Andy & Ari On3 - Pardon My Take's Big Cat on College Football Realignment & NEW Wisconsin | Georgia Names Beck QB1

Episode Date: August 21, 2023

Pardon My Take's Big Cat on College Football Realignment & NEW Wisconsin | Georgia Names Beck QB1Want to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube and be sure to subscribe!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szuWOhv9NOoBefore Big Cat, Georgia announces their starting quarterback, Missouri teases that they will run with two quarterbacks, and FSU Athletic Director Michael Alford releases a statement. (0:00-5:52)Dan "Big Cat" Katz is one of the hosts of the world's biggest sports podcast, and he's also a massive college football fan. He joined Andy to talk about how realignment will (or won't) change his viewing habits and how badly he wants the schools to just get to the end. (5:53-15:55)Big Cat went to Wisconsin, and he's thrilled with the hire of Luke Fickell. Why? Because for the first time in his life, he has no idea what to expect from the Badgers. (15:56-23:15)Big Cat wants to be known as the "scholarship guy" on college campuses. He and his crew loaded up to Toledo where they surprise a walk-on with a scholarship, which then leads to a conversation about the joys of MAC football. (23:16-26:46)Big Cat gives his thoughts on the state of NIL in College Football and why it's good for the game. (26:47-30:30)Andy also ran Big Cat through season win totals for Wisconsin, Tennessee and Toledo. Big Cat also discussed going to a recent Toledo practice where he and co-host PFT Commenter gave a scholarship to a Rockets walk-on. (30:31-39:25)Later, Andy discusses the Front Office Sports story about Apple potentially buying ESPN and what that might mean for college football.(39:26-50:50)Then Tim Watts of On3's Bama Online joins to provide some intel on Alabama's QB competition and discuss the increasing likelihood that the Crimson Tide will start a true freshman at left tackle. (50:51-1:03:40)For the Extra Point, Andy makes all of us feel old with Nick Saban attaining his first legacy committment at Alabama. (1:03:41-1:05:53)

Welcome to Andy Staples on three big night tonight we got a massive guest big cat from pardon my take the biggest podcast in the world is joining us also maybe the biggest wisconsin fan in the world and he has some uh he's a bold takes on the badgers well bold takes on everything that's sort of his thing he's pretty good at that we'll be talking to him in just a few minutes but first we got a little bit of news out of athens georgia that's. We were pretty sure that this was going to happen, but now it is officially official. Carson Beck is your starter for the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs. Now, Stetson Bennett was a guy that Carson Beck tried to beat out, didn't beat him out. Stetson Bennett leads them to two national titles. Now, Carson Beck, who has waited his turn

very patiently, fourth year in Athens, Georgia, he's the guy. What's interesting about this is if he has really matured and kind of grown into that skill set he has, this is a guy who could light it up with that offense, with the receivers he's going to have, with Brock Bowers at tight end. It's going to be potentially a big year for Carson Beck. And if he's really good, it may be the only year he's the starter at Georgia because he can go on to the NFL and he has the tools and the body that those guys like.

So we'll see what happens. But here is Kirby Smart making it official. Yeah, there's a difference between last year, Stetson was our starting quarterback. Carson Beck is gonna be our starting quarterback, he's done the best job. We communicated that earlier in the week to the other quarterbacks and we've kind of been operating that way. And the other guys have done a tremendous job in terms of competing and

they're gonna continue to do that. We haven't said anything in terms of competing. And they're going to continue to do that. We haven't said anything in terms of who the second quarterback is or how those reps are going to be divvied up. But Carson is ahead of the other guys in terms of what he understands about the offense. I'll be honest with you, I was really impressed with the other two quarterbacks throughout camp, how far they've come in terms of improvement. Coach Bobo has done a great job with those guys, and they both made a lot of plays with

their feet and done some good things. Carson's been in this offense for a year over one of them and two years over Gunner, and he's just ahead. So he'll be our starting quarterback. As far as the other guys, I'm excited to see those guys hopefully have an opportunity to play, compete. They'll be able to go with the ones here in the next two weeks, some, and get more reps and figure out,

even if we have a two, who that's going to be and how it's going to go forward. So no defined decision between Brock Vandegrift and Gunnar Stockton at two. But we know Carson Becks, the we know Carson Beck's the guy. Elser in the SEC. Missouri is going to play two starting, well, two quarterbacks against South Dakota on August 31st.

Brady Cook and Sam Horn, both going to play. Brady Cook, the veteran. Sam Horn, the redshirt freshman. We will see who winds up being the guy there. Now, they don't really have to make any decision after that first game. They got middle Tennessee after that, which middle Tennessee will be testing out all of Alabama's quarterbacks in week one, but Missouri has middle Tennessee. And then Kansas state comes

to Columbia. You probably want to know what you got by that point. So we will watch that situation unfold. And Eli Drinkwitz will probably ultimately pick one of those two, but he's got a couple of weeks before he really needs to make a decision on that. Before we get to big cat, this popped in right before we got on the air. It's like the Florida state people knew, Hey,

we're going on the air. We're going to make sure we get this out there. So pops into the email box. This is a statement from Florida state athletic director, Michael offered. I am not, nor have I been, a candidate for the position at USC, nor do I have any interest in any role other than my current position at Florida State. I remain totally focused on the tremendous

opportunities ahead of us here at FSU, and I remain completely committed to seeing those to completion. I do wonder if there's an accompanying contract extension raise somewhere in there. We'll see. That usually is what happens when someone releases their statement of non-interest in a job that potentially they might have been a fit for. USC still looking for an AD to replace Mike Bone. Jeremiah Donati from TCU has said he's staying put. Now Michael Offord releases a very strong statement. He's staying put. It's gotten to be pretty hard to find an AD at USC. And I realize that job's been tough over the years, but it seems like with them going into the Big Ten,

with Lincoln Riley as your head coach, it would be fairly attractive. But yet they still seem to be struggling to find somebody several months in, but that's all right. Before we get to big cat, I'm reminded of a question I should have asked big cat because Damon, who he showed up in the comments a few shows ago, he's a big coleslaw fan. He knows how I feel about this. Coleslaw is the devil's condiment. It's the worst thing in the world. Or well, mayo is the devil's condiment. Coleslaw is the devil's

side dish. He says, Andy, I had Zaxby's today. I ordered double slaw and no fries. That's disgusting, Damon. That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. I'm sure Dan Big Cat Cats would have been disgusted by that as well. He's on a diet anyway. I don't know that he's eating chicken finger baskets right now. We talked to him about that. We talked about a whole lot of other stuff, including the future of college football,

the future of the Wisconsin Badgers. Oh, yeah, and we made him give us a Tennessee over-under. Here he is. Very special guest. He's the proprietor of Stella Blue Coffee. He's also one of the co-hosts of the largest sports podcast in the world. Over a billion downloaded. How about that?

