Andy & Ari On3 - Could Florida State LEAVE the ACC? | Florida State's Mike Norvell, Tennessee's Josh Heupel Join | Dear Andy

Episode Date: December 22, 2023

It's a Dear Andy show before the Holiday Weekend, and YOU delivered some great questions. Before we get to Dear Andy, we have some news coming out of Tallahassee with Florida State's Board of Trustees Meeting. We also catch up with Mike Norvell and Josh Heupel to recap signing day.Today's show is sponsored by PrizePicks, the easiest way to play daily fantasy. All first time users that deposit and use the promo code ANDY will receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100. If you deposit $100, PrizePicks will give you $100. If you deposit $50, PrizePicks will give you $50.Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/ANDYThank you to Gametime for sponsoring today's episode! Bowl Season is days away - don't miss your chance to watch your favorite team. Download the Gametime App and enter code: STAPLES for $20 off your first purchase, terms apply. Last Minute Tickets, Lowest Prices, Guaranteed.(0:00-0:34) Intro(0:35-18:00) Florida State Board of Trustees Meeting(18:01-30:07) Mike Norvell Joins(30:08-39:08) Josh Heupel Joins(39:08-39:47) Dear Andy Intro(39:48-46:04) What's going on with Deion Sanders and Colorado?(46:05-53:14) What Happens Next in Gainesville(53:15-56:38) Evaluating QB's worth in NIL(56:39-58:24) John Smith = Jonathan Smith?(58:25-59:18) ConclusionWant to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube! https://youtu.be/PDKfY8ptd7Q

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. We've got quite a bit to chew on on this Thursday evening. Still got a couple post-signing day interviews for you to hear. We've got Florida State's Mike Norvell. We've got Tennessee's Josh Heupel. The Norvell one we recorded on signing day, so we didn't ask him about the big news out of tallahassee on thursday but he's not really the one to talk about that anyway that is more of a president board of trustees thing and we're going to talk about that right now florida state on thursday called an emergency board of trustees meeting for friday and i got a feeling there's going to be some fireworks at this thing the last time florida State had a board of trustees meeting to talk about its conference

affiliation was August. And Florida State's trustees and athletic director Michael Alford and their president were very adamant about Florida State needing to get out of the ACC. Now, after getting left out of the college football playoff as a 13-0 ACC, sorry, now after getting left out of the college football playoff as a 13-0 ACC champ, the situation's probably even more dire. And Florida State's going to do something. We don't know exactly what they're going to do. Gene Williams at War Chant, who's covered Florida State longer than anybody, better than anybody, he put forth a few possibilities. You know, you could have a lawsuit where they challenge the grant of rights.

They sue the ACC, challenge the grant of rights. Remember, the ACC has all of its members' media rights locked in until 2036. That's something that all the members gave to the league in 2013 because they wanted to stay together. They didn't want to get picked apart. They just lost Maryland to the Big Ten. And so they gave the league those rights. then when the TV contract was extended, when the ACC network was created, that whole deal got extended to 2036, which at the time seemed like a long way away. It feels even farther away now because of how much the Big Ten and the SEC have jumped the ACC

in terms of revenue. But all that stuff in August was about revenue. It was about money. Now there's another piece of it, the perception piece of it, and also what the ACC did or didn't do down the stretch of this season to try to help Florida State not get left out of the college football playoff. So let's talk about the revenue piece of it anyway, because that is what they've been working on this. This is not new.

This is something Florida State's been trying to rectify for a while now. And they've been the most vocal about it, but they're not the only ones. North Carolina, Clemson, and Miami have all been doing this too. But Florida State has been the one talking about it. And so you go back to August and you had the Florida State people talking about the revenue gap between the ACC schools, which are going to make, they'll get to around $40 million a year in media rights revenue that gets split up between the schools as the contract moves forward.

But the SEC and the Big Ten schools are going to be in the high 70s and then higher as they go. And that's a massive gap. That is a massive, massive gap. You're talking $30 to $40 million a year more for every SEC school, every Big Ten school than all the ACC schools. And it's something that the Florida State people have felt was untenable. But then you add this on top of it, where Florida State is a 13-0 Power Five Conference champ, and that what they were sold from the ACC going back, and look, they were part of it too, was that they would be on equal footing with the SEC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, and the Pac-12. The Pac-12 is now gone. It blew itself up. So that's not an issue anymore. The Big 12 is a different animal because of the teams or the schools that it's lost.

So now you have what is essentially a power two. And that was concerning to Florida State from a revenue standpoint. But then you saw it come home to roost in the form of Texas and Alabama being chosen for the college football playoff despite having one loss where Florida State is left out of the four-team playoff. And I know what you're going to say. They're starting a 12-team playoff next year. Why would they even need to worry about it? They're going to get in.

Because the new playoff contract starts before the 2020 season. There's no guarantee that the SEC and Big Ten won't Bigfoot everybody else to change the rules. They have enough juice to do that now. So if you're Florida State, or anybody in the Big 12 for that matter, or anybody else in the ACC, you should be worried about that. That should concern you. It's the best deal you can get right now, but the SEC and the Big 10 don't have to keep it as good of a deal as it is. And that's part of the problem for Florida State. So what do you do if you're the Seminoles? Do you sue and challenge the grant of rights?

Do you further explore the grant of rights? Do you further explore the grant of rights? They've been looking at it for two years. Do you just say you're leaving the ACC? That's probably an option I would not expect them to take tomorrow because they don't have to do that right now. So there's a deadline every August in the middle of August, I believe it's August 15th, that if you want to exit the conference, you have to declare by that deadline or you're locked in for the following year. So right now, Florida State is locked in through 2024. If they would like to not be in the conference starting in 2025, they can declare that they're out. So if any time between now and August 15th, 2024, they can declare that they're out for 2025. At this point, I would expect them to do that at some point between now and August. I don't think I'd expect them to do that tomorrow.

