Andy & Ari On3 - It's National Title or BUST for Ohio State, Ryan Day | Can Lincoln Riley & USC adjust to the Big 10?

Episode Date: July 24, 2024

Ohio State was the main attraction on the first day of Big Ten media days, and the Buckeyes weren’t shying away from massive expectations or questions about their losing streak to Michigan.(0:00-1:18) Intro(1:19-6:38) An Update on the Jaden Rashada Suing Billy Napier Case(6:39-8:51) Spencer Holbrook from Lettermen Row Joins(8:52-14:02) Ryan Day chats with the guys from Lettermen Row(14:03-34:19) Continuing the Ohio State Discussion with Spencer(34:20-54:01) Geoff Schwartz Joins to talk USC, Oregon(54:02-1:00:27) Discussion on Washington Iowa(1:00:28-1:02:43) Conclusion - Bret Bielema's TattooFirst, Spencer Holbrook and Andy Backstrom of On3’s Lettermen Row talk to Day about the start of camp and the difficulty in choosing representatives from a team that could have a dozen captains.Next, Spencer joins Andy (Staples) to discuss the expectations surrounding Ohio State. Spencer also talks about the new dynamics as Day cedes offensive control to new coordinator Chip Kelly. Plus, how long will it be before Kansas State transfer Will Howard is named QB1?Later, Geoff Schwartz of SiriusXM joins Andy to discuss the new Big Ten. Geoff played at Oregon and is still getting used to being a Big Ten legend, but he has a lot of thoughts about Ohio State and its quest for a title and about why USC has not lived up to some lofty expectations in the early part of the Lincoln Riley era. Can the Trojans make a splash in year one in the Big Ten?Finally, Illinois coach Bret Bielema talks about his Iowa tattoo, because no Big Ten media days would be complete without the story.Want to watch the show instead? Join us LIVE, M-F, at 8 am et! https://youtube.com/live/id66I-VbnNoHost: Andy StaplesProducer: River Bailey

Welcome to Andy Staples on 3. Greetings from Big Ten Media Days. Day 2 about to get underway. Day 1 of the books. A lot of Buckeyes on Day 1. A lot of Ohio State talk because, hey look, they're in the unenviable position of having lost 3 games in a row to Michigan. But they are also the team with maybe the most talented roster in America. Expectations are high, and we're going to talk a lot about Ohio State this season. We're going to talk a lot about Ohio State today.

But that's not all we're going to talk about. We got Wisconsin. We have USC, UCLA coming into the Big Ten. Iowa will be in the building on Wednesday. It gets very, very interesting. There's a lot of plot lines that start rolling in on Wednesday. On Tuesday, it was a lot of, hey, Ryan Day, are you going to beat Michigan? And I think Ryan Day has gotten used

to that. But, you know, at least he's not being sued by a Michigan quarterback. That's what's going on down south in Florida, where Billy Napier is being sued by Jaden Rashada, who is now a Georgia quarterback. And one of the weirdest stories ever. We've followed it along every twist and turn. Got more twists on Tuesday. That was the due date for all the defendants to send their responses to Jade and Rashad's complaint. Naturally, all of them sent motions to dismiss. They would all like the case dismissed. Marcus Castro Walker, the former Florida recruiting assistant, Hugh Hathcock, the Florida booster, and Billy Napier himself, his attorney, sent a motion to dismiss. And it's going to be interesting. It's going to be interesting to see what happens because this is one of those that would get real juicy

if the case were to get to discovery, if you were to start to depose people. But Billy Napier hired some really good lawyers. And we'll see what the judge feels about this particular motion to dismiss. Because remember, this is not a breach of contract case. So Jade Rashad assigned a contract, could have paid up to $13.8 million over four years. It was an NIL deal with a collective attached to Florida. Now, that contract was terminated, but it was terminated within the confines of the contract. The contract said you could terminate it for these reasons. It was terminated for one of those reasons.

So it's not a breach of contract case. What Jay and Rashad is accusing these guys of is fraud. Basically saying, you promised me this, therefore it caused me to give up a deal I had at Miami, which would have paid out. And so that's the difference in this case. And that's what all of the attorneys for the defendants point out in their is no direct evidence of Billy Napier saying anything to Jaden Rashada about, hey, if you do this, you'll get this. And I find it interesting because the evidence that Rashada's attorneys put in there, I'll use air quotes around evidence. They said, hey,

Billy Napier said this to Jaden Rashada's dad. And it's pointed out, if Rashada's the one bringing the lawsuit, Jaden Rashada wasn't told that or wasn't told that by Billy Napier. And of course, Napier's attorney points out, it's not made clear in the complaint how that was even moved along to Rashad, how that was even communicated to Rashad. So it will be interesting to see if this goes forward,

because if you are a college football gossip monger like myself, if that's the sort of thing that you enjoy all of the little granular details of stuff like this, you would like to see this thing go into depositions, into discovery, where you're going to get a little more of this dirt. I'm not sure if they're going to be able to find enough there to get it to that point. We'll find out.

Cause this is one like, again, Jay Rashad has nothing to lose here. If he gets a settlement, he'll get some money. That's, that's good for him. But if the defendants don't want to pay out,

if they would like to keep fighting this, I think they might have a chance to prevail. The question is, does it get to a point where other stuff's going to come out? And again, it's more just sort of the titillating aspects of this for those of us who like the real inside college football dirt. But other than that, I don't know what's going to happen in this case. So we'll find out. But we've covered every twist and turn so far, so we're going to keep it up. But yeah, that was the news on Tuesday.

All of those motions for dismissal were filed. Those are the responses to Jayden Rashad's lawsuit. So we'll wait a little bit longer, see what the judge says, see if the case moves forward. If it does move forward, then we get into the dirt stuff. But if not, then it dies there. One of the weirder, dumber scenarios in college football history. But it's still going for now. Also going for now, the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry. It has reinvigorated in the three years since Jim Harbaugh stood up on the stage

here at Big Ten Media Days and said, we're going to beat them or die trying. Now Michigan has won three in a row. Ohio State is trying to strike back. Ohio State will enter the season with massive expectations after going ham in the transfer portal. Getting Caleb Downs, getting Quenshawn Judkins. They are probably the best roster in the country.

And I can tell you right now, I know what you're saying. I see the wheels turning if you're not a Buckeye fan. You're like, okay, but are you going to be Mishy? Well, that's the question that Day and the Buckeyes got more or less in 50,000 different ways on Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days. We caught up with Spencer Holbrook of Letterman Row on Three's Ohio State site to talk about how they answered those questions. Spencer Holbrook of Letterman Row. Today was Ohio State Day at Big Ten Media Days. Let's be real about it. No offense to the other teams who came,

some of which might have very good years, but the Buckeyes are expected to win a national title here. It was very intentional, wasn't it? You have five teams that, okay, we'll let them talk, and then, wow, that's Ohio State. And everybody's waiting for the West Coast teams, and they'll start coming tomorrow. But this is the showcase for the Buckeyes here which I feel like a lot of America is tired of that already they're tired of the roster talk and all that how about you because you you serve an Ohio State fan audience are they tired of hearing about the the roster machinations and just ready for this to start well you're you should be glad I'm not a recruiting reporter

because that's a different conversation different exactly like when it comes to the current roster yes i think the ohio state fans are ready to see it yeah and that's a big big ask right to meet these expectations the one thing that i am just stunned by now having heard from ryan day heard from all three players they are not shying away from this thing like normally around this time of year, every coach, whether it's in the SEC, the coin term rat poison that Shaden uses and now Kirby uses and Kiffin uses, you hear it like, okay, we're just focused on the work now.

