Latest / Say Who, Say Pod / Say Who, Say Pod, Ep. 215

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Say Who, Say Pod, Ep. 215 · Say Who, Say Pod

0:01
SPEAKER_02: Pod.
0:06
SPEAKER_02: Pod.
0:08
SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to another episode of Say Who Say Pod.
0:12
SPEAKER_02: He's Danny O'Neill in a sports coat and tie today.
0:16
SPEAKER_02: Fancy.
0:17
SPEAKER_02: I'm Christian Caple.
0:20
SPEAKER_02: It was not a good bye week for the Washington Huskies.
0:22
SPEAKER_02: I think that they probably got some good work done,
0:25
SPEAKER_02: and it sounds like they did some extensive study and whatnot.
0:29
SPEAKER_02: Deep dive into their offense and both quarterbacks,
0:33
SPEAKER_02: Elijah Brown and Demond Williams Jr.,
0:35
SPEAKER_02: which we'll get to that conversation in a second.
0:37
SPEAKER_02: But kind of out of nowhere...
0:40
SPEAKER_02: On Monday morning,
0:41
SPEAKER_02: Landon Hatchett announced that he is done for the season with a new injury,
0:45
SPEAKER_02: a different injury.
0:46
SPEAKER_02: It's not the wrist,
0:48
SPEAKER_02: what he classified as a head,
0:49
SPEAKER_02: neck, and spine injury that was discovered upon being evaluated during the bye week.
0:55
SPEAKER_02: So just as the Huskies got their starting center back,
0:59
SPEAKER_02: and they had put so much into the idea that that was going
1:03
SPEAKER_02: to solve some things up front,
1:04
SPEAKER_02: and certainly their O-line played its best game against Purdue.
1:11
SPEAKER_02: Patch it's out again.
1:12
SPEAKER_02: And they're right back to Colt Dietrich at center.
1:15
SPEAKER_03: Huge bummer.
1:16
SPEAKER_03: And this is one of those best wishes for Landon.
1:20
SPEAKER_03: That's really unfortunate.
1:22
SPEAKER_03: Football is a brutal sport.
1:27
SPEAKER_03: I don't think the injury or the status of Landon has gone under the radar,
1:31
SPEAKER_03: because I think we've all known how important he was to sort of the plans.
1:38
SPEAKER_03: And in some ways,
1:39
SPEAKER_03: he was kind of the central figure of the belief that this team was returning much
1:45
SPEAKER_03: of its offensive line, and that could potentially be a strength.
1:49
SPEAKER_03: I don't think his lack of availability has been maybe even the primary thing
1:55
SPEAKER_03: that has set Washington, but it certainly contributed to it.
1:59
SPEAKER_03: I hope he gets healthy.
2:01
SPEAKER_03: And it's just this is one of those spots where Washington was just never right.
2:07
SPEAKER_03: And that's I don't I don't blame anybody for that.
2:11
SPEAKER_03: Because injuries and recovery from surgery, we take those things for granted.
2:17
SPEAKER_03: And they're not.
2:19
SPEAKER_03: It's not always a straight line in recovering from an injury,
2:24
SPEAKER_03: especially when you're playing along either the offensive or defensive line.
2:28
SPEAKER_02: The implications on Washington's offense are obvious.
2:34
SPEAKER_02: Jed Fish talked about how he really thought you could see a difference
2:37
SPEAKER_02: with Landon Hatchett in there.
2:38
SPEAKER_02: He's a team captain and a fourth-year guy.
2:40
SPEAKER_02: This is...
2:44
SPEAKER_02: I guess four consecutive seasons for him that have been affected by injury.
2:48
SPEAKER_02: He didn't miss any time his second year,
2:50
SPEAKER_02: but he was coming off of an ACL and clearly was playing at far less than 100%
2:55
SPEAKER_02: in 2024.
2:57
SPEAKER_02: But yeah,
2:57
SPEAKER_02: he played as a true freshman on a team that went to the national championship game,
3:01
SPEAKER_02: but didn't get to play in the playoff because he tore his ACL that December
3:06
SPEAKER_02: during practices.
3:08
SPEAKER_02: Comes back and at least plays in 2024.
3:11
SPEAKER_02: He's fully healthy in 2025, but then breaks his wrist against Illinois.
3:18
SPEAKER_02: The recovery did not go well,
3:20
SPEAKER_02: wound up needing a second surgery on it and misses five games with that
3:25
SPEAKER_02: and He'd just gotten back and finally played every snap in a game against Purdue
3:34
SPEAKER_02: and now a third season-ending injury in four years for him.
3:40
SPEAKER_02: It does sound like the plan is that I think the outlook...
3:45
SPEAKER_02: Is positive enough as far as his ability to return for 2027,
3:49
SPEAKER_02: but you know, head,
3:49
SPEAKER_02: neck and spine,
3:50
SPEAKER_02: you don't,
3:50
SPEAKER_02: you don't ever want to be too definitive about what the recovery process is going
3:55
SPEAKER_02: to look like there.
3:55
SPEAKER_02: And really it's, you know, do the best thing for the next 70 years of your life.
4:02
SPEAKER_02: Right.
4:02
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, 100%.
4:04
SPEAKER_03: And I'll also say this,
4:05
SPEAKER_03: I appreciate and am grateful for all of the work that Landon has put in to recover.
4:13
SPEAKER_03: And I think one of the unfortunate things that will happen is when a player suffers
4:19
SPEAKER_03: a series of injuries is fans can get frustrated by that.
4:23
SPEAKER_03: Which on one hand is understandable, but on the other hand, no one is more frustrated by it.
4:28
SPEAKER_03: No one is more affected by it than the player himself.
4:32
SPEAKER_03: And I think it's important to acknowledge that.
4:36
SPEAKER_03: And hey, I hope to see Landon Hatchett.
4:40
SPEAKER_03: Play for Washington again.
4:42
SPEAKER_03: And I'd love it if he came back next year.
4:44
SPEAKER_03: I also want what's best for Landon Hatchett and appreciate everything he's done
4:48
SPEAKER_03: and all of the physical sacrifice.
4:50
SPEAKER_03: It's a brutal game, man.
4:52
SPEAKER_03: And people don't...
4:55
SPEAKER_03: For all of the emphasis on big hits,
4:59
SPEAKER_03: I think that we've kind of lost,
5:01
SPEAKER_03: like the people who take the biggest beating generally are the offensive line.
5:06
SPEAKER_03: And because they're not the big thunderous hits,
5:10
SPEAKER_03: I don't think we always recognize what those guys put their body through.
5:15
SPEAKER_02: Totally.
5:15
SPEAKER_02: It's the cliche, you know, comparison for forever and ever is a car crash on every play, right?
5:22
SPEAKER_02: And it does take its toll.
5:24
SPEAKER_02: It's three different injuries to three different parts of the body.
5:29
SPEAKER_02: On top of like,
5:30
SPEAKER_02: you know,
5:31
SPEAKER_02: just the standard baseline of what every guy is playing through,
5:34
SPEAKER_02: the guys who are out there on the field, right?
5:36
SPEAKER_02: You look at his older brother, Garen, and...
5:38
SPEAKER_02: All the injuries and surgeries and everything that he's had.
5:42
SPEAKER_02: He tore his bicep in the spring.
5:44
SPEAKER_02: It's almost kind of amazing he got back for the start of the season.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: Obviously,
5:50
SPEAKER_02: Colt Dietrich was the starting center for the first five games,
5:54
SPEAKER_02: and that's what they'll do going forward there, I'm sure.
5:58
SPEAKER_02: But then on the left side of the line,
6:01
SPEAKER_02: Colt Dietrich had started at left guard the last two games and had been part of
6:04
SPEAKER_02: the rotation there.
6:05
SPEAKER_02: And so now it's like...
6:06
SPEAKER_02: If you want to play John Mills at left tackle,
6:09
SPEAKER_02: you're probably playing Garen Hatchett at left guard.
6:13
SPEAKER_02: It does sound like they're probably going to try to rely on Cody Green
6:17
SPEAKER_02: a little bit more again at left tackle.
6:20
SPEAKER_02: They thought he played his best game against Purdue.
6:23
SPEAKER_02: Assuming he starts, obviously John Mills would be at left guard.
6:28
SPEAKER_02: Not that there's ever a good week for I don't know if that's going to happen,
6:32
SPEAKER_02: but as far as matching up against an opponent,
6:35
SPEAKER_02: this Nebraska defensive front,
6:38
SPEAKER_02: I think is going to be a huge,
6:40
SPEAKER_02: huge challenge for Washington's offensive line and would have been at full strength.
