Andy & Ari On3 - Why Kalen DeBoer is in it for the LONG HAUL at Alabama: CFB Insider with Crimson Tide head coach

Episode Date: April 1, 2026

It’s a Megaboard Wednesday, and as Andy & Ari go through the On3 message boards, Alabama fans are discussing Chris Low’s latest article highlighting the Crimson Tide head coach. As Kalen DeBoer enters his third season in Tuscaloosa, will Alabama be able to really compete for a national championship this upcoming season? Watch here as Andy & Ari discuss Chris Low’s story on Kalen DeBoer.   (0:00) On Today’s Episode (0:43) Presenting Sponsor (2:35) Intro: Kalen DeBoer with Chris Low (25:24) Culver’s (26:28) Trinidad Chambliss on Pete Golding at Ole Miss (34:18) Pete Golding responds to Dabo Swinney (39:02) LSU’s $40M commitment (46:23) Texas Longhorns RB room (53:19) Will Dusty May STAY PUT at Michigan? (1:01:12) April Fools - College Football Edition (1:05:49) Thanks for watching! See you tomorrow!   Chris Low’s story on DeBoer here: https://www.on3.com/news/alabama-kalen-deboer-plans-on-being-here-for-a-while-and-wasnt-running-away-after-just-two-years-with-crimson-tide/   Next up, the fellas head on down to Oxford, Mississippi, where the Ole Miss Rebels are preparing for their first full season with Pete Golding as the head coach. As Trinidad Chambliss is expected to make a huge impact for the Rebels, watch as the electric QB discusses the difference in his new head coach.   Later, Andy & Ari run through Wilson Alexander’s story on LSU and their $40M commitment entering Lane Kiffin’s first year at LSU.   Following that, Andy & Ari dive into the world of college basketball to discuss whether or not Dusty May or Tommy Lloyd will in fact bolt to Chapel Hill to fulfill the head coaching vacancy at UNC.   Thanks for watching! Be sure to join us for tomorrow’s show with a very special guest! Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtu.be/ANH4v-vqINA 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   Watch our show on YouTube here!    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 Nari on 3 presented by BetMGM Alabama coach Kalin DeBoer explains that he knew exactly what he was getting into when he took the Alabama job talking to on three's Chris Lowe and also explains why he did not engage with Michigan at all last December. Plus Trinidad Shameless with some interesting words about a certain former Ole Miss coach that he didn't name. And a current one he did name Pete Golding. Pete Golding also got asked about Davosweeney and tampering. Very, very busy day. It's a megaboard Wednesday. We have a lot to talk about. So let's get right to it on Andy and Orion 3 presented by BetMGM.

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in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Welcome to Andy and Ari on 3 presented by BetMGM and Ari. It's a megaboard Wednesday. And oh, man, are the boards popping because Chris Lowe dropped another exclusive at On 3. And this time it's with Kalin DeBoer, the Alabama head coach discussing the current state of affairs with the Crimson Tide. And also how he handled interest from Michigan in December. This was quite, quite a story. And this is something that we've talked about a little bit,

but now we have Kalin Nabor's input on it. And I am fascinated to get into it with you, Ari. Yeah, yeah. By the way, having some minor internal, you know, issues right now, not being there with you, that studio looks great and you look great in it. And I can't wait to see it one day. But, you know, I think that it's interesting because Alabama's place in the world to me is fascinating. and how Michigan views Kalin DeBoer makes sense,

how Alabama's fans viewed him made no sense. Because on one hand, they're mad at him. He's not doing enough. The standard of the program's dropped. And on the other, they freaked out when Michigan was reportedly involved and at least having interest in him. And then at the same time,

the sport has changed. They made the playoff in advanced. Like, is he doing a great job? Is he doing a good job or is he doing a bad job for Alabama standard? There's a lot to unpack there, Andy. There is. And you and I were at the Alabama Oklahoma game, and this is right after all that happened. And when Alabama beat Oklahoma, it was, at least with the Alabama administration, a sigh of relief.

Like, hey, there's no chance our coach is going anywhere because now he's still playing, and he wasn't going to talk to them anyway. But now he's really not going to talk to him. But I don't think he would have talked to him even if they lost. So here's what Kalin DeBore said about that situation to Chris Lope. He said, I never talked to anyone, not one time. I just don't know how you could live with yourself and look at your players' eyes if you're looking to other opportunities in the midst of the season and getting ready for a playoff game and hopefully making run at a national championship.

So it was a pretty easy decision not to engage with him. I didn't come here to follow Coach Saban only to turn around after two years and go somewhere else. I mean, this is Alabama. I'm at an amazing place. That's the way I was looking at it. I chose to be here. I love the support and love our players and love the direction and everything the staff has done to put the pieces together here over the last two years.

A lot of heavy lifting has been done to get us to this point. So this is what we were telling you as all that was happening, was that Kail and Abor, the person, was not likely to entertain the Michigan job because he was not a person who wanted to be viewed as someone who ran away from a hard job. A type of person that you have to be to voluntarily sign up to replace Nick Saban does not equate with the type of person who would want to leave when

things got a little hot. Now, I'm happy to hear this. And shout out to the goat, Chris Lowe, for just dropping nukes every day. But I think it's an interesting cross-section because I personally am a very opinionated guy. And I say things that sometimes get me in trouble. I say things that I believe passionately and people get mad. in this specific instance, like, I'm supposed to have a take, right? Like, what's your take on where Kalin DeBoer is with Alabama after two years?

Is he doing a good job? Is he doing a bad job? Is he doing a medium job? And I guess my opinion would be if I even had one somewhere in the middle because I don't feel strongly about great or bad. I think that there's a lot of things that are changing around him. And he has to change Alabama in the midst of those changes. And it's a very complicated equation. and like what does that spit out?

