1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:05,200
Speaker 1: On today's episode, Arkansas, Missouri and West Virginia. What's it

2
00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:08,600
Speaker 1: going to take for each football program to level up?

3
00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:15,960
Speaker 1: Welcome to the solid verbal. Hell that for me, I'm

4
00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,760
Speaker 1: a man, I'm forty. I've heard so many players say, well,

5
00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:19,720
Speaker 1: I want to be happy.

6
00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:22,080
Speaker 2: You want to be happy? For Dake Edo State?

7
00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:28,639
Speaker 1: Is that? Woo woof? And them and tie? Welcome back

8
00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,360
Speaker 1: to the solid verbal, Boys and girls. My name is

9
00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:35,040
Speaker 1: Ti Hillebrand. His name is always, the illustrious, the incomparable.

10
00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:40,159
Speaker 1: Dan Rubinstein, part of the Midwest Chicago, Illinois stopped at

11
00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:42,160
Speaker 1: five all in the third set of his tennis match

12
00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:42,720
Speaker 1: last night.

13
00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:44,839
Speaker 2: Yeah we got kicking off, kicked off the court at

14
00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:45,280
Speaker 2: ten pm.

15
00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:47,720
Speaker 1: It happened, kicked off the court at ten pm. Nonetheless,

16
00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:49,880
Speaker 1: this is a football show, Dan, And how are you today?

17
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:51,560
Speaker 1: Good to have you back? I'm good.

18
00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:53,559
Speaker 2: I really like the theme if I if I can

19
00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:55,760
Speaker 2: pat myself on the back for a second, I really

20
00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,320
Speaker 2: like the theme for this series of episodes because to me,

21
00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,080
Speaker 2: and I've said this before, life is about accomplishments, right,

22
00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:07,520
Speaker 2: many accomplishments, medium sized accomplishments, major accomplishments. And even though

23
00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:09,440
Speaker 2: we're not doing a like what'll it take for this

24
00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:11,679
Speaker 2: team or that team to get bowl eligible or get

25
00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,280
Speaker 2: to four wins or whatever, get to respectability. I like benchmarks,

26
00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,360
Speaker 2: right that. Okay, I'm not gonna dunk. I'm gonna tap backboard, right.

27
00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:25,279
Speaker 2: I like benchmarks on a pathway to success. And so again,

28
00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,000
Speaker 2: it's springtime, the sun is out. I'm ready to have

29
00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,839
Speaker 2: a positive outlook, because that's what that's what this time

30
00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:32,160
Speaker 2: is for.

31
00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:32,520
Speaker 3: Ty.

32
00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,959
Speaker 1: Come on, if we're lucky, other college football podcasts will

33
00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,360
Speaker 1: borrow this concept as well. We had a little bit

34
00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,880
Speaker 1: of that lately, salty tie. Look, No, no, no, we

35
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,120
Speaker 1: like all these people are all friend up.

36
00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:45,680
Speaker 2: Sure, I'm just saying.

37
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,080
Speaker 1: I'm just saying we're the idea engine of the college

38
00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:49,400
Speaker 1: football podcast this year.

39
00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,200
Speaker 2: Fair to say, Yeah, I can't argue it. Sure.

40
00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,280
Speaker 1: On today's show, we are talking news, a few news

41
00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,240
Speaker 1: tidbits that we thought y'all might be interested in. We're

42
00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,720
Speaker 1: also going to go into that theme that Dan just mentioned.

43
00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:06,800
Speaker 1: We're going to talk through what it's going to take

44
00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,720
Speaker 1: for some teams Arkansas, Missouri, and West Virginia to get

45
00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:14,080
Speaker 1: to that next tier, which we've defined as eight wins,

46
00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,480
Speaker 1: a comfortable eight wins here and in year out. We've

47
00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,280
Speaker 1: got a guest Chris Anderson from earsports dot com who's

48
00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:22,440
Speaker 1: going to help us break things down in a little

49
00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,640
Speaker 1: bit more detail on the West Virginia side. But beyond that,

50
00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,520
Speaker 1: Dan has taken Arkansas, I've taken Miszoo. I feel like

51
00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,560
Speaker 1: we are relatively well informed about what it's going to

52
00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:33,400
Speaker 1: take for each of those programs to get to that

53
00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,760
Speaker 1: next stage. And then, of course, for any other bonus

54
00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:39,760
Speaker 1: content you can going out to for ballers dot com,

55
00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,040
Speaker 1: you can get access early access to this episode, all

56
00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,080
Speaker 1: of our episodes that we do. Also get access to

57
00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,480
Speaker 1: our discord, which is teaming with College Football Life, despite

58
00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 1: the facts that it is the cold months of the

59
00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:56,079
Speaker 1: college football off season. Going out to our website sliverble

60
00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,760
Speaker 1: dot com for all of our past episodes, and if

61
00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,400
Speaker 1: you are listening out there on your podcasting app of choice,

62
00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,160
Speaker 1: of course, it always helps to hit subscribe or follow

63
00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:09,600
Speaker 1: and leave a five star rating or a flowery review

64
00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:10,880
Speaker 1: if you were ever so inclined.

65
00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,760
Speaker 2: I casually mentioned to my wife Jody with and I that, oh,

66
00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:18,560
Speaker 2: sixteen weeks out till the first college football Saturday, the

67
00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,480
Speaker 2: first college football weekend, it was something like that, and

68
00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:27,800
Speaker 2: the guttural sounds that emitted from her soul.

69
00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:28,560
Speaker 1: One.

70
00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,239
Speaker 2: She loves college football, right she went to Michigan. She

71
00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:33,160
Speaker 2: loved going to Michigan games. She loves you know, the

72
00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,040
Speaker 2: sort of big ten spirit that's alive and well in

73
00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,640
Speaker 2: the Midwest. She loves that. But the idea of me being,

74
00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,200
Speaker 2: you know, working seven days a week and busy from

75
00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:44,800
Speaker 2: you know, sun up to sundown every Saturday and maybe

76
00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:50,520
Speaker 2: part of Sunday, we'll see. It was just like, yeah,

77
00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:52,920
Speaker 2: which is how I know we're getting closer.

78
00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:55,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, we are turning that corner as we get into

79
00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:58,400
Speaker 1: the middle of May, shall we dive in?

80
00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:04,119
Speaker 2: Yeah.

81
00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:07,480
Speaker 1: I can't do the breaking news. There's not a whole

82
00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:09,400
Speaker 1: lot of news to break. It is mid May. That

83
00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:11,800
Speaker 1: is just the way that this normal rhythm of a

84
00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,240
Speaker 1: college football offseason tends to go. But we have a

85
00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:16,960
Speaker 1: few things, three things that I wanted to bring to

86
00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:21,400
Speaker 1: the verbalerhood's attention. The first thing is this, Have you

87
00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,280
Speaker 1: followed the Iowa Iowa state gambling story at all, Dan

88
00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:26,160
Speaker 1: a little bit?

89
00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's one of a few that's going ongoing

90
00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:31,680
Speaker 2: right now because we had what the Alabama baseball coach,

91
00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:37,359
Speaker 2: we've had notices around the sport and around athletic departments,

92
00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,560
Speaker 2: that yes, there are more binoculars and more eyeballs on

93
00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,560
Speaker 2: the activities of athletes and coaches and people within athletic

94
00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:46,760
Speaker 2: departments as it relates to legalized gambling.

95
00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,720
Speaker 1: So I bring this up not because there's any kind

96
00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:56,000
Speaker 1: of great smoking gun or any juicy notices of allegation

97
00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,680
Speaker 1: or even criminality. I think we're very early on in

98
00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,000
Speaker 1: this story, but you may have read about it. I

99
00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,440
Speaker 1: wanted to bring it up on the show. What the

100
00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:09,279
Speaker 1: I guess top level bullet point is is that Iowa

101
00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,680
Speaker 1: and Iowa State are investigating one hundred and twenty six

102
00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:19,200
Speaker 1: people for gambling. Now, gambling is legal in Iowa, but

103
00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:22,080
Speaker 1: athletes aren't allowed to do it. That's part of the deal.

104
00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,760
Speaker 1: Athletes can't bet. It sounds like only a small percentage

105
00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:31,240
Speaker 1: of those one to twenty six are current athletes, Okay,

106
00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:34,520
Speaker 1: so keep that in mind. A very small number of

107
00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:41,120
Speaker 1: them are actually currently athletes. However, I think it's it's

108
00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:43,960
Speaker 1: worth bringing this up just because we're going to see

109
00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:45,800
Speaker 1: more of this. I think it's inevitable we're going to

110
00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,440
Speaker 1: see more of this. Eighty six percent of betting is

111
00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:51,840
Speaker 1: done online or through a mobile app, and that makes

112
00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:55,560
Speaker 1: it damn near impossible to police. So to say that

113
00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:57,760
Speaker 1: this is going on at Iowa but nowhere else is

114
00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,680
Speaker 1: probably putting your head in the stand. Punch is that

115
00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:03,560
Speaker 1: in due time we'll hear much more about this at

116
00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,520
Speaker 1: other places around college athletics. It is not limited just

117
00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:11,880
Speaker 1: to college football, but as the presence of gambling continues

118
00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:16,200
Speaker 1: to increase, not just in college football but in sports

119
00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:19,760
Speaker 1: in general here in North America, you can expect to

120
00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,359
Speaker 1: hear more stories like this. For what it's worth, I

121
00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:26,360
Speaker 1: haven't seen more updates out there on the Iowa and

122
00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:28,719
Speaker 1: Iowa State side, just that they were working hand in

123
00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:31,560
Speaker 1: glove with the NCAA to try and figure out exactly

124
00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:33,400
Speaker 1: what's going on and what they need to do about it.

125
00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:35,599
Speaker 1: So stay tuned to it, be aware of it.

126
00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:36,279
Speaker 2: Right.

127
00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,400
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's necessarily a meteor headed towards

128
00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:41,840
Speaker 1: Iowa or Iowa State or college sports as a whole,

129
00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:44,039
Speaker 1: but it is notable.

130
00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:46,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, And one of the things I think I saw

131
00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:48,600
Speaker 2: it from Dan Wetzel. One of the things that's interesting

132
00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:54,080
Speaker 2: about these types of stories is as the legalization of

133
00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,800
Speaker 2: sports gambling sweeps across you know, it's a state decision.

134
00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,640
Speaker 2: Many more states, you know, recently than there were before.

135
00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:08,120
Speaker 2: Is with increased amount of legalized gambling comes increased scrutiny,

136
00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,000
Speaker 2: right that there's more oversight, there are more eyeballs saying, oh,

137
00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,960
Speaker 2: this is a weird thing that's happening. That because everything

138
00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,760
Speaker 2: is above board, right, that it's just legal to gamble

139
00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,400
Speaker 2: on sports in a number of places, that it's easier

140
00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:25,440
Speaker 2: to catch suspicious dealings like what we're seeing in a

141
00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,160
Speaker 2: couple of places. And so that's fascinating to me. And

142
00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,480
Speaker 2: you know, for somebody who loves the romance of the sport,

143
00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,720
Speaker 2: you really hope that everything is kept clean and kosher.

144
00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,200
Speaker 2: But yeah, you almost have to worry a little bit

145
00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:39,480
Speaker 2: more about And I think it was I want to

146
00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:41,360
Speaker 2: credit what credits do? I think was Matt Brown talking

147
00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,960
Speaker 2: about mid major type basketball stuff. That's where a lot

148
00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,320
Speaker 2: of huge scandals have happened with point shaving and stuff

149
00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:48,640
Speaker 2: like that, and there's just less eyeballs on that. That's

150
00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:52,600
Speaker 2: where it becomes a little bit a little murkier, I suppose.

151
00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,280
Speaker 2: But yeah, interesting to follow with the Iowa and Iowa

152
00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,160
Speaker 2: state stuff. And let me be clear, I'm not making

153
00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,600
Speaker 2: an accusation. Tie, I am just theorizing here. You know

154
00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:05,640
Speaker 2: the sports gambling universe better than I do. If you

155
00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:08,080
Speaker 2: were to say, yeah, Dan, I hit on seventy seventy

156
00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,560
Speaker 2: five percent of my bets this year. That's full on incredible.

157
00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:13,600
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, oh my god. Yeah.

158
00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:18,160
Speaker 2: Iowa games seventy percent last year hit the under. Iowa

159
00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,280
Speaker 2: State game seventy five percent hit the under.

160
00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:24,280
Speaker 1: I saw I saw some conspiracy theories footing right.

161
00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,000
Speaker 2: We live in a world again. I am accusing nobody

162
00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,560
Speaker 2: of anything. I'm not accusing anybody that's probably bettering list.

163
00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:32,640
Speaker 1: Wouldn't that be an out for Brian Farrence?

164
00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:36,640
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, that his players were the one tanking. You know,

165
00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,240
Speaker 2: they'll blame me, blame them. Yeah, they're all driving around

166
00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:45,920
Speaker 2: and crazy Tesla's and Rivian's and Lamborghinis whatever, like oh weird,

167
00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:47,360
Speaker 2: and I all just came through.

168
00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:49,960
Speaker 1: I guess Brian over here is driving a Hondo a cord.

169
00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:54,640
Speaker 2: Let me be clear, zero founded accusations on my part,

170
00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,680
Speaker 2: but I did look up those numbers that like, Look,

171
00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:00,920
Speaker 2: we live in a world of coincidences, and it's very

172
00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,200
Speaker 2: easy to imagine that Iowa and Iowa State we're just

173
00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:07,120
Speaker 2: inept on offense last year and hit seventy seventy five

174
00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,320
Speaker 2: percent of their unders, which is again pretty impressive if

175
00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:14,720
Speaker 2: you're betting. But now hope everything is cleared because this

176
00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:17,360
Speaker 2: it's not a black eye college football needs right now.

177
00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,400
Speaker 1: Elsewhere, Oklahoma and Texas made it Facebook official Dan that

178
00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:25,160
Speaker 1: they're taking the final step and moving to the SEC,

179
00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,800
Speaker 1: of course, starting next season July first, twenty twenty four.

180
00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:32,160
Speaker 1: To be exact, the board of regents at Texas and

181
00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:37,080
Speaker 1: then Oklahoma very quickly signed on to give approval to

182
00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,560
Speaker 1: sign the paperwork. Look, it was more of a formality.

183
00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:40,400
Speaker 2: Yep.

