Andy & Ari On3 - Tennessee AD Danny White RIPS the NCAA | The Dumbest Gambler Ever? | Penn State DE Adisa Isaac | Big Blue Nation out of patience with Coach Cal?

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

Today's show is brought to you by PrizePicks, the easiest way to play daily fantasy. All first time users that deposit and use the promo code ANDY will receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100.... If you deposit $100, PrizePicks will give you $100. If you deposit $50, PrizePicks will give you $50.Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/ivHR/ANDY(0:00-16:15) Intro - Tennessee and Danny White Fighting Back(16:16-23:17) Former Alabama Head Baseball Coach Receives Show Cause(23:18-26:00) Senior Bowl Update(26:01-30:52) Penn State's Adisa Isaac (30:53-39:25) Houston Christian's Jalyx Hunt(39:26-47:17) New Hampshire's Dylan Lauby(47:18-1:10:46) Kentucky Sports Radio's Nick Roush Joins(1:10:47-1:11:58) Conclusion - Iowa Self-ImposesTennessee’s fight against the NCAA’s investigation into the recruitment of quarterback Nico Iamaleava continued Thursday when athletic director Danny White released a statement ripping the governing body. Plus, Tennessee football player Jackson Lampley filed a declaration Thursday in the lawsuit against the NCAA filed Wednesday by the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia. The NCAA also released its infractions report Thursday in the case involving fired Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon. Bohannon was fired for leaking inside information about a game to a gambler, but the exact details — outlined in the NCAA’s report — are even dumber than you can possibly imagine.Later, Andy talks to former Penn State defensive end Adisa Isaac at the Senior Bowl. Andy also chats with small-school stars Jalyx Hunt and Dylan Laube. If you don’t know New Hampshire RB Laube yet, get ready. You’ll hear a lot about him in the coming months.Next, Nick Roush of Kentucky Sports Radio joins to talk about the Big Blue Nation’s patience with basketball coach John Calipari. Nick also discusses Kentucky football offensive coordinator Liam Cohen, who continues to be a candidate for NFL jobs.Want to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube! https://youtube.com/live/8IYj9kxVRbU

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to Andy Staples on three. And if you're sick of the Tennessee versus the NCAA thing, don't get sick yet because it's just getting spicier, getting juicier every single day. Usually with NCAA cases, everybody keeps their mouth shut. This is not one of those cases. This is one where everybody keeps talking or releasing statements or firing at one another in some way, shape or form.
Starting point is 00:00:29 In this particular case, it is Tennessee Athletic Director Danny White. So a day after the NCAA fires back at Tennessee Chancellor Dondi Plowman and a day after the state of Tennessee and state of Virginia, the attorneys general filed suit against the NCAA involving this investigation into Tennessee's recruitment of Nico Yamame-Lama. We get this statement from Danny White, who's been getting a lot of interview requests, as one would in this situation. Well, he decided to put it all down on paper, or at least on digital paper. This is a statement he released on Twitter or X or whatever we're calling it today. The first sentence, making fun of the NCAA's statement from Wednesday. The NCAA, and then it gets bold and italicized, generally does not comment on infractions cases. That's exactly what the NCAA led with in its statement. So here's what Danny White says.
Starting point is 00:01:31 The NCAA generally does not comment on infractions cases because there is a rule against it. However, that has not stopped them in the past from leaking information to the media, as they did this week about us. This is all true. Their actions made this ill-conceived investigation public and forced us to defend ourselves. It is clear that the NCAA staff does not understand what is happening at the campus level all over the country in the NIL space. After reviewing thousands of Tennessee coach and personnel phone records, NCAA investigators didn't find a single NIL violation, so they moved the goalpost to fit a predetermined outcome. They are stating that the nebulous, contradictory NIL guidelines, in parentheses, written by the NCAA and not the membership, don't matter and applying the old booster bylaws to collectives.
Starting point is 00:02:19 If that's the case, then 100% of the major programs in college athletics have significant violations. This is obviously silly and not productive, as is blaming the membership whenever they are challenged. then 100% of the major programs in college athletics have significant violations. This is obviously silly and not productive, as is blaming the membership whenever they are challenged. We need to be spending our time and energy on solutions to better organize college athletics in the NIL era, something that NCAA leadership failed to do back in 2021. Student-athletes, prospective student-athletes, coaches, and administrators across the country deserve better, and I refuse to allow the NCAA to irrationally use Tennessee as an example for their own agenda. That is Danny White. And the people in the chat, very happy with that. Not a lot of folks liken the NCAA, but there are people who obviously say, well, what, but did Tennessee do something wrong? Maybe they really did something wrong. Well, we'll find out. Basically what we've seen leaks so far, he's right about those leaks. The NCAA does strategically leak things. Trust me, they do and what we've seen so far is it that right now this case seems to stem
Starting point is 00:03:30 from nico getting private plane trips while a recruit and just from what we can gather he's with spire sports which is the marketing agency slash collective that is attached to Tennessee. So he signs with them as a client and they're saying, we can fly our client anywhere we want. And the NCAA is saying, but you're a bunch of Tennessee boosters. So this is clearly a recruiting inducement. That's what they're saying. Now, there's two separate tracks here. I want everybody to remember. You have the NCAA investigation into Tennessee. You have the NCAA saying Tennessee did something wrong.
Starting point is 00:04:20 You also have the lawsuit from the state of Tennessee and the state of Virginia attorney generals, which essentially is saying that the rule that Tennessee is accused of violating or all that, that whole set of rules is illegal because it violates the Sherman Antitrust Act. So if the case succeeds, none of the other stuff matters because the rules will be deemed illegal by a federal court and they can't enforce them anyway. If it doesn't, well, Tennessee's got to deal with this. And one reason Tennessee is fighting this so hard is because Tennessee just had an NCAA case. They're in line to be what's considered a repeat violator because they had a case where Tennessee actually dug up all the dirt itself on Jeremy Pruitt bunch of recruiting violations because they wanted to fire Jeremy Pruitt for free
Starting point is 00:05:11 and they did that so they weaponized the NCAA against Jeremy Pruitt got out of a 13 million dollar buyout that way but unfortunately for Tennessee that means they're on the hook if they get caught with something else, that's a big problem. Now, what Danny White is saying is everybody does this. And, you know, back in the day when we had all the under the table payments, everybody who was accused of it would say, well, everybody does this. The truth was not everybody did it or not everybody did it in, you know, abundant fashion. It was not as widespread as everybody.
Starting point is 00:05:50 But in this case, Danny White ain't kidding. What they did with Nico actually kind of set the blueprint for what everybody else does with everybody now. So he's not wrong that if they can get Tennessee for this, they really can get every major football and basketball school for almost every player they've signed in the last year and a half. That's what makes this so interesting. And that's also why I think you'll, I said this yesterday, I think you're going to see other states join that lawsuit because I was told on Thursday that the NCAA sent out more letters of, I don't know if they're official letters of inquiry, which means we are investigating you,
Starting point is 00:06:39 but they have at times sent out questions to schools saying, hey, we saw this about this player, this recruit. Can you explain this? A bunch of those got sent out in the past couple of weeks to various schools. So double digit schools got these things. This is not isolated to Tennessee. It's not isolated to Florida. It's not isolated to Florida State. It's widespread.
