Andy & Ari On3 - The FLECK-ADE: What Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck has learned heading into season 10 | Dylan Raiola's transfer to Oregon | Rocco Becht's expectations at Penn State

Episode Date: April 16, 2026

As the world of college football has changed drastically just in the last decade, Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck has been able to navigate the changes in an admirable way since taking over for the Gophers in 2017. Watch here as Coach Fleck joins Andy & Ari to discuss how Minnesota has adapted to the NIL era, how competitive they are in the Big Ten, and why the Gophers are running a fair program.   (0:00) On Today’s Episode (0:27) Presenting Sponsor (1:42) Intro: Rowing a Boat (7:09) P.J. Fleck Joins: Hair Plugs? (10:25) The “Fleck-Ade” (17:15) Minnesota in the NIL era, how Gophers compete (26:14) Jim Tressel’s influence, closing out with Fleck (30:20) Dylan Raiola’s move to Oregon (34:03) Raiola humbling himself, adapting to Backup role (46:47) Pete Nakos’ story on Rocco Becht (58:28) Ari’s Home Remodel   After Coach Fleck joins, Andy & Ari travel across the country to Eugene, where the Oregon Ducks have many years of starting experience in their quarterback room. Transferring from Nebraska, Dylan Raiola has two years of starting experience in the Big Ten. Set to back up Dante Moore this fall, how will the former Huskers QB adapt to this new role? Was this the right move for the former 5-star product?   Next up, Andy & Ari visit Penn State to highlight a story by On3’s Pete Nakos on the Nittany Lions new QB in Rocco Becht. Transferring from Ames to Penn State, how will the new QB fare in the Big Ten? Andy & Ari dive into the Nittany Lions.   Read Pete's Story here: https://www.on3.com/news/rocco-becht-bet-on-matt-campbell-paid-off-now-comes-penn-state-expectations/   Our show is also presented by BetMGM!   If you haven’t signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code CFB 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 CFB. 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 CFB when you sign up!   Make this college football season one for the history books. Make it legendary.   See BetMGM.com for Terms. 21+ only. This promotional offer is not available in DC, Mississippi, New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET (Available in the US) . 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only (if applicable). Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel   Join On3 today! https://www.on3.com/join   Watch our show on YouTube instead! https://youtu.be/VUfktD74X78   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 Andy Noreon 3 presented by BetMGM, Minnesota coach PJ Fleck joins us. We will row the boat. Plus, Dylan Ryola speaks for the first time since arriving at Oregon. And Rocco Beck talks about following Matt Campbell to Penn State. All on today's Andy Nogh on three presented by Bet MGM. We are brought to you by BedmGM. And if you're not signed up for BetmGM, here's how. you do it with a code that will get you up to a $1,500 first bet offer. You download the app

from BetMGM. You sign up using the code CFB. That CFB is in college football. You deposit at at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. Then you've got the NBA play in tournament this week. You got the playoffs starting the NBA. There's a lot going on right now. You receive up to $1,500 in bonus bets if your first bet loses. Just make sure you use the bonus code CFB when you sign up. Make it legendary with BetMGM. See BetMGM.com for terms 21 plus. Only this promotional offer is not available in DC, Mississippi, New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem called 1-800-Gambler or 1-800-My-Reset, My Reset, available in the U.S. 87788-Y or text Hope-N-Y or 467-369 in New York.

1-800-3-0-800-1-800-0-0-2002-3 in Puerto Rico. First bet offer for new customers only if applicable subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in seven days in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Welcome to Andy Narion 3, where we always have a necton mentality. You're row in the boat? Your own. It's a great workout.

It is a great. We live near a lake and people go at like five in the morning every day and row across the lake. And I'm like thinking to myself. how good at fitness do you have to be to put yourself through that how good does your body have to be you have to be disciplined you get a full full body workout so you get to be in shape everywhere well we should ask PJ Fleck about this we're going to have Minnesota coach PJ Fleck on their motto obviously row the boat they don't do so much rowing as they do pushing this is a team that loves to run the ball down your throat loves to play

good defense. We talked about this with PJ Fleck at Big Ten Media Days last year. Like they have a very defined identity. And I want to ask him how that identity stacks up in a world without the Big Ten West. He's had two years now playing without the Big Ten West where they're playing this much larger Big Ten.

And has he had to adapt the identity at all? Yeah. They're doing good things, Andy. You know, they've won eight games. I think three years in a row. Two years in a row. Is it two years?

Yeah. They are heading into their 10th season there in case you think that we're getting old. You know what they're calling it there? The Fleckade. Did you know that? I like it. I like it. And it's interesting because so much has changed in college football since he took that job.

And he's still a young guy. Like he was very young when he first got the Western Michigan job. I think he was 31 when he became Western Michigan's head coach. So he's still only in his mid-40s and a lot of time left to coach for PJ Fleck. But he's seen an awful lot of change in college football. So it'll be, it'll be interesting to see what he's done to adapt to all that change. Because I've heard him talk about it, you know, because he's a big culture guy. And obviously they were not grabbing the five-star recruits all along in the age of NIL.

They may not have the most money. but how do you keep finding the kind of players that you're looking for in this era? Like you have to change stuff. And so I'm curious to see what he's done. Well, they also have a defensive end named Anthony Smith who led the Big Ten last year in Sachs who would be in the NFL if NIL didn't exist. So like, I mean, there are some benefits to that. Right.

Maybe one of the best defensive players in college football, especially the Big Ten, staying on your team when the NFL was an option, I think is a nice testament. You know the thing that I think about when it comes to Minnesota? soda. And I think about it in the Big Ten and just in general. I want to admit something to you, Andy. I am becoming an old. You know, their nine and O season where they finish in the top 10 was 2019. That was, what's math here? Seven years ago or six seasons ago. Yeah, seven years ago. It feels with the math there. It feels like it was yesterday to me. But Andy, I'm getting to the point in my life where I'm starting to say things like that my dad would

used to say. Like, where the human nature of it is, everything when I was 20 and 25 was the best it's ever been, right? Like, everybody gets to that point where nothing is as cool as it used to be. So, like, I will admit to you that while I believe that the players in college football, the labor, um, are entitled to and should be compensated high amounts of money the way that they are, I am also nostalgic for when program culture, recruiting, sticking with it, all the old things that Nick Saban is talking about on camera right now used to be a thing. That said, I am kind of torn because on one hand, would you say that Minnesota is in the third tier of Big Ten NIL hitters?