184
00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:42,800
Speaker 1: Again it's may we have a limited number of things

185
00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,520
Speaker 1: that we could really truly bring to ocassion in the

186
00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:49,840
Speaker 1: news tidbit of this show. But it is worth mentioning

187
00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,400
Speaker 1: that it is official. It's going to happen. Oklahoma and

188
00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:54,400
Speaker 1: Texas to the SEC starting in twenty twenty four.

189
00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,559
Speaker 2: No, it's also fascinating. It's a fascinating time portal wise

190
00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:00,920
Speaker 2: as well, because this is the final like off season,

191
00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,400
Speaker 2: well spring, off season portal window. Who knows what's going

192
00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,840
Speaker 2: to happen. But you get a little bit more insight

193
00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,880
Speaker 2: into like you can say, oh, Notre Dame secondary is

194
00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:13,319
Speaker 2: not great, or Alabama secondary is not great, or Oregon's

195
00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,800
Speaker 2: receiving corp needs some help, and that's your opinion. But

196
00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:19,600
Speaker 2: then if Marcus Freeman Dan Lanning are like, we need

197
00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,800
Speaker 2: another offensive alignment after spring ball, we need another receiver

198
00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:25,080
Speaker 2: after spring ball, you get a little bit indicators where

199
00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,560
Speaker 2: the coaches think the roster is at after spring practice

200
00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:29,960
Speaker 2: and seeing what they have or they don't have. I

201
00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:33,320
Speaker 2: just saw Alabama just got the Louisiana corner. I want

202
00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:37,640
Speaker 2: to say. Yeah, so a lot of rosters having their

203
00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:41,640
Speaker 2: i's dotted and you know, te's crossed whatever in hopes

204
00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,080
Speaker 2: of summer workouts and fall camp going well. So, you know,

205
00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:46,520
Speaker 2: fascinating stuff to pay attention to. That this is the

206
00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:49,400
Speaker 2: sort of last spring chance anyway, spring summer chance to

207
00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:51,240
Speaker 2: see rosters improved upon.

208
00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,360
Speaker 1: And finally, I may have given away the game a

209
00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,880
Speaker 1: little bit here on the last episode, but nonetheless you

210
00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:02,040
Speaker 1: may have heard that DraftKings released win totals for the

211
00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:05,880
Speaker 1: upcoming twenty twenty three season. We of course, will go

212
00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:10,000
Speaker 1: into more detail on the free newsletter, which you can

213
00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,200
Speaker 1: subscribe at solid verbal dot com or quick Slants dot

214
00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:15,800
Speaker 1: soliverbal dot com. Either want to work send that out

215
00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:19,200
Speaker 1: every Thursday for free wink wink, nudge, nudge, and you

216
00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:22,040
Speaker 1: and I will go into much much more detail on

217
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:25,200
Speaker 1: this as we push into June and July, when we

218
00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:29,040
Speaker 1: have more info on who is playing where and where

219
00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:33,320
Speaker 1: transfers end up and the like. But for our purposes here,

220
00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:35,839
Speaker 1: we should just quickly mention Oregon is at nine and

221
00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:38,040
Speaker 1: a half point or nine and a half win excuse

222
00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:43,680
Speaker 1: me over under Notre Dame is at nine hmm there you.

223
00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,320
Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, it's Oregon and USC at the top of

224
00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,200
Speaker 2: the back twelve right, nine and a half. Yes, yeah,

225
00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:52,240
Speaker 2: that's an interesting number. That's athing We actually just did

226
00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:53,880
Speaker 2: a podcast. I'll plug him because I think he's a

227
00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,560
Speaker 2: great guy with Tim Murray at v SIN yep, is

228
00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:57,480
Speaker 2: that how it's VS?

229
00:11:57,600 --> 00:11:59,640
Speaker 1: I got that wrong for the longest time.

230
00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:02,400
Speaker 2: So we just go over and find his podcast as

231
00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:06,600
Speaker 2: a college football betting podcast, I believe. So. No, we

232
00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:10,000
Speaker 2: will do a bunch of over under scheduled type previews

233
00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,120
Speaker 2: in the coming weeks. But yeah, fascinating to look at

234
00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,240
Speaker 2: where Vegas, you know, is appraising a lot of these

235
00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:18,000
Speaker 2: programs that we're going to talk about right here in

236
00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,360
Speaker 2: the context of of you know, win numbers.

237
00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,679
Speaker 1: How about that? Let's play the step by so give

238
00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:28,440
Speaker 1: me the step by step thing? Yes, how do you

239
00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,000
Speaker 1: feel when you hear that theme song? Does it bring

240
00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:31,400
Speaker 1: you back?

241
00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:33,360
Speaker 2: Can I tell you? And I want to get into

242
00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:37,679
Speaker 2: college football? I promise. I realized all of two days

243
00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:41,160
Speaker 2: ago when I found that song that the name of

244
00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:44,200
Speaker 2: the show step by Step was you know, related to

245
00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:48,120
Speaker 2: and relative to step siblings on that show?

246
00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:49,600
Speaker 1: Really well?

247
00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:52,280
Speaker 2: Right, it's do you remember the concept behind step by Step?

248
00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,240
Speaker 2: It's like a new Brady Bunchie thing like that. A

249
00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,240
Speaker 2: dad with three kids. Mary is a mom with three kids,

250
00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:00,400
Speaker 2: and it's the coming together.

251
00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:04,920
Speaker 1: I never put that together. I don't think.

252
00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:07,720
Speaker 2: That's a coincidence. I think that's intentional. I'm sure, but

253
00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,199
Speaker 2: the whole dynamic of the show is step siblings getting

254
00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,400
Speaker 2: to know each other and figuring out the dynamics.

255
00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:16,200
Speaker 1: Elementary school, junior high, middle school age. Tie never put

256
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:16,960
Speaker 1: two and two together.

257
00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:19,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's why it's called that, But

258
00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:21,200
Speaker 2: maybe maybe I'm just reaching. Who knows.

259
00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:24,760
Speaker 1: My wife I played that clip for she said it

260
00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,840
Speaker 1: it it gave her bad vibes. It, I don't know.

261
00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:29,360
Speaker 1: I don't think she was I don't think she was

262
00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:33,880
Speaker 1: against step by step. I just think a sudden transport

263
00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,960
Speaker 1: back to one's childhood can sometimes be a little traumatic.

264
00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:41,080
Speaker 2: Oh my god, Suzanne Summers, you're talking about Christine laken

265
00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:44,839
Speaker 2: as al. Yeah, yeah, yeah, formative for me. All right,

266
00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:46,640
Speaker 2: you want to start Arkansas, You want to start on Zoo.

267
00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:48,439
Speaker 1: I want to I want to start Arkansas. You did

268
00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:54,080
Speaker 1: the Arkansas breakdown. I did Miszoo again. The purpose of

269
00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:58,160
Speaker 1: this here is to figure out how teams can get

270
00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:00,880
Speaker 1: the eight wins. Ye next week we're gonna do ten.

271
00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:03,760
Speaker 1: But Arkansas, I think is in a really interesting spot.

272
00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,480
Speaker 1: We're actually doing two SEC teams, two rival SEC teams.

273
00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:13,480
Speaker 1: The battle line rivalry Arkansas Miszoo. Arkansas, I feel like

274
00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,880
Speaker 1: is probably easier to diagnose than Missoo. But I want

275
00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:18,520
Speaker 1: to hear it from you.

276
00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,240
Speaker 2: So I've been on the record with this that Arkansas

277
00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:26,240
Speaker 2: is college football. The chaotic nature of Arkansas's recent and

278
00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:29,880
Speaker 2: overall history, and the star power and the teams that

279
00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:32,400
Speaker 2: they play, you know, the major major teams that they play.

280
00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:35,760
Speaker 2: I just I just think the most college football team

281
00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,000
Speaker 2: is the Arkansas Razorbacks. So I'm thrilled to talk about

282
00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:42,200
Speaker 2: them as they hope to just find more consistency, because

283
00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,680
Speaker 2: the best of Arkansas the past decade or so has

284
00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:47,880
Speaker 2: been sensational, the best of Bobby Patrino with all those receivers.

285
00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:51,000
Speaker 2: What do you know about Greg Childs? Oh yeah, what

286
00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:52,280
Speaker 2: do you know about Jerrus?

287
00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:52,640
Speaker 1: Right?

288
00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, what do you know about what's his name?

289
00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:56,800
Speaker 1: I love Jerious? Right?

290
00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,600
Speaker 2: Sure? So they have all these these guys on both

291
00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:01,800
Speaker 2: sides of the They have star power there, right, Tyler

292
00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,720
Speaker 2: Wilson at quarterback? You know Ryan Mallet all you know,

293
00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:06,280
Speaker 2: and now they haven't they have more star power at

294
00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:08,600
Speaker 2: quarterback now and he's been the start of the past

295
00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:12,240
Speaker 2: couple of years in kJ Jefferson. Arkansas, to make big

296
00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:15,880
Speaker 2: picture is a program that is capable of winning a

297
00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,760
Speaker 2: bunch of games when they are approaching things with a

298
00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,760
Speaker 2: very specific vision. It doesn't necessarily mean system, but that

299
00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,760
Speaker 2: has helped. Right, the best of you know, the Bobby

300
00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:28,600
Speaker 2: Patrino era is airing the ball out with big armed

301
00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:31,840
Speaker 2: quarterbacks and you know, recruiting to a system, finding those

302
00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:38,000
Speaker 2: receivers and succeeding. The more recent, the more micro is.

303
00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,040
Speaker 2: And this is the least groundbreaking thing I could possibly say.

304
00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,720
Speaker 2: When Arkansas has a defense they win. When Arkansas has

305
00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:48,120
Speaker 2: a defense, they win. And so even with those high

306
00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,360
Speaker 2: flying teams way back when the defense pretty good. The

307
00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:53,640
Speaker 2: other thing that is pretty crucial, just in terms of

308
00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,160
Speaker 2: Arkansas being in that seven eight nine win range and

309
00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:59,080
Speaker 2: going to a pretty good bowl game perhaps on New

310
00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:03,920
Speaker 2: Year's Day, it really helps if one of those teams,

311
00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:08,400
Speaker 2: one of the other teams in the SEC West is abysmal. Right,

312
00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:13,200
Speaker 2: it helps when three teams are pretty disappointing. You look

313
00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:15,000
Speaker 2: back at that, I think it was twenty eleven, you

314
00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,920
Speaker 2: have an incredible Alabama and LSU situation where they play

315
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,200
Speaker 2: the rerun National Championship game and just full with filled

316
00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,920
Speaker 2: those rosters, filled with NFL players. That's the year after

317
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,000
Speaker 2: Cam Newton at Auburn. They sink like a stone, right,

318
00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,840
Speaker 2: they become a five hundred team after winning the National championship.

319
00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:34,280
Speaker 2: Mississippi State is pretty bad. Ole miss in Houston Nuts

320
00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:40,120
Speaker 2: fourth season is atrocious. They are extremely bad at football.

321
00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,800
Speaker 2: That helps that Arkansas is able to pad maybe and look,

322
00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:45,600
Speaker 2: Arkansas I think won eleven games at year they went

323
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:49,480
Speaker 2: eleven and two. That Arkansas can be an eight or

324
00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,840
Speaker 2: nine ish win type team, but they play terrible programs

325
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:55,840
Speaker 2: and beat them easily. That helps for a team like

326
00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:59,680
Speaker 2: Arkansas that doesn't have the slimmest margin. Freyre right. Location wise,

327
00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,200
Speaker 2: there's talent in state. They're right there with Texas. They

328
00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:05,760
Speaker 2: you know, can recruit in the SEC. I think where

329
00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:09,680
Speaker 2: Arkansas stands right now, hopefully, is in a pretty good

330
00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:11,159
Speaker 2: place to get back to that point.

331
00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:11,480
Speaker 1: Now.

332
00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:13,960
Speaker 2: I don't see a team in the SEC West as

333
00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:17,440
Speaker 2: being catastrophically bad, which I think hurts their chances sometimes

334
00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:19,280
Speaker 2: to get that eight to nine win level. Get to

335
00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:22,480
Speaker 2: that level. But with how the team is built, with

336
00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,280
Speaker 2: how active the team is in the portal, with the

337
00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,119
Speaker 2: idea that if nothing else, Sam Pittman is going to

338
00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,520
Speaker 2: recruit and develop offensive lineman. Didn't at all times last year,

339
00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:35,320
Speaker 2: but they were really promising in twenty twenty one that

340
00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:39,120
Speaker 2: that is in theory. When I say how is Arkansas

341
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,199
Speaker 2: going to win, you are going to say the hope is,

342
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,720
Speaker 2: the goal is, the vision is. They're going to bludgeon

343
00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:49,119
Speaker 2: teams to death upfront on offense, right, they are going

344
00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:53,080
Speaker 2: to wear teams down and they're going to make smart decisions. Obviously,

345
00:17:53,119 --> 00:17:56,120
Speaker 2: I think we're both fans at the time of where

346
00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,040
Speaker 2: he went with his coordinators in terms of scheme, and

347
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,399
Speaker 2: you know, on field results now changes out both of

348
00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,560
Speaker 2: them in this offseason, Travis Williams coming in from UCF

349
00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:10,320
Speaker 2: and Dannyinos coming in from you name it. Danos has

350
00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:14,320
Speaker 2: been there. I think Arkansas is in a really good place.

351
00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:17,440
Speaker 2: That said, I am going to go back, and I'm

352
00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:20,240
Speaker 2: going to say it kind of depends on where Auburn

353
00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,840
Speaker 2: is under Hugh Freeze, where Mississippi State goes, where Ole

354
00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,280
Speaker 2: Miss goes, where Texas A and M goes. Because Arkansas

355
00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:30,320
Speaker 2: finds themselves, or at least found themselves last year in

356
00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:32,920
Speaker 2: those fifty to fifty games that come down to one

357
00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:37,440
Speaker 2: to three mistakes or one to three miscalculations that takes

358
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,240
Speaker 2: away the possibility of them winning eight games, whether it's

359
00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:43,200
Speaker 2: you know, the catastrophic scoop and score against A and

360
00:18:43,359 --> 00:18:46,800
Speaker 2: M and coupled with a doink at the end. You

361
00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:49,000
Speaker 2: look at a lack of aggression or a lack of

362
00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,320
Speaker 2: success in short yardage moments against MISSOO, which I'm sure

363
00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:54,200
Speaker 2: you'll talk about as well in there. I think it

364
00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:57,960
Speaker 2: was a two point loss. Those types of moments have

365
00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,200
Speaker 2: come to define and you have the weird weather game,

366
00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:05,639
Speaker 2: where did the Arkansas grounds crew accidentally water and icy field.