And I think that obviously the expectation would be for Alabama to be run in a way that at least resembles the way it used to be. The question is, A, is that even possible at Alabama in 2026 and beyond, given the financial constraints that they might have in their location in the NIL world? And if it's not to be as remotely close to Nick Saban as you possibly can be, what is the actual legitimate, realistic standard for what Alabama? Alabama fans should expect. And I know that rationality in Alabama fans and Georgia fans and Ohio State fans and Michigan fans don't always go hand in hand. But why don't we do the heavy lifting for them, Andy? If an Alabama fan will always say national championship or bust or playoff,

advancing or bust, what is the actual realistic expectation for what makes Kalin did more success there, not just in this season coming up, but year over year? Make the playoff most years in advance in the playoff a lot of years. I think that's a realistic expectation. I think Alabama's administration has realistic expectations for Caleb DeBoer. Because I think they understand the difficulty of replacing Nick Saban. They also understand that the world is changing and Alabama is not going to be able to do what it did from a roster standpoint in the old era. And I think Nick Saban understood that.

And I think it's why Nick Saban retired when he did. That's the thing that has to be said. Even Nick Saban wouldn't do what Nick Saban did right now. And that's why he left. So, like, if your standard is do what Nick Saban did, that is completely irrational and unrealistic. And I don't even mean that for Bama. I mean that for anybody. I think Georgia is going through a similar situation right now, which is, you know, we were on the verge of being the next dynasty,

winning two titles in three years. And now they've been a very good team, a dangerous team, a team that's won the SEC, a team that has made the playoff. but they have yet to advance in the playoff. Alabama, now, I don't know if you could say they advanced further because they've had bi-weeks, but Alabama has won a game in the playoff, and Georgia has not. Only because Georgia has had to play in a first round.

Right. Exactly. They've both advanced to the same depth in the tournament, but Georgia has yet to win a game. Alabama has won a first round game. But if Georgia is completely fine with Kirby Smart in the output that the Bulldogs have had, Oh, here's where I'm going to push back on you a little bit. They're probably not a fine with it.

It's not the same thing. Alabama and Georgia are not in the same place. Yeah, because Georgia's winning the SEC. Georgia kicked the crap out of Alabama and Atlanta to get that by. And then also, Alabama got destroyed in the second round, granted by the eventual national champion. But Georgia lost a nip and tough game where if they can cover a little bit or if they can, you know, get to Trinidad Shambliss, even a little bit at the end, they win that game, they move on. So they're different.

These are different situations. And then Georgia won the SEC in 2024. Alabama didn't make the playoff in 2024. But Alabama is probably not as, I think I agree with what you said, because results. or results and what happened happened. But Alabama, if behind Georgia, is not that far behind. I mean, they have beaten them in the same season that they've lost to them. Yeah.

So, like, it's not like it's night and day. And I think that Georgia fans, to a certain extent, are probably going to have a come-to-Jesus moment, too, when it comes to Kirby Smart. Now, maybe they'll go win the national title this year and I'll look like an idiot. But if Georgia keeps having seasons, like the two seasons that they've had the last two years, is that, and we've talked about this, is that a success for Georgia? I think that's a process outcome conversation. I think the process is right at Georgia.

They didn't get the outcomes they want, but if they continue to have the process work the way it does or the way it has, where they win 10 or 11 games in the regular season and then they win the SEC, the outcome that they want will come. They will get the outcome they want. So the question is, is Alabama's process going to deliver that kind of outcome? Like what Alabama has done the last two years is very different. in both cases, Alabama has lost games in the last two years that they had no business losing.

They lost in ways you never saw them lose. They lost in ways you never see Georgia lose. So that's the difference. And that's what gets confusing because on one hand, how you frame Alabama's season last year really does kind of take away, like whether it was a great season or not. Like on one hand, you could say they made it to the SEC championship game, made the playoff, advance in the playoff. That sounds like a great year, right? On the other hand, you could say they got their doors blown off by Florida State, had a pretty good run in the regular season, made it to the SEC championship,

got their doors blown off by Georgia, then made the playoff, and then eventually got their doors blown off by Indiana. Those two things sound very different, right? And I think that your perspective of where you land on it might just be the temperament that you have as a fan, but curious your thoughts on this, but if Alabama produces seasons that were similar to last year consistently, that good enough for Caitlin DeBoer to keep his job or do they have to get better than that? They can't end like that. They can't in like that. You have to be competitive in the

playoff too against the teams that are the best teams. And that that's the difference. But that's why I have a hard time, Andy, because they were competitive against one team that was a playoff team and they beat them. And then they lost to the champion by a million. Right. But Oklahoma was also the other one that we were saying. Remember we played the little game of how many teams would Notre Dame be favored against in the playoff. Oklahoma was one of those teams. So it was Alabama. I don't think Oklahoma and Alabama were in the same sphere as Ole Miss and Georgia and Indiana and Oregon. That's right. That's right. And I think that's the difference. And so what Kailin DeBore has to do is get them playing more

consistently, develop a run game. These are all things that he can do, by the way. None of this is impossible. But if he doesn't do it this year, there is going to be real pressure on him. It's understandable. And the most ironic part about this, too, is that we are using last year to frame the discussion when we should be using this year to frame it. And if you look at every single reporter who has done a preseason way too early top 25, by and large, you'll find Alabama outside of the top 10 and most of them, which would have been absolutely unheard of. So when you do process versus result, that makes sense, but shouldn't process also have Alabama roster-wise in a position to be viewed as a team that should be in the top 10? Like, that's the other

thing that scares me about Bama. It's like, well, Keel and Russell will get the start. You know, Austin Mac could get the start. They could be awesome and like just be Alabama again. Like, that's obviously always on the table when you have the players that they have. But at the same time, what if they're eight and four next year? Like, what does last year mean with the, with the new information. And is that mean that Alabama's trending in the wrong direction despite the fact that they made the playoff in 2025? Like, I still think that this is a pretty pivotal year for him and how he's viewed

overall by not just Alabama fans, but in the sport is going to be supremely altered by this season. Well, if they're eight and four, it means last year was a warning. if they're 11 and 1 and they make the SEC championship game and they don't get the crap kicked out of them and they end up either winning that game or a competitive in it, then it means last year was just a down year. And that's the thing. You brought it up in the beginning of this discussion. Where is the standard now for Alabama?

