Andy & Ari On3 - Can Ryan Day or James Franklin go from the DOGHOUSE to CONFETTI in the same season?

Episode Date: January 9, 2025

You’ve had Wendy’s Nuggs dipped in sauce. But have you had them covered in sauce? Wendy’s New Saucy Nuggs take the Crispy and Spicy Nuggs you love and turn them up to 11.Choose between flavors like Buffalo. Honey BBQ. Garlic Parm. Or, if you’re a real heat seeker, try Spicy Ghost Pepper, only on Wendy’s signature Spicy Nuggs. This show is also sponsored by PrizePicks, America’s most fun daily fantasy game. Use the code STAPLES to play $5 and get $50 instantly. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/STAPLES(0:00-2:50) Intro: Doug Lesmerises Cameo(2:51-8:15) Penn State vs Notre Dame Discussion(8:16-20:59) A look at Ryan Day and James Franklin heading into the semis(21:00-29:38) Expanded CFP change (29:39-40:19) PrizePicks preview of Ohio State vs Texas(40:20-48:46) A Successful Year One for Bill Belichick?(48:47-52:23) Arlington, Texas = Tarrant County(52:24-53:48) Conclusion, See you tonight It’s been far too long since the last Dear Andy/Dear Ari show, but today your questions get answered. First, we’ve got to preview the Cotton Bowl between Texas and Ohio State one more time. Plus, we need to talk about the possibility of Iowa State coach Matt Campbell interviewing with the Bears. Now it’s time for your questions, and the first one is a doozy… Has a team ever won a national title in a season during which fans have screamed F@#$ you, [insert coach’s name here]?In the 12-team College Football Playoff era, what are the criteria for a successful season? What would represent success in Bill Belichick’s first season at North Carolina?  Watch us on YouTube instead! https://youtube.com/live/C2cLyo0xoK0 Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River Bailey

Welcome to Andy and Ari on three on location or at least I'm on location. I am poolside in lovely South Florida. Ari's at home. Yeah, it's uh there's been an inch of snow here in Dallas in the city shut down. So uh you know, you see you've got a really good Dan Labotard thing going on right now. Yeah. Yeah. I thought like Miami vibe. By the way, guys, as one new show. As we do this, Doug LeMaurice, the the one of the kings of the north is taking a photo of me probably to post to to social media to make fun of

my my great mobile office here but he's here. I don't Doug come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. We need we need you to I told Doug, you know, Doug came on the show and he made everybody mad But I think we need to let Doug take a little victory lap here. So Doug pull up a stool We're at the tiki bar. Hey Doug you shows from this tiki bar. So I love this spot I of course Doug already used the tiki bar. Like I think I'm I that I've got something going here. He's already done it Yeah, just like I already told you, the North was going to dominate college football this year.

So just I'm on a roll, brother. What can I tell you? Are you enjoying, Doug, one of the funniest things about the North dominating college football, which you did call it on the show, the SEC folks not acknowledging that Texas is part of the league? No, I would be embracing. Yeah, it's the new member of the family.

I don't know why you would be turning a cold shoulder to them, because you've got to take what you can get, man. I don't know what to tell you. Take what you can get, SEC. He's really enjoying this. I mean, I said, let's talk after bowl season. Bowl season's happened. You won.

Yeah, no. And at the very least, you know, I've had my ticket for Atlanta for a while, at least there's gonna be one Northern team there. So that's good and we might get, we have a really good chance of having two Northern teams there. But also just as a reminder,

I'll let you do your show, get used to it. This is the new norm. It doesn't mean the North is gonna win 10 straight national titles, but we're all back to even brother. Well, so if that's the case, if the North is going to dominate from now on, I reiterate my request. Can the South have Provo? If the North wins like five or six straight, we might give you BYU as a present feeling bad for

you guys. Can we take Salt Lake too, just so bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling

bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling

bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure if you guys are feeling bad. I'm not sure right. Doug's a Disney adult. Are you going to Disney World on the way home? Okay. All right. I'm a universal guy. The fairy farts don't do it for me. Uh, are I'm here for the Notre Dame Penn State game. Obviously very excited about that. Uh, it talked to our friend Audrey Snyder, the, the Penn State beat writer for the athletic this morning. We were talking about drew Aller, same, same stuff that you and I keep bringing up on the show. And, you know, Audrey's with me. She thinks, okay, he says he's coming back. He's coming back. The idea of drew our balls out the next two weeks, like if they win tonight and then they play

another game and he's unbelievable, I'm still fascinated by that whole scenario. I'm still fascinated by that whole scenario. I think if they win the national championship with no. Knowledge whatsoever of like what's happening internally, like I think he would bounce like what's the point like at that point like you did it. You know like that he's in and right. He's an Ohio guy like if he beat. Oh, let's say they beat Ohio State for the national title, which I realize we are. Putting the cart way ahead of the horse here.

But like, what do you have left to prove at that point? Um, you know, and I guess like, if this is strictly a financial decision and he thinks that coming back to Penn State, like, cause maybe his NIL command goes through the roof. Maybe it's not. That's the other thing we've, we've talked about it. Like it's a financial decision, but maybe it's not. Some people are just comfortable. Some people don't view the world through, I have to make the most money possible. I'm sure financially he's comfortable as the quarterback at Penn State. This is not, you know, this is not 20 years ago. So.