Like, you know, you have the Ohio states and Oregon's at the top, and you probably have, you know, Michigan's at the top, like, you know, Indiana somewhere in the second tier, Penn State, somewhere in the second tier. and then USC in there and then all the, then you get back into the old Big Ten West, which is... But everybody in the Big Ten's rich. So being in the Big Ten period

puts you in a pretty select group in terms of how much money you have to play with. So I think that that's also part of this and probably a big reason why PJ Fleck has stayed at Minnesota, because it is a pretty good job, but there are challenges to it. You know, they lose Coy Perich to Oregon.

the safety. But that's really the only guy they lost that they didn't want to lose. And they've been able to hold on everybody else. And so I am very curious to see what this looks like for them because they bring back Drake Lindsay. He's got a lot of tools at quarterback. He played well in his first years of starter, but it was first years of started. There's a lot to learn. So we'll find out more about how he evolved, how PJ Flex evolved. I just There's a lot here. So let's talk to Minnesota coach PJ Fleck. How are we?

We are elite. That is because we are joined by PJ Fleck, the head coach, at Minnesota, entering season 10. Crazy. The first time you and I taught coach, you were coaching at Western Michigan, I was at Sports Illustrated. I was doing a story on very, very young coaches. I like to think that I am still a very young writer

and you're still a very young coach. Do we agree on this? Well, I think you look way younger. You have the head of hair still. When we first met, I had a full head of hair, and obviously now I do not. But yeah, I would say that we're still middle-aged to young. Yeah, you're only as old as your feet.

I don't feel like I'm very old, though. I will say that. Like, I don't feel like I'm old. I don't think like I'm old. I don't feel like I'm old. I'm a 40-aged middle-aged man. I mean, I kind of look like that. I don't look like I'm 31 anymore.

And I don't look like I'm 60. So I guess I just looked apart. And it would be like really easy for you in like a week. If you just got you get hair plugs if you really if it mattered a lot to you. Like I don't know if I would go through. You'd head of Eastern Europe. You come back. Boom.

Full hair. Have you seen these places? Like it is a five star resort. They've got a spa. It's like apparently a really great deal. Like if I ever, you know, but I think you're handsome with or without hair, PJ. So thanks for being here. I've got a list of accomplishments.

that Minnesota's had here that I wanted to read off to you. You didn't even let me comment on the hair thing. Oh, go ahead. Are you thinking about going to Turkey? No, no, no. I actually, I've researched a lot, but my Italian Irish beautiful wife said no way. But she did send me a picture of myself through chat GPT, AI,

of every hairstyle I could have. And it was horrific. I'm better off bald. Trust me. You have the right-shaped head. My whole high school team, we all shaved our heads for a game. We lost it, by the way. I realize I have a very misshapen head.

So I need the hair. You don't need the hair. You got that Kevin O'Connell look to you. You know what I mean? You got that NFL head coach. Yeah, I can't sling it like that. That's the problem. Andy would be a visor guy, I think, if he ever wore headwear.

But here's the thing with it, PJ. I don't want to, you know, we know we have you for a very limited amount of time. But I have a theory on this. as somebody who hasn't gotten a ton of physical gifts, but one of the gifts I did get was great hair, is that once a person shaves their head and the people in their lives know, knew them beforehand,

it takes what a week for them to adjust to what you now look like. And then I feel like if you put hair back on your head, you would look weird to them and you don't look bad without it. I think that the, I have a buddy who spent a bunch of money on doing the hair plug thing, and I kind of feel like it was a waste of money. You could have just shaved your head, that would have been your new look and you would look fine.

Like, I don't know. Maybe it's easier to say. Just win games. That's the key. Yeah. You're only as handsome as how many wins you get every year. That's right. I mean, that's college football.

Your favorite actors change. Like Jason Statham, I'm a big fan of now. You know, like the bold guys. You know, I'm a big fan of those guys. The guys with hair I could care less about now. So PJ, this is a long way of us saying you've, you've been at Minnesota a while now. And a lot has changed. And I'm curious, I heard you talking in an interview earlier this year about the NIL era, its effects on team culture, that sort of thing.

You're always a big culture guy. How have you had to change to adapt while still keeping what you think is important? Well, I think it's incredibly important to adapt to the new world of college athletics. But I'm not willing to change who I am as a person. I'm not willing to do that. And I think a lot of people say you've got to change or die. I think it's adapt or die because I'm not going to change who I am as a person. In fact, our life program, which is full of life skills, it's a developmental program,

we've actually poured more into that. That's why I call ourselves a dinosaur a little bit. Like, we're a dinosaur because we're still one of those programs that are developmental. About 70% of our kids are high school student athletes, development from freshmen all the way through seniors. our average ages right there in probably the average of what college football used to be. We're not just buying old players. We're developing players from freshmen all the way through seniors.

So we're still doing those life skills, the development, on and off the field, academically, athletically, socially, spiritually. But now we're doing it even more intensively. We're not just sitting there saying, okay, we got to change who we are and just go to a transactional program. We're becoming more of a transformational program with some transactions involved in that. And that's why I call ourselves a dinosaur, but I think we're a pretty damn cool dinosaur. I think we're a T-Rex. Like, we're a pretty cool dinosaur.

So you can be a dinosaur and still be pretty cool. And I think that's what we do a pretty good job of. Ari's muted. We have a graphic for this. Sorry, there's people making noise downstairs. You're the second longest tenured head coach in the Big Ten. You guys have won back-to-back eight-win seasons. It feels like you guys are on the apex of continuing an upward trajectory.

And I'm wondering when you are on the apex of these great things and have accomplished these great things, but also the game has changed so dramatically while you're doing these things, while you're in the ascent of an airplane, are these changes turbulence? Were you able to avoid it? How do you guide yourself back through these clouds and still straight up into the air? Well, I think there's transparency always involved in change. I think listening is always involved in change. You've got to be willing to be who you are and not be afraid to be who you are. But I do think that there's, you learn a lot. We know more about like a transfer portal player than we've ever known.

And I think everybody, the first year of the portal, everybody was new at it. And maybe you got lucky and hit. And then you had to find out the hard way in year two, three or four of the portal. But there's, there's constant learning going on. And there's constant turbulence. I've never been on an aircraft that didn't have turbulence. Turbulance doesn't necessarily bring the plane down, but it forces you to adjust a little bit.

And I think you can continue to grow and learn. In fact, airplanes are on a lot of the same courses as each other, and the airplane in front of the airplane is telling the airplane three to four behind it exactly where the turbulence is by reporting that. So I think we've done a really good job as a program doing that, whether it's our player development office, whether it's player personnel, whether it's Garrett Chernoff and Marcus Hendrickson and our GM department and our player personnel,

or even our coaches having to adapt to that. But I do think that there's got to be a very clear belief system because so many new coaches, so many new staff members are coming in. I think that's the job of the head football coaches, send a direct clear message of exactly what today brings, what you're looking for out of today, what you're looking for in the types of people

that you're bringing into your organization because we still believe in that better people or better players. And we're going to continue to focus on those pieces. Well, and that developmental piece, We were talking about Anthony Smith before, who's a guy who had a breakout season. You bring him back on the edge. And then Drake Lindsay, your quarterback, who last year's his first year's a starter. I mean, how different does he prepare for this season now that he's got a year of starting in the Big Ten under his belt?

