Andy & Ari On3 - That Garrett Nussmeier rumor scared every LSU fan; what does it say about college football in 2025?

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

As training camp is underway across the country, the message boards are getting ramped up this time of year. One piece on the message boards that made waves on Wednesday was that of LSU's Garrett Nussmeier suffering a serious injury. Our own Shea Dixon at the Bengal Tiger got down to the bottom of it and provided an update. (0:00-3:34) Intro: Garrett Nussmeier(3:35-11:09) Backup QBs(11:10-20:00) The Best QB rooms across the country(20:01-35:06) The Teams that have a plan and executed it(35:07-45:54) Arch Manning and the NFL Draft(45:55-47:07) How does this affect Dia Bell?(47:08-58:38) Florida and DJ Lagway's health(58:38-1:03:00) Best Fight Songs in CFB(1:03:01-1:13:27) College Football Redzone Channel After the Nuss news, Andy & Ari have an in-depth discussion on quarterback rooms across the country. What does a QB room even look like these days? Later, the fellas take a dive into what Archie Manning said about his grandson and declaring for the NFL Draft. Afterwards, Andy & Ari get into the news out of Gainesville regarding the Gators and some key injuries out of camp. To close, the guys discuss their top fight songs in college football and an what a potential red zone channel would look like for college football.Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/FjaIUn141MEHosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River BaileyInterested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail]

Welcome to Annie Marion three. It is that time of year. Ari, this happened yesterday afternoon after our show was recorded, but it is something that happens every August, every preseason camp. There's a message board that starts to smoke and smolder and then becomes a river of fire as a rumor just rips through a fan base. And sometimes it's true, sometimes it's not. In this case, the rumor yesterday was that Garrett Nussmeyer, LSU's quarterback, had gotten hurt at practice that it didn't look good.

Now, pretty quickly, thanks to reporters like Shea Dixon from non-3s, the Bengal Tiger, they got the correct information out there that he was not seriously injured, he was going to be fine, and that it's all good. But that moment of panic, that 30 or 45 minutes where everybody in L.S. us use fan base is on pins and needles is fascinating to me because I go back to a mailbag question we had a couple weeks ago, Ari, where we had one of our listeners ask us who feels comfortable with their backup. And I, we, we just racked our brains. And I think we came with Georgia Tech, and that's pretty much it. Yeah, I think we figured out that like people who know or who could be excited about their backup quarterbacks could just be people who are excited to see a freshman a freshman who hasn't played yet play like i mean like Alabama is going to have

the best backup quarterback in the country because it's probably going to be keel and russell right like that you but you don't know if he's any good he's a freshman but i'm saying like that's the only time where you can feel like he's any good um you know i remember back when i was on the ohio state beat like in 2015 i wrote a column saying that Ohio State was wasting a scholarship by having a fourth quarterback on it. Because if you get to the fourth quarterback in a in a season, you're screwed. And then funny enough, they ended up winning a national title with their third stringer. But like there was a discussion

of like, do you need to have four quarterbacks on your team? Because like you can also make the case that there's a development aspect to it where you have the three and the four are never going to play in a given year, but you might let them battle behind the scenes to be the backup the following year and then maybe start down the line. But I always thought that having four was a lot on an 85 person roster. And it's like now

it's like impossible to really have four that aren't just bodies because most teams don't even have two unless it's a freshman who is starting next year. If we're talking about teams that could contend, the only way you can have a backup who might wind up being capable or one of the few ways is, like,

you said, the true freshmen who understands that they need a year to develop and they're going to sit there, but they might have to get thrown in there. Because the problem is blue chip quarterback recruits that they're not Arch Manning are going to go somewhere else. If they're not going to play by year two, a lot of them are just going to go somewhere else. And so this is what everybody has a clear path to two years down the line. That's the thing. Like back in the day, you would commit to a program and you might not be able to see your path right like now it's like okay who's starting and when's he leaving and then the discussion's over like that's all it's all you need well and in an lSU's case so their backup is not like there there's an alternate universe where bryce underwood

never flips to michigan and he's the backup to garret nussmeyer this year but that's not what happened so the backup now is michael van buren junior who started out at mississippi state and played some at Mississippi State last year. He was Blake Chapin's backup. Blake Shapen got hurt. And so he got to play some. But then Blake Chapin got healthy. He's going to be the starter again at Mississippi State.

And so Van Buren's at LSU now. He's the insurance policy. And the date of his decision to transfer, like it's telling it's December 15th. What happened right around that? That was right about when Bryce Wender would flip to Michigan. Yeah, you now are able to get players in certain instances that have played. Like, I think that, like, in the pantheon of reliable backup quarterbacks,

it just kind of starts and ends with how much have you played. Like, was Michael Van Buren a good quarterback? At Mississippi State? Servicable, right? How did you even know? Like, Mississippi State was so physically overwhelmed by its schedule. But he played and was effective at times, right? Right, yes.

So, like, at least that makes you feel good. I mean, would you rather trot out Michael Van Buren or Bryce Underwood? Bryce Underwood. So is it really a loss? Yeah, I mean, that's... I mean, here's the other secondary part of the discussion. You had two true freshman quarterbacks last year playing at a very high level. And I wonder if there's something in the food or if it's the course.

or if it's the quarterback training or the camp circuit or whatever. But are freshman alien athletes more prevalent now than they've been in the past? Or is all the coaching that these kids get through the Elite 11 and personal quarterback coaches? Some have more money to spend on those types of luxuries than others when they're in high school. But quarterbacks in general, this was a trend that was happening even before the transfer portal wrecked the entire depth ability. They're more apt to play earlier in their careers now than they've ever been in college football history. So, like, I think that, like, there's going to be an evolution in the thought process that a player has to be in a program for three years before they're equipped to play, let alone be the backup. Like, if Alabama got into a position where Keel and Russell had to play if he doesn't win the job, like, I don't think that that would be any less effective than having a three star on the bench doesn't have the physical training.

who doesn't have the physical traits for cute is that a fair fight would you and honestly who would alabama rather go to you go to the higher upside guy and i think you always would go to the higher upside guy so but like there were discussions in the past between like it doesn't really matter who who's on the depth chart at two who's your who's your emergency backup who goes into the game and who's your backup like and is that a different person like if you are not if you are caught with an injury on Saturday in the middle of the football game. Do you send somebody else out into the game than if you found about that injury on Monday? Because there used to be two different people, too, I think.

Well, and Florida is an interesting case here because they got Harrison Bailey out of the transfer portal. He's been at Tennessee. He's been at Louisville. He started the bowl game for Louisville last year. But at the end of spring, it looked like Aiden Warner was still Florida's backup quarterback. And Aiden Warner is the one who came in in the Georgia game last year and started in place of DJ Lagway in the Texas game. That didn't go well.

No, Florida had no chance with the same roster that would go beat LSU and Ole Miss the next two weeks. They couldn't get a first down in those games, if I'm recalling correctly. Georgia, they were okay. Like, they were actually in the Georgia game in the fourth quarter. But the Texas game was non-competitive. It was like they shouldn't have even shown up. And that's, so that's the thing. I don't know that there's a lot of teams out there where you're super confident in the backup.

