Andy & Ari On3 - Dan Lanning STAYING at Oregon | Conference Check-Ins | Miss. State's Search | Penn State's OC Search

Episode Date: November 15, 2023

The 3rd rendition of the College Football Playoff Rankings are revealed tonight, and that's covered in the Podcast form of this episode. We cover head coaching searches, Dan Lanning, and a check-in on each power 5 conference!This episode is sponsored by Rhoback, makers of the most comfortable hoodies, Q-zips and polos on the planet. In fact, Andy is wearing the green performance hoodie that allowed him to make a one-handed catch in the 2022 Texas A&M-Alabama game. Visit Rhoback.com and use the code STAPLES for 20 percent off your first order.0:00 Intro, Programming Update2:00 Why Dan Lanning is Staying Put11:50 Conference Check-In Intro with J.D. Pickell13:09 SEC Check-In22:23 ACC Check-In24:50 Big 12 Check-In27:00 Pac-12 Check-In31:00 Big Ten Check-In36:57 Paul Jones from Mississippi State joins to discuss Head Coaching search51:14 Sean Fitz joins to Update on Penn State's OC Search1:10:21 Conclusion, Dear Andy Tomorrow!Send your Dear Andy Questions to: [e-mail] Subscribe to On3! ⬇️ youtube.com/on3sports/?sub_confirmation=1Welcome to On3 | The best of college football and recruiting https://www.on3.com/Listen to Andy Staples On3 on podcast! Spotify 🎧 : https://open.spotify.com/show/5AhQ4d2... Apple🍎: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Follow Andy Staples on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Andy_Staples Follow Andy Staples on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andy_staples/?hl=en Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/on3sportsFollow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/on3/?hl=en Like/Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/On3Sports/

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. Let us talk about the college football playoff rankings because I didn't get to talk about them on the show because it was that one week of the year, that glorious week where ESPN decides to sandwich the rankings between two basketball games. And now that I have this job in this show, which premieres at 8 p.m. Eastern every night, well, we didn't get to talk about them on the show. So you'll get to hear the rest of the show after this. But first, let us discuss the CFP rankings. Georgia has jumped Ohio State, and I think as we watched Georgia Ole Miss,

most of us came to the conclusion that it was time to make Georgia the number one team in the country. If you're an Ohio State fan, I understand you might be mad. But I think probably just about anyone else is looking at that and saying, you know what? Georgia does look like a rolling ball of butcher knives right now. What they did against Ole Miss suggests they can beat anybody in the country on the right day.

That if they are at their peak, if they're at optimum level, Georgia's going to win a third consecutive national title. I know that's kind of boring to think about, but here's the deal. Georgia hasn't been that way every game this season. So there's no guarantee that what you saw against Ole Miss or what you saw against Ole Miss or what you saw against Kentucky is going to be the same team that you see in the college football playoff. But I would say that Georgia seems to be evolving into that type of team. You get Brock Bowers back.

This is the first time we've seen Brock Bowers with a healthy Ladd McConkie, with a healthy Kendall Milton. Guys, Georgia's offense is better than it was last year. Its defense is not as good as it was in 2022 and 2021, but the offense is better. And I think they probably are the favorite to win the national title. And we haven't seen a three-peat since 1936, I believe, in Minnesota.

There's a good chance we could see it. But that doesn't mean this race is completely over because the winner of Ohio State Michigan will have a say in this. Florida State should have a say in this. We'll see if it's the winner of the Pac-12 or the winner of the Big 12 that has a say in this. As I look at this, this is something I talked about last week. I think Texas probably should be above Oregon. If we're talking about resume, Texas' best win at Alabama. That's certainly better than Oregon's best win, which is at Utah. Vegas thinks that if Oregon and Washington play again,

that Oregon will win. In fact, the early line on an Oregon-Washington Pac-12 championship game is Oregon by six and a half. Remember, Washington is an underdog this week at Oregon State, a one and a half point underdog. But to have Oregon six and Texas seven, I don't think is fair to Texas because the Longhorns probably have the best win of anybody

right now. They have the win against Alabama. I guess you could say Washington has the best win with the win against Oregon, but if that's the case, then Washington probably should be ranked higher than five. And I think the reason Washington is ranked five is the committee doesn't think they beat Oregon if they played again. The reason Oregon is ranked six is I think the committee doesn't believe

that Washington would beat Oregon if they played again. And I think that's why Texas is where they are and Alabama is where they are. Now, Alabama is going to play Georgia in the SEC championship game. As long as Alabama wins out, they beat Chattanooga, they beat Auburn. If they beat Georgia, they're going to be in the playoff. The question at that point is, would a 12-1 Georgia also make the playoff? And I think that kind of depends on what happens in the other leagues. Ohio State and Michigan are going to play. One of them is going to lose. Could two Big Ten teams get in? I don't

know if that's going to happen this year. There have been weeks where I've predicted that in the projected CFP, but I'm just not sure at this point if that's going to happen this year. There have been weeks where I've predicted that in the projected CFP, but I'm just not sure at this point if that's going to happen. I think you're going to have to win, and especially if Ohio State wins. I don't think Michigan's non-conference schedule is strong enough. Plus, there might be residual effects from the Stein ceiling accusations case. Whatever we want to call this right now. Michigan's situation, I think, would hurt them

if they have a loss to Ohio State in terms of making the playoff. If Michigan wins, Ohio State maybe has a little bit better shot because they did play at Notre Dame in the non-conference. But Notre Dame has fallen off. the loss to Clemson hurt. So we'll see what happens. But the text thing is very interesting to me. They're at seven. So let's say Georgia wins out beats Alabama,

the sec championship game. Let's say the winner of Ohio state, Michigan wins the big 10. Let's say Florida state wins out. Let's say the winner of Ohio State Michigan wins the Big Ten. Let's say Florida State wins out. Let's say Washington wins out. What happens to Texas at that point? If Texas wins out, they're not getting in. They're done.

Okay. Let's flip that a little bit. Georgia wins out. The winner of Ohio State Michigan wins the Big Ten. Florida State wins out. The winner of Ohio State-Michigan wins the Big Ten. Florida State wins out. Oregon beats Washington in the Pac-12 title game. Is Oregon in? Or would a 12-1 Big 12 champion Texas team be in?

I think the committee's telling us they'd put Oregon in. Would Oregon have the better resume at that point? They would have beaten Washington in that scenario. Texas would have beaten Alabama in that scenario. I think Texas needs to root for Alabama. But the problem is, let's say Alabama beats Georgia. Georgia might get in over Texas. Texas being number seven feels precarious to me.

Now, again, if Texas goes to Ames and loses to Iowa State this weekend, it doesn't matter. None of that matters. But if Texas keeps winning, you would think a team that went to Tuscaloosa and beat a team that won its SEC division and then won the Big 12 would be in a position to make the college football playoff. But where they're at right now suggests that if that other stuff I said happens, they're not going to be in.

And that's going to make the Texas people very, very mad. And look, next year there's a 12-team playoff. It's going to be a lot better, a lot more fair. But this year it's four. And if Florida State keeps winning, and Washington and Oregon keep winning, it may not matter if Texas keeps winning. So if you're a Texas fan, you better root for chaos right now. You better root for Oregon State to not just beat Washington, but also beat Oregon.

And then have Oregon beat Washington. So everybody's got two losses in the Pac-12. That would be the best case scenario if you're Texas. Because right now, where they're at, there's not an easy path to the playoff. They could keep winning and still get shut out. We'll see what happens. We got a great show for you.

We talk about why Dan Lanning is definitely staying at Oregon. When he says he's staying at Oregon, I absolutely believe him. I'll explain exactly why. We'll also talk to Paul Jones from On 3's Maroon and White Daily about the Mississippi State opening. We'll also talk to Sean Fitz of Blue White Illustrated about the offensive coordinator opening at Penn State. We will also talk to the great J.D. Piquel, the host of The Hard Count. You know him, you love him. We're going to whip around the Power

Five conferences. We're going to have a potential reboot of the show Suits, where the cast defends Michigan and Jim Harbaugh against the Big Ten. It would be the best season of Suits ever. And there are nine good seasons on Netflix already. But J.D. and I will talk about that. So, great show. Cannot wait to talk about everything. We got college football playoff rankings. There is one more next week,

another one after next week, and then the one that counts. We're almost there, guys. This season has flown by, but it's been a lot of fun. On to the show. Welcome to Andy Staples on three. It is a Tuesday night.

