Andy & Ari On3 - Jake Dickert wants to WIN NOW and build at Wake Forest

Episode Date: February 20, 2025

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This show is brought to you by Panini America, makers of the most collectible sports cards on the planet. They've got the Prism football card series featuring a vibrantly parallel base set and an insert Ross for fishing college football's brightest former and current superstars. I already have a pack of prison draft picks right here. We ripped one on the show the other day. I got this JJ McCarthy brilliance number 299 is number 62 of 99. Also, this is one of my favorite polls

since we started doing this. To Vandre Sweat, this is number 249, autograph in his Texas uniform. I do love the lineman. I love that you got him top loaded too, but welcome to the game. I love that you went out and got them and yeah, you're here. Yeah, I've got about 500 cards sitting on the desk over there

that I've got a, you know, sort and sell a few of them put, you know, send a few to PSA. You know, you're starting yourself with a little numbered J.J. McCarthy there. It's a pretty nice little, you know, toe dip into the hobby. And I know that you have that puka gold that just sitting in that house somewhere that I'm going to steal next time I'm in Gainesville. I'm feeling good about that J.J. McCarthy one because every time I hear more about Sam Darnold, it's where is he going?

So it feels like the Vikings are preparing for the JJ McCarthy era. So JJ McCarthy, who by the way gets to throw to Justin Jefferson. Like I feel like that's a good way to start. Yeah, JJ McCarthy is a very interesting prospect because he got injured obviously. And I don't know if people viewed him as some sort of dominant player in college, although he was very good. Like what's he going to be in the NFL? You might want to hold on to that one. All right, let's rip. Yeah, it felt like Michigan never really had to turn him loose except I was on the field at the Rose Bowl when he had to be turned loose because he had to bring them back in

the Rose Bowl against Alabama and he did it. So I'm excited to see what happens. Let's open this pack right here. Let's rip this pack because I had a lot of fun with that last one. That was a heck of a pack. So let's see what we got. We got a Jake the Snake Plumber right out of the gate. So the beauty of this set is it goes, it goes deep. So we had like an Archie Manning card in the last pack we ripped, but that's a Jake Plummer base card. Jesse Armstead, the U. Oh, a little rated rookie action.

Kansas quarterback, Jalen Daniels, who is still Kansas's quarterback? Oh, oh, oh, oh, we got heat. Oh, it's, it's exciting. It's white hot. Can I have that gene auto? Let me have that. Let me have. Nope. All mine in his Iowa uniform. Cooper to gene.

He had the pick six in the Superbowl. His markets through the roof right now because of that play in the Superbowl, by the way, I'm setting it down until I can get into the top loader. Wait one more time. I'm going to be very gentle with it. There he is. There he is. Oh, look at that. What's it you said it was number to 49. This is number to 149. So 64 of 149. It's Hawkeye signing day Cooper to gene. He

was, you know, one of the more productive members of the scoring Iowa front two years ago. So that was nice. Exactly, exactly. So we've got a Jonathan Brooks brilliance. Malik neighbors, I hype. This is not numbered. So I see Malik neighbors.

I'm getting pretty pumped. You're getting pumped, yep. We do have a numbered to seventy five. Audre Estima. OK, one of our better interviews of the twenty twenty three season from Notre Dame. We got Max Melton from Rutgers. Jalen McMillan from UW

and Jalen Ford from Texas. Well, I think we know what the prize out of that one is. Yeah, we do. That's a Cooper. Yeah, we, uh, we love that, especially when guys are hot in the moment. So, you know, put that one away and maybe he'll be one of the great Philadelphia Eagles for four years to come. After what he did in the Super Bowl. I think he's already cemented his legacy. Now he just has to keep playing well,

but he's already way out there. So visit PaniniAmerica.net to start your collection today. I'm feeling pretty good about mine now. Welcome to Andy and Ari on three happy Thursday. It is a dear Andy, dear Ari show. Ari and I will answer your questions, but we have a special treat for you. First, I got a chance to sit down and talk to new wake Forest coach Jake Dickert. That's right. Jake Dickert, who was at Washington State, who had to deal with all of the conference realignment, everything in Pullman. Now he's at Wake Forest dealing with a whole new set of issues and challenges. We'll talk to Jake Dickert very shortly. And then later in the show, we'll be talking best player we ever saw. Can you create a national champion out of the transfer portal if you have unlimited funds? And one of our more prescient viewers chimes in. Join now by Jake Dickert, the new head coach at Wake Forest.

He comes from the Palouse Pullman, Washington, but he also comes from Wisconsin where he was in a graduating class of 27 people. And Jake, I'm gonna start with this because I've heard you say this in multiple interviews that you were never supposed to leave your little hometown in Wisconsin. You never thought you'd be here.

How'd you get here? What a journey. What a journey and it's a pleasure having me on. It's a unique story. I mean I was a division three football player, you know, the prestigious Wisconsin Stevens point. I got an opportunity to to just live the dream and do something that's hard to do and just play for the love of the game and have an ability to really coach at every level of college football from D3 to D2 to FCS, Group of Five, obviously Washington State in the Power Five and now in the Power Four here at Wake Forest in the ACC. But you gotta surround yourself with the right people.

And opportunity is everywhere in life. You just gotta be willing to work for it and search for it and then attack it when you get that. My big break came when I got a graduate assistantship at North Dakota State. I got to work for my greatest mentor in Craig Bowl, where I learned the foundation of winning and success. And he learned it from Tom Osborne. So as coaches, we're just commandeering and passing down different things that

we've learned from each other. And I wouldn't be here without Craig Bull and the trust that he's placed in me. But more importantly, the tough love that he's given me throughout my journey to get here has just been really special. Well, and I know you guys talk a lot still and how much of a sounding board has he been for you

as a head coach? Well, especially when you look at Andy, how I came into being a head coach. It was a kind of tumultuous time at Washington State The head coach got removed and I was interim head coach and I called him up immediately, you know I said coach how would you handle this situation and the best advice ever he said be yourself, you know In that moment you have to stand on the foundation. You've already Established with those kids. Don't try to be something you're not, just do it your own and unique way.

Bring the energy that I know you possess and the vision that you can create. And it was amazing to finish that season really strong. And then ever since being named the head coach there, Washington State, Coach Bull has been a tremendous mentor of mine. And to see him take up the AFCA mantle and work to preserve the game of college football I think is really special and he's ultra passionate about it. So you did you put this staff together and it you know it your circumstances at Washington State like you said were very

weird where Nick Rolovich got removed you got thrown in this time this is a job you went and pursued and got the, but it wasn't the most ideal circumstances. Cause when Dave Claussen stepped down, it was pretty late in the cycle. And so you were one of the last head coaches hired kind of behind the eight ball, but I love the staff you put together that you're, you're OCI. Rob is L, uh, I want to remind everybody. Cause there's a lot of, a lot of folks who are big SEC fans who watch. Rob Izel was the Alabama walk-on who did the perfect Nick Saban impression.

