Latest / Dawgs Down South / Episode 102: Tiktok Mailbag, SEC Summer Preview, Miss. St. and Missouri

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Episode 102: Tiktok Mailbag, SEC Summer Preview, Miss. St. and Missouri · Dawgs Down South

• Ted Turner: For now, we're gonna jump right into some highlights, right? Some big things that came out of the coaches meeting. Now, this is an opportunity for a lot of coaches to kind of ⁓ a lot of their stuff is gonna hit the waves and ⁓ things are gonna be talked about. They're gonna be able to express their opinions about some things. And one of those things was the college football playoff. Very hot topic right now that a lot of people are talking about because. ⁓ right. And then we're gonna do two teams tonight. So we're gonna do one more and then do not forget tomorrow night live, myself and Fish will be doing another episode. We're gonna do a really fun thing. We're gonna do an all Kirby Smart ⁓ Georgia team and we're gonna go over we're gonna pr preview a couple more teams, maybe two or three teams for you. ⁓ and so I'll have the fish the fish man on with me. So ⁓ we'll be live tomorrow night. So do not forget to join us tomorrow night. Let's look at Missouri real quick, okay? But with that being said, we let's get into first team for our SEC summer preview here on Dogs Down South. Before we do that, if you haven't already done so, I've said a lot about it tonight, but let's get it in here real quick. make sure and go drop us a like and follow. We are on YouTube right now, ⁓ Dogs Down South, ⁓ TikTok Dogs Down South, and Facebook Down South, ⁓ Instagram, Dogs Down South, and Okay. And then last before we get into the first team of our SEC summer preview, I I made a post. The one so far that's gotten the most comments, it's obviously the Ole Miss one, right? you know, I made I made comments about, you know, Ole Miss. ⁓ Welcome, welcome, welcome everyone to Dogs Down South. I'm your host, Ted Turner. Welcome. It is summertime, and that means thing. Summer preview for the SEC is here. We call it our SEC summer preview. And I am super excited to kick it off tonight, flying solo. I can't wait to do a back-to-back. Tomorrow night will be a live show. How long will Ole Miss wait? ⁓ what will be good enough for Ole Miss? is this their only opportunity? I mean, you look at the talent coming back and you know, a lot of people that have said things about Pete Golding, like Pete Golding's been around college football. He knows what he's doing. He j you know, he's basically been a head coach, but he's just never been in the situation to have to ⁓ kind of act like one, right? A lot of people are thinking, okay, this is headed towards a twenty four team playoff, a a thirty-two team playoff, a forty team playoff. I mean, I guess before you know it, we'll be into like March Madness where it'll be sixty-four and then you get like some play in games. I mean, March Madness is getting to where I feel like it's like eighty something teams can get in there, right? If you're in the NIT, you know, you dang near had a losing record this year. But ⁓ but that was one of the big things that 24 hours later, we are on Apple Podcast, where you can go catch us riding into work or coming home from work on ⁓ Dogs Down South. That's D-A-W-G-S down, D-O-W-N South, Dogs Down South. So give us a like, give us a follow, and go catch us. ⁓ we are gonna be covering SEC all summer, and then we will be heavily at it again when camp kicks up, and then we are excited. We are counting down the days. Missouri obviously last year, you know, they had some opportunities last year. When you look at Missouri and Eli Drinkowicz last year, in the last few years, you you looked at a team that defensively ⁓ has been very, very predominantly you know, has bolstered a really great defense on that side of the ball. Problem is not is all the problem's also not been running the football. You know, Ahmad Hardy, I think, is this year is one of the best. Myself and Fish will continue with part two of the summer preview. This is episode 102. and we're gonna kick it off. Man, what a beginning to the summer. lots to talk about tonight, a lot to cover. If you haven't already done so, man, I have dropped a lot of material on our TikTok page. If you haven't done so already, ⁓ go follow us on our TikTok page, Dogs Down South, where we upload content. And I have I have a lot of people that are fans of Pete Golding. Not only just Old Miss fans, but that are fans of him, but people that just like Pete Golding's character, right? ⁓ yes, he's been portrayed as a as a big time enemy because he's gone out and there's been reports of him texting other, you know, players and you know, recruiting and doing things under the table and things of that nature now. returning running backs in all college football, not just the SEC. I think he's the best running back in college football and SEC returning. I think he's he's he's in the top two or three in college football. but with that being said, the big get was caught was was the big get this year was Austin Simmons, about say Colin Simmons, you know, from Ole Miss. So the hope here is to find a way to stretch the field may or may not have been talked about in meetings, but it was definitely talked about amongst coaches and reporters. one of the highlights was from ⁓ Mike Elko from Texas AM and and I think Mike Elko had some really good comments about this playoff and why it's so important that that, you know, this kind of stays to 12, I would say. And, you know, I I don't know if t 24 is going to stretch it. For the 2026, 2027 season, which we're super excited about and previewing it all. ⁓ but let's hop in. ⁓ the first team I have for you tonight is ⁓ and we're gonna do these in random order. I would say ⁓ last year, the last few years we've done them in who I think will finish at the bottom of the SEC and who I think will finish at the top. I think we'll just go through these and as we go through them, I'll kind of tell you where I have them predicted. ⁓ much more frequently daily. And ⁓ I think you will enjoy that's that site over there. ⁓ of our snippets content ⁓ from our podcast here go over to the TikTok page and we have a lot more I should say fans, but also people who just naturally migrate over to the page that we love to see and talk The old saying your mom used to tell you, mom and dad used to tell you, with two wrongs don't make a right, he says that he's only doing what everybody else is doing. And so he's like, Look, you know, if I'm charged to win games and I'm charged to go do this and put the best team on the field, and if my job is dependent on it and my career is dependent on it, I'm gonna go and at least do the same thing everybody