Andy & Ari On3 - College Football’s HOT SEAT entering 2026: Which CFB coaches must WIN to keep their job?

Episode Date: July 21, 2026

While SEC Media Days are still underway in Tampa, Florida, Andy released his newest rendition of college football’s hot seat ahead of the 2026 season. With a number of names on the list, who can realistically coach their way off this list? Can Lincoln Riley finally crack the code at USC? Will Bill Belichick ever be successful at North Carolina? Will any resources be given to help these coaches? Listen in as Andy & Ari break down the entire list here.   (0:00) On Today’s Episode (0:55) Presenting Sponsor (2:25) Intro: CFB Hot Seat (3:11) Andy’s Entire List (6:43) Lincoln Riley, USC (13:13) Revisiting the Odyssey (15:34) Bill Belichick, North Carolina (29:00) Mike Norvell, Florida State (33:37) Not on the list? Dabo Swinney (35:46) Bill O’Brien, Boston College (39:45) Deion Sanders, Colorado (44:12) Shane Beamer, South Carolina (49:19) Closing out the entire list (50:49) Are we SLEEPING ON Gunner Stockton? (1:05:55) Josh Heupel’s New Confidence (1:08:47) Tennessee, most passionate fans? (1:12:23) Closing out - see you tomorrow!   Once Andy & Ari complete the hot seat list, the fellas dive into who Andy met with at SEC Media Days. Watch here as the guys discuss Georgia QB Gunner Stockton and if we are sleeping on the Bulldogs.   Going back to day one of SEC Media Days, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel appeared relaxed and confident down in Tampa yesterday. Should we take note of this? Are the Volunteers going to be a sneaky good team in the SEC this year? The fellas discuss.   Thanks for watching! See you tomorrow from day 3 of SEC Media Days!   Our show is also presented by BetMGM!   If you haven’t signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code CFB and you will get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! Here’s how it works:   1. Download the BetMGM app and sign-up using bonus code CFB. 2. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. 3. You will receive up to $1500 in bonus bets if your bet loses! Just make sure you use bonus code CFB when you sign up!   Make this college football season one for the history books. Make it legendary.   See BetMGM.com for Terms. 21+ only. This promotional offer is not available in DC, Mississippi, New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET (Available in the US) . 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only (if applicable). Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel   Check out Zen AI here: http://bit.ly/zenAI_bpp_itf   Join On3 today! https://www.on3.com/join   Watch our show on YouTube!  https://youtu.be/mtUnr5wxuZg Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman Producer: River Bailey   Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today is Andy Narian 3 presented by BetMGM, which college football coaches will start the season on the hot seat. How do they coach their way off? Why did I put some guys on the list and leave some off? We'll explain it all today. Plus, Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, one of the most unassuming dudes if you just saw him out of uniform. But this is a guy carrying the weight of massive expectations this season. is he prepared to fulfill them? We'll talk about that.

Plus, a very loose Josh Heipel, encouraging Tennessee stores to stock up on golf balls and mustard bottles for when Lane Kiffin comes. Is this a sign of a Tennessee team that's ready to rip? We'll discuss on today's Andy and Orion 3 presented by Bed MGM. This show is brought to you by a BedMGM. All the spreads, all the wind totals we discuss. come from Bed-MGM. We're going to talk about that Oklahoma win total today.

We're probably going to talk about that Tennessee one this week, maybe that Auburn one when they come on Tuesday of this week. It's the SEC Media Day, so we are talking about the future in college football. But there is plenty going on in the present. The All-Star Breaks over baseball, getting hot and heavy, and you get a little bonus from BetMGM. A no-swet home run token.

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It's Hot Seat Day. You know we were coming to this episode at some point. in the preseason. And the genesis of it was I got a text from our editor Luke Stampini late last week. We were actually, I believe we were filming the Thursday show last week. And he said, hey, your hot seat column last year was actually pretty accurate. So you got another one in you. And I went back and looked at it.

And I was like, okay, I got the names right. But I really couldn't have been more wrong last year because I had a few guys on there that I had listed as too expensive to fire like Mark Stoops, who wound up, getting fired. And so this year when I did the hot seat column, I basically said, okay, I don't care what the buyout is. No one's too expensive to be fired. No one's too expensive to get fired. It does not matter. And we have a new unit of buyout measurement. It's called the Jimbo. So basically, you know, I'm measuring your buyout in how many Jimbo's it is. So like Bill Belichick, if you were to be fired after the season, they would owe him $10 million or one eighth of a Jimbo. I thought that was hilarious. Because when I opened up the column to read for the first time, Andy, I thought, okay, well, I'm going to see who's expensive because I usually use it as like a compass for whose buyouts or what. And then as you did, then I realize, well, I guess it doesn't really matter who what anyone's buyout is. Like, people are paying it. So I thought you did a really good job this year. And I think the names on here are probably the ones that I would have come up with. But I'm very curious who you think could have been on and wasn't and what the people who are on it have to do to keep their jobs.

Yeah, and we'll go through the list. So the graphic on three put out, it is ordered, I think it's ordered in a way to get your attention because I didn't actually rank people by how likely they were to get fired. I did it by conference. And so Flakey and Rahili is the first name you see, and Bill Belichick is the second name you see. And I'm pretty sure that's our social media gurus,

understanding how the world works. But what you're telling me? I was going to come for your throat for listing Mike Loxley? Come on now. Well, it's interesting because Mike Norvell, I think, with the most expensive buyout, well, Lincoln Riley's is probably a little more. But Mike Norvell probably is the person everybody would just jump to, the Florida State coach would think is the most likely because of how he enters this season.

But yeah, Luke Fickle and Mike Loxley. So I had Lincoln Riley, I had Bill Belichick. I had Bill O'Brien, Mike Norvel, Luke Fickle at Wisconsin, Mike Loxley, and Maryland, Dave Rand at Baylor, Scott Satterfield at Cincinnati, Shane Beamer, at South Carolina. It's not a huge list because a lot of jobs changed last year. There were a lot of firings last year and going into the last season

none of us had Brian Kelly on the list. None of us had James Franklin on the list. And those two firings, honestly for me, Ari, were the ones that pushed me over the edge of I don't think anybody cares what the buyout actually is. Yeah. Well, and you know what would be an interesting companion piece, Andy? Is who

can find themselves fired, like skipping the hot seat step and just finding them fired. And that's not a fun thing to right, so maybe you just don't do it. But like the idea of like, it's hard to do because it comes out of nowhere. Yeah. But like coaches that nobody would have patience for if things go poorly this year, I think is an interesting thought exercise.

Maybe we can go down that road another time. But, you know, it is these are the names here. And I think that obviously the three most interesting names on here are Lincoln, Riley, Bill Belichick, and Mike Norvell. Mike Norvell is less interesting because it already feels like he's fired. So yeah and I feel I feel bad about that I hate that it's like that because I think that that does no no service to Florida State or its fans either because they're coming into the season with tempered expectations. They're just like, oh, well, I guess we got to get through this. And that's why I wrote last year when they decided to keep Mike Norville.

And he he would be the one I'd say last year that the money in the buyout was the deciding factor that they actually probably couldn't afford it at the time. And they had to get their ducks in a row. I think their ducks are in a row now, but unfortunately, it causes this weird purgatory situation. But let's talk Lincoln Riley first, because I think that's the one that there may be some surprise that he's on there after a nine and three season. But I almost feel like the USC fans maybe understand it better than the outside world in this case. Yeah. So the question that I just have with Lincoln Riley in general is this. What is unacceptable?