6:44
SPEAKER_02: They're third in the Big Ten in sacks.
6:48
SPEAKER_02: Washington is either last or next to last in the Big Ten in sacks allowed,
6:53
SPEAKER_02: and obviously that's not all an O-line thing, but watching Nebraska play Indiana.
6:59
SPEAKER_02: A couple weeks ago.
7:02
SPEAKER_02: I believe that was the day after Washington's game against Iowa.
7:05
SPEAKER_02: I just remember thinking like, man, they got to play both of these defensive fronts.
7:09
SPEAKER_02: It's going to be a challenge.
7:12
SPEAKER_02: It's going to be a challenge.
7:14
SPEAKER_03: Pack a lunch.
7:16
SPEAKER_03: Buckle up.
7:17
SPEAKER_03: A lot of quick game.
7:20
SPEAKER_03: I think that's one of the things that comes out to me is that you've got to come up
7:24
SPEAKER_03: with a game plan that you do not expect to create time with your running game.
7:32
SPEAKER_03: You've got to find some run game solutions here.
7:36
SPEAKER_02: Run game solutions?
7:37
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
7:39
SPEAKER_03: Ball's got to come out quick from the quarterback's hand because there's going
7:42
SPEAKER_03: to be times where even if it is coming out quick,
7:44
SPEAKER_03: I think they're still going to get home.
7:46
SPEAKER_03: But that You can't have much expectation of time to throw in this game.
7:51
SPEAKER_02: It's like trying to sell cars against Chuck Olson Kia.
7:56
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7:58
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8:00
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8:00
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8:01
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8:05
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8:10
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8:13
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8:16
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8:19
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8:51
SPEAKER_02: You touched on this a little bit last week,
8:54
SPEAKER_02: but with Jed Fish,
8:56
SPEAKER_02: I'd say predictably,
8:57
SPEAKER_02: declining to name a starting quarterback ahead of the Nebraska game,
9:01
SPEAKER_02: how much credence do you put into that?
9:03
SPEAKER_02: Trying to parse the things that he has said publicly about each quarterback or about
9:07
SPEAKER_02: the competition or about the week of practice they just had or
9:10
SPEAKER_02: about what they're looking for this week specifically.
9:14
SPEAKER_02: His public remarks about the position and the battle,
9:18
SPEAKER_02: so to speak, in trying to figure out who the starter might be.
9:22
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I don't put any stock into the current assessments.
9:26
SPEAKER_03: I think there are points this season where I could hear him trying to emphasize
9:33
SPEAKER_03: a point to DeMont.
9:35
SPEAKER_03: And specifically,
9:35
SPEAKER_03: that would be about ball coming out and kind of the defense of the offensive line.
9:41
SPEAKER_03: That I think that those have been... Those were telling remarks into...
9:49
SPEAKER_03: They revealed what Jed thought was actually going wrong or the biggest problem
9:53
SPEAKER_03: that he saw with the offense without him coming out and saying it.
9:56
SPEAKER_03: What is being talked about now, I think that in large part, Yeah.
10:25
SPEAKER_03: He is not going to announce that there's been a change in the depth chart.
10:33
SPEAKER_03: I think if DeMond's healthy enough to play, we'll see him a couple times.
10:39
SPEAKER_03: I just don't have much doubt about Elijah starting.
10:43
SPEAKER_03: I'm fairly certain.
10:46
SPEAKER_03: I would be shocked if that's not what happened.
10:49
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to write about this in some form or fashion this week,
10:51
SPEAKER_02: but I have noticed the way he's talked about the health and medical element
10:57
SPEAKER_02: of it is similar to how they sort of handled Jaden Delora's injury at Arizona
11:03
SPEAKER_02: when Noah Fafita started for him.
11:04
SPEAKER_02: And at first,
11:06
SPEAKER_02: maybe it was like, oh,
11:07
SPEAKER_02: if this is just a one-week thing or a two-week thing,
11:09
SPEAKER_02: maybe you go back to Jaden Delora.
11:11
SPEAKER_02: But then it became, well...
11:13
SPEAKER_02: And he'll start if he's 100% healthy.
11:17
SPEAKER_02: If he's 90% healthy, he'll be the backup.
11:20
SPEAKER_02: And eventually,
11:21
SPEAKER_02: Noah Fafita had played in a way and Arizona had won in a way that
11:25
SPEAKER_02: the question just kind of didn't need to be asked anymore.
11:27
SPEAKER_02: It was like, clearly Noah Fafita is the guy.
11:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
11:31
SPEAKER_02: Elijah Brown has started one game against Purdue,
11:34
SPEAKER_02: so that's not exactly the situation at Washington right now,
11:38
SPEAKER_02: but just the way that he has talked about,
11:40
SPEAKER_02: well, we're going to take it through Wednesday or Thursday.
11:44
SPEAKER_02: We've got to see what happens the next couple of days.
11:47
SPEAKER_02: We've got to see how healthy everyone is.
11:49
SPEAKER_02: We've got to see how Demond, can he put...
11:53
SPEAKER_02: Being able to throw with trajectory and velocity and all these things.
11:57
SPEAKER_02: He used for the first time the word fracture.
12:00
SPEAKER_02: So that jumped out to
12:02
SPEAKER_03: me, right?
12:04
SPEAKER_03: The reason that you say that is because you want it clear how hurt he is.
12:10
SPEAKER_03: And the only reason you do that is because you want to diffuse on
12:14
SPEAKER_03: the other end people asking, well, was he healthy enough to play?
12:17
SPEAKER_03: It's like, look, I told you he's dealing with a cracked rib, right?
12:20
SPEAKER_03: Like that...
12:21
SPEAKER_03: Because there's no strategic advantage in letting somebody and revealing
12:26
SPEAKER_03: that there's been a cracked rib other than you want to make sure people know
12:29
SPEAKER_03: and signal that it's a serious injury.
12:33
SPEAKER_03: And if he's not playing this week, that's why.
12:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's kind of like the way he talked about this the Monday after the Iowa game.
12:43
SPEAKER_02: And he said he's dealing with a significant rib injury.
12:48
SPEAKER_02: Said he's day to day,
12:50
SPEAKER_02: but then as the press conference went on,
12:51
SPEAKER_02: he, it became more and more and more clear that he, he ain't gonna play.
12:56
SPEAKER_02: Or maybe there's a world where he gets available, but certainly he's not gonna start, right?
13:02
SPEAKER_02: Like he, he started out being a little more vague.
13:05
SPEAKER_02: And then I think his questions were being asked.
13:08
SPEAKER_02: It was, he was like,
13:09
SPEAKER_02: well, but we, it's like, I'm not under the impression he's gonna be available.
13:14
SPEAKER_02: Elijah Brown's taken the number one reps and there'd have to be
13:16
SPEAKER_02: a really significant change health-wise from what it is right now for anything
13:20
SPEAKER_02: to change there.
13:22
SPEAKER_02: And so you walked out at 1.20 p.m. on that Monday going, oh, okay.
13:27
SPEAKER_02: Elijah Brown's starting.
13:28
SPEAKER_02: It's clear as day.
13:31
SPEAKER_02: And certainly Elijah Brown would have started a game last week
13:35
SPEAKER_02: if they'd had one based on the uncertainty medically around DeMond Williams.
13:41
SPEAKER_02: And so I'm kind of with you.
13:42
SPEAKER_02: I think that The willingness to disclose, while saying, oh, he's much better.
13:51
SPEAKER_02: And he did say, oh, he'll be good, he'll be healthy.
13:56
SPEAKER_02: Does that mean healthy enough to start?
13:58
SPEAKER_02: Does that just mean, oh, this time he'll...
14:00
SPEAKER_02: Be suited up and be available as an emergency option rather than just suited up
14:05
SPEAKER_02: but not available.
14:07
SPEAKER_02: The way he's talked about his medical situation doesn't sound to me like a coach
14:13
SPEAKER_02: who thinks this guy's definitely going to be available this Saturday.
14:17
SPEAKER_02: It could be that he's really hurting and it's going to be a while
14:24
SPEAKER_02: before he could reasonably be cleared.
14:27
SPEAKER_02: It's just like...
14:29
SPEAKER_02: With injuries generally,
14:30
SPEAKER_02: but especially to the starting quarterback,
14:32
SPEAKER_02: it's just really hard to know exactly the extent based on public remarks by
14:37
SPEAKER_02: the head coach.