Starting point is 00:07:16 And that's what I question here. That's what I think is so weird about all of this. The big schools, the SEC schools, the Big Ten schools, the ACC schools, the Big 12 schools, they're the ones that the NCAA needs on its side, or the NCAA is either going to be left behind or completely reorganized in a way where the current people aren't there anymore. So you can say the schools make the rules, but these particular schools have decided that this is now standard operating procedure. And they do not want to be punished for what they consider to be standard operating procedure. So you got to watch out if you're the NCAA,
Starting point is 00:08:07 be careful how many tigers you want to poke. You've already poked a pretty loud one. And that's what I was talking to somebody about this today. And it's, it's sort of like, basically you're, you're in a, in a fight and you're out of other weapons, but you have one nuclear warhead at your disposal. And that's essentially what Tennessee has done. They didn't have any other weapons in this fight. And so they just pressed the button on the nuclear warhead. That's the lawsuit because there's a pretty good chance it will end all of the NCAA's rules against paying recruits,
Starting point is 00:08:48 talking money with recruits. It's a very good chance that's what's going to happen. And I don't think the average college athletic director, the average college president two years ago would have said that's an outcome they want but i think there's a few right now who are sitting there with a letter from the ncaa going well if they're going to come after us we may as well just get rid of the rules because nobody's following them anyway it's it's going to be wild there's's more, by the way. There's more. So also on Thursday, Tennessee offensive lineman Jackson Lampley filed a declaration in that lawsuit against the NCAA. And I think you'll see more of this, too. People jumping in, probably on both sides, with declarations, what they call amicus briefs.
Starting point is 00:09:45 And they will say, Hey, I have some information that might help you determine how you want to rule in this case. In Jackson Lampley's case, he's a, he's a, an older player.
Starting point is 00:09:58 He's an offensive lineman. And he's not a starter. And I think some people will say, well, okay, what does he know about NIL? He's not getting the big money offers. That's not actually the point. Because what the state of Tennessee, what the AG in Tennessee and Virginia, what they're accusing the NCAA of is suppressing this market with its rules so that you can't tell recruits what they might get.
Starting point is 00:10:26 Now, Jackson Lafley actually started college before the NCAA allowed NIL payments. So he's one who has dealt with recruits though. You've got to host recruits, you've got to answer their questions. And so he explains the process first. He says the signing of the letter of intent, and by the way, LOI, letter of intent, NLI, national letter of intent, NIL, name, image, and license, too many N's and too many L's. If there's any reform I can ask for
Starting point is 00:11:00 once this case is over, it's we gotta change some of these acronyms. We gotta do something else. We can't keep doing this. It's too confusing. All right. I digress. Jackson Lampley says, the signing of the LOI is the end of the recruiting process.
Starting point is 00:11:16 Once the LOI is executed, competing schools are forbidden from contact to the recruit. While many athletes provide non-binding verbal commitments to a school prior to signing the LOI, that does not necessarily signal the end of the recruitment process. Recruits still have the power to reconsider their commitment, and some recruits make it clear they're still willing to hear from other schools, thus potentially shopping one opportunity against another. He's just kind of explaining how the process works. And so basically what everyone on the one side of this lawsuit says is nobody makes a decision about a financial opportunity without knowing what the compensation package is. If you get offered a job, you're not going to take the job and then say, oh, by the way, how much do I make? That's actually not, I will say, in my life once that happened. And it was because I was young and not very smart. When I got hired
Starting point is 00:12:11 by Sports Illustrated, when the guy said, we'd like to offer you a job, I said, I'll take it. Oh, I think I'm supposed to ask how much it pays. But I'm dumb. These people are smart. You do want to ask before you take it. And so Jackson Lampley explains that too. He says, almost every recruit I meet with asks first and foremost about NIL, but they also ask about all the same factors I considered in the pre-NIL world. Just like finances are a factor for every other college student's decision for where to enroll, how much weight of a recruit puts on financial costs and opportunities ought to be up to them as simply part of finding the right fit for a given athlete's circumstances. In my observation, NIL has become one of the top factors that current
Starting point is 00:12:53 recruits consider when determining where to go to school. Yeah, just like everybody else, money is something everybody considers when they make these big life decisions. So that is your update on Tennessee versus the NCAA, which is going to be hot. Remember Tennessee and Virginia, the States, the attorneys general want that case, or at least the temporary restraining order in that case issued prior to national signing day on Wednesday. This is all coming down the track fast. I don't know if that's all going to happen, but that's very quick. So we'll find out probably pretty soon. And look, stay tuned. There could be more on this Friday over the weekend, early next week. It is not slowing down anytime soon.
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Starting point is 00:16:13 I know. Speaking of bringing it down here, another NCAA case reached its resolution point on Thursday. And this is one, we will not be criticizing the sub layover. You feel free to punish this person as much as you want to. And as long as you want to, it was a 15 year show cause for former Alabama coach,
Starting point is 00:16:39 Brad Bohannon. He was the baseball coach was fired last year for leaking inside information to a buddy who was at a sports book right before Alabama played LSU to start a weekend series. It is one of the dumbest NCAA cases we've ever seen. One of the dumbest gambling scandals we've ever seen, not because of the NCAA enforcing it, not because of the people doing the enforcement with the ones who caught Brad Bohannon and his buddy, but just the sheer stupidity of Bohannon and his friend. So this NCAA report had some more specific details than we've seen to this point. Oh boy. All right. So here's what happened.
Starting point is 00:17:26 It's a, it's a three game series. This is opening night. It's a Thursday. So the way the SEC does those is usually they go Friday through Sunday, but for featured series, when they want to put one of the games on TV, uh, kind of all alone, they do the Thursday through Saturday. So the Thursday night game was really kind of the time to shine. Well, in this particular case, they're starting a series in Baton Rouge on a Thursday. And the guy who was going to be the starting pitcher for Alabama, hurting a little bit as he's warming up, Bohannon realizes he's got to scratch him from the lineup. And so Bohannon is in touch with his friend on the Signal app,
Starting point is 00:18:03 which is an encrypted messaging app. And his friend is at the sports book at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, so where the Reds play. And so Bohannon texts to the better, Hammer, and then the pitcher's name, is out for sure. Let me know when I can tell LSU, hurry. So basically he's saying, get your bet in before I have to turn in my lineup card. And then everybody knows this guy's out. So here's what the dummy friend does. He tries to bet $100,000 on a Thursday night college baseball game that is happening in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
Starting point is 00:18:46 and he is in Cincinnati, Ohio. If you don't gamble, it may not make sense as to why that is so odd and weird. College baseball is not a sport that people bet on frequently in the regular season. You get to the College World Series, there's more action on it. But even in the College World Series, the idea of a six-figure wager on a college baseball game, it's going to bring some red flags up. Somebody trying to place a six-figure wager on a random college baseball game on a weeknight in the middle of the season is going to throw up every red flag. So the sportsbook staff limits this guy to a $15,000 wager. And again, if you don't bet, maybe this doesn't make as much sense, but the reason you can't just fix a random sunbelt women's basketball game on a Tuesday and then go make a million dollars
Starting point is 00:19:46 is because if you try to bet that game, a sports book is not going to take a lot of action on it because they'll know something's up. So if you come in and you, they're going to go, no, you can, you can bet 500 bucks on that. That's, that's all. So that, that's how this works is, is they initially see the number and they're like, Oh no, we can't do this. And they had already at that point, the sports book had already contacted us integrity. And thisity. And this is not in the NCAA report. This is from when I had to write the story after it happened because I talked to the folks at U.S. Integrity about how all this works. That's the service that the sports books and the leagues hire to watch these things. So basically, within minutes of this, all of this information has been passed along to all the sports books who subscribe to U.S. Integrity and the sports leagues that subscribe to U.S. Integrity.