We've kind of outlined what is, you know, the hope, right, which is to break through, compete for a Big Ten championship and make the playoff. I don't think that we're in a national championship or bust scenario here, but they do need to see some returns on their investments, both in his salary and, of course, the roster that they've just assembled. They can't go nine and three again. So I think 10 and two and in the playoff would be. Oh, no, I think if they're nine and three and they just miss, he's probably still okay. I think lower than that, then you are in Brian Kelly at LSU territory, which, I mean, they should kind of be inextricably linked. They left great jobs on the same day to take those jobs.

And you've already seen the Brian Kelly era end at LSU. And I think Lincoln Riley has yet to deliver on what he promised at USC. And it is time to deliver. Now, look, if you're nine and three and you had like one overtime loss that kept you out of the playoff, I don't think you fire him over that. But if you're not in the playoff on, let's say they play Oregon, you know, early October, or I'm sorry, that's late September. But let's say they lose to Oregon, and like last year, it's not particularly close.

And then they lose to Ohio State and Indiana and maybe, you know, drop Penn State or Washington in there. Like, that's enough. You've probably seen all you need to see at this point because they have given him the stuff he's asked for. They definitely put together a bunch of money to get one of the best recruiting classes in the country this year. Now, I would argue that you shouldn't rely on freshmen, but they're not. lying on freshman. They have a veteran quarterback in Jade Mayava. They bring back most of their offensive line. It's not, it's not like they're expecting this recruiting class to come in and all of a sudden save them. I think they're hoping that they are additive. Some of those players are

additive in a way that lifts them up to, you know, into the, into the playoff picture. Well, see what I think is interesting about the nine and three discussion. And, you know, I'm not sure. Like, I think you sound right. I don't know if I'm 100% with you because you remember what their record was last. So there's a version of nine. You think there's a version of nine and three that gets it fired. Do you think that USC fans were happy after last year? No. I know they weren't.

What was their record last year? Nine and three. So their schedule is difficult this year. You know, so you have to take that into account. They do play Oregon, Ohio State, and Indiana. But if they go nine and three this year, with those three being the losses, you know, I think it's a hard pill to swallow because it's a actual fact proved that you are no longer or you are not at the level of the best in the country.

Now, if there's a head scratcher loss, and that's one thing they eliminated last year, and that's something that gives you confidence that Lincoln Riley can coach his way out of this and into the playoff is they eliminated the wait, what loss? They didn't have any of those last year. And I think, you know, they had that their first year in the Big Ten with Maryland and with Minnesota. where it's just like what the hell happened? How would you need to Illinois last year?

There's not there's not shame in that. There's no shame in losing to Illinois, but if you remember how they lost to Illinois, that was like the world. That was pretty rough. I mean, it wasn't just that they, Illinois was a solid team last year, but they got manhandled physically in that game.

Now, interestingly enough, their next time out after a buy week was a 31-13 win over Michigan, which is the exact convert. And they manhandled Michigan in that game. Yeah, they did. So I don't know. what happened in that game, but I remember on September 27th last year when they lost to Illinois being like, oh, boy, here we go again. So I do think that if they go nine and three, I don't know that I'm saying he's going to be fired, but I think everybody in Los Angeles is waiting for a step that proves that they are, you know, on the right trajectory.

I think going nine and three and losing to the three best teams on your schedule doesn't prove anything. In fact, make me feels a lot like last year. So, you know, the thought process to me would be to go 10 and 2 in order to at least show them something, but I think 8 and 4 might get you fired. Yeah, and it's a massive amount of money. It's a massive. The U.S.C. doesn't have to tell us how much because they're private, but just from talking to some people in the agent world, the thought is it's between 60 and 65 million after this season, if it were to happen. So it is a lot of money.

Yeah, I mean, just do the math on the back of an envelope from like what, you know, why he would have left Oklahoma for, USC at the time and what they would have had to have pay him in that moment. It was 100 million guaranteed. That's just basic logic. So, you know, yes, it would be very expensive. But I wonder if USC is in that, do you think they're in the market to explore that with an eight and four year? Yes, because they have given him everything. They feel like, I would say their administration feels like he's given the resources now,

that they have the resources available to them to make the playoffs. And if they can't do it with these resources, they're not, you know, they're not playing with one hand behind their back. They are as advantaged as anybody else. And if they can't do it, then you've got to find somebody who can because that's what you hired him to do

five years in. If he's not doing it, you've got to try something. Yeah. I think people are tired of the off season and this is the year for USC. If it's finally the year, then go beat somebody. You know,

and I'll be curious to see him at Big Ten Media Days next week. But so far this year, it has been, hey, the window's open, we're going to get it done. This is the first year that the tone's different. The tone the last few years has been, look at what I inherited, it was awful, I've done a great job just getting it to this point. A lot of excuses. There have been no excuses from him that I've heard. Really, because they lose the TCU in the bowl game, and that's when he said the windows open. Like, he's been pretty consistent, I'd say, this offseason.

in saying, hey, I get it. I know this is what's expected to me. Yeah. Andy, I know we have nine other people we've got to get to, and for the sake of the show, not being four hours long. We have to do that. But can I read just an appropriate USC-related email that we received about the Odyssey real quick?

Because I like that. U.S. fans to know that we are reading the emails. And Richard is a longtime listener. And he's a U.S. fan who wanted to weigh in on something. Andy and Ari, I've loved your show since you were at The Athletic. and I normally don't send emails, but after Friday show, as a USC fan, I feel like I have to say something. You guys joked about why USC would tweet about the Trojans when they lost the war.

And this is in reference to the movie The Odyssey. I realized being the Odyssey begins. And I was saying, your reminder, they're going home after beating the Trojans. He goes, I realize being from the South and Arizona, you might not know USC history pre-Pete Carol, but you guys are missing the point. That's the mascot. We know Troy lost the war, but this wasn't Poland in 1939. Ari, this is a World War II reference. Part of being an American man is that one day World War II books shows up at your house.

They were under siege for 10 years. The Trojans he's talking about. Yes, we're not in Poland anymore. They were under siege for 10 years and only lost because of trickery. Most sieges, especially pre-gunpowder, ended in surrender from starvation far earlier. Troy fought to the bitter end. USC used to be known as the Methodists until a newspaper gave them the nickname

that that nickname because they didn't give up even against a bigger, tougher opponent. That's the meaning of fight on. We lost the war against the NCAA and I've been on the Odyssey since Pete Carroll left. We know we're hated and it's not fun to be hated but we'll fight

on and we'll reach the promised land. Richard from Eagle Rock, California. So anyway, that's a fun way. That is a great email. Yes, look, and the Trojans are not the only team nicknamed after a group of people who fought valiantly, but ultimately succumbed. The Michigan state's the same thing. Spartans are exactly the same situation. Yeah.

But, yes, I get it. I still don't know if you celebrate the, you know, the people going home who tricked you and beat you. That's all there is. But I understand fight on as well. And obviously, it wasn't you because you're not the Trojans. And it is a better nickname than the Methodist. Yeah. I say that as a Presbyterian.

All right. Next coach, Andy. All right. Well, let's talk Bill Belichick. Let us talk about Bill Belichick because we hardly ever talk about him anymore. And there's still moments where I sit there and I'm reading something or I'm seeing something coming out of North Carolina. It's like, wait, oh, Bill freaking Belichick is the coach of North Carolina. and yet we don't even think of it as a big deal at all anymore.

And really, like this feels like a fate accompli unless something really drastic happens because they put such a bad roster on the field last year. And I know that it's interesting because the North Carolina fan base is very split on this. There's a group that believes hiring Bill Belichick was a huge mistake that didn't like it from the start that said something feels off about this. And then there's a group that says, you have to give him time to get his, players, which is completely unrealistic in this era of college football. You don't have to give them time. They have money. They're not poor. They're not broke. They had money last year.