And I remember the first time I saw that. I'm an ex walk-on and Steve Spurrier was the coach. And I just imagined what it would have been like if Steve Spurrier had ever caught me doing an impression of Steve Spurrier. Because I don't think I could have gotten away with it. Well, it's one of those great learns, Andy, that things on the internet never die, right? And it's a classic story.

And he just speaks about his breadth of knowledge. And that was one moment when he was playing on the team. But one thing we did reframe from my time in Washington State to here is kind of getting back to more of the brand of football that I truly, truly believe in offensively. the way we did reframe you to here is kind of getting offensively. It's being f Robbie Zell and the staff around him. You know, Dan Castor, Nick Edwards, Ef

in one room and just exci and read, you know, just put a lot of great, tremendous football minds in one room and just excited about the conglomerate of different offense that's going to come. It's going to be our own way as we continue to evolve, but it's going to start with physicality. And I think that's what that side of the ball really embraces. Well, and Rob, you know, you go back to the beginning, his coaching career, he's working. That's when Mario Cristobal is at Alabama and he's working, working with Mario Cristobal in the offensive line. It's a hell of a foundation that a lot of your guys have

and you've got guys that came from North Dakota State or worked for Craig Bull and have been in these hard-nosed physical offenses. I wanted to ask you, because when Dave Claussen took the job, he explained that he talked to Ron Wellman, who was the AD at the time, and he said, Ron, we're going to take

a bunch of offensive linemen, sign them out of high school, we're going to redshirt them. It's going to be ugly at first, but it's going to pay off. And it did. Dave was exactly right, because once those guys were older, it allowed him to kind of have a rolling veteran set of offensive linemen. Those were the years that Wake Forest was really good. Obviously, you can't do that in this environment. Like it doesn't work in this day and age, but you had some guys who were willing to come with, that they followed you from Washington State.

And you got it, it feels like you got an offensive line that you kind of know what you got, year one. How much of a luxury is that? I think the biggest thing, Andy, to start with, you know, what we inherited for Coach Claussen, like everyone in the world has recency bias, right? Everyone wants instance results and, you know, we put ourselves in a microwave society and sometimes as football players you gotta put them in a slow cooker and I think that's exactly what we're doing at the front. The best program builders in the country really keep two things working at the same time and that's maximizing the now. I have an obligation to our seniors and our

program to go out there and win right now and not just say hey we're building for the future. Yet three years from now we're developing a base of people and we will recruit maybe even a little bit old school where we feel like we can develop, we can have relationships and we can build those guys up. But to have the opportunity to win now and bring in some really experienced guys, from with us at Washington State, but also from around the country, we did a heck of a job now,

20 transfers in really a two week period. And Andy, you know, it was like the end of the draft. You're trying to find the best value that you possibly can at every position. And we feel like we did that. Then we really found out what Wake Forest is capable of. And now we've got to put our own stamp on it. Well, and that's what I was wondering

because you have worked at every level. You've worked in every part of the country. What does the Wake Forest brand mean to people when you go see them now? Well, I think it is important to understand that this is a national brand. Wake Forest does resonate. I was a small town kid in Wisconsin with Tim Duncan,

and sometimes it's associated a little bit with basketball. And now I'm excited to continue to elevate our football brand and what impact we can have, not just on the Winston-Salem community, but the Wake Forest University brand at large and continue to enhance it. Because I get to stand on the foundation, you know, that a lot of people that invested in to be great. We have some of the best facilities in the country. We have some of the highest academic programs in the country. Excellence is everywhere here. And when you surround yourself with those type

of consistent people with that framework of mindset, it's amazing how everyone else has to rise up to that and surround our student athletes with a bunch of people on the same mission. It's amazing what you can accomplish right here at Wake Forest in one of the best recruiting regions in the country. Yeah, I was going to say that you can drive to quite a few places. When you're on the Palouse, it was I've driven out to the Palouse before.

I've flown into Seattle and driven across the state to the Palouse. And not a lot of not a lot of blue chippers on that road. But you can you can go you know across I-40. You can go over down to you know over to the triangle. You can go down to Charlotte. You can go up to the DMV like you

you got a lot of spots to to stake out now. So it isn't just that Andy like Pullman, Washington, Laramie, Wyoming. If you've ever been there, right? Yeah. South Dakota, right? So we always had to go out and find kids and, you know, the success that we had at those places were amazing. And we had a player in the transfer portal, RJ Vic, right from right down the road. His mom was like, I'm not sending him to Southern

California. They canceled that visit. And our staff at Washington State, we looked at each other like, we've never had this before. Like this is incredible to have some of these built in things and obviously to be able to recruit your backyard and have the type of talent that's sitting right here is is very important. So you mentioned earlier the situation that you landed in Washington State and how that can help shape you. How did dealing with all of the conference realignment and the fallout at Washington State shape you. How did dealing with all of the conference realignment and the fallout at Washington State shape you as a coach?

Well, I think I've always said this, like, adversity is our ally for growth, and it can be your best friend if you allow it. But in those adverse moments, it can either bond you or break you. And we went through it there at Washington State and it was tough to be a part of, but I know, you know, my job is the face of not only a football program, but as a university, you got to speak for everybody. And I thought that's what we did. We tried to along the way, keep the main thing, the main thing. And it was very difficult because you understood what that meant to not only a university, but it's people, but obstacles are opportunities if you're willing to take it that way. And we've got a bunch of people there that bonded together and wanted to fight something the same way and find a path forward. So it was tough, it was really tough.

And I do hope someday that gets resurrected and they get to get back to where they truly really belong. Well and you did find a path for it because I think if I told most people oh this is the guy who he had Cam Ward but then Cam Ward left and said well what happened next oh did they lose a bunch of games oh no no no they had John Mattier yeah and he was awesome and then he was the guy everybody wanted in the portal. Yeah. I mean, it was such a unique experience. I mean, I experienced John or Josh Allen's last year at Wyoming. Yeah. Obviously at cam ward for, for two years. And then we found John a little out in Texas when really he only had FCS offers and that was late in January.

