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Tommy Bowden on the playoff, SEC power, NIL and the transfer portal | Terry Bowden Show · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

• 0:00
  Three, two,
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  one.
• 0:04
  >> Welcome in again everybody to the Terry
• 0:05
  Bowen Show on the Auburn Undercover
• 0:07
  podcast. I'm your host Ronnie Sanders
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  and we're joined today by a special
• 0:12
  guest and uh my longtime friend, one of
• 0:16
  my longtime friends, Tommy B.
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  Hey, the real stuff starts tonight.
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  >> That's right. Hey, you know what? Hey,
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  Tommy, I was trying to think of I
• 0:25
  haven't talked to you about it, but do
• 0:27
  you see Indiana as being the favorite?
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  is have you watched them enough to think
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  that uh that they are they of course
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  they're ranked number one they got the
• 0:34
  number one seed I would just if you'd
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  see that team as being the best football
• 0:38
  team if you had to pick one there's so
• 0:40
  many good there's about four or five
• 0:41
  pretty good ones
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  >> you know I I have watched them probably
• 0:45
  as much as Sabin and Meyer Urban Meyer
• 0:48
  and I have the same impression the best
• 0:50
  coached uh team in college football not
• 0:53
  only that maybe the best job two-year
• 0:55
  job in the in the history of co college
• 0:58
  college football, you know, your your
• 1:00
  your 20 straight wins comes close.
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  >> Yeah. But this is this would be a little
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  bit ahead of that.
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  >> It's amazing, too. And a lot of people
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  don't realize Kurt Signetti's father,
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  Frank Signetti, was our coach. He was my
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  dad's offensive coordinator at Florida
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  State when Tommy played and I I rode the
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  bench. And uh but you know, I always
• 1:19
  thought of Frank Signetti as being a a I
• 1:21
  want to say brilliant, but a super smart
• 1:24
  offensive coach. You can see where Kurt
• 1:26
  got his background. Yeah, that that
• 1:28
  attention to detail. That's one thing I
• 1:30
  can learn about about his dad. And then
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  his dad was obviously a good evaluator
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  of of staff. Like Kurt's got staff has
• 1:38
  been with him that are great coaches.
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  And I remember I was getting ready to to
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  leave uh West Virginia. I was a GA for
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  one year. He said, Frank says, "You
• 1:46
  might want to stay. I'm bringing in this
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  young 26 year old coach from Syracuse,
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  Nick Sabin." And I said, "No, I'm gonna
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  go." But, you know, it looks like Kurt's
• 1:56
  got the same ability as his dad to
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  really, you know, I think Joe Pendry was
• 1:59
  on that staff of Frank Cincinnati. He
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  Kurt's got a great ability to evaluate
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  staff and and talent.
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  >> That that's what I've noticed as I've
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  talked about Indiana as opposed to
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  others, the attention to deep detail.
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  Um, they don't seem to miss anything. He
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  he picks up athletes that other people
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  seem to miss uh uh in recognizing and
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  evaluating talent. We're going to talk
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  about that a little bit a little bit
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  later in recruiting. Uh, but I I don't
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  know if if his dad was quite as cocky as
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  he is.
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  >> One thing I was going to say, I don't
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  know if Frank had Kurt's personality.
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  What personality, you might ask,
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  >> but but to give people an idea, this was
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  back in the 70s. My dad was the head
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  coach and and Frank Signetti was the uh
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  offensive coordinator. And then when my
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  dad left, Tommy, you graduated about
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  that time. I stayed and was played for
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  Frank. Did you play for Frank as a head
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  coach? Any
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  >> one one year and then I was a GA for one
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  or two years, but I played for him for
• 2:59
  one year, my la my fifth year and then
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  then coached for him for me at least one
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  year.
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  >> You know, we we nicknamed him and I was
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  a GA one semester. I I graduated in
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  December and that was a GA uh one
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  semester when Nick Sabin was there, but
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  I nicknamed it one or we did Frank Click
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  Netty cuz he nobody could rewind back
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  then we had 16 millimeter film.
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  >> He would go back and forth and back and
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  forth over and over. We thought that was
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  a good nickname for his dad.
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  >> Attention to detail. And that's that's
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  where he got that nickname. You know, he
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  he'd run it back over and over and over
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  and find every advantage that he could.
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  you know, and some other things I was
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  thinking about because you've been a
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  head coach. You you've been a head
• 3:41
  football coach since about five or six
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  decades, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s. Um, uh,
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  from Alabama to Auburn to Kentucky to
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  Auburn to to Lane to to Clemson, uh, and
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  all these places, but it's but Alabama
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  seems to be a little different. I'm, you
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  know, I saw where uh uh Kayen Kayen
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  Deort's name was mentioned at Michigan,
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  which I don't think he probably wants to
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  go, but that's a job that it seems like
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  the pressure of that job runs people off
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  as much as getting fired. When you think
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  of Perkins, you think of uh Curry, you
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  think of Stallings, you think who was
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  the coach that went to Texas A&M? Uh
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  >> Frank, the pressure almost just gets to
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  be when people say he would never leave.
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  I said, you know what? I don't know what
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  his family's going through, but you
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  coach there. It's a It may be a little
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  different than anybody else.
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  >> Yeah, I think it is because you know,
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  you were you're a head coach at Auburn.
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  Auburn's got pressure. Florida's got
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  pressure. Texas got pressure. In in my
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  opinion, Notre Dame and Alabama would be
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  two of the most pressure. Obviously,
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  Notre Dame for the for the religious
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  reasons and and the national
• 4:46
  international audience, but Alabama to
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  me was a was a cut above in in pressure
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  after being there for three years. And
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  uh it's hard to describe how it's
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  different, but but it is.
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  >> Yeah. Well, yeah. I guess what's that
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  Ronnie?
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  >> Well, Debose is I'm sorry. Dbor has been
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  there two years.
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  >> Was there about Deose was there about
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  two?
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  Longer than Mike. Longer than Mike
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  Price.
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  >> No doubt about that.
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  >> For the same reasons.
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  >> You were on Yeah.
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  You were on Curry staff, right?
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  >> Yes, sir. So, how does how does Dbor
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  situate? He's won 10 games, and if they
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  lose tonight, they're going to be ready
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  to run him out of town. And
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  what's the how do you how do you manage
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  that? I mean, Bill Curry, if I remember,
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  won 10 games his last year, got tied for
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  the conference championship, and ended
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  up with a brick through his window and
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  and left for Kentucky.
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  >> Yeah. Well, well, like you said, I I
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  remember after 10 wins, uh, getting
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  ready for the bowl game, there was an
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  article in the Birmingham News, and I I
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  read it and it had the top five
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  candidates for his job, and one of them
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  was, of course, one of them was dad, you
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  know, our father to take coach Curry's
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  place and they were sitting at number
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  three in the nation at at 10 and one. 10
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  straight victories and he lost to Auburn
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  which which you don't do at the end and
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  of course lost the bowl game to Miami
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  close and then he was he was gone the
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  next day to Kentucky and like you said
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  when you got 10 wins you're number three
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  in the nation and you pick up the paper
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  in the top five candidates for your job
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  is listed in the paper. It it is a
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  unique situation
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  >> and I think there's I mean and re
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  realistically you got Bear Braun who won
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  six national championships there and
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  Nick Sabin who won six national
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  championships there. Nobody else is even
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  close. So, everybody in between was held
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  to a standard that probably wasn't
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  you're not going to hit that every now
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  and then. You know, Nick was a he's a
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  different kind of coach to be as And
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  Nick is as thorough as Kurt Signetti.
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  He's kind of the same guy because Kurt
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  Kurt was with Kurt Signetti was with
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  Nick uh at Alabama uh because I talked
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  to him several times when he when he
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  said, "I'm just tired of this assistant
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  coaching stuff. I want to be a head
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  coach." And went back to IUP like his
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  dad was. And he took the he took the
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  same personality as Nick and the we
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  didn't knew we didn't knew uh Nick had a
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  personality until Pat McAfee joined the
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  ESPN show and
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  >> I've never seen
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  >> laugh so much laugh so much and he
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  really has relaxed in his his in his
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  post coaching career
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  >> it's amazing
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  >> one day from bringing him lunch when I
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  was at LSU I brought his Sam Nater who
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  was the ops guy I said hey go get coach
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  sin and Sam would give me money in
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  because I was I was a GA and I go buy
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  him lunch and me lunch and coach Sabin
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  lunch. He said get him a salad. He told
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  him what to get him and I bring it in
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  there and hand it to him and he cussed
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  me up one side and down another. He's
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  like I only eat one I only eat one meal
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  a day.
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  >> He had some other he had some other
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  choice words. Of course later in the day
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  he's like he said he didn't apologize
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  but he said hey you know about earlier
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  he said I you know I I only eat one
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  meal. I'm like coach we're good.
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  >> Yeah. We were talking earlier today,
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  Tommy, about uh recruiting because I was
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  looking over the staff that that uh uh
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  Goldish has brought together at Auburn
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  and and it seemed like every question
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  was is it how many of them are great
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  recruiters, you know, and now, you know,
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  that was always in critical. Dad would
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  say, well, like not all my coaches are
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  great recruiters. If I had back then you
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  had eight. If I had four or five good
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  recruiters or four good coaches on the
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  field coaches, it would be a good
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  balance. And then it got to be where
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  everybody had to be a good recruiter.
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  But that was about relationship and you
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  know, dad, our dad and you and I
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  probably and and and you had uh Dabau
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  with you. It was about going into the
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  home and talking to mother and eating
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  her food and uh uh and the relationship
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  you had. And now I I think it boils down
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  to money uh right now. And I'm not even
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  sure which coach makes the decision. Is
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  it the GM or is it the coach? You can go
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  get average coaches, you know, because I
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  I remember working for you. One of the
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  statements you had is, "Hey, you can be
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  an average co coach, but you better be a
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  great recruiter if you're an average
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  coach." Because great players can make
• 8:56
  coaches, you know, look really good. But
• 8:58
  now, you better have you better have
• 9:00
  great players and and people are buying
• 9:02
  them. When I was at Alabama, we
• 9:04
  mentioned Alabama when I coached here in
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  the late 80s, uh, SU got in trouble for
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  for paying players. The governor of
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  Texas was, you know, was involved in it
• 9:15
  and they got the death penalty. And now
• 9:17
  you got the governor of Louisiana
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  telling Diffan, "Hey, we'll give you as
• 9:21
  much money as you need." And Scott
• 9:23
  Strickland in Florida, the ad, you know,
• 9:25
  trying to trump him. But like you said,
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  there's no skill. Da was great in the
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  home. Our our father was great with them
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  mothers in the home. But now that that
• 9:36
  trade is non-existent because it's the
• 9:39
  size of your wallet and it's it's
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  changed. It's really changed it.
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  >> It really has
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  >> in Alabama though. What? What's that?
• 9:46
  >> Was that not always the case with
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  Alabama, though? I'm joking.
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  >> Well, look, we'll say this. LSU started
• 9:53
  the NI package back there in the in the
• 9:55
  80s with Dickerson and and James, but uh
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  yeah, that that's that's kind of
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  unspoken, Ronnie, that there were teams
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  in the NIL back in that back in those
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  days.
