Andy & Ari On3 - Is Dabo Swinney STUCK in the past? Why Clemson fans want success NOW

Episode Date: July 17, 2026

As ACC Media Days are wrapping up from Charlotte on Friday, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney took the podium on Thursday and made some headlines with his comments. As Swinney referenced his past success on Thursday, Tigers fans just want to see better results on the field. Watch here as Andy & Ari explain why Dabo has to win now and not rely on his past success.   (0:00) On Today’s Episode (0:56) Presenting Sponsor (2:55) Intro: Dabo Swinney at ACC Media Days (5:11) Comparing to UGA’s Kirby Smart (11:55) Fans & Dabo Swinney (21:30) Zen.AI (22:40) Dear Andy & Ari: David Gabriel Georges (34:26) Toughest 3-game stretch in college football (37:20) Alabama’s Schedule (38:28) Northwestern’s Schedule (39:20) South Carolina’s Schedule (39:39) Most Expensive: Florida State (40:10) Michigan’s close to the season (41:11) Texas A&M (42:11) Overall Schedule Chart (42:46) Transcript from Monday (43:40) Bill’s Journey with On3 (47:34) ‘Leave No Doubt’ at Notre Dame? (52:55) How to pronounce Sumrall (1:01:25) Bill’s Footnote to Ari (1:02:25) Go see the Odyssey (1:05:05) Closing Out: See you next week!   After Andy & Ari close out the Dabo Swinney discussion, the fellas move on to Dear Andy & Ari. With the first question, Andy & Ari revisit heir discussion of the battle for 5-star RB David Gabriel Georges. Was Ari correct in calling Tennessee 'desperate?'   Next up, Mike sends the fellas an impressive chart that highlights some of the toughest 3-game stretches in all of college football. Which schedule has the toughest draw? Watch here as Andy & Ari break it all down here.   When should Note Dame chant "Leave No Doubt?"   What is the proper way to pronounce Sumrall?   A jam packed Andy & Ari On3 you won't want to miss!   Thanks for watching! See you Monday!   Send your questions to: [e-mail] [e-mail]   Our show is also presented by BetMGM!   If you haven’t signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code CFB and you will get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! Here’s how it works:   1. Download the BetMGM app and sign-up using bonus code CFB. 2. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. 3. You will receive up to $1500 in bonus bets if your bet loses! Just make sure you use bonus code CFB when you sign up!   Make this college football season one for the history books. Make it legendary.   See BetMGM.com for Terms. 21+ only. This promotional offer is not available in DC, Mississippi, New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET (Available in the US) . 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only (if applicable). Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel   Check out Zen AI here: http://bit.ly/zenAI_bpp_itf   Join On3 today! https://www.on3.com/join   Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/qXLBnfZnvPA   Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman Producer: River Bailey   Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's Andy and Ari on 3 presented by BetMGM, Clemson coach Dabo Sweeney defends his record. But his record way, way back, not last year's record. Is he too stuck in the past? Is it time for him to roll it forward? Ari and I will discuss. Plus, it's a dear Andy, dear Ari Day. A Tennessee fan is very upset at the way Ari characterized Tennessee's recruitment of Star running back.

We'll discuss that. Also, what is the gnarliest three-game stretch in college football this season? A viewer has put together an incredible spreadsheet, incredible. And there are some teams that should fear October and November. We'll talk about it all today on Andy and R-Gon-3, presented by Bet-MGM. This show is sponsored by Bet-MGM. All the lines and totals you see come from Bet-MGM. And it is a big week in the world of sports.

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Gambling problem called 1-800 Gambler or 1-800 My Reset available in the U.S. 87788-Y or text Hope-N-Y or 267-369 in New York. 1-800-3-0-200-1-800-50-1-Massachusetts. 1-800-0-0-0-0-3 in Puerto Rico. First bet offer for new customers only if applicable, subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in seven days in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Welcome to Andy Nari on 3 presented by BetMGM and Ari Dabo Sweeney is at it again. He is telling us how many games he's won. He is telling us how successful he's been at Clemson.

He is saying a lot of things about stuff that does not matter in 2006 because, he's won a lot of championships and he's been paid for those yeah so i have like two ways of looking at this uh one's the cynical way and one's the i think i could see why he's like that way it's like if you want two national titles on a place i think you would probably feel entitled to talk about it a right like i think that like i would yeah so like from his i never shut up about it which probably would cause me problems yes so from his perspective though i think that there probably is and this goes all the way back to the the dude from from spartes Spartanburg who called in and asked him a question

of radio. Yeah, Tyler from Spartanburg who called in and asked him about whether he was fit to be the coach anymore. And he spun out. I think that if you were to peel back the layers of the dabbo onion, you would probably find somebody who believes or feels that the fan base or people who are not appreciative of him are undervaluing him as an asset as a coach and don't view it the right way. I think that there's maybe even a sliver of.

resentment on his part that he isn't considered a god in the moment, given the fact that they won two titles on a place. The thing is, if he stops coaching immediately, right? If he never coaches another game, he will be considered that by Clemson people. Exactly. And I think that's the disconnect. I think that he will always be able to return to that. People don't want to hear it while you suck and you're currently employed. And you're paying, like, they're paying you for this. You've been paid for those championships. Now they're paying. you to win now. So while they're paying you, they would like you to earn it or earn the paycheck. So I was thinking about this because this popped up because Paul Feinbaum went off on Dabo on

get up. And I thought Paul's choice of words was a little too harsh. He said Dabo was quote unquote stuck on stupid. I don't think he's stuck on stupid. I think he's stuck in the past. And I don't think that's smart. Because I want to here's how I want to put this in context. And I think Clemson fans, by the way, are not going to be pushing back on us on this. It's not the Clemson fans. This is, you know, maybe people who aren't as close to the situation will go, why are you being so hard on dabbo? Look at all he's done.

Imagine for a second that Kirby Smart gets up at SEC Media Days next week and says, remember, we won the national title in 21 and 22. We played for it in 17. We were a second and 26 away. don't you remember that? Why are you asking me about getting beaten in the quarterfinals of playoffs the last two years? If Kirby did that, the Georgia fan base would go berserk. Yeah.

Herbie's smart enough to not do that, by the way. Yeah, he wouldn't do that. But, like, Davo's an eccentric guy. So, like, you know, he says things in a two or three second clip that might be a part of a four-minute answer. but I do think that Andy the one thing that he is failing to accept is that in order for him to be beloved in the moment you have to produce again. I think that he might think that what he did was so remarkable. And it was. It was very remarkable.