So I'd be curious to see what they choose to do and what they've been doing. Because there's been talk that they've been talking to private equity folks, trying to raise money. Because remember, if you have to challenge that grant of rights, if you actually have to pay to get out, it's not just $120 million exit fee. It is also trying to buy back your media rights, essentially, at a cost of probably over 300 million dollars now that's a number that probably gets negotiated down in the real world but it's still a big number and we don't know how ironclad this grant of rights would be in court we've never seen anybody challenge one the big 12 had one big 10 has one and we've not seen anybody say, we challenge the validity of this thing. Because there's a thought that it could completely fall apart on a challenge.

But the backside of that is, if it doesn't, you're on the hook for a fortune. And that's where Florida State's at right now. But the reason Florida State is so sure of itself and and sounded that way back in august is because they're just doing the math on this thing they're taking the deficit of where they would be if they're in the acc through 2036 versus if they were in the big 10 of the sec and they're gonna be that far behind money-wise anyway. So if they're going to do that, they may as well spend it. They may as well mortgage it, essentially, and get out.

Now, I think the next question that people are asking is, okay, then where would they go? Would the SEC take them? Would the Big Ten take them? I think that's an interesting question because there's no guarantee that either one would take them? I think that's an interesting question. Because there's no guarantee that either one would take them. The Big Ten just added four schools.

The SEC just added two. The Big Ten's at 18. The SEC's at 16. We've never seen these leagues run at that size before. We don't know if it's manageable. We don't know if they feel like they need any more. But here's what I will say about this, if you look at this this because i think the last few weeks have been very instructive in this that sec schedule for 2024 when it came out you looked at that thing and you were like damn that's a lot of brands

that's a lot of really really good games that big 10 schedule that came out a few months ago looked great until that SEC schedule came out. So the 18-team Big Ten, it's a much nicer schedule. When you throw Oregon, Washington, USC, UCLA into that mix, it gets more fun. When you take away the divisions, it gets more fun. It still ain't as fun as that SEC schedule. And so if you're for the Big Ten, if you're Fox, that is essentially pulling the strings in the Big Ten. Let's be real here.

And you would like to compete more with the Big Ten. Excuse me, if you'd like to compete more with the SEC as the Big Ten. Wouldn't you want to sprinkle somebody like Florida State across nine different teams schedules that seems like it would make it much more exciting that seems like it would make the television product considerably better I think that's something Florida State would want the question is would it happen Big Ten's never taken on a new school that isn't part of the Association of American Universities. Florida State is not.

Miami is. North Carolina is. Florida State and Clemson aren't. Would the Big Ten change that? Remember, they took Nebraska. Nebraska got booted out of the AAU. They kept Nebraska. So it's not like they're kicking them out.

Is that something that they would consider? Is it a reorganization of priorities? North Carolina coveted by the Big Ten and the SEC both. The SEC would like to increase its footprint. The Big Ten, the prestige of North Carolina, it fits very well with the institutions already there and also an increase in the footprint. But the Big Ten getting into Florida, getting into the South, how much does that matter to them? How much does that matter to Fox? I feel like that would matter a lot. And I also think there's a lot of eyes on FSU here because Florida State has been the one willing to say this. They've been willing to talk about it. Like I said before, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, all doing the same thing in terms

of research behind the scenes. None of them willing to say what Florida State has said. In fact, some of them have been pretty outwardly critical of the way Florida State has handled this. I think they should probably be a little more grateful because Florida State's doing the hard work. Florida State's being the canary in the coal mine for them because they want out just as bad. And so I do wonder, if the Big Ten decided to come south, would that cause the SEC to move? Because like I said, the 16-team SEC, you look at those schedules,

they don't need to do anything different. But if the Big Ten were encroaching on their territory, would they try to get stronger, beef up a little more, to make the product even better? Is that where a Clemson might be able to get into the SEC? Is that where they might say, no, no, we will take Florida State? It would be an interesting situation. And then what if neither one wanted them?

That's the other possibility. Do you just go join the Big 12, try to let Brett Yoramark renegotiate that deal because you've now got a stronger brand? I think the question of that is pretty secondary because they're going to try to get into the Big Ten of the SEC if they leave the ACC. That's priority one. Let us listen to a quote from Florida State trustee Drew Weatherford.

Now, Drew is a former Florida State quarterback. He is a guy who understands all of these issues very well. He's spoken very eloquently about this stuff in the past. This is from August. Listen to him in August and now think about it through the lens of what you know happened at the beginning of December. Here's Drew. And there's going to be a school, many, many schools, you know, almost 40 to be exact, that are going to have way more resources than us. And so I do think it's an existential threat. And this is just one board member speaking, unless something drastic changes on the revenue side at the ACC, it's not a matter of if we leave.