Yeah, I know, right? Do you get the McDonald's sign? Like billions and billions served now? Well, the key to all of our all of our successes early on we're like if we can just uh get every person in china to listen then we'll get to a billion downloads very quickly so uh yeah it was you know it should have happened earlier probably didn't have all china but yeah no thank you i appreciate the intro well my former employer was about to go into india before the pandemic because they figured you know if cover cricket, that's a billion people that are going to subscribe instantly.

So you got another frontier for your second billion. Well, and then you run into basically the plot line for Succession, where we're like, wait, are the numbers all fake? Where are all these numbers coming from? We have 10 billion listeners in Australia. How's that possible? You are deeply unserious people.

That's the only problem but so of course you guys cover all the sports but i i know how big of a college football fan you are uh wisconsin grad watching maxion every chance you get sunbelt games conference usa this is this is the the type of people that most of our audience is and and we'll get deep into over-unders and that sort of thing but i i was i wanted to bring you on big cat because when all the realignment stuff went down you explained it very well on your show because you were like this sucks but i'm gonna'm going to watch. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's – and so it sucks. And I want to just say that, like, outright because I know what people think.

If you're a Washington State fan, if you're a Cal fan, if you're a fan of one of these teams that's been left out to the side, it sucks even more. Like, you're losing, you know, rivalries. You're losing history. You're losing all these things. And I know that I'm speaking from my team is relatively safe, could not be safe in 10 years.

Who the hell knows? But more than anything, college football has always been ever-evolving. And I kind of laughed about the idea of like tradition and all this stuff when we're talking about a sport that 30 years ago had multiple national championships that were voted on, that weren't played on the field. So, like, I remember when the BCS came out and people were freaking out about the computer and being like, this is bullshit. I remember the college football playoff.

I remember all this, the conference realignment that's been going on for the last 25 years. It sucks. But, unfortunately, it's kind of – conference realignment actually kind of is on for the last 25 years. It sucks. But unfortunately, it's kind of – conference realignment actually kind of is the story of college football now. So, like, to say that this is so bad and it's all changing, it's like, well, that's kind of what college football has been for a good portion of its history of this shifting and the networks and all that stuff.

And I really do think my biggest takeaway is get to the end. Let's figure out what the end is. Let's get there. Because the minute you get to the end, you then start to make your new traditions, your new history, all these things start to evolve where you get rivalries and all that fun stuff. So it's like get to the end. Find the final resting place. Figure it out. And then we can move on.

And it's a Premier League, whatever that is. It's like the Premier League can move on and it's it's it's a premier league whatever that is it's like it's like the premier league but i think it's more teams like what do you think is a is a good number for that group is it is it 40 45 is it 30 yeah it's it's i i really do think that if we could get to the end that would work that i would personally love is Big Ten and SEC basically being a de facto AFC-NFC. You have 20, maybe 20 teams in each, so it's 40 total. You have the geographical divisions, so you're playing your rivals. You're playing your – we can get rid of this stupidity of –

poor Rutgers, by the way. They always get thrown into all the hypotheticals. Catch every stray. Every single time someone says something like, oh, Washington and oregon they got to go to piscataway so ruckers just get strays constantly because i mean ruckers had the foresight they had they had like two good seasons a blip in the radar and they're like let's cash all in all of our tickets thank you mccourty's and ray rice yes yes and james gandolfini on the sideline on that Thursday night. But I really do think that like getting into that spot where I know people don't want it to be like the NFL, but you could then divide it into divisions and you can have a true

playoff, a true champion where every team really truly does have a chance to win a title when they start the season because they can say, if we just beat the teams in our division, we got a seat at the table. And then I, unfortunately the lower conference stuff, I think you probably – the smart thing to do is just do the same exact thing with that. So, like, all the group of fives do another 40-team league where it's that. And people will watch.

It's going to suck for a little bit, but people will watch. Well, and that's the thing. Like, especially with gambling being legalized in more states, that's a built-in audience for that second group right they're going to watch that we know they're going to watch that we see it every every week right and also like i really do think um playing i i know that obviously the group of five it would be a little different because you're not playing for the national championship of you know the big boys but having the group of five be able to play for a championship

adds a whole great wrinkle to college football in those fan bases where, okay, you're a smaller school. You can't maybe compete with Alabama, but you want a national championship at your level of football? That's pretty damn cool. I don't know why we never did that. You know what I mean? I don't know why it wasn't some of these max schools or sunbelt schools why aren't they playing for a

national championship in their own right being like hey maybe it's by numbers of what the school like you know budget is because i just had an idea you just gave me a great idea yeah let's bring back some old school stuff with that. Why don't at the end of the season, we vote on a group of five national champion. Right. I like, I know Cincinnati was exciting to make it to the playoff,

but they got the doors blown off of my Alabama and it wasn't a fair fight. Cincinnati should have been like lifting a trophy at the end of the year being like, we are the best team that is not a big, you know multi-billion dollar corporation like some of these teams in the sec and big tech i i'm with you okay we're gonna i'm gonna just start a poll you guys have your low man trophy voters i'm gonna get some voters we'll do it we'll and we'll try to disagree actually we'll do competing polls

right we'll have like an ap and a upi and we'll make sure we disagree and obviously this is being um very optimistic that anyone will get their shit together and figure this out because that is ultimately the problem that i fully admit and i'm not i'm not neglecting that fact that it is a bunch of individuals with their running around with their heads cut off trying to think about what's like two feet in front of their face instead of what's 20 feet down the line so I get all of that um but I my main point about the college football and the change it sucks change sucks I hate change I hate when there's a little change to my routine I hate when my you know like when I wake up a little bit earlier than I should I hate any type change, but change doesn't always have to be bad. It's just different.

And understanding that it's different and we're going to start a different type of tradition. Just embrace that because I love college football so much. And I'm not going to give up on the sport because, you know, Oregon has to go to Piscataway once every other three years. Yeah. And I want to, I i want to stop that actually you can just tell what type of person someone is by how they they frame a new conference alignment if they say oh oregon rutgers man that's gonna suck yes oregon rutgers probably will suck washington rutgers will suck you know what won't suck oregon michigan right washington wisconsin those are great go to the roast bowl like i there are new traditions that will build up out of this you know what won't suck Oregon Michigan right Washington Wisconsin those are great go to the Rose Bowl like I there are new traditions that will build up out of this you know what's

not going to suck Oklahoma playing Alabama every other day like these are and guess what the big 12 absolutely rocks like that that conference I saw that conference and you're right people look at the negative and they say oh man I don't I don't want to watch this i don't want to watch ucla go play maryland all this stuff you know what's going to be awesome kansas and arizona playing basketball twice a year yeah like these there are new things that you can look to changes change sucks difference but but just embrace the fact that it's going to be different and different doesn't always suck it will evolve into something that might be great well and i was already excited about the the new 12 team big 12 when texas and oklahoma left and with with ucf and byu and houston and cincinnati but then now they added utah to that sucker like that's that football is going to be incredible because you're going to go

into every season where like 12 of 16 teams could actually win the title. Yes. And they're really, really good teams and really fun brand of football. So yeah, I think that we're, I hope that we are closer to the finish line of figuring this all out than we are at the start, because it does feel like the ACC is kind of, we got to figure out what's going to happen with the ACC. And maybe they get beefed up.