else is doing because it they're not gonna have an advantage on me. so I get that. I don't, but I do because I'm not a college coach, but Very, very similar to Georgia, right? Very similar to Georgia. And we want to play great defense. ⁓ we want to establish the run, but we also want to be ⁓ explosive ⁓ and be able to stretch the field on offense. And so I think very similar Missouri is is is gonna have to try to do that this year. Ahmad Hardy helps that because of the fact that he he makes people, you know, he makes teams and defenses put more people in the box and it will give a better opportunity. I don't think if you have Ahmad Hardy in the game ⁓ it's finishing in the SEC as well as just some, just some things that, you know, I think needs to happen for these teams to be successful, where I think they will land, ⁓ what we can expect when they play Georgia. so ⁓ first team right of the bat, ⁓ I thought it would be kind of a cool thing to start out with the Bulldogs from the other side of the SEC is the Mississippi State Bulldogs ⁓ under Jeff Levy. Now, I you gotta think it's doubling the size of what we have now. And we've only had two years the twenty-four. I I started the twelve team tournament. So ⁓ I what he said was very important that, you know, I think for job security purposes for a lot of coaches and how important it is nowadays with NIL and what the pressure that comes with NIR NIL and believe me, like, and we're gonna talk about NIL a lot, but I I think it College football, whether it be Georgia fans or any other fans. And we're going to start it out there tonight. ⁓ obviously we know that SEC Media Days this year is gonna be held right around the corner from myself here in Tampa, Florida. Looking forward to that. I do not have any accolades to get in there right now, but if you can put in a good word, I would ⁓ I would love to take the ⁓ the opportunity. the jury's still out though. We're gonna see what we can do. I don't know what that pressure looks like. So, you know, I know that there are a lot of coaches out there that depend on themselves to know the game well enough and to trust the culture that they ⁓ put together to go out there and win football games. la Kirby Smart, ⁓ who doesn't have a GM, by the way. I think one of the only two schools in the SEC that doesn't, ⁓ I think that's Georgia. ⁓ and I think that ⁓ don't quote me. It might be Missouri. I want to kick right in with this and hop out and say Jeff Levy, a lot of people have Jeff Levy on the hot seat this year. I think they feel like that Levy's been there long enough that w that he can, you know, do some good things. I think they brought him in to be elite on offense. He was a quarterback whisperer. ⁓ I think the offense has been competitive at times. I think the defense has put them in bad situations to where they've struggled. It's gonna bode well for Austin Simmons debut. I mean, I think they'll be fine first three games of the year when you get Central Arkansas, Kansas, ⁓ Louisiana. I mean, I'm sorry. ⁓ Arkansas, Pine Bluff, ⁓ Kansas and Troy. I I I don't think that's gonna be a big thing. Maybe even Mississippi State. I think you're gonna need them for Florida on October third. ⁓ but that that ⁓ buys a month, maybe two, three extra weeks. but I I have Missouri, Post some job security, right? If you can say you made the playoff, then some of these coaches might can save their job. Because there's some coaches that are spending, you know, 40 plus million dollars who kind of the expectation is not just to make the playoffs, but to go deep in the playoffs, ⁓ if not win a national championship. I mean, I would say when you're spending the amount of money like some teams like you know, like Texas, for instance, Ohio State, ⁓ Texas AM. ⁓ ⁓ but however we just got done with coaches meetings, SEC coaches meetings, lots to talk about with that. I don't know. I know Kirby Smart does. but one comment about it was when made the comment about, you know, Trinidad, the six year plan of Trinidad and Kewan Lacy getting paid and the cover of possibly the cover of NCAA this year, 2027, all the money coming his way, the you know, the the hoopla, the the hoo-raws, you know, it said the comment was from user. I love the user. Middle of the pack, if I had to give a number, I have them at 11 in the SEC. Just to let you know I have Mississippi State at 16. I have them finishing at the bottom of the SEC. and then overall rank is is 32, kind of 6'7, no pun intended outside of the top 25. But I do feel like if Amon Hardy's in there and this defense can show what it's capable of as far as filling in holes and some youngsters. To do some really good things ⁓ as a team. But one of the biggest things that coming right out of the block that was done this year was to bring Zach Arnett back to Mississippi State. ⁓ Zach Arnett, if you don't remember, was the interim slash took over the position as head coach after the college football world in Mississippi State lost ⁓ the pirate from from Mississippi State. And the pirate was ⁓ ⁓ a lot of these teams, I mean, I mean, there there's a lot of teams out there spending 30, 40 million dollars. Believe me, don't get me wrong, because we're gonna hop into some of the TikTok comments as well. ⁓ before we start the preview, we're gonna hit our goal with the SEC summer preview is to is to highlight and look at each SEC but first we're gonna do the ones that face Georgia first this year. Names too because you're just hiding behind a username, which is fine. But another salty Georgia fan, he just made he's just mad because Trinidad made his defense look like a pee-wee team in the playoffs. Best quarterback in the country, best running back in the country, best kicker in the country, three five-star receivers, plus Deuce Alexander, ⁓ a first-round defensive back, another All-American on the edge for the top twenty. Coming in and playing the part. think I think this team could be really good this year. some notable players ⁓ to look at. Obviously, we mentioned Ahmad Hardy. Austin Simmons, can he come in and produce what Ole Miss thought he would do at Ole Miss? he was named the starter coming out of camp, ⁓ out of spring camp. And so Missouri is quick to let you know that they are putting their trust. ⁓ you know, he he was he was a staple at at Mississippi State in in a lot of ways. I mean, Mike Leach did he he did things at Mississippi State that are still taught about to this day. I mean, the guy taught a class at Mississippi State, and we all know what he meant to that program. So I think when Mississippi State, you know, thought about it, they were like, this is the best thing to do transition wise. This is a s this is a school, this is a a team, this is a community that's