367
00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:08,719
Speaker 2: Was that a thing that I've remembering correctly.

368
00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:10,479
Speaker 1: We talked about that, I think in one of our

369
00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:11,680
Speaker 1: Fantasy Things episodes.

370
00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:13,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was something or a year end recap thing,

371
00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,600
Speaker 2: one of the all time great Yeah, that was like

372
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:19,800
Speaker 2: a fourteen twelve game where Harold Perkins just filled up

373
00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,480
Speaker 2: the back of a baseball cart. That was. So there's

374
00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:29,159
Speaker 2: those moments where Arkansas seems to every year find something incredible.

375
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,399
Speaker 2: Recently it's been kJ Jefferson a couple of years ago,

376
00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,600
Speaker 2: you know, Treylon Burke's offensive line, some defensive star power.

377
00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,560
Speaker 2: Last year it's you know, Rocket Sanders emerges, Drew Sanders

378
00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:39,159
Speaker 2: on the other side of the ball emerges as an

379
00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:43,119
Speaker 2: All SEC first team linebacker. But then they can't stop

380
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:47,040
Speaker 2: anything else. Then the secondary is awful. Then the offensive

381
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,000
Speaker 2: line gives up a ton of pressure and sacks in

382
00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:53,800
Speaker 2: huge moments like they did against Miszoo. That everything hasn't

383
00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,880
Speaker 2: been coming together reasonably well at the same time, and

384
00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:00,680
Speaker 2: that's when you rely on getting every third down all correct,

385
00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:03,920
Speaker 2: getting every red zone call correct, and not being able

386
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:07,640
Speaker 2: to weather one just randomly awful play like an eighty

387
00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:09,879
Speaker 2: two yard scoop and score like they had against Texas

388
00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:10,280
Speaker 2: A and M.

389
00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:10,680
Speaker 1: That's right.

390
00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,960
Speaker 2: So all in all, I like Arkansas's aggression in the portal.

391
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,640
Speaker 2: Once again, they've done that, especially along the defensive line

392
00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,840
Speaker 2: and in the secondary. Very much needed after we saw

393
00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:24,760
Speaker 2: some weaknesses last year. They have two apparent quarterbacks of

394
00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,480
Speaker 2: the future after kJ Jefferson exhausts his eligibility. I like

395
00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:31,880
Speaker 2: seeing that, and I think Sam Pittman's a good recruiter.

396
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:36,000
Speaker 2: I like right now. I like Sam Pittman and his

397
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:39,160
Speaker 2: upside more than I like a number of coaches even

398
00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,280
Speaker 2: in that same conference or division. Like I'm I have

399
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:46,199
Speaker 2: not waned from my enthusiasm about Sam Pittman. So if

400
00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:51,560
Speaker 2: you're asking me today, do you see realistically that Arkansas

401
00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:56,000
Speaker 2: can win eight games provided they hit on some more

402
00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:00,480
Speaker 2: fifty to fifty decisions and moments, and you know, continue

403
00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:02,760
Speaker 2: to develop guys, continue to be aggressive in the portal.

404
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:04,200
Speaker 2: I saw they just brought in I think one of

405
00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,240
Speaker 2: the top tight ends in the portal from North Texas.

406
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:09,280
Speaker 2: My answer is yes, I think there are more universes

407
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,480
Speaker 2: than not that if you simulate the next three seasons

408
00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:14,920
Speaker 2: that they win eight games. I really am that high

409
00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:18,920
Speaker 2: on Arkansas because I think Sam Pittman resonates on the trail,

410
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,840
Speaker 2: resonates in his locker room, and resonates in the assistant

411
00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,560
Speaker 2: hiring world. So I'm just up on Arkansas right now

412
00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:28,439
Speaker 2: with looking at the division, looking at the conference, and

413
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:30,840
Speaker 2: looking at Sam Pittman in general.

414
00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:33,800
Speaker 1: So it might take away and looking at the schedule

415
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:35,600
Speaker 1: if you look at the schedule at least.

416
00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,800
Speaker 2: In the immediate shure. Yeah, yeah, there's.

417
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,040
Speaker 1: A reason that Vegas set the win total at seven

418
00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:43,000
Speaker 1: and a half. I look at the schedule and I say, well,

419
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:44,520
Speaker 1: of course it's going to be tough when you're on

420
00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,719
Speaker 1: the road at LSU and at Alabama, at Old Miss,

421
00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:51,320
Speaker 1: and then home against Texas A and m By the way,

422
00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:53,439
Speaker 1: those are games back to back to back to back

423
00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,360
Speaker 1: LSU A and m old Miss Alabama. That's really though

424
00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:59,760
Speaker 1: the meat of the schedule. The deeper you get into

425
00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,560
Speaker 1: this thing. At Florida, Look, nobody wants to play at Florida.

426
00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:05,320
Speaker 1: It's a very very loud stadium. But who knows what

427
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,840
Speaker 1: state that program will be in Auburn still in a

428
00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,399
Speaker 1: bit of disarray. I think they'll be improved, but that

429
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:13,600
Speaker 1: feels like it could be a winnable game. There's a

430
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,320
Speaker 1: game against FIU, There's there's the battle line rivalry close

431
00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:19,760
Speaker 1: out the year against Miszoo. We'll talk about Miszoom Mo Andentario.

432
00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:22,560
Speaker 1: These are winnable games if you're Arkansas. So I feel

433
00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,399
Speaker 1: pretty bullish about that seven and a half.

434
00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:29,480
Speaker 2: The difference though, the difference is sorry to interrupt, but

435
00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:33,160
Speaker 2: I think it's related is we've had this conversation before

436
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,880
Speaker 2: about Arkansas. I know we've had this conversation, like last

437
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,600
Speaker 2: year they hit the portal hard. We're like, okay, Arkansas

438
00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:40,879
Speaker 2: seeing its deficiencies. You know, they were beat up in

439
00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:42,640
Speaker 2: the secondary of the year before that, and I guess

440
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,920
Speaker 2: twenty one and they really were not able to sustain

441
00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:47,840
Speaker 2: at all on defense over the course of the year.

442
00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:49,520
Speaker 2: And you know, they bring in like Dwight mcglother and

443
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,960
Speaker 2: LSU transfer. They bring in these guys and there's that

444
00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,359
Speaker 2: like spring summer hope, and you're like, oh, well, I

445
00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:57,760
Speaker 2: guess there's a reason why this guy was in the portal.

446
00:22:58,040 --> 00:22:59,760
Speaker 2: Oh I guess this guy couldn't crack it too deep

447
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,399
Speaker 2: at similar place. There's a reason, or couldn't get on

448
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,520
Speaker 2: the feet whatever. It's one thing to say. I like

449
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:07,480
Speaker 2: that they've hit the portal, but Arkansas has hit the

450
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:09,520
Speaker 2: portal before, and so it's just like, why is this

451
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 2: year's Arkansas situation different than last year's Arkansas situation. That's

452
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:17,520
Speaker 2: what I'm monitoring right now. Coupled with, Hey, look it's

453
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,080
Speaker 2: a bunch of new receivers once again and a new

454
00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,120
Speaker 2: offensive coordinator and just like, how much new could kJ

455
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:23,960
Speaker 2: Jefferson take?

456
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:26,959
Speaker 1: No, that's right, that's the concern, that's right. And they

457
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,520
Speaker 1: were really bad against pass last year. Yeah, terrible, really

458
00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:32,520
Speaker 1: bad against the pass last year, and they need to

459
00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,200
Speaker 1: solve that. You can't put it all on kJ Jefferson

460
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,480
Speaker 1: on the offense, on whatever, on just one side of

461
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:40,199
Speaker 1: the ball that doesn't that's not going to work in

462
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,200
Speaker 1: the SEC and be sustainable if we're talking about sustainably

463
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,600
Speaker 1: again getting to that eight win plateau, hopefully not a plateau,

464
00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,840
Speaker 1: but the eight win level. Yeah, you just you need

465
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:51,400
Speaker 1: to be a little bit more well rounded than that.

466
00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,879
Speaker 2: Agree. Yeah, it's it would be just like Arkansas to

467
00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,200
Speaker 2: solve defense and have an offense that doesn't make sense

468
00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:01,080
Speaker 2: this year and they open up too many games going

469
00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:04,040
Speaker 2: three and out for three straight drives and either claw

470
00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,400
Speaker 2: their way back for a comeback when in a shootout

471
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,960
Speaker 2: type situation. Look, they have one of the I'm still

472
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:12,600
Speaker 2: such a kJ Jefferson believer. I think the best of

473
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,639
Speaker 2: kJ Jefferson is one of the best five quarterbacks in

474
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,639
Speaker 2: the nation. I really am that sold on his raw ability,

475
00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:21,920
Speaker 2: you know, as a dual threat, as a big armed guy.

476
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,359
Speaker 2: I just I don't know. There's just too much change

477
00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:27,960
Speaker 2: in chaos, it seems around him. That's what worries me.

478
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:32,520
Speaker 1: And I think part of what affects Arkansas is also

479
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:36,119
Speaker 1: what affects Maszoo, who we can talk about now if

480
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:39,280
Speaker 1: you're all about took and saw thoughts. Yeah, you know,

481
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,359
Speaker 1: like the conference is getting better. Everybody around these teams

482
00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,600
Speaker 1: is also improving. And even the teams that you could

483
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 1: count on for a win before, like Vanderbilt not quite

484
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:52,600
Speaker 1: the gimme it used to be. Still should be winnable

485
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,840
Speaker 1: for both of these teams. But it is meaningful that

486
00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:57,919
Speaker 1: the conference as a whole is getting better, and I

487
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,280
Speaker 1: think Miszoo is in a really weird spot now kind

488
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 1: of amid all that. Going back last season, it was

489
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,480
Speaker 1: year three under Eli Drinkwitz. They finished six and seven

490
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,119
Speaker 1: for the second straight year, went to a Bowl, but lost.

491
00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,600
Speaker 1: Their two best wins last season were against South Carolina

492
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:21,160
Speaker 1: and the aforementioned Arkansas Razorbacks. In the previous two seasons

493
00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:25,159
Speaker 1: under Eli, I talk about Eli as if I know them.

494
00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,040
Speaker 1: I've never been your guy. Eli, It's just easier than

495
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:31,719
Speaker 1: Saint Drinkwitz, so for you. But in the previous two seasons,

496
00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,040
Speaker 1: we saw that offense improve and the defense get worse,

497
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:39,280
Speaker 1: and then catastrophically worse in twenty twenty one, so it

498
00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:41,000
Speaker 1: was a little bit weird to try and figure out

499
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,160
Speaker 1: which direction the trend lines were pointed, at least on defense.

500
00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,840
Speaker 1: Last season, the trend completely turned on its head one

501
00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,040
Speaker 1: hundred and eighty degrees. The offense took a huge step back,

502
00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:54,080
Speaker 1: the defense improved from one hundred and tenth in the

503
00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,399
Speaker 1: SP plus all the way up to nineteenth. We can

504
00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:01,080
Speaker 1: save the specifics for our team review episodes in a

505
00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:03,479
Speaker 1: few months when we talk about the whys and what

506
00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,159
Speaker 1: it means moving forward. But if the purpose of this

507
00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,919
Speaker 1: is to zoom out a bit, just with that as context,

508
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:15,000
Speaker 1: the big overarching existential question I think for Mazoo is

509
00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:19,960
Speaker 1: why Eli Drinkwitz has not translated any of Maszoo's talent

510
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,520
Speaker 1: into wins or more wins or what feels like a

511
00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:26,679
Speaker 1: trend of more wins. It does not feel like he

512
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:31,320
Speaker 1: is getting the most out of the roster, and it's complicated,

513
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,480
Speaker 1: complicated to figure out why it almost always is. I

514
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,520
Speaker 1: don't think there's one reason for it. I don't think

515
00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,000
Speaker 1: we'll be able to solve that riddle on this episode.

516
00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:44,639
Speaker 1: It's just too nuanced. But what I can do is

517
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,720
Speaker 1: give you the lay of the land bigger picture. There

518
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:51,280
Speaker 1: are a few things that I think eli again I

519
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,639
Speaker 1: know the man personally, Yeah, a few things that I

520
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,639
Speaker 1: think he has done pretty well. For one, he's crazy

521
00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:01,679
Speaker 1: energetic and that rubs off. Man like Miszoo lost a

522
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:05,560
Speaker 1: handful of one score games against Auburn and Florida and

523
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:09,600
Speaker 1: Kentucky and Georgia. Remember they were in it laid against Georgia.

524
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:12,480
Speaker 1: You get the feeling that players will fight for this guy,

525
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 1: that they're very plucky, and I think that means something.

526
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:17,879
Speaker 1: Even if the wins aren't there, they haven't given up

527
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,480
Speaker 1: on him meaningful, at least in my view. I also

528
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:23,440
Speaker 1: think he's got a real eye for talent, at least

529
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,280
Speaker 1: on the coaching side. The most recent, really good example

530
00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:29,560
Speaker 1: is what happened with Blake Baker when they hired him

531
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:32,359
Speaker 1: at first to be a safety's coach, but then Steve

532
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,200
Speaker 1: Wilkes left to go back to the NFL and they

533
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:39,960
Speaker 1: just gave Blake Baker the defensive coordinator job. You may

534
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,640
Speaker 1: recall in his time under Manny Diaz, he was really

535
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:47,240
Speaker 1: solid at Miami, and so he came in. He was

536
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:49,800
Speaker 1: the architect of the top twenty defense that I mentioned

537
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:54,120
Speaker 1: earlier from last season, sort of that aggressive, attacking mentality

538
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,040
Speaker 1: defense that we like to joke about on our fantasy

539
00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:58,840
Speaker 1: thing shows. We've done it for a few years running,

540
00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:01,119
Speaker 1: but that's essentially what they did it at Miszoo and

541
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,879
Speaker 1: it worked really really well. He has also done, i

542
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:07,320
Speaker 1: think a really good job of recruiting the transfer portal.

543
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,119
Speaker 1: Missoo last season, if you've been paying attention, had like

544
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,399
Speaker 1: one hundred percent hit rate at least on defenders that

545
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:17,760
Speaker 1: came over onto last year's roster. And he continues to

546
00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:21,400
Speaker 1: be I think really aggressive in the portal, making Missouri

547
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,520
Speaker 1: an attractive portal destination for guys who aren't getting time

548
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:26,120
Speaker 1: elsewhere who might want to come and try their hand

549
00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:29,000
Speaker 1: in Columbia. That's all the good dues.