Starting point is 00:20:53 So everybody knew what was going on. This is why he was fired so quickly. But this is even crazier. So this is from the ncaa report this suspicious activity included the betters insistent demeanor to get the play the bet placed and statements to the sportsbook staff that the bet was quote for sure going to win and quote if you guys only knew what i knew the suspended way it gets better the suspicious the suspicious activity also included the better showing sportsbook staff messages from bohannon and explaining that the messages were bohannon
Starting point is 00:21:33 informing the better that alabama was scratching his starting pitcher before the game and before bohannon alerted lsu this is the stupidest thing ever. You're at the sportsbook counter and you're saying, I know the fix is in and here's who's fixing it. It's the dumbest thing ever. How stupid can you be brad bohannon deserved to be fired for having the stupidest friend on the planet scared money don't make money andy but dumb money don't make money either taz and dumb money dumb money didn't make any money here either. What a just unbelievable colossal feat of stupidity this was. So Brad Bohannon, yes. 15 year show cost. He'll never
Starting point is 00:22:33 coach college baseball again. And like there's a special place in hell reserved for people who bet against their own team. I truly believe that. You know how I feel about most NCAA cases. I'm not a big fan of most of the rules. In this case, fire the man into the sun. You don't do that. You don't bet against your own team. You just don't. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. But see, I don't always criticize NCAA enforcement cases. Not every time. Sometimes, sometimes I agree. And in this case, I very much agreed. But all right, we got to talk about something a little less dumb, a little more fun. I was at the Senior Bowl this week in Mobile. A lot of great stuff to see and a lot of great guys to talk to. Jim Nagy and his staff at the Senior Bowl did a fantastic job putting on that event.
Starting point is 00:23:33 And it's just, it's so much fun to watch some of the best college players you saw all year play against each other, practice against each other, really test themselves against some of the best in the country. So we're going to play some interviews with some of these guys that were out there. One, big star from a big school, Adisa Isaac, the edge from Penn State. We're going to talk to him. Two, small school guys who you probably didn't hear that much about during the season, but you're going to be hearing about them over the next few months.
Starting point is 00:24:03 And they're very cool. Their stories are great. And they were so much fun to talk to. Uh, so Jalix Hunt, who's an edge rusher from Houston Christian used to play at Cornell, did not play with JD Piquel, not that young or not that old, but he played for the big red before transferring to Houston Christian and then New Hampshire running back Dylan Loughby, who if you don't know him, you're going to hear his name a lot over the next three months. So a lot of fun watching those guys. And I told you yesterday,
Starting point is 00:24:34 like watching Tavondre Sweat from Texas, the defensive tackle, just blowing people up. He was doing it again on Thursday. Bo Nix looked fantastic. You'll hear me in the interview with Dylan Loughby talking about a throw that Bo Nix looked fantastic. You'll hear me in the interview with Dylan Lobby talking about a throw that Bo Nix made, which was a definite NFL throw. It was a beauty. And he had a bunch of those. Michael Pinnock's shooter looked good too. Joe Milton from Tennessee, he struggled a little bit, but for the most part, people kind of were as advertised. And, you know, I think we'll,
Starting point is 00:25:08 we'll see how this affects the draft pecking order, but I do think like Jim Nagy and his staff did a really good job this year, putting that field together. I think they're gonna have a lot of first and second round picks that come from this roster. So give the senior bowl a watch on Saturday. It's, it's a tremendous event and they have some really good players this year. It felt more star studded than ever. And I just had a great time talking to those guys. So let us talk to Adisa Isaac, who, you know, captain on at Penn State that I think continues and and we'll see we'll see it keep going here in these next few years but they lost a really good one when Adisa graduated but he's uh he's repping Penn State making the the Nittany Lions very proud
Starting point is 00:26:01 right now here is Adisa joined now by Penn State captain Adisa what what was that like when you get that that C uh it was great I mean it was very eye-opening that my teammates you know kind of voted me in for that type of role and I was just very honored you know at a place like Penn State being a team captain it's a great responsibility and great honor what what is that like is it because it's kind of a line line that like it was Shaka Tony for you was that was your mentor and then for you, you know, and you're in there with chop and then you got these younger players coming in. But how do you how much responsibility do you feel to pass that on? I feel like a great responsibility because somebody did it for me. And I feel like it's only right that I kind of pass down that knowledge that helped me
Starting point is 00:26:43 get this far and import that into somebody that's that I see with talent as a young player. So when you look back on your career, what is the one memory or six out or the one time? It didn't even have to be a game. It could be practice. It could be anything. But what's the one thing that you think, man, I'm going to miss State College. I would just say the summer, the summer, summer times at the Creamery. I would say. Oh, yeah?
Starting point is 00:27:11 Yeah, because we go with some of my teammates, the D-line. You know, we all go after hard practice. You know, we head to the Creamery and just bond and have a good time. And those are some of the memories that I can't forget. You know, it's just great times at State College. So what is your go-to Creamery flavor? Go-to at first, I like the Death by Chocolate. Uh-huh.
Starting point is 00:27:28 Oh, yeah. That was a nice one. I've had that one. Yeah. But, you know, I'm a vanilla guy. So, but the Death by Chocolate took me. Wow. Okay.
Starting point is 00:27:35 You are a vanilla guy. Yeah. Okay. So I used to be very down on vanilla. And then I read about it actually has a much more complex flavor profile than chocolate so vanilla is actually more complicated yes and that is uh that's interesting because usually people don't say i'm a vanilla guy yeah i mean i'm i would go with vanilla before chocolate but until the death by chocolate showed up showed up and stole my heart So let's talk on the field here. This season was not exactly what you
Starting point is 00:28:09 guys hoped for, but still very good. What does Penn State need to do to kind of get over that hump? Honestly, we just have to stay consistent and keep doing what we've been doing. I mean, it's not like I said, it's not like we had a bad season, but we have bigger goals and our standard is way higher than that um so we just have to be consistent and and focus on the finer details of things and kind of just fine-tune where we feel like we was lacking on the previous year and when you see young guys like abdul's got another another year like when you see a guy like that what is his ceiling what can he be and his ceiling is unknown you know he's kind of just keeps progressing every year at a high rate. The best you can do is just
Starting point is 00:28:47 let him do what he does and just keep improving from there. Let's talk about your path now. You're headed to the NFL. What has this process been like for you so far? It's been great. Just meeting all these great players, these like-minded individuals,
Starting point is 00:29:03 great coaches. Just keep growing and learning how to be pro um because that's where i'm trying to head that's where i'm trying to be at um and you know just enjoy the experience you know try not to think about it too much and just kind of flow with it and have fun so who's been your favorite offensive tackle to go against so far my favorite offensive tackle to go against i'll say is um michigan left tackle and Oregon State right tackle. There you go. Yeah. All right.