14:39
SPEAKER_03: We're also in the period where it makes sense to continue starting Elijah.
14:46
SPEAKER_03: And there's not really...
14:50
SPEAKER_03: If DeMond is or isn't healthy, that wouldn't necessarily change it.
14:56
SPEAKER_03: If Washington were to string together a couple of games
14:59
SPEAKER_03: where Elijah did not play well or played worse than what we'd seen
15:02
SPEAKER_03: from DeMond earlier,
15:03
SPEAKER_03: the offense performed worse than it had,
15:06
SPEAKER_03: which is very much a possibility because this is going to be toward the top.
15:09
SPEAKER_03: Nebraska is probably...
15:11
SPEAKER_03: Minnesota, Iowa,
15:13
SPEAKER_03: both physical teams,
15:14
SPEAKER_03: but we're in the state where Nebraska's a really good defense,
15:19
SPEAKER_03: and maybe Washington will look terrible.
15:22
SPEAKER_03: And then becomes the question of, okay, is he actually available or is he not?
15:26
SPEAKER_03: We're still in that gray period where...
15:29
SPEAKER_03: For the fan base's appetite, the fan base wants to see Elijah.
15:33
SPEAKER_03: Like, there's not a push or a,
15:37
SPEAKER_03: if DeMond doesn't play, that's not going to be a big puzzle to anyone.
15:40
SPEAKER_03: If anything,
15:41
SPEAKER_03: people are worried that DeMond will get the job back because you don't lose a job
15:46
SPEAKER_03: to injury and will be mad about that.
15:49
SPEAKER_02: And there's precedent in Jed Fish's immediate past that,
15:53
SPEAKER_02: like, well, actually, like, you can lose a job to injury.
15:57
SPEAKER_02: Right.
15:57
SPEAKER_02: With, with Jade and Delora,
15:58
SPEAKER_02: like they weren't, they were nowhere near benching him or making a change.
16:02
SPEAKER_02: Um, There's some other parallels too, right?
16:05
SPEAKER_02: Like Delora kind of struggled with turnovers and was a little more reckless with the ball.
16:13
SPEAKER_02: You know,
16:14
SPEAKER_02: it's not like Daman Williams has been giving the ball away a ton,
16:18
SPEAKER_02: but he has committed a couple that have,
16:22
SPEAKER_02: you could draw a straight line from the turnover to the outcome of the game going
16:26
SPEAKER_02: against them.
16:28
SPEAKER_02: And like Elijah Brown just threw three interceptions in a football game.
16:32
SPEAKER_02: Now, He's 21 of 27 overall, so there was more good than bad in that game.
16:39
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, first-time starter, at least one of those is probably not on him.
16:43
SPEAKER_02: It just sort of depends on who you ask or who's looking at it.
16:47
SPEAKER_02: But one thing that I...
16:53
SPEAKER_02: Thought was interesting was he's talking about what are they kind of looking for this week?
16:58
SPEAKER_02: You know,
16:59
SPEAKER_02: what traits...
17:00
SPEAKER_02: And he mentioned something about, like, is there a trait that a certain guy has?
17:05
SPEAKER_02: Or, like,
17:05
SPEAKER_02: what traits might one guy have that the other doesn't to,
17:09
SPEAKER_02: like, give you a better chance against the specific opponent?
17:13
SPEAKER_02: There's a couple different ways to take that, right?
17:14
SPEAKER_02: Like,
17:15
SPEAKER_02: do you mean that against a team that is as adept at getting after the quarterback
17:19
SPEAKER_02: as Nebraska is that you might...
17:22
SPEAKER_02: You don't really have a quarterback whose evasiveness has been an asset this season,
17:26
SPEAKER_02: even if DeMond Williams is fully healthy.
17:28
SPEAKER_02: I think in general,
17:46
SPEAKER_03: In a game like this where you feel you might be overmatched up front,
17:50
SPEAKER_03: the best way to get an opponent to back off is to have passes come out quick.
17:59
SPEAKER_03: That trying to outrun or outscramble or outplay ground
18:04
SPEAKER_03: a physically superior defense, there's not many people that can do that.
18:10
SPEAKER_03: Or it's certainly not a sustainable formula.
18:14
SPEAKER_03: But it's not that you've been able to do it.
18:16
SPEAKER_03: And the other thing I would say is,
18:18
SPEAKER_03: and this might reflect how DeMond has prepared for this season or
18:21
SPEAKER_03: the messaging that's there, DeMond really hasn't been that player this year.
18:25
SPEAKER_03: If anything, he's been sort of too indecisive about deciding, okay, I need to run.
18:32
SPEAKER_03: And at the same time,
18:33
SPEAKER_03: he hasn't been getting rid of the ball quick,
18:35
SPEAKER_03: which is why you have the sacks he's had.
18:37
SPEAKER_03: But if you ask me, against a team like this, what's the best trait?
18:40
SPEAKER_03: Someone who's quick.
18:41
SPEAKER_03: Someone who gets rid of the ball.
18:42
SPEAKER_03: Because that at least gives you a chance.
18:44
SPEAKER_03: And if you do start operating the offense on time, it forces the defense to recalibrate.
18:52
SPEAKER_02: Nebraska's real close to being 7-0.
18:54
SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
18:56
SPEAKER_02: Um, really felt like they were going to do it against Indiana and had a great chance
19:03
SPEAKER_02: to get it done against Oregon and Eugene and just couldn't.
19:08
SPEAKER_02: And an especially bitter pill there as Dylan Raiola leads the late comeback.
19:14
SPEAKER_02: Um,
19:17
SPEAKER_02: So there's some frustration in Lincoln,
19:20
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure,
19:21
SPEAKER_02: over the fact that you're waiting to get over that hump to be,
19:25
SPEAKER_02: we'll say, a CFP-type team again.
19:29
SPEAKER_02: And all the close games they've lost over the years and the way that this time
19:36
SPEAKER_02: of year, kind of this time of year forward, has been defined by By close losses.
19:42
SPEAKER_02: Just looking at the matchup,
19:44
SPEAKER_02: and really when I say matchup,
19:45
SPEAKER_02: I mostly mean Nebraska's defense against Washington's offense.
19:50
SPEAKER_02: And just Washington's ability to move the ball and stay ahead of the sticks
19:56
SPEAKER_02: and not go three and out and not turn the ball over and help its defense out,
20:00
SPEAKER_02: at least with some field position,
20:03
SPEAKER_02: let alone its ability to score enough points to win this game.
20:07
SPEAKER_02: I would say...
20:09
SPEAKER_02: I'd have a really hard time seeing how Washington goes in and gets that done,
20:15
SPEAKER_02: if not for the fact that this is exactly the type of game that's been tough
20:19
SPEAKER_02: for Nebraska in recent history.
20:22
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know that any of those past years have anything to do with this year,
20:26
SPEAKER_02: but there's been some games that look like they should be winnable for them
20:30
SPEAKER_02: that they've not been competitive in or that they've kind of found ways to lose.
20:36
SPEAKER_03: And Washington experienced this under Stark.
20:39
SPEAKER_03: They've gotten to that point where they're like,
20:41
SPEAKER_03: okay, this is the game that you have to see if you're back or not.
20:45
SPEAKER_03: This is the game, the important game.
20:48
SPEAKER_03: Could be a program defining.
20:49
SPEAKER_03: Have you turned the corner?
20:51
SPEAKER_03: They haven't been able to win that game.
20:53
SPEAKER_03: And then they've receded after that.
20:56
SPEAKER_03: That's generally been Nebraska's...
21:00
SPEAKER_03: That's kind of been their curse a little bit.
21:02
SPEAKER_03: And it's gotten more pronounced.
21:05
SPEAKER_03: Like with each coaching change they've made,
21:08
SPEAKER_03: they kind of haven't been able to get back to the high watermark of the previous guy
21:12
SPEAKER_03: who they decided wasn't good enough to keep.
21:15
SPEAKER_03: And so that's their challenge.
21:18
SPEAKER_03: Can they...
21:19
SPEAKER_03: Can they hang in there after they didn't get their coronating moment?
21:25
SPEAKER_03: They didn't get the moment that defines, okay, Nebraska's back.
21:30
SPEAKER_03: Can you still hang around?
21:31
SPEAKER_03: Because they've still got a lot to play for.
21:33
SPEAKER_03: For Washington, I think this game, there are two questions.