It is a college football playoff ranking reveal night, but it is that one each year where they sandwich it between two basketball games. And so our show runs on the On3Sports YouTube channel at 8 p.m. Eastern time. It will not have been revealed by the time our show runs. So we've put together a wonderful show for you, but we will be talking about the rankings. If you want to hear what I have to say about the rankings, there's a couple of ways to do it. First of all, On3 is partnering with Bleacher Report. I will be on the Bleacher Report live show as the rankings are being revealed with my buddy Michael Felder.

And we're going to be talking about all of that stuff. So you can watch that on the Bleacher Report app or on Max, formerly HBO Max. So this is my streaming service debut will be Tuesday night. So you can watch that there when the rankings are revealed around 9 p.m. Eastern time. So right as this show's ending. Also, I will be adding to this show in podcast form. So if you're not already subscribed to the podcast feed, what are you waiting for? We're on every major podcast platform, Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, you name it. So just type in Andy Staples on three, subscribe to it, and it'll be in your phone on Wednesday morning when you wake up and you can hear everything I have to say about the CFP rankings.

I'm going to predict that Georgia jumps to number one. We'll see if I'm right about that. If you're listening in podcast form, you already know the answer to this. So you can laugh at me if I'm wrong. But I think Georgia moves to number one. But that's how you do it. Subscribe to the podcast.

Check us out on Max or on the Bleach Report app. It's going to be a lot of fun. You know who else is having fun right now? Oregon fans. You know why? Because they're keeping their coach. Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher the other day. Dan Lanning, the Oregon coach, top of the list. And let me tell you something about how we do these lists. When I make a hot board for a coaching search, it's not everybody I think will take the job. It's a mix of people who I think will want the job that maybe the school's not going to call, or maybe they are going to call them, and the people who I definitely think the school will inquire about whether they want the job or not. Because sometimes you don't know. I go back to a couple of years ago, none of us thought that

Lincoln Riley was going to leave Oklahoma and he goes to USC. And then a few hours later, Brian Kelly is leaving Notre Dame to go to LSU. A month before that, none of us would have predicted either of those two moves. So you got to throw the names out there you think the school's going to inquire about. Dan Lanning was the first name that came to mind for Texas A&M. If you're Texas A&M, if you're Ross Bjork, the AD, if you're among the people making that decision, you're looking at pedigrees, you're looking at achievements. Dan Lanning is the obvious choice. That doesn't necessarily mean you can get him. And Dan Lanning made it abundantly clear on Monday that he ain't going anywhere. Program. I guess the reality here is one,

my name and our program would never be in a topic of conversation for another school if we didn't have something here that everybody else wanted. And the reason we have something here that everybody else wants, that's because of what our players, our coaches, the support that exists here in Oregon have created. I think I've been really, really clear here since day one. Everything I want exists right here. I'm not going anywhere. There's zero chance that I would be coaching somewhere else. I've got unfinished business here. There's a lot that I want to accomplish here at Oregon. My number one priority is being elite here at Oregon. And we have the resources, the tools.

Anybody that can't understand why you would want to be here at this place doesn't understand exactly what exists here, right? Like what I've said before, with a 13-year-old, a 12-year-old, and a 10-year-old, to be able to raise your family in a community like this, to be able to compete for championships and have the ability to get the resources you need. You know, a lot of coaches hang on to these moments and they don't do anything or don't say anything one because they don't want egg on their face when they decide to

do something else. Right. Two because they're concerned about things that I'm not concerned about, like getting a better contract. Like I'm taking care of extremely well here at Oregon. I have the resources I need here at Oregon to be really, really successful. I'm not motivated by that. I'm motivated by winning. I'm motivated by being elite here.

And our players deserve my complete focus. Our fans deserve the best product on the field. So it's outside noise. It didn't matter before. It doesn't matter now. I'll continue to say it until I'm blue in the face. I want to be here at Oregon. That hasn't changed.

That won't change. He didn't just say he was staying. He cut a damn promo that the WWE would be proud of that becomes a great recruiting pitch for Oregon. Now, here's the thing about this. If conference realignment didn't happen, I don't know that he says it that way. But Oregon's going to the Big Ten. Oregon does have lots of resources. Oregon has a great

collective in Division Street taking care of the NIL part of it. And they're in the Big Ten. The job Oregon will be when the conference switch happens is better than Texas A&M right now. I know what you're thinking if you're saying, Texas A&M, they have all this money. Yes, they have all this money. Yes, they're located near more recruits. Yes, they're in the SEC. But here's the thing. If you're trying to figure out, do I have a good job, a job that I should stay at, or should I look around? There's a few questions you should ask. Question number one. This is the first question starting in 2024. Is my job in the Big Ten or the SEC? If the answer is yes, we can move to question two. If the answer is no, then yeah, you're probably going to consider moving to something in the SEC of the Big Ten. So the answer is yes for Dan Lanning.

His job's in the Big Ten. The next question you need to ask is, can I finish regularly in the top three in my conference if I'm in the Big Ten of the SEC? Because if you can answer yes to that, you have a great job and you should not go anywhere. Maybe if Alabama or Ohio State called, maybe. But you probably shouldn't leave. You're probably in a great spot. So if you're Dan Lanning, you ask that question. Can I finish regularly in the top three of the Big Ten as it will be constituted in

2024? The answer to that is yes. Oregon's played for the national title twice since 2010. They've won multiple Pac-12 titles. They have access to players, even though there aren't a lot nearby. They've been great at recruiting nationwide this goes back to the way nike marketed them it really goes back to mike bellotti and company and and figuring out how to make them a nationwide brand but that oh everybody knows what that o means whether you're in miami whether you're in portland oregon whether you're in Los Angeles, whether you're in Boston, everybody knows what that O means. They can go anywhere and get players. Texas A&M is a really good job, but for whatever reason, Texas A&M has never been able to get over

the hump. They've not been able to compete for national titles. Oregon has been able to compete for national titles recently. It's a better job if it's in the Big Ten. If the Pac-12 had stayed together, different story. Different story. Dan Lanning might entertain an SEC offer or a Big Ten offer at that point. But now he has the better job because he can answer yes to those two questions. Is the job of the Big Ten or the SEC? Yes. Can I finish in the top three in my league on a regular basis?

Yes. That means you're in the playoff when it's a 12-team playoff. That means you're legitimately competing for a national title. He can do that there. They'll take care of him financially. And the thing about Dan Lanning, and I understand why Oregon people get nervous about this, because Willie Taggart stayed there a year and then left for Florida State. Mario Cristobal was there for a very short time, and then he left for Miami. Both of those guys, though, were going home. Willie Taggart grew up in Bradenton, Florida, always dreamed of playing

for or coaching at Florida State. Mario Cristobal played at Miami. He's from Miami. His family's in Miami. That made sense. Dan Lanning's from Missouri. He's not going home with any of these jobs. This is a different scenario entirely. In fact, there aren't any jobs around where he's from where you can answer yes to both of those questions. There's an SEC school, Missouri, but you're not answering yes to question two at Missouri. Now, they can answer yes this year, but Eli Drinkwits has done a really good job this year. Is that going to be an every year thing? It'd be really hard to be an every year thing, given the competition they face. Oregon has been competitive since Mike Bellotti was the head coach. They were competitive under Bellotti. Chip Kelly took them to new

heights. Mark Helfrich made a national title game. Mario Cristobal won the league. It's a better job right now than Texas A&M. And I know the Texas A&M people don't want to hear that, but until they get over that hump, until somebody comes in and figures out how to unlock all that potential, it's still not a better job than a place where you can be successful right now. Like going into the Big Ten, I don't know where Oregon will be predicted to finish in its first year in Big Ten play,

but my guess is it's going to be three, maybe four, and if you win a game or two, then you're potentially one or two. That's the thing. It is a great job, and we have to start looking at things the way they're going to be starting next year. Because I think we all are guilty of this. Everything's been this way for so long. We talk about the Power Five. There's no Power Five three weeks from now. The Power Five ceases to exist. Once the Pac-12 championship game gets played on that Friday night, there is no more power five. There's a power two. So every job

from this point on, you have that two question test and you can figure out if the person should leave or not. Am I in the Big Ten of the SEC? If the answer is yes, can I finish in the top three of my league on a regular basis? If the answer is yes, you stay. The answer is yes for Dan Lanning. That's why he's staying.

