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Mac & Bone Show - Phil Steele Interview · Mac & Bone Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: And yet another sign that college football's on the way
0:02
Speaker 1: is that Phil Steele joins us to talk college football
0:05
Speaker 1: and preview the seasons of all our local teams. And
0:08
Speaker 1: Phil Steel is ready to do that right now on
0:11
Speaker 1: the Mac and Bone show, Phil, great work again on
0:14
Speaker 1: your magazine. Man, How you been?
0:16
Speaker 2: Yeah? I am doing great. How about you gentlemen? This morning?
0:19
Speaker 1: We're doing so good. We're talking football. We've got you
0:22
Speaker 1: on the show. We got the magazine out and about
0:25
Speaker 1: it's beautiful times. And I want to try we do
0:28
Speaker 1: this every year, and I want to try to get
0:29
Speaker 1: to all the different FBS schools here in our area
0:32
Speaker 1: in the Carolinas. Let's start with one, Phil, that we
0:35
Speaker 1: talked about earlier on the show, North Carolina. What are
0:40
Speaker 1: your expectations for the tar Heels this year? Is it's
0:43
Speaker 1: got to be better than last year? Right?
0:46
Speaker 2: Oh, definitely, And you know I'll tell you what going
0:48
Speaker 2: to over the teams with the coaches this year, the
0:50
Speaker 2: one common theme is without that second spring portal window,
0:54
Speaker 2: it felt like more of a team for all the
0:56
Speaker 2: teams across the country, but more so for a team
0:59
Speaker 2: like North Caro, which hit the portal hard after spring
1:02
Speaker 2: practice last year. Brought in a lot of players. It's
1:05
Speaker 2: tough to assimilate a team and can get them playing
1:07
Speaker 2: all together. Now. They did have a couple of close
1:09
Speaker 2: losses last year, so we're close to a bowl game.
1:12
Speaker 2: I think they're They're improved on both offense and defense
1:15
Speaker 2: this year, like the addition to Billy Edwards, a quarterback,
1:19
Speaker 2: offensive line, stronger, just a much better team. The thing
1:22
Speaker 2: that concerns me is last year they played a really
1:24
Speaker 2: good schedule, very manageable schedule. This year they take on
1:29
Speaker 2: the thirteenth toughest schedule in the country non conference games
1:31
Speaker 2: against Nor Dame and TCU, and in conference play they
1:36
Speaker 2: actually play one of the second toughest schedule in the ACC.
1:39
Speaker 2: So I think you see a much improved team. How
1:42
Speaker 2: much they improve record wise will be the question mark
1:45
Speaker 2: because the schedule is a lot tougher this year.
1:47
Speaker 1: It is. Yeah, we've talked about that. Man I wish
1:50
Speaker 1: you can't get what you want, but man, I wish
1:52
Speaker 1: this team could have last year's schedule. Yeah, I would
1:55
Speaker 1: love to see that. For tar Heel fans, Hey a
1:57
Speaker 1: schedule that feels the complete opposite. And you can tell
2:00
Speaker 1: me your thoughts on it. In the ACC is NC State.
2:04
Speaker 1: That feels like a schedule pill where there's an opportunity
2:06
Speaker 1: there for the wolf Pack. Like what type of season
2:09
Speaker 1: do you see them having this year in the ACC?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they have the opportunity to finally get
2:13
Speaker 2: through and get that double digit win season possibly with
2:17
Speaker 2: the schedule they have. It's the number seventy six schedule.
2:20
Speaker 2: That's quite a big difference from North Carolina's number thirteen schedule.
2:24
Speaker 2: And you got to like the fact that CJ. Bailey's
2:26
Speaker 2: back a three years starting quarterback in college football almost
2:30
Speaker 2: unheard of. You got a guy like Duke Scott at
2:32
Speaker 2: running back. Offensive line looks solid. Defensively, I like the
2:37
Speaker 2: additions that they have. You know, they're a lot better
2:40
Speaker 2: than they were a year ago. It's the second year
2:42
Speaker 2: in the system of the defense, and I think you're
2:45
Speaker 2: going to see that improved. And then you touched on
2:47
Speaker 2: at the schedule, and I also like the fact they
2:50
Speaker 2: don't have to travel to Brazil. You know, last year
2:52
Speaker 2: when I was talking to coach Campbell and Coach Climbing
2:55
Speaker 2: of Iowa State and Kansas State, they were concerned about
2:57
Speaker 2: the overseas trip. It effected both teams Florida State and
3:01
Speaker 2: Georgia Tech, both that there are seasons weaker than expected,
3:04
Speaker 2: traveling overseas, NC State, not having to travel to Brazil,
3:08
Speaker 2: and getting two by weeks in the same year. You
3:10
Speaker 2: gotta love it. This schedule sets up well. They do
3:13
Speaker 2: have to play Florida State North Carolina on the road,
3:16
Speaker 2: but those are winnable. I think they've got a shot
3:18
Speaker 2: at that elusive double digit win season.