I think it was one of the most astounding things that we've seen in the last 25 years in terms of a coach's build period. And I've said that many times on the show that I have a lot of respect for it. You are paid to win the ACC in 2026, and it doesn't matter what you did in 2017 and 18 and 19 and during that playoff run. And I know that he would also come back and tell you about the fact that they are only one year removed from winning the ACC championship. And the other thing that he fails to remember is that Clemson fans don't care about the ACC championship. Would they like to win it? Absolutely. But that's not what you're paid for.

Unfortunately, Davo has won too many ACC championships for that to match. matter. So, yeah, and the score is fundamentally shifted from away from conference championships to the point where we're having discussions about whether the game should exist anymore. The entire season is an apparatus to get us to the playoff. And they were in the playoff two years ago. Sure, they were. But a lot of times when you zoom out and say we made the playoff and won the ACC, that sounds

impressive. But Davo doesn't remember that we all watched it. They weren't themselves. They weren't backed into that ACC title. Kevin Jennings had a horrific first half, and they won the Clemson beat SMU. But here's one of his quotes from yesterday at ACC Media Days. We lost three games by 11 points.

We lost two games on the last play of the game. We were 151 and 7 all the way back to 2010 when we lead in the fourth quarter. Two of those seven were last year. So we didn't finish in the fourth quarter. We lead the nation. We're number one, 138 schools. We're number one all the way back 15 years in one score games. We're one.

And it's either Georgia Tech. I mean, Georgia or Ohio State is two and three. Okay, no one cares about anything that happened in 2012. It was a completely different sport. No one cares. And I think that Davo is not alone in this. I think every coach is being evaluated, 20, 23 and beyond. We've done this all the time.

We've had discussions about Kirby Smart, who I think is probably uncategorically the best coach in college football right now about whether or not he can win a national championship in the new era. That's why I use Kirby as the example because Kirby's won the SEC the past two years. He's had objectively awesome seasons the past two years that are not good enough relative to the standard that he has set. And they've also...

Instead of whining about what he did in the past, all he says is got to get better. That's what you say. And you know what the thing with Georgia too is that's different from Clemson is that Georgia has had spurts of looking awesome and looking like themselves during those two runs. Like Clemson seems a step slower. They don't seem as explosive.

Their offense is discombobulated. Like it's not the same thing that we've become accustomed to. The more troubling thing is they had nine draft picks, most of them in very high rounds, on a team that lost six games. It wasn't a lack of talent. So what was it? And that's why Dabbo gets these questions,

and I know he bristles at them. But again, you take the paycheck to win now. If you stop taking the paycheck, you will be revered as a God in Clemson, which I know Dabbe would not appreciate me using that choice of words. Yes, you will be a hero. As the greatest coach in school history,

one of the greatest coaches in college football history. All of those things, by the way, will be true, whether he wins this season or doesn't win this season. If he decides to hang it up, he will be one of the best coaches in college football history. But if he wants to accept a paycheck, if he gets that direct deposit every two weeks, the only thing that matters is what you do right now. As soon as you stop taking that direct deposit, it doesn't matter anymore. And as you pointed out, Andy, which is true, the direct deposit is also reflecting of those accomplishments.

You are getting paid for what already happened. Your salary structure is based on extensions and, you know, negotiations that took into account what you had already won. So like that, that is, you know, really, and I feel for people like this too.

Like he's not the only coach that has been great in the not so distant past, who's struggling in the new era who wants to cling back to the past. But like, I mean, even the, you saw the comment that he made about the question. quarterback, right? The new shiny object. The Rufzina, yeah, yeah. It's like, you know,

the new shiny objects on the national championship teams last year were Carson Beck and Fernando Mendoza. What was interesting about those two guys, Andy, off the top of your head? They were pretty old. Yeah, and they were also shiny objects from the portal. What about the year before? Will Howard and Riley Leonard. What was interesting about them? So, like, you know, it's not, they're not new shiny objects that you just go spend money on. it seems like there's a dysfunction.

And like, listen, like, I know, I know that like where his heart is. He wants to be loyal to his team. He wants to develop young boys into men. He wants to develop his own guys. And maybe Chris Vizina will be that. They also have a very impressive recruit that's in on the roster now that they may be able to turn. Take Reynolds may wind up the starting quarterback by the end of the year. But he surprised them in spring.

But here's the thing that he also doesn't understand. And I actually really like him. fans don't want you to develop boys into men. They want you to win. And if you can do both at the same time, that's great. But I think it's the idea that the boys to men thing takes precedent over the results thing. And I don't think that's the case. And I think that maybe that's a cynical way of looking at college football right now, Andy.

But you tell me what a coach's job is. Is it to be a great educator and to help people with life, after football, or is it to win games on fall Saturdays? Yes. And I think it's both, but I think that you're not judged on the first one. One's going to get you fired faster than the other. The other one won't get you fired at all if you're winning. That's the funniest thing about it.

There have been a lot of coaches who have actually gotten big contract extensions because they won national championship. While not developing men particularly well, yes. There's a few I can think of up top my head that had a few teams that, you know, you can make a 30 for 30 documentary about that are revered in those schools histories. And like, listen, if I know, I'm trying to picture Davo listening to this. Like, and I'm sure he would be like gut punched to hear this because I'm not trying to undermine the importance of developing people.

I think that the greatest thing about organized sports is the lessons that people learn outside of the development of for the NFL. And I know there's a lot of players who have come through Clemson. I mean, I saw an interview with Taj Boyd the other day about how he's the quarterback coach at Clemson, how he didn't want to be around football anymore because he felt like the game took stuff from him, but Daabo brought him back and made him a coach and has, you know, done things for him. Like there's no question that Davo Sweeney is an inspirational, you know, figure in terms of being a leader. That's the thing. I like Davo the human being so

much. I hate when he does this because I don't want people to look at Davosweeney and say, well, he's just complaining. He's just, you know, he doesn't take accountability for losing I don't want that. Let him be one of the greatest coaches of all time. He can help himself. All he's got to say is we got to do better. That's it. You don't have to list your resume anymore.

We know what you did. I truly think that when he's, if he in his head thinks that if he says, we just have to do better, that that undermines the way people should view him. You know, I don't know. I don't know how you feel. But let me ask you this.

This happens to me a lot. my wife is a highly social person and we go to social events for her job and with double dates and things and people know what I do for a living and they always want to talk about one thing. College football and there are times where people will go on rants or start saying things that don't make any sense and they're talking at me and it's not that my opinion is more valuable than theirs. it's that I'm more informed at times.

