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Sean O'Connell Show w/Bill Riley - Full POD 8-21-26 · The Sean O'Connell Show

0:00
Speaker 1: You get him fucking apart.
0:02
Speaker 2: Now going on?
0:03
Speaker 3: Now Brown just.
0:09
Speaker 1: Here, he goes to the outside. Brittin Cobby yet the
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Speaker 1: sideline fifty forty five.
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Speaker 4: Forty very girls, twenty ten five touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, print
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Speaker 4: tubby seventy eight girls.
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Speaker 3: Kipson swings and a fly ball ay right fail.
0:28
Speaker 2: It's a condy on that.
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Speaker 1: Unbelieve it all. Oh not forgets it. I don't believe
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Speaker 1: what I just talk. I don't believe what I just talk.
0:40
Speaker 1: Russell will be bound at half court.
0:44
Speaker 2: Stuck him unto.
0:45
Speaker 4: Three ship Stockton sends the Utah jasdy Envy Finals.
0:54
Speaker 1: Robbie Russell now with a chance to send RSL home
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Speaker 1: as Cup champions. Sauda's on his line. Russell approaches.
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Speaker 5: The two thousand.
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Speaker 4: Scott Zampions Zambia like same.
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Speaker 6: This is a special edition of The Shan O'Connell Show,
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Speaker 6: hosted by Bill Riley on Utah's number one sports talk
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Speaker 6: and your Home of the Utes ESPN seven hundred and
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Speaker 6: ninety two one FM.
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Speaker 2: No.
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Speaker 6: Here's three times Utah Sports Broadcaster of the Year and
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Speaker 6: Voice of the Utes, Bill Riley.
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Speaker 1: Hey there, good morning, and welcome into a Friday edition
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Speaker 1: of the shat o'condall show, Bill Riley lucky enough to
1:54
Speaker 1: sit in today in the airchair for Shaan O'Connell, who's
1:57
Speaker 1: apparently near the beach in Tampa, Florida, legedly doing some
2:01
Speaker 1: work for the Pro Fighting League. I am here downtown
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Speaker 1: in the Broadway Media Studios here of ESPN seven hundred
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Speaker 1: ninety two one FM, and so glad to be with
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Speaker 1: you guys. Oh man, can you smell it in the air?
2:16
Speaker 6: Oh?
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Speaker 1: Can you smell it? We're getting close to college football season.
2:20
Speaker 1: Week zero is next week. We're thirteen days away from
2:24
Speaker 1: Utah taking the field against the Idaho Vandals. The Big
2:27
Speaker 1: twelve season is on the doorstep. And I'm so glad
2:31
Speaker 1: to be with you guys today to be able to talk.
2:33
Speaker 1: If you think we're gonna be talking about the NBA today,
2:36
Speaker 1: I love my friend Gordon Chiaza, and I like the NBA,
2:40
Speaker 1: But we're not talking about the NBA today. I love
2:43
Speaker 1: the hockey team here in town to Utah mammoth. We
2:46
Speaker 1: will not be mentioning any mammoth today. We are football,
2:49
Speaker 1: football and more football. College football is thirteen days away
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Speaker 1: here in Utah, and then, of course the NFL is
2:56
Speaker 1: right around the Corner as well. I'm gonna mix both
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Speaker 1: of those in today and I want to hear from you.
3:02
Speaker 1: We are so close to it. Camp ends this weekend
3:06
Speaker 1: for Morgan Scalley's guys as they wrap up camp and
3:09
Speaker 1: then kind of get into i won't say game mode,
3:12
Speaker 1: but kind of game mode preparations as classes begin next
3:16
Speaker 1: week at the University of Utah. I've been up at
3:18
Speaker 1: camp a bunch the last couple of weeks, and things
3:20
Speaker 1: are going well for Utah. I'll put it that way,
3:24
Speaker 1: and I will say this. You've heard me on these
3:26
Speaker 1: airwaves with Sean and with Spence and hosting this show
3:29
Speaker 1: as well. You've heard my podcast, hopefully you've heard my
3:32
Speaker 1: podcast The Crimson Corner or listen to my Under the
3:35
Speaker 1: Headset podcasts with the Utah football staff. I have been
3:40
Speaker 1: very bullish on this Utah football team. I think it's
3:44
Speaker 1: going to be a good year. Nothing I have seen
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Speaker 1: in fall camp has changed that. In fact, it's just
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Speaker 1: reinforced that. So I really feel like it's going to
3:53
Speaker 1: be a good year for Utah football. We'll talk about
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Speaker 1: it today, we'll get your read on it today and
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Speaker 1: all of that good stuff, and you can, of course
4:01
Speaker 1: interact with me. Eight seven seven three five three zero
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Speaker 1: seven hundred is your text number to get on board
4:08
Speaker 1: today here on the Sean O'Connell Show with Bill Riley
4:11
Speaker 1: filling in James Peterson producing things today. Eight seven seven
4:15
Speaker 1: three five threes zero seven hundred is your text line
4:19
Speaker 1: to reach the program today. And I'm toying around with
4:22
Speaker 1: something a little bit later on in the show today.
4:24
Speaker 1: We'll see if we decide to go in that direction.
4:26
Speaker 1: But for now, if you would like to say hi,
4:29
Speaker 1: if you want to drop a line, just whatever, whatever's
4:31
Speaker 1: on your mind this morning, or interact, talk a little
4:34
Speaker 1: football utes, Koog's Big twelve, Big Picture, NCAA, you name it.
4:39
Speaker 1: We can do any of that stuff today here on
4:41
Speaker 1: the program. It's Football Friday. I'm not going to get
4:44
Speaker 1: to host very much on Fridays during the football season,
4:47
Speaker 1: one because Sewan doesn't go out of town nearly as
4:49
Speaker 1: much during the football season. But two, I'm pretty busy
4:53
Speaker 1: with both football duties and other director of broadcasting duties
4:56
Speaker 1: up at the University of Utah. So this this might
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Speaker 1: be the last time I'm hosting this program for a
5:01
Speaker 1: little while. Never know, something might pop up whatever, But
5:05
Speaker 1: for now, this is probably about the last scheduled show,
5:08
Speaker 1: so this is a chance for us to interact the
5:10
Speaker 1: chat now, you can always do that on my podcast
5:12
Speaker 1: as well. I always like to get emails on my podcast,
5:15
Speaker 1: so you can do that too. B Riley at huntsmindt
5:18
Speaker 1: Utah dot edu is my email address, Biley at huntsmindt
5:22
Speaker 1: Utah dot edu. But for today's show purposes, you can
5:24
Speaker 1: just simply use the text line. At least early in
5:27
Speaker 1: this program at eight seven seven three five three zero
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Speaker 1: seven hundred. As we sit here, thirteen days away from
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Speaker 1: the start of the college football season, thirteen days away
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Speaker 1: from Utah and Idaho taking the field at Recycle Stadium
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Speaker 1: in front of what will be yet another sellout, and
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Speaker 1: I think is what's going to be a very good year,
5:48
Speaker 1: very good debut season for Morgan Scalley in Utah football.
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Speaker 1: I certainly think the schedule lines up that way. It
5:56
Speaker 1: is a very favorable early schedule for Utah. We'll get
5:59
Speaker 1: into some of that stuf today of the program. I've
6:01
Speaker 1: got some good guests coming on the program today. An
6:03
Speaker 1: old friend of the program from back of the pac
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Speaker 1: twelve network days. He's now an NFL Network guy. Still
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Speaker 1: does a little bit of college football stuff too. I
6:11
Speaker 1: think for the new PAC twelve. Of course, my man
6:13
Speaker 1: Mike yam is going to join us. Mikeyam at eleven
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Speaker 1: thirty today will join us. I was happy to see
6:19
Speaker 1: Yammer got renewed with the NFL network. I know they
6:22
Speaker 1: and ESPN had been going through some some cost cutting
6:29
Speaker 1: and some budgetary adjustments. So you always worry when those
6:34
Speaker 1: type things come down the pipe that people you know
6:37
Speaker 1: or people you like might be on the chopping block.
6:40
Speaker 1: Yammer is not one of those people, so I'm happy
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Speaker 1: to see him back. We're gonna talk some NFL preseason,
6:45
Speaker 1: regular season and other stuff with him, maybe bring up
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Speaker 1: the swag Copter with him as well. Chris Cameronnie, I
6:51
Speaker 1: have not had cam Ronnie well, I mean, I don't
6:53
Speaker 1: host this show on a regular basis, but I've not
6:55
Speaker 1: had cam Ronnie as a guest and quite some time.
6:57
Speaker 1: I love Chris. Chris is simply one of the most
7:00
Speaker 1: ball writers I've ever come across. He writes for The
7:03
Speaker 1: Athletic Now. He was a trip guy for a long time.
7:06
Speaker 1: And so Chris is gonna come on and we're gonna
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Speaker 1: talk to him a little bit about the college football
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Speaker 1: season coming up, and you know his thoughts on Morgan
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Speaker 1: Scalley's first year, the Big twelve overall, and more of that,
7:16
Speaker 1: and then we'll talk some in state football a little
7:19
Speaker 1: later in the program today, Riley Nelson is going to
7:22
Speaker 1: come by, the old lefty Riley Nelson, who played for
7:25
Speaker 1: everybody seemingly accept Utah in this state. He played for
7:29
Speaker 1: Utah Staight, he played for BYU. He was a high
7:31
Speaker 1: school legend here and I just love talking ball with
7:34
Speaker 1: Riley because he watches all of it and he's always
7:37
Speaker 1: got a good, straight, honest opinion on things. So we'll
7:40
Speaker 1: talk to Riley Nelson on the program today as well
7:42
Speaker 1: as we get you ready for the college football season
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Speaker 1: coming up. Of course, right here on ESPN seven hundred
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Speaker 1: ninety two one, you'll be able to hear me call
7:50
Speaker 1: the games this year with the broadcast team beginning on
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Speaker 1: Thursday night, September. The third pregame coverage I believe should
7:57
Speaker 1: begin about one o'clock. No, I'm sorry about three o'clock.
8:00
Speaker 1: Really it'll be all day long, but three o'clock with
8:03
Speaker 1: Porter Larson, and then myself and the broadcast team will
8:06
Speaker 1: be on board at about five o'clock with a seven
8:09
Speaker 1: o'clock kickoff up at Rice Ecle Stadium. By the way,
8:11
Speaker 1: fan Fest is tomorrow night, a chance for Utah fans
8:14
Speaker 1: to come up and meet not just the football team,
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Speaker 1: but all the different sports teams. That begins at six
8:18
Speaker 1: o'clock tomorrow night. I'll also be calling soccer tomorrow in
8:22
Speaker 1: the heat of the Saturday afternoon as they take on
8:24
Speaker 1: Southern Utah. Come up to yout Field and watch that,
8:27
Speaker 1: or shoot tune into ESPN Plus and see myself and
8:30
Speaker 1: Jane Nalli on that broadcast. So it'll be a busy weekend,
8:34
Speaker 1: but we're gonna kick it off today with a lot
8:35
Speaker 1: of that. We've got the Little League World Series on
8:37
Speaker 1: the TV. You guys know how I feel about the
8:41
Speaker 1: Little League World Series. I'm happy for these kids to
8:43
Speaker 1: be there, but I feel like it's too much. I
8:45
Speaker 1: don't I just I don't need to see. They've they've
8:48
Speaker 1: been running the qualifying rounds of this thing for a
8:50
Speaker 1: couple of weeks now. When I was a kid, the
8:53
Speaker 1: wide world of sports, the wide world of sports, the
8:56
Speaker 1: thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. They would
8:59
Speaker 1: carry the championship game, which was always Chinese Taipei aka
9:04
Speaker 1: Taiwan and somebody from the United States, and Taiwan always
9:09
Speaker 1: felt like they had a bunch of seventeen year olds
9:11
Speaker 1: going against our thirteen year olds out there. But occasionally
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Speaker 1: we win that thing. But now it's just a lot
9:16
Speaker 1: and I know there's not a lot on in the summertime,
9:18
Speaker 1: but man, it's a lot of Little League baseball. And
9:21
Speaker 1: you have to really like baseball to want to watch
9:24
Speaker 1: a lot of little league baseball. I like watching little
9:26
Speaker 1: league baseball when my kids were playing little league baseball,
9:29
Speaker 1: or when I had some tie to little league baseball.
9:32
Speaker 1: But I don't really care about some team from California
9:35
Speaker 1: and some team from Iowa squaring off at Williamsburg. But
9:39
Speaker 1: that's what we've got on the tube here today and
9:40
Speaker 1: we'll keep tabs on that as we go throughout the afternoon.
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Speaker 1: So anyways, I mentioned fall camp ends tomorrow for Morgan
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Speaker 1: Scalley's guys. Things have gone well for those that have
9:51
Speaker 1: been looking for you know, you'll kinks in the armor
9:55
Speaker 1: and things like that. It has been a energetic, upbeat,
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Speaker 1: very professional fall camp, same way it was run in
10:03
Speaker 1: the spring with spring football. This year, Scally had a plan,
10:07
Speaker 1: he knew what he wanted to do. He has executed
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Speaker 1: that plan perfectly. I have had so many people ask me.
10:14
Speaker 1: I've even had some people that had ties to the
10:16
Speaker 1: old coaching staff ask me about, you know what, how
10:19
Speaker 1: are things? How are things going? And I've told that
10:22
Speaker 1: there's nothing to nitpick and dislike, and I'm I'm lucky
10:25
Speaker 1: enough to get to watch a lot of practice with
10:27
Speaker 1: My position is the voice of the utes and director broadcasting,
10:30
Speaker 1: and it's it has gone swimmingly and it's it's been different.
10:34
Speaker 1: It's a different run camp in some of those things
10:37
Speaker 1: and what they did before, but it's it's been impressive
10:41
Speaker 1: and it's Utah has had a good fall camp to
10:44
Speaker 1: this point in time. There's not much time left in it,
10:47
Speaker 1: and then next week they'll just kind of be in
10:49
Speaker 1: regular practice duty as they kind of ramp up to
10:51
Speaker 1: game week. When they get back on Monday, they'll be
10:54
Speaker 1: what ten days to go until kickoff, so they'll be
10:56
Speaker 1: in kind of game week mode even though it's not
10:59
Speaker 1: technically game What's impressed me this fall so far has
11:03
Speaker 1: been the offensive playmakers. I've said it on these airwaves,
11:06
Speaker 1: I've said it on my podcast, I've told everybody that
11:08
Speaker 1: I could talk to, don't I don't know that I
11:10
Speaker 1: can remember Utah ever having this collection of playmakers before
11:15
Speaker 1: in the run game, in the past game. Obviously your
11:17
Speaker 1: quarterback and your quarterback situation is great too, because you've
11:21
Speaker 1: got a top level I really believe Devin dam Pier.
11:24
Speaker 1: I know Noah Fafiita is getting some shine and some
11:26
Speaker 1: others are too, and rightfully so, these are all good quarterbacks.
11:30
Speaker 1: But I think Devin Dampier's got a real chance to
11:32
Speaker 1: be the offensive player of the Year this year. If
11:34
Speaker 1: the season goes as I think it might for the
11:36
Speaker 1: University of Utah, I could very well see him being
11:39
Speaker 1: named the offensive player of the Year. But you've got
11:42
Speaker 1: a great backup situation as well, with a guy like
11:44
Speaker 1: Burt Ficklin. So it's just I've been very impressed with
11:48
Speaker 1: the offense and the offensive playmakers. And another area I've
11:51
Speaker 1: been really impressed with this fall has been the secondary.
11:54
Speaker 1: You know, Sharif Shah always does a great job with
11:56
Speaker 1: the corners. Now you've got Derek Godum back, he's coaching
11:58
Speaker 1: the safeties.
12:00
Speaker 2: You know.
12:00
Speaker 1: Morgan Scalley's commented on a number of occasions about the
12:03
Speaker 1: versatility of the safety room. I like what they have
12:05
Speaker 1: at the corner spot too, So I just I really
12:08
Speaker 1: think that they've got those two areas in particular have
12:12
Speaker 1: really jumped out to me. And obviously there's still some
12:16
Speaker 1: questions and you don't really get answers to it until
12:19
Speaker 1: you kind of get into real play. There's no preseason
12:22
Speaker 1: in college football. But I'm just really interested to see
12:25
Speaker 1: the offensive and defensive line, and especially the defensive playmakers.
12:30
Speaker 1: You know, who will those guys be? And I've said
12:32
Speaker 1: this all the time. John Henry Daily was not a
12:35
Speaker 1: known commodity a year ago. He had one sack in
12:38
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four before he came and became a starter
12:42
Speaker 1: last year and he got his opportunity to be a
12:44
Speaker 1: starter and he blossomed last year before tearing his achilles.
12:50
Speaker 1: I'm looking for somebody to kind of be that guy
12:52
Speaker 1: this year, you know, kind of be that playmaking guy
12:56
Speaker 1: this year that emerges just a little bit. And I
12:59
Speaker 1: think there's some guy out there. I think Lance Holtzklow
13:01
Speaker 1: could be that guy. Think Cash Dylan could be that
13:03
Speaker 1: guy as well. I think we know there's a defensive
13:05
Speaker 1: play playmaker and a guy like Jackson Benny. You know,
13:09
Speaker 1: ever since he's got a chance to be on the
13:10
Speaker 1: field as a walk on now a scholarship player, He's
13:13
Speaker 1: a guy that's just made plays in special teams and
13:16
Speaker 1: on defense as well. So that's one thing that I'm
13:19
Speaker 1: kind of watching early on is who could emerge as
13:23
Speaker 1: a defensive playmaker for this team. But as I said,
13:27
Speaker 1: I just I remain really really bullish because of the
13:32
Speaker 1: offensive talent, because Utah's got a track record of trench development.
13:38
Speaker 1: I know there's questions, and that's okay. You lose five
13:41
Speaker 1: guys to the NFL on the offensive line, sure, there's
13:43
Speaker 1: gonna be questions. Jordan Gross knows that, Morgan Scally knows that.
13:47
Speaker 1: But there's talent in the program and Utah has always
13:51
Speaker 1: had a track record of being able to develop both
13:54
Speaker 1: offensive and defensive linemen. I'm also bullish on Utah because
13:59
Speaker 1: the first half of that schedule this year is friendly.
14:03
Speaker 2: It is.
14:04
Speaker 1: It's a friendly early schedule. It just simply is, if
14:08
Speaker 1: you're being real about it, their first six games or
14:11
Speaker 1: against teams that are not preseason predicted to have great
14:15
Speaker 1: seasons this year. That doesn't mean they won't, because they
14:19
Speaker 1: very well could. But we'll see. But I think that
14:26
Speaker 1: first six games of the year, in particular, the first
14:29
Speaker 1: three non conference games and then the first three conference
14:32
Speaker 1: games set up well for Utah to try to help
14:35
Speaker 1: develop some of that continuity. Then to arguably, at least
14:40
Speaker 1: preseason ranking wise, the two toughest teams that are on
14:44
Speaker 1: your schedule by you who's ranked, and Houston who's ranked,
14:49
Speaker 1: they're both at Rice ecl Stadium. Now, that doesn't guarantee anything,
14:53
Speaker 1: especially in the rivalry game, we know that, but that's
14:58
Speaker 1: a friendly helpful deal for the Utah football team as well.
15:02
Speaker 1: So I think there's a lot of reasons. And I
15:05
Speaker 1: know there's some people on the outside. I know there's
15:09
Speaker 1: some people on the outside that are that are very
15:12
Speaker 1: skeptical of this Utah team, and that's fine. You know,
15:16
Speaker 1: Stuart Mandel is a guy that I considered to be
15:18
Speaker 1: a professional friend, and he does a great job with
15:21
Speaker 1: the athletic He picked Utah to be a seven and
15:25
Speaker 1: five team and go four and five in conference play.
15:28
Speaker 1: And while I respect Stuart, I do, and everybody is
15:32
Speaker 1: entitled to their own opinion. It would have to go
15:35
Speaker 1: cataclysmically wrong this year for Utah to lose five in
15:39
Speaker 1: my opinion, for them to lose five games, you would
15:41
Speaker 1: have to be beset and just riddled with injuries in
15:46
Speaker 1: all your key areas and positions. I just I look
15:50
Speaker 1: at the schedule, and I'm not saying there aren't gonna
15:53
Speaker 1: be losses, because you know me. I don't pick anybody
15:56
Speaker 1: to go undefeated ever, although I would say that Texas
15:59
Speaker 1: Tech has got a really paper thin regular season schedule.
16:02
Speaker 1: If I was picking somebody to go undefeated, it might
16:05
Speaker 1: be Texas Tech because their schedule. But then again, they've
16:08
Speaker 1: got questions a quarterback. What's Will Hammon going to be?
16:11
Speaker 1: Is he back at one hundred percent? We'll see. But
16:14
Speaker 1: my point here is everybody's got an opinion on this thing,
16:16
Speaker 1: and it doesn't really matter because you kick things off
16:18
Speaker 1: in thirteen days, and that's that's what really matters. But
16:22
Speaker 1: I would be very surprised that's Mandel's prediction. And I
16:26
Speaker 1: know sometimes you take swings in predictions, but it is
16:30
Speaker 1: to pick a Utah team that's coming off an eleven
16:33
Speaker 1: and two season, a season that could have very easily
16:37
Speaker 1: been a a twelve to one season, to go seven
16:42
Speaker 1: and five with an enormous amount of talent still in
16:45
Speaker 1: the program. I understand they're replacing the trenches, but if
16:48
Speaker 1: you followed this program for years, they've had a track
16:51
Speaker 1: record of being able to replace those guys. And I'm
16:54
Speaker 1: not saying in any way, shape or form, the offensive
16:56
Speaker 1: line this year is going to perform at the same
16:58
Speaker 1: level the offensive line did last year because last year's
17:01
Speaker 1: offensive line was generational.
17:03
Speaker 2: It was.
17:03
Speaker 1: It's one of those offensive lines you have once, maybe
17:06
Speaker 1: every decade or so, where you have four or five
17:08
Speaker 1: guys all on NFL rosters when it's all said and done,
17:11
Speaker 1: including two first round draft choices. But that what what
17:15
Speaker 1: Mandel predicted in the Athletic this week would be very
17:18
Speaker 1: surprising to me. I would, though, like to hear from
17:21
Speaker 1: you guys today on this What do you see as
17:26
Speaker 1: the floor and what do you see as the ceiling
17:31
Speaker 1: for Utah football this year? From a record standpoint, I'll
17:35
Speaker 1: give you mine in a few minutes, But if you
17:37
Speaker 1: would give me your floor and if you would give
17:41
Speaker 1: me your ceiling, I would certainly like to hear from
17:43
Speaker 1: you on that. And if you're a BYU fan, and
17:44
Speaker 1: I know some of you out there are, you want
17:46
Speaker 1: to give you the floor and the ceiling for Klonie
17:48
Speaker 1: Sataki's team. I would love to hear from you on
17:50
Speaker 1: that as well. Eight seven seven three five three zero
17:53
Speaker 1: seven hundred. That's eight seven seven three five three zero
17:57
Speaker 1: seven hundred to get you in and on board today.
17:59
Speaker 1: I'm the Shano Donald show Bill Riley filling in today
18:01
Speaker 1: for shan okap here in the Broadbaly Media Studios in
18:04
Speaker 1: downtown Salt Lake City. So give me what you see
18:08
Speaker 1: as the floor and give me what you see as
18:12
Speaker 1: the ceiling. From a record standpoint for a Morgan Scalley
18:15
Speaker 1: in year number one. I usually make you, guys, give
18:19
Speaker 1: me a few first, but I'll give you mine right
18:21
Speaker 1: out of the gates, and we can get to some
18:23
Speaker 1: of yours coming up in just a bit. We'll ask
18:25
Speaker 1: cam Roonnie that too, and we'll ask Riley Nelson that too.
18:28
Speaker 1: And Riley's probably got some opinions. Riley might be able
18:31
Speaker 1: to because he's just because he's a Cash Valley guy.
18:34
Speaker 1: And I haven't done a lot of deep digging yet
18:37
Speaker 1: on Utah State. I'll do that coming up soon. More
18:41
Speaker 1: of more of my focus right now has been on
18:43
Speaker 1: this Utah football team in fall camp. I'll turn my
18:45
Speaker 1: attention this weekend. Though, to the Idaho Vandals, I'm sorry,
18:49
Speaker 1: did I say Mount West?
18:51
Speaker 2: Oh?
18:52
Speaker 1: It's definitely the Pac twelve Utah State Aggies, but I'll
18:56
Speaker 1: dig into them a little bit deeper coming up. But
19:00
Speaker 1: Riley can give us a scouting report on them, because
19:01
Speaker 1: again Riley follows everybody in the state because he's just
19:04
Speaker 1: such a ball junkie. For me, as I said, the beginning,
19:12
Speaker 1: the first half of the schedule for Utah is very friendly,
19:17
Speaker 1: and I would be very surprised if they didn't open
19:19
Speaker 1: up the season six to zero. Coming back home after
19:23
Speaker 1: the game against Colorado to face the Houston Cougars. Now,
19:27
Speaker 1: I think Houston is good and I love what Willy
19:29
Speaker 1: Fritz has done. They played a very, very very soft
19:33
Speaker 1: schedule last year. Now, albeit they made a huge jump
19:36
Speaker 1: last year. I think his first season they won three
19:38
Speaker 1: or four games. Last year they won ten. It's a
19:41
Speaker 1: good program, and he's got a veteran quarterback in Connor
19:44
Speaker 1: Wegman coming back. Though there's been a lot of talk
19:46
Speaker 1: about this five star kid waiting in the wings. We'll
19:49
Speaker 1: see good running game, tough stout defense, because that's what
19:53
Speaker 1: Willi Fritz does, old school football coach. But I think
19:58
Speaker 1: being at home at Rice Ecle Stadium that benefits Utah
20:01
Speaker 1: a great deal. I think the schedule really begins for Utah,
20:06
Speaker 1: really begins for Utah with the BYU game, and because
20:11
Speaker 1: it's a rivalry game, and because BYU is very good
20:15
Speaker 1: again this year too. I think that's you know, that's
20:18
Speaker 1: just one of those toss up games you just never know.
20:23
Speaker 1: But then you go to Arizona the week after, and
20:27
Speaker 1: then you play a good TCU team on the road
20:29
Speaker 1: the week after that before coming home to face West Virginia.
20:34
Speaker 1: Interesting yesterday I was listening to Ryan Rossillo's podcast, one
20:37
Speaker 1: of my favorites to listen to, and my friend Stanford
20:40
Speaker 1: Steve Coglin was on this week. You know, Stanford Steve
20:43
Speaker 1: used to come on my show, Game Day Guy, SVP's
20:46
Speaker 1: right hand man. He picked West Virginia to go to
20:50
Speaker 1: the Big twelve Championship game and face Texas Tech. Now,
20:55
Speaker 1: I think Stanford Steve wanted to be a little different
20:57
Speaker 1: because just about everybody's picking BYU with a few outliers
21:01
Speaker 1: maybe a Utah maybe in Arizona, maybe a TCU, but
21:05
Speaker 1: he picked West Virginia. Now, West Virginia is going to
21:10
Speaker 1: have a really good running game. They've got Michael Hawkins,
21:15
Speaker 1: the transfer quarterback from Oklahoma, who's a running quarterback. Rich
21:20
Speaker 1: Rod loves running quarterbacks, and they've got an outstanding transfer
21:24
Speaker 1: running back as well, who was one of the best
21:26
Speaker 1: of the country a year ago. I think they'll be better.
