necessarily control how good their opponents are, but they can
Speaker 1: definitely control which side of the win and lost column
Speaker 1: they end up at the end of sixty minutes, and
Speaker 1: LSU certainly has done a very good job of that
Speaker 1: for a number of reasons, which we are now going
Speaker 1: to get into with Sports illustrateds Ross Dellinger, who of
Speaker 1: course has covered LSU for many, many years and is
Speaker 1: now on sort of a national beat for SI, but
Speaker 1: still incredibly connected and insightful with all things LSU, so
Speaker 1: he was sort of a no brainer to have on
Speaker 1: to talk about the Tigers. So as we get into
Speaker 1: that momentarily, just a friendly reminder you can follow us
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Speaker 1: our stories. We're going to be releasing some new shirts
Speaker 1: here very soon. I know we've said that many times.
Speaker 1: I swear we do mean it, and you will know
Speaker 1: and you will find out if you follow us on
Speaker 1: Twitter or Instagram or Facebook. We will alert you to
Speaker 1: that we've done a couple of these Homer shows a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago at Jeff Schwartz of a number
Speaker 1: of different places but including the Action Network and some
Speaker 1: radio appearances as a host. He hosts radio. That's good,
Speaker 1: good for Jeff because he's really good at it. And
Speaker 1: last week Mike Golick Junior with Ty talking about all
Speaker 1: things Notre Dame and a little bit of caffeine, did
Speaker 1: a great job. Love Mike Golick Junior as well. We're
Speaker 1: going to break our offensive line streak, our former offensive
Speaker 1: lineman streak here though, with Ross Dollinger who still is
Speaker 1: in Baton Rouge and does a great job and excited
Speaker 1: to talk to him. So why don't we just go
Speaker 1: into that. And with that, we are now joined by
Speaker 1: Sports illustrateds Ross Dellinger. I'm sorry, I only read your name.
Speaker 1: I don't know how to pronounce it. If I'm pronouncing
Speaker 1: it correctly, is that right?
Speaker 2: You did? You got it right? Yes?
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. That's a relief who obviously covered LSU
Speaker 1: for a long time down in Baton Rouge, but is
Speaker 1: now covering all sorts of stories around college football. Four
Speaker 1: Sports illustrated, but still based in Baton Rouge. So I figured,
Speaker 1: you know what, this is a great option. This is
Speaker 1: somebody who probably has a lot of thoughts and a
Speaker 1: lot of insights. So I will start right here with
Speaker 1: LSU's I think surprise season to some Are you surprised
Speaker 1: by LSU's success thus far this season?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I am. I probably wasn't quite as down on
Speaker 3: them as some others were, but I did not certainly
Speaker 3: expect them to be seven to one right now. You know,
Speaker 3: the games against Florida, Auburn, Georgia in Miami, those four games,
Speaker 3: I didn't expect them to go three and one in
Speaker 3: those games, you know, at best, I was thinking they
Speaker 3: would go too and one of those games and be
Speaker 3: sitting here at six and two and really got missed
Speaker 3: the state too, And they were supposed to be a
Speaker 3: really good team in in the season, so.
Speaker 2: You throw them in and so yeah, I did not
Speaker 2: expect them to be seven and one, probably at best
Speaker 2: six and two. And I would have probably my pick
Speaker 2: would have been something like five and three right now,
Speaker 2: you know. So I didn't expect them to be this
Speaker 2: this uh this.
Speaker 3: Strong, you know, and and and I think the real
Speaker 3: big difference, as crazy as it sounds. As a kicker, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, they got a Division two kicker transfer to
Speaker 3: come in.
Speaker 2: I think else you missed the most field goals of
Speaker 2: any program in the nation last year.
Speaker 3: They missed eleven, and they got a kicker to come in,
Speaker 3: a transfer kicker. And I said it was Ron says,
Speaker 3: when they get in, so when they get past the
Speaker 3: thirty five yard line, they know they.
Speaker 2: Have three points. And he's been incredible.
Speaker 3: And he's he's really helped them tremendously in pretty.
Speaker 2: Much every game you can look.
Speaker 3: I mean, he made four field goals in one game
Speaker 3: five and the other he's he made the he made
Speaker 3: the game winning kick against Auburn.
Speaker 2: He's been incredible. And they've always had a good defense
Speaker 2: with Dave Randon.