When we come back, J.D. Piquel, my partner at On3, will join us. We're going to take a whip around of the five Power 5 conferences. Yes, I know I said it ceases to exist in three weeks. No more Power 5. But while we got it, we're going to enjoy it. So we're whipping around all the Power 5 conferences when we come back.

Two guys in row back, me and J.D. Piquel. You know J.D. He's the host of The Hard Count here at On3. I hope you're watching that every Tuesday and Thursday live. You're subscribed to the On3 YouTube channel, obviously. If you're not, what are you doing? Because you get this guy in your feed all the time. And yes, I said two guys wearing a Roback.

The performance hoodie. The greatest garment known to man. Roback.com. R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com. The promo code is Staples. You get 20% off your first order performance hoodies, Q-Zips, polos. The performance crew, I saw JD wearing one of those yesterday, fills it out very nicely. Also here, there might be some fleece coming from Roback as winter approaches. So go load up at roback.com. R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com.

Staples is your promo code. 20% off your first order. You will be as luxurious as we are. And that's a good place to be. All right, JD, we got to talk. We're going to have a conference check-in. We're whipping around the power five before the power five ceases to exist in about two weeks.

This is going to be a crazy stretch run. So much going on, but let's start in the sec where there are two jobs open now, which the Mississippi state, when we knew it was coming, the Texas A&M one, I think if you thought it through, you knew it was going to happen. But it was still one of those where you see the Jimbo Fisher fired and your mind does the tally of the $76 million buyout. And you're like, how? But what do you think happens at Texas A&M who who who are you rooting for to get that job who'd you like to see as as the head Aggie you know I think there's so many

names that get thrown around with you know Dan Lanning and Lane Kiffin and to me when I think about what A&M needs it feels like they need more of a substance and structure hire not that both those guys couldn't work it just feels like you kind of get back on the hype train, high expectations. I don't think Lanning's a hype hire. I just don't think Lanning's going to leave. For sure. I think because Oregon is now a Big Ten job, and they have resources, and they have proof of concept,

where they played for the national title twice in 13 years. I don't think A&M's a better job than Oregon. No, 100%. Speaking of substance, rooted in substance, Dan Lanning. like i don't think that's a bet i don't think a&m is a better job than oregon no 100 100 and i mean speaking of substance i mean rooted in substance dan lanning so i mean there's definitely that box is checked but i'm with you i think that dan lanning be tough to get from oregon i think lane kiffin you're kind of getting back on the on the hype train of high expectations i like mike elko i think he's structure i think he's done more with less and i think he is a differentiator in the sense that he's been at a and m and you

know this like it's a different it's a different thing you're signing up for if you go be a part of what they're doing in brian college station so i think the fact there wouldn't be this big acclimation of getting texas a and m i like he knows it and that's the thing like texas a and m can be a shock to the system if you don't know it if you've never worked there before if you've never recruited in texas before Elko's done all that stuff. But you're right. He's done the less with more. I think that's interesting about Elko.

I hadn't thought about it this way. But Elko came up with Dave Klaassen, Bowling Green, Wake Forest. But then he goes to Notre Dame. He goes to Texas A&M. So he's been at the places where the expectations are massive and the resources are massive so you've seen him be successful in a you know in a different job at that type of place but then you've seen him do less with more do because the question i always have when when you've got someone who can do less with more sometimes the guy who can do less with more can't do more with more yep i think you know

dan mullen's an example of that where he was great at Mississippi State. He was good at Florida until it became clear that he wasn't capable of beating Alabama and Georgia for recruits regularly, which is a requirement if you would like to play for national titles. And so it's different. Those are different jobs. Duke's a different job than Texas A&M. So the question is, can you do more with more? I'll give you another example from Florida, though. Urban Meyer did less with more at Utah and then absolutely did more with more at Florida and at Ohio State. So that's one of those that we don't know until we see that person in the job.

But I agree with you on Elko. I feel like he's a good fit there. And what we've seen him do at Duke, where their athletic profile is so much better than it was before he got there, and that's a hard place to build a team of really good athletes. 100%. Another guy that I'm curious to hear your thoughts on is Chris Kleiman, because he kind of fits that same mold, but there's that bigger question mark of, okay, well, can you actually do more with more? You think you can, because I mean, three stars at Kansas State, and what did it what did the fcs level but that is a very different beast going to the sec being in college station is that a fit that'd be my number two if i'm a and m i don't know if to see i if i'm gonna go guy who's won everywhere lower level leipold is the guy i would go with uh and it's so funny

that they're two these two great coaches both working in the state of kansas right now with climbing and leipold uh but leipold would be my guy if I wanted to do it that way. Kleiman, it definitely feels like Kansas State and North Dakota State are fairly similar jobs, even though North Dakota State's expectations within the FCS are so much higher. But they're very developmental jobs. The other thing about Kleiman, and I don't think people think about this as much as they should, when you've got a quarterback, you better not leave unless it's perfect. Because Klyman's got Avery Johnson right now at Kansas State.

And I think Avery Johnson could be a superstar. And so you've got to be really careful leaving that behind. And obviously if A&M's going know dump a bunch of money in your lap you're probably going to think about that but that's one thing if i'm chris climb and i'm very selective because i've got my quarterback of the future and i i don't know if that's what i want to do but that's another good one substance over over flash i do think this is why i mentioned sharon moore for this job and i i do think if harbaugh leaves sharon more would obviously be the favorite at michigan but what if harbaugh stays yeah and

decides he wants to be there for a while like sharon more is ready to be a head coach right now and being a good offensive line developer travels like i don't care that he's not worked in in the south necessarily he played at oklahoma Oklahoma. He understands how all this stuff works. I want someone who can develop people on the lines of scrimmage. Whether that's D-line or I don't care, I want someone who understands that. And Sharon Moore absolutely understands that.

So I would do my homework, if I'm Ross Bjork, on him and at least inquire. Because the one thing A&M does need to think about is they don't need to get roped into a contract where they are tied to this and have to pay this massive bill like the idea of hiring a coordinator is not the worst thing in the world where you may not have to lock yourself into this massive contract I mean look a coordinator of the level of Sharon Moore is going still to command a decent buy for sure but not like jimbo fisher not like a sitting head coach right now

would and before you say well why would you hire a coordinator kirby smart was a coordinator when he got hired dabba sweeney was a receivers coach when he got hired ryan day was a coordinator when he got hired guess what they're pretty good lincoln riley was a coordinator when he got hired. Guess what? They're pretty good. Lincoln Riley was a coordinator when he became a head coach. Yep. It's not – it's probably about the same percentage-wise. And I think, like, the happiness around College Station with hiring a coordinator, there would be that immediate, like, really? But I think, like, what you said is on the money,

the context around where that coordinator's from. Like, Sharone Moore could go be a head coach at a lot of Power five schools tomorrow if you're a good offensive line guy and Alex Atkins at Florida State is another another example of this I don't know that Alex definitely would qualify for the A&M job but I think he's probably getting a head coaching job after this season like if you are a good developer of offensive linemen it does not matter where you're from it does not matter where you've recruited you're good at offensive line you'll figure it out yeah 100 100 i mean in the same vein like from that coordinator hiring train of thought there would be the immediate feel of like really because we can take a big swing if we're texas saying that we can go and throw money at the big names we talked

about already in this segment in lane kiffin and dan landing um but if you hire a coordinator from the right spot i mean you could strike gold, like you said, with a guy like Kirby Smart or Ebo Sweeney. All right. Mississippi State open now, too. This is one where it feels like they've got some good group of five head coach options, which it's been hard lately to jump from the group of five to an SEC job to a Big Ten job because they tend to go for coordinators.

But there's a couple like Manny Diaz, who's been there D.C. a couple times. He's the D.C. at Penn State. He's one I'd look at. Glenn Schum in the D.C. at Georgia. If you're looking for that next Dan Lanning, that's one I'd look at. But I think, J.D., there's a few good group of five head coaches. John Summerall at Troy, Rhett Lashley at SMU. Those are guys you should seriously consider.

I like Jamie Chadwell. I didn't even think about Manny Diaz. Jamie Chadwell makes a lot of sense to me. And just from a sheer philosophical perspective, rather, it feels like you're in the SEC. You're playing the Georgias up front. You're playing the Bamas up front, the LSU historically. It feels like you need to kind of zig where other people are zagging.

