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Transcript

It's @ShehanJeyarajah on Big 12 Kickoff, Utes/Cougs Expectations + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Sean O'Connell show reminder.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: We've got injury updates all season long coming to you
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: from the advocates, injury returnees. If you're injured in an accident,
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: that was not your fault. Call 801-355-5550 or visit utahadvocates.com.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: A secondary reminder on top of this reminder, the official
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: injury reports are not required of these teams until big
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: 12 play. So Utah does not have to put out
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: an official injury report.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Against Idaho.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: There's been a lot of talk about bumps and bruises
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: about rotation on the offensive and defensive fronts because of
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: those bumps and bruises. You've heard people sort of alluding
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: to this coach is talking about. It was good to
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: have him back or working around so-and-so because he's feeling
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: a twang or a pinch somewhere. So we don't have
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: anything super official that this will have to suffice for
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: today because you're not getting an official injury report no
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: questionable doubtful no available but the advocates injury attorneys will
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: be giving us our injury reports all season long here
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: on the sean o'connell show we're lucky enough to be
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: welcome welcoming again a great friend of the program shahan
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: jia raja national college football insider expert over at cbs
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: sports shahan how are.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: You i'm doing great thanks for having me.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Shahan it's a, it's game day here in salt Lake city,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: as I know you're acutely aware. And you've got a
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: really interesting one for the university of Colorado as well.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Week zero games gave us some interesting things. We haven't
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: talked about those yet. So I guess we should start there.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: The TCU North Carolina contest over in Dublin, TCU looks sloppy.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: The game itself looked pretty sloppy. Obviously North Carolina comes
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: out on top of that one. Was there anything we
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: can infer long-term about Sonny Dyches squad based on that
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: first performance?
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: Well, I think the biggest thing is that this is
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: just a team that's still very messy. And that was
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: something that I think was a real priority for them
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: to try to fix this offseason. Of course, their former quarterback,
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: Josh Hoover, had pretty significant interception issues. They didn't run
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: the ball at a high level. They had breakdowns in coverage.
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: And when I look at this team, and it's week zero, right?
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: It's on the road.
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: It's Dublin, right?
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: But I think that they still looked very sloppy, more
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: than 10 penalties missed.
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: In that game.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: I think really bad situational football, both getting off the
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: field defensively. And of course going over to in the
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: red zone there. So this is just a team that
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: I think has some structural flaws when it comes to
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: just executing in the biggest moments. And look, I mean, again,
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: this is a team that's won 18 games over.
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: The past two years.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: I thought that they were a team that maybe if
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: they cleaned up some of this stuff could be in
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: the big 12 title race. It just doesn't seem like
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: that's happened though.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: We've got this sort of, you know, subconscious or maybe
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: it's conscious at this point, insecurity in the big 12
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: about how the conference itself stacks up against the other
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: power leagues. And we're not going to catch the big 10.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: We're not going to catch the sec. We, maybe we
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: could get in that conversation in earnest with the ACC.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: And it's not like TCU is the flagship brand. And
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: it's not like North Carolina is the flagship brand, but
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: a loss to North Carolina is especially in such an
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: ugly game, is it damaging to the overall reputation at
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: this early in the season?
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think so.
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: I mean, like you said, there are only so many
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: opportunities that big 12 teams get to play against other
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: power conference opponents. And again, specifically, there's only so many opportunities.
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: That you get to win and win emphatically.
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: Like for example, last year, when TC went on the
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: road to a bad North Carolina team, I think it
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: helped them a lot that they were able to go
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: out and have a tremendous performance. And I think that
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: people thought differently about the middle class of the big
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: 12 because of it. And Look again, you know, this
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: upcoming weekend and even starting with today, right? Like Colorado
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: plays against Georgia Tech.
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: I think that's a game that they're going to lose.
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: They would play against Auburn.
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: That's going to, I think, be a huge spot. If
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: they was able to win, I think that that really
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: does help the middle class of the league just a
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: little bit. But last year they didn't. And same deal.