Starting point is 00:29:27 Those are my two guys. This year, Ladarius? Yes, sir. All right. Yep. Appreciate it. All right. Thank you. I appreciate that.
Starting point is 00:29:32 Thanks. Bye-bye. All right. That is Adisa Isaac. And he got a chance to play in front of 107,000 people every weekend at Penn State, millions more on television. And he is a, he's a hell of a player. And it's going to be fun to watch some of these other younger Penn State guys like Abdul Carter.
Starting point is 00:30:02 Now I know he's not a just full-on edge rusher he's he's more of a a lion you know normal linebacker but when he's rushing the passer it's it's fun to watch so I imagine Adisa has passed along quite a bit of knowledge to to young young Abdul has one more year before he can go to the NFL another Another edge rusher at the Senior Bowl, Jalix Hunt, really interesting path for him. Started his career at Cornell, went to Houston Christian, which is a fairly young program. And as you'll see from our interview, his thing is, look, I am where I am supposed to be at the Senior Bowl. I am where I'm supposed to be headed in the NFL. It's these coaches that were doing all the recruiting that missed it.
Starting point is 00:30:52 And he hadn't forgotten about it. Here's Jalex. Here with Jalex Hunt. Hello. Houston Christian. Yes, sir. But first Cornell. Indeed.
Starting point is 00:31:03 What a journey. Let's go back. So you and I grew up in basically the same place, in suburban Orlando. Yes, sir. Basically between Orlando and Daytona Beach. Yes, sir. And you star at University High School in Orange City. Yes, sir.
Starting point is 00:31:21 And then you go to Cornell. Yes. And it's like, all right, I'm going to it's like all right i'm going to an ivy league school going to play football i mean so what was that first part of it like just getting to cornell yeah oh yeah it's a wild experience um this is it's a lot different from where we grew up and went to high school i'll tell you that it's a lot colder okay more gray ithaca is gorgeous they say they ithaca is gorgeous, they say. Ithaca is gorgeous, but they call it gorgeous because of just the nature around it.
Starting point is 00:31:49 Actual gorgeous. Actual gorgeous. So it was nice. It was a nice change of pace, a lot slower than what I was normally used to. And a lot of different people. It's just a different culture up there in the Northeast. So, I mean, usually you make that decision to go Ivy. What were the other options football-wise or college-wise for you?
Starting point is 00:32:10 There weren't too many, honestly. It was a couple of D2 schools, D3 schools, a lot of D3 schools. But I couldn't just afford to outright pay. You know, they don't have scholarships and whatnot. So, Cornell was giving me the best package, even though they don't have scholarships and whatnot so the cornell was giving me the best package even though they don't have scholarships right they have they do the financial aid yeah and i mean it's an ivy league education so yeah it is but and but you go up there and and how much do you get to play and how much did the pandemic kind of affect all of that so i was there three years i played two
Starting point is 00:32:39 yeah sophomore year no football wow no football at. We could barely lift me and my roommates at the time would go to a field and just work out on our own. Man. But for at least eight months, we weren't able to see it inside of a gym, go to the field meetings, anything like that. Man. And then so what made you decide to transfer? I just thought it was time for me to take what I wanted to do a little bit more seriously. Cornell at the time, they had a different mindset than I was agreeing with just in terms of players. It seemed like they were okay with where they were performance-wise,
Starting point is 00:33:20 and I wasn't really, and I just thought I needed to make the move. And Houston Christian, they were moving up, right? They were. Just, yeah, getting – I just needed an opportunity is what I say. So they gave me the opportunity to play in the Southland Conference, a lot different football, a higher competition level. So when they came calling, they were the only people talking to me in a way that they could see a future for me.
Starting point is 00:33:47 Everybody else wanted me to play special teams specifically or to just be depth in the room, and so I went to HCU. Well, and that's what I think is interesting is you're here at the Senior Bowl. Yes, sir. One of the best, and you're playing against the best. Indeed. And in both cases, recruiting out of high school recruiting as a transfer you didn't have a ton of people just coming after you
Starting point is 00:34:10 not at all is it is it kind of indication for you to be here and showing that hey I was I belong here all along for sure I definitely have a chip in my shoulder oh yeah cuz of that it's just it's part of the story especially going being called a small school guy, quote, unquote. I'm not no small school guy. I could just play football, and I happen to go to a little bit different of a competition level. Yeah. Overlooked.
Starting point is 00:34:39 So I got that, yeah. I can feel it coming off you right now. When you were at these first few practices, Tuesday, Wednesday, how much did you want to show, look, this is where I belong. I can compete with all of these people. That's the main objective. That was the only reason really for coming here, just to show that all of the scouts like I play football at any level just put me on the field it's exactly how I thought it would be a lot faster than what I was
Starting point is 00:35:10 used to a lot different talent level uh as far as the tackles go and as far as everybody goes honestly I went from the FCF's level to literally the best in all football in college world. So it was, yeah. Well, so, I mean, how much do you weigh? 250. 250. So you're on the lighter end of edge rushers. Yes. Because I'm looking at some of these tackles walking around here,
Starting point is 00:35:36 and they are massive. But, like, nobody's fat. Nobody's sloppy. They're all athletes. So you're dealing with, like, with 330 pound dudes who can move. Move. Move strong. What are those first few reps like against those guys?
Starting point is 00:35:49 Aggressive, physical, to a degree you gotta set the tone. I don't want nobody looking at me and saying, that's cake. You gotta work, you're gonna have to work. And this is a new position for me. Like you said, I am light. I usually play outside linebacker, stand up edge. But we're running a crash nine defense this week, so I need to just be able to hit my gap and blow somebody back.
Starting point is 00:36:10 How much of just being able to show that versatility is important this week? It's very important. I mean, you're going into a league where cash is king, and they want to get the best deal for their dollars, so being able to Show that you can play multiple positions It's it's very important not only on the money side, but just showing that you could play football at any level. Oh, yeah third level second level or right on the one especially because it also helps you schematically because you can You fit in any skin Yeah
Starting point is 00:36:42 And you can hide some things without subbing out. Exactly. Let the offense have to guess where you're going to be, what you're going to do. So what's your favorite rep so far this week? Favorite rep so far this week, it was the seventh rep of our boot team series. If you watch it, it's not a very crazy rep, but it just shows that I'm picking up on the teaching. my hands are coming up a lot faster i'm shocking the tackle first i'm shedding and i spend to get out to get to the other side for the boot and how much the
Starting point is 00:37:15 part that people don't see here because we watch the practices and you see the game but the meetings with the the coaches from the nfl not just the ones that are interviewing you, but the ones that are coaching your team. How much does that help you kind of understand what it's going to be like? It's a peek into the world we want to be in. It's a lot different than college. College, they're talking at you a lot more. But here, it's more like a conversation.