550
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:32,920
Speaker 2: But okay, but.

551
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,320
Speaker 1: A couple structural things that we also need to talk

552
00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:39,080
Speaker 1: about that need to be addressed if they want to

553
00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,280
Speaker 1: get to that next level. I think the first thing is,

554
00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:47,760
Speaker 1: while the portal recruiting has been solid, the high school

555
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,800
Speaker 1: recruiting is not. It's left a lot to be desired.

556
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,200
Speaker 1: And Eli, again, I know him personally, a close friend.

557
00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:58,680
Speaker 1: He has proven that he can reel in some big fish.

558
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:06,800
Speaker 1: Seen that, right, but he hasn't done it consistently enough.

559
00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:08,520
Speaker 2: He's also lost some big fish.

560
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:10,040
Speaker 1: He also lost some big fish, right.

561
00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:12,360
Speaker 2: They lose the number one receiver to Georgia. They lose

562
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:14,760
Speaker 2: was a trajan Jeffcoat to Arkansas.

563
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:16,760
Speaker 1: So he can do it, he just hasn't done it

564
00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:22,440
Speaker 1: enough right. And the talent acquisition bit you see ever

565
00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:28,959
Speaker 1: so slightly and more progressively and more dramatically skewing heavily

566
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,360
Speaker 1: towards the portal, which is very boom or busty. You're

567
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,200
Speaker 1: just you're not gonna hit on every guy every year,

568
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:40,040
Speaker 1: and that makes the whole thing very risky. Secondly, they

569
00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:42,600
Speaker 1: are in the midst of a big time identity crisis

570
00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:47,480
Speaker 1: on offense. Man, maybe I'm maybe I'm burying the lead here.

571
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:51,120
Speaker 1: Mentioning it this late in the discussion. I know the

572
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,840
Speaker 1: first thing a lot of Missouri fans want to mention

573
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:59,640
Speaker 1: is the offense. Eli Drinkwitz came over to Missou fashioned

574
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,520
Speaker 1: as so something of an offensive guru. Sure that reputation

575
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:08,240
Speaker 1: preceded him. We have not seen that magic in Colombia. Frankly,

576
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:10,520
Speaker 1: we don't even know what the philosophy of this offense

577
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:13,960
Speaker 1: is supposed to be. Missouri has a good receiver room

578
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,640
Speaker 1: this season. I don't think they have a good line.

579
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:19,840
Speaker 1: I am not frightened by any home run hitters that

580
00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:24,800
Speaker 1: they may have in the backfield. The quarterback situation, Eli

581
00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:28,600
Speaker 1: drink what's Eli close friend made a comment that if

582
00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,160
Speaker 1: they took the field today, Brady Cook would be the starter.

583
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:33,880
Speaker 1: He wasn't horrible last season.

584
00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:36,760
Speaker 2: He certainly liked him at times, but I understand the frustration.

585
00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:39,160
Speaker 1: He can run, but he was very average and he

586
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 1: had injury issues. And so Missouri fans heard that, and

587
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:46,320
Speaker 1: rightfully they want to scream. Because Jake Garcia transferred up

588
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,200
Speaker 1: from Miami, who knows what you get out of him.

589
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:51,920
Speaker 1: But it's somebody else, it's another warm body, or Sam

590
00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:54,800
Speaker 1: Horn is still on the team. He might have better

591
00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,760
Speaker 1: tools than either of the other two guys. That comment

592
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 1: did not go over well in Missouri circle goals, and

593
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:04,040
Speaker 1: I think it just speaks to this larger identity crisis

594
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:08,920
Speaker 1: that the Tigers presently have on offense. And they did

595
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,520
Speaker 1: hire Kirby Moore to run the offense away from Fresno.

596
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:14,840
Speaker 1: He's done a good job at Fresno. I think it'll

597
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,760
Speaker 1: be interesting to see if he can create an identity

598
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:20,160
Speaker 1: on offense in the way that Blake Baker did on

599
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,720
Speaker 1: the defensive side. But that's a problem right now for

600
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:28,600
Speaker 1: Missouri trying to establish what they are. And most importantly,

601
00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:32,240
Speaker 1: amid all of this, this is an SEC schedule, man,

602
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,680
Speaker 1: It's the SEC. I said this before. All of the

603
00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:40,440
Speaker 1: teams that they are playing are getting better. The schedule

604
00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:45,800
Speaker 1: is constantly getting harder every time you look, everyone, including

605
00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:48,400
Speaker 1: Vandy again. I come back to Vandy, they're getting better.

606
00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:50,760
Speaker 1: And plus Texas and Oklahoma are going to come into

607
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:55,520
Speaker 1: the league next year. So unless Missouri can somehow break

608
00:31:55,520 --> 00:32:02,120
Speaker 1: the cycle and start developing guys more consistent le recruiting

609
00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:06,760
Speaker 1: at the high school level more consistently, that eight win

610
00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:10,120
Speaker 1: thing just ain't gonna happen. It's not going to happen.

611
00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:15,880
Speaker 1: Programs like this, like Missouri, are built progressively and on

612
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:20,320
Speaker 1: top of previous successes, even if you flash one year.

613
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:22,640
Speaker 1: If you really want to build this thing so that

614
00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:25,280
Speaker 1: it gets to a comfortable level year in, year out,

615
00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:28,760
Speaker 1: it needs to be progressively done. If you want to

616
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,560
Speaker 1: create that flywheel that kind of recruits the program to

617
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,840
Speaker 1: others and you know, makes it a transfer more of

618
00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,160
Speaker 1: a transfer destination and more of a destination for top

619
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:39,640
Speaker 1: high school talent. You have to have something to show

620
00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:41,640
Speaker 1: for it. You have to recruit on a body of work,

621
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:45,360
Speaker 1: and right now it feels like that's very spotty, and

622
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:49,800
Speaker 1: like with what we've seen, the turnaround story probably won't happen,

623
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:53,640
Speaker 1: and getting to eight wins consistently is going to be

624
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:55,880
Speaker 1: a bit of a pipe dream. So I'm not very

625
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,680
Speaker 1: bullish on the Zoo's chances, even though I really do

626
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:00,600
Speaker 1: like Eli Drinkwitz close sole friend.

627
00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,600
Speaker 2: I it's all offense. They scored twenty five points a

628
00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:07,720
Speaker 2: game last year, and like, literally, if they hit that

629
00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:10,280
Speaker 2: the bare minimum of twenty five a game, not an

630
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:14,520
Speaker 2: average every game, twenty five exactly, they're winning three more games. Right,

631
00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:17,960
Speaker 2: They're beating Florida, They're beating Auburn. I think they're beating Kentucky, right,

632
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:21,800
Speaker 2: If I'm reading this correctly, It's not a ton to ask,

633
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,160
Speaker 2: and I don't I understand the frustration with Brady Cook. Obviously,

634
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:27,520
Speaker 2: Eli Drinkwitz and the offensive staff they're the ones at practice.

635
00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:27,680
Speaker 1: Right.

636
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:30,720
Speaker 2: If Sam Horn and Jkarcia can't stop throwing interceptions in practice,

637
00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:33,080
Speaker 2: what are you supposed to be? Two three? Eli Drinkwitz?

638
00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:37,520
Speaker 2: Right again, I'm making this up, but I'm positive Eli

639
00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:40,200
Speaker 2: Drinkwitz wants to start the best possible quarterback to win

640
00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:41,200
Speaker 2: eight nine yeahs.

641
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:43,960
Speaker 1: And look, so the Brady Cook comment, I understand. If

642
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:46,080
Speaker 1: I were a Missouri fan, I would have reacted similarly

643
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:47,880
Speaker 1: because it wasn't a great year last year and he

644
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:50,000
Speaker 1: was hurt. But he can run. I mean, he's got that,

645
00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:53,200
Speaker 1: But I would have reacted in the same way. I

646
00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:57,680
Speaker 1: don't know if what is it spring spring football comments?

647
00:33:57,840 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 1: I don't know if he could take any of those

648
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,080
Speaker 1: literally right right? There is there is an aspect of

649
00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:09,040
Speaker 1: any of these April May comments where you're trying to

650
00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:11,640
Speaker 1: keep guys from transferring because you don't want to lose depth,

651
00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:14,760
Speaker 1: and at a place like Miszoo, like many other schools

652
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,880
Speaker 1: that have a similar problem problem. Excuse me, depth is

653
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:20,480
Speaker 1: is a thing. It's a concern, especially in this portal era.

654
00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:22,600
Speaker 1: So I don't know if that should be taken on

655
00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,439
Speaker 1: its face at face value. I think there's a pretty

656
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:29,160
Speaker 1: good chance that it's still somebody else who gets the

657
00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:32,880
Speaker 1: snaps at quarterback. But at least when eli close personal

658
00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:35,600
Speaker 1: friend made those comments, yeah, you know, didn't want to

659
00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:36,760
Speaker 1: lose Brady Cook to the portal.

660
00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:42,160
Speaker 2: Also, to be fair to Miszoo staggeringly unlucky with the

661
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:44,359
Speaker 2: end of the Auburn and Kentucky games for shure here,

662
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:47,560
Speaker 2: Oh right, it's again, if you're a believer in the

663
00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:51,640
Speaker 2: universe evening itself out over time, that Miszoo will have

664
00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:55,080
Speaker 2: very plane wins and losses this year because of how

665
00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:58,440
Speaker 2: crazy the ends of Miszoo games were. Now you can

666
00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:00,600
Speaker 2: also say it's on the head coach to put a

667
00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,000
Speaker 2: team in a position to be prepared for the end

668
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,279
Speaker 2: of game situations or to not even have to deal

669
00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:08,239
Speaker 2: with end of game situations because the offense is humming

670
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:13,560
Speaker 2: along in a more competent way. But yeah, it was,

671
00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,719
Speaker 2: especially those two games Auburn and Kentucky and Florida was

672
00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:20,880
Speaker 2: winnable for sure, that you're just like, Man, I don't

673
00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:24,480
Speaker 2: if it's all a reflection of Eli Drinkwitz, right, if

674
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:29,120
Speaker 2: he's prepared, everybody's prepared, if that's a big priority. Even still,

675
00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:33,360
Speaker 2: those games were bunkers. And so if we're talking about

676
00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:36,440
Speaker 2: gusts of wind and the moon in a different position,

677
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:38,360
Speaker 2: we're talking about a Miszoo team that has won a

678
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:42,880
Speaker 2: couple more games. But man, it's just it's a tough

679
00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:46,000
Speaker 2: way to watch a team that fielded a defense like

680
00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:48,600
Speaker 2: they did last year. That was the primary reason why

681
00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:52,000
Speaker 2: they won the games that they did, just completely spas

682
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,840
Speaker 2: out with you know, ninety three seconds left repeatedly.

683
00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:58,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, but there were games like the one against Georgia,

684
00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:02,000
Speaker 1: which they were in Sure, I think against all odds,

685
00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:05,520
Speaker 1: and I think we've seen time and again that the

686
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,080
Speaker 1: players are willing to play for this guy. Sure, if

687
00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,920
Speaker 1: at some point that changes, then this conversation changes in

688
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:14,600
Speaker 1: a big way. Well that's not sorry, continue, I see

689
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,640
Speaker 1: then we're talking about a new coach. But yeah, that's

690
00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:21,400
Speaker 1: not necessarily a strategy. It's a good starting point. Yeah,

691
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:25,560
Speaker 1: I think I think the offensive identity is certainly the

692
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:28,279
Speaker 1: biggest thing that can be corrected, and Kirby Moore's got

693
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,800
Speaker 1: his work cut out for him on that sort of things.

694
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,920
Speaker 1: But the bigger issue at hand here is the recruiting piece.

695
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:37,479
Speaker 1: If you really want to get to a healthy level

696
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:41,240
Speaker 1: and sustain it, a talent acquisition model that doesn't require

697
00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:43,839
Speaker 1: you to do a ton of work and figure out

698
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:45,600
Speaker 1: who in the portal might want to come to Columbia.

699
00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:50,040
Speaker 1: Mm hmm, bigger picture, that's that's kind of the long

700
00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:51,359
Speaker 1: term model that you want to try and find.

701
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:54,879
Speaker 2: I I agree, I agree. And again you lose close

702
00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 2: before you win close. And this is who's win close here.

703
00:36:57,840 --> 00:36:59,839
Speaker 2: I hope so to be Yeah, I hope, so, I hope.

704
00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:01,720
Speaker 1: So we'll see. Like I said, I got real questions

705
00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:05,360
Speaker 1: about offense, but maybe more will come in and change

706
00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:08,400
Speaker 1: things around. It is disappointing that Eli Drinkwitz did not

707
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:14,360
Speaker 1: flash as like the offensive wizard that we thought he

708
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:18,040
Speaker 1: might be. That's a little disappointing, but we'll see.

709
00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:19,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see.

710
00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:22,840
Speaker 1: Maybe working with somebody else will help. That's it for Arkansas.

711
00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:25,000
Speaker 1: Miszoo right in Soliverbgan like, come, let us know your

712
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:29,239
Speaker 1: thoughts on both of those schools. Let us know in comments.

713
00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:30,840
Speaker 1: So are you a believer.

714
00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:33,680
Speaker 2: Are you a believer and Miszoo in the way that

715
00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:38,520
Speaker 2: the SEC East is currently constituted and appears to be constituted,

716
00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:39,479
Speaker 2: that they can get to eight?

717
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:41,879
Speaker 1: No, No, I'm not.

718
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:44,920
Speaker 2: You're adding in two quality teams right in Texas.

719
00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:47,160
Speaker 1: The over under this year is six and a half,

720
00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:49,880
Speaker 1: and I could I could see a very easy scenario

721
00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:51,839
Speaker 1: in which they get to seven. They get to eight

722
00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:54,760
Speaker 1: this year, I think that's totally pausible. But in terms

723
00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:59,680
Speaker 1: of ongoing, continuing eight wins, no, no, not with this

724
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,279
Speaker 1: oring model, the recruiting model they've gott in place right

725
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:03,640
Speaker 1: now is not going to get them there and keep

726
00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:04,000
Speaker 1: them there.

