Latest / 3 and Out with John Middlekauff / Seahawks Trade for Quenton Nelson, 49ers Trade for DeForest Buckner & Bud Elliott Interview | College Football Playoff, NIL Money, Super Conferences & Lincoln Riley

Transcript

Seahawks Trade for Quenton Nelson, 49ers Trade for DeForest Buckner & Bud Elliott Interview | College Football Playoff, NIL Money, Super Conferences & Lincoln Riley · 3 and Out with John Middlekauff

• 0:15
  Speaker 1: What is going on, my friends? John Middlecoff, 3NOW Podcast.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: How are we doing? Hopefully everyone is doing well, enjoying life.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: We have trades galore. Well, really two. And the Colts
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: are stocking the cupboards in the NFC West. Seattle Seahawks,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: the 49ers, trade for Quinn Nelson and DeForest Buckner. Obviously,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: DeForest Buckner coming home where he was once drafted. And
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: the 49ers who had traded him to the Colts. So
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: he traded him to the Colts, traded him back to
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: the 49ers and Quinn Nelson, who is a future Hall
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: of Famer. I'd call it a John Schneider steal. because
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: you get a third-round pick for a guy that's a
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: plug-and-play stud at left guard, as long as you can
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: move Zabel to right guard. We'll dive into it all.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: And then Bud Elliott, who is a member of the
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Cover 3 podcast with guys like Tom Fornelli and Danny Connell,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: and covers recruiting and just big college football guy in
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: the South. I'm a very loyal Cover 3 listener, so
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: I DM'd him and I said, hey, will you come on?
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: He's like, yeah, when do you want me? I was like, tomorrow.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: And he's like, yeah, let's do it. So we had
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: a good talk on and off the air. So that'll
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: be after some reaction to the trades, and that will
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: be the show for the day. Other than that, you
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: guys know the drill. If you subscribe to the Coward
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Podcast and listen to us through there, make sure you
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: subscribe to the Three and Out Show, Three and Out Podcast.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: And we're up on Netflix. You can hit the alerts
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: and never miss an episode. We also got content on
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: the YouTube page. I actually just threw my top five
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: teams heading into week eight in the National Football League.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: But let's transition into the 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. And
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: I don't think Seattle making the trade earlier in the
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: day prompted the 49ers to get aggressive and make sure
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: that they landed the plane. But I don't think it hurt.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: And I think anytime that you have a team that
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: is circling the drain, fires a GM, is going nowhere,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: but is littered with a lot of players that other
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: teams would like. Like Miami, it's like they're terrible, but
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: who on their team right now, how many guys truly
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: would teams be lined up for that aren't on rookie contracts?
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Or guys they just drafted? You know, I mean, Chop Robinson.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: So it's what makes this, I said this about the Eagles.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Like they don't have that many players to trade. They
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: have a bunch of underachieving guys making a ton of
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: money on defense. And then offensively, like Devontae Smith hurt.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Saquon Barkley couldn't finish the game. They said he was
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: on a pitch count. He could barely move. So it's
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: like you have these guys. Quentin Nelson, I did the math,
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: has missed three games in his NFL career. Buckner, while
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: he's battled some injuries, has been a complete badass when
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: he's on the field. And obviously the 49ers have a
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: connection with him. And I think both guys, and this
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: is where I'm always a proponent of, and the Ravens
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: historically did a really good job of this under Ozzie,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: is acquiring your type guys. Acquiring players that fit your culture.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: They talk about this in the business world all the time.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Culture is not the company. Culture is the people inside
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: the walls, inside the building. Culture, like a football team,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: is the reflection of the players you draft. So when
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: you watch Seattle absolutely throttle the Chiefs physically, and really
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: that's just the way they play now for several years,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: that's the culture they've created, going back to Pete. If
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: you watch the 49ers play, and listen, no team needed
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: a bye week worse than the Niners, when they're just semi-healthy,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: you better have your chin strap buckled up Because Fred Warner,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: he doesn't play by these no helmet to helmet rules.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: He doesn't give a shit. They are coming to crack skulls.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: And honestly, I've said this forever. I don't apologize for
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: watching football for the violence. I miss it a lot
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: of the times in this seven on seven world we're in.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: And both these two teams truly value a certain type
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: of wiring. certain type of guy the way they play
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: and you got to make decisions you can't keep everybody
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: and Seattle like their run games having issues right part
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: of that is their running backs had been hurt so
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: they were playing third fourth fifth string guys but the
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: other part is like they're like our interior offensive line
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: is not good enough we drafted this guy who's going
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: to be a really good player and already is really
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: solid in Zabel from North Dakota State Well, Quentin Nelson
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: is a left guard. That's the only position he played
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: in college. Pretty sure that's the only position he's ever
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: played in the NFL. He's a plug-and-play Hall of Famer
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: at left guard. So Zabel, you got to move, which
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: I would imagine clearly they're pretty comfortable with. Which, you know,
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: former right guard in high school, wing T offense. It's
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: a big difference. Putting your hand down is why a
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: lot of guys aren't comfortable going different tackle spots. It's
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: why it makes swing tackles, usually the guy that's not
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: the starter, but has the ability to play left and
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: right tackle in a pinch, a valuable asset. And they
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: got him for nothing. DeForest Buckner is a guy who
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: has talked about retirement before with neck or back injuries,
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: question marks. There's risk involved. Based on the play and
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: based on the person, if he's healthy, you feel excellent
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: about it. Now, he's a free agent in 27. So
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: is Quentin Nelson, which factors into the trade value. But
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Quentin Nelson is a first ballot Hall of Famer. He's
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: one of the greatest interior offensive linemen, I would say,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: of the internet era. And he plays guard. So when
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: the trade happened, hell, I follow a lot of Niner accounts.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: People are like, why didn't the 49ers trade for that?
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Why didn't they make that move? And I think it
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: goes back to, well, they don't value guards that highly.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: They just don't. And I think John Schneider clearly does,
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: but I think he'd also tell you, I gave up
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: a third round pick for him. If someone with his credentials,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: that many Pro Bowls, that many All Pros, just a
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: certified badass, was a wide receiver, was a corner, was
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: a defensive lineman, it would have cost me triple that.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: The equivalent of that guy on the open market would
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: have been a first-round pick. That's why the Colts with
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Jonathan Taylor. They leaked out today, like, he's going to
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: be a cornerstone of our turnaround. AKA, if you even
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: want to have a conversation, it starts with the number one.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: So it's like, I get this guy for half the season,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: and if he leaves, someone's going to give him... I
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: don't think people quite understand how much money this guy's
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: going to get on the open market. Linderbaum, who is
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: not nearly as good as this guy, just got $ 60
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: million guaranteed and $ 27 million a year. So if Quentin Nelson,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: I know he's 30, but like Jason Kelsey, Trent Williams,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: we have some recent history of Hall of Famers thriving
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: from 31 to 35. You don't think someone's going to
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: give this guy three years, $ 100 plus million and a
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: $ 75 million guaranteed? I'll promise you that that number's coming.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: And Seattle, probably, they're just renting this, but they feel good.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Their GM that just went to Minnesota, third-round pick. They
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: got comp picks for guys like Kenneth Walker and Moffitt. So,
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: they were willing to give more than other teams, like
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: the Packers were involved. Well, the Packers don't have a
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: first-round pick. So, and you're not guaranteed... You know, if
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: you're them, you could easily be drafted in 15 or
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: you could be drafted in 25. Their pendulum on how
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: the season's going to play out is a pretty big swing.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: It'd go a lot of different ways. Seattle knows, like,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: we're winning double-digit games. Is that number 10 or is
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: that number 12? You know, the Niners just lost. We're
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: two games behind them now. And we got to play
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: them again. We have not played the Rams yet, who
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: I get they just kicked the shit out of the Raiders,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: but got some issues. We still control our own destiny.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: The 49ers are thinking that too. We definitely control our
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: own destiny because we're in the driver's seat right now.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: But we need reinforcements. And when you're talking third and
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: fourth round picks, especially Quentin Nelson, no-brainer. Which, again, I
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: haven't talked to anyone with Seattle. I would assume they
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: are very, very comfortable and confident that Zabel, who's, I think,
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: left tackle in college, kind of like a Logan Mankins thing,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: could play the other position. And then that solidifies those
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: two spots with high-end run blockers with Price and Charbonnet
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: coming back. And actually, Wilson, who's been on my fantasy team,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: is not terrible. And all of a sudden, you feel
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: pretty good about your run game. And you just need
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Sam Darnold to not turn the ball over. We know
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: how great the defense is. But it all gets back
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: to the... You don't make the profit when you sell something.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: You make the profit how much you pay for it.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: What was your purchase price? Third round pick? When, at worst,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: I'm getting bounced in the first round and I feel
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: pretty good about my chances of winning a playoff game
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: or two? in the mid-20s, so what are we talking,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: a pick.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: In the 80s?
