The Hard Count with J.D. PicKell

Dan Lanning to the NFL? l Latest Portal & Coaching Updates l Tennessee vs UGA | Colorado vs Utah

Today on The Hard Count, Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman fill in for J.D. PicKell! Staples and Wasserman will discuss the Dan Lanning to the NFL rumors and will be joined by Pete Nakos to talk about the latest transfer portal and coaching carousel news. The two will also react to SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee's recent comments about ACC brand bias for the College Football Playoff, preview Tennessee and Georgia's game, and Colorado and Utah's matchup. Let's have a DAY!

Duration:: 1h 0m
Broadcast on:: 14 Nov 2024
Audio Format:: other

Welcome to the hard count. Wait, none of you are blonde. What's going on here? Yeah, we're not JD. I mean, yeah, he's already Wasserman. He's jacked, just like JD, but neither of us are blonde. You've probably been following along on on JD's socials. So he's got his program shirt on, or he's got his program shirt. So we're good. JD's about to be dad, and we are so happy for him. And it both of us, some more recently than others have been through. The experience of becoming a dad for the first time. And it's amazing. And we cannot wait to see how good of a dad JD is going to be because I got a good feeling about it. But we are here. OG Gary asks, are we live? Or is this pre-recorded? We are very much live OG Gary live, but we're going to do it live. Do it live. Play us out. Oh, Bill O'Reilly, how do you not know these terms? You've been in you've been in television for a long at that point. You've been in television for a decent amount of time. I know you've been in television for a long time, but all right, we got to talk about a lot of stuff because we got big games this weekend. We're going to talk a little Georgia, Tennessee. We got big news. Pete Nacos will be joining us talking transfer portal. Thomas Castellanos from Boston College entering the transfer portal. We just found out yesterday. Oh, we got some late, late comers. So let's let's fill everybody in again. Gerald in the chat says, wait, Andy and Ari, where's JD? Remember JD, blessed event coming, blessed event, perhaps hours away. So JD will be out for a little while. So we're going to be handling the hard count probably for the next week or so. And I think you're going to enjoy it. If you don't already watch Andy and Ari on three, we do the morning show. So we're on at 9 30 a.m. Eastern weekday mornings. We also do a post game show on Saturday nights. That is a lot of fun. But right now, we're going hard count. Let's start, Ari with the thing that came out last night where cynical Andy went, uh, somebody's agents just doing some work here. And then I thought about it a little more and I'm like, maybe not. All right, so Jeremy Fowler. From ESPN, graduate of West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Florida, he reports last night that some NFL teams might be interested in one day in landing. And my initial thought, Ari was, oh boy, Jimmy Sexton is getting some work done here because he's scared off all the college teams because the landing's got like a $20 million buyout if he goes to another college team. And so he's just trying to get some, some more money, squeeze some more shekels out of Oregon. Is cynical Andy right on this? Probably. Yeah. I mean, listen, there's been nobody that's been more loyal to their program than Dan Lanning, right? Like last year, if he was ever going to jump ship, there was a pretty nice opportunity potentially waiting for him had he been more interested to go back to the South and try to compete in that fish tank. And he has put a lot of time and effort into building Oregon into the program now that could win a national championship. Now, it's very hard in these scenarios to speak for somebody who, you know, you're not talking to about these things. Um, I don't know that I would feel like I would see a situation where he would be interested in that. So I don't know if that's true or not, but it's definitely savvy. And if it is true, he definitely doesn't seem interested in another college job. Either, either he's the best actor in the world about that or he's legit. He's real like does not want to go to another college job. But I remember, you know, talking to him about it after you're one at Oregon and he very resolute like I'm here. I love it here. My family loves it here and say all say, but the other thing about Dan Lanning got to remember most of the jobs that he would be up for are back down South. He's not Southern. He's from Kansas. So the going home piece of it, which I know Oregon fans are probably a little have some PTSD because they lost two coaches in a row who were Floridians who went back to schools in Florida. But I don't think that's an issue here. The NFL piece of it. The only thing I can think of is is coaches want to work at the highest level sometimes that, you know, some some guys say I'm a college coach. That's all I ever want to be. Some guys do want to work at the highest level. Dan Lanning, I don't think there's any part of his skill set that says he's a better college coach than an NFL coach. I think he's probably just a good coach. So he'd probably be successful either place, but he does seem pretty happy at Oregon, but I will point out that what makes this unusual and we'll talk about that we're going to have Pete Nacos join us at 11, 15 Eastern time. We're going to talk coaching carousel. We're going to talk transfer portal, but the coaching carousel thing is interesting. There's a lot of group of five jobs that are going to open up this year, but I don't think there are going to be many power conference jobs open. I think there will be more NFL openings from firings than power conference openings from firings. Yeah. Yeah. And you did a good job on our show kind of illustrating the reason for that and how that might trickle down into the coordinator position, right? Like you have these insane buyouts. Uh, the collective bargaining seems to be right around the corner. We are in a position where these colleges need as much money as they can in order to prepare for the next frontier of college athletics and you know, firing coaches with insanely high buyouts, just is not good business. You know, um, Going back to Dan Lanning, Andy, I do think that, you know, part of the reason why I've always viewed him as somebody who would have been um, a reasonable or, you know, maybe even a preferred candidate for a place like Alabama or Any other southern job that opens is because he seems to understand better or as well as anybody How to assemble a roster at the college level in order to put Oregon in the position that it is in today. Um, and the thing that you always have to discuss and Really dive into Andy when talking about jumping from this level to the NFL is that If you have less control over the talent advantage, if you have less control over Who you get on your team on a year-to-year basis At the NFL level, it's based on how good your gm is How well you guys draft and the x's and o's aspect of it. I think is a much higher percentage of your job At the next level that it is in college like I think that getting better players in college is a higher percentage So when we say Dan Lanning is an amazing coach When I say that I love his aggressiveness on fourth down. I think he draws up great plays Like I'm not saying that he isn't great at that aspect of it But what makes Dan Lanning a special college coach who has a 20 million dollar buyout to go somewhere else The reason is because He knows how to build a team And that skill is not something that is transferred to the next level. So If i'm a college coach in Dan Lanning's position a person who probably could stay at Oregon as long as he wants at this point Especially if they go out and win a national title at any point in the next few years Is I would always think from a job security standpoint is like am I going to stay Uh at Oregon win national championships or compete for national championships and be at a very advantageous place to build a long-term Winner where they'll make a statue of me or do I want to go coach the cleveland browns go through another dysfunctional quarterback situation and then get fired in four years Like i guess he's okay. So good news. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, hey, listen You know, he was he the longest tenured browns coach since 2000 Yeah, I think let me let me give you a list of the NFL jobs that are either open or we think are going to open And they're they're probably going to be more than this But this is the the ones that we can pretty safely say The jets and saints are open the bears will open the cowboys will open the giants probably will open which hey brian dable as your uh as your oc in coordinator bingo just saying uh jaguars probably will open maybe the raiders if they feel like they got a little little hasty with antonio pierce but So that that was six before I said the raiders I actually think there's probably only about two in college uh, but I think The what dan landing does Travels he can you you mentioned his roster building is is excellent But I also think the way he motivates people the Jeremy the quote it was in the jeremy phallercer Which I think did probably come from an nfl You know gm or probably you know an owner or something where he says that they feel like he's got a little dan cambal in him I don't think he's as much fun as dan cambal Like I don't I don't think I had banged my head to metallica with with dan landing the way I would with dan cambal but I do think Players would enjoy playing for him the way they play for dan cambal. I mean, uh, yeah dan landing does do a few Upper deckies out there with the zen though. I let's not be 100 percent certain At this guy doesn't party. So I like it would be kind of a fun dynamic Like imagine a world where dan landing was coaching kaleb williams for the bears next year like how small the world is sometimes um, but like I think that He has got such a good thing going And it is really really hard to leave a good thing for an uncertain thing. So yeah, it I have a question for you Based on what you just said because we always do these best jobs rankings We've done them for years and they're actually they always wind up being very Controversial shows because people get mad when when you say their job isn't the best in the world But I do think the criteria that we use to rank best jobs has definitely got a change In this era of college football and I don't know that we've done one Reflecting the changes should do it So where does organ fall because i'm thinking it is a top Three job Based on how well they've handled player acquisition and how aligned they've been in terms of player acquisition Absolutely, and I think that you know just to to be clear about why you mean change the criteria for that You know proximity to talent was like a top two Bullet point on what it was number one. It was very close. Yeah, yeah Um, obviously I think the resources and investment in the program too like all these things are all part of it But if you have a place that has an nil structure and a an administration and a booster situation that's all aligned I think dan landing has proved Through his talent accumulation both in the high school regs and the portal that that organ can equip a roster As effectively and as efficiently and deeply As some of the teams in the south that they're going to have to beat here in the next few months So I think that uh Yeah, organ would be up there and I would be interesting because I haven't actually given it that much thought Andy I think you should write that down so we can do it on our show. Yeah You know because it is like It used to be like georgias number one because it's near atlanta. It's in the south and it's got all this money and it's a blue blood It's like I don't know if that's changed Right like georgias probably still in number one, but like when you start getting into You know, maybe texas is number two because it still matters You know being the brand and being close And they've and they've been very aligned on this stuff like that like organ I I think tennessee has jumped up because they've been good at that stuff It's not just that josh hyple has been good at coaching them their administration The spire collective like that they've done such a good job with all that You understand now why they are better as a program on the field. Well, we're in the past too, andy Uh, tennessee would have been nagged because tennessee is a long interesting state that's recruited by everybody There's not a ton of players there is in comparison Uh, this is a bad at uh math science and any other high school subject podcast I'll go to geography to speak for yourself I'm suck at geography. I suck at math. I suck at uh, hist american history Um, frankly, I suck at college football. What are we? What are we talking about here? I don't even know the college football trivia that you've seen your picks. Yeah, uh, but but seriously tennessee is not a place that has talent at the same Level as a florida or a california or a texas or a georgia So correct, you know and ohio state and georgia and all the teams in the general area Will go there for their players. Um, but I do think that there is something to it and like tennessee's recent run of success But the coach who gets it also like is there a better place to play than a hyped up? Uh, you know, nieland right like these are things that that are all coming back into play So that would be a fun exercise and I do think that that organ Uh would jump up higher. I think tennessee would jump up higher But it would be an interesting thought exercise to see which ones actually do or if the top 10 would look eerily similar again Like what do you do with ohio state? Well, ohio state still like but is there any scenario in college football where ohio state isn't one of the best at it Like they just always are But I think organ moves into that echelon in terms of a coaching job that would be desirable And if you're dan landing You've moved around a ton And I mean that's the thing that people understand about dan landing. He's moved from you know He was living he was working at a high school in in kansas. He's moved to pittsburgh He's moved to to arizona. He's moved to memphis to georgia like he has been all over the country and Not state anywhere for for particularly long. He's got younger kids. You see