And what's the realistic standard? And I said, make the playoff advance in the playoff. But there's a way that looks. advance in the playoff and look like a team that can compete for the national title. Did Alabama, at any point in December of last year, look like a team that could compete for the national title? No. Okay.

They have to fix that. Kailin Dabor has to fix that, and he knows that. Here's another quote from Kailen Daboard of Chris Lowe this week. It's like I always tell our players, this is what we signed up for, everything that comes with being at a place like Alabama. I think that says it all. This is what we signed up for. The coaches and the players, they know.

The players are not so young that they don't remember when Nick Saban dominated. They chose this. They know what the standard is. They know what the pressure is. They know what the fans expect. They all expect the same thing. And they all know this. So everybody's got their eyes open here.

And so if they're 8 and 4, Ari, nobody should be surprised if the fans want to run them out of town. If they're 9 and 3 and they miss the playoff, I suspect the fans will want to run them out of town. And then that point, if some job is open, they'll be happy if he takes it. They were conflicted this year. They were conflicted this year. And I never bought the, well, who can you find who's better? And if Michigan's interested in him, why shouldn't we want to keep him? I think it was more, hey, we haven't really given this guy a fair chance to figure this out.

He's had a nine-win season at that point. He's had a 10-win season. He's going into the playoff. So at that point, they're not quite sure yet. I think 31 to 3 against Indiana turned the tide, pardon the pun, on that. Because they are not used to getting beat like that twice in a month. And then they didn't have the best portal cycle outwardly in terms of excitement. Now, a lot of the players that they ended up getting might turn out to be great.

And it's very hard to judge how a team did in the portal in April. But like if you compare what LSU did to what Alabama did, granted, very different situations, more of a roster turnover at LSU than Bama. But some of the exciting players that they brought in. Now, you know, it's a little bit harder to get excited about them. and that's why you might find them outside of the top 25. Now, the preseason top 25s might be more inaccurate now than they've ever been in the past because so much talent movement makes it harder to gauge who's actually going to be good.

So you want to give Alabama the benefit of the doubt. But like when you look at the teams that you think are most likely to win the national championship next year, you could probably name six teams before you even get to even thinking about Bama. And that in and of itself is an issue. So very curious because I know that those fans are never going to change. their standard. Now, they might become more rational, more realistic. They changed their standard. That's that they wouldn't change their standard. Like, coming out of the Mike Schull era, their standard was not national title every year.

Yeah. I mean, like, hire somebody who can win some games. Like, it, if the, everybody adjusts. If the baseline is, if the baseline is last year's Georgia season or failure, I think that's a reasonable expectation. I don't know if it, if that is harder to, to do at Bama than we think it is. It's harder to do. Last year of Georgia season. It's harder to do anywhere. Georgia went 11 and won the regular season,

won the conference, and then was it, you know, one defensive stop away from moving to the semifinals. But if you would have made that sentence in 2017, that would have been like a failure for Georgia. So we have, that's good to know that. It would have been a failure for Alabama.

Yes. And it would have been a failure for Alabama. Last year's Georgia season is the baseline expectation, is a really difficult task. So I'm excited to see it. And as you saw, I don't know, right before we started recording, Andy, on three posted a story about how LSU was bordering on $40 million of NIL budget and how much they spent when they initially anticipated spending 25.

So like, you're competing with that at Bama too. So like that and that makes it a little bit more different. Nick Sabin saw all this, knew it was coming. This is all part of the reason he's not doing this anymore. And Alabama has to figure out how to compete in this environment as well. That's not just a Kalin-Avore thing. That's an Alabama administration thing. Yep.

Yep. So I'm fascinated to see how this plays out, but I love hearing from Kalin-de-Bore. And this makes you want to root for him to succeed. this attitude because we just watched Lane Kiffin leave Ole Miss in the midst of a playoff run. We've seen coaches leave under different circumstances. Kaila Bore, I said this back when it was going on. I still believe it now. I believe it even more after hearing him talk to Chris Lowe.

The guy wants to be successful at Alabama. He took the plunge of, I will. I will have the guts to replace Nick Saban. I know that that may not work, but I want to do it anyway. I want to try it anyway. And he didn't run away from it. Because honestly, going and resetting your clock at Michigan

is about as good of an escape hatch as you're ever going to get. And he didn't even consider it. So that seems to me like a guy you'd won in charge of your program. And I know we do a podcast, and maybe I'm just too involved in online Twitter drama that has nothing to do with football, like Taylor Frankie Paul. But when he said,

I don't know how you look yourself in the mirror when you're still coaching a team that is going to the playoff and on the verge of competing for a national championship, did that feel shot E to you a little bit? Because I thought of somebody. I don't think that was a shot. I think that was, this is how I feel. And that's how most people would feel.

again, and we're going to talk about Lane Kiffin in a second, again, because it always comes back to him. But what Lane Kiffin did was highly anomalous, highly different from everybody else. Yeah. Yeah. I wonder if other coaches are put in his position, if someone else will do it, or if that was just only Lane Kiffin. No, I don't think it was only Lane Kiffin. I think there are other coaches who would do it. I mean, we've seen other coaches do it just not in such a high profile fashion. Todd Graham did it like twice in a row. We've seen it happen. It's just, it's different when it's a team that's in, you know, about to go into the

playoff. But Kailen Abor, I think, is one of those people that if you brought it up to him, I would have loved to have been in a conversation with him, you know, the week of the Oklahoma home a game. Hey, Kaelin, you want to talk to Ward Manual at Michigan? And I guarantee you, because I'm sure Jimmy Sexton had that conversation with him, or Davis Horton is his agent at CIA. Like, I'm sure one of those guys had that conversation with him, and he's probably like, nope, absolutely not. Because that's the type of person he is. So I, like I said, this makes me want to root for him to satisfy

the people who are very hard to satisfy in his fan base. The question is, can he actually do it? Because it is going to be really hard. Yeah, and I thought they did a really good job of handling it during it too, because he never came out and said, I'm not talking to Michigan.