And it was amazing the type of talents and leader and character wise, you know, John had, but you know, unfortunately that is the college football world today. You gotta find ways to keep those guys. And John has an amazing opportunity at Oklahoma, but I'm just excited for him and his path, but those guys are out there. And you know, now that was part of coming to Wake Forest to be part of a school that's ready to maximize

the new revenue share and invest in programs like this at a place that maybe 10 years ago they thought you know wouldn't be possible is the reason we're here and and wait for us to set up for success and I think that's what's exciting about us now and and how we're going to develop this football program. Well and I wanted to talk about the revenue share part of it because I remember talking to Dave Claussen about this and I was the revenue share part of it. Because I remember talking to Dave Claussen about this, and I was kind of hopeful to get to see Dave in the revenue share era, because it felt like that would close that gap a little bit. And Dave was always the type who, if the gap was a little bit closer, he was going to out-evaluate, out-coach, and could beat some people. Now that you have a different situation than you had at Washington State, that, you know, is going to be different than what Dave had at Wake Forest the past few years,

how can you use that to move Wake Forest back toward the top of the ACC? Well, I think the biggest thing is the ACC is full of opportunity, you know, and to be able to create an equal playing field, that's essentially what the house settlement is doing, right? It is taking it from major league baseball, where it's an uncapped world to trying to get back to NFL. Everyone's got a salary cap. Everyone's working in the same kind of ballpark. You know, so it's about going back to finding the right people, not just a collection of talent, Andy. That doesn't work at Wake Forest. It's the right people with the right mentality to develop, grow, and wanna be part of something bigger than themselves, right? So that's what we're working towards establishing here. And everything is in place from facilities to academics to now staff and the vision of the program needs to come to light.

And there's no shortcuts to that. There just isn't, right? You gotta do it the old fashioned blue collar hard way. And that's what we're going to be about. Well and that's the thing when when you find those right people now you're going to be in a little better position to keep them it seems like. That's right. You know and we've had guys that sacrifice tremendous things at Washington State or or Wyoming back then it's it's just the the way that when you love them tough and you show them the vision and you partner with them

and they know why you're doing it, it still is about that. Cause everyone's had the stories of people going other places and it doesn't work out, right? So there's a balance that will continue to happen the more we experience, you know, this portal culture. But what do you really want to be about? How do we create that type of success?

Because in today's transactional world, like I said, you got to stay transformational. They're 18 to 23 year old kids I remember when I was 19 and I don't know what you were like, but I wasn't perfect. I Wasn't that was dumbass. I'll tell you right now mentors. I need people to say hey Jake That's not the way it's supposed to be done. Right now we introduced this new stimulus called money. Right. So they need us more than ever. And there's a mentorship that comes along with it.

And the only way I know how to do it. It's the same way it worked 17 years ago at division three is tell these kids the truth. Their job is not to manipulate the truth into what they want it to be. It's a true listener. Everyone talks about a truth teller. You gotta listen to the truth and want that type of coaching

and surround yourself with the right people because their network now is more important than ever. And teaching them how to control that is one of the big priorities of our program. When I was getting ready for this interview, I saw a stat that this blew my mind. And then it makes sense when you think about it, but Wake Force had three head coaches in 31 years

between Jim Caldwell, Jim Grove and Dave Claussen. You're in a very transient job. Did you do eight houses in eight years at one point? Like- Same thing, I think thank you. Did you do 8 houses in 8 years at one point like 7 and 8? Yes, good Lord. So is that the dream is that the because it doesn't happen very often but this is a place

where it's been shown it can happen and it was one of the big draws to the job and what's some pressure to follow up 3 iconic coaches here at Wake Forest because let's let's call it spade to spade, right? People on the surface level think it's hard to win here. But look at the stability and what all three of those men have done here and create that type of success.

So I always do think it's the hardest question in coaching, because as soon as you answer it and say you want to be at a place forever and lay your roots down, people want to be so fast to say, gotcha. But at the end of the day, everything is here. My daughter's going into high school. It was always the right time for us to transition as a family. My brother lives in Charlotte an hour and a half down the road. You know, so it's just a lot of things with the support system and base here. And when you feel like you align with people and vision,

that's what allows that longevity. So that's why we're here, and that's what we're looking forward to establishing. All right, so I got yelled at by the folks in our chat the other day, because we said we were gonna start asking everybody this, and we keep forgetting to ask everyone this. So I told you before we started, I was gonna do this,

it was more to remind myself to ask you. But Jake Dickert, what are your rules for life? Well, that was a good one. You made me think you're on the spot a little bit, but one of my biggest things that I try to help people with is a couple of things. I think balance is an illusion. Everyone in life is always looking for balance. And if you're, Andy, trying to be a

high performer and an elite person when in, within whatever field you're in, don't find balance. Like, find presence. That's my, always my really kind of gift I try to give young coaches. So there is no balance in the coaching world. But when you're away from this place, be present in what you're doing. And most importantly, I talk about being present in your family's life. So when I'm at my two sons' ball games, like I'm thinking about them and what they're doing, not some recruits. Or I'm at my daughter's theater, I'm there,

I'm fully present, I'm enjoying that moment. Or I'm out to eat with my wife, we're just getting away from it. So find that presence in life because people will tell you all the time and we were raised like, life is a marathon. Everyone's always heard that and I think that's a bunch of bull crap.

Life is a set of fully engaged sprints. You wanna be a high performer, when you're on, you're sprinting, you're maximizing that full engagement, but there has to be built in intentional rest, right? So that's what I try to kind of help people think about life and presence and how you need to conserve energy, not time to maximize what we're all capable of doing.

And that's kind of the viewpoint I look at it from. I love it, love it. And we're about the same age. I don't know if you've been married as long as I have, but I've been married a long time. Yeah, I'm 24 years in July. Date night, shove that phone in your pocket, and leave it in there.

That's right, don't even take it. Don't flip it over on the table, don't have it around you. It's like be in that moment, you know, because especially for me, my kids are 13, 10 and 8. This window of the time I'm realizing goes by so fast, especially being away from them now for a few months, that when they get here, it's like you got to be able to be present in every moment that you possibly can and don't let that period of their time slip away from me. That when one of them hits the teens, the math hits you, doesn't it? Like you start doing, oh God. You know the worst part about that? I am a math major. I was going to be a math teacher coach in

high school. So people think like, oh, dad, you got this. And I look at this new common core math. I'm sorry. I just at this new Common Core math. Sorry, I just used to stack those numbers up. This is tough. We talked about this on the show the other day. I had multiple rants when my kids were in elementary school because they were doing Singapore method math, which is not.