the pictures he posts of his family like I understand Your daughter's very young Well, this ties into the theme of the show with jd about to become a dad like when your kids a little bit a little bit older You do want to give them some stability. You don't want to change in schools every year or so every couple of years You want them to have a place that feels like home for them So I get it from his standpoint and it seems like organ's doing everything they can possibly do to make sure he's happy there Yeah And listen to work we're talking about this with the understanding that if landing went to the nfl that would be a shocker Right like that would be something that we didn't anticipate. So But him him doing it wouldn't shock me as much as some other coaches doing it because I think he could succeed there it's not like his success is not completely recruiting based and also He's kind of operating in a world Because again organs good at the the player acquisition piece of it in the annal at nyl era He's operating in a world that's similar to the nfl in terms of personnel Yeah And you can't Give him crap for not winning big games anymore no, no, they be don't have state and I think he's getting the washington monkey office back too. I think that's coming in a couple of weeks. So We'll we'll find out, but I I'm fascinated by this coaching carousel We'll see if anybody goes to the nfl because I do think There may be some interest in some college guys And remember the agents for these guys are going to want to push them toward the nfl Because there's not really anywhere to push them in college with nobody firing anybody this year, which brings us to our guest The great pete nakos Hopefully you're setting your nakosifications So every time peak tweets news, which he tweeted some very interesting news yesterday That you're getting it. How you doing pete? What's up guys? This is this is the first time I've been with Andy and Ari I know we're on the hardcat right now, but I've not been on with Andy and Ari yet So what's going on guys? Get get ready. We're gonna wear your ass out transfer portal season. So Also to peat just get it straight that this is our show now until jadie's back. Okay, all right Ari is the captain now. Yeah, look I understand Progrum forever All right, so peat let's talk about Well, we can continue this conversation we were having because I think you and I have had these conversations on the phone a lot over the last few weeks about what Head coaching jobs in college may come open and the answer's not many so Do you think there are coaches in college? Other than dan landing that might be attractive to some of these nfl teams where they're Probably going to be more openings than their agents are going to be pushing them that way um, deon sanders Um, I think that name continues to come up. So I'll just start it there But if we're going to keep looking at the college landscape Um, not for a head coaching role Um, but I think lincoln riley's name is going to continue to come up in an offensive coordinator capacity Uh specifically maybe With a former player who's now in the nfl, uh, maybe you guys can put together the pieces there but um I think that there's going to be a couple names that pop up and those are two names and these are not like The i'm not the first one to bring this up right like jeremy valor from espn yesterday brought up, uh dan landing Um, deon sanders name has been brought up recently by quite a few people around the nation and then I mean lincoln riley Um, we all know about his 90, uh, 100 million dollar buyout That, um, I mean the usc is not going to be able to make a move this year. Maybe they make a move next year. We're not really sure um but uh, three years ago right lincoln riley was like the biggest name and The sport of football and it seemed like just a matter of time until he got to Maybe the nfl does he get to the nfl this way though? Through maybe taking a coordinator job. Um, i'm not saying that's him and anything but that's just one name i'm looking at You know the name that just keeps Coming up over and over and over again and you know this is a podcast we're having fun p let's just talk about it You want to just talk about the deon stuff like the the deon cowboy stuff like Andy pete I recently wrote a call this week about how I was wrong about deon. Okay. Um, and I think that I've been really impressed with his ability to hire a staff in You know his team is well coached right like they have had you know talent limitations in the past They've overcome them this year those limitations aren't aren't profound anymore Then they're in a position to make the playoff. Do you think that deon sanders? Is a legitimate? Candidate who is qualified to be the head coach of an nfl franchise? I think deon sanders has shown in the past few years that he's more than capable of leading a group of men and morning football games And I think that's what really matters in the nfl and specifically what matters right now with the dallas cowboys because I mean They just can't win games right now and obviously dax hurt and a lot's going on in dallas And by no means am I the jerry jones expert, but I think that deon sanders has enough of a track record to show that hey If you bring me in I know how to lead a group of men. I've been in the same shoes. They have Um I I think we can win football games. So that's just my take. Um, I also are as we talked about this I wouldn't limit to the limit it to dallas. I know he played there, but I would keep an eye on wherever shador goes just keep an eye on on what deon does Whoo daddy ball in the nfl. I tire and it's not daddy ball. I'm gonna stop calling it daddy ball So p p does that it's daddy ball. Okay, that's true Yeah, what do we do here at that point? It's the it's definitive Yeah, that's that's true. Hey p you broke a story yesterday that I want to talk about uh, thomas castellanos We we we we got off our tom brendham and castellanos jokes because brendham Did it is cw broadcast of a boston college game? Of course. Thomas castellanos gets benched in that syrucuse game Now he's not going to be starting for boston college. He has now left the team you reported yesterday He's planning to enter the transfer portal. Why do these guys do this where you got to chill out for 12 more practices Why not just enter the transfer portal after the ceasin because it drives your price significantly higher in your the force First quarterback on the market, which makes you extremely more attractive than you might be if you go in on the first day of the portal This is why we have peed on I did not think about it that way. What it's to me. It would warm your value because you're saying i'm a quitter Like i i get benched and i'm going to storm off and take my ball You know from from conversations i've had i know a lot of people on social media want to paint and paint thomas castellanos as a as a quitter I think it's been trendy in this direction. I do not think that this was suddenly something that happened in in syrucuse I think that from talking to some sources there is an understanding in the building that maybe that Bill and brian and thomas castellanos. We're not going to be working to win games on the same team next season So Going