You have more baseline knowledge because you do it for a living, right? Yeah, yeah. And they're telling me why I'm wrong for thinking it while saying things that are fundamentally untrue and it irks me. Okay. And I don't know if that happens to you. But I think that there's a little bit of that feeling of like digging in his stomach where if somebody who doesn't coach or somebody like me or you or even a fan tells him he's out of touch with the game or doesn't understand what he's doing or is, you know, stuck in the past that that undermines. minds, his accomplishments. It was right.

It is a feeling of a lack of appreciation for how hard what he did was. Exactly. And I think that he has a right to feel. And I do think that he has a right to feel like that in some regard. I just don't think that, I mean, he's smart enough to know that you can't coast in this business. Well, again, I will go back to Kirby Smart because I think Kirby handles this stuff as well as anyone. It's a very difficult needle to thread. But Kirby handles it well. And the quote from Kirby

that I love, that he lives by, by the way, because he doesn't say this and then do something different. No crying from the yacht. When you make as much money as Davos-weeney makes to do a job, you will never get one ounce of sympathy from anyone for anything. And you have to accept that. I also think that Kirby Smart is probably wired differently too and that he's a maniac that doesn't care himself about what they've done because all he cares about is winning another one. And I'm not saying that that was. He's also probably not as worried about his legacy.

Like, yeah. He wakes up like, how do I beat Florida today? That's what he waits at thinking. I also find that to be very unique because I think a lot of coaches are inherently concerned with how people perceive them. I coached Urban Meyer for, I mean, I watched Urban Meyer coach for 10 years.

Oh, he cares very deeply about how he's viewed and what his legacy is. So, you know, and that's somebody who won as many titles as Davo. So I think I think Kirby probably cares what his players think. I'm not sure he cares at all what you or I think. I also think that Kirby probably feels like, I don't know why this is the case. And maybe it's just because of tenure. But doesn't Davo feel older than Kirby for some reason? And I feel like they come from two different generations when in fact they are,

they're not that far apart age yes uh and it feels like dabbo is winding down but he's actually got maybe 15 20 years left of coaching if he wants to if he wants so yeah so and that's the other thing too like if dabbo accomplished all this stuff but he's still relatively young for what he's accomplished he's also had a place that probably has you know interest in winning again like you know his legacy he should still be viewing it like his legacy is being written not that he's already wrote it and i think that that's the the difference but the beauty of it is The, hey, he's got in the barn, it almost doesn't matter what happens for the rest of the way. Yes.

But I, you're never going to be able to take that away from him. He raised them to a national power. Can I ask you this? Because I don't know. My perception is that it was more difficult for Kirby to do, I mean, sorry, for Dabo to do what he did at Clemson and then what Kirby did at Georgia. Is that a fair thought? I would say so because who else did anyone? else in that era turned someone from a

and also ran into a power. And Georgia was always a power even though they had had gone on a long-offrey. Georgia was very good under Mark Rick. Yes, Georgia was very, like in 2012, that last drive goes differently in the SEC championship game. Georgia probably wins the national title under Mark Rick. So they were there. They were right there. Clemson

under Tommy Bowden was not. Was not there. They were supposed to be, but they never quite, they never even got to the top of the ACC. So Davo, yes, Davo changed their fortunes. He changed their place in the universe,

which I think that's the hardest thing anybody accomplished. In the modern era. Yeah. Until now, which we're still trying to figure out what. Kurt Signetti, we're going to have to figure out where that fall. We'll need more time.

We need more time. But imagine that's going to fall in a similar place. From 2000 to 2020, when there was one way to do it, it the most remarkable thing about what dabo did was he won national championships without now they had really good players it was great evaluation and he was very good at finding three stars and turning them into great players but they didn't ever recruited the way that bama did bama won the recruiting championship you know i think clemson had classes that finished in the teens and they won the

championship if i remember correctly you know this favorite stat you know my stat right that i always say there were only three teams that won a national championship between the years of 2020 and 2020 who had not signed a top five recruiting class in any of the previous four years. And that's Clemson twice and Auburn when they won with Cam. And Cam Newton counts as 19-5 stars. But to do it twice, now they had both of those teams signed top 10 classes. So it's not like they were playing with the little giants. But still, they were able to overcome the recruiting norms that I came to accept what was a prereq to winning it.

So he did it at a more competitive time. That said, Kirby Smart also has similar hay in the most. barn, I would say. Yes. Even if you think that Clemson was slightly more difficult. And I think Kirby Smart wakes up in the morning like he's never done anything. I've actually never even heard Kirby Smart mention what he's won. Have you?

He's probably mentioned it obliquely, but it's never, it's never a fallback. It's never, let me just read you my resume. He never does that. Davos Sweeney read his resume on our show to us. Yes. So, like, there's a difference there. Yeah. And that's, I think, what rankles people.

And like I said, if Kirby gets up at SEC Media Days and does something like that next week, the Georgia fans would go crazy. But he's not going to do that because he understands. And for Davo, I think, like, you just got to accept this and go win some games. Like, that's all there is to it. Go win some games. All right, we have some great questions, including you angering of all, who isn't even part of all Twitter.

Which is unbelievable. When we return, dear Andy and dear Ari, but first, these words from Zen AI. I want to talk to you about Zen AI. Zen AI is the home of vibecasting, a new way to capture and share conversations.

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beta right now. So you join the wait list today and you get a chance at early access. So you go to zen.a.i, that's zen.a.i to sign up or you can head to our show notes for the direct link at zen.a i zen.a.i. Okay, ari, it is time for dear and dear Ari and our first question comes from Isaac. It's more well we'll start. I'll just read it. Dear Andy and Ari, this is a comment, not a question. Ari, for as concerned as you say you are about upsetting VAL Twitter, you describing Tennessee's recruitment of DGG, that is the top running back in the 2007 class,

who plays for the Baylor School in Chattanooga, has it down to Ohio State and Tennessee, and is deciding, I believe he's announcing on the 22nd. So he's announcing next week. You describing Tennessee's recruitment of DGGG as quote-unquote desperate, did you know favors. It also lacked nuance. Tennessee's done a stellar job

of pulling out all the stops to get a generational talent. Another layer of this is that although he's from Canada, he is considered an in-state recruit. The balls under Heipel have prioritized these recruits also under Heipel. The balls have done an amazing job running the ball

with less talented or running backs than DGG. I'm not even on Twitter, but I think your assessment sucked. Balls by 50. Dude, Isaac, not being on Twitter is a damn shame because the ball may be. I could certainly use it.

I say ball Twitter could use Isaac. Yeah. I love ball Twitter. I am fault Twitter. Yeah. Do you really think offering more money than Ohio State is quote unquote desperate? Is that what I said? Is that the only?