21:28
Speaker 1: Utah sees West Virginia at home in the final game
21:31
Speaker 1: of the regular season, which would be interesting depending on
21:34
Speaker 1: where both those teams are at that point in time.
21:36
Speaker 1: You always wonder in that final game of the year,
21:38
Speaker 1: especially being on the day after Thanksgiving, who's really invested
21:42
Speaker 1: in being there and who's not. But here's what I'll
21:47
Speaker 1: do for you guys today, and then we'll get to
21:49
Speaker 1: some of your text messages. At eight seven seven three
21:51
Speaker 1: five three zero seven hundred my floor for Utah football,
21:55
Speaker 1: meaning it's a good year, but there's some losses mixed
21:58
Speaker 1: in my floor for Youah this year is a nine
22:01
Speaker 1: to three football team. I think the second half of
22:07
Speaker 1: the season is where the challenge lies. And there's some
22:10
Speaker 1: good teams Houston BYU, Arizona, TCU in that second half
22:15
Speaker 1: of the schedule, a couple of those on the road.
22:19
Speaker 1: But the ceiling I see for this Utah football team.
22:21
Speaker 1: And some of you may say I'm crazy on this
22:25
Speaker 1: is possibly eleven and one. I never predict anybody to
22:30
Speaker 1: go undefeated. But if everything falls into place for this
22:34
Speaker 1: Utah football team, because they've got offensive weaponry galore, Kevin
22:41
Speaker 1: mcgiven's got a lot of toys to play with, and
22:45
Speaker 1: if the defense evolves and playmakers begin to kind of emerge,
22:52
Speaker 1: I think this team could be very, very good this year.
22:55
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people are sleeping on Utah,
22:57
Speaker 1: and that's okay, there's nothing wrong with it because you
23:00
Speaker 1: play in a power league. They're sleeping on Utah in
23:03
Speaker 1: that not many people are expecting Utah to be a
23:07
Speaker 1: playoff team or a team that can win the Big
23:09
Speaker 1: Twelve this year. But they're not really sleeping on Utah
23:12
Speaker 1: in the fact that you know a lot of people
23:14
Speaker 1: have picked Utah to be preseason ranked. So I think
23:19
Speaker 1: there's some sleeping, but not a ton if that makes sense.
23:24
Speaker 1: Eight seven seven three five three zero seven hundred. So
23:28
Speaker 1: you guys, tell me Florence Ceiling. And if you're a
23:31
Speaker 1: BYU fan, if you're a Utah State fan, if you're
23:33
Speaker 1: just a college football fan of a particular team, that's fine.
23:36
Speaker 1: Tell me the flor and ceiling for your team. Will
23:40
Speaker 1: Heally begins this today on the text line, Will says
23:43
Speaker 1: ceiling twelve, floor nine. Not too much different for me.
23:50
Speaker 1: But Will Will's saying possible ceiling undefeated. I just my my,
23:54
Speaker 1: my rule of thumb is you never predict somebody to
23:58
Speaker 1: go undefeated. Spencer Cobb says, hey, Bill, six and six
24:06
Speaker 1: for the floor, eleven and one for the ceiling. I
24:10
Speaker 1: think Utah is a great team, but look at Penn
24:12
Speaker 1: State last year and plenty of other teams have high
24:15
Speaker 1: expectation and finish around five hundred. I only say six
24:19
Speaker 1: and six is the floor because that would assume that
24:21
Speaker 1: most things go wrong. That would assume a lot of
24:24
Speaker 1: things go wrong. Spencer, I also think six and six
24:27
Speaker 1: is the absolute floor. It's a pretty good place to be.
24:30
Speaker 1: Plenty of programs would take that, Yeah, but Utah's now,
24:33
Speaker 1: that would not be a pretty good place to be,
24:35
Speaker 1: even for a floor, for a Utah football program that's
24:38
Speaker 1: got a ton of talent in it. So Will I
24:40
Speaker 1: will push back on that. I'm not pushing back on
24:42
Speaker 1: your prediction, but I don't think that's a pretty good
24:44
Speaker 1: place to be. Texter thirty eight to sixty nine, says Bill.
24:48
Speaker 1: Coaches and all of us make our money by pushing
24:52
Speaker 1: through when things go wrong. What will go wrong for
24:57
Speaker 1: Utah this year? And do you see Scaley as an
24:59
Speaker 1: elite problem solver or TBD? Well, you never know till
25:04
Speaker 1: you're in it. But what I will say is Morgan
25:06
Speaker 1: Scalley is an elite thinker and planner, and great coaches
25:11
Speaker 1: plan for things to go sideways.
25:14
Speaker 2: You have that.
25:16
Speaker 1: Second set, you know, that backup plan if things go sideways,
25:22
Speaker 1: So you never know till it's in it. But I
25:24
Speaker 1: would say Morgan Scalley's probably very well prepared for a
25:28
Speaker 1: lot of situations that could pop up. Texter twenty eighty
25:32
Speaker 1: six says, hey, Bill, good to hear from you. Looking
25:35
Speaker 1: forward to the season, there's a lot of talent on
25:37
Speaker 1: this team to contend for the Big twelve. So questions
25:40
Speaker 1: about the old line and the D line, especially the
25:42
Speaker 1: D line because the k State game will always be
25:44
Speaker 1: in the back of my mind. Also, miss the old
25:46
Speaker 1: days when you did to pick the winner pick the
25:49
Speaker 1: score contest. I didn't guess right, but it was still
25:51
Speaker 1: fun to do.
25:52
Speaker 7: Well.
25:52
Speaker 1: Maybe Sean will pick that up. Maybe I'll come up
25:56
Speaker 1: with something on my podcast. We'll see. Thank you for that,
26:00
Speaker 1: Derek says, Hey, Bill, not that I want to pile
26:04
Speaker 1: on BYU's turmoil right now, but if there's truth all
26:07
Speaker 1: the tension between Sataki and Santiago, when he any action
26:11
Speaker 1: be taken on the personnel front for a BYU school
26:13
Speaker 1: leadership or the first present. I have no idea, Derek,
26:16
Speaker 1: I have no idea. I don't know what's true and
26:21
Speaker 1: what's false. I don't know how things work down there.
26:24
Speaker 1: I would be the wrong person to comment on something
26:26
Speaker 1: like that. And by the way, I think you kind
26:32
Speaker 1: of like piling on by. I'm just saying when you
26:35
Speaker 1: usually start a comment out by saying not to pile
26:37
Speaker 1: on something, it's like when you say, well, with all
26:39
Speaker 1: due respect, and then you proceed to insult somebody after
26:43
Speaker 1: you say with all due respect. So just saying. Matt
26:48
Speaker 1: Rigby says, hey Bill, is it a good season? And
26:51
Speaker 1: eleven and one? If the only one is a holy
26:55
Speaker 1: war loss love Kilane except on November seventh? Well, yeah,
26:59
Speaker 1: I mean, you don't never want to lose to your rival.
27:02
Speaker 1: But if you go eleven and one in a season,
27:03
Speaker 1: that's a good season.
27:05
Speaker 2: It is.
27:06
Speaker 1: It's not as good a season as you would hope
27:08
Speaker 1: for because you want to beat your rival in that season.
27:11
Speaker 1: But eleven and one's probably gonna get you to a
27:14
Speaker 1: Big twelve championship game, and that would be good a
27:18
Speaker 1: couple more than We'll grab a break, Bro'll bring in you,
27:20
Speaker 1: Mike cam here, Jordan Peter says, eleven and one for
27:23
Speaker 1: the ceiling, eight and four for the floor. That seems
27:25
Speaker 1: to be fair. Nathan wold Wold wld wold Wold, Hey
27:32
Speaker 1: Bill love hearing you on the air. I would say
27:34
Speaker 1: the floor is eight and four and the ceiling is
27:35
Speaker 1: twelve and zero. Can I say there are a lot
27:39
Speaker 1: of doubters of this ute team. The entire Locked on
27:42
Speaker 1: Big twelve crew be rates J. T. Wittracil for believing
27:45
Speaker 1: in the Utes. You know, one of those Big twelve
27:48
Speaker 1: teams beat the Ducks, Not one of those Big twelve
27:51
Speaker 1: teams beat the Ducks of the Trojans to win pac
27:53
Speaker 1: twelve titles. Now that that's old, that's old memory. This
27:57
Speaker 1: Yut's team is built to win championships and Scaley's gonn
27:59
Speaker 1: figure out coach Galley feels like he has more, has
28:02
Speaker 1: more Urban Meyer plus a little Nick Saban then in
28:05
Speaker 1: him than Wittingham. Well, I think he's got a little
28:08
Speaker 1: bit of Whittingham in him because he played for him
28:10
Speaker 1: and coached with him. Great coaches pick a little bit
28:13
Speaker 1: from everybody and kind of bring that in their full.
28:16
Speaker 1: But yeah, he certainly got some Urban Meyer in him too,
28:18
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about that. Eight seven seven three five
28:21
Speaker 1: three zero seven hundred florin ceiling. How do you see it?
28:24
Speaker 1: Utah fans BYU fans Florin ceiling for you team, Aggie
28:28
Speaker 1: fans Florence ceiling for your team as well. You tell me,
28:32
Speaker 1: we'll read more of your text messages coming up in
28:35
Speaker 1: just a bit. Maybe, maybe, just maybe we'll take some
28:39
Speaker 1: telephone calls later too. I don't know if I've taken
28:43
Speaker 1: a telephone call in years. Probably the last couple of
28:46
Speaker 1: years I was doing this show, it was all text.
28:49
Speaker 1: But maybe maybe for some of you out there that
28:52
Speaker 1: might want to place a telephone call today and chat
28:55
Speaker 1: just a little bit, we'll do that. We'll see maybe
28:58
Speaker 1: at the one o'clock hour, we'll see how it goes.
29:01
Speaker 1: Great to be with you today on a Friday, thirteen
29:04
Speaker 1: days out from kickoff. Talk to our old friend Mike
29:06
Speaker 1: Yam coming up next from the NFL Network right here
29:09
Speaker 1: on the Shad O'Connell Show on ESPN seven hundred and
29:11
Speaker 1: ninety two one FM.
29:19
Speaker 2: You're tuned to.
29:19
Speaker 6: The Sean O'Connell Show for the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of
29:23
Speaker 6: ESPN seven hundred at ninety two to one a FM.
29:29
Speaker 1: What an appropriate song to come back with for our
29:32
Speaker 1: next guest. I don't get to talk to him very
29:37
Speaker 1: often anymore because, of course I'm not in this space
29:39
Speaker 1: anymore now as director of Broadcasting at the University of Utah,
29:44
Speaker 1: so I don't deal in the NFL realm as much
29:46
Speaker 1: as I used to. Most everything's collegiate now. But having
29:50
Speaker 1: dismiss this charming man, bring us in with our next guest.
29:54
Speaker 1: NFL Network host and of course man about town in
29:59
Speaker 1: Los Angeles sometimes just sometimes, probably thinks back on the
30:03
Speaker 1: days where he would try to field punts it's Utah
30:06
Speaker 1: football practice in the fall, and or hop on the
30:09
Speaker 1: swag pot copter with Kevin Sumlin. Our friend Mike Yam
30:13
Speaker 1: kind enough to walk down memory Lane and talk a
30:15
Speaker 1: little ball with us today. How are you, Mike?
30:18
Speaker 2: There is so much to unpack on the last thirty
30:21
Speaker 2: seconds of this radio show, and it's like, we're just
30:24
Speaker 2: not even close. We might have to do the whole
30:26
Speaker 2: arm show together at some point. First of all, Man,
30:29
Speaker 2: when I get a text message from you about popping on,
30:31
Speaker 2: you know, the answer is always going to be yes,
30:33
Speaker 2: I misshopping on with you. You're randomly because I saw
30:37
Speaker 2: or heard the rejoin with about Sean O'Connell. I don't
30:41
Speaker 2: even want to spoil this because at some point I
30:42
Speaker 2: got to come on and just tell the story with him.
30:45
Speaker 2: I saw him in person a few weeks ago in
30:47
Speaker 2: midtown Manhattan, randomly, on the streets of New York City.
30:51
Speaker 1: So that story for another.
30:53
Speaker 2: Day when OSI's back. But you and I, Man, there's
30:56
Speaker 2: a lot of Like I said, I'm thrilled we can
30:59
Speaker 2: go down memory lane, and you mentioned catching the punts
31:01
Speaker 2: and the whole thing. I actually thought about that the
31:04
Speaker 2: other day because Travis Hunter was kicking field goals. So
31:09
Speaker 2: we were talking on our show on NFL Network about
31:12
Speaker 2: you know, him maybe being like a three you know,
31:13
Speaker 2: three way player, and we started talking like, hey, how
31:16
Speaker 2: hard do you think it is to kick field goals?
31:18
Speaker 2: And I'm thinking of myself, Well, one I've done that
31:21
Speaker 2: in Salt Lake City two. I've also you know, fielded
31:24
Speaker 2: punts or at least tried to feel the punts. I
31:25
Speaker 2: shouldn't even say I did it because I didn't, but
31:27
Speaker 2: I was out there making the attempt. So once again
31:30
Speaker 2: we could talk fall, we could go down memory lane.
31:32
Speaker 2: But it's great to be with you.
31:34
Speaker 1: Man, great to be with you too. Were you guess speaking?
31:37
Speaker 1: Were you back walking the halls of Fordham? Is that
31:39
Speaker 1: why you were back in the city.
31:41
Speaker 2: No, the crazy thing I had like a small window before,
31:44
Speaker 2: and you know how this goes, man, Like we get
31:47
Speaker 2: we have a college footble around the corner. I'll be
31:49
Speaker 2: doing the CW this year. I got NFL Network, NFL
31:52
Speaker 2: Media and then the NBA. So really on August twenty ninth, essentially,
31:57
Speaker 2: like there's no days off for a few months for me.
31:59
Speaker 2: Like you just you're kind of everywhere and it's great
32:01
Speaker 2: and it's awesome. So it's the last time I could
32:03
Speaker 2: see my parents so in person unless they come out
32:06
Speaker 2: and I tell them not even come out in the
32:08
Speaker 2: fall because I don't I can't even hang out with them.
32:11
Speaker 2: So it kind of thing. So I was there, I
32:12
Speaker 2: was seeing family, I had my cousins that were there
32:15
Speaker 2: that I hadn't seen in a while. It was just
32:16
Speaker 2: like a family thing and it was awesome, And I
32:19
Speaker 2: get insanely homesick, and on my flight home to Los Angeles,
32:22
Speaker 2: I think, what am I doing? I need to just
32:24
Speaker 2: try to find any job, you know, back home, just
32:27
Speaker 2: so I can be closer to them. But nonetheless than
32:31
Speaker 2: you know, I'm getting ready for the start of football,
32:33
Speaker 2: So we'll table that for another time.
32:35
Speaker 1: I did the same thing two weeks ago, we went
32:37
Speaker 1: back to see my parents in their new place in
32:39
Speaker 1: Kansas City. Because once the kind of the middle of
32:41
Speaker 1: August hits you just you don't have that time anymore.
32:44
Speaker 1: My question is, did you have that big bowl of
32:46
Speaker 1: fried rice and mari andara while you were back with
32:48
Speaker 1: your parents?
32:51
Speaker 2: Separately together, not on the same plate. But I do
32:54
Speaker 2: appreciate the reference big time.
32:57
Speaker 1: That's Mike's book, by the way. It's a children's book
32:59
Speaker 1: that he wrote years ago, called fried Rice and Marinera.
33:02
Speaker 1: And so if you've got young kids or grandkids and
33:06
Speaker 1: want a good book to read to them at night,
33:08
Speaker 1: go try to find it. Probably it's probably on everything's
33:11
Speaker 1: on Amazon, So I don't say going to send you
33:13
Speaker 1: to a bookstore somewhere. Just go to Amazon and click
33:16
Speaker 1: through and buy Mike's book and read it to your
33:18
Speaker 1: kids or grandkids if you can. All right, by the way,
33:21
Speaker 1: congratulations on your new deal. I was so happy to
33:23
Speaker 1: see that. Just sticking around it. We all know tough
33:26
Speaker 1: times out here on these media streets, especially where you work,
33:29
Speaker 1: so that had to feel good back for another few
33:32
Speaker 1: few years. What are you doing at network right now?
33:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, you know, because ESPN and not to get
33:37
Speaker 2: too much into the broadcast leads of a video Stan
33:40
Speaker 2: took over NFL network, So I'll be still with the network.
33:43
Speaker 2: But NFL Media is still kind of like their their
33:46
Speaker 2: fast channel, which is essentially any of the shows that
33:49
Speaker 2: are on connected devices on like you know rold Codine too,
33:52
Speaker 2: the if there's a you know, NFL Plus, if there's
33:54
Speaker 2: the NFL app that you have on your phone or
33:57
Speaker 2: on Amazon Prime that is and podcast, that's all NFL Media.
34:02
Speaker 2: So I will be with them also this season. And
34:05
Speaker 2: then you know, obviously the the CW and MBA TV.
34:08
Speaker 2: So very very very fortunate because as you made reference
34:12
Speaker 2: to the consolidation in this business, and I know it's
34:14
Speaker 2: not just media. I know, it's a lot of tough
34:16
Speaker 2: times for a lot of a lot of folks. So
34:18
Speaker 2: you know, I feel very, very very fortunate that you know,
34:20
Speaker 2: I have some of this work.
34:22
Speaker 1: So you tell me what's the most interesting story in
34:25
Speaker 1: the NFL right now?
34:28
Speaker 2: Oh god, I haven't been asked that question, I know,
34:31
Speaker 2: because we're always in the leads on on like what's
34:33
Speaker 2: the story of the day. I think there's well, I'll
34:36
Speaker 2: tell you this. We spend a lot of time talking
34:38
Speaker 2: about Fernando Mendoza, and I don't know if that's the
34:42
Speaker 2: best storyline in the NFL. I think there's some other
34:45
Speaker 2: ones that sort of stand out to me. Number one
34:48
Speaker 2: the health of Patrick Mahomes.
34:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know one fan right here, I'm watching those
34:53
Speaker 1: camp updates every day.
34:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know this, And I know you just
34:56
Speaker 2: made reference to to your folks in Kansas City, But
34:58
Speaker 2: like to me, you go from the peak of your powers,
35:02
Speaker 2: I mean, straight up dynasty to whatever it was, ten
35:06
Speaker 2: consecutive years of winning the division and we're talking about,
35:09
Speaker 2: you know, this perennial super Bowl power to not even
35:12
Speaker 2: being in the postseason two years ago. All they kept
35:15
Speaker 2: doing was winning these close games and all that happened
35:18
Speaker 2: last year was losing all of these close games, And
35:21
Speaker 2: to me, I just wonder what happens at the end
35:25
Speaker 2: of this season, if if the Chiefs don't make the
35:29
Speaker 2: postseason again, Because we spend so much time over the years, hey,
35:32
Speaker 2: Josh Allen in this window closing, Like, I think Josh
35:35
Speaker 2: Allen still looks like a superhero out there. I mean,
35:38
Speaker 2: you have Joe Brady, you know, I love the DJ
35:40
Speaker 2: more Fit. Sure, I have some questions about that defense.
35:43
Speaker 2: But to me, when I look at Kansas City specifically
35:47
Speaker 2: all the conversation and national attention that they've gotten for
35:49
Speaker 2: the last ten years, and now if they don't make
35:52
Speaker 2: the postseason for two consecutive seasons, I then really start
35:56
Speaker 2: to wonder what with this franchise is going to look like.
35:59
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of pressure on having some
36:02
Speaker 2: hits like they've had in the past, whether it was
36:04
Speaker 2: the you know, Trent McDuffie certainly comes to mind. But
36:06
Speaker 2: these pieces on the defense where they hit in the draft,
36:09
Speaker 2: like they're trying to rinse and repeat right now. And
36:12
Speaker 2: I'm really looking forward to seeing how healthy Mahomes is.
36:15
Speaker 2: I know we're not going to see him much in
36:16
Speaker 2: this preseason. I know Justin Fields is starting this week
36:19
Speaker 2: in re number two. But the point is, I think
36:21
Speaker 2: that is one of the juicier storylines in the NFL
36:25
Speaker 2: where I'm almost surprised it's not getting a little bit
36:28
Speaker 2: more attention.
36:28
Speaker 1: Well me too, But here's the story that I don't
36:30
Speaker 1: think is getting enough attention. Though they added Kenneth Walker
36:34
Speaker 1: and I know they have an elite offensive line, it's
36:37
Speaker 1: almost as if Andy Reid abandoned the run game the
36:40
Speaker 1: last couple of years and everybody just dropped eight into
36:43
Speaker 1: coverage and said, Patrick, you're great, but you're not going
36:46
Speaker 1: to beat us. When we have eight guys back here,
36:48
Speaker 1: I think that you're going to see them really, especially
36:51
Speaker 1: with Mahomes coming off the ACL. I think that they're
36:54
Speaker 1: going to emphasize the run, and when teams don't have
36:59
Speaker 1: light boxes anymore and they have to come up, I
37:01
Speaker 1: think there's going to be more for him to pass.
37:03
Speaker 1: Now that's my hope. We'll see how that is, but
37:05
Speaker 1: that's my thought. In Kansas City, I don't think the
37:08
Speaker 1: Kenneth Walker. I think when they signed him it did.
37:10
Speaker 1: But everything I'm hearing and reading is you're going to
37:13
Speaker 1: see a lot more of that ball in Walker's hands
37:16
Speaker 1: this year than you are maybe down the field at
37:18
Speaker 1: least early on.
37:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they have to, and I think, you know,
37:22
Speaker 2: it's the first time in a little bit here where
37:25
Speaker 2: I think that there is real pressure on that run
37:28
Speaker 2: game to actually deliver as a like, Kenneth is a
37:31
Speaker 2: known commodity that we feel really good about, and I
37:34
Speaker 2: think in previous years it was Hey, a little bit
37:37
Speaker 2: of high feel good, like this could be good. It's
37:39
Speaker 2: like no, no, no, this will be good because of him.
37:42
Speaker 2: And here's the other aspect of this. We're still talking
37:46
Speaker 2: about this offense and at times a lack of explosiveness
37:50
Speaker 2: downfield without Tyreek Hill. Like we ran a graphic the
37:53
Speaker 2: other day on NFL Network and I turned to I
37:55
Speaker 2: think it was Michael Robinson or mjd or David Carr,
37:58
Speaker 2: one of those guys, and I'm like, how are we
38:00
Speaker 2: still talking about Tyreek Hill not on the Chiefs and
38:04
Speaker 2: not necessarily having a guy that's been able to fill
38:06
Speaker 2: that void, Like this is remarkable to me that that's
38:09
Speaker 2: been the case. But because they've been able to go
38:12
Speaker 2: and you know, win super Bowls, and Emma Holmes is
38:15
Speaker 2: the guy that you know, we're still is in that
38:16
Speaker 2: goat conversation. I think that's mitigated some of that, but
38:19
Speaker 2: I think it becomes more magnified based off of I
38:22
Speaker 2: think it was a six win season last year, and
38:24
Speaker 2: you know, obviously this is gonna be uphill. This division
38:27
Speaker 2: for them is really tough. Like I still feel pretty
38:29
Speaker 2: confident in Denver. Their defense is like absolutely bonkers. I'm
38:34
Speaker 2: I'm you know, I how do you feel?
38:36
Speaker 1: How do you feel about bo Nicks? How do you
38:38
Speaker 1: feel about bow Nicks? Now, let's be fair.
38:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, So two things with bo One. I think he
38:44
Speaker 2: definitely delivered better than most would have anticipated. One. Two,
38:48
Speaker 2: I think he doesn't get enough credit for how strong
38:51
Speaker 2: of an arm he does have. I think that's been
38:52
Speaker 2: on more display for him in Denver than it was,
38:56
Speaker 2: you know, in college. So that's that's two. You know,
39:01
Speaker 2: Am I ready to call him an elite guy? No?
39:03
Speaker 2: But I look at their defense and I think it's
39:05
Speaker 2: a lead and I think that makes a lot of
39:06
Speaker 2: quarterbacks look really good, you know, and they did win
39:09
Speaker 2: that division. And candidly, if he's not hurt, you know,
39:12
Speaker 2: maybe we're talking about them, you know, against the Patriots,
39:15
Speaker 2: maybe we're talking about them as the super Bowl team.
39:17
Speaker 2: So it's you know, do I think New England's getting
39:20
Speaker 2: back to a super Bowl this year? No? Do I
39:22
Speaker 2: think Seattle know, just because it's so hard to do that,
39:25
Speaker 2: which makes it, by the way that Chiefs runs so
39:28
Speaker 2: so spectacular. But you know, Denver to me, if you said, like, hey, pick,
39:32
Speaker 2: I don't know four or five teams, if you were
39:35
Speaker 2: making an educated guest on who could be in the
39:37
Speaker 2: super Bowl, Denver would be They would be on my list.
39:41
Speaker 2: And I don't think I guess I'm indirectly answering your question. Bill.
39:45
Speaker 2: I don't know if I could say that if I
39:46
Speaker 2: didn't have confidence in Bonix.
39:48
Speaker 1: Okay, fair enough, my GAM's with us. Our friend from
39:50
Speaker 1: the NFL network. You mentioned Josh Allen, and I think
39:54
Speaker 1: Josh Allen is a fantastic talent. Josh Allen doesn't play
39:58
Speaker 1: his best in the playoffs, as we saw last year.
40:01
Speaker 1: If there was ever a year for Buffalo to get
40:03
Speaker 1: to the super Bowl in Josh Allen to do it,
40:06
Speaker 1: everything was set for him to do it a year
40:08
Speaker 1: ago and he wasn't able to do it. So I mean, again,
40:12
Speaker 1: I'm not saying he's not a very good player and
40:14
Speaker 1: an elite talent and you'd love to have him on
40:16
Speaker 1: your fantasy football team. But at some point in time,
40:19
Speaker 1: Josh Allen's got to do. So he didn't have the
40:20
Speaker 1: Mahomes thing hanging over him last year. Yeah, he didn't
40:23
Speaker 1: have thirteen seconds last year. He had a beat up
40:26
Speaker 1: Denver team and he turned it over four times and
40:28
Speaker 1: he was really the reason they lost and maybe big
40:31
Speaker 1: reason why McDermott got fired. So I mean, is it
40:34
Speaker 1: kind of put up or shut up time now for
40:36
Speaker 1: Josh Allen and Buffalo?
40:39
Speaker 2: You know, I agree wholeheartedly with a lot of the
40:42
Speaker 2: things that you just said, But then I take a
40:44
Speaker 2: step back and I say, Okay, I can make the
40:46
Speaker 2: same exact claim for two time MVP and Lamar Jackson.
40:50
Speaker 1: Oh sure sure.
40:51
Speaker 2: And you know we were having a conversation before last season,
40:55
Speaker 2: when are we going to see Clemson Trevor Lawrence? Like
40:58
Speaker 2: this is a make or break and yet their offense,
41:01
Speaker 2: you know, basically weeks eleven through the end of the
41:04
Speaker 2: season were putting up like thirty four points per game,
41:06
Speaker 2: and you know they were able to find another year
41:08
Speaker 2: that's there. So I almost feel like, and I don't
41:12
Speaker 2: really I got to give this more thought and maybe
41:14
Speaker 2: you know, the next time you go back on radio Bill,
41:16
Speaker 2: I'll have a better, more educated, thoughtful response to this.