grieving. ⁓ and then we're gonna do what we call the leftovers afterwards, but we will do as many teams as we can get to every single night ⁓ to not keep it going too long, but to also make sure and fill it up with as much information as we can. But I think what Elko was referring to is the fact of if if you continue to extend this and farther with more teams, how much are you gonna take away from the regular season? Right. Divis the Boyle, five star six five, and Ole Miss gonna spaint Georgia for the third year. Now, love competitive bancer. ⁓ I do, I love it. ⁓ I think you know, Deuce kn is Deuce Knight, by the way. In Austin Simmons, he is the guy when you look at ⁓ when you look at tight ends, they're they're gonna be reliant on ⁓ Brett. ⁓ the the name I have is Brett Norfleet, I think. ⁓ receivers, all all receivers are basically ⁓ rekindling that entire receiver room, which was a really good receiver room last year. ⁓ defense, a lot of holes to fill, not a lot of returning starters on defense. some names you can kind of look forward to, ⁓ Elijah. When are you gonna get to a point where you go, Okay, like have, you know, scheduling is gonna come into play. SEC just went to nine nine scheduled games, you know, nine SEC games. ⁓ they also talked about at the meetings about getting rid of the last second to last week of a fluff game that will now be an SEC opponent so that, you know, we don't get to that ⁓ next to week before Rivalry Week and kinda know what, you know, what it'll look like. ⁓ and so this is the way to go. It didn't pan out as far as wins and losses. However, the one thing I will tell you that a win was the fact that Zach Arnett, I felt like could get a defense to show up every week. And I don't know about you all, but for Mississippi State, I haven't seen a defense show up in years. so this was the first big move by Levy this year that kind of makes you feel like he is in agreement that ⁓ I clear my voice. It's Deuce Knight, by the way. and and you know, I get what you're saying. ⁓ but let's remember, you know, Georgia Georgia with Ole Miss last year. Okay. a lot of people can say that it should have gone that direction also when they played Ole Miss at home. Maybe. ⁓ but it didn't. and don't get me wrong, Trinidad Chan was at the game of his life against Georgia. Ili Elijah Dodson, ⁓ Julio Florence, ⁓ Trajan Brace, and then Smith, obviously, the UGA transfer. So this defense ⁓ is is kind of a little bit differently put together ⁓ in years past. so the that that's kind of the question mark is can Missouri put something together on the defensive side of the ball to mimic what they've done in the past, but also. This is important this year and that this could be a a a game changing kind of year for him and for Mississippi State. Now, obviously when you look at ⁓ you look on offense and you look on defense. Comario Taylor, first off, you know, he's he's a guy that has to a big six four kid, ⁓ sophomore, young guy. You saw glimpses of him last year, really live arm. I think he he co he takes coaching well, he takes criticism well. He he's coachable. Going into that final week. A lot of teams barely even play that game, right? If they're if they're in contention to play in a game that means something at the end of the year, or they're just in a in the driver's seat to make the college football playoff, that game doesn't really get a lot of attention. and people are just paying money to go see the second, third third string play. ⁓ but for that being said, I think it's huge because it takes away from rivalries, it takes away from ⁓ in in the playoff, the game of his life. And so, but kudos to him, right? But here's the things, I mean, a lot of things have to happen this year. You know, there's already been a ton of waves with recruiting for Pete Golding. Now he has to start the year and he's the guy, right? He's the guy. He's he's already said he's gonna call the defense. He loses his offensive coordinator. No matter who you put in that seat, this is going to be a Is Amad Hardy going to be healthy? Can Eli Drinkowitz and ⁓ the new office offensive coordinator at Missouri that they brought in to ⁓ replace the old offensive coordinator can, you know, can they put something together ⁓ as far as that's concerned? Now, here's the thing. Missouri has pretty decent schedule. Now, when you look at Florida at home, Texas C and ⁓ at home. ⁓ college football, I mean the the the the blood, sweat and tears and the camaraderie and the and the the atmosphere of college football, the pageantry as you see behind me of Georgia Auburn and you know Georgia Georgia Tech and and all those things, ⁓ Georgia Florida. but I think those things start to become and even conference championship games, you know, they would probably more than likely almost a hundred percent go away. ⁓ and I think he's gonna be a key contributor, obviously, to if this offense goes ⁓ or not. ⁓ you know, when you look at Anthony Evans out of Georgia, obviously he is he is primed to have the big year this year for Mississippi State in the receiver the wide receiver area. But when you look at the offense, I don't think you're gonna have a lot of problems scoring points this year. I mean, Levy's known to score points. He's known to produce offenses ⁓ that can do that. ⁓ Different team this year. Okay. special relationships happen with special relationships happen with quarterbacks that Lane Kiffin has. Bar none. And so can that happen with Trinidad Chambless, or will he take a step back? And will all this start to become this thing of they're only as good as Lane Kiffin? That's where we were getting to with that. They get Ole Miss on the road, but they get Arkansas on the road. They get Texas at home. They gotta go to Georgia. But they get Kentucky and Oklahoma at home. Okay. So, I mean, when you go through this really quickly and you look at the possibilities, and I'm gonna I'm gonna assume that let's just say Amad Hardy is predicted to come back against ⁓ State, right? Maybe earlier, right? I think Arkansas Pine Bluff And I think Mike Elko is just saying, like, we we have to be careful when we're chasing more money, we're chasing more value in TV coverage and things of that nature. And we can kind of shoot ourselves in the foot per se when it comes down to the pageantry of college football. Now, to some extent, I would agree. ⁓ w we would all love to look at it, see it play out one year and go, okay, this is just a is an absolute disaster. But I will tell you. He stretches a lot of teams, regardless of if they win or lose. he's made games, high scoring games that not shouldn't have been high scoring games. But one thing you can say is that Mississippi State this year is gonna produce a good offense. And