off of that. I guess what i'll say is that maybe this is what's best for Thomas and bc and bill brian both parties moving forward Can we go through the economics of that though i'd like to have a like actual money discussion of why being first is better Well, for starters are i think that the most like simple way i I feel like i can break it down is like So the portal opens December 9th, right? That's the day after selection sunday There is going to be a rush of guys who go in and even for the Group of five quarterback who's really good who goes in he is going to be overlooked by the dylan gave rills and the camwards Just for example from last year So the sooner somebody announces that they're going to enter the sooner guys start looking at their tape The sooner that their agents can start doing what agents are supposed to do The sooner they can take visits. I mean right the minute the portal opens now thomas castellanos like people know his name Like he could go on a on a visit that first weekend. There's no like once he going in is he going in? So, I mean, I know we're talking about a lot of things right now that like involve tampering and involve Backchanneling before someone goes in the portal, but it's also just the reality. We're in when it's a double A's and exactly Coming after guys for transfer portal movement One more thing peep before we let you go so Our folks at the wolverine are reporting that michigan's recruitment of brice underwood the number one quarterback recruit in the class of 2025 Has ramped up the in a potential nil offer has ramped up And obviously we got our folks at the bingo tiger covering it as well because he's been committed to lsu forever So ej holland at the at the wolverine floated possibly a four-year 10 and a half million dollar deal for brice underwood does that sound About right given the amount of money that's coming into the market with the revenue share coming Yeah, I think you got to look at it through a lot of angles. Obviously there's rev share There's the collective money. I reported last month. That is definitely got to be over five million um Look, I'll say this. I think when you land brice underwood right now There's a lot more to that number than it is just like he's a generational quarterback who can turn around michigan football It's also the momentum he brings. It's also what he's gonna mean for 2025 recruiting class, right? Like if he does flip think about the impact that's gonna have on wide receivers and He'll players across the country. So, um, I mean, yeah, there's there's a lot hinging on that recruitment right now for michigan Pete It's been a pleasure I cannot wait to see what happens next And uh, yeah, like I said, we're gonna wear your ass out here transfer portal season. It's coming up Thank you, pete nakos sounds good. Thanks pete. Thanks guys Turn your nakosifications on when that man tweets things are hattening arrey Two and a quarter million bucks a year for a freshman quarterback now DJ lagways at 1.7 this year so Inflation has hit us all the price groceries going up price quarterbacks going up. Yeah Those protein shakes are getting more expensive andy So if you want a quarterback who's got big muscles and you know the coaching and all that stuff It's more expensive. He's got to have better ROI on that. You know, it's gonna be more or every year how long Will it be before guys are getting paid, you know Five million a year six million a year. I mean, I don't know if that's impossible Like we might be getting to that point one day I think i mean the market's going to determine it and and that's what's been weird to watch about there Weird but fascinating to watch about this is the market just sort of finding its level very quickly And it's gonna but but it's going to change And I don't I don't know about you. I I mentioned on our show that I spoke to a touchdown club in orlando the other night Really great people very Tapped into college football fans of a bunch of different schools And you know big fans But i'm not sure like I brought up the revenue sharing thing to them a lot of them either didn't know about it or didn't quite understand what was going to happen like I think you got to understand there's only about Five schools right now that have a budget of more than 15 million dollars a year for players Every power conference school is going to have something like that next year Every one so it's going to go from five out of out of 60 something To all of them. That's a lot of money to flush into the system Yeah, yeah, no, that's a good point. That's crazy. Yeah. Yeah, that's all that's all really interesting Maybe Yeah, just think I was like how's gonna say maybe just start training my daughter to be a quarterback. I uh You need to put a basketball in her hands Yeah, she's really into gymnastics right now So we'll see about if that's where she gravitates to but I also found out that gymnastics is the most expensive sport that a A little girl can do so. I'm assuming that's what she's going to choose Well, just imagine when she becomes the next libi done and and pays it all back to you I hope that happens for her. I do Uh, and she can keep the money I was going to say given given the height projection For yours. I think gymnastics may be the way to go over basketball. So you know what's interesting that you just said that Is that I was talking to my brother this morning about the gymnastics? Because we have gymnastics class on friday nights that we go to for her and she's three so like, you know, it's not advanced stuff but my My brother said, you know, it's a shame, but you know With our family lineage, she's probably never going to have the athleticism necessary to like compete for the olympics And I was like, all right. Listen buddy. Like we're not thinking about the olympics right now. She's three That's not a bad girl, baby But like now that you mentioned it, it's like we're not trying to become some own biles Simone biles was put on this earth to be a gymnast like she is One of the most incredible athletes ever and I think A lot of that has to do with natural trace that she's been blessed with But if she could be libi done Her names live Like it's like very difficult to be libi done It is It's not to be very talented But i don't know is libi done at good ed gymnastics enough where she would like be in The thought of making the olympics No, no, she's she's already too old Like you would have already been in that like soony lee who who competed at auburn Had already won an all-around gold medal in the olympics Okay, they know you know by the time you're 14 if you're doing it or yeah, they they know Even you know before high school in high school. They know how how much worse is libi done at gymnastics than the worst person on the us olympic team like is it like Uh being an nfl quarterback in a high school senior or is it like i don't know It's probably like being an nfl quarterback and being a good college quarterback Who isn't going to be an nfl quarterback? Got it So there you're still very good. You're still better than almost everybody on the planet But you're not the world class so Yeah, it's it's it's a tough one All right, we mentioned poach prime and we mentioned his future And I think you and I We've