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: I think it hurts.
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: So I think that you have to take advantage of
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: these opportunities. And when you, again, when you play a
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: team like North Carolina, that I still think is probably
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: going to finish bottom five in the ACC. And you
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: have a TCU team that's projected to finish top five
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: in the big 12.
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: I think that it just is a really bad look.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: And I think that it colors perception of the league.
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about the games on the slate this weekend.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: Again, we, we focus on the opportunities that the conference
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: itself has to play elevate the stock. And there's, there's
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: not a lot of headlining games here on the week
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: one slate in college football nationally.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: There's not a ton. And with big 12 involvement, there's
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: even fewer.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: One of those does happen tonight when Colorado takes on
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: Georgia tech. I am genuinely flummoxed. I am confused as
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: to what we are going to see from Dion Sanders,
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: Colorado team this year. I make fun of the fact
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: that their roster has a bunch of guys that are
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: under 175 pounds on it.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: That's mostly tongue in cheek.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: I think that coach prime was a shell of himself
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: last year because of the health issues. I think that,
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: you know, the best version of him as a coach
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: is a lot better than what we saw last year.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: I don't know if the personnel that he's got left
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: at Colorado, even if he is great, can do anything
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: with it.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: How do you see this matchup with Georgia tech?
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: Well, you kind of said it, right?
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: The biggest thing about this part of the coach prime
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: era is that there's just no identity to it. I
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: don't know what Colorado football is. I don't know what
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: we're confident they're going to be good at. I don't
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: know where they're going to build advantages.
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: They have a few good players, right?
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: Julian Lewis at quarterback is an intriguing prospect that probably
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: thrown in a little too soon. DeAndre Moore coming over
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: at receiver from Texas, but they're not Shador and Travis Hunter, right?
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: They're not Jordan Seaton. They're not you know, whichever players
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: that you want to talk about who kind of helped.
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: Spur that 2024 team.
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: And I think that again, There's fundamental and structural issue
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: to me is that they have never invested in a
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: long-term build on the offensive line. I think that you
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: can portal and fix most things pretty quickly in college football,
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: but offensive line is a patient position. And when you
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: try to rush the process, I think it costs you.
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: And that's why we're sitting here in year four saying,
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: what is this team going to be on the offensive line?
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: And by the way, you talk about a team that
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: invests on the offensive line, Georgia tech, is one of
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: the most physical teams in the ACC. They're a team
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: that bullies you. They're a team that gets after you.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: They've got a great running back in Justice Haynes who
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: just transferred from Michigan over to Georgia Tech, and I
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: think is going to be one of the most dynamic
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: running backs in the.
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: Sport this year. So I think that Georgia Tech is.
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: Just going to physically bully Colorado's defense, and I don't
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: know that Colorado's going to have enough answers to fight back.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: Because we just talked about the offensive line, I'm going
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: to use this opportunity to segue to Utah playing against Idaho.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Now I, Idaho, I don't think is going to be
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: a massive challenge for any big 12 team, but it's
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: the first look that we get to see of Morgan
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Scali's 2026 squad. And as you are well aware, that
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: squad replaces all five starters on the offensive line from
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: last year, you did some replacing during the bowl win
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: last year, but First time you've got to replace all
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: five at once will happen against Idaho. And you just
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: called it a position of patience. You don't have that
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: luxury at the University of Utah. No offensive line coach,
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: all new personnel. What do you think that's going to look.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: Like, Shahan?
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: It's a great question.
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: And, you know, I did speak to Morgan Scully about
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: this at Big 12 Media Days, and he kind of
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: said what you said, right, that the offensive line unit
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: that played really well in the bowl game last season
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: is the one that will be playing this season because
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: everybody participated. And so like, look, I don't think this
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: is going to be a total collapse by any means
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: on the offensive line. But the question is how much
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: of their offensive success last year was the fact that
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: they had maybe the best offensive line in all of
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: college football with two first round picks in, in Spencer
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: Fano and Caleb Lomu.