Speaker 3: When you throw a kicker in in an offense that
Speaker 3: is a little more versatile than it's been in the past,
Speaker 3: so it's throwing some different things out there, you get
Speaker 3: a team that's pretty good.
Speaker 1: On that note, how did the cold Tracy thing happen?
Speaker 1: Not that LSU was out scouring the sort of grad
Speaker 1: transfer market in any sort of shady way, but what
Speaker 1: was there a connection? Was there you know, enthusiasm from
Speaker 1: Cold Tracy in his camp. I guess to get into
Speaker 1: a high level program. You don't see that specific kind
Speaker 1: of jump all that often.
Speaker 3: No, it actually goes back to Los Angeles. Cold Tracy
Speaker 3: is from out in California and LSU's special teams coordinator,
Speaker 3: who had been in the NFL for years, had kind
Speaker 3: of put out feelers that.
Speaker 2: They were looking for a grad transfer. He put out
Speaker 2: some feelers to scouts in NFL, scouts and others.
Speaker 3: And coaches and someone I mean his name, I'm missing
Speaker 3: his name, but he's a special teams coordinator I.
Speaker 2: Believe in Iowa State, and he is.
Speaker 3: He played, he played at USC and he actually played
Speaker 3: under Origeron I believe in the late nineties of Pete
Speaker 3: Carroll Era.
Speaker 2: And so there was that little connection there.
Speaker 3: He and he got he knew of Cold Tracy from California,
Speaker 3: Cold LSU.
Speaker 2: LSU you know, reached out or what not to Assumption.
Speaker 3: College and Cold Tracy at Division two school up in Massachusetts,
Speaker 3: and boom, you know, he ends up arriving arriving at
Speaker 3: LSU within a few months of being contacted.
Speaker 2: And he was a grad transfer.
Speaker 3: So he plays immediately and he had one year of eligibility,
Speaker 3: and yeah, he's been incredible for him. I think he's
Speaker 3: missed two or three field goals. I don't know exactly
Speaker 3: his numbers. He's around twenty twenty two makes something like that.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's been been pretty incredible. Set of LSU
Speaker 3: record made Bob field goals in a game earlier this year.
Speaker 2: I think it was against Missippi State. It's just been, Uh,
Speaker 2: he's been incredible, I really have.
Speaker 1: All Right, we'll stay on the topic of grad transfers obviously,
Speaker 1: because a huge story was Joe Burrow's arrival and performance
Speaker 1: thus far. As they've won a lot of games, what
Speaker 1: is the what would you say, is there is there
Speaker 1: a consensus about Joe Burrow's season thus far with you know,
Speaker 1: amongst the people whose eyeballs are most trained on him, coaches, fans,
Speaker 1: anybody in general. Is there a general feeling of like,
Speaker 1: he's not the most consistent guy, but he's definitely a
Speaker 1: timely guy and he's ours. Is there any sense like that?
Speaker 3: Well, I think you know, what what LSU wanted in
Speaker 3: a quarterback is honestly, it's somebody that they've had in
Speaker 3: the past. As crazy as that sounds they want somebody
Speaker 3: who just manages the game well, doesn't make mistakes. They
Speaker 3: know they have some pretty good skilled players around Joe,
Speaker 3: and they always have a solid running game, even though
Speaker 3: they didn't return a big running back, so they just
Speaker 3: kind of needed that guy with with that so called
Speaker 3: you know, moxie and that leadership skill and that ability
Speaker 3: to make plays with the steel a little bit and
Speaker 3: not turn the ball over. And Joe has checked all
Speaker 3: of those boxes, specifically the leadership.
Speaker 2: Kind of moxie box.
Speaker 3: And his numbers aren't great, and they don't, you know, ELSI,
Speaker 3: because because this defense is so good, it's running game
Speaker 3: is always so strong, they don't really need the numbers
Speaker 3: to be great.
Speaker 2: I think deeper into Edwards tenure.
Speaker 3: Here two three years from now, I think you would
Speaker 3: like a quarterback that can make.
Speaker 2: A little more plays and have a little more passing game.
Speaker 2: But right now this is suiting them.