727
00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:05,879
Speaker 2: And you figure they're probably going to be in some

728
00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:09,040
Speaker 2: sort of pot with Oklahoma and Texas just geographically, and

729
00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:12,400
Speaker 2: given those teams history with one another in the Big twelve,

730
00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:15,920
Speaker 2: you figure that that's going to be added to their

731
00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:18,000
Speaker 2: schedule more often than not, whether or not they're in

732
00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:21,120
Speaker 2: the same little cluster or not. No, so it just, yeah,

733
00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:23,520
Speaker 2: it seems uphill for Mizoo. But this is also a

734
00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:26,719
Speaker 2: place that has you know, at least in the last

735
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:29,319
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five years. I mean, you're talking about the

736
00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:32,240
Speaker 2: Gary Pinkle era, like they had a specific vision on offense.

737
00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:34,200
Speaker 2: They won a ton of games. They developed a ton

738
00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:36,279
Speaker 2: of good players on both sides of the ball. This

739
00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:39,160
Speaker 2: is not an underdog place. It's not an underdog place.

740
00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:41,000
Speaker 2: They've won the East a couple times. It's not an

741
00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:41,920
Speaker 2: underdog story.

742
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,719
Speaker 1: It isn't, No, But I do think they are in

743
00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:48,400
Speaker 1: a very weird spot because the rest of the conference

744
00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:52,439
Speaker 1: is getting so much better and because of the transfer portal.

745
00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:54,319
Speaker 1: Even though they've been aggressive in the portal and done

746
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:56,879
Speaker 1: a good job, it's just really hard to build any

747
00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:01,759
Speaker 1: kind of sustainable thing based on one your contracts. Essentially. Yeah,

748
00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:04,080
Speaker 1: it's really hard to do, and they've done well with

749
00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:06,439
Speaker 1: it so far. Maybe they'll continue. Maybe maybe I'm wrong

750
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:09,640
Speaker 1: about that, but I don't like those odds. All right,

751
00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:13,840
Speaker 1: fair enough, all right, Dan joining us now to help

752
00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:17,560
Speaker 1: break down all things West Virginia and Neil Brown and

753
00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:22,360
Speaker 1: hopefully getting to that eight win echelon return. Yeah, the

754
00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:26,919
Speaker 1: return to eight wins. Chris Anderson of earsports dot Com

755
00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:30,600
Speaker 1: joining us on a very busy day in West Virginia. Sports. Chris,

756
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,520
Speaker 1: we really appreciate your time. How you doing today, I'm

757
00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:34,040
Speaker 1: doing all right.

758
00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:36,000
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me on, guys, sure.

759
00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:39,520
Speaker 1: So look West Virginia five and seven last season, the

760
00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:42,560
Speaker 1: year before six and seven, the year before six and four,

761
00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:46,239
Speaker 1: the year before five and seven, you're five now of

762
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:50,360
Speaker 1: Neil Brown, definitely sensing a five or six win trend.

763
00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:54,280
Speaker 1: And I'm just wandering from your insider point of view

764
00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:58,600
Speaker 1: if what we feel on the outside is also accurate

765
00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:01,320
Speaker 1: in that it feels like kind of stuck in neutral,

766
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:06,840
Speaker 1: treading water, wandering from afar, like is this thing going somewhere?

767
00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:11,040
Speaker 1: Is this thing just going to remain in perpetuity in neutral?

768
00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:14,520
Speaker 1: Is that an accurate way to characterize where the program

769
00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:15,279
Speaker 1: is at.

770
00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:18,920
Speaker 4: I would say extremely accurate. I think being stuck in neutral,

771
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:20,600
Speaker 4: that's that's the thing. And I think that's what a

772
00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:23,920
Speaker 4: lot of fans were upset about with kind of the

773
00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:27,960
Speaker 4: indecision about what to do with the head coaching situation

774
00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:30,759
Speaker 4: towards the end of last year, because again it was

775
00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:32,839
Speaker 4: one of those where and I wrote about at the time,

776
00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:36,319
Speaker 4: I said, the university has to either fully embrace and

777
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:39,839
Speaker 4: get behind Neil Brown, take the approach of he's our guy,

778
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:43,440
Speaker 4: tough luck this past year, let's dump some money into

779
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:48,040
Speaker 4: the trust for Nil all that stuff, or they need

780
00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:51,360
Speaker 4: to just move on, and they kind of chose between

781
00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:54,640
Speaker 4: the two, which was kind of a disaster at least

782
00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:56,640
Speaker 4: as far as the fan base is concerned. Made the

783
00:40:56,719 --> 00:40:59,880
Speaker 4: change of the athletic director. They have tried to attempted

784
00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:04,320
Speaker 4: to do this offseason, put more money into that nil situation.

785
00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:08,439
Speaker 4: The school has embraced the Country Roads Trust. They are

786
00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:14,000
Speaker 4: working in tandem per NCAA rules, whatever those are nowadays.

787
00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:17,440
Speaker 4: And West Virginia has done better in the portal and

788
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:19,920
Speaker 4: in retaining players from going to the portal than they

789
00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:22,680
Speaker 4: did last year. So I don't want to go to

790
00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:26,680
Speaker 4: some of mars to say hope, but maybe a glimmer there.

791
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:30,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, we talked earlier in this episode about Missouri, and

792
00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:34,320
Speaker 1: Missouri at time of recording anyway, has a bit of

793
00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:40,600
Speaker 1: an identity crisis in that high school recruiting hasn't been ideal.

794
00:41:40,680 --> 00:41:43,080
Speaker 1: They've done well in the portal, but it's hard to

795
00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:46,520
Speaker 1: build any kind of sustainable model based solely on the

796
00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:50,080
Speaker 1: transfer portal, and I wonder if the same type of

797
00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:52,880
Speaker 1: problem applies on the West Virginia side. It's not apples

798
00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:55,200
Speaker 1: to apples, but it is really hard to build a

799
00:41:55,239 --> 00:41:58,680
Speaker 1: sustainable thing when you're constantly having to go to the portal,

800
00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:02,320
Speaker 1: and so because of the it feels hard to envision

801
00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:06,200
Speaker 1: like any kind of sudden turnaround story. Is that also

802
00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:08,600
Speaker 1: accurate with what's going on at West Virginia?

803
00:42:08,719 --> 00:42:08,960
Speaker 3: Is that?

804
00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:10,799
Speaker 1: How do you kind of break that down?

805
00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:11,640
Speaker 3: Yeah?

806
00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:14,920
Speaker 4: I think their acquisition has been very good, good to

807
00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:18,560
Speaker 4: very good. They missed on some transfers early on. Obviously

808
00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:20,840
Speaker 4: you put a lot of eggs in the JT. Daniels basket.

809
00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:23,360
Speaker 4: Last year started off well enough and then kind of

810
00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:25,719
Speaker 4: fell off the cliff. But their problem as far as

811
00:42:25,719 --> 00:42:27,759
Speaker 4: the big picture over the Neil Brown Ara the last

812
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:32,120
Speaker 4: four years has been more about retention than acquisition because

813
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:36,240
Speaker 4: they have brought in some nice pickups via high school

814
00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:39,120
Speaker 4: recruiting or junior college recruiting, and those players have done

815
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:41,759
Speaker 4: well and they've developed. But as soon as they're kind

816
00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:44,480
Speaker 4: of reaching this point of hey, this guy could be

817
00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:47,440
Speaker 4: the guy next year, they transfer somewhere else. Look at

818
00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:50,480
Speaker 4: a Key Messidor going to Miami, Tyke Smith going to Georgia.

819
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:54,000
Speaker 4: George Jefferson is pass off season, unfortunately for West Virginia

820
00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:55,200
Speaker 4: leaving for LSU.

821
00:42:55,600 --> 00:42:58,480
Speaker 3: You know, it's almost like and God to the West

822
00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:01,279
Speaker 3: Virginia fans listening to this, Please do not freak out.

823
00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:04,120
Speaker 4: It's almost like WPU is being treated as a farm

824
00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:07,600
Speaker 4: system for some of these more blue blood programs, and

825
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:11,400
Speaker 4: I think retention of the talent that they bring in

826
00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:14,080
Speaker 4: is more important right now or the bigger problem than

827
00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:15,800
Speaker 4: it is an acquisition in the first place.

828
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:18,960
Speaker 2: Do you have a theory as to why that's been difficult?

829
00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:21,399
Speaker 2: West Virginia is a major college football program who's played

830
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:25,080
Speaker 2: in huge games against big teams in big spots, have

831
00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:28,440
Speaker 2: been in major conferences, and have had major head coaches.

832
00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:32,080
Speaker 2: What is it about what's happening inside the walls at

833
00:43:32,080 --> 00:43:36,280
Speaker 2: West Virginia that makes it difficult to develop and then retain.

834
00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:38,719
Speaker 3: I think some of it is the money.

835
00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:40,360
Speaker 4: I think it was the money, and that was a

836
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:45,120
Speaker 4: big issue because you look at what they said and

837
00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:47,839
Speaker 4: did with Shanelines, the former athletic director now Lions came

838
00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:51,160
Speaker 4: out and added, there was that great area about what

839
00:43:51,239 --> 00:43:53,799
Speaker 4: the school and the team can and cannot do with

840
00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:57,080
Speaker 4: an il and with those the country roads trust, and

841
00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:02,000
Speaker 4: he played it safe while the country was going, hey,

842
00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:04,479
Speaker 4: let's go hand in hand and do this together. Shane

843
00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:06,400
Speaker 4: Lyons played it safe and kind of backed off and

844
00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:10,160
Speaker 4: wouldn't put the full support behind that program or a partnership,

845
00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:13,239
Speaker 4: which I believe set West Virginia back money wise. I mean,

846
00:44:13,560 --> 00:44:16,280
Speaker 4: I've heard of numbers being thrown out for some players

847
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:20,400
Speaker 4: that left that are I'm going to use the term modest,

848
00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:22,720
Speaker 4: but that is relative to the world of college football,

849
00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:26,279
Speaker 4: not everyday life. But West Virginia just couldn't match it,

850
00:44:26,360 --> 00:44:30,840
Speaker 4: couldn't top it. And now those same numbers are reasonable.

851
00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:33,120
Speaker 4: Those are the numbers that you're hearing from other people

852
00:44:33,480 --> 00:44:36,160
Speaker 4: that West Virginia is now paying and they can't match it.

853
00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:39,279
Speaker 4: So I think West Virginia is now competitive in the

854
00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:41,080
Speaker 4: n I look that they are by no means going

855
00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:43,160
Speaker 4: to be one of the top you know, ten or

856
00:44:43,239 --> 00:44:45,759
Speaker 4: twenty teams as far as money being going about, but

857
00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:49,239
Speaker 4: they can be competitive, selectively competitive on guys they want

858
00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:50,520
Speaker 4: to keep on this team.

859
00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:53,600
Speaker 2: Is that sort of a self fulfilling prophecy that they're

860
00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:57,080
Speaker 2: not unable to fully aggressively raise money because the wins

861
00:44:57,080 --> 00:44:59,240
Speaker 2: aren't there, and the wins aren't there because the roster

862
00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:02,680
Speaker 2: isn't necessarily as deep year over year as it should be.

863
00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:06,080
Speaker 2: Is that is that the sort of issue at the

864
00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:09,840
Speaker 2: moment that West Virginia maybe win more of those fifty

865
00:45:09,840 --> 00:45:12,759
Speaker 2: to fifty games, more of those winnable games, and suddenly

866
00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:15,920
Speaker 2: you know, the coffers are a little bit more filled up.

867
00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:19,080
Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely, it's all the chicken in the egg with

868
00:45:19,120 --> 00:45:19,720
Speaker 3: all this stuff.

869
00:45:19,760 --> 00:45:22,160
Speaker 4: And it came down to that's the same discussion about

870
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:24,560
Speaker 4: the future with Neil Brown. Do you do you keep

871
00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:26,440
Speaker 4: them or do you fire them? And you're out sixteen

872
00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:29,120
Speaker 4: to twenty million dollars. But the problem is you're claiming

873
00:45:29,200 --> 00:45:30,400
Speaker 4: you don't have the money.

874
00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:31,480
Speaker 3: To recruit guys.

875
00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:33,920
Speaker 4: So if you fire the coach and spend twenty million dollars,

876
00:45:33,960 --> 00:45:36,239
Speaker 4: then now you're out of money that way. So which

877
00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:38,200
Speaker 4: way is the way to go? Which way is the

878
00:45:38,239 --> 00:45:41,160
Speaker 4: best way to raise money? And right now they're saying, hey,

879
00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:45,920
Speaker 4: just trust trust us, right, donate trust us, Let's make

880
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:46,360
Speaker 4: it happen.

881
00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:49,839
Speaker 1: They're putting a lot of trust in Chad Scott this

882
00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:54,200
Speaker 1: year with the offense. I want to get back to

883
00:45:54,239 --> 00:45:57,480
Speaker 1: the identity thing that I brought up before. What is

884
00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:01,960
Speaker 1: the identity that they're selling to recruit roots. I guess

885
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:05,680
Speaker 1: the optimistic view on where things go at least offensively

886
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:09,960
Speaker 1: this coming season is that West Virginia is strong upfront

887
00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:12,840
Speaker 1: along the line. They've got a lot back. The running

888
00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:15,880
Speaker 1: back room is it's a stable of guys who are productive.

889
00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:19,399
Speaker 1: It can be productive provided they steer more into that

890
00:46:19,560 --> 00:46:23,600
Speaker 1: side of things. That more that philosophy on offense. How

891
00:46:23,680 --> 00:46:27,200
Speaker 1: much faith? How much trust are you putting in a

892
00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:31,000
Speaker 1: new direction, let's call it on offense under Chad Scott.

893
00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:34,520
Speaker 3: I think this may be the year despite all the returning.

894
00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:37,359
Speaker 4: Like you said, all five guys who ended the year

895
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:40,800
Speaker 4: as starters on the offensive line are back a stable

896
00:46:40,840 --> 00:46:41,399
Speaker 4: of running backs.

897
00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:44,240
Speaker 3: I mean Tony Mathis began last year as a starter.

898
00:46:45,160 --> 00:46:47,640
Speaker 4: I'm told when spring football end that he was essentially

899
00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:50,200
Speaker 4: don't hey, you're going to be third maybe on the

900
00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:52,040
Speaker 4: depth chart, and that's why he transferred. And there's no

901
00:46:52,080 --> 00:46:54,919
Speaker 4: hard feelings about that, and West Virginia fans didn't even

902
00:46:54,960 --> 00:46:57,640
Speaker 4: really sweat it just because of everything coming back in

903
00:46:57,640 --> 00:46:58,080
Speaker 4: that room.

904
00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:01,080
Speaker 3: But what is this offense?