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: I think it was a huge part of it.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: And It made the offense's job easier, especially for Devin Dampier,
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: that they knew that they were going to have time
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: and that they could run the ball at will. Well,
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: the question becomes, what if they can't run the ball
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: at will in 2026? What if they're good, but not
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: great running the ball? You know, I think back to
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: that tech tech game last year, when obviously they were
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: able to really cause some issues and keep Devin Dampier
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: in the pocket. And frankly, the Utah offense just kind
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: of collapsed.
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: Under that pressure. I don't think it's going to look
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: like that every week.
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: And again, I think that Utah is still going to
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: have an above average offensive line, but I just wonder
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: what kind of transition it might look like if this
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: is an inconsistent unit instead of a very good unit.
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: So to me, like I get it right. Utah has
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: gotten and deserves to have gotten as much credibility as
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: any team in the big 12 since they've transitioned to
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: this league. But I just don't know if I can
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: put them in that nine, 10 wins here before I
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: know that this is going to be an offense that
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: remains dynamic.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: And that is kind of the question, whether you're going
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: on the Vegas expectation or the expectation just relative to
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: fan interest and what the schedule looks like. It's so
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: enticing because this is as friendly a schedule as we've
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: seen in recent years for Utah. But we say that
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: with a picture of Utah football in our mind that
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: is consistent, that you can kind of expect physical fronts
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: and at least a rudimentary ability to just get yardage
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: when you need it in those running situations. And you're
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: absolutely right that we don't truly know that about this
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: team yet. We also don't know anything about the offensive
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: or excuse me, the defensive line really, right? You've got
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: some new personnel coming in here, young, guys that are
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: expected to step into larger roles and more so even
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: than the offensive line at the university of Utah defensive
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: line for decades now has been like a guarantee that
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: you're going to have at least one guy who's NFL bound.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: You're going to have people surrounding him that are above
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: average at the very least college football players. And we
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: think that might be the case with this year's roster.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: But again, it's an uncertainty.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: No, it 100% is. And I think that, like you said,
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: I mean, this has been a unit that you can
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: set your watch to. I think that defensively, right? Like,
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: I mean, even again, in my conversations with Kyle Whittingham
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: at media days in the past, right? He's sort of
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: been like, you know, we know what we're going to
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: be there. And I do think that there's reason to
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: believe that the Morgan Scali era will, will feature, you know,
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: defensive lines and units that.
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: Are like that. The question is though, year one, right?
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: When you lose a player like John Henry daily, when
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: you lose a player like Smith Snowden, when you do,
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: you know, just have some turnover along the leadership on
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: that side of the ball more than anything else. And so,
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: you know, I, I think again, like, I don't have
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: a ton of questions. I don't have a ton of issues.
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: I think that Utah is just going to continue to.
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: Figure it out.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: The infrastructure that they've got there, especially on the defensive side,
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: is great. And they brought back the vast majority of
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: their defensive staff, even if they lost some offensive staffers.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: So I still think that this is going to be
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: a very good unit. But again, like we talked about
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: that Utah defense last year, it was a top two
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: or three unit in the Big 12. what's the difference
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: between being top three and let's say top.
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: Six, right?
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: What's the difference between the offense being top three and
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: being top six, right? I think that that's where you
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: sort of start to compound. And by the way, like
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: you do have kind of an interesting schedule with a Again,
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: this is going to be a team that I think
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: is still going to be quality, but I would not
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: judge Morgan Scali's tenure based solely on this first year
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: for that reason.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: Well, I think that's a problem we're going to have
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: to manage here because like I've known Morgan since we
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: were both students together.
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: And I've got this utmost confidence in his ability to
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: be a great head football coach. I don't know if
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: it manifests itself in year one because growing pains should
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: be expected. And I'm trying to simultaneously be optimistic about
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: the season and allow for the fact that like it
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: took Kyle Whittingham some time before he really figured out
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: the head coaching thing.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Took him a couple of years, right?