21:38
SPEAKER_03: The question on offense is, okay, is this offense as functional as it looked against Purdue?
21:45
SPEAKER_03: Like, is it going to be able to do against a team that's not Purdue?
21:48
SPEAKER_03: Are you going to be able to do that to a good defense?
21:51
SPEAKER_03: And then maybe more importantly, can this defense get its stinger back?
21:56
SPEAKER_03: Can it get its edge back?
21:58
SPEAKER_03: Because I do believe that in the second month of the season, the defense...
22:04
SPEAKER_03: Whether it was because they felt more pressure because the offense wasn't moving
22:09
SPEAKER_03: the ball, whether some of that frustration tipped over.
22:11
SPEAKER_03: Their defense has not been as good as it was,
22:15
SPEAKER_03: not even as it played in the first half when they were playing
22:17
SPEAKER_03: against inferior opponents.
22:19
SPEAKER_03: The defense hasn't been as good as we expected it to be.
22:22
SPEAKER_03: The second month of the season, I would say, I expected this defense to be better than it was.
22:29
SPEAKER_03: Giving up the points they did to Iowa was deeply—that is not something I expected
22:34
SPEAKER_03: from this defense.
22:35
SPEAKER_02: We'll see what the injury report looks like.
22:37
SPEAKER_02: The availability report, I should say, looks like when it comes out later today.
22:41
SPEAKER_02: We're recording this on Wednesday morning.
22:42
SPEAKER_02: It does sound like there's some question as to whether Ramzak Fruin is going to be able to play.
22:47
SPEAKER_02: So probably looking at more reps for guys like Isaiah Ward and Russell Davis, perhaps.
22:55
SPEAKER_02: Sounds like Deshaun Watson, Kai McClendon should both be good to go.
22:58
SPEAKER_02: So they should have reinforcements on the defensive interior.
23:02
SPEAKER_02: They should be pretty healthy.
23:04
SPEAKER_02: Unless again,
23:05
SPEAKER_02: like there could have been something out of the Purdue game or during the bye
23:08
SPEAKER_02: that we haven't heard about yet that would show up on the availability report.
23:11
SPEAKER_02: But for the most part, I mean, it sounds like they'll at least have their guys.
23:17
SPEAKER_02: Anthony Calandria is a fun guy to watch at quarterback.
23:21
SPEAKER_02: Not somebody who is necessarily going to light you up in the passing game,
23:25
SPEAKER_02: though he's certainly capable.
23:26
SPEAKER_02: But man,
23:28
SPEAKER_02: I think it was Ryan Walters who said he really looks like a running back in
23:33
SPEAKER_02: the open field.
23:35
SPEAKER_02: He's not just a fast quarterback.
23:37
SPEAKER_02: He's not just a mobile quarterback.
23:38
SPEAKER_02: He can really run.
23:39
SPEAKER_02: He can make guys miss.
23:42
SPEAKER_02: He can make cuts.
23:43
SPEAKER_02: He's an impressive guy when he's freelancing.
23:46
SPEAKER_02: Threw for 264 yards against Indiana with an interception.
23:51
SPEAKER_02: Completed 58% of his passes.
23:53
SPEAKER_02: Was only 18 of 33 against Oregon for 164
23:58
SPEAKER_02: and a touchdown and an interception.
24:02
SPEAKER_02: Ran for 108 yards against Maryland, 47 yards against Indiana, 38 against Oregon.
24:08
SPEAKER_02: That's with sack yardage counted, so keep that in mind.
24:12
SPEAKER_02: It has not been
24:17
SPEAKER_02: Super successful season for Washington against mobile quarterbacks.
24:22
SPEAKER_02: Ryan Brown at Purdue can run,
24:24
SPEAKER_02: and he hurt them a little bit,
24:26
SPEAKER_02: but they did a pretty good job containing him, all things considered.
24:31
SPEAKER_02: Eastern Washington was never a game and was never going to be a game,
24:34
SPEAKER_02: but their quarterback,
24:36
SPEAKER_02: Kind of gashed him a little bit there,
24:38
SPEAKER_02: and whatever they got done offensively was from him running around.
24:44
SPEAKER_02: Similar story with Utah State somewhat.
24:48
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
24:49
SPEAKER_03: They took advantage of some Washington crashing around,
24:51
SPEAKER_03: just having a guy that'll be back there and muck it up, playground it a little bit.
24:55
SPEAKER_02: You know,
24:55
SPEAKER_02: in a year where like Ryan Walters talked about some of the discipline issues
24:59
SPEAKER_02: with penalties in the non-conference games spilling over into undisciplined eyes
25:06
SPEAKER_02: or undisciplined technique, undisciplined angles.
25:11
SPEAKER_02: That's something that you're really looking for against a quarterback who can run.
25:15
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, I guess it's not been...
25:18
SPEAKER_02: The most dynamic offense against quality opponents, right?
25:22
SPEAKER_02: I mean, they scored 14 points against a tough Oregon defense and 17 against
25:27
SPEAKER_02: a tough Indiana defense,
25:28
SPEAKER_02: but still going to be a challenging day for Washington's defense, I think.
25:33
SPEAKER_03: It's been a weird year for quarterbacks in the Big Ten.
25:37
SPEAKER_03: It's been an exceptionally strange year.
25:40
SPEAKER_03: I mean, in some cases it's injury, right?
25:42
SPEAKER_03: Dante Moore,
25:43
SPEAKER_03: who now,
25:44
SPEAKER_03: Lanning said he doesn't,
25:45
SPEAKER_03: basically kind of,
25:47
SPEAKER_03: I don't think they ruled him out, but it was said he's unlikely to play again.
25:50
SPEAKER_03: Saiyan's hurt for Ohio State.
25:53
SPEAKER_03: But And the question,
25:57
SPEAKER_03: the quarterbacks have not been as good as they were expected to be or
26:00
SPEAKER_03: as they have been in the past.
26:01
SPEAKER_03: Signetti, I saw made a reference of like he considered making a quarterback change for Indiana.
26:09
SPEAKER_03: And it has made me feel that, okay,
26:12
SPEAKER_03: if you get some productivity or stability at that position for Washington,
26:18
SPEAKER_03: like maybe Washington isn't as far off as it would seem because All in all,
26:26
SPEAKER_03: the quarterback play in the Big Ten this year has not been great.
26:29
SPEAKER_03: I don't even know if it's been good.
26:31
SPEAKER_02: It's been a really weird year.
26:33
SPEAKER_02: So there were six games last week,
26:37
SPEAKER_02: six teams on a bye,
26:38
SPEAKER_02: 12 teams playing, and six of them started their backup quarterback.
26:44
SPEAKER_02: And five of those were due to injury, I want to say.
26:49
SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, Bryce Underwood at Michigan just got benched.
26:54
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I mean, it's at the highest levels of profile and NIL compensation across the country.
27:01
SPEAKER_02: Like, there's a headline last week about Sark reaffirming
27:06
SPEAKER_02: that Arch Manning is still their starting quarterback.
27:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
27:09
SPEAKER_02: You know,
27:10
SPEAKER_02: the whole world knows what Bryce Underwood's getting paid,
27:12
SPEAKER_02: and halfway through the season, Kyle Whittingham has benched him.
27:18
SPEAKER_03: What do you make of that, Christian?
27:20
SPEAKER_03: Not Underwood specifically,
27:22
SPEAKER_03: just in general,
27:22
SPEAKER_03: because I immediately flashed to,
27:26
SPEAKER_03: in the NFL— Obviously,
27:28
SPEAKER_03: quarterbacks have increasingly become the top picks in the draft.
27:32
SPEAKER_03: But it's basically a 50-50 proposition.
27:35
SPEAKER_03: When an NFL team drafts a quarterback with a top 10 pick,
27:40
SPEAKER_03: hit rate, I would say, is probably about 50%.
27:42
SPEAKER_03: That you end up being a playoff team with that guy you pick as quarterback.
27:48
SPEAKER_03: It would seem...
27:50
SPEAKER_03: That if you're talking about making those sort of investments,
27:55
SPEAKER_03: if we're looking at how many resources do you allot to your quarterback,
27:59
SPEAKER_03: that the hit rate's going to be even lower in college because there's, I mean,
28:05
SPEAKER_03: trying to You project how high school players going to play in
28:08
SPEAKER_03: a major college football league seems to me that it's much more of a stretch
28:12
SPEAKER_03: than it would be projecting a major college football prospect into the NFL.
28:17
SPEAKER_03: But how do you see sort of the volatility of quarterback production?
28:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, is it just downstream of the stakes and the pressure?
28:26
SPEAKER_02: And it feels like every team's season,
28:30
SPEAKER_02: this has been true to an extent forever,
28:31
SPEAKER_02: but it feels like every team's season hinges entirely
28:36
SPEAKER_02: on this week's game every week.
28:38
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
28:40
SPEAKER_02: And everyone overreacts to every result.
28:44
SPEAKER_02: You know, Washington was on a three-game losing streak and coming out of Iowa.
28:49
SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying this was an overreaction.
28:51
SPEAKER_02: I think the reaction was pretty justified based on how they looked against Iowa especially.
28:55
SPEAKER_02: But, like, the season is over, you know?
28:58
SPEAKER_02: The season is over after the Iowa game.
29:00
SPEAKER_02: They're done.
29:02
SPEAKER_02: And then they turn around a week later and beat who?
29:04
SPEAKER_02: They beat Purdue, right?
29:07
SPEAKER_02: They beat Purdue.
29:09
SPEAKER_02: And suddenly it's...
29:12
SPEAKER_02: There's hope again.
29:13
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
29:15
SPEAKER_03: Some of that's the quarterback, right?
29:17
SPEAKER_02: So it does, again, it all comes back to the quarterback.
29:24
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, maybe there is just so much pressure on if what you're doing isn't working
29:31
SPEAKER_02: and you are not seen as changing something.
29:34
SPEAKER_02: You are not seen as Dan Lanning firing as offensive coordinator,
29:39
SPEAKER_02: even though like,
29:39
SPEAKER_02: does anyone believe that the next guy on staff calling plays is going to fix
29:44
SPEAKER_02: that offense this year?
29:46
SPEAKER_02: Probably not, but like you need to be seen as fixing the problem.
29:49
SPEAKER_02: You need to be seen as trying something.
29:51
SPEAKER_03: Something needs to be sacrificed at the altar of the gods.
29:54
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
29:55
SPEAKER_03: You can't fire a hitting coach in college football.
29:59
SPEAKER_03: So it's going to be your offensive coordinator.
30:00
SPEAKER_03: We demand blood sacrifice.
30:02
SPEAKER_02: That's exactly what I was going to say.
30:03
SPEAKER_02: Go find the assistant hitting coach.
30:06
SPEAKER_02: Get rid of him.
30:07
SPEAKER_02: Fire an assistant strength coach.
30:09
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
30:10
SPEAKER_02: And so, like...
30:12
SPEAKER_02: It is still college football.
30:13
SPEAKER_02: They are still young people.
30:15
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes a vibe shift is what's needed, right?
30:18
SPEAKER_02: They need a different guy telling them what to do in the huddle.
30:23
SPEAKER_02: Maybe they respond better to the backup or just something different, right?
30:27
SPEAKER_02: Why did Chris Peterson bench Jake Browning in the fourth quarter at Cal in 2018
30:30
SPEAKER_02: to put Jake Hayner in?
30:34
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember that result?
30:38
SPEAKER_02: Did he really?
30:39
SPEAKER_02: And let's remove the result.
30:40
SPEAKER_02: Remove the result.
30:41
SPEAKER_03: Remove the pick six.
30:43
SPEAKER_02: Did he really believe Jake Hainer at that moment in time in his career was
30:47
SPEAKER_02: a better option at quarterback for them than Jake Browning?
30:51
SPEAKER_02: Certainly not.
30:52
SPEAKER_02: He went right back to Jake Browning the next game and for the rest of the season.
30:56
SPEAKER_02: And Jake Browning certainly had his flaws.
30:58
SPEAKER_02: But...
30:59
SPEAKER_02: It was a, what did he say?
31:01
SPEAKER_02: We're just trying to spark something, right?
31:03
SPEAKER_02: Just do something different.
31:04
SPEAKER_02: Do something different.
31:05
SPEAKER_02: Now with that said,
31:06
SPEAKER_02: like this rash of backup quarterbacks playing,
31:09
SPEAKER_02: it's almost all, it's almost all health related.
31:12
SPEAKER_02: It's almost all guys have been there.
31:14
SPEAKER_02: That's what's kind of been interesting to me.
31:16
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if there are more critical injuries in the highest levels of the sport
31:21
SPEAKER_02: at the most important position in the sport this year than there have been
31:24
SPEAKER_02: in past years or if it just kind of feels like it.
31:27
SPEAKER_02: But man, offense is hard in the Big Ten right now.
31:31
SPEAKER_02: It is rough.
31:32
SPEAKER_02: Like I think Matt Rule pointed out at his press conference in
31:35
SPEAKER_02: the six games last week, I don't think a losing team scored more than 13 points.
31:42
SPEAKER_02: And I think, I want to say I looked, I think four of the winners scored 24 or fewer.
31:49
SPEAKER_02: It's just sort of that kind of league to begin with,
31:51
SPEAKER_02: but then you cut out Iowa is a little bit of both.
32:16
SPEAKER_02: I think Heklinski played at Washington because Hank Brown got hurt,
32:19
SPEAKER_02: but then the way he played kind of made clear he probably should have been
32:23
SPEAKER_02: the starter.
32:23
SPEAKER_02: Anyway, that was a close competition through spring and training camp.
32:26
SPEAKER_02: It was kind of 50-50 to begin with,
32:28
SPEAKER_02: but a lot of guys starting at quarterback in this league right now who were not when
32:32
SPEAKER_02: the season started.
32:35
SPEAKER_03: I think it'll be interesting to see how,
32:38
SPEAKER_03: and I guess the quarterback market, because it is a market.
32:44
SPEAKER_03: It very clearly is a market with How many resources,
32:48
SPEAKER_03: how much money,
32:50
SPEAKER_03: what percentage of your spending,
32:53
SPEAKER_03: like whether you want to call it salary or whatever you want to call it,
32:55
SPEAKER_03: but what percentage do you allocate to that position?
32:58
SPEAKER_03: How do you do that?
33:01
SPEAKER_03: Because Bryce Underwood's a really good example of you can decide to,
33:08
SPEAKER_03: all right,
33:08
SPEAKER_03: we're going to go fix this problem by acquiring
33:11
SPEAKER_03: the best high school recruit we possibly can.
33:15
SPEAKER_03: And you get him and not even two years later, it very much appears like Michigan is moving on.
33:21
SPEAKER_03: I'd be shocked if he's back with that team next year.
33:24
SPEAKER_03: And then you start asking sort of questions of,
33:27
SPEAKER_03: is that the best thing to have a quarterback start as a true freshman?
33:31
SPEAKER_03: Well, if you want to get a really good true freshman quarterback,
33:34
SPEAKER_03: if you want to get the best guy,
33:35
SPEAKER_03: you kind of have to create a pathway for him to play right away.
33:38
SPEAKER_03: But those how you handle that position and then just factor in
33:42
SPEAKER_03: the natural like there is an uncertainty in it.
33:47
SPEAKER_03: You can't demand that.
33:49
SPEAKER_03: That your coach or your programmer,
33:52
SPEAKER_03: your GM be right with every assessment they make at quarterback.
33:57
SPEAKER_03: They just won't be.
33:58
SPEAKER_03: And there's, I mean,
34:00
SPEAKER_03: the NFL is the example there that,
34:02
SPEAKER_03: look, you can allocate as many resources and expertise as you want.
34:06
SPEAKER_03: There's an uncertainty to it.
34:07
SPEAKER_03: Some of that's because of how much quarterbacks depend on the protection they get
34:11
SPEAKER_03: and the playmakers they have.
34:13
SPEAKER_03: Some of it is because it's such a projection to think,
34:16
SPEAKER_03: how is this guy going to play at a level where there are much better players trying
34:20
SPEAKER_03: to kill him?
34:21
SPEAKER_03: Where there's how is he going to his processing, his ability to face that down.
34:27
SPEAKER_03: And then I look like at Jed.
34:30
SPEAKER_03: Jed's own personal history is interesting with the quarterbacks he's picked and developed.
34:35
SPEAKER_03: Because for his coaching,
34:38
SPEAKER_03: he hasn't stayed in one place for the most part long enough to really be able to.
34:43
SPEAKER_03: How does a quarterback grow in his system?
34:47
SPEAKER_03: Because he hasn't stayed in the same spot and he's bounced around.
34:51
SPEAKER_03: The benefit of that is that he's got a lot of different systems or options that he can put in.