And if you win a national title, your NIL income probably skyrockets, right? title your NIL income probably skyrockets, right? Yeah. Now now John says we're we're putting the cart way ahead of the horse because he says Notre Dame will smash Penn State tonight. I don't know. I feel like it's a I feel like this game is a coin flip as we talked a bunch of times. It feels like the Spider-Man. Oh man. Look at Marcus Freeman. Look at this photo of Marcus Freeman that we're showing. Uh Ari you're you're a man who believes the handsomer coach

tends to win. That's a handsome coach. Yeah, James Franklin's handsome too. I don't think he's a he's not very handsome. Yeah, I mean, James Franklin looks like a legit TV and movie star because he and Keegan Michael Key look almost exactly like when Keegan Michael Key ran full speed at the Penn State Spring Game. I don't know if you've ever seen the clip of that Like it was the funniest thing ever because like they look so much alike But also like the way he was it was so funny, but you know

JP I like this. This is great. If Penn State wins, this isn't a big game. If they lose, it was a big game. Schrodinger's James Franklin. Well, if it makes him feel any better, you know, Ohio State also plays that game with Ryan Day and like other coaches play that game too of like they never win the big game and then when a big game happens, then it doesn't count as a big game because it's not a true big game. But I feel like if Penn State wins tonight, there is no discussion whatsoever about what James Franklin did this year. Right? Like you, you can still say, Oh, they had an easy path, but if they win tonight in advance to the national title game, I don't care what your route is. If you win three playoff games, that's real.

Get off his ass. If they went tonight. Seriously, get off his ass. I don't even know. I feel like you should be off of his ass anyway, because Penn State making the semifinal is a huge step to uncharted territory, regardless of path. And then at the same time, too, they return a large portion of their team next year. And Drew Aller or as we say, you know, sit here at the moment. It's coming back. They're going to be really good again. So like, as you always say, and I think it's really smart and you know, how many times can you, you knock on the door?

I think Penn State's been on the driveway. This is the first time they're knocking on the door, but if they can keep knocking on the door, then they'll break through, you know, and, and hopefully this turns into, um, you know, being able to acquire certain players that positions of great need in the future as it pertains to recruiting. Hopefully this turns into Penn State being a more viable option, um, for top tier transfer portal targets.

Like, you know, if you are one of the things that I heard, and I don't know if you have ever buy into this, but during the expansion of the 12 team playoff is with more teams in the field. It's going to give other teams that wouldn't have otherwise been in the 14 field, a bigger platform or sales pitch. Like Penn state got into the playoff this year, um, as a result of the 12 team field, you think they would have gotten in either way? I don't, but they're in now they're making the most of a opportunity that they may not have had, had this playoff field not existed. So does that just mean they get to play two or three extra games

and create some more memories? Or does that mean that they have a stronger sales pitch to, you know, improving their program and getting players they otherwise may not have gotten to. Is this the first step of the stock chart going through the roof or is this just a fun story? I don't know. I don't know if you think deep runs in the playoff correlate to easier time getting players or not. I've never really known if I believe that, but we can we can discuss that in a bit because I have a I have a question in Dear Andy and Dear Ari that actually addresses that. I think that's that's a good. Let's put a pin in that right now. First, I want to go to my favorite one of my favorite Dear Andy Dear Ari questions we've ever gotten. It's from Brian. This is a Dear Andy Dear Ari episode. I apologize. It's been three weeks since we've done one of these, but the holidays and the playoff, it got in the way. But we had this question from Brian and I, when it came through, I just was like, this is perfect. Has any team ever won the national title during the same season that their own fans were completely ready to see the coach fired and chanting things like F insert, insert head coach name here because we have two different schools in the semis that were in that place earlier this season.

He's talking about Ohio State, Penn State. Like I don't, I don't, it was Penn State as bad this year as it was last year. I know it was really bad after they lost to Ohio State this year. I remember being awful last year. I was at the Michigan game. this year. I remember being awful last year. I was at the Michigan game and they're booing the play calling in the second quarter of a game that they're in that if they win, they're in the driver's seat in the Big 10 like they were so out and then I feel like this year after the Ohio State game, they were very much out as well. I don't know that they were in F James Franklin territory, but they've certainly been there in the past and in the

recent past and Ryan Day, well, they've been there in the last five weeks. So it's possible Ari like one, they might be playing each other for the national title, so it might be, it might be a guarantee that one of them wins the national title, but has anybody gone from the doghouse to confetti in the same season in college football? I can't remember it. So I think that it's interesting because like in the Ryan Day column that I wrote off of the Tennessee game, my lead was this this position of like, hey, you know, half the fan base wants

you fired and your three wins away from national championship. But I have a theory about this. Like I think that like Ryan Day was at a boiling point. And I think that James Franklin just exists over the year in like a low heat area, right? Like Ryan Day was not- James Franklin just simmers? Yeah, like constantly.

Cause I think that, you know, the, um, fan base in general has gotten to a point where they were tired of not banging through the door. Right. Like they're just, how many times can we win 10 games and lose every big game in our regular season schedule? And to a certain extent, Andy, it happened again this year, right? Like they played a bunch of games. They want all their, their games.

And then like, they played Ohio state and loss. And it's like, they want all their games, and then like they played Ohio State and lost. And it's like, they want to win that game. Ryan Day's goes from, hey, everything's great, everyone to like, holy shit, they lost to Michigan. Like this guy just can't do it. Like I think it's a different scenario, but like Andy, I think it's easy to forget now that Penn State's made this run,

but you saw the clips of Franklin and the fans after the Ohio State game this year. It was a pretty low point. Um, so, you know, I don't know. I think that James Franklin has done enough right now to shut that up. Like, I think that like he's already absolved and I think you can maybe make the case to that even if Ryan day or were to lose to Texas on, on Friday night, that he might be out of the doghouse too, at least for the

time being. So I don't know where you stand on this, but it is kind of a peculiar situation. It is weird. And I was going back through, like, I think there've been some examples in pro sports where you've had a coach who was kind of on the hot seat early in the season and then they've turned out. I feel like the longer season sports, your major league baseball is your NBA's where you can have a bad run at the beginning of the season and then they've turned out. I feel like the longer season sports, your Major League Baseball is your NBAs, where you can have a bad run at the beginning of the season and then go on a run at the end and wind up winning a title. I think it's easier to have that situation happen.