No, Ohio State is full steam ahead. I asked Ryan Day, you guys seem to be embracing this. And he said, well, the guys didn't come back for nothing. They didn't come back to just play play football they came back to win hardware and so if they're going to win hardware we have to meet the expectations and so there's no reason not to embrace those and so like for this team instead of you know hey we're going to get to work they're going to get to work and they know that the work has to be put in but they're also not going to shy away from like yeah yeah it's natty or bust like if we don't do this thing we didn't come

back we came back for nothing well in ohio state people don't like to hear this i don't think michigan people like to hear this either but yeah it sounds like michigan last year yeah very similar very similar tone and tenor going into the season so you and annie backstrom from letterman row caught up with ryan day at Big Ten Media Days. Let's watch that right now. We're here with the man who needs no introduction, Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day. Ryan, thanks for joining us. How was vacation? Everything good?

Were you thinking about vacation or were you thinking about third and three while you were away? Both. I really try to, you know, when it's time for vacation to be with the family and be present, but not easy to do. And, you know, we actually had an opportunity to kind of do both this year, you know, be with the team, but also kind of get away with the family some. And that's great. You know, had a good two week vacation there to get away and give a little perspective and change of scenery, which was good. Came back refreshed. When Denzel comes out, I think in March, and says, natty or bust, you hear Will Howard the last couple weeks say,

it's natty or bust. You hear that, I'm sure, but you also know that it's now time to tone that down a little and get to work. How do you convey that? You want the confidence in your guys, but also, it's not talking season anymore. You're about to get to work. How do you convey that to your guys?

Yeah, well, everyone's competitive, and that's the way I want those guys feeling that way you know that's yeah we'll wake up and those are our goals and uh but ultimately that that's all talk you know what matters is building a foundation and every team is different every team needs to be rebuilt and what matters is the foundation that's built any house or look at a pyramid you know you think about you know what's at the top but the truth is it's the foundation that's going to matter. And when we get to those big games, you know, the work that we're putting in now is going to be very, very important. So we've got to have a physical preseason.

And, you know, it's easy to look back on the past and try to, you know, figure out, you know, you know, or dwell on the past. But that doesn't do us any good. We've got to learn from it. It's the same thing about the future. Like, we can plan for it, but we've got to right now and we got to have a great summer. Now, the summer we've had to this point has been great. We've had great urgency. We had great purpose, but now we're making that transition to preseason where now the football begins. Ryan, you're here with Jack

Sawyer, who was your first commit when this all started way back when. What's that like to be here today with him? Well, to me, there's a lot of different leadership. And some people lead, you know, verbally. Some people lead different ways. Jack leads by his actions. And, you know, exactly right. Like, the thing is, Jack was the first to jump in and kind of lead that group through COVID. Jack was one of the first to decide to come back this year and kind of, you know, get the guys going in terms of getting the group to come back and

play this season and then forego the NFL draft. So Jack also is a Buckeye. He's from Ohio. He knows what all that means. So we think he's going to play his best football this season. Denzel, not from Ohio, but from Arizona, comes here, embraces Ohio State. When you're a national program like Ohio State, embracing guys that are from other parts of the country and seeing them kind of love Ohio State. What is that like over the course of a four year period? Well, we have to go get some of the best players in the country, and that means recruiting coast to coast. And now more than ever, you know, with the way the Big Ten is, you know, we're going to be a lot of different living rooms. But bringing guys in and have them understand what it means to be a Buckeye and understand the rivalry game and all those things. Denzel is completely bought into that. He understands that. A big part of that is, again, by actions. He decided to come back. He very easily could be

in the NFL right now. He decided to come back, and that speaks a lot to our culture and a lot to how much he cares about Ohio State. Is this the most difficult it has been to cut down and figure out who you're going to bring here, who you're going to have as captains? You've got so much leadership. What's that been like for you this summer to see all of those different leaders, different pockets of leadership take over the scene? It's a great problem to have, but you're exactly right. I spent a long time with Jerry, like, how are we going to choose three guys? And, you know, a little bit was random, and we're going to try to do a good job of,

and we have done a good job of getting some of the other guys out there to get them some exposure and do different things because there's a lot of guys that deserve to be at this. You know, probably 12 guys I could mention that deserve to be here today. And so, you know, it'd be interesting to see how the captain's vote goes. You've got, I think, nine days until you guys start training camp. Is there something that you have to get done in the next nine days, eight days before your head rises up from the pillow on day one of training camp and you say, okay, we're ready to go? Is there something that still needs to be done

in these next few days that shows you that you guys are ready? Yeah, yeah. No, not that it shows us. I feel like we are ready to go practice, but I also feel like these are great opportunities to get out there and be around each other, continue to build chemistry, get an opportunity to still work on football. During these kind of workouts that we're allowed nowadays, the NCAA has opened up. So that's good. Not wearing pads or anything like that, but preparing ourselves.

But then also this weekend, allowing our guys Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to get away a little bit, refresh, be ready to go because the preseason is going to be physical. I know it takes time to find the identity of a team, and you've talked about that. but what did you learn through these summer workouts about your team? They're close. They care about each other. They're not afraid of conflict. They'll call each other out. You know, if somebody sees something that they'll address it right then and there. And I think that shows trust because, you know, you can go after somebody and challenge them and know that there's enough trust there that you can hug them after the workout.

I saw that several times this summer. That's the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Ryan Day. Thank you, Ryan. You are the busiest man in Indianapolis today. We're just trying to keep up. Appreciate you guys. So a loose, relaxed Ryan Day. He's got some practiced anecdotes,

but I imagine it was very difficult to pick who he brought here this is this feels like a team with about 20 captains that's what i i think there could be 20 captains uh all the guys who returned have sacrificed in one way or another the ability to play professional football and be a professional athlete for one more year you've got caleb downs who i would even argue just joined the program and already showed the leadership needed to be in that leadership role. You've got a guy who people forget about, like a Cody Simon, who maybe would have been drafted a borderline draft pick, but he's a senior leader now, a potential captain.

That's an option. And so I don't feel as bad for Ryan Day as I feel bad for the players who have to vote on these things, because now they've got to make a decision. Ryan Day's only named three captains the last couple years. Urban used to name seven or eight a year. Maybe you get back to that. But trying to decide who was going to come be the spokespeople for this program today, it couldn't have been me. Yeah.

Jack Sawyer, Emeka Buka, Denzel Burke, they're the ones who came. And they seem pretty loose. They seem. And like you said they seem pretty loose. They seem. And like you said, they're facing this head on. They understand that these are the expectations and that's what they came back for. And I think you can't really look at that any other way because I covered a team. You mentioned Urban Meyer. I covered a team at Florida in 2009 where they were coming off a national title.

They were supposed to win another national title, but they didn't treat it like that. They didn't treat it like, oh, we're supposed to win the national. It was everything is just a slog. We can't admit that we're here to win the national title. We can't admit that one loss is the end of the world. It just fell apart on them when they lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship. It was a different era because that team probably would have played a 12 team playoff and won it i don't know if they would have won it they might have lost alabama again yeah but you know this is this is a situation where this team will get more mulligans potentially

than any national title favorite going into the season has ever gotten a chance to get yeah well credit to heather dennis vsb and for asking about the mulligan thing i say doesn't than any national title favorite going into the season has ever gotten a chance to get. Yeah, well, credit to Heather Dennis-Viespian for asking about the Mulligan thing. I would say he doesn't want the Mulligan. Right. Listen, they are as prideful as anybody. They don't want the Mulligan. And so, like, yeah, you get the Mulligan.