It's not Common Core, but it's also not what we learned in elementary school. And I'd just be like, I don't care what your teacher says. This'll get the right answer. Yeah, this is the quick method. Like, let's go back to the quick method. So it's amazing how it's changed. I'm glad you mentioned that

because I was gonna ask you what you would have been if you weren't a coach. So math teacher, high school coach, probably is that the? Yeah, I mean, my grandpa was in education for 40 years. My dad did it for 42 because he's ultra competitive. Like that was going to be my path and I was sitting. I'll never forget it in June. I already had a job. I was going to be a teacher and my dad,

we're drinking a beer out on the porch and he said that my one regret in life was not trying college ball. He's like, you should do it. And on a whim, I called my coach up the next day. He gave me a GA I was an offensive player. He gave me a GA on defense and It's amazing kind of the path that led me to so that's why we're here today from that one conversation It just trying to chase something present present in that moment talking to dad and Work for you. It did we laugh about it now spring practice to Wake Forest.

We can't wait to get back out on that field. I appreciate you having me on Andy. Go Deeks. All right, it's time to open the mailbag. Dear Andy and dear Ari, we got some good questions today, Ari. I want to start with one from Reed. Between both of you, who's the personal best player you have

ever watched in person? For me, it was Saquon Barkley at Penn State. My Lord, what a player to watch in person every Saturday for Penn State. I'm with Reed in having seen Saquon in person at Penn State. The first time I saw him in person, I think was the 2000, I believe it was 2016, no, it was 2017 Michigan game. And that was the one where he took the wheel route, second play of the game for a touchdown. And you just knew this guy can do everything. Cause I think he and Mick Sorley switched places on the first play and ran the read option

and say, go on captain, and he's just like, what can't they do with this dude? I think he and McSorley switched places on the first play and ran the read option and say, go on captain. He's just like, what can't they do with this dude? Yeah, it's kind of a fun exercise when you go down the rabbit hole, especially when you know what say, one has become too. And you had more of a wider range for most of your career in terms of in person, because I was on a beat for 10 years and you were national and went to big games every week. So I'm trying to remember like I know the two best players that I saw at least at Ohio State on a week in and week out basis, I would

say Braxton Miller is one. I don't think people talk about him enough in terms of where he was as a college player and how special he was. He didn't have a pro career. So maybe that that's not a fun answer, but the Bosa brothers too were unblockable, and Chase Young I think would be the four that come to mind in terms of like seeing them week to week. I went through a couple and then I landed on one. There's really one in my career who was so good.

I mean, he's so good that he dragged his team to a national title, to an undefeated season in a national title because the team around him wasn't good enough to do this and shouldn't have been able to do this, but he was that transcended in college and that is Cam Newton at Auburn in 2010. There was nothing like him nothing and it is interesting because I covered quite a few Auburn games that year and it felt like early on like I remember being in Nothing. And it is interesting because I covered quite a few Auburn games that year.

And it felt like early on, like I remember being in Starville for the Mississippi State game. That was a Thursday night game. They hadn't quite figured out how to best use him yet. Like they knew they had something special in him, but they weren't quite sure exactly how that was going to work. Now that like that Mississippi State game, Nick Fairley, who was the other best player on that Auburn team, he was a first round D tackle, he was dominant in that game. Cam really wasn't the star yet, but then as it went, Cam became more and more of the star.

And like you get to the LSU game, where I think his Heisman moments, the run against LSU, but against Georgia, when everybody's screaming at him against Alabama, the Cam back isSU, but against Georgia, what everybody's screaming at him against Alabama, the cam back is one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed in person. Like never ever in a million years would you have said Alabama is going to go up 24 nothing and lose. And actually thinking back on that game, I remember sitting there at halftime by halftime,, you knew Cam was gonna bring him back.

Like by halftime, that's how amazing he'd been all season. Like there wasn't any doubt at that point when, you know, 30 minutes of real time earlier, it'd been 24 to nothing. Yeah. I've got a few, Cam Newton is like, there are players that like I regret through no fault of my own, not being able to see in person. And ones that come to mind are Cam Newton is like, there are players that like I regret through no fault of my own, not being able to see in person and ones that come to mind are Cam Newton.

I wish I would have been able to have the fortunate path of seeing Vince Young play live. I'm a little bit young and wasn't in the profession. I was at Vince Young's best game too. And if I hadn't, look, if Cam hadn't done it so many times, Vince would have been the number one on that list. And I'm assuming that you saw Tebow a ton, right? I did see Tebow a ton. And but actually Tebow would not be the member of the 2006 Florida recruiting class that I would name here. It would be Percy Harvin because Percy was one of those people that every time he touched the football

You were like this could be the most amazing thing I've ever seen and I'll go back to like now that was when I was on The beat so when Percy got to Florida, I was a beat writer So I got to watch him. This was back when you could watch Preseason practices like we would just sit there for two hours and watch preseason practice and so I watched a lot of his first reps in practice at Florida and just remember being shocked at how different he looked when he touched the ball than anybody else. And there was this play and I can't remember exactly

when in camp it was, but they were in full pads. And there was a play where they were just, they were, the receivers were running routes against the DBs, it wasn't a full team situation. And Percy was going one on one against one of the other freshmen. And Percy catches a little short one and does this stutter step.

And the player, the DB, feels like he just melts little short one and does this does this stutter step and the player the DB feels like he just melts into the ground. And the only thing you could hear because like everybody was watching goes ooh and then at once the ooh subsides. The only thing you could hear was Percy just laughing as he ran by. Yeah. Yeah, Percy Harvin, I think you could make the case and I've said on the show people get angry. It was like maybe one of the best

players of all time in the entire college. Yeah, yeah, college. It's like that's the thing too. It's like I'm not going to take into account. What people went on to do in the pros, but there here are a few that I saw that were quite astounding. I've seen in Dominican Sioux play. I was at that Texas game that he took over Baker Mayfield to somebody that comes to mind transcendent college player Murray

Kyler Murray. I never saw, but he would be another one. Some of those Oklahoma guys. I saw Caleb Williams in person and he was something else. He got injured halfway through the game. We were there together. But you know, if you saw Caleb play, but here's the one that I wish I would have been able to see in person and probably the greatest player of all time. And I don't know if you I think you did see him in person. Reggie Bush would be the one that I wish I was a beat writer then. So I never, never got to see him in person. Reggie Bush would be the one that I wish I could have seen in person. I was a beat writer then, so I never got to see him in person. Actually, that's not true. It's not true. Vince Young Rose Bowl, Reggie Bush, of course,

was playing in that, so I did get to see him in that. He was not as dominant in that game as he was the rest of his career, and Vince obviously overshadowed him, but you're right. Reggie was- A few more honorable mentions, if you don't mind. Yep, yep, yep. Deshaun Watson in college was something

to be seen. Yes. Deshaun Watson was unbelievable. And then one more that I really regret not seeing, and I'm sure you did. I saw Joe Burrow play in person. It doesn't count because he wasn't Joe Burrow yet when I saw him play. But Devontae Smith is one that I would have

