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Mac & Bone Show - Heather Dinich Interview · Mac & Bone Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: She is Heather Dinich, and my goodness, do we have
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: stuff to talk about. It's week zero, so we have
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: football just a few days away, but my goodness, do
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: we have drama with the Big Ten and the SEC
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: banning the pro athletes from coming back. Heather Dinich also
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: has a book coming out here in the not-too-distant future
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: to tell us about as well, and she joins us
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: to talk some college football right now.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: ESPN's Heather Dinich. Heather, thank you for joining us. How
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: are you doing?
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: Good morning, my friends. I'm great. I'm so happy that
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: there's college football to talk about, but I know you're
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: going to ask me something about nothing about college football.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: We're going to ruin your morning with this first question.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: And we have two vocal teams playing in week zero.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: We can't even get to the games yet.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: That's true.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: God, we need the games. Do you think, Heather, when
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: the games start, which, by the way, every college football
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: media member and fan has probably said the same thing
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: this week, Please just start the game so we can
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: focus on them. How much do you think, do we
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: just go all in and focus on the games? Please
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: tell me this other stuff takes a backseat.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: What do you think?
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: Oh, absolutely. And listen, I've been saying this for months,
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: and they've been trying to get federal legislation, and we've
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: been talking about playoff expansion. As soon as these teams
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: kick off on a college football Saturday, everything else seems
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: right with the world. And college football is still a
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: fantastic sport. It's one that we all love. It's one
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: that we will all continue to watch. Interest has never
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: been higher. and everybody just needs to figure out who
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: their quarterback is, and they don't care how much you
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: get paid.
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: Before we get into the endless chaos, UNC gets it
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: started in Ireland against TCU on Saturday on ESPN. What's
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: your expectation, Heather, for Belichick in year two? Your colleague
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: Paul Feinbaum went off on him yesterday. Are you thinking
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: this will be a continued disaster, or can Belichick make
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: some strides here this season?
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: I'll be surprised if there are major strides made. I mean,
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: part of it is just how tough the schedule is. But,
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: you know, also, we don't know what Billy Edwards Jr.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: is going to look like as quarterback. What's fascinating as
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: we talk about eligibility is the fact that UNC's QB
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: is 23 years old. He's eight and eight as a starter. And,
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: you know, he just hasn't played. He got hurt, I
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: want to say, like five games into his career at Wisconsin.
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: So he's I think there's a question mark there, but look,
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: there's a question mark for TCU too, where Jaden Craig
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: is taking over at QB Harvard. He's got to be
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: pretty smart. You would think 20 and four record as
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: a starter. He's only got 15 career interceptions in his career,
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: which is as much as TCU quarterbacks had last year.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: So I don't know. It's going to be an interesting
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: experiment for Belichick, but I would be surprised if there's
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: some gigantic turnarounds.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: We're talking to Heather Dinn at GSPN, talking some college
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: football here on the Mac and Bone Show. I will
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: ask you the question that will probably put a frown.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Turn that smile into a frown, Heather, because I know
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: you've talked about this so much as someone that covers
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: college football. But the latest news with the SEC and
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: the Big Ten coming out with these rules, it sounds
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: like the Big 12 and ACC are going to follow suit.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: It's hard for me, though, not to feel like These
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: guys will run to, you know, a court and will
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: then probably win a court case and be back. Like,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: what where do you think this situation with the with
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: the pro players coming back goes from here?
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: Into a courtroom. I think you're absolutely right. I mean,
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: that's the reality of the situation. But the other thing
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: too is, and I said this in July when we
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: were at SEC Media Days and everyone was talking about
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: the SEC, quote, breaking away. And my response was, listen,
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: here's the reality of this. When we're talking about that,
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: we're talking about these conferences making their own rules and
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: And it is not dissimilar to what the Big 12
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: did with the Brendan Sorsby case. Lawsuits left and right,
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: all over the place, over the most Basic rule in
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: college sports, you cannot bet on your own team and
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: go play in a game. And some judge said otherwise, right?
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: This is a similar situation. You can't sign a pro
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: contract and come back to college. My 16-year-old cannot play
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: on my 14-year-old soccer team. This goes down to the
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: very grassroots of youth sports, right? But some judge said otherwise.
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: So what happens? The conference is flexed. And just like
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: with the Sorsby case in Big 12, your mark and
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: those leaders in that league filed a federal lawsuit. So
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: that hasn't reached the point with the Big Ten and
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: the SEC and everybody else yet with this particular case.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: But the point is, is when you don't have the
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: United States government bailing you out, you have to solve
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: the problem yourself. And this is what I would expect
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: to see more of at the conference level.
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: Heather, how smart was it for the Big Ten conference
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: to threaten the half-year coach suspensions? Because basically what we
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: assume that is for is, is if the players sue
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: the conference and they say you can play, well, they're
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: basically telling the coaches, go ahead and play those guys.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: But if you do, you can't coach them for half
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: the year. Was that a really smart move by the
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: Big Ten if that's what the reasoning was?
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: Yes, it's very smart because it's a show of unity
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: from the leaders in these leagues whose very own coaches
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: are trying to pursue these guys. And I've reached out
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: multiple times to LSU to figure out what the next
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: step is and haven't gotten a response yet. But the
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: reality is there's basically three choices, right, for these coaches.