If you lose at Oregon, you're still going to make the college football playoff. If you lose to the Big Ten champion in the Big Ten championship game here in Lucas Oil Stadium, even if you lose to Michigan, and I can't Lucas Oil Stadium, even if you lose to Michigan. Yeah. Oh, I can't really say that. But if you lose to Michigan, you get the mulligan.

Well, guess what? Tough. This team doesn't want it. They just want to win every game. And, like, that's the thing is, like, I think there are programs around the country who probably look at that and say, okay, there's a grace period here. Right. Ohio State knows that but doesn't want to admit that

because they don't want to take the foot off the gas. Well, I feel like they lived without it for so long. Oh, yeah. Like, it's unacceptable to lose at Ohio State. It's just like Alabama. It's unacceptable to lose there, even if you have a mulligan. And it's like every year, who's the bubble team? It's Ohio State.

Every single year of the 14 playoff, Ohio State has been a factor, basically. Either they're in or they're on the bubble, or Alabama was in or on the bubble. Yes, absolutely and so ohio state fans know about the mulligan like if they had the mulligan they'd be in it every year so why not just not use that mulligan didn't need it last year why why does ohio state need it this year and i think that's the mindset here well and ryan day also got asked about the conference championship game which was crazy like it was like he you know he was watching my mailbag segment yesterday because we talked about this. We talked about somebody asked, does Ohio state

have to beat Michigan and win the big 10? And I'm like, I think they have to beat Michigan. I don't think they have to win the big 10, especially if you've beaten Michigan. Cause it probably means you're in the playoff and you can go try to win the national title then, which beat Michigan, win national title, feel like the two things you absolutely would want to get out of the season. But Ryan Day got asked about the Big Ten championship. And if conference championships in this era are going to be as valuable, had an interesting answer. I think it's a great question and a great point. I just think that we all know how important it is to win the conference,

and I think what that's meant to college football and the tradition of college football and playing in this stadium and the electricity of that weekend and what it means to win the conference, especially having 18 teams now, it just means so much. And to take that away would be a challenge. Now, when you look at it practically from a wider lens of the playoffs and everything, I can see the argument on both sides. But until then, you know, I'd like to play for the Big Ten championship

and win the Big Ten championship. It's just that experience you can't replicate. And it's one of those things that, you know, you don't forget. And it's an experience that, you know know i think our guys deserve to play he came very close to saying it just means more he did it's very close that would have been the ultimate feather in the cap for half the country almost half the college football i do yeah i like i think in birmingham there would have been a little victory lap around the office like Like, see, we got him. He did it.

We made him do it. Yeah, but I always think of the Big Ten as a little different. They're wired a little differently. And you win the SEC championship, you're the king of the three-letter chant. If you win the Big Ten, it really does mean something to win the Big Ten. It used to mean when there was one bowl game go to the rose bowl you went to the rose bowl and nobody else went anywhere and even with the changing landscape of college football i think the big 10 has done a good job of keeping the big

10 championship meaning something like ohio state let's take for example in 2012 ohio state was banned from correct wisconsin was eight and Right. And then won the Big Ten. What a championship game that was. And that was very important because you won the Big Ten. Penn State didn't make the college football playoff, but the night before, they won the Big Ten.

Even Ohio State only had one loss. The Big Ten has done a good job of making sure that it still means something. And Ryan Day's answer is as genuine as possible. He wants to win the Big Ten. He wants, even if he beats Michigan and wins a national title,

I think the Big Ten Championship Trophy will also be at that parade. He will celebrate it just as heavily. Well, and the thing is, if you talk to any of the players who are here, it doesn't matter what team they play for, you say, we're going to clear these tables, we're going to put football down on this

field and you can play right now they would all care about whether they want or not yeah like that that's the thing i i don't know that that all the fans understand when we talk about this because you get caught up in the logistics of well if you're the number five seed it might be better than being number two seat but they want to play to win. Like Herm Edwards, you play to win the games. They care deeply when they go on the field about whether they won or lost. Absolutely. Absolutely.

And I think that Ohio State has done a very good job this offseason of making sure. And Ryan Day talked about it a little bit today. You have to win the game. And that sounds super simple. But he was asked about turnovers. And do you have to have more turnovers, especially in the Michigan game? You lost a turnover battle last year. No, we don't have to have more turnovers. We just have to win the game.

It wasn't that the offense should have scored more points or the defense should have held them more. We just have to win the game. And it comes down to, did you win or did you lose? And it also works in the Big Ten. Did you win the Big Ten? No. Well, you could probably still win the national championship, the big 10 like did you win the big 10 no well you

can probably still win the national championship but right that year you didn't win the big 10 and next year when they hang those banners behind us it won't say ohio state and that's very important to this program yeah and this you know different program different place now because you got all these guys back but also different coaching staff a little bit. Yeah. Chip Kelly. Like that's the craziest thing. Like I want to go back a year and tap somebody on the shoulder and say,

okay, let me spin this out for you. Cause I remember we were here. It was the second day of big 10 media days last year that Colorado announced they were going to the big 12. Yes. And you're like, okay,

the PAC interview with you got bumped for that. Correct. Yes. And you're like, okay, the Pac-12. My interview with you got bumped for that. Correct. Correct. And you thought, okay, something might be up. Like this might be it for the Pac-12. But if I had gone to you a year and two days ago and said, we know UCLA is going to the Big 10, but Chip Kelly won't be coaching UCLA.

He will be the offensive coordinator at Ohio State. Without getting fired. Without getting fired. What would you have said? Yeah, it's crazy. I will admit, we walked in to the first practice that we had open after they hired Chip Kelly, and he made his way from Westwood. I looked out on the field, and I almost fainted.

I could not believe that I was seeing Chip Kelly with a blocko, and and he wasn't leading the team huddle. Cause he wasn't even head coach. Cause like, if you told me, uh, urban coached a couple of years at Ohio state and then left after the national, they hired like hot, you know, very hot guy from New Hampshire. Yeah. Chip Kelly took like, come in. It would not have been Ryan day that you would have thought post Oregon, you know, the Chip Kelly that we all knew and loved then as the head coach. I'd be like, okay, that makes sense. But if you tell me, like, no, he's just the offensive coordinator.

And by the way, his college quarterback is going to be his boss now. Like, I don't know, man. Like, it's just another wrinkle to this offseason. It was interesting hearing him talk about the division of labor because that's something that a lot of people have asked. And a lot of the reason for this is to give Ryan Day a chance to be more global yes as the head coach take a bigger bigger picture more holistic approach deal with the roster which is

something that all these coaches are saying i need more time to manage the roster do you think that is working out the way he he liked yes yeah i i've seen a little bit of a different ryan day um in the spring he was able to delegate and then walk around. He's doing running back drills. When Tony Alford left for Michigan, he was the running back's coach. Yeah. Until they got Carlos Laughlin, and then you saw him do some defensive back drills. He's doing the turnover drills instead of just working with quarterbacks.