34:57
SPEAKER_03: He's not dependent on any one system.
34:58
SPEAKER_03: He can accentuate the strengths of a player.
35:00
SPEAKER_03: The downside is that you don't have a lot of information about how guys develop.
35:05
SPEAKER_03: And in the case of Jaden Delora and now DeMond Williams,
35:07
SPEAKER_03: you've seen a guy, a player that he's been really high on, who has not.
35:13
SPEAKER_03: Performed as well as would have been expected.
35:16
SPEAKER_03: Now, DeMond had more time in Jed's system.
35:19
SPEAKER_03: This is his third year playing in it.
35:21
SPEAKER_03: But that's something that wonders to me.
35:24
SPEAKER_03: How do you figure that position out going forward?
35:28
SPEAKER_03: Because, look,
35:30
SPEAKER_03: the short term for this season for the Huskies,
35:32
SPEAKER_03: I think, does depend upon how well Elijah plays.
35:36
SPEAKER_03: And is he...
35:38
SPEAKER_03: Is he able to improve the offense as much as he did against Purdue?
35:43
SPEAKER_03: But the longer-term question is, okay, what does that position look like going forward?
35:47
SPEAKER_03: And maybe it's as simple as you're rolling with Elijah going into next year,
35:51
SPEAKER_03: but that's very much an open question.
35:54
SPEAKER_02: I'm curious to see if they can run the ball, too,
35:57
SPEAKER_02: against Nebraska,
35:58
SPEAKER_02: or if the Purdue thing was just a Purdue thing, especially with Landon Hatchett out.
36:05
SPEAKER_02: That's a thing.
36:06
SPEAKER_02: I don't want to put too fine a point on that,
36:09
SPEAKER_02: but Elijah Brown has not... Well,
36:14
SPEAKER_02: I guess Hatchet and Colt Dietrich rotated against Iowa, so I was going to say he...
36:19
SPEAKER_02: But the bulk of his...
36:21
SPEAKER_02: Play the last six quarters has been with Landon Hatchett at center.
36:24
SPEAKER_02: So like that's a factor,
36:25
SPEAKER_02: but then also,
36:26
SPEAKER_02: you know,
36:26
SPEAKER_02: they really got their running game going with Landon Hatchett back
36:29
SPEAKER_02: and what's it going to look like with him not in there.
36:33
SPEAKER_02: It was kind of interesting,
36:36
SPEAKER_02: like Jed Fish mentioned on Monday that Jaden Lamar was back taking some reps
36:40
SPEAKER_02: at practice and I didn't think a ton of it.
36:44
SPEAKER_02: I kind of thought, okay,
36:45
SPEAKER_02: well that's You know,
36:46
SPEAKER_02: he's sounds like he's on track to maybe get back for like their last couple
36:49
SPEAKER_02: of games.
36:49
SPEAKER_02: But then during his coaches show,
36:51
SPEAKER_02: he seemed to be a little bit more optimistic,
36:54
SPEAKER_02: I guess, that like he has a chance to play a little bit this week.
37:00
SPEAKER_02: I don't know how much to read into that,
37:02
SPEAKER_02: but it does at least sound like they expect to get something more out
37:06
SPEAKER_02: of Jaden Lamar this season.
37:07
SPEAKER_02: He hasn't played since the opener.
37:10
SPEAKER_02: Trey Cooley's healthy enough to play again.
37:13
SPEAKER_02: He left that game with a shoulder injury.
37:16
SPEAKER_02: Just curious to see, can they keep up Brian Bonner's progress?
37:20
SPEAKER_02: Can they keep this...
37:22
SPEAKER_02: If you want to call it momentum from one game that they've built in
37:26
SPEAKER_02: the run game going against what is a very good,
37:31
SPEAKER_02: very physical Nebraska defensive front.
37:35
SPEAKER_03: I think I've been able to see improvement in Bonner over the course of the season.
37:39
SPEAKER_03: Oh, definitely.
37:40
SPEAKER_03: Definitely.
37:41
SPEAKER_03: And Cooley looked a lot better.
37:42
SPEAKER_03: That was the best Cooley's looked.
37:45
SPEAKER_03: He looked like a competent running back.
37:50
SPEAKER_03: It's going to be tough sledding, man.
37:51
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
37:52
SPEAKER_02: Nebraska's 22nd nationally, 3.2 yards per rush.
37:56
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
37:56
SPEAKER_03: That's a defense that gets after it.
38:01
SPEAKER_02: Should we hit Ian and then maybe try to address some Big Ten governance news?
38:06
SPEAKER_02: All right, here is our weekly
38:07
SPEAKER_03: conversation with IP McFarlane.
38:11
SPEAKER_01: Good morning, guys.
38:12
SPEAKER_01: Hope you enjoyed your week off.
38:17
SPEAKER_01: And there wasn't actually that much to watch.
38:20
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the only real action was in the Big 12, including the insane end to that BYU-UCF game.
38:27
SPEAKER_01: I would tell you...
38:29
SPEAKER_01: What I was doing as I was watching that, but it is too long a story.
38:38
SPEAKER_01: We also saw last week,
38:39
SPEAKER_01: and this is early to talk about it,
38:41
SPEAKER_01: but it was a bi-week and you're going to touch on the big topics.
38:46
SPEAKER_01: We saw our first round of firings in the past week.
38:49
SPEAKER_01: It took a while,
38:51
SPEAKER_01: but we saw some relatively Big jobs open up,
38:58
SPEAKER_01: namely Baylor and NC State,
39:03
SPEAKER_01: and a few others that the bells went off and said,
39:08
SPEAKER_01: yeah, something's going to happen here.
39:15
SPEAKER_01: It made me realize that unless Texas makes a move on Sark,
39:22
SPEAKER_01: The epicenter of this coaching carousel is going to be the former Pac-12.
39:31
SPEAKER_01: And I would love to get your guys' take at this weird juncture of the season
39:38
SPEAKER_01: on how many of those schools are going to have new coaches next year,
39:41
SPEAKER_01: because it could be a lot.
39:45
SPEAKER_01: I doubt Washington is going to make a change,
39:48
SPEAKER_01: but You can pretty much guarantee that SC is going to make a change,
39:54
SPEAKER_01: that Colorado is going to make a change.
39:58
SPEAKER_01: I think there's high likelihood that,
40:01
SPEAKER_01: and this is no surprise to anybody who's a Washington fan,
40:04
SPEAKER_01: that Tosh Lupoi is a one-year head coach at Cal.
40:09
SPEAKER_01: And then you have some guys that could make changes.
40:13
SPEAKER_01: Jamarcus Shepard is going to be a very hot commodity.
40:16
SPEAKER_01: And Oregon State could be sadly looking for a new coach again.
40:21
SPEAKER_01: I
40:23
SPEAKER_01: think Kenny Dillingham is pretty well done at his alma mater and he'll be a good candidate.
40:29
SPEAKER_01: If SC has any brains, he'll be the first person they look to.
40:35
SPEAKER_01: But I could also see Dan Lanning leaving Oregon.
40:46
SPEAKER_01: Think he might realize that his stock is still pretty high
40:51
SPEAKER_01: and this season is really bad and they kind of sold out for this year and didn't get
40:57
SPEAKER_01: the results they wanted.
40:59
SPEAKER_01: But there could even be more movement.
41:03
SPEAKER_01: So would love your take.
41:05
SPEAKER_01: Hope you guys are doing well.
41:07
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, go Dawgs.
41:10
Wow.
41:11
SPEAKER_03: Do you really think landing might leave?
41:16
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
41:19
SPEAKER_03: I guess you never say never for the right job.
41:22
SPEAKER_03: But man,
41:24
SPEAKER_03: unless he just really would prefer to be somewhere down south,
41:27
SPEAKER_03: he's not going to get a better job than Oregon.
41:31
SPEAKER_02: Is one of the schools in the tier of jobs that he would leave for going to be in
41:37
SPEAKER_02: a position to hire him after the season that Oregon has had?
41:41
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
41:43
SPEAKER_03: He's...
41:46
SPEAKER_03: He's done enough that I could see it be a Lincoln-Riley-like move when Riley left
41:50
SPEAKER_03: from Oklahoma to SC,
41:53
SPEAKER_03: where it's not like people in Oklahoma were overwhelmingly happy with him right
41:57
SPEAKER_03: then.
41:58
SPEAKER_03: Well, but Oklahoma wasn't coming off a bad season, where Oregon is having a bad season.
42:03
SPEAKER_03: I'd be surprised if Landon left.