Starting point is 00:37:42 You know what you need to do this is not coaching the skill or this is really coaching technique and what you should do in this situation rather than what you did small things so what's the what's the goal like when you leave mobile what do you want to have gotten out of this week i want to get the the misconception that i was a small school guy that played football well at that level. I could just play football, period. J. Alex Hunt, appreciate it. Yes, sir.
Starting point is 00:38:10 Thank you. J. Alex Hunt is very determined to show everyone that, and he's doing pretty good, doing pretty well at that right now. Another guy from a smaller school who has blown up this week, and understandably so New Hampshire running back Dylan Loughby. You're going to hear a lot about this guy's five, five, nine to 10 runs very fast. Like he's thinking 4.45 in the 40 at the combine. And if you watch him play, he plays even faster than that. Great vision as a back, but probably as dangerous or more dangerous as a receiver.
Starting point is 00:38:51 And I think there's a lot of teams that are looking at what the 49ers do with Christian McCaffrey, with Devo Samuel. And you can go back, you go back to Marshall Falk, to guys like that, who were so versatile in both parts of the offense that they became a very big weapon. So Dylan Lobby played at New Hampshire, but there's a chance he could play his way into the third, second round, maybe, really depending on how well he runs. He certainly looked like he belonged at the Senior Bowl. And it's one of those guys that, again, during the recruiting process,
Starting point is 00:39:27 nobody saw it, but he knew it was there. Here's Dylan. Joined by Dylan Lauby of New Hampshire. Yes, sir. Blown up this week. Yeah, we're having a pretty good time. Are you – did you know this was coming? Because usually guys, when they play at a smaller school,
Starting point is 00:39:47 but they know they're really good, and they get out here, and everybody acts surprised. Is it hard to just be like, eh, I know this is coming? I mean, coming in here, you've got to have the confidence. If you don't, then hey, once again, don't even show up, really. Because once again, I mean, I always believed in myself, me and my family. So once when i got out here and i was like hey let's just go man let's go have some fun out here so you grew up in that noted football hotbed the hamptons yeah definitely
Starting point is 00:40:15 one offer new hampshire but i mean you you were this guy and so for those who don't know dylan is a dual threat running back and then four-way special teams ace. That's the thing. You blew up this season at Central Michigan. 295 receiving yards in a game as a running back.
Starting point is 00:40:36 Has that always been a big part of your game, catching the ball out of the backfield? 100%. I think I wanted to show my senior year, especially with our threats out wide and our quarterback, too, which is super talented. We wanted to say, hey, let's throw the ball. And I wanted to kind of show, hey, I'm not just a running back. It's my junior year. I ran the ball a lot. And we wanted to say, hey, let's put me out wide in the slot, out wide, empty set, and just go.
Starting point is 00:41:07 And it worked well that's what i i mean i feel like that's where it's going especially it's what the nfl teams want you watch the 49ers what they do with christian mccaffrey and debo yes i mean it because either one could be a running back or receiver or a slot receiver yes and that's what you know you probably at your size might not be considered like an ideal nfl slot receiver but your speed, hands, vision, everything else, you would be. Exactly. Exactly. So especially, you know what's funny too? We actually, our schemes that we watched all the time with the 49ers.
Starting point is 00:41:39 We had kind of based our offense around the same scheme. So just watching them, it's just so funny because it's like hey we're doing the exact same thing as them how much fun is it when you're playing and you're in motion yeah and you're watching the defense just go crazy trying to figure out where you are and the worst thing for them is when they go man to man i know okay here we go here we go favorite route it's my favorite route because I run it so much and it works a lot is the hash fade. It's just the go. Just go and just throw the ball to me and just let me work, man.
Starting point is 00:42:14 I'm trying to think. You had the catch from Bo Nix. Yep. That wasn't. What was that on the other day? Yeah. That was it. That's what that was.
Starting point is 00:42:21 Yes, sir. It was a perfect ball too, right? Beautiful. Right on the money. Right on the money. Right on the money. So what's this been like for you playing against? Because obviously, I talked to Jalex Hunt from Houston Christian. His thing was like, I'm not a small school player.
Starting point is 00:42:35 I'm a great football player who just didn't get the offers. Like, for you, what's it like showing what you can do against these dudes? Same thing. Yeah. It's the same exact thing. Once again, I think it was, especially those big-time school guys, it was all about opportunity.
Starting point is 00:42:52 Once again, coming from the Hamptons, there wasn't much there. It's a great town, but football-wise there's not much there. Opportunity is huge. Especially in today's game with NIL and the transfer portal. I could have probably left.
Starting point is 00:43:10 But once again, that just wasn't me. I'm the type of guy, hey, if you are good, they will find you. So once again, they found me, man. So was that even a thought before your senior year? Yeah, probably for like a day. Probably for a day. And then I realized, hey, this was the only school that really truly gave me a shot why am i gonna turn my back on them now well new hampshire's sort of always been ahead of the curve like going back to chip kelly it feels like ryan day yeah so many greats it feels like you
Starting point is 00:43:39 guys are so now now we've got a breeding ground the next generation of running backs coming up. 100%. 100%. It's such a great school. The culture there is just why that place is so special. So since you've been here, have there been any of those guys, the big school guys, when you've shown what you know? They'll be like, damn, didn't see that coming. First of all, they are like, what school are you from? They have no idea what my logo is my helmet they're like what is that i'm like yeah it's new hampshire you're like
Starting point is 00:44:11 chef kelly right yeah come on man you gotta know about it come on ah what do you want people to to think about you to see from you when you when you're done here this week that i i belong here um i think a lot of people haven't seen me from, once again, that small school, hey, the competition wasn't there. We don't know if he's going to fit into all these schemes. We don't know if he's fast enough. And I want to show, hey, I
Starting point is 00:44:35 actually belong here with my speed, my versatility. I can beat guys one-on-one. I can show, hey, I truly belong here. And you know what? I deserve to be here. Dylan don't lobby thank you so much thank you appreciate it he definitely deserves to be there and and he's going to be a fun watch but in other news involving people who once worked or played at the university of new hampshire chip kelly reported by i Rappaport of the NFL Network to have interviewed
Starting point is 00:45:08 for the Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator job, which did not go to Chip Kelly. It was given to Cliff Kingsbury, former Texas Tech coach, former Arizona Cardinals coach. But Chip Kelly interviewing for that is very, very interesting because Chip has expressed his displeasure with the state of college football quite vociferously lately. And so it is not a surprise that he might want to return to the NFL as an OC. We'll see if that happens. But another thing, we just saw Jeff Halfley do it from Boston College. He's Boston College's head coach. He takes the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator job.