In my opinion, it's a matter of how and when we leave, you know, and not everyone may agree with that, but I feel really strongly about it because I don't want to play games. I want to go compete for championships moving forward. That's what Florida State is about. And unfortunately, we're in a situation where money matters more than ever, and you cannot compete without the resources necessary. Money matters more than ever, but so does perception. So does a league that actually tries to help you. These are all things that are very interesting now

when you look at it through the lens of what happened to Florida State with the college football playoff because the ACC didn't even try to politic Florida State in. Greg Sankey, the SEC commissioner, was speaking into whatever microphone he could find on the day of the SEC championship game because he was trying to figure out if Alabama wins this thing, how do I get Alabama and Georgia into the playoff? That's what he was thinking about. Jim Phillips of the ACC didn't say a boo, didn't say peep, didn't say boo. We're not talking about Boo Corgan, the NC State Athletic Director, but did not say anything until after Florida State was excluded

and he came out with a fiery statement that meant nothing because it was too late. So the ACC failed Florida State miserably on that front. Meanwhile, Drew Weatherford talking about almost 40, it's 35 schools essentially. It's the 34 schools of the Big Ten and the SEC plus Notre Dame that beat everybody in the ACC, everybody in the Big 12 in a perception war. And so you don't want to be perceived as in a weaker conference. And right now, if you are Mike Norvell trying to recruit for Florida State, you're going to hear me asking this question during our interview. How do you handle those

questions? You know people are recruiting against Florida State with this. You know Auburn, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, all of those schools that Florida State recruits against on a regular basis. Florida. All of them. They're saying, well, why would you go there? Look at what happened. They won that league, and they didn't even make the 14 playoff. Why don't you go to a place where you

can actually compete for national titles that is now what florida state must contend with on the recruiting trail and that you could argue if you're florida state is the acc's fault so they have the arguments now they have even more ammo than they had before. The question is, do they have the war chest? If it comes down to they have to just buy their way out, and then if they do, is one of the leagues they want to get into going to take them? These are all questions that remain in the air. They have to be answered, but first we have to know how Florida State plans to handle this. Perhaps we get the first set of answers when the Board of Trustees meets on Friday. Get your popcorn ready. You're going to hear from Florida State coach Mike Norvell in just a minute,

but first I want to tell you about game time. If you want to go to the college football play, they've excluded Florida State, but they will not exclude you because you could go to the Rose Bowl and watch Alabama-Michigan or to the Sugar Bowl and watch Texas and Washington with game time. Last-minute tickets, stress-free buying, doesn't matter. Download the game time app. Use the code STAPLES. Get $20 off your first purchase.

Maybe you want to go to one of the other bowl games. Maybe you want to go to the Cheez-It Bowl, Tennessee and Iowa. Maybe you want to take in a concert, comedy show. You name it, they have the tickets on game time. And it's so easy. You type in your event, you find your seat. And the photo there is not a random photo. It is telling you exactly where you'd be sitting in the stadium.

A couple more clicks, that ticket is not a random photo. It is telling you exactly where you'd be sitting in the stadium. A couple more clicks. That ticket is yours. So easy. Game time is the way to buy last minute tickets or tickets to that sold out event that you were sure you couldn't get tickets to. Well, you can get tickets through game time. So download the app. Use the code staples. $20 off your first purchase.

All right. Here is Mike Norvell. Again, we didn't talk about the Board of Trustees stuff. It hadn't popped up yet, but we did talk about his class and a stat that I found really interesting about the depth of this particular Florida State class. We are joined by Florida State coach Mike Norvell, and this is a very interesting day for you, Mike, We are joined by Florida State coach Mike Norvell.

And this is a very interesting day for you, Mike, because this is a stat that I saw on War Chant that I had not realized. This is the most top 200 recruits that Florida State has signed out of high school since 2016. This build you've been on, it feels like it took a while to get to this point, but now people have seen what you can do, and it feels like they're wanting to jump on board. No, I mean, it's a great class, first off, and just so excited about the guys that have come into the program.

And one thing to turn on film and watch the way that they can play, all the highlights and the abilities. It's another thing to get to know the young men. And, you know, this has truly been a class that's been four years in the making, you know, from coming in, you know, starting to build the relationships at a foundational level. You know, we face some challenges with COVID and not being able to go and really be in high schools there for the first year and a half, you know, that we were here.

But, you know, when you sit there and you look at it, we wanted to have a great, a great emphasis and to be able to really kind of make a statement with, you know, the state of Florida, you know, with, with the state of Georgia to have 17 of our 21 signees, you're some of the best and the brightest you in the country out of those two States. I mean, it's, it's really exciting for us. And I think we've got a great group of playmakers that are incredible young

men come in, come in here to Tallahassee. And to get these guys to believe, to show them the proof of concept, I know you had to work in the transfer portal, but you've always wanted to build through the high school ranks. Does it feel like you're now getting that foundation that you want in the program? Absolutely. And for us, it's about finding the right fit. And I know I've said that for the last few years, but ultimately it's about, you know, addressing the needs that we have. We always want to be able to start, you know, there at the high school level and finding

the right guys. And I think when you look at this last year, I mean, we had 25 all-conference players and it was most ever in Florida State history, and, you know, right around half of them were guys that have developed through the high school ranks, and then, you know, the other, you know, half were guys that have come through the transfer portal, so we found a good balance and a good mix, and, you know, now coming into this year's, you know, signing class, these have been guys that we've identified that built relationships, you know, guys that, you know, have watched this program grow, and they're some of the best at their position within the country, and they're coming to be a

part of what has been built, and, you know, obviously, we're excited about where they're going to continue to help this program to go. So, the quarterback in this class, Luke Kronick, he committed to you almost two years ago, so, and I know you fended off a late charge from from some folks here in the last few days and weeks how does that work when you've had that guy saying you know i'm i'm here and then all of a sudden everybody's trying to at the last minute pry him away well i mean you know we we identified some some great you know characteristics about him early um you know he was actually committed to us before he ever started a high school game but you know, characteristics about him early. You know, he was actually committed to us before he ever started a high school game. But, you know, sophomore year started as a receiver and defensive back there for his program.

You know, they had a really good quarterback that was there his sophomore year. And, you know, he was waiting for his opportunity. Now he'd come to camps. We got to see him work. But I believed in the young man. I believed in all that he would grow to become. And now his first year as a starting quarterback, won a state championship, and then just continued to develop to what I believe is the best quarterback in the country.