41:19
Speaker 2: But that's what makes a guy like Mahomes, for example,
41:24
Speaker 2: just so damn special. Because if you said to me,
41:27
Speaker 2: like even your question before about Bo, like how confident
41:30
Speaker 2: are you? Like I don't think he's the Homes right,
41:33
Speaker 2: but you know, like you know how different you know,
41:35
Speaker 2: do I have more confidence in Josh Allen or Lamar
41:39
Speaker 2: than I do both? Now? Probably have a little more
41:41
Speaker 2: confidence obviously in those other guys because the sample size
41:43
Speaker 2: is so much bigger. But you're right, like, where are
41:46
Speaker 2: those postseason wins? And I think when the lights are
41:50
Speaker 2: the brightest guy that you know that one year. Actually,
41:51
Speaker 2: Kansas City goes to Baltimore a couple of years ago
41:54
Speaker 2: in an AFC championship game in Baltimore and we're talking
41:57
Speaker 2: about whatever it was. Three design runs for Lamar Jackson,
42:00
Speaker 2: and that's like their best opportunity to go and knock
42:02
Speaker 2: off those dudes. Like to win some of these games,
42:05
Speaker 2: you've got to win in the margins. And I don't
42:08
Speaker 2: want to blame just quarterbacks, although clearly that could be
42:11
Speaker 2: the difference for ninety percent of these teams. But sometimes,
42:15
Speaker 2: I mean, think about the matches that the Rams had
42:18
Speaker 2: against Seattle, Like these were absolute street fights out on
42:22
Speaker 2: the football field. It was awesome, and yet I could
42:25
Speaker 2: make a compelling case We're talking about one two plays
42:29
Speaker 2: that would have had the Rams playing in the Super Bowl,
42:31
Speaker 2: and by the way, I think, you know, LA would
42:33
Speaker 2: have beaten and probably smashed you know, New England like
42:35
Speaker 2: Seattle did. So all of these little moments that add
42:38
Speaker 2: up and stack over time, you know, might be the difference.
42:41
Speaker 2: But I'm with you, it was probably a different you know,
42:45
Speaker 2: probably the right time for Buffalo to go and make
42:48
Speaker 2: make a change with McDermott and go to Joe Brady.
42:50
Speaker 2: But I'd also argue, like there's a lot of pressure
42:53
Speaker 2: right now on Joe to try to get over the
42:56
Speaker 2: hump Sean McDermott. You know, you look at collectively what
43:00
Speaker 2: was able to do in Buffalo. I mean, it was
43:03
Speaker 2: a remarkable run. No Super Bowl, clearly, and some exits
43:07
Speaker 2: in the postseason that you love to take back, but
43:09
Speaker 2: you know, they were perennial power in the NFL for
43:11
Speaker 2: the last couple of years, and a lot of that
43:12
Speaker 2: is obviously because of him and what Josh has been
43:15
Speaker 2: able to do on the field. But I'm telling you, like,
43:17
Speaker 2: it is really difficult to win these biggest games, and
43:20
Speaker 2: these guys are compensated to do so and they have
43:22
Speaker 2: to be special. But you're right, you hit the nail
43:24
Speaker 2: on the head, like this is the time, Like Josh's
43:28
Speaker 2: got to deliver right now and this has goten great
43:30
Speaker 2: opportunity for him.
43:31
Speaker 1: AFC to NFC. You mentioned two teams a minute ago.
43:34
Speaker 1: One I think isn't getting enough talk. One I think
43:37
Speaker 1: might be getting maybe a little too much talk. Both
43:40
Speaker 1: in the NFC West. I don't feel like we're giving
43:43
Speaker 1: the Seahawks their flowers quite enough. Now. You're right, things
43:47
Speaker 1: fell well for them, but they dominated and won the
43:49
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. I feel like they're a bit of an
43:52
Speaker 1: afterthought as a defending Super Bowl champion. And then we've
43:54
Speaker 1: got the Rams, who could have maybe been in the
43:56
Speaker 1: Super Bowl last year. And I know there are team
44:00
Speaker 1: and they should be the favor I get it, but
44:02
Speaker 1: we're kind of talking about this Rams team who didn't
44:05
Speaker 1: make the Super Bowl last year as a super team
44:09
Speaker 1: that hasn't really done. Now. I know Stafford won a
44:11
Speaker 1: Super Bowl a few years ago. But there's a lot here.
44:14
Speaker 1: And I sometimes feel when we build these teams up
44:16
Speaker 1: in the preseason, there's always one or two teams where
44:19
Speaker 1: that air comes out of the balloon. And I don't
44:21
Speaker 1: know if that's going to be the Rams, but I
44:23
Speaker 1: kind of feel like they're getting a lot of hype
44:25
Speaker 1: and maybe Seattle's not getting enough, which is probably fine
44:28
Speaker 1: with Mike McDonald.
44:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, Seattle fans. Actually last year during the college
44:34
Speaker 2: football season, I was working with Michael Bumpus, who needs
44:36
Speaker 2: to be Washington state wide receiver, actually played in Seattle
44:40
Speaker 2: as well, but he does a radio show in Seattle.
44:42
Speaker 2: So every Saturday we're talking about the Seahawks and he'd
44:44
Speaker 2: be like, yeah, er, how come you guys don't talk
44:46
Speaker 2: more about Seattle? And I'm like, I know, man, I'm trying.
44:49
Speaker 2: I'm trying, and there's a chip on the shoulder. And
44:51
Speaker 2: then sure enough, you know, they make the run and
44:53
Speaker 2: they win the Super Bowl, and it's like, haha, like
44:55
Speaker 2: the national media, what are you guys doing. You're not
44:57
Speaker 2: paying attention to everyone. You know, there's a little old
44:59
Speaker 2: team the Pacific Northwest just absolutely dominated the Patriots and
45:03
Speaker 2: the Super Bowl and are a really good team. There's
45:06
Speaker 2: a couple of things at play. One, you know, the
45:08
Speaker 2: Koubiak thing. You mentioned Kenneth Walker Walker aside what Kubiak
45:11
Speaker 2: was able to do with Sam, I think it's really
45:13
Speaker 2: special and unique, and I think that's why there's buzz
45:16
Speaker 2: around Vegas when you lose your offensive coordinator. We've seen
45:19
Speaker 2: other teams where that's been a little bit of an issue,
45:23
Speaker 2: you know, that's I think that's a red flag. I'm
45:25
Speaker 2: not saying that they can't overcome it. I'm not even
45:27
Speaker 2: suggesting it. With JSN and Sam is going to come
45:30
Speaker 2: into the season more confident than he's ever played in
45:33
Speaker 2: his entire life coming off of that Super Bowl, do
45:36
Speaker 2: they deserve more credit? Yeah, you're probably, You're probably right,
45:38
Speaker 2: But I would argue, you know, some I look on
45:42
Speaker 2: paper and I know it's just paper, But Bill tell
45:45
Speaker 2: me the team better on paper right now than the
45:47
Speaker 2: Rams are. Like, I don't even know. I don't know
45:50
Speaker 2: the weak point of that team at this point. Like
45:52
Speaker 2: I look at this roster and I just say, what's
45:55
Speaker 2: even their identity? You know, Sometimes you go, oh it's
45:57
Speaker 2: on the defensive side, Oh it's on the offensive side. Yeah,
46:00
Speaker 2: I mean, pick pick your side, like an ad by
46:03
Speaker 2: the Way might be coming back. Like we're talking about
46:05
Speaker 2: a future fall Hall of Famer that might be lined
46:07
Speaker 2: up with with Miles Garrett, Like aarondelld could roll out
46:10
Speaker 2: of bed because Garrett is on on that on that
46:12
Speaker 2: field and get double digit sacks. I mean, it's gonna
46:15
Speaker 2: be bonkers, you know about watching and McDuffie more than
46:17
Speaker 2: most because of your you know, Washington kansasitate like that
46:21
Speaker 2: secondary is gonna be so much better. McDuffie is one
46:24
Speaker 2: of my favorite players in the league. And then we
46:26
Speaker 2: haven't even talked about the reigning MVP with Stafford and
46:29
Speaker 2: Pooka and all these dudes. Like I think that's why
46:31
Speaker 2: it's so the storyline around that team, man, is remarkable.
46:36
Speaker 2: And you know, the worst part about this, And I'm
46:38
Speaker 2: going to say this because I know I'm on Salt
46:40
Speaker 2: Lake I'm in Salt Lake City right now on the radio,
46:42
Speaker 2: and I wouldn't say that it's on in Los Angeles radio,
46:45
Speaker 2: but it's true. The fan base obviously, and I was
46:47
Speaker 2: around Utah football and you know, like it's just it's unbelievable.
46:50
Speaker 2: It's awesome. The musk or rocking that those are fans.
46:54
Speaker 2: And in Los Angeles, when you have a team that
46:56
Speaker 2: looks like this with the Rams, you know what's gonna
46:59
Speaker 2: happen when when like the Niners come to LA, it's
47:02
Speaker 2: gonna be like it's gonna be red inside Sofa Stadium.
47:06
Speaker 2: And I think that's like the disappointing thing. Like I
47:08
Speaker 2: think there's a lack of appreciation even in their own
47:10
Speaker 2: darn city for what this team is.
47:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting though, both those teams that play in
47:15
Speaker 1: that stadium. The Charger fan base kind of stayed in
47:19
Speaker 1: San Diego. There's a little bit of a fan base
47:21
Speaker 1: there that's growing. And the Rams maybe because they were
47:24
Speaker 1: gone for so long, it doesn't feel like that fan
47:26
Speaker 1: base is totally body in either.
47:29
Speaker 2: It's they're not. I was leaving the studio yesterday and
47:34
Speaker 2: if there's a preseason game for I mean, it just
47:38
Speaker 2: is a lot different. Yeah, let me just say this,
47:41
Speaker 2: Like the Chargers are rolling up for a preseason game
47:44
Speaker 2: and it's quiet. I mean I expected more traffic. Like
47:48
Speaker 2: was I smiling on my way to home? Get home
47:50
Speaker 2: because I got home in a reasonable time. Hell yeah,
47:53
Speaker 2: But I'm thinking to myself, how is it not just
47:56
Speaker 2: bonkers out here, because in most.
47:57
Speaker 1: NFL cities it would be Thursday afternoon you should be
48:00
Speaker 1: taking the swag chopper home avoid that LA traffic. Maybe
48:04
Speaker 1: Kevin someone can loan it too. I don't think he
48:06
Speaker 1: probably has proprietal rights of the swag Chopper anymore since
48:10
Speaker 1: he's not a head coach.
48:11
Speaker 2: Right, no question, Although I think it's going to be
48:14
Speaker 2: awesome to use this reference now when lebron is living
48:18
Speaker 2: in New York City and commuting to Philadelphia, so he's
48:22
Speaker 2: using the flag copter. I like it. I'm going to
48:24
Speaker 2: start using that again on NBA TV when we start
48:26
Speaker 2: talking to Hoops.
48:27
Speaker 1: I think you should because maybe he bought it at
48:29
Speaker 1: a really discounted rate from Kevin Slin after his limited
48:34
Speaker 1: use of it at the University of Arizona. Where can
48:37
Speaker 1: we say, tell her, I'm obviously NFL network kind of
48:39
Speaker 1: Monday through Thursday stuff. But where else can we see
48:43
Speaker 1: you right now?
48:43
Speaker 2: Yammer? Yeah, a ton of the NFL channel, which, once again,
48:48
Speaker 2: you know, if you got a connected TV or YouTube
48:51
Speaker 2: or you know, Amazon Prime or NFL Plus, that's going
48:54
Speaker 2: to actually be the bulk of my work. I got
48:56
Speaker 2: a ton of stuff around college football on Saturdays with
48:59
Speaker 2: the CW. I'm just working out my schedule now with
49:02
Speaker 2: NBA TV, so there's a lot and it's gonna be awesome. Man, Like,
49:05
Speaker 2: I honestly am so jacked up. And I hope you're
49:08
Speaker 2: doing the radio show again pretty soon. It'd be awesome
49:10
Speaker 2: to catch up with you in OC and do the
49:12
Speaker 2: whole thing.
49:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, it'd be great. NBA TV. Did they fly to
49:15
Speaker 1: Atlanta or you just do it out of La No,
49:18
Speaker 1: it's Atlanta.
49:20
Speaker 2: When when Turner lost, you know, the NBA rights, NBA
49:23
Speaker 2: CDs no no longer down there, so they are production.
49:26
Speaker 2: I mean, like, talk about the best case scenario. You know,
49:29
Speaker 2: I'm here, you know I love hoops. My first TV
49:32
Speaker 2: job is actually NBA TV, So it was pretty cool
49:34
Speaker 2: to go back. But they're on Burdbank, so I just
49:36
Speaker 2: I do the drive to Burbank. It's amazing. He's putting
49:39
Speaker 2: miles after needed. No Swatch chopper needed there to get
49:42
Speaker 2: into the valley. All right, Hey, thanks so much for
49:45
Speaker 2: doing this today.
49:46
Speaker 1: It's great catching up and again, uh have thunder college
49:49
Speaker 1: football season. Let's CW and we'll talk to you soon.
49:52
Speaker 7: Yeah.
49:52
Speaker 2: No, And seriously, man, I really do I miss I
49:55
Speaker 2: missed these conversations. I miss OC and I really do
49:58
Speaker 2: miss being in Salt Lake City as much as I
49:59
Speaker 2: used to get there when I was at the Pac twelve. Like.
50:01
Speaker 2: It's an awesome town. It's still one of my favorites.
50:03
Speaker 2: So every time I see Utah football or anything related
50:06
Speaker 2: to it, I would smile. So looking forward to a
50:08
Speaker 2: good season this year.
50:09
Speaker 1: Thanks Shammer. Mike aam with us here on the Shadow
50:12
Speaker 1: Condall Show today here on Utah's number one sports dog.
50:15
Speaker 1: I love that guy. He's just always upbeat, always positive,
50:19
Speaker 1: in such a talent you can hear. I mean, he
50:20
Speaker 1: does NFL stuff, he does college football stuff, he's doing
50:24
Speaker 1: NBA TV stuff, living the life. Mikeyam tak it a
50:27
Speaker 1: quick break. We'll come back on the other side. Tell
50:29
Speaker 1: you what they're doing on the PGA tour this week
50:31
Speaker 1: at FedEx Saint Jude and Moore.
50:33
Speaker 7: Come up right.
50:34
Speaker 1: You're an ESPN seven hundred and ninety two one FM.
50:39
Speaker 6: As you were listening to the Sean O'Connell Show from
50:42
Speaker 6: the Murdoch Hyundai Studio of ESPN seven hundred and ninety
50:46
Speaker 6: two to one FM.
50:50
Speaker 1: Big thank you again to Mike gam we're gonna take.
50:52
Speaker 1: This is gonna be a short segment because I've got
50:54
Speaker 1: Chris cam Ronnie coming on on the other side. They're
50:56
Speaker 1: playing the BMW Championship on the PGA Tour this week,
51:00
Speaker 1: part of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and BMW Championship. JJ
51:05
Speaker 1: spawn your Round two leader four under through twelve, ten
51:09
Speaker 1: under for the Turtle. He's got a three shot lead
51:10
Speaker 1: over Patrick Cantley, Roy McElroy and Matthew Fitzpatrick. Also three
51:16
Speaker 1: shots back at seven under par so is Gary Woodland.
51:19
Speaker 1: Gary Woodland is a Jayhawk like myself. He went to
51:23
Speaker 1: the University Kansas. He a little bit younger than I am,
51:25
Speaker 1: quite a bit younger than I am, actually not that much,
51:28
Speaker 1: but maybe maybe seven ten years. But he's a great
51:30
Speaker 1: story because he was diagnosed with a brain tumor about
51:33
Speaker 1: a year and a half ago, and he didn't know
51:35
Speaker 1: what was wrong, and he was passing out, dizzy spells,
51:38
Speaker 1: vision issues, all of that stuff. And I can't remember
51:42
Speaker 1: who it was, maybe it was sixty Minutes or maybe
51:44
Speaker 1: it was one of those thirty East sixties, but somebody
51:47
Speaker 1: did a really good piece on it. He's beaten that back,
51:50
Speaker 1: got that cancer and that brain tumor and remission, and
51:53
Speaker 1: he's doing well again on tour. It's goodness. I just
51:56
Speaker 1: I root for good stories like that and happy for him.
51:59
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52:14
Speaker 1: in value all at you went to golf. So, yeah, Cameron,
52:20
Speaker 1: he's going to come up here. A couple of more
52:22
Speaker 1: text messages. I was asking floor and ceiling for the
52:25
Speaker 1: you to of the Kougs or the Aggies or whoever
52:27
Speaker 1: your favorite college football team happens to be. This one
52:29
Speaker 1: comes in textter forty two to thirty four, says Hey, Bill,
52:32
Speaker 1: so glad to hear you back again. I would have
52:35
Speaker 1: to say, for the first time ever, I feel like
52:36
Speaker 1: my Cougars could be twelve and oh. I've never thought
52:40
Speaker 1: they had as good a team as they do now.
52:42
Speaker 1: I think nine to three would be the floor. Well,
52:45
Speaker 1: you know my policy, I don't say anybody twelve and oh,
52:47
Speaker 1: but you're right BYU has a very good team. I've
52:50
Speaker 1: said this again, one man's opinion. I think the rivalry
52:55
Speaker 1: game this year could be I mean, it could be
52:59
Speaker 1: as big rivalry game as we have had in a
53:02
Speaker 1: long and maybe for what's on the line to play
53:06
Speaker 1: for maybe ever, because I think Utah has got a
53:08
Speaker 1: very good chance of being eight and oh going into
53:11
Speaker 1: that game. I think BYU's got a very good chance
53:13
Speaker 1: of being seven and one, maybe eight to O because
53:16
Speaker 1: the only really really tough game on their schedule is
53:20
Speaker 1: Notre Dame and that's at home. I shouldn't say that
53:22
Speaker 1: Arizona is a good team too. They play Arizona early,
53:26
Speaker 1: so they've in. Utah's got Houston. But if I was
53:32
Speaker 1: a if I was saying it today, I would say
53:34
Speaker 1: Utah's eight and o BYU seven and one going into
53:38
Speaker 1: that game at Rice ecl Stadium, And that could very
53:40
Speaker 1: well be a play in game. Because Texas Tech schedule
53:43
Speaker 1: is soft. It just it is. They don't have to
53:46
Speaker 1: play Utah, they don't have to play BYU. They've got
53:48
Speaker 1: all their really tough games. I think Houston maybe Arizona
53:52
Speaker 1: are in Lubbock, so I think Tech's probably gonna get there.
53:56
Speaker 1: Unless the the Hammond thing, unless Will Hammond's not himself,
54:01
Speaker 1: But that game is going to be huge on November
54:04
Speaker 1: the seventh at Rice. So I know that's a that's
54:06
Speaker 1: three two and a half months away, but you're not wrong.
54:10
Speaker 1: It's a good team that Kilane Sataki has. So Kevin says, hey,
54:15
Speaker 1: bilp ceiling is nine and three, flour is six and six.
54:23
Speaker 1: Replacing the entire offensive line and a first year head
54:25
Speaker 1: coach just gives me an uneasy feeling about the season.
54:29
Speaker 1: That's fair, Kevin, that is fair, and that's why they
54:31
Speaker 1: play the games. But I again, I'll go back to
54:34
Speaker 1: the fact that there was talent and they're replacing the
54:36
Speaker 1: offensive line. But three guys that are potential starters have
54:40
Speaker 1: been in the program and have been coached very high
54:45
Speaker 1: level by Jim Harding before and now and now by
54:50
Speaker 1: by Jordan Gross, So they're not bereft of talent. They
54:55
Speaker 1: just don't have a lot of guys that have started
54:57
Speaker 1: a ton of games, if that makes sense, But plenty
54:59
Speaker 1: of guys that have been in the program, And I
55:01
Speaker 1: get it. I don't think you have to be uneasy
55:03
Speaker 1: about Morgan Scaling. He's been preparing for this moment for
55:07
Speaker 1: a long, long time, and again I'll just go back
55:09
Speaker 1: to the fact that the early season schedule is very
55:13
Speaker 1: manageable for Utah. That gives you time to get reps
55:15
Speaker 1: and kind of get everybody together and on the same page.
55:18
Speaker 1: Second half of the schedule is difficult, So keep those
55:22
Speaker 1: text messages coming in eight seven seven three five three
55:26
Speaker 1: zero seven hundred and maybe just maybe an hour from now,
55:31
Speaker 1: if any of you would like to chat chat like
55:34
Speaker 1: adults do voice to voice. I was gonna say face
55:38
Speaker 1: to face, but you're not in studio. Maybe we'll do
55:41
Speaker 1: it old school. Maybe we'll throw it back and make
55:43
Speaker 1: it a throwback Friday and actually take some phone calls.
55:46
Speaker 1: James's gonna have to test the telephone and see if
55:48
Speaker 1: those phone lines even work still in there. We'll think
55:51
Speaker 1: about that an hour from now. Coming up next time,
55:53
Speaker 1: my friend Chris cam Ronnie from the Athletic on the
55:55
Speaker 1: Sean O'Connell Show, Bill Riley is sitting in on a
55:57
Speaker 1: Friday ESPN seven hundred ninety two one AFM.
56:04
Speaker 6: This is not Sean O'Connell show. You are home of
56:07
Speaker 6: the best inside of your hutes. Let's get back to
56:10
Speaker 6: OC from the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred
56:14
Speaker 6: and ninety two to one a f am.
56:18
Speaker 1: Hour two on a Friday. Ryle sitting in today for OC.
56:20
Speaker 1: He'll be back next week, thirteen days away from college football,
56:25
Speaker 1: kicking off Utes and Vandals on Thursday night, September the
56:28
Speaker 1: third up at Ricycle Stadium. Pregame coverage here but begin
56:33
Speaker 1: at three, kick off at seven, I'll have the call
56:36
Speaker 1: of that's the Morgan scaly Era debuts. Our next guest
56:38
Speaker 1: is covered. Morgan Scalley is an assistant coach now. He
56:42
Speaker 1: kind of covers a little bit from time to time.
56:44
Speaker 1: He's based here in Salt Lake City, of course rights
56:47
Speaker 1: for the Athletic. He'll write about just about anything and everything.
56:50
Speaker 1: Sometimes I'll see soccer pop up. Sometimes I'll see well
56:54
Speaker 1: football pop up. You never know what Chris Camron He's
56:56
Speaker 1: going to write about. But he joins us right now
56:57
Speaker 1: to talk about all of it. Christopher Howard, things.
57:01
Speaker 7: Things are great. How are you man?
57:03
Speaker 1: I'm doing fantastic, good to talk to you. What's going on?
57:07
Speaker 7: Oh? I'm just glad we gotten the Delorio and then
57:09
Speaker 7: went back in time so we can have this conversation.
57:11
Speaker 1: I know, This is fantastic. I've reached out to you.
57:14
Speaker 1: I just thought I hadn't talked to you forever. Congratulations
57:19
Speaker 1: to you and the wife on baby number two in
57:22
Speaker 1: the Cameronnie household. That's fantastic. You've got one of each.
57:25
Speaker 7: Everybody doing well, juggling by doing a very poor job
57:29
Speaker 7: of it. But yes, everyone is happy and healthy. But
57:32
Speaker 7: as you know through lived experience, we'll lean on the
57:36
Speaker 7: football cliche. I just got to win the day, and
57:38
Speaker 7: if we can win the day, we'll be all right.
57:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, we can't look ahead the next week, Chris. We
57:43
Speaker 1: just got to live in the day today. There's no
57:46
Speaker 1: handbook for any of this. You call lots of audibles
57:49
Speaker 1: and you just do the best you can. And if
57:51
Speaker 1: at the end of the day the kids are still
57:54
Speaker 1: breathing and sleeping in their beds, you guys have done
57:56
Speaker 1: your job.
57:58
Speaker 7: It's a spread attack. Our scheme is kind of just
58:01
Speaker 7: an open, open concept with really the ability to do
58:05
Speaker 7: anything and everything at any.
58:07
Speaker 1: Time, well as long as you and your wife are
58:09
Speaker 1: very flexible. Kind of like what Whittingham said, you can't
58:11
Speaker 1: you know, you can't have a plan that takes years
58:14
Speaker 1: and years to learn and you got to be plug
58:16
Speaker 1: and play. As long as you and the wife are
58:17
Speaker 1: plug and play with these kids, you should be good.
58:21
Speaker 7: Yeah. I mean we we know what type of uh
58:23
Speaker 7: you know, human. We want to recruit and try to
58:26
Speaker 7: develop and that's all you got to do, man, You
58:28
Speaker 7: just got to try to develop them as best you
58:30
Speaker 7: can every single day.
58:31
Speaker 1: Well, here's what I'll tell you, though, you better start,
58:33
Speaker 1: you better. You got to recruit them every day though,
58:35
Speaker 1: because they may go in the portal on you and
58:37
Speaker 1: they end up down the street at the neighbor's house
58:39
Speaker 1: because the neighbors have better, you know, better treats and
58:42
Speaker 1: better dinner.
58:44
Speaker 7: Am I going to sound like a terrible parent flash
58:47
Speaker 7: coach that I'll be like, you know, I'll take that
58:49
Speaker 7: any day of the week.
58:50
Speaker 1: Hey, hey, you know, I want people that want to
58:52
Speaker 1: be part of the cam Ernnie team, and if they
58:54
Speaker 1: don't want to be part of the cam Ronnie team,
58:56
Speaker 1: we wish them the best and we'll let them move on.
59:00
Speaker 7: Uh Yeah, it's like with the with the transfer portal announcements.
59:04
Speaker 7: With that being said, Comma, that's if that's if that's
59:08
Speaker 7: what they're gonna do, so be it.
59:09
Speaker 1: Please respect my privacy.
59:11
Speaker 7: At this time exactly, and my decisions and.
59:13
Speaker 1: My decision at this time, I just as we said,
59:17
Speaker 1: thirteen days out and you're not on the day in
59:20
Speaker 1: and day out beat anymore. You kind of watch things
59:22
Speaker 1: from ten thousand feet. What what are you most interested
59:26
Speaker 1: in or intrigued by with year one of Morgan Scalley
59:29
Speaker 1: at Utah.
59:33
Speaker 7: I'm gonna I'm gonna audible on you a not go
59:35
Speaker 7: offensive line, because I think that's the easiest, you know answer.
59:39
Speaker 7: I think it's just a brand new coaching staff. I mean,
59:42
Speaker 7: I think, like it cannot be understated just how difficult
59:46
Speaker 7: it will be to replace the continuity and the familiarity
59:51
Speaker 7: of a staff that knew each other pretty much inside
59:54
Speaker 7: and out. And granted, like you do have guys in
59:56
Speaker 7: new spots. Obviously, Morgan was the defensive coordinator for a
59:59
Speaker 7: long time. Colton Swan takes his position, But you're also
1:00:03
Speaker 7: talking about bringing in more than a handful of new coaches,
1:00:07
Speaker 7: including a brand new offensive coordinator, and as we saw
1:00:11
Speaker 7: during the Kyle Whittingham era, it takes time when you're
1:00:14
Speaker 7: putting together brand new staffs. I think what Utah has
1:00:18
Speaker 7: going for is kind of the benefit of the doubt
1:00:21
Speaker 7: because they've been so successful for such a long time.
1:00:24
Speaker 7: I think a lot of that road and rides on
1:00:26
Speaker 7: the clout of Kyle Whittingham's accomplishments at Utah. But Morgan
1:00:30
Speaker 7: assemble the brand new staff with a lot of new faces,
1:00:33
Speaker 7: and it's easy for us to sit back and say
1:00:37
Speaker 7: they went to the portal, got a bunch of great receivers.