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: When I already know I'm getting recouped on that based
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: on other comp picks from previous players and my general manager? Yeah, here,
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: take it. But the part of the reason is like,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: why weren't other people bidding? Because I think a lot
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: of people view this as not a premium position. Third
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: round picks are pretty valuable, whether I use that pick
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: to make other trades or just use that pick on
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: a player. And maybe based on my pick structure, I'm
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: missing some other picks. I can't just give up a
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: pick for a guard. Somewhat of a luxury item. And
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: I think there's some truth there. But for Seattle, this
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: is probably one of the easier trades John Schneider will
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: ever make. Just a fucking no-brainer. It's like, that's all
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: I got to give up for this guy? Even if
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: it's more than likely going to be a rental. Because
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: I would doubt they're going to give... you know, a
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: guy $ 100 million in the offseason at 31 years old,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: they'll probably just let him walk and then get a
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: comp pick from that. So it's just excellent business. And
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: the 49ers, it was kind of unique. I would imagine, listen, it's,
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: you think the Seattle just wanted to let Kobe Bryant
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: and Kenneth Walker and Moffitt and all these guys just walk?
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: It's salary cap league. You got to make tough decisions.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: And the 49ers made a very tough decision to trade
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: DeForest Buckner after the Super Bowl run in 2019. They
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: did get the 13th overall pick, which could have been
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Tristan Wurst, but they traded back a spot and they
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: got Javon Kinlaw, which clearly is something they would like
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: a do-over on. Who actually, I give Kinlaw respect, it
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: looks like he's going to have a long NFL career.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: But he never lived up to that pick. And because
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: of paying other guys, they made a tough decision, but
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: they loved him. He was a team captain. He was
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: essentially Fred Warner before Fred Warner in terms of the
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: heartbeat of the defense. He's everything you look for when
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: you have a team like a Seattle Seahawks or the 49ers.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: He's your type guy. It's why Chris Ballard went and
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: traded that pick for him to add to his team.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: His problem is they could never figure out the quarterback position,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: and they were always in this hamster wheel, and part
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: of the big reason they could never make the playoffs.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: It wasn't DeForest Buckner's fault. So it's like, I can
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: get a guy, who is going to be a free
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: agent that I know extremely well, high character, tough, badass,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: plays the run, and gives me interior pass rusher. We
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: also just need help inside. And I only have to
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: give up a fourth round pick? Here you go. But again,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: it's like, well, how'd you get him for so cheap?
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: There are some injury, there's injury history with him. Let
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: me bring up, I mean, he's having a good season. He's,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: you know, on pace for nine, 10 sacks as an
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: interior pass rusher. But it gets back to the last
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: couple of years, he missed a bunch of games. You know,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: he played 10 last year and he played 12 the
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: year before. So you're talking about a guy that's missed seven, five,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: I mean, almost a full season over the course of
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: a couple of years, 12, 13 games, which is, You know,
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: a problem when you're talking about an older player. You know,
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: DeForest Buckner, Quentin Nelson's 30. I would guess Buckner's mid-30s.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: Because he was, yeah, 32, will be 33 this offseason.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: So he's not that old, but for NFL standards, you know,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: he came into the league in 2016. So you're talking
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: for a guy, and historically, very, very durable in his
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: 49er career. Never missed one game in 16, 17, 18,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: and 19. And then has a lot of 16, 14, 16, 16, 16.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, this guy is someone that plays. And he's
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: also just a unique body type with the size, the length,
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: the toughness. He's everything you want. And the 49ers know
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: exactly what he is because this John and Kyle have
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: been around him. So I think both these two trades
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: are just two teams that the 49ers want to get
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: back to their third Super Bowl under Kyle Shanahan. And
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Seattle has absolutely zero thought of not being exactly where
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: they were last year, as they should. They have an
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: elite defense. The only thing to me that can really
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: hold them back is the ability not to run and
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: Sam Darnold throwing interceptions in key moments. It's like, I
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: think it's fair to say the only thing that holds
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: the 49ers back is health. If they are healthy, and
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: this is a big, you know, DeForest Buckner getting traded
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: to a team on a bye is kind of sweet.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: It's like, I get to chill a little. Get out
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: of football purgatory. And they're very dependent on me. I'm
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: an immediate starter right next to Osa. Hopefully Bosa comes back.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, we got the makings. We
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: got a good linebacking core. Secondary's playing well. You know,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: it's underrated. We talk so much with the 49ers about
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan. He gets so much of the praise, rightfully so,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: and Purdy, the offense. They're a defensive team. And the
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: defense against Atlanta just ran out of juice, right? They
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: got no pressures. They just run it out of bodies.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: I mean, they desperately need Bosa back. If Bosa can
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: be healthy, which is a major if. I mean, an
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: absolute major if. But if he is healthy, like, their
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: D-line and spots could be excellent. With Osa and Buckner
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: rushing the passer, with Bosa outside. I mean, before Bosa
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: pulled his calf at practice, he looked fucking incredible.
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: He was.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: It's like, this is an all-pro. But he's just a
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: tightly wound guy whose body doesn't always stick together. But
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: I appreciate these two teams being aggressive. That's what aggressive
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: people take advantage of opportunities. And the Colts right now
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: are one gigantic opportunity. Now, Jonathan Taylor is the big
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: name for the Colts. Just what are you willing to
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: trade for a stud running back that makes a ton
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: of money? These are tough decisions. These all look great
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: on paper. I think a lot of people around the
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: league are like, I wouldn't give it up that for
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Quentin Nelson that's going to walk. I wouldn't give it
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: up that for a 32-year-old guy who's dealt with injuries
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: and said he might have to retire because he's battled
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: herniated discs. There's risk involved with all these type maneuvers.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: I got news for you. There's risk in everything we
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: do in life. If I get in the car and
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: drive to the gym, someone could T-bone me. Life's one
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: big risk. So I appreciate the people that have just
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: run right into it. And Seattle and the 49ers, they've
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: just consistently been two of the more aggressive organizations in
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: the league. And it's why the rivalry is still going
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: really strong, which is somewhat ironic that these two big
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: trades a day, one's a defensive tackle, one's a guard,
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: and they're going to play against each other. Hell, they
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: might play against each other twice, right? Another game in
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: the regular season, another game in the playoffs. I mean,
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: last year they played each other three times. Sign me
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: up for that. I need to tell you about this
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: new sports trading app called Polymarket. It's the best way
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: to trade in sports. In the past, if you wanted
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: some action on the game, you'd put some money in.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: And if your team was doing well and you wanted
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: to cash out, they'd lock the trade. and take a
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: huge fee. But Polymarket is a prediction market. It's a
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: stock exchange for sports. Buying in and selling out on
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: your terms. When your team goes down to 20%, you
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: can buy in and sell it off at 40% when
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: they come back, double your money. I've tried them all.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: Polymarket is simply the best. We're talking DraftKings, FanDuel, Couchy,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: you name it. PolyMarket's better. They're so confident you'll never
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: go back to the other guys. They're giving you a
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: free $ 50 on your first trade when you deposit just $ 10.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: And now they've launched a new feature, Squads, a group
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: chat where you can see what everyone is trading on.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: So download the PolyMarket app today and use the code THREEOUT.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: When you sign up, that's code the number three O-U-T
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: to get $ 50 free after you trade just 10 bucks.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: 18 plus. Only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Not available
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: See polymarket.com slash TOS for more information. The Polymarket US
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: app serves as an independent software provider and affiliate of
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: Polymarket US and Polymarket Clearing. the CFTC regulated exchange and
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: clearing organization.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Excited for this one. I, uh, I've been a loyal
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: listener of the cover three pod now for, for two years.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: My wife will fall asleep on Saturday nights and I'll
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: have my ear pods in laying in bed, listening, uh,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: To one of my guys here, Bud Elliott, I was like,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: you know, I like this guy. He's got some strong opinions.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: He'll let it fly. And I reached out on Twitter,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: and I said, hey, man, will you come on my podcast?
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: He hit me right back. He's like, I'm in it.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: He's got a fascinating background that I want to dive into,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: a Florida State, Alabama guy. So, Bud, Cover 3 Podcast,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: how you doing, brother?
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: Doing well, man. How you been? First time on the show,
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: but I've enjoyed it.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: I've been doing good, man. Yeah. I was looking at
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: your LinkedIn page, and I've heard you talk about this
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: on the podcast. There can't be many people talking about
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: football for a living that have a law degree.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a couple of us. Ryan Nanny, who was
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: at SB Nation and now does a show with Godfrey
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: over there, an independent show, and Clay Travis, I think, too,
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: is also– for a while, I think a lot of
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: it was a lot of lawyers went to the blogosphere,
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: and then a couple of them emanated out of that,
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: of which I was one. But yeah, it's a helpful background,
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: certainly with all the conference realignment stuff and the NCAA
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: lawsuit stuff and all of that. It's like, hold on,
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: let's cut through the BS here. This is nothing. Or
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: sometimes it's like, actually, this is something. We've got to
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: take a look at this.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: So you graduate high school in 2003, correct?
