Andy & Ari On3 - Lane Kiffin Makes His Case for PORTAL KING | Georgia Retools its Roster

Episode Date: December 18, 2023

Andy recaps a newsy weekend as coaches were hired and players committed through the portal. We also take an in-depth look at two teams in the SEC: Ole Miss and Georgia(0:00-6:52) Intro: Is Lane Kiffin the New Portal King?(6:53-7:44) QB Kyle McCord commits to Syracuse(7:45-8:59) 5-Star QB Dylan Raiola Visits Nebraska(9:00-12:39) Former Indiana HC Tom Allen Hired as Penn State DC(12:40-13:59) Florida State Hosts Two QBs in the Portal(14:00-18:38) Congrats to the Bowl Winners!(18:39-43:27) Zach Berry from OM Spirit Joins to talk Ole Miss(43:28-1:06:31) Jake Rowe from Dawgs HQ joins to talk Georgia(1:06:32-1:07:36) ConclusionOle Miss coach Lane Kiffin spent his weekend sending cryptic tweets and getting good news from transfer portal recruiting targets.But before a deep dive into the new-look Land Shark defense, we hit some news from around the country.Former Ohio State QB Kyle McCord committed to Syracuse.Five-star QB recruit Dylan Raiola -- still a Georgia commit -- visited Nebraska.Former Indiana head coach Tom Allen was hired as Penn State's defensive coordinator.Florida State hosted transfer QBs Cam Ward (Washington State) and DJ Uiagalelei (Oregon State) this weekend.Meanwhile, Ole Miss got a commitment Sunday from South Carolina transfer receiver Juice Wells, and that came after Ole Miss got commitments from edge rushers Princely Umanmielen (Florida) and Tyler Baron (Tennessee). If defensive tackle Walter Nolen (Texas A&M) -- On3's top-ranked transfer portal prospect -- commits to the Rebels, they'll have retooled most of their defensive line through the portal.Zach Berry of On3's OM Spirit joins to discuss how active Ole Miss has been in the portal and what the Rebels expect from their high school signing class on Wednesday.Next, Jake Rowe of Dawgs HQ joins to discuss a variety of fascinating Georgia topics:Why have so many Bulldogs entered the transfer portal?Who will the Bulldogs target in the portal?Will QB Carson Beck return for 2024?What is the Georgia side of the potential flip of QB Dylan Raiola to Nebraska?Want to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube, don't forget to subscribe!https://youtube.com/live/bnBDMvdTxdY

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. Happy Sunday night. It is a very newsy Sunday night as I think this is just going to be how things are in December from now on. You have all these coaches saying we got to fix the calendar. Well, all of this is because the season ends now. The semester break is now that's where you get all your transfer portal stuff and you have the early signing period. The one thing you can do is move the early signing period. Everything else you can't really move. Everybody's pretty happy with that where it is. And you're basically not going to get schools on the semester system to move it. So it is going to be busy in December, probably from here on out. Because that's probably when people are just going to do their moving. Because that's always when the coaches moved. And I think now is when the transfer players will move.

And no matter how the system is structured, this is probably when contracts will end. When let's say there's a CBA and everything else, this is when contracts will end. This is when transfers will happen. So let's just get used to it. And let's talk about some of the moves that have been made. The big one is Lane Kiffin. Lane Kiffin is doing work in Oxford, Mississippi, because we stripped him of the Portal King title

this year because I feel like Mike Norvell has earned it. But I think Lane Kiffin might take it back. I think Lane Kiffin is doing a lot of work to take back the title of Portal King. And he's got a team that's already won 10 games, that's in a New Year's Six Bowl, that brings a bunch of people back. And he is on the verge of adding a major playmaker and entirely retooling his defensive line through the portal, which the defensive line part, I'm the one who keeps saying that's not something you can do. But it very well might be something that Lane Kiffin is going to do. It's impressive. It is very impressive. So Lane tweeted throughout the weekend, lots of cryptic tweets, trying to figure it out.

And we will figure out what most of those tweets mean with Zach Berry from OM Spirit a little bit later. Zach covers Ole Miss. OM Spirit is on 3's Ole Miss site. And Zach has been deep in this stuff. And so he can speak Lane Kiffin tweet or Juice Kiffin tweet, by the way. Juice is Lane's dog, but it might be his kids running the Twitter account. It's very confusing, but all I know is every time he tweets, it means something is happened and somebody's coming. So this is one from Sunday night.

This is a Lane Kiffin tweet with a diver and a very large fish. And so this could be a big fish. This could be one of several things. This would be mostly, I think it's Juice Wells. So Juice Wells is a receiver from South Carolina. He was injured a lot of this season, but definitely the most dynamic receiver on South Carolina's roster. He entered the transfer portal. He visited Ole Miss last week. He committed on Sunday night.

And I think that's the Juice Wells one because it came out right about the same time as the Juice Wells tweet commit came out or commit tweet came out. So I think that's who it is. But it could also be Walter Nolan. Walter Nolan, the number one player in on three's transfer portal recruiting rankings. He's from Texas A&M, defensive tackle. Remember, there just aren't a lot of people like this in the portal. So Walter Nolan was on a visit to Ole Miss this weekend.

It sounds like it went well. He has not said anything official yet. Perhaps that happens during the show. But it sounds like Ole Miss is trending. R. Pete Nacos, you know the man with the Nacosifications, he put in a recruiting prediction machine pick for Walter Nolan about an hour ago. And you know when Pete hits the RPM, you can take it to the bank. Pete says, by the way, they might actually let me put predictions into the RPM. I don't know. I don't know if my

probationary period is done, if I worked it on three long enough, but I think it's going to happen. I think I'm going to be able to use the RPM, which is going to be a lot of fun. I mean, do I go for something obvious like Dominic, like Dylan Raiola to Nebraska? I think we've already RPM'd that. I think most everybody we have has already RPM'd that. And he has not said that yet.

We'll get to that in a second. But I wonder what my first one should be. It's a good question. But Walter Nolan RPM'd to Ole Miss. We'll see if it happens. But if it does, it's a pretty impressive feat. Because earlier in the weekend, Ole Miss got commitments from Prince William Manmielin, who was Florida's best pass rusher last year. So he, coming to Oxford, has already shown to be good against good SEC competition. Now, he didn't have a lot of help around him on Florida's defensive line.

But I just mentioned Walter Nolan. If he's there, that's helpful. Also helpful, Tyler Barron, who's coming from Tennessee. He committed to Ole Miss this weekend as well. So that's two edge rushers that can make a difference, that probably are better than what Ole Miss had last year at edge rusher. Now, Barron had six sacks this year. James Pierce got most of the pub for Tennessee's pass rush, and deservedly so.