with Camario Taylor, I think you could tell the you know, you knew where their cards fell last year. ⁓ you Blake Shapin was in there last year, but they were like, look, let's get Camario in there. Let's let's get him some touches, let's get him some games. He's the future, and I think that's why he took a lot of those snaps for about the last Kansas and Troy are all wins without Amon Hardy. State at Mississippi State, I think that's a win. The one is Florida. They get them at home. This will be exciting, right? This will be the third game of the year. So stadium would be rocking this new stadium. It's predicted to be louder because we we sealed in the either north or whatever south side of that end zone where you used to have the big rock ⁓ up there. So let's just they beat Lark. The 12 team playoff the last two years has felt a little long. I've never seen college football. I mean, none of us have, but but I don't feel like college football has ever gone as long as it did last year. I mean, we were well into February before we were done with college football. that's unheard of. We it felt like we were a month from the the next team that had their first spring practice. If I'm not mistaken, that was Missouri. I think they had it in late February. maybe five, six games last year, which are gonna help him ⁓ tremendously this year. Obviously on the defensive side of the ball. when you look at ⁓ returners at defensive tackle like Trayvion Williams, ⁓ when you look at Kelly Jones, the cornerback, the standout cornerback ⁓ from Mississippi State, as well as ⁓ returning a really, really good kicker, senior kicker, ⁓ Kyle Feary. So when you look at this team from top to bottom, not a lot of returning starters. However, when you look at Right. Texas AM at home, let's say they split that one. So, you know, let's say they they're four and one going into ⁓ one, two, three, four. Sorry, five and one going into Ole Miss. Let's say they lose that one, they're five and two. I think Arkansas at Arkansas's winnable six and two. ⁓ let's say they they lose to Texas at home, that's six and three. I think Georgia's a loss, that's six and four. I think they can beat Kentucky seven and four. So I think you're looking at a team that honestly, like a lot of people are saying can that's very close to when the season was ending. So ⁓ there was a lot said about that. ⁓ it there's a lot of speculation that the SEC kind of controls that. ⁓ you know, Sankey kind of ducked and dodged about that and said, ⁓ I don't really think that we're in control of it. I just think that when you look at it, there's obviously other, you know, teams out there, other parts of the country that. The center to turn it, ⁓ I think Kennan Boone's his name. But when you look at these guys returning, the nucleus of what's what's returning is huge. ⁓ I think Pluff Bothwell on the running back side coming back is huge. So the offense is is going to score points this year. Can the defense be different? Can Zach Garnett get this defense ⁓ to play a high level? Or I mean, right now, you know, I I'm struggling to find wins for them. Would like to think that the SEC having the the success and you know being known as one of the more powerful conferences, if not the powerful conference, I'm being biased, but it is, in college football, would have a lot to say about the size of that ⁓ that playoff. For now it's at twelve. For this year it's at twelve. I don't know. I mean, I feel like the twelve team came in the middle of the night, right? It was like a kind of the middle of the night decision. We we found out about it. couple of these go a different way and they're ten and two. I I I think Georgia, Texas and Texas A and ⁓ are losses on on that slate right there. I think there's three losses and I and I I really I really think Ole Miss is a loss. I think ⁓ Ole Miss is a loss. So eight and four you would hate to see seven and five, but I think even with Ahmad Hardy, this is an eight and fourteen this year. that's just me. Okay, just being honest with you. I'm struggling to find wins for you. defense, you know, it it when you look at, you know, the line will be the line will benefit the most from the return of Will Wits and and also from Zach Arnett, period. So when you look at the the trenches of the SEC, right, that will get better immediately. but let's just be honest, like c can we get up to pace quick enough. ⁓ and it was a done deal. ⁓ may I think that I I have a feeling that this kind of will be the same way. do I think the SEC controls it as much as Mike and other people and reporters are leading on to? Yeah, I do. I think the ACC would love it. Why? Because ⁓ the ACC tend to get a lot of teams in the tournament, right? I think the Big Ten would, because the Big Ten, you know, just this past two, three years. But, you know, the the b the biggest thing you want to see is can can continuity happen with Austin Simmons and those receivers? ⁓ can this defense be as good? I don't say better, because I think the last two, three years, the two, three seasons they've had a great defense. But can this defense be as good as years past? ⁓ you know, big question is Amon Hardy, right? He's gonna with no Amon Hardy, you gotta wonder is this a seven and five, six and sixteen? That's what you gotta there's been a lot of pressure on Austin Simmons. to to to be on a defense that has to support a Jeff Levy offense because that can be a challenge. That that that can be a challenge. The play calling from the offense, as you know with these wide open offenses, ⁓ like Hypel and Levy and all them, you know, come up with and Kiffin, like the defenses has to be ready to either be on the field a lot or to be put in situations where they have to bail out the offense a lot. Okay. And that's what has been an Achilles heel for Mississippi State in the past. Have gotten a ton of teams into that playoff, right? Big twelve would definitely love it. I mean, the w what's coming out of the Big Twelve to represent ⁓ the playoffs in the, you know, in the in the near future and even in the years past has not been very productive. So of course this will be a great vote for them because it creates job security, it creates more room to ask for more NIL money. Well, look, hey, we made the playoff this past year. Look what we could build off of with an even bigger NIL pool. ⁓ so yeah, so we're gonna stop there. That'll be a wrap for this evening. so we we we definitely hit we hit Missouri, we hit Mississippi State to start off our SCC summer preview and ⁓ so super excited ⁓ about what the summer holds. We're gonna start ticking away and knocking off all these teams. Obviously, these are two teams both that play Georgia. Missouri plays Georgia ⁓ at Georgia later on in