It's very hard in college football. In college basketball, we did have Dan Monson get fired and then coach his team in the NCAA tournament. Like the getting fired, win the conference tournament, make the NCAA tournament. We've seen that a few times. But yeah, I just, I think Ryan Day and James Franklin are obviously perfectly fine in terms of their job security status, in terms of how the fan base feels about them. They're going to always want more. And Penn State wants off the plateau.

And I think they're off the plateau. They're in the final four, because this is a play, like Ohio State's been in this place. And Ohio State's been in this place under Ryan Day. They were here a few years ago when they lost to Georgia in the Peach Bowl. And obviously look, if that field goal goes in,

I have no doubt that Ohio State would have dumped truck TCU and won the national title. So they're that close. And obviously they made the national title game against Alabama in 2020. I don't know that anybody was beating that Alabama team in 2020, but they did make it to the national title game. So Ohio State's been here.

This is expected for them. Penn State hasn't been here. Penn State has not been able to make the 14 playoff, but now they're in the 14 playoff because they had to play their way and win two games to get to the point where now there's four teams left and they're one of them. You know what? I've been thinking a lot about this week. So last year when Ohio State lost to Michigan, it was a

pretty low moment because. Ohio State. You know, thought it was good enough to win it all last year, right? They lost to a really good Michigan team that wound up winning the national championship and I do believe that sometimes really good teams just lose to really good teams Andy, but the circumstances around that game were massive because of the Connor Stallion stuff and you

know all the vitriol between the fans like it felt like that had the most hype of any game. Outside of maybe the 06 game where they were wanting to. But then in the offseason Ohio State went out and went on a tear and got a bunch of really good players. Yeah, Caleb Downs and they've got you know when Sean Judkins when John Jenkins and Will Howard and it was like they won the off season last year and winning the off season called off the dogs, right? They're like, okay, last year didn't go as well as they hoped. Three in a row to Michigan's unacceptable. But next year, we are going to have so many good players that nobody's going to be able to beat us. So like Ohio State came into the season with a national title or bust mentality because of the sheer number of good players on their team. And like then they lost to Michigan again, right? And then Ohio State now has advanced to the semis and people seem to be okay with Ryan Day as a result of the two games they just won. But if you

really remember the baseline for what Ohio State wanted to accomplish this year was getting to the final four. Like they're old. They've gotten to the place and they were supposed to get to the baseline is, is, is get to the final and still probably you got to win it. So what I think is interesting about the season's expectations, what I think is interesting about the seasons expectations. What I think is interesting about the Ryan Day discourse is is that before the year if Ohio State would have just gone undefeated or lost to Oregon and then

beaten Michigan and then gotten to this point and then if Ohio State were to lose to Texas in the same game that people would have gone ape shit, but as a result and maybe they still will if they lose, but as a result of losing to Michigan, Ryan Day then earned back a bunch of goodwill by beating Oregon and Tennessee on the way to this point from a fan base that had given up and now has almost put himself in a position

where he has less pressure in this game than he otherwise would have. Is that galaxy brain? I don't know if it's galaxy brain. I think it's something we haven't talked about where he has less pressure in this game than he otherwise would have. Is that Galaxy Brain? I don't know if it's Galaxy Brain. I think it's something we haven't talked about in terms of how the 12-team playoff affects things and how things are different now. There's just more bites at the apple now. There's more data points. There's more ways to get back if you're in trouble, and there's also more ways to piss everybody off if they're already mad at you so it's a it's sort of a double-edged sword, but

like Ryan Day has used this like and Losing to Michigan not being able to play in the Big Ten championship game not being able to get a buy like It allowed them to have that game against Tennessee where they could show their home fans. Hey, look, we're pretty damn good. And then it allowed them to go to the Rose Bowl and kick the crap out of Oregon, which, you know, that Ohio State was playing in Indian apolis really, really good. The games that we watched the last two weeks was the baseline of the expectation of what they were supposed to know. They were supposed to be this, but we hadn't seen this. And so that was part of the anger. It wasn't just losing to Michigan. Obviously losing to Michigan

was the most part of it. But part of the anger was you have all this. So where's the dominance? What? Where? Why have you not taken advantage of all this? Well, now they have. Now you've absolutely seen what that looks like when they take advantage of all the all of their talent and it's like, oh okay, you can do this. So I think that's I think it's interesting that we came into the season. I think it's I think it's interesting that we came into the season saying

national title or bust for Ohio State and then we got to the playoff and it was national title or bust and now Ohio State's looked awesome in two games and now it's no longer that like I think it's national title or bust. I think they'll freak out if they lose Texas and I don't blame them. They should be Texas like the way they're playing, they should beat everybody.

I don't blame them if they get mad now. Yeah, should they get so mad that they want to fire the coach? No, let's be real here. But I don't blame if they get mad because they have the most talent. Like you said this a bunch of times and I don't think people quite grasp the nuance of it sometimes. You've said this is sort of the last team of an era.

The last prohibitively crazy talented team of that era. Because a lot of these older guys got there before NIL or just as NIL was dawning. And it looks more like one of those Saban Alabama teams or one of the Georgia teams that won the national title, where they have a prohibitive talent advantage against almost everybody they play. We may never see a team like that again, because the market's changed. Like, it's just harder to have that, like, to have that many NFL starters on your defense. Because let's be real here, half of Ohio State's defense could be starting in the NFL right now they chose to come back. So that's not going to happen as much in the future. Teams are not going to be able to stockpile as much talent. You saw it this year. You've seen it flatten out. And even if it doesn't flatten out all the way into every league, it's going to flatten out in the Big 10 and the SEC. So, that's why, that's why the, the pressures on them to, to, because the other teams aren't like them.