1:00:41
Speaker 7: Utah has been fin at that position. You know. They
1:00:43
Speaker 7: bring back Devin Dampier, they bring back Bird Ficklin Wai,
1:00:46
Speaker 7: Shaun Parker's back. But it's so hard to understand what
1:00:50
Speaker 7: it will look like because so much of this is
1:00:53
Speaker 7: brand new. Granted, the defense will stay the same, but
1:00:56
Speaker 7: you're also throwing in so many new faces into new positions.
1:01:00
Speaker 7: So that's what that's what I'm most interested in. It's like,
1:01:03
Speaker 7: no offense to the vandals, the mighty vandals of Idaho,
1:01:06
Speaker 7: but like, how is Morgan going? How is Morgan and
1:01:10
Speaker 7: his staff going to handle a two minutes drill at
1:01:13
Speaker 7: the end of the first half to try to get
1:01:15
Speaker 7: at least three points? You know, Like it's things like
1:01:18
Speaker 7: that where we just have no proof of concept yet
1:01:20
Speaker 7: because Morgan's never done this before.
1:01:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll say this I think, and I said this
1:01:25
Speaker 1: talking about the players, but I think it kind of
1:01:28
Speaker 1: goes for the coaches too. Utah's got a pretty manageable
1:01:32
Speaker 1: non conference and even early conference schedule, and they don't
1:01:38
Speaker 1: face a ranked team until later on with Houston, and
1:01:42
Speaker 1: now it gets tougher in late October and November. But
1:01:45
Speaker 1: I think from a continuity standpoint on the field, that
1:01:47
Speaker 1: certainly helps things a little bit, especially with those trenches
1:01:50
Speaker 1: that you talked about offensive and defensive lines. But I
1:01:53
Speaker 1: think it helps with the coaching a little bit too.
1:01:55
Speaker 1: You're not playing Notre Dame or or or you know,
1:02:00
Speaker 1: to State or USC in a non conference or any
1:02:03
Speaker 1: you don't have a murderer's row early Again, Iowa State, Colorado,
1:02:08
Speaker 1: Kansas and the Big Twelve are Big twelve teams, but
1:02:11
Speaker 1: these are programs that are down a little bit. So
1:02:14
Speaker 1: if there's any to your point, time to adjust a
1:02:17
Speaker 1: little bit, it's with a kind of an early manageable
1:02:20
Speaker 1: schedule to you know, kind of get a rhythm or
1:02:23
Speaker 1: work some of those kings out a little bit.
1:02:26
Speaker 7: I might be the only one who's upset that we
1:02:28
Speaker 7: didn't get a Broncomendenhall. Kyle Whittingham rematch, which was on tap.
1:02:32
Speaker 7: But I digress. The Big twelve is just it's an
1:02:39
Speaker 7: open ballgame for anyone. Bill Like, I honestly think like
1:02:42
Speaker 7: you're going to see teams who are picked to be bad,
1:02:46
Speaker 7: who will be very good. And I think you'll see
1:02:48
Speaker 7: teams who were picked to be very good and they
1:02:50
Speaker 7: will be bad. That's just what we've learned in this
1:02:52
Speaker 7: conference the last few years. There is no and I'll
1:02:55
Speaker 7: go a bit further to say, like, I don't think
1:02:57
Speaker 7: Texas Tech will be as good as everyone thinks they'll
1:02:59
Speaker 7: be this here ord nearly as good as they were
1:03:01
Speaker 7: last year. They're dealing with their own Mariad, you know,
1:03:03
Speaker 7: issues of stuff. It does help. The Utah schedule is
1:03:07
Speaker 7: quote unquote manageable, but I would behoove everyone to enter
1:03:11
Speaker 7: all of these games a little objectively because you don't
1:03:15
Speaker 7: know how these teams are going to stack up, because
1:03:17
Speaker 7: you have so much turnover in the poral area of
1:03:19
Speaker 7: so many new coaching and coaching coaching staffs at the HELM.
1:03:23
Speaker 7: Like nobody in their right mind would have envisioned a
1:03:26
Speaker 7: couple of years ago that Houston would be considered one
1:03:28
Speaker 7: of the best teams in the conference, their their top
1:03:30
Speaker 7: twenty five team. That's how quickly things can turn around.
1:03:32
Speaker 7: So to your credit and to your point, Utah does
1:03:36
Speaker 7: have a manageable conference schedule, but I don't think there's
1:03:39
Speaker 7: going to be any gimmea games this year in this conference.
1:03:41
Speaker 7: I just don't.
1:03:42
Speaker 1: I agree in Texas Tech has a question at the
1:03:45
Speaker 1: most important position. He's a talented kid, as we saw
1:03:48
Speaker 1: here in Salt Lake last year, but he's coming off
1:03:50
Speaker 1: in ACL and if they felt super confident about him,
1:03:53
Speaker 1: they wouldn't have gone through probably the entire Soresby situation.
1:03:56
Speaker 1: So what happens with Will Hammond's going to tell a
1:03:59
Speaker 1: lot on what the Red Raiders do this year. And
1:04:01
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I've said all along. I think
1:04:04
Speaker 1: Texas Tech is probably ranked, and again rankings don't mean
1:04:07
Speaker 1: anything with the playoff rankings, but having them at twelve
1:04:10
Speaker 1: feels a little high for me right now. And I
1:04:13
Speaker 1: think everybody else is kind of properly placed BYU mid teens,
1:04:16
Speaker 1: Utah late teams to a round twenty. I think Houston's
1:04:19
Speaker 1: going to be good, but to that point, I think
1:04:21
Speaker 1: Arizona is going to be good. I think Kansas State
1:04:23
Speaker 1: could be pretty good. This year depending on how caw
1:04:25
Speaker 1: Colin Klein comes in, but he knows that situation. So
1:04:28
Speaker 1: I agree with you, I don't. I don't think there's
1:04:29
Speaker 1: a lot of layups in this league.
1:04:32
Speaker 7: Well, and just a tiny wrinkle from a breaking these perspective.
1:04:37
Speaker 7: Stuart Mandel reporting that former Boston College and Florida State
1:04:40
Speaker 7: quarterback Thomas Castrianos may end up landing at Texas Tech
1:04:45
Speaker 7: if all this injunction stuff, you know, sorts itself out.
1:04:49
Speaker 7: So you know, Castianos is a is a proven veteran.
1:04:53
Speaker 7: Like I wouldn't say he's going to necessarily blow the
1:04:56
Speaker 7: blow the doors off anybody talent wise, But I don't
1:05:01
Speaker 7: know what will Hammond's acl recovery looks like. I will
1:05:03
Speaker 7: say he looked like he looked like a Heisman Trophy
1:05:06
Speaker 7: candidate against the youth last year. But it's it is.
1:05:11
Speaker 7: It's just so funny, man, because for so long we
1:05:13
Speaker 7: always joked about the PAC twelve just being like a
1:05:16
Speaker 7: coin flip league, being like, yeah, I don't know, man, Like, yeah,
1:05:19
Speaker 7: I'm sure two or three of these teams are always
1:05:21
Speaker 7: going to be in the mix that we have no
1:05:22
Speaker 7: idea about the rest. It's so funny, that U tom
1:05:25
Speaker 7: BYU moved to a different conference together with more teams,
1:05:28
Speaker 7: and it's the exact same thing.
1:05:29
Speaker 1: Well, and I think, to use an old Pac twelve
1:05:31
Speaker 1: analogy where we used to say it cannibalizes itself. I
1:05:34
Speaker 1: think the Big twelve could do that this year. I
1:05:36
Speaker 1: don't know that there's seven or eight teams that could
1:05:39
Speaker 1: win the league, but I know there's seven or eight
1:05:41
Speaker 1: teams that could win on a given Saturday or given
1:05:43
Speaker 1: Saturdays and certainly upset the top.
1:05:45
Speaker 7: Of the league, oh, without a doubt. I mean, like,
1:05:48
Speaker 7: that's why I said there's no gimmas, Like you know
1:05:51
Speaker 7: that you can even take a team like Colorado that
1:05:54
Speaker 7: a lot of people are riding off, like Denounce Anders.
1:05:57
Speaker 7: To his credit, I think made one of the most
1:05:59
Speaker 7: underrated coaching hirings in the offseason by hiring Brandon Maryon
1:06:02
Speaker 7: as AZC, Like, you're going to face these teams where
1:06:06
Speaker 7: you'll be, man, they've been bad the last couple of years.
1:06:08
Speaker 7: It'll be okay. I don't know, A Friday night game
1:06:11
Speaker 7: in Boulder, yeah, very not a very easy place to play.
1:06:14
Speaker 7: It's just there is so much parody in this league,
1:06:17
Speaker 7: and there's so much I think so much unproven talent
1:06:21
Speaker 7: in terms of coaching staff players that it's really hard
1:06:25
Speaker 7: to kind of wrap our head around how this thing
1:06:28
Speaker 7: will look come even come mid October.
1:06:31
Speaker 1: Chris cam Roddie with us from the Athletic to your
1:06:33
Speaker 1: point about Castellanos, we're seeing more of this. There was
1:06:36
Speaker 1: another list that came out this morning and the former
1:06:38
Speaker 1: Utah player was on that list, Blake Cotton. Some of
1:06:41
Speaker 1: these guys that are now eligible to join teams because
1:06:44
Speaker 1: they're not on NFL rosters and they've gotten extra years.
1:06:48
Speaker 1: I mean, Greg Sank speaking out about it publicly this
1:06:51
Speaker 1: week the commissioned the SEC. Do we need to start gettings?
1:06:56
Speaker 1: I mean, I know we do. I know it's probably
1:06:57
Speaker 1: a rhetorical question, but how soon do we begin start
1:07:00
Speaker 1: to start to get some of these guardrails? And you know,
1:07:03
Speaker 1: I think most teams aren't going to bring people in,
1:07:06
Speaker 1: but there's always going to be a Texas tech of
1:07:07
Speaker 1: the world that's got cash laying around. They'll throw it
1:07:10
Speaker 1: at somebody and bring them in. I mean, do we
1:07:12
Speaker 1: need do we need some guardrails on this? Are we
1:07:15
Speaker 1: a little out of control? I think that's maybe a
1:07:17
Speaker 1: rhetorical question.
1:07:19
Speaker 7: It is and I think so, I will say I
1:07:22
Speaker 7: think the Protect College Sports Act, the PCSA, which is
1:07:26
Speaker 7: a bipartisan bill, would I think honestly solve a lot
1:07:29
Speaker 7: of these issues. But as we saw, you know, it's
1:07:32
Speaker 7: taking a break in DC. I think a lot of
1:07:35
Speaker 7: people are kind of giving it a fifty to fifty
1:07:37
Speaker 7: percent chance of passing through both the House and the
1:07:40
Speaker 7: Senate to go into law. But even this morning, like everything,
1:07:44
Speaker 7: bill is like a literal hour to hour type deal
1:07:47
Speaker 7: because you know, a federal judge you know, ruled on
1:07:51
Speaker 7: the Colorado ruling and issue to stay. So now all
1:07:54
Speaker 7: of these guys are in a holding pattern once again.
1:07:57
Speaker 7: The folks that we're trying to come back that maybe
1:07:59
Speaker 7: got cut in preseason in training camp, they can't necessarily
1:08:03
Speaker 7: participate yet, so we're literally existing in an hour's tower basis,
1:08:08
Speaker 7: which is silly. It is it just it. I just
1:08:10
Speaker 7: think like somebody has to grab this thing by the
1:08:13
Speaker 7: scrap of the neck and be like, these are the rules.
1:08:16
Speaker 7: Let's let's figure this out. Because to go from all
1:08:20
Speaker 7: these guys are trying to come back, they're going to
1:08:22
Speaker 7: start practicing with the teams to oh, now there's a stay,
1:08:26
Speaker 7: you know, invoked by a judge at some federal level. Okay,
1:08:29
Speaker 7: now they have to wait. It's it is so kind
1:08:32
Speaker 7: of helter skelter that nobody really knows what to do.
1:08:36
Speaker 7: But in the meantime it also makes it makes it
1:08:39
Speaker 7: more interesting, I think for the casual fan. But I
1:08:42
Speaker 7: think so many people are getting tired of having to
1:08:45
Speaker 7: learn the legal ee necessary to keep up. Honestly, like I,
1:08:49
Speaker 7: you know me, I'm not a very bright person. My
1:08:52
Speaker 7: head is spinning trying to learn all of these legalese
1:08:55
Speaker 7: concepts because it is very difficult to keep up.
1:08:57
Speaker 1: With well, because you and I think about these things.
1:08:59
Speaker 1: We have no power to act on them, but we
1:09:01
Speaker 1: think and talk about them. Who grabs it by the
1:09:03
Speaker 1: scruff of the neck. We know it's not going to
1:09:05
Speaker 1: be the NCAA, So is it going to have to
1:09:08
Speaker 1: be the power four leagues coming together, commissioners doing it.
1:09:11
Speaker 1: Who grabs this thing by the scruff of the neck
1:09:13
Speaker 1: and says, this is how we're going to do it,
1:09:14
Speaker 1: or we're not going to do it this way anymore.
1:09:17
Speaker 7: I mean, I think the fact that both the Big
1:09:18
Speaker 7: ten and SEC supported the PCSA is a huge is
1:09:21
Speaker 7: a huge boon for that bill, But again, like in
1:09:25
Speaker 7: order for it to get through legislation at both levels,
1:09:28
Speaker 7: it's still got a waste to go. And honestly, I
1:09:30
Speaker 7: think if this thing doesn't get through, I have no idea.
1:09:33
Speaker 7: I mean, you're going to get back to square one,
1:09:36
Speaker 7: and at that point, who knows what it's going to
1:09:38
Speaker 7: look like.
1:09:38
Speaker 1: Who's the best team in college football? Chris, Because I
1:09:42
Speaker 1: the way we were talking about the Big twelve a
1:09:43
Speaker 1: minute ago is kind of how I feel about like
1:09:46
Speaker 1: the top seven, top eight, top ten of college football
1:09:49
Speaker 1: this year. I don't I think for the first time
1:09:51
Speaker 1: in quite a while, and maybe it hasn't been quite
1:09:53
Speaker 1: a while, but I don't know if we have a
1:09:55
Speaker 1: definitive best team. But I think we've got a group
1:09:57
Speaker 1: of seven or eight or ten teams.
1:10:00
Speaker 7: I would say Ohio State. I think that's an easy,
1:10:02
Speaker 7: low hanging fruit answer, but I think they have the
1:10:05
Speaker 7: most talent in the country, and talent usually went out.
1:10:09
Speaker 7: The quarterback wasn't all that great last year, but does
1:10:12
Speaker 7: he need to be in twenty twenty six? Probably against
1:10:16
Speaker 7: the top tier teams, but I'll just always roll with
1:10:19
Speaker 7: the team with the most talent. I think Jeremiah Smith
1:10:21
Speaker 7: is a Heisman Trophy contender. He's the most physically imposing,
1:10:26
Speaker 7: flash talented receiver I can remember seeing it in a
1:10:28
Speaker 7: very long time. But again, like last year, like obviously
1:10:32
Speaker 7: they weren't good enough to beat Indiana, so I'll go
1:10:34
Speaker 7: Ohio State. But I do think this is like, this
1:10:37
Speaker 7: is the Big Tens world right now. If you were
1:10:40
Speaker 7: going to ask me to list off the teams that
1:10:42
Speaker 7: I think are the best in the country, I think
1:10:44
Speaker 7: I would probably go in My top five, three or
1:10:47
Speaker 7: four would be from the Big Ten.
1:10:49
Speaker 1: You know what, I found funny. Polls again don't mean
1:10:52
Speaker 1: anything anymore. They're fun for us to talk about. But
1:10:55
Speaker 1: it's the poll at the end of October, the college
1:10:57
Speaker 1: football playoff poll to means something. But when the coaches
1:10:59
Speaker 1: poll came out a couple of weeks ago, Indiana's ranked sixth,
1:11:04
Speaker 1: but they got the second most first place. They got
1:11:06
Speaker 1: fourteen first place votes, but somehow managed to end up
1:11:10
Speaker 1: sixth in the coaches pull. You think there might be
1:11:13
Speaker 1: a few guys out there that are a little tired
1:11:14
Speaker 1: of Kurt Signetti.
1:11:17
Speaker 7: A little bit.
1:11:18
Speaker 2: I'm not.
1:11:19
Speaker 1: I'm not either.
1:11:20
Speaker 7: I think I mean, I just think I think like
1:11:23
Speaker 7: it's he is the exact type of personality and like
1:11:27
Speaker 7: coach that the sport needed to kind of evacuate itself
1:11:32
Speaker 7: from kind of that old guard existing only in the
1:11:34
Speaker 7: in the upper echelon. I mean they lost a bunch
1:11:37
Speaker 7: of talent, though, I mean, like, let's be honest, like
1:11:39
Speaker 7: they you know, Fernando Mendoza, Heisman Trophy winner, starting tailback,
1:11:43
Speaker 7: a bunch of players on the defensive side of the ball,
1:11:46
Speaker 7: Questions about Josh Hoover coming in, who has a boatload
1:11:49
Speaker 7: of talent. But does Kurt Signetti's you know, plug and
1:11:53
Speaker 7: play style of transfer a quarterback continue to be you know,
1:11:58
Speaker 7: successful at the level that it has been. I don't know.
1:12:00
Speaker 7: I mean I would assume so, because just look at
1:12:03
Speaker 7: the last few years. I mean, nobody in their right
1:12:05
Speaker 7: mind ever envisioned Indiana not only making back to back
1:12:09
Speaker 7: playoff appearances, but then to cap off the last year
1:12:12
Speaker 7: going undefeated and winning a national title.
1:12:15
Speaker 1: I love it. Signetti reminds me a lot of Urban Meyer.
1:12:19
Speaker 1: I was just telling some people the other day, I
1:12:21
Speaker 1: was in a meeting. I was lucky enough to cover
1:12:24
Speaker 1: Steve Spurrier in the mid to late nineties when Steve
1:12:27
Speaker 1: Spurrier was at the height of his power. We need
1:12:30
Speaker 1: We don't need fifty Steve Spurrier, Kirk Signetti, Urban Myers,
1:12:35
Speaker 1: but two or three well placed around the country are great.
1:12:38
Speaker 1: Like a few what was a month or two ago
1:12:42
Speaker 1: Steve Steve the Sarkesian coach at Texas made a cup,
1:12:49
Speaker 1: took a couple of shots at fellow SEC schools, and
1:12:52
Speaker 1: then he backs away from him like that. Fifteen minutes later,
1:12:55
Speaker 1: It's like, come on, you said it, stand on it.
1:12:57
Speaker 1: You're at Texas, You've got nothing to fear whatever it
1:13:00
Speaker 1: might happen to be. I just I think a few
1:13:02
Speaker 1: of those guys we lack some of that in college
1:13:04
Speaker 1: football today.
1:13:06
Speaker 7: Yeah, and I think it's easy to fall on like
1:13:09
Speaker 7: the the the overused cliche like we need villains. I
1:13:12
Speaker 7: wouldn't classify them as villains. I would just classify them
1:13:15
Speaker 7: as like characters slash people being unafraid to speak their mind.
1:13:19
Speaker 7: Like the first guy that comes to mind is Mike Leach,
1:13:22
Speaker 7: like Mike's gone, Like Mike Mike was the was the
1:13:25
Speaker 7: epitome of that. It's like Mike would be willing to
1:13:28
Speaker 7: be honest and forthright about pretty much anything at any time.
1:13:32
Speaker 7: Kurt Signetti, you know similar cut from that cloth. I mean,
1:13:36
Speaker 7: I will it's funny you brought up Steve Spurrier because
1:13:38
Speaker 7: like whenever people ask me, like my all time favorite interview,
1:13:42
Speaker 7: like if I have to list three, it was when
1:13:44
Speaker 7: Steve Spurrier just called me back randomly for a story
1:13:47
Speaker 7: like a few years ago, and just like I was
1:13:50
Speaker 7: just like, man, like, this is not real life, because
1:13:52
Speaker 7: it just was like I'd known the guy for a
1:13:55
Speaker 7: very long time and just was totally unafraid to just
1:13:59
Speaker 7: talk that, you know what, the same way he used
1:14:01
Speaker 7: to all those years ago, and we just meet those
1:14:04
Speaker 7: guys honestly, because for a sport that is so I
1:14:07
Speaker 7: think honestly often overwrought with this sense of paranoia and
1:14:13
Speaker 7: giving the other team bulletin board material blah blah blah. No,
1:14:17
Speaker 7: man like lean into the fact that if you think
1:14:20
Speaker 7: your team's good enough, you can back it up and
1:14:23
Speaker 7: then you can go beat him on Saturday.
1:14:25
Speaker 1: He was so great. His I mean, his press conferences
1:14:28
Speaker 1: every week were I mean they were a luncheon and
1:14:30
Speaker 1: you'd have every TV station in the state of Florida
1:14:34
Speaker 1: Miami would drive up toa I mean every there would
1:14:36
Speaker 1: be seventy five or eighty people at a press conference.
1:14:39
Speaker 1: It was unbelievable. And I was talking to Brian Johnson
1:14:42
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago when Brian was at Florida
1:14:44
Speaker 1: with Dan Mullen. He said Spurrier just had an office.
1:14:47
Speaker 1: He was never there, but he would just like pop
1:14:49
Speaker 1: into like quarterback or offensive coaches meetings and just sit in.
1:14:55
Speaker 1: They just walk up to the whiteboard and say a
1:14:57
Speaker 1: couple of ballplays. I thought it might work. You boys
1:15:00
Speaker 1: draw him up and then walk out of the room,
1:15:02
Speaker 1: he said. Brian said Spurry was the best.
1:15:06
Speaker 7: No offense to Matthew McConaughey at Texas. But Steve Spurrier
1:15:09
Speaker 7: is the original minister of culture.
1:15:11
Speaker 1: Absolutely positively, there's no doubt about it. Hey, before I
1:15:15
Speaker 1: let you go, I wanted to kind of because you're
1:15:19
Speaker 1: a guy that's kind of a big picture sport guy.
1:15:21
Speaker 1: I've lived here twenty five years. You've lived here a
1:15:24
Speaker 1: long time too. His Salt Lake City kind of subtly, quietly,
1:15:28
Speaker 1: out of nowhere become a great sports city in this
1:15:32
Speaker 1: country with all that we have here, with what we've
1:15:34
Speaker 1: already had before, and what might be on the way
1:15:37
Speaker 1: here in the near future.
1:15:39
Speaker 7: I mean, I think you'd make an argument it always
1:15:41
Speaker 7: has been. Yeah, honestly, Like it's just a matter of
1:15:44
Speaker 7: like the growth has been so exponential that I think
1:15:47
Speaker 7: people are taking notice. Like I always always would find
1:15:52
Speaker 7: any chance I get to rib my Utah friends, my
1:15:56
Speaker 7: BYU friends, my Jazz friends. I'm like, you guys, come
1:16:00
Speaker 7: playing about your team, Go be a fan in Cleveland, Ohio,
1:16:05
Speaker 7: or go somewhere where, Like all you've experienced is mediocre,
1:16:10
Speaker 7: pained for like three or four decades. The fact that
1:16:13
Speaker 7: Utah and BYU have been as good as they have
1:16:15
Speaker 7: been BYU going back to the eighties, Utah back to
1:16:18
Speaker 7: the early two thousands, the Jazz making the playoffs a
1:16:21
Speaker 7: billion years in a row, RSL winning an MLS Cup title,
1:16:26
Speaker 7: like it is. It is so wild that fans in
1:16:29
Speaker 7: Utah find a way to complain about stuff because their
1:16:32
Speaker 7: teams have been so good and in the mix for
1:16:35
Speaker 7: so long that I think they get this census like
1:16:38
Speaker 7: they're jaded. I'm like, man, like, if your team has
1:16:41
Speaker 7: a puncher's chance seventy five percent way through any season,
1:16:45
Speaker 7: that means you're better than most teams. And every team
1:16:48
Speaker 7: here at the pro college level has pretty much been
1:16:50
Speaker 7: in that mix maybe outside of the Jazz the last
1:16:53
Speaker 7: few years, but and you add the mammothon in year
1:16:56
Speaker 7: two make the playoffs like there's noise gathering around Major
1:17:00
Speaker 7: League Baseball coming here, Like I just think we're seeing
1:17:04
Speaker 7: a significant spike in folks from out of state moving
1:17:07
Speaker 7: here and realizing like, oh, man, like this place is one,
1:17:11
Speaker 7: it's cool. Two, their teams are good, and three is
1:17:14
Speaker 7: a great place to live.
1:17:15
Speaker 1: You've got the two flagship college institutions, Utah and BYU
1:17:19
Speaker 1: that are both back together in the same league, power league,
1:17:22
Speaker 1: and in the biggest sport that matters, they matter, their
1:17:25
Speaker 1: top twenty five programs. You've got the Jazz, who have
1:17:29
Speaker 1: always been here in NBA franchise that will now being
1:17:32
Speaker 1: run like a regular NBA franchise by Ryan Smith. And
1:17:36
Speaker 1: I think they're on their way back. I don't know
1:17:37
Speaker 1: if they'll contend, but they're going to be back Rail
1:17:40
Speaker 1: Salt Lake and Major League soccer is here. I think
1:17:44
Speaker 1: the Mammoth being here now for coming into three years
1:17:47
Speaker 1: has added a little bit more gravitas to this market.
1:17:50
Speaker 1: People see hockey here and it's like, oh wait a minute, Okay,
1:17:53
Speaker 1: you mentioned Major League Baseball. The Olympics are coming back.
1:17:57
Speaker 1: We've got the Winter Classic on the way this year. Chris,
1:18:01
Speaker 1: this is this is a real I mean it's not
1:18:03
Speaker 1: there's always going to be the big two or three,
1:18:05
Speaker 1: the Chicago's, the Boston's, the Phillies, the New York's, the LA's.
1:18:10
Speaker 1: But this, this sports market is it doesn't take a
1:18:14
Speaker 1: backseat to many anymore.
1:18:16
Speaker 2: Well, especially out.
1:18:17
Speaker 7: West we're talking about if we're talking about being a
1:18:22
Speaker 7: well rounded market, which includes the success of college football programs,
1:18:27
Speaker 7: it would be hard to find one that's bigger in
1:18:32
Speaker 7: terms of having two flagship institutions. Like you said, like
1:18:35
Speaker 7: you think of like you got Oregon, but I would
1:18:38
Speaker 7: say Oregon and Oregon State aren't at the same level
1:18:40
Speaker 7: as Utah and BYU Seattle, you got you dub but
1:18:44
Speaker 7: Seattle it's hard, man. You have all the pro teams
1:18:46
Speaker 7: that are always going to take up all that oxygen.
1:18:48
Speaker 7: LA No, Bay Area, no Way, Arizona No. I mean,
1:18:52
Speaker 7: I just think, like, honestly, it's it's it's up there.
1:18:56
Speaker 7: If you're talking about having such a kind of well
1:18:58
Speaker 7: well rounded sports pro portfolio from a professional and collegiate
1:19:02
Speaker 7: point of view, fascinated to see what happens with the
1:19:05
Speaker 7: baseball man. I mean, my, my baseball colleagues at the
1:19:08
Speaker 7: Athletic have been doing a great job reporting about like
1:19:11
Speaker 7: how much real interest there is, and it seems like
1:19:14
Speaker 7: the folks at Major League Baseball officers are seriously taking
1:19:18
Speaker 7: a hard look at what salt Lake could offer should
1:19:20
Speaker 7: they ever get to an expansion level.
1:19:22
Speaker 1: I just think everything lines up well. Utah has done
1:19:26
Speaker 1: its homework. They've got their ducks in a row, they've
1:19:28
Speaker 1: got ownership, they've got location, they've got money for stadium,
1:19:31
Speaker 1: they've got emerging market. I just I don't know what
1:19:34
Speaker 1: box salt Lake wouldn't check. Maybe spring weather, but you're
1:19:39
Speaker 1: in Denver. You know you're in some cold water cold weather.