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: So from the external perspective, which is so valuable on
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: a day like today where we're all drinking the Kool-Aid,
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: what is a successful first year for Morgan before we
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: kick it off?
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: It's a great question. And, you know, it's funny that
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: you mentioned, right.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: I was actually just talking with someone about how Whittingham's
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: kind of start because again, he lost 10 games in
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: his first two seasons in a mountain West where obviously
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: he was advantaged and Utah's advantage in the big 12.
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: They weren't advantaged like they were back then and eventually
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: figures it out. And the being, of course, you know,
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: the greatest coach in Utah history.
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: When I look at this Utah team, like again, Obviously,
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: you expect winning record.
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: You expect being competitive. I do think that some of
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: it is going to come down to they just need
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: to be competitive in some of these spots. If BYU
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: comes to town on November 7th and blows Utah out,
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: that's going to feel bad. That's going to be something
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: that I think people are going to struggle with. If
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: you play them close and you lose the close game,
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: I think you're okay. again, month of November at Arizona
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: at TCU. I think that those are obviously really difficult
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: competitive games that, you know, again, could.
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: Go pretty, pretty difficult.
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: So if, if it's a one in three finish of
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: the year, I think that that will be a little
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: bit of a frustration, but I mean, again, if they're
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: pushing for eight, if they're entering the month of November
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: with at least an outside chance of competing for the
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: big 12 title, if they're at least, you know, competitive
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: in every game that they play, even the ones that
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: they lose, I think that's going to at least give
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: him a chance to feel good about this first season.
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: And again, This is, this is, I think a situation
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: where you just want to see competent coaching.
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: You want to see what the upside is.
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: You want to see some identity built that maybe is
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: a little different and it's more in Morgan Scali's image
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: than Kyle Whittingham.
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: But if they come away with eight or nine.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: Wins and look, I mean, the schedule is pretty manageable
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: actually overall, especially by the way, if they handle Arkansas
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: in week two, you know, if they can come away
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: with eight solid wins, I think everybody should feel pretty
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: good about that.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: In that Big 12 title race you just alluded to,
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: we're assuming that Texas Tech will remain the favorite. Their
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: schedule is pretty friendly. I am terrified of what BYU
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: looks like this year. People don't like hearing me say
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: that on the home of the Utes, but that's how
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: I feel. I think Utah, like you said, deserves to
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: be in that conversation until they prove otherwise. Who else
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: is going to be in that conversation when you and
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: I are talking in week eight or nine?
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: Texas tech still the favorite to me, BYU kind of
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: the co-favorite there. I think that outside of that group,
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: like Houston to me is the most interesting team in
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: the big 12. This is a team that last year
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: quality wise, I don't think that they were a quote
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: unquote 10 win team, even though they got to that number. Well,
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: this year, I think that they actually do take that
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: step roster wise towards being there. Of course, bringing back
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: a whole bunch of production on the defensive side of
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: the ball. Amari Thomas could be potentially the best receiver
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: in the big 12. Connor Wigman, you know, I don't
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: think he's outstanding, but I think he's very solid.
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: And that's enough.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: They, by the way, add McKay Hughes at running back
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: in the transfer portal who rushed for 2,900 yards in
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: two seasons at Tulane for kind of just falling out
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: of the rotation at Oregon. I think that's going to
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: be a huge addition for this team.
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: And again, like you just trust.
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: Willie for it seems, I mean, that was always kind
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: of my thing going in as I'm like, look, call
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: me back in year three, right? Obviously it happened in
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: year two that they were already competitive, but I think
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: year three, uh, It is really where I expect them
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: to take yet another step on both sides of the ball.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: So Houston is kind of that team to me that
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: I think is the biggest threat. But again, like you
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: look up and down this board, I mean, a week ago,
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: I would have told you TCU, right? And TCU obviously
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: looks a little messier than what we expect. I think
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: that Kansas state has a pretty manageable schedule and a
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: really intriguing roster on both.
