Andy & Ari On3 - Nick Saban goes to Washington: Former Alabama coach testifies AGAINST the SEC’s wishes

Episode Date: June 3, 2026

On Wednesday, Nick Saban testified at "The Protect College Sports Act" hearing. As the SEC and Big Ten have released a joint statement going against the act, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban has openly went against the SEC's wishes. Meanwhile, Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua made some comments regarding the super league, suggesting it was the most profitable route for college sports. Watch here as Andy & Ari breakdown the latest out of Capitol Hill.   (0:00) On Today's Episode (0:48) Presenting Sponsor (2:44) Intro: Saban's comments (10:26) Bevacqua's comments (17:53) NC State vs Virginia update (19:35) Previewing Who Am I (19:54) Who Am I? (29:22) Previewing Transfers (30:26) Transfers: Intro (32:54) LB Rasheem Biles, Texas (37:24) EDGE Damon Wilson II, Miami (42:32) OT Lance Heard, Kentucky (48:36) OT Jordan Seaton, LSU (50:59) WR Omarion Miller, Arizona State (54:21) WR Nick Marsh, Indiana (56:42) QB DJ Lagway, Baylor (1:03:38) TE Benjamin Brahmer, Penn State (1:06:22) QB Colton Joseph, Wisconsin (1:10:14) QB Austin Simmons, Missouri (1:15:13) Honorable Mentions (1:18:25) Conclusion: Thanks for watching!   As Andy wraps up the discussion out of Washington, Ari joins the show to do this week's "Who Am I?" In a legendary round, how many guesses will it take Andy to guess this week's legend?   Next up, Andy & Ari run through this week's list of transfer portal players the two are excited to see suit up for their new team this year. Watch here as Andy & Ari run through some of the more notable names throughout college football.   Our show is also presented by BetMGM!   If you haven’t signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code CFB and you will get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! Here’s how it works:   1. Download the BetMGM app and sign-up using bonus code CFB. 2. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. 3. You will receive up to $1500 in bonus bets if your bet loses! Just make sure you use bonus code CFB when you sign up!   Make this college football season one for the history books. Make it legendary.   See BetMGM.com for Terms. 21+ only. This promotional offer is not available in DC, Mississippi, New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET (Available in the US) . 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only (if applicable). Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel   Join On3 today! https://www.on3.com/join Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/IfY3FdzBSN4   Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman Producer: River Bailey   Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's episode of Andy Naurion 3 presented by BetMGM, Mr. Sabin goes to Washington. Again, Nick Saban testifies before a Senate committee about a bill that could change pretty much everything about college sports. The key difference here is now Nick Sabin and the SEC are no longer on the same side. It's fascinating. Plus, Notre Dame's AD testifies in front of that same committee about TV rights and a super league. week. Later, another edition of Who Am I, the game that's sweeping the nation, and Ari and I talk about the transfers that we cannot wait to see play for their new teams this year, all on today's Andy Narion 3 presented by BetMGM. This show is brought to you by BetMGM. All the lines and totals we use come from BetMGM. And if you'd like to sign up, download the BetMGM app. Use the bonus code CFB when you sign up and get up to $1,500 in bonus bets.

If you're already signed up, it's a huge sports week. We've got the NBA Finals set. We have the NHL, Stanley Cup Finals, set. The French Open is going on. There's Major League Baseball every day. So you've got an NBA playoff odds boost token on Friday, June 5th. You also have an NBA Finals, No Sweat token on Tuesday and Wednesday. That's June 2nd and June 3rd.

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So first bet offer for new customers only if applicable, subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in seven days in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Welcome to Andy and Arion 3 presented by BetMGM. R.O.B. along a little bit. He's on an airplane right now. Meanwhile, we're going to travel virtually to Washington, D.C., where Mick Sabin was talking to a bunch of senators and Notre Dame ID Pete Babacqua. It was a who's who on Capitol Hill today from college sports. As the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on the Protect College Sports Act, which I don't like these names of these proposed laws. I like to just say who wrote them more often.

Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, they're the senators who wrote this bill. So the Cruz Can't Well bill being discussed on Capitol Hill. A day after the SEC and the Big Ten came out and said, hey, we're not for. this thing the way it's written. And I told you this on the show last week. We've talked about this before. The SEC and the Big Ten do not like this bill because it takes aim at them. It keeps them from potentially forming a Super League if it ever passes. It also keeps them from adding members if it passes. So very interesting that Nick Sabin, who is definitely a former SEC and Big Ten head coach, Michigan State, LSU, Alabama, came out in full-throated support of the bill on Wednesday,

including capping agent fees, which I'm sure his agent Jimmy Sexton probably didn't appreciate. But very interesting because, look, Nick Saban is saying he's doing this. He wants this for the good of college sports, not necessarily for the good of a conference. and he had a lot to say, including some interesting numbers that Nick Saban threw out during his testimony about what Alabama was spending on players. Here's Nick Saban. Let me give you the history. My first year we had collective at Alabama, 2.7 million. Next year, 7 million.

Next year, 10 million. I retired. Next year, 17 million. Next year, 24 million. Now you have schools that have close to $40 million rosters. So if we continue to do that, we're going to lose Olympic sports, we're going to lose non-revenue sports, we're going to lose scholarships, and basically what's going to happen is you're going to have football and basketball succeed, and we'll have club sports for everything else. 2.7 million for Alabama's roster in 2021 sounds like a hell of a bargain. 20-something million for Alabama's roster last year sounds about right for what you want to do to compete for the college football playoff in 2025.

40 million this year, I don't know if Alabama's hitting that number. There are schools that are hitting it. What Nick Saban says is an unsustainable march toward, you know, more spinning on football, to me sounds like a market finding its level. You weren't allowed to pay these guys? Now you are. And the market's trying to figure out where does that go? How far up can you go before you say, you know what, that's too rich from my blood?

And guess what? Not every school's found that level yet. What Nick Saban wants is this bill to pass because he believes it will allow schools to enforce a salary cap of sorts. I'm not sure that's going to happen because the reason the SEC and Big Tenor, at least one reason they oppose this, is because they don't really want the same salary cap as everybody else. They'd like to be able to spend more because they can spend more. They also don't want to pool their TV rights with everybody else. That's something we'll get to in a second when Notre Dame AD Pete Pavqua talks. But it's really interesting to hear Nick Saban saying this, where he's saying,

you know, football, basketball might succeed, all the other sports go away. I don't know. When we do segments on the other sports, you guys don't really tune into those. You tune into college football. So I'm not really sure college football needs to pay for the other sports. If the other sports were club sports, I don't know that that's necessarily. worst thing in the world. Softball coaches may not need to make 750 grand or a million a year. Maybe that doesn't need to happen. So I'm not sure the gloom and doom, the doomsday that Nick

Saban is describing is a doomsday at all because basically all that's happening is the schools are paying the players what the schools think the players are worth. And the SEC and the Big Ten schools keep paying more, keep trying to find ways to pay them more, in spite of the fact that they've made a cap, they negotiated with the plaintiffs in the House case to create a revenue share cap that they now have gone over and are trying to find ways to go over constantly.

So again, we're probably in a situation where asking Congress to solve these problems is not the greatest idea. You may just have to solve them yourselves. But it was interesting hearing Nick Saban throughout those numbers and how quickly they went up because this is what the schools think these players are worth. Are they actually worth that much?

I don't know. They think so, though. And they can stop paying what they're paying at any time. We had Kurt Signetti on the show, the Indiana coach. He said the number was closer to 15 million last year than it was to 40 million. And our Pete Nacos has reported their number at Indiana was about $22 million, $23 million for payroll. And Kirby Smart said there were teams last year that were at $40 million. So guess what?