42:06
SPEAKER_03: It's just very clear he needs to get somebody that knows what they're doing on offense.
42:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because, again, we've mentioned this, but people...
42:16
SPEAKER_02: Sort of talked about like,
42:16
SPEAKER_02: oh, could he be on the hot seat this year, which doesn't feel feasible to me at all.
42:23
SPEAKER_02: And part of the reason is,
42:25
SPEAKER_02: beyond the obvious of just what he's done in his time there
42:28
SPEAKER_02: and his one mediocre year reason to pull the plug.
42:33
SPEAKER_02: He did still have this card to play, right?
42:35
SPEAKER_02: He did still have the, like, well, you took a chance on some internal hire as a coordinator.
42:41
SPEAKER_02: Their defense is playing well.
42:44
SPEAKER_02: But he still has the fire the offensive coordinator and then write a blank check for
42:49
SPEAKER_02: the best OC available on the market.
42:53
SPEAKER_02: Chip Kelly?
42:54
SPEAKER_02: Would he do that?
42:55
SPEAKER_02: Do you think he would do that?
42:57
SPEAKER_03: If I was him, I would do it in a heartbeat, man.
42:59
SPEAKER_03: Like, Chip...
43:01
SPEAKER_03: Chip annoys the crap out of me.
43:03
SPEAKER_03: And I don't think Chip is a particularly nice person.
43:07
SPEAKER_03: The amount of people who underestimate how good of a football coach he is is shocking to me.
43:13
SPEAKER_03: He's a really good football coach.
43:16
SPEAKER_03: Really good.
43:19
SPEAKER_03: Lanning doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would be insecure.
43:23
SPEAKER_03: And But maybe.
43:26
SPEAKER_03: I absolutely think Chip would take a big fat check to go and not have to do all of
43:32
SPEAKER_03: the public facing stuff.
43:34
SPEAKER_03: What if Northwestern makes the playoff?
43:36
SPEAKER_03: That's crazy.
43:37
SPEAKER_02: Maybe.
43:39
SPEAKER_02: Don't you just think he's got to love his job right now?
43:43
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
43:44
SPEAKER_02: Northwestern, low profile, just calling plays, scheming up wing T, magic.
43:51
SPEAKER_01: Wearing a hard hat.
43:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
43:55
SPEAKER_02: I don't know, man.
43:56
SPEAKER_02: It seems like he's,
43:58
SPEAKER_02: for what he wants to do, it seems like he's found a pretty good spot to do it.
44:03
SPEAKER_02: But then,
44:04
SPEAKER_02: you know,
44:04
SPEAKER_02: any head coach who's going to just promise you, like, yeah, man,
44:07
SPEAKER_02: we just want you to come in and coach ball,
44:10
SPEAKER_02: run plays,
44:11
SPEAKER_02: call plays,
44:12
SPEAKER_02: run the offense,
44:14
SPEAKER_02: teach the offense, young guy to recruit, young guy to worry about salary cap.
44:18
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and Northwestern does have new facilities,
44:21
SPEAKER_03: so maybe I'm judging it by too much of an old retrospective look
44:27
SPEAKER_03: that nobody could really be happy long-term at Northwestern.
44:33
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
44:35
SPEAKER_03: The coaching carousel, Colorado SC, clearly.
44:40
SPEAKER_03: Arizona State, I mean, I guess I could see Kenny Dillingham moving, but it's just, it's
44:48
SPEAKER_03: They're not going to fire him, I certainly wouldn't think.
44:51
SPEAKER_03: And this is a bad sort of jumping off point for him.
45:00
SPEAKER_03: It feels like this year we're not going to have the same level of coaching change
45:05
SPEAKER_03: that happened last year.
45:07
SPEAKER_03: Like when the entire wave of it started with James Franklin being let go.
45:11
SPEAKER_03: It feels like it's not going to be as severe this year.
45:14
SPEAKER_02: It feels like it.
45:15
SPEAKER_02: And it also feels like these high profile schools that are unhappy,
45:18
SPEAKER_02: which is pretty much everybody.
45:20
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
45:21
SPEAKER_02: Who are you going to hire?
45:23
SPEAKER_02: That's always the question,
45:24
SPEAKER_02: but even more so now,
45:25
SPEAKER_02: like if,
45:26
SPEAKER_02: if nobody's happy with their head coach,
45:29
SPEAKER_02: that means that you're not going to be happy with whoever you'd hire to replace
45:33
SPEAKER_02: the guy you want fired.
45:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
45:36
SPEAKER_03: You know,
45:37
SPEAKER_03: I guess I was going to say like,
45:38
SPEAKER_03: Oh, I don't think Kalen DeBoer will be back at, at Alabama.
45:41
SPEAKER_03: I was like, I, I mean,
45:43
SPEAKER_03: he might not be,
45:45
SPEAKER_03: but I don't think it's, I'd be surprised if he got fired by Alabama.
45:49
SPEAKER_03: I mean, he loses a couple more games and it might be taken out,
45:53
SPEAKER_03: but who's Alabama, who would Alabama go get to replace him?
45:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean,
45:59
SPEAKER_02: if it's not,
46:01
SPEAKER_02: like if Oregon's a national championship contender this year,
46:04
SPEAKER_02: like obviously Dan Lanning would be among the top of that list,
46:08
SPEAKER_02: but what, you're going to fire Kalen DeBoer to hire Dan Lanning after this season?
46:12
SPEAKER_02: And would, you know, again, like, would he take that job?
46:16
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
46:18
SPEAKER_03: It's a funny,
46:19
SPEAKER_03: the coaching,
46:22
SPEAKER_03: that coaching carousel world and how it's going to work
46:25
SPEAKER_03: as NIL changes is fascinating to me because it's,
46:34
SPEAKER_03: I don't know, man.
46:36
SPEAKER_03: The bump that you get or the satisfaction that you get from getting rid of the coach
46:40
SPEAKER_03: that everybody's complaining about doesn't,
46:42
SPEAKER_03: like, is Penn State happy now that they turned the page on James Franklin?
46:46
SPEAKER_03: Like, how does that feel a year later?
46:48
SPEAKER_03: Because I would think they would look at it and wonder, like, what, are we actually better?
46:52
SPEAKER_03: And maybe the answer is that was long-term just a bad cultural fit.
46:56
SPEAKER_03: People didn't like the way it felt there with James Franklin.
46:59
SPEAKER_03: But that program does not look better off a year later.
47:03
SPEAKER_02: If Alabama were to fire Kalen DeBoer after this season,
47:05
SPEAKER_02: they would owe him $67.5 million with no offset or duty to mitigate, by the way.
47:12
SPEAKER_03: I will tell you this.
47:13
SPEAKER_03: There are some jobs where the buyout doesn't matter, and I think that's one of them.
47:17
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it could be.
47:19
SPEAKER_02: That's an awful, awful lot, though, for a guy who just signed an extension.
47:24
SPEAKER_03: Think about Texas A&M nuking Jimbo.
47:26
SPEAKER_03: I know.
47:29
SPEAKER_03: Like, we've seen some wild stuff.
47:32
SPEAKER_03: To me, I think that's probably the craziest firing that I'd seen was Jimbo.
47:38
SPEAKER_02: That firing made Jimbo Fisher's job at Texas A&M the best in sports history.
47:45
SPEAKER_03: Has to have.
47:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like, good work if you can get it, man.
47:49
SPEAKER_03: It's a wild, wild economy.
47:51
SPEAKER_02: It's a crazy economy.
47:53
SPEAKER_02: Speaking of the economy,
47:56
SPEAKER_02: Big Ten announced today,
47:58
SPEAKER_02: That it is adopting,
48:00
SPEAKER_02: I'm reading from their press release,
48:02
SPEAKER_02: a conference level rule limiting member institution involvement
48:05
SPEAKER_02: in third party NIL agreements in preparation for the anticipated passage of
48:10
SPEAKER_02: the Protect College Sports Act.
48:11
SPEAKER_02: Basically,
48:12
SPEAKER_02: they're adopting the NIL parameters that are included in that bill,
48:17
SPEAKER_02: which has passed the Senate and now needs to pass the House.
48:23
SPEAKER_02: Reading again from the press release here,
48:25
SPEAKER_02: because there are some numbers in here, which they're usually...
48:28
SPEAKER_02: Usually don't get this level of specificity from the conference office
48:31
SPEAKER_02: when it's announcing things.
48:32
SPEAKER_02: It's generally pretty vague.