He's going into a third year in college where he can make himself an awful lot of money and be a very high draft pick coming out of Tennessee. But Tyler Barron was a very good player at Tennessee, and there's a chance that this defensive line could be a difference maker. You put those three guys together. Meanwhile, we know the offense is pretty good, and it brings back a lot of people. You throw Juice Wells on that offense, if he's healthy, that's going to be a big deal. That's going to be a tough offense to stop because it's still going to have Jackson Dark, Quinshawn Judkins,

an offensive line that's been together a while. This is a very interesting situation at Ole Miss because they're already good. This is not a case where they lost a ton and they needed to take a ton out of the portal to replace it. They're already good and they're bringing back a lot. So this is sort of hitting this type of roster at the perfect time as they move to the 12-team playoff. We'll talk with Zach Berry about that in a few minutes, though, because we got to dive deep on Ole Miss.

There's a lot going on there. But other news happening in the world of college football. Former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord has found his landing spot. He is committed to Syracuse. So he took two visits. He visited Nebraska. He visited Syracuse. It became very clear once Dylan Raiola was about to flip to Nebraska that McCord wasn't going there it sounds as if the Raiola camp

wanted him to be the guy potentially in 2024 at Nebraska Kyle McCord would have been the guy as kind of a bridge but McCord now going to Syracuse, he will join new coach Fran Brown, who was Georgia's defensive backs coach. Fran Brown's been doing a lot of work in the portal too. He's done a very good job so far of upgrading that roster through the portal and got a big one from Kyle McCord, who three weeks ago was starting for Ohio State against Michigan. I mentioned Dylan Raiola already. He is still a Georgia commit as we record this right now. That can change at any point between now and Wednesday.

It could change in the next 24 hours. Dylan Raiola was at Nebraska over the weekend. The visit apparently went pretty well. The idea that he's flipping from Georgia to Nebraska, still pretty solid. We talked to Jake Rowlater in the show from Dogs HQ. He explains the Georgia side of that situation. And it doesn't sound like Georgia's expecting to get him.

It sounds like they're expecting the flip and that Dylan Raiola, son of an all-time great Nebraska offensive lineman, five-star quarterback, that he will be the jewel of Nebraska's 2024 recruiting class. So we'll find out about that. There will be a lot of that. The flips, the big flips, will be happening the next few days.

National signing day is Wednesday. Remember, recruits can start signing at 7 a.m. Wednesday in their time zone. So the East coast ones can start 7 a.m. Eastern time and then away they go. But there could be some action between now and then including Dylan Riola. Other news, this is coaching news. Former Indiana head coach Tom Allen, who was recently fired. He was hired as Penn State's defensive coordinator. That's a good hire from James Franklin. You just came off having Manny Diaz,

who was a very good defensive coordinator who had come off getting fired as a head coach. Now, I think what we've seen since Mario Cristobal got the Miami job is that Manny Diaz did a pretty decent job at Miami, which is probably part of the reason why Manny Diaz is now Duke's head coach. Because I think now that everybody's got a chance to reevaluate his head coaching tenure and then see him be successful as the DC at Penn state, it was easy to give him another chance. Tom Allen,

he had it going for a minute there at Indiana, but that's a very tough job. And it just sort of fell apart here the last few years. Tom Allen was always a very good defensive coordinator. He's a very good recruiter. So he's got some spots. Like basically if Tom Allen has lived in a place, the high school coaches there love him and they're going to send him players. So if at Penn State, if you were looking for defensive players from the Tampa area or the Memphis area, northern Mississippi, or Indianapolis, you're going to have a shot at all of them. Because Tom Allen, I'm telling you, the high school coaches all love him,

and they're going to tell their players, you're going to want to play for this guy. So very excited to see what that looks like. Penn State, two new coordinators in Andy Kotelnicki, who comes over from Kansas. He was the OC there under Lance Leipold, and Tom Allen. I know what you're saying. Need to see it from Penn State. Need to see something different. Need to see something better than win 10 games,

lose to Ohio State and Michigan. Well, everything changes now. 12-team playoff, divisionless Big Ten. It's a very different environment now. And so Penn State, probably one of the schools that can benefit most from the 12-team playoff. These are two good hires in a situation where it could have gone either way. I think James Franklin picked well in both these cases. So interested to see what Penn State does in the 12-team playoff era because the season they had this year would have got him in. But I think the idea is you don't want to just get in.

You want to get in win some games you want to potentially compete for the national title and that's the difference can they do that can they upgrade the offense i think tom allen will keep that defense rolling but kodal nicky's really key here can he upgrade that offense to the point where they are even above average because I think that you know they were so average so painfully boring especially when they played good teams that it's just not going to work you're not going to beat good teams that way but Kotelnicki remember not he's not used to working with the kind of talent he's got here. He had a good quarterback in Jalen Daniels at Kansas, and Jason Bean also. The back was pretty good.

But they were never physically superior to the teams they were playing. And yet he and Lance Leipold schemed them up pretty good. So I am very interested to see how that move works and if Penn State can develop an offense that is more dynamic, if Drew Aller can get unlocked. But I do like both moves. Both coordinator moves seem like they will put them going in the right direction. Back to the portal. This is another situation that is not resolved yet. Florida State hosted two transfer quarterbacks this weekend,

Cam Ward from Washington State, DJ Uyangale from Oregon State, and obviously Clemson before that. No commitments yet. Interesting that they both came. They weren't there together, but they both came. So are Mike Norvell and company still trying to choose one? Are they trying to kind of pit one against the other to get one to commit? Cam Ward's also looking at Miami.

This is a fascinating situation too. Are they trying to decide who they like better? We'll find out in the next few days because it seems like one of those guys is going to end up being Florida State's quarterback. And obviously they've got Brock Glenn, the guy who started the ACC championship game. They've got Tate Rodemaker, who started the Florida game. Those two have more eligibility.

We'll find out if one of those veteran QBs, and both of them have played a lot of snaps in their careers, are coming to Florida State to help the Seminoles try to get over basically getting jobbed out of the playoff this year. And I would think they will be a team that will be favored to make the 12-team

playoff next year. But we'll find out. Not the playoff yet, but bowl season has started. So congratulations to Ohio, to Florida A&M, to Jacksonville State, to Appalachian State and Miami of Ohio. We'll stop here. Appalachian State, Miami of Ohio in the Cure Bowl. Appalachian State won 13-9. If you watch this game, it was played in what was essentially a mini hurricane. It hit my house, too. I live about two hours north of Orlando.

So I cannot imagine trying to play football in what was going on outside my house. But they were. And poor Chris Budden from ESPN is doing the sideline reporting. And there were no fans left in the stands because nobody was going to sit there and watch that. But they played it out. Appalachian State is your winner. But congratulations to both of you for playing through that game. Also congrats to Fresno State, UCLA, and Texas Tech who won their games.

But a special congratulations to Jacksonville State kicker Garrison Ripper. Remember the Jacksonville State situation. Like James Madison, they're a team that is transitioning from FCS. So they weren't supposed to be able to make a bowl game, but they and James Madison both got into bowl games this year because there weren't enough bowl-eligible teams. So they won a bunch of games, and the NCAA said, okay, you're in. So Jacksonville State gets to play the New Orleans Bowl against Louisiana.