And they insisted on fighting against Sunbelt schools and American conference schools for transfers instead of going and trying to get the guys that everybody wanted. And I don't know if Bill Belichick and Michael Lombardi, his GM, thought that they could just out-evaluate everybody and then out coach everybody, but last year should have been the wake-up call. And the thing about the difference between last year and this year, they had an unbelievably easy ACC schedule draw. They have one of the more difficult ACC schedule draws this year, plus they play Notre Dame and TCU in the non-conference.

Yeah, so here's my prevailing thought. And I don't know if this is going to be offensive to New England Patriots fans, but I'm curious what your perspective of this is. during the tail end of his time in New England, what was your perception of what went wrong there? Obviously, there was more than one thing, but his roster was very bad, right? Right, right.

And the magic of Bill Belichick, when they were so good, was that he could put together a roster using, you know, the diamonds in the rough they found, or guys that they could repurpose, or like having Troy Brown play both ways. Like he was great at stretching out the roster to get the most out of that 53 people. And but I get it.

At the end, the, it was all Brady camp got really loud. Yeah. Bill Belichick was the de facto GM during all of his Super Bowl victories with the New England Patriots. Yes, he was,

he was more like a college coach in the NFL. Like, He was like a traditional college coach who had 100% control over personnel. So that's why he's in college, is my understanding, right? Because it was the only job that would give him, well, he wasn't hired by anybody in the NFL, but it was an opportunity to not only coach football, but to be the GM or to be the person who had the last call on evaluating talent. I think the assumption was he'd come in and run circles around these college coaches

and go back to the NFL. And they just embarrassed themselves last year. Yeah. They didn't know what they were doing. It was clear they had no idea what they were doing. The coaching piece of it, like, if you watch their defense, they got better as the season went on. So, like, he hadn't forgotten how to coach. They can still coach just fine.

But they had no idea what they were doing in terms of assembling the roster. And I'm not sure they changed their tack at all this year. And I don't understand that. That's what I was getting at. I wanted to make sure that I at least acknowledged his role as a personnel, a value. in the NFL before I asked this brutal question. Is there reason to believe in Bill Belichick, the talent evaluator in college right now?

I believe in his ability to evaluate talent. I think this is a philosophical issue. I don't think it's an evaluation issue. I still trust Bill Belichick to evaluate as well as anybody. I just think this is a philosophy. There's a reason that when certain people go in the portal, Texas and Texas A&M and all these schools come after them because they have the traits everybody wants.

You have to have some of those guys. And the difference I think when you're with the Patriots is you have draft picks. So you know what a fifth round draft pick is Ari? It's someone who is freaking awesome in college. Yeah. Yes. So that's the difference.

So do you think that there's a lot of to get involved in the high profile recruitment of portal athletes? Like, what's the philosophy that you think he's the hearing? I can't figure it out. I don't know if it's they didn't want to bother with it. I don't know if they felt like they could find their kind of guys or whatever, but that's just not how it works.

Like, if you want to play with Notre Dame, if you want to be competitive with Notre Dame, you have to try to have players like Notre Dame. Yes. How many. Carolina players on this year's roster would start for Notre Dame. I don't know. The answer is probably like one.

One? Maybe two. Yeah. So here's the deal, though, that you're right. I just got done this morning writing a combat Will Stein and some of the players that they brought into Kentucky. And by the way, if you look at the class, it's really good. They had a really good temporal class. Will Stein spent a bunch of money to get Lance Hurd, who was like a second or third team,

all SEC selection at Tennessee last year to come play tackle for them. Yes. You have to have that. So the question I guess that I always fall back on it, and it's like, you know, we knew Mac Brown pretty well when he was at North Carolina. Yeah. And his rosters were better than the one Belichick put on the field last year. Every Mac Brown roster was better than that one.

This is the confusing part because if Mac Brown was in an honest moment on our show right now, he would tell you that he didn't feel he was given the recruiting resources necessary to compete at the highest level, especially. in the portal era. So if those rosters were better, I'm having a hard time understanding what is going on here. I mean, like, they had Drake May on their team. Like, they had Sam Howl on their team. Like, they had dudes on their team. And for a while there, they were recruiting the state of North Carolina very well. Marian Hampton on their team. Marian Hampton was on their team. Yeah, and he's going to start running back for the Chargers this year. So, like, it's, I am

confused because if the answer is Bill Belichick doesn't have any money to go get those plays, players, then I don't think that Bill Belichick would have taken the job to begin with. So it doesn't make any sense. And he does, and he does relative to the rest of the AC. Do they have money relative, like a lot, relative to Miami or North or Notre Dame? No. They don't have as much money as those to spend on players. But you're supposed to get the Belichick discount, which also hasn't come into play at all.

Which player has gone there that because of the Belichick discount? Right. And the thing is, it's interesting because they're selling, we can develop you for the NFL, but let's be honest, if you're talking to Kirby Smart and Bill Belichick, well, who's actually more proven at developing people for the NFL? It's Kirby Smart. Yeah, knowing what... They're not even competing with Kirby Smart ever for players.

Yeah. Yeah. So I guess there is this one possibility, and you have to leave the door open for it, although it's a small door, which is he's a genius. And this year they're going to be way better than people expect because he did a great job, which was kind of the same suspension of, belief that we had a year ago, right?

Which is we don't know who these guys are. He's Bill Belichick. Let's see them get on the field. But I have very little doubt they will be coached better. Like, again, you saw the defense get more disciplined and better as a season went along. That staff's the same. They bring in Bobby Petrina to call the offense.

That will, like the play calling will get better. But if the players don't match. Yeah. Yeah. It's players don't match up. It doesn't matter. Yeah. It's much harder to have blind faith in the notion.

that, hey, he knows what he's doing. He's a genius. Those players might not match up on paper right now, but they'll be really good in the fall. You wanted to see some sort of adaptation of the college landscape, and I don't think that we saw that from them, and then that makes it feel like they're on. And their schedule was really easy last year.

And their schedule was much harder this year. So, you know, I don't know. So which gets us back to the initial point of the conversation, Andy, which is he's on your hot seat. What do you think of success? And what do you think is firing? I mean, if he's, not better than Mac Brown, you fired

Mac Brown for going six to six. If he can't be better than what you fired Mac Brown for, then you need to get another coach. Like this experiment has failed. You fired Mac Brown, you said six and six wasn't good enough Mac Brown. You need to hire somebody who can do better than that. And let's recall

who the candidates might have been had they not, you know, because it was basically kind of the board went off and said we're going to do the Belichick thing. John Summerall? John Somerall is probably their coach that they did a more traditional search. He probably gets hired from, you know, Tulane after his first year at Tulane. He probably brings Darien Mentsa with him.

Can you can you see Andy and Ari on 3, 2029 episodes of us doing the wormhole thing of like what would have happened to Bill Belichick never got hired? Like I can just see like a Florida makes the playoff this year like North Carolina people just lighting themselves on fire. Like that's just like, but yes. Well, let me ask you the rising star. If John Somerall had been the coach at North Carolina last year, would they've gone four and eight? Absolutely. I think they would have been better. No question.

Yeah. Yeah, they would have had a better answer. I also think that you and I, although we were very amused and entertained by the Belichick to college football storylines, and of course, all the things that have happened, like his girlfriend foyering, the university, I think are kind of interesting. Yeah, yeah. Kind of interesting byproducts of this. But if you would have asked me, the day he was. hired, would you rather have John Summerall at North Carolina or Bill Belichick, I would have picked Summerall then?

Like, you go back and listen to our episodes the day it happened. We were very nervous about this. He didn't see a girl fired up. Yeah, that's hard. Like, he just didn't see that fired up about it. And you have to care. You like, you have to want to win. It's not a case.