Well, Chip Kelly's the quarterback's coach now. He doesn't trust anybody. He might not even trust his family more than he trusts Chip Kelly. So he handed his baby, the quarterback position, over to chip kelly and he's delegated well this summer you've seen him you know make those appearances he's had to make i saw him get on the whiteboard and talk offense at a coach's clinic i haven't seen that from him a little you know i think he's opening himself up a little more i don't know if he's got more time because yeah that ceo role oh it'll give you much more time i was gonna say, they will find a way to fill it.

He's got a lot of NIL meetings. He's got a lot of booster meetings. He's got a lot of football meetings that he's sitting in on. I think he's just a more well-rounded head coach. And this offseason has, I think, done wonders for the way that he is able to delegate and then also have eyes on the entire program. I wonder now, because the original plan was Bill O'Brien, and then Bill O'Brien gets the Boston College job, obviously.

But, you know, I don't. Would he have been as relaxed? No. Handing it over? Because Bill O'Brien, you kind of trust with quarterbacks, right? Bryce Young. Yeah, in a way. Got Matt McGloin in the NFL.

Yeah. I mean, hats off to him for that. But I don't. I don't think so. I really don't. And I didn't mean to interrupt you there. No, no, no. I understand.

It is very quickly like a no. Because I saw Ryan Day last year contemplate it for an entire offseason. Am I going to give it up? Am I going to give it up? Is Brian Hartland ready for this? And this is not a knock on Brian Hartland at all. Ryan Day talked about today, though. It is hard to give it up.

You make a play. And then you practice a play. And then you put it in. And you have to call it at the perfect time. And when you call it at the perfect time and you score a touchdown, it's like the most exhilarating thing ever. And he loves that feeling. And giving that up last year was just a bridge too far for him.

And now he got to hire Chip Kelly, his mentor, to take that over. Like, hey, I trust you, Chip. Here's my play sheet. Bill O'Brien, good offensive play caller, very experienced coach. He's coached with some of the best coaches ever that trust level still wasn't going to be there and so i just i don't see a way that he would have given it up as easily he still would have had i think at least a thumbprint on that that play sheet whereas i think he's fully giving it up now and saying

chip this is yours yeah and i I think that should help him. It's interesting because we go back and forth on this, and it's different for different people. I talk about it with Hugh Freeze at Auburn. Hugh Freeze should have never given up calling plays last year. They'll be better because he's calling plays. But Ryan Day, you're giving up calling plays so Chip Kelly can call plays in the offense you created that you learned from Chip Kelly.

Yes. And, you know, I think about it. You know, Jim Harbaugh had to give up a lot of offensive control to start beating Ohio State. Yeah. And eventually, as a head coach, you have to evolve. Ryan Day has evolved on so many levels. He's evolved on NIL. He's evolved on the way that he recruits.

He's evolved on staff structure and getting rid of a special teams coordinator and delegating those things. Well, he's evolving a little bit further into that CEO role, and I think that's important for him. And you saw what it did for Jim Harbaugh. And I'm not saying that it's apples to apples, but I do think that there's a little bit of a parallel there where, hey, once Jim Harbaugh gave up those play-calling duties,

you really saw him be able to be a head coach. And I think Ryan Day is going to be a head coach this year. Sometimes the head coach doesn't even need to be there. Sorry. Too soon? Too soon. Hey, they've got a decent offensive coordinator that can fall back on Ohio State.

That's true. Can you imagine? Oh, God. Stop, stop. There's a Connor Stallions documentary coming out. We don't need any more excitement than that. That's enough for now. But, all right, speaking of Ohio State's offense, though,

at what point are they going to admit Will Howard's the quarterback? Yeah, it's interesting. I think Ryan Day's done a great job smoothing this thing over. Yeah. He didn't do it with the ACC coaches. Four ACC coaches brought two quarterbacks to me. Yeah, no, he's not bringing a quarterback. Yeah. And he didn't do with the ACC coaches for ACC coaches brought two quarterbacks to me. Yeah, no, he's not bringing a quarterback.

Yeah. And he's not bringing he wasn't going to bring two, but he did a great job of smoothing things over. And I know that sounds to people out there that don't follow Ohio State like he just kept these guys around so they wouldn't go in the portal. No, he wanted this thing open. And I think it's going to be open these first couple weeks of camp. I think he wants to see Will Howard take that job over and I it's going to be a little difficult for Will because Will's

the kind of guy who puts the pads on and is better in full contact because he's kind of a brute yeah he's 240 the way we saw him at the beginning of March into the end of April I thought was a big step I think you're going to see another good step for him he the way that people talk about him sources you know through the building talk about his leadership the way he is in the weight room I think that's going to shine the next first couple weeks of camp and I think by the second or maybe midway through the third week of camp you'll see that bandit get ripped off and I think you'll see Will Howard as a starter yeah and Devin I feel bad for because he got hurt early in the bowl game I feel like we didn't get we didn't get a chance to see what he really can do but they have gotten a chance to see what he can do in practice and yeah if will howard beats

him out he beats him out yeah you know he's a good player you can't fault him for that there's a reason that charles power those guys named him the number one overall player in the 2022 class but the experience of will howard the way that he can extend plays you know that texas game the will howard texas i love watching that he He's like top-level competition, a great defense, a great pass rush, and he was just a gamer. And you need somebody who I think is a gamer in this offense because you don't need him to be spectacular down-to-down. It's just like, hey, one game out of the year,

you're going to need that guy to win you a game, and he can win you a game. I also think what they can do with his legs should keep defenses fairly honest because we know their running game is going to be good yes we know with trayvon henderson and quinchot judkins they're going to be able to run the ball but the idea that in a read option mesh this six foot four or six five 240 pound dude might just keep it himself and oh by the way he's pretty fast too i do feel like that is going to to weigh on the minds of

opposing defensive coordinators yeah and ryan did touch on a little bit today where they were reluctant to let justin fields run because the quarterback depth chart was flat out bad then they were real guys on this they were reluctant to let cj stroud run because the quarterback depth chart was shaky last year with kyle they weren't sure with devon then he was hurt yeah you got five scholarship quarterbacks this year and i think there year. I think four of them are probably ready to play if they absolutely needed to in a pinch. So you can be not reckless, but a little more foot on the gas with these quarterback runs, because you know that the guy behind him is probably pretty good. So you said four ready to go. So would sander air nolan be the the freshman of those

four i would say julian is probably the freshman of those four julian showed us some things that i don't see from any freshman ever um in practice and you know it probably helps you stone jeremiah smith some but um who got a lot of buzz today but i do think that julian showed enough where like if it was a break glass in case of emergency he he could go in there against, you know, a Purdue or an Indiana. I don't know if he could go in there against an Oregon and win, but against those programs, I think he could probably go in there and be okay. You mentioned Jeremiah Smith. That's a name that came up quite a bit with the veteran guys from Ohio State.

How excited are they to unleash him on the world? I don't know. Is this a program where I can repeat Jack Sawyer's words? Oh, yeah. Okay. Jack Sawyer said, I needed to see him in practice. And he was a five-star just like I was. But I needed to see him.

And if he didn't play, that's okay. I never thought about, like, if you've been a five-star yourself, like, I don't. And then he said, I saw him in the first practice, and I said, holy shit, this guy's good. Yeah. And when somebody who's been a five-star says that about a freshman, that's saying something. And Denzel Burke, like, Denzel Burke is a guy who in March said, yeah, I still need to see something from Will Howard.