1:19:43
Speaker 1: Detroit is in Chicago aren't exactly great in April either,
1:19:46
Speaker 1: So I just I just think it's it's lined up
1:19:49
Speaker 1: pretty well. I don't know, but if I had hazard
1:19:52
Speaker 1: a guess, I'd probably say Nashville and salt Lake have
1:19:54
Speaker 1: to be the leaders, wouldn't you.
1:19:56
Speaker 7: I would think so. And then that ultimately leaves us
1:19:59
Speaker 7: to argue about the most important thing is what do
1:20:01
Speaker 7: you name the team? What do you name the team? Bill?
1:20:05
Speaker 1: It's a good question Chris, I haven't given it a
1:20:06
Speaker 1: lot of thought. But whoever, whatever name you decide to
1:20:09
Speaker 1: come up with, make sure somebody else doesn't have a
1:20:11
Speaker 1: patent or some sort of licensing on it. So you
1:20:13
Speaker 1: have to go back and do it again.
1:20:16
Speaker 7: I know nobody will ask me, and this is maybe
1:20:18
Speaker 7: just because I'm a nostalgic person. And since we're already
1:20:21
Speaker 7: in the dolore In, you gotta go Trappers, man, I
1:20:24
Speaker 7: love the Trappers have the all time professional record for
1:20:29
Speaker 7: consecutive wins in baseball history, which is a billion years
1:20:33
Speaker 7: in this country. An amazing story. Bill Murray tending bar
1:20:36
Speaker 7: at Duffy's. It's it, man, it's it like you can
1:20:39
Speaker 7: miss me with all of the you know, the elk
1:20:42
Speaker 7: and the moose and all that stuff. They get the Trappers.
1:20:46
Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad we fired up the dolore In a
1:20:49
Speaker 1: couple of times today. Glad the flux capacitor was working
1:20:52
Speaker 1: at one point twenty one jigawatts. You got to go
1:20:55
Speaker 1: back to tending to those children and make sure they
1:20:57
Speaker 1: don't enter the portal on you anytime soon.
1:21:00
Speaker 7: Thank you, Bill, I appreciate you. Man.
1:21:02
Speaker 1: See Chris Chris Cameronnie of the Athletic look for his
1:21:04
Speaker 1: stuff there. It's still one of my favorite daily go tos.
1:21:07
Speaker 1: Whether Chris is writing or not, there's so many great writers.
1:21:10
Speaker 1: If you wiped soccer this summer, I'm not sure anybody
1:21:13
Speaker 1: in the world had better World Cup coverage on a
1:21:15
Speaker 1: daily basis than what they did in The Athletic. And
1:21:17
Speaker 1: it's great to Chriss. Catch up with Chris. I can't
1:21:19
Speaker 1: believe we're halfway home already here on a Friday. Gonna
1:21:22
Speaker 1: go back, grab a couple of text messages from you,
1:21:24
Speaker 1: some news and notes of the day. I think we
1:21:26
Speaker 1: have to take a daily dump at some point in time.
1:21:28
Speaker 1: We're gonna have Riley Nelson in about an hour, and
1:21:31
Speaker 1: maybe we'll take some phone calls as well. Cover it
1:21:33
Speaker 1: up all right here on the shadow'connell show on a Friday,
1:21:35
Speaker 1: Bill Riley sitting in on ESPN seven hundred and ninety
1:21:37
Speaker 1: two one FM, feely out.
1:21:44
Speaker 2: Of the loop.
1:21:45
Speaker 6: Let's catch up on today's biggest headlines and the daily
1:21:48
Speaker 6: news dump, where we flush out the biggest stories of
1:21:50
Speaker 6: the day. On the Sean O'Connell Show at Utah's number
1:21:54
Speaker 6: one Sports Talk ESPN seven hundred and ninety two to
1:21:57
Speaker 6: one FM, drought to you by Vali Plumbing, Heating and Cooling.
1:22:01
Speaker 6: Just look for the truck with the doc.
1:22:04
Speaker 7: Yeah.
1:22:05
Speaker 1: Daily dump time Here on the Sean O'Connell show. Bill
1:22:07
Speaker 1: Riley sitting in today. Part of her daily dump will
1:22:10
Speaker 1: be our PGA Tour update. BMW Championship Round two. JJ
1:22:16
Speaker 1: Spahn's got a one shot lead over Patrick Cantley right now.
1:22:19
Speaker 1: He's nine under. Can't Lee is eight under. Can't Lee's
1:22:22
Speaker 1: done for the day, Spawn wrapping up for the day.
1:22:26
Speaker 1: And you've got a bunch of a couple of golfers
1:22:29
Speaker 1: a shot back. You've got McElroy and m and Woodland
1:22:33
Speaker 1: and Fitzpatrick at seven under. So pretty tight Round two
1:22:36
Speaker 1: right now the BMW Championships as they play on the
1:22:41
Speaker 1: FedEx FedEx Tour, Phil FedEx Playoffs, right now on the
1:22:45
Speaker 1: PGA Tour, Boy, ol boy, what is the deal? Right now?
1:22:49
Speaker 1: In the NBA, it feels like you're watching one of
1:22:52
Speaker 1: those house flipping shows on like HGTV, where somebody buys
1:22:57
Speaker 1: a house, then they flip it like and then two
1:22:59
Speaker 1: months later they sell it for a couple one hundred
1:23:02
Speaker 1: thousand dollars more. American businessman Mark stat has just completed
1:23:07
Speaker 1: a deal to become the controlling owner and largest shareholder
1:23:10
Speaker 1: of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA's Minnesota Links by
1:23:15
Speaker 1: buying the majority of co owner Mark Lore's steak in
1:23:18
Speaker 1: the two franchises. The deal's worth about four point five
1:23:22
Speaker 1: billion dollars and not quite the Lakers, but still a
1:23:25
Speaker 1: pretty penny to pay. Law will retain a minority investment
1:23:29
Speaker 1: in the teams, while co owner Alex Rodriguez has decided
1:23:33
Speaker 1: to increase his equity Steak, though it's not exactly cure
1:23:37
Speaker 1: how much a ride it's going to buy into. So yeah,
1:23:41
Speaker 1: this has become kind of the norm. Some people are
1:23:43
Speaker 1: doing it because they have to, some people are doing
1:23:46
Speaker 1: it because they want to, and this sounds like a
1:23:49
Speaker 1: want to in Minnesota. But yeah, another NBA team is
1:23:53
Speaker 1: changing ownership, or at least majority ownership steak right now.
1:23:57
Speaker 1: A couple of other news who notes from the day
1:23:58
Speaker 1: in Sports Today, Bryce and Dan a Shambeau hoping to
1:24:01
Speaker 1: live is given one more shot. Live Tour feels like
1:24:03
Speaker 1: it's on life support right now. Just when you thought
1:24:06
Speaker 1: they had endless money, those sadis, they've decided maybe to
1:24:09
Speaker 1: pull the plug just a little bit, but yeah, that's
1:24:11
Speaker 1: where they are. NFL, We've got a little preseason football
1:24:15
Speaker 1: coming up tonight. You've got the Jets in Pittsburgh. You've
1:24:18
Speaker 1: got Carolina and Jacksonville, Green Bay and Denver all coming
1:24:24
Speaker 1: up tonight. NFL Network in ESPN Unlimited is where you'll
1:24:28
Speaker 1: find some of those. My Chiefs are playing tomorrow night
1:24:30
Speaker 1: against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa. NFL preseason is meaningless.
1:24:37
Speaker 1: All the key players that mean anything whatsoever do not play,
1:24:41
Speaker 1: and that includes the star players. So we'll see what
1:24:44
Speaker 1: happens with NFL football tonight. They're too big an investment.
1:24:48
Speaker 1: You cannot afford to have an injury happen to one
1:24:51
Speaker 1: of your star players in the preseason. And that's why
1:24:54
Speaker 1: they do it. That's your Daily Dump, presented by Valley Plumbing,
1:24:57
Speaker 1: Heating and Air here on the Shato comm Show on
1:25:01
Speaker 1: Utah's number one Sports Talk YESPN seven hunder Bill Riley
1:25:03
Speaker 1: here with you today. I was asking the question earlier
1:25:06
Speaker 1: in the show today, what do you see for your
1:25:09
Speaker 1: favorite team as the floor in the ceiling? This year,
1:25:12
Speaker 1: Utah football is thirteen days from kicking off against the
1:25:15
Speaker 1: Idaho Vandals. What do you see as the Utah floor
1:25:18
Speaker 1: from a record standpoint, and ceiling from a record standpoint.
1:25:22
Speaker 1: I said nine and three for the floor, eleven and
1:25:25
Speaker 1: one for the ceiling for Utah. I'm very bullish on
1:25:28
Speaker 1: the utes this year. But if you're a Cougar fan,
1:25:30
Speaker 1: and I've had a couple of Cougar fans sound off
1:25:31
Speaker 1: of the text line today, Aggie fan, sc fan, Ohio
1:25:35
Speaker 1: State fan, whatever you might be a fan of, give
1:25:37
Speaker 1: me the floor and ceiling for your respective team. Eight
1:25:41
Speaker 1: seven seven three five three zero seven hundred is your
1:25:45
Speaker 1: text line to reach the program today. That's eight seven
1:25:48
Speaker 1: seven three five three zero seven hundred to get you
1:25:52
Speaker 1: in and on board today. Just a couple of other
1:25:55
Speaker 1: quick thoughts. The AP Top twenty five came out earlier
1:25:57
Speaker 1: this week. Utah at twenty one B one, you tied
1:26:00
Speaker 1: for fourteen. I think both of those are fair rankings.
1:26:03
Speaker 1: In the preseason, they still had Texas Tech the AP
1:26:06
Speaker 1: did at about number twelve. That feels high for me,
1:26:08
Speaker 1: and I've said this the entire offseason. I think Tech's
1:26:12
Speaker 1: probably somewhere in that twelve to fifteen range. I think
1:26:16
Speaker 1: BYU's probably somewhere in that thirteen to seventeen range, and
1:26:21
Speaker 1: I thought Utah somewhere between about fifteen and twenty twenty
1:26:24
Speaker 1: one was about right, and that's where the rankings have
1:26:26
Speaker 1: the Houston was also in there, and the Cougars were
1:26:30
Speaker 1: in at number twenty three. That's four Big twelve teams
1:26:34
Speaker 1: were ranked nobody in the top ten. But again, I
1:26:37
Speaker 1: don't know that you can make a case for that
1:26:39
Speaker 1: right now. You play the games on the field. By
1:26:41
Speaker 1: the time we hit October in November, there could be
1:26:43
Speaker 1: a very good chance there could be a couple of big, big,
1:26:45
Speaker 1: Big twelve teams in the top ten, But right now,
1:26:48
Speaker 1: I don't think you can make that case. Arizona and
1:26:51
Speaker 1: TC you just missed out. I think both those teams
1:26:53
Speaker 1: would be good. I think another sneaky good team this year.
1:26:57
Speaker 1: Just keep an eye on them. I think that there's
1:26:59
Speaker 1: a big swath here for Kansas State. They don't have
1:27:02
Speaker 1: a super tough schedule. They've got a first year head coach,
1:27:05
Speaker 1: but Colin Klein is a former. It's a little bit
1:27:08
Speaker 1: like the Scalley situation at Utah. The difference is Klein
1:27:11
Speaker 1: was at Texas A and M the last two years
1:27:13
Speaker 1: as offensive coordinator, but before that he was on staff
1:27:17
Speaker 1: I think they've got enough talent and toughness there. I'm
1:27:21
Speaker 1: not a big Avery Johnson fan. I don't think he's
1:27:25
Speaker 1: They keep waiting for him to become something. I'm not
1:27:28
Speaker 1: sure he is. And that's a guy that can throw
1:27:29
Speaker 1: the ball very well. I just I haven't seen that
1:27:32
Speaker 1: in three years of football out of Avery Johnson. But
1:27:35
Speaker 1: he's a good he's a good college football player. He
1:27:38
Speaker 1: can run it well, and they I just they could
1:27:42
Speaker 1: be a little bit of a I don't think get
1:27:45
Speaker 1: to Dallas' surprise team, but if they finish third or
1:27:49
Speaker 1: fourth and ruin somebody else's chances, it wouldn't surprise me. Plus,
1:27:53
Speaker 1: I don't think k State has to play I know
1:27:55
Speaker 1: they don't have to play Utah. I don't think they
1:27:58
Speaker 1: played BYU either. Just somebody to keep an eye on.
1:28:03
Speaker 1: But Ohio State's won and Cameron Hee said, yeah, I'll
1:28:06
Speaker 1: bet on them. Right now, five teams got first place votes,
1:28:12
Speaker 1: and Ohio State could very easily be that team. Here's
1:28:16
Speaker 1: what I'm gonna say, and it's gonna sound weird because
1:28:19
Speaker 1: I'm not a huge fan of the program, but I
1:28:20
Speaker 1: am a huge fan of the coach. That's Oregon Dan
1:28:24
Speaker 1: Lanning seems to have everything you could possibly want or need.
1:28:27
Speaker 1: They have a lot of guys return. They of course
1:28:29
Speaker 1: always shop in the portal. They always do a great
1:28:33
Speaker 1: job in the transfer portal. But they've got a star
1:28:38
Speaker 1: quarterback who might be the most people are talking about
1:28:41
Speaker 1: him as the number one guy here Arch Manning. Dante
1:28:44
Speaker 1: Moore is his name, although many Utah fans will remember
1:28:47
Speaker 1: Dante Moore's debut is a collegiate and he just got
1:28:51
Speaker 1: made to look silly against Utah at Rice Ecle Stadium.
1:28:53
Speaker 1: I think it was back in twenty four, so twenty
1:28:56
Speaker 1: three or twenty four, anyway.
1:29:00
Speaker 2: It.
1:29:02
Speaker 1: Dan Lanning, I think is a fantastic coach and Oregon
1:29:05
Speaker 1: feels to me like they're absolutely loaded. I don't know
1:29:10
Speaker 1: that there's a definitive great powerhouse a number one bet
1:29:15
Speaker 1: the farm on them to win a team this year.
1:29:18
Speaker 1: Last year it was Indiana and they proved that they
1:29:20
Speaker 1: went sixteen and o first team to go undefeated. I
1:29:24
Speaker 1: think since LSU did back in twenty nineteen, and maybe
1:29:28
Speaker 1: Signetty has it again. We'll see if the Hoover kids
1:29:31
Speaker 1: an upgrade for them at quarterback this year and those
1:29:35
Speaker 1: who was pretty special but their wide receiver room is loaded.
1:29:39
Speaker 1: They just they they're good. But a team that I'm
1:29:43
Speaker 1: just I'm keeping my eye on at the very top
1:29:46
Speaker 1: is Oregon because it's felt like Lanning has been close
1:29:52
Speaker 1: and I like his style.
1:29:54
Speaker 2: I do.
1:29:55
Speaker 1: I think Dan Lanning's a terrific coach. But you just
1:29:59
Speaker 1: wonder if it's not now with the perceived preseason number
1:30:03
Speaker 1: one quarterback, maybe in the NFL draft, loaded its skill positions,
1:30:09
Speaker 1: loaded on defense. We'll see what happens. But they're a
1:30:13
Speaker 1: team I'm keeping an eye on right now too. By
1:30:17
Speaker 1: the way, I mentioned the Mandel thing earlier. He had
1:30:19
Speaker 1: Utah won seven and five and four and five and
1:30:21
Speaker 1: ninth in the Big Twelve. I think that's again everybody
1:30:25
Speaker 1: entitled to it. I just I don't see a world
1:30:29
Speaker 1: where Utah goes four and five in conference. Could be wrong,
1:30:33
Speaker 1: but I don't see that. Athletic computer models, by the way,
1:30:37
Speaker 1: like Utah third and the Big Twelve. They are a
1:30:40
Speaker 1: plus six point fifty for betters to win it. I
1:30:44
Speaker 1: think they gave them seven point nine wins. I think
1:30:47
Speaker 1: BYU had eight point five wins. In Texas Tech, I
1:30:51
Speaker 1: think had ten point three wins. The athletic computer models
1:30:56
Speaker 1: give Utah a seven point five percent chance to win
1:30:59
Speaker 1: the conference and a fifteen percent chance to make the
1:31:02
Speaker 1: playoff preseason. Those computer models change as the year goes along,
1:31:10
Speaker 1: and if you start your season six and oh or
1:31:12
Speaker 1: seven and oh or maybe even eight o, I will
1:31:15
Speaker 1: tell you those numbers will change quite a bit eight seven,
1:31:21
Speaker 1: seven three five three zero seven hundred. If you want
1:31:23
Speaker 1: to jump in and on board today, here are the
1:31:24
Speaker 1: Bill Riley Show. Oh whoops, Shout O'Connell Show, hosted by
1:31:27
Speaker 1: Bill Riley. Again, I did it for twenty years, so
1:31:31
Speaker 1: sometimes old habits die hard. Shout O'Connell show. Hit me up.
1:31:36
Speaker 1: We'll read some text messages coming up in just a
1:31:39
Speaker 1: few minutes. Get your thoughts on things. By the way,
1:31:42
Speaker 1: I just I asked Chris that question twenty minutes ago
1:31:46
Speaker 1: about this market fifteen twenty minutes ago. I just I
1:31:51
Speaker 1: stand back and observe sometimes. And this is not the
1:31:54
Speaker 1: same market I moved into twenty five years ago. I
1:31:56
Speaker 1: moved here in two thousand and one. I am a
1:32:00
Speaker 1: Utah through and through. But this is a really, really,
1:32:05
Speaker 1: really good sports market.
1:32:06
Speaker 2: Now.
1:32:07
Speaker 1: Is it Chicago?
1:32:08
Speaker 2: No?
1:32:09
Speaker 1: Is it Boston or New York?
1:32:11
Speaker 6: No?
1:32:12
Speaker 1: But if you're talking about West there may be some
1:32:15
Speaker 1: other markets that have more sports teams or maybe more established,
1:32:21
Speaker 1: like Los Angeles. But I don't consider LA to be
1:32:24
Speaker 1: a great sports market. Maybe it's a great Dodger or
1:32:29
Speaker 1: Laker market. But you heard Mike Yam even talking about
1:32:32
Speaker 1: it earlier. They've had the Rams and the Chargers there
1:32:36
Speaker 1: now each for I mean, the Rams have been back
1:32:39
Speaker 1: for a bit, but the Chargers have been there five
1:32:40
Speaker 1: or six years. It just they don't buy in this market.
1:32:46
Speaker 1: It feels like people are all in on everything here.
1:32:49
Speaker 1: It's a much more I should when I say great sport.
1:32:53
Speaker 1: It's a passionate fan base and passionate market for sports.
1:32:57
Speaker 1: And to Chris's point, especially on the collegiate side, maybe
1:33:02
Speaker 1: because that's where our roots are here collegiately and the
1:33:05
Speaker 1: sports stuff, the pro sports stuff all kind of came after.
1:33:11
Speaker 1: And I do like Cameronnie's idea of the Trappers little
1:33:14
Speaker 1: nostalgic fits well, kind of fits with our our history
1:33:21
Speaker 1: and landscape here too. Wouldn't be bad. So anyway, hit
1:33:25
Speaker 1: me up at the text line eight seven seven three
1:33:26
Speaker 1: five three zero seven hundred and we'll read some text
1:33:29
Speaker 1: messages coming back on the other side, Riley Nelson's going
1:33:32
Speaker 1: to join us to talk some in state football utes,
1:33:35
Speaker 1: Koogs and Ags coming up at about one point thirty
1:33:37
Speaker 1: today on the program. Want to remind you too, Roade Home,
1:33:40
Speaker 1: Apple Tree, help Utah kids start school with confidence. Over
1:33:43
Speaker 1: two hundred kids at the Road Home needs your help
1:33:46
Speaker 1: with back to school supplies, and even those schools already began,
1:33:50
Speaker 1: it's not too late to help these kids out as
1:33:52
Speaker 1: they go back to school. Help them with their school supplies,
1:33:56
Speaker 1: help them with their confidence. Nobody wants to go without supplies.
1:34:00
Speaker 1: Nobody wants to go out. We go without the clothes
1:34:02
Speaker 1: they need to go back to school. So whether it's
1:34:05
Speaker 1: clothes or shoes, or backpacks, or pencils or you name it.
1:34:08
Speaker 1: Trapper Keepers for you ogs out there. Everybody wanted a
1:34:12
Speaker 1: trapper Keeper. Donate now. Go to ESPN seven hundred Sports
1:34:16
Speaker 1: dot com AppleTree for Kids dot Com as well or
1:34:20
Speaker 1: Venmo Advocates donations at Advocates donations to help kids going
1:34:25
Speaker 1: back to school this fall. Quick time out back with
1:34:29
Speaker 1: some of your text messages, a couple of other news
1:34:31
Speaker 1: and notes of the day. On a Friday, Bill Riley's
1:34:33
Speaker 1: sitting in for shadow'connell today on the Shan O'Connell Show
1:34:35
Speaker 1: on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two one FM.
1:34:42
Speaker 6: As you were listening to the Sean O'Connell Show, your
1:34:45
Speaker 6: source for the best US football coverreach, here's OC from
1:34:49
Speaker 6: the Murdoch Hyundai Studio of ESPN seven hundred at ninety
1:34:53
Speaker 6: two to one af am.
1:34:54
Speaker 1: OC today Ryle's in for Sean. He's out on assignment
1:34:58
Speaker 1: thirteen days to kick on a little over an hour
1:35:01
Speaker 1: remaining in the program today. Well, news out of Fort
1:35:06
Speaker 1: Worth not good news if you're a horn Frog fan.
1:35:09
Speaker 1: This speaks to the type of locker room I think
1:35:12
Speaker 1: you have to again just a snap shot, but TCU
1:35:19
Speaker 1: recently dismissed projected starting safety Jacob Fields. He's a senior
1:35:25
Speaker 1: and apparently he assaulted a teammate in the locker room.
1:35:29
Speaker 1: That's according to the police department and a person familiar
1:35:32
Speaker 1: with the situation who spoke Thursday to the Athletic on
1:35:36
Speaker 1: the condition of anonymity. Fields, who transferred in from Louisiana Tech,
1:35:41
Speaker 1: was a co defensive player the year in Conference USA
1:35:43
Speaker 1: last year, was dismissed on Tuesday by TCU for a
1:35:46
Speaker 1: violation of team rules. Four days earlier, apparently last Friday,
1:35:50
Speaker 1: campus police were called to the TCU athletic facilities for
1:35:54
Speaker 1: an alleged aggravated assault that happened in the locker room.
1:35:58
Speaker 1: According to a heavily read, didacted incident report attained by
1:36:01
Speaker 1: the athletic TCUs general manager told the responding officer and
1:36:05
Speaker 1: an assault took place in the locker room on August
1:36:08
Speaker 1: the thirteenth at approximately one thirty pm. The report characterized
1:36:12
Speaker 1: the offense as an alleged aggravated assault with hands and
1:36:17
Speaker 1: feet or fists generally how it goes. Victim's name and
1:36:22
Speaker 1: identifying information were redacted, except that he was a male. Well, yeah,
1:36:26
Speaker 1: if he's in the football locker room, there's a pretty
1:36:28
Speaker 1: good chance that that's probably the case. Officer recommended the
1:36:31
Speaker 1: victim contact the police for more comprehensive report and possibly
1:36:34
Speaker 1: filing any charges if the victim chose to do so.
1:36:38
Speaker 1: The alleged assailant was also not identified in the report,
1:36:41
Speaker 1: but a source familiar with the situation confirmed it was
1:36:44
Speaker 1: fields and there you go. So anyway, that's a bit
1:36:49
Speaker 1: of a blow. You're starting safety co defensive player of
1:36:51
Speaker 1: the Year in Conference to USA last year gets dismissed.
1:36:54
Speaker 1: But to me, that speaks of a bigger issue. I'm
1:36:56
Speaker 1: just telling you this right now, that wouldn't happen at UTAH,
1:37:00
Speaker 1: not in the locker room. That is a player controlled
1:37:03
Speaker 1: and player patrolled space. When you have a good locker room,
1:37:07
Speaker 1: I'm not saying dust ups don't happen, but when you
1:37:12
Speaker 1: have to have an aggravated assault report, if it progresses
1:37:17
Speaker 1: all the way to the police, that's not a good look.
1:37:21
Speaker 1: And it just is not a good look. I'm sure
1:37:25
Speaker 1: most locker rooms here and there will have a shoving
1:37:28
Speaker 1: match words. It happens, certainly on the field, but to
1:37:32
Speaker 1: have it escalate all the way up to the point
1:37:35
Speaker 1: where the police are called and they come to the
1:37:37
Speaker 1: facility to file a report, that's a tough look for
1:37:41
Speaker 1: Sunny Dyke's team and a tough look for texts at TCU.
1:37:45
Speaker 1: All right, a couple of text messages, then we'll grab
1:37:46
Speaker 1: a break. Riley Nelson's gonna join us at about one
1:37:50
Speaker 1: thirty to day talk some ball. Jay says, Hey, Bill,
1:37:53
Speaker 1: always great to hear you on the show. Well, thanks, Jay.
1:37:56
Speaker 1: I think utossed floor is eight and four and ceiling
1:37:58
Speaker 1: is eleven and one. Unfortunate. They won't make the playoff
1:38:01
Speaker 1: if they don't win the conference. See, I'm not sure
1:38:04
Speaker 1: about that though. This year, Jay, I think if you
1:38:05
Speaker 1: go eleven and one in the regular season, that means
1:38:11
Speaker 1: you're probably gonna have beaten at least one or two
1:38:13
Speaker 1: ranked teams. I think they'll have a chance. I think
1:38:16
Speaker 1: this year, let's say you go eleven and one in
1:38:19
Speaker 1: the regular season and happen to lose, just just play that.
1:38:24
Speaker 1: Lose in the championship game to Tech and eleven and
1:38:28
Speaker 1: two season in a power for league, I think you're
1:38:30
Speaker 1: going to the playoff. Austin Burdett, Hey, Austin, floor eleven
1:38:37
Speaker 1: and one, ceiling twelve and zero. Well go Utes, Austin.
1:38:41
Speaker 1: You've left very very little room for anything else. Thank you.
1:38:47
Speaker 1: Text message from Cayden and today, Cayden says, ceiling eleven
1:38:50
Speaker 1: and one, floor ten and two. We forget the offensive
1:38:53
Speaker 1: line got playing time last year when Utah was up big.
1:38:56
Speaker 1: I expect a lot from this team. That's something you're Kayden.
1:38:59
Speaker 1: You're right about that. There's a good chance that a
1:39:04
Speaker 1: handful of the starters were guys that have been in
1:39:06
Speaker 1: the program before, and those guys did play Do they
1:39:10
Speaker 1: have starts? No, some of them started the Bowl game.
1:39:13
Speaker 1: But to your point, they have played, and they've been
1:39:17
Speaker 1: coached well, and their veterans and their older players, there's
1:39:22
Speaker 1: talent there. I'm telling you, I'm really not concerned with
1:39:25
Speaker 1: the Utah offensive line. Do I have sky high expectations
1:39:31
Speaker 1: like we did a year ago. No, that's it's a
1:39:35
Speaker 1: different group. But I still think it's a really good
1:39:38
Speaker 1: and talented group. Text message from one Soda one Soto.
1:39:48
Speaker 1: Shouldn't you be with the Mets?
1:39:50
Speaker 2: One?