I've got no interest in Michigan. This is a stupid story. Leave it alone. He said, I'm not talking to anybody. He said, I'm going to be here next year. He said all that. Yeah. While I was happening.

Am I misremembering? You are apparently. Yeah. Yeah. He had a press conference on a Sunday night where he said, I am not talking to anyone. I am going to be the coach here. I think it was about Penn State. That was Penn State.

Yeah. That was about the Penn State job. Why did we go into the Michigan, I mean, why do we go into the Oklahoma game, like, feeling like if they lost that things would change? because then the tenor of his job and his position would change. If they lost, let's say they'd lost 31 to 3 to Oklahoma. I think the Alabama fan base would have like, please leave. Please leave now.

Please take that job. Yeah. I just remember going to the Oklahoma game being like, if they lose this, are we going to be up all night? Then we probably would have. But, you know, I remember being down there going to interview the Alabama people after the game and seeing, you know, Greg Byrne, the athletic director and the members of their administration, and just the relief on their face

because they like Caleb Ward. They don't want to lose him. They think they have a good coach. They think they have the right guy. So we will see what happens. This year will determine a lot. But I don't know, you know, the majority of the Alabama fan base,

I think is probably on the fence about Kalinabor right now. I don't think there's this huge firearm contingent. but I also don't think there's this huge he's going to be here for 20 years contendent. I think they want to see different results than they saw at the end of last season. And they want to see,

don't lose to random underdog opponent that you shouldn't lose to like Florida State last year or Oklahoma the year before. They want to see something different. Yeah, the eye test and the field test is real in football. It's not just records. Yep. So now he just has to go prove it.

and like you said, this season will tell us probably most of what we want to know. Ari, I want to know how many people out there are planning to come see us on Saturday. We will be there. In Indianapolis, the semifinals are Saturday. We will be in Lugar Plaza at the Culver's Game Day Hub. That's 200 East Washington Street. Come see us. Come say hi.

We're doing a show from there. We've got some really fun guests. We've got giveaways. There will be a frozen custard sampling stand, and you'll probably see me and Ari there quite a bit. So come on by, have some custard with us, and get ready for some incredible basketball games. We will be at the Culver's Game Day Hub noon to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. Come join us in downtown Indy. If you cannot come join us in downtown Indy, then enter the Culver's swish, swish, swish sweepstakes for a chance to win $2,500.

Ari, let us peruse the mega board because it is Mega Board Wednesday. The message boards are popping. Plenty of threads being touched off by the Kalin-Divore interview. But some very interesting stuff at OM Spirit. That's our Ole Miss cited on three because yesterday, Trinidad Shambliss and Pete Golding gave press conferences. So Trinidad Shambliss, Ole Misses' quarterback. He is going to be Ole Miss's quarterback. the NCAA's last gasp attempt to stop him from being Ole Miss's quarterback,

failed in the Mississippi Supreme Court last week. Trinidad Chamble was going to play quarterback for Ole Miss this year. So he gave an interview, and our friend Ben Garrett posted a thread on the Ole Miss message board about what Trinidad Shambliss said. And he was asked about the differences between new Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding, who of course replaced Lane Kiffin last year during the playoff run. and Lane Kiffin. And here's what Trinidad Chandler said.

How is this team's identity different under Golding than the previous coach? I would say, I mean, just, you know, the personalities are a little different than, you know, our old coach and, you know, Coach Golding. I'd say he's more of like a team guy. And, you know, we really value, you know, his leadership, you know, whatever he says. He's kind of show you fast as I could tell, or he show you fast as I could tell you. He leads by his actions, and we really appreciate that. Our old coach and coach Golding, not even going to say his name.

You know, the thing that I think about with these interviews, too, is that if you ask a player, regardless of whether it's Trindad or anybody else, to compare and contrast the current coach to the previous coach, regardless of who he is or the circumstances of his departure, no matter what they say is, is going to to sound like a shot. Oh, of course. And it's like, it's an impossible thing to kind of navigate. And it's like he feels like more of a team guy. Like Pete Golding's more of a team guy. It's like, does that mean that Lane Kiffin didn't care about the team? Like that it's just like there's nothing that. Well, I think he's clear he cared less about the team than taking another job because yeah, because Lane Kiffin left them before the playoff. So this is just this was a rivalry. But could this

bubble into a major one. Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, it already was, but this is, this is going to be, I think, very bitter. All of this is going to be very bitter because I'm sure Lane Kiffin wasn't thrilled when Trinidad Chambliss decided not to follow to LSU. I'm sure Lane Kiffin would have been the biggest fan of Trinidad Chambliss's continued eligibility had he gone to LSU. I'm sure he's not a huge fan of it now when he has to play him.

Yeah. He should call him the other quarterback if anybody asks him to compare and contrast. Oh, I mean, well, the thing is every, every time he's talked about Ole Miss, he's not named Ole Miss. So this is kind of par for the course. Like nobody's naming anybody. They're not saying each other's names. Maybe the week they play, they'll finally all say each other's names. It's such a strange advancement in Lane Kiffin's storyline to go from tweeting Trinidad and Tobago flags during the playoffs to not even saying their name. He's still tweeting the flag every once in a while. I think he tweeted the flag when Trinidad won the hearing. He did.