You don't have to pay that much to win the national title. You have to evaluate better than everybody else. Eventually, these guys will figure it out. I don't think you're headed off a cliff, which is the analogy Nick Saban gave. I don't think the college football is headed off a cliff because, yes, they keep spending more. But eventually you run out of money. And guess what? They are not going to do anything that keeps them from continuing to make money off this enterprise.

Like college football is still a very valuable enterprise. You throw a game, 100,000 people show up. 5 million people watch on TV, there's tons of money to be made. So these people aren't so stupid that they're going to say, okay, we're just going to keep spending on players until we run out of money. And then nobody else will play. They're not that stupid. They are going to reach a point where they say,

okay, this is about what we can spend on players. If we spend more on players, we're going to go out of business. They're not going to go out of business because the business is still, profitable. Now, what happens to the other sports is another story. But again, if you're a person who doesn't think the earners should be subsidizing the non-earners in one walk of life, and you probably might want to think about it in this walk of life, too. Let's talk TV. Let's talk TV, because that's another interesting part of this. The Big Ten and the SEC do not like the Cruz Cantwell Bill's provision that would allow all of the leagues to pool their rights and sell them as one.

We give them a narrow antitrust exemption to do that like the NFL has, like Major League Baseball has, like the NBA has. They don't like it because it would keep them from ever being able to pull their rights in a smaller way, maybe just the SEC and the Big Ten, or maybe just a select number of schools, some SEC, some Big Ten, some from some other places, and form a Super League. I found it very interesting because Pete Bivacqua, the Notre Dame Athletic Director, was testifying on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Pete Bavac was an interesting guy because Notre Dame is the swing vote.

The way the math works on this rights pooling issue is essentially if, everybody else wants to do it, not the SEC and the Big Ten. If Notre Dame were to cast their lot with everybody else, you could do it. So they're the swing vote. I think Pete Vovacua made very clear that Notre Dame is not interested in doing that right now. But the difference is, unlike the SEC and the Big Ten, who said, we don't support this thing as written, Pete of Aquacua sounds pretty supportive of it. And I find that pretty fascinating.

Now, one of the reasons he is supportive of it is, as Ted Cruz said on the show when he was on last week, the pooling of the rights is voluntary. You don't have to do it. You can take advantage of the other things that the law would give you if you're the schools and not pool the rights. You choose not to. And again, if Notre Dame is not going to do it, then the SEC and Big Ten wouldn't really have to worry about everybody else. trying to do it. But in the midst of explaining that, to Kansas Senator Jerry Moran, by the way, and who does Jerry Moran represent? Oh, Kansas and Kansas State, which would be two schools that would be very interested in the leagues pooling their rights. Pete Vovacqua

explained why he doesn't think these leagues would want to do this deal now. Mostly they have standing agreements for their media rights that go out until at the latest 2036. That's the ACC. The SEC's ends in 2034. The Big Ten Zins much earlier than that. Notre Dame's got an agreement with NBC. So basically saying you couldn't consolidate and pull these rights and sell them as one for almost 10 years.

And nobody's going to want to do those little shorty deals because they're probably going to make less money in the meantime to bridge the gap. But then he said something really interesting. about how you really make money if you wanted to pull rights. What's the real way to make money? Here's Pete Pavak. My second concern is if you want to truly maximize the media value around the largest sport in terms of eyeballs, which is college football,

I do think the best way to do that is a Super League. And I certainly don't want a Super League. I'm not sure anybody necessarily wants a Super League. flooding the market, aggregating the market, bringing it to an aggregate form to major media companies, I'm not sure that's going to drive the value. Some say it will. If you wanted to maximize media value around college football, I think you would take 24 to 30 teams, create unbelievably competitive scheduling where a team like Notre Dame would play Alabama, Georgia, Penn State, Ohio, State, Michigan, and start to get a number that more closely resembles an NFL number.

I could be right, I could be wrong, but that's why I was encouraged that it's a voluntary application and that a lot more work could be done over the course of the next series of years to see if the value could prove itself out. Now, Pete Vivacqua comes at this with a little bit different expertise than most people. Not only is Notre Dame's athletic director,

he used to run in BC sports. So he has made deals like this. in the past. He knows about being on both sides of the table there. But I find it fascinating where he's like, the way he can make the most money is a Super League. But nobody wants a Super League and I certainly don't want a Super League. But here's how it would work if we did it. And here's the schedule. Notre Dame would be playing Alabama and Georgia and Michigan and Ohio State. And how, what? He didn't say how awesome would that be, but he may as well have. I think he got some TV executives. His former colleagues,

slobbering a little bit with that potential schedule. And that's really what we're talking about here. This bill has the best chance of any of passing, but it probably still has a less than 30% chance of actually passing. It's got to get through the Senate, which I think it could because it's a nonpartisan bill that originates in, sorry, bipartisan bill that originates in the Senate. But then it has to get through the House, and there's all manner of issues in getting it through the house. But that would be the thing the bill does the most. If you are the common fan,

if you are someone who just likes watching college football and want to know, how's this going to affect me? The thing the bill does that would affect you the most is it would keep a super league from ever forming. Pipevok was like, don't want a super league, but man, as a former TV exec, it sounds kind of awesome. And that's the thing. If the bill doesn't pass, maybe they go further toward that.

Maybe they go closer to a Super League. Maybe the consolidation happens some more. That's something they're going to have to figure out. Just like I said at the beginning, you ask Congress to help you. You didn't get what you wanted. Now you're probably going to have to solve your own problems. Solving your own problems may be figuring out who belongs with whom and what this should really look like.

It could get pretty messy over the next few years. So we'll keep an eye on the bill. But again, if the SEC and the Big Tenor against it, I don't see it having much of a chance. But it's gotten really interesting because you've got Nick Saban going against what the SEC wants right now. You've got the Notre Dame AD saying, yeah, go ahead and pass the bill.

We're not pulling any TV rights. A Super League would make the most money, but we don't want a Super League, but man, a Super League sounds cool. Buckle up, everybody. it's going to get real interesting. Meanwhile, elsewhere in college football, NC State and Virginia, still going to play this year, not going to play in Brazil.

They're originally scheduled to play in Brazil in week zero. That was announced on Wednesday that that is not happening. They're not going to Brazil. It doesn't sound like ticket sales were particularly strong. Not sure why people from neighboring states would want to travel all the way to South America to watch their teams play when they're really not that far apart. But basically, this game is going to be played in Charlottesville.

Not entirely sure if it's going to be week zero yet. The NC State statement on the game said that they were trying to work with ESPN and with the NCAA to make sure it is still okay to play week zero. The way the rules are set up is you either have to be a team that's playing Hawaii. So you get a chance to play an extra game or a week zero game or you have to be playing an international game. You've got TCU, North Carolina, and Dublin. That is still on for Dublin. But this one is not happening in Brazil. This is going to happen in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Could be a heck of a game. Remember, Virginia made the ACC championship game last year, brings back a lot of their O line. Could be one of the best teams in the ACC again. C.J. Bailey coming back a quarterback for NC State. That's a fun week zero game, guys. I hope it stays on week zero because I'd like to watch that. I'd like to watch the horn frogs and tar heels from Dublin,

but we'll find out. Next up, my favorite game. We started playing this a few weeks ago, and it is so much fun. I get so nervous when I'm the one who has to do the answering instead of the one asking the questions. Today is one of those days where I do the answering. Dare I say this is going to be a historic edition of who am I.

Okay, and it's time for the game that is sweeping. the nation. Already got Iowa quarterback Brad Banks last week. Now I am on the hot seat. It's time for who am I? Who am I? Andy, it's always a threat of the needle

with you. I never threading the needle. I don't know if you're going to get it in clue one or if it's going to take you a little bit longer. Today you might get it on the first one because I don't know how your first clue. I mean, I usually try to I usually try to make it like, I breathe oxygen for the first clue. Well, I don't know the encyclopedia that is your brain.