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: I did. Yeah. Yeah.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: So you and I are the same age. So you
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: go to Florida State at a high school and then
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: you get a law degree. Did you have plans of
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: working at a big law firm? somewhere in a big
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: city or did you always aspire to... You went to
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: Florida State and Alabama, two of the most historic college
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: football programs. I would just say football teams in all
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: of America, pro high school or college. So how did
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: you get where you're at now?
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: So, uh, really no plans, uh, to do it, honestly. Um,
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: just got pretty blessed. I had a good LSAT day.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: And so, um, you know, had a couple, couple full
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: ride offers for law school and, uh, you know, Bama was,
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: you know, pretty, uh, ascended at that time as a,
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: as a law school. And so I, you know, pick
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: them and, uh, I actually was a business law class,
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: and it just kind of made sense to me. I
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: just read the book and kind of knew the material.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: I started messing around with some of the football analytics stuff.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: At the time, obviously, Florida State had Bobby Bowden. He
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: was obviously one of the best coaches of all time.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: That was really in the twilight of his career when
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: stuff was not going so well. A lot of his
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: top lieutenants had left and gone on 200 programs. Eventually,
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: you just run out of competent assistants if your staff
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: just gets picked over every year. I started writing about
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: that at SB Nation, actually. That started to bloom and
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: help grow SB Nation's network by getting more contributors, both
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: to what at the time was Tomahawk Nation for FSU,
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: but then also bringing a lot of other contributors as well.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: And I had messed up my shoulder playing softball. And
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: the guy who did the surgery on me was James Andrews,
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: who's a pretty famous surgeon, right? His group. And he
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: was also, I believe, Bama's team surgeon at the time.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: And so I didn't have to go and move my
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: car and go all the way across campus to do
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: some of my rehab check-ins. They're like, hey, if you
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: know Alabama, the law school is right across the parking
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: lot from the football facility. He's like, hey, our PTs
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: will be there on this day and this day and
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: this day. Just go check with them. And so that
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: was really kind of nice. So I ended up meeting
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: some of the guys on that 07 Bama staff, which
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: was Nick's first staff there. That kind of struck home
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: with me as far as, wow, the way they're doing
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: stuff here is a little bit different than very late-stage,
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: old-school Bobby Bowden. That kind of inspired me to keep
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: writing about, obviously, a lot of the good things about
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: FSU's program, but also some of the problems that they
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: were having there and how they probably needed to– to
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: make some changes. It just kind of kept blossoming from there.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: I got into the sports betting space and did pretty
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: well with that, luckily. I didn't have to practice very long, honestly.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: I passed the bar and practiced for a while, but
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: not that long, honestly. It just became a career.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: You were in your early, mid-20s when Saban really– I mean,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: watching that documentary. I was a GA at Fresno State.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: I got there in 08, and McIlwain had just left.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: His first day on the job, a limo picks him
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: up and he goes right to Julio's house. I would
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: imagine Signetti was on that staff. Jeff Collins, I think,
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: was one of Nick's first guys. Obviously, he ended up
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: going through a lot of guys over the years, but
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: that first staff, if you look back, those early years
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: were pretty impressive.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: It really was like his coaching tree is, and you
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: see it in the doc, which I haven't got all
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: the way through yet, but you know, football season's kind
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: of busy. It's pretty nuts, man. Like just like the
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: guys who, who came through there. So you were at
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: GA at Fresno then?
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah. With Pat Hill in 08 and 09. Nussmeyer then
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: replaced McElwain. Yeah. So, I mean, it was the same
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: thing with Coach Hill. I mean, it's, it's obviously a
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: different level than the Bobby Bowden or Nick Saban, but
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: it's just, you start losing as you get older. Some
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: of these assistants, you know, it's Nick was a pretty unique,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: had unlimited resources and had Jimmy funneling them guys. I mean, that's,
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: you see Dan Lanning, right? I mean, he makes a
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: huge fake and it's, it's, it's a difficult, it's harder
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: than I think we all, and I'm guilty. I'm sure
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: you are too. Then we crushed some of these guys. It's,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: You get, you know, if you work, I understood watching landing,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: you've worked with this guy, you like them. It's tough
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: because if you're sitting in that guy's shoes, I'm sure
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: you're coach. I'm ready. Someone had to give Dan landing
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: a shot, you know.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: No doubt. And like on, on the marriage or thing,
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: like I, I had real concerns about that preseason. And yet, like,
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: like you said, landing has a really good track record
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: of hiring coordinators. Right. And I was like, okay, like,
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: Given the talent on this roster, given how important this
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: season is, it's kind of like a push the chips
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: to the middle of the table season. You kind of
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: got to trust that he's not going to make that
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: big of a mistake. And it just didn't work out.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: The drop-off from Will Stein to Merringer is pretty drastic.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: It sucks, but it's a bit of a lost season
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: for Oregon. I imagine they're probably going to clean house
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: there and go in a different direction.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Back to the Bama thing, when you got there in 07,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, within a couple years, you're still there finishing
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: up law school. He's become a power.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Right? I mean, did– So they lose to Tebow
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: in 08, right? And then they beat him in 09.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: And they were– like, they had that thing humming. It
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: was really that– you know, because 07 was– they lose
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: to Louisiana Monroe, right? With the whole– like, the famous
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: yellow school bus story and whatnot. And then by 08, like–
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: I think was flipped fast. You know, you have Terrence
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: Cody come in, you know, they signed Marcel Darius. They
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: signed obviously Julio and a bunch of guys in those
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: first two classes. And it was just, you could tell
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: it was like a very different operation than most of
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: what college football was running.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: And that to me is like, you know, you watch
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: that documentary and you and I grew up Nebraska, Miami,
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: you go to Florida state, but you know, for what
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: they have 10 plus years of being in the top five,
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: I might be low balling them.
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: It was like 14 top five finishes, which is insane.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: You know?
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So those teams, I remember being young, I was
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: probably in junior high and DJ Williams was at De
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: La Salle and you know, it was pretty rare for,
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: I grew up in California. I, you know, Tom Brady
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: was a little older, but, these guys that would go
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: across the country to the best schools. Now it's Alabama, Oklahoma.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: They were coming to Southern California. It's much more par
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: for the course with the way the operations happen. But
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: back then, it was basically when the year started, there
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: were two or three teams that if they lost a game,
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: it was stunning. And I do think, and I heard
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: Danny Connell talking about this, and I totally agree. I
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: think we've got to shift our mindset. I mean, you watch, like,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: BYU is obviously a really solid team. But they're not
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: good enough to just go on the road to play
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: any team that's probably going to end up 500 or better.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: But that would have been a top 10 team going
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: on the road against a team going 6-6, 7-5. I
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: think moving forward with the transfer portal, unless we get
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: a dramatic change, the day and age of– I pointed
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: at my wife. She was really into the Saban documentary.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: I'm like, you do know that's Jalen Hurts, Tua Tonga-Bailoa,
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: and Mack Jones. Those are his three quarterbacks. It looks
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: like that in every other position. Those days are dead.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: I mean, you talk about Danny. We were talking about
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: Jeremiah Smith on the show, and Danny was probably the
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: only guy that really got to throw to Randy Moss
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: at the power forward level in college. Because if you recall,
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: Randy was suspended by Florida State, so he couldn't play,
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: but he could be on the roster for that one year.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: So Danny got to throw to him in practice all
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: the time. And that team also had Lavernius Coles, Peter Warrick,
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: and I think E.G. Green. And I'm like, dude... If
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: Moss was eligible, he's like, oh, we're not losing a game.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: Those guys were obviously insane, but if you have Randy Moss,
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: that's a little bit– it just kind of changes the game.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: I think it's honestly a good thing because prior– everybody
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: who signed with a Bama or a Georgia or an
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: Ohio State, they all were probably the best player on
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: their high school team. In many cases, they were the
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: best player in their city. you know, and they'd never
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: grown up playing against another guy, for the most part,
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: who could check them. So, of course, they're going to
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: believe they're going to go and start at Bama or
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: Ohio State. And under the old rules, eventually, like, you're
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: going to run into somebody who's about as good as you,
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: you know, and you don't get to play. Now, you
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: get the transfer and you actually get to play. And
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: college is, like, such an inherently short window, you know,
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: via the rules. So now, like, you don't have all
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: these former four and five stars just sitting on these rosters.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: You're not rotting, but, like, They say waiting your turn,
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: but sometimes these guys' turn never came. I'm sure everybody
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: who's been at one of those schools as coach dudes
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: are like.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: He would have been a two-year starter at Arkansas. He
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: would have been a two-year starter at Minnesota. And now
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: they get a chance to go do so.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: I think I got my start in just football at
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Fresno State, which we had a bunch of NFL guys.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: And you look back, it's like there's just no way
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: those guys would have been there long. And I– Listen,
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: I love college football as much as the next guy,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: but I think I've been a big proponent of this,
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: you know, this 2014 playoff. We need to separate. Like
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: I went to undergrad at Cal Poly, which is D1AA.