Well, our whole goal is to recruit, retain, and develop. And we're not going to keep everybody. We know that. I think we've lost, though, in the portal two main starters in the last two to three years. And that's pretty much it. We've got one of the best retention rates in the entire country. And we're not the highest paid roster by a long shot. But we create an elite experience, a college, athletic, student athlete experience that I think that our kids value.

And I think kids around the country, I'll find 25 to 30 young people that will value that. And parents that value that. It doesn't mean our kids don't make money. Anthony Smith makes a lot of money. Drake Lindsay makes a lot of money. But they're not willing to sacrifice that for the development of the person that's they are, right? The families they come from and the type of player they can become. Anthony Smith could have left. I think we all know that. Could have left to go to a different school for even more

money and could have went to the NFL to start his NFL career. He is one of the best people on this entire football team. So when you have your hardest workers and your best servers and givers that are also your best players, I mean, you have an amazing locker room. And Anthony and Drake are key to that. But having Anthony back changes our defense dramatically. where we know he's going to get a lot of attention, but we feel like we've added in a lot of areas that are going to help him as well. And then Drake, you know, I've seen this mastery level learning.

You're never there. You never arrive. It's about the journey. It's not about the end. But when you're talking about Drake, his mentality, his dedication, last year he was just learning how to even do that. This year, you can see this mastery learning and practice level to get to that point. I'm really proud of both of those young people.

And the best part about him is there better people. than they even are players. And they're both really, really talented. You touched on a few things there. Obviously, Anthony Smith and Big Ten's leading sack getter a year ago and how he's one of the higher paid players on your team and how NIL probably is maybe created an environment where you're able to retain that player and keep them for another year

before they go to the NFL where that might not have happened six, seven years ago. But then on the other hand, too, you're at constant risk as a coach of losing players to programs that want to pay more. I don't think Minnesota's on the higher end of the Big Ten in terms of what they're spending on NIL. But I always am curious about this. There's positives to it, obviously with Anthony Smith. There's negatives to it with players that you've lost.

But I want to ask coaches this, and I don't ever do it. And you're going to be the first. Do you like existing in the NIL era? Like, is this okay for you? Absolutely. I mean, change is inevitable. I think it's really, really important. but I think that you have to build parameters of expectation within your program.

We talk about in our program that nothing's equal. The world's not equal. I mean, that's a pretty life, that's a big life lesson that you need to find out at a very early age. Now, it's fair. It's fair. Maybe some people get more opportunities than other. Maybe some guys got other reps and other people, but everybody's got an opportunity. We just showed our team Tom Brady talking about he got two reps.

That was the only opportunity he got, but he did really well with those two opportunities. then went to four reps, then went to eight. And now he's maybe the greatest football player that ever lived. So the fair piece, I think is critical. And I think that's part of connecting a locker room. You know, we always used to say it's gratitude and empathy that connect a locker room. But I also think part of that is now in this NIL world is what you're paying players fair. Because kids talk, you know, and any player can walk into my office at any moment, say,

you know what? Bang, Garrett's making more money than me. Why? and I'll pull out a list of why that person makes that much money. So they can ask me why to anything. From the way we practice to what we pay them, they can always ask why. So everything in our program is fair. And I sit down and tell parents in this exact office, it's going to be fair.

You walk into this program, you're not going to be the highest paid player on this team. I'm not going to overpay for freshmen. I'm not because they haven't done anything at Minnesota yet. And if I did, that could ruin my locker room. So the locker room is so, so important. no matter for in the NIL world, the portal world, 1968, it doesn't matter. And it doesn't matter what sport you're in. Can you take all of those young people, 17 to 22, making whatever they're making,

and bring them all together and play elite football and be really good people to serve our community, be great husbands, great fathers, dads, grandfathers one day? Can you get them to think really big visions? But the connection to that locker room is really, really key, as we see along college football with some elite programs that might be underperform. performing and programs that maybe haven't performed in the past that have invested that are performing at a high level. So I think that that fair word can go a lot of different ways. But within our program, we feel like we have a very fair developmental, educational college football program.

So we talk about the interpersonal and the cultural part of this. I'm curious about the schematic part because we had you on at Big Ten Media Days last year, PJ. We were talking about you as a guy who a lot of coaches, sometimes you can't figure out their team's identity. yours we know what your team's identity is going to be you're going to play really smothering defense you're going to run the ball you're going to throw when it's the right time to throw have you had to tweak that or alter that though as the big ten has changed like it's not the big ten west anymore you're playing as the entire league organs there u sss there now have you had to change who you guys are schematically to fit the new big ten you know we have

uh i think we've adapted i don't know if i think you have a core belief in who you are as a head football coach and how you see the game and how you see winning games and what that looks like. We have a core philosophy of what we believe in on both sides of the ball. We're going to take care of the ball and get takeaways. We're going to be elite tacklers and break tackles. And we've got to eliminate explosive plays and then create explosive plays. So no matter what side of the ball, that's what we believe in. I think I've had five defensive coordinators. I've had close to that offensive coordinators on the other side. So it's not just what is the coordinator bringing in.

It's really our philosophies of our system inside of that. We used to be heavy pro style. Then we went to the heavy RPO style. Then we went a little farther away from the RPO style, went back more to the pro system. You've got to find what fits you. And as the game keeps changing and evolving, you're going to keep doing that naturally.

And you want to do that. But I think you also have to look at where are you in the Big Ten? what resources do you have? What kind of style are you going to be? And you always want to be a tough out. And so no matter what we're doing schematically, I want to make us very, very difficult to play against. And I think Huntington to Bank Stadium is a big time kept secret

in all of college football, of how hard it is to play there. But also, I've always wanted our teams to be a hard out. Even if we don't have the resources of people that were playing consistently, I mean, we're going to be a dog fight. And a lot of those times throughout our tenure, our decade here, we've won those games when maybe we shouldn't have won those games. So I think that we know who we are, and I think that's the first step to becoming better at what you do is you have to know who you are. It doesn't mean you can't adapt that and change that here and there.