liked to see in person too. Yeah, I so remember Devontae Smith's best season was the COVID year. Now, obviously I'd say Devontae the previous years, the only game in the COVID year, his Heisman season I got to see was the national championship game. But that was his performance against Ohio State

before he hurt his finger in the national championship game was one of those dominant I've ever seen. Like, yeah, he still put up massive numbers even though he didn't really play to half. And like, Devontae Smith that season, it's hard to describe how special he was. And that Alabama team was loaded, but he really was the best player in the country and it was obvious, which, you know, it had been a long time since the receiver had won the Heisman and it was not, it didn't feel like a hard choice to me. It felt like he was clearly the best player in the country, but it's, it's so interesting

to go from, you know, I think the first time I really paid attention to Devante Smith was his freshman year. He caught a pass from Jalen Hertz to win the Mississippi State game. It was a very, it was a pretty tight game in Starkville. And Hertz throws it over the middle to Devante Smith to win the game. And I just remember thinking mental note, this guy seems pretty, pretty good for freshmen. Yeah. And then that was during the time like when a Mark Amari Cooper was unstoppable in college like Devontae Smith wasn't like, you know, coming out of the blue of like Alabama finally has a good receiver. This is the guy who shines

in my mind through all of those amazing receivers that they had. Well, what's interesting is he does that he catches the game winning pass in the national title game and then just sort of recedes because people thought more highly of Jerry, Judy, and Jalen Waddell as potential draft picks. And everybody forgot like, like Devontae Smith led Alabama receiving 2019. And we still weren't talking about him going into 2020. We were talking about Judy and Waddell. So that was, that was the thing that I thought was interesting is

we didn't really give him credit until he gave us no choice but to give him credit, but he was awesome. I'm really glad you mentioned Ndamuk and Sue because other than Vince Young against USC in the Rose Bowl, Ndamuk and Sue against Texas in the 2009 Big 12 Championship game is the most dominant performance I've ever seen by a

single player. Like Nebraska wasn't that good other than the dynamic ensue and almost beat to probably like depending on how you feel about what they did with the clock at the end of the game probably did be Texas. Yeah and I do think that if somebody were to ask us this question in 2040, we will look back and say we saw Jeremiah Smith play in person and we have to see him the entire way through here. And this is the beginning of his career that like sometimes in the moment, I think we lose track of what we're watching. Um, he's going to be somebody that we look back at and just go, Yeah, I was fortunate enough to see him play in person his freshman year when they won the national title. Um, and

I think he'll be on that list, but it's a very extensive list. And like the thing too, is we've gone to so many games the last seven years. It's kind of hard to recall. There are so many good players and so many elite performances that you just lose track of because there's so many games, but you know, these players are super special. And I'm, and I wish, um, that I would have been able to see a little bit more of them. That's the worst thing. I'll get another one.

I regret one Barkley in person that counts. But yeah, I didn't see my homes in person. No one really did because Texas Tech wasn't that good. Yeah, so you weren't and love. It's hard to get to so you weren't going out of your way to go to Lubbock to see games. And then, you know, sometimes when they played the better teams in the big 12, you kind of perk up. But like our friend Bruce Feldman was on the Fox crew.

He was the sideline reporter for that insane. I think was 67 to 65 whatever the crazy Baker Mayfield, Patrick Mahomes shootout was. I can't even imagine what that looked like in person. Yeah, no, I would have been amazing to see them play. And I wonder like, because like, people knew he was going to be really good in the NFL. I don't think people knew this would be it. And there were some things, I remember Doug were he was obsessed with him when he was in college. I don't think people knew that. Like I, I remember my thinking of him going to the NFL was

no air raid quarterbacks ever succeeded in the NFL. So I understand why you're taking a chance on him because of his his tools. But I don't know if this is going to work. Right. So I was not. I wasn't all there on him yet. And, you know, very wrong because not only did he show you an air raid quarterback work in the NFL, showed you that all these modern offense

college quarterbacks, it's not the offense they're in, it's just, it's the person. You just have to figure out who the right person is. Yeah. I mean, and there's a lot of guys from the nineties that I remember being in awe of when I was a kid that, um, you know, I wish I would have been in an adult enough to like understand how great they were, but guys like, you know, Charles, Wesson and Michael Vick, right.

Um, like Eddie George. I mean, there's a lot of guys out there that kind of fit that build Marshall fall Orlando pace like Orlando pace was the patron saint. Orlando pace was the patron state of offensive lineman because he actually finished in the top top top five of the Heisman voting. Yeah. As a tackle, like we just got done like drooling over uh Ash and Gentie all year, you know, and like rightfully so the guy was incredible, but like, Ricky

Williams existed. And like, that's like, we don't talk about that ever, you know, Ron, Ron Dane existed, like guys that were, were truly unbelievably gifted that kind of existed in the same type of way. Can I, can I give you a good one from that era. Who I don't think people think about very much as a college player, but he would. I saw him a couple times in person in college and he was unreal is Sean Alexander.

Oh, yeah. Sean Alexander could not be tackled. He was insane. Yeah, what about like LaDani and Tomlinson at TCU? Yeah, yeah. I mean, that was pretty incredible. Producer Rivers threw out Tavon Austin. I'll give you Tavon Austin, but also give you Noel Devine.

Yeah, and Pat White. I mean, that was the video game dream team right there. You know, another one that I think I've seen only highlights, I was just a baby when he was playing, but was like Emmet Smith of Florida. Like, yeah, I know he's more known for his cowboy days and he walks around Dallas. Like he owns the place as he should, but like it's not, you know,

these guys that were all time pros, like John Elway and stuff in the NFL were also college stars that we didn't get to see. So yeah. John Elway I've seen clips like, in an era when nobody threw the ball. Very far downfield. John Elway was throwing moonshots at Stanford. Yeah. And is there a player? Is there a player that you can go back in time?

And like, if you could just go watch one player before your play, who would it be? Yeah, that's not, that would have been my end. And it wasn't before my time, because that was when I was first remembering things. So I'm very young at that point when Bo's playing. So I'm like four, five, six years old. And so these are my first actual memories of seeing football games. And Bo Jackson was the most dominant player and was so special and he was another like like I said with Percy Harvin every time he touched the ball, you thought this could possibly

be the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Yeah, one that stands out to me and then we can move on as Brian Bosworth would have been really cool. Oh yeah. yeah. Yep, oh, Bowen. Bowen, the boss had a very memorable collision on Monday Night Football once they got to the NFL, so yeah, yeah, but hey, we get to cover the current and maybe in 50 years when

we're old men look back and be like, oh yeah, I remember that time I watched Jeremiah Smith play his freshman year you know like I don't know. That's my old person impression, but. Yeah, they had third and short and threw it, threw a date to him. Threw a date.