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  >> Stood for some it stood for something
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  else, I guess, on that on on that in
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  that regard. Uh but again it it it does
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  boil down to I noticed that uh even
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  Davos Sweeney at Clemson he he was
• 10:21
  reluctant to change that philosophy of
• 10:24
  you know developing kids bring them out
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  of high school bind to our culture uh
• 10:29
  win great home recruiter. I remember
• 10:31
  when you beat my dad on CJ Spiller.
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  Y'all may not know this but I was I was
• 10:35
  at broadcasting and Tommy was at Clemson
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  and my dad at at Florida State and one
• 10:39
  of the best players in the country was
• 10:40
  CJ Spiller, right? was running back down
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  there,
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  >> right?
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  >> And dad would get on the phone with me
• 10:45
  and say, "I think I got him. I think I
• 10:47
  got him." And I get I'd get on the phone
• 10:49
  with you. Hey, Terry, I don't think he's
• 10:50
  got we got
• 10:53
  >> No, you know, just But but you're right.
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  And and and one of the reasons we got
• 10:57
  him obviously was the relationship, the
• 10:58
  personal relationship that Davo had with
• 11:01
  CJ, not with his mother. Urban Meyer had
• 11:04
  his mother 40 miles away in Gainesville,
• 11:07
  but Davo had the had the kid and he did
• 11:10
  a great job of developing trust and he
• 11:12
  would have a plan for him and and now
• 11:14
  that you know Nick Sabin was out of his
• 11:17
  comfort zone, you know, when it got this
• 11:19
  NIL and transfer portal and Davo is out
• 11:22
  of his comfort zone. His comfort zone is
• 11:23
  what you said, developing relationship
• 11:25
  with players and going there and selling
• 11:27
  yourself and your loyalty. you'll treat
• 11:29
  her son, he'll treat her son just like
• 11:32
  his son. And and that's that's not a
• 11:34
  factor anymore.
• 11:35
  >> Well, you know, and and I was thinking I
• 11:37
  saw several articles I've seen on Auburn
• 11:39
  Undercover uh this week about uh uh how
• 11:42
  many of our players are going to jump in
• 11:44
  the portal or should we be worried or is
• 11:45
  it but do they not like Auburn? Do they
• 11:47
  not like the coaches? It's got nothing
• 11:50
  to do with that. It's who's going You
• 11:52
  can't make it's like it's like coaches.
• 11:53
  It's like Lane Kein. You can't make more
• 11:55
  money unless you make yourself
• 11:57
  marketable. You got to go out there and
• 11:58
  open up yourself to the market. And
• 12:00
  these players, they that's what they're
• 12:02
  doing right now. It's I don't know that
• 12:04
  I like the way the game's going, but
• 12:06
  it's the way it's going whether you like
• 12:08
  it or not. The the the product on the
• 12:10
  field is just as good, if not better,
• 12:11
  but the the background to it is not as
• 12:13
  good probably.
• 12:14
  >> Yeah. And you know, the ripple effects
• 12:16
  of the NIL and the transfer portal and
• 12:18
  I'm I'm just going to tie it to the NIL
• 12:20
  since we're talking about money,
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  >> right? 10 teams opting out of bowl
• 12:24
  games. I wonder if it's because and it
• 12:27
  might be that those guys get paid.
• 12:29
  They're getting paid whether they play
• 12:30
  or not. Why risk another two more weeks
• 12:32
  or three more weeks of practice and an
• 12:34
  injury and a and of sweating and you
• 12:36
  know fatigue if you're going to get paid
• 12:39
  regardless. So I'm not sure now if that
• 12:41
  NIL is tied into those 10 teams that the
• 12:44
  the players I'm sure the players wanted
• 12:46
  to vote on it. And who are your leaders?
• 12:48
  Well, your leaders are the best players.
• 12:49
  Your leaders your best players are the
• 12:51
  ones getting paid. So, I'm not sure if
• 12:53
  that's tied not tied in indirectly to to
• 12:56
  how these teams are opting out because
• 12:57
  of maybe money already being paid.
• 13:00
  >> It's it's a little Go ahead. I'm sorry,
• 13:02
  Ronnie.
• 13:03
  >> I was say does the the calendar right
• 13:05
  now to me seems really screwed up.
• 13:07
  >> It's screwed up.
• 13:09
  >> That's what I was going to get to say.
• 13:11
  Yeah. What's that?
• 13:11
  >> Yeah. In NFL, they have a uh you can't
• 13:15
  talk to a player or a coach before or
• 13:17
  till after I think the Super Bowl. And
• 13:20
  if the NCAA would have the same thing,
• 13:23
  say you can't talk to a player, you
• 13:24
  can't talk to a coach, and move the
• 13:26
  transport transfer portal till January
• 13:28
  the 2nd or January 3rd, go ahead and
• 13:30
  start the season August the 23rd. Hey,
• 13:33
  have your regular season and then have
• 13:36
  your six 12 team playoff, finish it
• 13:38
  January 1st to January, and then let
• 13:41
  your tampering begin with players and
• 13:43
  coaches. But it can start till after
• 13:44
  January 1. There's a way to get it
• 13:46
  solved. Unfortunately, we just don't
• 13:47
  have any spine or backbone by the
• 13:49
  administration or the leadership in NCAA
• 13:52
  or we would do something like that.
• 13:54
  >> Yeah, I think and we've kind of got a
• 13:55
  perfect storm where everything kind of
• 13:57
  came together at the at the same time uh
• 14:00
  with when Portal transfer came about the
• 14:02
  same time as NIL, which now uh doesn't
• 14:05
  go real well with conference
• 14:07
  championship games where you play the
• 14:08
  very best teams at the end of your
• 14:10
  schedule uh that could possibly knock
• 14:12
  you out, which Alabama was afraid was
• 14:14
  going to happen to them. uh and all
• 14:16
  those things. And then uh and then
• 14:17
  coaches leaving halfway through the
• 14:19
  season, getting offered jobs or getting
• 14:21
  fired halfway through the seasons. It
• 14:23
  just seems like we're kind of it's kind
• 14:25
  of out of whack right now. And uh don't
• 14:27
  know exactly where it's going, but I
• 14:29
  don't know how you put the worms back in
• 14:30
  the can or put the sardines back in the
• 14:32
  can.
• 14:33
  >> It would take a strong leader. It would
• 14:35
  take a commissioner Sabin or Urban Meyer
• 14:38
  or somebody really puts a structure to
• 14:40
  it that's got some some credibility and
• 14:42
  then really really work with NC to get
• 14:44
  it done. But I it doesn't look like
• 14:46
  they're they're going in that direction.
• 14:49
  >> Who is your favorite for the playoff?
• 14:52
  >> Well, you mean to win it all or just
• 14:55
  >> Well, you know, we've talked about
• 14:56
  Indiana and and I see them as the
• 14:59
  favorite. I know a lot of people like
• 15:01
  Texas Tech and that m if the matchup
• 15:02
  gets to Texas Tech and Indiana. A lot of
• 15:04
  people are picking Texas Tech, but I
• 15:07
  kind of it wouldn't surprise me, Ronnie,
• 15:10
  to see Ohio State and Indiana play again
• 15:13
  and Ohio State do exactly what they did
• 15:15
  last year, lose the last game to
• 15:17
  Michigan and then come back and win the
• 15:19
  national championship. They lost to
• 15:20
  Indiana. They have a chip on their
• 15:22
  shoulders. They've got the players.
• 15:23
  They've got the talent. They've got the
• 15:24
  coaching. They've been there now. They
• 15:26
  have the incentive. So, it wouldn't
• 15:28
  surprise me if Ohio State wins at all.
• 15:30
  >> And and if you look at the odds, Ohio
• 15:32
  State right now at a plus 200 and and
• 15:34
  Indiana plus 310. So, really the odds
• 15:37
  are a little bit in favor of Ohio State
• 15:39
  doing exactly that. Uh but I really
• 15:42
  think about five teams have the ability
• 15:44
  if they get hot. Georgia, Oregon, and
• 15:47
  Texas Tech have the ability. They're not
• 15:49
  the best, but I think those have the mo
• 15:51
  the ability. I think a little more of a
• 15:53
  a loaded team or or something about
• 15:55
  them. Uh, and you have to really, you
• 15:57
  know, us from the south, we have to kind
• 15:58
  of watch working. We don't we don't pay
• 16:00
  them much attention to the West Coast,
• 16:01
  but I'm gonna tell you something.
• 16:02
  They're pretty dang good.
• 16:04
  >> They got good players.
• 16:06
  >> And they're they're coached from a guy
• 16:07
  whose background is kind of southeastern
• 16:09
  conference, but he's a a great
• 16:11
  recruiter. And the thing you talked
• 16:13
  about early, they have with Phil Knight,
• 16:15
  they have NI money.
• 16:18
  It's the combination of great coaches
• 16:20
  and great players. And like in Oregon
• 16:22
  good, they're one of those teams that we
• 16:24
  don't see much. were usually asleep a
• 16:25
  lot of times when they play out on the
• 16:27
  Pacific coast, but they're as good.
• 16:29
  Could be as good as anybody.
• 16:31
  >> You know, you know, I live in Louisiana
• 16:33
  right now and you live in Florida and
• 16:35
  it's hard to get a a um a a credible
• 16:39
  answer, but those are two good jobs,
• 16:40
  Florida and LSU.
• 16:43
  If you had to say which one was better,
• 16:45
  is there one you you would think would
• 16:46
  be the better job? Because in Louisiana,
• 16:48
  everybody says it's it's LSU. And in
• 16:50
  Florida, and you've been there, too.
• 16:52
  Both schools, too. you know about it a
• 16:54
  little bit more than I do.
• 16:56
  >> You know,
• 16:58
  I've recruited like both states
• 17:00
  uh very act actively and being in
• 17:03
  Louisiana for two years. Terry, it is
• 17:05
  hard now that you've lived. It's hard to
• 17:07
  beat a situation where number one,
• 17:08
  there's great players
• 17:10
  >> and you're the only state school. The
• 17:12
  superintendent is LSU graduate. The
• 17:14
  principal is LSU graduate. The English
• 17:16
  teacher that's got to give them a C for
• 17:17
  him to get eligible is a LSU graduate.
• 17:20
  And and and you don't split them with
• 17:22
  anybody. And it's hard to come in there
• 17:24
  from out of out of state. Either Texas
• 17:26
  from one side or Alabama from the other
• 17:28
  side or Arkansas from the north. Nobody
• 17:31
  from the Cuba from the south. So they've
• 17:33
  got a pretty good lock on that state.
• 17:36
  Florida Florida's a great place a lot
• 17:38
  more athletes, but you got to split them
• 17:40
  three ways. Uh if Miami puts that lock
• 17:42
  on Dayton Broward like Howard
• 17:44
  Schnellenberger and Jimmy Johnson and
• 17:46
  Dennis Erikson did, you know, I like the
• 17:48
  LSU job just as good.