Yeah. That's why he got mad. Is that the only way to do it? It might be the only way to do it. If I said desperate, that's probably not the right word. And I'm sorry. Like I can own up to that. But, okay.

like desperate enough to pay two million for a running back, which I think that like is an interesting discussion because that's nothing to do with Ohio State. I think Ohio State. Oh, yeah. If you talk to coaches and personnel people. Yeah. That is a line to cross where they're going to be like. It's a major line to cross.

Yeah. We're going to be like we, even though we think this guy is a sure thing, most of us aren't willing to do that. Andy, there's some really good quarterbacks that are making two million that are transferring in that are productive already in college. Two million for a less premium position. position for a player who hasn't played a snap of college football is somewhat desperate. And I would categorize Ohio State as desperate in the same way for doing that. I don't know.

Ohio State is offering less. So Tennessee is obviously in a more hungry position to want to solidify. Hungry. That's the adjective. Is that a word of used? Yes. Okay. Okay.

So I can own up to that. Yeah. And I can apologize for that, for sure. Like, I'm a stubborn. I'm stubborn. stubborn, you know this about me. And I think I get pretty hardheaded when I have an opinion. But like, I think that Tennessee is much further down the line as a program than many of the other places that I would categorize as desperate.

But what surprised me about your choice of words is that you understand all this stuff. You understand the economics of this. You understand how certain schools do get a discount and certain schools have to pay more to get in the class. Texas Tech, great example. They've got to overpay to get the same guy. who's considering Ohio State or Georgia or wherever. Tennessee has to overpay because they don't have the track record

that those other schools have. But the thinking is if you overpay enough times and you get a good enough roster, then you get the discount. Then you become the program that can get the discount. It's like buying your homeowner's policy in full. You know, you have to do it up front. But let me ask you this, Andy,

because I'm actually curious what you think about this. now that we're talking about Tennessee and spending a lot of money, how would you categorize, looking back at it now, the Niko Iamaliava contract? It was a terrible contract. No, no, but I'm saying would you use the D word in that regard? Desperate? No, I wouldn't use the word desperate in that situation ever.

Okay. They wanted to make a splash. They wanted to get some. Because Nico, this is not like the Jaden Rashada situation where there were schools that were just staying away and what Florida promised was astronomical and silly. There were schools that wanted Nico that had a better track record at the time than Tennessee.

Okay. Andy. So they had to overpay. Shout out to our friends over at Miriam Webster. Okay. The word desperate means a state of extreme need. you dig in the hole. Despair or urgency. I would categorize Tennessee as being in a state of extreme need.

But you know what the connotation of the word is. We don't need the dictionary. You know what the con. If you said hungry, would they be mad? No, I changed it to hungry and apologize already. No.

But now you're trying to defend the use of the word desperate. No, I think I fundamentally disagree with your assessment of the NICO one. I think I'm wrong now, but I think back then they were desperate for sure. I don't think so. I think they were hungry, the same as they are now. They were in the same situation they are now.

They would like to win a national championship. They have not won national championships. They cannot pay what Ohio State pays because Ohio State has a better track record so they can pay less. I would find that what you just said if I were Tennessee fan to be more offensive than what I said, because you're saying they're in the same place. Why would that be offensive? That's the truth. No, it's not.

Oh, a Tennessee fan appears. We need a Tennessee fan. Yeah, let's go. Okay, so what Andy just said was that Tennessee is in the same spot now as they were before they got Nico. You think that's okay? Well, I mean, are they won an official championship? They made the playoff and that was like they were nothing before they got Nico. They were like a state of a national championship.

I know you went to a Pac-12 school, but like the goals to win a national championship. No, I know, but I'm saying, you can win a national title you failed. My perception of Tennessee before Heipel was hired and before Nico got there was much different than it is of Tennessee right. now. Well, yeah, it was in a I think that they're a much different place now. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I also remember, Ari, when

the NICO contract got done, the really good Hinden Hooker season hadn't even happened yet. Yeah. Because they were. The 10-win Hinden Hooker season hadn't happened yet. Let me ask you this, River. Do you think if the Hennon Hooker season had happened before Niko was a recruit, that they would have done the same thing?

That, no. For Niko? Probably not. So why? Is it because the year before they were more, what's the word? They were hungry. They were hungry, Ari. They're still hungry. They're still in the same tier.

I'm trying to help you navigate Vol Twitter by your choice of words. And you're falling back on the mistakes you've already made. No. Yeah. I mean, I get what you're saying. Like I am being stubborn right now. Like it's known that Ohio State is in that upper echelon. And Tennessee has been.

Why I'm talking about Ohio State? Ari, for me to say that Ohio State. can get a discount and Tennessee can't. Like, that's common sense. No, the thing that I thought you said that was insulting was the assertion that they're not different than they were before NICO. They haven't won a national title. I know, but this is you not understanding their mindset.

No, I know, but I think that there is ways of improving your stature in the sport without winning a title, even though their expectation is to win one. Yeah, you would last five seconds in the SEC. And I mean, Tennessee has updated. Then why doesn't every coach? You don't win a national championship just get fired immediately. They do. They don't.

Billy Napier had four years. How long was Billy Napier in Florida? In four years. It's a long time. And he should have been fired after two. And what do they want during those four years, systematic improvement? You should have been fired after two. And compete for a championship.

Nobody's Kurt Signetti, but Kurt Signetti. Ari, Texas Aiden and paid $77 million to fire Jimbo Fisher. Yeah. And this is my. my point. Would you think that Texas Tech has happy with what's going on right now? Have they won a national championship? No. Texas Tech's not in the SEC. Sorry, Texas A&M is

happier. Texas A&M fans feel like they have failed until they win the national championship. Texas fans feel like they have failed until they win the national championship. I wouldn't last the goddamn minute. The Boston fans feel like they have failed, Georgia fans feel like they have failed, even though they won the national championship four years ago,

but until they win another one, they have failed. But here's a fact. here's a fact that's an irrational thought process of course it is so I come from a rational thought process but you know what you know why they say it just means more are you?

It does yeah because it actually does I know but I think that like if all Twitter fans were listening to this and I know we have one here so I mean help me out but like don't you think it's nice that I'm saying I think they've improved

as a program even without winning a national title like that's a good thing I'm not saying anything you're the one you call it desperate you better say something nice to them Desperate's just a choice of a word that, yeah. Okay, I didn't mean to hit a nerve. I didn't mean like they're like a homeless person that's dying to eat. You want to cramps around VAL Twitter and not piss them off.