Speaker 3: And Joe hasn't made a lot of turnovers, but more so,
Speaker 3: he's really kind of won the team and he's uh,
Speaker 3: you know, with his leadership and and just his his
Speaker 3: his ability to be that gritty kind of player who
Speaker 3: in key situations makes plays. So his stats aren't great,
Speaker 3: but in key situations he makes plays and he's got
Speaker 3: that kind of leadership ability. And again across the ball
Speaker 3: from him, the defense is so strong that he doesn't
Speaker 3: need to go out and be crazy. And he's got
Speaker 3: a great kicker that yeah, that they feel comfortable when
Speaker 3: they cross that thirty five yard line if they have
Speaker 3: at least three points. So all that kind of helps
Speaker 3: him be the player that he is.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned in two three years, because Burrow will
Speaker 1: be back next year, has another year of eligibility in
Speaker 1: two three years, Coach O and the offensive staff imagine
Speaker 1: or picture or have excuse me a vision for what
Speaker 1: perhaps the quarterback of the future looks like for LSU
Speaker 1: or the system the scheme of the future looks like
Speaker 1: for LSU. Are we in a a one point zero
Speaker 1: of this offense with you know, the transition from from
Speaker 1: Matt Canada to Steve Ensminger And if so, what is
Speaker 1: that grand vision? Does this offense look appreciably different in
Speaker 1: two or three years with time?
Speaker 3: Well, it's it's weird because when when Nano's run took over,
Speaker 3: he preached to having you know, a balanced offense with
Speaker 3: a passing threat that ls who hadn't had in.
Speaker 2: A few years.
Speaker 3: He kind of wanted that, and he wanted more of
Speaker 3: a spread offense. They are slowly slowly making their way
Speaker 3: toward that spread scheme and you can see it. Actually,
Speaker 3: Nick Saban talked about it earlier this week. He said,
Speaker 3: this is unlike any LSHI team we've ever faced. They
Speaker 3: don't just run the ball over and over again. It
Speaker 3: was kind of a I'm sure he didn't mean it,
Speaker 3: but it was kind of a.
Speaker 2: Slap in the face of Less miles. But you know,
Speaker 2: but it is.
Speaker 3: LSU was slowly getting there where they're starting to spread
Speaker 3: the ball out a little more. They're starting to spread
Speaker 3: the field a little more. We're seeing four or five
Speaker 3: receiver sets, We're seeing some spread concepts that Less did
Speaker 3: run a whole lot, and even Edwards running them didn't
Speaker 3: run a whole lot last year or even during his
Speaker 3: interim season. So we're seeing them slowly get toward, you know,
Speaker 3: transitioning the offense from more of an archaic I formation,
Speaker 3: run heavy to this kind of spread deal and it's
Speaker 3: just going.
Speaker 2: To take time, you know. That's the thing.
Speaker 3: It's like switching a difference from a four to three
Speaker 3: to three four which LSU did also the last few years.
Speaker 3: It takes two or three years to get there, to
Speaker 3: get the personnel, and I think we're slowly seeing that start.
Speaker 3: And you know, as far as the quarterback, you know,
Speaker 3: a lot of the offense too will be dictated on
Speaker 3: the quarterback and what they're recruiting for who they get
Speaker 3: in the next few years.
Speaker 2: So still a lot remains to be seen.
Speaker 3: But you can tell this offense and what Saban said
Speaker 3: was really kelling earlier.
Speaker 2: This week and that this is a much different offense.
Speaker 3: They use a lot of different formations.
Speaker 2: They spread you out a little more.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the the defensive shift from a four three
Speaker 1: to three four. Of course under Dave Randa when he
Speaker 1: was hired under previous regime and at Orizron was tasked
Speaker 1: with helping to execute Dave Randa's vision and is now
Speaker 1: Dave Randa's boss, retaining Miranda, who's obviously done a much
Speaker 1: more powerful job, a really good job than anything else.
Speaker 1: What is the dynamic, like, you know, going from somebody
Speaker 1: an assistant in having had Oorzron be hit one of
Speaker 1: his assistants, to now being his boss. What is that
Speaker 1: that interpersonal situation like between coach O and Dave Randa.
Speaker 2: That's a great question for Dave Randy if only we
Speaker 2: were able to talk to him around that. As most
Speaker 2: schools shut off their their assistance, LSU does so as well.
Speaker 2: But you know, Dave, I do.