1:39:52
Speaker 1: We miss your voice? Bill? Well, thank you one. I
1:39:54
Speaker 1: appreciate that.
1:39:55
Speaker 2: Thank you.
1:39:58
Speaker 1: Eight seven seven three five three zero seven hundred. Taylor
1:40:01
Speaker 1: says floor eight and four, ceiling ten and two. Let's
1:40:05
Speaker 1: be realistic. Come on, guys, I didn't say you had
1:40:09
Speaker 1: to be realistic, Taylor. I was just simply asking people
1:40:12
Speaker 1: for their floors and ceilings. But I think your floor
1:40:18
Speaker 1: and ceiling are certainly realistic and within the realm of possibility.
1:40:26
Speaker 1: Connor and Syracuse and we'll grab a break, hey, Bill.
1:40:32
Speaker 1: The floor is nine and three, the ceiling is eleven
1:40:34
Speaker 1: and one. Love the weapons on offense with a healthy
1:40:37
Speaker 1: damp pier way, Sean will have the breakout year, and
1:40:40
Speaker 1: the offensive line will be better than people think. My
1:40:43
Speaker 1: only question right now is defensive line, can CUFUSI stay healthy?
1:40:47
Speaker 1: Who steps up on the edge. My official prediction though,
1:40:50
Speaker 1: is ten and two with losses to Arizona and TCU.
1:40:53
Speaker 1: Tough stretch, but we sneak into the championship game. Go utes, Well,
1:40:59
Speaker 1: I'm with you there, Connor. If you guys listened earlier,
1:41:02
Speaker 1: I said nine and three floor, eleven and one ceiling.
1:41:06
Speaker 1: I think any I think your questions are legitimate. Two
1:41:10
Speaker 1: Here's what I'll say about the edge players. Both Lance
1:41:15
Speaker 1: Holtzklaw and Cash Dylan have had good fall camps. Both
1:41:20
Speaker 1: those guys were primarily backups a year ago because you
1:41:24
Speaker 1: had John Henry Daily on one side Logan Fano on
1:41:27
Speaker 1: the other side. But I think both those guys have
1:41:32
Speaker 1: chances to be outstanding players and have really good years
1:41:37
Speaker 1: this year because they're very talented. Holtz Claw especially, I
1:41:43
Speaker 1: think has a really potentially big upside. So we'll see
1:41:48
Speaker 1: what happens. Eight seven seven three five three zero seven hundred.
1:41:54
Speaker 1: That's your text line. You know what else that is?
1:41:58
Speaker 1: That's also your phone line if you would like to
1:42:02
Speaker 1: chat with me on this Friday about the utes, about
1:42:06
Speaker 1: the Coog's, about the Aggies, about college football, about the NFL,
1:42:11
Speaker 1: about Salt Lake as a sports town, about anything. James
1:42:17
Speaker 1: is going to have to dust off his phone answering fingers.
1:42:21
Speaker 1: But we'll take a couple of phone calls or your
1:42:23
Speaker 1: text messages. Either one are certainly welcome if you don't
1:42:25
Speaker 1: feel like chat, and I get it. We are a
1:42:28
Speaker 1: texting society today and I get it. But if there's
1:42:31
Speaker 1: some of your old heads out there that would like
1:42:33
Speaker 1: to chat, well, now it's your chance. Eight seven seven
1:42:38
Speaker 1: three five three zero seven hundred and we'll go in
1:42:41
Speaker 1: that direction today here on Utah's number one Sports Talk
1:42:46
Speaker 1: two hours down, one to go, Riley Nelson in about
1:42:48
Speaker 1: thirty minutes coming up on Utah's number one Sports Talk
1:42:52
Speaker 1: ESPN seven hundred ninety two ONEFM.
1:42:57
Speaker 6: You tuned to the Sean o'connells Show from the Murder
1:43:00
Speaker 6: Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred at ninety two to one.
1:43:04
Speaker 1: FF final hour on a Friday, Ryle's sitting in for Sean.
1:43:10
Speaker 1: Today here on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two to
1:43:12
Speaker 1: one FM. We got our friend Riley Nelson swing by
1:43:16
Speaker 1: this fugg a little ball with us coming up a
1:43:19
Speaker 1: little bit later on in the show today. And I
1:43:21
Speaker 1: think Spence is Spence here today? Oh wow, No Spence
1:43:27
Speaker 1: Cross talk today. No El Diablo with me today. Well,
1:43:31
Speaker 1: I'll talk to Porter and Tony two. I love those
1:43:33
Speaker 1: guys as well. But anyway, that'll be coming up a
1:43:36
Speaker 1: little bit later on in this hour.
1:43:38
Speaker 2: Two.
1:43:38
Speaker 1: Just a reminder fan fest tomorrow tomorrow night at six
1:43:41
Speaker 1: up at Recycle Stadium. And if you happen to be
1:43:43
Speaker 1: a soccer fan, women's soccer fan, Utah home tomorrow with
1:43:47
Speaker 1: Southern Utah three o'clock at Utfield, it'll be a warm one.
1:43:50
Speaker 1: The other reason, by the way, I'm excited about football season,
1:43:53
Speaker 1: that generally means our temperatures are beginning to drop. It's
1:43:56
Speaker 1: gonna hit triple digits again this afternoon. It's And realize
1:44:02
Speaker 1: we lived in Arizona, now right. I mean, if I
1:44:05
Speaker 1: wanted this weather, I would go to Phoenix or Vegas.
1:44:08
Speaker 1: Triple digits in late August is too much for me.
1:44:11
Speaker 1: So anyway, we hope in thirteen days when the Utes
1:44:14
Speaker 1: kick it off against Idaho that were maybe maybe in
1:44:17
Speaker 1: the eighties, that maybe around mid upper eighties at kickoff time,
1:44:21
Speaker 1: be nice. So anyway, final hour and I'd love to
1:44:24
Speaker 1: hear from you guys. Phone lines are open if anybody
1:44:27
Speaker 1: out there would like to chat about anything that may
1:44:29
Speaker 1: be on your mind at eight seven seven three five
1:44:32
Speaker 1: three zero seven hundred. That's eight seven seven three five
1:44:35
Speaker 1: three zero seven hundred. Also the same number for the
1:44:37
Speaker 1: text line if there's something on your mind. I was
1:44:39
Speaker 1: asking floor and ceiling for your favorite football team, whether
1:44:42
Speaker 1: those are the Utes or the Koops, or the Ags,
1:44:44
Speaker 1: or the Trojans, or the Buckeyes or the Ducks or
1:44:47
Speaker 1: the Jayhawks or the Wildcats or whoever might be. What
1:44:50
Speaker 1: do you see is the floor for your team? What
1:44:52
Speaker 1: do you see is the ceiling for your team? You
1:44:53
Speaker 1: can hit me on the text line or pick up
1:44:55
Speaker 1: the telephone and give me a call. The other thing,
1:44:57
Speaker 1: I get a lot because you know I'm up around
1:44:59
Speaker 1: the football team. A lot is people want to know
1:45:02
Speaker 1: of you know, people know what Devin Dampier is, people
1:45:05
Speaker 1: know who way Sean Parker is. People kind of have
1:45:08
Speaker 1: an idea of a John new Hall or a Jackson Benny.
1:45:11
Speaker 1: But people are also curious, Hey, who are some of
1:45:14
Speaker 1: these new guys. Who are guys that might have a
1:45:16
Speaker 1: breakout year this year, I would say last year a
1:45:20
Speaker 1: breakout guy was John Henry Daily. We kind of knew
1:45:22
Speaker 1: the name. He comes from a football family here in
1:45:25
Speaker 1: the state, but he hadn't done anything. He was a
1:45:27
Speaker 1: red shirt, and then he came here. He played a
1:45:29
Speaker 1: little bit in twenty four and he goes out and
1:45:31
Speaker 1: has eleven and a half sacks before he got hurt.
1:45:33
Speaker 1: Last year, that's a breakout season. I would even say
1:45:37
Speaker 1: last year, Devin dan Pier was a little bit of
1:45:39
Speaker 1: a revelation for people. They weren't sure if Devon was
1:45:42
Speaker 1: going to be able to do it against power for talent.
1:45:44
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, he put up great numbers at New Mexico.
1:45:46
Speaker 1: But what's he going to do when he gets here? Well,
1:45:49
Speaker 1: he showed you. I would even say last year another
1:45:51
Speaker 1: guy that had a breakout here was Dallan Bentley. Dallan
1:45:54
Speaker 1: Bentley was a guy that had caught like three or
1:45:56
Speaker 1: four passes in his entire career, and last year he
1:45:59
Speaker 1: had a huge year, got drafted by the Broncos. Trying
1:46:02
Speaker 1: to make the team right now. So I would also
1:46:05
Speaker 1: ask you guys today, if you want to chime in
1:46:07
Speaker 1: on this, who do you see having a breakout year.
1:46:11
Speaker 1: Give me a player you think for Utah or a
1:46:13
Speaker 1: Cougar or an ag Year, whatever team you follow, could
1:46:17
Speaker 1: have a breakout year this year. I'm gonna give you two.
1:46:19
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you an offensive player and a defensive
1:46:22
Speaker 1: player for Utah that could have a breakout season this year.
1:46:26
Speaker 1: And when I say breakout season, they just they haven't
1:46:29
Speaker 1: had a big year again. Devin dan Pier doesn't count.
1:46:34
Speaker 1: I would even tell you a guy like Braydon Pagan
1:46:36
Speaker 1: doesn't really count because Pagan had almost one thousand yards
1:46:40
Speaker 1: last year in Utah State. This is somebody that that
1:46:44
Speaker 1: has the potential but hasn't kind of met it yet,
1:46:47
Speaker 1: and maybe this is the year they meet that potential.
1:46:50
Speaker 1: So if you want to hit me up, phone lines
1:46:52
Speaker 1: are open eight seven to seven three five three zero
1:46:55
Speaker 1: seven hundred. Text line also open at eight seven seven
1:46:58
Speaker 1: three five three zero seven hundred. Give me a player
1:47:03
Speaker 1: you think could have a breakout year. I'll give you
1:47:05
Speaker 1: two for Utah. This is just me kind of projecting forward,
1:47:10
Speaker 1: just a little bit based on little things that maybe
1:47:14
Speaker 1: we saw last year. My offensive guy, Hunter Andrews. Hunter Andrews,
1:47:24
Speaker 1: I think was on his way last year to a
1:47:27
Speaker 1: breakout year. He had a good handful of the first
1:47:30
Speaker 1: couple of games before he got hurt. Hunter Andrews is
1:47:35
Speaker 1: a guy that, well, you can line him up in
1:47:38
Speaker 1: a lot of different places, and they did last year,
1:47:41
Speaker 1: and I would be very surprised if this year Kevin
1:47:43
Speaker 1: mcgiven doesn't do the same thing. Is he a running back?
1:47:47
Speaker 1: Can be that's what his background is. Sometimes he catches
1:47:51
Speaker 1: the ball out of the backfield, but played a little
1:47:52
Speaker 1: bit of tight end. That's kind of what he's listed
1:47:54
Speaker 1: as now. But he's one of those Swiss army knives
1:47:59
Speaker 1: and I just really I love his attitude. He came
1:48:02
Speaker 1: in here. He was a running back in high school.
1:48:04
Speaker 1: They tried to make him a linebacker. Hear what he
1:48:05
Speaker 1: got here. That didn't really take They moved him back
1:48:07
Speaker 1: to running back, but it was already in season, so
1:48:10
Speaker 1: it took him a minute. But had he not gotten
1:48:12
Speaker 1: hurt last year, I think he would have been one
1:48:15
Speaker 1: of those guys that had a really nice role in
1:48:17
Speaker 1: the Utah. He was already carving that out. So my
1:48:20
Speaker 1: offensive breakout player this year, I'm gonna go with Hunter Andrews.
1:48:25
Speaker 1: On the defensive side of the football, I think you've
1:48:27
Speaker 1: had a lot of candidates. I think there's a lot
1:48:30
Speaker 1: of guys, a couple of guys I wouldn't classify as
1:48:33
Speaker 1: breakout guys or potential breakout guys this year. For Utah,
1:48:37
Speaker 1: I wouldn't say Jackson Benny because Jackson's been He had
1:48:40
Speaker 1: a really good year a year ago, and I think
1:48:43
Speaker 1: people kind of know who Jackson is now. He's a
1:48:46
Speaker 1: tremens another. It's kind of a defensive Swiss army knife.
1:48:48
Speaker 1: You can line Jackson up in a lot of different
1:48:50
Speaker 1: places in that secondary and he thrives. And I would
1:48:55
Speaker 1: say I probably wouldn't put Scooby Davis in that category either,
1:49:00
Speaker 1: because I think Scooby Davis has has been a you know,
1:49:04
Speaker 1: two years ago, he got pushed into a starting role
1:49:07
Speaker 1: because of an injury. Early last year he was a
1:49:09
Speaker 1: starter at one of the corners. So I'm not gonna
1:49:11
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna go with Scooby Davis. The guy I'm
1:49:14
Speaker 1: gonna go with is a potential breakout guy this year
1:49:17
Speaker 1: is a guy that might have been a breakout guy
1:49:18
Speaker 1: a year ago, but again, he got hurt a year
1:49:21
Speaker 1: ago and when wasn't able to do it. I'm gonna
1:49:24
Speaker 1: go with Rabbit Evans as my breakout guy on defense
1:49:27
Speaker 1: this year. I just when I've had the ability to
1:49:31
Speaker 1: watch Rabbit play, he's been really, really good. And Morgan
1:49:37
Speaker 1: Scalley his name checked him as his Colton Swan more
1:49:40
Speaker 1: than once. And I think Rabbit Evans, I think he
1:49:44
Speaker 1: would have last year had that opportunity. He was a
1:49:47
Speaker 1: JC All American and I think it was at blend
1:49:49
Speaker 1: before he came to Utah. I'm gonna look at him
1:49:54
Speaker 1: as my potential breakout player defensively, so Hunter and on
1:50:00
Speaker 1: offense and Rabbit Evans on defense as a couple of
1:50:05
Speaker 1: guys that could be potential breakout players this year. You guys,
1:50:08
Speaker 1: hit me up with yours and again BYU fan, hit
1:50:11
Speaker 1: me up with your ceiling or floor or your potential
1:50:13
Speaker 1: breakout player for Klonie Sataki's team, Aggie Fan or whoever
1:50:17
Speaker 1: you might happen to be a fan of. But those
1:50:18
Speaker 1: are the two I'm gonna go with for right now.
1:50:20
Speaker 1: I also ask that question on my podcast, by the way,
1:50:22
Speaker 1: this week, The Crimson Corner, So it's out there and
1:50:26
Speaker 1: if you if you're not listening now, I do it
1:50:28
Speaker 1: every week. This week's guest on The Crimson Corner was
1:50:31
Speaker 1: Eric Weddle going into the Ring of Honor against Arkansas.
1:50:35
Speaker 1: So wherever you get your podcast, tune in every week.
1:50:37
Speaker 1: I try to get great guests and people that are
1:50:39
Speaker 1: tied in with Utai Athletics. It's called the Crimson Corner
1:50:42
Speaker 1: and the other thing too. If you haven't listened, I
1:50:45
Speaker 1: did a whole series and today, I think yesterday today
1:50:48
Speaker 1: or yesterday was the final one that dropped. I did
1:50:52
Speaker 1: a series of podcasts I debuted a year ago. I
1:50:55
Speaker 1: did it again this summer called Under the Headset. It's
1:50:58
Speaker 1: where I sit down and talk to Utah coaches and
1:51:01
Speaker 1: staff members on the football side of things. This year
1:51:03
Speaker 1: there were a bunch of new coaches, so we did
1:51:06
Speaker 1: a bunch of coaches and some staff members too. I
1:51:08
Speaker 1: began with Kevin mcgiven that one. First one dropped almost
1:51:12
Speaker 1: a month ago, and I wrap it up with general
1:51:15
Speaker 1: manager Joe Derazio, and Joe's a fun conversation. I had
1:51:20
Speaker 1: him on my podcast, my Crimson Corner podcast early. But
1:51:23
Speaker 1: it's called under the Headset. There's also a video component
1:51:26
Speaker 1: if you want to watch the videos. Some people like
1:51:29
Speaker 1: the video podcasts. Go to theah Utah YouTube page at
1:51:33
Speaker 1: Utai Athletics YouTube page. You can catch those theirs or
1:51:36
Speaker 1: just get the get the podcast anywhere you get your
1:51:39
Speaker 1: favorite podcast, Apple, Spotify, all those places. It's called under
1:51:43
Speaker 1: the Headset. And of course my weekly podcast I've been
1:51:45
Speaker 1: doing for more than a year now, it's called Crimson Corner.
1:51:48
Speaker 1: Check that out wherever you get your podcasts. But well,
1:51:51
Speaker 1: was a great conversation this week, as he always is,
1:51:57
Speaker 1: and we talked about football, and we talked about the
1:52:00
Speaker 1: but as we always do, as Eric and I always do,
1:52:03
Speaker 1: we talk a little bit about life too and life lessons.
1:52:08
Speaker 1: And I'm so happy it's a big fall for him. Tonight,
1:52:11
Speaker 1: by the way, Weddel debuts his Rancho Bernardo football season.
1:52:16
Speaker 1: They have their opening game of the year tonight down
1:52:18
Speaker 1: in southern California. He's coaching his son. Then he's going
1:52:22
Speaker 1: into the Ring of Honor on September the twelfth, up
1:52:25
Speaker 1: at Rice Ecle Stadium, the weekend of the Arkansas game.
1:52:30
Speaker 1: And then he later this fall he's going into the
1:52:32
Speaker 1: College Football Hall of Fame. So I am so happy
1:52:37
Speaker 1: and so excited for all that eric'scott going on right now,
1:52:43
Speaker 1: and the podcast is a good listen this week too.
1:52:45
Speaker 1: All right, let's get to your breakout players, your floor,
1:52:48
Speaker 1: your ceiling, or whatever may be on your mind today.
1:52:51
Speaker 1: It doesn't have to be college football related. This is
1:52:53
Speaker 1: going to be probably my last fill in for a
1:52:55
Speaker 1: little while because we get super busy, and Shawn's back
1:52:58
Speaker 1: mostly during football season doesn't do as much traveling. So
1:53:02
Speaker 1: this is your chance. Let's interact. Shall we? Phone lines
1:53:04
Speaker 1: open at eight seven seven three five three zero seven hundred.
1:53:07
Speaker 1: Text line same number, but it's also open to you
1:53:10
Speaker 1: as well at eight seven seven three five three zero
1:53:14
Speaker 1: seven hundred. Give me your thoughts on whatever maybe on
1:53:17
Speaker 1: your mind today. It's a free for all Friday, so
1:53:19
Speaker 1: anything goes and we'll go in that direction today. This
1:53:23
Speaker 1: one comes in Texter twenty five seventy nine says, hey, Bill,
1:53:26
Speaker 1: good to hear your voice when you bring Spence on.
1:53:30
Speaker 1: When you're getting off the air, please bring back Dingo
1:53:32
Speaker 1: and Diablo sound. I don't think it was Dingo and Diablo.
1:53:37
Speaker 1: I know it was L Diablo, but I don't think
1:53:42
Speaker 1: I was Dingo. I think I was somebody else. He
1:53:44
Speaker 1: was definitely L Diablo. Unfortunately, I don't think Spence is
1:53:49
Speaker 1: gonna be around for cross talk today, so we'll have
1:53:52
Speaker 1: to do that another time, but thanks for listening, and
1:53:54
Speaker 1: thanks for, by the way, going back in time, because
1:53:57
Speaker 1: I was on Spence's podcast Reality he Check a couple
1:54:00
Speaker 1: of weeks ago, and I just we we always have
1:54:04
Speaker 1: a great time when we're together. We did a show
1:54:08
Speaker 1: together for about three years, and to this day, I
1:54:10
Speaker 1: will tell you I don't know if I ever had
1:54:13
Speaker 1: much more fun doing a radio talk show than when
1:54:14
Speaker 1: I was with Spence. It was a blast. Text message
1:54:19
Speaker 1: ninety six ninety four, Hey Bill, great to hear your
1:54:23
Speaker 1: enthusiastic voice. Well, thank you. I try to be his enthusiast.
1:54:30
Speaker 1: I mean, I've if you know me. I love what
1:54:33
Speaker 1: I do. I love talking on the radio. I love
1:54:37
Speaker 1: doing this show from time to time when I'm lucky
1:54:40
Speaker 1: enough to fill in for Sean. I love doing my podcasts,
1:54:43
Speaker 1: my multiple podcasts. I love broadcasting games for the University
1:54:47
Speaker 1: of Utah. I just I love creating features. I am
1:54:52
Speaker 1: very lucky and very blessed that I get to do
1:54:55
Speaker 1: what I love to do for a living. So thank
1:54:58
Speaker 1: you for noticing, and and I hope I'm enthusiastic all
1:55:01
Speaker 1: the time. We actually have a phone call. I have
1:55:05
Speaker 1: not taken a phone call on these airwaves in a
1:55:08
Speaker 1: long time. So Aiden, thank you for dialing in. Happy Friday.
1:55:11
Speaker 2: How are you?
1:55:13
Speaker 1: I'm good?
1:55:13
Speaker 2: How are you?
1:55:14
Speaker 1: I'm excellent? Thanks for listening in today. What's on your mind?
1:55:18
Speaker 2: So?
1:55:18
Speaker 3: I go to University of Utah right now, and I
1:55:20
Speaker 3: got a buddy who is on the team. His name
1:55:22
Speaker 3: is Soren Schinefield. He's a really good offensive lineman from
1:55:26
Speaker 3: Colorado I'm from and I think he is a good
1:55:29
Speaker 3: chance to break out this season. You're not putting too
1:55:31
Speaker 3: much expectation, but I think he puts in a lot
1:55:34
Speaker 3: of work and works hard, and I think the line
1:55:36
Speaker 3: is a good question that a lot of people have.
1:55:38
Speaker 3: It's just as youths fans this year considering.
1:55:40
Speaker 2: How good it was last year.
1:55:42
Speaker 3: So you know, so I think it could break out.
1:55:44
Speaker 1: Well, what's your buddy told you about that line? With
1:55:46
Speaker 1: everybody having questions about it, have you talked to him
1:55:49
Speaker 1: during fall camp.
1:55:51
Speaker 3: I've been talked to him recently. I was going to
1:55:52
Speaker 3: give him a phone call to catch up and everything.
1:55:55
Speaker 3: The thing I've heard, it sounds like going well. And
1:55:57
Speaker 3: there's a lot of questions when a lot of the
1:55:59
Speaker 3: coach staff and a lot of the other players you know,
1:56:02
Speaker 3: have had either gotten drafted or left other programs and
1:56:05
Speaker 3: stuff like that. But firstly, I think it's it's looking
1:56:09
Speaker 3: pretty good. Like my buddy's sorry, and he doesn't beat
1:56:11
Speaker 3: around the bush, and he's he's very confident his and
1:56:14
Speaker 3: the team's abilities.
1:56:15
Speaker 7: So I'm actually really excited.
1:56:16
Speaker 1: Well you should be, because I've been able to watch
1:56:19
Speaker 1: practice and there's a lot of good stuff going on
1:56:21
Speaker 1: up there. Aiden, thanks for your telephone call, and I
1:56:24
Speaker 1: appreciate you. Eight seven seven three five three zero seven hundred.
1:56:27
Speaker 1: There Again, I said it before, and I'll say it again.
1:56:30
Speaker 1: I've said it multiple times. Yeah, you're replacing five starters
1:56:33
Speaker 1: on the offensive line. That doesn't mean there isn't good
1:56:37
Speaker 1: talent in that room, because there is. And just because
1:56:42
Speaker 1: they didn't start a bunch of games doesn't mean a
1:56:45
Speaker 1: lot of those guys haven't played. You've got a number
1:56:47
Speaker 1: of guys up there that have been in the program
1:56:49
Speaker 1: for a long time that know what good football is.
1:56:53
Speaker 1: They've received great coaching priory from a guy like Jim
1:56:57
Speaker 1: Harding and now from Jordan Gross. So yeah, I have
1:57:04
Speaker 1: every confidence in the world that that offensive line will
1:57:07
Speaker 1: be good this year. And I think as the year
1:57:09
Speaker 1: goes along. As you get a little bit more cohesion
1:57:12
Speaker 1: on that line, I think they'll get better and better
1:57:15
Speaker 1: as they go eight seven seven three five three zero
1:57:19
Speaker 1: seven hundred on the text line text for eighty one
1:57:21
Speaker 1: to fifty six says breakout player Larry Simmons. That's not
1:57:25
Speaker 1: bad in a very deep wide receiver room. Larry Simmons
1:57:31
Speaker 1: one has a little bit of an advantage coming into
1:57:35
Speaker 1: the year only that he played last year with Devin
1:57:37
Speaker 1: Dan Pierre. And if you'll recall, as the season went along,
1:57:42
Speaker 1: Larry Simmons ended up. I want to say his final
1:57:46
Speaker 1: numbers were like fifteen catches, but he had six touchdowns
1:57:50
Speaker 1: last year. It was really the last three or four
1:57:53
Speaker 1: games that he really came on. Remember he was a
1:57:56
Speaker 1: transfer into the program last year from Southern Miss, and
1:58:03
Speaker 1: he actually began his career at Mississippi State and then
1:58:05
Speaker 1: he went to Southern Miss. But anyway, sometimes it just
1:58:08
Speaker 1: takes you a little longer to acclimate. I mean, I
1:58:10
Speaker 1: know we all think that everybody this is football, and
1:58:13
Speaker 1: if there's so many factors and mitigating factors that come in.
1:58:16
Speaker 1: But you could see it as he went along that
1:58:19
Speaker 1: he was getting more and more comfortable and Devin dan
1:58:23
Speaker 1: Pierre was looking for him more and more. So it
1:58:28
Speaker 1: wouldn't surprise me at all if a guy like Larry Simmons.
1:58:34
Speaker 1: He gave you a taste of it last year, But
1:58:36
Speaker 1: fifteen catches is not a huge year. If Larry Simmons
1:58:40
Speaker 1: comes on and has forty five catches for six hundred
1:58:43
Speaker 1: yards and eight touchdowns, that's a breakout year. It's a
1:58:47
Speaker 1: good text text message in Hey Bill, my breakout players
1:58:54
Speaker 1: for this year on defense will be Cyrus PAULU really
1:58:57
Speaker 1: excited for him. On an offense will be Daniel Bray.
1:59:01
Speaker 1: Love his speed and will be effective out of the backfield.
1:59:04
Speaker 1: Those are those are two good candidates. And I'll tell
1:59:07
Speaker 1: you that because Paul lou is a guy that's going
1:59:10
Speaker 1: to play a lot of linebacker this year for Utah,
1:59:13
Speaker 1: and he flashed a little bit last year, and I
1:59:15
Speaker 1: know the Colton Swan likes his upside a lot. And
1:59:18
Speaker 1: Daniel Bray is another one of those guys. You know
1:59:21
Speaker 1: last year it was Devin dan Pierre, it was Bird Fick,
1:59:23
Speaker 1: when it was Nakari Rodgers, it was way Sean Parker
1:59:27
Speaker 1: who were all carrying the football. But Bray about midway
1:59:31
Speaker 1: through the season, got a few touches, and what you
1:59:34
Speaker 1: saw from Daniel Bray was his speed. His elusiveness is athleticism.
1:59:39
Speaker 1: And Morgan Scalley said he had a great spring, and
1:59:42
Speaker 1: I think he's had a pretty good fall camp too.