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: They have their own playoffs. Does Fresno State, Boise State,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: that level need to have their own playoffs? And what's
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: the point in just giving this one? I know you
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: have a playoff. You had Boise as the 12th seed. 124,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: it'll be the same thing. They'll give one away. What's
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: the point? Why not have their own? ESPN Fox can
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: have those games on as well. We need to separate
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: this because those players– it's pretty rare. Ashton Gentry, I
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: remember reading an article, turned down seven figures to leave
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: Boise State. That's very– San Diego State corner last year
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: that Miami drafted. Those are going to disappear as we
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: move forward. They won't even exist. Everyone will leave because
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: how can you not? I'm a big proponent of everyone
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: should play everyone on your own level. If I'm these
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: TV networks, as we quadruple the money moving forward, hey guys,
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: we need scheduling agreements where we only play each other.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: Well, I think you're going to.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: Is that inevitable? I guess I didn't even ask the question.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: I don't know if 12 out of 12 is inevitable,
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: but it wouldn't shock me to see 11 in the future.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: Right now, obviously, we're mandating 10 out of 12. I
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: think the main reason why you have the– I don't
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: want to call it the charity G6 spot, but the
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: mandated G6 spot is antitrust. It's far cheaper for them–
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: to give up one of those playoff spots than it
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: is to go through a big antitrust suit. And so
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: I think that's really why they try to do that.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: You talk to G6 fans and a lot of them
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: don't want it because they're like, hey, we're the same division.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: I'm like, sure, technically, but guys, let's be realistic about it.
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: I know a lot of the GMs at the G6 level.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: I know a lot of the coaches at the G6 level. Publicly,
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: they wouldn't, for the most part, say this, but privately,
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: they know they can't compete on that level. I get
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: a lot of hate from JMU fans online because they're like, hey,
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: we made it close against Oregon. Yeah, but nobody saw
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: that because it was 38-3 with two minutes left in
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: the second quarter and everybody turned on Packers-Bears. It was like, okay,
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: good night on that. Maybe it wasn't technically garbage time,
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: but it's hard for you to tell me that Oregon
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: had perfect focus there in the second half of that ballgame.
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: I would love to see a G6 playoff. I don't
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: know if it's going to happen because a lot of
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: those schools moved up to get some of that D1 money.
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, I think you should do
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: it in a way that is like, hey, if you
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: guys want to put the table stakes up to play
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: at this level, whether you're a Memphis or a Boise
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: or maybe a Liberty, if you guys actually want to
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: put the money up, you can be in. But there's
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: kind of a minimum spend in order to ensure quality
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: of product here for the playoff that you need to
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: at least spend so we can be sure that if
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: you're in the playoff, your athletes can at least compete.
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: And some of your best G6s have athletes who can compete.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: at the very top of their roster. We know this
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: because those guys get plucked in the portal. What they
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: don't typically have is 20 of them. When they get
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: into one of these playoff games, you've got to worry
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: about this guy, you've got to worry about this guy,
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: but we're going duck hunting on these three. These three
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: guys would not be on our P4 roster at all,
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: and they certainly wouldn't start for us. We're going to
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: go after them. We're going to take advantage. I think
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: that's why you see the games be so lopsided.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: What you guys talk a lot about in the podcast,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: and it's obviously well-reported now, the money getting invested into
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: these rosters. You just pick a team. It's like $ 28 million.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: Can you explain to me... how much of that money
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: obviously changes by the school is like the school coming
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: up with. And then you have to subsidize the rest
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: from individual boosters, just giving you, let's just pick a
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: number $ 30 million roster for an average power for big school.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: Like where's that money coming from?
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: So I think for the most, like that probably the
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: heaviest like rev share spend on a football roster is
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: probably close to 18.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: So if you're at 30, that means you have like
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: 12 of additional, right? Now that could be from some
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: brand partners, whether it's like a Nike or an Adidas
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: or whatever you have as far as your brand partners.
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: So you might have a Learfield or a NoCap or
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: some of these companies that do your MMR deals for you, right?
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: So that they're able to spend some of that. And
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: then you also have your folks out there that give
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: a lot of rich alumni. Maybe they're not so rich
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: that they can own an NFL team, But they essentially
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: act as like a shadow owner of the college team
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: by helping to fund the roster. Just like they would
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: help fund the head coach buyout or some of the
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: head coach salary, right? So that's really kind of where
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: it comes from.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: My question is, so if I need to raise, if
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: I want to compete in the highest level, an extra $ 20,
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: $ 25 million from my booster pack. And let's just say
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: you take a group of seven, eight guys that are
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: multimillionaires and you get several million from each guy. Back
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: when we were younger, if you donated, even to a
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: big school, several million dollars, you were a maid guy,
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: you're getting a suite. Well, this is now– and that's
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: for a 10-year deal. This is now on a yearly basis.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: So if I stroke you a $ 4 million check to
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: help out, that's only lasting six months of the season.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: So every single year, these ADs' jobs– And then if
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: it doesn't go well, like Sark, right? If you have
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: them barely in the playoffs, but let's say they lose
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: a couple here and they miss, or even they're one
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: and done. Some of these guys are like, I just
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: wrote you a $ 5 million check. And now you're coming
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: back and asking maybe for more.
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: I mean, how does this sustain? Cause like you said,
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: some people just love it, but you get to a
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: point of like 20, $ 30 million over the course of five,
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: six years. And we have one playoff win to show
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: for it. I mean, I, I would start– it's like
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: at least if I own an NFL team or even
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: a tiny percentage, like my money is growing. This is
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: like what's my return here?
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: Well, I think this is why you're seeing a lot
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: of schools go and set up these private entities that
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: I think eventually will own these college teams, right? Like
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: for instance, University of Tennessee Medical Center is not owned
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: by Tennessee, right? They put their name on it. I
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: think eventually you'll have– like Lexington, Kentucky Football Club licensed
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: the UK name to the football club. Now, they'll still
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: have to be students, obviously. It's also potentially a way
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: around Title IX. If it's a private entity that's employing
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: these guys and not the school, do you actually have
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: to fund all these Olympic sports from a business standpoint?
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: Then your donors become investors in those type of entities
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: that actually do make money. Gotcha. We're not there yet,
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: but I think that's where this is going.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: So you think, which feels kind of inevitable. From a business.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: Case, it makes sense to have some Olympic sports. From
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: the holistic business of a university, it makes sense to
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: have some Olympic sports. Have a well-rounded student education. Does
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: it make sense to fly your volleyball team all over
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: the country? Probably not. right?
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: But it never, it never did really.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: No, but increasingly I think as these schools become a
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: little more business focused, we're like, hold on a second,
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: we're doing what we're like this sport, which with no
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: travel loses 4 million a year guaranteed and sells 1200
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: tickets a night. Like we're flying them weekly. Like what
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: are we, what are we doing here? You know, like,
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: like play some local teams.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: So you, As we trend toward this business kind of
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: operation a little more, not quite the NFL, but more
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: under that umbrella, are you a believer in this super
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: conference inevitability?
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: I don't think it'll come via like– I don't think
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: the Big Ten and the SEC are going to merge.
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: I think what probably happens is you have some schools,
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: and like Dan Wetzel of ESPN, I'll give him a shout,
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: has talked a lot about this. He's like, what happens
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: when Ohio State wakes up and says, hold on, Florida
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: State and Miami don't share equally with Wake and Duke anymore.
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: There's all these success initiatives. There's unequal revenue sharing. Ohio
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: State brings in more money to the Big Ten, I assume,
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: than what? Purdue, Rutgers, Maryland, Northwestern throw in another one combined.
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: Why are we equally sharing there? Is it schedule convenience?
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: Is it tradition? I think inevitably that's probably where the
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: breakoff comes where Some schools break off and decide to
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: form a separate, maybe scheduling alliance at first, what may
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: become a super league. But I don't think it's going
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: to be like, hey, guess what? The Big Ten and
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: the SEC are merging. I don't think that's how it's
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: going to go down.
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: So the irony is everyone blasting Notre Dame, and I'm
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: guilty of this, because a lot of people were reporting,
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: why don't Ohio State and Michigan just go independent? Why
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: didn't Miami's AD just came out? I mean, guns a-blazin'
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: last week, which I was like, you know what? He's
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: not wrong. So does everyone follow that model? And then
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: they're all just kind of under the umbrella. And then
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: more and more of the top guys follow USC. You know,
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: you go around the country. But then the TV deals.
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: My issue with college football has always been like the
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: power of the NFL is Jerry's brand or the 49ers
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: shares equally with the Jacks and the Arizona Cardinals. And
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: that's the thing with football is everyone's always, you know,
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: USC always was so offended that Oregon State, they're sharing
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: money with Arizona State. But that's part of the power
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: of a business model, and there's so many cooks in
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: the kitchen with college football.
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: I think that's it, too. Also, pretty much every NFL
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: team is in a major city, to where if you
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: have one, you know you're going to have sufficient demand.