And I think that is a new for this era situation because even a few years ago, you did have guys who were kind of, but wait, well, even last year, Gunner Stockton had to be that guy for Georgia. Yeah, they didn't have two options. Yeah. This is kind of a funny segue that's part of the conversation because I think we're going to try to name who are the most reliable backups here. We had a little bit of a text discussion about it before the show. It's not even reliable. It's like who would you, if they had to put them in, would you still feel some confidence? Have you been paying attention to what's going on in Columbus?

Yeah, it's been pretty interesting. I don't know if that's just like media propaganda or the coaching staff doing a good job of making us believe. But like there's more smoke now that that is a legitimate battle than ever before. And, like, I don't know that I buy it. I think that Julian Sand will still be the starter day one. But the fact that this quarterback battle is going the way that it is, does that make you feel like Ohio State is in the best position? Because you do have a guy who's been in the program for multiple years.

You do have a guy who played in a bowl game. Obviously, that did not go well, that cotton bowl against Missou, but he did play. If and when Julian San wins the job, does Ohio State have the best backup in the country because it was a legitimate competition that was won at the end of the third. thing like do you buy that or do you think this is all just kind of you know fall camp media nonsense i mean conspiracy theory brain is just going oh this is this is to make you feel good about if you have to put the backup in and media control or like fall camp battle it's that's contrived to make the person who wins it feel like they earned it or make the person who loses it feel

like they're still a valuable member of the team and and not just like want to go leave immediately which I don't think you would. It wouldn't make any sense to leave immediately now. 10-year anniversary of the biggest mess-up in quarterback battle history that tanked a season for them. So 2015, Ohio State, yeah. Also, what's the right way to do a quarterback battle? Like, when do you want to name it?

You don't want to name the starter in the tunnel before the Virginia Tech game. I don't think that's the way to do it. No, I think probably. You're in that tunnel. Yeah, going into the first game week, I think, would be the way to do it. So when you kind of turn the page, yeah, turn the page out of camp, not the Monday, but like the Thursday before your first game week. So you're turning the page out of preseason camp and starting to actually prep for that

first opponent. That's a good time to say, you know what? This is our guy. Like I am, you know, I was watching ancient aliens, Andy, so I'm in a mood right now. Oh, I will. I feel like I'm like Giorgio a little bit, except in the SEC documentary. So I need to make my hair crazier. It was alien.

You know that man's name is just another illustration of Andy's brain. Ancient astronaut theorists believe. I legitimately just got done watching the show this morning, and I could not tell you that guy's name. The fact that you just like know it offhand. It's Georgio, and then the last name is extremely Greek. But what are the odds that you have two quarterbacks on your roster at the same time who are different ages that aren't.

like you where you can't tell like i am so dumbfounded by the ryan day quarterback whisperer having two players in his team that are very different it has had in multiple years and like needs three like three weeks of practices to um figure out who's five percent better like like what are the odds of two human beings being that identical yeah i i do think it's it's it's hard right now it's hard but so you think it also chance that that that is what's happening that that is what's here? Well, it also mirrors what's happening at Notre Dame. Same thing. CJ Carr is in the same spot as Julian saying timeline-wise. I believe Kenny Minchie's in the same spot as Lincoln Keenholz timeline-wise. And neither presumed starter has been named the starter. In both cases,

there's buzz coming out of camp about the presumed backup, and maybe it's more of a legitimate competition than we've been led to believe it's it the the situation seemed very similar they are identical mm-hmm they're identical and uh you know I don't know that I'm buying either of them like no Ohio State fan and Lincoln Keenholz wins the job are you like what the hell like but here's the thing it's not like you've seen a lot of Julian saying either so like if you're if you're a fan or you're us like we know some people but have we watched a bunch of Ohio state practice no we haven't like we don't know we don't know who's actually better yeah you don't know the specific skill sets of the player what you do know

definitively is what the plan was when these players were signed and like that's like the thing that goes back to Jackson Arnold with me last year it's like well you know we're benching this guy and it like kind of spits in the face of the entire program planned and direction and like to me I think that's important like you and I just I think differ on that like you think well put put the best player in the game for this game and I think that like for the most part that's probably correct but I do think you have to weigh the consequences of what the decisions of your battles mean for the actual plan and direction of the program I thought about the Oklahoma thing and the argument so for those who don't remember we had a we had an

argument a month long argument when when Michael Hawkins Jr. got put into the starting lineup at Oklahoma and Jackson Arnold got pulled because Ari was worried about what does this say for the future I think the the reason I was right on that is not you were right yeah but for the wrong reason I don't think the reason oh no I'm I mean I'm right that you play to win the games like that's that's just elementary but the reason it didn't the reason it didn't matter is because they already knew they were firing the OC and they were probably in a wind up getting another quarterback anyway. Yeah, I don't know if they would have started Jackson, Arnold, all the games,

and you would have had a better feel of what you had in that asset. And he still would have transferred to somewhere else after the O.C. Are you sure about that? Yes. Because if they were always going to hire Ben Arbuckle, he was always going to bring John Mateer. Yeah. I mean, I don't know how early on they knew that that was going to be the case. They didn't, but in this day and age,

The O.C. brings a quarterback. I mean, like, in this day and age, you can say, well, if we lose our quarterback, we'll just go get another one. And if you're Oklahoma, you probably feel pretty good about your prospects of getting a good one. So, like, in that regard, you're right. But I don't know what they gained by doing what they did last year. They didn't win any extra games, and they don't know. You're going to win those games anyway because there was no one to block for whoever was playing quarterback.

And then you had to let go. And no one to throw to because they were all hurt. You had to let go of an asset that may turn out to be incredibly valuable without really knowing what you had. Like, I actually think there's more downside to what they did last year than an upside. Here's the thing. You still would have taken John Matere and let him go.

It doesn't change the ultimate outcome. It would be interesting to think, like, if Jackson Arnold turns out to be just as good or better. Like, is that out of question? No. It's not out of question. All this time talking about Auburn this year, and we both agree that are probably a preseason top 15 team. And the number one red flag, we're assuming that they're going to be better because they were kind of like, I mean, Auburn was Michigan light at a quarterback last year, weren't they? It was that bad.

It had a fair thing to say. It was weird because Thorne was effective most of the time and then just made some unbelievably bad mistakes. Yeah, but that's probably not fair because Thorne actually could throw a downfield pass and complete one. It was just when he completed him to the wrong team a lot. But like we are in the, it has to be better at Auburn, and we're like kind of blindly trusting that Jackson Arnold is going to be good.