Speaker 3: I've covered the team long enough where I know that
Speaker 3: Dave and Ed's relationship has always been pretty dang good.
Speaker 3: They have been in really the relationship Dave had with
Speaker 3: a lot of people, it's really good. Dave is a
Speaker 3: kind of very laid back, chill guy, very kind of quiet,
Speaker 3: cerebral approach to everything, and so he's kind of the
Speaker 3: ying to.
Speaker 2: Edwards runs Yang I mean and his loud, screaming motivational.
Speaker 2: So they're kind of the opposite in in a lot
Speaker 2: of ways. I think that's a good thing.
Speaker 3: And they have I think they have they have. The
Speaker 3: marriage between those two has been.
Speaker 2: Been really solid, and you know, it.
Speaker 3: Speaks to how important Dave Miranda is to this football program.
Speaker 3: When you look back at January and what happened, you know,
Speaker 3: Texas and m came in and tried to poach Dave
Speaker 3: and gave you know, throughout a lot of money, and
Speaker 3: LSU threw out more or just as much. And Dave
Speaker 3: is now the highest paid defensive quarter in the nation
Speaker 3: two and a half million dollars a year, so he
Speaker 3: basically got a million.
Speaker 2: Dollar raise out of that, that out of A and
Speaker 2: M's interest.
Speaker 3: And for unless you to do that, to really pony
Speaker 3: up like that to tell you all you need to
Speaker 3: know about one David D's relationship into how important school
Speaker 3: leaders think, including at Orizon, I think Dave Randa, how
Speaker 3: important Dave A.
Speaker 2: Randa is to this place. They knew they couldn't lose.
Speaker 1: Him in terms of and this is more of the
Speaker 1: micro in terms of developments which I guess position group
Speaker 1: and really coach an assistant to you has stood out
Speaker 1: in its improvements and success. Really nine weeks in.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, Jerry Sullivan was hired over the offseason.
Speaker 2: He's an old time, longtime.
Speaker 3: Receivers coach in the NFL and he really people around.
Speaker 2: Here kind of rave about him.
Speaker 3: He was a consultant last year and then promoted him
Speaker 3: to It's kind of like a passing game coordinator slash
Speaker 3: receivers coach, and you know from it and I don't
Speaker 3: necessarily know if I could tell this from just watching
Speaker 3: video and games and things like that.
Speaker 2: But you just hear about people's talk.
Speaker 3: Around the program about his influence on the receivers, and
Speaker 3: you do see a couple of receivers, you know, like
Speaker 3: Justin Jefferson LS who's leading receiver.
Speaker 2: I mean, he was a three three star kid that.
Speaker 3: Barely qualified, joined the team late a couple of years ago,
Speaker 3: and he's now, you know, leading LSU. He's the go
Speaker 3: to kind of guy, and for Jerry to kind of
Speaker 3: have molded him has been really impressive. So you know,
Speaker 3: I mean, he's he's probably been one of the more
Speaker 3: impressive assistance.
Speaker 2: And then you got to look at Stevensening or two,
Speaker 2: and he hadn't been a full time offensive.
Speaker 3: Coordinator in almost twenty years really, and Edward Ron gave
Speaker 3: him this chance in his home state, both ed and
Speaker 3: Stever they're pretty close in the boat from Louisiana, and
Speaker 3: he gave him this chance, and you know, he's he's
Speaker 3: been doing a solid guy. I mean, they're not enough
Speaker 3: the scoreboard, but they're doing just enough.
Speaker 1: If you were to look through your mentions on a Saturday,
Speaker 1: and really why would you, But if you were to
Speaker 1: to dip into that feed, where do you sense the
Speaker 1: typical LSU fan is most excited and most disappointed with
Speaker 1: this team. And it's hard to be too disappointed, granted
Speaker 1: with the record and the teams that they've beaten, but
Speaker 1: whe's where's the excitement, where's the disappointment?
Speaker 3: Well, right now, given the Devin White situation, they're most
Speaker 3: disappointed with the SEC offense. Yep.
Speaker 2: But you know, as far as just the.
Speaker 3: Team, you know, I well, first of all, they had
Speaker 3: completely rallied behind the new quarterback Joe Burrow in the
Speaker 3: new kicker, Cold Tracy. They know those two people, of
Speaker 3: those two players have been essential to this run.