Maybe they add SMU and Tulane, and then they become – and that's four leagues. I don't know. But I just want to get to the end. I just want to get – I've been saying that. I said that last year, the year before, before all of this chaos this summer. Just get me to the final spot, and then I can figure out, like, how I'm going to watch and consume in the new traditions yeah unfortunately I've learned way too much about tv contracts over the last 15 years

and it's basically when all of those end that that's when that's when they'll figure this out so we've got a while to go but I do want to ask about your alma mater because when Luke Fickle decided to go there that's when the light bulb went off over I was like okay Wisconsin is very serious not just about winning the Big Ten West, which is not going to exist after next year, or maybe it will. Maybe they have to do divisions again now. But about winning the whole Big Ten, I know you are very involved there. Know everybody there.

When did you realize, okay, they're going big game hunting here after they fired Paul Crist? So I think it actually is the second they fired Paul Crist. Because I don't know if you know the answer to this trivia question, but the last coach, Wisconsin coach in men's basketball or football that was fired mid-season, do you know the answer to that? Oh, God. Was there ever one?

Yeah, it was Stan Van Gundy. Oh, my God. Stan Van Gundy, I believe, 94, 95 season. It might have been the season before. But that's what Wisconsin's athletics have been. It's consistency. It's sticking with the guy. It's giving a guy a long ramp.

It's all these things where it's like, hey, we know what we are. We are a consistent 8-10 win season and then every 4-5 years maybe we win 11 games and lose by a touchdown to Ohio State. That's kind of where Wisconsin's been. Great. I am a big believer in enjoy the little things.

I know that Wisconsin is probably not going to win a national title, but I enjoy the steps and I enjoy the big wins along the way and that's what college football is about. The minute that McIntosh fired Paul Chris, I was like, oh, this is changing. This is all changing because this doesn't happen. And he also, like, if you know anything about Wisconsin, Barry Alvarez is Wisconsin. He was the AD.

He obviously was the coach that reinvigorated the entire program. His initial press conference where he's like, we got to keep the fat guys in Wisconsin. Like, we're going to just beef up the AD. He obviously was the coach that reinvigorated the entire program. His initial press conference where he's like, we got to keep the fat guys in Wisconsin. Like we're going to just beef up the line, all the Rose Bowls and Ron Dane, all that stuff. And then he becomes AD and then he retires and he doesn't move out of Madison and he's obviously there and he's hovering over everything. And I think McIntosh said, you know what?

I love you, Barry. I played for you. I played in Rose Bowls for you, but we got to go a different direction. And I'm going to make it show, I'm going to show the Badger fans that this is a line in the sand where, hey, this is like, thank you so much, Barry, but this is a new era and we have to start competing in a different way and not the old way that has gotten us eight to 10 wins, but never really gotten us to that next level. And I think Luke Fickle gives you a chance. He's proven it at Cincinnati and you just look at all the, I mean,

they might run the air raid. I don't think they're actually going to run the air raid. People are calling it the dairy raid. I think what they're going to do is spread them out and basically run the ball down your throat still, but they're going to pass more than they've ever passed and they're changing and the transfer portal and all these things that Luke Fickle is instilling um I I couldn't be more excited about the direction of Wisconsin and it feels like for the first time in whatever it is 20 years that they're I don't know what to expect

from this season and that's fun like that's fun I had no idea well and and so if you want a best case scenario for the dairy raid I think you should go back to 2020 phil longo who's the oc at wisconsin now he was at north carolina michael carter and giovante williams both ran for over a thousand yards both averaged over i think they averaged over seven yards of carry both yeah like that's and sam howell's life was incredibly easy that year that is the best case scenario for wisconsin and i do think they can they can do that with the kind of lineman they can get yeah and i think like it's there will be obviously at wisconsin making any change people are like what the hell what are they doing i do not think it's going to

be there and you're right like like phil longo has had thousand yard rushers and i think it's going to be something if you even look at maybe like a baylor and the success they've had recently something like that where it's like hey we will pass but more than anything we're going to spread you out and give our running backs a chance to to beat you light boxes and I think that's going to have insane success Braylon Allen doesn't get talked about enough as as how special he is a player and I'm so happy he stayed and yeah I'm excited it's going to be awesome yeah is it that what you just said about not knowing what it's going to look like and not – that is so true because for Wisconsin,

it has been the same thing since the early 90s. Every year, if you ask me what I expect from the Wisconsin season, I'd be like, I think they'll probably win nine games. They'll have a stout defense. They'll run the ball. And they'll lose by two touchdowns to ohio state penn state or michigan like that was kind of it i mean michigan maybe not as much because michigan was down for you know 15 years but that was kind of the mo and uh

like you could just bank on it you could be like bank and they'll probably like they'll lose to ohio state or penn state and then they'll have a hiccup against the Northwestern at 11 AM, you know, in Evanston or one of those games where you're like, how the hell did we lose that game? And they'll go to a big bowl and it will be a fun season and I'll have fun. But I know where the ceiling is and it's always there. Now I don't know where the ceiling is. So did, did you grow up a Wisconsin fan or was that the best place for you to

go to college? And it worked out that way. They rolling admission. I was accepted to Wisconsin like two weeks after I replied. It was like almost instant. I was like, well, I guess they want me. I also went, I was lucky enough to go visit Madison on like the first spring day where it was like that first day where everyone was out,

everyone was having a good time. And I was like, yeah, this place is awesome. And I, you know, I know that I'm lucky because I I've said this before and people always push back. I think I actually, it's funny because I actually think that I am part of the problem because I'm, I'm a realistic fan and I talk realistic about my teams. So I, when I say Wisconsin, I can win national championship. I'm not just doing that lip service. I actually kind of understand how it all works. Like I understand that, you know,

being up at half against Duke in Indianapolis in 2015 was probably the closest we'll get. So I probably put a cap on it on social media where people see me talk negatively. But I don't think there's a school outside, like talking college basketball and college football, outside of maybe your alma mater, that has had the consistency in both sports for 20 years, where it's like, I know every year we're going to be in the tournament, this past year not so much, and

we're going to be in a big bowl game. And it's awesome that I have that because there's so many schools out there that have one or the other or neither. And so I'm very, very lucky. I get to enjoy big-time college sports all year round. But there are more realistic Big Ten fan bases. And Wisconsin is one of them. Ohio State, they're like an SEC fan base, completely unrealistic. Michigan fans, for the most part, fairly realistic. Penn State fans can get a little... That will change. Michigan will change. Michigan is changing already. Michigan, yeah. Michigan is the guy

who you're like, he's a nice guy, and then he has a few drinks, and you're like, ah, he's kind of a douchebag. They got a couple wins. They got a couple Big Ten titles, and they're like, uh-oh. But yeah, Iowa and Wisconsin are basically long-lost brothers with the way we play the game, with the way we look at football, with our expectations of our team. But yeah, I do think that you're right. There's probably more realistic Big Ten fans.