come around and coach prime as far as roster building as far as what he wants to do at calorado Very interesting development on the recruiting side so He's got a visitor coming This week That is one that I think When we were talking earlier, we were saying, oh, you know, he's just not recruiting the high school guys enough Uh, you can't do this all out of the portal if you want good big guys, you got a You got to get him out of high school and he did sign jordan seat last year But it seems like he's doing that again. He's working on that again. So michael carol Who's the number one interior offensive line prospect in the country? He's 14 overall In the country in the on three industry rankings. Uh, I believe we had on three have him number nine overall in the country Uh, so he's at IMG academy right now. He's from pennsylvania originally He's an alabama commit. He's headed to calorado for the utah game uh Can can we show? Can we show the video? That he posted recently of himself blocking Oh my gosh michael I think that's his mom Like leave him alone Reacting to him just throwing a fairly large defensive tackle like a rag doll And his helmet the guy's helmet flying off. Uh, let's show that again one more time one more Oh my gosh michael So this is the guy who's gonna go to alabama or at least we think but he's going to calorado for a visit Ari if dion's getting dudes like this and if he's flipping julie and lewis Oh my god michael There are some places in college football that you could probably And maybe this list is lower now in this new era that you could say are their ceiling is not national title right right if dion really got it cooking and was there for a long time And recruited 10 athletes a year. I know he went on a long dance like this. Yeah, yes He went on a long explanation in his news conference. I believe on wednesday about portal versus high school football recruiting And wanting people to play right away and how if you sign 25 guys You're probably going to lose half and like what the math is on actually doing well in high school recruiting But if he could sign 10 Top 150 to top 200 players a year guys like that guys like julie lewis I think it is like the ceiling for calorado's program Is probably winning a national title in this era right like can you say that he could like If things went well, he stayed bought in he stayed there for a long time Like by year seven or year six or even year five if like things really came together in an advantageous way that calorado could have that I I think you do that for two year Three years at a high school because you guys you know some guys will still have to develop But if you did that for three years You would have easily the best roster in the big 12 wouldn't even be close And you could compete like especially Because some of those players would develop into first round draft prospect type players that would then Be attractive to portal players to come play with I think within By year three of that You're a national title contender because like you're already probably in a gonna make the play off now Add in 10 of those for three years Oh Hey, one more michael carol video. He posted this. This is michael carol running routes at his high school just for fun he That's a 315 town guard Yeah, you know the thing that People don't appreciate enough is when you start getting SEC lineman at places like bama and georgia and like that a ranked like this that they are even Bigger freaks physically than the receivers and the quarterbacks and steel position not even close. Yeah, it's not even close yeah, they are like the Speed at which these 300 pound guys can move and the agility that they have is obscene Like that's it's not normal. It's what makes Those great rosters like the georgia rosters the ohio state rosters the vama rosters even better Absolutely, and it's like who was the lineman from bama that did that box jump that was like seven feet tall Like that was he also played at img and i'm blanking on the name Uh He's a very famous person. I just his name is a skames first round traffic. Yeah Uh, why am I struggling with this name? This is so bad, and i'm so sorry Evan kneel Evan kneel. Yes. Yes, and he did the he did the box jump. He did this there was a split that he did And so i actually saw evan kneel play in high school Uh, when he was at spring practice at img because i was down there to do a story on daniel file allay You remember daniel file allay who played at minnesota So he came daniel came from australia He had 50 offers before he'd ever even played an actual football game. It was six foot nine four hundred pounds He currently starts at guard for the ravens uh but evan kneel was there And daniel at that time, you know is still learning the sport But then you go watch evan kneel play And then he's going into his senior year and you're like, oh my god This person's in high school. He looked like an NFL offensive lineman already Yeah, yeah, and Like what they're able to do size speed strength I think trumps the acrobatic one-handed touchdown catches that you see on the sports center Yeah, yeah Now it'd be like imagine if jeremaia smith was 300 pounds, basically uh puffed dutch asks us who wins utah colorado Well utah is an 11 and a half point dog and the quarterback who gave them a spark last week against byu is out for the year again with injury so uh isak wilson will be starting for utah Colorado is playing better than anybody in the big 12. This is a like are it's an unusual spread For a big 12 game this year like colorado minus 11 and a half. You haven't seen a lot of double digit spreads in big 12 conference games Yeah, yeah, and now The one hope that utah out of this game isn't playing so, you know, and also too is the testament to where colorado was come If this game was being played two months ago, the spread would not be 11 and a half It's it's about where they've been and where they are and there is a dramatic difference between the colorado that we saw Two months ago in the colorado that exists today. So I mean and like also to this this this Spread I believe opened below 10. So I think it was like eight and a half or nine where it opened And now it's moved to 11 and a half and that's a pretty significant Uh move because it goes from a touchdown in a field goal scenario to a two touchdown spread It's the key numbers that are really important as much as even the total number of points that it moves So yeah, I think that that's warranted and I I like colorado in the game to cover Yeah, I do too. It's they've played better Consist more consistently than anybody in the big 12 the last few weeks now BYU Still undefeated, but you and I I think both think Kansas is going to beat BYU this weekend Because BYU has just been living dangerously the entire time I think Kansas is going to clip somebody And I don't know they got out of a state last week. No, I know I think that they have colorado too, right? Like between colorado and This weekend against BYU. I think they go one in one in those so hopefully They get it for colorado's sake Uh this weekend so that colorado can continue on into the big 12 championship Yet feels like jail and daniel's and devanneal and and you know jeff grimes Their their first year offensive