Like, just brutally honest. I mean, like, the most honest guy on the team. He said today, the world needs more honesty, and I'm going to be the guy to do it. So, you know, that's how honest he is. He said, yeah. Who's your favorite receiver to go against in practice? He said, JJ already. Why? Because he's that guy. And like, that's the senior corner who's supposed to be a Thorpe finalist. Right. Who's going to probably challenge Will Johnson for first team, all big 10. He wants to go against the true freshman wide receiver against the true freshman wide receiver because the true freshman wide receiver makes him that much better.

Right, and Emeka Abuka's still on the team. Colonel Tate's still on the team. These are guys that are accomplished college receivers. Yes. And that's who he wants. Yeah, because he wants to go against the best. That's scary. Ryan Day also.

I have not seen Ryan Day act like this. I asked him personally. I said, what do you think about J.J.? And he said, I'm going to keep my mouth shut. I don't want to comment on it. He was just smiling because he doesn't want to set the expectations too high. Yeah. But he also knows what the deal is.

He knows who the guy is. Well, going back to old Urban Meyer stories, that's what he was like with Percy Harvin. You knew from practice number one, from the second he touched a football, he was better than everybody else on the field. Yeah. Even as a true freshman and urban, like could not contain his glee. Like I get this guy.

He just couldn't. Yeah. Yeah. Like, and, and I think that's based on whatever, what I've heard about JJ Smith. That's where they are with him. Yeah. I got it. They were doing a scrimmage. I think it was the first week in April.

I just reached out to one of the sources like mid scrimmage. I think it was the first week of April. I just reached out to one of the sources, like mid-scrimmage. And I said, hey, how's it going? He said, as I'm texting you, Jeremiah just mossed one of our best corners. I won't put him out like that. But one of our best corners, you should have been here. And it was like, that's happening just like behind closed doors every single day. And now, like, sorry, Akron. Sorry, Western Michigan. First couple weeks of the year like

you want to set the tone like throw one up to him yeah you forget that this is not a year where Ohio State has that schedule was up on the screen that schedule was up on the screen and like if you put Jeremiah against a Matt corner I pray for that Matt corner like that is that's going to be something because Jeremiah is is ready to play against the best corners in the country cannot wait to see. Cannot wait to see it. Can't wait to see what happens at Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday. When we come back, we'll talk a little more Buckeyes with our friend Jeff Schwartz, who he played at Oregon,

but didn't play in the Big Ten. It's very confusing because Oregon's in the Big Ten, but he didn't play in the Big Ten, but he played at Oregon. But Jeff will join us to talk more Buckeyes and the West Coast invades Indianapolis. So we'll be talking a little USC at Big Ten Media Days. And yes, that feels weird to say. We'll be right back. We're joined now by the great Jeff Schwartz, Big Ten Media Days, former Big Ten star, Jeff

Schwartz. Yes. He played at Oregon. Yeah. It's just very different than, Big Ten Media Days. Former Big Ten star, Jeff Schwartz. You played at Oregon. Yeah, it's just very different than my... Four-year days in the Big Ten, like. This is very different than my Pac-12 Media Day experience. Pac-12 Media Day, it was one day, which I don't mind. The one day is kind of nice. Right.

It's a long day, but it's one day. It's in a hotel ballroom. We're at a football stadium using the entire field. Like, there's the entire field is up for all this, this and it's three days and a lot of media members here that we don't quite get in the PAC 12 footprint. Well, but is it, how strange is it that like on Wednesday,

you're going to be talking to Lincoln Riley at big 10 media days. Yeah. I don't know. He didn't send in yet. I mean, I think it will set it when conference games start. But, yeah, I mean, you look out right above us and they have all the teams here.

The honest thing was, I think I mentioned this to you earlier today, was when they were rolling through the all-time awards in the Big Ten. Mark Carrier. Yeah, Mark Carrier up there and players that, you know, obviously never played in the Big Ten Conference. Like, that was odd to me to see that. You know, they're going to claim that Caleb Williams, Heisman, and Marcus Mariota, Heisman.

Nothing wrong with that. But I think it will sit in when we actually play games. Yeah. Because right now it's just a lot of talk, and we haven't even played these games. It will sit in. I think the first one is probably week four, I think, between the Pac-12, former Pac-12 school.

Yeah. Yeah, they make you wait a little bit. A little bit, yeah. But this is – it's interesting because Ohio State was here on Tuesday. They are the runaway favorite in the conference. And it's interesting that they put them with a bunch of teams that you're not worried about. Correct. Them competing with Ohio State.

So sort of like Ohio State all all day like can they beat michigan how as someone who was not involved in the discourse of this conference how how have you enjoyed the can you beat michigan can you finally do this i mean look ben hartzog asked that question not not me or ben hartzog former buckeye who you work with serious xm so he can do that you know i just think probably day is just tired of it i mean right like he's tired of it but that's where the expertise are of the program that's the important part when we talk about like what is a good year for a certain team right yeah one year purdue winning six games would be like unbelievable right even rutgers getting to eight wins this year or nine which they very good schedule was actually super easy i

actually we were talking about rutgers i made an over wager on their win total they no michigan no organ no ohio nope and no yeah and, their total is seven and a half, right? It's six. It's six. Oh, okay. I knew it was absurdly low. They could win. They could theoretically win nine. Yes. So, but it's about expectations, right? And Ohio state and Oregon and Penn state and Michigan in this conference, it's almost playoff or bust. Right. And so when you have Ohio state, the first thing to getting that entry playoff or bust, right? And so when you have Ohio State,

the first thing to getting that entry is typically beating Michigan. You beat Michigan, you're in the Big Ten championship game, you win that game, you're in the playoff. Now, obviously, the 12-team playoff is a little bit different. But if you lose to Michigan and make a playoff, your fans are not going to like that. Like, you have to beat Michigan. And Oregon has to beat Washington.

I think you have to beat Michigan, or you have to win the national title. Correct, yes. It's not just lose to Michigan and make the playoff. That's not good enough. Absolutely. So the explanation for them, and I understand Ryan Day is probably tired of answering those questions, but that's all people care about because you're going to beat everyone else.

You might have an upset. It's college football. But the one game that misses Michigan, and they just won a championship. It's no surprise that Ohio State went even harder in the portal and high school recruiting after the rival went to championship. There's no surprise behind it. When Oregon State won two baseball championships, Oregon brought back baseball.

It even happened since 1983. There's something with the rival. If Washington would have won last year, Oregon would have spent even more than they already have to rebuild that roster. So the expectations are so high for them that that's the goal. Washington would have won last year. Oregon would have spent even more than they already have to rebuild that roster. So the expectations are so high for them that that's the goal. First is beating Michigan, Big Ten Championship, playoff championship.

Yeah, and that's the thing. I think if he beats Michigan, it just takes so much pressure off. Everything gets back to him. Because you look at Ryan Day's record. He's great. He's been fantastic. Was it 59-6? Yeah, but he's lost three times in a row to it. Cause you look at Ryan day's record. It's great. He's been fantastic. Was it 59 and six or 57? He's lost three, three times in a row to Michigan.

And I think that three years ago at this event, Jim Harbaugh stood up there and said, we're going to beat them or die trying. Right. Like I was hoping day would come up here and say that he didn't, he was very reserved. He doesn't have that personality. I don't think not yet.