3:20
Speaker 1: God, that would be huge, man So wolf Pack fans
3:23
Speaker 1: loving what you're saying. Right now, We've got to get
3:25
Speaker 1: to the two teams that we're not talking about as
3:28
Speaker 1: much on Tobacco Road in the ACC. Let's start with
3:32
Speaker 1: a defending ACC champs. Manny Diaz is Duke Blue Devils.
3:37
Speaker 1: What do you think about Duke. They obviously lost Mensa,
3:40
Speaker 1: bar Kay, they lost some key guys, But Manny has
3:43
Speaker 1: kind of outdone our expectations his first two years in Duke.
3:47
Speaker 1: Can he do that again? Or are you skeptical?
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Speaker 2: What do you think I'm expecting him to out do
3:52
Speaker 2: my expectations again, that's just Manny Diaz and what he
3:55
Speaker 2: gets done here at the Duke. And I really like
3:57
Speaker 2: what they did losing Mensa last minute, like they did
4:01
Speaker 2: and Barkate, but bringing them Walker Egitt coming in from
4:05
Speaker 2: San Jose State, I think him getting eligible was key.
4:08
Speaker 2: Here's a guy that's got a lot of experience, like
4:10
Speaker 2: what he did at San Jose State. They've got Nate
4:13
Speaker 2: Shepherd back at running back and this guy really came
4:15
Speaker 2: on last year. They've got talent, and they've got Many
4:19
Speaker 2: Diaz as the head coach. So if that's the case,
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Speaker 2: I see him definitely getting back to a bowl game.
4:23
Speaker 2: I don't know if they can get back to win
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Speaker 2: the ACC again this year, but who the heck thought
4:27
Speaker 2: they would win it last year. I just expect Many
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Speaker 2: Diaz to overachieve expectations once again.
4:33
Speaker 1: Now, speaking of overachieving Wake Forest with nine wins last
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Speaker 1: year on Jake Dickard's first year, I mean, we feel
4:39
Speaker 1: your prognostications are pretty damn good every year, but that
4:43
Speaker 1: Wake thing was hard to see coming. What does Dicker
4:47
Speaker 1: do in year two? What do you think?
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Speaker 2: You know? And the thing I liked about them last
4:51
Speaker 2: year was when they were in the portal, their main
4:55
Speaker 2: thing was snaps. Snaps. Now, how many snaps has this
4:57
Speaker 2: player played? How many snaps is this guy I played?
5:00
Speaker 2: In it? Wow? Look at the results nine wins last year.
5:04
Speaker 2: I think it's gonna be tough to match last year's
5:06
Speaker 2: nine wins. Of course, who would have thought they had
5:08
Speaker 2: nine wins last year. But Geo Lopez coming in a quarterback,
5:12
Speaker 2: I think it's a better fit. Remember a couple of
5:14
Speaker 2: years ago he was with Rob Edzel at South Alabama
5:17
Speaker 2: and really thrived in this offense. So I think getting
5:20
Speaker 2: back in that offense is a good thing. They've got
5:22
Speaker 2: Carlos Hernandez a receiver. The defense looks solid. I do
5:26
Speaker 2: think it's another bowl year for wake Forest. Don't see
5:29
Speaker 2: a match in last year's nine win total. But Jake
5:31
Speaker 2: Dickerd's doing ack of a job.
5:33
Speaker 1: He is man looking forward to seeing what they do
5:35
Speaker 1: in year two. We got to go to the Palmetto
5:37
Speaker 1: State and the acc field Steel by the way with
5:40
Speaker 1: us his magazine, his annual preview magazine, robust as always
5:44
Speaker 1: and it is a must have for college football fans
5:47
Speaker 1: getting themselves ready for the season. Let's go to Clemson.
5:50
Speaker 1: What an interesting storyline they are as dab owned company.
5:54
Speaker 1: Try to follow up a season in which Phil you
5:57
Speaker 1: talk about prognostications. I had them in the damn Champion
6:00
Speaker 1: game winning it all last year? How horrible was that?
6:03
Speaker 1: What do you do? They bounce back? What do you
6:05
Speaker 1: think of this edition of Clemson?
6:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, they absolutely bounced back. I like the talent on
6:10
Speaker 2: this team. You know, last year, I don't think Kate
6:12
Speaker 2: Clubneck played up to the expectation level. But Vezino or
6:16
Speaker 2: Tate Reynolds, whoever ends up being the full long time
6:20
Speaker 2: start of Zina was named the starter. Reynolds is pushing them.
6:23
Speaker 2: It should be a good battle there. Offensive line looks out.
6:26
Speaker 2: I think the receiving coach was banged up last year,
6:28
Speaker 2: is going to be much better. They've got Westco and
6:31
Speaker 2: more of both couple of NFL guys. Defensively, I was
6:34
Speaker 2: really surprised Tom Allen's defense gave up three hundred and
6:36
Speaker 2: fifty seven yards per game last year. They really hit
6:39
Speaker 2: the portal hard on the defensive side of the ball.
6:42
Speaker 2: You know, they brought in like ten transfers this year,
6:44
Speaker 2: the majority of them on the defense. I think we're
6:46
Speaker 2: going to see a much improved will held at defensive ends.
6:49
Speaker 2: Sammy Brown and linebacker ash and Hampton, a qurnerback. Three
6:53
Speaker 2: NFL caliber guys every turn, and when I look at
6:55
Speaker 2: the schedule. The only games I've got him an underdogger
6:58
Speaker 2: at LSU and home to Miami, and both of them
7:00
Speaker 2: slight underdogs. I think Dabo gets back to contending for
7:03
Speaker 2: the ACC title.
7:05
Speaker 1: Interesting, all right, what do you think before we get
7:08
Speaker 1: to some more teams here in the Carolinas, do you
7:11
Speaker 1: seem how big of a threat do you see Miami
7:14
Speaker 1: for the national championship this year?
7:17
Speaker 2: A clear threat? I mean, look, the key is making
7:19
Speaker 2: the playoff, right. They were the last team to make
7:22
Speaker 2: the playoff and came within one playoff actually winning the
7:24
Speaker 2: national title. The key for Miami is going to be
7:27
Speaker 2: the offensive line. But Mario christ Ball is the head coach.
7:30
Speaker 2: Just talked to him a couple of days ago, once
7:32
Speaker 2: again going over the offensive line. How's it progressing? He
7:35
Speaker 2: likes it, and you know he's going to build a
7:37
Speaker 2: good offensive line. You take a Darien men, say a
7:39
Speaker 2: quarterback Cooper Barkad, the receiver Adam Into, Mark Fletcher and
7:43
Speaker 2: Malachai Tony that were already there. Defensively, they're outstanding throughout
7:47
Speaker 2: the board. The only game I have an underdog in
7:50
Speaker 2: is aunt Notre Dame. But I think this is Miami
7:52
Speaker 2: team clearly capable, and you got to love the fact
7:55
Speaker 2: that they got that playoff experience last year. They got
7:57
Speaker 2: big wins in the playoffs. They're going to be at
8:00
Speaker 2: an entire team when playoff time rolls around.
8:02
Speaker 1: All right, let's go to South Carolina. What are you
8:07
Speaker 1: They're a team that also in the Palmetto State needs
8:09
Speaker 1: a bounce back year. Do you think they bounce back?
8:12
Speaker 1: I mean, how good can they be this year?
8:15
Speaker 2: Yeah? I've had a pretty good pulse on South Carolina
8:17
Speaker 2: through the years. They come off a five and seventh
8:19
Speaker 2: season in twenty twenty three, I put them on my
8:21
Speaker 2: most Improved list. They bounced up to nine and four
8:24
Speaker 2: last year. Everybody's talking they're going to be a playoff contender.
8:27
Speaker 2: And I had the middle of the pack of the
8:29
Speaker 2: SEC because they lost all those defensive linemen, and they
8:32
Speaker 2: bounced back down to four and eight. Well, good news
8:34
Speaker 2: for game Cock fans. They're back on my most improved list.
8:37
Speaker 2: Leonora Sellers is back at QB. I like the way
8:40
Speaker 2: Nick Harbor exploded down the stretch last year, And when
8:42
Speaker 2: I talked to coach Biember going over the squad with them,
8:45
Speaker 2: he said this defensive line reminds him a lot of
8:47
Speaker 2: the group of twenty twenty four, which was outstanding. Dylan
8:51
Speaker 2: Stewart's back, they got Brown Low Dindy inside, they've got
8:54
Speaker 2: good depth. And if the defensive line gets back towards
8:57
Speaker 2: those standards of twenty four, not saying they're going to
9:00
Speaker 2: get there, but get close to it, then I think
9:02
Speaker 2: they're going to have a good year. So back of
9:03
Speaker 2: my most improvedless back to a Bowl game this year
9:06
Speaker 2: despite taking on the number twenty five schedule in the country.