And great game. Louisiana was up. Jacksonville State came back, forced overtime. So Garrison Ripa is the kicker for Jacksonville State. And they were showing him doing his pre-kick routine. He's got his head up against the wall. And according to the sideline reporter, he's just kind of telling himself these affirmations.

Like, I was built, you were built for this moment and he comes out and just nails that kick. And the celebration from the Gamecocks of Jacksonville State was a beautiful thing to watch. You know how I feel about the playoff and bowls. The bowls should be nowhere near the playoff. They should play those games on campus until they get in the national title game. But I am not one of those too many bowls people. I love the bowls. I want everybody to be able to play in a bowl if they want to. Because I love moments like the end

of that Jacksonville State-Louisiana game. They had player, big old offensive line just ripping their helmets off and celebrating. And it was glorious. Like, there's no such thing as too many bowl games. If there's a football in two teams, I'm happy to watch it. It makes me happy. And you see these celebrations at the end of the game. They say all these games don't matter. They may not matter to certain players. They may not matter to guys that are going to the NFL who have bigger fish to fry, but they matter to most of the guys on this team. And watching those guys celebrate

was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. So next time you think there are too many bulls, just go watch that clip. Go watch Harrison, go watch Garrison Ripa hit that game-winning field goal you see what matters it mattered to those guys it was absolutely fantastic now another team playing in a slightly more prestigious bowl Ole Miss will be playing the Peach Bowl against Penn State. But right now, the focus in Oxford is on 2024 because the Rebels are doing it in the transfer portal. Lane Kiffin is trying to take back that Portal King title. Remember, we handed it to Mike Norvell, and Mike Norvell deserved it. But Lane Kiffin is trying to get this year's title and he may get it. So on Sunday, Juice Welb, South Carolina receiver, he committed.

This weekend, Prince Lima and Miellon, edge rusher from Florida. Tyler Barron, edge rusher from Tennessee, both committed. Walter Nolan, the number one player in the transfer portal according to On3. He visited. Sounds like he's going to commit. But what does it mean? What does it mean for next year? What does it mean for the high school class that they're going to bring in on Wednesday? Where does Ole Miss sit? Because it seems like Ole Miss is in a really good spot heading into 2024,

the 12-team playoff, divisionless SEC play. All of it seems to be coming up Ole Miss right now. We talked to Zach Berry of OM Spirit about what it all means for the Rebels. We are joined now by Zach Berry of OM Spirit. That is on three's Ole Miss site. Say that five times fast. On three's Ole. That is on three's Ole Miss site. Say that five times fast. On three's Ole Miss site. On three's Ole Miss site.

All right, we got to decipher some Lane Kiffin tweets, Zach. That will probably help us figure out what Ole Miss' roster is going to look like come next season. A lot of names, big names, coming out of the transfer portal. Already committed. Some they're waiting on as we speak but by the time we record we run this interview they may have already committed we shall see yeah but I'm all right I want to throw Elaine Kiffin tweet at you and you tell me what this means all right

it is the Tennessee private jet with the power T on the tail in front of a Ruby Tuesday. Find Knoxville establishment. Yes. Great salad bar. What does that mean? So before the commitments happen, if you did not know or do not follow us on Twitter or go to the website, Tamari McDonald, safety from Tennessee,

and Tyler Barron, edge guy from Tennessee, both committed on Saturday. So he went to visit them in Knoxville. And then actually on the way back to Oxford, he stopped in Memphis to meet with – so Barron was still in Knoxville. Tamera McDonald was in Memphis, originally from there, went to Whitehaven High School. So a little troll there for Josh Whitehaven high school. Um, so little, little troll there for, for Josh Hypel and company may, you know,

maybe a little play on, you know, the tarmac stuff with, you know, he's at, you know, an airport. Uh, and then, yeah, I mean, two locations of Ruby Tuesday, I believe in Knoxville, they've got one that's I think in the airport. And then Ruby Tuesday is a Knoxville brand. It, it started there. It's a, it's a, it's a Knoxville brand it it started there it's a it's a it's a not a little institution yes a fine salad bar at Ruby Tuesday I'm sure it really is as he's living healthier lately probably has partaken a few times but yeah two two Sharks two shark emojis and and the photo of the plane which tells you I just got two defensive players from you and and the Tyler Barron one's a big one.

He had six sacks last year. You know, a lot of the pub rightfully went to James Pierce on that Tennessee defensive line. Yes. But Tyler Barron was very effective. And you add him to another guy that Ole Miss got, Prince William Van Mielen from Florida, it feels like that's a much more effective edge-rushing unit

that they're going to have at Ole Miss next year. Yeah, Barron's probably more of your traditional hand-in-the-dirt guy. Umanmielan's pretty versatile. He did a lot of stand-up outside linebacker stuff for Billy Napier and the Gators, and I think that's going to be something that you will probably see Pete Golding utilize, just more versatility. And, you know, we'll get to it in a little bit,

but if Ole Miss is able to land another big defensive lineman, that'll certainly help them be more versatile and be able to flex Oumamie Allen out there, you know, in space. But yeah, I, one thing about Tyler Barron that, uh, I mentioned on our site that I think just kind of inside baseball stuff that people may not realize, but almost also picked up key Lawrence a safety from Oklahoma. He and Barron played high school ball together at Innsworth and Nashville

before Barron transfer. They also played together in Tennessee. Yeah. But he – so they have that, you know, that 4-D chess type stuff with Kiffin where they're working those connections, those relationships with guys that grew up playing together. And then, you know, there's several other Tennessee-flavored recruiting stuff in the portal where they're not only getting really good players that have played a lot of football and have experience in the sec, but they're pretty tight and they're friends.

So that, yeah, for sure. That is a really interesting thing that I don't think people consider enough when you're talking about the portal is a lot of times guys, even when they've gone to different schools, play together in high school or we're tight growing up in the same town, you know, played youth sports together all the time.

And it does help to leverage that stuff when you're trying to, you know, you can, you can pull the, get the band back together and they get excited about it. And, but all right, let me throw another,

uh, Kiffin tweet at you. This was from Sunday morning. It is a gift from the movie field of dreams, which Kiffin tweet at you. This was from Sunday morning. It is a gif from the movie Field of Dreams, which Kiffin and I are the same age, so we definitely understand this. I'm not sure any of the players that he's recruiting understand this. But it is Kevin Costner walking through the cornfield

and the voice is whispering, if you build it, he will come. Who will come, Zach? That has to be, I mean, it's a little bit like a 5,000-foot view of, you know, hey, Lane Kiffin just, you know, about to wrap up year four. He's had two 10-wins regular seasons, never been done before. He's trying to win an 11th game against Penn State. The Peach Bowl, never been done.

So, yeah, I mean, probably a testament to the work that he and the staff have done to build the program. It's a national brand now. They're getting a lot more respect, I think, from folks that, hey, it's not just a, you know, well, Lane's going to be there for two years and then he's going to bounce and go somewhere else. I think he kind of gets, okay, the Grove Collective is doing really well. We've got a really good quarterback. We've got a really good running back.