But he's about all the right things. And he's been a wonderful leader for this class that's coming together, but so excited about what he's going to bring, you know, to our football program, you know, on and off the field. How do you, how do you make that decision to offer it when you've seen a guy in camp, but he's young, maybe he's waiting behind a really good player at his high school and you haven't seen him start the high school game yet. Is it, just the traits and having talked to him, is that, that what says, okay, we can make this offer?

Yeah, and I've got my beliefs in what it takes to win, what it takes to be successful. And he had started games just not at that position, and he got a chance to play quite a bit even in a backup role. But I truly knew that when the opportunity was his, what it would look like. And he's just continued to get better. And, you know, he's played himself into exactly what I thought he would be. And Charles Lester from Venice on the west coast of Florida, a long corner, big position of need, big value.

I mean, everybody needs good corners. But what was it about him that, that really attracted you? I mean, he's a game changer and, uh, you know, he's got, he's got an incredible spirit, you know, he's got unbelievable, uh, athletic ability, uh, you know, just with what he can do, um, you know, his ball skills, his speed has changed direction. Uh, you really the mindset he's one of the smartest, you know, football players that I've recruited, you know,

coming out of the high school ranks. And, you know, I think he's got a chance to be the total package. Uh, but, recruited, you know, coming out of the high school ranks. And, you know, I think he's got a chance to be the total package. But, you know, that's been a recruitment that's been over three years, you know, of building that relationship and, you know, just so excited about, you know, where he can go. And yes, you mentioned the position of need. I think we hit a home run in our defensive back class. We have assigned four DBs that have such great versatility and athletic ability. But really, I think that's going to be a special group as we're moving forward.

So you mentioned yesterday that you're still struggling with what happened with the college football playoff and dealing with it. I can't imagine how you address the players, how you deal with that. But do recruits ask about did you have you had to address that with with these high school players before they signed no i mean as you sit there and you watch i mean there's uh you know for all the things and you obviously the national spotlight that has been put on uh you know you know that i mean our guys we controlled what we could control and it was unfortunate that we had you know a great player that went down with injury but i think it showed the heart and the character of this team and how we responded around great adversity.

And that's what these guys want to be a part of. Obviously, they have all the ability in the world, and being able to come into a program that's going to showcase their skills and talents on and off the field and an opportunity to go and compete for a national championship and to be able to continue to take those steps is something that, you know, they're all excited about. And so it really didn't, you know, obviously it was talked about, but it wasn't something that was, was ever a point of contention.

So you talk, you've talked a lot about the culture you want to build and that you're looking for a certain kind of person. How good of an advertisement was it to future players that you might be recruiting the way your guys rallied after Jordan got hurt, the way you played in that ACC championship game? No, I mean, it, it showcased the, the heart and identity of, of, of who we are and, you know,

anybody can say the right things when, when they feel good or when things are going, you know, you know, you're going well, but when you face real adversity, you know, always tell things are going, you know, going well. But when you face real adversity, you know, always tell our players and, you know, tell recruits, I mean, you get a sense of the character by the response. You see the true core of what a program's about. And, you know, we did what was necessary. And, you know, that was all. Forever be proud of this football team.

I mean, we faced, you know, great adversity, great challenge. You know, plenty of people doubted that what we could do and how it could be done, but they just continued to answer the call. And I think that's something that has recruits and everybody around watching Florida State. I mean, excited for where we're headed. So you got a few more decisions that you're still waiting on. Obviously, you can't talk about anybody until they've actually signed. But what is it like when you get to, you know, into the afternoon,

into the early evening on signing day, and there's still some, some names out there, some, you know, maybe that weren't in your class that you think maybe you still got a shot at. Well, I mean, it's, it's usually a long day on signing day and you know, we've you know, we've got a great sense of kind of where we are. But obviously there's always the, you know always the – or I say always the unexpected. Sometimes it works in a good way.

Sometimes it works in a bad way. So, you know, you just – be true to who you are. I mean, obviously these gray hairs are well earned. And I think when you look through the previous signing days, you know, it is a celebration because, you know, the guys that are coming in are going to come in and leave their mark on the program. And, you know, for the previous three years here at Florida State, all those guys helped build what was a 13-0 ACC championship team. And I believe the guys coming in this class are going to continue to help elevate us to a whole new level.

And as you wait on this and try to figure out how much math do you have to do in terms of what you're also doing simultaneously in the transfer portal? Because I don't know that anybody's handled the transfer portal better than you guys over the last few years. But how do you make those decisions of, okay, maybe we want to chase this guy or maybe we want to hold this scholarship back in case there's somebody we want in the portal. It's always about finding that fit. And we'll continue to evaluate that. There might be a position or two where we can add experience or competition that's going to help our football team. But you're never going to sacrifice what we have for something that doesn't fit or isn't a big need at any of those positions.

And so I think that's one of the things we stay true to over the years. that doesn't fit or isn't a big need at any of those positions. And so I think that's one of the things we stay true to over the years, and it's worked at a very high level, and looking forward to wherever that leads us here going into this next season. Well, Mike, thank you so much, and good luck at the Orange Bowl. Thank you, Andy. Appreciate you, and go Knolls. All right, that is Mike Norvell with a team going to the orange bowl but a school that is thinking about a lot of different things right now next up josh heupel he's also headed to a bowl in florida he's going to the cheese it citrus bowl

against iowa he's got some extra help at practice, though. Some of the guys that he's already signed have already joined the Vols. We're going to get to him, but first I've got to tell you about PrizePix. Flipmas was on Wednesday. Christmas is on Monday, but it's also a Merry Pixmas. PrizePix is the most fun daily fantasy game in America. And you just download that app and they're going to give you a couple of things.