Nobody else would get it on the first clue, but you might. But let's get going. Let's see how far you get. If you don't get it on the first one, I think we have a chance of getting you to six, seven, or eight. So you ready to go? I'm nervous. Let's go. Okay.

Number one, I was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Josh Heiple. Yep, nailed it. Yes! Yes! Yes! I don't know if we messed up. We should do this again, but we can... No, do all the clues. Number two.

I'm curious to hear what they are. River warned me this could happen, and he was right. Number two, I intended Central High, which is not... Maybe that should have been number one. Number three was I began my college career playing at Weber State. Number four, after tearing my ACL in spring practice in 1998, I transferred to Snow College in a Friam, Utah.

Five, my head coaching record is 73 and 28. Six, I was Heisman Trophy Runner Up in 2000, which is where I thought you would get it if you didn't get number one. I would have gotten into Snow College. Yeah, yeah. Seven, I was selected as the number 177th overall pick the 2001 NFL draft by the Miami Dolphins. I didn't know that before doing this, by the way.

Eight, I won the national title as Oklahoma's quarterback in 2000, which is where everyone would have gotten it. Nine, I am the current head coach of the Tennessee volunteers. And number 10, producer River took a shot of whiskey with me after the 2020 orange bowl victory over Clemson. So maybe I did a bad job. But I didn't know that Josh Hypo was from Aberdeen, South Dakota. So I knew he was out from somewhere, but I didn't know the specific place.

I took a major risk. It backfired to my face. Your head is probably bigger than ever now. And I regret the way this went. I was praying one of these days I could get it on the first clue. You got it. It's like name that tune when you get it on one note. Now, why do I know that is there aren't many people from South Dakota,

but it's weird because you have Kalin DeBoer and Josh Heiple right now from South Dakota and they played each other. And so it was like when Tennessee and Alabama played the last couple years, it was a big deal that these two guys from South Dakota are playing each other. Well, I learned a lot, Andy, this time because I'm never going to risk it again. And River, you can say I told you so on the podcast if you want. I never know what facts you will remember off the top of your head. and I really, really blew it on this one.

But I'm very curious where everybody else got it, Andy, because I wouldn't have gotten it on the first two or three. I didn't know a lot of these facts about him. I literally, sorry, I literally told Ari verbatim. I said, Heipel could be one that he picks up on immediately. Mm-hmm. And maybe Heipel is too famous or too present because we did. Well, no, I would have gotten it on three or four,

but only because I've done so much on Mike Leach over my career. Yeah, I should have. And so I know the story of Heipel getting to Oklahoma. Well, here's the last thing, too. And I just wanted to make sure that we paid an homage. We did on Tuesday show talk about the Hall of Fame inductees. I was going to Always River and I decided earlier in the week to choose a name from that list. And I mentioned Josh Heipel on the Tuesday show.

And I was trying to do like a reverse psychology thing of you wouldn't have whatever. My plan in my head, River was right. I was wrong. He's attractive. I'm ugly. He's smart. I'm stupid. Andy, you're smart.

Congratulations on getting on the first one, but I'm not going to make that mistake again. I'm not getting cute. I'm just going to get hard. Yeah. So here's a tip from someone who also has to write these questions every other week. If you're going where the person was born, there's two ways to do it.

If they were born in a big city, because then you can't really narrow it down. Yeah. Or if they were born, somewhere but then kind of made their bones or went to high school somewhere else. Yeah. He was there the whole time. He went to high school

in South Dakota and I should have known better and shame on me and I'm sorry. You know what? I just this is great. I'm so scared every time we do one of these that I'm going to get stumped and look like a moron or I'm just going to have a brain fart

and miss all of them. So I can just see on Rivers' face behind the scenes he's disgusted with me. But the thing about this is that you have a really deep catalog of college football knowledge because of the reporting throughout the years. And I should have seen the Mike Leach connection sooner and given you more of a challenge than I did. But I do think that this would still be an interesting one for most people who like to play along. And here's the thing. I think if you are deep in college football lore, you hear someone from South Dakota. So you

you might guess Josh Heipple, but you also might guess Kailen Abor. I don't really know who else is from South Dakota, to be perfectly honest with you. Yeah, and I don't know. Maybe I should have looked and said, how many college football players come from South Dakota? Maybe not a lot.

But I did it in a way where we would wrap down all the way to the volunteers, but you knew about Snow College and all those other things, too. So you would have gotten it early, and maybe I just picked a bad guy. I don't know. Exxon. You picked a great guy.

Excellent. Excellent. quarterback and turn into a good head coach too. But like I just like, I'm not a college football historian like you. I didn't know. I, when I think of Josh Heppel, I think a badass Oklahoma quarterback. Like I didn't know that he had some early season injury or early career college injuries and transfers to smaller places.

Like I didn't know that about him. So maybe maybe some people who listen to the show are like you and we'll get it pretty early. But I venture to say if you're if you're keeping score and doing it in good faith, just with yourself, I'm sure there are going to be people that don't get it until 6, 7, or 8. I will be interested when we put this out on social because I do think this is the most guessable first clue we've had since we started doing this. Sorry, River. I'm so sorry. Because I do think, I wonder, Tennessee, like, VAL Twitter is very active.

So how many Tennessee fans know this about their head coach? you know he was from Aberdeen, South Dakota before I gave you the clues? I didn't know it was specifically Aberdeen, but I knew it was South Dakota. Okay. Taking a shot of whiskey with the man. How do you not know? Yeah. Producer River took a shot. We didn't get that far.

I almost put the best clue we've ever had, by the way. I wanted to put it number one, but then I knew that would give it, you would know it's a Tennessee person. So like that would have been I mean, but that would have been a better clue than obviously for the first one. If you didn't from Tennessee. Yeah.

Because I would have been like, oh, is Peyton Manning in the locker? Yeah, it literally could have been anybody. Could have been Aryan Foster for all you would have known it. I mean, any clue that had been better than the first one, because the first one gave it away. Yeah, did. Good job, Andy. I'm proud of you.

And your brain never ceases to amaze me ever. This is, this is, I'm just, I'm off the hook for two weeks right now. Yeah, now I'm back on the hot. I'm asking in it. Sorry. You're going to give me a really hard. one next week too and i'll be the and i know for sure i'm going to be the first to not get it at all so i'm happy i got to say the the brad banks one was the most fun i ever had formulating clues

because when i can throw brent schaefer in as a bonus clue yeah and like you were in college when all the brent schaefer you might have been in high school when when brent schaefer was at tennessee and you were definitely in college when he was at old miss like i i love the if you know you know guys because yeah the reason brett schaefer sticks out for me is when chris vernon from memphis did the coach o's song one of the lines in the song is yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo brook you yeah i'm very mad at myself right now and uh you know we're we're gonna take a a week beat maybe two weeks and i'm gonna come back strong in two weeks i promise you that because it's going to be my own enough to dump you next week I cannot wait.

I cannot wait. I will never top what I just did and who am I. Never going to top. One of the greatest moments in show history. Never going to happen again. Because I don't think Ari is ever going to let me get it on the first clue again. And I'm sure as hell never going to let Ari get on the first clue. But I love that game so much.

And I hope you guys enjoy it too. Now another little exercise that Ari and I thoroughly enjoyed. there's so many transfers. And we talked with Cody Belair about some of the ones we're really excited about that he's seen. That's one of our national scouts at On 3. He loves certain players and he gave us a list. And Ari and I was like, that's not a long enough list. There's so many different players we want to see in their new uniforms when this season starts.

And so basically we said, hey, let's just throw out five players apiece that we cannot wait to see in their new uniforms this year. So here's Ari and I talking transfers. Ari, we had our friend Cody Belair on a few weeks ago to talk about some of the biggest impact transfers in college football. Obviously, there are so many new faces and new places we couldn't get to everybody we wanted to talk about.