And then you say, yeah, you're desperate. I mean, it just doesn't work. Doesn't work, Ari. They weren't. No, they're not desperate for DGG. But I feel like they were desperate to become relevant again before Heipel got there. And is that that that's a fair statement? They were hungry.

Yeah. They were hungry to win. No, they were starving to win and now they're hungry to eat more. Is that fair? They're still starving. Still hungry. 1998 was a long time ago. Producer River was born like three days.

Six months after the Florida win in 1998. River has been a Tennessee fan the last three years been better for your soul than it was for the majority of your life. Yeah. So they've improved. Well, I mean, they've cracked into what they always. into what they always should be. They've cracked into what the minimum should always be. Now they're trying to crack into the Ohio State and Georgia's of the world.

So before they got back to where the minimum should be, as you just put, before Nico arrived, they were. Yeah, when Peru was there and Jared Garantan was a quarterback. My issue, Ari, was you were casting aspersia. I actually, this was more of a non-Tennessee thing. This was an everybody thing. It felt like the word desperate cast aspersions on the schools that need to spend the money.

Yeah. If that's how it was taken. If that's how it was taken, that is not what I meant. And I'm sorry. Yeah, that was my thing. I was like, wait, you understand how this works. Why would you, why would you say that?

No, I celebrate the teams who pay the money. Yeah. Yeah. Because I didn't mean it to be like a negative backhand. The ability to pay the money has allowed teams that were not in the hunt to be in the hunt, which is great. I will go back and listen. to the segment because I don't remember exactly what I said,

but if it came across that way or if that's what I said, that's not what I meant and I'm sorry. And if you didn't say desperate and Isaac just made that up, I don't even remember saying desperate. But I also, I also think that we're in a verbal, a verbal semantics discussion right now, which is kind of frustrating for me.

But like, yeah, whatever you want to, whatever you want to call it, I think that my point remains. Well, I'll just, if one word just happens to be more of the right word. Yeah. There's a right word for every situation.

Desperate was not the right word for that situation. Hungry. Hungry was probably the right word. And I found the new word. I get credit for finding good word because I was the one who presented hungry. Let's go to Mike. Ball Twitter. Hi, Andy and Ari.

From Mike. Hi, Andy and Ari. Looking over the conference schedule for Power 4 teams, which of these three games stretches? And I believe these are all three week in a row stretches. There are no open dates in between. Look, the most. difficult, which look the most damaging, which look the most expensive in terms of coach buyouts, and which look the most navigable. And Mike sent a chart, and it is fantastic. Now, I know

some of you guys are listening in podcast form cannot see the chart. So I'm going to, I'm going to read off some of these three game stretches for these teams. And then we can pick and choose which ones we want to talk about. But we'll start in the SEC. Alabama, three weeks in a row, Georgia at Tennessee, Texas A&M. Auburn three weeks in a row at Georgia, LSU at Ole Miss. Mississippi State three weeks in a row at LSU, Oklahoma, at Texas. South Carolina, three games in a row. Tennessee at Oklahoma, Texas, A&M.

We go to the Big 12. Baylor closes with at BYU, Texas, Texas, and at Houston, which is definitely the hardest closing kick in the Big 12. Cincinnati has Texas Tech, Utah, and at Houston in a three-week stretch in late October, early November. Arizona has at Texas Tech, TCU, and Utah from Halloween on. And Utah has BYU at Arizona and at TCU in November. In the ACC, Duke has a late season stretch of AdNC State at Miami and Clemson. Florida State, and I've pointed this one out of a.

a couple times, has an October stretch of Virginia at Louisville and at Miami. Syracuse, late stretch of SMU Clemson at NC State. Okay, Big Ten. These are some crazy ones too. Iowa, late September and early October at Michigan, Ohio State at Washington. Michigan State, November at Michigan, Washington, and Oregon. Northwestern. Get ready, Ari, for this one.

This is in November. I'm sorry, Halloween on, at Oregon, Iowa, at Ohio State. And then USC, this is one we've talked about a lot too, starting in late September, Oregon, Washington, at Penn State. Okay. So of those, which one sounds the gnarliest? They all sound pretty rough to me. They all sound terrible.

Which one's that out for you? I'm curious. Alabama playing Georgia at Tennessee and Texas A&M back to back to back going into the open date before LSU is pretty rough. Remember, they will have already played at Kentucky, Florida State, South Carolina,

at Mississippi State, which as SEC stretches go, that's not so bad, but look, South Carolina is going to be really talented. We love the quarterback at Mississippi State this year. Florida State beat them last year, not a conference game, but Florida State beat them last year. And obviously, Kentucky has a new coach, new system, new everything. Like, you've got to, you need to be undefeated at the end of that as you hit this thing.

Yeah. Man, that's rough. Yeah. That three game stretch right in the middle of the season two is, I mean, it's like how it goes. It's a four game stretch. Not a three game stretch. Well, what's the fourth? I'm just looking at Georgia at home, Tennessee on the road, which, by the way.

Open date before LSU. Okay, but it's still, it's still, yeah. It's still brutal, yes. If things go wrong, they can go very wrong there. So that, yeah, that is a, that is a very difficult stretch. I would say that's, it's either that as the most difficult or I would say the Michigan, or no, no, the Northwestern with at or. Oregon, Iowa, at Ohio State. Yeah.

The difference between Alabama and Northwestern is Alabama still could be favored to win some of those games. Northwestern is going to be the underdog in all of those games. And that's just, I mean, at Oregon and at Ohio State in a three-game stretch is bananas. Yeah. I also had Northwestern in my tough, five toughest schedules list for the Big Ten, for sure. Yeah. So, you know, yeah. So it's.

To Mike's question, what's the most expensive of these stretches? I think it's got to be, well, there's two candidates. One's more expensive than the other. It could be South Carolina, Tennessee, at Oklahoma, Texas, A&M. Because I think if Shane Beamer has another bad year, like if they miss a bowl game this year, like they did last year, he would be done. So that one, and his buyout, I believe, is like $22 million. dollars but the one that could be really expensive is Florida State with Virginia Louisville and Miami so that's all in October starts it starts October 3rd with Virginia coming to

Tallahassee then they go to Louisville then they go to Miami if they've already lost to SMU and Alabama at that point let's say they lost those three they would then be yeah they'd be one and five that would probably be all she wrote at that point. Andy, I want to point out one more three-game stretch. $54 million buyout, I think. Or no, $49 million, $49 million buy out there. This doesn't really go into the same bucket as expensive because Kyle Whittingham is going to be fine either way. But you know Michigan is on the road at Oregon and Ohio State, two of the final three weeks of the year, right? Yeah, that's tough. And they play Oklahoma early.