And we may never see a team like that again. OK, there's a question in the chat that I want to get to. But first, I want to I want to put it up there in a second. But first, I want to I want to ask you. When you when you say national title or bust, Andy, because Ohio State fans said national title or bust. It's a completely unfair expectation. I readily admit that. What does it mean when you bust?

It means we're kind of mad, but we're not going to go off the deep end. Now, Ohio, it's Ohio State's different because their standard is higher than everyone else's, and deservedly so. They've earned that over the years. But it's still not you're still I will go out and go ahead and say it because I say this all the time. Like don't tell a consumer what they want. Like when you have all these SEC teams where they feel like the coach's job is to win the

national title. It is to win the national title as long as they think that. It's the AD's job to have reasonable expectations. So yeah, you're crazy if you're mad because this team fell a game short or gets the national title game and loses. Like you're crazy if you're mad about that, but it's okay. You're the consumer. You can want what you want. I think this is a good-

It's where the decision makers are the ones that need to make sure they're not the crazy ones, and I don't think they are. It's a good segue into this, Andy, from K Supreme in the chat. Why are teams like Ohio State forced to have such high expectations, but teams like Penn State are forced to lower their own? No one's forcing Penn State to lower their expectations.

The circumstances have caused Penn State to have lower expectations. If Penn State is beating Ohio State regularly, their expectations rise. If Penn State is beating Ohio State regularly, their expectations rise. If Penn State is beating Ohio State regularly on the recruiting trail, their expectations rise. You decide your own expectations. That's not, actually, that's a great segue

into our next Dear Annie and Dear Ari question. It's from Jim. Has the expanded college football playoff changed what is the criteria for a successful season? Making the semifinals this year feel for a team feels more significant this year than being one of the four in the past. I think it depends on who your team is. I think it depends on what you've done. For Ohio State, it's different than Penn State. And that that goes into K Supreme's question. It's different because the circumstances are different.

If Penn State suddenly starts beating Ohio State on the reg, then Penn State's expectations will rise and Ohio State's will fall. Do you think that making the, this that's an interesting question because I don't know if I agree with the premise that making the final four this year feels more significant than in the past.

I don't think it feels any more significant. I think we've seen you more, you're more in our face because we watched you play more games. But I think- But if Penn State would have made the 14 field, that would have been a monumental. I think that would have been more impactful because of what they would have had to do in order to get there. Like Penn State was able to be who they always are and still get here. In the past, to get to the final four, they would have had to do in order to get there. Like, well, they able to be who they always are and still get here in the past

to get to the final four, they would have had to beat in Ohio State, Michigan won the Big Ten most likely and played their way in. So like, I think that Penn State getting here is great. I would push back at the notion that this is more significant or more impressive. Yeah, I don't I don't think it's more significant or more impressive. I just think it depends on where you're at. Like if Wisconsin makes the final four, it's monumental.

If Arizona State had won and made the final four, that's monumental. The expectations at Arizona State and the standard Arizona State are different than the standard at Ohio State. Now, and this also works if you've had the success and now you don't have it anymore. So like, for example, some of the teams in the in the SEC that expect big things, but they have not had the results

they've wanted for several years like Auburn in Florida, we talked about them yesterday, we were talking about the way too early top 10. Auburn in Florida just making the playoff if they were to do that in 2025 would be a massive accomplishment. There have been periods in those schools history where that wouldn't be anything would be like yeah, that's what you're supposed to do, but now because of the circumstances it would be a massive accomplishment. It's not for Ohio State.

Yeah, and also too. I think that the fan. Expectations case supreme. Are also very much in line or aligned with I should say the administration's expectations and how they go about their jobs right like at Ohio State, if a coach existed there for as long as James Franklin did without ever hitting the ceiling and then they offered them a 10-year God contract, that can't happen. So I think that your administration, to a certain extent,

puts you in a position of having to accept what the expectations are, right? Like Andy, can you imagine Ohio State handing out a contract like that to somebody who hadn't beaten Michigan in nine years? No. Like it just would never happen. We've seen, we saw John Cooper, like it happened and that was a different era. Like it got much longer than anybody else would have gotten, you know, in this modern era. So like, I mean, I don't know. I guess Ryan Day is getting into what year seven next year or year six. Yeah, but John

Cooper didn't win any national titles and Ryan Day might have one. Yeah, well that yeah, right. But the the expectations that you are given correlate Andy with the results that you have. I agree with that, but I also think the results that you have also correlate with what the administration is willing to pay for and how they're willing to go about their jobs too, right? This is a great point. This is a great point. Somebody actually brought this up to me on Twitter this week talking about, asking, you know, could we talk a little deeper about Penn State and the administration and how different that is. Because I will agree, this particular fan, they were coming from a place of saying

that Penn State's administration has not been as helpful to football as Ohio State's administration, as Alabama's administration, as Georgia's administration. And I agree wholeheartedly. Prior to Pat Craft becoming the AD at Penn State. Penn State did not act like a school that wanted to win at football. Pat Craft, since he's gotten there, has made them much more of a place where they really want to

win at football and they act like it now. Yeah. James Franklin, I think is funny because people want to fire him. And I think you have or did want to. I don't know about anymore. But you have to ask yourself, Andy, like, what are what's the ceiling of the program? And maybe the ceiling is higher than James Franklin took him and is winning 10 games every year, because also winning 10 games every year is hard. There aren't a lot of coaches who do it. Right. Very hard. Penn State is a top 12 program in America without question. Right. Like, so yes, when you say it like that, it's like, well, being a top 12 program is something that a lot of people want to be. And when James Franklin was hired, I don't remember this. Maybe you do.