coordinator can is they've kind of figured things out And they moved into that mode where they're gonna hang There's a good chance they can hang 40 on you any given week now and so That I think against BYU that's a problem against colorado colorado can probably Hang in a shootout like that. They might not win it, but they can definitely I feel like colorado is better prepared to hang in that that sort of shootout. Yep I'm with you. All right, so let us see What happens there? We also Have to see what happens with SMU now remember we we talked about the Thomas Castellanos thing So he's not playing for bc their changing quarterbacks going into this SMU game SMU trying to stay Undefeated in the ACC But SMU coach ret lastly came out this week and said hey, there's a brand bias against the ACC Let's watch that clip on behalf of the ACC. I think it is interesting. Yeah, there's normal brand biases for teams I'm not really gonna get into that, but there's conference biases And I think it's interesting that You know you look at the ACC we have a winning record against the big 10 this year We have a winning record against the big 12 this year We don't have a winning record against the ACC SCC excuse me, but we have four games left and if we win enough for those we would have a winning record so that's still up in the air where it's been competitive and You know so to look at our league and say well, we may be a one-bit league But you look at another league that we have a winning record against and so they're gonna get four in like it doesn't make sense to me It needs to make it make sense You know when when other leagues beat each other up internally, they're considered a deep solid league When we beat up internally, we're considered a weak league You know when when Kentucky goes and beats Ole Miss when Arkansas goes and beats Tennessee When South Carolina goes and beats A&M when bandy beats Alabama, that's considered a deep league When Georgia Tech beats Miami Right when Louisville goes on the road and beats Clemson When UVA goes on the road and beats Pitt We're not considered a deep league. I think we're a pretty deep league and so I just want our league to get the same respect that everyone else gets and You know, I think we have at least two probably three or four teams still that should be very well considered for the college football playoff in this league And it shouldn't be any different than the big 10 or the big 12 same thing big 12 if I'm them I'm upset too. I'm like hold on we got an under like what make it make sense and When the the data and the metrics say it should I think that's the biggest thing I think our league has earned the right to be in the conversation. It's insulting to say Oh, it's a one big league probably Maybe two yet. We've got another league that the metrics don't add up any better as a matter of fact worse And we're acting like they just are got four and it's done Make it make sense I've got a lot of I got a lot of thoughts here Andy. Do you want to hear them or do you want to go first? I just want to say one thing. I'm gonna let you cook. That's what I was gonna say. So that kind of put up right lastly's been in the ACC for like three months he's already better PR And presenting the ACC's case than the ACC has been for the last 10 years That's not what I was gonna say but go ahead I'm I was gonna say that it's amusing to me that s of u has been dying For years and years and years To get into a power five power four power conference Uh, and in year one of his existence They're finding out right now that like SMU Would probably have every bit as much of an opportunity to make the play off now As they did they would last year if if the 12 team field Existed last year because if SMU has beaten the crap out of teams They might not have that they would have still had their non-conference game against by use So they still might have a loss, but they would be right next to Boise in their race right to be the 12 seed so It is funny But the only difference between being in the conference that he's in now and being a group of five is that he can definitively say That SMU controls their own destiny like he has full power To get there now the thing that I wrote And I think it's he has a point and he said this after I wrote this column for on three on on what's today thursday on wednesday is that It doesn't make sense the inconsistency in which two teams in the same conference are ranked Like it does not make sense to me that miami is nine And SMU is 14 when you stack the resume side by side same league same best win The the strength of schedules are fairly similar and SMU has a loss to a better team A better loss like losing to byu is a better loss Than losing to georgia tech and georgia tech is a much different team now with with hanes king But still I think it's a better more quality loss, especially If we're using The sc or the uh committees rankings that they put together themselves They will tell you because they have ranked it this way that losing to byu is a top 10 team Is a better loss than losing to georgia tech it's not a debate And you have one team that's firmly in the playoff right now and you have one team that's out of it at the season ended today Now SMU is lucky Because it doesn't matter SMU could be ranked 100th or they can be ranked number one Their path to the field is the same regardless of their ranking But it does not the thing that bothers me the most about the college football playoff committee Is that they use protocol? For some and they rank on feeling for others and if you want to just rank the teams one through 12 Based on who you think is the best team based on your feeling and your ability to To watch the games and come up with it Then you have to rank everybody that ranked But the thing that frustrates me andy is that some people who have the protocol and the quality wins and the things that they can use It to weaponize their ranking or to to explain the ranking Are ranked based on their their accomplishments and then other teams Are just ranked based on feeling in the same poll and then it becomes inconsistent and that's why my mind explodes So like Miami is ahead five spots of of SMU in the poll right now because the committee feels like they're better Right because I have a money's right. Yeah. Yeah, and like if more manuals explanation for this was reasons It was feeling we felt we felt So then don't fall back on the protocol For other teams if that's your explanation for why they're ranked where they are Why did you rank SMU in Miami differently than you rank the other teams that have better metrics? It doesn't make any sense to me. So like that to me is is the number one thing It's the inconsistency of how the rankings are done And I guess the bottom line is they're just gonna do whatever they want and then they'll they'll explain it away However, they see fit, but it just doesn't make sense No, I'm with you. I understand that and There is any any sorry just let me just do this one last thing. Okay. Go ahead. Keep cooking man. Keep cooking Miami fell less in the polls after a loss to georgia tech than georgia fell in the polls after losing So like when I'm glad you woke this up. So when you're talking about brand bias Like the actual