It doesn't matter how much you've won in the NFL. Like, there are millionaires that are trying their asses off to keep their jobs who you've got to recruit against every day. Yeah. And that's not easy. And like, here's the thing, too. You know, we've had Jake Dickard on the show, but Wake Forest seems to be further along in the ACC as a program the North Carolina does right now.

That's inexcusable. That's the one I throw at the Belichick defenders when they say, well, he didn't have time. Jake Dickert was hired after Bill Golichick, and he put a better product on the field and beat them on the field. And I think that it's possible to have a enormous amount of respect for Bill Belichick. I thought it was absolutely assonine and a disgrace that he didn't make the Hall of Fame last year. Obviously, one of the greatest coaches.

of our lifetimes of not all time. But he has to be like, replace Bill Belichick and do any other coach who's at North Carolina right now, maybe one that has no name brand power at all. We would be crucifying that guy right now for these results. And you aren't just Matt Brown. Yeah. Yeah.

You aren't just judged by your own history. And you're got to be judged against your peers. And Jake Dickert's kicking his ass right now. Yeah. They're lucky they don't play Wake Force this year. Yeah. So, I mean, that's the reality of it. Now they had Miami, so good luck with that.

Now, the question, too, is, you know, if his plan initially was to come to college, kick ass, and then go back to the NFL, the NFL, the NFL clearly at the moment probably isn't an option. Do you think that he has the will or the desire to be there long term, or do you think there's a mutual breakup that could happen as well that isn't just a pure firing? Like, I just feel like, I would make them pay me $10 million. I certainly wouldn't be like, oh. Guess it didn't work. Oh, well. So, no, I would make, I would make, I would make them pay me the $10 million. And I wonder, though, like, you get a kind of a feel.

Like, I would be, can I say this? I think I would be surprised if he were North Carolina's coach a year from now. I would too. It would mean that they had probably a very good season. So it'll be fun if that happens. Like, it'd be fun to watch how that happens. Because, I mean, again, given who they were competing against in the portal for players, it doesn't suggest that they're going to be fielding the most competitive roster.

So if they work some magic, that'll be cool. But it'll take some magic. I do think that there are places, North Carolina certainly isn't alone in this, that have overthought the hiring process. And I think sometimes what a program needs is just a study football guy like John Summerall. And I'm not trying to put salt into the wound as Pete Naco, joins the studio right now for some reason. Welcome to the show, Pete.

But it feels gimmicky in the moment, and it's up to him to prove us wrong. Exactly. So let's stay in the ACC with the guy we say, we think is kind of pre-fired. But again, they would owe him a ton of money. So I think Florida State would love if Mike Morneville could coach his way out of this.

But I think this is a situation where I don't know that Florida State has given Mike Norville the recent. sources this off season to do it. I think they're going to, you know, they have very high expectations, obviously, there. If you look at their roster, spend, they're kind of in the middle of the ACC. And I don't know that that's going to be enough when you've got a, you've got non-conference games against Alabama and Florida.

You've got a pretty hard ACC draw. You open with SMU Labor Day. I'm sorry, they have a week zero game, but they open ACC play on Labor Day with SMU. they also obviously have Miami. They have a stretch of Virginia, Louisville, Miami in consecutive weeks. And like there's a possibility if things roll downhill that Florida State is sitting there at one in five at the beginning of the season. And that would be really, really tough. So you're better at economics than me.

I want to ask you this. If you were to pay a buyout, does that come out of the? same bucket that NIL and revenue share comes out of? It does now. I mean, the way things work. All of the sun. Not officially supposed to the NIL budget, but it really, I mean, it's kind of all the same. It's all in the same big Home Depot budget.

Yeah, you're having to ask donors to give you money and you're putting them into your various Home Depot buckets. And so in case you're wondering, the buyout of the 2026 season, this is according to our man, Pete Nekos, it would be 45.6 million. That would be three-fifths of a jimbo. Three-fifths of a jimbo is a lot, but not unheard of. And Florida State didn't pay a single jimbo to jimbo because Texas A&M had to pay to get him. If you aren't competitive on the roster spending standpoint now, those funds being allocated towards his buyout.

That would be my guess. And again, they would have done this last year, I think if they had been financially prepared to do it. And I think there was serious discussion. And it was the week of the, I want to say it was the week of the regular season, I think it was maybe Monday of the week of the Florida game that they said, hey, he's coming back. Yeah.

Because it felt like during the carousel, there were some coaching candidates who were kind of slow playing things a little bit to see if Florida State got in the mix. Because I do think in the coaching community, this is still viewed as a really good job. So now the question is, if you were to make a change, do you suddenly flip the switch? Or if might, let's say Mike Norville wins. Let's say Mike Oromval has a good season and he wins eight games with this situation. Do you then flip the switch and say, okay, we're going to give you everything needed. Yeah. I mean, that's the interesting thought process here because on one hand, you know, you aren't playing with the full set of cards here when it comes to the talent that you needed from a financial standpoint to compete at a high level.

So now not only are you being asked to do a good job, you're asked to do a miracle to save your job. But what happens if you do the miracle? then do they reallocate the funds that would have gone to your buyout to your roster next year or do you still do it? I don't know. I mean, the hope for him, I guess, is like it feels like there are ways of financially speeding up the process if you are already at a place where you know you're not going to want that person to coach anymore by hamstringing them from an NIL standpoint.

So I'm very curious. But like the thing that's so interesting to me about Florida State is that if he wins eight games this year with this roster that you feel like he did a really good job but at the same time Florida State doesn't get excited about eight win seasons even if it is perceived to be a success so like no there's no like you know carrying him off the field on your shoulders for eight wins even if that would be a remarkable job so like I just like I don't know how to analyze that yeah and that's the hard isn't save his job I think so or should I mean yeah I think that would be a pretty pretty big accomplishment given the circumstances but

That's, yeah, that is part of the problem is that's not actually good enough. Like Florida State, they want their coach to be, you know, in the 9 to 12-win range every single year. And those expectations, I don't think are changing anytime soon. So, yeah. And the problem is Mike Norvell has given them that once and therefore must prove he can do it again. Yeah. Good luck, bud. You know, we're pulling for you.

It'll be interesting to see. Can we talk about the ones that are not on the list? Because I've gotten a lot of questions since it came out. The biggest, most common question is why not Davosweeney? And that is one that I debated it back and forth. And I said, okay, what should I put him on here? Because if he goes seven and five in the regular season, would Clemson fire him? And I think the answer is no, they wouldn't.

I'm almost certain the answer for Davosweeney. Would Davoswini say, okay, maybe I am not getting it done anymore and then do something else? He's not, I don't think he's doing that. I think if that ends, it ends because he has a really good season at some point and decides to retire, or he has a bad season and they fire him and he makes them pay every cent of the buyout. Like that would be the, and I just don't think Clint's is ready to. to do that. I don't, I don't think they're there. Even if it would have to be really

bad. It'd have to be really, really bad and Clemson's not, like, Clemson's roster's too good for them to be really, really bad. There's just not going to be. Yeah. So you, your calculus on this here is you don't think that Clemson feels like a change is necessary just yet. I think it's a stomach

for doing it for firing the guy who made you a college football power. I don't think the stomach is there yet. I think, now, another year of that probably than they probably get there. But I just don't, I don't think they have

the stomach for it. And so that's why I didn't put in my own list. Do you just because I know that like what you think and what Clemson will do are very different, do you think that if Dabo goes seven and five this year, he should be fired? I think the writing's on the wall at that point.