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: You can either try to break the rule. and see
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: what happens, you fight it in court, or you just
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: simply part ways and say, hey, man, you know what?
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: I can't do this anymore.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Good luck. Yeah, no doubt. But I like what y'all
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: are saying.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: I would love to see– I know the SEC hasn't
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: yet announced what their punishments would be. I'd love to
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: see Greg Sankey say, Lane Kiffin, how about this one?
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: You're going to be suspended half the season if you
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: bring the– I would love to see them try that
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: as well.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: I like drama. I'm not going to lie, Heather. I
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: like drama. We all do.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: We're college football people. Okay, so let's get you started.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: One of the things we know you for as football
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: fans are you kind of breaking down playoff scenarios and
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: covering the college football playoff. So as someone here in
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: ACC country that wants this conference to improve, that loves
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: what Miami did last year, But but we need more.
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: We need we need help for Miami. What are the
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: chances the ACC can have multiple playoff teams in the
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: 12 team playoff? And who are the most likely candidates
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: to join Miami?
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: What do you think?
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: It's not impossible, but it remains really hard. And the
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: thing that I love about the ACC right now is
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: there are multiple teams who can make a run at this.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: The question is, who is the next best team? And look,
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: I have been paying attention to the ACC for decades,
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: and we all know... that as much as we think
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: Miami can, will, and should win the thing, we know
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: how this works, right? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong.
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: Didn't Miami lose to Louisville last year?
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Okay. There we are. Right.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: So let's start with Louisville.
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: That's a team that can make a run at this thing.
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: I definitely have my eye on Virginia and NC State.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: According to ESPN Analytics, There are six teams in the
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: ACC with at least a 10% chance to reach the
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: conference championship game. Virginia is one of them. But you
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: look at C.J. Bailey at NC State and what he
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: did to Virginia last year, he carved them up on
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: the ground and in the air. So this is wide open,
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: I feel like, besides Miami. But we cannot not talk
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: about Clemson. I will be shocked if Clemson isn't significantly
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: better this year. And I know that there are still
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: a lot of questions, but I talked to Dabo Sweeney
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: this off season. He owned all of it. You know,
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: you guys know how he rolls, but I think that
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: they're going to be better defensively with the second year
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: under Tom Allen. And I think they're going to play
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: Miami in the ACC championship game.
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: Heather, to sum up all this, whether it's the ACC
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: and the age eligibility, I can't believe what I saw
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: yesterday of the Virginia offensive line. Their years, Mac, also
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: are 5, 6, 6, 7.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: And 7.
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: They have two 6-year guys, two 7-year guys, a 5th-year guy,
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: and the tight end is also a 5th-year guy. That's
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: got to be the oldest position group in all of
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: college football, I would guess, right?
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they've got so much experience on that team in general,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: including in the trenches. Uh, Heather, we've got to, I've
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: got to bring up your book here.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: I want people to know it's coming out in the
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: spring in April.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: It's never flinch on, on football family and finding my
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: seat at the table. And I want you to know
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: this Heather, when I'm reading the, you know, like, um, uh,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: website of the Hackett, uh, book, uh, hatchet book, book
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: group about this book. I am so intrigued to find
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: out about you sitting on Bob Knight's back porch in
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: eating sloppy joes just days after he was fired.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: Like, I'm ready. I need to read this book now
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: just for that story alone.
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much. And he ate his with a fork,
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: by the way.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: He yelled at me.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: Oh, my God. That's disappointing.
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: Ah, I appreciate it so much. Thank you for bringing
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: it up. I wrote it last year. It's coming out
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: this spring and it's just, it's meant to entertain people,
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: inform people, and just honestly lift people up and help
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: people because over decades of my career, I've had the
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: opportunity to sit down with contractors. like Bob Knight, Joe Paterno,
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: Bobby Bowden, who you guys know very well. I mean,
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: being able to call Bowden at his house, you know,
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: and his, his wife and just, I remember her holding
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: the phone down and being like, bye Heather. Heather's on
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: the phone from ESPN.
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: He always took the call.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: Um, and just life doing this as a mom of
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: three boys and, um, what it's like really to cover
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: the college football playoff for ESPN behind the scenes. So
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: thank you guys.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: That's awesome.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: There's also another one here that's got me intrigued. All right.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: Because Russell Wilson was an NC state quarterback and you
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: apparently left your spaghetti covered infant locked in a high
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: chair to do a quick interview with Russell Wilson.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: So I'm intrigued.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: Priorities.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: And he probably just gave you all his cliches anyway.
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: Heather, I remember, you're right, the first time I had
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: to call Bobby Bowden as a producer for the guest,
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: to be a guest, we were taping it, and I
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: grew up a Florida Gator fan, so I'm thinking I'm
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: going to have to talk to Bobby Bowden. What am
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: I going to do with this guy? And then as
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: soon as he talked to him, he's like, what's going on, Travis?
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: How you doing, buddy? And it's like, oh, my God,
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: I love him so much. That's so awesome.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: He's so easy to like. He's so easy to like.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: The nicest man, no doubt about it. All right, Heather, well,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: good luck with that. Keep up the good work on ESPN,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: and thanks for joining us. Appreciate you.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: You bet, guys.
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: Thanks so much. Enjoy these games.