But the day that James Franklin was hired, if you would have told them you'd be 10 years straight of being a top 12 program in America, given what happened there and everything, you probably like that'd be great. Like, like, James Franklin, especially when you got hired, especially when he got hired, remember, he got hired in the middle of the sanctions. Exactly, exactly. So what I'm saying is... They would have leapt for joy at what... if you told them what the overall record would be

and the level of success of the program, I think they'd want a little more postseason success. But I think in general, given where they were when he was hired, they'd be like, yeah, we'll take that. So what were... so when he was hired, they'd be like, yeah, we'll take that. So what were, so when he was hired, what were Penn State's expectations? And then eight years into his deal, just keep, well, what were Penn State's expectations? When he was hired was keep, keep all the players and, and, and hopefully have a decent over 500 season when he was hired because they were in a tough spot because they were you know dealing with sanctions that we didn't know they were going to be lifted. There were lawsuits

that got them lifted. So they were dealing with a pretty tough recruiting situation that Bill O'Brien and James Franklin to their credit worked through and did a great job working through and Bill O'Brien I think probably deserves a lot of credit for keeping that program afloat the way he did. This is what I struggle with though Andy. This is what I struggle with. It's like as Penn State come short of their standard or if they come short of Ohio State standard, whose standard is it? Like that's that's uh.

Penn State, I think I think there's a certain segment of Penn State fans who would like their standard to be the same as Ohio State's. It's just not because they haven't earned it. They haven't earned it. But it never will be. You gotta earn a standard like that. Well, it never will be. Oh, it can be. It absolutely can be.

No, no, I haven't finished. I'm saying it never will be until the administration buys into it being that. But I think they're there. I think they're there. I think since Kraft got there, they are an administration that wants to win at football, that is going to act like a big time, big 10 program

and win at football. Like that is, and now that's completely subjective. You can disagree with that if you want, but just knowing what was there before and talking to people around that program and knowing what it's like now, they're in a much different and better place. Do they now they're still not like Ohio State and Alabama and Georgia. Still not there yet.

But I think they're moving that direction here real quick. Andy Noah sup fellows, Ohio State minus three and a half Penn State plus money line plus 232 thoughts. Thank you Penn State money line, baby. It's a coin flip game. It's a coin flip game. Lovely Ohio State number. We'll see about the Penn State thing. Yeah, okay going to the good luck Noah pulling for you. What is what is your buy that down? Did he buy that? Yeah, it must have been an alternate line, which is why the odds are. Okay. A little bit lower than they would have

been. But yeah. Very interesting. So alright, all right, let's actually let's talk Ohio State, Texas. Now, our friends at prize picks have put out their squares for this game. If you're not playing prize picks already, download that app. Use the code staples when you sign up. Play $5. Get $50 instantly. Let's look at Will Howard. 250 and a half passing yards. I want to talk about Will Howard already because I was on with our friends Gabe Eichert and Teddy Layman, the Oklahoma Breakdown podcast. They do a great job. They were talking semis here. And obviously Oklahoma saw Will Howard a lot when Oklahoma was in the Big 12 and Will Howard was playing for Kansas State. And Gabe and Teddy were talking

about how they didn't realize that he could throw the way he's throwing now. And I think, you know, part of it is throwing to Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Bucca, but you and I were there for the Tennessee game. There was a throw in the Tennessee game that he made is one of the touchdown passes. Jeremiah Smith was like, Oh my God. That's one of the most perfect balls I've ever seen. Like where did that come from? The Bucca ball in the Rose Bowl was the best throw he's had all

year, my opinion. Yeah. Um, can I give you just a saucy bonus take for Wendy's real quick? Sure. We love his double up on the Wendy's in price picks. Two of our favorites. Um, I had a dream last night and like it wasn't a weird dream, but like I woke up this morning and like, and it hit me like right when I woke up and I don't know why but I was like. If Miami would have gotten Jeremiah Smith, they have won the national title this year. Like. Their defense still wouldn't have been better, so they would have been able to be stopped. They'd have made a they'd have made a run for sure, but they might have run up against a team that could score with them. That would have been the that would have been Yeah, I'm just trying to think like Restrepo my word

Jeremiah, I am the Oregon in that scenario like the Miami, Oregon game in that scenario might have ended like 65 to 63 Yeah, it's it's just an interesting thought But the reason why I'm saying this is that like I think that Will Howard is who he was supposed to be in the sense of Like above average player is that like I think that Will Howard is who he was supposed to be in the sense of like above average player. I don't know if he's a truck or a trailer to keep you know, I love using that. Cody Boller. Thank you for that analogy. Yeah, that's actually Daniel Jeremiah's original thought. Thank you, Daniel Jeremiah move the sticks. But I had to call Cody Boller yesterday

to make sure where did that? What was the orange origin of that because I used it my story about yours on on three yesterday But I don't know what you think he is. I Would think he's more of a trailer Personally, I don't know that I feel like Will Howard is the driving force behind Ohio State's office I think he's a cog in the wheel Was he a was he a truck was he a truck in the Penn State game? Because I think he was that's the one game of this season that I would say Was he a truck? Was he a truck in the Penn State game? Because I think he was. That's the one game of this season

that I would say he was a truck. Yeah, because I think without him playing the way he did, I don't think they win the game. Yeah, I mean Ohio State went on like a seven minute running drive at the end of that game to ice it out that I can't remember if he carried it or not.

He he kept a few., he moved the chains a couple times. What I think what I'm saying is is I would rather have Jeremiah Smith, the Mecha Iguca and Cardinal Tate than Will Howard. Like that, like the people throwing it too, like I think Will Howard, the fact that he can make great throws is an important aspect to this, but like he goes only as far as his receivers take him. So like that to me is like if you want to talk about Ohio State in the same breath in terms of total talent that like teams like 2020 Bama had and 2019 LSU had and I would be very curious maybe in the off season we can discuss like what you think like Mac Jones was.