Speaker 2: And so I think, you know, there's a lot.
Speaker 3: Of my mentions flooded with with with comments about those
Speaker 3: you know, good comments about those two players.
Speaker 2: Where where I.
Speaker 3: Think there could be a struggle is the same spot
Speaker 3: in a lot of ways, that has been a struggle
Speaker 3: here at times and has just been kind of a
Speaker 3: lightning rod throughout college football. Every fan base is the
Speaker 3: offensive line.
Speaker 2: And you see that here. I mean that that's the.
Speaker 3: Offensive line is is is criticized pretty heavily. They've they've
Speaker 3: gone through a lot of injuries here. I think they've
Speaker 3: played I want to say four or five different started
Speaker 3: four or five different sets of offensive line and in the.
Speaker 2: Eight games this year, so it's been kind of a
Speaker 2: maligned group.
Speaker 3: So I would probably point to that, you know as maybe,
Speaker 3: uh maybe a weakness somewhat that LSU fans kind of
Speaker 3: jump on the team.
Speaker 1: For fair And I think it was you who did this,
Speaker 1: maybe you had retweeted or something, But looking at the
Speaker 1: recent signees at quarterback and what became of them over
Speaker 1: these last few years, because LSU has sort of infamously
Speaker 1: and this isn't necessarily unique to the Tigers, but there's
Speaker 1: been a lot of wash out at quarterback just as
Speaker 1: it's become a very difficult position to evaluate and develop.
Speaker 1: Does the future look brighter with some continuity with Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow for a couple of years that they're not going
Speaker 1: to rely on anybody particularly young? What does I guess
Speaker 1: the longer term future at quarterback look like? And is
Speaker 1: there reason for optimism?
Speaker 2: Well, you know, behind Joe is Miles Brennan.
Speaker 3: He's a sophomore, very highly ready to sophomore from the
Speaker 3: Mississippi Coast that many people.
Speaker 2: Thought would probably be the starter this year before Joe
Speaker 2: came in. And so I think there's still.
Speaker 3: Some hope there that that Miles can after Joe leaves
Speaker 3: take over. I think the issue is, you know, if
Speaker 3: Miles wasn't ready this year and they had to bring
Speaker 3: in Joe, what does.
Speaker 2: That say about Miles.
Speaker 3: So there's there's some maybe some concern there beyond that
Speaker 3: it looks actually not great because you you lost to
Speaker 3: Justin McMillan in.
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, his name is escaping me.
Speaker 3: But two quarterbacks trains, two scholarship quarterbacks trans for this summer.
Speaker 3: So elis she's only got two quarterback, two scholarship quarterbacks on.
Speaker 2: The team right now.
Speaker 3: It's Joe and it's Miles and and uh man, it's
Speaker 3: it's uh so you're in a pickle.
Speaker 2: You you need to sign some quarterbacks. So that is
Speaker 2: all eyes.
Speaker 3: Are kind of on that on the recruiting chair trail,
Speaker 3: I mean, and it was run has got to get
Speaker 3: himself stocked up there at the quarterback position. We all know,
Speaker 3: uh that that's a position that the attrition.
Speaker 2: Uh is, is always an issue and it has been
Speaker 2: for l s U.
Speaker 3: And it's come back this summer when when those two
Speaker 3: players left, so not.
Speaker 2: That they were going to play a whole lot but
Speaker 2: they still added depth. And you know, and if the
Speaker 2: thing is is, you know, Elsie's offense is constantly.
Speaker 3: Changing, and they haven't really said on on one thing.
Speaker 2: And and you know Steve Innjminer's future and he's he's
Speaker 2: a little older. You got to wonder how long he's
Speaker 2: he's going to go.
Speaker 3: So I'm not sure if they even know exactly what
Speaker 3: direction they want to go in the future with a quarterback,
Speaker 3: and so that that's an issue, and that's something that man,
Speaker 3: that that is that is certainly being watched.
Speaker 2: Is what else she's going to do the future at
Speaker 2: quarterback or position here? As you mentioned, it's just just
Speaker 2: always maligned. It seems like, do.