905
00:47:01,120 --> 00:47:02,840
Speaker 4: It's a great question, and I don't think we have

906
00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:06,160
Speaker 4: answers because even though it's the same coaching staff, like

907
00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:08,360
Speaker 4: they may like, I mean, I know Graham Harrell's gone,

908
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:11,000
Speaker 4: but Chad Scott was already on the staff and has

909
00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:13,920
Speaker 4: been there the entire Neil Brown era, Neil Brown. Obviously

910
00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:16,360
Speaker 4: they're both involved. Sean Reagan is going to be involved.

911
00:47:16,520 --> 00:47:18,440
Speaker 4: He's been there the whole time. So all three of

912
00:47:18,440 --> 00:47:20,640
Speaker 4: those coaches who are going to be predominantly involved in

913
00:47:20,680 --> 00:47:24,000
Speaker 4: the identity of this offense and the play calling, which

914
00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:27,600
Speaker 4: is a whole other discussion, have been there the whole time.

915
00:47:27,680 --> 00:47:30,640
Speaker 3: So how is it going to be different? They're they're

916
00:47:30,680 --> 00:47:31,880
Speaker 3: pitching it going to be that it's.

917
00:47:31,719 --> 00:47:33,120
Speaker 4: Going to be different than the last few years because

918
00:47:33,160 --> 00:47:35,400
Speaker 4: offense has been the struggle, and they're saying it's because

919
00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:37,160
Speaker 4: of personnel that it's going to be different with a

920
00:47:37,239 --> 00:47:40,520
Speaker 4: running quarterback, more reoption and more.

921
00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:43,480
Speaker 3: Run centric than you've seen in the past couple of years.

922
00:47:44,200 --> 00:47:47,759
Speaker 2: Is there an idea that because of the flux that's

923
00:47:47,800 --> 00:47:50,440
Speaker 2: happening within the conference with Texas Oklahoma leaving and now

924
00:47:50,520 --> 00:47:53,200
Speaker 2: four new teams coming in, is there a sense within

925
00:47:53,239 --> 00:47:56,919
Speaker 2: West Virginia that, like, not that we can start over,

926
00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:00,680
Speaker 2: but that we're sort of starting at, you know, a

927
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:03,239
Speaker 2: new point where we can sort of throw out the

928
00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:06,040
Speaker 2: past few years because it's a new look of a conference,

929
00:48:06,239 --> 00:48:09,120
Speaker 2: or is everything sort of seen as a continuation.

930
00:48:10,280 --> 00:48:12,279
Speaker 3: I do think there's a little bit of that view.

931
00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:17,120
Speaker 4: At least with recruiting and again talent acquisition, if you will,

932
00:48:17,160 --> 00:48:20,319
Speaker 4: because there was never going to become a point where

933
00:48:20,400 --> 00:48:22,960
Speaker 4: West Virginia was recruiting at the same level as Oklahoma

934
00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:25,560
Speaker 4: or Texas. I mean, to get to that would take

935
00:48:25,719 --> 00:48:29,160
Speaker 4: literal decade changes in geography and everything. So it's just

936
00:48:29,200 --> 00:48:32,120
Speaker 4: not going to happen. But with those two teams out,

937
00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:33,759
Speaker 4: now you look at the rest of the league. If

938
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:36,520
Speaker 4: you're West Virginia and you say, hey, yeah, some of

939
00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:39,480
Speaker 4: these teams are more talent rich areas for recruiting them,

940
00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:42,200
Speaker 4: have a little more history, some of them have recruited well.

941
00:48:42,239 --> 00:48:44,239
Speaker 3: But we can do it.

942
00:48:44,400 --> 00:48:47,800
Speaker 4: We can be the top team as far as recruiting

943
00:48:48,040 --> 00:48:51,279
Speaker 4: and transfer editions out of what's left after Texas and

944
00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:55,520
Speaker 4: Oklahoma go. It is possible at least some years. So

945
00:48:55,560 --> 00:48:58,160
Speaker 4: I do think they're looking at it through that lens.

946
00:48:58,200 --> 00:49:00,359
Speaker 4: As far as the departure of Texas and oklahom.

947
00:49:00,960 --> 00:49:04,920
Speaker 2: How has geographic recruiting changed, if at all since Dana

948
00:49:04,960 --> 00:49:07,800
Speaker 2: Holgerson left. Obviously West Virginia with a ton of success

949
00:49:07,800 --> 00:49:09,480
Speaker 2: in the state of Florida and they find a ton

950
00:49:09,520 --> 00:49:13,160
Speaker 2: of skill position talent. NFL level skill position talent has

951
00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:17,080
Speaker 2: that adjusted. Has that changed, has that continued, because that

952
00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:20,200
Speaker 2: was obviously an incredibly fruitful pipeline.

953
00:49:21,200 --> 00:49:23,800
Speaker 4: I think they're still hitting the same areas they ventured

954
00:49:23,800 --> 00:49:25,719
Speaker 4: out into Texas when they first made the move to

955
00:49:25,760 --> 00:49:28,840
Speaker 4: the twelve, and it became pretty evident pretty fast, like

956
00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:32,120
Speaker 4: it's just not going to work out.

957
00:49:32,400 --> 00:49:34,720
Speaker 3: Put too much resources into recruiting that area.

958
00:49:34,760 --> 00:49:36,879
Speaker 4: Obviously there's a lot of talent, but guys aren't leaving

959
00:49:36,920 --> 00:49:37,920
Speaker 4: Texas come out.

960
00:49:37,800 --> 00:49:40,120
Speaker 3: To West Virginia, even with West Virginia in the Big twelve.

961
00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:44,400
Speaker 4: So they've stuck mostly or returned mostly to their main areas.

962
00:49:45,480 --> 00:49:48,319
Speaker 4: I do call speaking with one staffer who said, you know,

963
00:49:48,719 --> 00:49:52,600
Speaker 4: their goal for the most part, especially with the transfers nowadays,

964
00:49:52,600 --> 00:49:54,320
Speaker 4: if they've done a study or there was a study

965
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:58,520
Speaker 4: about players outside of three hundred miles, I think it

966
00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:03,319
Speaker 4: was transfer you know, x amount more right than those

967
00:50:03,360 --> 00:50:05,200
Speaker 4: that were within three hundred miles of campus.

968
00:50:05,440 --> 00:50:07,359
Speaker 3: So West Virginia's tried to keep it in there.

969
00:50:07,840 --> 00:50:12,120
Speaker 4: And you know that's kind in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina,

970
00:50:12,160 --> 00:50:15,480
Speaker 4: and that's the same areas they've always jump out to

971
00:50:15,520 --> 00:50:20,480
Speaker 4: New Jersey because New Jersey is I mean West Virginia

972
00:50:20,680 --> 00:50:24,000
Speaker 4: the university, not the football team. I feel like half

973
00:50:24,120 --> 00:50:26,640
Speaker 4: half of that school it's from New Jersey. And then

974
00:50:27,040 --> 00:50:28,600
Speaker 4: you're down in the South Florida too and have had

975
00:50:28,640 --> 00:50:30,799
Speaker 4: success there, so they do go down there and spop

976
00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:31,719
Speaker 4: recruit there as well.

977
00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:35,560
Speaker 2: Fair enough, and when you go five and seven, six

978
00:50:35,640 --> 00:50:38,319
Speaker 2: and six every year, it's largely not because you win

979
00:50:38,400 --> 00:50:41,000
Speaker 2: six games by fourteen points and lose six games by

980
00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:45,160
Speaker 2: fourteen points. Generally speaking, there are three drives. There's something

981
00:50:45,160 --> 00:50:47,000
Speaker 2: that come to define a game that you lose by

982
00:50:47,040 --> 00:50:50,040
Speaker 2: three or five drives that you know you lose by

983
00:50:50,040 --> 00:50:51,960
Speaker 2: a touchdown and you're like, well, we went three and

984
00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:53,840
Speaker 2: out these three drives and we didn't go for it

985
00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:55,759
Speaker 2: on fourth and two, or we didn't you know, we

986
00:50:55,760 --> 00:50:57,400
Speaker 2: went for a field goal on you know, fourth and

987
00:50:57,440 --> 00:50:59,480
Speaker 2: goal from the two yard line and you know, lose

988
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:02,200
Speaker 2: by four something like that. What is it about the

989
00:51:02,239 --> 00:51:05,839
Speaker 2: in game West Virginia experience right now, whether it's last year,

990
00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:08,680
Speaker 2: the last couple of years that you've seen that fans

991
00:51:08,680 --> 00:51:11,799
Speaker 2: seem to see that say, this is the difference, right

992
00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:16,400
Speaker 2: if we are if we're converting these seven opportunities differently

993
00:51:16,520 --> 00:51:19,239
Speaker 2: or approaching a game in this manner. You know, we're

994
00:51:19,239 --> 00:51:21,839
Speaker 2: going eight and four more often than not, and now

995
00:51:21,840 --> 00:51:23,160
Speaker 2: we end up at five and seven.

996
00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:26,400
Speaker 3: That was one heck of a way to get me

997
00:51:26,440 --> 00:51:27,880
Speaker 3: to talk about that Pit game again.

998
00:51:27,800 --> 00:51:32,680
Speaker 2: Least I didn't mean specifically that game, but also we

999
00:51:32,719 --> 00:51:34,759
Speaker 2: can talk about the Kansas game, we can talk about

1000
00:51:34,760 --> 00:51:37,360
Speaker 2: the TCU game where West Virginia is in a position

1001
00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:40,600
Speaker 2: to win. What is there a common you know, thread

1002
00:51:41,080 --> 00:51:42,839
Speaker 2: through point with games like that? Right now?

1003
00:51:43,680 --> 00:51:47,720
Speaker 4: I think now there was almost like a flip switched

1004
00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:51,520
Speaker 4: for Neil Brown and he got far more aggressive and

1005
00:51:51,560 --> 00:51:53,880
Speaker 4: it started with that Pit game and continued later on

1006
00:51:53,920 --> 00:51:56,920
Speaker 4: the year. And for those who don't recall MEVA fans

1007
00:51:56,920 --> 00:52:00,160
Speaker 4: closure years, the pit game, west Virginia's up seven, they

1008
00:52:00,160 --> 00:52:03,720
Speaker 4: got fourth and about a foot on the forty five

1009
00:52:03,880 --> 00:52:06,719
Speaker 4: or something of the bit side of the ball of midfield.

1010
00:52:07,080 --> 00:52:09,319
Speaker 4: You get that first down. Game is over if you

1011
00:52:09,360 --> 00:52:12,200
Speaker 4: don't get going to go fifty yards to score just

1012
00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:15,000
Speaker 4: the tie, and instead West Virginia kind of punted away

1013
00:52:15,040 --> 00:52:17,239
Speaker 4: and it went downhill from there and they eventually blew

1014
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:17,600
Speaker 4: the game.

1015
00:52:18,239 --> 00:52:19,760
Speaker 3: And that's something that's.

1016
00:52:19,640 --> 00:52:21,279
Speaker 4: Going to stick in the in the mines to a

1017
00:52:21,280 --> 00:52:23,120
Speaker 4: lot of the Wview fans. And it seemed to stick

1018
00:52:23,120 --> 00:52:25,799
Speaker 4: with Neil Brown too, because he got a little more

1019
00:52:25,800 --> 00:52:27,880
Speaker 4: aggressive as they went on, a little more aggressive, and

1020
00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:30,920
Speaker 4: then more or less by the half point park when

1021
00:52:30,960 --> 00:52:33,120
Speaker 4: it was hey, if you don't win out or you're

1022
00:52:33,160 --> 00:52:33,560
Speaker 4: not going.

1023
00:52:33,400 --> 00:52:34,400
Speaker 3: To a bowl game, but they didn't go to the

1024
00:52:34,400 --> 00:52:34,799
Speaker 3: bowl game.

1025
00:52:35,160 --> 00:52:37,040
Speaker 4: For the second half of the season, they got far

1026
00:52:37,120 --> 00:52:40,520
Speaker 4: more aggressive and they found more success in doing that.

1027
00:52:40,600 --> 00:52:43,920
Speaker 4: So I think you might see that more, especially if

1028
00:52:43,960 --> 00:52:46,400
Speaker 4: they do this new offense that's going to be more readoption,

1029
00:52:46,560 --> 00:52:48,840
Speaker 4: more run centric, because they'll be put in more of

1030
00:52:48,840 --> 00:52:51,759
Speaker 4: those situations where it's you know, instead of you pass

1031
00:52:51,800 --> 00:52:54,600
Speaker 4: three times and it's fourth and ten and you obviously punnying,

1032
00:52:54,600 --> 00:52:56,759
Speaker 4: there's gonna be a lot more of those fourth and two,

1033
00:52:56,880 --> 00:52:59,440
Speaker 4: fourth and one, fourth and three decisions that they're going

1034
00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:02,239
Speaker 4: to have to make. And I'm curious to see if

1035
00:53:02,280 --> 00:53:04,560
Speaker 4: Neil Brown stays as aggressive as he was to the

1036
00:53:04,640 --> 00:53:06,520
Speaker 4: end of last year what it felt like he was

1037
00:53:06,560 --> 00:53:08,239
Speaker 4: just coaching for a job.

1038
00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:11,040
Speaker 2: It seems to me from Afar that it's a great

1039
00:53:11,120 --> 00:53:14,120
Speaker 2: time for a team who hasn't been winning eight games

1040
00:53:14,160 --> 00:53:16,719
Speaker 2: a season to win eight games a season within the

1041
00:53:16,719 --> 00:53:19,640
Speaker 2: Big twelve, right that you have a lot of change

1042
00:53:19,680 --> 00:53:22,080
Speaker 2: at quarterback, a lot of changes at head coach and

1043
00:53:22,400 --> 00:53:26,160
Speaker 2: offensive coordinat or whatever. How does West Virginia in your mind,

1044
00:53:26,200 --> 00:53:29,080
Speaker 2: whether it's just the eye test guys getting off the bus,

1045
00:53:29,239 --> 00:53:31,880
Speaker 2: or when you watch other Big twelve teams playing against

1046
00:53:31,920 --> 00:53:34,640
Speaker 2: each other, not even playing against West Virginia, does West

1047
00:53:34,719 --> 00:53:37,919
Speaker 2: Virginia stack up right? When you watch Oklahoma State, Iowa State,

1048
00:53:37,920 --> 00:53:40,319
Speaker 2: when you watch Baylor Kansas State, You're like, there's no

1049
00:53:40,360 --> 00:53:42,959
Speaker 2: reason West Virginia can't be beating these teams more often

1050
00:53:43,000 --> 00:53:45,600
Speaker 2: than not, or is there something lacking when you watch

1051
00:53:45,640 --> 00:53:47,839
Speaker 2: those other teams right now?