I think it's awfully hard to say that things are going to get better. Yeah. because it's always a push pool with what have you accomplished and what are you doing how much equity is and what he accomplished is remarkable how much equity does that buy you in terms of years of seven and five yeah exactly so that's why he's not on the list uh bill o'brien is on the list he was one that i was not going to put on the list because let's be real boston college has not exactly given him the resources to to have the best team

in the world but then he at ACC Media Days told Pete Thamel from ESPN, hey, they've doubled what they're spending on us. So now I'm like, okay, you're on the hot seat. You can't lose 10 games in a row. Like if they've doubled what they're going to do, you can't lose 10 games in a row like you did last year. That's not going to happen. R.O.I is a very real thing in this world. Yeah.

Now, look, everybody wants to win. He wouldn't say, hey, don't give me that money. But if they hadn't been willing to do that, then, yeah, why would you fire? What would be the point of that? if you're not giving them enough to succeed, what's the point? But if you do feel like you're giving the person enough to succeed and then they don't, then yeah, you're justified. Yeah.

I mean, I got in trouble once on Reddit because, you know, there's like a pure college football fan community on there and I have a lot of respect for those people. But I once insinuated what's the point of Bill O'Brien even having the B.C. job if you don't know how you're going to assemble a roster of a financial standpoint every year. Like if you have no chance, it'd be like starting every game of chess without a queen. Like what's the point of playing if you don't have your best? Yeah.

Why don't you play in the FCS? And that enraged people. Yeah. Yeah. So like, but I have that enrage people as be being a college football elitist. And maybe I am. I don't know. But the thing that I just, I feel.

I do think if you're going to, if you're going to play at a certain level, there's a price of admission. And if you're not willing to pay it, you shouldn't be at that level. Yeah. But if you are coaching. a place that's not willing to pay it, then how fun is your job? Like, that's the thing, too. It's freaking terrible. It's awful.

It was pretty crusty last year. Yeah. Could you imagine, Andy, if, like, we had our jobs right now and, like, we were told going into it, you have to have really good numbers or we want you guys to be successful, but you are not allowed to go on YouTube or Apple Podcasts. Right. Right. It'd be like, why would you show up every day?

You're never allowed to have a coach on the air. You're never allowed to have a player guest or anybody interesting. Yeah. Yeah. You're not going to have a producer. You have to use your eyes. iPhones. Like, I mean, at a certain point, like, it would feel like, why am I waking up and doing this every day? And I've always wondered that about coaches. And this is a longstanding feeling that I've had, like, what was the point of being the Purdue coach in 2005?

And that has at times, maybe look stupid because at that time, people were able, but this is such a financial situation. Jeff Rob's like, I took him to the Big Ten championship, baby. Come on. I know. I know. And I was clearly wrong about that. But now when it comes down to dollars and cents and investment, you get a real, clear view of what your program wants from you and what they desire based on what they're willing to spend. And if they aren't spending any money, that means they don't care, which is the hardest part. I think it's actually never been easier to figure out whether you should fire your coach or not. Like, if you're not giving your coach any resources, don't fire your coach. That's your fault. Like, yeah, it's not the coach's fault. Yeah, I guess like your coach resources and he's underachieving

relative to other coaches who have the same or less, then fire your coach. Yeah. You can do better. Yeah, I guess the math equation for should you be fired or is this. Do your results exceed or equal the resources we put into it? Correct. Correct. Yeah. That is the line. You stay above that line.

You keep your job. You go below that line. You lose your job. That's really what it should be. And it's interesting because I think you can compare that numerically more now than ever. And I know that the payrolls are not all public. but within leagues, ADs kind of have a good idea where everybody is and how they all stack up. So I actually think you can make a more empirical decision than you could 10 years ago,

where you really were kind of going on vibes. Yeah. Who else did they ask you? Was there another one? Dion. Dion. Dion was the other one. You ready to have it?

You ready to get into it, bud? I'm ready. I just don't think they would fire him. they're paying him a lot of money. They like what he did at first. My thinking on Dion is it might end after this season, but if it did, it would be his decision. And he's had obviously a lot of health problems.

He dealt with cancer this time last year. So I would think if he decides to, it's over, then that's what happens. But Fernando Lova, their new AD, I can't see him just saying, oh, we're going to go fire Dion if the season doesn't go exactly as you hoped. So let me ask you, this is a very interesting question, I think,

and it's something that kind of relates to what I just said about resources and output, you know, does it exceed that or not? Colorado is a fixture of the national conversation. Now, it's not quite as loud as it was two or three years ago, but still, like, important enough for us to write about them when they come, when Dion talks, we listen, all those different things, is the attention and the hype and just the novelty of having Dion Frickon Sanders as your head coach, change the grading rubric of what is necessary for Colorado to find success

out of their football program. Yes, especially when you consider the Carl Dorell administration before that. I sometimes wonder, I wonder if Colorado is playing the wins and losses game or if they're playing the is Dion keeping us relevant game? And I think that's a very different discussion. And I don't know how to quantify that. Here's the thing. If they're four and eight this year, I don't think even he keeps them relevant anymore unless they do

something really wild. Yeah. Unless they get another Travis Hunter type player, which if they get another Travis Hunter type player, they won't be four and eight. So that's, yeah, that's, that's the, that's the quandary there. But again, I'm actually kind of surprised that they weren't able to get. And maybe Travis Hunter was a unique player as a two-way guy who had a huge impact. But like, I thought that the Shador Sanders, Travis Hunter run of what it would be like

to be really good at Colorado would have breeded more success in the talent accumulation world. I find it strange that we're at a place and like, we don't know what Julian Lewis is going to be this year. You know, they have some pieces that are intriguing. But they don't have the Heisman guy, you know, or the first round draft pick guy. They don't have their offensive tackle anymore who could have been a first round pick. Yeah, George Biden, if he's still there, is being looked at as a first rounder, yeah.

It's like the whole idea that made Dion Sanders a lightning rod was how could his magnetic and loud and exciting personality manifest and getting good players. And like we've gotten to a place now where Colorado really isn't all that talented across the board. So, you know, I don't know why that's happened. And maybe you also have to give him, cut him some slack for overcoming what would be in a very real health scare. But I'm very curious of like, how do I, like with Bill Belichick, I think we can very clearly outline what would be success for him. like with Dionne, if he goes six and six, like why are we still even bringing up Carl Dorell's name?

What other coach gets that benefit of the doubt? Right, it's still better than what he replaced. And the question is then what are your realistic expectations of Colorado? What other program in college football do you say, well, what about their crappy coach from seven years ago? Like, that doesn't exist anymore anywhere. I don't mean, I don't mean Carl Dorell. I mean how we viewed Colorado.

We didn't even think about them and now we think about them. Yes. but then the thought process is the only way that anybody will ever think about Colorado if they have a famous coach maybe we can start thinking about Colorado because they have a good football program like isn't that the job so like it's hard

like it's hard for me to like analyze because it's unequivocally been a success right they had a really good year they were on the edge of the playoff two years ago they won a Heism. But the reason the reason it's successful you're not sure is repeatable and I think that's what they got to figure out but again I don't think

even a even a bad year this year I don't think would cause them to fire him. And I don't think they're going to be worse than last year. I think they're going to be better than last year. Yeah. Does he have a longer runway because he's Dion Sanders at Colorado? I think the answer to the point. Probably yes.

Yeah, I'd say yes. So, yeah, read the column, though. Are there any other ones you want to talk? Do you want to talk Shane Beamer of South Carolina? Because I don't, I think Shane Beamer could easily coach his way off of it. All he has to do is have a good season, but he can't have a repeat of last year. That's, I feel like that's, that's the bottom line on that one. Here's the thing that I think is interesting.