• 17:50
  >> Yeah. where you know it's it's funny the
• 17:53
  U and you wonder how much NIL is going
• 17:56
  to change that because it opens up the
• 17:58
  whole country to your team but I'm not
• 18:01
  sure who who said this but u the the
• 18:04
  coach at uh Joey Maguire at Texas Tech
• 18:08
  you know his two linebackers have both
• 18:09
  started over over 40 games started 35
• 18:12
  games he said you got to have a base of
• 18:14
  kids that that sign out of high school
• 18:16
  and then fill it in and fill in with the
• 18:18
  NIL because if you go one way all the
• 18:21
  I think you go into the FSU situation
• 18:22
  where you have some down something bad
• 18:24
  happens and everybody lays down on you,
• 18:26
  you know, because nobody's from there.
• 18:28
  >> That's one of the things that we're not
• 18:30
  familiar with, you know, since we're
• 18:32
  coached in an era where you didn't have
• 18:33
  that type of situation, but the unity,
• 18:35
  the leadership, the cohes uh uh of the
• 18:39
  of the of the team, you you have a the
• 18:41
  chance to lose it with the transfer
• 18:43
  portal. But if you got the nucleus,
• 18:45
  which you're talking about, get some
• 18:46
  high school kids, develop them, let them
• 18:48
  be the the kind of foundation of
• 18:50
  backbone, and then then sprinkle in your
• 18:52
  transfer portal guys. And uh nobody's
• 18:55
  done it better as we mentioned than Kurt
• 18:57
  Signetti.
• 18:58
  >> Both of you have coached at Auburn. Talk
• 19:00
  about a different era. Did Did either of
• 19:03
  you think that Auburn would ever hire a
• 19:05
  coach that was born in Russia, raised in
• 19:07
  New York, graduated from Ohio State? But
• 19:10
  I didn't.
• 19:12
  I don't think I don't think anybody did.
• 19:15
  >> No, I didn't think
• 19:16
  >> only works out would be hiring one for
• 19:18
  the Midwest.
• 19:20
  >> And hey, Alabama's tried that several
• 19:23
  times and it didn't work too well to get
• 19:25
  outside the of that fact there as well.
• 19:28
  But I was going to I saw somebody else
• 19:30
  on Facebook. I saw Charles Barkley
• 19:33
  making comments about Auburn and Bo
• 19:34
  Jackson. I mean, their love for Auburn,
• 19:36
  it's like Auburn made a difference in
• 19:38
  their life. And I just wonder with kids
• 19:40
  going to three or four different
• 19:41
  schools, how a school's ever going to
• 19:43
  make a difference in their life. How
• 19:45
  they going to meet their wife or or know
• 19:47
  the alma mater or their favorite color
• 19:49
  or that's where they're going to go back
• 19:51
  and be with all their Lettoman buddies,
• 19:52
  you know, 30 years now. There's so much
• 19:54
  that you're going to miss as this thing
• 19:55
  goes on and goes on and it seems like
• 19:58
  now and it's not just a couple of guys
• 20:00
  like free agency. It's half your team
• 20:02
  goes in the portal just to see what kind
• 20:04
  of money they can make. You know, Terry,
• 20:06
  that's like uh your daddy and mother had
• 20:08
  burial plots in Birmingham. That's where
• 20:10
  their base is. All their family is. And
• 20:12
  me and you, we didn't have a I'm gonna
• 20:14
  be cremated. I ain't got a home.
• 20:17
  You know, Barkley and Bo, they had a
• 20:19
  home right there. And they were there
• 20:21
  all the time. And and daddy and mother
• 20:23
  go back to Birmingham and they got plots
• 20:25
  and all their family and we don't have
• 20:27
  that. And that's kind of like the trans,
• 20:28
  you know, those kids don't have a home.
• 20:29
  They like I said, I don't I don't know
• 20:31
  where they'll go to their reunions at.
• 20:34
  Do you think Lippen Lane Keippin should
• 20:36
  have should have coached at Old Miss?
• 20:38
  They should they have let him coach
• 20:39
  there?
• 20:40
  >> You know, J I see so many comments about
• 20:43
  a coach that uh well, I can't believe
• 20:46
  he's turning his back on on his players.
• 20:48
  You know, when I when I left two lane,
• 20:50
  uh the AD didn't want me to coach in in
• 20:52
  the bowl game, you know,
• 20:56
  >> and so so it's not the head coach's
• 20:58
  decision, it's the AD's decision. And so
• 21:01
  I see people say, "Well, Lane Keifin
• 21:02
  turned his back and I can't believe he's
• 21:04
  not coaching." Well, JD didn't want him
• 21:06
  at Old Miss. They didn't want him. They
• 21:08
  wouldn't let him. So, uh, I think he he
• 21:10
  wanted to. He could have kept the whole
• 21:12
  staff there and some continuity and
• 21:14
  maybe great made a great run and maybe
• 21:16
  won it all, but there'll be some
• 21:18
  there'll be some dysfunction there now
• 21:20
  because of the staff, you know, it's not
• 21:22
  as solid as it was. But, yeah, I think I
• 21:26
  it's it's really out of the coach's
• 21:27
  hand. It's in the AD's hand. Hey, I tell
• 21:29
  you, you have to live in Louisiana.
• 21:31
  You have to live in Louisiana to know
• 21:33
  how much of a rivalry and a hatred there
• 21:35
  is between LSU and Old Miss, too. It is
• 21:38
  a It is It is like like LSU and Alabama
• 21:41
  or LSU and Old Miss is a pretty hated
• 21:43
  rivalry.
• 21:44
  >> Yeah. Just got worse, too.
• 21:47
  >> Yeah. Is there something to be said for,
• 21:50
  you know, okay, LSU is a better job,
• 21:52
  Florida's a better job than than Miss,
• 21:54
  but it may be a great It may be a better
• 21:56
  job, but the timing just isn't right. I
• 21:58
  mean, you know, I I get not walking out
• 22:00
  on your team, but
• 22:03
  at the same time, you know, and we had
• 22:04
  the same situation at Florida, you know,
• 22:06
  but we got we got fired mid-season. Um
• 22:08
  and and Ron ended up, you know, he kept
• 22:11
  but it was they were going to let us
• 22:12
  coach the bowl game. We coached the rest
• 22:13
  of the year, but um Jeremy, you know,
• 22:15
  Zuk ended up going to to Illinois, but
• 22:17
  they still wouldn't let Jeremy's like,
• 22:18
  "Okay, I gotta know." And he wouldn't
• 22:20
  let us finish the bowl game.
• 22:23
  But now I I guess my question was, you
• 22:26
  know, is there from Kein's standpoint,
• 22:31
  should he have turned down the job?
• 22:33
  >> No, no, no, no, no, no. I don't think I
• 22:36
  think you see co like summer do what
• 22:38
  Summerall did. He's employed by far.
• 22:40
  They're letting him coach and they they
• 22:42
  want him to coach and he wanted to
• 22:44
  coach, but he's I think he's already
• 22:45
  signed a contract with Florida. So Keing
• 22:48
  could he could have signed the contract
• 22:49
  with LSU and then LS miss if they
• 22:52
  wouldn't have got their feelings hurt or
• 22:54
  whatever could have let could have let
• 22:55
  him coach. So time I mean that's just I
• 22:58
  think a business decision by the
• 23:00
  administration.
• 23:03
  >> Fair enough there.
• 23:04
  >> Fair enough. I appreciate you coming on
• 23:06
  with us and uh good conversation some
• 23:09
  good topics and uh uh hopefully I'll get
• 23:11
  down there to see you here soon.
• 23:13
  >> Great great game tonight. Alabama
• 23:14
  Oklahoma. We'll hit that next time.
• 23:16
  >> Who you Who you getting? Who you getting
• 23:17
  in Alabama? Let's let's let's hit it
• 23:18
  real quick before we get off.
• 23:19
  >> I'm I'm gonna take Alabama in a close
• 23:21
  one.
• 23:22
  >> I'm gonna take Oklahoma in a close one.
• 23:24
  Let's Alabama could run better than they
• 23:26
  did against Georgia. I'm have a hard
• 23:27
  time with it, but it should be a great
• 23:28
  game. It's just a one and a half point
• 23:30
  spot and uh should be a good game.
• 23:32
  >> Two brothers disagree and doesn't
• 23:34
  surprise me.
• 23:36
  >> I'll see y'all. Enjoy the game.
• 23:37
  >> See you later.
• 23:39
  >> Thanks for Thanks for being with us.
• 23:41
  We talked about everything but the uh uh
• 23:43
  Alabama uh Oklahoma game, but I thought
• 23:46
  we could get into all those games and
• 23:47
  the and the spread and what everybody uh
• 23:49
  thinks about these games because I have
• 23:52
  sure talked about them a lot. Uh you
• 23:53
  know, I'm doing a lot different podcasts
• 23:55
  than Tommy is. I'm do I'm do a lot of
• 23:57
  podcasts where everybody listens, they
• 23:59
  got their phones on and they're wagering
• 24:00
  on games on their phones while they're
• 24:03
  listening to a podcast. And I, you know,
• 24:05
  I'm a football coach. I never gambled in
• 24:07
  my life. we're not allowed to, you know,
• 24:09
  and so uh but you start understanding
• 24:11
  how difficult it is to pick a winner
• 24:13
  when you start putting a 14 points line
• 24:16
  a spread on a game and how difficult it
• 24:19
  is. Uh but you know what? As I look at
• 24:21
  the games uh that we're facing this
• 24:23
  weekend, last year, the four home games
• 24:26
  all won.
• 24:27
  >> And I don't think sometimes people
• 24:29
  realize how much of an advantage a home
• 24:31
  field is, especially a place like uh uh
• 24:36
  the the Palace on the Prairie at at
• 24:38
  Oklahoma. Uh especially uh Cal Field.
• 24:42
  That's that's that's Cal Stadium uh and
• 24:44
  Outen Stadium. Uh those are hard hard
• 24:48
  places. That's why uh to me you got two
• 24:51
  power four games and you got two G5
• 24:53
  games and so that and I think the power
• 24:55
  four games are so close I'm going to
• 24:57
  give the advantage to the home field. I
• 25:00
  mean I mean because a and I think
• 25:01
  Oklahoma right now their defense Alabama
• 25:04
  has not been able to run the football.
• 25:06
  Uh, and they and when you're
• 25:08
  onedimensional against Oklahoma, you're
• 25:10
  in trouble cuz they they lead the nation
• 25:13
  in sacks with 41 and they're uh I think
• 25:16
  they're they they lead the nation. No,
• 25:18
  not lead the nation. They had 29% uh
• 25:20
  percentage on third downs and if you
• 25:23
  can't run the ball, you're going to be
• 25:24
  in a lot of third down longs. And Brent
• 25:26
  Bibles is going to come after you over
• 25:27
  and over again. I think they've got the
• 25:29
  better quarterback at Alabama than they
• 25:31
  do at Oklahoma. I don't think Matier is
• 25:33
  quite as uh good as we thought he was at
• 25:35
  the beginning of the season unless his
• 25:38
  his his hand did not heal. Uh and uh
• 25:41
  they're they got their offensive
• 25:42
  problems at Oklahoma, too. But boy,
• 25:44
  their defense is so good right now in
• 25:46
  Alabama. Uh if they don't run the ball,
• 25:48
  they I I don't see how they can they
• 25:50
  can. It's a one and a half point spread
• 25:52
  and it's a home game at at Oklahoma. And
• 25:55
  uh I think uh um I I just have to give
• 25:58
  the home field advantage just that
• 25:59
  little bit extra. It only takes one one
• 26:01
  field goal. You know, it only takes one
• 26:03
  series uh and I to pick them. So, what's
• 26:07
  your thoughts on the Alabama on that
• 26:08
  game?