9:09
Speaker 1: All right, let's get to the group of six schools
9:12
Speaker 1: here in the state of North Carolina, right here in
9:15
Speaker 1: our city, Charlotte. Tim Albin, like what Tim Albin did
9:18
Speaker 1: at Ohio was so was so good and impressive, and
9:23
Speaker 1: I just I wonder if he can pull that off
9:26
Speaker 1: here in Charlotte. Last year, man, that was a rough year.
9:29
Speaker 1: What do you think happens in the second season for
9:32
Speaker 1: Albin at Charlotte, Well.
9:34
Speaker 2: He stepped into an extremely tough situation. As you know,
9:37
Speaker 2: coach Pogy was a guy that relied on the transfer
9:40
Speaker 2: portal heavy for two straight years, and then when he left,
9:43
Speaker 2: everybody was gone. So now you had a third straight
9:46
Speaker 2: year of a transfer portal heavy class they were not.
9:50
Speaker 2: Look at this year's squad. They're number one twenty four
9:52
Speaker 2: of my homegrown chart. Very few players were recruited as
9:55
Speaker 2: freshmen that are still there. They are still in experience.
9:58
Speaker 2: This year they're just number one seventeen on my experience chart.
10:02
Speaker 2: I think that that coach album is going to hit
10:04
Speaker 2: his strides year three. It's going to take him a
10:06
Speaker 2: little bit to rebuild this thing. I do think it's
10:08
Speaker 2: going to be a much more competitive forty nine er
10:10
Speaker 2: team this year. You know, you go back to last year,
10:14
Speaker 2: they're a team that was minus two hundred and seven
10:17
Speaker 2: yards per game at conference play, hardly even competitive. Much
10:20
Speaker 2: more competitive this year, probably picking up for a few
10:23
Speaker 2: more wins. But I think next year, year three will
10:26
Speaker 2: be the year Tim Alvin had gets him back to
10:28
Speaker 2: a Bowl game.
10:28
Speaker 1: Phil Steele is a machine, y'all. You're hearing him right now.
10:31
Speaker 1: His magazine is available Phil Steel dot com or Barnes
10:34
Speaker 1: and Noble stores to get you ready for the football season.
10:37
Speaker 1: All right, Phil, let's go to ECU. I love the start,
10:41
Speaker 1: and I'm sure you do too. For Blake Harrell in
10:43
Speaker 1: his season and a half in Greenville, man, I wish
10:46
Speaker 1: he still had Kateon Hawser though, who's transferred to Illinois.
10:49
Speaker 1: What do you think about this ECU team?
10:53
Speaker 2: Well, he's done Wonders, you know, took over midseason and
10:57
Speaker 2: guided him to a great finish in the nine and
10:59
Speaker 2: four last year. As you mentioned, they lose their quarterback
11:02
Speaker 2: from last year, lose their top running back from last year,
11:05
Speaker 2: so there are some losses. But he's been doing a
11:07
Speaker 2: great job building the team. I like every Williams, now
11:10
Speaker 2: every Williams Mitch Griffiths two guys battling out for the job.
11:13
Speaker 2: But I think Williams, if you watch him at Miami,
11:16
Speaker 2: I think he's got the potential to have a big year.
11:18
Speaker 2: They got to rework the offensive line, they got a
11:20
Speaker 2: lot of transfers coming in again. But Blake Carroll is
11:23
Speaker 2: doing a phenomenal job with this squad. When I look
11:26
Speaker 2: at the schedule this year, I've got him an underdog
11:29
Speaker 2: at Bama, a slight underdog at Memphis, and a slight
11:32
Speaker 2: underdog at Army. I think they're an actual contender once
11:35
Speaker 2: again in the American Conference this year.
11:37
Speaker 1: Awesome, All right, app State. App State fans are waiting
11:40
Speaker 1: for you to break them down, and they're hoping that
11:43
Speaker 1: you say that they are improved team in down long
11:46
Speaker 1: second season. How do you feel about APP right now?
11:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know they had some close losses last year.
11:52
Speaker 2: I think the bowl experience helps them now. Naturally, when
11:56
Speaker 2: you send your team home for the postseason and then
11:59
Speaker 2: have to call him back, odds are you're going to
12:00
Speaker 2: lose the bowl game. But I think getting those extra
12:02
Speaker 2: practices do help APP. I like Malachi Singleton, a quarterback.