Awesome national championship game. On the line, true freshman. I don't think the, I don't think that's the accent the Ohio State fans gonna have, but. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what my accent's gonna be. Hopefully it's a South Florida,

Boca Raton country club accent, whatever that sounds like. Boca Vista phase three. Yeah. My, my future vision of myself is man tits, hairy chest, that's white, golden brown tan, big sunglasses and big gold chain walking around a country club when I'm 73 years old. Speedo, not Karen, fat, everything. The East Coast of Florida is the place for you, Ari Wasserman. You will be welcomed with open arms.

That's my aesthetic. I like it, I like it. All right, next question. We're bringing in the competition for this one, because I'm gonna give credit where credit is due. This is a hell of a question. So, Bud Elliot, our friend from 247 Sports, one of the co-hosts of the Cover 3 podcast,

which obviously it's the competition, but they do a really good job. You have more minutes in the day. We understand you listen to other shows. Bud asked a great question here the other day. Here's a fun hypothetical. If you had $40 million to construct a roster out of this year's transfer portal.

Does that team win the national title? And then, but as a qualifier just from this year's portal. So guys who didn't go into the portal don't count. So the obvious thing that you just have to ask in this hypothetical is what's the starting point? Like if Penn State had $40 million, then yes. But if- Well, Bud qualified it more with a successive tweet

where he's like, does it matter if I up the number to 50 million, 60 million, 70 million? So I think the point of this exercise is if you had basically unlimited funds, using the players who chose to go into the transfer portal this off season, would you be able to create a national championship team? My answer, I think, is no.

Oh, just using the players, not adding them. Yeah, you can't tamper with anybody else like just the ones who decided to go in. But you have to get 85 players from just this year's portal. You're not adding it to a roster. You're starting from scratch. Correct, correct. All you have is the portal. Yeah, so you're starting QB is either John Matier or Carson Beck. Like you're starting QB as John Matier.

Your wide receiver one is Eric Singleton Jr. Your top running is it is it him or so your your three top receivers are Eric Singleton Jr Noah Thomas and Kevin Concepcion right? Yeah which is a national championship receiver group. I mean I don't know how far down the rabbit hole you went on this exercise but let's keep going. Zach Branch is your number four receiver probably Zach. Zach branches, uh, number four receiver. And I think the answer is yes. I don't know about the trenches.

That's the problem though. This is, this is, this is the issue. Like, okay. So Isaiah world, who's going to start at left tackle at Oregon came from Nevada. So he's, he's the type of player you're looking for. The question is how many because you get Pat Coogan who started at center in national championship game last year. You Rocko Spindler who started at right guard in the national championship game. Yeah, so yeah, I mean, I'm looking at the the on three top transfer portal players and you have multiple offensive linemen in the top 15 total transfers. You know, Xavier.

You have five? I don't think you have five. I mean, you have a lot of tackles, but like that's the thing with how they're ranked too. It's like you can move somebody to guard. And you can move the tackles to guard. I think you could do it. Yeah, I think the answer is yes. And the reason why. Okay, let me ask you this. Would this be a team that could compete

for a national title or a prohibitively favorite, so much more talented than everybody else team? Yeah, it's like play the game of like, if you put everybody on this transfer portal together, is it more talented than last year's Ohio State team? It's not. I can tell you right now it's not. Yeah.

There's nobody as good as Caleb Downs. There's nobody as good as Jeremiah Smith. Yeah. There may not be a D Lyman as good as Tylee Kale. Yeah, you're probably right. But also too, like if your backup is Darian Mensah, like you have like, or Carson Beck. Yeah. Like, yeah, Carson Beck. And like you have those three quarterbacks on your roster. I don't know. You have a really, really good, uh, safeties with Ticario Davis and Dylan Thienem. Like I mean you you would put together a really good team and

he there be no you could. You could put together yeah. OK, so maybe I'm wrong because my initial answer is no you. You're not going to win the national title. I think you can compete for it. I don't think you can like I don't think you'd roll out. And just be able to stomp Ohio State or Texas or Georgia. Like you could get beat by those teams.

I think, I think the question is if you phrase it this way, could you assemble a team with no weaknesses? You might not have the top end talent. You might not have a Jeremiah Smith or a Caleb Downs, but could you assemble 22 players on both sides of the ball that doesn't give you a lot of room to attack if you're this is also a team that has play a whole season. So could you could you make a team deep enough to get through the the depth would be great, especially at

critical positions. There's 10 offensive tackles in the top 50. Now, I don't know like the thing that's difficult is like guard, you know, I don't know interior defensive lineman maybe that might be difficult. I don't know, man. I think that you're talking about a lot of players here. Yeah. Yeah. Because I mean, it's true. The offensive line thing I was worried about. I'm less worried about the offensive line than I am the defensive line. Because I think about like Ethan, Ethan Onyanwa from Rice was a guy that last year people were like how come this dude didn't go into the portal and he did go into the portal this year and now he's at Ohio State.

So yeah and like is going to be one of the best offensive lineman in the big 10 like already and I'm assuming it's being compensated as such so like in Justice Haynes as a running back who's like ranked 30th and it's like he's a pretty good running back. You know like if you added him to to a team that had that offensive line, they'd be fine. Um, I'm just trying to think like, will help the edge rusher that's at Clemson. Now, right. It's a guy who is lower on that list.

That guy might be one of the best ed rushers in the ACC at Clemson this year. Like, like, I don't know. I think that you would, you would be more than willing to, or more than able to put together a team that is good enough to win the national title. And that doesn't mean that you would be more than willing to, or more than able to put together a team that is good enough to win the national title. And that doesn't mean that they would be crap. I like the offense for sure. I really like the offense. I'm not, I'm not as sure about the defense, but I really, the more I look at this, the more I like the offense. Yeah, but go look at the corners. Like there's, there's 10 corners in the top in the top 30.

Right here. And Dane Key and Kevin Coleman at receiver. We didn't even talk about them Malachi field. I don't know if they're making the 2D. I know, but if they're not that then that that it was why as I said, yeah, I think we can put together a nice receiving core. I think. Yeah, I think we can put together a nice receiving core. I think I'm looking at we definitely put together a good offensive line because the other the other guard I forgot about Emmanuel Pregnon who left USC and went to Oregon. So that's another one you can now. And then River pointed out here too. Williams and Wary but we don't know if he's going

to be good yet. He didn't really do much in Missouri last year. I know I would take them. Well, then Nebraska is very happy to have him right now. I would, I think I'll go on a limb and just say, yeah, that freak of nature is going to be good. Yeah. Who you are, who's your RB one, Mackay Hughes or justice? Yes, my car Hughes. Okay. All right. I love the offense. I'm turning around on this. When I saw the question, initially, I said, no, no, no, not going to happen because I'm not going to be able to put together the trench play, but you can put together a good enough offensive line.