I'm not blindly trusting that thing. there's a reason they went and got the guy and started at Stanford last year and they got and they signed Deuce Knight. You can't possibly rank Auburn in the top 15 and not blindly trust that the quarterback is going to be better. I don't know which quarterback

will be better though. It doesn't have to be Jackson Arnold. I just said they went and got Ashton Daniels from Stanford and they signed Deuce Knight. So if Ash and Daniels was their starting quarterback right now, I would not have them in my top 15. Well, but what is what is Jackson Arnold showing

you that Jackson Arnold's potential and the fact that they wanted him is why and I might be stupid for saying that maybe I'm done but it doesn't change the fact that it was over at Oklahoma but this is the guy Jackson Arnold wanted to play for had left Oklahoma and was the head coach at Mississippi State and they were firing the next OC this is a secondary conversation I don't want to we don't have to re-argue about things that we right yeah yeah yeah but the thing that I want to know for sure now is in college football does program plan exist anymore like if you have a confession plan or if you have a viewpoint of where you want to go like oklahoma's plan before the year last year jackson arnold's starting we're building our program around him do you remember

the way that oklahoma people were talking about him last off season oh yeah you can't just erase that from existence so like for me it was like wow this might there might be some bumps and bruises in oklahoma might not win as many games they're accustomed to but when they come back and 2025. They're going to have a season quarterback who has developed, taken his lumps, and they're going to be in a position to build around him in the portal. Like that was their plan. And it looks like that Oklahoma didn't need that plan because Oklahoma, I think, is going to be pretty good this year. And they might have had a huge upgrade at the quarterback position from a player we didn't even have on the radar a year

ago. So like, that calls into question, too. It's like, do coaches even have long-term plans? And it reminds me of what one big 12 coach said to us while we were hanging out with every single big 12 coach a month ago, which is back then you used to be building a program and now you're building a team. Like, do you buy that? I do. And you have to be, you have to be flexible. You have to be willing to scrap the plan when it's clear if something's changing or it's not going to work. Why even have a plan? Because it's good to have a plan. It's always good to have a plan. but but it's hard to have a plan like back to the garret nussmeyer thing garret nussmire of 23 does not exist in college football right now like the garret

nussmire who went into 2023 as jaden daniels back up and was fine with it despite like showing promise like he'd come in for jaden daniels in the c c championship game the year before and look pretty good. Like, that person doesn't exist because that person is probably going to go after that SEC championship game in 2022 go, you know what?

I could go start somewhere right now. I don't have to sit behind this guy another year. You know when plans are really going to explode? When Garrett Nussmeyer leaves LSU to go be the starting quarterback at Florida State just because they paid him more. That's when plans are moving. He's not going to do that

because they're not going to pay him more than an NFL team's going to pay him. No, I know, but what I'm saying is, and this is, don't, don't read too much into the person in the places I'm saying, but when a established starting quarterback leaves for more money in another place, is that going to happen? Derry and Minson did it this year. Now, you can say it's a level up. It's going from the American to the ACC, but that's exactly what happened.

They send him a bunch of money, and he's like, okay. What you take from this is, is that the only people who actually can have a plan are the people at the top of the food chain. Yes. Texas had a plan. Texas, the question is, like, do they now have a plan? Because Arch Banning is a very unusual case, too, where he had gotten the, you know, very good advice saying, hey, don't worry about being the backup for the first three years.

That's fine. Enjoy it. I'm looking at the college football playoff final rankings in 2025, and I want to go down the list of teams that finished. in the top 15 that are able to have and execute a plan. Yep. Down the line. Oregon had a plan.

Oregon. Yeah. Dante Moore. Georgia can have a plan. They dictated their plan. Texas had. But didn't, I mean, Georgia tried to get for Dana Mendoza. Let's not forget that.

Yeah. So, but like Georgia doesn't have to fear losing its players for equal or marginally more money to a team lower on the chain um texas executed a plan that cannot be duplicated probably even by texas in the future exactly exactly pen state's plan fell apart but it probably was an improvement on what their plan was their plan was to have bow per bulla as their starting quarterback this year and said they've got drew aller back as a bonus yeah um Notre dame's plan was to carry along Cj car for a few years uh have them in a quarterback battle and to ultimately win that battle in 2025 they're still on track to do that. Ohio

State's plan has continued to stay intact, you know, in terms of, you know, their backup quarterbacks being in the room for an entire year behind a starter that they brought in as a one-year rental and now those two quarterbacks are in a battle. Tennessee's plan exploded. Tennessee's plan was like one of

the first space-esque rockets. Exactly. It didn't just fall. It exploded. It did. It did. because the idea at Tennessee was Marklinger, Jake Merklinger, who signed last year, or George McIntyre who signed this year,

Nico was going to go pro after this season and then you'll have a competition between guys who had been, one guy who'd been on your campus two years and one guy who'd been on your campus one year, which is that's the plan you want to have and it didn't work out. And now like Tennessee can

may have to go get a portal quarterback in six months. Depending on how McIntyre performs behind the scenes. Because Indiana, I don't know, they had a plan. Their plan was to flip their roster and to improve their programs stature and then use that to get better players, which I think they've done in getting Fernando Mendoza. I don't know if they could have planned to get him, but they got him. Boise State has a returning quarterback.

So maybe their plan is to grow another Ashton Gentie and have him just be awesome. I don't know what the plan is there. but at the quarterback position, their plan is continued. SMU had a young quarterback who actually won a battle early on last year with an established quarterback. Took the job because Preston Stone was your day one starter and Kevin Jennings took his job. And Kevin Jennings is back. So the plan is working there. Alabama, their plan is to move on from an established quarterback with a person that's already on their roster

while also having a five-star quarterback battle with him while also bringing in Austin Mac from Washington. That's probably about as functional as a plan of anybody has in America, right? Like, you feel good about that plan if you're out. You feel like between one of the, you know, between Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, and Keel and Russell, something's going to work. This is a fun exercise. I like this.

Miami, oh no, Arizona State has Sam Levitt. I think that they bought low on a player that was speculative. That player hit big time and now they're reaping the benefits of doing that, which is perfect. I think Arizona State executed a plan by evaluating a player and keeping him for multiple years, which is basically the wet dream of every

single program that is in the bottom half of a conference. Sam Levitt's available because Jonathan Smith gets the Michigan State job and brings Aden Childs as his start. How many teams in college football can you say found a speculative asset as a

bottom lower half team in a power conference that has turned out to be a star? Well, I would say that Arizona State did that twice they did it the year before with cam scataboo they did it last year with sam levitt but uh b yu did it with retzliff and now retzliff is gone i mean Arizona state also lost one of the best college quarterbacks of all time so like that no jaden rashana no jaden daniels i'm just kidding yeah yeah jane rashada too we don't sleep

well they didn't they didn't know jaden daniels was one of the best college quarterbacks of all time when they lost things cancel out though like there's like the gold mine of sam Levitt in the disaster of Jaden Daniels? Of, yeah, of letting Jane Daniels just walk and then making fun of him when he left. Yeah, like, yeah. Weren't there like recordings of like their players like laughing in front of his locker?

Yeah, throwing away the stuff in his locker. Yeah, that works out well. Okay, Miami, their plan exploded. In the ball game. Like, Kim Ward plays the first half of the bowl game. It was like, all right, this is fun. This is a celebration of the great offense that we had all year.

All right, Amory Williams comes in. Let's see what he's going to do because this is next year's QB1. Oh, my God, we don't have a QB1. We don't have a QB1. What do we do? I don't want to cut myself on the back. But like I saw that plan exploding month before and I wrote a calm about it. I was like, what the hell are we doing here a quarterback next year?