Cody, we said, you know, pick some of your favorite. So that's where if you've not heard a lot about, Ty Benefield, the LSU transfer from Boise State, who he's a safety. He's just one of those guys that's all around the ball all the time. He could be the most exciting, impactful transfer in college football this year. But we've got a few more candidates. And we were talking about this the other day. And we were naming guys.

I'm just so excited to see him play. So I just said, let's each make a list of five players that we cannot wait to see at their new destination that we can't wait to see play in their new uniform these are guys that you know that they could change everything for a program or they could replace somebody that was very impactful that the program lost this is going to be fun because we we've talked a lot about last season we keep talking a lot about the playoff and what's going to happen to that in the future i think it's time to start turning the calendar forward and start looking at the

2006 season more and what's going to happen. So it's like can be different things like can't wait to see might mean impactful. But some of the ones on my list and I have a list of 20 guys and I'll be writing this in written form with a longer

list here for the for on three's website. But a lot of my guys are just like morbid curiosity more than anything. Not necessarily who's the best or who's the biggest star or who's and maybe some of these guys will be awesome and be stars. But But I just am very curious to see how some of my guys are going to fit into their new scheme. And, you know, my favorite thing about the first few weeks of college football, Andy,

I know we talk a lot about how crappy the opening weekend is. But like, isn't there something special about seeing people in new places for the first time? How is this quarterback going to look? How is this running back going to look? How's this offense going to go? You know, and I think that with this new college football world, I mean, it used to be about how is this recruit going to look. now it's how is this player who is awesome

they're going to be fitting into a new place. So I'm always excited for the, not just to get college football back because I miss it, but I'm always just the curiosity that you get from the first weeks are always so, so interesting to me. All right, all right. I'm going to let you kick it off.

Who is your first transfer who you cannot wait to see? So we do a lot of discussion about the University of Texas. We talk a lot about how many good players they have. I think a prominent NFL draft evaluator has four Texas players in his top 15 draft picks next year. So it's kind of starting to feel a little bit more like Ohio State did a year ago with how many, you know, top end players are on the draft. But, you know, they took a really good linebacker from Pitt named Rashim Biles.

And you add him into the mix with some of the players that they have that you know, like Arch Banning and Cam Coleman and the two running back transfers and Trevor Goosby. The list goes on, Colin Simmons on the defensive side of the ball. How is he going, this is a two-time all-ACC player at Pitt? How is he going to fit into this defensive scheme? And is it possible that this is a player that is going to rise up draft boards and become a star in his own right, despite the fact that he is vastly overshadowed in the moment by a lot of the other players that are already on Texas' roster? Well, I would say if he can give you anything close to what the guy he's replacing, gave you, you're in good shape. If he can

recreate what he did at Pitt last year for you at Texas, it is great news. Rachine Biles had 101 tackle, 17 tackles for loss last year. So he's replacing Anthony Hill. And Anthony Hill was a really

versatile linebacker for Texas. There was a whole lot he could do. And the stat line from Risham Biles feels a lot like the Anthony Hill stat line. Yeah. So, you know, I think, you know, Rishin Biles was a bigger volume tackler. He's really fast, 6-1, 2, 20.

He's smaller than Anthony Hill. Anthony Hill is 6-3-2-38. So you're looking at a not as big of a player, maybe not as much of a thumper, but he's really fast. He's all over the place. He has a great nose for the ball, forces turnovers.

He has an explosive playmaking ability, too. And I think it's just like guys like this fly under the radar Andy at this time of year because we get so bogged down, including me, with the Cam Coleman's of the world, that the transfer at linebacker goes up. But when it comes to, you know, middle of the year and they're playing against Oklahoma in a one possession game and he has a pick or a tackle for a loss in the fourth quarter, people like this often are the difference between winning a national championship and not even making the playoff at times. So this is, I think, a perfect illustration of how I approached my list moving forward. Well, Roshim Biles is a really interesting story, too. So he's from Ohio State territory. He's from Pickerington, so suburban Columbus,

but went to Pitt as a three-star recruit. And no guarantee that he was going to be a linebacker when he got to Pitt. Running back was a possibility as well. But he was a star. As soon as he got into a big role at Pitt, he was one of the best players on the team, one of the most reliable players on the team. So I just,

I can't wait to see this. And remember, Texas is changing defensive coordinators this year. Pete Kutkowski's gone. They bring in Will Moshchamp. This is the type of player. Will Muss Champ has historically been really great at using. And so I love the fit here. I love the, you know, what he can do.

And remember, he doesn't have to be perfect. He's got guys like Colin Simmons coming off the edge. He's got here are canoe. speaking of transfers, Hero Canoe transferred into Texas last year from Ohio State and it was one of those deals where he was on a crowded depth chart at Ohio State.

He turned into a really good player for Texas. And this is a German import. I remember doing a story on him during his recruitment where he was moving to California to get some American football experience. And so you've got a guy like that in front of you who's opening,

basically opening holes for you as a linebacker to go make plays. I think Rishim Biles could be one of the more important transfers in the country this year. Yeah, yeah. All right, who's your number one? So for me, the one I am most excited to see

that we haven't covered ad nauseum. You know, we've covered Cam Coleman. We've talked about Sam Levitt. We've talked about some really big names. This is actually one of the more sought after guys in the portal. We haven't talked about it as much, but I do think he's one. if he hits the way he's supposed to,

we'll be talking about a lot during the season. And he's one who has big shoes to fill, who has to really help out his new team. Like he's getting paid a lot, and he needs to earn it. And that is Damon Wilson, who is transferring from Missouri to Miami. He started his career at Georgia.

He transferred to Missouri last year, at nine sacks last year at Missouri. He's coming off the edge for the canes this year. And remember, Miami lost two first, first round edge guys in Rubin Bain and Akeem Messador. That means Damon Wilson has a lot. Now, obviously, you're not going to replace the production of two first round guys, but you better replace the production of one for what you're getting paid.

I mean, he is a person who was third highest in SEC and pressures last year, Andy. Yeah. And the thing that I think is so exciting about Miami is his last year, although heartbreaking the way it ended, wasn't supposed to be a flash in the pan type season. they made it all the way to the national championship and we're frankly 40 yards away from winning the national championship. They went out and got Darian Mensat quarterback, Cooper Barcates, another person that could have been on this list, the receiver from Duke. Obviously, they've got Malley on the team. Their offense is probably going to be one of the best, most balanced offenses in the entire country.

But last year, make no bones about it, Miami went to the national championship game in large part because their defense stifled everybody up front. And to go out and get somebody of this stature, who I think you probably would find, find on a lot of top 10 most impactful lists to come in and replace a guy like Rubin Bain and help the transition away from Akeem Messador is a massive situation for this Miami team that hopes to repeat as a national championship and win their first ACC championship ever, which is crazy to say out loud. Exactly. I mean, they've made it the national title game and still won the ACC.

But this is how you do it. And look, they've really tried to. home grow most of their line of scrimmage guys. But in this case, they needed somebody to come in. And like, Akim Esedor was actually a transfer, but he transferred after one year at West Virginia, and he was at Miami for four years. So, like, most of the guys that were really producing were homegrown guys.

But, you know, playing next to Ahmad, Moten and Justin Scott, and you're going to have help. You've got some talent around you. So this will be a lot of fun because, you know, go back to the Ohio State game, Rory. Reuben Bain took that game over at the end of the game. Damon Wilson's got to do that. Like if you're going to beat Notre Dame, you're going to need that. You're going to need to be able to play.

And look, we know Notre Dame is going to have a good offensive line. We've talked about Will Black, you know, who we think is going to plug in at left tackle at Notre Dame this year, that he's sort of like created in a lab to be a Notre Dame tackle. Like how fun will that matchup be? It's going to be great. And I think that this is exactly how you're supposed to plug holes or to fill your roster after you lose a lot of really good players after a college football playoff run.