• 26:09
  >> You know, I'm I'm picking Oklahoma, but
• 26:11
  I you know, I a lot of people don't
• 26:12
  realize, you know, Kevin Wilson, former
• 26:14
  head coach of Tulsa, former head coach
• 26:15
  Indiana. He's there as kind of the
• 26:17
  senior offensive assistant. And to me,
• 26:20
  you know, Ben Arbuckle, they're better
• 26:22
  on offense, but Kevin has kind of
• 26:24
  brought, if you look at what they're
• 26:26
  doing, Kevin's brought a little bit of
• 26:27
  maturity and a little bit of
• 26:28
  accountability. And right, you know, I
• 26:31
  if you look at them, I mean, one of the
• 26:32
  coaches out there told me, he said, you
• 26:34
  know, we're we're we're about like
• 26:35
  Auburn. I said, yeah, but the difference
• 26:36
  is you you guys figured out a way to win
• 26:38
  10 games and Auburn figured out a way to
• 26:39
  lose seven. And
• 26:41
  >> yeah,
• 26:41
  >> and that's a difference in coaching. I
• 26:43
  mean,
• 26:43
  >> well, you you're exactly right. You lose
• 26:45
  a close game early, you lose two close
• 26:47
  games early, then you don't have the
• 26:49
  confidence and all of a sudden in the
• 26:51
  second half you're looking for things
• 26:52
  that are going to go bad. And I think I
• 26:54
  think and Oklahoma they struggled, but
• 26:56
  then they got their act together and won
• 26:58
  four straight. You know, they finished
• 27:00
  the season winning four straight and
• 27:01
  they got that confidence and they're
• 27:03
  talking you're talking about Alabama win
• 27:04
  23-21. That's all it was. It wasn't like
• 27:07
  they killed them, you know, and and
• 27:08
  Alabama, I want to say, outstanded on
• 27:10
  them that game except Oklahoma didn't
• 27:12
  turn the ball over, you know, and and
• 27:14
  so, uh, it's going to be it's going to
• 27:15
  be a tight ball game. Uh, because I
• 27:17
  think very few teams out there have
• 27:19
  don't have some kind of deficiency, you
• 27:22
  know, and so you have to over you have
• 27:23
  to look and see what that one is. But I
• 27:25
  think Alabama, I just think when you got
• 27:27
  that when it's this close and these
• 27:28
  teams are this good, uh, and you're
• 27:31
  playing at one team's home, it is a
• 27:33
  difference. It is. I mean, if you face
• 27:34
  it, when you're at Auburn, you know what
• 27:36
  the you can see it. You know what the
• 27:38
  difference is now. I mean, now you now
• 27:40
  talk about Kyle State Kyle Field. Kyle
• 27:42
  110,000 people and you got a three and a
• 27:45
  half point spot on the game with Miami.
• 27:47
  Miami's a good football team, too. You
• 27:49
  know, they're about as good defensively
• 27:51
  except uh uh Texas A&M is tied with
• 27:55
  Oklahoma for 41 sacks on the year. Uh
• 27:59
  and they've got a quarterback at Miami
• 28:01
  that's really not that mobile. you know,
• 28:02
  he not he can't he can't they run the
• 28:04
  ball better, but they're not that
• 28:05
  mobile. And I'm gonna tell you
• 28:07
  something. You know this uh and I know
• 28:09
  this. If you're in a loud stadium, you
• 28:12
  know who it affects? The offensive line
• 28:14
  on the visiting team, you'll have four
• 28:16
  you'll have three or four illegal
• 28:18
  procedures in that game just because the
• 28:21
  pass rush is so good and those line will
• 28:23
  be working for two straight weeks on set
• 28:26
  set
• 28:28
  and they won't be able to hear. And as
• 28:29
  as uh Nick Sabin says, they're piping
• 28:31
  sound into the G stadium uh along with
• 28:34
  all that noise. And uh I just think and
• 28:37
  then and that's a field goal difference,
• 28:39
  you know, that's a field goal difference
• 28:40
  right there. Just a uh you know playing
• 28:43
  behind the chains three or four times
• 28:44
  and it will happen. I remember when we
• 28:46
  played Tennessee in the SEC
• 28:48
  championship, Pton Mangs his senior year
• 28:51
  and it was an indoor I don't know if
• 28:52
  it's is it Mercedes-Benz or was it a
• 28:54
  different stadium back then? I don't
• 28:55
  even remember. men. Now it's the
• 28:56
  Mercedes Ben,
• 28:58
  >> but we played it was louder. It was
• 28:59
  louder than what we were used to. It was
• 29:00
  indoor and we had and both teams had
• 29:03
  four or five legal procedures in that
• 29:04
  game because we weren't quite
• 29:06
  comfortable with that sound. We couldn't
• 29:08
  hear and that's offensive lineman need
• 29:10
  they they they don't work completely by
• 29:12
  sight. They work a little bit by sound
• 29:15
  and uh and you get jumpy and uh and if
• 29:17
  you remember Tennessee had a great
• 29:18
  defensive line that year uh and we were
• 29:21
  jumpy but so were they. And uh but
• 29:23
  that's the kind of thing I think will
• 29:25
  happen uh at Kyle Field uh uh with
• 29:28
  Miami, which is going to hurt them. Now,
• 29:30
  it's going to be so close. That's a
• 29:32
  that's a a three and a half point spread
• 29:34
  there uh with with
• 29:36
  >> on the other foot. What if you We talk
• 29:37
  about the difference in homefield
• 29:38
  advantage. What if that game was played
• 29:40
  in Miami?
• 29:41
  >> I don't think it matters nearly as much.
• 29:43
  >> No, no, no. You're exactly right. You're
• 29:45
  You know why? Miami is a pro town. They
• 29:49
  don't even come to when they're when
• 29:50
  they won national championships. say in
• 29:52
  filler stadium up the people don't get
• 29:54
  excited they don't it's not a south it's
• 29:56
  not a southeastern conference atmosphere
• 29:58
  and it was amazing because I remember
• 30:00
  being a graduate assistant at Florida
• 30:01
  State and and going down to Miami then
• 30:04
  that was back when they had Urban you
• 30:06
  know Michael Irvin and some of the great
• 30:07
  great players uh and they couldn't fill
• 30:09
  the stadium up uh and so I don't think
• 30:11
  that that that doesn't affect people
• 30:13
  going down there unless you play them
• 30:15
  early and it's hot humid and you're and
• 30:17
  you're not from that part of the country
• 30:19
  to to handle the heat but as far as
• 30:21
  crowd noise and atmosphere, they don't
• 30:23
  have it in Miami. They just don't they
• 30:25
  just don't don't have it.
• 30:26
  >> And now they're playing at at Hard Rock
• 30:28
  uh stadium and it's
• 30:29
  >> right
• 30:30
  >> 20 30 mile whatever it is north of uh
• 30:33
  north
• 30:33
  >> not a campus it's not a campus
• 30:35
  atmosphere.
• 30:36
  >> Used to play in the Orange Bowl which
• 30:37
  was which was closer to campus. was
• 30:39
  dumped, but it was closer than than Hard
• 30:41
  Rock. And I, you know, Miami would be
• 30:43
  much better off having a a even if it
• 30:47
  was smaller, close to campus packing in
• 30:50
  and and make it make it a nice
• 30:51
  experience. I I think
• 30:52
  >> well outfield up in Oregon. I mean,
• 30:55
  outfield is I I don't think it's 70 thou
• 30:57
  65 75,000 people in SEC standards. It's
• 31:01
  not very big stadium,
• 31:02
  >> but it is one of the most electric loud
• 31:05
  and I've been there too. It's one of the
• 31:06
  most loud, electric. They're right on
• 31:09
  top of you. It's on campus. Uh, and they
• 31:11
  are wild. And, and now that they've got
• 31:13
  really, really good players, and they've
• 31:15
  had good players for a while, but like
• 31:17
  Tommy mentioned with Phil Knight and
• 31:18
  that NIL money, they've got even better
• 31:21
  players. Uh, and their head coach has
• 31:23
  some Southeastern Conference uh,
• 31:25
  background to him as well, uh, and
• 31:27
  understands how to play. So, I mean, I'm
• 31:29
  I'm thinking I hate to say this, in the
• 31:31
  two power four game, I mean, power five
• 31:33
  games or the G5 games, it's not a it
• 31:36
  talent is what going to change that game
• 31:39
  more than even homefield advantage. Old
• 31:40
  Miss, Oxford, Mississippi, uh, and and
• 31:44
  uh, they've got more talent than Tain
• 31:47
  and I think that and those are large
• 31:48
  spreads, too. I want to say it's 17 and
• 31:50
  a half for the Tain game and 20 20 and a
• 31:52
  half today for the James Madison. I
• 31:56
  would take the I'm going to take the
• 31:57
  home team on both those games as well
• 31:58
  because I think in those games the
• 32:00
  talent level begins to uh separate the
• 32:03
  two teams too much. You know that they
• 32:05
  separate the teams from what you have
• 32:07
  the ability to do. And um and I I think
• 32:10
  the the coaching is a wash. Kippen's not
• 32:13
  there. Uh but even even though uh John
• 32:17
  John some I really like John. I think
• 32:19
  he's done a great job. I got to know him
• 32:20
  when he was at Troy. I think he's puts
• 32:23
  one foot put in the door, one put out
• 32:24
  the door and that's a ton of
• 32:26
  distractions. Your coaches are
• 32:27
  wondering, is he gonna take you with
• 32:29
  him? You don't have pills. You know what
• 32:30
  this goes? Are you we're going with him?
• 32:33
  Are we not going with him? Uh players
• 32:36
  start to think about
• 32:38
  >> they don't know. That's ex and you don't
• 32:39
  have a job and your kids got to go to
• 32:41
  school somewhere, you know. And uh so I
• 32:44
  uh I I just think uh uh although I think
• 32:47
  maybe uh uh James Madison might be the
• 32:50
  the maybe the better team. I don't know.
• 32:52
  But I just don't think I think I think
• 32:54
  Oregon to me is that sleeping sleeper
• 32:57
  sleeper team.
• 32:58
  >> I I agree with you. And you know back to
• 33:00
  Miss and two lane. I talked to one of
• 33:02
  the two lane coaches a couple days ago
• 33:04
  and I I said you know how do you feel
• 33:06
  about the game? He said honestly he said
• 33:08
  we had a bunch of injuries. He said our
• 33:09
  best offensive line was hurt when we
• 33:11
  played him the first time. He said, "We
• 33:12
  had other injuries." And he said, "With
• 33:15
  he" He said, "Yeah." He said, "You know,
• 33:16
  uh, Summerall has taken the Florida
• 33:18
  job." He said, "But at least he's here."
• 33:20
  Um, he he said, "We just kind of feel
• 33:22
  like with with all the with all the
• 33:24
  stuff going on at Old Miss and the head
• 33:25
  coach not being there," he said, "I
• 33:27
  think we got a great chance to win.