And that seemed to work out. They got Carson Beck. People are excited about that. What about another great plan that's kind of working out well? Ole Miss had a transfer quarterback. He came in and got drafted in the first round, and now they have Austin Simmons developing behind the scenes. And not only was he developing behind the scenes,

he came in and had maybe the most instrumental and important drive of their entire season, and end with a touchdown, which is huge for them. And also he's a physical freak who's going to be really good, right? Like, can we say that about him? I feel very, of all the first year starters, I might feel the most confident in him

just because he's the one we've seen in absolute crunch time perform. We've seen we saw Arch start two games. I obviously feel very comfortable about Arch, but like non-Arch division Austin Simmons might be the one I feel the most confidence in. Yeah, and the one that we messed up the most in our

quarterback evaluation draft or our quarterback production. Oh yeah. Yeah, I mean, River got him and he's like fist pumping. But also River, you're not that smart. Like we spent the last 10 minutes of that episode talking about how we messed up by not digging Austin Simmons. We didn't we spoon fed you that that pick.

Okay. You're probably going to win because of it, but, like, we acknowledge that was our... Am I supposed to say thank you right now? Like, am I supposed to change for your security? Thank you, guys, making the mistake and acknowledging the mistake on air. Thanks for not taking really good quarterbacks. I'll scoop them up for you. He's got CJ Carr, too. Yeah. Not at all. I didn't take it. Oh, you didn't. Oh, you're right. You didn't. Well, you're going to regret that, buddy. Maybe.

He's in a quarterback battle. Right. Well, And then there's one more, which I think is the most, who's 15. If South Carolina's plan works out and you can duplicate it, great. Go find an alien, put them out there as a true freshman and stumble upon maybe the best physical. Norseller's wasn't a true freshman. He's a redshirt freshman. Red short freshman.

Yeah, still. Have a redshirt freshman come in. Lenore Sellers is also an even more rare commodity. Alien who grew up right next to your campus, or right down the road from your campus. campus who you didn't offer until he was a senior in high school. Like that's so unusual in quarterback recruiting. Our guy was going to Syracuse before South Carolina swooped in and offered his senior year. I would not be able to figure out that he was an alien.

If you're an alien that has these physical traits, how is it possible to even get to your senior year without everybody in America recognizing those traits? I think he was a little bit of a later bloomer. And like they had him in camp and they liked him a lot, but they weren't sure. yet. Injured his junior year and trying to remember the quarterback that they, oh, Dylan Lonergan was the guy they thought they were going to get who wound up signing with Alabama and who is now at BC. Yeah. I actually am going to admit that I don't, I didn't track Sellers recruitment very closely, so I would love to know. Because he wasn't a huge recruit. Like, he just, he wasn't. It was a late blooming recruitment. Again, the junior year injury is, has something like that that comes back to

play of like, how did this freak fall through the cracks? Oh, yeah, he doesn't have tape for an entire year. Okay. Well, that happened. But you would think that every single coach in America would see him camp and just be like, I can't live without this person. Yeah. And maybe he didn't go to a ton of camps. I don't know. I'll have to go review that. But that worked out pretty well. And then, of course, you have Clemson who does it their way. And they were 16 in Clemson. Yeah, they, they K K Klubnick's right there. Chris Vizina's been there. So they have a backup who's been there.

They've signed a quarterback every year. They have another, they have one coming in in the class of 26. I believe they've already got their commitment for 27. And Chris Vizina, I believe, was a top 100 player. Yes, he was a very high profile recruit. Yeah. So, you know, that could be the case for them where you, I remember Clemson, there used to be this, like, school of thought.

It's so funny to remember, like, back in old college football days of like 2018. And I remember writing a column about this, too, where it's like, what's the smart way to recruit quarterbacks? Do you go a five-star player developmental guy, five-star player developmental guy to create natural lines of succession? Or do you go five-star, five-star, five-star, five-star, five-star, just let the mayhem figure it out.

And like there were two schools of thought, like Ohio State in Alabama, we're doing five-star, five-star, five-star, five-star. No, not true. It was more like five star, five star, developmental guy, five star. But Alabama would do the developmental guy as the second QB in a class. So, yeah. So Mac Jones was the second, he actually I think was the first to commit, but he was the second QB if we're talking about ranking them.

Tua was the first QB in that class. Mac Jones was the second QB in that class, and it all worked out. The year before that, they signed Jalen Hertz. So that's what they would occasionally sprinkle in the developmental guy and hope he'd stick around. Yeah, I'm kind of to look back. Lincoln Keenholz signed as the only quarterback in his class, which was not typical for Ohio State. This is Ohio State, yeah.

Lincoln Keenholz also was a top 150 player, and we talk about him like he's a three-star scrub. So, you know. But the thing is, like Ohio State signed Aaron Nolan since then. And Aaron Nolan is now at South Carolina, hoping to do the heir apparent to Lenora Sellers. Tadian St. Clair is a freshman at Ohio State right now who is not in the battle because he's just gotten there. But if you go look at Ohio State's last five years, they signed a really, really good quarterback in just about every class. So, you know, that's just kind of the way it's gone. for them you know

CJ Stroud was a 2020 class and I know they were supposed to get Ewers in 21 I can't remember if they got somebody else in his place I have no ability to work oh yeah Kyle McCord you know yeah that class they got Ewers too got yours McCord which would never happen by the way now

because I think Ewers and McCord were one in two or one in three and quarterback rank that season yeah yeah anyway so Fun thought.

I know that we plan to talk about something and then we don't talk about it, but I hope you thought that was a good replacement. Well, we did talk about it, though. I mean, we did talk about one, before we move on, because our next topic is a quarterback topic as well, but other situations, like USC, they're probably excited if their backup goes in because they want to see who's on Longstreet. they don't want anything bad to happen to jaden myava but i think they're excited about who's on long street every single program that signed a top 100 quarterback in last year's class feels good about their backup because it's exciting right but it doesn't mean it's going to work it just means that person was highly ranked yeah but also too people like spring games because they get to watch the players that they're excited about and like if jaden maiava struggles for even a game

people are going to be calling for the backup. So sometimes you get what you wish for and it doesn't go well. But, yeah, I mean, I think that, like, if I were, it almost felt like Davosweeney intentionally staggered his classes where he would have a big-time quarterback, and then he would take somebody who would be more willing to stick around and develop behind the scenes and be a good backup. Like, I just don't think that the notion for a team

that wants to compete for a national championship game is to ever sign a player. I don't think that a program should ever sign a player that they don't think can play there. Like, I think I would rather have the open roster spot, especially in the nowadays days. I would agree with that because you can go grab a transfer who you do think can play there. Do you think that, like, it makes sense for a team like Clemson or Georgia or Alabama to go sign a quarterback that they know is there to be the backup? No, you just hope that, like, Ryan Paglisi is a good example. is a Georgia quarterback.

He's probably the backup this year. He signed in the year where he remained committed to Georgia despite Dylan Ryola also being committed to Georgia. I want a guy like that. I want a guy who says, I don't care if this dude's highly ranked. I'm going to go compete with him. But he also could be the starting quarterback for Georgia next year.