That spread option offense, I think that could be the answer for that. I like that from a schematic standpoint because you become a team that becomes hard to prepare for because they use triple option concepts, but they're spread out and they attack vertically. It's actually, like you go back to Tom Osborne in the mid-'90s where the triple option was Nebraska's play action, basically. That's what Liberty's doing right now yeah like and and now would you leave Liberty after your I don't know and Liberty's an interesting one because they can pay way more than most schools at that level can pay so potentially you know they they could offer him a sweetheart offer that makes it hard but good SEC jobs don't

open very often right yeah but I mean going back back to the personnel that they maybe don't have in-house at Mississippi State, that could kind of be your – I don't know what the right word would be – kind of your bridge, if you will, to being able to beat those teams. Absolutely. And historically, that's what they tried to do with Mike Leach. When he was there – I mean, rest in peace, Mike Leach. But when they went with the air raid, that was kind of their answer.

And what they were doing defensively was that 3-3-5 is essentially like playing the triple option except on the other side of the ball. Yeah. So I think you're on to something there. We'll see. We'll get to check the tape and find out in a few weeks. That's right. Let us move to the ACC,

where Florida State appears headed to an undefeated season. I think they're in good shape here. I think they're going to beat Florida. They should be able to beat Louisville. We'll see. Louisville's going to be an interesting one because they they're very up and down despite being nine and one but you know what do you think happens this week louisville miami yeah i'll it's close it's close right it's tight thinking about it really really hard especially with how hard miami pushed florida state the week before yeah there's kind of this thought of well how do

you circle the wagons and did you empty the tank against your rival um but louisville didn't look that impressive against virginia now was that you know some weeknight magic that virginia's getting together you know strange time can never tell uh i think to me it does come down to jamari thrash and his effectiveness for Louisville. I mean, when he's on and when they're feeding him accordingly, like one of the most explosive players in the country. And so that can kind of be the differentiator. He could be their Marvin Harrison Jr. against Penn State in that game.

We've also seen Miami, now not in the Mario Cristobal era, but we have seen Miami defensively get just shredded in the run game. Like, could Juar Jordan have a big game? And Josh Neuber brought up an interesting point on the pick show. Josh, who's covered Florida State for years and years, said, you know, it tends to be when Miami loses to Florida State that it costs them a couple more games down the line. They kind of just can't mentally recover.

And they did put a lot of eggs in that basket. Like, they played great against Florida State compared to how they've been playing so we'll see but that'll be that'll be an interesting one the ACC needs Florida State to be undefeated yeah like that that's how they get the playoff yeah and then you know we'll see what happens Clemson upswing did Tyler from Spartanburg say Clemson season it feels like he definitely did his part. Like, in terms of what you had to do as a fan calling in, he took a lot of backlash for it now.

I don't know if he was trending on Twitter. He's probably close. I don't buy he's a plant. I mean, I get why people would think that, because he got off a full sonnet when he was doing the call-in show. And I was just like, if I'm Dabo, I'm like, are you not going to cut this guy off? I don't think he's a plant, but I think he will be remembered forever

depending on how Clemson finishes this season and goes forward next season. All right, give him a game ball, if nothing else, from the Notre Dame. Give him a t-shirt, give him a nice little windbreaker. I would see those on the side. Those are nice. Yeah, absolutely. All right, let us move to the Big 12.

Fascinating situation in Ames. If Texas goes up there and loses, we're not even going to bother trying to figure out the tiebreakers because it's a fool's errand. Yes. But Jonathan Brooks tears his ACL. Texas has Quinn Ewers back, but obviously loses their best running back.

C.J. Baxter will have to pick up the slack. Do you think Iowa State can pull this off? I think they can, just for the sheer fact that it's Ames. And it's just one of those things where you're trying to break the game down and we're looking at matchups and looking at scheme, and you're just like, well, this is in Ames, Iowa, so it may not matter at all. There might be something that happens.

That defense will have a plan for the viewers. Without question. Now, I still think there's a possibility that the J.T. Sanders, Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington, A.D. Mitchell, like, it's just too much. It's stupid, yeah. But if they make some mistakes and that crowd stays in it, because I've been there. I was on the field when they stormed it after Oklahoma State in 2011.

That's awesome. And, I mean, that crowd was hyped. It was cold. Sure. It's dark. Like, I don't know. It feels like they call it Hilton magic in their basketball arena. I don't know if there's Jack Trice magic, but I guess we'll find out on Saturday.

We'll find out. And it feels like, too, for Texas, like the last couple of weeks, I believe of their last four wins, they've won three of them by one score. And some of that you say, well, hey, Quinn Ewers wasn't playing. Totally fair. But we're messing around with TCU. I'm watching that game before flipping it over to the other night game because it's actually going to be interesting at the finish.

Are they treading water? Was it Quinn Ewers was rusty? Where are we at? It feels like Sark kind of just pulled back on the reins a little bit was like yeah we're good we're hoping we're hoping for things at texas six though yeah and like i keep waiting for texas to just blow blow somebody out and they did that against kansas but they didn't against kansas state obviously they were the backup quarterback but they didn't against tc like and against houston and same situation kind of got got back into the game when you were getting her yeah gotta see it pac-12 is really interesting this week yeah my goodness there's so many like even that

friday night game with colorado washington state like losers of six in a row versus losers of five of six coach prime trying to grab a win jake dickert you know what goes from being one of the hottest coaches in the country to now he can't figure out like they keep losing they've lost the last two games by three one was 10 7 one was 42 39 like none of that makes sense you think coach prime gets another win this season i don't i don't just just because of the sheer fact that and we had this thought too even during the season the season, like, hey, this team, they're hot, they're 3-0, vibes are high, but it's also a completely new roster.

What happens when they start losing? And I don't know that it's a thing where one loss has led to the next, but it's starting to feel like once that thing gets moving in a certain direction with a bunch of guys that didn't know each other before the season, you just wonder where they're competitively at. And so Washington State, I mean, kind of in that same situation, if I'm coming down to picking this one, I just think the line of scrimmage for Washington State

is probably better than what Colorado has, which isn't saying a ton, but I think that's the difference. So Washington and Oregon State, another very interesting game. Big one at Reser. But I want to go a little somewhere else in the conference. Not a game necessarily. UCLA getting the vibes that Chip Kelly may be in trouble there. And you think about it.

You're like, okay, but they kept extending him. But the idea that they're going into the Big Ten feels like if you're going to press a reset button, maybe this is the time you press it. Yeah. press a reset button, maybe this is the time you press it. Yeah, and it's funny because, like you said, there's nothing from the outside looking into the house noticeably wrong. You look at the record, like, hey, they're 6-4. The quarterback plays kind of dicey. I will say that Arizona State result was one of the most shocking ones this season. You see the score and you're like, huh?

Sure, definitely. And you know Chip Kelly, a guy who specialized in offense for that to be the result. But no, when I look at UCLA, I think like you said, it's 100% true moving into a conference where one, you're going to have to be better than the line of scrimmage. And UCLA has some ground to make up there. Some really good pass rushers there, but O-line is not what they thought it was going to be this year. And you've got to acquire talent. And Chip Kelly, for all the things that he's phenomenal at,

recruiting isn't necessarily like right in his wheelhouse. Like if they had like those Mora-era rosters, coached a little bit differently, that's a team that can compete in the Big Ten. Absolutely. Josh Rosen, when he was rolling. Jaleel Wadood playing. They had some guys.

Anthony Barr. Yeah. Miles Jack. That's a throwback. They had some dudes on those rosters. Jalen Phillips, when he signed there, was a massive recruit. They just have not done that under Chip Kelly. But you knew that.

Chip Kelly had a choice between the UCLA and the Florida jobs. And I think wisely took UCLA because he knew he was not going to be expected to bring in the five-star talent. But that was before the conference move. If you've got to play Ohioio state and michigan and penn state and oh by the way still have to play washington and usc and oregon you better have some dudes on your team especially in a state that's so talent rich in california i mean the trinity league's right there i'm not saying it's florida or texas but by nature of how much talent you have access to it's like hey they're the most populated state in the country you don't got to get on the jet yeah you can you can get in the car go down 55 south and be in good shape to go find some good talent yeah so i that's

going to be a fascinating one to watch that game with usc will be interesting because look usc is trending in the wrong direction as well but they're going to hire a new defensive coordinator we'll see if lincoln Lincoln Riley can get things going on the recruiting trail. But Pac-12 in general is, in its final three weeks, nothing but storyline. So awesome. It's crazy.