You have a lot of names on the list. Which one are you, like Luke Fickle we haven't talked about, but I think we've talked about him a lot this year. Yeah. Obviously, it's a resources thing and, you know, another chance. Luke Fickle and Mike Loxley are both situations where the administration looked and said, we're not giving you enough resources. We are going to promise you more.

And we'll see if they delivered. I think with Wisconsin anecdotal, from what we heard during the portal period. Yeah. It sounds like they did deliver some more resources for Luke Fickle. So now you have to produce. So same with Mike Loxley. I think both of those guys are in a situation where the administration said,

we're going to keep you, and we will give you some more money, do something with it. And if they do something with it, they'll stay. And if they don't, then they'll make changes. So you brought up Shane Beamer. My question to you would be, which one of the coaches on your list are you, you most have the most faith, they'll be able to coach themselves out of it. Like,

who's this year's Brent Benibles? It's Shane Beamer. I think Shane has the, Shane has the best chance of anybody on this list of, well, Lincoln Riley might make the playoff because he's got a really good roster. But other than Lincoln Riley,

Shane feels like the only one in this list who can make the playoff. Everything fell right for South Carolina. They could be a playoff contending team. I also think that there's something to be said about having a lot of really good players. Now, their offensive tackle situation did get hit with a pretty important injury that they're trying to overcome. And they're hoping people can come back. Yeah.

But all the things that made South Carolina last off-season sweetheart still exist there. And no one at all is talking about them in any way. Isn't that funny how, like, hype works where it's like last year was all hype. South Carolina is a dark horse to make the playoff. They could win the SEC. They have a terrible season. obviously things didn't go their way, but now it's gone to the complete polar opposite,

which then feeds into the likelihood that they will exceed those non-expectations. They still have those guys. It's actually really similar to Venables last year. It's really similar to the Oklahoma situation. Oklahoma had a lot of problems in 2024 that they worked to fix. And one of the teams that exposed those

was 2024 South Carolina. And guess what? They've got some of the same guys. They get a lot of the same guys. The problem with South Carolina is that they have a really tough schedule again. And if you know, you're not sneaking up on anybody, that's the other thing, too, like two years ago when they had that awesome year where they were on the fringe of the playoff. I think they had the benefit of sneaking up on some guys. This year, you're not sneaking up on anybody.

Everyone knows who knows who Matt Hart is. Everyone knows who Nick Harver is. But everybody knows how good Dylan Stewart is. Absolutely. You're 100% right. at Alabama, at home against Kentucky, which may be a tough game. I don't know. I'm really buying the Will Stein.

It's amazing what one quit that a podium can do to my psyche, isn't it? I'm a very, I am. You want to talk about red meat? That's red meat. Yep. But then let me tell at Florida, home against Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, somewhat of a breather against Arkansas on the road than Georgia Clemson. That is freaking brutal.

It is. It is. It's, and, but that's what, I hate to go, Don Draper. That's what the money's for. Like, you know when you take that job, you're going to be dealing with schedules like that. It just sucks because sometimes coaches have an opportunity. Like we talked about this last year with Venables in the off season, and he actually made the playoff.

Based on our perception, like records can get marginally better, but teams can get way better. But if your schedule is much harder or your schedule doesn't set up the right way, you might not be able to fuel the fruits of those labor. So I hope that, that South Carolina doesn't succumb to that. because I do believe you, I think Shane Beamer does have the best chance of coaching himself off of that. And I think that they should be a very good team, a very competent team. I don't know they have to make the playoff, but, you know, it is what it is.

Yeah, I think it's going to be absolutely fascinating. I think Lincoln Riley probably would be my other one that I'd say has the best chance of coaching. But Lincoln Riley's, Lincoln Riley's failure is much higher. Like you have to clear much more hurdles than Shane Beamer before you get into success territory. Because going eight and four is an abject failure, whereas going eight and four for Shane Beamer might actually save his job. So there's also like while the ceiling for USC might be perceived to be higher, the benchmark for failure is much lower or much higher as well. Sorry. Yeah, but the floor is also a lot higher.

So that's the difference. But this is going to be an interesting year. And again, we went in the last season. not talking about the idea of Brian Kelly getting fired, the idea of James Franklin getting fired, and that happens. So there's always that. Somebody might go to the NFL after this season. I still expect, it's not going to, two years ago,

the coaching carousel was pretty dead. It was like dead quiet. Last year was wild. I don't think this year will be as wild as last year, but I do think there will be some swings. Yeah. You know, Pete Nacos was looking at this list going, God, I hope he's right.

I hope that there aren't that many. changes, you know, but you never know. And Andy, too, it's really hard to kind of, you know, because like a few years ago when there was no coaching changes, it kind of felt like a financial situation. It's harder. I'm finding it's probably hard to predict like what it's going to look like because people are more willing to pay than we thought they were. Two years ago, revenue share was coming in and schools were basically hoarding money to front load their rosters before revenue share started. So they were less willing to pay what you'd have to pay to fire a coach and that's why only

I think only three power conference jobs opened and I don't think that's going to be the case this time around I think they figured oh we've done that now and it doesn't matter and if they're not getting it done we'll just pay anything get out of it I mean that

that's what last year taught me is they just don't care they're they're going to pay stupid amounts of money to get out of these contracts and yeah and if they if they don't care that means that pegging what kind of carousel it's going to be is pretty hard. Yes, agreed. Yeah. Ari, let's talk about a team with a coach that is perfectly safe. There's no problems at all. The Georgia Bulldogs, Kirby Smart, the safest coach in America.

But I want to talk about his quarterback because Georgia was here at SEC Media Days today, and I was listening in on Gunner Stockton today. And I am fascinated by this guy because, you know, remember when we were at big 12 media days a few weeks ago and you are standing there and DJ Lagway walks by in his uniform and you're just like holy crap I forgot how huge this guy was and yeah you know you know I'm a big I'm a big traits guy yes but gunter stocked and walking around in a suit you're like wait this is George's starting quarterback and then you hear him talk and he's so soft-spoken and he's you know he's a north georgia he's got the accent he's from tiger georgia he's got exactly the accent you'd expect of a guy from tiger georgia and

he just think okay are this this is this the guy is this the guy and then you you look at how his teammates talk about him and you look at how like i the my gunner stockton moment was remember when carson got hurt in the c c c championship game against texas and gunnorsed had come in Did you see how excited the offensive lineman got when Gunner came into the game? Like this guy is a dog. His teammates love him. Dog. But he's in a high pressure situation.

And they've won the SEC the last two years. So his first season as the starter at Georgia, they won the SEC. They won 11 games. And then they lose to Ole Miss in the semis or in the quarterfinals. and it was an Ole Miss team they'd beaten earlier in the season. And if you're Gunner Stockton, you know, you're going into your year last year, your fifth year senior. And what do you have to do to be a success, do you think, Ari, if you're Gunner Stockton?

What does he have to do for Georgia this year to be successful? Well, the first thing that jumped into my mind was they had a pretty successful quarterback there in the not so recent past that probably looked like he could be a frat leader too, right? like you know yeah setz and bennett absolutely like two national titles yeah yeah you know and by the way when you want to talk about like absolute dog of a college football player i know stetson bennett had some challenges like during nfl draft period for him and he's still trying to catch on in the NFL um and maybe get a shot but like in terms of like when i think of like actual dog in college like that haines king dog in you yep uh like stinson bennett i don't think gets enough credit for like some of the plays that that guy made

in college man he was awesome uh if you talk to say In Shetts and Bennett, though, Ari, you were like, oh, okay, I get it. Like, this guy's got so much swag. Like, he just oozed swag. Like, Gunner Stockton is the most unassuming dude. And it's crazy when you hear him talk. And it's not a put on it. It's not like he puts on an act for the public or for the media.