Yeah. So, I mean, I know UCLA, we don't perceive at the moment to be a major threat. But being on the road against the two big 10 favorites in two or three weeks to finish the year as a particularly brutal way. Now, I don't know, like what your thought process is on, you know, if you had a brutal three game stretch, would you rather have it at the end or the beginning of the season? I think I would much rather have it. You would have it at the beginning. Yeah. Because then you have time to erase what happened.

Going into the going into it at the end. But then there's also the converse way of looking at it, which is get your kinks out against. teams that are weaker and then get humming and then feel good about yourself and go into those games more with more momentum. Here's what I missed. Texas A&M, sorry, this was on the chart and I just read over it. Texas A&M, final three weeks of the regular season, Tennessee, at Oklahoma, Texas.

Yeah, that's brutal. Yikes. Yikes, good Lord. Yeah, that's worse than Michigan because they don't have a middle buffer. Right. Right. That's going to be three teams that are talented enough to beat you, two of which might be favored to beat you.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Oklahoma and Texas could be first and second place or tied for first in the SEC by that point in the year. Right. And by the way, this is after Texas A&M has already played at LSU and at Alabama. Yeah, they've got a pretty rough schedule. And they've got ASU as a non-conference game. Arizona State comes to college station week too.

So, yeah, this is, this. is, one, the schedule gets my blood pumping. Like the fact that Mike made the chart is awesome and definitely gets me going because this is going to be so much fun. The thing is, like what if somebody, like, let's say Alabama or Texas A&M, you know, one of these schools that we think could be pretty good and they hit this difficult stretch and they win them all. Yeah.

Like, then it's like, oh, God, you are ready for the playoff. Yeah, brutal stretches don't mean impending doom. They can also be the thing that makes your season remarkable. So I personally as a fan would want them. Andy, before we move on to the next question, River did text me a transcript from Monday. So he saved me the homework. Oh, good.

Maybe Tennessee is firing off the money spigot right now because they're desperate to get back to where they need to go. But even if Ohio State's willing to pay seven figures, that means that Tennessee is not insane. So does it make sense to pay a running back? Is that offensive to you? Use the D word. I don't want to derail it and go back into it. But I reread it and I'm laughing because I did say the D word, but like in the context of the way that I was saying.

No, you softened it pretty quickly. But in my experience of all Twitter, they don't care what you say. after the thing that pissed him off. Yeah, they didn't hear it. Selective hearing in Tennessee. Yes, yes. Next one comes from Bill, and this is great. It had footnotes.

We're going to save one of the footnotes for the end of the show. But I just want to read the beginning of it and thank Bill and let you guys know about something cool. Andy Nari, I discovered college football podcast in general and yours in particular on YouTube during the 2024 season. You are my favorite nationwide college football podcast by a country mile. He's a separate, he's a Notre Dame fan, has a separate favorite Notre Dame podcast. Oh, man.

I imagine it's a couple of our buddies. You bring such obvious joy and love for the college football multiverse to every show. You are at your best during the season, but you are at your most valued during the interminally long off season. Since 2024, I've been a dedicated YouTube subscribed otherwise entirely freeloading listener viewer. This has caused a building sense of guilt, and I've come to, I've come close to subscribing to On3 several times. Most notably, last fall, my wife and I landed in Bentonville, Arkansas, to visit our oldest son, who had recently started a job there and drove it into town listening to you basically get the Zapruder film treatment to the Louisiana governor's press conference on the Brian Kelly firing. A couple of months ago, when in the middle of an otherwise entirely unrelated discussion, you launched shots fired Wisconsin as fat joke into the conversation. And today, when you went 15 minutes long discussing Ari's skills or lack thereof at homeowner tasks, today broke me.

To verify as the great chief Joseph, Joseph from Nez Pierce, from where the sun now stands, I shall free load forevermore. I have subscribed. I have selected the most expensive subscription offered on the On3 website. It is not sufficient. It does not balance the scales as compared to what you both provide to me. But I shall take solace in the fact that this is most that On Three would take for me. This is where I want to point out.

If you want to join Bill, you can join for a lot less than what Bill paid. $1 for your first five days for a national subscription to On Three and Rivals. And then after five days, it's 1999 for your first year. So you get On Three rivals, National subscription, you get everything, Ari and I write, everything Pete Naco's, Chris Lowe, Brett Mc Murphy. You get Joe Chipped on college hoops. Yeah, Talia Goodman on women's hoops. there you also get access to the message boards and a full year of the athletic so it's a really

good deal so go to on3.com slash subscribe for that but yeah I wanted to point out so that he doesn't feel so bad because that was actually gut wrenching to hear I'm happy that we bring you so much joy but also we are at least in the YouTube space designed to attract freeloaders the people who watch the better it is for us and your viewership and consistent viewership has helped us more than you know and everybody who's in a similar position although we would love it if you joined on three and rivals and I think it's a great deal and you'll get a bunch of stuff that just is outside the scope of even what we discuss on the show every single one of your views every single time you give us even a minute of your time during a highly competitive market not just in college

football but just for your entertainment like I am internally grateful for that so I you know and I think Andy is too so thank you so much for the note yeah please hit the like hit the subscribe button whether you're on youtube or if you're listening in podcast form please leave a review on the podcast and uh this is this is an incredible review from a notre dame fan because we got some bad reviews from nondon and i wanted to say before you get to the question thank you so much for sticking around because i'm assuming that you know some of the opinions that i had specifically about notre dame last year and their college football playoff candidacy wasn't easy to listen to so i appreciate that your brute strength to understand that

you know we're not coming at it from a negative place or a hateful place or a exclusionary place is really, really something I appreciate. So, and by the way, if you're a Notre Dame fan, you made it through the dog days. I think you're going to have a really good fall. So, you know, I think they have a lot to be excited about. Yeah. So here is Bill's question. Each year, Marcus Freeman has a message for his team.

The team buys into it, but to date those messages have been, have never been translatable into a good fan cheer. So nothing that the crowd can yell out during the game. Team glory was one of them. This year, however, Coach Freeman's message is leave no doubt. That makes for an excellent crowd cheer on game day. I would highly agree. Leave no doubt.