Speaker 1: You get the sense that because there seems to be
Speaker 1: more consistency, more job security for ed Orgeron, you know,
Speaker 1: this far into the season, performing like Elis who has
Speaker 1: has thus far, then certainly where Elis who was last year,
Speaker 1: the beginning of this year, you know, the tail end
Speaker 1: of less miles tenure where rumors sort of dogged him
Speaker 1: for the last couple of two three years about his
Speaker 1: job security. Do you get the feeling that recruits are
Speaker 1: more confident in a more stable LSU moving forward, Well,
Speaker 1: I would.
Speaker 3: Think so, you know, I mean I haven't talked to
Speaker 3: any necessarily, but I would think that they would see
Speaker 3: that there is a more of a stable foundation.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, LSU lost.
Speaker 3: I just did a story on a bunch of recruits
Speaker 3: that LSU has lost Alabama over the years and how
Speaker 3: that a lot of times results in this seven game
Speaker 3: losing streak against the Tide, And one of them was
Speaker 3: this past year. Patrick Hutan, the cornerback from Florida, and
Speaker 3: I remember his dad going on record saying that his
Speaker 3: son basically chose the more stable coach and Nick Staban
Speaker 3: instead of ed Orgeron, where.
Speaker 2: Everybody thought that.
Speaker 3: Patrick certain was going to come to LSU had been
Speaker 3: leaning that way for two years or more, and he
Speaker 3: went to Alabama in you know, and I think it
Speaker 3: was all because of the coach's stability.
Speaker 2: So they do lose recruits because of that, and.
Speaker 3: I think that prospects should probably start seeing, especially given
Speaker 3: what's happened the first eight games this year, that things
Speaker 3: are a little more stable around here than maybe they thought.
Speaker 1: So LSU currently has more and I looked it up.
Speaker 1: I did the research. They currently have more out of
Speaker 1: state commits than Louisiana commits. Is that a result of
Speaker 1: a conscious focus shift from the coaches and coach oh
Speaker 1: or is that sort of by chance, because that's not
Speaker 1: that hasn't always been or generally isn't the case when
Speaker 1: you look at these last few classes.
Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, we actually did like a real big, deep
Speaker 3: deep dive on the last ten years in LSU recruiting.
Speaker 2: And they usually.
Speaker 3: Get about fifty five to six of their signing classes
Speaker 3: are from Louisiana, and so they do go out of
Speaker 3: state more than you might think now that for them
Speaker 3: to be for them to have more out of centers
Speaker 3: than Louisiana, and I'll have to go back and look,
Speaker 3: but that's rarely happened.
Speaker 2: And I wonder if down the stretch here that won't.
Speaker 3: Even back out and they'll get a few laid Louisiana.
Speaker 3: But you know the thing about ed Oorzron is you
Speaker 3: know he's they're going to go out and uh while
Speaker 3: they want to lock down the state and all that,
Speaker 3: they're going to go out and get the best players.
Speaker 3: And they've made a focus on East Texas and LSU's
Speaker 3: focused there for a while.
Speaker 2: Houston is a huge hub for them. Uh, the Dallas area,
Speaker 2: all that area.
Speaker 3: They almost they almost view it as in Louisiana and Houston,
Speaker 3: especially that Elshie's biggest alumni, I guess grouping outside of
Speaker 3: Louisiana and Houston, so they go there a lot, and
Speaker 3: you know, they want to spread the brand. I think
Speaker 3: Ed wants to spread the brand and maybe.
Speaker 2: You're you're seeing that a little bit with the with
Speaker 2: the outside kind of recruits.
Speaker 3: He's you know, getting out and spreading the brand a
Speaker 3: little bit.
Speaker 1: Obviously this can change on a dime. And this is
Speaker 1: my last question, but has Coacho won over this fan
Speaker 1: base that is, like any other fan base, pretty much
Speaker 1: always impossible to please.
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially down here. It's you know, Les Mils won
Speaker 2: the national.
Speaker 3: Championship in two thousand and seven and LSU and I
Speaker 3: think eight and five the next year in two thousand
Speaker 3: and eight, and literally there were people who.
Speaker 2: Wanted him to be fired. And it's just it's crazy here.
Speaker 3: So even a national championship here can't quite save you.
Speaker 3: But you've got at least you gotta at least get there.
Speaker 2: And that's the I don't think Ed's gonna win over
Speaker 2: this fan base.