You know, defensive coordinator, probably a top five defensive coordinator in the country. Year one, Pete Golden, top 25 SP plus defense. That's pretty impressive. You can look at it that way, but also he's talking about Walter Nolan. Still on campus, I believe, as we are recording this. Full weekend visit. Family was all there. Ole Miss expects to land Walter Nolan. I think Alabama came in a little bit late to try to get an 11th-hour visit from him, but I do not think it's going to happen.

Yeah, I mean, come on. Saban's going to try. But, yeah, I think that's what is in reference to is the number one overall prospect in the portal, former number one overall player in the country. Yeah. He's built the program. Now he's waiting on him to come. So with, with Walter is Ole Miss is the closest SEC school to where Walter grew up in, in the suburban Memphis area. Right. So I think that's where I,

a lot of people get confused because his senior year he played at Powell, which is in Knoxville. So I think the assumption is he grew up in East Tennessee, that Tennessee is the obvious fit. But Ole Miss is probably closer to family and extended family for him. Yeah. Yeah, I think that especially this late in your career in college, you want your family to be able to come. And look, I know there's money at these programs.

Oh, yeah. But there's money at all. Walter Nolan's going to get money from anybody. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, the ease of family being able to drive 55 minutes down I-55, hop on Highway 6, and you're in Oxford. That plays a huge role. But, yeah, it's funny that this coming full circle with how Ole Miss has really struggled in DeSoto County.

They've missed on a ton of talented dudes. I mean, you got N'Kobe Dean that went to Georgia. There's been some really good players at Olive Branch High School. And then now, you know, he played his sophomore year there. And then now, you know, fast forward a couple years down the road, and it's probably looking like he might be wearing number zero for Ole Miss in 2024. So it's pretty wild. Well, in another video we did together, you made an interesting comparison for him

of Robert Camdichie when he was at Ole Miss. And that it does make a lot of sense. Physically, they look pretty similar, too. Yeah, I'd probably say Robert's probably a little taller, but I think the on field presence is eerily similar. They demand attention. They demand double teams. Nolan's a monster. He's super athletic. I mean,

he got played running back in high school some. So, Kambichi did the same thing at Grayson High School when he was a senior. So, I think that, and, you know, I made the reference on Twitter when he first, you know, got into the portal and Ole Miss was interested, you know, it's been 10 years since Ole Miss landed the number one overall player in the country. Which we circulated that graphic yesterday of the LeBron tweet from 2013. And there were some people that went right over their head. They missed it. You know, hey, that tweet's from 2013.

Like, we know, we know. I was in the football office at old miss when those faxes came in when really when kim dichi and and laramie tunsell and oh yeah yeah it was uh it was a very interesting day at all i think i was i think i was at brunch in hell's kitchen when that happened yeah i that was one i i embedded with the old miss staff the night before signing day and on signing day. And there was an offensive lineman they signed from, I believe, Montgomery, Alabama. And it was one where he was doing – everybody else had done these ESPN commitment things, but a lot of them had sent their stuff in early. So a lot of what you saw with the coaches celebrating was acting

because I want to say Tunsels was the first one in like because he was he's from florida so he sent it in 7 a.m eastern time so it came in 6 a.m central time it's just sitting there and they're waiting for his announcement but there was another there was another player who announced and so he had an announcement on facebook streamed on facebook from the library of his high school. And Matt Luke was his lead recruiter. Matt Luke was the O-line coach at the time. And the other coaches are just wearing Matt Luke out

because I believe Auburn was also in on it and maybe Florida State. And they're just like, I think, is mom wearing orange? Is he going to auburn matt and they had matt luke so messed up and i think he was pretty sure he had the kid but he was just they planted the seed of doubt because that was when they had i'm trying to find the name what's that was it austin golson yes that's who it was okay yeah and uh yeah and then he finally commits to ole miss and louis just like ah it was but they it was complete ball busting from

the rest of the staff poor yeah i i was i felt so bad for him because they were relentless yeah i've always wondered if those if those like war room reactions are actually genuine i'm sure some of them are but some of them is probably like espn's okay let's record this now so when it happens we can just run it well no what they did is they had them they hey they recorded it when the announcement happened they recorded it with them watching the announcement they just already knew what was going to happen but yeah they there was an ESPN reporter there and it was funny I I can't remember who it was but they they got in later in the day so I already had I already knew who they had at that point and uh but yeah they were they were they would say big energy here but it is 10 years and but it's it is telling and it says something about how

college football has changed how the transfer rule changes have changed how things work let's say because the recruiting class looking good they you know they flipped an offensive line from miami they flipped the quarterback from from Texas A&M and that's great but if they add that to a class that includes Prince of Lehman Mielen Tyler Barron if they get Walter Nolan if they get Juice Wells I mean you're looking at essentially as impactful a class as Larry Meets Hunsel Robert can beach a yeah, and Laquan Credwell. What I've been telling people, it's like a staff that is heavily investing and winning now in real time. I think the way the schedule lines up next year for Ole Miss,

there's no Auburn, there's no Alabama. You get Georgia at home, you get Oklahoma at home. On the road against LSU, but that's without Jayden Daniels. So I think they're really sensing a humongous opportunity. I mean, we know the playoff expands next year. If it was expanded this season, not only would it just be an incredible playoff, but Ole Miss would be in it.

So I think they're sensing, you know, it's time to seize the moment, seize the opportunity, make a run now, and then just all the natural connections and relationships with the staff. I mean, Pete Golding, just the ROI on that one continues to just soar through the roof. He knows all the top players in the country. He recruited them when he was at Alabama, and I think that that's starting to really pay off with him being able to sit down and have those face-to-face meetings with these elite defensive guys yeah it is going to be very interesting if they can finish this season strong

because they play penn state in the peach bowl that's another chance for them to have a you know a big pop where everybody sees them and then they it feels like they bring back quite a bit compared to what is also coming in right um honestly outside of dayton wade they pretty much bring everybody back on offense they expect quinchon judkins jack Jackson Dart back. I'm sensing some optimism on Ulysses Bentley. I think that missing out on Keewan Lacey, the four-star running back out of Lancaster,

Missouri swooped in, got him late. That's a big get for Drinkwitz because he's a stud. I think they're probably going to try to retain Bentley. Micah Pettis is back on the offensive line. I think you add Juice Wells to that wide receiver room. I mean, it's crazy.