Yeah. Maybe more braggadocious later when he starts, he's still the thing about that's really difficult for people to understand is the timeline for first-time coaches. A lot of coaches that have won championships get an opportunity to coach at a place where you don't expect to win a championship first. Right. Right?

Like, even Saban was at Michigan State. Like, they didn't expect to win a championship there as a head coach. Urban Meyer, who's won two championships, he was at Bowling Green first, right? They don't expect him to win. It was Bowling Green, Utah. If you're not somewhere beforehand, it takes you, Kirby Smart, six years.

Dab over 10 years. Yeah, Kirby is the one I was going to give you. Because Kirby played the national title game in year two. Correct. And everybody's like, this guy doesn't know what he's doing. Year three, he has that fake punt in the SEC championship game. and everybody's like this guy doesn't know what he's doing year three he has that fake punt in the sec championship game he's like this guy doesn't know what he's doing he's never gonna make it and this is why i tell people like it's now time ryan day is year seven i think right you're seven 19 you're eight i believe um but nonetheless oh you're seven with the talent he has and now having coached for so many years

been in playoff he He's played Michigan now. He's playing big 10 championship games. It's time for him to take the next step up to win, to be a playoff team, but also winning playoff games where I look at someone like Dan Lanning is his third year ever as a head coach, ever as a head coach, 22 and five,

the expectations for Oregon are such as high as Ohio state. But I can understand if in year three, they weren't as good as they might be in year six under Dan Lanning. You actually brought up the Oregon-Washington rivalry earlier. Dan Lanning losing three times to Kalen DeBoer. When you look at Kalen DeBoer's history, winning at a lot of places already. Oh, it's the NIA. People forget. He went into an NIA program where he was expected to compete

for national championships right off the bat, and he did. He won three, yeah. Yeah. And then he gets to Washington, and they go, what? I think they won. They lost one last year, and they won two the year before. So he lost. So he was, what, 20?

What was that? Like, I can't do it. 23-3, something like that, in two years at Washington. So I think there's moments. I think privately, Lanning would tell you, hey, you know know maybe i was a little bit not out coach the wrong word but the coaches on their side had seen more football than i have right and i asked deborah about that last year and he's like the situations are the same the scope is different correct the amount of people watching is different but he's like i went through all that stuff at University of Sioux Falls. I remember hearing this from you.

Yeah, and it was so brilliant thinking about that. Like, oh, yeah. Like, the fourth and three decision that you make at Sioux Falls is no different than the fourth and three decision you make at Washington. Yeah, and that's what Ryan Day is sort of going through right now. So that's why I think it's time for Ohio State to take that next jump. Just Oregon is not in their way, but they've got to go to Austin Stadium, which is a tough place to play.

And then I would imagine there would be a rematch back over here at some point late in December or early December, I should say. But it was interesting because when you talk to – when we got a chance to talk to Purdue, Northwestern, Illinois, what they say is a good year is different than what Ohio State says is a good year. Of course. Yeah. I mean, Ryan Day said it up on the stage.

He said, you know, watch what happens when you lose a game at Ohio State. It's like the world is ending basically for him. But that's the expectation. And when you look at that roster, it's fair to expect them to win the national title. The defense is incredibly loaded. The question mark, I think, is a little bit of the offensive line at times. And then, you know, Howard. Howard's been good.

I don't know if he is good enough to win a championship. He might elevate, by the way. I'm not saying he can't do it yet. But Chip Kelly's offense is not going to rely on him to do that. That's not what Chip Kelly's done over the years. People think Chip Kelly and see Marcus Mariota and some of the – he's a run-first coach. They're going to run the football.

They're going to run the football, protect Howard. I envision in my head, when you get to the last game of the season and someone raises the trophy up, do I see Will Howard doing that? Do I see Dylan Gabriel doing that? I'm not sure I would have ever said Stetson Bennett was doing that, but their defense was that good. And Ohio State's defense, I think, can be that good to where Will Howard can be that guy at the end of the season.

It's still the most bizarre thing to me that good. And Ohio State's defense, I think, can be that good to where Will Howard can be that guy at the end of the season hosting the championship. It's still the most bizarre thing to me that the two quarterbacks of the favorites in this conference are there because they were beaten out by young guys at their previous place. Yes. I think Dylan Gabriel is better than we give him credit for.

I've seen videos of highlighting his arm. Oh, I agree. I just think they think Jackson Arnold is that good. Of course. But it's kind of funny because like i go to sort of is is dante more which he won't play this year don't get real right but is dante more more of that championship winning quarterback than dylan gabriel and that's and again that would be the same thing like he could be now by young guys he won't he's not gonna lose a job this year but like that's important to discussion as quarterback play right as will howard good enough to win championships dylan gabriel good enough in those moments to win a

championship with you have a house in oregon defensively that helps out because defensively you can rely on those guys well and oregon's offensive line too i think is a huge advantage ohio state that's the one place you're not entirely sure how good they're going to be. They have the same office line every year. Super athletic, needs to probably punch people in the mouth a little bit better. Yeah. And they've had that year over year. But they're still good. I mean, they often are semifinalists for Joe Moore Award or midseason honor roll.

But, yeah, take that next step, especially against Oregon. Again, the funny thing about the season for Oregon and Ohio State is, like, they have the same sort of thing. They play each other October 12th. The season will be defined by that game. They both have issues to look at. They both will be exposed in that game if they have a problem. So I can't wait for that weekend, October 12th, man.

And we got USC's hosting Penn State that weekend as well. That's probably the night game, I think, because Texas-Oklahoma's at 3.30 now. I think Ole Miss plays someone. They'll play at noon, I would imagine. I believe that's the Ole Miss-LSU game. And then Oregon will play 7.30, I think, for the NBC primetime game. So it's

a great weekend. I'm not going to a game that week. I'm strapping myself to my couch. It's actually Yom Kippur on that day, too. How are you going to handle that? I'm not going to tell you that, I guess. It's a long way to get there, though. But, no, it's going to be a season-defining game for both teams. So, you mentioned USC.

Yeah. Lincoln Riley's coming here. Miller Moss is coming here. Yeah. What does Lincoln Riley have to do this year to get us to kind of believe in him again? It's a great question. I mean,

I think they have to show physicality on defense. Um, do you tackling better? I don't think there's, I don't think their record is going to be much better. I don't see eight. I mean, eight and four probably is sort of,

it's a tough schedule. Their wind total seven and a half, I think, which is telling you where they're at right now. Uh, but what I want to see is, Lincoln Riley admitted this offseason, the portal thing in the offensive line is not the way to go, which

I've been saying for years now. You can add additions in the portal, but you can't build the entire unit up there. So he finally admitted that, which means now it's going to take two or three years to build those units up to be competitive. But I want to see defensively, can you tackle?

And as the season goes on, and then this is something that again it's gonna take a couple years to figure out like they need just bigger humans to play defensive line they have small players yes so then you get bigger because that's what alex gritch always wanted so to me it's not even about like wins and losses this year it's about the physicality of the team offensively last year the offense was very out of sorts it was very out of rhythm it was actually an offense void of a lot of pro guys not like hitter williams right like we look at oklahoma what he did with all the wide receivers they've had there he only had jordan addison really is a it's a legit like yeah yeah bernard rice got drafted, but a legit.