He's just who he is all the time. And it's interesting because Kirby Smart talked today about, oh, you can barely get him to talk, but he leads from the front. So I actually ask Gunner Stockton, like, what does that mean to you? to lead from the front. What does that, what does that actually mean on a day to day basis? I think, oh, leading from the front front, like, for me, like, I'm not as vocal as some guys. Like, I'm not a big R-R-R-R-R guy. But I try to, you know, leading everything I do. If it's, you know, eating, eating bones, what we call the nutrition place, like, the way I handle

myself every day, like, I try to do in the way that, you know, our, first of the Lord family, everybody in the facility. So the way I carry myself, I guess, the way I lead by what I do is a big bark. And I think my actions speak a lot louder than my than my voice. So, but definitely being able to carry myself right yet. Have you ever tried to be more vocal or is it just a case of like, I'm going to be who I am? Yeah, definitely. I've been you know, I've been working out in something like, I don't know, I guess the media might think a mute, like doesn't say anything. But I do talk, you know, but definitely, you know, being able to talk to the offense, you know,

didn't people go in. I feel like that's the kind of the name of the game. That's what you're supposed to do. Is that nazier now? Yeah, it's always been, you know, like, you can have some of my buddies in high school. Like, I guess just the way I, just the way I, go by the business, try to get people going and get people fired up. But I think it's just the other part is just the way I play the game,

try to, you know, have some energy and you're ready to go. He's definitely in action's first guy, Ari. Like, you can tell. And now, obviously, he does talk with his teammates. And Kirby was kind of joking about that, that you can barely get a word out of him. But you see, like, this is a guy that I think if you met him another walk of life, you'd never say, this is an SEC quarterback.

Yeah, but I think that's okay. You know, I think that the way that he's played the game and improved, I would probably venture to say, Andy, and I don't know if you agree with this, that he's maybe one of the more underrated quarterbacks in the country in terms of output versus height. Yeah. So, you know, when you asked me earlier and I never answered, like, what success is, I mean, I think that, you know, unfortunately or fortunately for him, the G that he wears on his helmet and the program that he plays for success is advancing deep in the playoff man like i mean it's is

that simple for georgia you know i think that he has played at a pretty high level i think of course everybody can always prove but i always go back to that like tennessee game last year dude that guy made some big throws uh in that game and i think that he's been a very good player so um you know and the one thing too is like you you brought up in we were we were at we were in athens when they were playing texas and like there's some fourth down plays where you're thinking, uh-oh. And then he just, you know, calm as ever. And all of a sudden, they're in control.

Yeah. You mentioned that earlier on, Andy, about how the offensive line reacted to him in the SEC championship game when he came in for Beck. But also, let's not forget that that wasn't a very big offensive performance. You know, they struggled offensively in the second half of that game. And I don't think that you would, they were themselves in the playoffs later on in a year. I think that you could make the statement, which is a fact that he has a improved dramatically during his time on the field.

So if you think that he is a good quarterback based on the output that he had last year, then what are the expectations? I think that we've lost track of like, players can still get better. You know, like he was a very good player a year ago. But maybe the benchmark for very good has risen this year. And he's going to be awesome. Like, I think that he is, if I had to pick like Dark Horse for Heisman type guys, like this is where I would start, I think.

I think that's a really good. But I'd like most, one of the more underrated guys going into the season, he actually got asked, Ari, what success would be for him and for Georgia this year. And I thought his answer was pretty interesting. A little short than how is the ball play out. How do you characterize, you know, the last two seasons and what is the success in your mind? Yeah, I think it's a little loaded, but, you know, for me, like, I try to judge my success. that other people still yours. Coach Mark, or Coach Bobo always says that,

but truly, you know, doing overcoach, day in and day out, just doing your job and going and working, and truly believe in as that'll pay off. You know, if you believe what they say, put in the word, but you believe in yourself that it'll fail. Ari, what I get from that is an inner self-confidence. Like, that's what, it's interesting, because it's one of those things you,

maybe doesn't come across in the video, but when you're standing next to the guy, it kind of radiates off him. He just seems like he's very confident in himself, in his team, understands what his job is, understands what the pressure and the assignment is. Yeah, I think it's a very confident guy,

and honestly, you know, he's been, it seems like it was yesterday when Carson Beck got injured in that game, but he's had a lot of experience, leading a program that has, you know, national championship aspiration. So by this time in his career arc,

he should be the captain. He should be the leader. He should be the people that, the person that people turn to when they're looking for guidance. And frankly speaking, this is a program that has a national title or bust mentality. And I think they have the right quarterback to do it. I really do. I question sometimes their receivers, which I think might be a nice segue

to what we're talking about. I question, you know, their offensive skill from the past few years. but, you know, Georgia has clearly been one of the best teams in college football, and I expect that'll be the case again this year. Part of the lore of Gunner Stockton is that 1984 F-150 that he drives. We learned, because I asked him, I said, you know, how many more miles that thing have before it goes kaput?

You know, are worried? And he said, no, I have a daily driver that, you know, that's a newer Ford truck that he drives around most of the time. Yeah. Does that puncture the balloon for you? Does that puncture the image? Oh, no. Are you wiping off everything we've just said because he's got a little more luxury.

He's got some antelike brakes now? I think that the entire allure of the 1984 F-150 is that there is no mileage limit. That thing is going to live forever. It's got 300,000 miles. Yeah. But he's got a pretty nice NIL budget. How much does it cost? You're a Ford F-150 owner.

Aren't those the easiest cars to service in the world? Well, they go in a long range. Like you can get the plain white work truck for the mid-30s, but then you can go well into the hundreds, depending on how many bells and whistles you want. I'm looking at a 1986 Ford F-150 on eBay right now. That's baby blue with white stripes, which you can picture in your head. $21,000 with 30,000 miles on it.

Now, that's a daily driver to me. I don't know how daily I drive that. Well, so here, Gunner got asked about this because, you know, one of the other reporters seemed very crestfallen that he's, you know, moved on to a newer model. And I believe his family, there's a Ford dealer in his family. So he's a, he's a fort guy through and through. But so he got asked about, is it a little bittersweet to be driving the new one around?

Kurt knows. It's a new new truck? You asked, like it's a new, new truck. The daily driver. Yeah, yeah, it is. Yeah. What is it? It's a Ford.

Was it hard, like, given, like, your identity, partly is that old truck to give it up, or was it kind of just time, or? I still have a mold truck. Right? But was it hard, like, to make, like, this to me, the one I take all the time was that? Not really during the summer when it saw it,

and that mold truck didn't have used to. Where, no AC at all? No. I mean, it has heat, but it doesn't have any. Well, you live in Georgia. though. You don't need heat that. Okay, no AC is a deal breaker for me, Ari.

I don't care how cool it is to drive around that thing. I ain't driving around Athens, Georgia, no AC. Would you say that air conditioning is the single most important human invention of all time? I would say that all those Europeans who came over for the World Cup learn that. Oh, Ross Delangerson says that. I'm trying to think, like, if you, were in your house in the dead of summer in a month and you had to choose between air conditioning and running water.

What would you choose? AC. Me too. I live in Gainesville, Florida. Like there is no, AC is probably the most important thing in my life. And it's the one thing that if it goes out, the life changes entirely.

And so one of my son's best friends, his parents run an HVAC company. and they I mean they figured it out like that's you run an HVAC company in Florida you are doing the Lord's work and yeah people are so happy to see you when you show up and you can charge them whatever amount of money you want and they will happily pay it because they yeah no it's a lucrative business but it's a necessary business and yeah yeah you know it's it's the only thing that when it goes out you have to get a hotel room like even people bear through not having power yeah So as cool as that truck is, that 84 F150, and it is really cool.