12:07
Speaker 2: Nobody's really talking about him, but he's a guy that
12:09
Speaker 2: would transferred in from Purdue this year, originally at Arkansas
12:14
Speaker 2: and is already a captain, so I liked that he's
12:16
Speaker 2: taking control of the team. They bring in a jock
12:18
Speaker 2: as Cross coming in from Arkansas State at running back,
12:22
Speaker 2: an all conference caliber guy. Defensively, they're going to be
12:25
Speaker 2: much stronger and generally every second year coach I talked
12:28
Speaker 2: to tells you that they're in much better shape this year.
12:31
Speaker 2: They know the players, players know the system. So I'm
12:34
Speaker 2: looking for I have to definitely get back to a
12:35
Speaker 2: bowl game, and I think they could be a sneaky
12:38
Speaker 2: team contending actually in the Sunbelt this year.
12:41
Speaker 1: That'd be awesome. All right, last question, Marcus Freeman was
12:45
Speaker 1: on ESPN on Friday talking about, you know, their belief
12:49
Speaker 1: internally as we can win every stinking game this coming season.
12:52
Speaker 1: I would guess you agree, Phil, because they're your preseason
12:55
Speaker 1: number one team. What do you like about this Notre
12:59
Speaker 1: Dame team?
13:00
Speaker 2: You know? And I think when everybody looks at the
13:02
Speaker 2: team in the offseason, it's easiest to look at the quarterback,
13:05
Speaker 2: running back, and receivers, and that's how they make their pick.
13:08
Speaker 2: But I'm different. I look at defense offensive line as
13:13
Speaker 2: really heavy and Notre Dame actually as my number one
13:15
Speaker 2: defense in the country. They got nine starters back from
13:17
Speaker 2: not standing defense last year, loaded in talent. Then I'm
13:21
Speaker 2: on the Joe Moore Award Committee, Who've study offensive line
13:23
Speaker 2: all the time. They've got my number one rated offensive line.
13:26
Speaker 2: I think, got four possible NFL offensive linemen up front.
13:30
Speaker 2: And then you add that to a veteran quarterback like CJ. Carr.
13:33
Speaker 2: You take on the number sixty six schedule in the country.
13:36
Speaker 2: The only two question mark games, the only two games
13:38
Speaker 2: I don't have them at least a two touchdown favorite,
13:41
Speaker 2: are at BYU and then home against Miami. But I've
13:44
Speaker 2: got a favorite in both. I do think they run
13:46
Speaker 2: the table this year. I love their motto leave no doubt.
13:50
Speaker 2: If they can overcome that bye week only coach Signetti
13:53
Speaker 2: has done that so far, then I think they have
13:55
Speaker 2: a great shot at winning the national title this year.
13:58
Speaker 2: Love defense, offensive line, a veteran quarterback.
14:00
Speaker 1: That's a good formula, man, it really is. I Phil
14:05
Speaker 1: great work. The magazine's tremendous. As always, am I leaving
14:09
Speaker 1: anything out? You can? You can order the magazine at
14:11
Speaker 1: Phil Steel dot com. You can also get a digital
14:13
Speaker 1: copy there or Barnes and Noble. Am I leaving anything out?
14:17
Speaker 2: Yeah? Three hundred and seventy six pages. It's like getting
14:20
Speaker 2: one hundred and thirty eight media guys rolled into one.
14:22
Speaker 2: And I give you the same amount of coverage on
14:24
Speaker 2: Charlotte that I do on Alabama, Georgia o'hise state, two
14:27
Speaker 2: full pages. It's like completely getting the media guy. Now,
14:31
Speaker 2: you can only get it at two brick and mortar stores,
14:33
Speaker 2: Barnes and Noble and Books a Million. Barnes and Noble
14:36
Speaker 2: lets you get two different color covers in there. Love
14:38
Speaker 2: Barnes and Noble, but also Books a Million. Or you
14:41
Speaker 2: can go to Phil Steel dot com and when you
14:42
Speaker 2: go there, I'm going to charge you a shipping charge
14:44
Speaker 2: you know it costs of ship things. But we do
14:46
Speaker 2: give you a digital magazine for free so you can
14:49
Speaker 2: have both versions, a hard copy in the digital So
14:51
Speaker 2: Barnes and Noble Books a million or Phil Steel dot com.
14:54
Speaker 1: Awesome, Phil, you knocked it down the park again man.
14:57
Speaker 1: Always love talking to you this time of year. Enjoy
15:00
Speaker 1: the season, brother, Thanks so much.
15:02
Speaker 2: I always love talking football with you. Appreciate you having
15:04
Speaker 2: me on