First of all, use the code Andy and you will get a deposit match up to a hundred bucks. So your first deposit, you put in a hundred, they'll match you up to a hundred dollars. Then you start playing squares. You play in PrizePix, you start playing squares. Remember, it would be playing prize picks. You pick two or more squares. You decide how much you want to put down, and then you can multiply your money. Well, if you would like an essentially free square, that is their gift to you. There's a

Kevin Durant square. If he scores one point on Christmas day, then you're going to win that square. So if you were to pick one more square in the NBA or in the NFL, well, guess what? You win. It's just like that. It's just that easy. But NBA, NFL, college football, you name it. As the games get close, you just open the app. You say you say oh they think this receiver is going to get 100 yards receiving what is probably going to be like 99.5 and you say i think he will get more than that or i think he will get less than that it's that easy they also have demon and goblin squares those demon squares they're a little bit harder to win but you can win up to a hundred times your money. If you're willing to take that risk prize picks, lots of ways to play lots of fun. And of course, Picksmas that free Kevin

Durant square. Well, essentially he does have to score one point, go to prize picks, use the code. Andy get that first deposit match up to a hundred bucks. All right, now it is time to talk to Tennessee coach Josh Heupel. We are joined now by Josh Heupel, Tennessee coach. You just got back in the room here in your office, but your SID Bill Martin came in. There was some Justin Bieber playing. Is that part of your playlist? Or did someone hijack your playlist or did someone

hijacked your playlist my daughter might have hijacked uh the list she came to practice today and and uh her my wife my dog might have been out there too or i should say our dog um she might have been uh hitting some taylor swift music and uh it transitioned over to bieber okay good that's just that that's the spotify. That's not your taste. I appreciate that. We've now cleared that up. Let's talk about Nationals. Listen, hey, when you're a dad of a daughter, you listen to whatever she's

wanting to play. I got a 12-year-old, and I can assure you that is the truth. Let's talk a little National signing day. You got some new Vols. It's interesting because some of those guys are there and with you. Like Mike Matthews and Boo Carter, the receivers, are already practicing with you guys.

Yeah, we ended up bringing in 27 guys so far. Obviously, in today's landscape, it's an ever-ongoing process with your roster and evaluations. But we got 10 guys that are already here for bowl practice. We'll end up with 15 high school mid-year enrollees. It's been a lot of fun. Those guys have gotten a ton of work. I think they're maybe on day four, day five already of being out on the grass with us. And it's been great to see those guys. It's a highly skilled group. You mentioned a couple of those guys that are elite players.

Those guys have already been making plays out there with us. I was going to say, when Mike committed to you guys, it was a very big deal. But what's it like now getting to see him against your current players who you, I mean, you know what they can do. Does it help you kind of figure out what you can do with, with those young guys as you get them into their first spring practice? Yeah. It's almost like another spring ball. By the time that we leave here break for Christmas break and then get back to Orlando, those guys have been in one-on-ones.

They've had an opportunity to go out there and compete with some of our guys, seen them make plays. And you find out what their physical attributes are as much as anything. But you also find out some things that fundamentally where you got to help them grow before we get back out there in March for spring ball. And so it's not just the high school guys coming in, because you've also got people coming in from the transfer portal as well. Holden stays the Notre Dame tight end transfer. You got him.

What have you seen from him so far? Yeah, he actually just got to campus today. So tomorrow will be our first day out on the field with him. We're really excited about him. We're losing two really good tight ends that are running out of eligibility that will be playing at the next level. We have good young tight end here on campus in Ethan Davis, but it's a room that we knew that we had to, in some ways,

kind of patch that roster spot. We're really excited about him being here with us. You can see on the film against high-level competition, him out there making plays. He's got length and athleticism to be a real threat in the pass game, dynamic with the ball in his hands after the catch, the ability to use his body and create separation and win some one-on-ones.

But he's also got the ability to do everything in the run game when he's in the core that helps us go play the way that we need to play. So you've got the guys who actually run out of eligibility. That still happens? I feel like that's just starting to happen. Yeah. I feel like that's just starting to happen. How do you handle the math on that when you're trying to fill out this roster and you're talking to people in the transfer portal, you're recruiting high school guys two and three years out?

How do you handle that math? Yeah, you've got to understand that you have a plan of where you think your roster is going to be at, some things that you need to do. High school recruiting is still uber important. You got to bring in guys that you can develop, you know, physically and fundamentally, and also the culture of your locker room and in your program. I think that's still extremely important. But you also know that on a minute's notice, you might lose a guy. And, you know, based on who you have on your roster, you're projecting, you know, where you

think guys will be at by the time you get to training camp. And if you feel like there's a veteran guy that fits the culture of who and what your program is about, they can also bring some playmaking ability or be a dominant player at the line of scrimmage. You've got to make sure that you're covering your bases and making your roster as strong as it can be before you get to next fall. How have you managed to maintain that culture? Because you guys do seem to still be having a lot of fun. That's one thing I noticed when I visited with you guys is players are always around the offices and wanting to hang out, how do you encourage that sort of atmosphere?

And then are you looking for, for guys out of high school who kind of fit in that or do you, or do you want them to see that and say, okay, that's something I want to be part of? Yeah, I think, you know, it's gotta be the basis of who you are inside of your building. You gotta have like-minded coaches. You've got to create a staff dynamic where everybody's on the same team.

You've got to have fun as a staff, too. That's got to be a part of your interactions with your players. You've got to be intentional in creating that culture of, you know, competing extremely hard, having, you know, the core principles of what you gotta be to be a Tennessee Vol, but you gotta create that dynamic. And you do that through your team activities,

but it's also the energy that you gotta have out on the practice field every single day and the consistency of that and the message that you deliver. We got a great staff here. We got great leadership inside of our locker room. As you go out and you start recruiting, that can be in the portal. That can be your high school recruiting. I do think it's important that you understand the type of people that you're bringing in and do they fit that culture.