1:59:43
Speaker 1: So those are two good nominees for breakout players for
1:59:47
Speaker 1: Utah football this year. Eight seven seven three five three
1:59:52
Speaker 1: zero seven hundred. Text message in twenty eight eighty five says, hey, Bill,
1:59:56
Speaker 1: good to have you back. Glad to be back. Check
2:00:00
Speaker 1: out the documentary The Streak. If you haven't seen it,
2:00:02
Speaker 1: you'll see why the major league baseball team needs to
2:00:04
Speaker 1: be the Trappers. I've seen it. I've lived here long.
2:00:07
Speaker 1: I know the story and what they did, and that
2:00:12
Speaker 1: was a great time for baseball here in Salt Lake City.
2:00:14
Speaker 1: A'll be at minor league baseball, but it was a
2:00:16
Speaker 1: great time for baseball. So yes, it'd be great to
2:00:21
Speaker 1: have Bill Murray come back too, right. I knew somebody
2:00:28
Speaker 1: out there that was an OG listener to the Bill
2:00:31
Speaker 1: and Spence Show would know. I can't believe I forgot it.
2:00:34
Speaker 1: I knew it wasn't the Dingo, but my favorite postal worker,
2:00:40
Speaker 1: Derek the mailman, it was Spence as l Diablo and
2:00:44
Speaker 1: I was the Dagger. The Dagger is a lot cooler
2:00:48
Speaker 1: than the Dingo. By the way, to h you, baby, Derek.
2:00:55
Speaker 1: Great to hear from you. One of these days if
2:00:59
Speaker 1: I'm in Utah County, maybe I'll stumble upon you on
2:01:01
Speaker 1: your mail route and we'll catch up again. Otherwise, thanks
2:01:04
Speaker 1: for listening in always great to have you eight al
2:01:09
Speaker 1: Diafolo and the Dagger.
2:01:10
Speaker 2: That's right.
2:01:12
Speaker 1: I think the next time I'm on, I've got some
2:01:14
Speaker 1: of the old promos saved on my computer that were
2:01:18
Speaker 1: the old thirty second t's promos for the Bill and
2:01:21
Speaker 1: Spence Show, and they are fun and they are priceless,
2:01:28
Speaker 1: and for some of you old heads out there that
2:01:30
Speaker 1: go back fifteen years, you'll get a good chime. I
2:01:34
Speaker 1: listened to them from time to time, and occasionally I'll
2:01:36
Speaker 1: send one dispense too, and they're great. Gage Martinez, Hey Bill,
2:01:44
Speaker 1: good to hear your voice. Ceiling twelve and oh go utes.
2:01:47
Speaker 1: Floor nine and four, Well, it'd be nine and three
2:01:52
Speaker 1: unless you were counting the Bowl game. Just saying math
2:01:57
Speaker 1: is hard.
2:01:57
Speaker 2: I get it.
2:02:00
Speaker 1: If we were super injured, that's the nine and three.
2:02:04
Speaker 1: Shout out, Hayden Smith, my brother in law, Utah baseball's
2:02:08
Speaker 1: newest catcher. Excited to watch him up on the hill.
2:02:10
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'll be excited to see that too. I'll
2:02:16
Speaker 1: have to go. I'll have to go talk to coach
2:02:20
Speaker 1: Henderson and the crew about the new catcher. But yeah,
2:02:23
Speaker 1: baseball was fun last year, being in that new ballpark
2:02:26
Speaker 1: and calling games was a blast. So it's a ways off.
2:02:29
Speaker 1: I'm excited for football season, but I will be excited
2:02:32
Speaker 1: about spring as well and what lies ahead. Textra thirty
2:02:36
Speaker 1: three seventy one would love to know what an acceptable
2:02:41
Speaker 1: floor in a win lost floor would be for Morgan
2:02:43
Speaker 1: Scalley in his first year. Well, you'll never get Morgan
2:02:46
Speaker 1: scali to say that, because Morgan Scalley wants to win
2:02:49
Speaker 1: every game. But I think that also depends on how
2:02:54
Speaker 1: the season plays out. If you're ravaged with injuries at
2:02:57
Speaker 1: lots of key positions, that kind of changes it. But
2:03:01
Speaker 1: that's why I said, if healthy, I think nine and
2:03:04
Speaker 1: three is a floor. In eleven and one was my ceiling.
2:03:10
Speaker 1: But Morgan Scalley's never going to give you an acceptable
2:03:13
Speaker 1: floor or an acceptable ceiling. He's simply going to tell
2:03:15
Speaker 1: you they're gonna win every game. Or want to win
2:03:17
Speaker 1: every game eight seven seven three five three zero seven
2:03:23
Speaker 1: hundred Texter seventy eight twenty two. Bill, I don't know.
2:03:27
Speaker 1: I'm kind of liking the dingo. Eld you hoblo and
2:03:32
Speaker 1: the dingo. I'll stick with Dagerban. See what what happens?
2:03:39
Speaker 6: Uh?
2:03:41
Speaker 1: Text message? Hey Bill, I have a question, but it's
2:03:44
Speaker 1: kind of not really sports related. Your voice is absolutely legendary.
2:03:50
Speaker 1: Do you sound like this all the time or is
2:03:52
Speaker 1: it just when you work? How did you develop your
2:03:54
Speaker 1: voice or have you always had an amazing voice. I'm
2:03:57
Speaker 1: just curious. You're the best. Bill.
2:03:59
Speaker 2: Thanks.
2:04:01
Speaker 1: I kind of mostly sound. I project a little bit
2:04:04
Speaker 1: more when I'm on the radio or on TV, just because,
2:04:07
Speaker 1: but this is kind of my voice. To what you
2:04:11
Speaker 1: hear is kind of what you get. And I really
2:04:13
Speaker 1: didn't do anything to work on my voice. Years ago,
2:04:17
Speaker 1: I worked in radio and I had a guy, a
2:04:19
Speaker 1: boss that said I needed to take voice lessons. I
2:04:22
Speaker 1: really didn't think I did, so I never did. I
2:04:25
Speaker 1: think over the years, I joke jokingly to call this
2:04:28
Speaker 1: the money maker. So, but I've never done anything in
2:04:36
Speaker 1: particular exercises. I just it's reps and reps and reps
2:04:42
Speaker 1: tens of thousands of hours doing radio and television has
2:04:46
Speaker 1: just kind of developed the voice and what it is.
2:04:48
Speaker 1: But I appreciate the fact that you like it and
2:04:53
Speaker 1: want to listen to it. So text message in fifteen
2:04:58
Speaker 1: seventy says Ceiling eight and four Flour five and seven.
2:05:03
Speaker 1: While I'm rooting for Scalley, there's too many There are
2:05:08
Speaker 1: too many examples of a protege picking up where his
2:05:12
Speaker 1: predecessor left off. I'm excited to see Morgan as a
2:05:15
Speaker 1: head coach, but I found the fan base's dismissiveness of
2:05:19
Speaker 1: Kyle Whittingham's importance studying why don't. I haven't met anybody
2:05:24
Speaker 1: that has been dismissive of Kyle Whittingham, And anybody that's
2:05:28
Speaker 1: dismissive of Kyle Whittingham and his thirty years as a
2:05:32
Speaker 1: coach and twenty one as head coach would be absolutely
2:05:37
Speaker 1: positively silly. Kyle Whittingham. I've joked about this all the time.
2:05:44
Speaker 1: I've joked about but Ron McBride turned the Utah football
2:05:49
Speaker 1: program around. What coach Mack did was resurrect Utah football
2:05:56
Speaker 1: and make it competitive again and made the rivalry with
2:05:59
Speaker 1: BYU a rivalry again. Cannot be understated what coach Mack did.
2:06:05
Speaker 1: Urban Meyer was only here for two years. He went
2:06:10
Speaker 1: eleven and two and twelve and zero in two years.
2:06:18
Speaker 1: That's impressive. He made Utah football cool. Urban made it cool.
2:06:25
Speaker 1: He brought some swagger to Utah football, but everything else
2:06:31
Speaker 1: was built by Kyle Whittingham. He went undefeated, won a
2:06:36
Speaker 1: Sugar Bowl, beat Alabama, transitioned him from a group of
2:06:39
Speaker 1: five to a powerfour conference, and then won Power four
2:06:43
Speaker 1: conference championships. So anybody that's being dismissive of his importance,
2:06:48
Speaker 1: that would be just absolutely silly. But there are examples
2:06:57
Speaker 1: of guys proteges that struggle, but there's also examples of
2:07:00
Speaker 1: guys that do not. That's why this season is gonna
2:07:05
Speaker 1: be interesting. And by the way, your flooring ceiling are
2:07:09
Speaker 1: absolutely acceptable. Grab one more telephone call then we'll break.
2:07:12
Speaker 1: Bring on Riley Nelson. Albert's on the line. What's up, Albert?
2:07:17
Speaker 2: I'm just doing out everything.
2:07:18
Speaker 7: Man, not to hear you?
2:07:20
Speaker 2: Was that gang.
2:07:20
Speaker 1: It's great to be here, Albert. How about you? How
2:07:22
Speaker 1: are you doing?
2:07:24
Speaker 2: Oh?
2:07:24
Speaker 7: I'm ready then, I'm ready for this season. I d
2:07:27
Speaker 7: C so I gonna be spaced.
2:07:28
Speaker 2: Man, I give you my ceiling. It's eleven o one
2:07:31
Speaker 2: and the lord is am four.
2:07:33
Speaker 1: Okay, and and do you have a breakout player?
2:07:38
Speaker 2: I know right now, but a couple okay, I think
2:07:43
Speaker 2: really good. See song. Hopefully we see your name? Is
2:07:45
Speaker 2: that your wife stage?
2:07:47
Speaker 1: So what it should be a lot of fun, Albert.
2:07:52
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to seeing you up there at some tailgates.
2:07:55
Speaker 1: Come by, give me a high five, and uh, shoot
2:07:59
Speaker 1: me a picture that man cave one of these days.
2:08:03
Speaker 2: For sewing.
2:08:06
Speaker 1: Well youutes, Thank you Albert. Good to hear from you.
2:08:08
Speaker 1: He is as big a Utah fan as you will find.
2:08:11
Speaker 1: My guy, Albert Gamboa right there and uh yeah, eight
2:08:16
Speaker 1: and four, eleven and one are his floor and ceiling.
2:08:19
Speaker 1: One more of those on the text line from Curtis.
2:08:22
Speaker 1: Curtis says, hey Bill, I'd say the floor is nine
2:08:24
Speaker 1: and three in the ceiling is ten and two. Absolutely fair,
2:08:29
Speaker 1: absolutely positively fair. Curtis, thank you for the text message.
2:08:33
Speaker 1: Give a few more coming and we'll read some more
2:08:34
Speaker 1: as we go. Take a break though. With about a
2:08:37
Speaker 1: half hour to go on the program, plad we could
2:08:39
Speaker 1: get a couple of phone calls in today. I was
2:08:45
Speaker 1: hoping we might hear from Alma today, but maybe we'll
2:08:47
Speaker 1: have to do that on another day. Riley Nelson's next
2:08:52
Speaker 1: on The Shot O'Connell Show. Bill, Riley, sitting in on
2:08:54
Speaker 1: a Friday on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two one FM.
2:09:02
Speaker 6: You were listening to a Sean O'Connell show from the
2:09:04
Speaker 6: Murdoch Hyundai Studio of ESPN seven hundred and ninety two
2:09:09
Speaker 6: to one AF.
2:09:09
Speaker 1: M oh c's out today. Tired enough to let me
2:09:14
Speaker 1: sit in the air chair. Scratch that. It's just a
2:09:18
Speaker 1: little bit final half hour on this Friday as we
2:09:22
Speaker 1: sit thirteen days out for the Utah opener against Idaho State,
2:09:28
Speaker 1: EYU and Utah State also opening up very soon as well.
2:09:31
Speaker 1: I thought we'd talk in state ball with a guy
2:09:34
Speaker 1: that loves in state ball. Used to talk to me
2:09:37
Speaker 1: on a regular basis on my show, and I love
2:09:39
Speaker 1: to talk to him because he just likes football and
2:09:42
Speaker 1: talks about all of it. Former Aggie quarterback, former Cougar quarterback,
2:09:46
Speaker 1: former Cougar color analyst, now just a guy who watches
2:09:50
Speaker 1: football on Saturdays. Riley Nelson with us here on the
2:09:53
Speaker 1: shadow'connell Show.
2:09:54
Speaker 2: What's up? Riley? Great to be with you, Bill, I
2:09:57
Speaker 2: and listen. You know we've had our little hiatus, so
2:10:00
Speaker 2: I'll forgive it. But in the in the intros and titles,
2:10:03
Speaker 2: you forgot little you Conference Scout Little League football head coach.
2:10:08
Speaker 2: Oh wow, that's what's occupying saturdays. Yeah, my oldest is
2:10:11
Speaker 2: my oldest is into tackle now and we got that
2:10:14
Speaker 2: going on.
2:10:14
Speaker 1: So first games we got.
2:10:16
Speaker 2: We're up in woods Cross first game tomorrow against the
2:10:19
Speaker 2: Alta Hawks, so we're getting ready for it.
2:10:21
Speaker 1: Well, maybe the most important title of those that I
2:10:23
Speaker 1: mentioned that you held, then that's right. You are influencing
2:10:28
Speaker 1: young football players. The future of perhaps Utah BYU and
2:10:32
Speaker 1: Utah State football is in your hands. Riley, don't mess
2:10:35
Speaker 1: it up, all.
2:10:36
Speaker 2: Right, I'll try not to.
2:10:37
Speaker 1: So best, what has you most excited about the upcoming
2:10:41
Speaker 1: season here in the state of Utah with those three programs.
2:10:43
Speaker 2: That you follow a couple of different things. Well, I
2:10:47
Speaker 2: think the possibility so as you go to the three,
2:10:49
Speaker 2: I think the intrigue going to BYU is and I
2:10:53
Speaker 2: know we're not supposed to talk about it and all that,
2:10:55
Speaker 2: but like I quite a few distractions in the offseason,
2:10:58
Speaker 2: and it seems as b why you can use the
2:11:00
Speaker 2: success they can't get out of their own way. One
2:11:03
Speaker 2: might say like, oh, you know, maybe the media is
2:11:05
Speaker 2: after our controversy. We all know the media environment around
2:11:07
Speaker 2: BYU tends to skep well, well there are you know,
2:11:10
Speaker 2: they're not without their critics. It tends to skeep pretty positive.
2:11:13
Speaker 7: I think.
2:11:13
Speaker 2: I think most people obviously Desert News and some of
2:11:16
Speaker 2: those things really help kind of keep it that. But boy,
2:11:19
Speaker 2: whether it's some offseason issues of some of the players
2:11:22
Speaker 2: to you know, kind of now this most recent little
2:11:24
Speaker 2: dust up right before a fall camp about you know,
2:11:28
Speaker 2: is the athletic department and in alignment with the flagship
2:11:31
Speaker 2: program despite the you know, number one draft picks and
2:11:34
Speaker 2: everything and all that's going all the excitement's gone on
2:11:36
Speaker 2: around BYU basketball, Let's not forget where the bread is buttered,
2:11:39
Speaker 2: and the flagship program at that university is football. And
2:11:42
Speaker 2: so to kind of have some of these things get
2:11:45
Speaker 2: to a point where it leaks out into the media
2:11:46
Speaker 2: that they're being addressed and discussed. As far as the
2:11:48
Speaker 2: alignment between the athletic department, leadership and the and the
2:11:52
Speaker 2: football program, all of that. Can they can BYU do
2:11:54
Speaker 2: what big programs do, because big programs are not without
2:11:57
Speaker 2: their controversy, but they seem to from year to year
2:12:00
Speaker 2: be able to compartmentalize that and continue their levels of
2:12:04
Speaker 2: success as you look at across you know, the top
2:12:06
Speaker 2: programs of any conference. That's what they're able to do
2:12:09
Speaker 2: is turn down the static noise of distractions and keep
2:12:13
Speaker 2: the performance high. So, you know, coming off a conference
2:12:16
Speaker 2: game appearance last year and conference Offensive Player of the Year,
2:12:20
Speaker 2: returning some very key pieces on defense, you know can
2:12:23
Speaker 2: be why can BYU show that they're going to be
2:12:26
Speaker 2: a perennial p for top of the conference contender? And
2:12:29
Speaker 2: then of course you know Morgan Scalley, he and I
2:12:34
Speaker 2: share I share a kinship with him. We're both you know,
2:12:36
Speaker 2: Utah mister footballs, and I am a big proponent whether
2:12:40
Speaker 2: they're wearing red or royal blue or navy blue. That
2:12:43
Speaker 2: you know, guys who prepped in football kind of have
2:12:46
Speaker 2: to stick together and support one another. So I am
2:12:49
Speaker 2: cheering for him in the biggest way to be able
2:12:51
Speaker 2: to handle the passing of the mantle. I think he will.
2:12:54
Speaker 2: I think he'll do a great job, but there's always
2:12:56
Speaker 2: that unknown that remains to be seen. And I was
2:12:59
Speaker 2: listening to your show prior to joining with you and
2:13:03
Speaker 2: listening to the floor and ceiling, it sounds like he's
2:13:05
Speaker 2: coming in from some pretty high expectations from the fan base.
2:13:08
Speaker 2: So really be interesting to see how Morgan does there.
2:13:12
Speaker 2: And then, of course men in Hall, I want to
2:13:15
Speaker 2: you know, can he do this a third or a
2:13:18
Speaker 2: fourth time if you count New Mexico? And what I
2:13:20
Speaker 2: mean by that comes in takes over byu first year,
2:13:23
Speaker 2: rough year, but sure enough, marching upward and onward. Same
2:13:26
Speaker 2: thing at Virginia when he left there, he was getting
2:13:28
Speaker 2: going up New Mexico before he changed directions and decided
2:13:31
Speaker 2: to do that at Utah State. So after that introductory
2:13:34
Speaker 2: year and facing you know, a pretty tough Mountain West schedule,
2:13:38
Speaker 2: I think the Aggies, you know, especially the murder's role
2:13:41
Speaker 2: of their non conference in their first games are really tough.
2:13:44
Speaker 2: Can they weather early storm? And can men in Hall,
2:13:47
Speaker 2: you know, do what he's done for the past twenty years,
2:13:49
Speaker 2: and that's take programs from relative mediocrity to you know,
2:13:54
Speaker 2: excelling and competing for conference championships. So intrigue abounds.
2:13:58
Speaker 1: Bill. All right, Riley, I'm going to ask you about
2:14:00
Speaker 1: the questions. The big question for each at least Utah
2:14:03
Speaker 1: and Byu.
2:14:04
Speaker 2: For sure.
2:14:04
Speaker 1: I haven't dug as much into the aggies, but if
2:14:07
Speaker 1: you want to make a comment there big question around
2:14:10
Speaker 1: Utah is the offensive line, aside from Morgan being a
2:14:14
Speaker 1: first year head coach, is tough if we're just talking
2:14:16
Speaker 1: about football on the field. Five guys all on NFL rosters, right,
2:14:19
Speaker 1: or I should say four of the five on NFL rosters.
2:14:23
Speaker 1: Replace having to replace those five guys. Now, a bunch
2:14:26
Speaker 1: of those guys were in the program, played snaps, had
2:14:29
Speaker 1: been there. They were just playing behind guys like Fano
2:14:32
Speaker 1: and Lomu. The last couple of years brought some other
2:14:35
Speaker 1: guys in, including a five star guy, brought in a
2:14:37
Speaker 1: guy that won a national championship at Montana. These are
2:14:39
Speaker 1: all guys, they've been there. But you tell me, give
2:14:42
Speaker 1: me your thought on that offensive line and Jordan Gross
2:14:46
Speaker 1: coaching those guys up and the question that's kind of
2:14:49
Speaker 1: the big one that everybody points at with Utah, Well, I.
2:14:53
Speaker 2: Gotta tell you I think extremely everything I've seen from
2:14:57
Speaker 2: coach Gross. And of course he's from Mayer of and
2:15:00
Speaker 2: he's a little bit older than me, but you know
2:15:02
Speaker 2: he was he was a high profile guy there, and
2:15:04
Speaker 2: you really respected the way that he played obviously goes
2:15:06
Speaker 2: on to have a tremendous NFL career now he's back,
2:15:08
Speaker 2: and everything that I've seen from as a coaches, media
2:15:11
Speaker 2: availability and all those things, he seems like a guy
2:15:13
Speaker 2: that I would love coaching up my hogs. Up front,
2:15:16
Speaker 2: I think one thing that should give you a little bit,
2:15:20
Speaker 2: whether or not you had returners or not, you've got
2:15:21
Speaker 2: a new uh, you've got a new offensive coordinator in mcgiven.
2:15:25
Speaker 2: So no matter who they are, they're kind they're going
2:15:27
Speaker 2: to kind of be learning a new system, coming at
2:15:29
Speaker 2: it with a fresh set of eyes. So to me,
2:15:31
Speaker 2: I don't know that I'd have as much concern because you're,
2:15:34
Speaker 2: for everyone's free from expectations, you're free from ingrained some
2:15:37
Speaker 2: of the Some sometimes when you have a long time
2:15:41
Speaker 2: coordinator and a long time system that's been really successful,
2:15:44
Speaker 2: you kind of anchor to that and maybe your personality
2:15:47
Speaker 2: or sorry, your personnel set. You don't have the same
2:15:49
Speaker 2: skill set from year to year. But sometimes it's like, well,
2:15:52
Speaker 2: this has always worked for us when we've done that, well,
2:15:53
Speaker 2: these guys don't particularly run.
2:15:55
Speaker 7: That scheme very well, you.
2:15:56
Speaker 2: Know, these guys are these guys are more of a
2:15:59
Speaker 2: of a man blocking power type you know, offensive line
2:16:03
Speaker 2: where the previous offensive line were maybe good zone zone
2:16:07
Speaker 2: scheme guys or whatever. When you get a new coordinator,
2:16:09
Speaker 2: it wipes the slate clean. And so to have a
2:16:12
Speaker 2: new coordinator also when you're bringing in a brand new
2:16:15
Speaker 2: set of talent, actually, I think is a pretty good
2:16:19
Speaker 2: scenario to be in. So Utah obviously no lack for resources,
2:16:24
Speaker 2: no lack for reputation. That offensive the production of the
2:16:27
Speaker 2: offensive line as far as putting it into the NFL
2:16:29
Speaker 2: is one of the tops in the conference. And so
2:16:31
Speaker 2: I gotta believe, well, you know, I haven't seen these
2:16:33
Speaker 2: guys play on Saturday. I got to believe the guys
2:16:36
Speaker 2: they got in the building, the guys competing for those
2:16:38
Speaker 2: those jobs or no slouches. And so it always hurts
2:16:43
Speaker 2: to see big, well known, you know, long multi year
2:16:47
Speaker 2: starter talent exit into the NFL. But as a fan,
2:16:52
Speaker 2: you got to hold on hope and trust that the program,
2:16:54
Speaker 2: especially one that has the track record and sustained success
2:16:58
Speaker 2: of Utah, is going to be able to reload well.
2:17:01
Speaker 1: And to that point, I don't know what's gonna happen,
2:17:03
Speaker 1: but you taught, as you know, does have a pretty
2:17:05
Speaker 1: good track record of developing offensive and defensive lineman.
2:17:10
Speaker 2: Without a doubt, that has been their calling card and
2:17:12
Speaker 2: their hallmark. In fact, the Winningham area arrow, I think
2:17:16
Speaker 2: was more obviously we remember the Brian Johnson's and Hunt
2:17:19
Speaker 2: Lee's and Ostiata's and all the many wonderful players. Of course,
2:17:23
Speaker 2: I know that's a very short list. We could go
2:17:25
Speaker 2: on and on about that about this cool guys, but
2:17:27
Speaker 2: I really do think like with and he never said this,
2:17:30
Speaker 2: but I think he did want like that faceless star
2:17:33
Speaker 2: program that was just built on being so physical and
2:17:36
Speaker 2: so consistent from you to hear. And the only way
2:17:39
Speaker 2: you build a program that way is with the dudes
2:17:41
Speaker 2: up front, the front five on the offensive line, in
2:17:44
Speaker 2: the front set four or seven really the front seven
2:17:47
Speaker 2: on the defensive because those guys they don't sell, you know,
2:17:50
Speaker 2: lineman jerseys don't sell, but they sure do win. And
2:17:54
Speaker 2: that was one of the hallmarks of Whitningham. And I
2:17:56
Speaker 2: think that's something of course to Kalgy. I mean, every
2:17:58
Speaker 2: college football coach knows that. I don't I think it's
2:18:00
Speaker 2: anything Scaley's going to abandon anytime soon. All Right.
2:18:02
Speaker 1: The big question to b yu are one of the
2:18:04
Speaker 1: questions of byu is you know, not the quarterback? He
2:18:07
Speaker 1: was good as a freshman, although I'll ask you about
2:18:09
Speaker 1: him in a minute. Offensive line, very good running back,
2:18:13
Speaker 1: back loaded to But who are the weapons on the
2:18:15
Speaker 1: outside because most of the guys that caught the balls
2:18:18
Speaker 1: last year are gone now? So your thoughts on weaponry
2:18:23
Speaker 1: at least in the pass game for beer backmyer?
2:18:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, giant question mark And if you look at you know,
2:18:28
Speaker 2: obviously they only had two losses last year, both to
2:18:30
Speaker 2: Texas Tech, and what do they do even with no
2:18:32
Speaker 2: commodities like Chase Roberts and Parker Kingston that were highly
2:18:37
Speaker 2: productive outside of that Texas Tech anybody who watched either
2:18:39
Speaker 2: of those two games is like, all right, we're gonna
2:18:41
Speaker 2: mat him up. We're going to commit an extra guy
2:18:43
Speaker 2: to the box because we don't trust that these guys
2:18:46
Speaker 2: can create separations. So there you had to established multi
2:18:48
Speaker 2: year starters, multi year players, multi your contributors that still
2:18:51
Speaker 2: couldn't be successful.
2:18:52
Speaker 7: And granted, I know.
2:18:53
Speaker 2: Texas Tech put a lot of guys into the league
2:18:55
Speaker 2: and they got a new look there, but it's not
2:18:57
Speaker 2: I mean, let's not get so fixated on Texas Tech.
2:18:59
Speaker 2: Who might it be this year. Right in today's transfer
2:19:02
Speaker 2: portal era, it's if it's not Texas Tech, it's going
2:19:05
Speaker 2: to be another brand. Heck, it might even you know,
2:19:07
Speaker 2: it's probably gonna be Utah. After a couple of years
2:19:09
Speaker 2: of dealing with some injuries and some other things there,
2:19:12
Speaker 2: I can only imagine they're anxious to get back to
2:19:14
Speaker 2: their days of having shut down corners and just absolute
2:19:19
Speaker 2: stranglehold defenses. But no built to your point, they're not.
2:19:22
Speaker 2: My only hope is and with the way that their
2:19:25
Speaker 2: schedules laid out, my only hope is that they can
2:19:27
Speaker 2: use the first two to three weeks where they should
2:19:30
Speaker 2: be able to now. I think that defense is going
2:19:32
Speaker 2: to be good, so that defense is going to buy
2:19:33
Speaker 2: them a wider Martin margin of era error. I think
2:19:36
Speaker 2: their offensive line is going to be good again, and
2:19:38
Speaker 2: of course you're returning LJ. Martin. So between them and
2:19:41
Speaker 2: the fact that well, the tight ends and lines and
2:19:44
Speaker 2: that they're asking to produce are new to the program,
2:19:47
Speaker 2: but they're not without snaps across college football. So my
2:19:51
Speaker 2: only hope for this offense is that offensive line and
2:19:54
Speaker 2: run game combined with a play action passing game that
2:19:56
Speaker 2: is kind of more geared towards goringon to the tight
2:19:59
Speaker 2: ends at the beginning will give enough breathing room for
2:20:02
Speaker 2: them to give opportunity to this young core of wide receivers,
2:20:05
Speaker 2: for someone to emerge with someone or some two to
2:20:08
Speaker 2: emerge his threats on the outside. But going into the season,
2:20:10
Speaker 2: it's going to be a giant question mark. I mean, Bill,
2:20:14
Speaker 2: my biggest the single biggest thing I want to see
2:20:18
Speaker 2: is BYU because it's the biggest unknown to me is
2:20:21
Speaker 2: on their first third and eleven? What do they do right?