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: Sides of the ball.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: I mean, again, if you want to go really far
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: down the board, like I'm intrigued by some of the
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: stuff I've heard out of Baylor this year. I don't,
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: I don't know if they're going to be able to
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: be good enough to be in contention, but I think
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: they're going to be very, very competitive this year. So
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: you can just never really count out anybody in that
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: second or third tier of the big 12. But I
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: think that Houston is kind of my, my, I don't
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: even want to call it a dark horse. Cause I
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: think that there may be even a step above that.
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: I'm going to sneak this one in because I'm fascinated
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: by the soap opera that has unfolded in Provo. And
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: I wanted your perspective Kalani Satake no longer reports to
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: Brian Santiago, who is at least by name, still the
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: athletic director of, at Brigham young university. And, you know,
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: there's seeming seemingly tension that goes all the way back
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: to the Kalani Satake conversations with Penn state, maybe before that,
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: but that situation aggravated things. And it was kind of
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: boiling to a head while BYU was in football camp. And,
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: you know, that players, I don't think are overly distracted
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: by something like that, but for a coaching staff, for
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: an administration, for an athletic department, for a school, Far
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: from ideal, especially given the massive expectations on BYU football
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: this year. What are your thoughts on the strange happenings
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: with the athletic department in Provo?
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, look, it's not great, right?
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: Like, it's a very strange situation.
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: I think that, you know, whenever you.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: Talk to people in the industry, one of the things
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: that people point to the most is this idea of
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: alignment and this idea of football coach, athletic director, president, boosters, donors,
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: board of regents all being on the same page. And
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: that's clearly not the case right now. And, I mean,
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: one thing that stands out to me, right, is, like,
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: I've known Kalani.
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: Stokke for several years.
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: It is a very weird situation for me for him
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: to have a level of interpersonal conflict with somebody like this.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: That's just not something.
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: That happens very often.
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: And so, again, there's obviously been rumors that he feels
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: like there are things that weren't delivered that maybe should
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: have been or whatever you want to say.
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: I mean, look.
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: Kalani stocky, very legitimately nearly left last off season.
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: He had an incredible offer from Penn state that would
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: have given him the sun, moon and stars.
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: Well, the thing is, right.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: If they have another great year this year, like what
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: we anticipate that they will, like, you just have to
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: consider him one of the best coaches in college football.
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: And if you're BYU, I mean, there's, there's a lot
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: of reason to believe, right?
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: Like it's not going to get a whole lot better
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: than what you have with this guy. Who's this perfect
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: representation of the program, this perfect leader of the program,
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: obviously this incredible football coach who's done great things at BYU.
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: Like you, to me, you know, I just feel like
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: you have to find a way to take care of him.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: You have to find a way to make him happy
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: because I, again, I'm not saying that they couldn't find
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: somebody new, obviously Bronco Mendenhall left and they replaced him
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: with Kalani Sataki, who is an unorthodox hire and it worked,
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: but again, like you are on such a trajectory right now.
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: I just would be really wary of messing that up.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: I agree, but we'll see how they manage things. They
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: of course, kick off the season Saturday against Utah tech.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: So nice little warmup game for them. And then it's
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: Arizona in week two. That that's, that's kind of, that's
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: a tough game, a sneaky tough game in week two
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: for a team that has, well, both of those teams
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: want to factor into the conference title discussion.
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I mean, I think it's a huge opportunity, right?
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: And I think that, like, right now in college football,
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: I mean, the sport is about timelines and the sport's
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: about opportunities. And if you can't maximize your timelines, I
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: think you always are going to regret that.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Shahan, love the work you do.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: Appreciate you jumping on and lending your thoughts as we
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: get ready to kick off this Utah football season.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: Thanks for your time again, sir.
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: Thank you so much for having me.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: Shahan Jayarajah from CBS Sports.