• 33:28
  We'll see." I I don't
• 33:30
  >> Well, and I think that's the atmosphere
• 33:31
  you want. That's what you want. You
• 33:32
  know, Will Hall, you know, I know Will,
• 33:34
  you know, Will Will's in Alabama. Boy, I
• 33:36
  I coached against him when he was at
• 33:37
  West a few times. And I then I don't
• 33:40
  know was it at West Georgia after that?
• 33:41
  I'm not sure where he was after. Was
• 33:43
  West Al. Uh good guy. Good guy. Things
• 33:46
  didn't work out at Southern Miss. But he
• 33:47
  does does a good job. And I'm sure the
• 33:49
  same reason they kept uh gold uh uh the
• 33:53
  coach at defensive coordinator at Old
• 33:54
  Miss, they kept the offensive guy at uh
• 33:57
  uh at Tain, just some continuity there,
• 33:59
  you know, to make sure they they kept it
• 34:01
  as smooth as possible. But I would say
• 34:03
  if I'm a coach at Tain, that's the kind
• 34:06
  of positive attitude I would try to have
• 34:08
  and my players would try to have. It'll
• 34:10
  have absolutely no it'll have no effect
• 34:12
  on the outcome of the game because as
• 34:13
  soon as you get on the football field,
• 34:15
  he who has the best players wins and
• 34:17
  they've got the they got the first team
• 34:19
  allconerence running back in Lacy. They
• 34:20
  got the second team allconerence
• 34:22
  quarterback uh uh in Trisdale. Uh uh and
• 34:26
  so you know uh I mean Chamblas uh
• 34:29
  Trinidad Chamblas and so they've got I
• 34:32
  just think the talent level gets to be
• 34:33
  too much uh in a game like that and uh
• 34:36
  and they kept their defensive
• 34:38
  coordinator and their offensive
• 34:39
  coordinator you know uh in the thing and
• 34:42
  and which begs the question I mean I
• 34:44
  swear I heard uh um oh Clatt or one of
• 34:48
  those guys on TV say that the one of the
• 34:50
  best offensive play callers in the
• 34:52
  country is Lane Kein and I'm think well
• 34:54
  who calls the plays, Lane or does
• 34:56
  Charlie Weiss call the I thought Charlie
• 34:58
  Weiss was a play. He calls the plays,
• 35:00
  doesn't he?
• 35:00
  >> He does.
• 35:02
  >> And I say Lane
• 35:04
  holds up that that he holds that game
• 35:05
  plan sheet from his face because he
• 35:07
  wants to be a part of it, you know, and
• 35:09
  appear to be a part. And again, you
• 35:11
  know, and and I know that that I don't
• 35:13
  think two people can call place when
• 35:15
  people say it's a no, not very well.
• 35:17
  What what people don't understand it's
• 35:20
  it's a it's a group effort on Monday,
• 35:22
  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It's a
• 35:24
  group effort at halftime. It's a group
• 35:27
  effort sometimes between series, but but
• 35:30
  calling plays is like playing chess. You
• 35:33
  can't have two people taking turns with
• 35:35
  the moves. You got to be thinking two or
• 35:36
  three moves ahead. Uh and so Charlie
• 35:39
  Weiss, I've always felt like he was the
• 35:41
  play caller. Uh and it doesn't matter to
• 35:43
  me. What I'm saying is by him staying
• 35:45
  there, it's not like they lost the play
• 35:47
  caller. Now, I will say this, a head
• 35:49
  coach on the sideline, he can make the
• 35:52
  final decision. fourth and one, do we go
• 35:53
  for it? You know, coach, do you want to
• 35:55
  go for it? Because that's a that's a
• 35:57
  head coaching decision quite a bit, you
• 35:59
  know, or uh uh it sometimes during a
• 36:01
  game because I've been on the headset
• 36:02
  when my dad was calling plays. He was a
• 36:04
  great play caller and I've been on the
• 36:07
  uh calling plays at Auburn when my
• 36:09
  brother was on the headset and Jimbo and
• 36:11
  and Tricket and and I might ask, "What
• 36:13
  do you like?" I might say, and if I had
• 36:15
  enough time, if maybe there's a timeout
• 36:17
  or maybe there's a the ball, somebody
• 36:19
  got hurt and I would say, "What do you
• 36:20
  like?" And that's about as much input as
• 36:23
  you want. Other than that, just shut up
• 36:24
  and don't don't get in my ear. Shut up
• 36:26
  and don't get in my ear. You know,
• 36:28
  >> was like that at Florida. You know, he
• 36:29
  he wanted input between series. But once
• 36:31
  the series started, he wanted everybody
• 36:33
  to be quiet. You know, I can't imagine
• 36:36
  being on a headset with Jimbo and Trick.
• 36:37
  I you know, I remember being in a staff
• 36:38
  meeting one day and on a on a staff of
• 36:41
  South and Siri and Pete Jenkins and
• 36:43
  Jimbo and Tricket and all and you know,
• 36:45
  Nick walks in and tells Jimbo he needs
• 36:47
  to watch his language after practice one
• 36:48
  day.
• 36:51
  Hey, hey, that that made cricket feel
• 36:53
  good, didn't that jumbo was worse,
• 36:56
  >> right?
• 36:58
  >> No, I just think people who have not
• 37:00
  done it understand if you can imagine
• 37:02
  somebody playing chess. Calling plays is
• 37:05
  very much like that. You've got to be
• 37:07
  thinking one or two or three moves down
• 37:09
  the road. you run this play to set up
• 37:11
  that play. When they you you run this
• 37:13
  play and you're thinking what you've
• 37:15
  worked on all week and and and everybody
• 37:17
  else, I don't care who they are, you
• 37:19
  just tell them to shut up until I ask
• 37:20
  for a qu. When I ask you to speak,
• 37:22
  speak. If I don't ask you to speak,
• 37:24
  don't speak. You know, uh and then if
• 37:26
  you're the head coach, you're allowed to
• 37:27
  to uh I mean, I've heard my dad say,
• 37:30
  "Dad gummit George, RUN IT. RUN THROW
• 37:32
  THAT BOMB NOW. THROW THE BOMB NOW." You
• 37:34
  know, so when you're the head coach, you
• 37:36
  do have the right to step in. and Lane
• 37:39
  Kippid may do that. I don't know that he
• 37:41
  does, but I think I think Charlie
• 37:43
  Charlie Wise, like his dad, is the
• 37:45
  offensive play caller uh on that team.
• 37:47
  So, I think
• 37:48
  >> and a very good one. A very good one.
• 37:50
  That's why Lane Keven take if Lane was
• 37:52
  to call all the plays, he wouldn't need
• 37:54
  him in in LSU, you know, he's one of the
• 37:56
  first guys he hired was was was uh
• 37:59
  Charlie Weiss, you know, and so that was
• 38:01
  a good one. But anyway, um I it's a uh
• 38:05
  the coaching um and I want to mention
• 38:07
  this to you. you probably have a better
• 38:08
  feel for it. Staffing, they're about how
• 38:11
  how far are they in the staffing with
• 38:12
  the because you you're a little bit more
• 38:14
  in tuned with the staffing situation. I
• 38:16
  know they picked up a an outside
• 38:18
  linebacker, defensive end coach that
• 38:20
  they thought would be was a good
• 38:21
  addition uh just recently. Uh they they
• 38:24
  kept the defensive coordinator, which is
• 38:25
  a huge plus. He's got his offensive
• 38:27
  coordinator, quarterback, coach, play
• 38:29
  caller from South Florida. And so he and
• 38:32
  he's he makes it clear he he depends on
• 38:34
  that guy to run the offense and call the
• 38:36
  plays. He makes it very clear and so
• 38:39
  sounds like he's got a good combination
• 38:41
  of coaches on the field.
• 38:43
  >> The one thing that jumped out to me, you
• 38:45
  know, and again, he's hired guys who
• 38:48
  were former coordinators, former head
• 38:50
  coaches, which tells me that he he
• 38:52
  doesn't really care who gets the credit
• 38:53
  and and that's a little bit different.
• 38:55
  I'm not going to call out any names, but
• 38:57
  I mean, you know, a lot of times the
• 38:59
  head coach is worried about, okay, well,
• 39:01
  you know, I'm not going to get the
• 39:03
  credit. I want to take over plate
• 39:04
  calling. I want to do this or I want to
• 39:05
  do that. You know, help your guys get
• 39:07
  jobs. I mean, let them do their jobs. At
• 39:09
  the end of the day, you're the head
• 39:10
  coach and if they do well, you're
• 39:12
  getting paid. You know, you're getting
• 39:13
  an extension. You know,
• 39:15
  >> Ronnie, you don't know how many coaches
• 39:17
  knowing and working with staffs around
• 39:19
  the country. You don't know how many
• 39:21
  head coaches hold on to that game plan
• 39:23
  sheet and all they're doing is kind of
• 39:24
  looking at it and glossing over it
• 39:26
  because they ain't calling no plays. You
• 39:27
  know, they're not calling any plays.
• 39:29
  they just what they they they don't look
• 39:30
  like they they they they're not
• 39:32
  involved. And so sometimes it's just
• 39:34
  make sure it doesn't look like they're
• 39:36
  just stoically standing on the
• 39:37
  sidelines. You know, my father called
• 39:39
  plays most of his life. But in the last
• 39:42
  10 years when he was winning
• 39:43
  championships and he was 70 years old,
• 39:46
  he left the he didn't he wasn't as
• 39:47
  involved, you know, and I'm not sure
• 39:49
  they were as good, but you know, Jimbo
• 39:50
  came back there with him and did a good
• 39:52
  job calling plays. Uh but uh uh quite
• 39:56
  often, you hit it right on the head, a
• 39:57
  head coach quite often uh will um um uh
• 40:01
  will try to make people um make feel
• 40:03
  like he's doing more than this. U but
• 40:06
  anyway, but it's good that he's got I
• 40:09
  think he's got a good good um uh seems
• 40:11
  like he's got a good beginning to start
• 40:13
  on his staff to get them going because
• 40:14
  you can't hardly uh and he's not going
• 40:16
  to panic on losing players in the portal
• 40:18
  because there's nothing you can do about
• 40:19
  it. It's about money. It's not about
• 40:20
  they don't like him or they don't like
• 40:22
  Auburn,
• 40:23
  >> right? and they're restructuring the way
• 40:24
  they're kind of doing NIL. But I mean,
• 40:25
  if you look at the staff, you know, you
• 40:26
  brought brought back Cody Cody Burns who
• 40:28
  won a national championship as a player.
• 40:30
  You can't Derk as a coordinator. You
• 40:32
  brought your offensive coordinator with
• 40:33
  you. For who's a who's been a running
• 40:37
  >> He's been Yeah, he's been at Auburn
• 40:38
  before, hadn't he?
• 40:39
  >> He has on the uh I believe he was he was
• 40:42
  coaching there during the national
• 40:44
  championship season, I believe.