We talked earlier this year, the only, you know, wide receiver group in the country with three guys over 700 yards. If they bring in Juice Wells and the foot's healthy, I mean, the expectations are going to be through the well it's going to be one of those things where they're probably your trendy pick to win the sec at that point you know obviously alabama georgia is still going to be the favorites but they will be a a very trendy playoff pick and playoffs a realistic expectation with the 12th year playoff, given what they did this year,

given what they bring in and what they bring back. So it is, and that's probably when Lane Kiffin decided to stay last year, that that's what you're building toward. I mean, and it does look like Lane Kiffin is there long-term. Like, I don't think he has to answer any more questions about are you going to be there. Yeah, and there was, and I feel bad because I don't remember the writer,

but there's a really good long form about Kiffin and his journey to Ole Miss and kind of what, you know, helped him make the decision to stay. Because Auburn wanted him. The conversations were down the line. And he was close, but just his, his kids being there now, you know, Knox is getting older. I wouldn't be shocked if he moved to Oxford and went to school there,

but I think more so just the family feel he's a very different guy than he was when he was at Tennessee and Southern Cal and, you know, with the Raiders, I think he's, he's settled in and I think he realizes what he's built and what could be built with just the success he's had in the portal. And, you know, Hey, he doesn't really need to go anywhere else to do it now because the playoffs control teams before it made sense. Like it's only four, you know, sometimes you gotta be at a bigger place you know to catch those breaks to have a better roster um but now with the portal he's kind of figured

out a nice way to do both high school and portal and if this all unfolds like we think it will 2024 is going to be yeah i mean what would you say say, Andy? Preseason top 10? I would think so, yeah. And he's trying to figure out the, I think that's what a lot of coaches are trying to do is, okay, how do I do this? Combining the high school recruiting and the portal. And I think he figures out, you know, you got to recruit your offensive line through high school. You could spot recruit through the portal, but that's not going to to sustain you so you got to get those guys and then you do still have to get the occasional quinshawn judkins out of high school that is homegrown and and you know and look he stole them from under auburn alabama's nose like they could have they both probably could have

gotten quinshawn judkins had they wanted him more in high school. So, uh, you, you still have to be able to pull off that, that evaluation trick every once in a while, but then you add in their collective is, is very organized, seems to understand. And I mean, you've got Walker Jones, former Under Armour executive, like a guy who's been in the business, understands how the business works. Yeah. I think that has a lot to do with it. But you're right. The expectations are going to be sky high next year, and rightfully so.

If all of this comes to fruition, it'll be preseason top 10. It's kind of one of those everything's clicking on all cylinders where you win 10 games, so the fan buy-in is through the roof. People are constantly upping their donations to the collective. They're excited about the bowl game. Peach Bowl never played Penn State before. Also, they're donating to the collective, and it's interesting because Ole Miss just finished a lot of renovation-type stuff. Yeah.

So they already got the donations for that. So they're not having to ask for money for that right now. And they can just tell the fans, donate to the collective. And I think there's a lot of other schools that don't have that luxury because they're still trying to build stuff or they had projects that were in progress when all this stuff changed. So Ole Miss is, man, they're hitting it at the right time. Yeah.

And Kiffin gets it because i remember like it was maybe year two where they were really pushing the um i think it's called the forward forward together campaign to try to you know boost vaught hemingway stadium you know clean it up premium seating types and kiffin was like no no put that all into NIL. The stadium can wait. We've got to build the roster. I think that that's huge. A coach that understands, like, hey, Vaught-Hemingway, sure, there are better stadiums in the SEC,

but we don't... It's fine. It's good. If you put better players in the stadium and you win games, fans will spend lots of money on lots of things. You can get that money later yeah zach thank thank you so much and uh this will be a this will be a very interesting week for you yeah last my last question for you any other gifts or tweets oh no there was one

i'm ready i want one more this is from juice k. I've never, I don't think I've ever quoted a tweet from a dog before, but it's a poster that says Grand Theft Portal. And it's got Lane Kiffin with one of the GTA ladies draped all over him. And I believe he said, son, this is why you shouldn't tweet. So does Knox run the Juice Kiffin Twitter account? Is this a boy and not a dog? I have no confirmation on this. I think it's probably a collection of people. I'd imagine his daughters probably have a hand. Gotcha. Maybe there's a recruiting, recruiting staffer that has to do it. I don't think Kiffin does it but I don't but I'm not I am just waiting until juice Kiffin tweets something out that's a secondary violation so that we have our first NCAA violation committed by a dog. Canine. Yeah. Yeah. Who knows, man? The folks that, that take care of Juice, Wild Rose Kennels,

I mean that dog, I mean, I have a lab, they're incredibly intelligent. Uh, they're people pleasers, but that dog is very well behaved. So. You're saying he won't commit any NCAA violations. Okay. I understand. That and he might be able to tweet. I don't know. Well, juice Kiffin is going to be tweeting up a storm this week. If all of this comes to pass, it's going to happen. So, Zach, thank you so much.

Yeah, man. So while Zach Berry and I were talking, there was a very funny slash sad conversation going on in the chat between two Miami fans. First of all, it started with there's a media conspiracy against talking about Miami, and nobody wants to talk about how awesome the Hurricanes are. They were 7-5.

They were 5-7 last year. They're the very definition of mid right now, which is a problem, because we talk about you when you're really good, and we talk about you when you're really bad and things are about to explode, but 7-5 is better than 5-7. It isn't really bad. Mario Cristobal, we know, is recruiting well. And so, but the whole chat between these two guys, it goes from the media is against us.

It's a grand conspiracy. Florida State wasn't that good. And they don't think Florida State's that good. Without Florida recruits, the SEC would be trash. Let's see. What else do they say? We're all just sleeping on Miami. And don't worry, when we wake up, it'll be too late. Not like we haven't seen them be very mid for the last 13 years.

So, but it's fun. So, this is the mentality here. This is the mentality here. Like, no, the teams in the SEC are actually pretty good. Florida State was really good. Kicked the crap out of Miami last year. And then this year had some trouble with them. But still beat them so curveball says

i have reading comprehension problems no i read it all and it was it was kind of sad really like you guys sound kind of pitiful like you want your team to be good and i understand that everybody wants their team to be good but you should be that. Everybody wants their team to be good. But you should be able to look in the mirror and go, you know what? Maybe we're not that good right now. Maybe we're seven and five for a reason. It's funny though, because this reminds me, there are people like this. They just cannot accept reality. They can't watch the games and be like, huh, maybe we're not one of the best programs in the country right now. Maybe we need to do something different.

According to these guys, they're one quarterback away. And maybe they are. Maybe Cam Ward goes there and that's it. I don't remember Washington State being one of the best programs in the country with Cam Ward this year, though. So I don't know if that's going to do it either, guys. I don't know. But it is fun to listen to this. But it's not limited to fans of teams that are kind of middle of the road or fans of teams that aren't very good.

Teams that have fans who have enjoyed multiple national titles over the last couple of years and a 12-0 regular season this year, well, their fans freak out just as much, maybe even more. The Georgia fans have been on one. As our friend Jake Rowe is about to tell you, feel in some type of way. I understand that because you're coming off losing the SEC championship game, didn't make the playoff. We're hoping for a third consecutive national title. It makes sense. We brought in Jake Rowe from Dogs HQ to help calm everybody down. Because there is a reason everybody's jumping into the transfer portal from Georgia.