1052
00:53:47,840 --> 00:53:50,480
Speaker 4: The thing that's lacking is explosive plays on offense. I mean,

1053
00:53:50,560 --> 00:53:52,520
Speaker 4: last year the defense struggled, but that was a lot

1054
00:53:52,560 --> 00:53:55,439
Speaker 4: due to injuries and transfers. That secondary kind of fell

1055
00:53:55,440 --> 00:53:58,560
Speaker 4: apart pretty quickly. But you look at this offense and

1056
00:53:58,600 --> 00:54:01,160
Speaker 4: it's been all four years under Neil Brown, so and

1057
00:54:01,480 --> 00:54:04,960
Speaker 4: it wasn't like that obviously with Dana in town. Granted

1058
00:54:05,080 --> 00:54:08,160
Speaker 4: that final year over somebody spoiled some people with Will

1059
00:54:08,200 --> 00:54:10,400
Speaker 4: Greer throwing to Gary Jenames and David.

1060
00:54:10,200 --> 00:54:10,880
Speaker 3: Skills and all that.

1061
00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:11,200
Speaker 2: Yep.

1062
00:54:11,239 --> 00:54:16,360
Speaker 4: But West Virginia as an offense does not get explosive plays.

1063
00:54:16,520 --> 00:54:17,560
Speaker 3: Even when you have JT.

1064
00:54:17,680 --> 00:54:21,680
Speaker 4: Daniels a quarterback, Graham Harrell's offensive coordinator, they couldn't muster anything.

1065
00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:23,400
Speaker 4: That was the whole reason they brought those two men

1066
00:54:23,920 --> 00:54:26,040
Speaker 4: was to try to get big plays on offense, and

1067
00:54:26,040 --> 00:54:26,760
Speaker 4: it hasn't happened.

1068
00:54:26,840 --> 00:54:30,080
Speaker 3: It feels like even when West Virginia scored over these

1069
00:54:30,120 --> 00:54:32,120
Speaker 3: last four years, it is a fog.

1070
00:54:32,360 --> 00:54:36,240
Speaker 4: It is a twelve play run run roll short patch

1071
00:54:36,239 --> 00:54:39,120
Speaker 4: for pass, five yard touchdown run, thank god you on

1072
00:54:39,160 --> 00:54:41,440
Speaker 4: the ends up kind of thing. And when you o

1073
00:54:41,480 --> 00:54:44,600
Speaker 4: higher state players and you watch Alabama, sure they have

1074
00:54:44,680 --> 00:54:47,840
Speaker 4: those drives, but then there's a lot of two plays

1075
00:54:47,880 --> 00:54:51,520
Speaker 4: seventy two yards and you know, sixty yard touchdown pass

1076
00:54:51,680 --> 00:54:54,200
Speaker 4: and West Virginia has not had that in years now.

1077
00:54:55,480 --> 00:55:01,200
Speaker 1: You mentioned the defense consistently, this has been the strength

1078
00:55:01,200 --> 00:55:03,279
Speaker 1: of the team, at least since Neil Brown got there.

1079
00:55:03,440 --> 00:55:05,360
Speaker 1: He's done a good job on the defensive side. But

1080
00:55:05,360 --> 00:55:08,280
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, last year kind of bottomed out injuries.

1081
00:55:08,320 --> 00:55:11,640
Speaker 1: Transfer is the like, how confident are you that that

1082
00:55:11,800 --> 00:55:14,359
Speaker 1: was a blip on the radar, not something we will

1083
00:55:14,400 --> 00:55:17,200
Speaker 1: see as more of a developing trend from last year

1084
00:55:17,320 --> 00:55:20,520
Speaker 1: moving forward, or is it something that we should be

1085
00:55:20,520 --> 00:55:21,160
Speaker 1: concerned about.

1086
00:55:22,840 --> 00:55:25,279
Speaker 4: I'd be slightly concerned about the secondary just because of

1087
00:55:25,640 --> 00:55:28,640
Speaker 4: personnel issues. But for the most part, and I've said

1088
00:55:28,680 --> 00:55:30,600
Speaker 4: it during the season and the coaches I picked it

1089
00:55:30,680 --> 00:55:31,719
Speaker 4: up this spring as well.

1090
00:55:32,560 --> 00:55:34,399
Speaker 3: Those guys didn't forget how to coach on that side

1091
00:55:34,400 --> 00:55:34,719
Speaker 3: of the ball.

1092
00:55:34,920 --> 00:55:38,799
Speaker 4: The reason West Virginia was even made it to five

1093
00:55:38,880 --> 00:55:41,640
Speaker 4: hundred more or less for those first first couple of

1094
00:55:41,680 --> 00:55:45,160
Speaker 4: years of Browns time was because of these coaches, was

1095
00:55:45,200 --> 00:55:47,560
Speaker 4: because of the defense. And they did so in spite

1096
00:55:47,640 --> 00:55:50,759
Speaker 4: of some coaching turmoil. I know, if you guys remember

1097
00:55:50,760 --> 00:55:54,080
Speaker 4: the Vic Coning thing where he started out, trouble, got

1098
00:55:54,120 --> 00:55:56,960
Speaker 4: the boot right before the start of the season, transfers,

1099
00:55:57,280 --> 00:56:00,000
Speaker 4: new starters, turn over, all that, and it didn't matter.

1100
00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:03,320
Speaker 4: They were a top twenty to twenty five defense majority

1101
00:56:03,320 --> 00:56:05,359
Speaker 4: of the time, and then last year just fell off

1102
00:56:05,360 --> 00:56:05,760
Speaker 4: a cliff.

1103
00:56:05,840 --> 00:56:07,359
Speaker 3: I think a lot of that has.

1104
00:56:07,239 --> 00:56:10,240
Speaker 4: To do with transfers. I mean, and also, you're all

1105
00:56:10,280 --> 00:56:12,600
Speaker 4: big twelve cornerback. The guy who was supposed to help

1106
00:56:12,640 --> 00:56:16,239
Speaker 4: save your secondary gets injured twelve snaps into the season opener.

1107
00:56:16,280 --> 00:56:18,040
Speaker 4: Now that's going to set you back as well, and

1108
00:56:18,200 --> 00:56:20,759
Speaker 4: you're kind of just chasing things down and just trying

1109
00:56:20,840 --> 00:56:21,840
Speaker 4: to tread water from there.

1110
00:56:22,400 --> 00:56:24,440
Speaker 1: Final question, Chris will get you out of here on

1111
00:56:24,480 --> 00:56:29,759
Speaker 1: this we've used the word trust a lot in this conversation. Confidence,

1112
00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:34,720
Speaker 1: et cetera, et cetera. Vegas doesn't have much in West Virginia.

1113
00:56:34,840 --> 00:56:37,120
Speaker 1: The over under that we saw from draft kings last

1114
00:56:37,120 --> 00:56:39,920
Speaker 1: week four and a half. It is a tough schedule.

1115
00:56:40,320 --> 00:56:42,640
Speaker 1: There are some new teams coming into the Big twelve.

1116
00:56:42,680 --> 00:56:47,680
Speaker 1: As Dan mentioned earlier, what is your level of trust

1117
00:56:48,040 --> 00:56:51,319
Speaker 1: as we go into twenty twenty three given that four

1118
00:56:51,320 --> 00:56:52,640
Speaker 1: and a half win total.

1119
00:56:54,400 --> 00:56:55,000
Speaker 3: Last year.

1120
00:56:55,120 --> 00:56:58,040
Speaker 4: I did a preseason podcast and I think West Virginia's

1121
00:56:58,040 --> 00:57:01,560
Speaker 4: WINTA was five now a flat five, and I told

1122
00:57:01,560 --> 00:57:03,280
Speaker 4: everybody to bet the house on it.

1123
00:57:03,320 --> 00:57:04,640
Speaker 3: At worse, you're getting your money back.

1124
00:57:05,520 --> 00:57:07,040
Speaker 4: They eked it out and you got your money back

1125
00:57:07,920 --> 00:57:11,600
Speaker 4: four and a half even lower. But you're right, it's

1126
00:57:11,640 --> 00:57:13,640
Speaker 4: just such a tough schedule and it's going to start

1127
00:57:13,640 --> 00:57:16,640
Speaker 4: out so hard right Penn State right off the bad

1128
00:57:17,280 --> 00:57:19,080
Speaker 4: and there is a scenario here where you're looking at

1129
00:57:19,120 --> 00:57:22,040
Speaker 4: a West Virginia team that is like one in three

1130
00:57:22,320 --> 00:57:25,120
Speaker 4: to start the year, and I believe that lines up

1131
00:57:25,120 --> 00:57:30,320
Speaker 4: with winn by week or maybe it's Houston and then Liver.

1132
00:57:30,560 --> 00:57:31,360
Speaker 3: But there's a.

1133
00:57:31,320 --> 00:57:33,680
Speaker 4: Situation here where it is we want four and there's

1134
00:57:33,680 --> 00:57:36,120
Speaker 4: a discussion of hey, this bi week, is it time

1135
00:57:36,160 --> 00:57:37,120
Speaker 4: to let Neil Brown go?

1136
00:57:37,640 --> 00:57:41,320
Speaker 3: Which that's gonna be tough because then you look at the.

1137
00:57:41,240 --> 00:57:45,120
Speaker 4: Second half of West Virginia schedule and there's some you know,

1138
00:57:45,160 --> 00:57:47,160
Speaker 4: there's decent teams on there, and I don't think there's

1139
00:57:47,200 --> 00:57:49,200
Speaker 4: any game the rest of the year where you're like, yeah,

1140
00:57:49,240 --> 00:57:51,960
Speaker 4: West Virginia is going to be a double digit underdog

1141
00:57:52,320 --> 00:57:53,840
Speaker 4: when they might be for a couple of games in

1142
00:57:53,880 --> 00:57:54,479
Speaker 4: the first half.

1143
00:57:54,520 --> 00:57:56,320
Speaker 3: So four and a half I'm.

1144
00:57:56,200 --> 00:57:58,919
Speaker 4: Not making any recommendations on that. I think for Neil

1145
00:57:58,960 --> 00:58:03,240
Speaker 4: Brown's future needs to certainly be over. But if I

1146
00:58:03,280 --> 00:58:05,760
Speaker 4: were a betting man, and I am not a good one,

1147
00:58:05,800 --> 00:58:09,440
Speaker 4: but i am, I would watch more closely let them

1148
00:58:09,480 --> 00:58:11,240
Speaker 4: start wanting to you know, if they start one and three,

1149
00:58:11,680 --> 00:58:13,360
Speaker 4: then I'd see what that line is and try to

1150
00:58:13,360 --> 00:58:15,400
Speaker 4: bet the second half of Rile of the Wind Titles

1151
00:58:15,440 --> 00:58:16,360
Speaker 4: is are at that time.

1152
00:58:16,760 --> 00:58:19,680
Speaker 1: I think that's really smart. The splits, the home road

1153
00:58:19,720 --> 00:58:23,360
Speaker 1: splits are brutal for West Virginia this year. I feel

1154
00:58:23,360 --> 00:58:25,400
Speaker 1: bad for that. I feel bad for Neil Brown, given

1155
00:58:25,680 --> 00:58:28,400
Speaker 1: that there's already some coaching turmoil and that he's going

1156
00:58:28,480 --> 00:58:30,040
Speaker 1: to have to deal with the schedule. But we'll see.

1157
00:58:30,240 --> 00:58:35,160
Speaker 1: Hopefully it doesn't come to the bye week early firing situation. Chris,

1158
00:58:35,240 --> 00:58:37,080
Speaker 1: thank you so much for your time. Where can people

1159
00:58:37,080 --> 00:58:37,440
Speaker 1: find you?

1160
00:58:38,280 --> 00:58:40,560
Speaker 4: You can find us at earsports dot com and you

1161
00:58:40,600 --> 00:58:42,880
Speaker 4: can find me on Twitter at cm Anderson two four

1162
00:58:43,000 --> 00:58:44,520
Speaker 4: seven beautiful.

1163
00:58:44,560 --> 00:58:46,880
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time and wisdom. I

1164
00:58:46,920 --> 00:58:49,480
Speaker 1: know it's a busy day out there, so as we

1165
00:58:49,600 --> 00:58:51,680
Speaker 1: like to say on the show, stay solid.

1166
00:58:51,320 --> 00:58:52,560
Speaker 3: All right, Thanks for having me on.

1167
00:58:52,640 --> 00:58:55,560
Speaker 1: All right, there you go, Chris Anderson, your sports dot

1168
00:58:55,560 --> 00:58:58,120
Speaker 1: com check them out. Appreciate his time again on a

1169
00:58:58,240 --> 00:59:03,760
Speaker 1: very busy day, this day in West Virginia. What are

1170
00:59:03,800 --> 00:59:04,840
Speaker 1: your thoughts in West Virginia.

1171
00:59:05,960 --> 00:59:07,960
Speaker 2: I've been to West Virginia. I've been to West Virginia game,

1172
00:59:07,960 --> 00:59:12,080
Speaker 2: I've been to Morgantown. I went to a completely boring

1173
00:59:12,600 --> 00:59:16,360
Speaker 2: daytime game. But in seeing West Virginia fans, even in

1174
00:59:16,400 --> 00:59:19,800
Speaker 2: seeing Miszoo fans, you know, rooting for places like that,

1175
00:59:19,960 --> 00:59:22,240
Speaker 2: right that football is so important and it becomes such

1176
00:59:22,240 --> 00:59:25,840
Speaker 2: a frenzy when this team is good, and it's strange

1177
00:59:25,880 --> 00:59:29,080
Speaker 2: to watch actually all three of these teams, but specifically

1178
00:59:29,120 --> 00:59:32,720
Speaker 2: Missoo and West Virginia struggle like they have because as

1179
00:59:32,760 --> 00:59:36,560
Speaker 2: a fan of wide open offenses and crazy athletes at receiver,

1180
00:59:37,200 --> 00:59:41,080
Speaker 2: both of these places when operating, and I don't talk about,

1181
00:59:41,080 --> 00:59:43,640
Speaker 2: you know, winning eleven games whatever, however many games they win.