He could be. But a lot of guys would have bugged out and not signed with Georgia. But now... You know, would have flipped when Dylan Raola committed. now in this in this world though you unequivocally have to go sign the best possible quarterback you can find every year regardless of what your future looks like on your current roster yes the problem is when you have a little quarterback it scares the crap out of everybody else like you know archmanning dj lagway like we would those guys you have to say hey look this guy may be r started the next two years so get used to it which brings us to archman Manning. Interesting comment from his grandfather, Archie Manning, to Texas Monthly.

And this tracks with what we've been told, and we've mentioned this a few times. I remember, you know, last week I did this story on the Shrine Bowl 1000, and Arch Manning, who is draft eligible, was not included in it because the people at the Shrine Bowl said, we don't think he's going to enter the draft. So this is Archie Manning to Texas Monthly on Arch and whether he'd go into the draft after this season. and he was pretty matter of fact arch isn't going to do that he's going to be at texas that's what archie manning told texas monthly so that is is probably comforting news for texas

and not surprising like i'm sure eli and and peyton said hey be a two-year college starter it'll help you when you get to the NFL What if the band throws for 4,000 yards wins the Heisman and the national title? Is he coming back? Yeah. What if he wants to do it again? No, nobody since Archie Griffin's won two Heismans. I, yeah, I mean, nobody had a plan.

Why do you care? Like, why does it matter to you if he has this great season? Like, why does he have to walk off if he has a great season? Why can't he just be like, this is freaking awesome? I'm going to try to do that again. Yeah. I don't like, I like plans and the mannings have executed their plan perfectly, and it's been atypical.

So I don't think it would be smart to question whether or not what Archie said was true. I trust that it is. I don't understand why you would have a plan in place when you don't know what is in your immediate future. Because the plan is be a college starter for more than one year. because Peyton and Eli reasonably successful NFL players and by reasonably, I mean, extremely believe that

being a starter in college for more than one year gives you a massive advantage when you go to the NFL. Do you believe that? I think it's probably true. Yeah. Do you believe that what was true in 1996 is not true now?

They didn't stop playing in 1996. Eli Manning was playing five years ago. So I'm not really worried about what happened when they came out of college. What year was Eli drafted, like 2001? 2004. Yeah. So, but Eli just finished playing. Eli knows more about quarterback than me.

I'm not going to argue with the guy. What I'm saying is they were not, they've been in the league recently, Eli especially. like it's not like they don't know what's going on no i know i mean i want to have an opinion about this and uh but well you do and and i i want to i want to dive into it and i think it's interesting because your your initial reaction was what if he throws for four thousand yards wins the heisman trophy in the national title what then like that that level of accomplishment and that series of events would necessitate leaving or would make leaving preferable, why wouldn't, if you did all that, why wouldn't it be cool to try to do that again?

I mean, it would be cool. I think things are cool. But I think if you do those things, then you've illustrated through your play that you're ready for the next level. That's my point. It's not that sticking with your team isn't cool. And I think if this wasn't Arch Manning, if this was just a person who didn't come from a family

that had a guaranteed Hall of Famer and a maybe Hall of Famer. Yeah, I think they would after something like that. My thing, too, is, I don't know. Do you know that insurance premiums are so much more expensive now than they used to be? And like, I just went through all my insurance premiums because we had to, like, re-up our house and our car and stuff. I just had a child turned 16 and get a driver's license. How much more a month is it?

I don't know yet. How do you not know that? Because my insurance agent needed me to send all of the information, including the new driver's license number, this morning. Oh. So I'm getting that fun little surprise this week. I shouldn't wait to find out. Because they didn't quote you on it because you could have made that decision.

I could have pushed on it. But we stack our home in auto. It's still going to be the better deal. You're a bundle guy. I get it. I love that. But, like, also, too, don't you, you can use the 16-year-old without the driver's license and the quote to try to inform what kind of car you would buy from a, but like, you're not

buying a sports car, so it won't matter. He's, it's a pick. He's going to, he's going to drive a pickup truck. So it, but I did send his report card, which apparently that's going to help. You do. If you have good report card, you get a discount. I know that because I had more sell insurance for a year or two when I first started doing journalism.

So, like, okay. Well, tell me how the insurance premium. it's all about mitigating risk and there's a formula that insurance companies that's like people think that you're just getting bent over by insurance companies but the fact is there is a complex algorithm that you know predicts whether or not you're going to get to an accident or you're going to have a peril you know on your house and I like wonder like what the insurance premium of like his knee would be for coming back for an unnecessary year that's all it's like you know it'd be cool if he came back after doing what he did

Let's say Arch throws for 4,000 yards, wins the Heism Trophy, wins the national title, and then blows me out in the TEP in 2020, and never plays again. You know what he gets to be? A Manning who led Texas to a national title and won the Heism trophy. He already gets to be a Manning, though. I mean, that's great. Like, he's fine. I'm just saying.

Which is it, but that's also part of the math here. Are you saying that the rules for Manning and mitigating risk are different because he's a Manning? Yes. He's going to be a. person his entire life no matter what oh yeah but mine's not just money mine mine's not just predicated out it's money for other people it's not for him mine is just like why wouldn't you do everything in your power to make the most prudent decision that you can to be successful in the league and you're already playing in another another year is and i and i can accept um i just like feel like

if he already because he's not a small kid he's a very athletic big kid so like from a physical standpoint. I already think that he's probably in the realm of, you know, what you would see at the combine as like, that would be, that all checks out, right? Oh, yeah. The physical part of it, like, he could have gone out this year if he'd been eligible to go out this year. And the physical part of it, he would have checked everybody. And I think a lot of times with the NFL, the extra year in college is more about the physical than it is. But like, you know, you want production and physicality to catch up to what you would want at the combine. And I feel like physically, he's already there. So if you have production to match your physicality,

then you've already proven through your play that you are a viable candidate for the ultimate goal, which is he's a manning and he's rich, but I'm still sure he was a 15-year-old or a 13-year-old or an 11-year-old who wanted to play in the NFL one day. Here's the other piece of that, Ari. There are so many fewer career-ending injuries now. That's true.

Medical sciences advance to the point where there were very few career-ending injuries. So even if you come back and you had an injury. It didn't happen if you're somebody, though. Right. Jordan, exactly. Isn't playing anymore. Jordan Travis is, but that's a rare case now. So I think if you're Arch Manning,

and look, it's whatever he wants to do. If he gets through this season and he wants to go for it. His grandfather is speaking for him in terms of what does he want to do? He's an 11-year-old boy wanted to play in the NFL one day. But I don't think Arch, I think if Arch wanted to have a higher profile and wanted to say more, he would say more he's got plenty of agency i'm very curious if he turns out to be a freaking badass if arch takes the reins on that at a certain point he has to transfer from young little manning who's from the quarterback family to like adult male right like and like he has to be the owner of

his own brand and his own life and i'm not saying that he's not he's taking advice and i think that more kids should take advice from people who know what they're talking about but i wonder if we were going to see a systematic or fundamental shift in who he is, personality-wise, brand-wise, all these things that have been kind of cradled by experience. And then we're finally going to see the training wheels come off once he has product. Maybe that's part of the plan, too, Ari. Maybe the plan is you've got to accomplish something as the starter, and then you start doing all that, which would make sense and would track with the way they've handled everything so far.