So Miami. The thing is, you know, Miami's not nearly as transfer heavy on defense this year as they were last year. Last year, they were coming off a season where their offense was awesome. and their defense was not good at all in 2024, and they had to revamp the whole thing. Now they've got guys that have played, you know, that they understand what they're doing. Like Zechariah Poyser comes from Jacksonville State last year,

fits in and is awesome. And so they've got guys that have played. They've got guys that have been in the system, you know, Corey Heatherman now in his second years of D.C. So this is going to be really, And I hate to say, I keep bringing this up, but like, earn your money, Damon Wilson. And it's interesting because Damon Wilson, you know, got sued by Georgia when he went to Missouri. That's still, I think that lawsuit's still ongoing.

Like, he's sort of a poster child for the transfer portal. But he did go to Missouri and make a big impact there. And now he has a chance to do it again at Miami. I'm sure he didn't go cheap. And he's got to earn every penny because this is like, the way Ruben Bain wrecked games last year allowed Miami to play the way it played. And so you've got to have something like that.

You got to have somebody who can make that, that level of impact, and that is what you're paying him for. So that's why I'm excited to see what he can do. Okay, my number two, Andy. Lance Hurd, offensive tackle, who transfers from Tennessee to Kentucky. And I don't, I hope I earned some of your respect with this pick

because you're an offensive line guy. I was mad because I wanted to take him. You could have taken him from me, guys. Well, I wanted to take him almost more of as a representative pick. That's why I did. Go ahead. Then, yeah, explain to the folks why. The representative pick of Kentucky went out and hired a homegrown guy who played at Louisville,

who was an offensive mastermind from Oregon, gave him resources for the first time in the NIL era. You know, and they go out and they get an offensive tackle who started, I believe, 24 times as 2,000 career snaps at a SEC rival. I think that, you know, his presence alone isn't going to be the thing that makes Tennessee or that makes Kentucky or breaks Tennessee, but I think he is kind of a symbolic fixture in the fact that this is the type of player that Kentucky is now in the market to go out and get. So if that's what you were going to say, you know, we're on the same page.

Not exactly because it's not just him. he's he's the highest level and probably the the high the best known of these guys but they also went out and got colton price who was baler's starting center who started 32 games for baler and uh also went on got tagger shabola from ohio state who has started for you know part of two years probably was not you know was maybe going to get squeezed out of a starting this year, but it's Ohio State. Like last year, Pat Coogan got squeezed out of a spot at Notre Dame, why not starting for the national champions at Indiana?

So it's not like Tiger Shibola is bad. The whole offensive line is better than anybody Kentucky's had for a while. And you know how college football, but pendulum swings back and forth of like, how do you want to build your team, get the flashy receiver, go get the quarterback, whatever. But like the one thing that always travels, the one thing that is always consistent in, you know, Miami, I think was the illustration of this, this past. year, which is if you have an ass kicking offensive line and an ass kicking defensive line, you're going to be successful in this game.

And they went out and they put in dedicated resources, not just in Herd, but in their entire offensive line, which then, of course, opens the door for another exciting transfer, Kenny Minchie, their quarterback. And you have an offensive guy who drew up a lot of exciting ball plays for Oregon, taking over in his home state. Like, I think that Lance Hurd is kind of just the mascot of the entire Kentucky mechanism, which I find interesting. So certainly had to have a Kentucky person on this list because it just-

This was interesting to me too because I remember when Lance heard it in the portal, I was like, wait, okay, what's going on here? Tennessee's not happy to see him go. This is a guy, I believe it was second team all-SCC. So, and I remember watching him at Tennessee, really good athlete, you know, fits in well, has played a bunch of snaps in the SEC, obviously. And Hurd started his career at L.S. Hugh, remember he was in the position where he was kind of blocked by a couple of really good players and, you know, wasn't going to probably get playing time early enough at LSU.

So he goes to Tennessee and slots right into the starting lineup there. And it's also important to point out that he was a five-star prospect in high school. So like he also is exactly, exactly, 320 pound freak of nature of a human being. So, and you know how I like those five cars. Yeah. And that's the thing. It'd be one thing if Tennessee was like, oh, you know, it's okay. They did not want to lose him.

And the fact that Kentucky gets him, that they're the ones that were aggressive and went out and got Lance Hurd, I think it says a lot about Will Stein's plan and what he intends to do. And again, I've said this multiple times over the last few months, but I find it really interesting. Kentucky could have said, hey, we spent all this money buying out. Mark Stubes, you're on your own, Will Stein. You know, go, go, you know, try to do this with a fairly modest budget. They didn't say that. They said, hey, if we're going to spend all this money buying out Mark Stubes,

we better make it worth it. And so, Will Stein, we're going to give you the resources you need to go try to compete right now. And when Will is on our show, he was very, he acknowledged that was one of the selling points of going there. Not only are you taking an SEC job, which is a notch on your belt. you're taking an SEC job that's willing to financially back up what it takes from a resource standpoint to compete at a high level in that conference. And I think they did a pretty good job of illustrating that was true with what they did on their offensive line.

Yeah, I'm so excited to see what Will Stein does here. The Kenny Menci thing's really interesting. We've talked about Kenny Menci quite a bit since he transferred. But that's another one where when he was at Notre Dame and he was competing with CJ Carr for the job, they said, oh, it went right to the wire. And we're like, are we sure about that? But everybody I talked to behind the scenes tells you, yeah, it did go right to the wire. It's just CJ Carr's really, really good.

Yeah. So Kenny Minci may also be a really good quality starting quarterback who just didn't beat out CJ Car, which we may find out that not being able to beat out CJ Car, there's no shame in that. So this is going to be. be a fascinating one. And again, we learn a lot about Kentucky right out of the gate because they play Alabama week two. Our friend Nick Rouse, who works at Kentucky Sports Radio, has already predicted a Wildcats victory there. I think that's probably a little bit presumptuous, but I am really excited to see what Kentucky looks like against Alabama immediately. And by the way,

they're at A&M way three. So we'll know all about the Wildcats in mid-September. Your number two? My next one, also an offensive lineman, probably the biggest name of these guys we're talking about. We haven't really had an extended discussion about this guy since he transferred. And that's Jordan Seton. Comes from Colorado, goes to LSU. Jordan Seton, the most high-profile recruit that Dion Sanders signed at a high school in his time at Colorado.

Now, obviously, he signed Travis Hunter at Jackson State. But Jordan Seton was the number one offensive lineman in the class of 2000. He came in, played right away at Colorado. Grated out great last year was one of the bright spots on a really bad team. He enters the portal. He goes to LSU. The photos that came out of LSU's Pro Day in March of Jordan Seton were mind-boggling. Because he was always pretty well built and was a 300-pound guy coming out of high school,

was always a really good athlete, but he looks like he has changed his body entirely in the time he's been at LSU. So I am very excited to see what he looks like on the field. Yeah, this is one of the most impactful transfers overall, and the thing that I find so fascinating about this, you know, is two-pronged. One is, you know, the way that he, you know,

illustrated leadership and, you know, being the voice of the team while at Colorado makes me feel kind of confuses why he left. but secondly the LSU because that was a surprise LSU picked him up as a luxury piece like this wasn't at LSU was like they had to go find and get like they went out and they're like well we did all this money with Sam Levitt and Ty Benefield and all these other people that are brought in as you know the most robust and probably expensive total transfer class and they go out and get this guy as a luxury so you know there's no question in my mind that he's going to be successful

he's a all big 12 two-year starter that has allowed like very few pressures as a attack I mean like five-star guy everything that you could ever want and honestly Andy rare not a lot of guys that are like this with these traits at that position in the portal so it's certainly a good pick and I found like this is probably probably the highest floor of any of the guys you'll find on these lists I bet yeah so my next one we're going to go with my next one because he's coming from the same place and It's interesting. It's, I would say it's the second most impressive person that Dion Sanders signed out of high school at Colorado.