Was Mac Jones a truck or a trailer? I mean, he got taken in the first round of the NFL draft. So he must have been a truck. That receiving court was insane though. Like Devontae Smith had maybe the best season we've ever seen a receiver have. But I feel like it's more of a running Mac Jones situation than it really is like a Joe Burrow situation, right? Like it and I

think that like I think that's a fair comparison. I think I think that's very fair and that's fine. Mac Jones won a national title. Yeah, and I think that Ohio State brought him in with the understanding that hey, if we do everything that we can do with him at quarterback, it's going to be fine, but it is kind of a bizarre situation for Ohio State to be in because as well as Will Howard has been playing and throwing the ball, that's also the first time in

like 10 years that they haven't had a first round quarterback playing right, right? Like, uh, I mean, I guess last year they had Kyle McCord, but who knows what that's going to turn into. So like they, they just trying to get another year from a cord right now. We'll see what happens. It is an interesting thing and this is a comment that comes into it Andy here from from J Weiser. Why is Will Howard projected as a third to fifth round pick swiping six foot four and you know having a pretty mid draft class. I think it is interesting that he has like having a pretty mid draft class. And I think it is interesting that he has like his size and

athleticism is exciting, but it's just, there's not, I mean, I just don't like look at him and go, that's an NFL guy. I mentioned some beautiful throws, but he doesn't make them consistently enough. Cause if he did, there would be no question about who the first quarterback off the board was. But instead it's going to be Chidor or Cam Ward because they do make those throws consistently.

Yeah, it's easy to mask when everybody on your team is a first round draft pick, how good you are when you're a distributor. So now I wanna bring up, while we're talking prize picks here, I wanna bring up one other person. It's one of our favorite people to watch, Burt Auburn, the Texas kicker. They do not have full goals made square for Burt Auburn, but they do have a kicking points. So that would be field goals

plus extra points. Five and a half for Burt Auburn. Ari, how do we feel about Burt Auburn after after the Peach Bowl? That was a tough, tough spot. I don't know, like, because kickers are different mentally. Like, I don't know if the heart-to-heart pep talk from Steve Sarkeesian was helpful before the schtoyk at the end of regulation. You think Steve Sarkeesian leaves Bird Auburn alone? I feel like I'm hitting more than if Steve Sarkeesian's like, you know what? I'm gonna let Bert cook.

He's gonna be okay. It was five and a half points total. Like, so extra points count? Extra points in field goals, yeah. feeling pretty good about that, right? Yeah, my favorite bet of the entire weekend if we want to give out. Well, here let's go back first to bird Auburn. You know what I think is crazy. What's that? I I think it's crazy that these

teams spend millions and millions and millions of dollars on coaching staff facilities recruiting resources. And like none of these teams have kicking coaches. So it's like, do you think that Steve Sarkeesian will leave him alone? Steve Sarkeesian doesn't know anything about kicking. You want to know why? Because coaches don't know anything about kicking. And kickers are weird like kickers will tell you themselves that they're weird because when you think about it, you can't motivate them the same way you

motivate other football players. Somebody in in my family, my cousin Kyle was a kicker at Ohio University. It was a punter and a and kicker. And like I grew up with this kid and the clinics, the personal coaches, the hours out there spent on technique. A kicker knows everything in their head. My guy Brandon Cornblue who trains kickers. Like there's not many of those. There are not many people qualified to teach kick.

And when you get to a certain point as a kicker, you know everything like it's not like a quarterback where you go work with Quincy Avery all offseason. He's teaching you new to like, you know, the steps, you know, the pace, you know, this how you strike the ball. Like there's like 25 to like they coach themselves. Andy, if you've ever been to a spring practice, what you've been to a million of,

have you ever seen a coach instructing a kicker? So like when this happens. Listen, when I was a walk-on, I hung out with the long snappers, Ari. So like what those people do at practice is so different than anybody else. They're not even in practice. They're at practice,

but they're practicing off to the side. So when it's like, will you leave Bert Auburn alone? He better. What's he going to do? Tell him to swing better. That's, that's the thing. Like when, when I saw Sark giving him the heart to heart before that field goal at the end of regulation, I was like, no, don't do this. Don't talk to him. You're, you're icing him worse than Kenny Dillingham ever could. Just let him go out there and do his process because like 90% of kicking is just mental. Yeah. Hey listen, Burt Auburn, I'm not worried about his confidence. You've seen the man's hair. Yeah. Anybody who's rocking hair like that is confident. Oh yeah. We don't have to worry about that. Yeah, you're right. Bird Auburn's packing so much confidence. The question is

how did he get enough confidence to get that hair and I'll let you decide. He's packing all the confidence in the world. So, I'm not worried about Bird Auburn's confidence. I am worried about Steve Sarkeesian talking to Bird Auburn and I do wanna give a shout out here. I think we we may have mentioned this on the show that day but the the two equipment managers from Arizona State, because each team sends an equipment manager

to the other side, or sends equipment managers to the other sideline with a box of balls, so that when the official needs a ball and they're close to that sideline, they can just hand them the ball. Because each team, the teams have different footballs. Like each team brings its own footballs. The Arizona State ball girls walking in front of Burt

Auburn's kicking practice kicking net as he was addressing the ball. That is devastating mental warfare right there. Like that is that is savvy veteran moves right there. Yeah. Yeah. But do you think Texas is gonna be scoring a lot of points in this game? Well, they better because I don't think they have any other choice. I think they better score a lot of points in this game. If for nothing else than to give their defense a break because having to cover

Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Buka is exhausting, especially when Ohio State is actually throwing to them and guess what? They're actually throwing to them now. So Bert Auburn, 5 and 1 half. More or less, you decide. Download the PrizePix app. Use the code STAPLES. Play $5, get $50 instantly when you sign up

using that code STAPLES. Ari, we have a couple more questions to answer. This one's from Dane. I find this fascinating because one because of the conversation we had yesterday. Oh yeah. And two, so Dane says, what is the potential impact of a successful Bill Belichick campaign in year one of his tenure at UNC? And I'm going to flip Dane's question a little bit into like what is success for Bill Belichick in year one at North Carolina? But also, like, Tom Brady is going to help the Raiders hire their head coach.