But the core philosophies are how you win games, I think that will always be with me as a head football coach of what I believe and how I was raised in the profession. PJ, what you said about fairness kind of moved me when you were talking. about, you know, why do you make what and, you know, explaining that concept. And you just touched on something that might be difficult for you, which is you are not always working with the same set of resources, the same level of athlete to some of the teams that you're playing. And maybe that's not fair. Do you kind of feel like you're the walking epitome of fighting through things that aren't equal circumstances? Well, I think my entire life, I've always had to punch up. I'm a 5, 9, 48, 40 wide out that played in the NFL.

And my dad was an AT&T guy and killed bugs for a living. And my mom was a teacher's aide. So I had no coaching ties, but became the youngest head coach in the country because of the people I surrounded myself with and the people who believed in me and how hard I worked. And I think those principles are perfect for the University of Minnesota. Would I like four billionaires to pour into our program tomorrow, guys? Absolutely. I'm not like I'm not taking that. I would love that. But I know where our resources are. I respect where our resources are. I understand why our resources are where they are. But I feel like we are outperforming those resources, respectively. And I feel like that's just part of my DNA. And I want that to be part of what our players always value is no matter what you have, you can always punch up from. You can always do better than maybe what you're given. And that's all opportunity. And I think we're just scratching the surface here.

With all due respect of what we've done, I think we're averaging the eight and a half wins over the last six years. Roundoff, it's nine. Nine? Okay. And that's even better. See, I went down. But that's pretty good at Minnesota. But the reason I stay and the cultural sustainability is so important is because I think we can do way more.

I do believe we can be at the CFP. But with the refo sources we have, it's not CFP or bust. But if we keep doing what we're doing and we have a field goal here and a field goal there, go our, way, we are in it. There are a few times in the last eight years that we would have had an opportunity to possibly be in it if the CFP existed back then. So that's what our team truly sees. And we're outperforming that resource part, but it's also part up to the head coach to find ways to continue to get better resources and for our people that support our program to help us out on that way as well. But you're always, I mean, you're going to do everything you kind of

keep up with the Joneses, but the Joneses will always build a bigger home. And they're always doing that. So we've got to know what we have and be able to know who we are and do everything we can outperform that every year. Speaking of the Joneses, I was wondering in this new era of football where it's more transactional and transient roster-wise, on a given Saturday on average, do you think the Joneses have nicer houses than they've ever had before or worse houses than they've ever had before? Is it harder to win games in the Big Ten now than it was in 2019?

Well, I think it is. I definitely think it is. And I think that there's Joneses that have the outside of the home is massive and beautiful. And you walk inside and it's immaculate and exactly what it was. Then I also think there's some Joneses that have a beautiful home and you walk in it and it studs. It looks like I got ransacked. It's gone. You know, like where it looked good from the outside.

And I think that's with any program. And I think that we do everything we can to build an elite home. But we want to have this massive vision of what we can accomplish here. You know, we just showed our players of the Artemis 2 going. around the moon and why it was so important to go around the moon so we can go to Mars. But we also showed him, you know, John F. Kennedy talking about why we're going to go to the moon because it's hot and it's there. So it's there. So Minnesota, we can do whatever we want because why it's there.

So let's go do it. Now it might take a little different path than maybe just buying it. But we can and we will if we continue to change our best, keep adapting. And again, you get one of those years, you can be right in it. you can be on that block with the Joneses. So you were talking about the people who believed in you. One of those people was Jim Tressel, who calls you out of the blue. One of his frat brothers was one of your college coaches, offers you a GA job right as your NFL career is ending.

I heard he texts you still weekly. What are some of the best Jim Tressel texts you've gotten over the years? I think some of the best texts are when we're playing somebody that we both were on the same staff. because he'll send me a text that's very encouraging, and I'll send back, you know, did you send the same text to him, you know, question mark? Because he is, you know, he would, he's, you know, the lieutenant governor for a reason.

I mean, even when I would coach for him, you know, he was, he had that persona of the true politician that could fight for everybody and everybody could relate to him. And I think that's when you have a politician where everybody feels like they can be heard from everyone. I think Jim was always that way. and Coach Tress is, he texts me almost every week. And I was a lonely GA for him.

Imagine the people who have coached for him for lots of years, how much he pours into their lives. And he doesn't have to do that for me. He doesn't have to continue to keep in touch with me. He doesn't have to pick up the phone when I need some advice. He doesn't have to do that. You know, he called me the other day, and he wanted me to do a speech for McDonald's

because he thought, you know, it'd be great for me if I'd be willing to put something together for him because what they needed, they called him. And he's like, yeah, call PJ. He'd love to do that. He's just, I've never met anybody like him. And for somebody who can care for so many people on a global scale and know who everyone is and their value, he's the best at it I've ever seen. And I'm just so thankful that I'm a part of his tree.

And that's why I wear a tie. Him and Mike Nolan, I mean, if it didn't happen, the exact minute it happened when I got cut and the call, I wouldn't be where I am. And those men changed my life forever. And they're in my life to this day. Do they not make Minnesota sweater vests? They don't make sweater vests. That's for sure. But I think the quarters hit's good enough. Because it gives me my own. You need the sleeves in Minneapolis, I think, right? You need a little bit. Yeah. You need a little bit. Under over, you always need a little extra in Minnesota. Well, that's the thing. So you would have been a sixth grade social studies teacher is what you, you've always said. That was,

That was the path if this didn't happen. Can you imagine what that had been like? Like, you're teaching sixth grade social studies today. You know, maybe there's some spring practice at the high school that you're going to help out with afterward, work with the receivers. Yeah, it's more about, I just, I loved my experiences with a lot of my teachers that I grew up with. And I remember the ones that I had experiences in their classroom, meaning like they made it so interactive and everybody could learn. there's so many parallels between football and elementary school teaching. You've got 32 sixth graders six times a day and you're teaching them ancient Rome.

Some want to know about it, some don't. And you've got to make it really exciting. Hit all five senses, hit all learning styles so everybody learns and likes it and enjoys it and enjoys it and has fun doing it. The same thing with college football. I mean, you've got 105 players who all learn completely different. and we do disc assessments on all of them to know how they all learn so we can be great teachers. I sit in our assistant coaches meetings not to sit there and check on them. But my job is kind of like the principle of how can I make you a better teacher?

How can I make that the way you use the markers even better and the way the things are positioned on the wall so everybody can learn a little differently? So I guess that's my degree. That's what I'm trained in doing. And here I am as a Big Ten football coach. Who would have thought? Well, it's worked out very, very well. Hair or not. PJ Flegg, thank you so much.

Listen, guys, I really appreciate being on the show. We're big fans of you, too. Thanks for covering the gofers, and we'll see you soon. So row the boat, Sky, Mago, Gophers. Thanks for having us. Thanks, coach. Thank you, Jay, I appreciate you being here. Bye.