Could you imagine if he was a Heisman finalist in this quote? dropped. That's also the timing of it is interesting. Well, it's nipping in the bud is what it's doing. And it's also tracks with everything that's been said behind the scenes. So we'll see.

And everything that's been done behind the scenes. We're assuming it don't don't take what we've said as us assuming this is all going to happen that he's going to throw for 4,000 yards. He's going to win the highs. I don't know. I think he is. Okay. Well,

Ari thinks he is, but I don't know. Speak for yourself, man. I think he's going to be a good starting quarterback at Texas. We'll see to what degree. Yeah, if he has a year's like year, then maybe he isn't, he needs that extra year. I think we're assuming that, I think there's an assumption maybe, and I wonder if there's any like speaking of mitigating risk, mitigating risk of his profile getting too big. Maybe this is a way of reminding people that he's a first year starter.

I think that's probably more accurate there. I take exception to making a plan about the future without all the information of what that future could look like in a year from now. That's all. Well, I'm not a man. Or a pro baller. It's going to be fun to watch one way or the other. And look, if he ends up being a really good quarterback and he wants to come back

and be a good quarterback in college next year, God bless him. It gives us more interesting stuff to talk about. we'll find out but that is that is what archie said and we'll just have to see how it goes shift shift to another big time quarterback and news and some news that affects him about somebody else Andy one more one more thing I don't want to there's one more thing I want to add okay Dia Bell is committed and we talk about how decisions of quarterbacks change the future I'm very interested in how that impacts Dia Bell who's a top five player nationally and there has been some de-commitment.

Smoke. Doesn't there been some smoke about that in the atmosphere? Wonder what Dia Bell's camp think of. I'm not creating drama. No, no, it's stuff we've heard through the recruiting grapevine that's real. And it's something that they have to think about. And he also has a very successful former pro athlete as a father figure. Yeah, Roger Bell played the NBA.

Yeah. Anyway, you can move on now, but I wanted to just remind everybody that, like, there's a succession plan. That is interesting. But also, Diabelle's still in high school. Deabel could spend his freshman year behind Archmanning, and that succession plan would make a lot of sense. It would make a lot of sense. Yeah. It's for sure. We go now to a situation where the succession plan did not go as planned last year. The quarterback ended up having to start earlier as a true freshman than anybody. had it expected, and that's D.J. Lagway at Florida. His health continues to be a concern. He had the calf. He's throwing again, but it's a question of, you know, how healthy is he? This is again going to be a thing over and over again. And now you get news from Florida's camp that one of the potential top targets for D.J. Lagway, a guy, Ari's been very excited about, also might be

injured. And that's Dallas Wilson, the freshman receiver. Uh, there, the, he's dealing with something according to, to gators online, which is the on three's gator site, uh, Zach Albuherty reported that he's dealing with something that might hamper him for about two weeks. And so that's basically the rest of camp. Now, Florida starts with Long Island and USF before they play at LSU. So I don't know that this is a panic button type situation, but again, it's just, it's one of those things that they would like, they would just love the Florida people I think would just

love to hear DJ Lagway's out there look great, feels healthy, and nobody else got hurt today. And they're just not getting at right now. I just saw an ad for a hoodie from Gap where you can blow up the hoodie part and it becomes a pillow and I think it's genius. The thing that I want to say, and I have a take about this, Andy, and I've been waiting 48 minutes to say it, is that like, I actually think that Billy Napier is the luckiest human being in the world because explain all the time and thank God that they aren't season ending injuries of these people

well agreed that that's the thing and that's it goes back to to the scare with with garret nestmire this week where LSU fans for about 45 minutes which is going to happen Florida fans been like that the entire off season essentially the case that sidelining DJ Lagway and Dallas Wilson for three weeks or two weeks with minor injuries is better because then it protects them from the perils

of getting a serious injury in camp. No, Ari, because at some point they got to play football. Like, I'm sorry, at some point you have to actually play football. And like Dallas Wilson is a different... Yeah, on Saturday afternoon. Dallas Wilson is a different story because this is his first issue. It just happened.

again it's it's a minor thing with lagway again none of the none of the injuries with DJ lagway in and of themselves are something that causes great concern it is that there are repeated nagging different injuries that have popped up that cause concern cumulatively I don't know if I'm alone in this And what you just said And like, I hate talking about this stuff

Because I, you know, you know, when you bet with a friend, If you say, hey, we're a few outs away from winning, That's the worst thing you can possibly say if you bet on baseball Because you don't want to talk about that. I don't know if you believe in words putting things out there. I don't know I played baseball growing up. I know you don't talk to somebody throwing an o-hitter. Yeah, like right.

Do you believe that like what a podcaster says puts evil out there into the world? say that I go to bed every night worried about DJ Lagway. It almost feels like there's a dark cloud over the swamp. And it's like this, something's going to happen that's going to cause him to miss significant time this year. Like, and I don't know why I feel that way. I just feel like I'm waiting. Because there's, there's repeated minor injuries that you worry might eventually blossom

into a major one. But again, when I see that DJ's hurt, it bothers me. like I don't want any I want to watch you want to see you want to see this guy at full strength because I want to see Florida at full strength for a full year yeah and it would be a fair assessment of Billy Napier at that point he'll if it if it's without DJ Lagway it's a it's not a fair assessment but the fact is it's year four so fair unfair is out the window at that point product you love saying it I want to be entertained I'm not a Florida fan I have no I would be it's fun to watch this. guy throw the football. It's a lot of fun to watch this guy throw the football. When I first saw the initial reports from fall camp that he had to miss a few days or when he was in a walking boot, I was like depressed by that. Well, but he already didn't throw in the spring. Like at some point, you do have to practice football. I had this conversation with my son's coach the last couple days because for those who don't know, my son got a concussion early in practice and is in

the concussion protocol. He's working his way back. it looks like he's going to be cleared to play in the first game. And my coach was saying, you know, how do you, his coach is saying, how do you balance, you know, the hitting drills and losing guys before the season? And I told him, I was like, you've got to practice football. You're going to be playing football. Like, I don't blame him that my kid was in a situation where he made a tackle and hit his head.

Like, it happens. and that's the thing you can't how do you manage that as a father if he's cleared to play for the first game do you want him to practice three full days before and is he allowed to or would you want to send him out there without practice they have a really good plan they have like we saw the doctor yesterday they have a great trainer who's in a phd program for athletic training right now who has dealt with this a million times so they like when it happened they took me through everything. They were very clear. This is how this works. This is the only way he gets back. He has to check all these boxes. He has to fulfill all these requirements. So I have no problem with it. They're handling it the right way. He may have, we'll see how it goes. He may have a full contact practice next week before the first game. I would like him to get one before the first game. He's had several already before this happened. So I don't want to bubble-wrapped. He's chosen to play football. You've got to play football. And I think that's the same

thing with DJ Lagway. And if DJ Lagway were a fourth-year starter with 39 starts under his belt, it's a totally different situation than a guy who has started six games, who now has the entire weight of the program on his shoulders. It's funny that I brought up the room when I asked you what the nicest hotel is in Gainesville and you're like, remember that? Yes. A tweet that was going around on Tuesday or Thursday before we started about like a Hilton Garden Inn in Gainesville that was asking like $3,200 per night for one of the night games. He's not that way effect.