Starting point is 00:45:45 Now, I would not be stunned if Chip Kelly's name also comes up in the BC job because it's a little bit different recruiting profile than UCLA, and it's home for he's from New England. So it's about as close to home as you can get and be in a core for, I didn't say uh power or whatever conference so don't be shocked if that name comes up don't be shocked if his name comes up in other nfl oc searches because again he's talked about how he feels about the state of college football so you know perhaps BC, which would
Starting point is 00:46:26 be a little bit easier recruiting situation, maybe not the same pressure as UCLA headed into the big 10 or could be another NFL OC job. Another coach potentially considering NFL OC jobs, Liam Cohen from Kentucky. And that, that Buck's job is still out there. And that's one that the folks in big blue nation are a little worried about. But as Nick Roush from Kentucky sports radio explains, they are not as worried about that as they are about the state of the basketball team right now, because they've lost two of three. They're going into a game against Tennessee on Saturday.
Starting point is 00:47:03 That's probably the game between the two best teams in the SEC. We think they're the two best teams. It's tough times in Lexington for Coach Cal. We'll talk about that with Nick and also about Liam Cohen and Mark Stoops and what might happen in the next few days. Here's Nick. We are joined now by Nick Roush of Kentucky Sports Radio and yes, we're going to talk a little Kentucky
Starting point is 00:47:27 football with Nick but listen, it's basketball season. So, we gotta talk about the cats uh because it is one of those moments in Big Blue Nation where they they were kind of out on coach Cal then back in on coach Cal and after giving up a four-point lead in the last 37 seconds against Florida last night, maybe they're starting to head back out? Snip, snap. Snip, snap. I was thinking about it the other day.
Starting point is 00:47:57 This is the 10-year anniversary of Aaron Harrison starting his run, right? It was about this time 10 years ago. Kentucky's struggling, and then all of a sudden they go on this crazy run, and then they don't lose a game until they get to the Final Four against Wisconsin. So at the time I wondered how much time has Cal Perry, how much goodwill has he built up? And I think the correct answer is about nine years
Starting point is 00:48:20 because the last five have not been great, and now he's on a Final Four drought that's as long as the one that Tubby Smith was on when he got ran out of town. And so the angst, every time something like this happens, people are that much quicker ready to jump off the boat. Well, let's wait until March. There's a chance they can't until March. That isn't really happening because you're losing games at home.
Starting point is 00:48:49 You can't do that. They haven't been winning SEC tournaments. They haven't been winning regular season SEC championships. And when you lose games and you have won, like you've got Onyento has 13 points, 16 rebounds, eight block shots, and he gets you the tip in with 30 seconds left to go about four points. You think the game's over. I was at rough.
Starting point is 00:49:08 I got to go with my dad and be a fan and just cheer in the stands. It was awesome. I was having the time of my life. They were going to pull out that win. And then you look up and you're like, why? Why is this going to overtime? A three off a missed free throw. Now, I didn't get them – like like killing them for not fouling up three.
Starting point is 00:49:28 Like I'm a big foul up three guy. But off a missed free throw, who thinks to foul in that situation? That's true. But it's just there was so many reasons where that game, they just – it's like, hey, you make this free throw. Maybe if you don't foul then don't leave the one guy who all he does is shoot threes Michael Clayton Jr. made seven shots and all seven were threes and the worst part was you had your best defensive player
Starting point is 00:49:57 on him and he just was like oh maybe I should sag off and help no you don't help you let him shoot a layup but maybe because that guy played 40 minutes he just had a brain fart i don't know what reached up resume he had a career 24 points six i mean it was and a career high 45 minutes because he played the whole thing because they have no they have no depth right now because they got injuries well and then the week before they played too many guys and now you're down to only playing five guys. So it's – you're at this point again where you're asking yourself about coaching decisions, but more importantly, it's late-game execution.
Starting point is 00:50:34 And 10 years ago, Cal had a little bit more rope because he's two years removed off a national championship. So when they're – that 2011 team, that team lost basically every SEC road game. But Brandon Bynum goes to the Final Four. So we had this proof of concept, right, where it's like, well, they're freshmen. You give them time. The problem is, is like how many people have patience for that when you're not going to second weekends in the NCAA tournament?
Starting point is 00:50:59 Zach Gagan's been writing for us. He's been working full-time for KSR for, I think, five years. I don't think he's seen a second weekend. That's just mind-boggling as Kentucky fans. The frustrations are real. The other side of the coin is,
Starting point is 00:51:16 though, Andy, is it's like, well, we know this team is much better. Talent-wise, they're better than what we've seen. The problem is they're just running out of time to figure things out. Like the blown late-game execution, they did that against Kansas in week two, right? They've done this previously, and you're just like, okay, well, when are they going to start figuring out?
Starting point is 00:51:37 When's it going to click? Now, you could argue you don't have your starting point guard, DJ Wagner. That certainly plays a role in it. But still, it's just the patience it it's not there and it shouldn't be there for Kentucky basketball fans because this is Kentucky basketball it's Kentucky basketball which is like saying this is Alabama football and exactly and that is that is the the part I think fans of of schools that don't expect this don't understand. A drought like what you said where you don't see the second weekend for five years
Starting point is 00:52:11 just feels untenable. I think I was at Kentucky's last second weekend game. It was a Sweet 16 game in Atlanta. 2018 tournament. Fortunately, that was not because that was a Sweet 16 game in Atlanta, 2018 tournament. So fortunately that was not because that was a catastrophe. It was the – they lost to an Auburn team in the Elite Eight where Bruce Pearl rolled out the key like he was Walt Frazier. They pulled the whole injured guy. Willis Reed, yeah. Yeah, Willis Reed, not Walt Frazier.
Starting point is 00:52:42 Walt Frazier had a good game that game too. But the month before that game, Kentucky beat that Auburn team by 28 points at Rep Arena. And then they lose to them and they simply turn it. That's right. That's right. I forgot 2019. But that is now five years removed.
Starting point is 00:53:01 It's been a long time. And it was, but I will tell you, if Kentucky fans want a little levity i'm gonna i'm gonna provide some for them because i'm gonna make them suffer by listening to something from last night but i'm gonna cheer them up by giving them something from three years ago that sounds exactly like it so uh here is coach cal last night after the florida game we lost at the foul line they had seven more makes from the line than us. Probably the, you know, the major difference. I looked, more points from turnovers, more points in offensive rebounds,
Starting point is 00:53:33 more points in transition, more points in the paint. And I said, how the hell did we lose when you look at some of these numbers? But that's why it was an overtime game. And then we missed a free throw. They made a three. Boop. why it was an overtime game. And then we missed a free throw. They made a three. Now it goes to overtime. More of this, more of that. The only stat that matters is total points. Yeah, I would, I would agree.
Starting point is 00:53:57 And you get that by making more threes. You also might get that if you out rebound the other team um you know the total points that that's the one that matters points at the end of the game too kentucky was up by 10 before with i think oh kentucky got middle-aided they got middle-aided last night they were it's a football term but yes yeah they were up 10 with a minute to go they give up five straight points and then they open the second half and give up six more they're losing like this should be a 10 point game all right i'm gonna make kentucky fans feel better now are you ready so let's turn back the clock hearing you too please we just we just played coach cal saying
Starting point is 00:54:42 we we had more this more that that, more this, more that, and we still lost the game. And how do we lose the game? And when I heard that, it immediately reminded me of another Kentucky-Florida game, but this time in football, and this time Kentucky won. So this is following the 2021 Kentucky-Florida game, which Kentucky won 20 to 13. Here is Dan Mullen and my friend Cassidy asking the tough questions. Last one for me. This is the first game really we've seen under you where the offense has just sputtered. Do you feel like you were almost out coached tonight. No, but 382 yards, I guess that's sputtering.
Starting point is 00:55:29 Is that it? I don't know. We had 382, they had 211 yards, so I wouldn't think that would be the case. I think guys did some pretty good things right there, moving up and down. I think we got to really look at the penalties that we have and how to get ourselves in a better situation that way. You know, I got to do a better job coaching up the PAT field goal group. They're a physical group. We outrushed them.
Starting point is 00:55:59 We outpassed them. We out total game them. We had the time of possession. We were better on third downs. Mostly just the penalty. I would say that's a that's a decent part to it. We gotta you know. So, more of this, more of that but they had more points at the end of the game and what what the the reason this reminded me so much of that is because that is kind of when that's where the Florida fan base really started to turn on Dan
Starting point is 00:56:31 Mullen. And at that point he'd had a pretty good run. Like it wasn't, it wasn't bad at that point. They were in the NCAA championship the year before, right? They were. And they,
Starting point is 00:56:43 then they had beaten Tennessee that season, that 2021 season. They had barely lost Alabama at home. And so the goodwill was still there, but that's where it started to erode. And so the reaction from Kentucky fans to what Cal said last night, because in both of those cases, like Dan Mullen, before he said that in that press conference, explained that there were six false start penalties huge part of the game big reason they lost Cal same thing free throw you know they made more huge part of the
Starting point is 00:57:13 game but the only thing the fans grab on to is talking about how you beat them in certain stats but lost the game because they they're just they can't take it. They can't take the excuse. Andy, you're supposed to make me feel better, but now I'm realizing that a lot of these John Calipari press conferences are sounding like Dan Mullen press conferences because just. So when he comes out in a Darth Vader mask, you'll know. Oh gosh. I wouldn't put it past Cal. Oh no. Oh gosh. I I wouldn't put it Pascal. You
Starting point is 00:57:46 know, it oh no. Oh no. We can't. Not Dan. We we like Dan Mullen. We we like he he got the he ended the streak. Wasn't he the guy who said I I pity the guy who's going to lose the streak against Kentucky and then he he wants the streak against Kentucky? Yeah. So, about that. That is one of Kentucky's lose the streak against Kentucky and then he he wants the streak against Kentucky yeah so um about that that is one of uh Kentucky's two wins under Mark Stoops against an SEC team that finished better than four and four in league play yeah yeah that did happen that year 2018. uh Kentucky didn't even average 20 points of offense per game that year um if we want to get into the stats what a segue
Starting point is 00:58:25 nick what a segue because that is what we're going to talk about next i do want to talk to you about kentucky football and liam cohen kentucky offensive coordinator possibly up for the tampa bay bucks oc job what's the what's the fear level it is it is, even if he doesn't get it, it is threat level midnight from an optics standpoint because we went through this rigmarole about a month ago when he was in the mix for the Bears offense coordinator position. He was also going to talk about his Ryan Days play caller before he hired Bill O'Brien.
Starting point is 00:59:07 And there's this sense, I mean, that all came a month after Mark Stoops and Texas A&M had some very, very, very serious conversations where people were wondering, does everybody just want to get out of here? Why? Is the house burning down? We were having fun not that long ago we were beating florida just be low just be lovable oh they're throwing else down in jack harlow's face it was a great time and now you get brock vandergrift you've got this quarterback get
Starting point is 00:59:36 some great transfers it feels like there's a lot of upperclassmen things it's going to be hard this year you go to te you got Georgia at home you got to go to Ole Miss but there's a sense that like okay this it's been a rough couple years but hey the band's all still here we can have a fun 2024 and now it feels like Yoko is trying to break the band up and just because Liam's got wandering eyes for the nfl and i i love that yoko is todd bowles in this case and you know what now that i'm i i forgot that todd bowles initially this has been a thing like he's like cohen previously and the part about this job that does scare me Andy is Liam Cohen did not have a successful tenure during his one year with the Rams in between right back and forth flip-flop
Starting point is 01:00:32 snip step but the one shining moment was during their just melange of injuries they bring in Baker Mayfield on a Tuesday it was a Thursday game. I remember I watched that in an airport. Oh, my God. Oh, that's the most perfect game to watch in an airport is Baker Mayfield coming in. They were playing somebody who was actually kind of good, if I remember, but Baker comes in and wins the game, and he gave Liam a lot of credit for getting him ready,
Starting point is 01:00:59 getting him geared up. But what I've taken from all of this is that pretty sure Cohen, like there was a lot of like, well, maybe he wants to get back with Levis and Tennessee. You only heard his name in the middle of jobs where he could call plays. This is a play calling opportunity. He's worked with Baker before Tampa.
Starting point is 01:01:23 I would think Tampa is a nice place to live. They were in the playoffs a year ago. They, they resigned Mike Evans like that. That could be a fun place to work. So there, I, I hope this isn't dated by the time this comes out.
Starting point is 01:01:37 Cause I, I think it actually might happen. Especially with how eager it seems to be that, that Liam is looking elsewhere, which is not great. It's not great. Not a lot of great vibes in Lexington right now. Well, and it's interesting because I texted you the other night
Starting point is 01:01:52 because Mark Stoops had gone on one of the in-house shows and talked about how Liam has complete control of the offense. And you wrote a story about it. And I texted you. I was like, define complete control because that like he can call the plays he wants. But like if you want to go for it on fourth down, that's still it's still a March 2 decision, right? Yeah. Like the one job that a head coach has is clock management, time management, fourth down decisions. The buck eventually stopped somewhere. So the idea of complete autonomy,
Starting point is 01:02:26 does he give his offensive coordinators enough control? That was a big talking point here. But something that I think comes back on Liam, and I think he's a little worried that if he doesn't have – he's been successful and pretty much just seemingly always climbed this ladder throughout his coaching career. And the Devin Leary, Liam Cohen project did not work.
Starting point is 01:02:50 Right. It was now, if you, if you kind of dive in, it was still the second best offense of the soups era in almost every metric, uh, SP plus a lot of that sort of stuff. So it wasn't great though.