the year in November. I think it's second week of November, and then obviously ⁓ they have length, they have speed. have good depth, ⁓ in in Levy's opinion. ⁓ he talked a little bit about it. reporters asked him during spring. You know, he likes the team. He likes what he has coming back. He likes the core, he likes what they were able to do in the portal. When you look at the results from last year. So that was talked about. Obviously, I mentioned it a second ago. ⁓ the nine games, but also moving that that that week before rivalry week will now be an SEC game. Greg Sankey and the SEC are saying we are getting rid of that fluff week. It is gone, done. And then ⁓ the last thing I will say that was kind just out of Kirby's mouth when it talked about he was talking about NIL, you know. I I really think, you know, can look at some of these games and go, man, w ⁓ you could insert a defense into some of these games, would they have been closer? Would they have been wins? You know, where would they have been at? Obviously some ugly, ugly losses, right? ⁓ ⁓ a thirty eight I'm sorry, excuse me. thirty one nine Texas AM, ⁓ forty one twenty one Georgia, forty nine twenty seven, thirty eight nineteen. The one thing you can say about these games are though is that they scored. ⁓ Mississippi State, same time around that ballpark. ⁓ I guess before, I think it's right a little bit before. but it's at Mississippi State. So ⁓ so yeah, if you haven't already done so, gonna say it again. Make sure you go and drop a like and a follow Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Dogs Down South, TikTok, Dogs Down South, as well as Facebook, Instagram, and ⁓ all the other places podcasts are held. looking forward to tomorrow night's live. We're talking about multiple things. We're talking about tampering. You're seeing so many stories about Ole Miss and the you know, the tampering with that and Kiffin firing back at Ole Miss and Pete Golding and Kiffin going at it. And man, if i if they could develop a better soap opera lead up to that game ⁓ this season, ⁓ they're definitely doing it. you I don't I don't know if they have some kind of revenue sharing going on with whoever's gonna be covering that game, but Right. They put up points on the board. so I guess the big question is like, can the defense can can the defense find the margin to be able to get this team closer where they want to be and make these games winnable? Right. I look at the schedule, ⁓ last thing I'll do before we move on to the to the next team is ⁓ you know, you look at ⁓ September fifth, they got ULM at home. They go to Minnesota, they go to South Carolina, then they're home against Missouri. Make sure you join. Thanks for joining tonight. Thanks for hanging out. Hope ⁓ this was was good news and ⁓ hope the TikTok banter at the front was encouraging to know where we're coming from as far as previewing these SEC teams. ⁓ it's to create good ⁓ pageantry and banter, but definitely not to not to have judgmental comments on teams. It's just opinions, you know. been there, done that, ⁓ They're definitely ⁓ brewing something of a soap opera with that whole thing. but however, the big news outside of coaches talking was the fact that Lane Kiffin did not say much at all. You would think this was a stage where he would take the mic and ⁓ do his normal, but he didn't. ⁓ he actually refrained a little bit and ⁓ he stepped back away from the mic and didn't say much. And maybe somebody told him, hey, Alabama at home at LSU on the 24th, they're at home against Oklahoma. They go to Texas and on the 31st, they come back and play Vanderbilt, Auburn and Tennessee Tech at home, and they to Ole Miss. Now, all I'm gonna tell you this, is this, is this. They they gotta come out there and get ULM in Minnesota. Okay. I think w Minnesota is winnable, but they gotta come out there and get that. You know, every year ⁓ there's smack talking on both sides, but hopefully it's healthy. It's what college football is and it's why it's still relevant. And in my opinion, it's better than any any form of football we got out there. So for myself and all the dog nation out there, I hope you guys have a great night. And as always on Dogs Down South, go dogs. Can we just have one week where we don't have a drama filled thing where we're having to cover your tail for comments that you've made that are just hard to continue to support, right? I think for Pete Golding at Ole Miss, you know, he's Pete Golding and Ole Miss are playing with borrowed money, right? to some extent you can look at Pete Golding and Ole Miss and be like, okay, they have a lot of pressure on this this year, but maybe not. The tough run is gonna be the Alabama at LSU, Oklahoma at Texas. Brutal, right? I don't have I don't have Mississippi State, but at three, maybe four wins. ⁓ to be honest with you. I think they'll w I think they'll they'll win against ULM. Minnesota, I think will be close, but I think they'll win that game. I think they'll beat Tennessee Tech, and I think the fourth one that could be a toss up could could be your ⁓ could be your Vanderbilt game on November seventh. So ⁓ I I don't know. I mean, maybe I've said this before that I think they do, but I I'm starting to believe that I don't think they have a ton to just be too scared about. But yeah, if they go out there and wet the bed and, you know, go five and seven, yeah, we got issues. But as far as expectations, he's always gonna have the excuse of, well, you know, Lane took, you know, half the the you know, the psyche, ⁓ half the ⁓ that's where we're at with Mississippi State. It's gonna be hard to get wins this year, but I think Levy's on the hot seat, and I think he has to be because maybe they give him one more year with Arnett. Maybe that was that bought him another year if the offense is still good and the defense gets him a little bit closer. But I think if we still see lopsided victories like last year, I think I think you're gonna see Jeff Levy's exit, and I think you're gonna be looking for a coach at Mississippi State. I guess the word I want to use for it is just the camaraderie away from the team. He he he put a a black spell kind of on the team for a year, right? but really he didn't. I mean, there's a lot of players that we thought that would go to LSU immediately, Trinidad Chambless, Iwan Lacey. A lot of these guys did not. They chose to stay at Ole Miss. I money had a whole lot to play into it, but I also think LSU had the money to pony up to also to compete with that. But I do think too that, you know, Keewan Lacey and I I I think when you look at it just in the on the if you look in the cheap seats over here, you look and you go, Keywon Lacey and Trinidad Chambless are going, we got to play this