I wanted to ask you what it felt like to do something you did recently because this is something I love these videos. I've always loved these videos as a former walk-on. I understand what work goes in when a walk-on gets a scholarship and what it took to get there. And I was never going to be that guy. And so when I see it every time, I'm like, man, that dude is very special. And so you guys, you and your co-host PFT commenter and the whole PFT crew were at Toledo at the Glass Bowl last week. And you got to give out a scholarship.

You guys get cheesesteaks for the boys. There's supposed to be a video here, too. And it was supposed to say that Adam Beal just got a full scholarship. Yeah! Plus, hold on, we are such believers that part of my cheesesteak is also giving you an NIL deal. Your co-host, PFT Commenter, with the puns, and handing out nil deals i mean this is this is the dream right here yeah it was a true dream i mean we've become i've known jason candle for

probably about five six years now great guy great coach and so we were on grit week and he was like yeah come through practice and he's like hey i'm giving a scholarship away. You guys want to do it? And I'm like, Oh yeah, this is, I actually am addicted to it where I want to become like, if you see me in PFT on a campus, the first thing you say is someone's getting a scholarship today. Like we're, we're the guys we show up and they're like, Oh, scholarship alert. Like someone's getting one. So it was, I had chills chills like I know how much work these guys put in and how hard football is so it was it was awesome and okay so next time you go to Toledo I Brian Blair their athletic director is a very experienced barbecue cook like he's from South Carolina designs his own smoker like you got to get him to cook for you next time.

Next time you're there. I met him. He's a great dude. Yeah. They're, they're great. And I love them action. I love Mac.

I mean, if you were going back to the initial conversation, but if you are a traditionalist, you know, the Mac doesn't change. The Mac plays the same. I don't think they've had, I think everyone in the Mac has been in the Mac since 1998. And half of them have been there since 1952.

So they're not going to realign. So be a Mac fan. Exactly. Well, how do you decide when you're watching Mac-tion? Because I know you like to put a little action on the games. But when you're watching Mac-tion, these are not teams that are covered super deeply. You can't get a lot of education.

Plus, oh, by the way, it's a bunch of 18 to 22 year olds on a Tuesday or Wednesday night how do you is it vibes only how do you handle that it's vibes and it's usually just whoever has a better quarterback if we're being honest because there is you know like Mac I mean there's been some great quarterbacks we were standing next to Bruce Gerdkowski when we were when we were giving away that scholarship. So, you know, Chaz Batch, Roethlisberger, some of these guys. So you saw Nathan Rourke with that play for the Jaguars in preseason. It's usually just quarterback because there usually is – if a MAAC school has a special quarterback,

that really does put them leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else because there are some quarterbacks that are not so special in the MAAC. Well, and really in every league now, because with the transfer portal, it's crazy. You know, you guys gave out an NIL deal there. I'm curious if like, if we could take you back to being in college and put you on the Wisconsin football team, what would your dream NIL deal have been? Oh man. Oh,

it probably would just be like free drinks at the Plaza, uh, which is a great dive bar in Madison, like free drinks and burgers at the Plaza. Um, but yeah, these NIL deals are hilarious. I it's, it's awesome. I was watching the Johnny football documentary and it's just, it was a great reminder that like, it was so long overdue for these guys to be able to cash in on their name, image, and likeness. Johnny Football is an extreme case, but I'm even talking about the guys that you know aren't going to go to the next level. They have four years where they're playing big-time college football. Why shouldn't they be able to make some money to enjoy their college experience? It's all awesome. i love every second of it so the one the one that would have been my dream game in gainesville they had a place called china

super buffet and the sign said all you can eat and take out and all i would have wanted as an nil deal was you're allowed to take that sign literally andy you can eat what you want but you can also take out what you want like that would have been I'd have been good nothing else necessary yes I love it I love it yeah I mean yeah to dream about that stuff and also it's fun to think about how much money some of these guys would have made like Johnny Manziel would have made so much money Tebow would have been rolling in it Cam Newton you know we talked like like the the the number that was thrown out there about Cam Newton was 180 grand. What was Cam Newton really worth to Auburn that season? Yeah.

I mean, Johnny Manziel, he built a whole new stadium. Like, it's crazy. These guys, yeah, what they mean to the program is truly insane. And all the donations that come in, yeah, it's good. It's great. And I know that there are some old school college football fans that hate the NIL as well. It's like, grow up, grow up. This is the new age, and I'm happy for all the guys that get to cash in. Also, I want Jeff Sims, who grew up in Jacksonville and never imagined that he'd be selling tractors, like selling John Deere tractors as a Nebraska quarterback. Right. That's how it should be.

That's how it should be. He ain't selling like Hummers or something, you know, like why not? Exactly. All right. I do want to, uh, I do want to hit you with some, some numbers because again, you do, well, I don't know. I, you, you, your, your boss threw you under the bus, Erica Nardini. Yeah. Uh, was that to a gambling regulator back when you guys were, were owned by a gambling company that was um it was actually i think it's like in official uh i don't know where they keep these you know logs and stuff but massachusetts law where they were having a regulatory meeting and they were basically like

yeah dan is the worst gambler of all time because you have the can't lose parlay can't lose parlay which is obviously tongue in cheek that you, I admit so often that I am a terrible gambler and that I lose constantly. So you'd have to be insane to think that it truly can't lose, but that's the fun in the name where I'm like, how does this lose? But yeah, it was, it was essentially like the deposition from the office of Michael Scott, where they were talking about like crunch berries, the cereal. They're like, those berries and you know buffalo wild wings aren't actually buffalo like it so it got a little crazy but yeah I am the worst gambler uh of all time and I'm

happy to admit that good well we we did a bunch of totals the other day but I saved a few for you that I know have sentimental attachments so I'm to throw these at you and just whatever pops in your head, you let me know. We're going to start with your alma mater, which by the way, Vegas still thinks that you're in the Barry Alvarez, Brett Bielema, Paul Crist era. Eight and a half for Wisconsin. It's an over.

I know that I'm biased, but I looked at the schedule. I think it's very realistic for a five and oh start going to illinois there's a little tough stretch there where it's at illinois uh at home against iowa at home against ohio state but with eight and a half i think nine wins is absolutely doable uh i think the big 10 west is the still the Big Ten West. There's new head coaches, what, four of the seven teams. There's new quarterbacks all over the place. I think Wisconsin, the schedule matches up where you don't have to play Michigan, you don't have to play Penn State, and you get Ohio State and Iowa at home. I think a 9-10 win season is absolutely doable.

I think that's very reasonable and I do think it's so schedule related because we had Minnesota on the last one we did and we're like under under under because P.J. Fleck is gonna have to coach so hard to win eight games yeah against I think they're they're number seven and a half and it just their schedule is brutal like yeah he's gonna have to draw, you know, a big-time loan from the Fleck Bank to get them. That article was incredible. That was – I said it when I read it.