• 40:45
  >> Um you know, he brought his offensive
• 40:47
  line coach with him who looks like he's
• 40:49
  about 22. I'm not sure. I think he's
• 40:51
  around 30, but he's He's not very he's
• 40:54
  not very big. Uh, you know, and then he
• 40:56
  Demarcus Van Djk, kind of a a rising
• 40:58
  star recruiter in Florida. Tim Banks,
• 41:01
  former, you know, he's a safeties coach,
• 41:02
  brought him from,
• 41:04
  >> you know, former coordinator. Uh,
• 41:06
  Coleman, uh, Hutsler, who was a former
• 41:08
  coordinator at Mississippi State,
• 41:10
  Kantrell King Williams. I mean, he's got
• 41:12
  a really, really, it's pretty amazing
• 41:14
  what kind of staff he's put together.
• 41:16
  really reminds me a lot of of your first
• 41:18
  staff at Auburn and and and then when
• 41:19
  you changed up uh you know Tommy left
• 41:22
  and then there was a change with Wayne
• 41:23
  Hall and and then you brought in brother
• 41:25
  Oliver. Um you know
• 41:27
  >> and and and and uh and brought in my
• 41:29
  defensive line coach too when I lost uh
• 41:32
  when Kurt Crane the lost Kurt um and
• 41:34
  brought in Pete Jenkins who I you know I
• 41:36
  I was blessed to have some of the best
• 41:37
  coaches in America uh working on that
• 41:39
  staff and and I think if you're going to
• 41:41
  be successful uh you you've got to have
• 41:43
  those those kind of guys. But let's get
• 41:45
  back to this other issue that I was
• 41:46
  trying to get to with Tommy. Uh because
• 41:49
  I really I mean I was just you know
• 41:51
  portal transfer and NIL's were just
• 41:53
  starting when I was at ulm and I wasn't
• 41:56
  getting players with money. I was losing
• 41:58
  players with money because we didn't
• 41:59
  have any money. And so anytime I recruit
• 42:01
  a good player out of high school or
• 42:03
  junior college, uh I was just grooming
• 42:05
  them, you know, for somewhere else. And
• 42:07
  now we had 5,000 or something like that.
• 42:09
  You know, we had little bits of money,
• 42:11
  but we couldn't keep anybody there. And
• 42:14
  I'm I'm wondering because we in the in
• 42:16
  the uh on the on the on the website
• 42:18
  today and I forget if it was uh uh uh
• 42:23
  Philip talking about um uh is this guy a
• 42:25
  good recruiter or that guy but who is
• 42:28
  actually doing I mean there's a GM and
• 42:31
  there's a money budget and who's
• 42:34
  deciding I mean to me it's not about the
• 42:37
  person it's not about creating
• 42:38
  relationships it's about evaluation
• 42:40
  because the whole deal is you better
• 42:42
  evaluate good and put your money on the
• 42:44
  right guy because if you have a
• 42:46
  beautiful relationship with the wrong
• 42:47
  guy. So, it's it's got to be I'm just
• 42:50
  thinking does the GM and the head coach
• 42:52
  make these calls that you know that it
• 42:53
  used to be a great you a great recruiter
• 42:56
  would sit in that home or call on the
• 42:57
  phone. You know, some coaches some
• 42:59
  coaches cannot stand to be on the phone
• 43:01
  and that that it just kills them as a
• 43:02
  recruiter. You got to be one of those
• 43:04
  guys that loves to be on the phone and
• 43:06
  talk to those guys. You know, Rodney
• 43:07
  Garner, one of the great assets he had,
• 43:10
  he could talk on that phone to those
• 43:11
  recruits. he could talk to those
• 43:13
  recruits uh and could talk their
• 43:15
  language and just and communicate with
• 43:17
  them. And back then when you didn't have
• 43:19
  all the NI, you know, the NIL money is
• 43:21
  going to make the decision. These kids
• 43:23
  are jumping in the portal, not because
• 43:24
  they don't like the school. I think
• 43:26
  they're jumping because they just want
• 43:27
  to see how much money they can make. You
• 43:28
  know,
• 43:29
  >> there's no question. And and you know,
• 43:30
  you mentioned who who's making the
• 43:31
  decisions. It's you know, a lot of these
• 43:33
  places are kind of setting it up like an
• 43:35
  like an NFL situation, but I it's not
• 43:37
  the same. You know, I and looking at
• 43:39
  some of the other hires he's made. I
• 43:40
  mean, you've got director of advanced
• 43:42
  scouting, director of logistics,
• 43:44
  operations coordinator, advanced
• 43:45
  scouting direct coordinator, rece
• 43:47
  receivers assistant, O assistant,
• 43:49
  special team assistant outside, you
• 43:51
  know, on and on. And, you know, I
• 43:52
  remember when when I was at Southern
• 43:54
  Miss, you know, I then John Miller, who
• 43:56
  was a GM uh at at at Auburn, J, you
• 43:58
  know, just he was he was there with
• 44:00
  Freeze. But I remember walking in there
• 44:02
  one day and and talking to John and I
• 44:03
  said, "How many people work in here?"
• 44:06
  You know, he he said, you know, I think
• 44:08
  I think it was 70s something. And I
• 44:10
  said, you know, John, I said, it was you
• 44:12
  and me and your GA and my student
• 44:15
  assistant and that's it. I said, we, you
• 44:19
  know, we did the same thing. And uh and
• 44:21
  I know it's a different animal, but I
• 44:22
  mean, it seems like to me that it's a
• 44:25
  little bit it's a little bit overloaded.
• 44:26
  I mean, a lot of
• 44:27
  >> Well, and it's diluted, too. I'm not
• 44:30
  sure. Somebody's got to make the final
• 44:32
  calls or somebody somebody has to say,
• 44:33
  "No, I like this guy no matter." Well, I
• 44:35
  guess the head coach has got to be that
• 44:36
  guy. and the GM that and the GM that he
• 44:39
  trusts. He and I and I think uh Galish
• 44:41
  brought in his GM, right? Brought in his
• 44:43
  own guy that had been working with him.
• 44:45
  >> He did, but you know, I I just remember
• 44:47
  when I was and everybody does it
• 44:48
  different. Um but when at LSU when I was
• 44:51
  with Sabin, you know, we had and I've
• 44:53
  still got the sheet. Um you you had your
• 44:55
  measurables on the front,
• 44:56
  >> right?
• 44:57
  >> And so he didn't want to take a corner
• 44:58
  that was under six foot. Like that was a
• 45:01
  you know, it was a no-go almost always
• 45:02
  unless he was just a freak. Um, and so
• 45:05
  you had your measurables and you put
• 45:07
  that down and then on the back it was,
• 45:09
  okay, when does this does this guy have
• 45:10
  any uh mental health issues? Does he
• 45:12
  have any drug issues? Does he have any
• 45:14
  family issues? When is he going to be
• 45:16
  first team SEC? When's he going to be an
• 45:18
  all-American? You know, on and on and
• 45:19
  on. And
• 45:21
  >> he every, you know, it was the the
• 45:23
  recruiting coach, the position coach,
• 45:25
  the coordinator, and then Nick made the
• 45:26
  final call. And you had to go make your
• 45:28
  you had to go make your case. And that
• 45:30
  guy couldn't play in two years. you need
• 45:32
  to go find a job, you know.
• 45:34
  >> Yeah.
• 45:35
  >> Well, and and that and again, that's
• 45:36
  probably how it goes, Ron. You've got a
• 45:38
  you've got somebody that knows how much
• 45:40
  money you got in the budget because
• 45:41
  there there's not an unlimited amount
• 45:43
  anywhere. There there is a there is a
• 45:44
  finite number and it may be real high
• 45:46
  for some places and you may have the
• 45:49
  ability to lift it up a little bit and
• 45:50
  raise that ceiling on your on your NIL
• 45:53
  money, but there is a it's it's not
• 45:55
  entirely like free agency and that you
• 45:57
  have so much you can do with it. people
• 45:59
  can go as far as they the school wants
• 46:01
  them to go. Uh and so and and this is
• 46:04
  the the good plus about Auburn and we
• 46:06
  probably to get into this too is that
• 46:09
  you can see by Texas Tech and some other
• 46:10
  schools that you can flip a program
• 46:12
  pretty quick.
• 46:13
  >> Uh so you got to you've got to mix high
• 46:16
  school with uh portal because if you get
• 46:19
  too many high school that's
• 46:20
  developmental
• 46:22
  >> and you won't you and you won't change
• 46:23
  that negative attitude uh that that
• 46:26
  negative feeling of we can't win. Uh, so
• 46:28
  you got to have enough portal and maybe
• 46:29
  more than you would normally want early
• 46:31
  on at Auburn to get that thing swinging
• 46:34
  the way you want to swing it. Uh,
• 46:36
  because I don't think anywhere in the
• 46:37
  SEC right now, you want to you want to
• 46:40
  go too long without winning pretty good
• 46:41
  because that's what they're paying money
• 46:43
  for. They're paying big money and
• 46:44
  they're paying money to players and to
• 46:46
  coaches to win now to win big and win
• 46:49
  fast.
• 46:50
  >> And the I think the key now too is, you
• 46:52
  know, Portal is has turned in a little
• 46:54
  bit like junior college used to be. if
• 46:56
  you take, you know, it's one thing to go
• 46:58
  plug holes, but you know, if you end up
• 47:01
  looking like, you know, and Bill Snyder
• 47:03
  at at Kansas State was probably the
• 47:04
  best, you know, he would half the team
• 47:06
  was Jo every year and he
• 47:08
  >> every year. Every year.
• 47:10
  >> But if you get too many of those guys
• 47:12
  and like we've talked about before, you
• 47:14
  know, it's almost like junior college is
• 47:16
  now the portal, but you end up looking
• 47:17
  like Florida State if you take too many
• 47:18
  of them,
• 47:19
  >> right? And I think that's the I think
• 47:20
  Florida State was the great example
• 47:22
  about how you've got to use good
• 47:24
  judgment. Uh it's not rocket science,
• 47:26
  but again, there's a method to the
• 47:28
  madness. There's a method to the madness
• 47:30
  that you've got to figure out the right
• 47:32
  percentage of portal. Uh and the
• 47:34
  leadership, where you going to get the
• 47:35
  leadership, where you going to get those
• 47:37
  kids that grew up loving orange and
• 47:38
  blue, you know, like the Pat Nixes that
• 47:40
  I had and those guys that just grew up
• 47:42
  and that was a school they love from the
• 47:44
  time they were born, you know. Um and
• 47:46
  you've got to have some of those guys
• 47:48
  there with you. And like I was
• 47:49
  mentioning earlier in the show, you take
• 47:52
  Texas Tech, which had maybe one of the
• 47:53
  best front sevens in the country, and
• 47:56
  they spent a ton of ton of money to get
• 47:58
  them, but their two linebackers have
• 48:00
  both started over 40 games. And their
• 48:02
  quarterback started 35 games, and he's a
• 48:04
  good quarterback, not a great one, but
• 48:05
  he's he's a mature leader that is a
• 48:08
  veteran on their team. And so that's a
• 48:10
  system that's kind of because that's
• 48:11
  another team besides Oregon that say,
• 48:13
  "Watch out for Texas Tech. If they get
• 48:15
  hot, they've got talent on the defense
• 48:18
  and offense. If they get real hot, and I
• 48:20
  think Georgia falls into that category,
• 48:22
  too, along with Alabama, not Alabama,
• 48:24
  Texas. I mean, I mean, to me, uh,
• 48:26
  Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon,
• 48:28
  and Texas Tech are five that I'm going
• 48:30
  to I'm going to move them up just a
• 48:32
  little bit higher. I don't know. And
• 48:34
  it's going to be so close that uh it
• 48:36
  could change, but I'm I'm gonna move
• 48:37
  those five a little bit higher uh than
• 48:40
  than the rest of the other seven. The
• 48:42
  the interesting thing about Texas Tech
• 48:44
  and I and we'll go back to Georgia in a
• 48:45
  minute. I think they can win the whole
• 48:47
  thing just because mental mentally
• 48:48
  tough. But Texas Tech, the interesting
• 48:51
  thing to me is Texas Tech's always been,
• 48:53
  you know, uh throw it around, get
• 48:55
  Kingsbury and Mike Leech and now they're
• 48:57
  winning with defense. You know, I one of
• 48:58
  the coaches out there, I was talk to him
• 49:00
  last week and I was like, and he's on
• 49:01
  he's a defensive coach. I said, "You
• 49:03
  guys are good now." He's like, "We've
• 49:05
  got every resource that you can
• 49:07
  imagine." And they've started redoing
• 49:09
  contracts out there and all those guys
• 49:10
  are getting long-term deals and they're
• 49:12
  paying guys. I mean, they've got
• 49:13
  >> Yeah.