We'll have Producer River find a photo of it so everybody can see it. But as cool as that truck is, it ain't cool if it's hot. So I'm with Gunner. I got a, I got a, I got a 2024 F-150. Sounds like he's got something similar. So the AC's ice cold. Ice cold. We don't have to get into the lift kit now.

I don't know that Gunner. I don't think Gunner doesn't seem like that kind of guy to me. Trying to think Gunner might be more of a King Ranch guy. I got to be honest, my brother-in-law has a F-150 that's similar to yours. And we were in Salt Lake a few weeks ago and I was in it. And I really do believe that it's probably like the most comfortable, most useful mode of transportation a human being can buy.

I also just don't think I could ever cross the mental barrier because I'm just not a truck guy. Like I just need to maybe get over that and one day just buy a nice F-150. I said that and then I got one and I will never go back. Like I will always drive a pickup truck for the rest of my life because just being able to do the things a pickup truck allows you to do. Now, you're a person who doesn't own a bucket. So I don't think it matters to you. But that's the thing though.

If you don't own a bucket, can you own a truck? Like that's the thing because the thing that's so funny about it is is that your truck is. Maybe the truck is a gateway to the bucket for you. But the thing that they don't tell you about the truck, which is true, is that it's got some of the most comfortable luxury. interiors ever, which is counterintuitive to what the truck is. If you want, you can also buy the truck that has the bench seat that you can hose out.

It's vinyl, I know, but your, your truck and my brother-in-law's truck are wide. They're big seats. The air conditioning blairs, the screen is the size of a big screen. And it's got all the modern luxuries that any other, it's the most comfortable car in the world to do a road trip in. So it's like the rugged exterior

versus the soft interior is always amusing to me. It's yeah, listen, never going, Never going back. Never going back. Ari, one more thing before we go. So we had finished the show before Josh Heppel said this at SEC Media Days yesterday. But I do think we need to play this clip from Josh Heipel because I don't know.

I just want to ask you, it's about Lane Kiffin because obviously Lane Kiffin, whatever, anything involving Lane Kiffin clicks and people want to talk about it. But I want to talk about more what it means about Josh Hyple. that he said it, that he's this loose. Producer River, please roll the question to Josh Heiple and his answer. Chesa Boochet with NBC 33 in Baton Rouge. Lane Kiffman-Made is return to Knoxville in your first year as a head coach. Things got a bit spicy. Do you think that fan base has kind of cooled off?

And what do you expect in November when LSU comes to town? Certainly hope our fan base hasn't cooled off. So, you know, whether it's the grocery stores, being fully stocked. with mustard or, you know, our sports stores, making sure that they got reinforcements on the golf balls. Hopefully, Knoxville's ready for his arrival. No, look, I don't think anybody should recommend throwing golf balls at someone from a great height.

But my more important question to you are is this. Does this mean Tennessee is going to be awesome? Because that's a loosey-goosey Josh Heiple. We're not used to that. Yeah, it seems like Josh Heppel's feeling himself a little bit. You know, I think that was a wild thing to say on camera, but I also think that if you're saying wild things on camera, that that means something.

And I don't know if that's just like the reporters in us that just kind of try to read the room a little bit. But yeah, if I'm a Tennessee fan, I'm loving that, right? And he obviously wasn't like instructing people to throw stuff at him. What I think he's trying to say is I hope that there's as much intensity and as much hatred and people are ready to get behind the valls at home in the same way that they did a few years ago. But the thing that's interesting now is that Tennessee is no longer the fan base that probably hates Lane Kiffin the most.

So, you know, they got remarried and are in a happy relationship with a functional coach. And it's funny how being, you know, secure in yourself and your situation kind of mends those fences. And my hope for Ole Miss is that Pete Golden gives them the same thing that Heipel's given Tennessee. The thing I laughed the most about in this clip is the question, the insinuation of the question that Tennessee's fan base would ever cool off about anything. We joke about it on the show all the time, and obviously producer River is a vol for life. Tennessee's fan base, the passion never cools. Yeah, cool off, guys.

Just cool off. Am I wrong? Okay, perhaps this is a segment that we do between now and the season. And I don't know. It's entirely subjective, and everybody's going to have their own ideas about this. Is Tennessee the most passionate fan base in the country? So the question that I have to you,

is how do you define it? Is it based on online presence? Is it based on how loud the stadium is? Is it based on how bought in they are even during down periods? I guess maybe it's a blanket. Yes, and Tennessee is probably pretty good at all those things. But it's a hard thing to quantify. It's sort of like, who am I scared of pissing off online?

Maybe is part of it. But also do you fill your stadium? Do you show up whether your team wins or loses? Like that, that is big for me. Like South Carolina is another one that year, you know, for decades they showed up, even though the team didn't win that much. And now they've won some more and they're still showing up. But they'll always show up.

Tennessee fans will always show up. LSU fans will always show up. Yeah. I think that there are, I think that Tennessee's fan base probably, not probably does belong in the pantheon of greatest fan bases and all of sports. Yes. But in terms of like, how do you get the extra inch to to rank them?

I think it's difficult because I don't know about you, but I've been on the wrong end of an Oklahoma avalanche. I've been on the wrong end of a Michigan. Ohio State. Ohio State. Yeah. They're wild. And I think that like when it comes to online presence too,

I think a lot of times to a base is like how robust is your fan base in terms of total number of grads and people who root for your team. And I think the thing that makes Tennessee interesting is like Ohio State and there are other colleges that have the same advantage. But like if you're a Tennessee red person and you live there and even if you never went to Tennessee, you love the falls. And I think that like it's not just people who went to Tennessee. It's the entire state of Tennessee, which I think makes it such a robust and awesome fan base. But yes, the thing that I've respected the most about Tennessee is that they have remained

rabid. And it feels like the only fan base or one of the only fan bases in college football that are allergic to apathy. Like they'll never become apathetic. And I think that's a good thing. Because like we've seen other major fan bases, like I think Florida State right now, for instance, is apathetic. I think USC in the past has been apathetic. There are, you know, Auburn at times, I think has become apathetic.

I don't think I've ever seen Tennessee be like, eh, whatever. Like they're like fired up. If Derek Dooley did, yeah, if Derek Dooley didn't make you apathetic, nothing will.

And they, they managed their way through that. So, yeah. So, but the loose Josh Heiple, I'm just saying, I'm just throwing it out there.

Everybody put a pin in it. And just remember when the, when the, season starts. If we see Tennessee, like, they play Georgia Tech week two. Watch out for loose Josh Heifle.

Yes. Because this is a guy who doesn't show that side of himself very much. And if he's comfortable, if he's, if he's happy, if he feels like he's got something, I think we should pay attention to that. Yep.

And that's just also a way of me thinking about when the game started Ari. It's July 21st. We are one month and a week away, essentially from week zero. Andy? We're so nuts. Highpole shared a stat that I didn't know

that I wanted to share with the listeners when he was at podium. Seven of his last nine years, they've had a first year starting quarterback as a head coach. And apparently seven of the last nine years they've been in the top ten in scoring offense, which I thought was a really cool stat.

And I just wanted to share that. Yeah. And guess what? They're going to have a first year starting quarterback, whichever one they pick, whether it's George McIntyre or Phazon Brandon. So I'm excited to see what happens. happens. And again, that's, that's one of those things. Like, we don't know which of the first

year starting quarterbacks this year is going to blow up and be, you know, the next superstar. Maybe it's one of those two guys. Maybe it's, you know, maybe it's whoever Kailen Abor picks is a starter at Alabama. We don't know. And that's part of what makes this so much fun. Ari got Florida and Alabama in the morning at SEC Media Days on Wednesday. What could happen there? I am sure we'll have lots to talk about tomorrow. We'll talk to you then.