Andy & Ari On3 - Texas Longhorns fall camp INTEL: Latest on Trevor Goosby injury | Steve Wiltfong joins

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

As fall camp continues across the country, sometimes news isn’t all that positive. If it’s not the latest on a quarterback competition, then it’s typically some brutal injuries in the newsroom. ...Over in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, the Longhorns were able to breathe a sigh of relief as it was revealed that star OT Trevor Goosby only had a bone bruise in his left knee.   (0:00) On Today’s Episode (1:01) Presenting Sponsor (2:48) Intro: Trevor Goosby injury (10:24) Previewing Steve Wiltfong (11:25) LMNT (13:26) Steve Wiltfong joins (17:23) Class of ‘27 Latest (20:26) Medical Sales (21:16) Top Freshman this season (27:34) Value Class: Washington (31:02) Changes in the SEC (34:05) LSU QB Room (35:50) Clemson (42:23) Wisconsin (50:04) Indiana (1:04:33) Closing out with Steve (1:07:35) Thanks for watching!   Once the guys wrap up with the latest out of Texas, On3 & Rivals’ VP Steve Wiltfong joins the show to provide the latest heading into this season. As the expert on all things recruiting and transfer portal, Steve Wiltfong provides a plethora of information on a number of teams: Washington, LSU, Wisconsin, Indiana, and more. A great interview you won’t want to miss.     Thanks for watching!   Send your questions to: andystapleson3@gmail.com ari.wasserman@on3.com   Our show is presented by Polymarket!   New User Offer: Deposit $10, get $20 upon sign up   https://app.polymarket.us/S8ac/ON3   Trade on College Football games every week on Polymarket. Download the Polymarket App with code ON3 for a $20 bonus upon sign up.   18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirement apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur.   We are sponsored by LMNT! Get a free 8-count sample place with any purchase: https://www.drinklmnt.com/andyari     Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/N4iAP8kE0Bg   Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman Producer: River Bailey   Interested in partnering with the show? Email advertise@on3.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Andy Noreon 3, presented by Polymarket, that deep sigh of relief that you hear is coming from the Texas football program. Everybody fears during camp that they might lose a key player to an injury before anybody plays a game. Texas got one of those scares, but it sounds like everything might be all right long term. We'll talk about Trevor Gooseby, the offensive tackle and his situation at Texas. Plus a visit from Steve Wilfong, on three and rivals VP of recruiting and transfer portal, to talk about what it costs to get one of the best freshmen in the 2027 class, to talk about what Luke Fickle needs to do to keep his job at Wisconsin, to talk about why Kurt Signetti will have staying power at Indiana.
Starting point is 00:00:51 Wilfong, one of the most plugged in guys in the business. He explains it all today on Andy and Arion 3 presented. by Polymarket. We got a new sponsor alert, Ari. We are now brought to you by Polymarket. That's right. Available in all 50 states. Download that Polymarket app.
Starting point is 00:01:11 And now we're taking positions. It's what we're always doing. We're moving markets. It feels great. Yeah. We're market movers, guys. Exactly. So this works very much like what you're used to.
Starting point is 00:01:23 The difference is, well, if you've traded soybean futures or pork bellies, you're really going to know what's going on. Basically, you're taking a position saying something to the tune of, I don't know, I think Auburn will win more than seven and a half games. And based on how many other people take the position either with you or against you, that changes your payout. And it also changes as the season goes on. So you've got that. You've also got positions you can take on games that are going on right now, like Major League Baseball. Or once college football gets kicked off, there will be positions on games that are going on.
Starting point is 00:01:58 There will be spreads. It will be very similar to what you're used to. So, download the Polymarket app and use the code on three. New users get $20 when they deposit 10 on sign-ups. So you deposit $10, you get $20 from Polymarket, and you start trading. Ari, it feels like football season, man. There's nothing better than my two favorite things in the entire world, Andy, college football and trading. That's right.
Starting point is 00:02:25 So let's start trading with Polymarket. Download that app, use the code on three. When you deposit $10, you get $20 right off the bat. Ari, let's have a show. Let's have a show. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky.
Starting point is 00:02:45 100% loss can occur. Welcome to Andy and Ari on 3 presented by Polly Market and Ari. I am so glad that we get to deliver some less bad news. Because when the news, the news, came out this morning about Trevor Goosby, the Texas offensive tackle. My first thought was, oh, no, this poor guy, he's gone through this entire off season. He's worked his butt off. He gets carted off with a knee injury. He was going in for an MRI on Tuesday morning, and it's like, okay, what's going to happen now? And then you get the news early afternoon Tuesday,
Starting point is 00:03:26 Pete Nacos from On Three reporting, that they think it's just a bone bruise. Just a bone bruise still hurts like hell, but not a thing that would cost him a whole season. Like you're going to get to see Trevor Goosby, who is a potential first round draft pick, play this season. And it's just every program's greatest fear is losing somebody for the season before you ever even play a game. It's by far the worst thing about fall camp. Yes. You know, you get excited for the season.
Starting point is 00:03:54 But now is the time where you start getting news trickling in every now and then this person's out or this person got dinged up. And, you know, when you read this, about the Texas offensive line. You know, this is supposed to be the best player on their offensive front, and that's a position group, Andy, that we've spent, you know, the last year discussing. And, you know, I think you can even trace back some of, you know, Texas's major issues last year to the offensive line.
Starting point is 00:04:17 This year's unit's supposed to be much better. Goosby, a potential first round offensive lineman, supposed to be the leader of that team. It would have been a terrible blow for a team that we both think has a chance to win the national championship. So to hear the bone bruise thing, you know, I went to medical school at Google this morning for 30 seconds, and I typed in how long does a bone bruise take?
Starting point is 00:04:37 And the AI thing said anywhere between four and six weeks, which is a hell of a lot better than four to six months. He may miss games and hopefully doesn't miss the Ohio State game. But look, if you're Texas, you want him for SEC play more than you want him for a non-conference game. But yeah, I mean, it could have been a lot worse. It could have been an ACL, could have been, you know, any sort of ligament damage that cost you an entire season. So this is this was good news to hear for Texas. I'm I'm grateful, you know, glad for them, glad for Trevor Goosby that it's not as bad as a thought.
Starting point is 00:05:12 Because when when that news came out to, Amarer Richardson from Orange Bloods reported it on Tuesday morning that he'd been taking off of practice. And it's just it we were talking about you and I were talking about this off the air the other day, Ari like this particular two week period, like right between when the camp start and when you start getting teams announcing starting quarterbacks. It feels like the only news
Starting point is 00:05:38 is bad news. It feels like the only news is these kinds of injuries. Like we had one out of USC early in camp. It was a couple of weeks ago. Killian O'Connor, their starting center, had a non-contact. I think the quote was a freak injury
Starting point is 00:05:55 according to Lincoln Riley. this is going to cost in the seasons. They lose, like USC feels like they have a really good offensive line coming back and they just lose their starting center for the whole season. And it just sucks. Yeah. And it changes your safety injuries for root just now.
Starting point is 00:06:10 Yeah. It sucks for the actual person and it sucks for the team and it sucks to receive it because, you know, Andy, all that you and I ever want is everybody to be at their best. That's the highest entertainment quality there is. Yeah. You know, obviously you want to wish well on people. and I'm happy that we got some, you know, the day started out on Tuesday with some pretty bad news and then it got much better.