We should get a room there and put them in there and lock them in until the first game. I don't let him play. I don't want to let him play. I'm terrified. I don't want him to hurt himself. I just want I want full DJ Lagway. I want full Dallas Wilson. I want Florida to be cool.

I want them to be fun. Dude, it's been so long. I don't know like if you get this way, but like when badass programs are dormant for X number of years, like you get the Shadenfreude out of your system, don't you want those programs to be badass again? Like I get so much shit for USC. fans saying I hate the program.

Do you know how bad I want U.S. No, you want the Carol era back. Exactly. Yeah, I guess you. Do you remember this? Do, do, do, do. Yeah. Oh, haters.

Come on. I want some of that back. Vaguely, I recall. Yes. No, I mean, like living in a college town, you get, like, the whole town changes when everybody's excited about the football team. And I've got, I've got news for people who might not understand this. It's not best for business.

for us if Georgia, Ohio State, and BAM are the three good teams every year. The ebbs and flows of college football, the building of programs, and the roller coaster ride up the mountain, and the lows of that roller coaster are good for us. We want a more inclusive sport. We want teams to rise and, you know, you don't root for anybody's downfall, but it does happen. And you want there to be a, well, the fact that Penn State is interesting as hell this year, and has a chance to win a national title is awesome for business. Doesn't it like West Coast football rising to the top in Oregon and USC

simultaneously being badass national title contenders is good for us? You think I like USC stinking? Yeah. The fact that I march on USC is a resentment towards the fact that they do stink at the moment. You want DJ Lagway to be great and Florida is a contender for a playoff berth. You want Lenora Sellers to be awesome? Yeah. Of course we do.

Yep. I agree. I think in this case though when he's capable of practicing you let him go you let him rip and let the chips fall where they may and I get that you can second guess however it's going to be handled

but eventually you're going to have to play football if DJ Leggeway wants to be the number one pick in the draft he has to play football the next two years what is the how does it go in uh what's florida's do to do or is that lSU that's florida and then what does that let's use do do you know it's kind of the same they're they're very similar do do do do do do do do do go geters yeah come on gators get up and go is the end of it yes yeah yeah da na na i mean you got to admit this is a pretty it's pretty badass the game it's a great mascot it's native to the to the ecosystem it's unique you know every single

that river plays that clip play it again of them doing the gator chop is that not dan mullen right in the middle there like that's what i see every time he plays that clip and i don't know it looks like one of my neighbors and i might actually be one of my neighbors it looks like every resident of gainsville yeah but i i think this billy nape is in a pretty tough spot when it comes to managing DJ Lagway because every eye is on this like how are you going to handle this what are you going to do and I think the only thing you can do is when the doctors tell you here's what he's capable of doing you do that and hope that he's ready hope that he's ready when this season starts

hope that he's really ready when they get to Baton Rouge in week three and they're going crazy and it's as loud as hell you just and you turn him loose and whatever happens happens do do do do gators Arizona does it Arizona has to bear down and they have like the little

Arizona I don't want people to think I'm a self loathing person. Arizona was a wonderful place to go to college. And I am grateful for their journalism program and all the friends I've made there. And I think that people should go there. I think it's awesome. I also think that they should take every single recruit that they can take to official visit to come to Tucson and in November night when it's 71 degrees and walk them from university to the stadium through the tailgate scene and see all the great things that campus has to offer. There's no reason why they should be one of the worst power teams in the country. I cannot fathom how they are. It was an amazing

place to, I mean, I study for exams by the pool. Like, I don't know what we're doing. That said, their fight song is terrible. Florida's fight song is not all that area. Their little do-to-do-do thing is good. The thing that makes, you know what's a great fight song? USC or like, and I know that. Oh, USC's fight song is spectacular.

USC, Michigan, Alabama. Yeah. Like, Arizona sounds like, Dun, Dun, down, Arizona. It's like, it's like almost like

your fight song reflects your expectations as a program. I don't know. Florida State, they just spell the name of the school. But I feel like

a program that that historically good should have a better fight song than that. Dun, dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun that's a scary, that's a scary fight song.

It's supposed to be a Florida State has the chop and the chant. Oh, Oh, that's awesome. Their actual fight song, F-L-O-R-I-D-A-S-T-A-T-E. Floor-S-A-F-E, Foer-S-A-F-A-F-E,

that's not. I get confused between fight-song and battle cry. Like, I know they've got multiple things. It depends on the school. Yeah, like Rocky Top is not Tennessee's official fights. I mean, let's be real. It's certainly. Like, you need to have a good battle cry.

Like in the middle of the game, you want a strong trumpet. Like on a big third down. Yeah. You don't want to hear Bear down, Arizona. I'm going to give up the third down. Like we've got to come up with something like... Yeah, Florida State, the chant and the chomp and the chop, when Florida State is good,

Doe Campbell Stadium is a scary place when everybody's chanting and chopping. Yeah, Notre Dame has an amazing fight song. Michigan's is a great fight song. Spectacular fight song. Alabama's is really good, too. Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun do. Yeah, you want it, you want your trumpets to create fear in the crowd.

That's the reason why they send bands on the road. Like if you are playing USC at home and they're going on a, they score, you need a score or something and you hear, you know, you hear that like trumpet. Like it's like you grind your teeth. Well, and I love when when they take something that's fairly unique to the area or to the state and they use it. Like, Florida's band started playing Trick Daddy's Shut Up in the early 2000s. Like, that's a perfect, because what is the, what is the beat, like, the main part of the beat in Shut Up? It's a tuba.

Boom, boom, bum, bum, bum, it's fantastic. Well, Michigan, that ass. Yeah. Bum, bum, bum, bong, bong, bong, tithe song is incredible. Hail to the victory. that's manly. It's like, that's football. Yeah. I'm sorry. I've wanted to get this rant off my chest. I felt this way for 20 years, and I've never said it publicly. Arizona's fight song is like weak. It illustrates their fight song. We need a contest to compose a new one.

They need to get that dude that T. Bob loves to come. John Williams. Yeah, John Williams needs to come in and consult. How can we make Arizona's fight song reflecting of a program that wants to score? I love it. John, we realize you've done Star Wars, you've done Harry Potter, you've done Superman. How do you feel about bearing down? Yeah, yeah, I just, it's weak. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm a proud Arizona grad.

That is fine, that is fine. All right, one more thing. I thought this is an interesting. Roger Goodell went on SportsCenter on Wednesday and brought up the notion that Red Zone will appear on ESPN. Now, you got this massive deal between the NFL and ESPN. ESPN is giving the NFL a 10% equity stake. In return, the NFL is giving ESPN essentially the parts of the NFL network. So the games that the NFL network is allowed to broadcast, the shows, the channel itself, Red Zone. And the Red Zone. And the Red Zone piece is interesting. And so Goodell said, hey, ESPN's bought the rights to the name Red Zone. So maybe they're going to use that in college. And that got people very excited. And I was, I was thinking, okay, this would be good, I guess. But if they do it, it would just be what ESPN has the rights to. So, SEC, ACC, some big 12, you know, there'd be no big 10 on it.