guy this year, right? how embarrassing would it be if we go to LSU and we lose to to Ole Miss. And I mean, I don't know, man. There's just a lot of stories that can be told there, especially when you look at what the NFL looks looks at now for character for your competency, how you connect with the team. so there's a lot of things and narratives there they had to had to had to sit through and think through. ⁓ but at the end, like I I think out of both these teams, I think Ole Miss has way less to lose than LSU. I mean LSU has a $40 million plus roster. They brought in Lane Kiffin. They paid you know they pay Les Miles a a pretty handsome salary this year not to be in LSU at all. ⁓ parts of their coaching staff to get rid of them and buy them out. only to pay a brand new coaching staff to pr to pay Lane Kiffin and to pay this roster, but also to try to clean up all the other sports. I mean, not a basketball podcast, but you know, they went out and got I forget Wade's last name, but I just call him Cheating Wade. He he what he left LSU because he got caught cheating. ⁓ they bring him back because cheating's now what he was doing is now legal. ⁓ So he's back, but now he's taking it to another of everything, which he claims, you know, is ⁓ only doing what everybody else is doing, which is going overseas and getting, you know, ⁓ professional players from overseas, bringing them over here and paying them to play for nine or ten months. no school involved. But let's just be honest, that NIL and them going to school has ⁓ started to become pretty much a joke. But yeah, so I think LSU, all in all, has way more to lose than Ole Miss. and I think that's why ⁓ some of the some of the publicists for Lane Kiffin kind of like, hey man, you're getting into the summer. The focus needs to be on the roster. It needs to be on, it honestly needs to be on do you have a quarterback that can run your offense? because they went out and paid a ton of money for Sam Levitt, but we haven't seen a Sam Levitt yet. And for from our understanding right now, physic like physically If we'd had to go out there right now, we we'd be going with a second or third string quarterback. I mean, they would be they would be the first string quarterback, but it would be somebody pulled from the second or third part of the depth chart that they did not plan to have come the beginning of the year. So still a lot of answers out there, even though they have a lot to play with at the skill position. Blake Baker comes back on defense to lead that defense. A lot of ⁓ a lot of portal hype, man. They they they restructure some of the offensive line. Obviously got help in the backfield, obviously restructured the receivers to be, I mean, he went out and got what he wanted, what he needed. ⁓ but definitely more for Lane Kippen to lose. So I think that's why that was a highlight of of coaches and meetings was he he we didn't hear anything from Lane Kippen, right? I think we heard more from Mike Elko, obviously, in a good way. I could listen to Mike Elko for a long time. I think he had a lot of great comments and a lot of positive feedback for the playoff going forward. ⁓ as well as Eli Drinkowitz from Missouri, ⁓ had a lot of great commentary. I would say that he's the easy going, very easy to listen to, laughable kind of guy. But ⁓ a lot of people would say, you know, does Eli Drinkowitz need to start winning some games? I don't know. I mean, I I think Eli Drinkowitz has done some things at Missouri that not a lot of coaches could do. ⁓ I think Missouri is pretty decently relevant. ⁓ I think they've been able to get their their hands on some. Some very good recruits. They've able to drum up some money to be competitive at NIL. ⁓ they got tons of stadium upgrades coming this year that are ready that are gonna make this stadium better and louder. And this is gonna be an interesting year. I mean, obviously with Ahmad Hardy, ⁓ questionable for if he does come back at all. If he ⁓ when is that? Does he does he come back? I mean, w ⁓ does he have to lose? Is this a you know good enough excuse? I I don't say excuse. Let me let me not downplay it like that. This is a a horrible thing that he is going through ⁓ being shot at a concert and having to now recover from something that he didn't expect to recover from this non you know athletic related. ⁓ so but with Ahmad Hardy, I think when you look at ⁓ Missouri stands this year, it was gonna take some pressure off of trying to get this offense ⁓ to be a little bit more explosive in the passing game. And now ⁓ you're asking Austin Simmons to come in and make that passing game even better than it's been in the past few years because it's what it's what Missouri's been missing is a very effective passing game. fortunately for them, the running game has kept them in a lot of g and the defense has kept them in a lot of these games. but for Missouri, I think Eli Drinkowiz has definitely earned some of my respect because of how he has dealt with that and how he has made Missouri turned around and made them At least a contender every year to win nine or ten games. and they very much so have that chance this year. I I don't know if with with without Amod Hardy, I don't think they do. With Amod Hardy, I think it's very possible. I think the percentage chance is around maybe thirty, I give it. but I foresee them s ⁓ honestly, we're gonna talk about it where, you know, in our preview, but I see them finishing a little bit farther down the pack this year. but it all depends on if Austin Simmons and Amad Hardy are healthy. The defense can replace the holes with a lot of older upperclassmen leaving. we'll so we'll see, we'll see what happens with that. So ⁓ productive SEC coaches meetings, obviously right around the corner. in a short few weeks, we will have SEC media days in Tampa and looking forward to that. Let's move on real quick before we get into previewing our first few teams in the SEC. and I want to ⁓ For our TikTok ⁓ people, I wanted to into some just some comments that were made on some posts. ⁓ I know I don't go on there and do a lot of video comments back or I try to comment back in a respectful way when I can. but I wanted to take a little time in the icebreakers of the next few shows to kind of go over some of those things respectfully, right? ⁓ I know the last few have been everybody's like, you know, you see this is a Georgia fan, and it's like, man, you know, what are you talking about the rest of the SEC for? This is the one opportunity we get during the summer to just kind of break away and talk about the SEC, the r you know, the rest of the SEC and really how it pertains to who's playing Georgia. ⁓ and let and giving us an overview of what we're gonna see from these teams