1182
00:59:44,480 --> 00:59:46,480
Speaker 2: You're talking about two of the more fun programs in

1183
00:59:46,480 --> 00:59:50,480
Speaker 2: college football, like just the the Tavon Austin, Like just

1184
00:59:50,520 --> 00:59:53,880
Speaker 2: the number of guys that have come through Morgantown and Columbia,

1185
00:59:53,880 --> 00:59:57,600
Speaker 2: Missouri Como is pretty staggering. I know you've always got

1186
00:59:57,600 --> 00:59:59,840
Speaker 2: a soft spot in your heart for Henry Josie Man,

1187
01:00:00,080 --> 01:00:03,760
Speaker 2: so like guys like that, You're just like, what's what's

1188
01:00:03,800 --> 01:00:06,959
Speaker 2: stopping these programs for having a very specific, wide open

1189
01:00:07,040 --> 01:00:07,800
Speaker 2: vision on offense.

1190
01:00:07,840 --> 01:00:08,840
Speaker 1: Once again, if you can.

1191
01:00:08,720 --> 01:00:11,880
Speaker 2: Find quarterbacks, which West Virginia struggled to do since Will Greer.

1192
01:00:12,360 --> 01:00:15,240
Speaker 2: But if you can find quarterbacks, it's plays gonna be

1193
01:00:15,240 --> 01:00:18,560
Speaker 2: super fun. And so that's what that's what's a bummer

1194
01:00:18,600 --> 01:00:20,960
Speaker 2: to me that we're having these conversations about these programs

1195
01:00:21,000 --> 01:00:24,919
Speaker 2: returning to that in eight win level. So I'm West

1196
01:00:25,000 --> 01:00:29,040
Speaker 2: Virginia specific, they've been pretty awful to watch which is

1197
01:00:29,120 --> 01:00:31,120
Speaker 2: so strange to say, like just in terms of a

1198
01:00:31,160 --> 01:00:34,920
Speaker 2: TV product, And Chris mentioned it like explosive plays, like

1199
01:00:34,960 --> 01:00:38,640
Speaker 2: at the very least figure out ways because West Virginia

1200
01:00:38,720 --> 01:00:41,520
Speaker 2: and it was far too quiet. But CJ. Donaldson was

1201
01:00:41,560 --> 01:00:44,320
Speaker 2: one of that at his best, what dozen most exciting

1202
01:00:44,320 --> 01:00:46,760
Speaker 2: players in the country, healthy and at his best and

1203
01:00:46,760 --> 01:00:48,440
Speaker 2: put in a position right, he comes in as like

1204
01:00:48,840 --> 01:00:51,600
Speaker 2: a hybrid receiver h back type and they're like, he's

1205
01:00:51,760 --> 01:00:53,360
Speaker 2: too good as a freshman not to just give him

1206
01:00:53,360 --> 01:00:54,240
Speaker 2: the ball the backfield.

1207
01:00:54,400 --> 01:00:55,160
Speaker 1: He was incredible.

1208
01:00:55,160 --> 01:00:57,840
Speaker 2: He gets hurt and hopefully he bounces back to regain

1209
01:00:57,880 --> 01:01:01,600
Speaker 2: his form. But it's very odd to talk about a

1210
01:01:01,600 --> 01:01:03,680
Speaker 2: West Virginia team who is just trying to like paint

1211
01:01:03,680 --> 01:01:06,320
Speaker 2: the corners and like we gotta just win closer games.

1212
01:01:06,320 --> 01:01:09,040
Speaker 1: Tell me a little bit better. Tell me how you

1213
01:01:09,120 --> 01:01:12,400
Speaker 1: feel about this road home split.

1214
01:01:13,000 --> 01:01:15,320
Speaker 2: Oh I remember looking at this, but continue.

1215
01:01:15,360 --> 01:01:17,800
Speaker 1: If you are a West Virginia season ticket on the

1216
01:01:17,840 --> 01:01:20,600
Speaker 1: home games are only six home games. The six home

1217
01:01:20,640 --> 01:01:24,120
Speaker 1: games that you'll be able to see this year are Ducane,

1218
01:01:25,080 --> 01:01:27,200
Speaker 1: the backyard brawl against pitt which is great.

1219
01:01:27,240 --> 01:01:28,160
Speaker 2: No, no, that's a big deal.

1220
01:01:28,200 --> 01:01:32,600
Speaker 1: It's a big deal. Texas Tech Oklahoma State on homecoming

1221
01:01:33,320 --> 01:01:34,840
Speaker 1: BYU and Cincinnati.

1222
01:01:35,880 --> 01:01:37,000
Speaker 2: Okay, it's tough.

1223
01:01:37,040 --> 01:01:38,600
Speaker 1: Would you like to hear the road games now?

1224
01:01:39,080 --> 01:01:39,320
Speaker 2: Yeah?

1225
01:01:40,200 --> 01:01:43,960
Speaker 1: Week one Saturday, seven thirty pm on the road at

1226
01:01:44,000 --> 01:01:47,960
Speaker 1: Penn State and Happy Valley, possible wide out game. Week one.

1227
01:01:48,280 --> 01:01:51,080
Speaker 2: Does Penn State have anybody? Week two? Look ahead something?

1228
01:01:51,280 --> 01:01:56,160
Speaker 1: Maybe Penn State Week two has the fight Mac tave Hens. Yeah,

1229
01:01:56,160 --> 01:01:59,560
Speaker 1: there you go, so the answer is no. Then a

1230
01:01:59,640 --> 01:02:03,040
Speaker 1: couple weeks later end of September at TCU, after a

1231
01:02:03,040 --> 01:02:07,800
Speaker 1: bye week at Houston, two weeks later at UCF, two

1232
01:02:07,800 --> 01:02:10,960
Speaker 1: weeks later at Oklahoma, they close out the year on

1233
01:02:11,000 --> 01:02:16,360
Speaker 1: the road at Baylor. It is decidedly way harder on

1234
01:02:16,400 --> 01:02:19,760
Speaker 1: the road, yeah, than it is at home. For West

1235
01:02:19,840 --> 01:02:22,919
Speaker 1: Virginia over under again is four and a half, which

1236
01:02:22,920 --> 01:02:24,520
Speaker 1: I think is low. I think that's a little bit low,

1237
01:02:24,600 --> 01:02:27,280
Speaker 1: but I get it. This is a really tough sleep.

1238
01:02:27,600 --> 01:02:29,360
Speaker 2: Are you going to look in the same way that

1239
01:02:29,400 --> 01:02:31,720
Speaker 2: you did with Texas Tech last year for like the

1240
01:02:31,760 --> 01:02:36,920
Speaker 2: gumpy Big twelve team and last season everybody played everybody.

1241
01:02:36,920 --> 01:02:39,280
Speaker 2: It's a different kind of scheduling tactic now that it

1242
01:02:39,400 --> 01:02:41,720
Speaker 2: just seemed like that it was banger after banger after

1243
01:02:41,760 --> 01:02:45,320
Speaker 2: banger in the Big twelve of competent teams. But I

1244
01:02:45,360 --> 01:02:47,480
Speaker 2: wonder if West Virginia might sneak up on people just

1245
01:02:47,520 --> 01:02:51,720
Speaker 2: because they're like weirdly placed on team schedules. Maybe they

1246
01:02:51,760 --> 01:02:54,520
Speaker 2: don't team. I mean, Garrett Green is good if he

1247
01:02:54,640 --> 01:02:56,320
Speaker 2: ends up starting a quterba. I hope he's good. He

1248
01:02:56,400 --> 01:03:00,080
Speaker 2: seemed decent when he didn't throw the ball away in

1249
01:03:00,120 --> 01:03:01,640
Speaker 2: the last couple games beat Oklahoma.

1250
01:03:02,240 --> 01:03:09,480
Speaker 1: Look, that requires that requires some degree of competence on

1251
01:03:09,720 --> 01:03:15,360
Speaker 1: offense and figuring out exactly how Chad Scott is going

1252
01:03:15,400 --> 01:03:17,800
Speaker 1: to put this thing together. I hope he leans a

1253
01:03:17,840 --> 01:03:20,120
Speaker 1: little bit more heavily into the running game. I think

1254
01:03:20,120 --> 01:03:23,160
Speaker 1: that's their strength. I don't think they need to reinvent

1255
01:03:23,200 --> 01:03:27,600
Speaker 1: the wheel in that front. But you know, we see

1256
01:03:27,640 --> 01:03:29,560
Speaker 1: that happen year and in year out. We'll find out

1257
01:03:29,600 --> 01:03:32,560
Speaker 1: what he's got in store if he leans into that.

1258
01:03:32,640 --> 01:03:35,680
Speaker 1: I feel much better about West Virginia's chances of at

1259
01:03:35,760 --> 01:03:38,640
Speaker 1: least getting too a Bowl game. Hitting that over eight

1260
01:03:38,680 --> 01:03:41,240
Speaker 1: wins feels like a stretch. If they get eight wins

1261
01:03:41,240 --> 01:03:43,520
Speaker 1: off of this schedule, they should give Neil Brown a

1262
01:03:43,520 --> 01:03:48,400
Speaker 1: contract extension. They probably will because this is a tough sleep. Look,

1263
01:03:48,560 --> 01:03:49,840
Speaker 1: given where they're at.

1264
01:03:49,720 --> 01:03:51,200
Speaker 2: If they can build the whole plane out of CJ.

1265
01:03:51,280 --> 01:03:53,320
Speaker 2: Donaldson and the way that they built the whole plane

1266
01:03:53,360 --> 01:03:55,439
Speaker 2: out of David Sills in the end zone, like three

1267
01:03:55,520 --> 01:03:58,200
Speaker 2: years ago, five years ago. I lose track of time,

1268
01:03:58,280 --> 01:04:02,000
Speaker 2: ty the fun they could be fun. I'm not writing

1269
01:04:02,000 --> 01:04:04,120
Speaker 2: them off yet. I'm I'm in wait and see mode

1270
01:04:04,120 --> 01:04:08,439
Speaker 2: despite that schedule. I'm at West Virginia upsetting Penn State

1271
01:04:08,440 --> 01:04:12,120
Speaker 2: and Drew Aller week one oh time. What it would

1272
01:04:12,120 --> 01:04:12,840
Speaker 2: do to your heart?

1273
01:04:13,000 --> 01:04:15,600
Speaker 1: That would kill me? That would really kill me?

1274
01:04:15,920 --> 01:04:16,640
Speaker 2: Yeah?

1275
01:04:17,000 --> 01:04:21,920
Speaker 1: All right, right in, let us know at soliverbalotgmail dot

1276
01:04:21,960 --> 01:04:24,000
Speaker 1: com your thoughts on all of these teams. We post

1277
01:04:24,040 --> 01:04:27,080
Speaker 1: episodes out to YouTube, so if you're watching out there,

1278
01:04:27,120 --> 01:04:29,720
Speaker 1: you can comment below. Let us know your thoughts on

1279
01:04:29,840 --> 01:04:32,600
Speaker 1: what we got right, what we got wrong, where we're

1280
01:04:32,600 --> 01:04:34,880
Speaker 1: way off, where we're spot on. We'd love to hear it,

1281
01:04:35,000 --> 01:04:36,800
Speaker 1: love to get your feedback. We know we don't know

1282
01:04:36,840 --> 01:04:40,280
Speaker 1: everything about these teams, but this is trying to just

1283
01:04:40,320 --> 01:04:43,280
Speaker 1: give you the broad the broad stroke of what we

1284
01:04:43,360 --> 01:04:46,520
Speaker 1: see from our I don't know perch up here as

1285
01:04:46,520 --> 01:04:47,960
Speaker 1: a national college football podcast.

1286
01:04:48,280 --> 01:04:50,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, and if you own a restaurant, bar, or bakery,

1287
01:04:51,360 --> 01:04:53,600
Speaker 2: do you solve the po box to replace this easy

1288
01:04:53,640 --> 01:04:55,920
Speaker 2: tiger hat that you constantly wear. If you're watching this

1289
01:04:55,960 --> 01:05:00,880
Speaker 2: on YouTube, send Tyson restaurant hat if you, if you, if.

1290
01:05:00,760 --> 01:05:03,400
Speaker 1: You email us solverblegmail dot com, I can tell you

1291
01:05:03,480 --> 01:05:06,800
Speaker 1: how to send stuff. Okay, I'll be selective, I promise,

1292
01:05:06,880 --> 01:05:09,280
Speaker 1: but I do need to figure out. I love this hat.

1293
01:05:10,000 --> 01:05:12,600
Speaker 1: This hat's like the Great Half Family. At this point,

1294
01:05:12,640 --> 01:05:16,400
Speaker 1: what's your preferred style? You like the trucker bagi Yeah, ok,

1295
01:05:16,520 --> 01:05:18,680
Speaker 1: yeah that's me. I'm not a big dad hat guy.

1296
01:05:19,000 --> 01:05:19,200
Speaker 1: I'm not.

1297
01:05:19,400 --> 01:05:21,400
Speaker 2: You're looking to get into the with the string, not

1298
01:05:21,440 --> 01:05:22,880
Speaker 2: the string with the robot hat.

1299
01:05:23,280 --> 01:05:25,400
Speaker 1: I could go a nice ropad. I don't have any currently.

1300
01:05:25,760 --> 01:05:28,240
Speaker 2: If you own a golf club, if you're a head pro,

1301
01:05:28,680 --> 01:05:32,400
Speaker 2: if you're a tennis whatever, get if you, if you

1302
01:05:32,440 --> 01:05:34,840
Speaker 2: coach a high school baseball team, I'll consider it.

1303
01:05:35,240 --> 01:05:39,080
Speaker 1: I will, I will. That's all all right for ballers

1304
01:05:39,120 --> 01:05:41,480
Speaker 1: dot com. That's the Patreon. Go and check it out

1305
01:05:41,960 --> 01:05:44,160
Speaker 1: again quick slance at soliverble dot com. We'll talk more

1306
01:05:44,200 --> 01:05:48,120
Speaker 1: about wind totals in the newsletter, which drops a little

1307
01:05:48,120 --> 01:05:51,280
Speaker 1: bit later today. Many people listen to this on Thursday.

1308
01:05:51,640 --> 01:05:53,360
Speaker 1: WoT it Check it out that guy over there, my

1309
01:05:53,400 --> 01:05:57,200
Speaker 1: good friend Dan Rubinstein for myself, Ty Hildebrand, thanks for downloaded, listening,

1310
01:05:57,200 --> 01:06:00,240
Speaker 1: supporting the show. We'll talk to y'all sent. Stay solved, Yes,