It seems like celebratory almost for him. I don't think he really wants to play him, though. No. And that's going to be the game of the, of the. year. So, I mean, I cannot wait to experience that. And I hope that things happen in the media and interviews and discussions and reports and stories and all the things you can come up with to make it even more bitter than it already is. Sneaky. But we can try. Sneaky great season opening game. Ole Miss Louisville. That's going to be fun. Jeff Brom, always reloading,

always dangerous. Lincoln Keenholz. That's right. Lincoln Keenholz from Ohio State, the new Louisville quarterback. But so Pete Golding talked yesterday, and this, this ties into what Trinidad Chambliss was saying about the situation now at Ole Miss and how things are versus how things were. Pete Golding said that they are as deep as they've been since he's been there. And he didn't come with Lane Kiff and he came a couple years later, but he's been there for five years now, four years now. I mean, he's been there for the last two really good teams that were very deep.

Yeah, yeah. And he's saying he feels like they're deep. now. Now, obviously, anybody can say that right now, but I don't think that's something you're going to blow smoke about because you can be exposed pretty quickly once the season starts if you're not. So I would guess he feels pretty good about where they're at. You know, this is the year of first time, first year head coaches in the SEC. And I know that like Lane Kiffin, you know, being the main fixture of that, um, is going to make things interesting just because it's Lane Kiffin.

But when you like zoom out and look at the first time head coaches, I think that Pete Golding gets kind of lost in the shuffle because we've already seen them coaching the playoff and win a playoff game. But like between John Summerall and Alex Golish and Will Stein and all those guys, like Pete Golding is also in his first full year and Ole Miss is a very good team that got our quarterback back in very different fashion. And who's the star? Like, what if Pete Golding is the star?

Like, I feel like we've got two more playoff wins than any of these other guys. That's true. Even Lane Kiffin. So, you know, I'm very interested, too, because it's like as bitter as Ole Miss is right now in regards to how they lost Lane Kiffin, they do have an opportunity with somebody who seems to be beloved in the university and at the player level. to have somebody who is bought in, you know, more of a team guy, I think is appropriate,

as you pointed out so eloquently. Like, what if he's a star? Like, and this actually is the best thing that could have happened to them. Like, I think that this is all very intriguing stuff.

It's interesting because the Ole Miss fans have gotten mad at me occasionally, when I've mentioned, you know, Lane Kiffin leaving. And a lot of them have now want to say that all of the portal success in the last couple of years was due to Pete Golding, which seems like,

a little bit revisionist to me, but Pete Golding, I'm sure, had a lot to do with it. Like, that defense they brought in ahead of the 2024 season, I know Pete Golding had a lot to do with that. So it's not like he wasn't doing any of this or part of any of this. He was helping create this roster beforehand. And so I think he probably had a really good idea of what they needed. And it's interesting because they brought back a ton on offense.

It was the defense that needed to be rebuilt this year. And who better to rebuild it than your new head coach, who's your former defensive coordinator? Right. You know, and I think that they are universally viewed in a pretty high regard. So, you know, the one thing that is going to carry the day when LSU returns to or LSU travels to Ole Miss in September is going to be the bad blood story between coaches who left and all that stuff. But like this also might be a pivotal game in the CFP picture as well. So, like, that's the other piece of it. I'm expecting some pretty big things out of Ole Miss.

And, you know, I think from an experience standpoint, there's no better way to learn on the job than being in the playoff and winning two out of your three games that you played. Exactly, exactly. So Pete Golding, by the way, also involved in his own drama, he was asked about what Davos Sweeney said, the accusations that Pete Golding had tampered with Luke Forelli, the linebacker who was going to transfer from Cal to Clemson

and was enrolled at Clemson and then decided just before the portal closed to go to Ole Miss. And this is what Pete Golding said about that. Obviously, Davos, when he was pretty vocal about his version of events, how Luke Pirelli got here just wanted to give you a chance to, I mean, ask, did it all go down like he said and what was your kind of reaction to being called out? Yeah, I mean, obviously, I think there's two sides to every story, right? And so I'm not going to sit up here and use the podium as a grand stand and all that. I mean, that's why there is enforcement.

That's why we have a compliance office, right? They do all that. So, you know, the bottom line, the recruitment of Luke, he came on an official visit, right, prior to the Fiesta Bowl. And I told him, hey, I want you to be our green dot mic, but right now we got a green dot mic. And that spot's not going to be available until we don't have, you know, until we have one available. And so I want you, he wants to be here. I said, but right now they're in a spot available. So if that spot becomes available is yours, right?

so it's a kid that wanted to be here, that we wanted to be here, that at the end of it came open and he's here and we're happy to have him. Two sides to every story, but I'm not going to tell mine here. If you close your eyes and listen to him speak, do you hear Rip from Yellowstone or is it just me? Not bad. By the way, Rip from Yellowstone's son, offensive line recruit in the class of 2027. Really?

Recently visited some ACC schools. Yeah, he plays down in South Florida. You seem amazed. My browser just closed. Sorry. Randomly by itself. It must have crashed. Okay.

Yeah. So, Rylund Hauser, son of Colehouser, is an offensive line recruit in this class. So he's looked at multiple different schools. He's gone to TCU. I believe he was at North Carolina and NC State recently. So. I didn't even know that he was that big of a guy, Colehouser. His son's that big of a guy.