Everybody's on a journey of becoming the man that they want to be and the player too. So you got to balance where they're at, what they've been exposed to, how you feel like they have an opportunity to grow and can, you know, your staff and your players inside of that locker room help them develop extremely quickly. Well, one thing I found interesting talking to coaches today, Josh, is that people have said over and over again, when you're recruiting these guys out of high school now, you have to make sure whether they want to come to your school or not, that the last time you talk, you end on a really good note because you may wind up recruiting them again. You may have another shot, whether that's as a potential flip candidate or in the transfer portal. Is that something that you have to talk

to your coaches about and say, hey, you know, make sure we, you know, we end things on the right note with these guys, even if they tell us no. Well, our staff is a group of individuals that, that care about, you know, developing young men and, and are relationship driven. So that's who they are. If I remind them or not, they're professional, they handle themselves the right way. But I do think it's important because, you know, there are going to be opportunities to recruit some of these guys again based on, you know, kind of what the landscape of college football is right now.

So when you get off the road, Dan Lanning told us he gained nine pounds in just basically in-home visits. Is it a detox when you finally get home for that dead period? Man, I'm ready to go to sleep at some point. I feel like it's been a long, long, I don't know what it is, three weeks since we played last, you know, flying all over the country, having the opportunity to get in a lot of these recruits' houses. I certainly need the sleep and I'll take a

detox too at this point. Well, the college football calendar doesn't give you any breaks though because you still have to figure out how to score in the Iowa defense. Good luck with that, Josh. I appreciate it. Yeah, the Iowa defense is legit. But we're looking forward to getting down there into Orlando and getting an opportunity to go compete. You know, I was in Orlando for a period of three years too. So, you know, former players got an opportunity to get together with a bunch of those guys too.

Attention 407, the Vols are coming. That's right. That is Josh Heupel, the Vols facing Iowa in the Citrus Bowl. I'm not going to make the joke. You know where I went to school. Not going to do it. Not saying it. And you know you want me to,

but I am going to talk about my alma mater here in a minute because it's time for Dear Andy. Your questions answered, or at least to the best of my ability. You have some great questions this week. We will start with a popular topic here of the last couple days. I think schadenfreude is probably the word that you would use in this particular situation. But we will start with a video submission from Nathan about Coach Prime. Dear Andy, when Dion was hired at Colorado, he was the toast of the town,

and pretty much everyone expected him to basically instantly put together one of the most talented rosters in America. But as time has gone by, he's proven to be a good, poor recruiter, but a not great to maybe even downright terrible traditional recruiter. Is his recruit, his traditional recruiting class this year a sign that the Dion experiment is going to start heading south? Or is it just a sign that he has a different strategy and it's going to be okay? Because honestly, it doesn different strategy and it's going to be okay? Because honestly, it doesn't feel like it's going to be okay.

Tyler put it a little more directly on Twitter. He said, did Colorado only sign six players? Do they know they need 11 just to make a legal formation? Well, on National Signing Day, Colorado only signed five players out of high school. And yeah, it looks like Deion is all in on the portal. The biggest problem I saw was the Jordan Seaton situation. Jordan Seaton, very publicly committed to Colorado. He's the number one offensive tackle prospect in the country. He goes on Undisputed, commits to Colorado, goes on the Rich Eisen Show,

talks about what what he's going to do as a buff he is still not signed uh the day before signing day he posts the the gif jif gif jif whatever we're going to call it however we pronounce it of the the guy sweating as he has the choice of two buttons and all it's been since then is people just giving him unsolicited advice about what he should do whether he should go to colorado he should go to tennessee he should go to oregon he should go to maryland well we don't know what jordan seaton's gonna do but he we know he hadn't signed with colorado yet and it's it's funny because when josh newberg made a video right after jordan seaton's commitment he was talking about deon on the recruiting trail and his number

one thing that deon had to do was actually sign Jordan Seton, Josh, who is really smart. He nailed that one. He nailed that one because right now, Jordan Seton, as I record,

this is unsigned. That was the one that I thought when, when he committed and he seemed very certain of that commitment, I was like, okay, I was a little worried because Deion hadn't been doing much in the high school recruiting area and his portal recruiting i i've seen all these stories about how he's dominating the portal i don't really get that from what we've seen i mean like our

scouting people who rank the portal no louisville's dominating the portal all miss is dominating the portal florida state always dominates the portal. But Colorado's not really dominating it right now. And so Jordan Seton coming out of high school, plug-and-play offensive tackle, you just don't find those people. Like, they don't exist in the portal. You have to recruit them out of high school. And so I thought, all right, this is a good sign.

But if he's not coming, and if Deion's just going to keep trying to do this out of the portal every year it's not going to work and he's always talked about how it's part of the plan there's that there's a grand plan to this there's no grand plan if you can never block and right now they have a great quarterback in shador sanders and an offensive line that was not good last year and that if if they're just going to take a bunch of guys out of the portal is probably not going to be great this year next year the year after that the year after that like you gotta start building in the trenches in the high school ranks we talked to kirby smart on wednesday it's the only way to do it. He's got the best offensive-defensive line classes almost every year.

He's won the last two national titles. Not going to win this one, but guess what? They're going to compete for the next one and the next one and the next one. I don't know what Deion's doing. I really don't because if you're not going to get good high school players, it's not going to work long term. Yes, the game's changing, and perhaps this was an experiment to see,

all right, with all of the situations for everyone changing, can we do it this way and succeed? And the answer is, to a point, you can. But not winning big. Like, you're in a league, like Utah came with you to the Big 12. Utah recruits really good offensive and defensive linemen every year out of high school. And then they make them better. That's what you've got to deal with.