And I have a feeling once all the dust settles, everybody's going to be okay with how everything turned out. But right now, it just feels like a lot. So here's Jake Rowe to help explain just what the heck is going on in athens we welcome jake rowe from dogs hq and it has been a a busy week in athens but jake one of the reasons i want to have you on because i have people asking me all the time like what's going on at georgia because there's so many players going to the transfer portal, but I have yet to see somebody who's starting next year going to the transfer portal. You know, it's one of those things where, listen, I'm not going to sit here and tell you

that man, Georgia's just cleaning house and they're telling all these guys to go and they don't want any of them to come back. I mean, AJ Harris, Austin Blaski, Marvin Jones Jr., Jamond Dumas Johnson, I think are all guys that they would have loved to have kept around. But you look, 15 transfers to this point, 15 guys in the portal, I think there was writing on the wall for pretty much every single one of them. I mean, maybe not Marvin Jones Jr. I think he would have probably been a guy that

was going to have a role that wasn't really going to change and maybe increase. But there was discussion about A.J. Harris playing star or playing safety. A.J. Harris wants to play cornerback. All of these young defensive backs do. It's the premium position. J'mon Dumas-Johnson's snaps per game went from 44 in 2021 to 37 last year. They're going to go – and this is snaps per game. I know he missed time, so this is not a volume deal. But C.J. Allen is probably the bigger reason, right? Right, C.J. Allen and Raylan Wilson. I think J.D. Piquel kind of hit the nail on the head. Nobody knows the talent as well

as the players who work out with these guys and do it. And I think Jermon knew that those guys were going to end up maybe cutting into his workload. I still think he was going to play. I still think he was probably going to start. But I mean, it's not great for your draft prospects if your snap count kind of trends down as your career goes on well and and you know we just go back a couple of years to jermaine johnson who was going to be an important player on georgia's 2021 defense but not the most important player obviously because they had so many good ones he goes and becomes the acc defensive player of the year at florida state like it that's what i I think with Georgia especially,

and we see with Alabama and Ohio State too, when there's that much talent, everybody is going to be happy with the playing time they get. Nobody looked at Ohio State when Jamison Williams left and was like, what is going on? I don't know that there will ever be a more impactful transfer from one year to the next. I mean, it was unbelievable what that guy did in Tuscaloosa.

Saw it with my own eyes for, you know, five, six quarters. I mean, he was unbelievable. I mean, so it's – I mean, Georgia has to have this happen, Andy. Yeah. One way or the other because they're signing a class of 26, 27, 28 guys. You know, they're going to want to bring in probably a half dozen guys via the portal. You can't do that unless you have attrition. And most of these guys are guys who spent some time at Georgia,

spent two, three, four years at Georgia. And they're like, all right, listen, I gave it my all. It hasn't worked out to me at this point. I can't bet on next year being the year anymore. I've got to go somewhere where I can maybe get some assurances and the path of least resistance in some ways. And, you know, some of these guys are doing that. And kudos to them for doing it.

You know, a guy like Jackson Meeks, who's been a big-time special teamer for Georgia for three years, he's going to Syracuse. He's going to play for Fran Brown. Austin Blaski, who, if not for an illness and an injury early this year, I mean, this is a guy that Georgia coaches and staff around the building will tell you, we trust this guy. We trust this guy to play winning football for us. If not for a preseason illness and an early season MCL injury, he's probably rotating with Georgia at right tackle and maybe a returning starter this year. It didn't work out for him, so he's moving on. I don't want to say

that all of this is completely insignificant, but if I'm sitting here and you're like, all right, let's take the temp one to 10. How do you feel? How worried should Georgia fans be about the transfers? I would put it at a two maximum to this point. Well, and what it means is they might not be as deep. It's going to be hard to be like they were in 2021 on defense. Like that, that's probably not going to happen again in this era of college football, just because it'd be hard to keep those guys. If they're talented, somebody's they're going to go start somewhere else. Somebody was bringing it up to me the other day. said you know because i made the comment i said hey it's tough to kind of you know they were talking about georgia's defensive line taking a step back this year and i said well what did you

expect you know i mean they they lost you know four first rounders you know if you count nolan smith as an outside linebacker there are five first rounders and two drafts and they're like well alabama kept reloading i was like oh al, Alabama kept reloading in the age of the portal because that was back when you had to wait a year. That's back when you had to sit out a year if you wanted to transfer. The idea that you're going to have a Quinn and Williams play one snap in the national championship game in 2017 and then come back in 2018 and be one of the best players in college football, those days are probably over. You're right. Georgia, you mentioned they got to

sign a full class of freshmen. We'll see who's in that class. We're waiting to hear something from Dylan Raiola. That news has been out there for six days now that he's probably going to flip to Nebraska. What's the temperature on the Georgia side of things with that one? Well, I mean, with the fans, I mean, they're very disappointed, obviously. I mean, this is a guy who, listen, I'm going to bring this back full circle here, but you know, he's a guy who played at four different high schools and this isn't your typical play at four different high schools. This is, you know, family moving. Dad has some different business ventures going on. I mean, it's not, you know, this is not Bear

Alexander. This is not always looking for greener pastures. Well, he's probably going to flip to Nebraska. All right. And when he does, it'll be a third school he's committed to. I think, you know, you look at it and some of them are not surprised. Some of them are kind of frustrated. He was such a vocal recruiter in this class. and this seemed to happen right on the heels of Georgia going in home with him. Now, I think there are multiple things at play here. I think that they started asking the question, what are you going to do if Carson Beck goes pro? I think Georgia was very honest with him and said, hey, listen,

we're going to go in the portal. We got 29 snaps returning at quarterback. I think that may have played a role in it. But ultimately, I would like to say that I think that they're probably going to Nebraska to get a very, very good chance of starting year one. And I applaud it. And I applaud it from this angle. Obviously, we saw Kyle McCord kind of reverse course, no longer was Nebraska Knights committed to Syracuse. Nothing's guaranteed, man. Nothing is guaranteed in this world. I mean, you may never get a shot. I've used the same reasoning as to why I don't think Carson Beck should go pro because if he becomes a late second, early third, maybe fourth round prospect through the process, at that point, you don't know if you're ever going to get an opportunity

to be the starting quarterback or not. But if you are a first-round pick, you know you will. Well, Dylan Rayola doesn't know, if he comes to Georgia, if he's going to get a shot. There are some things standing between, especially if Georgia's going to go ahead and go after a portal quarterback. Go do what you got to do, man. Go play. Go get on the field as quickly as you can and bet on yourself

and see if it works out. Because I don't think anybody's ever said, hey, I turned down that opportunity to play so that I could learn, and I felt really good about it. You've got to get on the field. You mentioned Carson Beck. He has said he's going to play in the Orange Bowl but has not said whether he's coming back next year or not. How does Georgia handle that?

Are they going to get a decision before this portal window closes so that if he decides to leave, they can hang the help wanted sign and be like, we need somebody? Andy, I've been saying this for a little while, and I'm still going to hold on to it. I'd be surprised if we don't find out pretty soon. And I'll be also surprised if he goes pro. At this point, I think we've heard enough to suggest that there's a very good shot that he's going to return.