Yeah. But Pete Golding, not going to tell his whole side of the story, presumably he will to the NCAA. I still think nothing happens to Pete Golding here because if something happens to Pete Golding, something also probably has to happen to several other SEC coaches who tried to pick the Ole Miss roster apart after Lane Kiffin left, including Lane Kiffin. So that's the piece of this that this is. And Lane Kiffin also gets involved. in this part of the story too because Luke Forelli

is the new green dot linebacker at Ole Miss as Pete Golding pointed out. The reason they needed a new green dot linebacker is T.J. Daughery left to go join Lane Kiffin at LSU. Now, if you read the insiders on our Ole Miss site, there's a question of whether

T.J. Daughery even wanted to be the green dot this year at Ole Miss. And either way, they were fighting to keep him because he was the green dot the last two seasons and that's what they wanted him to be. If he didn't want to be that, they probably would have been fine, just letting him go. Forelli wanted to go to Ole Miss. And this, I was told all this at the time, too, by folks at both schools. So, like, this all tracks. Forelli wanted to be the green dot guy. That wasn't available at Ole Miss. They wanted, you know, but as soon as Dottary left,

they wanted a new green dot guy. So that's, that's what happened. Forelli had been on an Ole Miss visit before he visited Clemson. we'll see what happens with this. I still don't think anything comes of it for Golding because again, you're going to suspend everybody. You're going to punish everybody because they're all doing it.

Targeting, sorry, not targeting. It's another rule that makes no sense. Tampering will be enforced on a moving forward basis. It will not be a retroactive punishment because it's too messy and too impossible to do it. Yeah, I just don't. I think if you do this, you're going to have to do it to a lot of different people, and I don't know that that's going to happen.

So speaking of Lane Kiffin, though, as we put a bow on this discussion, you brought this up already in the show, but R. Wilson Alexander, brand new hired on three, wrote a great story on Wednesday about the Lane Kiffin situation and the budget that they're spending, that they plan to spend $25 to $30 million on the roster at LSU. It ended up being 40. And as one donor told Wilson Alexander,

why not when in year one? You don't build stuff over three, four years anymore. I was going to write a column yesterday about the patients thing, and now I kind of have to, right? Of course you do. You should have written it last week. I know. But yeah.

But now it's fresh again. But the thing is, listen, I bet Ole Miss is spending it. Maybe there are 40 million, but they're probably, they're probably spending more on the roster than what Wilson is reporting LSU originally planned to spend. Yeah. I mean, I remember two years ago when everybody flipped out when Ohio State estimated that they spent 20 million on their roster. And now we're already into 40 million. And don't you think that like the baseline?

that you would have to invest to compete at a certain level is probably in the 25 to 30 million range. It's what Steve Sarkesian told Chris Lowe. Yeah. The price of admission, and he estimated 25 or so teams are paying the price of admission, which I would

buy. I would buy that. That there's 25 teams that are paying the roster and the thing is, what that means is there's a floor where if you evaluate really well and you evaluate better than everybody else, they could outspend you, but you're going to beat them.

And I think we saw that with Indiana last year. Indiana wasn't outspending Oregon. Indiana probably didn't outspend Miami. Indiana probably spent a respectable amount in its roster, but they evaluated better, too. You know what this is? When's the last time you played a slot machine? It's been a while, buddy.

Okay, well, let me explain it to you. If you play a quarter machine, you can bet one credit, you can bet two credits, you can bet three, and depending on the type of machine, you can bet up to like 18 credits. Yeah. And in the slot machine world, in order to hit the major jackpot, the one that is on the top, a lot of times you have to pay max credits.

So on the baseline machines, before they got kind of elaborate in the last few years, you had to play three credits or nine credits to qualify for the main jackpot. So you're not guaranteed to win, obviously, if you bet more. But in order to compete for the highest prize, which is winning the jackpot, you have to play the max credits. So it's kind of like a slot machine if you're following what I'm saying here, which is if you want to gamble or if you want to play at the highest level, you have to press that button a few times.

Yeah. You have to press the button to max bet. And if you don't max bet, you're not going to win the title. But if you do max bet, you might go bust, but it gives you a chance at least to win it. So like you have to invest a baseline number of dollars in order to even be in the game. Where this falls, it's more like if the slot machine, let's say you could

choose one through 10 credits if you could get the highest payout by using 7 through 10 credits a person who who invest 7 credits could also win the highest payout just like I think that that's how it works on some of them so it makes sense what you're saying and I know there probably are certain slot machines

where if you bet one credit you only get the certain pay line you can get but you get the analogy and I think that what you're saying makes sense. And, you know, in football in general, it's always been this way. It's an NIL discussion now. But the teams that were investing for the most credits back in the day were investing in recruiting budget and infrastructure and different things

where the money it was allocated differently. Not everybody has ever, like, I think there's this notion because NIL is going directly to the players that all the programs for the first time in the history of football are investing different amount of money. Like, that's not true. Like, this has always been the case. It's just being allocated differently. Exactly.

And the other thing is, And this is what we don't know. I think Steve Sarkozyan's right about 25 teams paying the price of admission. Does that mean 25 different teams can win the national title? I certainly hope that's the case because that wasn't the case for a long time. No, I think that there's probably five teams who are paying the price of admission who are doing it poorly and can't. Right. And then you have 20 teams that are really good.

But I'll take that. I will take that over the previous era where three teams could win the national title. that was that is 100% true in the previous era i think you know if you went like technically speaking based on how many blue chip players you had on your roster you would say in between 12 and 18 could conceivably win it but the actual reality of that was maybe four or five in the in the most parity driven years yeah now i think that that number is closer to 10 to 12 considering the fact that miami just went all the way to the national title given their seed total.

And I hope that it grows. And I don't know if it will. I don't know how far this will go or how many teams or programs will actually. How awesome would it be if you go into the season? And Illinois is a legitimate national title, like a realistic national title contender. Like that would be so much fun. And maybe it wouldn't be every year for schools like that. But if you could every like three or four years cycle up to because of a combination of investment

and evaluation cycle up to you are now a contender. Like it would be a blast. I think that we're headed there. Now, maybe Indiana is the biggest anomaly of all time. Right. But like in the off season, following Indiana winning the national championship, you have to open your eyes to all the possibilities of the sport. You have to believe it's possible.