It was all old stuff. It also was – it was not P.J. Fleck hazing. It was – the article should have read – the title should have said, P.J. Fleck, kind of an annoying guy. And that would have been fine. Like it would have been a totally fine like yeah you're right that is if someone asked me to say that i'm elite every morning yeah that's that's fucking annoying i yeah i'm gonna have a problem with that but that is him and like they make no secret about it like in recruiting they tell you all this stuff it's sort of like you know if you're recruited by

georgia they tell you like we're gonna scream at you all day every day at practice you okay with that yeah no no shit the guy who went from western michigan to minnesota and made sure that he was able to get the rights to row the boat like of course this is going to happen what are we talking about exactly all right so in tennessee history you are probably the third greatest coach of the Vols behind Robert Nealon and Phillip Fulmer. This goes back to the pandemic when there was no football. So you gave us football by playing NCAA 14. Coach Duggs led the Vols to what? How many national championships?

I think I won two. I might have gone to two and won one. I had a disastrous national championship against virginia tech but yeah i brought tennessee back we were winning sec titles every year so i'm going to warn you before this if you go under we have the most popular tennessee fan site ball quest is on our network on on three uh you will be just destroyed online uh so uh nine and a half all right i am so they won't they won a half. I am vault for life. They won't destroy me.

I am vault for life. I'm looking at their schedule real quick. Yeah, I like that over as well. I think the Georgia game, obviously, and Alabama having to go to Alabama. But the rest of these games, I mean, you get Texas A&M at home. You get, you know,

yeah, I would take over here. I think they're a 10-win team. And I'm falling for Joe Milton again. I've been through this. He's, you know, I saw him play at Michigan. He was terrible. He is the guy who, you know, holds down the X button when throwing to a receiver in the flats and just guns it like 90 miles an hour. But he has been in that offense for a year. He obviously learned behind, you know, an incredible quarterback and a hand in hooker. So I'm going to believe in him and believe in a hypo. And I, I think they have a 10 win season.

Yeah. I had to be physically restrained from, from cranking up the Joe Milton bandwagon while watching the Orange Bowl. Because I'm like, this Clemson defense is good. He's doing it. This is proof. And so I had a coach tell me, if you ever stand behind Joe Milton while he throws a football,

you will say this is the greatest quarterback I've ever seen in my life. And then the next day I got to do that, and he throws like a 70-yard deep ball. And I'm like, oh, my God oh my god this is amazing yeah it's incredible incredible he's incredible so yeah i i'll take the over there all right you just gave out a scholarship there friends with jason candle big expectations in toledo this year nine and a half this this is also an over now i'm just taking all overs. I understand that as long as Daquan Finn can stay healthy, because we saw that last year,

burned me a couple times where I thought he was going to play and then 10 minutes before kickoff they're like, oh, he's not even dressed. But he is what I was talking about, a difference maker at the quarterback position in the MAAC. And I also think they're, I believe, I'll look it up, but I believe their non-conference schedule is not a typical Mac. No, it's, it's, it's not,

it's not the usual Kent state non-conference like where they had to go to Washington, Oklahoma and Georgia last night. Right. Where they just get beat up for a few weeks. Yeah. They play at Illinois, which Illinois is going to be good. I have, Brett Bielman and I have m the the fences back on friendly terms um but yeah texas southern san jose state all at home so yeah i i think and they and they play umass non-conference as well so yeah i think nine and a half over is is good bet last one your uh your your partner's alma mater james madison screwed out of going to a bowl game last year because they're transitioning to FBS.

Screwed out of going to a bowl game this year. They still can't go to a bowl game. Ridiculous. The total is 8.5, 8.5 wins. Okay. I have known nothing about James Madison this year, but I'm going to take you over in solidarity with PFT. That rule is the dumbest rule in all of college sports.

I do not understand it. James Madison was a very good football team last year. The fact that they weren't allowed to celebrate that by going to a bowl, because I know I love bowl games. I love bowl games. People will say there are too many bowl games. I say I want more bowl games.

More than anything, I really truly believe that the part that people miss is it gives a chance for these schools, the James Madison's of the world, to extend their season, to go play somewhere different, to go on a trip, and more than anything, they get a couple extra weeks of practice that actually leads to success in the next year.

Well, and for the bad teams that aren't bowl eligible, they're the ones that should get more practice. Right, right. So I'm a big believer in bowl games, and I cannot believe they get shut out another year. It absolute bullshit it's a travesty all right before i let you go i do have one one question i i saw a photo uh you and max one of your guys on the show uh share both eating salads for lunch how is the diet going it's not going well i mean you you could not have led me more astray when you were like, you texted me,

I don't know, maybe a year ago. You're like, uh, you just got to get your Apple watch to a thousand calories and just make sure you burn 1,500, 1,500. You're like, just make sure you burn 1,500. No, no, no. I, I count the calories that I, that I take in too. I'm on, this is week 100 for me of counting calories. Okay. But I, I can't burn 1,500 calories a day. I'm not Michael Phelps. I'm not in the pool for an hour and a half.

You said that like it was the easiest thing ever. I go on the treadmill for a half hour, and it's like, oh, I burned 300 calories. I get one slice of pizza now. So it's a work in progress. It's a work in progress. I am, for the first time in my life, I'm trying to take the long-term approach because I have been a crash dieter. I'm going to be time in my life, I'm trying to take the long-term approach because I have been a crash dieter.

I'm going to be 40 in a year and a half. So it's like, the goal is to be, you know, back in the two 20 range, uh, when I turned 40, uh, and it has nothing to do with vanity. I don't care how I look. Uh, it all is, it's all about energy. Cause I got to chase three little kids around. So that's it. Like I, I have to be able to have the energy to,

to be around for my kids and not have to take a nap every time I eat lunch. So that, that it's a long-term approach. Mine has everything to do with vanity. I want to be an Instagram. Yeah. I know you,

you thirst trap all day. You're that's, that's like, that's the whole medium t-shirts like ridiculous. Exactly. I almost had an intervention with you. I almost had to be like, Andy, what are you doing? But I, you're posting these little medium t-shirts. Like, ridiculous. Ridiculous. I almost had an intervention with you. I almost had to be like, Andy, what are you doing? But, you know, flaunt it if you got it.

Wait till you see what I wear on your show today. Oh, okay. I'm excited. This is a home and home, by the way. By the time you hear this, you will have already heard me on Pardon My Take. But maybe not. When are you running this? We're running this Monday. Okay. We're running yours on Friday on friday so no you tune in to pardon my take with andy next friday oh four week zero even better even better yeah all right so we're previewing dan cats thank you

so much and uh i guess i will talk to you pretty soon. All right. Thanks so much, Andy. That is big cat. And so addendum to that diet conversation that we had. So he has three very young children. When my kids were his kids age, there was no diet in the world that would have gotten me in shape. There was nothing that would have worked. And I think those of you who have kids and maybe you have older kids and remember back to the time when they were younger, it is tough. But now mine are self-sustaining. They're in school. They're doing all these other

things. So I actually do have time to work out and do that stuff. That's why I can do this. So I understand the world he's in right now. And I do appreciate him attempting to eat some salads, but God, it's hard. All of you who are living with multiple humans under four in your own household, God bless you. I've been there. I know how it feels.