You know, Baylor can recruit good offensive linemen and defensive linemen where they are in Texas. So can TCU. Houston has an abundance of them living right there. This is not going to be easy if they are not going to, and it's not even a matter of, oh, Deion has to follow the rules everybody else follows or, you know or suddenly we can't respect him. No, it's not that.

If there were an easier way, somebody would have figured it out by now. People would have been following Dion's example here. But there's not an easier way. And so I just don't know what's going to happen to them going forward if they are not going to engage in trying to get really good high school players. Because if that's not part of what they do, then ultimately they're probably going to continue to be lackluster on the lines of scrimmage, and that's going to produce lackluster records. They improved Colorado this year. I think they'll improve again. I think maybe they get a bowl

eligible next year. But it doesn't go much past that if you can't start building in the trenches. And the only way right now is through the high school ranks. Maybe that changes. Maybe you can start doing that through the portal in future years. But it's not happening right now. And I just, I don't know. Given his magnetism, he seems like a natural recruiter. I would think Deion could do better recruiting guys out of high school.

And I realize there's a significant NIL piece to this and that Colorado probably isn't as robust in terms of its collective as some of these schools that are signing the best players. But you got to try. You got to do better than this. It's got to be better than this. Speaking of it's got to do better than this. It's got to be better than this. Speaking of it's got to be better than this, I've got a couple questions here that are of a similar tone.

We'll start with Logan. Dear Andy, first-time emailer, question asker, long-time listener. I'm a senior at UF. My Dear Andy question naturally is about the Gators. Obviously, National Signing Day wasn't the result everyone in town hoped for and the portal moves haven't exactly been aggressive either now we find out this morning that Jay Bateman the linebackers coach is leaving for Texas A&M seemingly leading legacy top 100 signee Miles Graham and company high and dry bottom line if you're Billy Napier and his army of assistance where do you go from here all things considered

at present do you believe the problem is Billy centric? Or do you think that it's more at an institutional level? And he said, Scott Strickland, the athletic department, Florida, Victoria's versus a collective. He said,

thanks again. Look forward to hearing back. And now we also have one from Andrew, a little more direct during the season. Florida's 2024 recruiting class was the answer to all criticisms of Billy Napier. The product on the field was bad, but look at those recruits after that class faded away. season florida's 2024 recruiting class was the answer to all criticisms of billy napier the product on the field was bad but look at those recruits after that class faded away like the

last two minutes of infinity war are there any signs of progress left at uf that is my producer river cheering at the marvel reference my former co-host ari wasman wouldn't even know what that meant but the last two minutes of infinity war well if i'm spoiling it for you too bad it's like 10 years old everybody turns to dust after thanos snaps his fingers that probably is a an apt description of florida's 2024 recruiting class which at one point was ranked as high as number three in the on three industry rankings but they got a lot of guys flipped here in the last few months including a few in the last few days uh xavier phaime to Texas, Adarius Hayes to Miami, Amaris Williams to Auburn, Nasir Johnson to Georgia, Jamonte Waller to Auburn, Isaiah Williams to Texas A&M,

Wardell Mack to Texas. They did sign G.J. Lagway, the cornerstone of the class, the quarterback. They also signed L.J. McRae, the number one ranked edge rusher in the country. He goes to Daytonaa beach mainland high but that team is not the same team that was being sold during the season as the wheels were falling off on the field and it's number 16 as a class in our on three recruiting rankings it's just not it's not good it's not what was sold you've even got dan mullen trolling where uh there was a radio guy in south carolina who tweeted the the billy napier recruiting ranks and how similar they were to the dan mullen ones and dan mullen

responded that saying i wish i had the facilities they had it was a pretty dynamite troll job from dan mullen who got criticized a lot for how he recruited and yeah his successor who came in talking a huge game about how he was going to build through the high school recruiting was going to sign players the way georgia and alabama signed players he's not doing that and so now florida has to hope that dj lagway can get this done that lj m McCray can contribute. Because as Logan pointed out, they're not, they've not been particularly aggressive in the transfer portal. They've gotten some guys, but, you know, getting a safety from Oregon who didn't really play last season because he was buried on the depth chart. Like that's not encouraging.

That's not exactly what you want to see. And this is a problem. And then add in the coaching situation. They fire Sean Spencer as the line coach. They don't hire a defensive line coach before signing day. Then they lose Jay Bateman, their linebackers coach, who's now going to be the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M. And so Logan mentioned the Miles Graham situation. Miles Graham is a linebacker for

Buholz High in Gainesville. His dad is Ernest Graham, former Florida running back. And Ernest Graham was not pleased on Thursday. Here's what he tweeted. My son was raised to understand the business as it exists, but there have been new levels of disconnect with this program that I have never, ever experienced. No calls no calls no communication and the driest experience imaginable I'm just going to start there that's from not just a great former player but the dad of one of your signees which by the way I do enjoy all of the comments under that tweet where fans are saying earnest you don't need to be airing this in public like telling a guy who is a great player at Florida and the dad of a signee how he should feel about this.

I think he feels pretty strongly, and I think there's a lot of people who share the way he feels. Here's the thing about all of this. So much has been put on DJ Lagway. I kind of feel bad for the guy. He is a great high school player in Willis, Texas. He may be a great college quarterback, but the problem is you can't expect him to do the saving of the program as a true freshman. Also, he's not even really supposed to start

this year. Graham Mertz is supposed to start this year at quarterback for Florida. So I don't know what everybody's expecting because the schedule's brutal. The roster does not seem to be any better. So all of a sudden, they're supposed to be better than 5-7? Because that's the only way I can see Billy Napier keeping his job after this season. And as to Logan's question about institutional, I get confused because people keep asking me, well, they say they've got to fire Scott Strickland if you're going to fire Billy. Of course you are. Like, Scott Strickland knows that.