And I don't think that's like, that's not like the true. Like, NFL Red Zone is every game that's on Sunday during the day, they break in when somebody gets inside the 20 yard line. And I love it. It's an incredible product. I would love to see that in college football. the real version of it, not what the NFL would do if you couldn't have the AFC West and the NFC South in red zone. So I was thinking about how would you actually do that? How would you pull it off and have like a real red zone? It's not going to happen right away, but it can happen. It can't happen.

And I've talked about this before where there's a law called the Sports Broadcasting Act 161. It's what allows NFL teams to sell their TV rights as one, NBA, Major League Baseball, same thing. It draws a real bright line between pro and college sports. In fact, it was kind of designed to keep the NFL from cannibalizing college football. You don't need that anymore, especially now that the NFL owns a 10% equity stake in ESPN. The success of college football now is also financially the NFL's concern as well. So, How would you do this? Well, there are smart people working behind the scenes to try to convince the schools

to try to lobby Congress to change the sports broadcasting act. This is an antitrust exemption. They keep saying they want one, but they want one that allows them to violate the Sherman Act and price fix the labor market. That's never going to pass. You're never going to get that passed both hours of Congress. This one, though, you probably could because basically it's a fairness argument. like this now that you're paying the players in college it's essentially the same product as these pro sports

so why don't they get the the antitrust protection or the exemption that these other sports get and if they did that and if you could get the leagues to actually work together on something which i know is hard because they never do that's where the conversation stops yeah i know i know but if you could they could charge so much more money for their games like they would make twice as much money as they make now on TV. You just became Cody Campbell's number one fan, right? Or vice versa? He's one of the people doing it,

but there are other groups doing this as well. Cody is the former Texas Tech offensive lineman, billionaire oil and gas man. One of the things he would like to see is that get changed so that you could keep the FBS essentially together and have a broad

college football offering because everybody make more money. The SEC and the Big Ten would still make way more than everybody else, but everybody bank more because you could charge more because you'd be like the NFL. So here's what the NFL can do right now, Ari. The NFL can say, okay, Fox, you get this much. CBS, you get this much. Amazon, you get this much.

NBC, you get this much. Oh, and by the way, Fox and CBS, so we know we're making you pay to produce these things and you're paying us billions of dollars for the rights to all of that. we're still going to put them on our own product where we break into your coverage and people won't actually be watching your channel or your commercials. That's Red Zone. And you know what Fox and CBS do about that? Nothing.

They're like, thank you, NFL. Can we have another? Here's some more billions of dollars. So college football, you wouldn't be able to charge as much as the NFL does. But you would be able to charge significantly more per viewer than you charge now. Because right now, the SEC can sell its rights to ESPN, and ESPN can offer them some money, but not so much. Like, the SEC can't ask an outrageous amount because the ESPN will be like, okay, never one, we're just going to take the big 10 the next time they come up. We'll do business with them instead.

Like, it suppresses the amount of money you can charge. imagine all 10 FBS leagues were together and they're like CBS you can have this much and NBC you can have this much ESPN you can have this much and by the way all of it's going to be on a red zone like a red zone type channel and all of you are going to suck it up so whether the game's on peacock or the games on paramount plus or the games on ESPN or CBS or NBC or whatever we can break into it when a team gets inside the 20 how great would that be? Because right now,

like I'd have, if I were the average fan, I'd have my team game up on the main TV, and that's my second screen right there. But right now it sucks. Like, I hate it when there's a game I want to see. And like,

oh, it's on Peacock. Crap. Now I have to get out of the YouTube TV app, change to Peacock. Like, it's a pain in the butt. Well,

I tweeted this the other day, but if there was ever, a NFL red zone college equivalent like the host would have a seizure it's true Scott Hanson's not

Scott Hanson's great at what he does but man I don't know I don't know who can pull that off you would have to have a legitimate producer running it because if Georgia gets into the red zone when they're up 63 to 10 like that doesn't need to be shown right

you might have to swap out hosts every window just because the person's going to be worn out. If you watch Red Zone, you know this. It's not just Red Zone. They show highlights of like, there was a pick six here. Go check this out.

Like, college football doesn't just have exciting plays. Like college football has insane nonsense all the time happened. Right. Which you would want to break in with. Yeah, like, hey, look, a raccoon just ran onto the field over here and stole someone's mouthpiece. It's like, that happens in college football.

That squirrel at Ole Miss ran right past me. but you know what I mean like the NFL is like oh look at these like refined professional athletes and what are they going to do when they get to the 12 yard line and everybody loves that for fantasy for college there's a there's a there's a paradigm shift too of like do people want to see highlights from the georgia tech bowling green game and like do you do you like does georgia tech no you give the people what they want like the games that matter are the ones that you break in for right so top do you just do it for top 25 games then a lot of times too the top 25 games aren't the most

interesting because then all the sudden no you just do it when it's interesting that's why you have if you have the right behind the scenes behind you yeah yeah which they would um but like wasn't there a mat game a few years ago it was on a saturday it was buried you know it wasn't a tuesday or wednesday game where like the guy's sister comes out on the field and and they thought they thought the game was over, but it wasn't, and they had to go back and play more, and they lost. And it was, this is one of those crazy endings that we're going to probably need to interview the people involved from the show the other day. But I think, I want to say Eastern Michigan was one of the teams. So, but we'll see. Can you imagine if Red Zone existed in North Carolina,

Appalachian State, which scored like 46 points in the fourth quarter of that game. That should happen every week. Like, how do you even like keep up? with that. I don't know, but I'd love to try. 41 seconds of game time in that game? I would love to try. That's all I'm saying. I must think it would be glorious.

It would just be quite the undertaking. I know the logistics of it are difficult. I realize it would take an act of Congress to get the full version, the real thing. What's more difficult? The logistics of actually getting the permission to show the clips in the games or actually making it work once they have the permission? Yeah. I think it's still getting the logistics.

You can make it work. Like you put the right people in charge. They will know what's interesting and what's not. So go for it. Make it happen, people. Do you cut into Red Zone by showing the dude at Florida State reading the book in the stands? A hundred percent. Yeah.

For five seconds, then you move to something else. It would have to be like ESPN's college football grab ass because it wouldn't just be about being in the red zone. It would just be like, look at this. The Buffalo and Colorado got loose. Ari, is your phone ringing right now? No, it could be. Check if there's an 860 number because I think they want to hire you.

I mean, I would be good at that. I think you've just created the formula that will work. If they've had it before, they had ESPN goal line, but I didn't think ESPN goal line was a great product. It certainly wasn't worth it with the charge for it. The thing I don't know, and I struggle with, and I know that people who watch this show love the nonsense, is if the general college football fans,

likes the nonsense yes not all nonsense they want nonsense bookended by hot action yeah i think that's another kind of entertainment like if they cut away from a game because a wild animal was running around on the field and grabbed the ref flag like do you do people does the general fan like that 10 seconds of that yeah then back to whatever's going on in michigan indiana Got it. I cannot wait until you're running that show. Hopefully you'll lend me a few bucks. That's all I ask.

I will. Your questions answered tomorrow. We have some great ones already lined up. We'll talk to you on Friday.