We got to talk about, Bootsville is mad at me because I said Ohio State fans are completely unrealistic. That is a term of endearment. I am saying that you are as psychotic as Alabama fans and as Tennessee fans and all of those who think if you don't win the national title that you've failed.

And I know Tennessee fans don't feel that way right now because they've been through a lot of stuff of late, but Georgia fans, Alabama fans, the same thing. You, you, you, you either win the national title or you failed. And Ohio state belongs in that conversation belongs in that category. And it's fine. You, you guys expect different things than most big 10 fan bases. And it's part of the reason why you get different results than most Big Ten teams.

So it's not an insult, I promise. Philo, this host is a throwback to another era. What era are we talking about? I don't even know what that is. I don't know what that means. But I appreciate it, I think, or maybe not. I don't know if I'm supposed to be insulted by that or not. But it is, it was fun talking to Big Cat

because he's not as in the weeds on college football until the season starts. And then he gets very in the weeds because he's got action on pretty much every game, every night. So this will be a phone to watch him evolve as this season goes on. And yes, if you're, if you're watching Maxion, he's a good follow on Twitter because he's probably watching along with you or those, the Sunbelt games, the CUSA games. I had the deal the other

day where we're talking about the Florida international uniforms, the Miami vice uniforms that's against UTEP on a wednesday night we're all watching that game we know that what are we watching it on we're watching it on espn2 who's gonna own espn2 or espn or any of those in the next year two years three years four years five years is another question that really interesting discussion late last week. So there's a Wall Street analyst named Dan Ives, and he covers the tech sector. And so he follows these tech companies very closely, Apple, Tesla. And he put out a note last week that Apple should buy ESPN and then went on a kind of a media tour on CNBC said, it's a matter of when and not if. Now, if you look at the money, the market capitalization of Apple, it's $2.7

trillion. They could actually buy Disney, which is ESPN's corporate parent. They could actually make Disney if they wanted to. So what Dan said is they need to buy ESPN if they really truly want to get into sports. You saw Apple dabble with the Pac-12 where they didn't offer that much money. And you've seen them have some success with MLS, with Lionel Messi being everything that he was advertised to be since he's gotten there. And they have a

subscription service essentially where you can either buy separately all the MLS games, or if you're already subscribing to Apple TV Plus, you can pay a smaller number and get all of the MLS games. So how does that work? How would Apple and ESPN work? Now, ESPN, Disney's already said they want to find a partner for ESPN. So that would be somebody buying an equity stake, but basically letting Disney still run it. What Dan is suggesting is Apple just buys it. And I was trying to think about how that would work. And really, if you want to be in sports and you don't want to have to bid on things that really aren't available for bidding, buying something that already has Monday night football, the SEC and the ACC completely and part of the Big 12, the NBA with the NBA finals, that might do it.

That might work because part of it is like with the Pac-12, they were going to say, you've got to sell these subscriptions and then we'll pay you full vote. But if you already have Monday Night Football, people are coming to find Monday Night Football. If you have Alabama versus Texas, people are coming to find Alabama versus Texas. Those brands will draw people. And so if Apple TV Plus, if Apple is looking for a way to do it, to get people to subscribe to Apple TV Plus or to pay them a subscription because they're a technology company, they're a hardware company, but they're also a subscription company. I know because I get those emails every time AppleCare takes money from my credit card.

So for every device in the house. So they like the monthly subscriptions. So could that work? Could you have just, you go to that Apple icon on your TV and that's going to give you Monday night football, SEC football, ACC football, NBA finals. I mean, maybe that's the way you do it. And Disney cuts out having to deal with all that stuff with the prices of the sports rights going up as ESPN's revenues go down because people are cutting the cable bundle. Maybe that works. I do have one suggestion though for Apple.

If they want to sell a bunch of hardware because they still are essentially a hardware company. Most of their money is made off us buying phones and us buying computers and tablets. You want to make some money as a hardware company, make a TV that lets me move between apps seamlessly. That lets me say, I'm watching this game on YouTube TV, but there's a Peacock exclusive and I need to, I need to be able to hop right over there with the push of one button. Make me that and I will buy that. And a lot of other people will buy that.

I was thinking about that the other day as I was watching something on Peacock, Twisted Metal, by the way, awesome, awesome new show. And I was remembering, oh, wait, there's gonna be a Notre Dame game on Peacock. There are gonna be Big Ten games that are exclusive to Peacock. I gotta figure out, where am I gonna watch? I'm gonna have that on myacock. They're going to be big 10 games that are exclusive to Peacock. I got to figure out where am I going to want? I'm going to have that on my iPad probably because I'm going to

have something else on the TV so I can change channels. This is the problem for most of us. Like if you're watching your team's game, that's on the TV. You're not changing the channel, but once your team game is over and you just want to watch games, you want to be able to flip. And there's just no easy way to do that anymore. So listen, if you want some free advice, Apple, don't buy ESPN, make us a TV that lets us flip like that because I would buy that in a heartbeat. And I think a lot of sports fans would, but we'll see what happens with that. Something drastic is probably going to happen with ESPN and Disney here in the next three, four years. They've already telegraphed that.

They've said they're probably going to sell it direct to consumer. This actually gets Disney off the hook for selling ESPN direct to consumer. Apple could sell it direct to consumer and have to figure all that out. But the price, I should have mentioned this earlier, the price that Dan Ives threw out there is $50 billion.

That's a lot of money. You also have to assume the payments for all this other stuff. And they're paying massive amounts for Monday Night Football every year. They're paying the SEC massive amounts. They'll be paying massive amounts for the college football playoff, assuming they get that. So this is a lot of money. And the last and biggest deal that Apple's done so far is buying Beats, the headphone company, for $3 billion.

So $50 billion and $3 billion are not that close. But again, I said their market capitalization is $2.7 trillion. Trillion with a T. So if Apple wants in, then they're going to have to do that. And you go back to when Fox got into sports. Because remember when Fox started, I think people in their 40s and 50s do remember this. When Fox was a new network and it's like that Tracy Ullman show, and Married with Children, they were not making a huge dent in the zeitgeist. It wasn't until they got the NFL, they bought the NFC out from under CBS, that Fox really got back into sports, or got into sports. And that was Rupert Murdoch just making a huge offer

that CBS hadn't even contemplated competing with. And if you want to learn your sports history, which by the way, this also will help teach you what's going to happen with college football. Murdoch did the same thing with the Premier League when it was formed a few years earlier, where he just, he had to throw in an offer so big that nobody else could even compete with it. That's what they did with Fox. That would be how Apple or Amazon or

any of those could really get into sports with something that big. And so Apple, which I believe is sitting on 200 billion in cash. So they could actually buy this in cash if they wanted to. It's possible. It's fascinating to think about. But again, Apple, just give me that TV or somebody give me that TV where the touch of a button, I can move between shows within apps, not from one app to another. I want to go from the show I'm watching in one app to a show that is on in another app. One click, two clicks at most. That's what I need. Figure that out, and then we will have something to talk about.