I think that there's, you know, he said today, and it's got Georgia fans a little kind of feeling some type of way about it, that it's been the hardest decision of his life. Well, I'm sorry, guys. That's just true. I mean, this is a very tough decision. I mean, you're telling me you've got a shot at the NFL and you're even contemplating doing something else. It's very, very hard.

But ultimately, I think Georgia's going to get some good news from him in the near future unless something changes, and that's just kind of my take on it. Yeah, and if you look at the draft class and the way it's going, so it's still Caleb Williams, Drake May at the top of this one. Jayden Daniels has kind of played his way into the conversation as well. But Beck has the measurables, everything an NFL team would want. But if he comes back, then he probably goes into the 25 draft process as one of those guys that everybody's hyping as a first-rounder.

Now, whether the NFL teams agree with that is another story, but I would imagine another year of development, and he's certainly in that mix. Yeah, it feels like him or Quinn Ewers. It feels like those two will enter the whole 2024 season, provided that Quinn Ewers does as he's been indicated or maybe he's come out and said and comes back. I think that those two will probably be at the top of the heap.

And, you know, if you can put yourself in that top three discussion, not discussion, but if you can put yourself in that top three of all right, you know, because, I mean, I think Shadour Sanders is probably going to be in that mix as well. But, you know, I count me as a skeptic on Colorado, just rebuilding that offensive line with dudes from UConn and Houston. Indiana. Don't forget Indiana.

Indiana as well. Also Jackson State. But I think that those three, if you can get yourself solidified kind of in that top three deal, you've got a chance to be a top 15 pick. And if you're a top 15 pick, you're going to get an opportunity to start in the NFL, and you're going to make life-changing money just with that first contract. Yeah, or even like you look at Will Levis, who was talked about as a first-round guy for that entire last season at Kentucky.

He doesn't go in the first round, but as a rookie, he is starting. And, you know, so you're right. You've got to be in that discussion, and you're going to get every benefit of the doubt once you get in the league, which is a, it's a big difference. It truly is. And I, because if you're, if that you're, if that, if you're that third, fourth round guy and, and you're good, but you're not great, then they will move on from you pretty quickly as the backup two, three years, they're, they're trying to start over. They're like, oh, well, we like this guy in the second round, or we like this guy in the third round. And you kind of get lost in the wash pretty quickly. I mean, I always, I talk with my dad a

lot about football, and we always talk about the fact how many quarterbacks didn't get a shot that had what it took to handle it. You know, like, I mean, you know, there are dozens and dozens out there who probably had what it took to be a really good quarterback in the NFL, and they never really got a look. So you mentioned Georgia taking some players out of the portal. Thus far, it's not a huge list, but we've heard names. We've heard Trevor Etienne from Florida as a possibility for Georgia. Who are some of the guys that we may see come out of the portal and land in Athens? Well, I mean, London Humphreys is a guy from Vanderbilt and, you know, listen, I was in the same boat as a lot of Georgia fans when that was first brought up. I was like, okay, you know, listen, I knew he had a 50 something yard touchdown against Georgia when

in Nashville this year, but I was like London Humphreys. I mean, that's, you're looking for receivers out of the portal. You're going to go kind of get maybe the second leading receiver from Vandy. I mean, really? And then I started talking to people about him, and they're like, man, this cat is an elite athlete. I mean, he is a true 6'2", 200-pound kid with 10,600-meter speed. He's a really good baseball player, multi-sport athlete. I mean, this guy can go. So, you know, I think Georgia feels really good about where they're at with him.

I think the I's are getting dotted and the T's are crossed right now. I do think that they are a major, major player for Trevor Etienne. And I think that is a big position of need for them, kind of a pass catching, explosive running back. You know, there's been some talk, you know, about Xavier McLeod at South Carolina and after playing four games there and really not meshing well with what the Gamecocks did, Georgia had him in for a visit. I think Georgia's in pretty good shape there as well. And I know they like that body type, that 6'4", 6'5", 310-pound body type. Outside of those guys, I would maybe point to Colby Young at Miami.

They don't have that 6'5 guy in the receiver room right now. He's 6'5, 215, grown man, big dude at receiver in that Lawrence Kager role who had a really good career, who had a solid career at Miami. And then when he was healthy, he was really good for Georgia. So I think those four are kind of ones you can really circle. But I know Georgia wants more at outside linebacker. I think Georgia is going to try and add, you know, in the defensive backfield, they had Trey Jones from Central Michigan, a big physical safety in town this past week.

And, you know, they're still continue to look at receivers and listen, they're going to be in the transfer portal market for, you know, they, you talk about a help wanted sign. They've got some specifics they're looking for, and it's that 6'3", 6'4", taller, 330-pound anchor that can kind of sit there in the middle because Nazir Stackhouse and Warren Brinson look like they're coming back. And Nazir Stackhouse this year played more snaps in 13 games than Jordan Davis did in 15 games in 2021. So they're looking to kind of take some of the load off of him as that nose tackle. Yeah, and that's, again, what we were talking about with that depth.

It's just it's hard to have that level of depth that they had before. But have we seen the last time Ladd McConkie plays in a Georgia uniform? That's a good question, Andy, because I thought foregone conclusion at the end of the season, absolutely. Absolutely. I thought that that was it. Then you started hearing, well, it's not a done deal. While I probably would lean a little bit more towards him leaving right now, he hasn't informed the staff of a final decision. Brock Bowers has, and I think we all probably know what that decision is. Yeah.

But Lab McConkie has not. And so I think that one's a little bit up in the air. I will tell you this, and I've told our board and I've reported this on our site for a couple weeks now, so I don't really have to continue putting that behind a paywall. I spoke to an NFL scout over a week ago who told me that he just kind of had the type of season as a 5'11", you know, 190 pound receiver that confirms every fear that an NFL team is going to have about him. You know, his past 15 games, it's been knee, it's been back, it's been ankle.

And, you know, I think the world of him, I think he's a phenomenal player. But I do think he has a lot to gain by coming back if he can stay healthy, which is a gamble in and of itself. And so I think that's something he's going to have to consider. But I know Georgia would welcome him back with open arms. Well, and it's interesting because – and even if he's back, you don't know how much he plays in the Orange Bowl because of the injuries and everything else.

But what might this team look like in the Orange Bowl? We found out that Trey Benson's not going to play for Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Not really sure exactly where everybody else is there. But what do you think Georgia looks like in the Orange Bowl versus what it looked like in the regular season? Man, that's a phenomenal question. You know, I do think – I think you're going to see some guys play

that you typically may not see. I think Kendall Milton, who I believe is 100% gone, I believe he'll play. I believe Cedric Van Praan will play. As of like a week or so ago, that's where that was leaning pretty heavily. I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Brock Bauer is what opt out. I mean, I think that maybe not go out there and see him play 55, 60 snaps, but I think he might try to give it a go. I think a lot of guys are going to play for Georgia in this Orange Bowl.