Ari, one of the most interesting people this offseason is Dylan Raola. To your starter at Nebraska, the story on him was that he went to Nebraska so he could be the starter right away instead of going to Georgia where he was previously committed where he would have had to sit and wait for the starting job or try to earn the starting job after waiting behind somebody and he voluntarily goes to Oregon

where Dante Moore is there. Dante Moore turned down a chance to go to the NFL draft and probably be picked in the top five to come back to Oregon. and Dylan Ryola could have gone elsewhere. And I know Dante Moore hadn't made his final decision when Dylan made his decision. But the tea leaves were there. He was leaning toward coming back.

I find this so fascinating. Yeah. Because everything that you came to understand about Dylan Rayola before he made the decision runs counterintuitive for the decision that he made. right like that's just not what you would have expected from him um and i and i think the question here remains and i don't know if the situation at nebraska would have been tenable there you know with the way the things went with you know the end there but like was it the right decision should he have started for another year i mean he could be starting at Nebraska this year he got hurt at the end of last year but he's he's medically cleared like he could have come back yeah so

or he could have gone somewhere where he could start. So I thought it's interesting, and it's interesting in that it is somewhat similar to the decision that Dante Moore himself made because Dante Moore was a guy who was committed to Oregon. He flips to UCLA right before National Signing Day because presumably there was earlier playing time available than there was at Oregon. He goes to UCLA. He does start some games as a freshman, but it doesn't go very well. And then he chooses specifically to sit behind Dylan Gabriel at Oregon. He did it after a half of a year,

not an entire year of starting. Dylan Rayola did it after two full years of being the face of program. That's the difference. That's what makes this so interesting. And I don't know if I, I think I like it, Andy. I wrote, you know, when this happened that, you know, it's a functional decision from somebody. who is coming off in an injury,

and I think that he would be willing or ready to play this coming year, but somebody to reset his environment, go to a place that has already won at the highest of high levels, you know, learn behind somebody who will ultimately likely be taken in the first round of the NFL draft and then come back to compete. Now, here's the risk that you play, Andy. The risk here is you do all this,

and Dante Moore leaves, and then somebody who's awesome enters the portal, and then Oregon goes and gets that person. Just because you went and sat and learned and played, some maybe in mop-up duty, doesn't necessarily mean that you're entitled to the starting job the following year in college football anymore. So he has to earn it.

He has to earn it every day. It's not just how is he going to exist in behind the scenes and be the heir apparent. He has to prove to the coaches in practice every day while he's in Eugene that they don't need to go find a quarterback next year. Well, here's Dylan O'Raleah talking about what you have to do when you go from being the starter to being the backup. Obviously, you got to humble yourself.

I'd be lying if I say it didn't take a couple of practices to kind of get used to it. But at the same time, it's all learning and it's all trying to, you know, eventually achieve the goal of, you know, of mine and obviously of Dante's right now. And that's our whole room's goals to get Dante to where he wants to go in. And, you know, it's a great person to learn from. I like hearing that. I like hearing him say that our goal is to get Dante to where he wants to go. Like you understand the role here and you understand where you're at,

which can't be easy for somebody who was the guy the moment he stepped on Nebraska's campus. Yeah, and I think that the guy mentality happened long before he stepped on campus at Nebraska. I mean, this is a guy who was committed to Georgia. This is a guy that was committed to Ohio State at one point. this is a person that when he showed up on campus was treated as if he were already the starter while he was in high school. He was a five-star player, a player that a lot of people talked about, media frenzy, all these things. The mentality of a high-profile recruit, Andy, I think predates the, I mean, I don't think entitlements is the right word, but the positioning of being a starter. Like, when's the last time that Dylan Raola wasn't the biggest game in town and on his team?

And he's used to this, you know, moving around in new environments. Well, right, and we've talked about that as a negative with him because he did go from high school to high school to high school to high school. And this feels like the opposite of all of those decisions. Even though it is moving from one school to another, it is taking a step back. It is saying maybe there is something I need to learn here. Yeah. And I think that that is a productive thought process. the question that I have for you, Andy, is I take myself back to last summer when I had run-ins with Nebraska people.

And, you know, from their standpoint, and obviously you're defending your guy and you're hopeful for what your guy can do. There was a lot of positivity about Rayola going into his second year as a starter last year. And I thought that he actually improved quite a bit from year to year, didn't you? Like in the time that he played last year. I don't think he got protected very well, but I thought, I thought, he played better than he played as a freshman. So the question that you have to ask is, do you think that his decisions, all the decisions that he made leading up to this point were decisions that he didn't have a return on that

investment? Like, did he make bad decisions? Because I think what you do is you try to learn from past decisions and mistakes when you erred, change the thought process and do something new. Did you feel like Dylan Riola's path before he went to Oregon was indicative of somebody who needed to make such a drastic change. Well, not really because of because it had ended in a two-year starting stand in a place where if he kept going there, it would have been a more normal college career.

Like the high school career obviously wasn't normal at all. But he could have had a normal college career there, but obviously he felt like there was something that he needed to do differently. And he got asked about his time at Nebraska and here's what he said. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I'm very great. for the time I had in Nebraska. I'm very grateful for the coaches and the people and the fans

and everyone that I came across to. But yeah, like you said, you can't emulate game speed reps. And I think there's a lot of instances of things that I could have did better to kind of help propel the team to win. But use all those experiences for learning and propel not only myself with this team forward. And however, I can present ideas to help Dante or wherever, whoever in the room.

I'm going to do my best to be the best teammate I can be. It's interesting because when you think about it, he's actually been a Big Ten starting quarterback longer than Dante Moore has. He has. Yeah. And the other question too, Andy, is what does this mean for Nebraska's program? What does this mean if a person believes that the better place for them is starting on another Big Ten,

I mean, is backing up another starter on another Big Ten team rather than coming back and playing for you? And then, of course, there's the question, too, of what actually occurred at Nebraska and why. I think we probably would need to hear an unvarnished version of Nebraska's side of the story, which there's no, it doesn't behoove Matt Ruhler, anybody to air the dirty laundry now. But I think we wouldn't, before we made any judgments about Nebraska or Riala in this divorce, I'd really want to hear the unvarnished both sides of that story. Yeah. before I made any judgment there. And it has to be stated, if you're unaware of this, that Dylan Raola had an uncle named Donovan,

who was on the coaching staff and was let go. Right. He was the offensive line coach. Yes. Yeah. So there's a lot there. But here's another piece of this that I think is really interesting. Because remember last year going into the season, we played the little game of who's comfortable putting their backup in a game?

and we couldn't come up with a lot of schools. I think we had Georgia Tech was on the list because Aaron Philo had started in Place of Haynes King a little bit in 2024. There weren't a lot of schools that we felt comfortable naming a backup where if your starter went down, you're comfortable putting him in. This is one of those situations.