Another thing we need to talk about, Georgia has picked a starting quarterback. Alabama has not. And it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. But we're going to talk to Tim Watts. I almost called him Tim Cook, by the way, who's the CEO of Apple. But in this particular case, that would not be good. Cause Tim, Tim Watts runs Bama online, which is on three's Alabama site. Tim Cook is an Auburn grad, a very famous Auburn grad.

So we can't have that, but Tim Watts joined the show to talk about Alabama's quarterback situation and what's going on at left tackle. Here's Tim. We're joined by the great Tim Watts of Bama Online. And Tim, Georgia's announced a starting quarterback. It's Carson Beck. That leaves Ohio State and Alabama as the two superpowers that have not announced a starting quarterback yet. I don't think we're going to get a Nick Saban announcement of a quarterback, but I am curious. Is there any separation? Is it any closer or after this last scrimmage on Saturday, is it still kind of anybody's ballgame? I think Nick Saban and Tommy Reese have a feel for how this is going to shake out in the first game. I don't believe they're a few weeks from kickoff and don't have any inkling.

I mean, you have to see Jalen run out there with the first team. He's got the most experience. He's got the most game experience. He's older, been in the system longer. I think he's going to get a first look. If you look at Nick Saban's history, that's kind of been his MO before. We've seen it with Blake Barnett, Jalen Hurts, Phillip Sims, A.J. McCarron. You see guys sort of, you know, throw them out there and let them fend for themselves,

see who's going to react. Because the truth is, you really don't know how they're going to react under the lights. You know, it could be a little bit different. Again, we saw that with Blake Barnett, who had beat out Jalen. They felt more comfortable with him, but, you know, kind of froze up the minute he got on the field, and the moment was too big for him. So I think Jalen right now – and it's kind of what we expected. We talked about it last time. Jalen probably has – somebody's got to take it from Jalen, in my opinion. There's still a few weeks to go,

but I think Alabama kind of knows how this is going to play out. Well, and it's interesting because we talked to Greg McElroy last week, and he broke down Jalen and Ty Simpson and Tyler Buckner. I did not slip in a Dylan Lonergan question. But you and I had talked about Dylan last time you were on, and Dylan was the subject of the message boards last week. It was crazy. Dylan was the most popular person in recent memory. He was out discussed 10 or 15 to one over Jalen and Ty and everybody last week.

It was one threat after the other. Again, I know you're a huge fan. Travis Ryder, who I work with, is a massive fan. Shannon Terry loves the guy. I mean, all these, all you guys, you love him. I feel like we're his personal PR team. I think you are. I feel like we're his personal PR team. I think you are.

I think Nick Saban's listening. I was going to say, Nick Saban said some very nice things on Saturday when he got asked about him. Yeah, that's a lot of praise for a true freshman. You know, it's kind of weird because he was kind of an afterthought. Eli Holstein had committed. Nobody really was talking about Dylan. He's more of a baseball player. Everybody thought he was going to South Carolina and Alabama.

Wasn't going to take the second quarterback. So to see him this week, I mean, he was a very popular young man right now. And so do they have the clarity doesn't really come necessarily from the spirit. Sounds like they kind of know where they're going. But what do you think happens? Middle Tennessee State game, because we've seen this before with alabama where they'll they'll trot out some guys and and maybe a couple guys will play or like 2015 against or 16 against usc blake barnett starts they know they're putting jalen hurts in and then they're pretty sure jalen hurts in coming out yeah yeah i think with middle tennessee i think you're gonna see a couple of guys play at least. You can't go into Texas not knowing.

I mean, Middle Tennessee will be a test, but it's not going to be the test that you're preparing for. I mean, that team's good enough to win with Jalen or Tyler or Dylan or Tyler Buckner, and they're good enough to beat Middle Tennessee State. So that's not really the test. They're trying to get them ready for Texas, the SEC, and all that. So I have to think you see multiple guys. I think you see Jalen in there. You work your to get them ready for Texas, the SEC, and all that. So I have to think you see multiple guys. I think you see Jalen in there. You work your second team guy in, and that

might be the biggest question right now. Who's the guy that's going to be contending with Jalen? I think it's Simpson personally, but I think Tyler Buckner's got a little bit of favorite tism going this week. There's been a lot of talk about him, and again, Tommy Reese is very familiar with him. So I think that might be the biggest race we're looking at right now well it is it is one of those things that they don't have to make that decision but yes when they get to Texas they probably need to know because the way the schedule is set up they've got the you got the the strange game at UCF or USF that it's one of those, when did this game, how did this game get scheduled games? But after that, that they've got to have their guy probably. Yeah. I mean, you don't want to,

I mean, there's no real benefit to tip in Texas to who they're going to, who they're going to be able to plan for. So there's no real, and if you do tip, you don't want to tip before middle Tennessee state, right? You want to keep this going as long as you can keep it hidden as long as you can. And then hidden as long as you can, and then, you know, let Texas scramble from there, but not entirely different kind of athletes. I mean, obviously, if you're playing for Jalen Milrow, I think you're going to go stop the run

first would be my guess. With Ty Simpson or Tyler Buckner, it's going to be a little bit of a different game plan. So one other note your guy Clint Lamb had about the scrimmage that I found interesting is that Caden Proctor was in there at left tackle and pretty much the whole time at left tackle. This is a true freshman from Iowa. Is he going to be that guy? Is that right now going to be, you know, day one, left tackle? I think you look at it.

Certainly he has the talent. He meets those guys that we've seen in the past, that number one offensive tackle in the country that's come in and done really well at Alabama. I mean, obviously he's a physical freak. I think the biggest question was the fact he's coming from a smaller high school state in Iowa where he literally just bullied anybody on the field. But, I mean, you got him at left tackle.

He's started both scrimmages there. And you see Booker. This is what sells me the most. You see got him at left tackle. He started both scrimmages there. And you see Booker. This is what sells me the most. You see Booker at left guard. That's providing him a little extra protection, a little bit of a safety valve because you've got a proven early draft pick over there helping him out. Well, trying to think of it, was Robinson the last – Cam Robinson the last true freshman to start at left tackle for Alabama?

I'm not the biggest historian i feel like it was most tend to end up start at right tackle and then move to left yeah and obviously andre smith was one cam was two um that came right in and did it um i think that is it though yeah it's it's been usually right and kind of move over yeah especially when you got a guy like Latham. You know, you got a guy that's, you know, feasibly is going to be an early pick and could flip over there to left. But I will say Proctor, he was the left tackle.

Everybody I talked to, the college coaches, NFL scouts I showed in video too, they all said he's a pure left tackle. Not really a guy they even mentioned on the right side of the ball. It is interesting because it feels like more often now it's just what side are you most comfortable on? Jake Rowe and I talked about that with the guys at Georgia. Same thing. You go back to Darnell Wright at Tennessee last year. They had tried him at left.