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: You have an NFL team, and if it doesn't work,
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: the franchise can also move to a city that will
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: support them in theory. So I don't think it works
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: quite that same way in college. Yeah, that's true.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: The sacrifice made by American heroes is often carried by
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: those who love them the most. Educational scholarships from Folds
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: of Honor offer a hopeful path forward for the families
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: of fallen or disabled U.S. service members and first responders.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: Yet this year, over 8,000 qualified applicants could not be
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: fully funded. Together, we can change that. Help every deserving
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: applicant be met with a resounding yes. Donate today at foldsofhonor.org.
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: One thing I wanted to ask you is, I've always
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: had a theory that fit matters, where a coach is.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: Maybe a little in the transfer portal, it's a little
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: different because you can buy guys. But growing up on
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: the West Coast... Pete Carroll was a California guy. Jeff Tedford,
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: California guy. Chris Peterson, California guy. So they're cultural on
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: the West Coast. They understand those people. Nick Saban, I
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: know he's from West Virginia, but he feels like a Southerner.
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: Urban Meyer is a little bit of an outlier, could
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: bounce around, but he's an all-time great coach. Kirby Smart
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: fits in the SEC. And you look at Lincoln, small town,
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: Texas guy. He basically– listen, I don't blame him. They
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: offered him so much money, he couldn't say no. Most
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: human beings in similar situations, whatever their profession is, at
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: a certain point have a price. But it clearly is
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: an unmitigated disaster, right? I mean, we're year five, and
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: they don't even feel remotely close. So, I mean, what–
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: are you a believer in the fit batters? And would
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: you say, do you think he regrets that move leaving
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: Oklahoma for USC at this point in time?
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know if he were like regrets
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: the move. Um, I mean, from a personal standpoint, he's
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: got a $ 70 million buyout still, right. I believe, or
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: something close there, like USC is private, but the numbers are,
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: are fairly, fairly well reported at this point. Uh, I
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: think he's probably like, hey, we made some mistakes. We
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: think we fixed some of those mistakes. The results aren't
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: showing yet. I'll give him credit. I think their new
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: front office is really good. But sometimes maybe a guy's
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: just better as a coordinator than he is as a
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: head coach. Muschamp, I think, was very much that way
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: on the defensive side. The way some guys run practice,
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: can you run an effective offense under Will Muschamp? He's
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: had multiple pretty established offensive coordinators who just could never
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: produce points. I think maybe sometimes you have guys who
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: are just better as coordinators, and maybe they shouldn't be
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: the dude running the program. USC, they just seem to
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: not really play defense for the most part, despite having
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: at least a pretty decent amount of defensive talent this year.
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: The D-line's pretty good. Their young guys are probably the
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: best players on the team, though, so if you want
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: to point to something like supporting Lincoln's argument, it's like, hey,
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: we've made important changes. But I think the counter to
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: that is like, look, all those changes can stay, right?
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: You have an awesome GM now. Like you have a
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: really good front office now. Lincoln, none of that's really you, man.
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: Like we could have somebody else come in here that
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: can run offense and defense and keep this front office.
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: So that's a different change too in college football. Like
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: some of these programs have really good GMs that might
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: be better at being a GM than their head coaches
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: at being a head coach.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: For sure. And that's why, like, LSU last year when
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: they made– when they pulled the trigger, like if you
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: look at LSU and Penn State, LSU had a clear
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: target in lane. Penn State was clearly just fishing, right?
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: They were hoping to catch something. So if you look
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: at USC, if you are– they have financial troubles of
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: their own, right? If you do a little research on
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: the university and the operation. But if they are able
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: to get a big money guy, who is their Lane Kiffin?
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: Who is their urban– like that guy you'd say doesn't
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: exist because even I was talking with Coward. I was like,
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: you know, when I was a kid, they would just
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: go hire Bob Chesney. He's like, Bob Chesney is not
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: a fit there. And they're like, yeah, he's kind of right.
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: He feels more like a Notre Dame, Michigan, UCLA. Like
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: it doesn't make that much sense. And if you're Bob Chesney,
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: you'd probably say, no, you're like, I'm not dealing with
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: this shit show.
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: Do you think some of these schools hamstring themselves a
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: little bit by having to get a big name?
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: Would you consider Bob Chesney a big name?
• 42:59
  Speaker 2: I think now, like if you're– No, no, when they
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: hired him. No, I would. But my point is like
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: if you're USC and in theory if you have to
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: go get a big name, does that limit your pool
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: so much that maybe you're not considering the best candidate?
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: I don't even need a big name. I'm just talking
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: like a specific– this guy is the fit to change.
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: Like I don't think they're– They have that. Because when
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: they hired Lincoln, they went after this big, sexy name, right?
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: Sure, right. I mean, LSU kind of did the same
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: thing with Brian Kelly, too. It didn't work out, maybe
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: because of fit. You just go get a competent football coach,
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: and you already have a really good front office. If
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: USC's winning, that's kind of a bandwagon town, man. People
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: are going to show up, and if they're not winning,
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: they won't. Now, sure, the new pop, you get kind
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: of the new car smell from the coach who people recognize.
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: who's media savvy, certainly in that town, who can sell
• 43:55
  Speaker 2: a vision, can get people excited about the program early.
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: You can't discount that. But sometimes I worry these programs
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: are limiting themselves too much by going for a name
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: that everybody will know, as opposed to just hiring a
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: guy that gives you the best chance to win that.
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: What made Lincoln somewhat unique is you kind of knew
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: Caleb was coming with him.
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: It's not the case, but it shows you you're not
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: really just hiring him for a couple years of whoever
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: he can bring with him. Ideally, the guy's there for
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: a long period of time. Can't it sustain? Lincoln inherited.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: I know he took him to another level, a little
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: like Bilotti with Chip Kelly, but Oklahoma was a pretty
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: high-level operation getting a lot of NFL guys.
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: No doubt. Yeah, exactly. You know, like I'm here in
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: Florida and you know, a lot of my Gator fan
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: buddies were like, John Summerall, are you kidding me? Like,
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: like blah, blah, blah. Like, like when you go, I'm like, guys,
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: do you know John? Like this guy can coach his
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: ass off and he wanted Troy and he wanted Tulane.
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: And he also was a heck of a recruiter when,
• 44:56
  Speaker 2: when he was the linebackers coach at Kentucky under Stoops.
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: And like, so he's been in this league. He knows,
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: like he knows how to deal with that level of player.
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: And he's also gone and won at the small schools. Like,
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: His teams play hard. They stay pretty motivated. I think
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: he's really, really good. So far, I think they're pretty
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: happy with him, especially after the win over Texas and
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: smoking Ole Miss. I do think you could limit yourself
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: a little bit if you just go after this big name.
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: Do you think you could create toughness? If you look
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: at Kirby, Nick, those guys are tough guys. Cignetti, tough guy.
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: Kyle Whittingham, say what you want, has been a little rocky.
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: He's a tough guy, and his teams have always been tough.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: Dan Lanning, having a rough season, but he's a defensive guy. Sark,
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: you can't really fake it. And Lincoln, they're offensive guys.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: They dream about a sweet go route, a vertical route,
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: where even DeBoer. I knew people at Fresno State were like,
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: he's not your typical former offensive lineman. He's much more
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: of an analytical, score points guy. And I saw, I
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: think Reggie Ragland on Instagram was going nuts. They don't
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: run nine on seven. Like they don't have a physical,
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: they're not, he's not a physical coach. And if you
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: go back to look at Washington, you're like, yeah, they
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: were just kind of bombs away. And I do think
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: Sark's a good example of like, he's clearly a smart guy.
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: He's good with boosters. Like he brings a lot to
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: the table, but you just like, you can try to
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: buy it, but you have to kind of nurture it
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: and create it as well.
• 46:21
  Speaker 2: Totally. And like, that's something I think you want in
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: your football team, but there's also guys who I think
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: have tough football teams who don't win, right? Like, you know,
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: Venables at Oklahoma, right? They made the playoff last year,
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: but overall, like, do you think they're happy they signed
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: him to that extension? I'll chat right now, right? Yeah, exactly.
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: So like, You can get a guy whose best attribute
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: is toughness in defense, but sometimes those guys don't allow
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: you to score any points. It's kind of hard to
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: thread that needle. With Kirby, the offensive line is probably
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: going to be really, really good. Kind of the same
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: thing with Mario. So if you get a guy that's
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: tough to stuff, he's tough to stuff.
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: He's a good example, too.
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: Right. They're almost certainly going to be tough and physical
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: up front on the offensive side of the ball, and
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: they'll stay committed to the run game, which I think
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: matters a lot. But yeah, I think... certain coaches you
• 47:04
  Speaker 2: do question like is that a tough team like are
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: they gonna and it's not spread or not obviously you
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: have some spread teams that are certainly pretty tough uh
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: but like you do have to pair the creativity with
• 47:15
  Speaker 2: the toughness i think kentucky is a pretty tough team
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: right but they're not just man balling into the line
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: non-stop right like i think will stein does a great
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: job of scheming it open for them to pair that
• 47:25
  Speaker 2: with the toughness.
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: You uh yesterday put out your uh your playoff bracket,
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: your 12 teams, you had five SEC teams and three
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: Big Ten teams. You had Indiana, Notre Dame, Georgia, Miami
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: as your top four. Then you had Ohio State, Ole Miss,
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: both going 10-3, so I guess losing in the championship game.