And going into this year, they have some guys. They're younger. Yeah, Zachariah Brandt. And I think that the tight end, the big tight end, what's his name? He was good last year as well. But they're still young, though. So it's developing the offense into what Riley used to be, which goes back to the physicality up front.

To run the football, which is what they do in Oklahoma, they need to play better up front. So I'm judging their season based off of what I see in the film. Maybe not so much wins and losses. So if that defense is tackling by the end of the year, or still tackling by the end of the year, because I go back to the Utah Pac-12 championship game. They couldn't tackle Seoul.

Couldn't tackle anybody. And that was Utah's-12 championship game. Couldn't tackle soul. Couldn't tackle anybody. And that was Utah's third string tight end. That play was just, that summed up everything for me. And I remember I wrote that column that night, like Lincoln Riley has to decide what kind of program he wants to run, basically. And it sounds like he has realized that.

Like you said, you've got to have bigger. Now, the Alex Grinch thing, it always amazed me. I remember going to Washington State when he was the D.C. there. He was great there. Well, they had Hercules Mata off. It was like 225-pound D-tackle. But at Washington State, you have to play that way. You have to be small.

You're not going to get big players. You're going to be smaller. You're going to move a bunch. USC's problem was they're small, but also they were out of position so often because they blitz so much and when you blitz like you do especially in the run game if i can seal you off you're out to the house like you have to get to certain places if guy is going here you got to go there right so um i i wonder if he embraces those changes it comes down to practice habits too man yeah you gotta hit in practice gotta be physical in practice um so i'm curious to see how they do this year you know they don't

have a kayla williams miller moss who won the bowl game i wonder if uh if my ava will play at all i don't think it's a quarterback competition i don't think it feels like miller moss is the guy and my ava was good for unlv last year but it feels more like they're they're grabbing him as a qb the future potentially but they also have um what's his face the the uh Malachi Malachi Nelson's in Boise State now so you're right he did transfer yeah the Lewis kid who committed he might be we'll see he's committed right now I know Colorado's making a frequent topic of conversation on this show I find recruiting so fascinating um you know Dan Rubenstein of course solid verbal um may have the longest running cultural podcast podcast. It just started in 2008.

The original college football podcast. It was like, he got me into recruiting three years ago, and it's not been good for my health. He is legit. I am down. You need to copy the on three subscription. I will take one of those. I am down message board madness, and it's the crystal ball.

I saw Steve here earlier. I don't know how these guys do it. Oh, so last week was a bad week for you with DJ Pickett picking LSU. No, but here's the thing about it. We'd all said, oh, he's going to Oregon. He's going to Oregon. But bad is relative because in three months he might come to Oregon. True. That's the thing about this.

And also, he might, you know, we lost Dante Moore last year. He's now on our roster. That's true. So it's all an ebb and flow of recruiting. But this game used to be more X and O's. Yeah. Like you can out scheme someone. Yeah.

When I was, when I chipped Kelly at Oregon, we out scheme teams. Right. We just did. Out template out scheme. Went to Michigan and just destroyed them with scheme. Yeah. Correct. And we're faster.

But nowadays it is about scheme. You gotta be able to coach, but it's about having enough players. Yeah. You have to have dudes. And Oregon's getting those dudes. Ohio State has those dudes. Yeah, Dan Lanning, he can send pressure the heck out of teams, and he certainly did that a lot last year.

But in the end, you have to just have better players. And this game has come down to that. And USC, back to USC, they don't have those players right now. Which is amazing to me. Because when Pete Carroll was there, they did. I know. I played those teams. It was hard um but the thing about usc is a good i think reminder around college

football that you have to always adapt and i'm from southern california i know usc my entire life my parents are bruins i've i've once played the pac-12 did pack your brother played for cal is that the the kids now do not care what happened in 2005. They like Reggie Bush, certainly do. But you have to recruit and talk about now. Yeah. Talk about now. Because now is what people care about.

A lot of these programs are so stuck in the past, man. What happened 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 40 years ago, that's not now. And USC, I think with the hire of riley they sort of stepped out of that because for so many years they just hired usc guys right and usc ads were always tied to like yep and you're like why is pat hayden ad why is you know it's like it never made sense so they have i think for so many years andy they were so like we're usc people are coming to USA. It's USC.

And they're not anymore. So you have to try harder to recruit players. Yeah, and I think the wake-up call for Riley probably was right when he got there because they're going after Josh Connerly, who is a big-time recruit, and Lanning gets him. He's now Oregon's left tackle. Yeah, that was Lanning's first big recruiting win. And that's who USC could really use right now.

Oh, yeah. And also, putting guys in the NFL is hugely important to a lot of these players. And you look at USC's draft picks over the last 10 years, some good wide receivers. Yeah. Caleb. Yeah, I think he'll be good. Yeah.

But that's it. I mean, like, Oregon's putting dudes out every year. Right. And this year they're going to have, you know, two offensive linemen drafted. So USC has got to get back to getting pro bodies and getting those pro guys drafted. Yeah, and that's what, you know, since you've been down the recruiting rabbit hole, you know, like, they had this hot streak of commits, especially on the D-line. Those dudes have all flipped.

They were never – that was like fool's gold. Those kids from the South would not go to USC if Georgia was calling them. But it's funny because the kids from the South used to go to you. Like literally in Daytona Beach, Florida. Going to USC. The equation is so different now, right? Because NILs. And I do not believe that every kid goes to school for money.

Right. I think that's a huge misconception about the NIL. There are certain kids. Certainly the school for the money. Yes. 90% of them do not the money's there of course but everything else is important being recruited by georgia ohio state usc texas nebraska everybody the money's the competitive offers are competitive yeah like you just you're picking between competitive off correct and so but if you're again going back to development right like when pete care was at usc the team I played in 07,

the team we beat, all 11 guys got drafted on defense and their backups got mostly drafted, right? So like, you know, the offensive line was Everson Griffin, Lawrence Jackson, to be defensive line, Lawrence Jackson, Philly Mawla, Cedric Ellis, Ray Mauluger, Keith Rivers, Brian Cushing, Matthews, Taylor Mays. So like, so when you watch a USC game back then, you're like, okay, that guy's going to the NFL.

And players want to go to the NFL. Yeah. So when they're choosing a team, if you're Georgia, you say, hey, defensive lineman, guess what? You come here and go to the NFL. Yeah. And Oregon right now, you look at Kalen Thibodeau and Herbert, obviously, and Panay Sewell.

I mean, like you're getting these guys now, high-level NFL players. They're able to tell kids, if you come to Oregon, we'll develop you. First-round cornering in Gonzalez as well. Like that matters to players. And USC's got to get back to having those players on campus so more people see them in that way. Yeah, and it's funny because it's a chicken-egg thing because you've got to get those guys and then get them in the NFL. And then the floodgates really open.

Yes. How do you do that you recruit big bodies and you try to develop them and that's what you have to do which I know sounds simple enough but I think that you know where Lincoln Riley and Alex Grinch on defense just didn't develop guys I think offensively they developed guys yeah but defensively they just never did so another one I wanted to ask you about is Washington because you you followed Jed Fish closely at Arizona I feel like everybody assumes that Washington's going to just disappear into the ether because the team that played for

the national title most of the starters are gone but I mean Jed Fish is starting so far ahead of where he started at Arizona this feels like a much easier rebuild than Arizona uh it does I'm gonna find I have this picture that i uh you find i sent a bunch of guys like the washington depth chart and just like every single player i crossed out that was on their team last year it's like not there anymore um because that's the hardest part i think is like you return i think three guys on defense at year 22 yeah or you're 44 like that's it yeah you everyone is replaced and so jetfish has to build up a culture and an environment from scratch. And that's the hardest part.