So awesome. Like throwing a party in the house before you sell it, that's what they're doing this year, is the way it feels. The party may be in Corvallis this week. Who knows? We'll see. Oregon State's favored in that game. As we're recording this, they're favored.

That may flip again, but just wild. Let's go to the Big Ten. If we're talking crazy, interesting, there's a court hearing that will determine who will coach on the sidelines against Maryland. Will it be Sharon Moore

or will it be Jim Harbaugh? Who you got? Do you know this Timothy Connors? Do you know his history? What's the line? Is there any betting odds on Harbaugh being on the sidelines? What's interesting is, so Connors was assigned the case originally, and then there was another judge that picked it up,

and that judge had presided over the Conor Stallions versus the HOA case. Wow. But then she wasn't going to – Conor's took it back. So I love this, that everybody's like, well, what cases is he – how does he trend? Who does he lean toward? It's like an episode of Suits is what it feels like. It's the best episode of suits jd i'm glad you said that i've been i've been working my way back through the seasons yeah i

haven't finished it yet i haven't finished it yet so i'm i'm i watched it when it came out originally i was a big usa network blue skies guy like can't wait until next summer when everybody discovers royal pains yeah or psych or monk psych's been out there yeah i don't know the people didn't pick up on psych but i'm telling you they're gonna love royal pains but yes this is the best episode of suits like this would have been an entire season long arc of suits for sure like lewis lit and jim harbaugh would have gotten along famously like that like lewis lit and and harvey would have had to form a grudging alliance because harvey would need lewis to communicate with Jim Harbaugh. And Mike Ross would have probably had a heart for Connor Stallions.

Oh, Mike Ross and Connor Stallions would have been awesome. Would have been awesome. Yeah, that's been your Suits review. There we go. If you haven't been re-watching Suits on Netflix, you don't know what you're missing. There we go. But I don't think it matters who coaches Michigan in this game. I think they're going to beat the doors off of Maryland.

But this has been a weird spot in past years for Ohio. I do find it interesting that the league decided to put Michigan in this spot instead of Ohio State with the at Maryland look-ahead game going into that game. Just sprinkled it right in there. Because Ohio State, like you said, last year they were in College Park. 2018 was wild. And it came down to the very end and then i mean michigan in this same spot a season ago against illinois they kind of struggled now

illinois was a bit better and matched up much better than maryland but no i think 100 i mean if maryland maybe they wake up that day dangerous man with nothing to lose you know you never know so i still think michigan rolls though to be clear you think iowa's gonna win the west i feel like they've resorted their dominance in the West. It feels like it. It's one of those things where it's like, what is going on over there? It's kind of like the Pac-12, like the last year of that side of the conference, and they're just doing backflips and somersaults and not scoring touchdowns

and hitting unders. It's a total inverse of what you see in the Pac-12 with a ton of points, and it's awesome. I love it. I just feel like Iowa and Minnesota are sitting there going, we've got to make this count, and Illinois as well. We've got to make this count because next year Oregon's coming in, USC's coming in.

We're getting pushed down the stack. It feels like Nebraska, if you had been able to somehow, someway, get Matt Rule a year earlier and you build for that second year. I think Nebraska's going to be fine. They do need to win this week. They need to beat Wisconsin, which is not having a great couple weeks because Nebraska needs to get bowl eligible. And I'm not sure I like them to get bowl eligible against Iowa,

even though they won with an interim staff last year against the Hawkeyes. They need to win this week and get that number six. Yeah, without question. If you can do that in your first year for that rule like historically his first year has been awful right and because he's taken over such rebuilds at temple and at baylor and those programs were in very different spots and so if you're nebraskan you get eligible i think you feel very validated of the last couple of years with preseason hype around the scott frost they're like hey we we got the guys we just needed the right driver of this whole thing.

JD, appreciate it. Tons of storylines everywhere around the country. We have just taken you from coast to coast in like 25 minutes. And walked through suits. Watched through suits, yeah. Beautiful. Again, I really do think if you want to reboot the show, capitalize on the popularity from the netflix bump that it's gotten you reboot the show with a season where they defend michigan in the sign stealing case

i don't know that you can get megan markle now she's royalty she's probably pretty expensive so rachel zane probably not back but everybody else like the guy who played lewis had a great bit part on billions but billions is done it's time to it's time to bring those people home in a and m or jimbo fisher to fit the bill to get a reboot going and then we can get mega oh do you think well is jimbo fisher funding it because he's just rich now i think either one is he a client we might have to do two seasons because yeah i think so because so jimbo Fisher uses his buyout money to increase his stake in cattle farming. Perfect.

And then some corporate raider comes in trying to buy him out of his cattle farms or maybe he's trying to poison his cattle. And Jimbo Fisher hires Pearson Spector Lit to take care of it. I'm so in. I'm so in. Done. That would do ridiculous numbers. Talking about reboot, you're all the way back at that point. I don't know who is Netflix going to make it

an original? Whoever does it, whatever production company, we are available. We'll write your scripts for you. Talk to you soon. When we return, Paul Jones of Maroon and White Daily on 3's Mississippi State site will join us to talk about the Bulldogs' job opening. Could Dan Mullen be a candidate to come back?

Will they go for a Power 5 head coach? Will it be a Group of 5 head coach? Lots of options for the Bulldogs. We welcome Paul Jones, a maroon and white daily on three's Mississippi State site. And Paul, you got a coaching search to cover. It's an interesting one because Mississippi State in a strange situation, they let go of Zach Garnett after less than a season, but obviously his was kind of an extended interim after the passing of Mike Leach. It feels like there's quite a few good sitting head coach options for them, plus a former successful Mississippi State head coach just sitting out there on TV. What do you think is going to happen here in the next few weeks you know obviously uh you can whether they got rid of zach arnett monday or after the egg bowl you can still make talks with agents you can still do the behind the scenes stuff uh so i don't think that really maybe it moves up the timeline a little bit

but you know i have a feeling that zach selman wants to find some stability. Like I said, this program is looking for its fifth new head coach since 2017. And, you know, to me that kind of points to him trying to find a sitting Power 5 head coach. You know, he mentioned on Monday Zach Selman said he's keeping an open mind. Young, old, coordinator, sitting P5 coach, G5 coach, he wants to keep an open mind. Young, old coordinator, sitting P5 coach, G5 coach, he wants to keep an open mind. But, you know, I feel like he's going to go after some big fish early on and see how that plays out.

But obviously in this day and age with the transfer portal, December signing period, we're probably looking at a two-week process here before they get somebody in here. Yeah, Zach Selman, former Joe Castiglione lieutenant at Oklahoma. Joe, his history is defensive coordinator Bob Stoops, offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley, defensive coordinator Brent Venables. But it's interesting because you and I were talking before we started recording, and we both talked to a bunch of people,

and it does seem like the group of sitting head coaches would be the one that Zach Selma may go for first here. I agree. This is a program that obviously you're in the SEC. This is a program that you're fixing to welcome Texas and Oklahoma in the SEC. And, you know, I think that's why he kind of pulled the plug early on Coach Arnett, because you can't sit around and wait while your rival is looking at a 10-2 season and possible New Year's Day Bowl. You got, like I said, Texas, Oklahoma coming in. This is a program that, and, of course, you know, let's be fair here.

Zach Arnett was thrown into almost an impossible situation. I mean, this could be a program where, you know, Coach Leach doesn't tragically pass away, is, you know, winding down another 8-9 win season, another solid bowl game. But, you know, I think they knew going in, especially when you look at the way they structured Zach's contract, that they knew this was probably going to be a trial basis and see how it goes.

And if it doesn't work out, hey, let's move on to something else pretty quick. So, you know, I think Zach knows football drives it here in Mississippi State like he does at any SEC school. And you're going to have to get some stability, and I think he wants a proven Power 5 head coach in here. So I've had Lance Leipold on my hot board. He's one of those that's kind of on everybody's mind because of the turnaround at Kansas.

One I thought that was interesting that you had on your list was Gus Malzahn because I thought about I thought about that earlier today like you know Gus is at UCF he seems happy they're in the big 12 now but a chance to get back in the SEC doesn't I would imagine that would intrigue him I do and and you know if you just being completely honest here um I think if he does get back in the SEC, I would think Arkansas would probably be the more likely scenario. Obviously, they made some talks with Gus before they hired Sam Pittman, and that was a situation where he didn't want to make the move then, but

things could change by now. What's the cat's name, by the way? Ah, he doesn't know. For those listening in podcasts, Paul's cat is just a ham. That's my secret source. That's right, is a ham. Just wants to be on camera at all times. So, Paul, some group of five guys I know would really want the job.