committee's actions have been unfavorable to SMU But Miami was treated very favorably. So was it actually an ACC issue or is SMU's brand a problem? Because I don't think it's SMU is that because georgia's brand we can all agree is stronger than SMU's brand But they like so you just brought up Miami and georgia So I had a question my mailbag column from shawn and dallas And it was a great question Said in the first EFP rankings the committee had georgia ranked one spot ahead of Miami Then both teams lost a game georgia to a ranked opponent and Miami to an unranked opponent Georgia was on the road. Miami was also on the road Now they have my ranked three spots ahead of georgia. What am I missing? Well, somebody did ask Ward manual about that on tuesday night in the in the conference call Shall I do a dramatic reading of his answer? Are you ready? Yes, but I think I have an explanation for it, but go ahead Oh, this is you let's hear the answer first. Let's let's hear it from from the guy himself Well, the obvious is the first loss for Miami and the second loss for georgia that obviously played a factor into it Georgia tech is coming on. They now have both their quarterbacks play in the game. They were on the road Georgia's losses were both on the road as well So it came down to factoring in those games a close game that Miami lost to georgia tech and then a decisive win by olympic Is georgia away? So we just factored everything in and took a look at the competitiveness Both teams are very good from our perspective, but based on the season as well as how they did last week That's why how we made a judgment of how they fell georgia Obviously with two losses having lost both the alabaminal mess both with two losses They obviously in the mind of the committee alabaminal mess were going to be ahead of georgia because of the head-to-head and the similar record Did that answer anything? Well, that's the thing I actually wrote a column for the athletic Five years ago and you know what I thought and then the premise of the column was this is that Ward manual has a very difficult job So like I do not love tiling on the committee chair Who has to speak for an entire room of people on decisions that he himself may not agree with like it's a very correct situation like right we don't know how ward manual actually thinks about this and There's probably part of the committee that was like, no, we we can't actually put georgia below Miami But then in other parts like no, we need to Yeah, and like I don't know what it would be like because of my temperament There's no way that I would effectively be able to argue something I don't believe like that would be hard for me So like I do know that like when you get on tv or you get on a conference call with very smart reporters Who have all the numbers on the math in front of them who are who are asking you questions? Designed to trip you up that you have like the only thing that you can do is be vague And to say what whatever gets you to the next question So like I have a great appreciation for the the situation that ward manual is in that said This is also part of the job and like I don't understand Why we have to live in a world where there is no transparency of what is actually taking place Like why cannot why can't ward manuals say well actually half the room Had no idea what to do with Miami and georgia. We had I would love that And like honestly speaking we really need more context in the next few weeks to help us navigate that I would be able to accept that because that's what we're all doing anyway, right? We're all looking for more games more results more context like that. That's the thing like You might not know right now like we don't know if indiana is going to play with ohio state indiana might beat ohio state But we will we'll know more when they get to play so what's wrong with saying? I don't know or we were conflicted or this was a point of content. There's no transparency and what we're given as reporters to questions of things that don't make sense are Non-sensical answers that are supposed to explain something when in fact it just makes it more nonsensical We understand how the sport works Andy We know that there are certain things that are happening in college football right now in the rankings that are just impossible to navigate Like it's hard. I do the rankings every saturday myself It's very difficult and there's and there's no way that you can do a set of rankings without Without screwing somebody or making a wrong move or irritating somebody that's part of it But just be a human they'll talk to me like a like you're the bcs machine incarnated into a human I'm with you. I want to go back to what rhett lashley said and I want to ask you It's kind of a devil's advocate question because I I do tend to agree with rhett lashley on this but Does it hurt the acc at all that smu can come from the american and dog walk the entire conference? Yeah, he probably doesn't want to say that because then it just like nags his own team But like we have to have the reality of that right which is you have a team that Is not even taking the entire financial windfall that comes with joining the conference in fact they're paying Who is supposed to be a tier lower and like the actual truth is This isn't just happening in the acc you've got new teams in the big 12 that are Are doing the same thing right? Yeah, but the difference is that the teams that came from the pack 12 to the big 12 We're in a fairly similar revenue situation like fairly similar competitive situation in fact probably more competitive because that they had organ in washington and usc like That they're not they're not moving Up or down A level of com they're not really moving a level of competition. They're kind of moving over Do some first place moving up Who's in the first first place in the big 12? Uh, calorado By using first, uh, oh, why you i'm sorry. Yes. They were moving up. You're right. Okay. You're right. Yeah like You're and i i agree like calorado to the big 12 from the pack 12 is not the same thing as uh, uh, uh, uh, acc team moving, um Or a an american team moving to the acc like i understand that point But the point is is that Our perception has always been that the lower level teams can't like remember what with the number one argument and he was Always for the lower level teams like in the 14 field and the bcs it was that well Yeah, they can on any given day beat one of them, but pat they can't do it playing them week in and week out A power conference schedule can't do that and it's like to watch them come in and it's a different era it's a different era, but like Yeah, I mean smu is This isn't a fluke. They're better than the teams. They're beating so But like that's the thing like rhett lashley has to also acknowledge the world that we live in Because he wrote the big 12 into it too But the big 12 lost the two anchors of their conference that propped it up in national contention With texas and oklahoma and and when they're good especially They either win the conference and are taken seriously at a national level or the team that wins the conference beats those teams along the way to win it And that automatically legitimizes your school or your conference if you're