And it's interesting because a lot of this, so this offensive line movement is not as much power conference to power conference. It's more guys who went to the group of five because they were under recruited. Maybe they grew. Maybe they changed physically as they got older and now have emerged as dominant offensive lineman. Yeah, yeah.

I can't believe I changed your mind on something. You did you did. I'm still not entirely certain about the defense. I don't know how deep we can be on the D line, which I worry about. But, you know, in this era of college football, like I think partially my brain is stuck in. You have to have 20, 20, 21 or 20, 22 George's defensive line. But nobody's ever going to have that again. Yeah, and also, too, you have to have 2021 or 2022 Georgia's defensive line, but nobody's ever going to have that again.

Yeah. And also too, you have to take into consideration when you're thinking about like winning a national title, the teams that are already assembled around them. Like, you know, you're not even talking about having to beat 2020 Bama this year, you know? No, they're not going to have to. It's not like. It's could this team beat Notre Dame? Could it beat Alabama? Could it beat Georgia? Could it beat Ohio State? Could it beat Oregon?

Could it be Penn State? Yeah. I would, yeah, you've changed my mind. You've turned this around on me because I do think you could do it. There's just not, there just aren't a lot of college teams that don't have a weakness. Right.

Now I don't know that you could do this in real life, because the second you started throwing that kind of money at people, somebody else would jump in if they really needed somebody at that position and throw more money at them, or drive the price up on you. The thing that is interesting, an even more interesting question, because I think that like, bud, that was a good question by bud. And I think it was an illustration of like, the

portal wasn't that deep this year, in comparison to what right? Like, isn't that the point he's making? That it isn't as star struck and star studded and, you know, foundation cracking in insane deep. But if you are Penn State. Or Wisconsin or a team that is a nine win team, Penn State, Wisconsin shouldn't be in the same sentence, but you get what I'm saying. A team that is on the verge of something that hasn't gotten there yet and then has unlimited funds to fill

through the portal. I think that there's more than enough in the portal to take a average team and turn them into an elite one if they actually like went for it. Now, I don't think that there's any way that a team can just go dominate and pick off whoever they want. But like, could you imagine if Wisconsin got John Matier, McKay Hughes and Eric Singleton, like how much different their team would be next year?

Like, I mean, like it's like they're all, everybody's only three or four players away from potentially winning at all, in my opinion now. And maybe that's an over simplification. I think it's fun, right? I mean, like maybe it's an oversimplification, maybe Wisconsin, how many, like how many, let's get Big Cat on here, see what he thinks,

but how many like elite level players would Wisconsin need to be a legitimate national champion next year. Championship contender, I should say. It's a great question. Now, or River River asked us a good question in our group chat. Did Ole Miss go from good to elite in 2024 through the portal? They didn't make the playoff. They didn't meet the goal. Did they have a roster that was capable of it did make the playoff of I mean, didn't make the playoff. They didn't meet the goal

Did they have a roster that was capable of it did make the playoff of I mean, I didn't know eating anybody in the playoff They did you know you had Lane kiffin way higher On your list of coaches this year than I did and the reason why is I can't get the stink out of my mouth Of what happened with that team this year? It it is bad I that that team this year. It is bad. That team should have made the playoff and if you put it in the playoff, they would have been able to make noise. The fact that they didn't, the players that they had in the conference they played in this year, they should have been in the playoff.

I think it was a bad coaching job this year. Right, because you would argue they should have won all three games they lost. The one game that you thought maybe they could have lost, they won 28 to 10. They were better than everybody they lost to. Let's put it that way. That's not supposed to happen. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Not supposed to happen three times.

So you can do this. I don't think we'll see it. Cause I just don't think here. Here's the other thing. If you have that kind of money, you're also going to have some pretty kick ass high school recruiting. So you wouldn't need to do that. Yeah. I just, I feel like if I were like a billionaire,

like somebody like showed a clip of Jeff Bezos on Instagram the other day, I was watching it. And he goes, yeah. One time I was just in my living room and I thought, what if we can recover the jet engines from one of the Apollo crashes out of the ocean? Can we, can we do that? So I Googled the coordinates of where the, the, the wreckage happened and I found it on Google and you know, we were able, it was really difficult, but we were able to recover the engine. It's like could you imagine having so much money that that's like you're like how you want to use your money. It's your hobby. Yeah. Like I wish my hobby was to be like you know what I didn't go here. I didn't go there. I'm just going to pick a team and I'm going to I'm going to take all my money and I'm going to be the reason they win the national title. It's like real life dynasty mode. It's like I'm gonna go ahead and I'm gonna take what's a random team?

Minnesota, I'm gonna go take Minnesota. I mean, I don't know if Minnesota is good enough yet like a team that's a little bit better than Minnesota that needs that that is like on the well. How about you? How about you get Penn State over the top like if you're the guy who gets Penn State over the top, you're a legend or you get Nebraska get Nebraska back to winning national titles. You're a legend. Yeah, or like, or what about like,

I'm gonna take Iowa to the national championship game. I'm gonna go and I'm gonna bring my checkbook in there and I'm gonna take the portal players and I'm going to get the players that they need to run a successful offense. I'm gonna get John Mattier, I'm gonna get McKay Hughes, I'm gonna get Eric Singleton and I'm going to drop them in Iowa City. That would be fun.

Like, I don't think that any team is overly or is so far out of the picture that you couldn't envision a world where they got back into it, which is what makes us interesting. Everybody just needs the right sugar daddy is what you're saying. Yes. You just need to look good. No, look good, feel good. I don't know. I don't know.

Maybe I'm oversimplifying it. Maybe if you got those three players for Iowa, they would win 10 games and not do it. I don't know. Well, we just got through saying Ole Miss did it and they went nine and three. Yeah. And Ole Miss already had Jackson Dart.

Like it's not like they, they got him to the portal, but yeah. Yeah, but they didn't, they didn't go do it all in one cycles. What I'm saying. Well, nobody, nobody's going to do that. That's not realistic, but it's, you know, the question is, can somebody do that? That's the question. Can it's not just, can you take a, uh, the entire portal and make a national championship, but can somebody go from, eh, to great with one expensive portal

cycle? Uh, it's a great question. That's a good question. That was fun. Thanks bud. Yeah. Yeah. I don't have to text bud and be like, Hey, thanks for the content, pal. Yeah. We appreciate it.