Yeah. And I'm just trying to make sure, like we won't know for a few years whether Indiana was an anomaly because Signetti's just an all-timer. Yeah. What would be interesting is if in 23, Wake Forest wins the title. Like, you know, we don't know who's next. But I do think that it's an unequivocal truth

that more teams have a seat at the big table than ever before. And that's exciting. And I don't know how far it'll go. I don't know how far, how many teams do you think will actually play max credits? Do you think we'll ever get to a point in time more 50 teams are playing max credits on their on their NIL budget?

If there's a Super League and they have a CBA, then they absolutely will because they'll have a salary cap and you'll know what the number is and they'll all hit it. And the worst thing about the max credits thing is that I don't know what Indiana paid last year, but I would probably guess or venture to guess that they weren't in the top 10 of biggest spenders last year, right? Does that sound right to you?

But I bet they're in the top 25, just like Sark said. Right, which means you conceivably have 18 teams that would be my number, 18 teams that if you told me they won the national championship in 26, that I would not fall out of my chair right now. Yeah. Ari, speaking of Sarkesian, let's go to inside texas.com, our Texas site. There's a story there now that they're discussing on the boards from Evan Vieth. Why Steve Sarkesian hit the reset button on the Longhorn's running back room and what comes next?

And we've mentioned this obliquely when we've talked about Texas, but mostly when we've talked about, But mostly when we've talked about Texas, we've talked about going out and getting Cam Coleman to bolster the receiving core. We talked about the financial decisions they had to make why Parker Livingston left for Oklahoma at the receiver position. The running back position is probably the more interesting one, though, if you really break it down. In spring practice last season, as Evan DeVeth points out, there were six scholarship running backs at Texas. only one of them is still there. The rest of them have left and been replaced by people out of the portal or one coming from another position,

but that they feel are much more dynamic because Texas's running game was not dynamic last year, was not dynamic at all. And that's why Trey Wisner is at Florida State and C.J. Baxter is at Kentucky and, you know, like, the thing is the running backs who left are not in the NFL. They're in other places. There are at other schools that are not considered as good.

Derek Gibson's at Purdue. So now you bring in Hollywood Smothers from NC State, Relief Brown from Arizona State. You've moved Ryan Niblet to running back because you feel like he can help you better there. You bring in Derek Cooper, who's the number one rated running back in the state. to Florida in high school. What if Texas is a yard to carry better on the ground this year? I mean, that's the difference between making the playoff and not making the playoff last year, probably.

Well, the running backs also had no home run ability last year. None, yeah. So I think that that's Texas's number one ailment from last year. And I think you can maybe boil it down to offensive line play to a certain extent. But the home runability is not the. offensive lines fault. Right. And that I think was true for the receiver room too. So like that, like, if there are receivers were the types of receivers a year ago that could have taken a five yard out, made someone miss and ran 80 yards for a touchdown, then the offensive line issues could

have been masked better in the passing game. But they couldn't, they couldn't move the ball. Who was Texas's second leading rusher last year? I don't know. Arch Manning. I should have known that. That's another thing. You, you, Arch is good athlete. You want his legs when you want them. You do not want to have to rely on them, though, because you don't want to get him hurt. So Archman. Well, Archmanning had more home run plays on the ground,

the running backs last year. Yeah, yeah. And he also had seven more touchdowns than the highest running back total for rushing touchdowns. Archmanning had 10 rushing touchdowns. Trey Weiser had three. He's a touchdown vulture. Well, yes, but large quarterbacks tend to be that.

So, but that, That, I think, may be the most important distinction between last year's Texas roster and this year's Texas roster. And I'm really excited to see that because, you know, NC State played a lot of those standalone Thursday night, Friday night games over the last couple of years. I've seen a lot of Hollywood smothers. The dude is electrifying. Yeah, he's very good. Yeah, Texas, don't, I've got the heart eye emoji going for them, you know, and every time we talk about them, I get excited. but they should be one of the best, most talented, most well-rounded teams in college football this year.

And I think that their running back room can elevate that offense in a way that they just didn't have last year. And so this is two times we've talked about this. We didn't talk about this enough last season. We talked about how they miscalculated on the offensive line, how they thought what they had coming back on the offensive line last year was good enough. They didn't need to go in the portal and get anything better. we didn't talk nearly enough about how they miscalculated in the running back position, how they did not have the home run threats.

And look, now, Bejohn had been gone for a year at that point already, but when you have Bejon Robinson at some point in your tenure like Steve Sarkesian did, like you don't have anybody like that. You're probably like, oh, well, nobody's going to be like that. But you do need to have somebody who's dynamic. and they just weren't that dynamic. Well, the other thing, too, is that C.J. Baxter was a five-star prospect who was a really, really good player. He got injured the previous year, and it was harder to probably evaluate him in the off-season, given his restriction.

So I can forgive him for that. Also, I'm going to still need some time to adjust to the new way of pronouncing Bajon, because, like, I've been calling him Bijon his whole life. Well, especially we, I had to drink the whole bottle of Bijon-Mustardson. Yeah, Bajon, now it makes more sense because Bajon rhymes with Dijon better than Bijon. No, say it out loud, just like you said it. Bajon, Dijon. Yeah, it's Dijon mustard. Dijon.

Bijon Robinson, Dijon. That is why they name the product. I mean, if we're actually using a French pronunciation, Dijon. Is that how you say it? I have no idea. I'm not French. I just thought it was great coupon. I don't wear a beret.