2:20:23
Speaker 2: And I think will be telling because Roderick you can
2:20:26
Speaker 2: tell when he's got a confidence on that third and eleven.
2:20:28
Speaker 2: Do they go ahead and call draw? If they call quarterback,
2:20:31
Speaker 2: draw and take what they can get and hopefully he
2:20:33
Speaker 2: gets increased, But if not, they're content to just punt
2:20:35
Speaker 2: the football away. It's like, Okay, this staff and this
2:20:38
Speaker 2: offensive coordinator is signaling to us that this receiving court
2:20:42
Speaker 2: ain't ready and it's going to be a long it's
2:20:44
Speaker 2: going to be a long road to hoe for BYU
2:20:46
Speaker 2: as far as producing on the outside. But if they
2:20:48
Speaker 2: come out and those first couple of third and lungs,
2:20:51
Speaker 2: they they're able to get they give a couple guys
2:20:53
Speaker 2: a chance. I'm like, Okay, this staff believes that they
2:20:56
Speaker 2: have a potential guy or guys in it, and they're
2:20:59
Speaker 2: give them an opportunity to emerge. So yeah, I wish
2:21:03
Speaker 2: I had an answer for you or for BYU on
2:21:06
Speaker 2: the outside. But for me, that's the biggest question mark
2:21:08
Speaker 2: and the game really, the play calling in the first
2:21:12
Speaker 2: couple of games will be indicative to me of whether
2:21:14
Speaker 2: or not BYU's covered as bear or they feel like
2:21:17
Speaker 2: they've got some potential.
2:21:18
Speaker 1: Coach Riley Nelson with us here on the Shan O'Connell
2:21:22
Speaker 1: Show today, I want to ask you about the two
2:21:24
Speaker 1: big quarterbacks I mentioned Bachmeier a minute ago. Obviously, Devin
2:21:27
Speaker 1: dan peer back. We found out a lot about Devin.
2:21:28
Speaker 1: We knew Devin was battling some injuries last year. We
2:21:31
Speaker 1: didn't quite know till after the year and some of
2:21:33
Speaker 1: the reporting the trip and the athletic have done that
2:21:35
Speaker 1: they were pretty serious. He was playing with some pretty
2:21:38
Speaker 1: serious injuries all year. They still managed to go eleven
2:21:40
Speaker 1: and two healthy. Devin dan Pier second year at Utah,
2:21:45
Speaker 1: third year, really is a starter in college football. New offense,
2:21:49
Speaker 1: but maybe more weapons than he's ever had. What do
2:21:52
Speaker 1: you want to see cut down on his interception? He
2:21:53
Speaker 1: had a huge year last year. The two games he
2:21:55
Speaker 1: didn't perform great in he was really pretty beat up
2:21:58
Speaker 1: against BYU and Texas Tech. But that said, good year
2:22:02
Speaker 1: for Devn dam Pier. What would Riley Nelson like to
2:22:05
Speaker 1: see as the next step for Devon dam Pier this year?
2:22:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, I and I may be biased because you know,
2:22:12
Speaker 2: I was talking about the mister football fraternity with coach Scaley.
2:22:16
Speaker 2: Obviously I've got the BYU quarterback fraternity with Jason Beck.
2:22:20
Speaker 2: I truly do believe that Jason Beck is probably a
2:22:23
Speaker 2: top five, top seven play caller oc offensive mind in
2:22:28
Speaker 2: college football. And I'm not saying that to Rubderr. I
2:22:30
Speaker 2: think mcgiven is good too. But from what I've seen
2:22:33
Speaker 2: with Beck and his ability from his time at Virginia
2:22:35
Speaker 2: all the way to last year at Utah, like his
2:22:37
Speaker 2: ability to be innovative and creative and honestly his biggest
2:22:40
Speaker 2: thing is like he just highlights the strength of his personnel.
2:22:44
Speaker 2: So incredibly good. Anyway, what I was gonna say is, well,
2:22:48
Speaker 2: I think mcgiven's good to Jerry still out for me
2:22:52
Speaker 2: if he's as good as Beck so what does that mean.
2:22:54
Speaker 2: It means a quarterback going into his third year as
2:22:56
Speaker 2: a starter has to shoulder more of that responsibility together
2:22:59
Speaker 2: with the coordinator. So maybe he's got a little less
2:23:02
Speaker 2: contribution coming from the coordinator. Well, he's going to make
2:23:04
Speaker 2: up for that contribution with his maturity and increased gameplay.
2:23:07
Speaker 2: The biggest thing, and this is going to lead into
2:23:09
Speaker 2: because I'm sure your next question will be about Barry Bachmeyer,
2:23:12
Speaker 2: but the biggest thing second year starters do is they
2:23:15
Speaker 2: try and do too much. And I saw that at
2:23:18
Speaker 2: times with Dan Pierre. I think it led and contributed
2:23:20
Speaker 2: to his injuries, and to your point, in those two
2:23:22
Speaker 2: big games, in the two losses, which were the big games,
2:23:25
Speaker 2: he was hampered and there was physical but also you
2:23:27
Speaker 2: just saw him press. You just saw him do too much,
2:23:29
Speaker 2: and that happens. That happened with I mean, mine weren't
2:23:32
Speaker 2: linear because I had a year starting pre mission and
2:23:35
Speaker 2: then post mission, so there was time between there. But
2:23:37
Speaker 2: I still felt that I was like, Okay, I'm not green.
2:23:39
Speaker 2: People aren't giving me the benefit of the doubt. I
2:23:42
Speaker 2: can't make these mistakes. But you also have to realize
2:23:45
Speaker 2: that you're not the difference between you as a second
2:23:49
Speaker 2: year starter that started you know, ten or twelve or
2:23:51
Speaker 2: whatever games and is starting games in their teams versus
2:23:54
Speaker 2: a guy who's in his third or fourth year it
2:23:56
Speaker 2: has twenty starts under his belt. That is a much
2:23:59
Speaker 2: wider margin than you're willing to admit. And so my
2:24:02
Speaker 2: biggest thing with Dan Pierre is, okay, now that he's
2:24:05
Speaker 2: got twenty plus starts under his beld or however many,
2:24:07
Speaker 2: it is that they're trying to do too much and
2:24:10
Speaker 2: putting the football unnecessarily at risk and him putting himself
2:24:14
Speaker 2: unnecessarily at risk. I want to see that go away
2:24:17
Speaker 2: to me. I don't know that Dan Pierre, if we
2:24:19
Speaker 2: talk about signal to noise like a radio frequency, I
2:24:21
Speaker 2: don't know if he needs to turn down I think
2:24:24
Speaker 2: I don't know that if he needs to turn up
2:24:25
Speaker 2: his signal more right, like I don't think that the
2:24:28
Speaker 2: music needs to be louder. I think his biggest thing
2:24:30
Speaker 2: is can he keep that static and that noise as
2:24:33
Speaker 2: low as possible? And if he does, Utah fans are
2:24:35
Speaker 2: going to see a market improvement from him.
2:24:37
Speaker 1: Quick thought on Bachmeier and where you want to see
2:24:39
Speaker 1: him in your two.
2:24:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's my biggest concern, big physical dude has success
2:24:43
Speaker 2: on the grounds he's lost. Is he going to try
2:24:46
Speaker 2: and make up for their question marks on the outside
2:24:49
Speaker 2: and the lack of a security blanket through his own
2:24:51
Speaker 2: moxie and grit and determination. And even though the dude's
2:24:54
Speaker 2: two forty five or two fifty, you know you still
2:24:57
Speaker 2: they'll guess what. Those Dan linemen are big, fast and
2:25:00
Speaker 2: hit hard too. I just I don't want him. I
2:25:02
Speaker 2: want I'm fine, in fact with Balkmar, I'll say this,
2:25:05
Speaker 2: I'm fine because I'm yet to find someone in their
2:25:08
Speaker 2: sophomore season and their second year as a starter not
2:25:11
Speaker 2: try and do too much. I'm fine if he tries
2:25:13
Speaker 2: to do too much, maybe by taking unnecessary risk in
2:25:16
Speaker 2: the past game, or maybe he's doing a little bit.
2:25:19
Speaker 2: Roderick doesn't give a ton of leash to his quarterbacks
2:25:23
Speaker 2: to do much pre snap. But I'd rather see him like, oh,
2:25:26
Speaker 2: you know, he's doing too much with his pre snap
2:25:28
Speaker 2: checks or audibles or you know back there he probably
2:25:32
Speaker 2: you know it took an unnecessary risk in the past game.
2:25:35
Speaker 2: I'm okay if he does too much in those areas.
2:25:37
Speaker 2: What I'm concerned about though, because he is a big
2:25:40
Speaker 2: physical player and whose contributions on the ground were so
2:25:43
Speaker 2: vital to BYU's success that he tried to make up
2:25:46
Speaker 2: for you know him in his second year. Trying to
2:25:49
Speaker 2: do too much happens in the run game, because when
2:25:51
Speaker 2: you do that in the run game, it opens up,
2:25:53
Speaker 2: it exposes. And I know they have some experience and
2:25:55
Speaker 2: some guys that they think are serviceable behind him, But
2:25:58
Speaker 2: I mean, we're talking to dude that came in as
2:26:01
Speaker 2: a you know, in his first starting, starting snaps and
2:26:04
Speaker 2: let a let a team to a P four Conference
2:26:06
Speaker 2: championship game appearance, and so he really is special. I
2:26:09
Speaker 2: don't think you can just say, like, oh, next man
2:26:12
Speaker 2: up with a guy like that. So my biggest thing
2:26:14
Speaker 2: for him is having maturity and wisdom beyond his ears.
2:26:19
Speaker 2: Still take risks, but don't take them with yourself. Take
2:26:23
Speaker 2: them within the scheme and such of the offense, and
2:26:27
Speaker 2: keep yourself on the field to give your team the
2:26:28
Speaker 2: best chance for long term success. Of the course of
2:26:30
Speaker 2: the season.
2:26:31
Speaker 1: I think there's a good chance that Utah could be
2:26:34
Speaker 1: eight to no and b Yu could be seven and
2:26:36
Speaker 1: one when they meet on November seventh. Would that be
2:26:39
Speaker 1: the biggest game in your thought? From a just from
2:26:42
Speaker 1: a pure football standpoint that you can remember if those
2:26:45
Speaker 1: two teams are eight no and seven and one respectively,
2:26:48
Speaker 1: or maybe eight oh and eight no respectively.
2:26:51
Speaker 2: Absolutely, that's the single biggest game. And I could look
2:26:55
Speaker 2: and that's not I know there are some battles in
2:26:56
Speaker 2: the Whack, and I know there's some battles in the
2:26:58
Speaker 2: Mountain West, and of course the end the pen it
2:27:00
Speaker 2: was hard to bring more relevance. Well, those were some
2:27:01
Speaker 2: of the nastier games. At the end of the day,
2:27:03
Speaker 2: they didn't really mean much as far as you know.
2:27:07
Speaker 2: Utah's ultimate goal was chasing the Pac twelve championship, and
2:27:10
Speaker 2: by us was you know, trying to do their best
2:27:12
Speaker 2: to keep relevancy while being independent. So yes, I mean
2:27:16
Speaker 2: we're talking two on a few. We're talking both on
2:27:17
Speaker 2: a P four scale. We're talking about on a collision course,
2:27:20
Speaker 2: you know, the one potentially has a chance to knock
2:27:23
Speaker 2: the other out of uh off course of you know,
2:27:26
Speaker 2: an appearance in a conference championship game and in the
2:27:28
Speaker 2: college football playoffs. And Bill, I like, I don't know
2:27:32
Speaker 2: what the odds are on that. I don't know if
2:27:34
Speaker 2: I'm party market or any of these betting sites that
2:27:36
Speaker 2: you could like plug that in and see. But I
2:27:38
Speaker 2: do think that's more likely than not because I look
2:27:40
Speaker 2: at these schedules and I think they they line up
2:27:44
Speaker 2: pretty nicely, obviously barring you know, unforeseen h injury or
2:27:47
Speaker 2: injury to KEYP player. But like I think, to your
2:27:50
Speaker 2: point to have I'd be surprised if there are more
2:27:54
Speaker 2: than two losses between them, So I think at that
2:27:57
Speaker 2: point we're talking to your point, but potentially undefeat maybe
2:28:00
Speaker 2: one loss either side. I think worst case scenario is
2:28:02
Speaker 2: they both have a loss, and even at that we
2:28:04
Speaker 2: got seven to one, seven and one top of the
2:28:06
Speaker 2: Big Twelve standings. A clash in the Holy War, yeah,
2:28:09
Speaker 2: I mean, unquestionably the single biggest game in the history
2:28:12
Speaker 2: of the rivalry.
2:28:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, it might be the play in game for the
2:28:14
Speaker 1: Big Twelve championship, just because truly texts schedules pretty soft.
2:28:19
Speaker 1: But I mean, but who knows, But who knows, who
2:28:21
Speaker 1: knows what happens with you know, if if Hammond isn't healthy,
2:28:24
Speaker 1: they can have some issues at quarterback.
2:28:27
Speaker 2: I mean, we've seen that. I'm trying to remember I
2:28:29
Speaker 2: got a quarterback in my mind. Anyway, they tried to
2:28:31
Speaker 2: rush him back and he played, this would have been
2:28:34
Speaker 2: this was years ago. This was fiva six years ago anyway,
2:28:36
Speaker 2: But like he played, and it was obviously his knee
2:28:38
Speaker 2: was not ready. He tried to do the nine month
2:28:40
Speaker 2: recovery kind of like they're doing Hammond. The thing is,
2:28:42
Speaker 2: with scores be gone, they've got like Hammon's their only shot.
2:28:45
Speaker 2: So now the pressure to come back is even more.
2:28:48
Speaker 2: We know he's not ready because of how late he
2:28:49
Speaker 2: hurt his knee, and like they they're I think there's
2:28:52
Speaker 2: a I don't think Texas as much as a shoe
2:28:54
Speaker 2: in as the national media is making. I honestly, I
2:28:56
Speaker 2: think that's lazy journalism because as you look at some
2:28:58
Speaker 2: of these dynamics. First of yeah, I think they relow
2:29:01
Speaker 2: with talent, But I think that and I'm forgetting his
2:29:03
Speaker 2: last name, was it Martinez, who was a good.
2:29:05
Speaker 1: Linebacker for them, Yeah, Jacob Martinez?
2:29:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, Jacob Martinez. Yeah. I think his leadership is going
2:29:10
Speaker 2: to leave a huge void there. They might have guys
2:29:12
Speaker 2: that are just as talented as him, but you saw
2:29:14
Speaker 2: the way that that dude rallied and controlled them as
2:29:16
Speaker 2: a true quarterback of that defense. So I think they're
2:29:19
Speaker 2: gonna well, they might. I don't know that they'll have
2:29:21
Speaker 2: much of a dip talent wise. I think they're going
2:29:23
Speaker 2: to have a leadership void on that defense. And then
2:29:25
Speaker 2: this offense sitting there waiting for him and to get back.
2:29:29
Speaker 2: It's almost a surety that they're gonna force he's going
2:29:32
Speaker 2: to want to and they will probably allow him to
2:29:35
Speaker 2: come back before he's ready. And boy, is that a
2:29:37
Speaker 2: tremendous role of the dice. So to bring that back
2:29:39
Speaker 2: to the Holy War, yeah, I mean they've never there
2:29:43
Speaker 2: were some implications again back in the Whack of Mountain
2:29:46
Speaker 2: West days, but we're talking about a berth in the
2:29:48
Speaker 2: conference championship game and or a berth in the National
2:29:52
Speaker 2: College Football playoffs, all hanging in the balance. In a
2:29:55
Speaker 2: Holy War. It will be bedlo.
2:29:58
Speaker 7: Bill.
2:29:58
Speaker 2: I can't and I can't wait.
2:30:00
Speaker 1: I think it'll be great. Hey, thanks for doing this.
2:30:02
Speaker 1: It's great to catch up with you. Coach those boys
2:30:04
Speaker 1: up tomorrow morning.
2:30:05
Speaker 2: You bet always a pleasure, Bill, Thank.
2:30:07
Speaker 1: You, Thank you, Riley Riley Nelson with us. I always
2:30:09
Speaker 1: love talking ball with him. Back to wrap it up
2:30:11
Speaker 1: next here on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two one FM.
2:30:18
Speaker 6: You're tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch
2:30:21
Speaker 6: Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred at ninety two one.
2:30:25
Speaker 2: A f M.
2:30:29
Speaker 1: I have come to the end of my time here today,
2:30:32
Speaker 1: just at ESPN seven hundred. I'm planning a dying Rea
2:30:36
Speaker 1: anything a football season ahead. No Spence, though I was
2:30:41
Speaker 1: hoping l Diabolo would be in the Dagger. Without L
2:30:44
Speaker 1: Diablo just isn't the same. But we do have Porter
2:30:47
Speaker 1: Larson and the voice of the Salt Lake Bees. Apparently
2:30:51
Speaker 1: it's college sports, college football night tonight at the ballpark.
2:30:55
Speaker 2: It is.
2:30:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, while you're wearing Michigan game's right, I'm wearing my
2:30:59
Speaker 1: Michigan Michigan basketball shirt. It's not Michigan football. Okay, okay,
2:31:08
Speaker 1: look at this guy Hail to the victor's valiant, Oh heroes.
2:31:14
Speaker 1: There's a dirty version that Ohio State fans sing.
2:31:17
Speaker 2: Oh.
2:31:17
Speaker 1: I know I cannot sing them on if we were
2:31:20
Speaker 1: on YouTube only or a stream only, but I cannot
2:31:23
Speaker 1: sing them or the SAFCC will come down hard on
2:31:27
Speaker 1: ESPN seven hundred. What's up, boys, What do we got
2:31:29
Speaker 1: coming up this afternoon?
2:31:30
Speaker 8: Yeah, we'll we'll look ahead to kick off for sure. Well,
2:31:35
Speaker 8: fourteen days, no days, gotta get that right. You're hosting
2:31:40
Speaker 8: the pregame show. Porter, you should know this. In thirteen days,
2:31:43
Speaker 8: we'll be uh, we'll be live for kickoff, so we'll
2:31:45
Speaker 8: do a good good amount of that. Obviously, we got
2:31:49
Speaker 8: our Michigan boy over here. Uh, so we'll we'll talk
2:31:52
Speaker 8: a little Whittingham Utah and Uh, of course I'll give
2:31:56
Speaker 8: you some updates on the PGA tour as we go
2:31:58
Speaker 8: along the second round.
2:32:00
Speaker 1: Of the You're not gonna break down Bes and Angels
2:32:03
Speaker 1: baseball with Tony.
2:32:04
Speaker 9: We will, we will little, We're gonna go over some
2:32:07
Speaker 9: first and third situations here. We're gonna no, it's Uh,
2:32:10
Speaker 9: I'm so excited for him. We've talked about the upcoming year.
2:32:12
Speaker 9: Obviously I'm fired up for Michigan football every year. But
2:32:15
Speaker 9: you know, now to have friends on the staff, that's
2:32:17
Speaker 9: always cool. Uh Morgan Scaley who's there at UTAH. I
2:32:21
Speaker 9: couldn't be a bigger fan of Morgan and so I'm
2:32:24
Speaker 9: fired I know him personally. It's like I have too
2:32:27
Speaker 9: many like friends in great spots who I am like
2:32:31
Speaker 9: personally invested in on like cheering for every single Saturday.
2:32:35
Speaker 1: Maybe they'll make the postseason in the playoffs. I would
2:32:37
Speaker 1: love that, man. I think I think I saw something
2:32:40
Speaker 1: that said last year, had it been a twenty fourteen playoff,
2:32:44
Speaker 1: Utah and Michigan would have played in the first round,
2:32:46
Speaker 1: like a fifteen to eighteen matchup. Really, I think would
2:32:49
Speaker 1: have been the I've been the matchup I think was
2:32:51
Speaker 1: the case it would have been twenty four last year,
2:32:53
Speaker 1: I would have hated that matchup.
2:32:55
Speaker 9: Oh no, no, no, that was not a fundamentally sound
2:32:58
Speaker 9: team at Michigan, even at nine and three.
2:33:00
Speaker 5: That was a very hollow nine and three.
2:33:02
Speaker 8: I think with the off season we've had an on
2:33:06
Speaker 8: the field matchup between a Michigan and Utah. Let's let's
2:33:13
Speaker 8: just speak it into existence.
2:33:14
Speaker 5: I am all about that.
2:33:15
Speaker 9: I would be all about the football, and you know
2:33:18
Speaker 9: it would be about everything else, and the storylines would
2:33:20
Speaker 9: be about everything else. I'd be all about the football
2:33:22
Speaker 9: for that. I think it'd be a terrific situation for
2:33:25
Speaker 9: the sport altogether.
2:33:27
Speaker 1: Since I asked this earlier, I'll ask porter of Utah
2:33:29
Speaker 1: U Michigan floor ceiling for the utes.
2:33:33
Speaker 8: And we did a little form of this exercise on
2:33:36
Speaker 8: the show. It's It's hard. I never put a ceiling
2:33:43
Speaker 8: really like an an undefeated season or whatnot, because that
2:33:47
Speaker 8: requires you to be really good. I never picked twelve
2:33:50
Speaker 8: and zero for anybody. It requires the bal to bounce
2:33:52
Speaker 8: your way a few times. It requires you to stay
2:33:55
Speaker 8: entirely healthy, and probably a little bit of luck along
2:33:58
Speaker 8: the way as well.
2:33:59
Speaker 7: Right.
2:33:59
Speaker 8: So, I think that this is a team that can
2:34:02
Speaker 8: win double digit games. I think it's a ten eleven
2:34:04
Speaker 8: win with ten eleven win season is absolutely a realistic
2:34:10
Speaker 8: goal for this Utah football team. I mean, they bring
2:34:12
Speaker 8: so much back. But because of where the questions are,
2:34:17
Speaker 8: and that is the offensive and defensive lines, I do
2:34:19
Speaker 8: think there's a little bit bigger window of what this
2:34:22
Speaker 8: team could be. That's why I asked you for a
2:34:24
Speaker 8: floor in the floor I think is seven or eight wins,
2:34:27
Speaker 8: you know, right, eight and four I think is something
2:34:32
Speaker 8: that very well could happen if things aren't you know,
2:34:36
Speaker 8: you're not hitting the ground running. Your offensive line takes
2:34:38
Speaker 8: a month or so to to jive and get together.
2:34:42
Speaker 8: That's something I could I could see happening. But I
2:34:44
Speaker 8: think this is a ten win team.
2:34:45
Speaker 1: How about Michigan, Michigan, I'll give you Wolverine here. I
2:34:52
Speaker 1: want your Michigan flor Florign ceiling ceiling is ten and two.
2:34:56
Speaker 9: I think, I think with that schedule, yeah, yeah, I
2:35:00
Speaker 9: mean they still have a ton of talent and you
2:35:02
Speaker 9: got a great coaching staff. So the ceiling's ten and two,
2:35:06
Speaker 9: and then the floor is seven and five. You know,
2:35:08
Speaker 9: the schedule's tough, but they have some most of their
2:35:11
Speaker 9: difficult games come later and at home.
2:35:13
Speaker 1: Well, they play Oklahoma in the second game.
2:35:15
Speaker 5: No, that's that's why I said most of not all
2:35:17
Speaker 5: that we do. But that's why. Okay, if there's one
2:35:20
Speaker 5: area I'd be concerned, it's the trenches.
2:35:22
Speaker 9: And if there's one area that this coaching staff is
2:35:25
Speaker 9: going to be excellent, it's in the trenches and with
2:35:27
Speaker 9: the fundamentals. And so I feel really really good about
2:35:30
Speaker 9: at least being able to neutralize that so ceiling ten
2:35:33
Speaker 9: and two, But I think it would have to take.
2:35:35
Speaker 5: You know, I just at Autson late in the year
2:35:38
Speaker 5: and then in Columbus.
2:35:39
Speaker 9: They'll lose those two games, not because Kyle can't win him,
2:35:42
Speaker 9: not because he doesn't take him seriously.
2:35:43
Speaker 1: Those teams are really good.
2:35:45
Speaker 9: Those programs are running at optimal level preseason one and two, right,
2:35:49
Speaker 9: and Michigan is not yet at that level. So no,
2:35:52
Speaker 9: as far as you saw, my ceiling's tend and too,
2:35:54
Speaker 9: my pick is nine and three. And the one thing
2:35:56
Speaker 9: that I think is not being talked about, we talked
2:35:58
Speaker 9: about it yesterday. I think you have coach is now
2:36:00
Speaker 9: like a Colton Swan who is primed for this situation.
2:36:04
Speaker 9: This isn't There is no slight to Tie Demmer. This
2:36:07
Speaker 9: is not like Ty Depmer being oc at BYU, where
2:36:10
Speaker 9: it's like, well he was a great player, and I
2:36:12
Speaker 9: know he has no experience as a coach, but let's
2:36:15
Speaker 9: see what happens here. No, no, or even And this
2:36:18
Speaker 9: is no slight to Brian Johnson because I think he's now,
2:36:21
Speaker 9: obviously with the years under his belt, a great coach,
2:36:23
Speaker 9: remember when he had to take on some heavy rolls
2:36:26
Speaker 9: somewhat inexperienced. When it talks about the number of years
2:36:29
Speaker 9: to get to a coordinator position, okay, Utah has dudes
2:36:32
Speaker 9: that have been ready and waiting for this opportunity to
2:36:35
Speaker 9: show what they can do with these promotions. And I
2:36:37
Speaker 9: think you're going to see them flourish, not just because
2:36:39
Speaker 9: I watched them, not just because I know them, but
2:36:42
Speaker 9: they have the evidence of what they've been able to do.
2:36:44
Speaker 9: In the past, and they have all the influence and
2:36:46
Speaker 9: the experience around him. I'm excited, and that includes morgan'
2:36:49
Speaker 9: scalley's head coach. So I picked him at nine and three.
2:36:51
Speaker 9: I think the ceiling is ten and two. They're going
2:36:53
Speaker 9: to be in it all the way through the deep
2:36:55
Speaker 9: part of November, and that part I'm very confident.
2:36:58
Speaker 1: About Tony and Porter for the next four hours coming
2:37:01
Speaker 1: up for you. Thanks to Sean for letting me pinch
2:37:03
Speaker 1: hit today. Thanks to James for producing. Thanks to you
2:37:06
Speaker 1: guys for texting in, listening in, and a few of
2:37:09
Speaker 1: you actually calling in. I actually the phone still work
2:37:12
Speaker 1: here at ESPN seven hundred, so you can take phone
2:37:14
Speaker 1: calls from time to time. I appreciate all of you
2:37:16
Speaker 1: doing this today. We'll see you tomorrow up at Utah
2:37:18
Speaker 1: Soccer and at FanFest tomorrow night. The Drive is next
2:37:21
Speaker 1: here on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two one AFM.