that play Georgia this year. While we're doing it, we might as well include the rest of the SEC in. Have some fun with it and see how it's gonna fall. And so we usually take the summer, ⁓ the majority of the summer, ⁓ early summer at least, until we get into camp and things of that nature, and talk about the SEC. ⁓ but ⁓ but I did put out some videos. ⁓ I think I have four total. I had one on Texas, one on Ole Miss. ⁓ last two I posted were on Florida and Texas AM. And I wanted to go through some comments. These are just some recent comments, even from today. I made a comment about. Florida. ⁓ I I said, you know, is Florida, know, does does John Sumerall have to be like, does he have to be a win? Does he have to be like a prize pick? can you miss with Sumerall? I I don't think you can. Okay. some of the comments I made were about one of the heavy things was recruiting. you know, I feel like the Ohio States, the Georgias, the Alabamas, the Texas's. A lot of these teams are coming in into Florida now and very easily recruiting in the state of Florida due to the fact that Florida State, Florida, and not recently obviously, but Miami have struggled to be competitive before this before this year at Miami. and is that making it easier for these teams to go down into Florida and get these players? So what does Florida have to do to kind of get back to where they were? ⁓ And I, for one, I I don't think that you can miss on Sumerall. Like, I think this is why Kippen was so much of a like, I keep using the word prize pick, but he was definitely the number one. And then I think was there too, and they were not gonna miss on Sumerall because there was a chance Sumerall was gonna go to Auburn. but but I think when Florida realized, hey, Kippen's gonna drag his feet, he's probably gonna go LSU. we don't need to lose Sumerall because ⁓ Although I think, and I'm not sure of this. ⁓ I mean, the only only people that would tell us this would be Florida, but but I'm assuming that Goalish was basically that right there, whether it was Auburn or Florida. man, I would have loved to have seen I I don't know. It will time will tell whether the goal ish or the summer all pick was better. ⁓ I do think that those schools are pretty neck and neck right now with as far as talent and as far as ⁓ support, fan support. Things of that nature. And so it would be interesting though to see Goalish at Florida because of him being, you know, just coaching at USF and recruiting that area, how quickly and easily. But then again, you know, the recruiting world is changing so much because as you can see, he brought half of USF to Auburn with him, right? I mean, very depleted lineup at USF. ⁓ if you want a real good story, is to cover USF and figure out what they're doing to bridge some of those gaps with the players that left. But some of the comments that were said, I'm gonna read one by Beer, ⁓ Beer and a Baby, said recruiting isn't and hasn't been the issue. They're up to number five on on three and number three and two four seven. It's been on field coaching and coordinators for some time. Summerall's biggest win so far over Napier was him going and getting the number one OC on the market, a top PC and the number one O-line coordinator on the market. ⁓ and isn't afraid to surround himself with people that are better than him and their prospective roles. so, first off, ⁓ I like Buster Faulkner. I don't know I don't if Brian Hartline was still in the fold ⁓ at ⁓ he has had he gone to USF already or was he still at Ohio State? But I would definitely say I like Buster Faulkner, but I would think that Hartline would be a hotter commodity. Than than Buster Faulkner, although definitely would say Buster Faulkner was top three. So yes, I agree with that. ⁓ the the word is still the the jury, I should say, is still out on the O-line guy. I've heard a lot about the O-line guy, but I also heard he's a really, really scary, intimidating looking guy. but so I don't know about this guy. ⁓ but I'll go I I don't know about number one, but I'll I'll go with it, right? a top DC, I I would think I mean a top DC is so wide open, right? If you wouldn't really want to think of what who the top one you know, Jim Knowles that went to Tennessee probably would have been your if if Sumerall wanted to make a splash, you would have got him, right? but but do I believe in Sumerall? I I don't know. I really know. I mean, by word of mouth, I believe in Sumerall, but I mean Tulane ⁓ I can't really guarantee that Tulane ⁓ I don't know, played a let's just be honest, like they don't play any they don't play against the SEC. I don't think they would have bowed well against any good playoff team. ⁓ I'm sure though somebody will pull some teams out that they beat and, you know, comment on this one, but I I don't really know about that one yet, right? What I do know is is that it can't be a miss. Right? ⁓ how many times can they miss this job becomes a joke? Okay. You don't want Florida to become it's vi is is Florida very eerily close to becoming the Florida State right now? Because I've never seen Florida State be less irrelevant. I've never seen less people talk about Florida State, in a long, long time. They the the saving grace last year was gonna be getting Gus bus at Florida State. ⁓ man, he got out of there quick, didn't he? ⁓ he tried to do it the nice way. ⁓ I think I I I think I don't know, man. I think I think it was forced to retire down there. Not because he they told him to retire, but he was like, How do I do this without pissing people off? So I mean, but but does Florida are they s are they standing an eerie chance of becoming that in in f in flo like what's gonna be the worst of the three I mean I would tell you right now like I mean heartline if Florida State was open and Hartline got the opportunity of Florida State or USF for his first coaching job I I mean I would I would tell you Hartline might lean towards Florida State but I would honestly tell you that Go back five years ago, that would not even be a decision. Like it would be like, What are we talking about here? Right. But I think he would think through it. I think he would look and go, NIL playoff, what do I gotta do to get FSU back to where they're so that's what I'm saying with Florida is like, how many times can you miss before you put them in such a situation to where digging it out would take, you know, a piece of machinery instead of a shop. Right. So that was my whole thing pertaining to that. And And you know, I get it on three, you know, your recruiting's fine right now, but I think that's because they're betting on Summerall, right? They haven't had they haven't been able to bet on Napier at all. I mean, I I think they lost all faith in Napier. I mean, this