• 49:14
  >> And now it matters, you know. I mean,
• 49:16
  before I mean, I I don't know if I don't
• 49:19
  know how much time you spend at Texas
• 49:20
  Tech, but it's, you know, I'd rather
• 49:21
  live.
• 49:21
  >> I've been there. I used to go out there
• 49:22
  and I used to go there and visit with
• 49:24
  Mike Leech when they were throwing it
• 49:25
  around, you know, and of course Mike
• 49:26
  Leech was at Vald Dasta when my dad and
• 49:28
  I were throwing it around uh before he
• 49:30
  got before he got to Kentucky. the no
• 49:33
  huddle offense was being run down to
• 49:34
  Florida State. But you're right, the
• 49:36
  Texas Tech went out there and it's
• 49:38
  probably a good lesson for everybody is
• 49:40
  that when you'll spend your money, start
• 49:42
  with the defense. I mean, there probably
• 49:44
  about five positions you get your get
• 49:46
  your defense because if you if you're
• 49:48
  playing great defense, you're going to
• 49:50
  have a chance to win every single
• 49:51
  football game. Just like Auburn, they
• 49:53
  didn't they didn't win them, but they
• 49:54
  had a chance to win almost every game,
• 49:56
  including Alabama, including Georgia. Uh
• 49:59
  uh they had a chance, but I think other
• 50:01
  than that, you better have a
• 50:02
  quarterback. You better have a
• 50:03
  quarterback. You better have a a couple
• 50:05
  of running backs and a couple wide outs
• 50:07
  and a great quarterback. Uh now, I'm one
• 50:10
  of those guys say, "Yeah, you need a
• 50:11
  great left tackle." And you do, but I've
• 50:13
  I've always felt like if I had five guys
• 50:15
  that could have quick feet and smart and
• 50:17
  played together, I could have a pretty
• 50:19
  good offensive line. Trickers, I had
• 50:21
  trick it. I had guys that could really
• 50:22
  coach it. Uh but it doesn't hurt to have
• 50:24
  that good left tackle. Uh, we had Wayne
• 50:27
  Gandandy, you know, he was a first round
• 50:28
  draft pick at that at that left tackle.
• 50:30
  And we eventually moved Willie an
• 50:31
  Anderson out while he was a guard, but
• 50:33
  we moved him out there to right tackle
• 50:35
  after a while. Those were both first
• 50:36
  round draft picks when we were at
• 50:38
  Auburn. But I think you got to go a
• 50:40
  quarterback, couple of great I don't
• 50:42
  think you can get by with one
• 50:43
  quarterback, one running back, but if
• 50:45
  you got one that that one great one,
• 50:46
  that's that's a guy you want like Lacy
• 50:48
  at at Old Miss. He's a different he's a
• 50:50
  he's a good one, but you probably need
• 50:52
  two wide outs so you can match up pretty
• 50:54
  well. Uh, and then defensive end, great
• 50:57
  defensive end and great corners. Uh, and
• 51:00
  then and then work from there, you know,
• 51:02
  great great corners, great defensive
• 51:04
  ends because they can change the field
• 51:05
  for you. They can they can make the
• 51:07
  play, they can make the offense uh they
• 51:09
  can get to the quarterback quicker than
• 51:11
  gets they get have to throw the ball in
• 51:12
  practice and and you can mess up their
• 51:14
  timing and a corner a great corner can
• 51:17
  take a third of the field away. you
• 51:18
  know, he can he can play one-on-one and
• 51:20
  let you slide your safeties over uh and
• 51:22
  play the run if you got a great one, you
• 51:25
  know. Uh so anyway,
• 51:27
  >> and another thing that that people a lot
• 51:29
  of people miss is how important and this
• 51:31
  is a little bit this is this is not
• 51:33
  necessarily on the field, but
• 51:35
  >> the strength coach, the strength coach,
• 51:36
  because he's around those kids as much
• 51:38
  or more all the time. And
• 51:40
  >> all the time a great strength coach, he
• 51:42
  can let you know, okay, this guy's got a
• 51:44
  problem. This guy's screwing up. you
• 51:46
  know, he handles your discipline a lot
• 51:47
  of times. Um, it's a it's a you get a
• 51:50
  bad one, it shows up.
• 51:52
  >> It's a great point. It's a great point
• 51:54
  because uh he is he is the psychologist.
• 51:57
  He's the guy that lives with your
• 51:58
  players throughout the summer. He when
• 52:01
  you're out there recruiting, when your
• 52:03
  coaches are on the road, uh, he's there.
• 52:05
  He and his staff are with them all the
• 52:07
  time. And and they probably come in and
• 52:09
  confide in that strength coach more than
• 52:11
  anybody else. But he's also and and it's
• 52:13
  that's not just the the toughness part
• 52:16
  which is critical. Toughness and
• 52:18
  strength, but it's also getting to know
• 52:20
  the players and knowing when something
• 52:22
  isn't right. And the strength coach is
• 52:24
  so vital because that that and that
• 52:26
  that's a great point because I think
• 52:28
  that's always a a critical critical uh
• 52:31
  aspect of of building your football team
• 52:32
  when it starts with that strength coach
• 52:34
  u and what he can do on that one. Um but
• 52:39
  anyway, have we have we left anything
• 52:40
  out on the on the on the um uh football
• 52:44
  games this weekend? What's that?
• 52:45
  >> I want to talk a little bit about
• 52:46
  Georgia. You know, I I don't think they
• 52:48
  were the best team in the country eight
• 52:50
  weeks, six weeks ago, whatever. But I
• 52:52
  mean, they may be now. I mean, they they
• 52:54
  just find ways to win games. And you
• 52:57
  know, say what you want about Kirby
• 52:59
  Smart, he's done a great job. And
• 53:02
  >> you know, I know Auburn people don't
• 53:04
  like him and all that stuff, but I mean,
• 53:05
  give him credit. I mean those guys come
• 53:07
  out and they believe they're going to
• 53:08
  win every game whether whether they do
• 53:10
  or not and most of the time they do but
• 53:12
  he he's those guys play hard
• 53:15
  >> and Auburn people don't like Nick Sabin
• 53:17
  either but but Kirby Smart probably is
• 53:20
  more like Nick Sabin in the way he has
• 53:23
  developed his football team. Uh like him
• 53:26
  or not uh he does a great job of
• 53:28
  building his team toward the end of the
• 53:30
  season. does a great job with field uh
• 53:32
  game time adjustments, halftime
• 53:34
  adjustments, playing the best football
• 53:36
  at the end. And he's not as good as a
• 53:38
  running team this year as he usually is
• 53:40
  and not as good rushing the passer, but
• 53:42
  he's he's going to want to run the
• 53:43
  football and play defense, you know, and
• 53:45
  uh maybe that's kind of why that, you
• 53:47
  know, that defensive coordinator type
• 53:48
  mentality uh is kind of like Nick Sabin,
• 53:51
  but he does a great job. And and I'm
• 53:53
  like you, they have played much better
• 53:55
  toward the end. They've gotten to be
• 53:57
  better. uh their quarterback's playing
• 53:59
  well and uh they're another one of those
• 54:01
  five teams that I have at the top, you
• 54:03
  know, that uh that can go out there and
• 54:05
  win. They I think they'll probably get
• 54:06
  Old Miss in that first game they play.
• 54:08
  Uh and they've got to beat them in that
• 54:11
  repeat game, which I hate to pay to have
• 54:12
  to win second games, but I think I think
• 54:14
  once you get to the championship level,
• 54:17
  I think uh you know, I always say if you
• 54:19
  have to pay a team twice, I'm always
• 54:20
  going to pick the second team that that
• 54:22
  lost the first one if it was close. But
• 54:24
  I think I think uh the way Georgia is
• 54:26
  playing uh and the way they and the way
• 54:29
  they have improved and the way they get
• 54:32
  better toward the second half of a
• 54:33
  football game they play in the second
• 54:35
  half of the season, the second half of
• 54:37
  football game. I think they have gotten
• 54:39
  to be one of the best teams in the
• 54:41
  country because of that, you know, u uh
• 54:44
  and uh schedule, you know, the the grind
• 54:47
  to the schedule. I mean,
• 54:48
  >> the the you know, look, give Indiana
• 54:50
  credit, that guy's done an unbelievable
• 54:52
  job. they got the right guy and you know
• 54:55
  all those things. I'm not but the the if
• 54:57
  you look at Indiana's schedule versus
• 54:59
  Georgia's schedule versus Alabama versus
• 55:01
  Oklahoma most SEC schools it's not
• 55:05
  close. I mean it's just it's not and I
• 55:07
  you know I the funny thing to me I was
• 55:09
  looking the other day and we may have
• 55:10
  talked about this already. Um I think I
• 55:12
  sent it to you but the uh there was
• 55:16
  there was a thing that came out. It was
• 55:17
  Neielson ratings the most watch what
• 55:19
  college football programs in the country
• 55:21
  this past year. Eight out of 10 were SEC
• 55:24
  schools. The other two were Ohio State
• 55:26
  and Michigan. And and the only program
• 55:30
  on the list that had a losing record,
• 55:31
  much less five in a row, was Auburn. And
• 55:34
  everybody else, you know, I mean, LSU
• 55:36
  was on there, but
• 55:38
  >> I mean, but G, Bronnie, there's no I
• 55:40
  don't think there's any debate. Five
• 55:42
  teams in the in the 12th are SEC
• 55:44
  schools. Uh top to bottom, the toughest
• 55:47
  conference in the in the in the league.
• 55:49
  Uh, now I'm I'm given I big I think Big
• 55:51
  10's got two that can play in the SEC
• 55:53
  that can play with anybody, but that's
• 55:55
  two and Oregon would be the third, but
• 55:57
  everybody else we drop way off more. And
• 55:59
  I don't say it's ACC level, but it's,
• 56:01
  you know, ACC pretty bad right now other
• 56:03
  than uh Miami. Uh, they just everybody
• 56:06
  found a way to be bad uh in that league.
• 56:09
  And even Miami did for a while.