Starting point is 00:06:32 And hopefully, you know, Goosby will be back fully healthy for Ohio State, but if not for Ohio State, the SEC schedule. Yeah. And like, it's funny or not funny, but when I read the news from Onwar, I was actually sitting in a waiting room at a doctor's office while my son gets an MRI on his shoulder. So like I kind of know the feeling like how these guys are feeling like because I'm sitting here waiting to hear the results to find out what what that means for him and his football season. And it just you don't know. And as soon as that word came across on the bone bruise, like again, you don't want anybody to be hurt. You don't want anybody to miss games. But it's like, oh, thank goodness, he's not going to miss the whole season.
Starting point is 00:07:17 Yeah. Texas has all the pieces, man. And you just want them all on the board when the games are played. And offensive line, I think, is going to be for Texas, the difference maker. We know they've got playmakers on the outside. We know their quarterback got better. We know their running backs might have the best, you know, room in the entire country. Like, we know that about them.
Starting point is 00:07:40 What we don't know is how good their offensive line is going to be. And having to answer that question without a potential first round tackle is a much harder question to answer, man. And I'm happy they don't have to do it. Well, and that's the thing. Like they remember last year, kind of the original sin of the Texas season last year was them looking at their offensive line and saying the guys that we recruited out of high school that have been in this program that have been developing. We are good with that. We do not feel the need to really go and spend in the portal. We've spent in the portal in other places, but we feel confident here.
Starting point is 00:08:13 They mis-evaluated that. And I think that Steve Rukesian admitted that early last season. And I think that probably wound up being the difference between them making the playoffs and them not making the playoff. It might have the running back room probably contributed to that as well, which is another thing that they seriously upgraded in the portal this year. No, but like they went out and got Melvin Siani, the starting tackle from Wake Forest. Like they weren't waiting around this year to. You know who else they were heavily involved in. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:08:41 They were heavily involved in recruiting Jordan Seaton when he entered the portal too. Yeah. So obviously they were making sure they had the best line possible. Yes. they're aware of making sure their line was really, really good this year. So I think part of the reason why Texas might not have felt the need to overspend for a luxury item in Seton is because of Goosby's existence. And, you know, luckily they dodged a bullet here this morning. Yeah, no.
Starting point is 00:09:06 And just good luck to everybody out there as you're going through camp because we're into now second scrimmage territory. that's something that we're going to be talking about a lot. Like it's Tuesday this week. So in two days on Thursday, Alabama has scrimmage number two. On Saturday, Tennessee has scrimmage number two. We're going to start hearing about quarterbacks getting named. Week zero is next week. So some teams will actually be in game week as of six days from now.
Starting point is 00:09:37 But be careful out there, guys. Let's try to stay as healthy as possible until the season starts. And hopefully everybody gets a chance to play as long as possible. So, yeah, that was one of those like collective all of the Texas fan base holding its breath. And then, oh, thank goodness. Okay. It's, it's going to be all right. And that's, that's part of this game. It's obviously a very violent game and people are going to get hurt. But it's just you hope you can get to the season with a healthy roster. So good luck to Trevor Goosby as he recovers. And that is just really, really, really.
Starting point is 00:10:16 good news to hear when it could have been a heck of a lot worse. So, all right, we got a visit today from our friend Steve Golt Fong. He is the vice president of recruiting and transfer portal for us at On Three and Rivals. This is one of the most plugged in reporters in the universe. He basically invented how recruiting gets covered and has evolved that through the years and has brought all that know-how to us and On-3. We're going to talk to him about a bunch of stuff. We're going to talk to him about what it costs to get an elite freshman player in your class now.
Starting point is 00:10:51 Is it even worth that? How do you handle evaluating in the portal versus signing freshmen? He's also got some really good thoughts on programs that he's watched stockpile talent over the years. And people. He's got very good connections and insight on the actual people who are involved in this. So, you know, the fun thing with Steve Andy is you never know what he's going to say or where it's going to go. And a lot of times we get a lot of time from him. So certainly made our show much better today,
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Starting point is 00:13:23 All right, Ari. Let's talk to Steve Wilfong. We are joined by Steve Wilfong, the BP, the vice president of recruiting and transfer portal at rivals and on three.
Starting point is 00:13:39 And Steve, I'm curious because I've had people who work in the game tell me that the prices of the kids coming out of high school, the really elite recruits coming out of high school have gotten so outrageous that a lot of schools are just kind of considering tapping out on that and going more transfer portal. Well, there's two different, two different expensive high school recruits. And you have ones that know their value.
Starting point is 00:14:06 And so they're looking to get their value while also picking a school for the old school reasons of player development, like-minded guys in the locker room. and NFL development and playing in the biggest games. And then there's some camps that, in addition to just their salary, are looking for things that have nothing to do with the college football experience, just what more can we get? Can we get houses for family members? Can we get jets to games? Can we get parking spots next to the stadium for tailgating?
Starting point is 00:14:45 You know, and so there's schools that are not going to ever do that because they have 85 players plus on the roster. And eventually you agree to terms and then you're all the same guy other than your salary of competing and trying to help this team win the national championship. And other teams are chasing national championships and we'll sometimes go the extra mile to get a player to come to the program and we'll see how that works out for them because it's kind of new, right? So there's no like data point that says that the camps that are asking for stuff that have nothing to do with the college experience are going to be any less of an impact player or leader in your locker room than the ones that are just all business. All right, this is what I'm worth. I'm looking at these three programs because they have similar things. And then once I agree, I'm just one of the guys other than my salaries more than most of the people in here. But I still, I'm still the same after that.
Starting point is 00:15:42 What's the most interesting request that you've. heard that an elite high school recruits camp asked for. Is it private jet time? Is it? Oh, I don't know. I mean, I'm not, I'm not good at that, good at that stuff. I just know that there's, look, there was a recruit. I mean, there's just little stuff. Look, there was a recruit on a, on a, on a campus dinner a few years ago, who's parent asked for a condiment that they didn't have. and they said, I'll wait. Like, I'll wait for you to go get it. Just, does that, them going to get the condiment?
Starting point is 00:16:17 Does that prove how- Need Cholula that badly? Does that prove how important of a prospect of you are? Don't you kind of have to know what the condiment is, though? Like, what is it? Like, what does he want? Look, it gets wild out there. And it has nothing to do with why you would pick a school.
Starting point is 00:16:32 It's just what more can I, it's just what extra inch can I get. And that, look, the majority of prospects aren't like that. It's just fascinating. Well, how many players do you think actually know what they're worth? Well, you know what you're worth because your agent is fielding offers. So when you start stacking them, like, look, if you're like, let's just say you're down to Ohio State, Notre Dame and Texas and Georgia, right? Those are four outstanding programs that have great off-the-field opportunities for you to network and build your brand. there and historically great fan bases.
Starting point is 00:17:13 So you've already narrowed it down to those schools, and now you're at the table figuring out what your contract's worth. That's how you know what your value is, right? So what exactly are class of 27? So these are you guys that are going to sign in December. What are the top, top recruits worth? And I find it interesting, by the way, I'm looking at the rivals rankings right now.