day, I would say the only reason that they had ⁓ of the players they had was because of respectable the fact that they they paid ⁓ money, right? DJ Lagway. I mean, I don't know if DJ Lagway was about Florida. I mean He's at Baylor now, which I'm not mistaken. That's where his dad went to school. Like, if it was all about just money and didn't care where he played, he would have gone to Baylor. But I think Florida, on top of money, on top of other things, was like, yeah, let's go give it a shot. Didn't take much to get him to sit down and go, I'll go to Baylor. Right. but also the SEC is not is not a easy conference to play quarterback at. It's really not. so yeah, so just just kind of piggybacking on that comment. ⁓ I also made a little a post about Texas. ⁓ one of the things I said about Texas was, you know, do we think we're at a spot where Sarkeesian is on the hot seat, right? Who has the hottest seat in the SEC? Now, everybody would flock to Shane Beamer, South Carolina. ⁓ I don't know if I would say his seat was the hottest. ⁓ I do know, shout out, ⁓ shout out to that SEC podcast and ⁓ SEC Mike. Mike hosts that podcast. I listened to it a lot, him and Shane. And what a he's thinking the exact same thing. I was listening to him and Marlar from Marlar Monday this past week. And ⁓ when he said it, I was like, okay, either I'm reading your notes or you're reading mine. But I do have a lot of respect for that podcast. ⁓ I first started it out as a whim. I started listening to it and now it's a go-to. Went through a little rut because ⁓ You know, Mike picked against Georgia a lot, but I had to start understanding that, you know, he really is. He he he he tries to tries to he he talks a good game. He's fair. He has great questions, has great answers, and ⁓ he has a great show. ⁓ but he said it. He said ⁓ he said it on Feinbaum ⁓ a couple of days ago. He said Steve Sarkeesian is on the hot seat and Feinbaum kind of laughed, I think. I I don't know the exact reaction, but I'm sure Feinbaum is would be notoriously laughing at that, right? But he's right. I'm thinking the same thing. And I said it on a hot take ⁓ ⁓ our TikTok page that you can go grab it at. You know, the Sarkeesians on why because Sarkeesian, here's the thing a couple things going against Sarkeesian. Number one, the offense, he's an offense's mind. They brought him in to the great again. No pun intended. ⁓ the offense has digressed every year. Sarkeesian has been there with quarterbacks that they've paid a pretty penny to. that were Heisman hopeful every single year. And it's digressed every single year. With the likes of Quinn Ewers, with the likes of Arch Manning. These are all guys that were, you know, picked to be drafted at least in the top three, if not top two round. I think Arch right now is projected, even though he I don't know if he's had this kind of year yet, is not is is a top ten pick next year. Once again, I'm asking why, but maybe he shows this year. But it would have to be a breakout year for For him, right? For Arch. But the comment that came off of that was Texas' schedule is brutal. This is from KJ. ⁓ Texas's schedule is brutal. I think they go nine and three and miss the college football playoff again. I think they do beat Ohio State at home, though, but traditionally Sark's teams are far different on the road than they are at home. So I see them losing Tennessee LSU, and I think they split O U and A and ⁓ That's not where it that's not the comment that I was going to read. I was going to refer to was I don't think so. He's been more successful than Herman and Strong. Sark also changed the culture at UT. Hook'em. that's from Topher. here's the This has everything to do with NIL. ⁓ Everything. ⁓ and Strong, NIL was not a deal. It was not a big deal. I will tell you that if NIL would have been around with top with with ⁓ with Strong, Strong been gone quicker. ⁓ if donors are spending that type of money on players, you don't have the the amount of time you think you have to get it done. Charlie Strong would have been gone. ⁓ I don't I would even venture to say, would I mean would ⁓ Herman have been more successful with NIL? I don't know. I've I've always pegged Herman as a pretty good coach. ⁓ the jury would be out because he didn't have that opportunity, at least legally. But yeah, NIL changes this, right? He's had an offense that's digressed under him. He refuses to give up the play calling duties. He is is a long shot with Will Muschamp. I love Will Muschamp, but this is a long shot with Will Muschamp. He hasn't called his own defense in years. he's been he's been brought in to maybe bring some of the Georgia pedigree to this team. If you can't beat him type thing, join him. ⁓ but the jury is out. ⁓ Do I want him to be successful? ⁓ sure, against everybody but Georgia. ⁓ and to some extent, I would say not much. on that side of the, you know, when when you go to that side of the, I guess per se, head-to-head type style thing. I I love Will Muschamp and what he did for Georgia, but he's on the other side now, right? So ⁓ but you gotta look at that. So ⁓ You gotta look at the offense trying to get better. You gotta look at the change he's trying to make with the defense to get better. You gotta look at, okay, now he's gone out and spent forty plus million dollars to add offensive linemen. He went and grabbed Cam Coleman, Hollywood Smothers, you name it, he grabbed it, right? spent forty plus million dollars. Does gotta get this right? Like, is is just missing the playoffs for Sark is not is not okay. Nine and three, like this guy said, is not okay. is making the playoff, is it okay and losing that first game? I don't know. I I ⁓ don't know because Sarkeesian is supposed to be the difference, right? You'll never outbid Texas, also, by the way. So I get it. You know, you can tell me all you want to that Texas is going to spend money regardless of if Sark's there or Nick Saban comes out of retirement. but they're not gonna continue to give him opportunities. If you give him forty plus million dollars, you give him the top. Coaches in the league, and you give them the top talent in the league, and you don't go to the playoffs and buy for a national championship. That is in turn what they're trying to get to. And if you can't get to it, they will find somebody else. And I will tell you that Sark can't, he can't mimic that this year. I I don't think so. I think he will be as as astonishing as Lane Kiffing leaving Ole Miss as it will be that Sark is on the hot seat if he doesn't do what he needs to do with the changes he's made. And what he was supposed to be on offense, and what and and if it doesn't mimic what he's supposed to have with the amount of money that he has spent this year.