And it is Omarion Miller. Omarion Miller is a 6-200-pound-wide receiver who's going to Arizona State where he's going to try to replace Jordan Tyson. And I had a feeling he's going to be a very successful replacement for Jordan Tyson. because last year when he was Colorado's wide receiver one with not much help, catching a lot of underthrown balls by Caden Salter, he averaged 18 yards of catch. It's interesting to me, and this is, I don't know, it makes me a little sad for Colorado when we talk about this

because we just talk about what Jordan Seton's done and what he looks like now and what he could do at LSU. If you watch the games when Juju Lewis played for Colorado, the balls got, but got thrown to Amariot Miller were a lot better. Yeah. And it might have been a better situation this year with Juju Lewis, but I can understand why you might want to go somewhere else

to a place where they just put Jordan Seaton, they just put Jordan Tyson in the first round. Yeah. Well, the thing that I think is interesting about this pick, Andy, and it stood out to me when I saw your list come through, which is,

you know, I think that Kenny Dillingham has like kind of created this, aura about himself with what he was able to do with Jordan Tyson and Sam Levitt. And another person on this list is Cutter Bowley. I don't know if he would have made your list or you considered him, but he is the Kentucky quarterback that has some pretty good traits. And I'm wondering if this one-two punch of Bowley Miller is going to have the returns for ASU that Levitt and Tyson had.

And we're just going to find out that Kenny Dillingham is a genius when it comes to analyzing these two positions in the portal. So, you know, I think that if I had a. a list of 15. I think Boli would have made mine. And the fact that you have the Arizona State receiver incoming transfer on your list is really interesting. It makes a sun devil is even more fascinating going into the year. Yeah. And again, like I said, it makes me a little sad for Colorado because maybe they might have been able to pull out of the slide had their two best returning players not left. Yeah. I get it. If you're Jordan Seton, you have a chance to make

all that money, you have a chance to play on a team that may be able to make the playoff. it makes sense. If you're O'Morian Miller, this team was in the playoff two years ago. Before Sam Levitt got hurt, Arizona State was very much competing for the Big 12 last year. So this is going to be a fascinating one because O'Maria Miller is one of those that he can go over the top,

he can take the top off of defense, he's got great body control in the red zone, great contested catch guy, but also a guy that you can throw it to in space and let him make stuff happen. And he'd do that against defenses that don't typically allow that sort of thing to happen. Like there's a play last year against Kansas State where he just dances through the entire defense. And that's not normal, especially for a guy who's good enough to just throw it deep to.

And then he's going to come down with it even if he's covered. So I think there's a chance that Omar R Miller could be one of the best receivers in the country this year. Yeah. All right. My number three is another receiver. Nick Marsh, Michigan State transfer to Indiana. And by the way, we're not ranking these because a lot of these guys we're saying because we haven't talked about yet. Yeah, I didn't see number three on my list.

Jim Coleman is our number one receiver we can't wait to see. Yes, yes. My number three on my list of these specific discussion points. Yes, yes. But Nick Marsh might actually be ranked on some of those real lists because he's awesome. Very high. Very high. Yes. More than 100 receptions in his last two seasons. And one of the most productive receivers in the entire country.

Now, Michigan State hasn't really been a program that the national college football audience has been tuning in to watch every week. But when you consider the fact that Indiana just lost two receivers as high draft picks after winning the national championship last year, but returned Charlie Becker, putting another big bodied, long, fast athletic receiver that has already pretty. proven production over multiple seasons next to him means that Indiana's offense with Josh Hoover might be awesome again. And I've been kind of confused, but not so confused why Indiana is number one on a lot of people's preseason, you know, top 25 lists. But when you start looking at what Kurtzetti is assembled here, you can really start to really envision that this team is just going to be freaking awesome again. And Nick Marsh is probably one of the most exciting transfers in the entire country. Well, and Nick Marsh, a lot like what we were talking about,

with Omar and Miller, where he's got all the physical tools, he's got the ability. He was not playing in an offense that could do much with him. That could allow him to make the most of that last year. And I think that's not going to happen this year. He's going to have a quarterback who can get him the ball. He's going to have an offensive line that can block for that quarterback. He's going to have a run game that makes it where he's not going to be bracketed every single play. He's got other receivers on his team, Charlie Becker.

for example, who are going to scare defenses as well. None of this he had Michigan State last year. It's by the, by the Hoosier hype. By the Hoosier hype. All right, let me snake this. Let me go again because this is. Okay. All right.

Who's your next guy? Do you know who my next guy is? I'm kind of afraid to say it. When I get attached to an idea, I think this is a actual, like, character flaw of mine. And it's actually cost me a lot of money in betting. but when I think I'm right about something or I get attached to an idea, I wait till the fact I'm going down with the ship

until I'm like, do all of these ideas have five stars attached to their name coming out of high school? I'm convinced that a team is going to win before the game. I remain convinced that they're going to win until they've lost. Like, it's like a problem. But I'm talking about people.

I'm talking about five star recruits who. I think when it comes to actually. Even if they have not shown you that they can little. up to that yet. You still believe. Yeah. Now, I still believe that there's something in the tank. Now, this next person is DJ Lagway, Florida quarterback that transferred to Baylor. I'm under no illusions that he's going to be the number one overall pick in the draft like I would have told you on June 2nd,

2025 or June 3rd. Morbidly curious about what he has from a trait standpoint being back in the state that he's from, you know, has connections to Baylor, was recruited, you know, out of high school by them. And maybe being in a place that's not as pressure-packed as Florida, you know, I've read a lot of the comments and the stories about how he was kind of isolated and unhappy and, you know, really didn't fit in into the Gainesville community, at least this is his perception of it, like going back to your home state, having a getting healthy, all the things that, you know, where he might actually be a top-level big 12 starter. I know a lot of people love to roast five-star prospects who take a ton of money and suck or don't live up to the expectations.

But that doesn't mean he's very early in his career still, Andy. And that's the thing. He was injured all of last off season. So I don't know that he really showed us what he is because he didn't really have a chance to prepare for last season the way he should have. So I think you may be right. I think there's still a chance. I'm fascinated by, now you can call it a PR. campaign, whatever you want to call it, his explanation for why things were the way they were in

Gainesville, the isolation, which was his choice, by the way. Now, it seems like he's trying to make sure that's not the case with Baylor. I believe he took some of his receivers to Miami for, I believe, spring break, and they were working out and throwing together. But even if it were a thing, I feel like it's going to help you. Even if it were a PR stunt that still makes me more curious because if he flops there, then that's still neutral, you know, and the fact that the matter is, and good job River putting up Dave Miranda picture right now, like he's also attaching himself to a coach that is pretty desperate to win

right now. Like, he's once again trying to save a coach's job. So, so, which may be a bad thing, maybe that, I wonder how much the Napier circus had an impact on his psyche. I'm sure that was a large part of it too. It had to have. And here's the thing. and I'm not going to join you in the, oh, he's going to be great.

I don't know that. But I will say this. I saw him against LSU and Ole Miss in 2024. That guy can play. That quarterback that we saw on those two days can play at a very high level, can be a really good college quarterback. So I don't think you should give up on him yet. He has the physical tools.