• 56:10
  >> And the ACC's got to change their
• 56:12
  tiebreaker rule. I mean, if you've got,
• 56:14
  you know,
• 56:15
  >> Oh, yeah. and they changed it when when
• 56:16
  we were at Florida, you know, they had
• 56:18
  all this convoluted tiebreaker and it
• 56:20
  was a three-way tie and we ended up
• 56:22
  finishing but but we tied for the East
• 56:24
  um our last well the second year we were
• 56:26
  there and we thought we were going to
• 56:28
  get to go to the championship game. Well
• 56:29
  well they changed the tiebreaker and it
• 56:31
  went to the highest ranked team. Well,
• 56:32
  if it goes to the highest ranked team,
• 56:34
  then Miami is probably the ACC champion
• 56:36
  or or you know, instead of Duke and that
• 56:40
  I just think that the ACC tiebreaker
• 56:42
  that that situation, they've got a
• 56:44
  that's bad for the conference.
• 56:45
  >> Well, I think they're going to I think
• 56:46
  they're going to, but obviously the um
• 56:49
  um we can't have a 12 team playoff
• 56:53
  that doesn't get the best 12 teams in
• 56:55
  the country. Now I I and and a given
• 56:58
  nobody no committee person even thought
• 57:02
  for a minute there would be two group of
• 57:03
  five teams in there. Nobody. Uh but
• 57:06
  that's what happened. But I think what's
• 57:08
  happening and I'm I don't know if it's
• 57:10
  going to change this and and I just have
• 57:11
  to say it. I'm not sure with the way
• 57:14
  we're going with portal transfer with
• 57:15
  playoffs is that we don't divide
• 57:18
  division one up because you know what
• 57:20
  we've got two different levels and
• 57:22
  everybody knows it. We've got the group
• 57:23
  of five and we got the power four. And I
• 57:26
  don't know if it's 75 one way and 75 the
• 57:28
  other or there's about 136 teams, but if
• 57:32
  we did that, and I'm not the first guy
• 57:34
  to say this, and I coached in that
• 57:35
  league, too. I coached Group of Five and
• 57:37
  and and SEC, it would give them a chance
• 57:40
  to win the national championship, too.
• 57:42
  You know, in 1978, they did it to onea.
• 57:46
  They didn't have they there wasn't a
• 57:47
  oneA. You know, when we played at West
• 57:50
  Virginia, my dad became the head coach.
• 57:52
  Davidson East, they were all in the uh
• 57:54
  Citadel. They were in the division one.
• 57:57
  That's who was the part of the the
• 57:58
  Southern Conference. Uh but they made a
• 58:01
  decision that there were separations in
• 58:02
  the levels of program. And I think I
• 58:05
  think it's eventually going to go to
• 58:07
  that. Uh because I don't think people
• 58:09
  want to see they they want to see if
• 58:10
  we're going to have a 12 team playoff
• 58:12
  and it may go to 16. They people want to
• 58:14
  see the best uh 16 the best 12 in the
• 58:17
  country. And uh it's hard to say. Notre
• 58:19
  Dame and Tain's is is better than uh or
• 58:23
  James Madison is better than Notre Dame
• 58:26
  uh or some of these other teams. Uh not
• 58:28
  that I don't want them in there and not
• 58:30
  that I'm proud that they are in there,
• 58:31
  you know.
• 58:32
  >> Well, and Notre Dame, you know, Notre
• 58:33
  Dame can complain all they want to. You
• 58:35
  look at the schedule, they don't
• 58:37
  conference,
• 58:38
  >> you know, and and I think the other
• 58:39
  thing that Matt, you know, we talk about
• 58:40
  SEC versus Big 10. Big 10's got 20 pro
• 58:43
  20 20 teams and you've got maybe five.
• 58:46
  So, you got Ohio State, Michigan, Penn
• 58:49
  State, uh, uh, USCI,
• 58:53
  >> uh, and now Indiana. But you've really
• 58:55
  got five historically premier programs,
• 58:57
  you know.
• 58:57
  >> Oh, yeah. Yeah.
• 58:58
  >> In the SEC, you've got nine.
• 59:01
  >> Yeah.
• 59:02
  >> And, and
• 59:02
  >> it's a little different.
• 59:03
  >> A little different. I mean, you know,
• 59:05
  Auburn's not going to be bad forever,
• 59:07
  you know, and and, uh, Florida's not
• 59:09
  going to be bad forever. And Tennessee
• 59:10
  is not gonna, you know, I mean, they've
• 59:12
  bounced back. They've been pretty good
• 59:13
  the last couple years. So, yeah. Um, you
• 59:15
  know, when you when you throw in Texas
• 59:17
  and Oklahoma, uh, along with
• 59:19
  >> Texas A&M and then you know, LSU,
• 59:23
  Florida, Georgia, Tennessee.
• 59:25
  >> No, it's it's No, this is the part of
• 59:27
  the country I mean, college football is
• 59:29
  king. You know, I I used to say it when
• 59:32
  people from the north didn't understand.
• 59:34
  I said because I lived, my dad was at
• 59:36
  West Virginia, so I grew up Pittsburgh
• 59:38
  Steelers were my team because they were
• 59:39
  an hour away. That was my NFL team. But
• 59:42
  it dawned on me that people from the
• 59:44
  west coast to the northeast, their
• 59:46
  greatest honor is to coach on Sundays.
• 59:48
  >> In the deep south, the greatest honor is
• 59:50
  to coach on Saturdays. It's I mean,
• 59:52
  that's the that's what you live for. And
• 59:55
  he never had a never my dad never had a
• 59:57
  a day that he thought about going to the
• 59:59
  NFL. I never had a day where I thought
• 1:00:00
  about going to the NFL because I was
• 1:00:02
  raised in the South. Uh and there's
• 1:00:04
  nothing like the SEC. Uh and and and
• 1:00:06
  football being played in the deep south.
• 1:00:08
  And so that's not going to change. I
• 1:00:11
  turned down I turned down a job with
• 1:00:13
  with the Redskins or the Commanders now,
• 1:00:14
  but the Redskins uh to go to Florida. Uh
• 1:00:18
  because and coach Sen told me he said,
• 1:00:19
  "Go to the NFL." And I'm like, "Well, I
• 1:00:22
  don't care anything about working for
• 1:00:23
  for Dan Snder. I'd rather I'd rather go
• 1:00:25
  work at Florida, you know, because for
• 1:00:26
  me uh that's that's that's the way I
• 1:00:28
  grew up. It was it mattered to me. My
• 1:00:30
  wife in Philadelphia and her family,
• 1:00:31
  they're all the Eagles fans and all this
• 1:00:33
  stuff." Yeah.
• 1:00:33
  >> And uh you know, they look at some of
• 1:00:36
  the stuff that goes on down here like
• 1:00:37
  >> that that's that's that's college
• 1:00:39
  football.
• 1:00:41
  It's a little crazier. It's a little
• 1:00:43
  crazier down here. That's That's for
• 1:00:45
  sure. But uh anyway, um and I will say
• 1:00:48
  I'll end with this because I got I've uh
• 1:00:50
  so I can finish up the show and we don't
• 1:00:52
  go too far past five. Um but u and I and
• 1:00:55
  maybe Nick Sabin said it again, but the
• 1:00:58
  NIL's, you know, the big schools up
• 1:01:01
  Michigan and they have 20 billionaires
• 1:01:03
  on their graduates. We might have one.
• 1:01:06
  They got 20 or 30. They've got a lot
• 1:01:08
  more NIL possible money to play with at
• 1:01:12
  the Ohio States and the Michigan who
• 1:01:14
  graduate 80,000 students a year, you
• 1:01:17
  know, uh, and if we aren't careful,
• 1:01:20
  that's that's the determining factor.
• 1:01:22
  Look how quickly Virginia got better.
• 1:01:24
  Look how quickly Vanderbilt got better.
• 1:01:26
  Look how quickly Texas Tech got better.
• 1:01:28
  Uh, quarterbacks are going to places
• 1:01:29
  they would never go to before, you know,
• 1:01:31
  and those kind of things that are going
• 1:01:33
  on. So anyway, um it'll be uh it'll be
• 1:01:36
  the the next chapter, I guess. Uh but we
• 1:01:39
  still got good football starting
• 1:01:40
  tonight. We got a good some good
• 1:01:41
  football to watch. And uh we you and I
• 1:01:43
  both have picked Oklahoma in a tight
• 1:01:45
  ball game. And uh uh tomorrow we've got
• 1:01:48
  uh tomorrow I've got Texas A&M. I'm
• 1:01:50
  picking Texas A&M uh and over Miami. And
• 1:01:52
  I'm picking and I'm taking Old Miss and
• 1:01:55
  uh uh Oregon uh all four of them because
• 1:01:58
  last year all four home teams won. And
• 1:02:01
  the only thing I question is can the two
• 1:02:04
  uh group of five schools they've got to
• 1:02:06
  get beat by a good amount of points. But
• 1:02:08
  I think that I think I think it'll hold
• 1:02:10
  on on that one.
• 1:02:11
  >> But anyway, I do want What's that?
• 1:02:13
  >> Yeah, I agree with it. I was going to
• 1:02:15
  say before we go, I think that's where
• 1:02:16
  you were going. Talk about our sponsor a
• 1:02:17
  little bit.
• 1:02:18
  >> Yeah, Tom Haley, I want to thank Tom
• 1:02:19
  Haley and the Haley Family Development
• 1:02:22
  Haley Tam Family Scholarship Fund for
• 1:02:24
  Auburn. As many of y'all have heard week
• 1:02:26
  after week, Tom Haley uh uh his family
• 1:02:29
  has been very involved with Auburn for
• 1:02:30
  years and years. Uh uh and have been
• 1:02:33
  great supporters of the football program
• 1:02:35
  and of the institution uh and has been
• 1:02:38
  personal friends of mine. Uh and I want
• 1:02:40
  to thank them so much for making this
• 1:02:42
  show possible uh and allowing me to come
• 1:02:45
  back and be a part of Auburn. Uh I've
• 1:02:47
  enjoyed this uh immensely and u and and
• 1:02:50
  I'm excited about the future of Auburn.
• 1:02:53
  I'm excited about what they're the moves
• 1:02:54
  that they're making. That's always a a
• 1:02:56
  great thing when you you have to make a
• 1:02:58
  decision to make a move and once you do
• 1:03:01
  it every there's a there's a positive
• 1:03:03
  attitude about things going that way.
• 1:03:05
  So, good to see all that and uh
• 1:03:07
  hopefully see y'all back next week. Try
• 1:03:09
  to get on Monday instead of Friday.
• 1:03:12
  >> Yeah, we we had some we had some issues
• 1:03:14
  this week and hopefully we
• 1:03:16
  >> I had to go to Florida to see my kids. I
• 1:03:18
  and then I couldn't get on a good good
• 1:03:20
  uh Wi-Fi line when I was vis visiting
• 1:03:22
  with my children down there. So anyway,
• 1:03:24
  we'll be back on on schedule next week
• 1:03:27
  and our time's up. We thank you for
• 1:03:28
  yours. Click like and subscribe below.
• 1:03:30
  It helps us out and keeps us in your
• 1:03:32
  feed. See you next week.