It took them Arizona three years. Obviously, different situation. One win to ten wins. But they just, to the point of talent, they just need to rebuild all that. Guys, Washington last year had first-round quarterback, obviously, two offensive linemen drafted in the first two rounds. First-round receiver. First-round receiver, two second-round receivers, I believe.

Yep. They will have an NFL running back, tight ends that are in camp. They had a pass rusher that got drafted, two other guys, a linebacker. They were so pro talented they don't have that right now and so he's got to figure it out but jet fish has shown arizona that he can do it the question becomes obviously if your alma mater comes calling um and also his alma mater yes and then washington has to has to has to figure out what happens if that happens again i i don't know i think they put a pretty big buyout on him so it's gonna be it's gonna be

pretty tough but yeah the the thing i think about, with that is a lot of the Washington backups stayed because they realized, I can start for Washington. Sure. And those are guys that DeBoer or even Jimmy Lake. Jimmy Lake was a good recruiter. Yeah, I think all the Peterson guys are gone. Yeah, the Peterson guys are all gone. But Lake recruited well.

But Lake recruited well, just didn't coach him that well. No. DeBoer recruited well. Well, he Peterson guys are all gone. But Lake recruited well. But Lake recruited well, just didn't coach him that well. No. DeBoer recruited well. So I do think... Well, he recruited okay. Right. His Alabama recruiting probably turned full of Washington fans. Slightly different. Yeah, slightly different. Slightly different level. He just had a very veteran team last year. So the Jets fans are starting from over.

But they're not going to two wins. Right. But I think they're very capable for being 6-6 or 5-7. It could be... There's no depth, man. Nobody has any depth. Except for Ohio State. I think it's an interesting drop. Washington is interesting to me, too.

The Joe Moore Award, which I'm part of. It's the offensive line award. We give it to the best offensive country. We bring this 300-pound trophy and we put it in your facility. Michigan, for example, won two years in a row. It sat in the weight room for two years. It did not move. Washington's is in the weight room for two years, did not move. Well, Washington's is in the indoor facility. I believe they don't have anyone on the team that played on the office

line last year and their office line coach is gone. So there's Joe Moore. We're just sitting in there without any of the players that are there to earn it. So they just have a lot of building to do. Yeah. And you don't have anybody to teach. Hey, this is why we want it.

This is how we want it. Yes. That is tough but i i just i i have faith in fish as long as he's there he can coach to get it done to coach yeah but all right so interesting day on tuesday lots of different types of games coming in now that you're a big 10 medium yeah now you're big 10 legend yes who are you most excited to talk to um well i i have a i just like jonathan smith and i think i think that people are gonna find out um we all said he's done a good job at oregon state but people i don't think understood what

that meant aiden charles a hard jayden charles can ball yeah like he's a legit quarterback so i want to come on here from him just, like, how he plans to sort of build that up fast. And then, you know, Kurt Ferentz, I think, is going to get a lot of questions about his offense. Yeah. Like, just figuring out sort of how – I'm sure he'll be ornery about it, but it is what it is.

But am I crazy to think they could be very good this year? Like, if their offense is adequate. If they average 25 points a game, yes. Like, they could be 10 and 2 i don't look at their schedule but yes when you see it you'll go it's certainly yeah they got a good draw it's certainly doable yeah um and so i'm curious to just hear about his offensive plans yeah i i am too and i i want to know and i don't know if they'll say this how much of what brian ran was because kirk told him to and how much I don't know if they'll say this, how much of what Brian ran was because Kirk told him to

and how much of it was because if you ask the Iowa people, they'll tell you, hey, Kirk kind of let Brian do his thing. We'll see if he lets Tim Lester do his thing. That hampers a lot of coaches, right? Yeah. And what's interesting about the Iowa session, they win a lot of games anyways. I know.

They win a ton of games. But it's always that offense that holds them back. You know, coaches get in their own way. He's a, Kurt Ferentz is an offensive line guy. He's always going to want to run the football. That's where they got to get better too. Their offensive line has taken a big drop the last couple of years. Well, we're going to find out.

You're going to talk to all these guys. I'm going to talk to all these guys. Big 10 legend, Jeff Schwartz. I love it. The great Jeff Schwartz. We didn it. The great Jeff Schwartz. We didn't even get into the video game. Jeff and I talked offline for a solid 15 minutes about offensive strategy in the video game. And let me tell you, it is humbling to hear

how someone who played offensive line in the NFL for a long, long time figures out how to easily destroy young children at video game football when I, an adult who did play football, but not at that level or anywhere close to it, cannot quite figure that out with my 14-year-old. But Jeff is a... We'll have him back on. Because I think we just need to have a strategy session on the video game with people who truly understand football.

Because Jeff is just talking about, like, you're just spreading. He's looking at receiver splits in the formation. When he decides how to run, he's making sure the boxes are as light as humanly possible. He's just goading you into letting him run all day. And, of course, he's an offensive lin goading you into letting him run all day. Of course, he's an offensive lineman. He just wants to run all day. But we'll talk to him about that later.

But Jeff is so much fun because as a former Oregon offensive lineman, all of this is as weird to him as it is to all of us. It's like the idea that USC is going to be at Big Ten Media Days today. It's mind-blowing, but it's here. Iowa also will be at Big Ten Media Days today. It's just, it's mind-blowing, but it's here. Iowa also will be at Big Ten Media Days. On Tuesday, a noted Iowa alum was at Big Ten Media Days. Of course, that is Illinois head coach Brett Bielema. And as you know, if you've followed Brett Bielema's career through his head coaching stints at Wisconsin and Arkansas and now at Illinois. Coach Bielema's got an Iowa tattoo. He's got a tiger hawk on his

leg. And he gets asked all the time about, well, why don't you, are you going to remove it? Are you going to, you're going to cover it up? And he's like, no no it's part of me he talked again on tuesday about why he keeps that there did because you want like it's part of who you want yeah could you tell that part of the story yeah well yeah i always say it's if zell and i deal when i was 19 uh was a rainy saturday in iowa city there and a hell of a lot going on so somebody said let's get a tattoo and we did it i had to go up to Cedar Rapids. But, you know, I didn't really think I was ever going to be the head coach at Wisconsin or Illinois in my future.

But I say it to our players all the time. I never met a successful person who wasn't proud of where they came from, right? And that was part of my playing time and my coaching. A lot of who I am today was developed while I was there, so that represents that. We have some fun with it. I remember I tell the story, we had a defensive lineman my first year there in the spring. I was walking out there with my, obviously it was warmer, so I had shorts on with my shoes, and he's like, coach, you already got an Illinois tattoo? And I looked at him, I said, yep, that's an Illinois tattoo, right? He didn't know there was a tiger hawk in the middle.

He didn't quite figure that part out. But he was one of our stronger academic performers. But I think about that all the time. You ain't getting that from Kirk Ferentz on Wednesday. Though I do want to hear from Kirk Ferentz on Wednesday because I think Iowa might be kind of good this year. And Lincoln Riley's going to be here. And Matt Rule's going to be here. And Matt Rule's going to be here.

And James Franklin's going to be here. It's going to get spicy in Indianapolis. Talk to you tomorrow.