able to win that on the way, but the acc Is probably in a better scenario than the big 12 because the acc still has miami clumps in and You know teams that have have that brand but like the big 12. I don't feel bad for they don't have anybody left to I mean the only way to do this is to to win your games and the big 12 Is playing out exactly the way that we knew it would which is three or eight teams within two losses of each other Yeah, and if it's one bid league, it's one bid league at least you get one in But you think the acc should be a two bid league Right now no Also have clumps and beat georgia or played them to three points then maybe it wouldn't be correct correct And as right lastly says There's some games left over where the the acc could take the lead on the season series on the sec but Do we think that's going to happen? Well, I mean, maybe georgia tech could be georgia Florida state. I wouldn't put a lot of faith in even though florida's not that good uh Louisville's got to prove it can be kentucky. I need to see that and Ten foil hat guys. Let's put it on real quick put it on with me. Uh, and I've been thinking about this but smu wins the rest of the regular season games They go to the acc championship game Uh, and they lose to miami by three Yeah, so a good game where either team could have won Which then gives them their second loss and both of their losses would be two conference champions and their win over luival uh, presumably would be a top 20 win at the end of the year What if they're compared directly with indiana who's a one-loss team with no quality wins Like are we sure? Are we 100 percent sure that the acc is a one big lee right now? No, could you you bet your life on that right now because I wouldn't absolutely would know So like yet like I understand what he's saying But the big ten like indiana hasn't been given any favors either. So like we are We are brand problem, but I don't know if it's a conference problem Yeah, just just you can take the hat off now, but that's just what i'm thinking No, no, I think you're probably right and I don't think we know I I don't think we can make any definitive statements right now but we'll We will get more context and War manuals gonna have to answer questions in the next few weeks, but the fact of the matter is only one of those rankings will count Another game that is going to affect those rankings quite a bit Happening in Athens this weekend, Tennessee and Georgia So the availability report and the scc came out last night Niko emali ava questionable for Tennessee Josh hyple went on his coach's show said niko was with them at practice. I think I think we probably See the path that niko's playing here. I realized what chris felica said earlier in the week that there was a thought he wouldn't play I don't think Tennessee's thinking that way. I think they are acting as if he's playing Yeah, and the hope is that he that he will because you know, this is a Pivotal monumental game in the scc and in the playoff picture and who wants to watch a game where a team and the last thing I want to do Andy selfishly I don't want to have a discussion next week about what what Tennessee loses without him like what does this mean if you don't have a quarter like I hate that shit Let's just you know, let's just talk about full-strength teams playing each other high level football and and the winner and and loser actually has merit So that's what i'm hoping for Yeah, and I think this is going to be a fun game. I think it'll be a low scoring game All right, we went on our show and went over the the defensive stats like Dylan samsung's been really consistent You know, he's he's Almost always going over a hundred yards. He's now going to play against a defense that gives up 3.3 yards of care It's really hard to run the ball in georgia, but you know who's harder to run the ball on? Tennessee and georgia's not been particularly great at running the ball this year anyway compared to what they usually are So I I really think you know, I think with with nico If he has that game where he's connecting with his receivers on the deep ball like Because remember he was airmailing them at first then they were dropping it There's going to be a game at some point where he's where they're actually in sync And that's going to be a very tough the tough deal for the defense. I don't think this is that game But what if it was I hope it is. Yeah, I mean what? I hope we get the the curby smart sweltering suffocating defense versus the fantasy Offense that knows how to hit a player downfield because like listen, we were both up the Ole Miss game last week People didn't have a hard time getting open now. I understand that Ole Miss's receivers are probably a lot better But Trey Harris wasn't on the field either like so like wait You can get open against this defense so yeah And the other piece of this because I keep seeing comparisons to the 2022 game where a lot of us said that we thought Tennessee would beat georgia I hand up. I said that I was very wrong Tennessee's defense is a very different animal this year and georgia's offense is a very different animal this year in different ways Tennessee's defense is a lot better than the 2022 Tennessee defense georgia's offense is Probably significantly worse than the 2022 georgia offense So like georgia's defense is going to have to make up the difference in this game Now all right. We've seen georgia's defense do that against a good opponent We saw them doing it's Texas where georgia's defense won that game for the Bulldogs and they won it comfortably So it's not like this is impossible, but that's where it's going to have to come from Yeah, absolutely cannot wait to watch this game. It's going to be electric Oh, it's That like we got what we wanted out of at a georgia Ole Miss We didn't really out of Alabama LSU, but I feel like georgia, Tennessee is going to give us everything we want Yeah, and it's going to be a night game and we're going to go right into our show from it's going to be awesome What other game are you super excited for this week? Oh, man Let me pull up the schedule I Colorado Utah for me because I love the big noon like Colorado's like we're not complaining We don't care. We want the showcase. We'll start at 10 a.m. Local. Let's go Like what rapper released them out of the tunnel this week? Yeah, I I'm very obviously this is the game of the week. I actually don't think that Uh, this is a very deep week on paper as it pertains to top 25 big-time match-ups But you know which game I'm actually really looking forward to watching Andy and it sucks that it starts so late, but can this be why you? Yes, I'm looking forward to that. Yeah, so We'll be broadcasting live during that game by the way And so in case you're wondering who the hell these two people are. I'm Andy Staples He's Ari Wasserman. We also work it on three with JD. We love JD. Cannot wait to hear About the blessed event, which is happening sometime soon You're gonna be with it. We'll be with you guys on the hard count for a little bit while JD Deals with being a dad for the first time and it's gonna be It's the best in the world. Yeah, say a early congratulations. We love you. Take good care of that little girl and uh (upbeat music)