I kind of think stuff like that, but yeah. It's a long off season. It is a long off season. Next question comes from Jeff. When do you need my Indiana football record breakdown? Thanks, Andy. For those who don't remember. Is this the guy?

Jeff is the guy who freaking nailed Indiana this. Now he's a long suffering Indiana fan. I believe his new Twitter bio is no longer long suffering Indiana fan. So we take you back to July 26th. I was doing a game time ad on Twitter and I did a poll of which big 10 game would you most want to buy tickets to. And I did Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State USC, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio State. And Jeff goes, You forgot 10 and oh, Indiana at Ohio State. And I said, Listen, I might be able to go with seven and three. He nailed it.

Nobody else had that. He's got the receipts. How many tweets like that do you get from people that are just way wrong? All of them. But I commend Jeff for keeping a copy of this one. I'd love to know what Jeff thinks though of Indiana's season next year, because I think what's really interesting about them is that they're easy to dismiss now. Ah, they had their year.

It was a fun moment. Now we're on to the, like, we're already talking about Illinois being next year's Indiana, but like we talked up Kurt Signetti so much last year It was a fun moment. Now we're onto that. Like we're already talking about Illinois being next year's Indiana, but like we talked up Kurt Signetti so much last year and rightfully so. He got a big contract extension. He said he was there for the long haul to build it. He followed through with signing their long-term is Indiana a team in your mind that was a flash in the pan fun story for 2024 or were we watching the beginning the beginning stages of a program that is winning 10 games consistently enough to be in the college

football playoff discussion once every five or once every three to five years like is this is this is any are we gonna is indiana gonna be back is what i'm asking at some point if signetti does what he's done everywhere else they'll be back is what I'm asking at some point. If signet, he does what he's done everywhere else, they'll be back. I wouldn't be immediate, like, I don't think it would immediately win 11 games again. But they would be consistently above average, they'd be a tough out, they'd be the sort of the team nobody wants to play. Like when Dave Claussen really had it going away for us. I think pretty similar to that.

But I think you have to ask yourself if he was able to make Indiana what it was in one off season, what can he do in three years? Like that's the thing. Like we, we spend so much time talking about like, where should Brian Kelly be in year four LSU, where should Lincoln Riley be in year? But like, what about the people who have overachieved with less early in this era? Like, shouldn't we be giving Indiana more of a benefit of the doubt? Because they are going to be, and I don't know if it's, I'm not going to bang the Indiana drum here in February saying they're going back to the playoff next year, but why do we

fall victim to the same thing that we fell victim to during the year, which is dismissing them until they won nine games? Why don't we look ahead and say, Hey, you know, this Indiana team, there might be players that we're not talking about right now, but we trust the coach enough to put players in a position that we're going to be talking about them in September, in October. Like, what does a coach have to do for you to get to that point? Like, like what does a coach have to do for you to get to that point? Hmm. I mean, just repeat Indiana's non-conference. They've, uh, they've scheduled themselves some wins. No, but what if Indiana beats Illinois on September 20th though? Indiana State. Yeah. No, no, no.

The big 10 schedule looks pretty hard. And it's home. So if, if Indiana beats Illinois, which is the team that we think will be like a calling Indiana or Illinois this year's Indiana, I think is unfair because Illinois would not be coming out of nowhere. Illinois was really good in 2024. But yeah, if Indiana goes and beats them, it's like, oh, Coach Sigs doing it again. That's from the standpoint of a typical college team that you don't really consider to be a national championship favorite or

contender emerging as a team that's 10 and 0 and in the thick of the playoff discussion like that that I don't know that their their rosters are comparable in the sense of how they were built but I do think that like where they are program stash or why that would even say that Illinois is probably ahead of where Indiana was coming from. Yes, because Illinois is producing NFL players with regularity that.

Yeah, they're there. They probably came. We're in a better spot starting 2024 than Indiana was. But again, if signet, he does what he did. And look, that's the hard part. That's the hard part to figure out when coaches move up levels. Cause he did it at California University of Pennsylvania. He did it at Elon. He did it at James Madison at two different levels of James Madison. Cause they were, they were FCS and then they were also FPS there. But this is the big 10.

Now he came in and made it look pretty easy the first time around, but I think he'd probably tell you it's not that easy. I know, but like also we got, we got like Curtis Roark mania. Like isn't Mendoza just as good? Fernando mania part two Fernando mania except Mendoza not balance way back is Curtis Roark. Um, I think they're both pretty good. Yeah, Roark had dominated in the Mac Mendoza was was pretty good in the ACC. So he's got one of the best corners in college football and D'Angelo

Pons somebody that we didn't correct us enough last year As a collective as a society right a little bit undersized, but the guy could jump through a building and break up I mean he made play after play after play didn't you have a pick in the Notre Dame game in the playoff or a huge Play that he made. I don't know man. Like I think that like When you look I'm not running off Indiana at all but I am coming from it coming from a place of. I don't know that they'll be in playoff contention again this year. That's going to be hard.

Yeah. Yeah. Will they be good? I think I think Kurt Signetti has shown us enough now as a head coach over the course of his career. They're not going to stink. Exactly. Exactly. And then it's just, do you have that special roster that really coalesces and, and then you do something great. We'll see, but I, I am, I'm excited to see what

they do. And Jeff, whenever you want to make your official prediction and you can listen, you can wait till the summer if you want to, if you want to, if you want to wait your official prediction. And you can listen, you can wait till the summer. If you want to, if you want to, if you want to wait till after spring practice and really get a feel for this team, whenever you make, want to make your official prediction, listen, it's your world. You kept the receipts. You nailed it. You were the only person in the country that got this. So whenever you want to give us that official Indiana prediction,

we will take it. We'll take it. Ari, it's been a pleasure. Tomorrow, our friend Ralph Russo joins us. I'm going to make him the official Andy and Ari on three ombudsman. He's going to tell us what we got right, what we got wrong in our first season back together. You and I are going to be on vacation. So tomorrow's show is pre-recorded. So if the world is ending, who knows, I might pop in from the side of a mountain and be like, hey, here's what's going on. Now on to Andy and Arian Ralph.

And then Monday, special treat for the folks. You would. You have to have the goggles on if you do it though. Oh I will. I will. I'll steal one of my kids goggles. Monday JD Pickel filling in breaking down everything that happened over the weekend. It's going to be very exciting. Ari, I'm going to miss you. Have fun. I'll see you Tuesday. It is kind of funny though. Yeah, don't worry about the music. You keep going. When you live in Dallas, you go to vacation to the beach. That's all I was gonna say. Enjoy your

time. I'll miss you too, buddy. We'll see you next time. See you Tuesday.