Leave no doubt. When should the Notre Dame crowd use this cheer each home game for it to have maximum effect? I'm talking a Rudy level whole stadium cheering so the announcers acknowledge it. Cheer. Do you do it pregame? Do you do it when there is a sudden change or other moment? where the other team can feel the game slipping away. Bill says this is the equivalent of the Mortal Kombat

where they say finish him. Yeah. When CJ Carr is pulled for the backup QB, named TB, which I think is very funny because that would be obviously during a blowout. Post game and post-alma mater. Okay, I've got to, if we're going to put it in the same place every game,

because I think I'm with Bill, I think it can float a little bit. I think there's probably a moment. where you might find it where maybe you're up a touchdown or you're up two touchdowns and one more score would just break the team's break the opponent's spirit. I think that would be a good time to do it. But if you wanted to put it in the same place every game, you know, we've got, everybody does the fours up at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

And a lot of teams have their between third and fourth quarter song traditions. You got jump around at Wisconsin. You got We Are the Boys and I won't back down at Florida. So this would be fun between the third and fourth quarters. Like just at the third quarter ends, teams go to the sideline, and the whole crowd just said, leave, no doubt, leave, no doubt, all the way through the TV timeout and into the broadcast coming back. I think that would be outstanding.

And if I'm an opponent in a close game, that would probably terrify me. A few things here. One is that leave no doubt is kind of a common thing. You hear that a lot from coaches. Yeah. But even if you dismiss that, the one thing that I would have a hard time with and putting it in that time period is that it would be very hard to chant that if you're losing by a lot.

Now, Notre Dame typically isn't at that time frame. I think it would be more powerful at the beginning of the game. Okay. As they're running onto the field for a kickoff because you are sending that message, leave no doubt kill these guys before the game starts. Which I think is a powerful message. It's always relevant. I like that.

You're right. It's always relevant if you say it then. Because the other part of my idea where it's not relevant is if you're already winning by 40, it doesn't really hit the same way either. And you don't want to chant that if you're losing. And like Notre Dame for the most part, I think for the foreseeable future isn't going to be in a position going into the fourth quarter where they're out of a game. game. So, like, maybe this is a team that you would be comfortable with. But, like, I always think back at, like, fourth quarter positions, like, or traditions, like, jump around and stuff.

But, like, even Florida's, like, won't back down is appropriate if you're losing. Because I, you can even make the case that it's even more appropriate when you're losing, because you're losing and you're not going to just stop playing. So, like, that to me, like, leave no doubt is a really powerful message. But if I were a player, I would want to hear that ringing through the entire stadium right before you. you kick the ball off. Okay. So,

so, producer river gives us the, the layout of the pregame. So you would go in, this would be, I think River's right. You would put it in between here come the Irish, and the opening bars of shipping up to Boston.

Because they play shipping up to Boston as the teams take the field for kickoff. Okay. That's what's playing as they trot onto the field, the lineup for the formations of kickoff and kickoff and kick return. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, which is also freaking badass.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I guess you can't replace that. But I would like, if I were a player, I think I'd be fired up if I was jumping on but if everybody's chanting leave no doubt and then you hit the button on shipping up to Boston. Oh, yeah. That'd be sick. That'd be an incredible pop. Do you know what's a really cool, unique one that's not Notre Dame that I'm like really into?

It's hard to kill at Oklahoma. I thought that was badass. Yes. Yeah. And we'll see. because that that came late last season but I feel like if they do it right that can become a program

mantra and I guess many men would be their hard to kill at that point yeah yeah but very very appreciative of the question and they continued loyalty and I really hope you like our writing too because you know what guys I know we're I think we're pretty good at podcasting Andy and I were writers for decades before cumulatively before we ever got into the podcast space.

And I think we're pretty good at that too. So thank you so much. And hopefully you're an inspiration to others who want to join on three and continue to patronize the show. So a couple of things from our pal Lori. We'll come back to Bill because Bill's got another little point that he wants to make. But Lori heard our discussion of would you take your coach leaving for the NFL if you were guaranteed to win the national title this season?

Or would you rather just stay at your school and then whatever happens, happens? Lori's a Georgia fan. She's like, give me Kirby Smart at Georgia for the next 40 years. I'm pretty sure there'll be some national titles. Yeah, we'll roll the dice on it. Makes sense. Yeah, so that I understand. But this is a different question for Lori.

Also sticking in the SEC, though. Question about John Summerall. That would be the new Florida coach. How many syllables are in his name? Because an overwhelming majority of my intake is auditory. I assume for the last couple of years that the new Florida head coach's last name was spelled Summerall like Pat Summerall, the announcer.

It was only when the coaching carousel started spending last year that I saw it as spelled Sumerall. This surprised me, especially finding out that he's indeed from the south. He's from Huntsville, Alabama. I could see the pronunciation shift going the other way. If his name were indeed Somerol and the southern drawl pronounced that sumeral with just two syllables,

but that isn't the case. Does he pronounce it Summerall with three syllables or are the rest of us doing it wrong? Could this be why he is so intense all the time? Just secretly seating with rage that everyone is pronouncing his name wrong and feels helpless to stop the madness with SEC media days coming up because I've been even more curious. So, Lori, it is pronounced the way it's spelled.

It is Sumerall, which is kind of a, like, it actually would be more Southern if it were spelled Sumerall and then pronounced Sumerall. But it is spelled Sumerall and pronounced Sumerall. So, yeah, you know, southerners tend to, to, to, squash things together. Like Louisville becomes Louisville and South Carolina

becomes Sacramento. What's the correct pronunciation of Louisville? I call it Louisville. Is that not the right? If you live in Louisville, you call it Louisville. Okay.

But is it Louisville? Like, is that how you're supposed to say it? Or is that just how Yankees say? If you live there. I don't know. Okay. But like, I'm just saying like, what's the correct, not how you say it where you

live. What's the correct way it's supposed to be said? It's their city. So how they say it is how is the correct way. Louisville. Yeah. Okay. In Tennessee, there's a town in, it's basically suburban Knoxville now. It is spelled M-A-R-Y-V-I-L-L-E. You would say

Maryville. But if you're there, Merville. Murville. Murfri Osboro. Is that how you say it? Murphy'sboro. Murphreysboro. That one's kind of just pronounced the way it's spelled. But I will tell you this, Lori, if it makes you feel better. I have his spelling his name was a paddle for me for the first few months.

Oh, you wanted to do it like Pat Summerall? I wanted to add the E in there. Yeah. But it's also because Summerall in general is a relatively common name in college football. Like other people have that name spelled differently. So, but yes, I think it's an interesting question. But I've always just assumed that his name is Summerall. Yes. And say the spelling thing is interesting. This is another thing. You just talk about us being writers before we did podcasts. I used to just have to know how to spell the names. I didn't always have to know how to pronounce them. Now I have to know both. And like the other day, I was talking to Michael Strickland from the ACC. He's their vice president of football. And there are, he spells his last name, S-T-R-I-C-L-A-N-D, which is probably the more common way to spell,

that version of that name. But the Florida athletic director's name is Scott Stricklin. Yeah. St. R-I-C-K-L-I-N. There's also a college baseball coach named Scott Stricklin. But also Strickland with a D is a very common name. So the confusion is very easy to make. Right.