Now, I've got some folks last night telling me that it's just a smoke screen, that he's not really going to try to hire Bill Belichick. But until I see the Raiders hire a head coach, I'm not out on the idea of Tom and Bill trying to reunite in Vegas. Like, are we sure he's going to be North Carolina's head? Are we positive? I guess like if you just like ask yourself if the Raiders offer him the job, forget the Tom Brady stuff. Forget all that stuff. If a NFL franchise offers him a job, will he take

it? I think he would. It's 10 million bucks. Most NFL teams that's you know, if they can find that on their couch cushion, that's the buyout if he wants to leave. But I think Bill can actually afford that himself. So if he really wants back in the NFL, yeah, I would think he can do it if he wants to. I just I don don't, it's interesting because the athletic had a story that came out later yesterday after all the Bill Belichick smoke started coming out where it was more, more throwing dirt on Belichick and saying

that he froze out his assistants that he didn't think were loyal. So the more I think about it, the more I think he is probably going to coach North Carolina this year, but again until I see all the jobs filled. I'm not. Not putting anything out of the out of the question. I'm going to let you take the question though, Andy, because I have no idea what success is because it's kind of funny to think that like 10 and two is like well, what what Mac Brown did two years ago like I mean like I don't what's success. Well, that's that's the thing you have to consider. So Larry fedora won eight won eleven games in 2015. That team was really good

That was Mark Weiss Williams the Trubis Trubis keys on the roster, but he's not starting yet Mark Weiss Williams was starting quarterback. They played a really fun ACC championship game against Clemson that year like they were good But then they couldn't keep it going, you know,-5, 3-9, 2-9 after that. So, Mac... So, Mac was 6-7 this year, but the four years prior to that, 8-4, 6-7, 9-5, 8-5. So, the idea that if you... And they not win 10 games any of those years?

No, they went 9-5 in 2022. But the idea that you can just, yeah, they made the title game. Oh, I thought they won 10 games that year. No. The idea that you can just win eight games every year at North Carolina, they'll build you statues wrong. It's not true.

You're going to have to dip into double digits every once in a while. So what is success? Year one, I'd say improvement that would be eight or nine wins but eventually and I mean fairly quickly they want to be into double digits they want to be competing for playoff berths they want to be competing for the ACC title game like North Carolina views itself as elite in the ACC, even though the football results don't match that.

Yeah. Yeah. I guess he, she said year one of the question though. So like, I guess like year one, if he wins nine games, that'd be exciting. I think that would be exciting if he, if he upgrades the talent, if it looks like he's, he's able to manage talent in this era of college football, which, you know, one of the reasons you hire Bill Belichick is college football is a lot more like the NFL used to be. And perhaps he's more equipped to navigate that than people who've been in college football all their lives. We will see. I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. But I think you fun of the Belichick situation is the intrigue of like the unknown. Like I think we, when, when a coach gets hired, uh, it's so easy to identify what they need to do, how they need to do it, what they're going to do and what success looks like. And I think that this is like the weirdest hire ever. Um, and yes, I think that's the best way to describe it.

I think it's a very exciting hire because of the name recognition, but like, I don't know what his motivation for this is I don't know what he thinks of success. I don't know what you know what North Carolina is expecting from him I don't know where their fans are like I feel like very Like I think my talent in this business is being able to talk directly to fan bases because I have a general sense of like How they're feeling like I have no idea like where North Carolina how they feel I feel like I feel like I'm like in the middle of the Blair Witch project right now.

Like we're gonna watch it, then we'll analyze it. But like, it's like, even with Colorado, it's like. Is Bill Belichick the guy standing in the corner at the end? Sorry, spoilers, I know, but it's an old movie. Yeah, that movie wasn't scary. It just made me sick. Um, it was just everyone's nose.

We're spinning around so much.. Um it's just everyone's nose. We're spinning around so much. Yeah, it's just like um you know what movie was scary for me when I was a kid? The ring. Have you ever seen Helter Skelter? I have not seen Helter Skelter. Okay, it's about

Charlie Manson. It's about the Manson family. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He used to scare the **** out of me because like I'm scared of things that actually occur in this world. Not ghosts and goblins and Lord of the rings, you know, but we I don't know what we're doing here. So you like with Colorado last year, it's like, yeah, well, they are

the worst or two years ago. The worst program in the in the country, they're just taking a swing and anything that anything that sticks as a success and it's like Dion has exceeded those expectations tenfold. But like, I think we knew like Dion, where they were and what Dion could provide. Like that, like we had a good feel for that. Like that made sense to me. I liked that higher. This is like either going to be, and I think we said this about Dion too, but

like a incredible success or like not even an, I don't think it's gonna be an epic failure. I think it's gonna be boring. Like what if it's just like eight and four, three years and Ronny's like, ah, this is stupid. I don't wanna do it anymore. Like, I don't know. Like that's to me, like I don't think it's gonna go two and 10, but boring.