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: And BYU, UCLA, you got them dropping a couple games
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: here down the stretch.
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: I do, yeah.
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: Texas, LSU, Bama, and then Boise, who's clearly pretty good,
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: 11-1 in the dance, which I think most people would
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: agree with you there. That UCLA losing some games here,
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: and then if you were predicting, so do you have
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: Bama beating LSU or the other way around?
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: I'm trying to remember how this went. I think it
• 48:09
  Speaker 2: was because what I do is I actually run my
• 48:11
  Speaker 2: model to simulate all the games, and then I take
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: the most likely result as opposed to just picking teams.
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: I think if you just pick teams, you're going to
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: get some results that just don't make logical sense. So
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: if you actually run your model to simulate all the
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: games through the rest of the season, then you're going
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: to get a result that at least is defensible. So basically,
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: I think I have LSU beating Bama. There's still a
• 48:38
  Speaker 2: Texas-LSU game remaining, right? And then there's also a Bama-LSU
• 48:42
  Speaker 2: game remaining. And then LSU also has another one, which
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: I think is at Tennessee. This whole SEC two-loss thing
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: is wild. The thing that produced the five SEC teams
• 48:54
  Speaker 2: and the three 9-3 SEC teams is this. If you
• 48:58
  Speaker 2: look at the non-conference record for the two-loss SEC teams,
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: and I kind of blasted the SEC last year. I
• 49:04
  Speaker 2: was like, look, man, it's not that great of a
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: league this year. Not every year is created equal. You
• 49:09
  Speaker 2: have to look at each year's results independent from each other.
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: Last year, they weren't that great. This year, all those
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: two-loss teams in the SEC, they're 6-1 against the other
• 49:19
  Speaker 2: power four leagues. and they won their games by more
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: than two scores on average. They dominated everybody else non-conference.
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: People are like, oh, three losses. My standpoint here is
• 49:29
  Speaker 2: I think on the committee, it's far easier to jump
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: a 9-3 over a 10-2 than it is to take
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: a 10-2 over an 11-1. or an 11-1 over a 12-0.
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: I think as the losses mount for both teams you're comparing,
• 49:43
  Speaker 2: I think it's easier just to make a quality judgment.
• 49:47
  Speaker 2: If you look at the wins those SEC teams are
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: going to have, I think they're going to be a
• 49:51
  Speaker 2: lot better than what these 10-2 teams from the ACC
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: Big 12 or Big 10 are going to have this year.
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: Do you think UCLA would be a lock at 10-2
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: if they lose to Michigan and USC? Because using that
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: argument right there of some 9-3 teams, I think they're
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: kind of better.
• 50:08
  Speaker 2: I don't think they're a lock, and the reason is this.
• 50:10
  Speaker 2: It's kind of the Jordan-Travis rule where FSU got left
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: out in 2023, right? Because Jordan-Travis got hurt, and the
• 50:20
  Speaker 2: committee basically said, we don't think that the backup can play.
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: They're not one of the four best teams without their starter.
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: If you lose to Michigan and to USC in your
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: final two games– I think they're still in, but I
• 50:34
  Speaker 2: don't think it's a total lock because I think there's
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: some chance the committee would say, all right, hold on
• 50:38
  Speaker 2: a second. This is not their starter. The backup's kind
• 50:42
  Speaker 2: of been figured out. The passing game is really limited.
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: Are we sure that this is one of the best
• 50:48
  Speaker 2: 12 teams right now? I do lean to them being in, obviously,
• 50:51
  Speaker 2: and I had them in my playoff, but I don't
• 50:53
  Speaker 2: think it's a stone-cold lock.
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: What were your expectations to run it back a little
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: bit when that Jordan Travis moment happened and they ran
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: the table? Were you expecting them to get left out?
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: Were you shocked? Were you pissed?
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: I was definitely pissed, yeah. I think if you look
• 51:07
  Speaker 2: at that team and you look at the other teams
• 51:08
  Speaker 2: in that playoff, think about who was on that defense.
• 51:12
  Speaker 2: These are guys that are still kind of tearing up
• 51:14
  Speaker 2: the NFL.
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: Versus Fisk.
• 51:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Right? I think three or four of the guys.
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: Bernardo Green is a starter for the Niners. He's good.
• 51:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Tatum Bethune, obviously. They had a lot of dudes
• 51:28
  Speaker 2: on that defense. If you look at that, do I
• 51:33
  Speaker 2: think they would have scored a lot of points against
• 51:34
  Speaker 2: Michigan or Alabama? Who was the fourth in the playoff
• 51:37
  Speaker 2: that year?
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: TCU.
• 51:40
  Speaker 2: Right. Do I think they would have scored a lot? No,
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: TCU was 22.
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: Maybe that was Georgia that year, too.
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: Ohio State. Who did Washington beat, what, Texas that year
• 51:50
  Speaker 2: in the Sugar Bowl? That was the Pennix game, yeah.
• 51:53
  Speaker 2: Do I think they would have scored a lot of points? No,
• 51:55
  Speaker 2: definitely not. Do I think the defense would have held
• 51:57
  Speaker 2: those offenses with a Jalen Milrow Alabama or that Michigan
• 52:01
  Speaker 2: offense with JJ? I think they would have probably made
• 52:04
  Speaker 2: it a game. I wouldn't pick FSU in those games,
• 52:07
  Speaker 2: but I thought the process was a little shady, but
• 52:12
  Speaker 2: I think it's a shady sport.
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: Do you think– one thing I wrote down, we live
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: in inflationary times. Do you think we need to look at–
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: 12-0 was kind of the expectation for the elite team.
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: And 11-1, it was a devastating week, whatever week that was. Hopefully,
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: it didn't derail your entire year. Is 9-3 like the
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: old 11-1 nowadays, like moving forward? Do we got to
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: get more used to– I mean, with 2014 playoff, obviously,
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: there's going to be a ton of– but just– You
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: could have a really good season in this transfer portal times.
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: Nine and three is pretty good. But in our mind
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: of watching it, especially if you're over 40 years old,
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: you're like, that's average at best.
• 52:51
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, look, the numbers just kind of prove
• 52:53
  Speaker 2: this out. If you look at the gap between your
• 52:57
  Speaker 2: number one team, and I put this on Twitter today,
• 53:00
  Speaker 2: the number one team and a former top 30 team,
• 53:04
  Speaker 2: just from a decade ago, the gap has shrunk by
• 53:07
  Speaker 2: five points on the point spread. So if you're playing
• 53:10
  Speaker 2: a bunch of field goal games as opposed to a
• 53:12
  Speaker 2: bunch of games that have a spread of a touchdown, cumulatively,
• 53:15
  Speaker 2: you play a lot more of those field goal games
• 53:16
  Speaker 2: over the course of the year, you're going to pick
• 53:19
  Speaker 2: up more losses. So I think in certain conferences, or
• 53:22
  Speaker 2: if you have a real legitimate non-conference schedule where you're
• 53:25
  Speaker 2: playing a major opponent in the non-conference, 9-3 is a
• 53:29
  Speaker 2: pretty damn good accomplishment. And there are teams out there,
• 53:32
  Speaker 2: I'm like, That's a good team. They went 8-4, right?
• 53:35
  Speaker 2: But they played good football this year. Maybe they didn't
• 53:37
  Speaker 2: get all the breaks. 7-5 is a little bit harder
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: to buy because most teams still have at least two
• 53:43
  Speaker 2: gimme games. The chance that all your conference opponents are
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: legitimately awesome is still pretty low, regardless of what league
• 53:49
  Speaker 2: you're in. But yeah, man, 9-3, look at the preseason
• 53:54
  Speaker 2: Vegas numbers. There were not that many 10.5, 11.5 win
• 53:55
  Speaker 2: totals this year. Most of them came either with the Irish, Miami, or...
• 54:01
  Speaker 2: or some of the top Big 12 teams like a
• 54:03
  Speaker 2: Texas Tech.
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: Obviously, Lane, 9-3. Lane's fine. He's got a $ 120 million
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: contract or whatever. But when you look at Texas and Bama,
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: you would say, listen, the standard for Nick, they lost
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: two games back-to-back for the first time since 07. It
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: had been a pretty good run. But Keelan Russell is
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: clearly going to buy him no matter how weird. They
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: could miss the playoffs, in my opinion, as long as
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: Russell says, I'm back, that he's good. The Sark thing,
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: Let's say he makes the playoffs, but he's one and
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: done to an opponent who's viewed as an equal or
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: a below. Does he survive this with how much money?
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: We just talked about how much money is getting stroked
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: from these human beings, and they're going to need even
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: more next year.
• 54:43
  Speaker 2: Like if you were to go on the road and
• 54:44
  Speaker 2: lose to a BYU or something like that in the playoff, right?
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: Yes. That would be a good example. Go on the
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: road to BYU and lose.