48:33
SPEAKER_02: But as permitted by the House Injunctive Relief Settlement,
48:37
SPEAKER_02: the House Settlement,
48:38
SPEAKER_02: the Big Ten Conference-level rule limits institutional involvement
48:41
SPEAKER_02: in arranging third-party enterprises.
48:43
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
49:09
SPEAKER_02: A lot of details that I'd be curious to know within that,
49:13
SPEAKER_02: that are not included in a press release.
49:14
SPEAKER_02: They're not increasing the revenue share ability of a school.
49:21
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't sound like that.
49:22
SPEAKER_02: That's not how it's laid out here.
49:25
SPEAKER_02: It limits institutional involvement in arranging third-party NIL agreements to
49:31
SPEAKER_02: a maximum of $27.5 million per member institution.
49:34
SPEAKER_02: The way I read that is...
49:37
SPEAKER_02: You know,
49:37
SPEAKER_02: a school's partners,
49:39
SPEAKER_02: like its multimedia partner,
49:40
SPEAKER_02: Learfield,
49:41
SPEAKER_02: in Washington's case,
49:42
SPEAKER_02: its apparel partner, Adidas,
49:44
SPEAKER_02: in Washington's case,
49:46
SPEAKER_02: schools have used those sort of partners to build out their third-party NIL and
49:52
SPEAKER_02: to supplement the 20, 21 million that's available through the house settlement.
49:57
SPEAKER_02: So when you see schools are spending 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 million dollars on rosters,
50:06
SPEAKER_02: How are they doing that above the house settlement?
50:07
SPEAKER_02: A lot of it is that.
50:09
SPEAKER_02: So to me,
50:11
SPEAKER_02: it's just a cap on that activity,
50:13
SPEAKER_02: which Washington still has quite a ways to go to even reach that cap.
50:19
SPEAKER_02: And I don't read that as being money that an athletic department could just pay for.
50:24
SPEAKER_02: I don't know right this second how much that changes as far as like a school's capacity.
50:31
SPEAKER_02: I think your capacity is your capacity.
50:33
SPEAKER_02: And now it's just codified that at the conference level
50:36
SPEAKER_02: that you can't exceed 27.5 million in third party or 49 million
50:43
SPEAKER_02: in total institution.
50:45
SPEAKER_02: So the Protect College Sports Act would increase the amount of money
50:51
SPEAKER_02: That athletic departments can like pay directly to players to 49 million.
50:57
SPEAKER_02: So I'm still, I'm a, I'm a little confused by the language in the, the big 10 release.
51:03
SPEAKER_02: What it also does though, is it,
51:05
SPEAKER_02: it caps what they know to be the bulk of third party NIL activity without attempting
51:12
SPEAKER_02: to limit the total amount of NIL money an athlete could earn.
51:17
SPEAKER_02: If, uh, You know,
51:21
SPEAKER_02: beats by Dre comes to your starting quarterback and wants to do
51:24
SPEAKER_02: a million dollar deal.
51:25
SPEAKER_02: For example, there's, there's no limit.
51:28
SPEAKER_02: There's no attempt to limit anything like that.
51:30
SPEAKER_02: Anything that's completely external, the big tens not trying to govern.
51:34
SPEAKER_02: They're just saying, if your school is paying it or arranging it, it cannot exceed this number.
51:41
SPEAKER_03: So.
51:44
SPEAKER_03: Pat Chun has used the term real NIL to talk about actual commercial endorsements,
51:52
SPEAKER_03: where the company is getting the endorsement because they believe it's good
51:57
SPEAKER_03: for their business.
51:58
SPEAKER_03: They believe it's a profitable use of advertising, as opposed to most NIL, which is...
52:09
SPEAKER_03: Most NIL is done because the people want to support the university's football team.
52:15
SPEAKER_03: Right.
52:15
SPEAKER_03: And I guess I'm speaking sort of in plain language rather than all of the...
52:21
SPEAKER_03: The problem that any attempt to regulate NIL is going to run into is
52:27
SPEAKER_03: that you cannot regulate a salary cap.
52:30
SPEAKER_03: You cannot impose a salary cap without having collective bargaining.
52:35
SPEAKER_03: It's illegal.
52:36
SPEAKER_03: Right.
52:37
SPEAKER_03: And this is an attempt around that by saying we are not capping NIL.
52:43
SPEAKER_03: We're capping institutional NIL.
52:47
SPEAKER_03: There's no limit on what a quarterback can earn from his endorsements.
52:50
SPEAKER_03: There is a limit on what the school can arrange for him to learn.
52:55
SPEAKER_03: Is that the best sort of layman's interpretation of what it is?
52:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they're trying to level the playing field as far as what schools are able
53:05
SPEAKER_02: to put together for players.
53:08
SPEAKER_03: Do you trust... Because my reaction...
53:13
SPEAKER_03: Do you trust the Big Ten schools' willingness to abide by that sort of agreement?
53:21
SPEAKER_03: Because my reaction,
53:22
SPEAKER_03: and this might be a little provincial,
53:24
SPEAKER_03: I was like, I think that could work in the Big Ten.
53:27
SPEAKER_03: I don't think there's any way it works in the SEC.
53:29
SPEAKER_03: And I realize that there's a regional element of that,
53:32
SPEAKER_03: and it plays into long-held suspicions or askance views of the SEC.
53:38
SPEAKER_03: But Man,
53:40
SPEAKER_03: LSU was willing to push its conference all the way to the brink of,
53:45
SPEAKER_03: we're going to vote to potentially throw you out if you play these guys.
53:49
SPEAKER_03: And the Big Ten, maybe it'll work.
53:54
SPEAKER_03: It's just such a...
53:55
SPEAKER_03: It only depends upon,
53:57
SPEAKER_03: it entirely depends upon the willingness of your member programs and your coaches
54:03
SPEAKER_03: to be sort of sportsmen about such a funny, funny system.
54:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
54:13
SPEAKER_02: I need to see the actual bylaws.
54:14
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
54:15
SPEAKER_02: To know like, okay, well, what does arranging mean?
54:20
SPEAKER_02: What does involvement mean?
54:27
SPEAKER_02: If your head football coach has a great relationship with the CEO of whoever company
54:33
SPEAKER_02: and he makes a phone call and that person is heavily invested in your program
54:38
SPEAKER_02: or whatever program, was that institutional involvement?
54:44
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
54:49
SPEAKER_03: I think everybody's scrambling,
54:50
SPEAKER_03: trying to find a way of how This is one of several approaches to try and find a way
54:57
SPEAKER_03: to cap the amount of spending without having a union represent the players.
55:03
SPEAKER_03: And this is a version of that.
55:05
SPEAKER_03: That's how I see it.
55:07
SPEAKER_03: And like all caps,
55:09
SPEAKER_03: this depends entirely upon the willingness of your membership to go along with that.
55:17
SPEAKER_03: And I do think that there is a better shot in the Big Ten.
55:23
SPEAKER_03: Than in the SEC.
55:26
SPEAKER_03: But I might be naive about that.
55:32
SPEAKER_03: We'll see.
55:34
SPEAKER_03: It's so funny.
55:36
SPEAKER_03: College sports is hilarious.
55:40
SPEAKER_02: Washington at Nebraska.
55:41
SPEAKER_02: Hey, Washington-Penn State is going to be a day game.
55:43
SPEAKER_02: Did you see that?
55:44
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I did.
55:45
SPEAKER_03: Pumped about that.
55:48
SPEAKER_02: Classic Big Ten matchup in the crisp autumn air.
55:54
SPEAKER_03: It's going to look good.
55:55
SPEAKER_03: That is going to be an aesthetically pleasing matchup between those two schools at
56:00
SPEAKER_03: that specific site at that time.
56:03
SPEAKER_02: I agree.
56:05
SPEAKER_02: Enjoy the game.
56:06
SPEAKER_02: We'll talk to you next week.
56:07
SPEAKER_03: Travel safe.
56:08
SPEAKER_02: I'll try.
56:08
SPEAKER_02: You know, everyone always says that, but I don't really have a lot to do with it.
56:11
SPEAKER_02: You know, you just kind of get on the plane and hope it goes where it goes.
56:15
SPEAKER_02: I hope your travel is seamless.
56:17
SPEAKER_02: How about that?
56:19
SPEAKER_02: See, there's some more utility to that one.
56:22
SPEAKER_02: Seamless travel, Christian.
56:24
SPEAKER_02: We'll talk to you next week.