Starting point is 00:17:34 Our four top ranked players, Jalen Brewster, Maxwell Hiller, David Jacobs, Mark Matthews, all linemen. What are those kind of players worth on the market right now? So I think when things first started in this space, schools wanted to do just one-year deals to make sure that the guy that they were agreeing to terms with was the player that they thought that they were bringing in.
Starting point is 00:17:57 But now, as this thing is quickly evolved, you have to agree to multi-year deals and maybe some frills on the edge too. I think the guys that you mentioned could be getting up to two mill a year and multi-year guarantees. Do you think that we're going to get to a point where there's just dead money where if you pay that player on a two or three-year deal and that person's not what you thought they were and you're still contractually obligated to fulfill the financial commitment that will get to a
Starting point is 00:18:28 point where college teams are playing players aren't even on the team anymore? Well, I think it just depends on how strong. your how strong your contract is and who negotiated it for you, right? Like, can you be fired? Yeah. And so, and sometimes there's a lot of pride involved too. So it's like, hey, I could be here getting this money, but everybody in the whole free world knows I'm not playing. So I'm going to transfer somewhere else, eat this money, and rekindle my, my posture amongst
Starting point is 00:19:06 what people think of me. We were talking to a GM at a power conference school and asked how many of your incoming freshmen are on multi-year deals. And this person said a quarter of them, basically.
Starting point is 00:19:21 And those were the biggest priority guys, the ones they wanted to make sure they got. They want to be they want to have them on one year deals because they don't want to be locked in either if the guy stinks. No, absolutely. So are the schools good at negotiating language that if you don't perform at a certain level or play enough downs or impact the two deep in a certain way that your contract's Nolan Boyd?
Starting point is 00:19:46 I would assume that there's some developments that way. But obviously kids wouldn't want to sign that. So now you're negotiating against another school that maybe wouldn't have that clause in the contract. So I don't know. It's all new territory, right? But I think ultimately kids want to play. So are they going to sit there? are they going to sit there and get paid and not play and just become a frat boy at the school?
Starting point is 00:20:10 I don't know. What a life. I mean, I would like to get paid to be a frat boy. And then get a job at Johnson and Johnson or Stryker. It's amazing how many people don't know that those medical salespeople make a ton of money. So whenever I like make a comment, like those look like a bunch of future medical salesmen, they think it's just like a dig and it's not. No, and it's also, it's a very popular profession post football.
Starting point is 00:20:39 A lot of, especially guys I played with went into the orthopedic section of that. They work for arthrex or they work for, you know, all those companies that make the fake hips and the fake elbows and the, you know, the artificial joints. And yeah, it's it is a, it's a good, it's a good living. Yeah, yeah. I've got a buddy who does that, but he like goes and like instructs the surgeon how to use the device. I don't think it's actually something that goes in the body, but it's a surgical aid of some sort. Those guys grind too, but they get paid for their grind. Yeah, there's a lot of ex-football players in that field.
Starting point is 00:21:17 Steve, I'm curious, you know, we were just talking about the class of 27. So let's turn back the clock to the class of 26. So those guys are in camp right now. Some of them are going to play right away. Who are some of the players that you're most excited to see right out of the gate playing us freshman. Obviously, Jackson Cantwell at Miami, number one player in the country per the rivals industry rankings. Jared Curtis at Vanderbilt competing for the job, not a slam dunky gets it, but look to look forward to seeing him on the field in some capacity for the
Starting point is 00:21:50 Commodores. Luke Waifle was the number one player in the rivals 300 rankings. He's the kind of difference maker that USC needs to make the jump as a program. When you talk about what Lincoln Riley took over at USC, what Steve Sarkesian took over. at Texas. Those are programs that needed culture changes and mindset changes that breeded toughness around the line of scrimmage, depth around the line of scrimmage and difference makers at the point of attack that can elevate you from that eight and four realm to seven and five realm to competing for championships. And Luke Waifle, that recruiting battle down the stretch between Ohio State, not giving up, not throwing in the towel, almost landing him, but USC fighting back and getting him.
Starting point is 00:22:33 that was his pivotal recruiting win for a program in the country as USC. I think it's college football playoff or bust for them this year. I mean, I think that's the expectation for this football team. Obviously, Lincoln Riley's first year, they were a Pat 12 championship game away from playing in the college football playoff. I think that they poured a lot into this recruiting class. They're going to have a lot of teenagers making an impact. Ethan Boobie Feaster, another in that class that seems to be creating buzz. around USC at the wide receiver position, but he's certainly one that I'm excited to see
Starting point is 00:23:09 Sabian Hyder, Michigan is maybe the most anticipated true freshman debut, one of the top running backs to come out over the last several recruiting cycles. Coach Wittingham, the new staff there, what they were able to do offensively at Utah, I mean, you know, the Dan Peer kid had over 4,000 yards of total offense, if I'm right. And I don't think he's like anything. unique. So Michigan's got some talent and state is particularly in the back field, but he's just too good to keep off the field. So I think that they could boast one of the top running back rooms in America. Who's going to make an impact for Notre Dame? I mean, they have the number two recruiting class in the country. Their team, that's certainly on the short list to win the
Starting point is 00:23:56 national championship this year. Marcus Freeman has proven to be an elite leader of men. He has recruited Notre Dame as well as I've seen in 20 plus years in the business as reminiscent of what Lou Holtz did, the caliber of player. He was able to bring into South Bend and which few true freshmen are going to help this football team win the last game of the season. And can Marcus Freeman, as he continues to evolve as a head coach, avoid landmines during the season and and avoid losing a game that they should win. If they get in the college football playoff, I think they're going to play well.
Starting point is 00:24:35 So they get there, they're going to be a team to watch just because of the way they're built, the way they're wired, and the magnitude of those games. And so who's going to make an impact from Notre Dame's number two ranked class? They've been number two ranked class in 2027. And they're setting up to have another fantastic class in 2028. That starts with Marcus Freeman.
Starting point is 00:24:54 When he took the head coach job, he said he wanted to be the lead recruiter on all. their top guys. People like to bring up modern recruiting and money and everything in Notre Dame is certainly competitive. We saw it right away in the transfer portal with the quarterbacks that they were able to get and reshape that quarterback room. But it's not just you don't get to talk money unless you have a great product. So every time a blue chipper commits, I always read in the comments on X or on the website, well, they bought them. They bought them. Well, they're not competing against themselves here. All right. It's not everybody's paying.
Starting point is 00:25:25 Yeah. And so you have to have a product. like Oregon, where they're on the cusp of winning a national championship. And Dan Lannning and Marcus Freeman are probably two of the most electric head coaches in the country from a recruiting standpoint because of their personalities, the way they embrace it. And I would put Brent Venables in there as more of an old school guy, but just has always gotten after it on the trail and nothing has changed. Those guys are very present. And you've got to have something that's exciting, whether it's Ohio State and the consistency.
Starting point is 00:25:55 They're the most consistent program of all of our lives. They're always in the national title hunt. They're regular in the NFL, and they always have some of the best players in the NFL. And they're a program where the players have a lot of pride being there. And so, yes, sometimes they have to dip into the wallet to win an IL battle on the high school trail or in the portal. But oftentimes it's for guys that want to be part of the Buckeye culture. They just know they have a value. And so when they get in there, they don't rock the boat.
Starting point is 00:26:24 They're not above the team. They want to be part of the team. They embrace the team. It's special to be at Ohio State. And so their highest paid guys love being Buckeyes. That's what you're looking for in the NIL era. Notre Dame, same thing. Just a lot of pride to be at Notre Dame.
Starting point is 00:26:42 You want to mix it up with the regular students, get to know those guys. Maybe you'll run three businesses, not the road, with some brainiac from Rhode Island, who's at Notre Dame that you would have never crossed paths with. If you played football at a different school, you don't have to interact with regular students. And then Oregon, again, Dan Lannings has evolved as anyone in the staff and they're on the cusp of winning in the national championship. And then, yes, when it comes to the negotiating, if they really want you, they find a way to get it done. If they think that you fit their culture. And that's the number one thing in the NIL era is finding guys that still want to be there for the right reasons.
Starting point is 00:27:18 And then paying the right guys instead of the guys that are, you know, just maximizing their own value. the jersey, the logo doesn't mean anything to them. They're just looking to maximize this stage in their life before they go on to maximize the next stage in their life. Steve, I look at the rivals, 2026 rankings, and you see a lot of teams that you see in the top every year. And although NIL has changed things, still the teams that have invested the most in football
Starting point is 00:27:50 seem to be the ones investing the most in NIL. But I was just curious from your standpoint, is there a value class, a class that came together that might not be, you know, the top of the search engines, but, you know, you thought was a really good class that is going to make a difference for a program that might not just be a top three class that everyone knows about? Well, I think that they're investing. So I don't know if this, like, completely answers your question, but how about the Washington Huskies?
Starting point is 00:28:16 Okay. Top 15 class. Jed Fish has a lot of swagger. He's ready to, they're not backing down from the big tent. And Washington's a program that they were as consistent a team in the PAC 12 before they kind of merged into the Big Ten. We saw them make college football playoffs and play in big bowl games. And so there's a track record of major success at Washington. Obviously, Kailin DeBore had them playing in the national title game.
Starting point is 00:28:46 And I think that they have support around that program. This is a recruiting class that had some monster recruiting wins. 2027 is another, so 2026 was a top 15 class, 2027 is a top 25 class. And then 2028, they're trending for five-star Edg Jolani George already. And then they've done some nice things in the transfer portal. They are a team to watch for the college football playoff, in my opinion, year and year out because of the support and infrastructure
Starting point is 00:29:14 they're getting, the style of play. I think that they maximize the players they have on the roster because of their style of play, the way they call the game, the way they scheme it up. And so Washington is a fun program right now. The Big Ten is the best conference in college football. And I always laugh when people say it's just a three-team conference. Well, go to Kinnick Stadium and play against the best defensive coordinator in college football every year in Phil Parker.
Starting point is 00:29:39 And that's with all due respect to, and I say that out of consistency, right? Like Bryant Haynes and Corey Heatherman, they had amazing years last year and are rising stars in this business. and eventually we'll be running their own programs and could already right now. And Haynes, rightfully so won coordinator of the year last year. But just like the consistency of decades, I think everyone would say Phil Parker has been as good at his job in college football as anybody that has worked in college football. Iowa's fantastic. I mean, Washington's on the rise. There's not going to be easy outs.
Starting point is 00:30:18 Illinois. And these programs show up in Jamest. January at their bowl games and kick your ass. And then excuses are made about why the other team didn't play well. And so I think the Big Ten, from a head coaching standpoint, resources standpoint, and schematic standpoint are the best league in college football till proven otherwise. And everything else is from other leagues is just living off what it was five years ago, six years ago. I mean, look at the head coaches of these football teams that you just put up here and some of the track records that they've had at other places. I'm excited to see what happens.
Starting point is 00:30:57 I think it's a good segue here, Steve. What do you think or what has your first impression been of some of the new guys in the SEC that were just hired? Because there's been a pretty big coaching turnover and a lot of new personalities in a very competitive recruiting conference. Well, at the Personnel Symposium, I asked some people about Florida, and they just said there's a lot more energy and juice and accountability. accountability was the biggest word inside the building. I think everyone loves Coach Napier, Florida, and he found a way to have a big win each year that he was at Florida, but they just struggled to consistently win those big games.
Starting point is 00:31:30 And so that's obviously why the job came open. So Coach Summerall is there to make sure that they play more consistent football and win the games that they're supposed to win and play at the level that allows them to compete for SEC championships. We'll see what that looks like, but he's involved in every component of the program. He's recruiting his ass off. He's talking about the weight room. And that's not just fluff.
Starting point is 00:31:52 I mean, he's involved and wants to restore glory at Florida and has a lot of ambition there for that football program. And certainly, they've always been invested. Florida had great NIL wins under the previous staff. But bringing it all together consistently to win 13 games or put yourself in position to get in the college football playoff and go on a run, that's not easy to do. You've got to have excellent strength and conditioning. You've got to have excellent nutrition. You've got to have a great schematic plan. You've got to be able to present your schematic plan to your players in a way that they can process it fast.
Starting point is 00:32:26 So when they're on the field on Saturday, they can play out a high level and consistently execute. You've got to stay healthy. There's all kinds of things that go into it beyond paying your roster. And so obviously, Indiana was the best at it last, probably the last two years. Honestly, they played Curtis Rourke at quarterback two years ago on a torn ACL and still made the college football playoff. and their only losses were to Notre Dame in Ohio State. People thought that they just didn't deserve to be in the playoff the next year because they lost to Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Starting point is 00:32:54 We'll sue them. They won the national championship. And then their strength coach got poached by Tennessee. That was as big an offseason higher as any. So what kind of impact does he have at Tennessee? I know you asked head coaches. I mean, Will Stein has brought a lot of energy to Kentucky. Lane Kiffin was a move within the conference,
Starting point is 00:33:13 which then got Pete Golding promoted. I mean, obviously, Lane did a fantastic job at Ole Miss. When you look at what they've done historically and what Coach Kiffin was able to do at Ole Miss, that's why Florida and LSU hired him to take those programs back to the heights because he took Ole Miss to new heights. And LSU, they invested in that roster in that transfer portal. They took three quarterbacks out of the transfer portal that could start at 80% of teams in college football.
Starting point is 00:33:42 The competition in that quarterback room is awesome. and Jordan Seaton was a major get. I don't have all their transfer portal wins in front of me. But what they bring back defensively, they bring back their defensive coordinator. They should be, I mean, it's playoff or bust for LSU this season. That doesn't mean it's year one. But I'm just saying, like the expectation is the college football playoff.
Starting point is 00:34:03 It's not a rebuild. You brought up the quarterback room, and obviously everybody knows Sam Levitt, who's going to start. Husson Longstreet is the five-star, former five-star prospect they got from USC. The one that I find really, truly interesting. And the one that it sounds like is tearing it up in camp is Landon Clark from Elon of the FCS. I mean, like that that almost feels like getting Trinidad Chamblis
Starting point is 00:34:29 from Ferris State last year. Look, that was a, I mean, Michigan wanted them. Kentucky was very much involved in him as well. And yeah, I know, Trinidad Chamblis. What a, what a ball, ball player. He is just a dual threat guy that can rise to the occasion. So time will tell if Landon Clark gets that opportunity and then can play at that level. I mean, Trinidad and Chambliss, he wasn't scared of anything, was he? I mean, he's fun to watch in the college football playoff. And is this good event to win the Heisman Trophy this year as any, right? I mean, he'd be on your short list of, you know, guys like Arch Manning, C.J. Carr immediately come to mind. So So, Landon Clark was someone that was coveted, sought after by teams in the portal, and he's got multiple years of eligibility.
Starting point is 00:35:14 So if he found the way to win that job, you're getting two years out of them at LSU. You're getting two years. And really, if anything, you have a chance to bring back a guy next year from within your room that already knows your language, knows your offense, knows your players. That's part of your culture and keeps you ripping and roaring. at that position. And obviously we've seen some teams have some success with transfer quarterbacks in one year, Indiana being the most prominent,
Starting point is 00:35:44 but anytime you can consistently have the same guy in your program for multiple years. I think that's exciting. Andy, we were talking about Tate Reynolds. Do you have any Tate Reynolds juice for us? The backup quarterback at Clemson that seems to be making some noise. And maybe not the backup forever?
Starting point is 00:35:59 Yeah. That's the, look, Clemson, man, you talk about a program that maximizes the players on their roster. I still think they're a great coaching staff. They just got to find a way to get the dudes that they used to have coming into the program. I mean, when you hit big on Trevor Lawrence, Sean Watson, some of the best receivers in college football, ETN at Running Back was a Swiss Army knife as good as we've seen in a while.
Starting point is 00:36:23 Those D-Linmen and linebackers, every position they've been stacked and they just haven't been able to match that consistent talent level that they had when they were making those national title runs. and I was talking to some Clemson people at the Personnel Symposium. I think my biggest takeaway talking to them is like, look, you can find culture in the portal. Like not every, Notre Dame can't go after every guy in the portal, but they can find their guy in the portal that helps keep them in the conversation. Clemson's got a guy named Will Helt on their team who's one of their top players that got him out of the portal. There's nine other guys like Will. That could be like Will Helt for them. but making sure that the quarterbacks that they take are elite level guys investing in those guys,
Starting point is 00:37:06 whether it's recruiting or transfer portal, you can't have a question mark at that position and finding dynamic guys that can make plays in space and light up the scoreboard in one play. It's been a while since we've seen Clemson consistently have those guys that can light up a scoreboard and light up any defense no matter who's across from them. And so the guys that they have, they get the most. out of, kind of like Jeff Brom, right, at Louisville. Jeff Broms is good of head coach as there is in the country. But getting the guys, and Louisville is a fascinating team this year. I think they're a dark horse to win the ACC. I mean, obviously Miami's the favorite, but I'd probably put Louisville second.
Starting point is 00:37:44 I don't know about you guys, but Clemson, still great coaching staff, but you got to put more pressure on your personnel department or your coaching staff to make sure that you are getting the caliber of players that have walked those halls. Yeah, and that's the thing that disturbed me about Clemson last year, Steve, was that they had those players. I mean, they had nine draft picks all in the top five rounds, two first rounders, a couple second rounder. Like, they weren't bereft of talent last year. They just didn't get it done on the field. So you're saying they're not wrong there.
Starting point is 00:38:21 They didn't maximize their roster last year, but they still didn't. You're not wrong in the track record. They're not as deep as they used to be, though. Like there's, yeah. Like there's not the Isaiah Simmons who they would find, and then he'd be kind of the diamond in the rough, and he's an ultimate Swiss Army knife on defense. Like it doesn't feel like they have as many of those guys.
Starting point is 00:38:43 So I think you're right on that front. I also think they've got to get more out of what they do have, like the Sammy Browns and the, you know. The other thing about Clemson is we get on a role, like Davo lost some great coordinators, and so consistently replacing your staff. with guys that elevate the room instead of maybe guys that are just part of the machine. Can I throw something out there, Steve?
Starting point is 00:39:07 I'm curious because you mentioned this person's name earlier as one of those that really gets after it in recruiting in his old school. But can we not trace the line for Clemson back to when Brent Venables got the Oklahoma job? Well, you lose Venables. You lose Chad. Chad Morris was awesome for them the first time around. They brought them back. So we'll see what impact he has. Then you had Jeff Scott and Tony Elliott, who went on to get head coach jobs that were fantastic in their roles and really did a great job working together.
Starting point is 00:39:41 And again, it's a great culture in Clemson. If you're part of the Clemson program, you love being there similar to Ohio State. There's that pride of being part of Clemson. And you come back and to Coach Sweeney's credit, there's been a lot of promotion of Clemson guys. but maybe those aren't the guys to help maintain the standard of championship level football as far as like winning the last game. I'm not, look, they've had good seasons. I'm not, I'm not in the camp of saying like Davos still doesn't have his fastball.
Starting point is 00:40:10 I'm just saying they're not touching 101 with a nasty curve right now. You know, like they're in the game, but they're not playing the same game that they used to because the coaching staff wasn't the same and the caliber of players wasn't the same. Kirby Smart seems to always know his next move when he's going to lose a coach to maintain the standard of championship level play. And that's kind of the difference, right, the consistency of Georgia compared to Clemson right now. Yeah. The Clemson thing is really, really interesting because the part that they were so good at, because Isaiah Simmons, Andy, correct me if I was wrong, but it wasn't Isaiah, Simmons, like a kind of a three-star prospect that wasn't highly...
Starting point is 00:40:59 He was, and you'll never guess who evaluated and landed him. Brent Venables. Yeah. He's from Kansas. Yeah, that's his area. Yeah, that's the thing. That's the thing. Like, everybody wants to talk, and including me, about their late arrival into the
Starting point is 00:41:14 portal game and the loyalty to promoting from within, but if you lose the person from your staff that was best at undercovering the undervalued three-star guys that would still be going to Clemson regardless of NIL, like, that's a major element. to their program that no longer exists there. It's not just uncovering those guys, but then getting the best out of them. It's still the ultimate development coaching scheme game and getting your 11 guys to do their job and understand their job and play at a level, snap in and snap out. And that's why it's not just coach speak when Coach Signetti talks about playing as well
Starting point is 00:41:52 as you can for a five to six second snap and then doing it. it again over and over and over. And I mean, obviously, Brent Venables is a great football coach, and they saw talent in Isaiah Simmons. But if he doesn't go to Clemson and play for Brent Venables, who's to say he evolves into the player that he evolved into also? Obviously, credit to them for the traits, seeing the traits, but then they got the best out of him by putting them in positions to succeed and getting them to play at a high level.
Starting point is 00:42:20 Well, now that we've opened this can of worms, can I throw another one at you? Yeah. You ready? Ari's heard this for me before. So Luke Fickle has not been as successful at Wisconsin as he wasn't at Cincinnati. Are we sure it wasn't mostly Marcus Freeman at Cincinnati? So what I would say is I think that obviously
Starting point is 00:42:45 he had some really good coaches with them at Cincinnati. Freeman, certainly one of them, Gino Gwadulgi, Mike Denbrock. Who are with Freeman at Notre Dame now. Yeah, and Denbrock was obviously down at LSU. I think Fickle is a great coach. I think he's a great motivator. Wisconsin's a much harder job to win at than Cincinnati. I mean, Cincinnati was a stepping stone job to some great head coaching jobs for people, right?
Starting point is 00:43:13 To Tennessee to Notre Dame. And then they put together a roster that had 10 draft picks. I mean, the year before they played in the college football playoff, they took Georgia. They played Georgia in that New Year's Day. game and was an awesome bowl game that went down to the wire. I think the biggest mistake at Wisconsin for me not following the program day to day, but looking at it from a broad scope, is that he brought Gino Gwadolgi with him to Wisconsin to be his offensive coordinator, but I think was
Starting point is 00:43:45 always enamored with Phil Longo. And so when Phil Longo became available, he basically demoted to tight ends coach and brought in Phil Longo, who wasn't the right play caller for the style of play that you need to have at Wisconsin or really not the right play caller for the style of play to win at a high level. I mean, it's a rapid play call, get the play in, keep the defense off balance, but it does nothing to help your own football team, your own defense on the sideline. There's all kinds of things, right? You're not helping your defense with that style of play. offense. And it was a disaster. They didn't have the right personnel, the right players. And then the Big Ten, it's not going to feel sorry for you. They're going to kick your ass. And so
Starting point is 00:44:35 a lot tougher games, a lot tougher opponents consistently. Now, Wisconsin has done a reset. They've given more capital. They did a nice job in the portal. Still going to be a tough league, but this is Fickle's best football team. And I would ride with Coach Fickle for a while because I still think he's a good football coach. I think he's got the right mentality. He's been around the right football teams. He knows how to build it and do it. It's just not easy.
Starting point is 00:45:00 I was surprised he took the Cincinnati job, or I mean the Wisconsin job, because Cincinnati, he's had a great life there. They were humming. And he could have gotten something else, in my opinion. And Notre Dame was open. He wasn't in a position where he could interview with Notre Dame. he's an old school guy. He said, look, I'm coaching Cincinnati right now.
Starting point is 00:45:25 I'm going to finish this season. And Notre Dame needed a football coach, you know, not saying they would have hired him anyway. And they obviously got the right guy. And Marcus Freeman, who has them in the conversation that win the national championship. I already had them in a title game. And, you know, they're one of the premier programs
Starting point is 00:45:40 in the sport right now. And so they got the right guy, but I don't even think fickle was like interviewer. If I, my remembrance of it. I think the timing of it, yeah. He just wouldn't have been able to do that. And they very quickly pivoted to Marcus Freeman. Like Notre Dame when Brian Kelly left, I want to say it was a day or two before they announced Marcus Freeman as the guy.
Starting point is 00:46:03 But it's interesting to bring up the Wisconsin investment. We've talked about that on the show. I thought it was interesting last year, really after they said they were going to keep fickle things improved. That was also coinciding with the time that Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano started starting at linebacker as true freshman. but you mentioned that the reset and the investment. Like it feels like they will have a better roster this year. And the schedule is not as hard as it was last year. Right.
Starting point is 00:46:32 But to your point and kind of to what we were talking about with Clemson, making sure that you have good football coaches on your staff and having that rolodex and knowing your next move. And if Mike Bobo would ever retire at Georgia, you know, Buster Faulkner becomes all of a sudden the favorite to be the next Georgia. O.C. You just made the Florida fans have a heart attack. He hasn't even coached the game with them yet.
Starting point is 00:46:53 Well, I'm just saying. You understand. Right. Yeah. And so keep it, you know, like Indiana, Kurtzignetti's the best head coach in college football right now. What his staff is awesome, too. He's the tone setter, but Haynes, Shanahan, down to guys like Pat Coons on the D-line,
Starting point is 00:47:12 Ola Adams in the secondary. Coach Sanceri, now back at quarterbacks. but it's a fantastic staff. They're all field staffs well-oiled. They had the best strength and conditioning coach in college football. One of them, I mean, Mickey, we always forget about Mickey Marotti because he's just been so long. He's the staple of the job at Ohio State.
Starting point is 00:47:33 But, you know, what they did at Indiana and him getting a job at Tennessee, that's a big impact for the balls to see can they match up physically now at the point of attack for 13 games. and be there at the end of the season or find a way to beat Georgia. That's what Texas got to do, too. Can they find a way to beat Georgia? Well, the only way they're going to get to play Georgia is the SEC championship game. But I don't know if you saw the video of Deshaun Bishop, the Tennessee running back.
Starting point is 00:48:04 Derek Owings, the new strength coach, is doing some getting some work done because Deshaun Bishop looks like a superhero now. There's teams that don't invest in strengthening and nutrition. And I remember I going to visit Iowa along, I don't know how long ago it was, eight, nine years ago. And they were at one point spending the most on nutrition in the Big Ten, believe it or not. And then Urban Meyer found out that how much Iowa was paying for their food. And then Ohio State just became the highest eating, paid eating team in the Big Ten, right? I thought corn was cheap.
Starting point is 00:48:44 Don't let, don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't. let people come out here and say there's only three good teams in the Big Ten, though. That's just such a crap hole statement. Well, yeah, we're very high on Washington on this show as well. So, and I think like, like we said, Wisconsin's not going to be a pushover easy win this year. Minnesota's not going to be a pushover, easy win this year. Illinois has been a nine-win team the last two years. Do you know what I wish I could do? I just wish I could just set up like a series between Big Ten SEC where, like, Illinois plays Tennessee and in the regular season. Like the middle tier.
Starting point is 00:49:20 I would say the results. No, I know, but the ball game results as Steve pointed out, get dismissed. I would like to see the play in the middle of the season. We have Mississippi State Minnesota this year. That's the narrative bowl. Vanderbilt wanted to win their bowl game. Yeah, they lost to Iowa.
Starting point is 00:49:39 They lost to South Carolina lost Illinois. Tennessee lost Illinois this year. I've seen three years ago, Illinois. Purdue beat Tennessee a couple years ago with Brab? That game was so wild. I believe Purdue won that game. Yeah, Purdue won that game.
Starting point is 00:49:57 And then Illinois beat Tennessee last year. The Big Ten, sorry, River. The Big Ten has great coaching right now. And we're seeing it impact the field. They have resources. What Indiana has done in the training. Panser portal. I went and met with Coach Cignetti before he coach his first game at Indiana. And one of the things that stood out to me the most from that conversation is that he said
Starting point is 00:50:25 that they were getting an investment in football to be competitive in the Big Ten. And being from the Hoosier State outside of like an eight-win season, they're never competitive. So you just take it all like, you know, you just take it all with a grain of salt. But this, this he knew what he's talking about. And then obviously you see the the recruiting wins that they had it in the portal, the recruiting wins that they had in the portal this cycle, those guys were expensive. But they're guys that fit what Indiana is looking for from a mentality standpoint.
Starting point is 00:51:00 And they're going to come in. And even though they had value, they want to be coached by Coach Signetti and this staff and be in this culture and be in this environment. And so that's choosing who you invest in is half the battle. Yeah. Josh Huber was their top quarterback target. They didn't kick tires on anybody else.
Starting point is 00:51:21 Other quarterbacks wanted to, their agents were reaching out to Indiana. Can we go here? Can we be involved here? You know? Well, after what they saw Fernando do, I don't blame them one bit. So, but I can't wait. People forget about Rourke, man. Rorke's in the league, too.
Starting point is 00:51:40 Played on a torn ACL. Yeah. I just watched Rourke play the other night. preseason. So yeah, it's, it's going to be absolutely fascinating to watch this year, especially like Indiana, you added a guy like Nick Marsh who, you know, Michigan State couldn't get anybody to the ball. LSU, Notre Dame wanted Nick Marsh. And at the very end, I mean, I think I'm heard that, I heard that Sig was just like, we got to get that one done. And so they did. Now, again, this is all just, you know, buzzed behind the scenes, but they went and got
Starting point is 00:52:14 They needed him. And they got some young guys like Davian Chandler. I know there's a big, they landed Monashon sales, a five-star receiver in this 2027 class. Davian Chandler's from the same high school. Remember that name. He's a fantastic high school player in the Hoosier State. They're from a high school program that would only win like two, three games a year. Davian Chandler was a big part of them competing for conference and winning a conference
Starting point is 00:52:37 championship and having a chance to win a state championship. He is someone that I think has a chance to emerge for Indiana this year. Guys, we obviously started off talking about NAL. It's such a fascinating discussion. College football, when we were growing up, it was exciting business, but it wasn't big business, right? Like the head coach that, like I lived in South Bend. I think Lou Holtz just lived in an upper middle class lifestyle, right? Like now you got head coaches that have these massive properties, these massive lake cottages.
Starting point is 00:53:14 They're being, they're getting paid by Mercedes dealerships. They're in commercials. These TV deals are billion dollar deals. The merchandise deals are off the charts. College football tickets used to be 20 bucks now. You can't get to games for over for under a hundred bucks face value. And as that kept going up, the players were only getting the scholarship, which again, like, was still awesome. I mean, you're still getting a step above the average Joe, but they weren't getting cut in.
Starting point is 00:53:48 So had maybe you cut the 85 scholarship players into some kind of collective bargaining a long time ago, the TV deal, the SEC just did a TV deal with CBS. So every scholarship player in the SEC is getting this cut. You're getting this cut of ticket sales. You're getting this cut of merchandise sales in the bookstore. or if it's your number, Sequan Barclay's number on the jersey, you're getting a cut of it. They might have been able to hold all this off,
Starting point is 00:54:20 but now they're just trying to put all these, we're in a capitalist society. I don't see any way they can put a rule that says that these guys can't maximize their value anymore. Now, and you've seen that. And that continues to happen unless they get some sort of antitrust exemption in Congress, which looks increasingly less likely. Right.
Starting point is 00:54:41 it's going to stay this way baseball it's major league baseball right now who has the most and how much you want to pay some people because in the NFL there's there's uh salary caps and things because it's yeah it's upon within the league with the players association and all that and major league baseball is about to stop playing because they're going to try to force a salary cap on those guys so we'll see we'll see how it goes and there's only 30 some odd teams here you got technically over 60 power four teams so it's just a lot more to man if you wanted to try and manage it. So I think it's just who's going to rally the most
Starting point is 00:55:17 and then who's going to maximize what you rallied the best. Would you guys say Indiana Hoosiers are more like the Tampa Bay Rays or do you think that they're more like the Yankees or the Red Sox? They're like the Royals and the Royals were winning the World Series, Steve. That's good. The Rays have been in the discussion. That's why I said that. Yeah, it's funny, though, because people assume, oh, Mark Cuban just wrote a check.
Starting point is 00:55:44 Oh, it's because they're all 25. No, it's not. Their age difference was not that different. They were older, but they were not that much older. They were not getting paid more. You know, the payroll at Indiana last year is like between $20 and $22 million. Here's the difference between Major League Baseball and college football. If you're the Kansas City Royals with Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Guardians
Starting point is 00:56:06 or one of these middle market teams, like you're always that. In football, if you get a return. on your investment, you can become the Yankees. I don't know where Indiana is certain. I don't know where they are in the NIL sphere. Pete and Akels are probably able to tell you down to the T. But my assumption is that they're in the top 15% of spenders in the entire board.
Starting point is 00:56:22 I would bet they are higher. Like, if we ranked all the payrolls, I would bet they are higher in 2026 when they were in 2025 when they're in the title. So they're not like the lovable underdog anymore. They're winning highly expensive, you know, as you alluded to, Steve, highly expensive transfer portal battles. They're getting five-star prospects in their own state.
Starting point is 00:56:44 And I know that there's some proximity there, but people are not going to negotiate what they're worth. So they have to be paying these people, even though it's a fun story and everybody wants to play for Sig and maximize their value. But like nobody's going to take a huge pay cut in order to go to Indiana. They're certainly paying. Well, the Munchum sales thing is interesting to me, Steve, because he is local, but like for Indiana,
Starting point is 00:57:07 you probably have to get. get that five-star you feel like you have to get that five-star guy who's local but yeah he's not going to give you a discount so yeah you're in that sphere now i think they felt that way but i don't think they have to feel like they have to get anybody based on the kind of season they had go out and get the guys you want and he was one that they wanted and so they're happy to have him and and he'll have he picked the school that has proven that they can maximize you because omar or omar cooper would not have gone in the first round if there wasn't a coaching change in indiana my opinion. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:57:41 He's always was the same guy, but the staff helped bring it out of him. And that's what people continue to forget. And he was wired right, though. He embraced the new staff and competed in the way that they wanted him to compete and did what he was supposed to do. And with that, he was able to maximize his own individual success within a team that had as historic a season as we've ever seen. think it's just really fun though in college football especially and now indiana is a new kid on the block but i do think that the potential to change your lot in life in terms of where you're slotted or how you're viewed um is super fun like like i said in the major league baseball you are what you are um that's not the case in college football and i'm very on high alert and i don't even know if you have a guest steve
Starting point is 00:58:31 you know the thing that andy and i discuss all the time is that we we both view kurt signetti as a genius obviously, you know, we get some letters every now and then that say, well, maybe they just got lightning in the bottom. The guy won the national championship at Indiana. But my question to you is 10 years down the line, is Kurt Signetti going to be the first that was able to do it, or is he going to be the anomaly? And if he is the first to do it, I'd be very curious if you had any guesses of teams based on personnel acquisitions and coaching relationships that you would guess could be the next one. I think it's impossible to guess who the next one. I mean, he's a, I mean, look, he's an absolute vibe. Like, he is, dude.
Starting point is 00:59:13 And that's a good way to put it. And so the people around him respond to what he's putting out there. And that's, I mean, he is organized and has his finger on everything within the program. And he puts, he approves on if you are as a player get to be in the program. You might not choose to be at Indiana, but if you are a take at Indiana, Kurt Signetti stamped you. And it's similar to Alabama in the sense that, like, people are like, oh, it was so easy for Nick Saban to recruit at Alabama. Well, they were beating Georgia and LSU in Ohio State for recruits in Florida. It's not like these were layups, first of all.
Starting point is 00:59:58 But they were the Roxbury, and Nick Sabin was at the door deciding who got to walk through the ropes. and play to the standard, they checked the boxes as guys that had the best ability and best mental makeup to play the caliber of football. He wanted them to play, and they had the traits. And so, Kurt Signetti is very involved in saying, this guy has good film or this guy carries himself this way that he can play here. And with that, within the staff, they're all on the same page. And so the tides raise the ship, but he's the biggest ship, and it raises. the tides. And so that is hard to duplicate. And so that it, they had the support to get some of the guys they wanted in there, but you still got to be the guy that's going to get the best out of them.
Starting point is 01:00:51 That's why I would be curious, like what a Jeff Brom would do at one of these places that is very invested in winning the national championship because I think he has consented, I think he has shown over the course of his career that he's going to maximize his roster more often than not. But I don't think he is dogged about the talent acquisition part as some other coaches or as involved in that process of or as maybe even as good at it. So he would need a great GM. If you paired him with a great GM that is good, there's different ways to get to the end of like these are the players that we're taking and why.
Starting point is 01:01:32 And I say that I think Louisville is a team. I think the team that they have this year, they should make the college football playout. I think they're the second best team coming into the season in the ACC. And they proved last year they could go down to Coral Gables and kick Miami's ass. You know? So I think he's fascinating. He is a fascinating coach to me. He's someone that people try to mimic schematically.
Starting point is 01:01:58 I mean, he can draw up first downs and stay on script all day. So he's won. But just because it happened once in Indiana, it doesn't mean it's going to happen again in three years somewhere else. It's just not going to happen. Signetti's the gatekeeper of who plays in Indiana. And we've heard his GM say that. We've heard everybody say everybody has to go through the head coach.
Starting point is 01:02:22 Sabin was the same way where he was the lead recruiter on all of the top targets. You mentioned Freeman. Same thing. He's the lead recruiter on the top targets. So Sabin's different. Sabin was a closer. It was a different era. And he had built up the cachet that like you might think that Georgia or LSU at that time was your leader until Nick Saban did his in-home visit. And then you're like, oh, well, why would I not go here? You know, so. But what Saban was, he had great, he had great assistant coaches, of course, as well. So many of those guys are not head coaches. And those guys are great recruiters. I mean, Kirby Smart was a great recruiter at Alabama. But it collectively, they chose who they were going to allow to come to Alabama. And Nick Savon ultimately said that that guy could come.
Starting point is 01:03:14 And so much was made of like Nick Saban, he needed his folder when he was talking to people. But it was all his notes. It was all his information. It just wasn't at the tip of his finger. But you know what was at the tip of his finger? Like he had his finger on everything going on in the program, strength, conditioning, nutrition. who were recruiting. Is our recruiting department doing their jobs?
Starting point is 01:03:36 And some of those guys are GMs and some of the best in college football worked under Nick Sabin. And that modernized the personnel space. That kind of started with a lot of guys that worked at Alabama under Sabin. And there used to just be a bullpen of guys just watching film at Alabama. And those guys are now some of the biggest names in the personnel space in college football. So he was ahead of the curve there to make sure that they took the right player. and then put them in position to succeed, right?
Starting point is 01:04:05 And so again, that's still ultimately what it comes down to. You can't buy a championship. You've got to have good coaches, good strength and conditioning, and you've got to have guys that come together. And so you've got to pick the right guys that want to come together and not just they're in it maximizing their own value this year. And what else will, what else can I milk? out of this what else can i milk out of the nil era because i can't yeah you know it's it's like
Starting point is 01:04:39 when our bosses were put together on three and they said we have to have steve wilfong or it won't work well i want it's the truth there was no when i could finally when i could finally say i was coming there was no i you know this is where i wanted to be there was no like back and forth or me going to other outlets and stacking well this is what i got here this is what i got here and this is what i got here, I just was happy to be here with that we had. Question, did you get all the condiments that you've asked for on your recruiting dinner? It's a lot of Judge Beans. It's delicious.
Starting point is 01:05:18 Andy, I'll tell you this. Some of our executives have a barbecue restaurant, Nashville. It's very good, by the way. It is good. It is good. There's not a lot of people in the media space, Andy, that have VP. in their title but the one that does the i think emperor would have been better or or opener whatever whatever is needed you know i'm just lucky to be here we're still growing i mean
Starting point is 01:05:43 you look at all the i mean what having you guys here all the hires at arm three the people that we have talking college football pete necos i've never i've never worked with a guy like that i mean he is high motor he is as exciting a young journalist as there is in the profession and the that he's made and the respect that he has from people in college football because of who he is and how he does his job. But people are like, we're the faces of arrivals on three. And I don't mean just us three. I just mean like are people that write stories. But like the backbone, the engineers, the people that have been with Shannon Terry for decades that have a website that never crashes, that continues to think of ideas that subscribers and readers want because they are the readers. and they are the consumer, and Shannon Terry just kind of talked to us about that. He is the consumer.
Starting point is 01:06:35 He started this industry based on wanting more information about his favorite college football team. And he is, you know, maybe not the same fan that he was in his 20s, late 20s of wanting to have the information about his favorite football team because now he's building a business. And he's the, I call him the economy maker because, like, he started rivals, which then set up. up hundreds of people with jobs on three hundreds of people with jobs 24-7 sports hundreds of people with jobs and these companies are ripping and roaring because of the people that have been consistently with them and then some of the new people like will crawl that have you know because some of those people are getting old you know so you got bringing new new leaders right we're getting older but the people that's brought in we have ideas that the consumers are excited about and
Starting point is 01:07:29 And the way that we cover the sport and the way you guys talk about the sport and, you know, J.D. Pekyll and, you know, it's... If you made it this far on the show, I think you're probably already subscribed on 3, but if you're not, on 3.com slash join. Because you can get that... What a rivals one on there, too. Yeah. It's one they click. Rivals.com slash join. Exactly.
Starting point is 01:07:55 But you can get everything Ari, Steve and I write. You can get everything. Pete Nacos writes. And then of course, you can upgrade to a team site subscription. Trust me, you're going to love living on the message boards because it is the place to be in a world that is hard to find your community. We're not cheesy. We cover the sport the way that we think it should be covered. But with that, we love the sport.
Starting point is 01:08:21 We love the games. We like the people that we talk about. We know the people that we talk about. So it's unique there, right, in that sense. enough still fair with our coverage but um you know we know these people so we know who they are their personalities and so sometimes when you see a good dude not get the job done somewhere it hurts you know because you know that they're good dudes and they just you know it's they were well compensated they didn't get the job done there but they wanted to win and they didn't win you know
Starting point is 01:08:51 and so it's not like it's fun to cover some of these coaching changes or see guys struggle and And you're already talking about who could get the job when they're getting fired. And I know we're going off the rails here. But that's what I love about coming on, Andy and Ari is going off the rails. Well, yeah, we definitely got on the rails here. But, yeah, no, I think you just set up a hot seat segment for tomorrow's show. No, I'm just kidding. Well, obviously, that starts with Florida State, right?
Starting point is 01:09:18 Yep. We're doing it? We're doing it. Steve Wilt-Fung, thank you so much. Thank you for watching and listening. And not kidding, On3.com slash join. You will not regret it. We'll talk to tomorrow.
Starting point is 01:09:34 We'll talk to tomorrow. Slash join. I don't even know that's the U.R.S.

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