You got John Summerall at Troy, you got Rhett Lashley at SMU. Jamie Chadwell at Liberty is another one that I think would, would probably be really interested. What's the chances that, that those guys get any traction? You know, I think Chadwell is very intriguing. You know, I know there's been rumors of obviously he obviously, he's paid well at Liberty. That surprises some people, but Liberty's got money, and you don't know the exact terms of his buyout. And I think if this was – I think Red Lashley's a very attractive candidate too,

and I think if this was previously two years ago, that he may be my odds-on favorite to get the job. But now you look at SMU, we know they got a ton of money and they're fixing to go to the ACC. If that wasn't a factor, then I think he may be odds-on favorite to make that move. Obviously, he's familiar with the SEC and had success here. But I think to me, Chadwell is very, very intriguing. to make that move obviously he's familiar with the sec and had success here but um you know i

think to me chadwell is very very intriguing yeah he's won everywhere he's been wants to stay in the south but has never he's never coached the power five level and he's never had to recruit as an assistant at the power five level i think that's that's really been the knock but i i don't know i'm of the mind that if you win in a bunch of places you can probably win anywhere which that's lance leipold at kansas is fully fritz at two lane like there's a few guys out there like that i agree and you know it's such a different and you've been around the sec man it's such a different animal it's such a different mindset and i've seen some coaches come in here that i thought would be successful just get chewed up.

You know, it's so competitive and, you know, it's a 24-7 deal. And it's just a situation where coaches that I thought were really good coaches and had a very good chance of succeeding just get chewed up and spit out. But, you know, I think Chadwell, that is a negative that he hasn't been in a power five, but I think you have to look at his success and what he's done at that level. Well, and I also think that the Mississippi State job and the Ole Miss job are different

from the other SEC jobs at the same level. Because we're not talking about Alabama or LSU, those are different kind of jobs, but all the jobs in the SEC at that level, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, you can get more talent than the other ones because of the JUCO system, because of just, you know, the way people tend to still be under-recruited sometimes in the state of Mississippi. That, I just think, because I go back to when, you know, Dan Mullen was there,

think of the level of talent that he was able to either develop or acquire, you know, Fletcher Cox, who was a, you know, one of the best defensive linemen in the country when he was playing at Mississippi state, uh, when Dan left and Joe Moorhead took over there, three first rounders sitting on that defense. That's what makes this so intriguing to me, is that you can actually have first-round-level talent, whereas a lot of other places you can't unless you're in Alabama or LSU or Georgia. I think you've got to have a good mixture too, Andy.

I think, and this is where Dan was really good at his job with the evaluation process. There's going to be guys in Mississippi, you just mentioned a couple, but you look at this year's cycle, it's no different. There's going to be guys you have to fight for. NIL is going to be a big factor with a lot of these guys, but you also have to be able to evaluate and project where those low three stars can, you know, that's where Dan was so good at his job. You know, he could take a low three star that probably played quarterback, you know, look at Benardri McKinney and turned him into an all American linebacker, you know, to be able to

project like that and evaluate, because you said it right. Mississippi kids are very undervalued because they haven't come close to reaching their peak yet because they don't have big coaching staffs, not a good weight room, play every sport under the sun in Mississippi. When those kids get to college, you're getting a raw product, but the ceiling is so high with those guys. Let's talk about Dan because he's sitting there on ESPN right now. He's really good on TV. He's obviously still, you know, he got a buyout from Florida, but he was really successful

in nine years at Mississippi State. I've always argued that he kind of spoiled state fans because they started to think what he was doing there was normal and it was probably the best job anybody's done there. Do you think he might entertain the possibility of coming back? Do you think Zach Selman might entertain the possibility of bringing him back? You know, I'm not sure if it gets to serious talks with Dan. You know, obviously people change their minds, especially when you've been out of the game.

But I've always been under the oppression, and this goes back to my talks with Dan when he was here, that he's probably done with coaching. And, you know, he told us often, even on the record, off the record, when he was here that he didn't want to coach much past his early 50s. He wanted to be with his kids, follow their dreams with sports. I know his son's a very avid golfer, and he's very involved with that. You know, outside of getting fired from Florida,

what he told us a few years ago is exactly the path that he has taken and has been out of college football. And, you know, I wonder if Dan has that competitive fire to be in the new NIL world, you know, I wonder if, if Dan has that competitive fire to be in the new NIL world, you know, because the knock against Dan was he was his recruiting, um, evaluation and all that, man, he was, he was one of the best, but when it comes to the NIL era, I just wonder if he has the hunger for that. Well, and that's and that was my question with him as well because I don't think at Mississippi State you're expected to do what you're expected to do at Florida.

Florida, for the coach to be successful, you've got to be beating Georgia and Alabama for players regularly. And Dan wasn't doing that. Billy Napier's not winning games, but he is occasionally doing that on the recruiting trail. I just don't know. You don't have to do that at Mississippi State. It's not a requirement of the job. But you're right. The ferocity of the NIL battles between Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Arkansas, LSU will be involved in some of that too. Auburn, it is going to be pretty tough.

I agree. And to me, that was the biggest hang-up. And, you know, along those lines, is Dan going to bring back his normal staff that he had with him at Mississippi State and Florida, his buddies? Or is he going to be, you know, this is all speculation, but if he did get back into it, is he going to be, you know, this is all speculation, but if he did get back into it, is he going to go get an aggressive recruiting staff guys that,

that are accustomed to NIL and, and, and fighting in the streets for these guys. So, you know, we just, I think it's going to be a lot of people talking about that and, you know, I'm sure Dan loves the attention and, and people wondering if he's going to get back into coaching or not. But to me, it would be a complete shock if he does coach again. Well, his on-air partner, Matt Berry at ESPN, tweeted at me on Monday saying that they can't have him unless Matt can be the chief of staff. So that might be the deal breaker there. So what

are we talking about in terms of timeline of timeline? Obviously, uh, the Bulldogs finished their season on Thanksgiving in the egg bowl. Uh, like you said, it's, it's a tough spot for them to be watching Ole Miss have such a good year for the second year in a row. And that that's what they're trying to catch up to. Um, when do you think that new person's in place? If I had to throw a timeline on it, Andy, I would probably say by the 1st of December at the latest. You've got official visitors still scheduled to come in here the first weekend of December.

I don't think in this day and age you can forfeit a weekend of official visitors, especially since you only have a couple weekends in December before the signing period comes. In this day and age, you can forfeit a weekend of official visitors, especially since you only have a couple weekends in December before the signing period comes. And a problem with Mississippi is we have the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game the third weekend of December. So that takes out a lot of kids in your recruiting footprint that can't come that weekend. You know, the interesting thing too, Andy,

and you've got guys on this recruiting staff here that have been here since Mullen was here originally. You know, that part don't always change. You know, it's kind of different than college basketball where everybody's completely different. Some of these recruiting staff members stay through coaching changes, so they're going to be doing all of that, but you've got to get those certain people in here.

All right, Paul, thank you so much, and good luck covering that coaching search. Appreciate it, man. We go from a school with a lot of head coach options to one that definitely has its head coach locked in for a long time, whether the fan base is happy about that or not. But now Penn State is looking for an offensive coordinator. Sean Fitz of On3's Blue and White Illustrated joins us to discuss what happens next with the Nittany Lions after firing Mike Yersuch.

We welcome Sean Fitz from Blue and Whiterated on 3's Penn State site. It's been a busy week for you, Sean. Penn State loses to Michigan. James Franklin fires offensive coordinator Mike Yursich on Sunday. And I got to ask you, because I was at the game, and I have never heard fans of a good team boo the offensive play calling in the first quarter of a big game until Saturday. Yeah, I mean, that is the first quarter of a big game, the second of two big games with Ohio State and Michigan.

And, you know, Ted Lasso, season one, season finale, it's the hope that kills you. The Penn State fans had hope that this was the team that was going to get them over the hump. And I think they matched up well with Ohio State. And if they had a semblance of an offense, you never know what's going to happen there. And they didn't. And this is kind of where they found themselves

in the first quarter on Saturday. No points. The points are what gives you hope. You can lose a game 45-38, and you still feel like you're just one or two plays away against Michigan against Ohio State you never thought even when it was a four-point game for most of that Ohio State game you still felt like the the little brother who's being held at arm's length when the when the big brother just kind of gets him and and just uh you know sort of has

their way with him in a fight like that that's kind of where you're at with with that if you're a Penn State fan. And to see the lack of continuity, to see the lack of, I've been saying purpose for a couple of weeks now, it just wasn't there. And it settled on Mike Yursich because that's the guy that got fired, but it starts at the top of James Franklin. Yursich certainly, the way that they're calling the game was not something that gave people much.