I don't ride around and rolls Royces asking people to roll down their window and hand me foul-tasting mustard. And I say that as a mustard fan. Give me the brown deli mustard all day. If you say that stuff at Shapiro's on Friday, you're going to get meat thrown at you. No. No, no, they agree with me. They like the brown deli mustard at your good delis. You're going to have to walk me through this because I...

Not the same mustard. One's made with like white waltzes. wine. I need to do a mustard taste test because in my head they're the same. They are not even close to the same thing. Let's let's talk about this later in the week. Great Poupon is much creamier. Your deli mustard is much grainyer. Oh, I like the deli mustard. I thought yeah. Yeah, okay. That's the good stuff. Not the French, not the French stuff that gets passed to you from the window of another Rolls Royce. There's so many people who've never seen that commercial who have no idea what I'm talking about right now. I think that every,

Like that's the, isn't that what everybody first thinks of when they think about, think about gray Poupon? I don't think a 20 year old has any clue about that. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. But go to YouTube, YouTube, the Gray Poupon commercial. You will understand, I promise. All right, Ari.

One more megaboard thread before we go. It's basketball. I'm fascinated by this situation just because we've, it feels like something we see in football every year every time a big, big football job opens, and we're getting it now in basketball, especially with people who are still playing and playing at the highest, highest, highest, highest, level. So the North Carolina jobs open. But this is from our Michigan site, the Wolverine, and their message board, the fort.

And so Chris Ballas, our publisher at the Wolverine, wrote a story, Intel, Ward Manual, that's Michigan's AD, quote, not worried about who's sniffing around Dusty May, the basketball coach. So North Carolina's open. Dusty May is Michigan's basketball coach who they hired away. Remember from Florida Atlantic after he took Florida Atlantic to the final four. Michigan is a wagon. They are playing Arizona. Both those teams are great. I think any of the four teams that are left in the final four can win the national championship. So it's entirely possible to wish Michigan can win the national championship. And Ari, we made a lot of people mad the other day with the clip about comparing the LSU situation,

Lane Kiffin leaving Ole Miss for LSU, to Tommy Lloyd and Dusty May being candidates for the UNC job. Because they're like Arizona basketball and Michigan basketball are not like Ole Miss football. I think, um, well, right now they are. They're in exactly the same place, the national semifinal. And I get that Arizona basketball has always been a great program, that Michigan basketball has had national titles in the past, that they've

been very good recently under John Bayline, B-line. So I get that. But the new era has only existed since 2021, so we don't really have a sample size. And my point stands, if you're at a place that is doing the things that can win you a national title right now, even if the other place has this story, tradition, and history, why in the world? would you consider leaving? And I thought Lane Kiffin should stay at Ole Miss because he was about to win a national title there maybe. So, yeah, I'm with Warren-Manu on this.

I ain't worried about Dusty May at all. Is Michigan and Arizona is probably on level playing fields when it comes to basketball programs? I don't know. I mean, like, Michigan has a pretty storied history of basketball, too. I mean, dating all the way back to the Fab Five. So, well, before the Fab Five, they won a national title. In the late 80s, they won a national title.

So I'm saying. Steve Fisher or like a... They're like a weird outsider that's crashing the party right now. Michigan's been pretty good at basketball for a long period of time. They've played the national title game in 2018, are you? They've been good at basketball recently. It's been more successful, more successful at a grand scale than Arizona has the last 20 years. So, you know, I just think that if logos still have power, that UNC should be a scary logo.

I just don't know how much power those logos have anymore. Exactly. We know that Michigan, like, Dusty May knows that Michigan will give him exactly what he needs to procure a national title roster every year, and it's up to him to do it. Tommy Lloyd knows that Arizona will give him exactly what he needs to procure a national title roster

every year, and it's up to him to do it. And I would argue that both of them have done masterful jobs assembling rosters this year. Like, they have so many different, ways to beat you. Yeah. You know, Arizona, they just pound you in the post. Michigan, Yaksalindenborg is the most fun player.

He can do so many different things. And I just, I don't, if I were either of these two guys, I would not even consider moving. And I get that UNC is a great job. And I get that UNC has won a bunch of national titles. But you're already where you have what you need. why risk going somewhere where you might not. Well, I mean, it also could be a complete new moot point by Monday evening. So like, you know, we'll see, you know, Ward Manuel might not be worried about it.

And maybe you shouldn't be. But, you know, I think that the bigger thing here is going out and winning something. I think Michigan needs this too. They've been through a lot in football the last, you know. They did win a national title in football three years ago. They did. Did you forget that? I think they've been through a lot since then.

If you're talking about who needs it more, I'd say Arizona probably needs it more. And that's somebody who went to school there. I'd say Illinois of the final four teams, Arizona in Illinois. Who needs it the most? So yeah, maybe Michigan needs it the least amount out of, no, no, second least.

I'll say Yukon doesn't need it. Yukon doesn't need it at all. Yeah. Unless we're combining both sports and the trauma that they're feeling in both sports. Well, then Yukon might need it. You're kind of losing your coach to Colorado State after a very good season in football.

Yeah, they finally had a pulse in football and then they lost their coach. That sucks. But if I'm Ward Manual, I'm not worried about this. And I think it's interesting because Word Manual is a is a hot button name. If we bring his name up, Michigan fans and sort of,

we will see what happens. Because I still want to see the results of all the investigations into what, who knew what and when with regard to Sharon Moore. I think that will be very interesting. But, you know, I also think there's a segment of the Michigan fan base that think Sheron, or that Ward Manual basically, I don't know, not chased off Jim Harbaugh, but allowed Jim Harbaugh to get away,

which I think is unfair to Ward Manual because Jim Harbaugh was always going back to the NFL. Nothing Ward Manual could have done would have changed that. Now, this is a different situation. Like, Ward Manual needs to try to keep Dusty May. Like, don't lose Dusty May. It's the one who hired Dusty May. There's a pretty good hire. