Andy & Ari On3 - Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire is ready to FIX the college football calendar

Episode Date: February 20, 2026

While the Texas Tech Red Raiders enjoyed winning the Big 12 Championship and making it into the College Football Playoff, head coach Joey McGuire has some ideas on navigating everything else while the season is still going on. Watch here as McGuire discusses landing Brendan Sorsby from Cincinnati, studying Indiana’s, and fixing the college football calendar.   (0:00) On Today’s Episode (1:15) Presenting Sponsor (3:00) Intro: Previewing Joey McGuire (5:43) Texas Tech Head Coach Joey McGuire joins (9:10) Texas Tech entering 2026 (10:52) What McGuire learned: Calendar (15:10) Brendan Sorsby Coming in to Lubbock (17:33) Return of Investment for Texas Tech (21:33) How to fix the calendar (27:06) Perception of Texas Tech (29:00) Out of Conference Schedule for Texas Tech (34:01) Closing out with Joey McGuire (34:35) Texas Tech’s 2026 Schedule (35:45) Dear Andy & Ari: Texas’ non-conference schedule and the CFP (52:48) CFP Modeled after NFL Contracts? (57:25) Curt Cignetti's New Contract (58:36) Ari's rewatch of Breaking Bad (1:02:47) Why Kansas State will have to pay Jerome Tang's buyout (1:10:17) Conclusion: See you Monday!   After Joey McGuire joins the show, it's time for your questions in this week's edition of  Dear Andy & Ari. The first question on today's slate revolves around a popular topic of the week: Non-conference games. Watch here as a Texas fan gives his thoughts.   In the middle of recording, Curt Cignetti received a new contract. Andy & Ari react to this through the lens of Ari's rewatch of Breaking Bad.   To close out Dear Andy & Ari, a listener gives his thoughts on why Kansas State will likely have to pay Jerome Tang's buyout. Andy & Ari compare this to college football examples in recent memory.   Our show is also presented by BetMGM!   If you haven’t signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code ON3 and you will get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! Here’s how it works:   1. Download the BetMGM app and sign-up using bonus code ON3. 2. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. 3. You will receive up to $1500 in bonus bets if your bet loses! Just make sure you use bonus code ON3 when you sign up!   Make this college football season one for the history books. Make it legendary.   See BetMGM.com for Terms. 21+ only. US promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US). Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel.   Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/yUNRUhEduL8   Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman Producer: River Bailey   Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's Annie on 3 presented by BetMGM. Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire joins coming off a Big 12 title, coming off a loss to Oregon in the Orange Bowl. What did he learn from that loss? Also, can Texas Tech do it again? They went spent big in the portal again. They went and got a quarterback in Brendan Sorsby. They were the disruptor last year. Are they the new model this year?

Can they do it again? We'll ask Joey those questions. Plus, it is a dear, Andy, dear, R.A. We have excellent questions from you, including one, on the complaining that Ari and I were doing about fans wishing for worst games. It's the other side of the argument. We probably were a little unfair. We probably were a little heavy-handed. So we're going to give the other side a chance to talk about where they're coming from.

plus one of our listeners has a great idea to try to salvage the 2014 playoff idea, although I still don't want to do it. But he's got an idea. We'll talk about it all on today. Is Annie and Ron 3 presented by Bed MGM? We are presented by Bed MGM. We use BetMGM lines, totals and futures on this year show. And if you're not signed up for BetMGM, now is the time because you sign up using a bonus code on

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Call 8778 Hope N. or text Hope N. Y. 467369 in New York. Call 1-800 next step in Arizona. Call 1-800-3-2-0-0-0-0 in Massachusetts. Call 1-800-off in Iowa or 1-8001-9-802-3 in Puerto Rico. First bet offer for new customers only, subject to eligibility requirements, rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in seven days in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Don't forget, if you haven't signed up for bed MGM yet, use the the bonus code on three. That's the letter O, the letter in and the number three. And get your $1,500 first bet offer today. Welcome to Andy and Ari on three presented by BetMGM. Another big guest today, Ari. We've had quite a run.

Tosh Lupoi, the new Cal coach, with the incredible story about going to Hawaii to keep Jaron Kiave Sangapole Letelli. Today, it's Joey McGuire, the Texas Tech coach. who is coming off a Big 12 title, who's coming off getting shut out in the Orange Bowl. I think those are two things that kind of opposite ends of the spectrum, but important to ask Joey McGuire about both

because they took a different tack last year in terms of roster building. They got what they wanted in terms of winning the Big 12 and getting the playoff, but then they were severely exposed in the playoff by Oregon. And I can't wait to ask him, what they learned from that. Yeah, you know, I think that Texas Tech is maybe one of the more interesting programs in the country, Andy, because, you know, they already kind of, would you say, would you say they broke through or semi broke through?

I think that there are too long. Yeah, they won the conference. I mean, it's not something that they had ever done. They'd not won the Big 12 in football in their time as a member. But I have a actual theory about this. I think there are two types of breaking through. There is the type of breaking through that Indiana did. last season or two seasons ago when they made the playoff where you earn some respect,

but then there's still a large portion of the population, the college football fans across the country that still think that it was an individual good run or that your schedule was soft or you play in a week conference. I think you really break through. You don't have to go all the way the way that Indiana did this past season, but winning a playoff game against a team that we deem to be one of the elites. I think is when people take a step back and go, wow, like I had this wrong. So, you know, they obviously have to take the first step before they can take the second one, in most cases. But is Texas tech right?

Is what they're doing the new way? Is this how you win? Like all these things. Like, we are in the middle of finding that out. And I think that they've done a remarkably good job of building their roster and being interesting. So, you know, Joey McGuire is one of the nicest human beings on the face of the earth. And we love having them on the show. Like, is Joey McGuire going to be viewed as one of the top?

five coaches in college football in three years. We're on the verge of finding that out. It is the big question is can what they do work year over year? Can they build on it? We'll ask some of those questions to Joey McGuire right now. We welcome Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire, who has followed his own life advice. He has just eaten some biscuits and gravy, which he said if it's on the menu, the last time he's on the show said if it's on the menu, you have to order it. And Joe, you did.

It was at Rain Cafe this morning with one of our breakfast groups. And they had biscuits and gravy, sausage gravy, had a couple of eggs with it. It was elite. I mean, it was great. I'm in a great mood right now because we had a great team run. And then great breakfast and they had biscuits and gravy. So I'm fired up. We went straight from run to breakfast.

I want to ask about these breakfast groups because I heard you talking about these groups because your nutritionist puts them together, right? She'll pick, you know, a strength staffer and a member of the on-field coaching staff and a member of this position group and this position group. And so it's a way to get people who don't normally interact in a comfortable setting. Yeah, you know, and, man, it was so much fun too this morning. So me and one of our, it was our assistant O'Line coach, went to Rain Cafe. And to my left was Soresby, our quarterback,

and he's sitting next to, you know, one of our defense vans, Fleming across is a safety, one of the receivers. And, you know, we literally, like the big topic today, because one, Fleming's from Florida and Dingles from South Carolina, we were talking Texas high school football versus, you know, everybody else because Sorsby played at Lake Dallas. And so it's just ways to, you know, connect at a different level.

And that's one thing that we're really big on is the way we eat here. One, the food's going to be really good. And two, y'all think about it. Like the relationships that you've made throughout your life, a lot of times it all started over dinner. Probably that's the first date you ever had, you know, with your wife or your anybody like that. Like you took them to dinner and started to get to know each other. And so we do that every Friday. and the groups change every Friday.

And it's one of my favorite things that we do. I can't imagine where you landed on the high school football debate. We went through. It was good because they wanted to know, like, you know, some of my best players that I coached and then where we played. And Jackson Kimball is my assistant offensive line coach. In his junior year, he played at South Lake Carroll. I recruited him to Baylor.

he actually knocked us out of the playoffs. So we had a great debate because we knocked them out the year before. So it was a great debate of Cedar Hill versus South Lake Carroll. Yeah, I want to be at one of these things because your guy from the Sunshine State, I would have helped him out there. I could have come with some facts. Yeah. I mean, it's a great.

I mean, the conversations of we just got through with a staff meeting and we went around the table. And I was like, who was engaging? what did you learn? And, you know, it's really cool because the coaches, too, like, you know, an offensive coach that can get to spend the same amount of time with a defensive player and just to get to know them, we're just trying to connect in every way that we can.

When you were on our show months back before the season started, there was a lot of discussion about pressure and living up to expectations and NIL and all this stuff. You guys, on your conference, you made the CFP, what are vibes within the program now and how are you doing personally? Well, you know, it's really cool from the standpoint. Whenever I'm on the road recruiting in January, I'm calling back every day talking to my head, street coach, just talking through the day and how everybody's doing.

And, you know, really from day one, he said, man, there's a different energy in this building. And the conclusion that we came to was now we have, we've done it. from the standpoint we've won the Big 12. Like until you do something like that, you're still at the end of the day hoping and praying and are we doing the right things? And then once you do it, there's this new sense of confidence that,

hey, we did it and what we're doing, you know, can get us over the top. And so I think, you know, attitude-wise, especially from the returners, they're in a great spot. Me, man, I'm in my happy place, you know, like as far as I was in the, building today and and roll in with our run groups and going to breakfast,

fantasy camp this weekend. So I get to see some really good friends, some of our donors get to hang out with them. But, man, January and February, we've been ripping and tearing, you know, January, recruiting. And then February, I've done a couple of recum tours. I was in Midland last week, Dallas, the first of this week. And just the Red Raiders right now, man, they are so fired up.

about what we did in the direction we're going. So I was at the Orange Bowl, and after that game, you said something, and it was right off the back, you said, we're going to learn from this. Yeah. What did you learn? You know, we're still in the process with that, because until we get the calendar fixed,

and I don't know why that's not the number one priority out of everybody. I mean, I keep hearing about NIL. I keep hearing about eligibility. I keep hearing about maybe changing the transfer portal. Until we get the calendar fixed, everything we do is backwards to me, are just putting band-aids over issues. And so what we're trying to learn right now is how Indiana did it. Now, they were a great football team, so that's one.

They had great players. but Indiana is the only team in the last two years that have been able to handle the 25-day layoff when the other team did not have a 25-day layoff. And so we're trying to dig into like how we could we practice different. You know, I heard Dan Lannning had a mock game. You know, do we do something like that? Because if you do win the conference again,

there's a good chance you get a buy and you have a 25-day layoff and that can't be the excuse. You've got to find a way to overcome. that and coach signetti's the only guy that's been able to do that so far when you say learning from indiana i think that's also interesting because there's a lot of coaches in their offices today learning from indiana for a variety of reasons you know a team that a program that was relatively not relatively was completely an afterthought had never really won anything ever turning into one of the premier programs in college football and i think that you know texas tech certainly was

not nearly as far down on the ladder as Indiana was from where they began, but you're trying to build something new too. Like what else can you learn from Indiana in terms of being a new kid on the block kind of in this new cool kids club of playoff contenders and how do you break through? You know, I think one you study, they're really efficient. You know, I love and listen to him. Anytime I see anything on Signetti and on social media, I really try to listen to what he's talking about and everything.

You know, one thing is that we had issues with, you know, are pre-stap penalties. And, you know, that's been tough for us the last two years. But, you know, that's something that Indiana doesn't deal with. And so how do they not deal with it, you know, and the attention to detail that they do everything at. And so that's something that we're really stressing in every part of, you know, anytime, anything that has to do with anything of stressing the attention to detail this

offseason. They've evaluated a really high level. I think we're in a really good spot the way we evaluate. And so, you know, just continue to believe in our evaluation because he definitely believes in his. Joey, I know that it's usually back and forth here, but I wanted to just follow up. There's one thing that Kurt Signetti has said publicly quite a bit that I find interesting and hat tip to producer river for reminding me.

But they practice for shorter amounts of times but have higher intensity. And like, is there a study to be done or is there a thought to be had about practiced lengths and how you guys go about just preparing your team on a daily basis? Yeah, I definitely think. I mean, you know, the tough thing is, is like I'd be the same way. It's not like he's going to give you any secrets. Like, I mean, you know, like I tell you the, you know, so you listen and try to pick it out. and just different stuff.

And, you know, they're a close group. He hadn't had a lot of movement, you know. And so that's another thing. You're not like you're hiring somebody that was there whenever they were doing this stuff. But we're, I've always been that way. Even whenever I was at Cedar Hill, man, we've got our practices are not long. They're very intense. There's no wasted time.

Everybody's doing something throughout practice. But it is interesting to continue to listen to, you know, what they do and, how they do it. So you mentioned had breakfast with Brendan Sorsby today. That's the big quarterback signing. Last year, you revamped your roster through the transfer portal, but Baron Morton had been with your program, he came up through your program.

What is it like bringing in a quarterback in this situation who has a lot of experience? I'd assume he knows a lot of your guys because he's from Texas, but he's kind of been around because he's kind of been around because he's, He was at Indiana, then he was at Cincinnati, and now he's come to you. Yeah, he, man, he's a pro. Like his approach to everything, and one thing I really appreciate that he's doing right now, he is really trying to learn everybody. And, you know, because the position he's in, I mean, at the end of the day,

he's got to be the leader. You know, he's got to be the guy when he opens his mouth, everybody looks and listens. And so he's doing a very good job. He's very intentional of getting to know everybody. He's got a good personality. The thing I love about him is he's got a chip on his shoulder. And you could tell. And he comes into a room extremely confident.

And like I'm the best guy in the room. But it doesn't come off that way. It comes off of like, I've got a real chip on my shoulder. I'm excited, man. It was one of those deals with us. It's unfortunate because, you know, we didn't think we're going to have to go get a quarterback with Wilhelm and Tern his ACL.

You know, we were like, man, you're hoping he's back. But these days with the amount of resources that are being put behind these teams, man, you can't hope that somebody's back. And we were really fortunate to go get Sorsby. And he was our number one target, like from the beginning, whenever we started going through and evaluating everybody, he was our number one target, you know. And it's funny, he sent me a picture of him in Austin Romain

because the two guys, whenever the portal opened, I told James Blanchard, I know we're going to get this player, this player, this player, but if you go get me sores being Romaine, I'm going to be the happiest coach in America. I just have such a high opinion of both of those guys. Joey, you guys, you know, broke through a little bit last year. You want to continue to break through when playoff games move forward.

Obviously, there's been a tremendous amount of investment in your roster, in your team, in your program from people who aren't in the building every day. How invigorated were they to see a ROI on their investments? And what does that mean for future investments into your program? Yeah, I'm going to tell you, guys, like, I've had more letters. text, emails. When I go to the recrature, when I was in Midland, we also did a Letterman's luncheon in Dallas. There was 86 Letterman.

There's a guy that played in 1970. He's never had a tattoo, and he's got a tattoo of Raider Red on his shoulder now with a Big 12 champion. So he was so proud to show me. And the people out here are so fired up. And in the, you know, the guys, I call him the Big Five with Cody Campbell,

John Sellers, Dusty Womble, Mike Wallace, and Gary Peterson. Those guys, they just continue to invest at a high level and believe in what we're doing, man. And, you know, it's one of those deals when you taste that you want more and then you want to take it to a whole other level. And so we're fortunate to have those guys, but like I'm telling all the Red Raiders, you know, we went all in. Now let's double down. Let's take this thing to a whole other level.

Well, I know part of that, you mentioned your fantasy, So part of that fantasy camp is to raise money for what you're doing, you know, to fund your roster. What are we talking about here? Like, these guys are paying some bucks? Are you putting these guys who are big time donors in the squat rack this weekend? Well, there'll be some. Like, everything's optional when it comes to this because we've had some, we had a guy two,

two years ago, get smoked. We were filling pints. And we should have wore helmets because, he ended up with a detached retina. Oh, God. Oh, Mark, he caught the punt. He just caught it with his face and then his hands. But, you know, it is.

Everything's optional. What this is, you do have some longtime donors that have been doing this since Mike Leach, you know, Terry Fuller, Mark McDougal, guys like that. But then you also have some young guys that, you know, we're trying to cultivate the relationships that we have. with those guys. And the one thing that's really cool is we're going to really pull back the curtains. Like when we do our chalk talks and when we do situational football, like it is really like in this situation, this is what I'm thinking about. So whenever you're in your suite with your friends and

everything and their questioning or they're saying, hey, what do you think they're going to do? Like you have, you've been educated like, hey, Mac told me that at third and six, This is what we're going to. They look brilliant because, you know, this is what we're going to. So with these guys, you know, they're really getting a weekend of pulling back the curtain. And this is what Texas Tech's about. You know, tomorrow our guys, Saturday is an optional stuff. We do a lot of stuff on Saturdays our guys do.

And so they'll get to meet a lot of our players. Our players know who's in the building. You know, and so there's been guys literally that have met people through this. that now after they've graduated, have jobs with them with their companies. So it's great for everybody involved. And it's fun. I always tell everybody, you better tape your ankles because it's definitely a fun weekend. I would catch a football with my face.

Yeah, me too. I mean, I have some eligibility left. Come on, man. You could sue and probably get support. Yeah, I mean, I could sue. Yeah. Joey, what do you think was lacking from your program and what do you think you could add to it? Yeah, you know, we chose the worst day possible to play our worst football on the offensive side of the ball.

You know, we added another offensive lineman. We've got great depth in the offensive line. Three of the five starters are back, and we add Jordan Church to guard. We've got great battles across the board. I think we've got to be more physical in the offensive line. You know, and the biggest thing that we lacked was the ability to execute in that biggest game of the year from the standpoint of, and whatever it was, we've got to figure it out. You know, like I could say it was a 25-day lay-off, but, you know, Indiana figured it out.

So they did a better job than we did. So that's something that we really do have to figure out, like, how can we be our best? And that's what's unfortunate, you know, that I wished everybody involved from TV to the CFP to the NCAA to the commissioners, everybody, like understanding that, you know, there is a great model in every level of football except for. our level of football of the way that the playoffs are being played and to give you the best chance on the biggest game of your life, you know, to have the best chance. And who knows, seven days later after playing Oregon, they were a great football team.

Dan had a great plan. They were really good on defense. But we've got to figure that out. You know, that can't be the excuse of why we didn't move on. He alluded to earlier on the show. Sorry to double up again on you. You're good, man. You're the show, and I keep talking about it.

You're my guys, and I love it. Joey, you mentioned the calendar earlier on, and I think that the calendar can mean multiple things. It can mean layoffs. It can mean playoff schedule when those games are played, when the portal opens, all these things. Have you given some thought into, like, what your ideal calendar would look like?

Yeah, because I want to, like, all the stuff that people are talking about the portal, the reason that it's an issue is because it's opening, and we still have, like, this year, the national championships can be played on January 25th. Y'all think about it. You just took this year and you said that it was on the 25th. You had the Shrine Bowl being played before the national championship.

You had the senior bowl in Mobile practicing the same time as the national championship. You know, you would have, you know, like next year, I'll have my team currently, hopefully playing in the playoffs. all my new guys. So everybody's solution is, well, we need to move the portal. No, we need to fix that football is supposed to be played in the first semester. And every other division, like FCS, they played their national championship on January 5th. Like, it's amazing that we can't do that, that we haven't figured that out yet. And so my, what I would do is I would move zero week. So this last year, everybody would have played August 23rd.

And we would have played it out like that. The conference championship game would have been on Thanksgiving. That would have been a great Thanksgiving weekend. And then you start playing the playoffs the next week. If you have a buy, you have a true buy, just like it is in the regular season. It's a buy. And then you're playing every six to seven days. And if you did it that way this year, you actually would have had the national championship

on January 1st. and then the portal or the issues that you're talking about with the portal, they don't come into effect because now the portal is opening outside of the football season. And so it's like one of those deals that everybody in the room, it sounds like it would be an easy move. I know there's contracts and different stuff like that. But if it's not this year, in 2027, we should already be talking about this and it should be fixed in 2027.

Because when you move other stuff and you keep the stuff the same, we don't know the issues that we're going to have. When you move it this way, at least that it's totally outside of the football season and you're not playing the national championship almost into February. I don't know how everybody else would have handled it. We had a plan, but my guys that were seniors, their lease was up.

So their leases are up, and we still have games left in the season because you're signing the second semester, you're signing a brand new lease if you're a senior. So you think about it this year, January 25th, you're going to have, I'll have 20 to 25 guys that their lease are up. So I'm either, they're going to help us out with where they're living or they're going to have to live somewhere else. I have said residents in may be full. Yeah. If your season goes the way you want it to. You don't think about it, man. It makes no sense.

Nobody can come up and say. Every week zero, I say how come they're not just starting now? Yeah. So I'm with you on that. Yeah. So, Joey, I heard you say something a few weeks ago about going from being the disruptor to being the hunted. And I think that was a really accurate way of describing how people look at you guys last year,

where now you've got proof of concept. except everybody's like, okay, what they're doing works. But now you're the defending conference champions. You're a team that made the playoff. You're kind of the targeted one. Can you feel that? Do your players feel that? Does the vibe change?

I think, like right now, our big deal and message in offseason is me versus me. You know, we don't even talk about, like, our goals in football season, because right now we're trying to bring this team to get. It's a whole other chapter in your, you know, your history, your life. You know, and so you're really focused on how we can become better. But we definitely, you know, understand that the people, like, again, we're the Big 12 champs. We're trying to go defend that. The last time that happened was Oklahoma.

Oklahoma is the last team that won back-to-back Big 12 champions. I think that was 19 and 20. is the last time that somebody's done it. So, you know, we're going to try to do that. But right now we're just trying to focus on us. We'll start filling that and then we'll use it like crazy. You know, we'll use it from the standpoint of being upset, being mad. Hopefully somebody picks against us and just trying to stir the pie, you know,

because it is, it's us against everybody. I mean, it's like that for every team, you know. But I would rather be in this position of being able to, we did it. We know that our formula works, and now we've got to try to do it again, but then do it at a whole other level. Before we let you go, I got to bring this up because we brought this up with a, but we've picked on a lot of programs, and now we're going to pick on you, because we're not fans of the out-of-conference schedules that don't include kind of the biggest power you can bring in. Yeah.

When are we, you guys are now a playoff team. You're a big 12 champ. When are we bringing in those teams? When are we beefing up that non-conference? So working on it for 28-29 because even though it actually was pretty good, we had a team that now we have an open of 28 and 29. That's a tough thing. Like, you know, it's easier said than done because you have these games.

Like these schedules, I didn't make these schedules. Like these schedules are already scheduled out, you know, years in advance. you see all the time, hey, so-and-so is going to play so-and-so in 2030, 20-30, 20-1. I'm like, man, I just hope I'm alive in 2030 and 20-31, you know, but 28-29, we're looking right now to find somebody that has an opening, you know, to be able to play a home-and-home with them. You know, I understand it.

I totally understand it of being able to play. That's why I have a great idea, too, both all the bowl games to week zero, have them pick it. Think about this. Our fans are so hungry week one, week zero. So you're going to sell out bowl games in every city. You're going to sell the bowl games out. You don't have anybody opting out of that game.

And you could pick, you know, Texas Tech versus whoever in that bowl game. And that not only would be great for college football, but it would probably help the bowl games out. at a really high level too, you know, because whether it's right now or whether you expand the playoffs and the bowl games are going to suffer because of that.

And so that's another hot sports opinion that I would love to see happen. No, I listen here for some Pop-Tart grab ass in August. I don't think you can do a Yankee Stadium in August because I think the Yankees are using it. But yes, Pop-Tarts Bowl in August, let's do it. I just could not imagine if I were a coach being in the Pop-Tarts bowl in week one.

And if you lose the game, like you're in the locker room while they're consuming the pastry on the field, it would just be a wild way to start the season. But see, are you looking at it wrong? Yeah. Be the coach who wins who eats the Pop-Tart. That fuels you the rest of the way. Joey, I wanted to ask you one last one,

and then we'll get you out of here. But I think it's an interesting thing. So obviously we're all kind of easing into the evolution. of college football into the NIL era, we're getting into the normalcy of compensating players and the stigmas that these payments have made for certain programs. And I think I was reading something about you in the recent weeks, about how you wanted to forge an identity for Texas Tech that wasn't just financial.

I'm wondering, why do you feel that's important? And should just being one of the richer programs that's willing to compensate, the best be a badge of honor? No, I definitely think that it's a badge of honor. But what kind of what our narrative of like what we're talking about was like, you know, last year, because we did it at the same level that a lot of programs were doing it, the news. And I get it. I'm glad we appreciated the news and we got on anywhere and everywhere and talked about it, you know, that we were doing this and that we were going all in. And there's a lot of teams that have done that.

And it's okay, but it wasn't okay for Texas Tech to do it. So I definitely think that it's great for us. I would not want it any other way. But I also want people to understand that whenever these guys come to Texas Tech, they are. But they also are playing their best football that they've ever played. David Bailey had more sacks in one year than he did his three years previous combined at another school. Ramelo

Haight, this was his fourth school. In his career, he had 69 quarterback pressures. And one year at Texas Tech, he had 62 quarterback pressure. So when you're talking about, like, oh, Texas Tech's winning because of this, you discount our

coaching staff, man, you discount our training staff, you discount our strength staff, you know, our nutrition staff, our academic staff. We had the highest team GPA that we've ever had. We hold every record in the 100 year history and we broke our record.

We had a 3.23 team GPA. And so whenever it's all about money, you're taking away. Well, then, and all these guys are having the best year of their lives. So there's something going on here more than just the money whenever it comes to player development.

Well, whatever you're doing is working. And I'm telling you, the biscuits and gravy. Part of it, man. With the boys. is a great way to start. So hopefully Brendan Sorsby had some of those too. We had the exact same breakfast. He just added a little bacon on the side.

Okay. That's your quarterback right there. Joey McGuire, thank you so much, and we really appreciate it. And thank you, Joey, and congrats on the contract extension. It's been a pleasure to watch you, and thank you so much for being a friend of the show. I appreciate you guys.

Love what you do. Wreck them. All right, that is Joey McGuire, and we can throw up the Texas Tech schedule. we're not fans of their non-conference scheduling. Don't think we're just picking on Alabama, which, by the way, still has not dropped the Ohio State game, so maybe they won't.

So we picked on Nebraska last year. We picked on Texas with Arizona State. We pick on Indiana because if a non-conference is bad. Texas Tech's same boat here. Yeah. Like, I would like if they dropped these stuff. off of Oregon and they played that game. Could you imagine if that was September 12th?

They actually did a non-conference with Oregon not long ago. I know, but could you imagine if it was this year after what happened in the playoff last year? How much like our summer would be better? Like our summer would be better if that game was being played.

Well, and the thing is like I think fans say oh, you guys just want this for you. No, I want this for everybody. I want good games for everybody. But that brings us to Dear Ari and Dear Andy for this week because Justin wrote us a very thoughtful

email and it made me realize we probably were a little too over the top the other day when we were talking about the Texas thing. No, you don't think so... I think that it's your fault

for agreeing with me too often lately. That's true. I should probably realize there's a problem when I'm agreeing with you. Yeah, I'm a psycho. You're not supposed to agree with me. And, like, honestly, like, we have some days where, like, everything I say irritates you. And we have some days where you're like, yeah, you're on to something here.

Like, the thing that I have the hardest time. We should fake it more like first take where even if I completely agree with you, I should just. Yeah, I know. You're never going to fake it. But I do have a hard time with this, Andy, is people refer to me as a hot take artist. Mm-hmm. And honestly, it is just what I actually think. And it makes me go bad.

You don't have. take like there are things you don't really care about and you don't say anything about them but when you when you do care you're a man of great passion but it makes me feel like i'm nuts and i guess like part of being crazy is not knowing you're crazy so maybe that describes me i don't know maybe you're such a narcissist that you can't understand why everybody doesn't believe the same way you do i think that i have that problem yeah i don't know narcissism is maybe i don't know i think i have empathy care about others. Can you be a narcissist and have those qualities?

Like, I don't know. But I'm not a psychologist. Maybe I'm self- I just, in this specific case, I understand, get to the question. All right. This is Justin. Justin had a very well thought out.

Yeah. So we're going to read this. Andy Nari, as a Texas fan, I tend to agree with Ari about how Texas shouldn't cancel their tough out of conference games. I think that the argument that those games don't carry weight died. when Miami got in over Notre Dame last year. However, I think the question lies more in will a nine and three team ever get in. Texas had a great resume last year to do just that, but fell behind in line to

BYU, Notre Dame, Miami, Alabama, and Oklahoma, all teams that had two losses in the regular season except BYU. Is there an argument to rank Texas above any of those teams with a nine and three record? Will we ever see a case that a nine and three team gets in over a 10 and two team that played a weaker schedule? It's hard to see that ever happening after teams like BYU. or Notre Dame finish ahead of Texas in the rankings after their only ranked win last year finished at 15 and 16.

I know Texas had a bad loss against Florida and looked somewhat shaky throughout the year, but if you trade the Florida loss for a Vanderbilt loss or an A&M loss, does that really change anything? How about you? Stop. Let me finish. You know what? Do you want to?

No, I let Justin finish. And then you can run all you want. Okay. All right. Continuing with Justin. I think the debate should lie more in is the, is 10 and 2 the cutoff to make the playoffs. The risk reward factor of these out of conference games is in the sole hands of the committee

to decide how much they fall to team or rewarded team for playing in those games. And I just don't think letting a committee decide how much weight in an out-of-conference game holds is a risk most teams are willing to take, especially when they don't have a reference point of a team with more losses, making an over team with less losses. Just some thoughts I had on the debate, not necessarily advocating that Texas should have made it in over all those teams. I would love to hear y'all's thoughts on this.

and love the show. Thank you, Justin. That is a very, very thoughtful question. It is. Are you okay? No, no. He actually nailed the question. Okay. All right. But there is a thing in there that drives me insane, and it's not Justin's fault. It's Anwar Richardson's fault. And he's our guy. What is Annwar? Wait, what did all we do? We were arguing on Twitter about Texas's schedule yesterday morning. I don't know if you saw that. In a very playful way, he's our guy. He has a I'm going to go way back. We covered high schools at the Tampa Tribune together.

So I'm probably taking his side on this, by the way. Well, he does a tremendous job covering Texas and he is a friend of the show. So, like, I even tweeted out, like, this is no beef. It's like sometimes I feel like all sports is, is like a vessel to argue and be passionate about. Like, and like, you lose sight of that. Like, I have no will and vice versa. Like, he's our friend. And I hope to go on a show soon to continue with.

But anyway, on one way. Anwar's entire premise or part of his premise is that a nine and three team will never make it which to me I think is misguided and wrong and part of the reason why we do that is because every single season has different committee members and every single season has different circumstances of the teams that are around it and I think that there are I think that a nine and three team making it is fairly imminent

But the one thing that I will say is that when a 9 and 3 team does make it, it will. I don't know when, but it will, especially if the playoff is expanded by the time these games that they're canceling happen. The teams that do make it are going to be the ones that have really good, hard schedules and quality wins. Like, that's the thing that I think is being lost on this. And, like, I do think that there are reasons for Texas fans to be bashful or shy about the discussion of, of is the juice worth the squeeze? Like I understand where the discussion comes from if you only use last season as the only thing that can ever happen. But I think throughout the entire course of the college football playoff, Andy,

the committee has proven time and time again that quality wins matter. Two years ago, when there were nine and three teams on the cusp, they would have gotten in over a 10 and 2 Indiana in that case. If Indiana happened to be 10 and 2, the situation did not present itself. 11 and 1. So that was the difference. I think that the last two years ago would have already solved both of the main points of this question. Well, and I know.

So here's he make it and will they get in over a team with fewer losses? I think yes and yes, which is all part. Also part of my issue with the idea that everybody wants to expand the playoffs so quickly after just getting it to 12. And I'm not, I'm talking about going to 16 also. I'm not talking just about the big 10 idea to go to 24. Let's see this play out. a little bit before we start making decisions about what we should do in the future. Well, I think that's because I want to see if they're going, like maybe they will put a

nine and three team in that played a tougher schedule. I like to think they will too. I hope they will. If they don't, let's let's let's take my dream scenario of the big 10 and the SEC can't agree on anything and we just get 12 for six more years. If they don't do it for six more years, that these people are right. Here's the two things we know. Two things we know beyond a shadow of a doubt. We cannot say for a fact that a nine and three team will never make it. That's just, that's wrong. You can't say that. That's, that's not a fact. But we know what you can say, a 10 and two, a 10 and two team from the SEC that doesn't have any good wins won't or can't.

It was Vanderbilt last year. So we know those two things for a fact. And I think the biggest misnomer in this whole playoff system. Since the beginning of time, it started in 2014, is that there is this viewpoint from the general fan and even some reporters that there is precedent being set

on an annual basis on how they're doing it. And last year, granted, when I say last year, I mean two years ago, when they first moved to the 12th team playoff, the seating was a little messed up and maybe that changed the way they do things. But they did reward teams for the first

time two years ago who lost their conference championship games. And that was something that had never been done. That's not true. What do you mean? Oklahoma lost a conference championship game to Kansas State. I mean all of them. The BCS era and played for the national title. Everybody who played in a conference championship game was.

Oh, okay, I got you. In the past, there are teams that were had lost conference championship games that because of that loss were left out of the 14. And I know that they have changed from 4 to 12 and circumstances have changed. there's certainly like this is a bumpy road to the top. Right. And that might not have been like, and it's funny because we treated that like a precedent this year.

There's a reason I left Alabama out in my mock after championship Saturday because I was like, well, they don't have to do that again this year. And they should have left Alabama. Like what Alabama did against Georgia should have probably disqualified them. Notre Dame probably should have been in instead. Or how about this? maybe think critically and compare which team was more deserving of going to the playoff from the SEC. Maybe Texas was a more more suitable candidate than Bama.

But like I think that if your response is this is what's happened the last year or two, here's how we're going to change our entire scheduling philosophy in the future. In the summer, directly after a 10 and 2 SEC team was left out, I do not understand why people think this is a fact. It is not a fact and it drives me insane. So not only are you. My problem is not necessarily the commissioner saying it, the coaches believing it.

Like it's their, that's their job. It's the fans being gaslit into wanting a worst product. And like the Texas fans are like, why are you so fired up about us wanting to cancel on Arizona State eight years or now? That's not what fired me up. Mm-mm.

It was Megaboard Wednesday. And so we were looking at the message. threads and the message board thread about that story, the first comment was, please cancel Notre Dame now, which bad series starts in two years. And it was, and if that had just been one person, I wouldn't have said anything. There was a bunch of people agreeing with that person right below it. That's what set me off. And I don't, I don't want you guys to get tricked into thinking you should demand a worse product because that is just diabolical is what it is. Like the people in charge convincing you that you can, that you should demand a worse product

is baffling to me, baffling. And I just think that the entire premise of weaseling your way in is like spits in the face of the entire spirit of competition. You are a Texas fan because you want to support your team to beat Notre Dame. Like that. And like, listen, if you go read the column, I'm not sure if you read what I wrote because I wrote it about Bama last week, but I rewrote a different one on Wednesday about Texas and the entire situation. And it wasn't about Texas is soft for canceling ASU. The column was about being tricked into believing that this is better for your team.

Like that, and those are two different things. Like, I don't know. Maybe Texas will schedule somebody that's tougher than Arizona State. Like, I don't know, like, what everybody's doing. It's still in the emphasis of this thing. Well, and the thing is Texas is still playing Ohio State this year. It's not like they canceled that one. They've got Michigan on the schedule in the future.

They've got Notre Dame in the schedule in the future, and they have not canceled it. So I'm madder at Texas fans advocating to cancel any of these games. Yeah. And maybe part of the two, that's my issue. We have to acknowledge this. I think that canceling the Notre Dame series is going to be a very common thing that you're going to see on message boards because I think that fans are resentful of Notre Dame specifically. People just don't like Notre Dame.

That's true. I get that. I think that, well, also what happened with Notre Dame this past year has caused, because Notre Dame, regardless of whether a lot, they like it, they have no choice but to play these tough games. They need them more. Like a team in the SEC doesn't, can say we don't feel like we need the non-conference game because our schedule in the conference.

We're going to get tough enough in the conference. That is not guaranteed. Ask Vanderbilt. Like as you both asked Texas from 2024. Wasn't their conference schedule draw terrible in the first year they were in the SEC? But they were 11 and 1. So it was it didn't matter. But it could have, if they would have been 10 and 2,

they might have been left out for the very same schedules they're designing in the future. That's like the point I'm trying to make. Like it doesn't like I don't want to hear anybody cry. I want to watch you cry. If you were a person who said canceled the game and then you get left out at 10 and 2. like that's going to be great for me. But I don't want that to happen to you. It's true.

I want people who think something to see what they think play out and deal with the consequences of that thought. I think that's an important life. You know, that's the way I do it. If I thought, hey, Andy, I think oil changes are the biggest scam in the auto industry. I'm not going to do it. Don't you want to see my engine get blown

so I learned that I'm not, that I'm an idiot? No, listen, we have we have evidence of this. Lincoln Riley gets the USC job. you are sure Lincoln Riley is going to make USC a national power. I'm like, you're so sure about that? Let's put some money on it. And then the next thing you know, you've got a $1,200 bill to Steakhouse in Nashville. You don't think that I'm familiar with paying gambling debts?

Like, I'm 100% sure on how that works. And you know what? It makes me a better person. I think that the, you know, you know, yeah, it does. It makes me a better worse. Superpower that I actually do have as as as vindictive as I can. can be and as strong-headed as I can be in arguments. When I'm wrong, I acknowledge it. And I think

that that's what gambling, when gambling and losing and gambling actually humbles a man. And like, it's okay to be wrong. We don't do this for a living to be to bat a thousand being right all the time. We do it to debate and actually see through all the angles of all the different discussions that we're having. We form strong opinions. Well, if we're doing it, if we're being perfectly honest, we do it to entertain people. Yeah. We do it. And sometimes that, also includes getting them mad because that's a response. And it's like the old Howard Stern thing in the private parts book in the movie where, you know, this many people say they're listening to him because they love him. Most common answer, I want to hear what he'll say next. And then all this,

this bigger number of people are listening because they hate him, common answer. I want to hear what will say next. Like that's, that's what we're doing here. But that this one, I, I don't want people to get confused and think I was that fired up about the Arizona State thing. I really wasn't. It was more the attitude of now do Notre Dame. That was what really, because I just don't want to see people getting duped. And that's what's happening. Is fans are getting duped into thinking that they should, that they should be the ones pulling for a worst product.

Like you continue, you as fans continue to demand the best product, if they, the people in charge give you a worse product because they feel like it's better to make them more money to keep their jobs, all that stuff. Okay. But don't be the ones that fall for it. Well, you know, it's just the fan angle is always to protect your team and your, your administration and your program. That's been the funniest part of all this too is because everybody, everybody we talk about thinks that we're only talking about them. And because nobody ever remembers when everybody remembers when somebody says something that hurt their feelings. Nobody ever remembers when you said something

and hurt somebody else's feelings. Yeah. And so, like, it's, you were attacking me. It was Alabama fan. My team. Yeah. It's tax on fans this week. Yeah.

We, we hate, we hate bad non-conference schedules everywhere. If you have a bad non-conference schedule, we don't like it. Yeah. And I think that that's been made pretty clear. And I can't, you can't expect everybody to listen to every second of everything that we say or read every year. Absolutely. I would like it.

But like, yeah, we certainly, that's our goal. But yeah, like the number one thing that I cannot stand in this entire, like, in my life is I disagree with you. You hate my team. I hate that. I think it's the lowest form of thought that you could possibly have online. It's, but it's an understandable reaction. Also, maybe we do hate your team. Who knows? Puck. How about this? I just know. Like, all I ever crazy, in this world is, I disagree with you, here are my points,

thank you for the discussion. And I just don't think that I'm ever going to get that. It's always you're an asshole. But we do get that from some people because Justin's one of those people. He disagreed with us very respectfully. He laid it all out.

And I have no problem having that discussion. And dare I say, Justin, I love you. We do love you. I love you. Thank you. Next question from Rich. The first sentence of Rich's question makes me proud.

I listen every day and laugh when I hear other college football podcasts cover the same topics a day or two later. We are your favorite college football podcast, favorite college football podcast. We've noticed that too, Rich, so I'm glad you noticed that. I obviously hate the idea of expanding the number of playoff teams, but it seems like the latest 2014 plan ignores one of the key things that the NFL has year after year. if you're going to go to 24 teams, then let's model the AFC-N-FC battle. The top two-rated group of six teams get in. The one that is geographically further joins the top 11 from the SEC and the ACC,

the one that is further west, joins the top 11 from the Big 10 and the Big 12. Increase the likelihood of an early round rivalry game, make it so at least two teams are remembered since few people other than Andy are going to remember more than the champion and the more team to make the playoffs. I like this question. I like where Rich is going.

He's basically he's saying, if you're going to do a 2014 playoff, then kind of separate it out and make it where you have some familiarity and some of the same teams playing each other every year in the play. Which, like, that does seem to make things better. Like Josh Allen versus Patrick Mahomes. Like Patrick Mahomes stands in Josh Allen's way of getting to the Super Bowl most years. Like that makes sense to me. I don't want them to do that.

because, again, it doesn't have to be a copy of the NFL. And so I don't want them to go 24 anyway, but I guess if you did, this would be a good way to do it. By the way, I want to tell Rich, they won't do this because part of the 24 team pitch that the Big Ten made was potentially instructing the committee to avoid first-round rematches of regular season games. Yeah, that's one of the things.

I think what Rich is talking about is you want rematches in the playoff from previous playoff seasons, which I will say in the NFL does create the highest of drama. I mean, I think it also happens pretty regularly in college football, too. So, you know, it's just amongst the biggest brands that are already, like, very sought after viewing. Well, we haven't really seen it yet. There hasn't there hasn't been that. Because again, the 12-team playoffs only existed for two years. But, yes, let's say Oregon can't seem to get past Indiana and then they finally do.

Or Ohio State can't get past somebody and then they finally do. But they obviously won the first. Like the Bill's Chiefs scenario. Yeah. Like, okay, here's one. Let's say Georgia and Notre Dame make the playoff again next year. And they face each other in the quarterfinal like they did after the 24th season. And then Georgia overcomes that.

Like that's high or or Notre Dame wins and Georgia is stuck behind. I can't get over the hump. Like that is great drama. And I was talking more of the 14th playoff on Clemson and Alabama and Ohio State and those teams played each other every year, but that's probably not the same spirit of the question because you want more teams and then those teams get out into the drama. Yeah, like why, you know, Lamar Jackson gets closer and then,

but he can't seem to get past Mahomes or can't get past Josh Allen. Like that that's the thing that I think keeps you coming back, gets you excited. So I understand where Rich is coming from. Like if they had to do 24, I don't know that you'd ever, that you'd get that. That they would agree to that where like the SEC and the ACC would be on one side of the bracket. And the Big 10 and the Big 12 would be on the other side of the bracket. But that is a, I appreciate when people think outside the box because this is a good. thought. As I read the question, I'm like, you know, this might be a little fun. And then I'm like,

no, no, no, we don't like 2014 playoff. We're not doing this. Yeah. It's a good way to think about making the best of a bad situation. Yes. Like I said, I hope, for everybody's sake, that the Big Ten and the SEC just cannot agree on anything and get madder and matter and matter each other. And this just stays the way it is until the next time they have to do a contract. Yeah. Andy, as we're recording this, a piece of news broke before we get to the next question. Okay. Kurt Signetti signed another contract extension with Indiana. Didn't he already get one? A new contract. I don't know if it's an extension, averaging 13.2 million per year. Okay, this is the one that was basically agreed upon that they,

Okay. It still runs through 2030. Extension was not the right word. Thank you for catching me. It was just a new restructured deal that now will pay him $13.2 million a year through the year, 233. He can afford beer now. Lots of beers. Yeah, that's what he said.

He's got to keep working because he can't afford it. We've seen what his salary was at James Madison, you know, when it was in the six figures. I wonder what his salary was at Elon. That's a private school, so I don't know if they can say. But like how far is Kurt Signetti come salary-wise in 10 years? Oh, man. Kurt Signetti earned roughly $620,000 a year during his time as the head coach at Elon. Okay.

That's pretty good. It's a good salary. But it's not $13 million. I'm rewatching. I'm rewatching. I'm rewatching. breaking bad. And there's a scene where Walters loses Skyler and she divorces him and is like

threatening to get the restraining order. And then he approaches Gus and says, I'm out. And I just want to get my family back. I don't know if you remember this. But I do. But then Gus offers him, he goes, I'm going to offer you something. $3 million for three months of your time. And then you're out forever.

and like Walter goes three million again like it was like and I was like oh that's an NIL deal that's what Kurtzni daddy's gonna make for a three month period right now I was like is that literally what DJ Lagway made last year it's amazing not as dangerous a job

playing football but Walter had it pretty easy if he would have just kept his mouth stuff and stayed in line if you listen if he drove to a lot of if Gus had said hey Skyler sucks anyway. What are we even talking about here? He did you a favor. If Walter would have just shown up to the laundry,

parked his car, gone downstairs, did his science, and then gone back upstairs and driven home every day. Like, he would have been a very rich man that would have lived a long life and never been caught. Have you ever seen all the memes of like breaking bad without Skyler and it's just like Gus and Saul and Jesse and everybody in the back having a barbecue and like laughing together? The thing is that never would have happened. Nari because the genius of Breaking Bad and the genius of the Walter White character is that he always believed he was something greater than his lot in life turned out to be.

And so he was always going down that road. He was always going to become Heisenberg. That was he he was going to find a way to to self-destruct because of delusions of grandeur. That was always going to happen. So. And he was the first character, first character to go from protagonist to antagonist in the same series. Well, it's probably the one time the elevator pitch sounded awesome. And then they developed something amazing around it.

Yeah. Where it's not, we have this awesome elevator pitch and now we're going to shoehorn stuff around it. Because remember, the elevator pitch for Breaking Bad is Mr. Chips becomes Scarface. Yeah. And then they create one of the greatest, most, you know, layered, deep stories you'll ever find. I'm never, I'm not aware of how it was written or if the whole thing was written before it was made or if they made the, they wrote the series season by season. Most shows, like, write the series. I think they started, I think they started thinking ahead in season two.

Okay. Season one had the writer's strike, which actually cut it short. And you can tell, like, it's narratively choppy that first season. Like, starting with season two, it becomes very carefully laid out. The thing that I love about Breaking Bad from a writing standpoint is that things that were said and done in the first episode mattered in the last one. Yeah. And it was like sometimes you watch a show and it's like, how are we going to end this thing? And then the plane crashes.

You know, it's just like this thing. Right. I love Lost. The first season of Lost was ingenious and it just, it was good for a while. But back then, network television, like, you're just trying to get renewed. And they keep renewing you and they keep throwing money at you so you're not going to say no. And eventually you got to figure out how to land the plane and then probably not a great analogy to use in a show. started with a plane crash.

Say my name. I am the one who knocks. All right. One more question. Who is it? What do you think that I see? Mike has been writing in quite a bit. Mike is our attorney friend.

We need to get them on the minor. We should. So this time Mike is chiming in on the Jerome Tang situation at Kansas State, which I do find very interesting for a lot of reasons. We do a lot of employment litigation that involves enforcement and settlement negotiations of non-compete clauses involving physicians and hardware and software engineers. Based on that experience, I doubt that K-State can avoid paying the bulk of the buyout called for in their basketball coach's contract.

Initially, in my opinion, claiming a four-cause termination based on the statements in the press conference is a tall order. But more importantly, how K-State treats this coach will have a direct impact on who will consider coming to coach there in the future and what agents will tell their clients about taking the K-State job. And he goes on to explain Chris Beard's termination from Texas because remember, He was accused of domestic violence. The accusation, I believe, was rescinded.

And probably even the accusation alone could have been used to fire him for cause, but they ended up paying that out. And so I don't think it's worth it to have a long, drawn out fight over this. I think Kansas State's probably going to have to pay something. Now, it may be that they have some stuff or they feel like they have some stuff from Jerome Tang's tenure that they can throw out there in discovery or that they can get out into the public sphere that might make them take a little bit less. But I also tend to agree with Mike on what it says about your job in the future because you don't want to be known as the school that doesn't pay its debts. Again, debts are important to pay that makes you a whole person. Now, all right.

We have examples of this, though. Like Tennessee, Tennessee did this with Jeremy Pruitt, where they basically fed him to the NCAA Wolves rather than pay him his buyout. Now, what's interesting about that one is Tennessee spent money in that case. Like they had to spend money on the attorneys to deal with the NCAA case. They had to pay a fine at the end. So they probably spent almost as much as they would have had they just paid Pruitt, but it's almost like they didn't want the satisfaction of getting the money from them.

Like they wanted to, they would rather light it on fire than give it to him. Yeah. Feels like what was the attitude. There is a specific job that always comes to mind whenever we talk about treatment of coaches on the way out. And you know what job that is in football? Kansas. Auburn. Oh, yeah.

Well, treatment of coaches while they're there. Yeah. Brian Harsen, the thing they tried to do to Brian Harson when he was still coaching there, going into his second season, was about as low as it gets. And now they ended up paying his buyout, but they tried not to.

Yeah. But that's also, you know, the same program that fired Chiswick after a year after winning a national championship. He was like 0.8 in the SEC. Yeah, I know, but he won the national title a year before. I guess he had Cam Newton. Was Cam Newton coming back? I don't know.

I'm of the belief that if you are a coach who leads your team to a championship, that that should be like a automatic five-year extension. No. I just think you need to pay what you say you're going to pay. and if you become a school that gets a reputation for not paying what you say you're going to pay, it is probably going to hurt you in recruiting good people. That's just the... Or don't sabotage your acting coach and current team to try to make sure you don't have to pay it,

which is the lowest. And the Tennessee example I gave, there was going to be an NCAA case anyway. So they were going to have to spend to defend themselves in that case anyway. They were probably going to have to pay a fine anyway. So maybe they just looked at it and said, you know, we're going to have to pay this money anyway. maybe we can use that to get us out of paying this other thing. The Kansas football one's the one that I just always come back to, and that's when they didn't want to pay David Beatty's buyout.

And David Beatty, he was owed like $3 million. And they said, oh, you had these NCAA violations, and that's really why we fired you. And we fired you because you were having analysts coach on the field, and that's against the NCAA rules. and we're turning ourselves in, and that's why we fired you. David Beatty's attorney in a deposition with then-Kansas AD Jeff Long brought out film of the current Kansas staff at the time,

which I think was the less miles staff, having analysts coach on the practice field, and said, okay, you fired David Beatty for this allegedly for cause. when will you be firing less miles for cause? And it was over. Case was over. They settled almost immediately. So, but that's why you don't do stuff like this,

because you're going to get, the potential to get embarrassed is high. And with Jerome Tang, there may, again, there may be something that they feel like they have from his tenure where they can say, well, we could probably do this for cause. What he said in the press conference is not going to rise to that level. So we'll see what happens.

He's hired Tom Mars. Tom Mars has already rattled the saber pretty loud. But if I had to guess, if I had to just speculate on where that might end up, I bet they end up paying him a rather large sum. They owe him $18.7 million. I bet they end up paying him more than half of that. and this gets settled and he's done with. Yeah.

Pretty crazy how wild this story kind of went off the rails. The second he started going off, popping off in that news conference. Like when you think about the two weeks, it would have been 10 days or seven days? I don't even know. It's like it's been nine days because the end of the game was on a Wednesday. Yeah. And you nailed it. Because we did something on it the next day.

That, I think it was last Thursday show. And you said, why is he drawing attention to? himself like this and you were right because it was quick wild wild wild act of uh self-sabotage without realizing it i think that it was like a misguided attempt to show everybody that he cares he should have just gone to the car wash and parked his car going downstairs oh my goodness now we're gonna we're gonna see as as these buyouts stay this high because everybody says oh when are the buyouts going to drop they're not clearly that the school's keep telling us. We're going to stop doing this and then they keep doing this.

So they're not going to drop. So every once in a while, we're going to have one of these where a school tries to get out of it. And it's going to be wild every time. Ari, it's been a fun week. Next week, we got some coaches scheduled to come in. We'll tease a little bit. We've got a Big Ten coach and an SEC coach already scheduled. Stars keep coming out. Yeah. And I hope that all these appearances learn from Tosh Lepoy because that that was

Yes, yes, yes. If you're scheduled on the show, watch that Tosh Lepoy story about going to get JKS. I want your best recruiting story, like your best one ever. Because everybody's got good ones. Yeah.

And we'll eventually find somebody whose best story is about blown up the bathroom in some kids' house. Yeah. It's kind of be amazing. We'll talk to you next week.