You know, this is a very tight team, very together team, and I think they'd like to finish it out the right way. You know, honestly, it sounds weird, but would Florida States opt out? It's like if, if, if Johnny Wilson and, and, you know, and I can't remember the other artists, if they opted out would, would Kamari Lassiter maybe be like, all right, well, I'm not going to help myself a whole lot in that game now because I was really looking for an opportunity to go after those guys and see if I could

up my draft stock. Would that happen? I don't know. You know, that's, that's a tough question to answer, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. So I think there's some moving parts there. But I do expect Georgia to bring a lot of players, obviously not any of the transfer portal guys, but to bring a lot of players there. The one guy I would expect, and he's already said he's coming back

or it's already been reported he's coming back. We've confirmed that as Smile Munden. Not going to shock me at all if he sits it out because that was one dinged-up guy all football season this year, and it wouldn't shock me at all even though he's coming back for him to sit the bowl game out and try to get his body right. Well, that's why I asked the question because it felt like during the SEC championship game

there were a lot of guys playing for Georgia who were just sort of – they had to play that game, wanted to win the SEC, wanted to go to the playoff, but they needed that break because a lot of guys were pretty dinged up. Yeah, and that's one of the things that, honestly, I felt like if Georgia could have gotten through Alabama in the SEC championship game, I would have felt really good about Georgia in the playoff because I felt like they would have had a very, a much healthier team at that point. You know, we, you and I've talked about this, you know, a couple of times is Georgia had a lot of injuries early in the season. They found a way to get healthy for the kind of that late season gauntlet. And then that late season gauntlet beat them up again. And so then, you know, then you got into the SEC championship game and they didn't play well enough, which that's the way it was always going to happen. You know, Georgia fans say it didn't have to happen that day.

Well, you know, when you're that talented and you're that well put together as a team, you're probably not going to play your best game and snap a 29 game win streak. You know, it's probably going to be a B game, a C game that's going to knock you out. And that's what Georgia played. They got beat. They were banged up. And then it just kind of turned into one of those situations where, you know, obviously I do think, again, that Georgia's going to have a lot of these guys. I don't think there's a lot of them. You've seen them play their last game in a Georgia uniform.

But I also don't think that everybody is going to play in that game. Do you think Georgia fans, given what they've experienced the last three, four years are ready for the new SEC schedule where hardly anybody's going to go undefeated like I'm looking at their schedule for next year and it's like you know they start with Clemson and they have a stretch of Alabama Auburn Mississippi State Texas and they also have a stretch of Florida Ole Miss Tennessee like this it could be tough and even if Georgia's the best team in the SEC, like, they could be 10-2.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think folks are going to be excited about it. I think they're really bummed out about this coming schedule, not because it's difficult, but because it's so difficult on the road. Like, I know Georgia fans would love to have Texas or Alabama at home, you know, just to get one of those games at home. And, you know, the home schedule is lackluster. It just is.

I mean, compared to the road schedule. And so I think that's something that probably has fans more bothered than anything. But, yeah, I mean, ultimately that is going to be one of the toughest slates in the entire country. You're going to play ten Power Five games. You've got bookend ACC games there leading the season off at Clemson or not at Clemson, in the Clemson. In Atlanta, yeah. And there with leading the season off at Clemson or not at

Clemson in the Atlanta. Yeah. And then you got Georgia Tech at home. But, you know, it's kind of the usual suspects as far as hosting home games outside of Mississippi State. And that's just not going to, you know, the rest in peace pirate, because that was about the only thing that could have made that thing any any fun. Well, it, it'll flip back. Georgia fans may have to wait a year longer than the other SEC fans, but they're going to get that home schedule they've been waiting for. Yeah, they've been waiting on it for sure. Listen, I've got to give them credit. Now, I give Georgia fans crap all the time about the way they flip-flop on things and kind of the way they overreact to things. I

don't mind doing that. But they have been consistent for a few years now that they just wish the home schedule had a little more juice and, you know, that they want it again this year. And, you know, hopefully that 2025 schedule will get tough. You know, we're going to have a tough angle to look at all of it because the press box is getting moved, but whatever. Yeah, well, you were spoiled. You had the best press box in America. For those who don't know of it because the press box is getting moved but whatever yeah well you were spoiled you had the best press box in america for those who don't know the san francisco stadium

press box like san francisco stadiums dug into the ground so like you you essentially walk from street level into the press box which is it was mezzanine and i remember the first time i went there thinking why would they give these seats to us? They could sell these for so much money. And that's what Georgia and Alabama and Auburn have done. And God bless them. It's their thing. But yeah. No, I am hoping that for Georgia fans.

Because I think of the way the divisional schedules worked out and the protection of the Tennessee-Alabama game, the Georgia-Auburn game, and how that made SEC schedules kind of boring for a while like Georgia fans have probably suffered the most from that because the Florida games in Jacksonville so they don't get them in at home like it's time for them to get that so hopefully 2025 is the year but they get to see some cool places next year yeah absolutely excited to go to Austin. You know, kind of honestly,

a little bit, a little bit worried about the, the F1 race being there and how wild that's going to be. It's going to be one, one crazy weekend for the dogs HQ staff, but, hope we all come back at the same time. Exactly. Well, I did. The question is how many, how many rooms did you book at the NBC suites in Tuscaloosa for $4,400 a night? None, none. I'll, I'll stay in Suites in Tuscaloosa for $4,400 a night? None.

None. I'll stay. Listen, I'm going to go to Hoover. I'm going to get me a deep dish pizza from Tortuga's, and I'll probably take it. There you go. Hopefully watch a little. Actually, I can't remember when that game is. Hopefully the Braves will still be in the playoffs at that point.

There you go. See, I might go Homewood Sauce Barbecue. Well, yeah. Yeah. So lots of options. You're okay if you can't stay in Tuscaloosa there's some places if you can't stay in town you're missing out but if you can't stay in Tuscaloosa you need a pretty good meal in Birmingham so listen I'll just stay in Tuscaloosa when they play Mississippi State that's the that's the trick that's what people don't know Alabama is not a town you can have your run of tuscaloosa alabama if you are the king of tuscaloosa exactly jake thank you so much all right dude

veteran savvy from jake rowe right there that's right all who've covered the sec for long enough know the trick like if you've got a cover game in Starkville and Alabama's out of town, you stay in Tuscaloosa and you, you basically own the city of Tuscaloosa for that night. Cause everybody's worried about whatever Alabama games going on on the road the next day, but the bars are all open. So you're good to go. And then you just have a nice short drive Starkville on highway 82 the next day. See, these are the helpful nuggets that we give you on this show. This is what makes us useful.

And I'm glad we can do it for you. We got a big show for you tomorrow too. I believe we're gonna have some NACOSifications from Pete NACOS. There's gonna be some news. I'm just telling you right now, there's gonna be some news. Mostly because there's definitely always news this time of year,

but there's going to be some news tomorrow. We'll talk to you then.