He has the arm. And he's just, there's a lot to it. There's a lot to the situation. There's a lot of mental stuff. Now, the mental stuff may be more than can be overcome. He may not be built for that. But I'm happy you brought that up because I think of all the coaches that we interact with on an annual basis. and when you think about soothing, positive coaches that might help you work through some mental things,

because it's certainly not physical. Maybe some of the injury stuff is. But I don't know his lack of production or lack of success at Florida was obviously not physically determined because he's awesome physically is Dave Oranda. I mean, that's a guy that I would, if I was not, like I want to call Dave Miranda when I had a bad day in my life. Like he's somebody that would make me, and I've said this to his thing. He'd set you straight. He'd get you thinking right.

You get you thinking right. So, and I don't want to be mistaken here, Andy, as me, is this a declaration of like assured success? I don't know if he's good or not. DJ Lagway is very much a distressed asset. And that is why he's at Baylor right now and not still at Florida. And it's interesting. Regardless of how, whether he's great or bad, I find his career arc to be interesting and I can't wait to see what it looks like when Baylor takes a field. Yeah.

And you mentioned, Dave. veranda. The guy that DJ Laguer was going to be around the most is Jake Spavitol, who's the offensive coordinator of Baylor. And there are not many more patient people in college football than Spaff. So I think he's the type of person who probably is the right personality to deal with what's coming next, to deal with what DJ Lagway has got to deal with as a starting quarterback. Because as DJ Lagway has said himself, he didn't deal with it very well at Florida. So they need to help him more than the people in Florida did. That staff at Florida, like if your quarterback's isolated from everybody else, that's something,

it's not just on the quarterback. Like you got to get in there and do something about that. So now I think this time everybody's going in with eyes open, including DJ Lightway himself. So I'm intrigued. I'm intrigued. And we will see him against an SEC team that he never got to play while he was. at Florida. Auburn, right out of the gate.

That game's going to be in Atlanta. It was a pretty close game, Baylor and Auburn last year. Very entertaining game last year. This should also be entertaining. Yeah, so, well, it'll be Alice Golish's first game is Auburn's coach, Byron Brown's first game. And Auburn, that's another transfer. We've talked an awful lot about already as Byron Brown.

A freak a quarterback bowl there, huh? Oh, in terms of just athleticism? Yeah. Oh, yeah. So I'm excited to see. what lagway is and just I don't know. It's hard to predict because he's still got all the physical tools. He's been healthier this offseason.

He's been able to prepare. But you have now more of a body of work. And if it looks like it looked at the beginning of last year, that's it's not going to work. So we'll see if it's different. All right. Who's next for you? My next one.

we talked to this guy's coach a few weeks ago. Benjamin Bramer, tight end moving from Iowa State to Penn State with Matt Campbell. One of three tight ends moving from Iowa State to Penn State with Matt Campbell. And there's some other guys that they've inherited who can play at that position pretty well too. But Benjamin Bramer is probably the most proven weapon of that bunch and a favorite, favorite target of Rocco backed. And also, interesting enough, I think another tight end that could have made one of these lists is Luke Reynolds, who followed tight end, who was big and people thought was going to be the next Tyler Warren, or at least, you know, inherited a lot of that production after Tyler Warren left Penn State two years ago, has followed James Franklin to Virginia Tech. So, but when you look at at this kid, it just screams Penn State tight end, doesn't it?

It does. It's six, seven, two, 55. He looks awesome. He's more than happy to block, but he'll catch the ball over the middle. He's a great red zone target. They love using this guy. And they move him all over the field. They play a little where's Waldo with him.

And you've got to figure out where he's lining up because he's always a threat to catch the ball in every play. But the other thing he can do is scare you enough or do something that causes you to bite. And that's when Brett Eskelson goes over the top on you. That's a receiver who's also moving from Iowa State to Penn State. And I think, you know, these guys do a good job. I jokingly asked Matt Campbell, is there a possibility you might ever play five tight ends at once? He laughed, and then he goes, well, if Bramer can take some carries at a halfback, and I'm like, you know, you might do that.

I kind of want to see that. I don't know if he has a low enough center or gravity, but I'd love to see it. You got to love a tight end who's six, seven, I can high point the football across the down in the middle of the field. So that's somebody that I will certainly have my eyes on. And Penn State is looking for a more balanced explosive passing attack. And maybe this will be the answer to it. Not to bring James Franklin's issues into the new coaching regime, but you get what if you're a fan, you're craving.

Well, and that's the thing. I wrote about that. And I was like, I hope I'm not giving Penn State fans PTSD here because, you know, two years ago they make the playoff. And the only person really capable of getting open and catching a pass is Tyler Warren, the tight end. I don't think it's going to be like that under Matt Campbell. They are going to use the tight ends extensively,

but they will not be the only downfield threats in the offense. There will be receivers who can take the top off the defense and then tight ends who can settle in underneath and do some damage. Yeah. All right, Andy, let's do my last one here. And this one is maybe, I mean, just in terms of fascinating, I think pretty high up on everyone's list, hopefully. And that's quarterback Colton Joseph.

who transferred from Old Dominion to Wisconsin. Now, this is interesting for a lot of reasons. One is that his style of play isn't necessarily what you think of when you think of Wisconsin football. You think of running the ball, and he's really good at that. Yeah, you think of it. The quarterback running the ball very much. It kind of reminds me of what Iowa did last year, where they kind of went out and got Mark Rannowski as somebody who was more slippery, somebody more elusive.

And, you know, that maybe is to the same degree here at Wisconsin. also at the same time, Wisconsin has done a lot of relying on transfer quarterbacks in the past under Luke Fickle and those quarterbacks have gotten injured. They've had terrible luck at that position. And I'm hopeful for them that they'll finally break through with somebody who's super exciting, super agile, super fast and super productive in order to break themselves out of this hell that they're currently living in. Okay, so Colton Joseph as a thrower, completed 60% of his passes for 2,624 yards, average 9.0 yards per attempt, 21 TDs, 10 picks. Nine yards per attempt is a really good number.

You know, anything above eight is a good number. And so that's great. Here's the other piece of his stat line at Old Dominion last year. 158 carries for 1,0007 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns, 6.4 yards per carry. I believe it was the first snap of the season from scrimmings. he took it to the house against Indiana for like 75 yards. That's right. This guy can play.

He's a great runner. And actually one of the toughest Indiana battles they had last year. Now, obviously it was the opener and things maybe it worked. But I just think that from a style standpoint, isn't Wisconsin in such a need of just a shot in the arm offensively? And I think part of their issues obviously have been identity issues. but we cannot be understated how much they've been

kind of kicked out from underneath them when it comes to the injuries that they face with guys that they've invested in in the offseason and the poor season. Well, especially last year, Billy Edwards Jr., just dropping back in I think the third quarter of the season opener, nobody touches him and his knee goes out.

Like, that's as bad a luck as you can get. And they lose Tyler Van Dyke in the Alabama game the year before. So, yeah, they're one, they're due for some good luck. I am interested to see what this offense looks like. Obviously, Jeff Grimes, he was the offensive coordinator there last year. He is much more like what folks in Wisconsin are used to seeing than Phil Longo was. But this will be different if the quarterback run game is a serious part of the offense.

Now, I don't think Wisconsin fans care how the ball moves down the field as long as it moves. and Colton Joseph gives you a couple ways to move it. Yeah. Good luck. And let's hope that they can avoid some of the past trauma from the previous few seasons. And Wisconsin obviously is in a pivotal season as well. So when you ever get exciting quarterback talent going to a place where a coach is on the hottest of hot seats, a place that's dying to win, a place that is having an identity crisis,

like that's just like the perfect cocktail for interesting. Yes. Yes. And we don't. This isn't us saying we think Colton Joseph is going to be great. We don't know. But it was a very intriguing choice. And this is a guy who put up numbers on the ground and through the air last year,

which I think makes it a really interesting fit at Wisconsin. We're going to find out. I also have a quarterback on my list. And it's a guy we interviewed about this time last year, Arias. He was going in to replace a first round pitch. as a starting quarterback at the school where he'd been since high school. And then he got hurt and then he got replaced. And the guy who replaced him turned out to be awesome.