They've seen that before, if that makes sense. And then beyond that, the execution from the player level. I mean, there's a lot of blame to go around that offensive side of the ball. Yeah, the three and outs are incredibly frustrating. But the thing that I noticed is sort of mid game, they'd have a nice successful play on first down. Like there was a sequence where they gained nine yards on first down, lose one on second, get none on third punt. And then the next one was actually the touchdown drive, but they had to convert to fourth downs because they were so bad on second and third down. And it's like, I don't know,

it felt like a little bit of lack of creativity like instead of on second one that's where you cut it loose because what do you have to lose they're like no we're going to try to get that one yard and michigan was like okay we're not letting you get that one yard you're going to try and get that one yard by throwing a you know little banana there to the sideline and like your horizontal approach is going to give the defense time to to make that tackle tackle for loss is what it ended up being to a receiver who i think has caught one ball this year so like there there's just so many things it's like you know you talk about 4d chess and

things like that and you're just completely off the board trying to uh outsmart the other guy and i mean that's a pretty pretty smart defensive coordinator on the other side. But it's a situation that we had, and I just talked about this on our show, Blue Eyed Illustrated. There was an exchange here where in our in-game thread, that exact sequence happened. And some guy is mad, says, well, that's so predictable. And someone came back. No, it's not. It's not predictable.

And that's the problem. It's so far gone and not in a situation where you're catching the other person off guard. You're doing something that doesn't, you know, isn't going to work. Jesse Mentor, the Michigan defensive coordinator, is like, thank you for that. Because on second and one, the playbook is wide open. You can do literally anything. And that is the worst thing you can possibly do. I mean, it's just unbelievable.

And you saw that with the two-point conversion there at the end where you're running a swinging mean it's it's just unbelievable and you saw that with the two-point conversion there at the end where you're running a swinging gate muddle huddle whatever you want to call it who who are you trying to outsmart who do you feel that you are so deficient in your offense that you have to go with this you have to go with the trick play penn state has gone to a lot of trick plays this year halfback option passes they threw a throwback to drew out this week on fourth down like yeah that is to me that's coaching scared like to me that is that is acting like you don't think that you have the horses to do it and maybe you don't have the weapons on the outside to get it done but at the same time like if you're in that situation where

you think you need a trick play in the second quarter or a flea flicker in the third quarter to just get a limited amount of points, then you're kind of already there, right? Yeah. Well, and if you look at the other side of the coin in that game, you have a team that ran the ball 32 consecutive times. Like they, I've, it's funny because I have this conversation with, with coaches and there, there are a few that will do this, and the Jim Harbaugh tree is certainly, they all do this,

but not many coaches actually do this where they just keep running the thing that works until you stop it. And what's interesting about that is they weren't running extremely well. They averaged 3.6 yards a carry, 13 plays in the third quarter 47 yards one of three one of three on third down i mean that's not that that that is not a killer offense by any

stretch of the imagination 17 plays 70 yards 4.1 yards per carry but that included a 30 yard touchdown in the in the fourth quarter so you ran 30 plays for 117 yards in the second half i mean they did it because they could just keep them at arm's length. This is, this is Kirk Ferentz taking a, or Kirk Ferentz taking a safety in a six, four game because he's not scared of Penn State's offense. He's not, you're, you're not scared of that.

How many times do you see Michigan go down and play for a field goal in, as they did, you know, in the second half, in the third quarter there, how many times do you see them go down and essentially play for a field goal? Cause you think if you're winning by eight or we're winning by seven or whatever it was at that point, if you're winning by one score, five to eight for a field goal because you think if you're winning by eight or we're winning by seven or whatever it was at that point if you're winning by one score five to eight

with the field goal you you have an extreme advantage and i think that that's the frustrating part if you're james franklin if you're manny diaz who uh you know who is kind of on the hook for that hole they didn't throw in the second half thing but at the same time your defense wasn't wasn't bad like it wasn't a situation where you were just getting crumbled like you did and in 2022 at the big house so it was a fascinating fascinating game just because Michigan was not scared of Penn State's offense yeah and what they did also is you have a quarterback who's not in rhythm what's the best way to keep him out of rhythm don't let him have the ball and they were taking it wasn't even because they were you know running as successfully as you as you mentioned they were taking so much time not just time of game but actually physical time where he had to

stand there on the sideline yeah it was an incredible like i thought that game was under three hours and it should have been with without tv TV timeouts because you were there on Saturday. I mean, you're going from touchdown timeout, kickoff timeout, a guy gets hurt time. I mean, it was,

it was unbelievable how they got, it was a big noon game that ended before all the other games that kicked off before it. And, and it was artificially like inflated in terms of game time because of, of the TV stuff. And it was, you know,

that it was, it was a service Academy game is what. And it was, you know, that it was, it was a service Academy game is what it was. And, you know, credit to Michigan for coming out and doing exactly what they thought they would do. But like, I mean, they were, they were three of eight on, on third, three of eight on third downs in the second half. So like, yes, they did a little bit of stay on the field, but that's a team that was 55% on third downs for the season. Like they, they didn't live up to their standard and their expectation from there. It's just without being threatened on the other side.

How do you, how do you approach this? So Jaywon Sider, Ty Howell take over the play calling. They were the co-offensive coordinators under Yursich. Do you expect to see anything different these last couple of games? They're playing a pretty good defense in Rutgers this week. Yeah. Rutgers does have a good defense. I think kind of the flip side of what we just saw with Michigan is I don't,

I don't know the Penn state fears Rutgers scoring a ton of points, but you never know what can happen. It's November in the big 10. Yeah. I mean, it's a situation where you're not going to change the offense in two weeks or whatever they have. They've got Rutgers and then Michigan state next, next Friday at Ford field.

But I think you feel like they made this move because you just got to get a jumpstart on the next guy, obviously, but also because these, these next two defenses you play are not going to threaten you in the sense that Michigan or Ohio state are going to. So I expect more of the same, but you've got a running backs coach calling the plays.

You've got a tight ends coach calling the plays. Penn state has good tight ends. We, we think they have good running backs. They haven't played up to what we believe to be their potential. And actually, to be honest, what we saw from them last year. So I think a lot of running, a lot of, well, November Big Ten football coming your way with running backs and tight ends and things like that, because Penn State, I just don't

know that they have the option to kill you on the outside. And you haven't seen it but i i do expect them to try and get drew aller into a rhythm try and do some short throws to start the game make him a little bit more comfortable and then maybe give him a little bit of a longer leash he saw against maryland two weeks ago they scored 51 points and he was a big part like his comfort level that was a big part of why he uh why they were able to have success on offense not that they fixed anything, but at the same time, like there was like, it was more enjoyable to watch from a coverage standpoint,

from a fan standpoint, from just basically anybody around that game outside of Mike Loxley. It was, it was more fun to watch that Penn State team than the two that, that played the big games and laid eggs in the big games. So as they move into the new big 10, where you add UCLA and USC and Washington and Oregon, you take away divisions. What kind of offensive corner should they be looking for, for that conference? That's it's, it's going to be fascinating to watch the, the, the PAC 12 teams and the style that they play. Cause they're not going to change in the first year, like the, how they score points and how they're able to, know you want to say no defense or whatever but it's going to be a different uh formula than the traditional big 10 teams so you've got to keep it open you've got to i'm not

saying you have to recruit or an offensive coordinator around drew aller but like this is your guy that you're trying to figure out or you're trying to uh vault your own program as a quarterback producer a quarterback producer, a quarterback recruiter, things like that. So this, this guy means a great deal to what they're trying to do. But I, I don't know, Penn State's identity, I think is always going to be running the football. But that's not necessarily how they've scored their points over the last decade. You look back to when Joe Moorhead was here, there was a great deal of success and balance. There was a great deal of that.