Scott Strickland's floor is AD. He's well aware that he will be fired before Billy Napier is fired if they're going to go down that road. Like, he knows that. They're not going to let him hire a third football coach. This situation doesn't seem to be getting any better, and this is as apathetic and just checked out as I can remember a Florida fan base being. It used to be they would get angry about stuff like this,

but I don't see that from them right now. I see them sort of resign to their fate, and that's probably a worse place to be they would get angry about stuff like this, but I don't see that from them right now. I see them sort of resign to their fate, and that's probably a worse place to be. And so there's a massive buyout. Billy Napier is going to go into the 2024 season. There will still be a massive buyout after that season, but guess what? If they have the same year they had,

you're going to have to do something because everything's going to dry up after that so it'll be a very interesting next few months in Gainesville just to see how they try to spin this what they try I mean there's really no spinning it so if you're Billy Napier you don't even bother like don't try to spin this at all just try to make the team better if you can and try to be better and And I don't know what does it like? Is it seven and five? Is it eight and four? That seems impossible with this roster against this schedule,

but you never know. You don't know how, how teams coalesce. You don't know how chemistry goes. Perhaps some of those young players that he has brought in, perhaps they're better, but offensive line, defensive line remain very worrisome positions. We'll just see what happens, but it doesn't look very promising for Florida right now.

Next one comes from Jonathan, more of a statement than a question, but I thought it was really interesting. To me, at least, it's become obvious that if a top 10 high school quarterback wants his biggest payday it won't be at a top 10 program we're talking about nil stuff and this is a really interesting point and i think it's true i think you look at lagway you look at the the dylan raiola situation i would bet I haven't seen the numbers, but I have talked to enough people and heard figures bandied about. I would bet that Dylan Raiola and DJ Lagway are probably the top two earners in the class of 2024. And it's because Nebraska and Florida have to have them.

Dylan Raiola was committed to Georgia. Georgia doesn't have to have Dylan Raiola. And that's the one difference. You've heard me talk a million times about how the pay scale with NIL and eventually whatever they're going to get to mimics the NFL pay scale. Quarterbacks at the top, offensive tackles and edge rushers, defensive tackles, cornerbacks, like those are the positions of importance. But here's the thing. Here's where it's different in one way. In the NFL, you must have an elite quarterback if you want to win it all. Only way. You can't do it without one. In college football, you don't have to have one. If you have great offensive and defensive lines,

if you have a couple dynamic playmakers on offense, a couple lockdown DBs on defense, you can have an above-average quarterback and still win a national title. I'm not going to say an average or a bad. If you're looking for Stetson Bennett slander here, you're not going to get it. I thought Stetson Bennett was a really good college quarterback.

But Stetson Bennett wasn't a first-round draft pick. You don't have to have that to win a national title. So I do think the programs that can build in the trenches, and you heard me just talking about Kirby Smart when I was talking about Deion, Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Ryan Day, those coaches do not need to overpay for a quarterback. They do not need to stretch out their wallets. They do not need to be held ransom by a quarterback. They just don't. They can find somebody to make it work because they have people who can block and they have people on the other

side of the ball where their four can beat your five. Those are the two most important things in college football. That's where the bulk of your money should go. They understand that. I think the other schools need to pop. They need to overpay. And that's why you're seeing some of this talent spread out because your Alabamas, your Ohio States, your Georgias, your Michigans, they don't have to do that. They know what they need. They know how to build it. And they've already got the foundation set. These ones that don't have a foundation, you need the pop. You're going to have to pay extra. And unfortunately, you get a little, today's price is not yesterday's price when that happens. But very astute observation from Jonathan, but not as astute as this one from Nathan,

which I love. Is Michigan State the first school to have two coaches with the same or similar enough names with John L. Smith and Jonathan Smith? I can't think of another one. I can't. Now, granted, the names have changed over these. You used to have names like Wallace Wade, Amos Alonzo Stagg. You're never going to get another Amos stag. I don't think, but what's interesting about this one, the name we're talking about is John Smith. If this was ever going to happen in, in America,

it was going to be with someone named John Smith, because I would imagine if we were to put all of the male names in a hat, first name, last name, the most common one, hat, first name, last name, the most common one, the one that appears the most times, would be John Smith. So yes, John Smith was going to be the first coach

with the double name. The first time a school hired the same named coach. Although I will say, these two guys could not be more different. Jonathan Smith, who Michigan State just hired from Oregon State, he'll get fired up on the sidelines sometimes, but he feels pretty stoic most of the time. He's not going to get too up or too down. John L. Smith beat himself up during a halftime interview.

And I don't mean said I'm doing a bad job of coaching. He did say that too, but literally slapped himself. So just because you have the same name doesn't mean you're the same coach or the same kind of coach. But yes, I do believe that this is the first time that happened. And if it was going to happen,

of course it was going to happen with a John Smith. What a question. This is why i love you guys programming note we are off christmas eve and christmas day we will be back on december 26th please have a merry christmas everybody enjoy some time with your families we love you so much we'll be right back when the holidays end be ready for more bowl games get you ready for the college football playoff but everybody be safe if you're traveling and go hug the people you love you're gonna get to spend some time with them always a good time to do that never a bad time and thank you so much for being with us this first six months at on three it has been a blast and something can's only going to get better.

We'll talk to you after Christmas.