Yeah, we should play that game again. If something happened to Dante Moore, you're comfortable putting Dylan Riola in. Like, obviously, you'd rather have have Dante Moore. That's why he's the starter. But you'd be comfortable putting him in the game if you're Dan Lannick. You know, I think it's interesting because, you know, you always think like, well, what would a player who has less around him look like if he were placed into a position with better players around him? And I think like a lot of that, like this is kind of the year of

that, even in coaching. What would you do from a coaching perspective at a tier two school that you over performed at if you got all the resources. We're going to see that with, you know, multiple coaching moves up to higher ranks, right, especially in state college, Pennsylvania. So like, we're going to find this out. We're going to find this out with Kyle Whittingham in Ann Arbor, who we talked about yesterday. But I'm also curious, like, if Dylan Rayola were to get into games this year for whatever reason during high flying reps where the opponent is going to the game high

leverage situations where the game's on the line yeah like what does dylan raola look like like because we don't know that we we saw the reason why his uncle was fired was that he was not protected well enough right um i don't know if nebraska had a true game changer at receiver during his two years there they had they had emitt johnson who was an excellent running back but They had one of the best running backs in the Big Ten, so that helps. But just the thought of seeing him play in Oregon's system is an intriguing thought to me because he has a big arm. Like, that's what people love about him. He's a big kid with a big arm.

It would be fun to see. And maybe we will see that in two years. Maybe we'll see it as soon as this year. I hope, you know, if we knew it's, you know, because good things are happening. Because they're winning in Dante Moore is just going to take a little break. But yeah, that's just the most fascinating thing. And really what makes it so interesting is because that's what Dante did too. And, you know, Dylan Raleigh in this press conference that we've been playing clips from did point out that he made his decision before Dante came back with his final decision.

So it may have been that he was just banking on the off chance that Dante didn't come back. And then he's the starter at Oregon, which would have been. have been pretty sweet. But if I remember correctly that time, by the time Dante Morseid he was coming back, it had been out there pretty loud that he was coming back. Yeah. And I think, too, that when you're, if you know anything about Dylan Rayola and how he's operated in his people behind the scenes, there's no way that question wasn't at least asked. Like, what are the odds of this guy going and coming? Like, you know, if you make the decision, even if you make the decision not knowing, but knowing that there's a chance he comes back, you still get credit for making that decision.

Yeah, and I would imagine that as they did their homework, they were being told, yeah, he's probably coming back, which, you know, whether that's to get away from the New York Jets or not, I don't know, but. Well, the Jets are waiting for next year. The debt, they might be. Who knows? Maybe they trade up and take, or they take somebody with the first pick of the second round. Who knows?

but this is one of the most interesting quarterback situations in the country, even though it's not a competition, it's cut and dry. Like Dante Moore's the starter, Dylan Raola is the backup. But after everything we've seen, it's just one of those things if you told me a year ago, this would be the situation. I would have said you're crazy. Well, I wonder if there's like a thought process to Andy where it's like, If you are a quarterback at a place that, like, Dylan Gabriel was what, a third or a fourth round pick?

A fourth round pick, I believe. And Dylan Gabriel was somebody who, you know, played a lot of college football and was very productive, but I don't know really has an NFL starter future just based on size and measurables and stuff. If you're Dylan Raola's camp and you think to yourself, well, I mean, the years starting, we already have two. We're okay to take a year off, but our chances of getting this kid drafted on the first or second day are much higher by getting him one more year at a high profile place than it would be for two more years at a second tier or third tier place that you take this year, you learn, you grow, you do what he's doing, and then you put yourself in a position where no matter what, because there's no way that going into the 2027 season that Oregon isn't going to be a top 15 team. you go into that with the idea of look how much one year can do for somebody. Right. And then he's still a three-year starter in college at that point.

At that point, but he's not like Dante Moore, one of the reasons he came back is he's only really been a one-year starter. He had a little bit of starting experience to freshman year, but it wasn't enough. And yeah, I think you make a good point. By the way, third round pick for Dylan Gabriel. I shorted him a round. So they went two rounds before they drafted another.

quarterback, your Cleveland Browns. So, I mean, and like, I don't know if that's a fair, like, example because we're also, like, the incompetence of the Cleveland Browns can't be understated here. But, like, still, going to a place where you're probably going to be in the playoff or you're going to be playing in high leverage moments and high flying reps with really good players around you. Like, we know Dylan Rayola can sling it. Like, that's the one thing that you know beyond a shadow without is true about him.

And you have some, like, DeCornion Moore is going to be a third year player at that point. Like you're going to have some dudes that are really, really good on your team. We know that about Oregon beyond the shadow of a doubt. Even if you don't even know who those players are right now, you know they're going to have them. Like if there's a launching pad effect by just being the quarterback at Bama or being the quarterback at Ohio State or Oregon, you have so many built-in advantages that like it's harder to fail with that around you. Yeah. So we'll see what happens.

But put a pin in the idea of that question, that game that we play. played last year, we'll probably do it sooner this year, of which teams would be comfortable putting their backup quarterback in the game. And we've already kind of played it. We had three long discussions this week about really exciting quarterback competitions. So those three are, yeah, I think Florida, you know, Florida and Alabama probably are both on that list. They probably feel like they've got no matter who they pick as this started that they're going

to feel comfortable with backup in. Mm-hmm. Yep. It's true. Well, just a while. Like, yeah, again, a year ago, I never would have expected Dylan Raola to be in this position. And it's just weird things keep happening in college football. Here's another one.

Ari, we're going to talk about a story that our friend Pete Nacos wrote on Thursday. Rocco Beck, an exclusive interview with our man, Pete Nacos, talking about following Matt Campbell to play at Penn State. So Rocco Beck has a great career to Iowa State. He's still got another year of eligibility. Matt Campbell takes the Penn State job. I think it's funny that Matt Campbell, the first call he made when Becked went in the portal, was not to Rocco Beck, but to Anthony Beck,

Rocco's dad, to ask if it was okay if he recruited him to Penn State. That's nice. Yeah. He was a really productive player at Iowa State, and it kind of dovetails a little bit off of what we just talked about, which is same coach, same system, but bigger platform, right? Like what can you get from being in a bigger platform? Well, and it's interesting because there's a quote from Beckt in Pete's story.

He says that when he left, he's talking about Matt Campbell. It wasn't expected. That's what made it hard. I gave so much to that program and community and they gave it back to me tenfold. To leave the people and the relationships I built off the field outside the facility, that was something I was going to miss. that was really the main reason it took me so long to make a decision. I didn't know if I wanted to leave because that place truly is a second home.