Like there's been no, like, I mean, I know he took a picture of a barbecue restaurant and posted it on his Twitter. That wasn't him. That wasn't him. Yeah, or whatever. That was a You know, has there been a, oh, it was. Yeah, that wasn't even him. He's so he's putting a suit on and going around all these high schools. He's doing the he's doing the dance, the one that you say Dion

should be doing. And it's weird to me because like Bill Belichick is he does move the meter. I mean nobody moves it like Dion does but of all the head coaches in college football right now like if Bill Belichick walks into your high school I think everybody's going nuts. Yeah, I'm a little surprised that the responses is subdued it is it's been boring so far. I mean, has it been a huge recruiting splash yet. Now look if we go with Bill Bell now they. it's been boring so far. I mean, has it been a huge recruiting splash yet? Now, look, if we go with Bill Bell, now they, I think Bryce Baker is going to be really good, but Bryce Baker was committed to Mac and he only looked around cause they fired Mac. He was coming to North Carolina. So Bill Belichick got there. They talked. He signed. This is the quarterback from Greensboro. I'm, we, he was at the elite series event last year.

Really fun meeting him and his parents. Those guys, like, this is a dude that is determined to succeed. And not, you know, wasn't one of those guys looking for the biggest bag, wanted to stay close to home, wanted to play for his home state school So like I think I think that's the huge Huge boost for Bill Belichick, even if he didn't have much to do with it He's gonna be real happy that that worked out for him But yeah, you're not seeing any sort of major earth-shattering thing now part of it is he's just this is this the

Beginning of the 26 recruiting cycle, So we're not even gonna see commitments until March and April. Yeah, yeah. But I'm kind of excited to experience the ride and we'll analyze it as we go. But like I'm having a hard time answering that question. So I appreciate the question, but I think the intrigue and the unknown

is what's beautiful about this. So we'll stay on top of it though. So Ari has a heart out today for those who want a little peek behind the curtain. Dallas, the whole city shuts down if there's like a flake of snow and so child care is closed like Ari is on daddy daycare duty right now. Like if Liv joins the show, I'm happy with that because she's adorable and she's awesome and I love her. So I'm happy if she wants to come on the show.

Where's Andy? Exactly. But that means we got to wrap up pretty soon. It's okay. We're going live after the Orange Bowl tonight. You're going to see plenty of us. We're going to be up in your faces after the Orange Bowl, after the Cotton Bowl. So I'm going to the Orange Bowl tonight. I don't know. I might just stay out by the pool all day. This is pretty tremendous. But one more question, and it's more of a complaint from our friend Steve.

Oh, no. Hi, Andy. I enjoy the show, but damn it, I am sure you guys know that Jerry World is in Arlington, a city of 400,000 population, not even in Dallas County. If you fly to DFW, you still might be in Tarrant County. Just saying, please inform your fellow sports writers of these facts. Thanks, Steve. Steve, I'm going to address Steve. Steve may be watching

you. He may be listening on podcast later. Ari, you can fill in for Steve. I'm going to have you play Steve. You ready? Am I supposed to be mad about whatever Steve's mad about? Yeah, you're a resident of the area. You can be mad. Arlington's not Dallas, Andy. Steve, what do they call the team that plays in AT&T Stadium regularly? The Dallas Cowboys. Oh, they don't call in the Arlington Cowboys. No. What about the team that plays baseball in the stadium next door? What do they call them? The Texas Rangers you a deal when Jerry Jones calls them the Arlington Cowboys. I Will say that Jerry world's in Arlington and not in Dallas You're in a suburb get over it like when people ask me where I grew up

I say Orlando because they don't know where Longwood is Like everybody in the country knows where Orlando is, but they don't know where Longwood Florida is. How many stadiums are actually in the city that's on the Jersey? Not as many as you think. Well, like summer downtown New York or East River New Jersey like it's in a different state. It's a different state. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Rale Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. San Francisco is not in San Francisco, right there in Santa Clara. So either LA teams. Was in Englewood and ones in? It's yeah, the Englewood LA thing like because Englewood like when you when you cross the border in Englewood, they've

got the science as Englewood City of Champions. So yeah, I just like feel like yeah, I mean it's just kind of the same thing like land is coming in. So yeah, I just like feel like yeah, maybe it's just kind of the same thing like Landis. Come here, Libby. I want everyone to see you. I knew we were gonna get Liv on the show today. We're getting we're getting off here but you can say goodbye. Tell her not to cuss. I know she's got a potty mouth. Come here, baby.

You want to come say hi to Nanny? Okay. Okay. Alright guys. That's it. She Okay, okay. Alright guys, that's it. She's got shy. Libby, they wanted to see you babe. Oh, he she doesn't want to be on TV. It's alright. Okay, I understand. Okay. She doesn't have the the bug like her dad but that's okay. She will. Trust me. She will but uh yeah, I'm I'm I love the show. I can't wait to get together with you tonight after the game. Um enjoy it Andy. I can't wait.

This is going to be so much fun. Just seeing some new blood around, seeing the Penn State fans, seeing the Notre Dame fans. I've had multiple friends from both schools who say, oh, we're tailgating tonight. The weather's going to be beautiful, as you can see. It's gorgeous out here. It's actually a little chilly for South Florida.

Like, this is the level of South Florida weather. I think it's 55 degrees with a slight breeze right now. This is where they turn on the gas heaters at all the restaurants. Yeah, 55 55 and sunny is just the best. That's how Florida does not handle cold well. But tonight they're going to handle it great. You got the Golden Domes, Penn State. My friend Spencer Ford.

I always remember how he described Penn State, the football team. He would talk about the Sugar Bowl when they played big bad big bad Herschel Walker and there's Penn State with just a stripe down its helmet. That's it. Golden Dome, Penn State with just a stripe down his helmet. Come on. Who doesn't love this? I'm excited.