And James Franklin wants to be balanced. He wants to run the quarterback, but I don't think it's a be-all, end-all thing. So yeah, I don't know. I looked at a bunch of, if you would call them potential candidates or possibilities, if you will, and you could go a number of different ways with this. The problem that I see is you're not going to fix the deficiencies that you have on the outside just in one round of portal or in one round of recruiting like penn state still has a lot of issues on the outside so you can't go to a spread them out air raid or something like that and you know i know wisconsin had their their issues this year with a similar change so i yeah

they didn't have the personnel to run it right right and you can't you can't just flip that i mean i know it sounds great like but you can't go out and sign a free agent here. Well, yeah. And now interestingly enough, Joe Moorhead's a short drive away in Akron. Penn state can probably pay him more than Akron does, but I guess that's just a matter of, do you want to still be a head coach or do you want to go back to being a coordinator? Yeah. I mean, in and akron's very tough very tough place to win and he has not really done much of it um and i think that that's a that's a tough place for anybody that is trying to win football games um but yeah morehead makes sense like morehead makes sense in the sense that he could be one of i mean he's one of the guys that we highlighted as a possibility

on blue weight illustrator he's one of the guys that you just keep keep hearing that name come up because you know in part because he has shown production. He has done a pretty good job, but also harkens on the glory days of 2016 when you win a Big Ten title with him. I mean, that was the one guy that was able to get them over the hump to play Ohio State well. He beat Ohio State when he was at Oregon, you know, for, you know, if you want to give him the credit for that, you want to give somebody, I don't know, but the result is the result there. So there's some familiarity there. And I think, I think my biggest thing with Moorhead is when he came in, in 2016,

he said, Hey, I got the offense. Just let me, let me take care of it. And I think that that is exactly what they need. They need a head coach, the offense. I think Manny Diaz does a really good job of that on the defensive side of the ball and it's, and it's worked for them. So, um, you ha you have James do his thing, his CEO thing, and you've got two head coaches that, uh, that can make it work one on offense, one on defense. All of a sudden you've got a formula for a team that can maybe, maybe get over that hump. You never know divisions are going away, schedules changing. Um, but, uh, you know, with that 12 team playoff, you, you get a little bit more leeway there. So I was driving back to my hotel after the game, Sean, and I stop at a sports

bar to watch some of the other games and get something to eat. And I'm sitting there at the bar and there's a guy across the bar from me. He's wearing his Penn State jersey. And I hear him say this. And I'm curious how many of your subscribers are saying this right now? Because it shocked me to hear it. and the more i thought about it i was like yeah i kind of get it he said i'd give anything to have sean clifford back right now wow um you know let's uh go back a year and say that and see what the penn state fans say sean was so good at getting everybody in the right place like sean would go up to the line and he had that level of trust he was a fourth year starter he was a guy that you know can i don't want to say have that esp but uh he he was able

to know what the know what the coordinator was thinking know what the coach was thinking know what the defensive coordinator was thinking because he'd seen all of it and you were that comfortable with it and you were that you know comfortable with making him you know even though sometimes the throws did not go where he wanted the throws to go he still put them in the right general area and like he made the right reads and and did all that kind of stuff so yes um drew's more talented like there's uh you can you can see some of the throws he makes sean is like classically underappreciated because of the way that uh most of his like just because he was here so long yeah but i think it's more of the trust thing it's more of the pre-snap thing it's more

of the getting guys in in spots and not being confused and like there's a lot of dummy calls that have gone uh you know pre-snap for penn state this year just to confuse a first year quarterback that's what everybody does against first year quarterbacks and penn state has fallen into that trap just because they didn't have the guy to think on the fly. And that's not a cut at Drew, but he just hasn't seen it as much. And it's interesting because it highlights how hard it is to find the right quarterback or to develop the right quarterback. Because Drew Aller, during the recruiting process, everybody wanted him. He has all of the physical tools that you could possibly want and and like you know clifford was an example of a guy who got things done but you think about the most successful penn state quarterback in the last 20 years is tracy mcsorley who was a guy that james franklin

was recruiting at vanderbilt and and he came you know came with like sometimes you just don't know you don't you don't and and the threat of the quarterback run has been so good to Penn State like the not just not so much the actual quarterback run but the the threat that this guy is going to take off Drew scored Penn State's first touchdown with a quarterback draw that yeah just was kind of like uh you know he was he was zigzag I think everybody in the stadium knew it was coming and Michigan couldn't stop it yeah it's it and and it's not like he can't run we've seen guys that can't run he can he can do a little bit of it and he did more of it was coming and Michigan couldn't stop it. Yeah. It's it. And it's not like he can't run. We've seen guys that can't run. He can,

he can do a little bit of it and he did more of it on Saturday. And that's the sort of thing that can open up your offense. But when you're not scared of that, your, your defense is, it has an 11 on 10 advantage there. So that has been so good to Penn state over the years. Clifford underrated athletically,

you know, able to pull the ball down and, and take some hits and things like that and taking a few too many hits at times. But yeah, with him, with McSorley, it was so much different than with Aller and with Hackenberg because that's the way that I think they were comfortable calling the game. So where is the fan base mentally right now? The plateau is what it is. It's been this way since 2017. The change is structural coming next year, and it feels like maybe that's the difference they need.

Maybe that makes things feel a little different, but I imagine it's pretty frustrating. It's basically Groundhog Day. I don't think they're there yet. I don't think the fan base is there yet. I don't think they're thinking about the difference in schedules. I think they're thinking that, hey, Penn State has not done well against Ohio State and Michigan, and those are the standards. And, you know, even with the other teams coming in, they're going to continue to be the standard because that's what we've known for so long in the Big Ten.

So, like, I don't think they're quite there with ready to get over that hump because, you know, James Franklin's record in big games is what it is. It's not changing. It's not, you're not going to get an opportunity. If you go to the peach bowl and play Tulane, you're not going to, you know, you're not going to get credit for that win just as he doesn't didn't against, uh, uh, Memphis a couple of years ago in the combo. Like it's, it's a situation where you're just continually trying to nip at the heels and you're just not getting, getting where you want to be. And that that's all going to fall on the guy that's making $9 million. And,

you know, there's plenty of blame to go around, but it's, it's going to start with that guy. And you, you can't blame Penn state fans for just sort of being in that mindset. And it ain't Texas A&M. He's not getting that buyout.

So he is not, he's got to figure it out. 65 million ish, I think is where they're at right now. It does not have that oil money. They got uh some natural gas money up north but i don't think that's coming in to buy out a head coach exactly sean fitz thank you so much it's my pleasure andy thank you for uh thank you for having me on we're glad we got glad we got you to town this weekend oh well hey hey before i i don't i don't know if i'm messing with any of your sponsors, but barrel 21.

Yes. Was always one of my favorite places, but I had, I had the poutine there on Friday night. Holy Matt bone marrow gravy on this on fries with flash fried steak. Oh man. Unbelievable. Yeah. The, the, the folks that autos do a fantastic job. They, uh, they, that's their distillery there, but there. But I've been going to Otto's since forever, man. They just know how to do it.

Well, and that's the thing. So if you're going to a game at Penn State, you get off the interstate on Atherton, and it's right there. You have Otto's, which is a giant sports bar. They brew their own beer. And you have Barrel 21, which is a little more kind of elevated bar food. And they also distill their own bourbon and rye. The Rockin' Rye, if you get a chance to try that, try it. It is spectacular.

All right. I'll take your word for it. We're not really famous for the bourbons and the ryes up here in central Pennsylvania, but they do a good job. And I agree. Some of the best mixed drinks I've had have been in there. They do a terrific job. And agree some of the some of the best mixed drinks i've had have been in there they're uh oh yeah they do a terrific job and that has been traveling to state college because i think people think oh it's in the middle of nowhere there's nothing there no no no

they'll take care of you all right well i'm glad we took care of you this weekend we're glad to glad to get you on campus i'm sorry sorry to watch that offensive output but uh that's kind of where we're at with uh with covering this team. That's okay. There's always creamer ice cream and you know, you always, it's, that's always a win. So thank you, Sean.

All right. Thanks. That's it for the show. Thank you so much for joining us. Remember Wednesday is a dear Andy episode. Get those questions. And you can find me on X at any underscore staples on Instagram at any underscore staples,

or you can email your question. Andy staples on three at Andy underscore Staples, on Instagram at Andy underscore Staples, or you can email your question, andystapleson3 at gmail.com. I look forward to them. You always ask the most wonderful questions, help drive the conversation on this show. I always tell people we have the smartest, best-looking listeners, viewers in the world, and you show that every single week when you ask those questions. So get them in there. We'll talk about it tomorrow night.