Hopefully I can get back there someday. And what's interesting to me is that is probably the same thing that went through the mind of Matt Campbell as he decided whether he wanted to pursue the Penn State job. It's also not something that you read very often. Yeah. Yeah. And the thing is like, I don't know, Iowa State fans can feel however they want to feel. I don't want to put words in your mouths.

But I am curious, if you're an Iowa State fan, do you feel betrayed by this? Or do you feel like, hey, this guy had a great career, and this is his chance to go play at potentially the highest level in college before he tries to go pro, and that's okay? Or is it you should have stayed, you should have had another year here and finish your career as one Jersey guy? Yeah, and I also think, too, that like this is also part of like the messiness that comes with the transfer portal like later in life how a player is remembered because if Rocco Beck goes to Penn State and they make the playoff he's a nitty lion forever you know like that well yeah and but the thing is like Campbell because he was at Iowa State so long before he left I it's harder probably for them to begrudge him

taking that job he was there for a long time he was the best coach in program history I don't think there's any debate about that and also Matt Campbell knows never a climber that's the thing about it. Like, if you have a coach. Yeah, he wasn't leveraging them every year for a raise. He had a particular set of jobs that would have moved the needle for him that everybody in the media was aware of behind the scenes. And they were big time, big 10 jobs. And for how many years of those jobs just not come open? Ohio State wasn't open. They just hired Ryan Day. Michigan, you know, had Jim Harbaugh for a long time and then they promoted from within. Like the Penn State job opening, there hasn't been like a big.

big, big 10 job in that area open with a good faith, a good faith job opening and interview process ever. So, you know, he was loyal to Iowa State. He wasn't trying to leave actively. There were certain jobs that would have come open that would have, you know, certainly, you know, opened his eyes. Penn State was certainly one of them. And it happened, like the timing lined up. It's not like he was trying to leave. Like, I, like if an Iowa State fan views Campbell the same way an Arizona fan would view Jed Fish, that would be irresponsible and wrong. Yeah, I don't think there's a lot of bitterness over him leaving. And the thing is that with Brock O'Beck, you only get so many years to play in college.

So he's got a chance to do the same thing Matt Campbell's doing just on the player level. You got to take that chance, don't you? I think you do. I don't know, Andy. I think that we work at the best place now that there is to work in college journalism. But I used to make the point, like when I was at the Cleveland Plain dealer, like, I love being here. But if SI at its peak calls me and says, hey, you have a job. It doesn't matter how much I like my editor.

Yeah, it's my Food Network thing. Like, you know, Food Network calls, I'm out. Like, it doesn't matter. The college football playoff committee calls I'm out. Like, that's like the way it is. They don't pay. You don't want that. Don't take that call.

Just hang up. Andy, you don't think that like the buffets that they throw out there every day or is payment, then you and I are on very different wavelengths. Okay. I mean, like, I get it. Like, I understand. I would hope there's no animosity. And frankly speaking, you know, maybe now more than ever,

teams on the lower end of the food chain in college football can dream bigger about being at the top of the food chain. But for the, the current reality of it is that is, as great as Campbell was at Iowa State and as productive as they were and the games they won and overachieving based on the norms of that program's history, it's not an insult to say that Penn State is just higher up on the food chain right now. And people want to star in big stadiums and play for playoff berths and compete for national championships. And that's why Campbell left and that's why Beck left.

Like there's no there's no animosity here. Matt Campbell did what he was supposed to do, which is take the bigger job in the area of the country he wanted to work in. So can Rocco Beck take them where they want to go? Now, Penn State's in an interesting situation because they were forever on that treadmill, forever on that plateau, they push all in,

and then everything blows up and they end up firing James Franklin. Now, I'm not worried about them having another bad year. I don't think they're going to have a bad year. I think they're going to go back to being good, One, they didn't lose all of that roster. There were people who followed James Franklin to Virginia Tech. There were people who followed Jim Knowles to Tennessee, but they still have a lot of good players remaining from the roster they had.

And then Matt Campbell went, brought some of his best players from Iowa State, and then some other people who wanted to just come play for him. And you look at that schedule that we just threw up there, it's pretty manageable. Terrible non-conference schedule. Get with the program Penn State. Schedule somebody good. That's your public service announcement.

But the USC game and the Michigan game, they're square in the middle of the season. That's their toughest stretch right there. Everything else, they should be able to manage. Yeah. And it's another, there's a game in there that hasn't been in there and isn't in there for the first time since 1993. And that's Ohio State. They played a lot of years in a row. Yep.

And that was one that they just could not get passed. in recent years. They would get close and they just couldn't beat them. And 2016 was the last time that happened. Yeah. So it is kind of crazy that this new scheduling situation is going to have a void of some of the games that we've been accustomed to thinking we're big games or were big games over the course of the last 20 plus years. But it also, I think, might be the dawn of some new rivalries and some new opportunity. And I don't know what Matt Camp, like what is the actual view of like what success?

is for Penn State this year. I think if you're in the playoff mix, that's success. And it's a high standard, but you fired a guy who had taken you to the semis the year before. So the expectations aren't changing. Like, if they were okay with not making the playoff, they would never have fired James Franklin. Yeah. Clearly they want more. and so that's you can say oh you know they just made a change it doesn't matter your your expectations start

immediately yeah it's a tough job Andy it's a tough job but at least he got his quarterback you know I think that there are some very familiar names obviously the linebacker tony rojas is really really good they've got some guys you know I don't know how they stack up if you go player for player with Ohio State. I don't know how they stack up with Oregon right now. They're probably a tier below them in terms of total talent. But you know, you want to hear something from Rocco Beck that I think is going to make Penn State

fans real happy? Let's do it. So this is what he told Pete Nacos and he's talking about the standard and the expectations and what is expected of them this year. For Penn State fans, anything below that standard is unacceptable. I've heard stories from players who stayed and I understand how fans react. They're always going to be fans who expect more from you. And honestly, when you're in a historic program like this,

you should want to play at the highest level and compete in those big games. I don't feel bad for anyone. It's expected of us. And that's why you come to Penn State because you're expected to win. It's our job to go out there and win those big, crucial moments. They have every right to be passionate. What I've learned is this place truly cares about football. They care because they expect a winning team.

And I respect them for that. Woo! You don't get much better at answering that question. than that. Yeah. And honestly speaking, Andy, probably the reason why he's here,

right? Like if he didn't want to live up to that standard or play under that microscope, then staying at Iowa State would have been a better opportunity for him. Yeah.

So listen, if I'm a Penn State fan, that pumps me up right there. That he gets it, that he understands what he's gotten himself into, that he's embracing it. That gets you excited.