• 54:53
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: Ohio State would be like, okay, rematch. But BYU, I
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: don't think many Texas boosters– are going to view them
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: as a superior program.
• 55:01
  Speaker 2: Or if you lost to Ohio State's backup. What if
• 55:05
  Speaker 2: Sayan is actually out for the year? A lot of people,
• 55:08
  Speaker 2: I think, suspect.
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: You go on the road to the Rose Bowl and
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: lose to UCLA. You'd definitely stay in Los Angeles.
• 55:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, man. I think they would probably look at pulling
• 55:16
  Speaker 2: the trigger on that. Because some of the problems that
• 55:19
  Speaker 2: have plagued these Sark teams continue to rear their heads
• 55:22
  Speaker 2: this year. Just like the inconsistency. You've got a $ 50
• 55:24
  Speaker 2: million roster, basically. Right. And that's a number where I
• 55:30
  Speaker 2: think most people do these calculations don't have arch is
• 55:32
  Speaker 2: a huge number because he like, apparently he doesn't take
• 55:35
  Speaker 2: that much, I guess, and gets a lot of outside
• 55:37
  Speaker 2: brand deals. So if you're like spending close to 50
• 55:41
  Speaker 2: independent of your, your QB one, and you're not like
• 55:45
  Speaker 2: at least getting a home playoff game, what, what are
• 55:47
  Speaker 2: we doing here? Especially like when you beat Ohio state
• 55:50
  Speaker 2: and your schedule is not saying it's easy, but it's
• 55:53
  Speaker 2: not like after that, like some of their, their locations
• 55:56
  Speaker 2: of these games, It's not like they're going to Athens. So, yeah,
• 56:02
  Speaker 2: I think they'd probably take a look at it.
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: I would say the Oklahoma and Florida losses are, for
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: good teams, teams that are in the top two, are
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: two of the worst losses of the year. I mean,
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: the Arch meltdown in the Oklahoma, and they had no offense.
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: And in the.
• 56:16
  Speaker 2: Florida game, they were kicking their ass.
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: Who outplayed Arch? And it feels like Arch, everyone's kicking
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: him when he's down, but given the hype, it has
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: been pretty underwhelming.
• 56:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, Florida, to borrow the basketball analogy, they kind
• 56:29
  Speaker 2: of just played hack-a-shack. Okay, Arch is not going to
• 56:31
  Speaker 2: make his free throws on his hots. Florida blitzed him
• 56:35
  Speaker 2: like 65% of the time. It was a crazy number.
• 56:39
  Speaker 2: And he just never really made them pay. So the
• 56:43
  Speaker 2: Arch thing is frustrating because the good is like really,
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: really good. It's just the bad is like, man, how
• 56:50
  Speaker 2: is the floor this low for a guy that's been
• 56:54
  Speaker 2: in school this long?
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: I would have said that if he had a big
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: game against Texas, Trinidad would have probably been in the
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: driver's seat given that Jeremiah Smith's quarterback's out and that
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: thing could go off the rails a little bit, not
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: because of Jeremiah Smith, because he might not be able
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: to throw. Do you think that game hurt his chances
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: to win it? Because from an NFL standpoint, it was
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: the first time I went, oh, that was– he's playing
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: an NFL defense and it felt– Yeah. He felt small.
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: It's kind of like you watch Bryce Young against Tampa
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: on Sunday and He'd been playing awesome. It's like, this
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: is a great story. And then you're like, geez, what's
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: going on here? Because it rears its ugly head with
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: these small guys when you play this physical defense, and
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: they just get swallowed. I'm not saying Trinidad got swallowed,
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: but that was the first time in a while that
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: I thought, wow, he couldn't just run away from these
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: guys and make plays. He was throwing balls into the dirt.
• 57:45
  Speaker 2: He does kind of occasionally have these periods where he
• 57:47
  Speaker 2: just kind of goes into a funk. It's almost like
• 57:50
  Speaker 2: a pitcher who loses it for an inning. And then
• 57:52
  Speaker 2: all of a sudden he kind of seems to get
• 57:54
  Speaker 2: it back.
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: Happened in the Louisville game. It's happened in some games
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: like the third quarter where they kind of just hit
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: the skids for like three series.
• 58:02
  Speaker 2: Right. It's like, okay, that's a ball that Ole Miss
• 58:05
  Speaker 2: schemes up, needs to be hit, and the game's probably
• 58:08
  Speaker 2: over and just missed it. But look, C.J. Carr had
• 58:12
  Speaker 2: that too against BYU. They scheme open a post route.
• 58:15
  Speaker 2: There's nobody within 10 yards of the guy, and you
• 58:17
  Speaker 2: just air mail it. Like that's on like a third
• 58:19
  Speaker 2: and eight. Yeah. You don't get that many wide-open shots
• 58:22
  Speaker 2: like that on third and eight. You've got to hit those.
• 58:26
  Speaker 2: I think it hurt Trinidad's case for sure. The other
• 58:28
  Speaker 2: thing that will hurt Trinidad is this. I think if
• 58:31
  Speaker 2: Kamario Taylor had stayed healthy, there's a chance at the
• 58:34
  Speaker 2: end of the year that Ole Miss was having to
• 58:35
  Speaker 2: play a 50-35 type game in the Egg Bowl on
• 58:39
  Speaker 2: national TV against Kamario. Ole Miss comes out on top
• 58:44
  Speaker 2: and Trinidad's thrown for 400 yards and five touchdowns. Now
• 58:49
  Speaker 2: that game doesn't get top billing because Camaro is out
• 58:51
  Speaker 2: for the year, according to the report. So they do
• 58:54
  Speaker 2: still have some tough games left. If he goes and
• 58:56
  Speaker 2: beats Georgia and Oxford, then I think he's right back
• 59:00
  Speaker 2: in this thing. But all season I've maintained, hey, whoever
• 59:04
  Speaker 2: balls in South Bend, November 7th, Miami at Notre Dame,
• 59:07
  Speaker 2: is probably going to win this thing because recency bias
• 59:10
  Speaker 2: in the Heisman is real. And, like, that's probably a
• 59:13
  Speaker 2: game that, like, one of the QBs can go off in.
• 59:15
  Speaker 2: I think that's the guy that will probably win it.
• 59:17
  Speaker 2: Or maybe Tony if he goes for, like, 203.
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: If you, let's say, four guys get the invite list,
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: who would you say, as we sit here today, who
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: would you bet on the four being?
• 59:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, Jeremiah's going to New York. Like there's, there's
• 59:29
  Speaker 2: no doubt.
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: He's in.
• 59:31
  Speaker 2: I think he's a lock. Like, like even if his
• 59:33
  Speaker 2: numbers dropped off, I think people would say, hold on.
• 59:35
  Speaker 2: Like this guy might be the best receiver we've ever
• 59:39
  Speaker 2: seen play college football. Like he's got to go to, like,
• 59:41
  Speaker 2: he's got to be on so many ballots.
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 59:44
  Speaker 2: And then, shoot.
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: Everyone agrees he's the best player in the league. It's
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: like when Saquon ran for 2000. He might not win
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: the MVP, but he's the best offensive player in the league.
• 59:54
  Speaker 2: Exactly. I have a hard time seeing Mensah not go.
• 59:57
  Speaker 2: Pretty deep into the season, he had thrown more touchdowns
• 59:59
  Speaker 2: than incompletions. I don't know if he'll win it. Do
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 2: you think you get two from one team, or do
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 2: you think Tony doesn't go?
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: How rare does that happen? I mean, I guess Leinard Bush.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's a pretty rare thing. It feels like
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of hype behind it, you know?
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 2: Right. Mac Jones Devante in the COVID year, I think, right?
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: It's crazy to say Mac Jones that loud.
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, seriously, right? I'm trying to think who else here. Like,
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 2: does Bachmeier get an invite if they go and run
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 2: the table and win the Big 12? I think, like,
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 2: he's a story people like, certainly. And then maybe CJ Carr.
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 2: Mesta Maker, I guess, is the other one. If they
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 2: light up Texas Tech and they run the table, I
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 2: think there's actually still a chance they could make the
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 2: Big 12 championship game if they get a lot of
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 2: chaos around them. He's played super well. I actually thought
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 2: in a losing effort, he played his butt off against
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 2: Houston down there in Houston. That's like, oh man, this guy,
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 2: he might be the best QB in college football.
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: And what, this is only the second year starting of
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: his life?
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 2: Is that true? He didn't start in high school, correct?
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 2: He didn't really start the first year in college. He
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 2: started the bowl game. I remember talking to Cole Kublik
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 2: about this because Cole had the call. Cole's at ESPN
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 2: and SC Network. I remember talking to him. He's like,
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 2: they're starting this kid who didn't even start in high
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 2: school at all.
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: I was like, Wow.
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 2: I heard an interview with him.
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: I think he's a Texas kid, right? Yeah. He played
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: at a power high school, and the guy that he
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 1: backed up is like a star baseball player at Baylor.
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: So it's not like he was some random kid.