It wasn't great. Not last year, but before that. And they realized he's a great right tackle. Let's just let him be a great right. So maybe Caden Proctor, they thought, well, well okay we can bring him on all right but why if if he's really good on the left and JC's good on the right but why change anything I agree with that I think you know obviously left tackle is a big deal because of bat the blind side and all that stuff but NFL you know in the college they're rushing you from both sides I mean we saw you know we saw Anderson on the left side of the field

going against the right tackle all the time. So that guy's got to be good. We've seen a lot of quality defensive ends over there. So it's not like just because you're staring at them blitzes don't mean you're any safer than if you're on your blind side. I mean, that guy's coming to kill you. He's coming to kill you. And also, I'm not, you know, saying this forecast Jalen Milrow

is the starter or anything, but quarterbacks just run more, period, now. And so I don't know that that blindside designation is that big of a deal anymore because a lot of times the quarterbacks are on the run or they're in some sort of RPO situation where they could be handing off or could be keeping. And even though you've got Simpson and Buckner, both of those guys are pretty athletic. They can move the chains with their feet, pull it down and be evasive.

You know, it's like Mac Jones. You don't have to be a 4-4 Michael Vick. Mac Jones was slow as crap, but he was a maestro, you know, with his feet. I mean, he was like Fred Astaire in the pocket. He always cleared space. Avoiding that rush is just as important. Buying that extra second to get that pass off. Yeah, it feels different.

It does feel like this is not necessarily like the A.J. McCarron era of Alabama football. All three of those guys that we're talking about with potential to get that starting job can run if they need to. Oh, absolutely. There's guys, I mean, if you see that right end coming around, they're going to be able to tuck it and run, sidestep it, move to the right. And a lot of times guys, quarterbacks, right-handed quarterbacks,

are stronger moving to their right. They're, move to the right. And a lot of times guys, quarterbacks, right-handed quarterbacks, are stronger moving to their right. They're more used to it anyway. So I don't think that's much of a problem for any of these three guys. They're not stiffs. They're not just sitting. You can throw Dylan in there too. He's a big kid that can move.

And Eli's a monster. He's got like that Jake Coker size. He can run a little bit too. So there's nobody sitting back there like a statue. Yeah. This first- year quarterback thing i the jay coker thing is what keeps coming back to me i keep thinking about how many guys they had in that competition in 2015 how many people could legitimately maybe have wound up starting and they still won a national title i don't know that alabama is as loaded everywhere else as they were back then,

but how close are they to being that kind of loaded? You know, one thing for Jake that always stood out to me is the leader he was. You know what I mean? If they were still doing the Oklahoma drill, he'd have got in there and did it. You know, that kid, he's big. I speak to the Mobile Red Elephant Club. I'm telling you, this guy is a monster. He's the two guys, him and J.K. Scott, the punter,

who I didn't know was 7'3 until I met him. I couldn't believe how tall J.K. was. But Jake Coker, that's a big man. You know, you're wondering how those guys didn't bring him down near the goal line. You can see. So I do think they're going to need somebody to step up and take that leadership role, take that big hit, because they're not going to be as talented as Bryshon or Tua,

that kind of thing. They're going to have to be that leader, and Matt had that in him as well. Yeah, and it's interesting that you mentioned that with Coker because they did try to go with the guy who probably had the better set of tools in Cooper Bateman in that Ole Miss game in 2015. They ended up putting Coker back in, and he almost led him back to win but then that's that's what made them realize he was the guy yeah that is it so that's going to be big for one of these guys to get that locker room get them behind them and just have that you know have that

confidence in your quarterback so what other position battles should be we be aware of where are they still not quite set? You know, I'm still curious about wide receiver. I think they've got talented guys. I just can't believe the number of drops we're hearing about. I mean, it's really weird. It's not like there's one guy with bad hands who's dropping four passes. It's like six or seven guys dropping one, which is kind of surprising.

So that guy that can hold on to the ball, sounds like Kobe Prentice had a really good day. That consistent guy, because if you look every team, like, you know, Bryce Young, his, you know, everybody, Jamison Williams was a huge loss, no doubt, when he went down. But to me, Betchie was the biggest loss because he was his safety valve. He worked back to you. Who's coming back to the quarterback?

Who's going to catch the ball in the crunch time? They need that guy. I still think Malik Benson's going to be a guy that steps up, coming from junior college, playing, you know, scrimmaging. SEC's probably adjusting a little bit. That's one battle. Who's going to step up on the defensive line? I think we're all curious to see about that.

Tim Keenan, all of a sudden, you know, getting some start, getting some run. Big plug of a nose guard. He's a guy to watch out for, but the defensive line to wide receivers, I think is going to have to step up. Well, it's going to be very interesting and obviously all eyes on the quarterback, but if they feel good about the offensive line, I feel like that changes the dynamics of the quarterback situation too. Oh, absolutely.

You know, I think that first of all, they should be able to run the ball, which was, you know, trouble. They ran the ball last year, but a lot of that was just Gibbs doing what Gibbs does. You know what I mean? He was just making special moves and beating people out in space. But I think you're going to have to be able to line up on third and three and get three yards. You're going to have to fall forward and get those yards.

When you know that, a little bit more confident. You know, Alabama spent a lot of time passing on third and two and third and three. Of course, it's Bryce. He's fantastic, but that's not the most highest percentage chance to get a first down compared to a good, strong running game. I think they're going to have that this year. I think we'll have Jays who's going to move it. Raydale Williams got a start. I've had several people tell me he looked great. And, of course, Justice Haynes is the freshman everyone's talking about.

Cannot wait. It is going to be so much fun to actually see this on the field. And we are not far away right now, less than two weeks. Tim Watts from Bama Online, thank you so much. Anytime, Andy. Tim does an incredible job. Bama Online, basically the original fan site. They've been doing it better than anybody else for a long, long time.

And they had coverage over the weekend of the subject of my extra point. You get ready to feel old. How ready are you all to feel old? And I say this. I know some of you are probably significantly younger than me, but you're still going to feel old here. Nick Saban now has his first legacy commitment at Alabama. The first player whose father played for Nick Saban in Alabama

to commit to Alabama and is Dre Kirkpatrick Jr., who plays at Gadsden City High in Gadsden, Alabama, just like his dad, Dre Kirkpatrick Sr., who was one time the number one cornerback recruit in the nation. And I remember going to a Gadsden City game in, I want to say it was 2008, and seeing Dre Kirkpatrick play. And yeah, Dre Jr. though, he is a class of 2024 player. He has committed to Alabama

and it's, it's running in the family. So I know Missouri wanted him very bad. There were some other, other schools that were very high on him, but chance to follow in dad's footsteps in Tuscaloosa and make all of us feel incredibly old. he's going to take it. So there you go. It's a Dear Andy show. Monday, we answer your questions. So andystapleson3 at gmail.com if you want to shoot it on video and send it to me or just drop a post on X. See, I'm trying to get this right. Or a tweet on Twitter, what we used to call it. Andy underscore Staples. You can do that on video. You can write it however you want to do it. But we do love your questions because it helps us make a better show for you by knowing exactly what you want to talk about. So get those questions to me. Andy Staples on three at

gmail.com. We'll have a lot of fun. I love it when you guys are the stars of the show. We'll talk to you again tomorrow.