That gets the blood flowing. For sure, for sure. And I'm excited. And I think that, you know, as we keep going on into these coaches bringing players, I mean, quarterback's going with their coaches. It's just normal now. Like that's what people do. Like so and the second that Matt Campbell took the job, Andy,

did you not like expect, oh, Rocco Beck's going too? Like, isn't that like the first thought you think? Yeah. No, that was my first thought. And it's crazy how far we've come. I'm trying to, I was trying to remember the first time it happened. And it was more, it was a coordinator one. And it was when Zach Kittley brought Bailey Zappy to Western Kentucky.

Well, the first time it happened and felt icky was Lincoln Riley and Caleb. Yes. But that was another one where you kind of know it was coming. But that was like when it was like, oh, God. That was like, oh, no. I would argue that leaving Oklahoma for USC is a little bit different than leaving Iowa State for Penn State. Yeah, it was like selling your house. house though and then taking like the the light fixtures out because they were expensive.

I'm only laughing because when I bought this house, they tried to negotiate with leaving, quote unquote, leaving a light, the dining room light fixture. Like they let us have that. Andy? It was hideously ugly and we were going to replace it anyway. We're like, no, you can take that with you if you want. They didn't do that. I don't know if you know this, but we are currently in a bit of a little bit of a home remodel.

Did you know that? I was aware. Yeah. It's not a remodel. We, Brit, not we. That's a weird word. We are Penn State, but we didn't make any decisions over here. Like, we're remodeling some areas of our home, namely light fixtures.

Do you know, can I curse? Do you know? Sure. expensive light fixtures are? Well, depending on what you buy, yes. We've got some that run the gamut in our house. What can I ask you a question? The one that replaced the ugly one I'm talking about was pretty pricey.

Can I ask you a personal question that you don't have to answer? Sure, on the air in front of thousands of people. Go for it. We can edit it out. Go for it. What's the most expensive? light fixture in your house and how much was it? So I think it would be funnier if producer river just beeps the number I say.

Okay, just beat the number. I want to know though, just for me. I'm not going to make him do it. It was like 800 bucks. We got it on sale. The regular price was more expensive. Okay. Yeah, we are very different.

I know. I know where you're going here. Okay, yeah. Trust me, I've looked at them. Okay. So. I didn't say we bought. them. But I'm aware

of what certain ones cost. No, there are light fixtures that cost thousands of dollars. And we're not talking about chandeliers that are in ballroom. I think $800 on a light fixture is a common expense. Like there's nothing. No, but I mean, this one was like, it was a regular, you know,

the regular price was probably twice that. So, yeah. Had we paid regular price, it would have been, I just don't know if I could have done it. But. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, there are like light fixtures. that this person who's helping us remodel showed us that were like 15, 20 grand. Oh, never buy what the person tells you to buy.

The person's job is to, the person's probably getting a kickback. For sure. And we didn't, but I didn't know that that existed. No, the person is always going to guide you to the most expensive thing. Find what looks like that. That is a lot cheaper that you can buy yourself. And maybe you find that on Amazon somewhere. And that's been Home Improvement Corner with Annie and Ari.

This is how it goes, man. If you ever watched all those HD TV shows and you've never done a house remodel yourself, the only thing that's realistic about those, certainly not the timeline. It's usually not the results. It's the part where they come in and tell you that's going to be another 10 grand. That's the realistic part. Yeah.

I even know the brand name of the light fixtures that I was talking about. Do you want to know what the brand name is? It's called apparatus. Go look it up. Yeah, I've never heard of that. I'm not cool enough. I'm not cool enough to pay that much for a light fixture. Sorry.

Anyway, Caleb Williams was an apparatus light fixture. Yeah, but it was a beautiful. That was a beautiful chandelier. Every light. And one could make the case that the right light fixture can change the entire feel of your house. And the right quarterback can certainly change the entire feel of your program. I just found a light fixture for $11,000.

Is it apparatus? It's not. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, what I said was like normal expensive, but like obviously I'm sure the light fixture in Jeff Bezos house was probably worth more than my entire home, right? I think everything in Jeff Bezos's house is worth more than your entire life. I just think that it's interesting because like I am now 38 years old, Andy. And when we met, I was in my upper 20s. how much things that you would never consider as a single man

who lives in a one-bedroom apartment watching the NFL eating dominoes could ever understand how expensive certain things are. You had no idea how perfect your life was then. Yeah, no, I mean, it was like, yeah, my monthly expenses back then was like, I think, $1,400 all in, like for everything. Like, all I needed was $1,400 a month to a bit or everything. And now you're aware that there are light fixtures that cost as much as a Honda Civic. Do you know how much drapes cost?

Do you know how much Fencing costs? Too much, too much, too much. Yes, I do. Like, Andy, I got to show you, I have my do it yourself blind up here that I did. That's like hanging on by a thread. And I wish I could show you what it looks like

to stop the light from coming in because there's a window and it looks like it's not even hung properly. But like we had somebody quote like what it would be like to have one that just like looks professional and nice. And it was like $4,000. I'm like, you know what? I'll just like live with whatever that is and then if we have no one's ever coming in here

so like no thank you as a can you hear that saw in the background there's a saw happening right now you're growing you're growing and learning and I appreciate that it's I think I'm proud of you simple man meets a woman and then the woman helps them find what life's

about well the one life lesson I've learned since buying this house is if you got perfectly good cabinets don't rip out the perfectly good cabinets it's not worth it leave the perfectly good cabinets we did that we regretted it for two seconds and then we're like wow we kept our perfectly good cabinets and did not spend a fortune yeah unis pain i'm right cabinets you can we haven't we might eventually but every time i see those cabinets i'm like i've learned i've never thought twice about

your cabinets when in your house cabinets are awesome they're beautiful it look great i remember them being great cabinets. Yeah, we thought about changing them. Glad we did it. The kitchen is the most expensive thing to remodel in a home, right? Absolutely. Or a master bathroom. It's all of them. It's all expensive. Which you did recently, your master bathroom. We did. Yep. It's just why I'm shell-shocked right now. I had a little, little remodel PTSD going on. When you said light, pictures, I started twitching. Just like and subscribe, please. Hey, listen, this is, this is the hour mark of the show. is what you get. We love you. Hopefully you've already turned in your questions for dear Andy and dear Ari, but if you have not,

questions. Also, random ranking suggestions. We're bringing the random ranking back. Random ranking is going to be every mailbag show from now on. We just love doing it. You guys really seem to enjoy it. You tell us every week to bring it back. We're bringing it back tomorrow. And it's going to be less random. Best college football uniforms. That's your random ranking tomorrow. Get those questions in. Andy Stapleson3 at gmail.com. Ari.wasserman aton3.com.

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