Speaker 3: Until he at least reaches that point where he's playing
Speaker 3: for a championship, whether i'd be the SEC and the
Speaker 3: national championship, and at that point, then the next step
Speaker 3: you have.
Speaker 2: To win it, you know, And until those things happen,
Speaker 2: I don't think he's won.
Speaker 3: Over quite one over any And honestly, beating Alabama is.
Speaker 2: Huge and it's something that you.
Speaker 3: Know, cost his predecessor his job less miles and he
Speaker 3: you know, Ed was hired to beat to win championships,
Speaker 3: and to win championships, you gotta beat Alabama. So it's
Speaker 3: a big game and I think Ed could certainly win
Speaker 3: over a little bit of portion of the fan base
Speaker 3: hit if the Tigers were to win Saturday.
Speaker 1: Okay, and here's my actual final question, because I always
Speaker 1: like to finish on food because I'm a dork and
Speaker 1: that's just how I live. You are in Baton Rouge.
Speaker 1: The game of the century, of the millennium is being
Speaker 1: played tomorrow excuse me, in a couple of days as
Speaker 1: we record this on Thursday. But people will be coming in,
Speaker 1: not just to Alabama fans, not Stells fans, fans of
Speaker 1: just big college football atmospheres. Where should they eat in
Speaker 1: Baton Rouge?
Speaker 3: Oh, there's just so many great places early are, I
Speaker 3: mean South Louisiana. You know, it's hard to pick one,
Speaker 3: but sure a few Alabama reporters are coming in.
Speaker 2: I'm taking them.
Speaker 3: And I always take, you know, out out outside reporters
Speaker 3: who come in to this to one place, and it's
Speaker 3: called pot Rands. It's a it's a restaurant on Perkins
Speaker 3: Road in Baton Rouge, and it just very kind of
Speaker 3: the quintessential Louisiana fair in kind of a Louisiana setting.
Speaker 2: They have the you know, all the.
Speaker 3: Gulf seafood, fresh fish and the raw oysters and the
Speaker 3: barbecue kind of oysters, and so it's it's a great place.
Speaker 3: And so I would recommend that the one. You know,
Speaker 3: when you're in Louisiana, you want to eat.
Speaker 2: True South Louisiana food in that setting. And that's a
Speaker 2: good one.
Speaker 1: I just googled it as you were describing it, and
Speaker 1: I want nothing more than to go there. That's p
Speaker 1: A R r AI n apostrophe as looks like there's
Speaker 1: a good outdoor area. Holy hell, that looks good. Ross Allinger,
Speaker 1: thank you very much for your time. Everybody follow Ross
Speaker 1: on Twitter if you aren't doing so already what's wrong
Speaker 1: with you? Read his stuff on SI dot com Sports Illustrated. Ross,
Speaker 1: thank you very much for coming on, and we'll have
Speaker 1: to have you on again, all right, thank you? So
Speaker 1: there it is. There it was Ross Ellinger of SI.
Speaker 1: Let us know which team we should do a Homer's
Speaker 1: Only Homers Allowed show about moving forward as we head
Speaker 1: into the stretch run of the season. A lot of
Speaker 1: interesting stories and developments about damn near every team in
Speaker 1: college football, so let us know who we should hit
Speaker 1: next with our Only Homers Allowed series. I really enjoy
Speaker 1: doing them because I think I speak for Tie here
Speaker 1: as well. We don't have time to deep dive teams,
Speaker 1: you know, on these preview and recap shows, just because
Speaker 1: there's so much action to get into. And also we
Speaker 1: have to talk about Tie almost becoming a weatherman as
Speaker 1: often as possible in getting now I think we're going
Speaker 1: to have his forecasts for games, so we're already trying
Speaker 1: to squeeze in a good amount here. So we will
Speaker 1: keep doing these only Homers Allowed shows because we want to.
Speaker 1: And it seems like you like them, at least if
Speaker 1: you like the team we're talking about on that show.
Speaker 1: So thanks again, for listening. We are going to be
Speaker 1: obviously here every Wednesday and Sunday throughout the season and
Speaker 1: hopefully keep these shows dropping on Friday morning. So for
Speaker 1: Ty who was not on this show because he definitely
Speaker 1: has a day job that's very secret, and for Ross Ellinger,
Speaker 1: thank you very much for listening. This is Dan, so
Speaker 1: stay solid and peace.