And like if you go on the message boards and read Florida fans complaining about Scott Strickland, the AD, a lot of times they will spell his name Strickland, L-A-N-D. So, yeah, it's funny how all this works. But no, the Sumerall one's actually very easy. It is just pronounced the way it's spelled. John Sumral. I'm glad we clear that up. This is perfect off-season Friday questions.

And here's the thing. I guarantee Lori's not the only one about that question. That's what I like about it. I always thought it was just a bizarre spelling of a common name. You never know. People shorten their names. They move from other countries. You never know how you get names.

Mine, I'm just named after, you know, an office supply company. Yeah. It is kind of funny every time I drive by it. Yeah, and everybody's like, do you, do you own Staples? Like, no. I come from a family of gospel singers. Also, Staples is literal an office. Right.

No, I mean. It's not a name. It's called Staples because it's an office mechanism. The only famous people with the last name, Staples are musicians. Ben Staples is a rapper now, but the more famous one would be Pop Staples and Mavis Staples, the Staples singers, I'll take you there and, you know, very famous. Are your ancestors like musicians?

No. Oh, my ancestors apparently carried water for people in Germany. You carried water for people? This is kind of a funny thing. Someone are you, you do that for certain coaches now. Yeah. Who would those be? Who do I carry water for?

I don't know. I think you're pretty fair. I don't, I don't, I don't think you say I like this person and therefore I will just blow sunshine up as you know what. Yeah, I like dabbo. I like him. Right. He certainly didn't carry water for him today. So.

Yeah. Do I carry water? I don't know. I don't know. I never. Like I, I know what the people on my mom's side did for a living back in the day. Because her maiden name is cook. So,

they cooked. But I have Staples the name Staples is from what I've read just refers to a town I believe in Scotland. Do you have any interest in your genealogy?

Like donating your DNA and like figuring out like where your great great great grandfather like was born. The thing is on my mom's side I actually that that history has been kept pretty well. So yeah. I that's how the

My dad's side, no, I don't know much about that. You've thought about like spinning in the tube and like figuring out like Would you be interested in visiting the home that your great, great, great, great grandfather lived in an 1810 if it's still standing like in Europe or wherever you're from? Like there's people who get into that. Yeah. Because it is actually like not to bring us down on a Friday, like kind of a sobering thought to think that like you don't even know what your great, great, great grandfather's name was.

And it's just like we're just a speck of sand in the universe and then once we're gone in a hundred years, no one will ever remember you existed. And then I'm worried about like, existential Fridays with Ari Wasserman. Yeah, I mean, it's just like, it's funny as I'm stressed out about which insurance policy I'm going to take,

it's like, no one's going to remember I ever existed in 100 years. Pretty much. Yeah. Sad. But you know what? We got Lori, the correct pronunciation of John Summerall's name.

We convinced Bill to subscribe to On 3. Like, we're doing okay. bud yeah and i think that everybody should donate their DNA to 23 and me because that's how they catch serial killers now and now you know more about ari's off-air podcast listening habits you know that's how they caught the like the the what's is the hill what's the one of the the serial killer in california no it was like the golden state killer who like killed oh yes people and like he was like got away with it for 30 years and then like a distant cousin spit into one of the tubes and they like tracked his genealogy back

to him because they had DNA from the scene before they had DNA testing and they got it's insane sorry go read about that never cease all right yeah now we're going to read one more thing from bill this is one of his footnotes are you are take heart you are correct there are far more of you than andy or producer river suspect and i'm one of them i cannot imagine the sum of money that would be required to get me to taunt the electricity gods and disassemble and reassemble an electrical outlet and I've told wife, parents, children, and anyone else who will listen for going on 30 years now that I did not go to law school for three years so I could cut my grass. Ari, we do not live in a zombie apocalypse.

We live in a modern economy. Adam Smith did not invent specialization of labor so that you can cut your lawn. So you keep on hiring Hugo. You do it proudly. You stay focused on your highest and best use, bringing joy to the college football world. Hugo is here right now. Can you hear the lawn mowing? I can't, and I'm glad I can't.

But he is, he's taking care of business, guys. So Bill, Bill with the, with the invisible hand shout out, man. Yes, producer River before we go, insists that we recommend the Odyssey to everybody. Got to go. He went and saw it in what was, you saw it in 70 millimeter IMAX, right? 70 millimeter at the Opry Mills in Nashville. It's awesome. Scenics were crazy.

Did you hit the outlet mall before? after? Great helmet mall. Went to the movie. Came home, came back. Can we point out the USC tweet? River will put this tweet on screen. They posted a tweet

and it's a picture of the Trojan not the USC football helmet, but the Trojan helmet. And it says, The Odyssey. And it says 829, 26. So they're saying the Odyssey begins for USC week zero against San Jose State, which by the way is the game they added when they bailed on Notre Dame because the Big Ten schedule is too hard.

Can we talk about this, Ari? Sure. I know you were not particularly familiar with The Odyssey. No, I am. I did read that particular epic poem in high school as well as the Iliad. and the Odyssey is about a group going home after kicking the crap out of the Trojans in a war. If I'm the Trojans, I'm not using the Odyssey in anything. Yeah.

That's like celebrating your biggest L. Yeah. Now, granted, Odysseus had a hell. of a time getting home, but the Trojans didn't have anything to do with that. They lost. Well, the cool thing is that most of the people that this graphic is for, which is our teenagers who play football really well, we'll probably want to watch the movie and then like enjoy the movie poster.

But yes, I find that to be insane because this is also a really interesting year where they need to be good. They can't lose. Yeah, you really don't watch what happened before the Odyssey. to happen to you now. And I'm sorry if I'm spoiling the Iliad for you, but it is thousands of years old. So it's your fault for not reading it first.

Also, if you saw the movie Troy, you know what happens in the alien. Come on, guys. Read a book. Read a book. You can read a book or see the movie this weekend. I'm going to see Megan Maroney on Saturday night, taking my daughter. It was her birthday present.

Go see the movie. And you can read our articles on On3.com. That you can. $1 for your first five days, $1999 for your first year plus a year of the athletic. It's a great deal on 3.com slash subscribe, and we'll talk to you on Monday.