I speak, of course, of Austin Simmons, who had the starting job at Ole Miss on opening day, got hurt, was replaced by Trinidad Chambleau. And then we barely saw Austin Simmons again. Now, Austin Simmons transfers to Missouri, where he's going against Matt Zollers, who was a big-time quarterback recruiting class of 2025, who had had to start some games for Missouri last year when Boca Vuea got hurt. And I was interested in this competition.

I was wondering how fierce that competition would be. It really wasn't. Austin Simmons was named the starter very quickly. Yeah. And I think that a lot of people, too, like you cool on somebody, because Trinidad, Chambliss took the job and turned out to be one of the 10 best players potentially in the country.

That doesn't mean that Austin Stimins stinks. You know what I mean? Like that's sometimes coaches find something. Who can forget, Ari, we were in Oxford for the Georgia game in 2024 when Jackson Dart gets hurt, goes out. And this is, I mean, Georgia's winning this game early. They'd gone down the field and scored.

Jackson Darts out. Everything looks bleak for all miss. And Austin Simmons just marked. them straight down the field. Like somebody who can do that can be an effective quarterback. Now, Mizzu has also kind of been in quarterback, you know,

portal type scenarios too. And like Bo Pribula was exciting for a few weeks last year. But I think that Mizzu actually needs like a full, well-rounded throw first, awesome stud quarterback. Because like who, when's the last time they've had that? I mean,

like, are we going all the way back to Chase Daniel? Am I forgetting somebody? It's James, James Franklin was pretty good, not the coach. Brady Cook had a little. Okay, I mean, he's in the end there. So, but, you know, Austin Simmons, I think, has a pretty high ceiling.

And I think that that ceiling got temporarily, you know, forgotten about or covered up by a tremendous awesome story. I don't want to diminish, and I'm not, Trinidad Chambliss's accomplishments. And I do still find it very interesting how much coaches who are in charge of players need circumstance on the field sometimes to find that person. but Austin Simmons in practice illustrated everything that a person can illustrate to beat out Trinidad Chamblis and it cannot be forgotten. And I think that Mizzou did a really good move here. I think it's super fascinating. And I can't wait to see if he's the guy that can get them over the top because Mizzu's been knocking on the door now for, you know, they've been good, but not great for three, four years. The job gets harder because of what happened to Amad Hardy.

Remember Amad Hardy goes to the concert back home in Mississippi, get shot. We don't know winner if. if he'll be able to play this season, we're probably not going to find out more about that until as we get closer to fall practice. So I don't know exactly what Austin Simmons is going to have to do because if you lose that guy who's a six and a half yard of carry a rusher, who's going to run for maybe 14,500 yards,

your job is more difficult as the quarterback. But look, this was a guy who Lane Kiffin thought, was ready to take over at a team that was competing for playoff berths. So I think that's a pretty ringing endorsement. Yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm super excited to see it go. And my hope, obviously, is that a mod's okay.

And we'll be playing at some point this year, too. So, yeah. So this will be another really intriguing one to watch because let's look at that Missouri schedule again, producer river. Look, there are no easy schedules right now in the SEC when you're going to nine. games, but we'll learn a lot about them. We've talked about that we think Mississippi State could be considerably better this year. Their opener in the SEC is in Starkville, and that's going to be a fun game to watch. But then after that, it gets pretty gnarly because they go Florida, Texas, A&M, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Texas, Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, in that order.

Yeah. Yeah. And Missouri has been fortunate in their SEC draws in the previous. few years. So now they're... Yes, the last two years, they've not had the hardest SEC draws. This looks like a pretty tough one. Yeah, but drinks a stud, and I trust that this is going to work out well, and I'm excited to see it play out. Cannot wait. All these guys. Fascinating stories. And, hey, we may do this again because... There's so many more players. Can I read off names? Do you want me to read off some names? By all means.

We have some extra names here. This was a list that we were going through, right, I sent. Luke Reynolds, I alluded to on the show. Terrell Anderson, wide receiver, NC State to USC, I think he's going to be their top target, if I'm not mistaken. Eugene Wilson, a Florida receiver that you've seen up close, is going to LSU. On LSU.

LSU has a ton of really exciting, kind of like Texas, a ton of exciting newcomers, but he's somebody who's coming in and super talented. and, you know, if he's not their number one option, could be very productive for them. Jaden Craig, the Harvard quarterback, who we've had on the show the last few months, to TCU, Wyatt Young, the wide receiver,

North Texas to Oklahoma State, cutter bully I referenced, Cooper Barcade I referenced, and Kate and Houser, the former four-star. That's a really interesting one. Kate and Houser, it was in East Carolina. It's like, and sometimes when these guys get thrown into the fire early, you think, okay, maybe they're not that good.

And so, Kate Houser thrown in at, Michigan State really early in his career after the Mel, I was after the Mel Tucker firing that year. And, you know, it wasn't great. He goes to East Carolina resurrects his career. He was awesome at East Carolina last year, playing for the current Ole Miss OC. And now he goes to Illinois where he's going to join up with Brett Bilema,

and he's going to try to do for them what Luke Altmeyer did for them. If I'm wrong here, Andy, isn't Luke Altmeier's path kind of similar? Like, semi-highly rated prospect goes to Ole Miss, plays pretty early, doesn't go well, goes to Illinois, becomes awesome, is in the NFL? Sort of like that. He didn't have to go to the smaller, he didn't have to go down to the smaller level. But, yeah. But I think if you'd look to Kate Houser coming out of the Michigan State experience, not many people would have given him much of a chance because he got thrown into a pretty awful situation.

that maybe he wasn't ready for yet. And then he's proven over the last couple of years that, yeah, he can be a really effective quarterback. So, yeah, there's, there's a lot of guys like this on the list. We can, we could do a list probably 40 names long. You know what we should do? Andy, next time we're, we're having a hard time coming up with what today's going to be. We should just do a new list.

There's a hundred names. Because I do think that like some of the names that we presented today are, everyone knows who DJ Lagway is, but I'm not sure that everybody knows who most of the names that we had on the list. start. Are Arizona State fans aware of who Lance Hurd is or Rashim Biles? I think you learn something about the upcoming season by doing this. And I don't know. They're aware of Amarian Miller now. I think that's one of those. I'm betting Arizona state fans are just pumped to see what he turns into. So you're in a bubble where we talk to the smartest, like we talk together, but we talk to an

audience that's very familiar with college football in a way. Like there's no possible way that like a average fan who turns games on Saturday knows who Colton Joseph. is right now i think our our listeners and viewers are a little bit different because they are sickos just like us so they watch some o to you football but yeah i i think you're right and you know if you are stumbling up upon this because you're a fan of a school and like you'll say you're a wisconsin fan and oh what do these guys have to say about colton joseph so we do this show every day five days a week college football is the best sport in the universe. And we're fascinated by people like Colton Joseph

who have great numbers at one level. They move to another level. They are not the prototypical quarterback for the school that they're going to, but they're a really good quarterback. So maybe they're going to change that prototype. I don't know. I just, I love it.

I'm very excited. This is a big year for a lot of these coaches. that we've been talking about. And these new guys, you know, you've got to come in and produce because you got, you got paid in the transfer portal. And it's time to make good on that. So, Ari, this has been fun. We will definitely do this topic again before the season starts because, yeah, I won.

I just like talking about this. I love getting ready to this season. I'm more excited now than when the show started because we are one hour closer to college football. And it's also such a good, like, weaving of narrative and player. Because, like, if you notice, a lot of mine had, like, feelings. Oh, you're all feelings, guys. Yeah. Anyway.

Ari loves feelings. I do. I love football. Football and feelings. You get it all here at Indian Arion 3. We'll talk to you tomorrow.