Starting point is 01:03:03 And if he has another one i'm sure there's some anxiety that well i don't know if they're gonna want me back in the nfl if i do this again well and and so here's my thing with with stoops that i'm wondering is it a situation like like lincoln riley with defense where lincoln riley's overarching philosophy makes it hard to have a good defense. Mark Stoops, like we talk about with the control and who has autonomy in the office, Mark Stoops ultimately will control the tempo, though. That's the sort of thing that the head coach is going to decide because it also decides how the defense plays.
Starting point is 01:03:39 And I just think he has yet to really let an offensive coordinator let it rip. It feels like Cohen's year with Will Levis was the closest to that. Yeah, and I like the connection you made there because that's always been that he's putting the shackles on them. And I think to a degree that is true because they've been at their best when they've just run the damn ball and they've had some damn good running backs right um hey the lin bowden option offense was pretty sweet I thought it was a lot of fun which Andy's uh a kid the other day said he started watching Kentucky when he was a kid
Starting point is 01:04:23 when Lin Bowden started playing there and And I just, all the hair. You felt very old, didn't you? Oh, yeah. It all fell out. Oh, yeah. Craig East would never. Craigie Senior, that is, if I wanted to make you feel old. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:04:36 You've got Russ East who's playing for the Rams now, which is even just. But I digress. To the overall general point, the buck does stop at Stoops with control and also with your offensive output, your overall numbers, the production. These offensive issues that you've dealt with throughout the Stoops era, there's only one constant there, right?
Starting point is 01:04:58 And that's Mark Stoops. And to go back to that 2018 year, they didn't only average, I want to say, 19.3 points per game in 2018. Might have taught them a bad lesson that you can just run the football and win here. Some of that schedule and things went the right way. But I do wonder, you brought up Cohen's success in 2021. There's part of me that wonders how much of it is the Jimmys and the Joes versus the guy
Starting point is 01:05:28 who's telling the Jimmys and Joes what to do because Wondell Robinson broke Craig Deese's air raid records that he said with Tim Couch. That Florida game we brought up the play of the game for either team offensively, really the only dynamic play that either team made offensively was Wanda Robinson takes a little dump off and just scoots through the full whole Florida defense yep went like 50 yards and then the other offense Kentucky had was blocking a field goal um so in that but that year you had Chris Rodriguez third in school history in career six yards a carry yeah and you had
Starting point is 01:06:04 Wanda Robinson like I said broke, broke the Air Raid records. Will Levis, second-round draft pick. You had Darian Kinnard, Kentucky's first consensus All-American offensive tackle since 1965. Then you had a center who started every game for two years for the Jacksonville Jaguars. They had guys on that team. They had dudes, right?
Starting point is 01:06:22 So I don't know how much of it is – how much credit does Cohen get for that? And Eric Wolford, who the offensive line coach, that they surprisingly brought back from Alabama, which I know that that probably doesn't move the needle nationwide, but basically they drug his ass through the mud when he left for Alabama two years ago, and now the prodigal sons are turning home like nothing happened. That's college football, though. Why would you leave for Alabama?
Starting point is 01:06:50 Well, I don't know. Why would I leave for Alabama? Nope, Kalen DeBoer is bringing his offensive line coach with him. Come on back. To bring this full circle, too, since you brought up Kalen DeBoer, to go back to John Calipari, there is this sort of, especially with the younger generation that grew up with John Calipari, there's a fear that once Cal goes,
Starting point is 01:07:13 that it can only be good if he's there. But like Alabama, I mean, Kentucky's had five different coaches win national championships. Yeah. Nick Saban's not the only one that can win there. But, but, but. I mean, Rick Pitino is literally still coaching. So it's not like it's that hard to remember.
Starting point is 01:07:33 Exactly. And here's the other part of it, too, though. It can get bad, though, because Billy Gillespie does happen. So I'm not saying that Kalen DeBoer would be that. But there is a part of Alabama fans, man. You've had it so good. You've had it so, so good. As long as Kalen DeBoer never makes somebody ride back in the equipment truck
Starting point is 01:07:53 from a road game or sit in the bathroom during a team meeting, I think those are Billy Gillespie deep cuts, I know. Yes. We had the team get off the bus because – God, I miss Josh Harrelson so much. Oh, George. He had 25 points in a game against Louisville. Who would have ever thought that would have happened? After getting stuck in the bathroom in the closet with Billy G. For those who don't know, round of applause
Starting point is 01:08:24 out there in Listerland for Nick, because when I called him about coming on tonight, he said, I'm in a Chick-fil-A. My kids are in the playground. My parents are in the parking lot. They are driving from Kentucky to Alabama. And so this is on the interstate. This is not near home. My parents are in the parking lot. The key is lost. The key is somewhere the interstate. This is not near home. My parents are in the parking lot. The key is lost.
Starting point is 01:08:46 The key is somewhere in the van, but we don't know where, but we know we couldn't have gotten here without it. So how long did it take to find the key? You know, this is not a rare occurrence so much so that we thought, hey, one year for Christmas, this is the best Christmas gift ever, is getting the little towel things where it's like, oh, you push the button and it beeps and you find it. It should take no time, right? No time. None.
Starting point is 01:09:19 You have to correctly label the towels as to what they are. So we did find mom's purse. Grammy found her purse, so that was good uh but you know in 10 15 minutes uh naturally the the keys were on the console they slid into the snack bag they were hiding under the stuffed animals but you know what we we found it it was an hour and a half Chick-fil-a trip but you know what there's worse places to spend an hour there's a playground free refills my my pleasure oh ice dream beautiful Nick Roush you're a hero thank you so much and this has been dad like with Nick Roush the dad life it never stops football basketball God just dad life, it never stops. Football, basketball. God, just Kentucky, please.
Starting point is 01:10:08 I don't want to come back here and compare Dan Mullen to John Calipari in a month. We need happiness in March. We're dealing with our coaches wanting to leave in football. Please, just give us some fun basketball. Please.
Starting point is 01:10:23 I have faith when the injured guys return. But they got Tennessee on Saturday. We'll see. Can they handle Dalton Connect? I'm sure nothing ever bad has happened when Kentucky plays Tennessee. No. Nothing. Thanks, Nick.
Starting point is 01:10:44 Nick made it, and so have we to the end of the week but one more little piece of news my pal scott document of the athletic he covers iowa reports that iowa is working to self-report a level three ncaa violation regarding impermissible contact with caden proctor the offensive lineman who remember famously flipped from iowa from Iowa to Alabama before signing day, played at Alabama this season, started every game at left tackle, entered the portal when Nick Saban left, and went back to Iowa. Now, during an interview at one point in the season, Proctor said that the Hawkeyes, quote-unquote, hit him up while he struggled during SEC play.
Starting point is 01:11:21 That led to tampering allegations. Dockerman writes in his story that it came via text message from an Iowa assistant that encouraged Proctor to, quote unquote, hang in there. Some horrible tampering right there. I don't care. Everyone tampers. But who knows? Maybe there'll be a full-blown investigation, or maybe it'll be a level three violation. Or maybe there won't even be any rules next week. We'll see.
Starting point is 01:11:49 Been a crazy week this week. Next week might be even crazier. We'll talk to you then.

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