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: And he's a good example in this. Again, I don't
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: want to keep you too long. The college, you saw
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: Dante Moore go back. I think a lot less people
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: feel bad. He's been paid a lot of money. It
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: was a shitty situation. But at the end of the day,
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: like he's still relative to this quarterback class, probably still
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: going to get drafted really high. Honestly, give me a
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: top five pick and have made money. Everything's going to
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: work out. I would bet on, but mess. The maker's
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: a good example of like, I talked to my buddies
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: in the NFL. They're like, he might be the best prospect,
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: but I don't even think he's going to come out.
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: And he, him and Eric are like this. And who knows?
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's a lot, if you're going to be
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: the number one overall pick, but, They can give him
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: $ 5 million. He likes where he's at. He feels comfortable.
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: I would imagine if he were to return, they would
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: probably be a preseason top 12, 15 team. Who knows?
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: Maybe does Eric Morris get a job? Does he go
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: with him?
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 2: If he comes back, if it was not for the
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 2: Morris thing, that's probably your first $ 10 million kid at QB.
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 2: Such a known commodity legitimately passing. Do you really think
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 2: Dante was going to go two last year? I don't know.
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: I think he would have been in the discussion for
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: the 10, like a team trades back up or, you.
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 2: Know, kind of Matt Barkley ish to me. Like remember
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 2: whenever it was like, Oh, Barkley come back to school.
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 2: He passed up being like a surefire first rounder.
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: Like I'd say historically with his skills, he's like a
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: first rounder, but like the second overall pick felt wild.
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: Like is he Jaden Daniels? You know what I mean?
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: I know skill wise, no chance.
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 2: Like some of the pocket presence stuff. I, I, I've
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 2: always had a bit of concern with, you know, like
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 2: when it's really clean, but there's guys in the NFL
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 2: who fit that same profile and then they've had long careers,
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 2: you know, so maybe it was a.
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: High character guy by all accounts. He's got all that
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: stuff working for him.
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 3: So can I tell you about my new friends at trees.com?
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: Do you know that they're America's largest and most trusted
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: online nursery? I don't know about you, but I added
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 1: some ficus trees to my backyard. We'll try to add
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: to the feng shui, the vibe. And, you know, you
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: work with a landscaper. They give you these quotes. You're like,
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: am I totally getting screwed? And then I went to trees.com.
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: And I just had them delivered to my house. Because
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: here's the thing. They're guaranteed. They're alive and thrive guarantee
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 1: promises that your plants arrive happy. and healthy. No green
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: thumb required. Just quality plants you can count on. So
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: they're delivered to your house and you don't have to
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: do any legwork and you can see all the prices
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: up front. So there's no like, well, this is how
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: much are we paying? And I cannot recommend them enough.
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: So right now they have great deals. If you want
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 1: to build for your backyard, your front yard, and you
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 1: don't feel comfortable with what you're being quoted, you can
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: just check it all online. And if you want to
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: get anything, Olive trees, lemon trees delivered right to your
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: front door. So right now they have great deals on
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: planting essentials up to half on select plants. And listeners
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: to our show, they get 20% off their first purchase
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 1: using the code 3, the number 3, and out at checkout.
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: That's an additional 20% off. Better plants, better growing at
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: trees.com using 3 and out at checkout. That's Trees, T-R-E-E-S,. com,
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: code number three and out. Valid for a limited time.
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: Terms and conditions apply. Before I get you out of here,
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 1: I know you have a pretty cool company that you've created, started,
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: and it's a sports card on the blockchain. Am I
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: saying that correctly?
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: You tell us.
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's Level Up Sports. You can hit us up, levelupsports.com.
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 2: So it's pretty sure the first of its kind, actually
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 2: asset-backed sports trading cards. And the asset is a small
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 2: piece of the player's college earnings. So if you're the
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 2: type of guy out there that likes finding prospects early,
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 2: like you want to invest in them, you want to
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 2: help support them, in their career. You know, we go out,
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 2: we secure a small, like non-predatory percentage, obviously, of the
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 2: guy's college earnings in exchange for upfront money. You know,
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 2: we're able to actually put that out on blockchain. And
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 2: we represent each of those little slices of the player's
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 2: college earnings as a really slick digital trading card that's
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 2: actually a collectible in its own right. So you can
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 2: buy and sell and trade on there. And we just
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 2: launched last week and I'm really excited about it.
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: Who are, I mean, is it players at all? Like, freshmen, juniors, sophomores,
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: doesn't matter? Do you have to get in early? Can
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: you buy at any time? How does that work?
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so we can't reveal who the guys are yet
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 2: because this is actually an SEC-regulated financial product, right? So
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 2: there's rules on who I can say. But the first
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 2: drop will be within a week or two of when
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 2: this airs. So definitely, if you want to get on
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 2: the wait list, levelupsports.com. We'll have some updates. And obviously,
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 2: the folks on the wait list will get that first
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 2: notification of who the first is. player is, you know,
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 2: some of the guys are going to be players that
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 2: everybody will know. And some of the guys will be
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 2: players who, you know, your kind of prospect heads will
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 2: know as well. But, you know, some freshmen, you know,
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 2: some guys who are finishing up their junior or senior
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 2: year of high school. And we also are doing, you know,
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 2: college basketball. You know, we have a number of players
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 2: across other sports as well. So kind of something for
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 2: everybody we're trying to design.
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: That's awesome. Who's your, as we sit here today, who
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: you got winning the natty?
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 2: Man, I think it might be LSU.
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: I didn't expect that.
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but they seem to be coming together. I know
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 2: Auburn was in a letdown spot, but man, they smoked them.
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: They throttled them.
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 2: The game was over fast. I know a lot of
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 2: SEC teams who, behind the scenes, really wanted Leavitt and
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 2: were not really willing to dump their incumbent starter, but
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 2: they thought he was better than the guy coming back. Right.
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 2: And ultimately, obviously, you know, Lane got them there at LSU,
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 2: you know, getting traded as greenback, I think matters a
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 2: ton for that team. Like that guy, he looks like
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 2: a first rounder tight end to me. I mean, I'm
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 2: not a, Not an NFL scout, but.
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: Like, dude, top 15 pick.
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 2: He's like twitchy Antonio Gates. So that'll play in the league.
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 2: They just look really good. I obviously, I trust Lane's
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 2: play calling. I trust Baker. They just, the only thing
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 2: I don't trust is Lane not to, not to slip
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 2: up and blow a stupid game. Like, I think you'll
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 2: have been very ready for Alabama. Is he going to
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 2: have them ready, you know, to go play one of
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 2: these remaining road games that they really should win. That
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 2: that's kind of been like the bugaboo a little bit
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 2: for Lane throughout his career.
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: I did think, and I know Cincinnati's a Big 12 team,
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: but they're the little guy money-wise compared to Texas Tech.
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: And I thought them kicking Texas Tech's butt after the
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: big money guy had talked and talked and belittled and
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: then them tagging him on Twitter. That was cool. That's
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 1: college football. That's a throwback to when coaches used to
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 1: hate each other. We don't get enough of that anymore.
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 2: I love it. Absolutely. I think Cincinnati's staff, man, their
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 2: front office, staff, I think they're a killer. Honestly. Satterfield,
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 2: I think, is fine as a coach. I don't think
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 2: he's as bad as people think. I don't think he's
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 2: like Nick Saban, but they do not have a lot
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 2: of money to play with, and they just consistently put
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 2: together a competitive roster in a P4 conference. It's They
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 2: do a really good job with D2 and D3 and
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 2: finding guys that really– they assign a guy. That just
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 2: kind of makes sense, man, for what they do. Much
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 2: like Indiana finds good fits, on a smaller scale, I
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 2: think Cincinnati does that as well. Zach and those guys
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 2: do a good job. One of his number twos is
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 2: now at Penn State. Now that Penn State actually has
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 2: a full offseason to actually put together a transfer class,
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 2: interested to see what they do up there. Maybe a
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 2: little better results this time.
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: Well, I could nerd out. Obviously, you're big into recruiting,
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: so these GMs, I mean, their jobs. I mean, it's
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 1: become NFL-like. I mean, it's become a profession, and it pays.
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: I got buddies that dabble. I know people that have left,
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: and they're making more money working in college football than
• 1:09:57
  Speaker 1: they were working for their pro team.
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, some of these guys, even some of
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 2: these number twos are making a quarter million or more.
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 2: It's a pretty decent living doing something you love.
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, not exactly living in some high-priced town either, so
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: the money goes a lot farther. Yeah. Well, I appreciate it, bud.
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: Cover three podcasts. I listen mainly Saturday nights. I stay
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: up way too late when I have to get up
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: early on Sunday, but you guys record basically. It feels
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: like every day you guys are posting stuff.
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so during the season, we are Monday, Tuesday, recruiting
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 2: episode with Andrew Ivins and myself comes out on Wednesdays.
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 2: Every other Wednesday, we're on CBS Sports Network on the
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 2: cable channel, and then, of course, Saturday nights for sure.
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: Well, I appreciate you, bud. Have a great day, man.
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 2: Enjoyed it. Appreciate you having me on.
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 3: The volume.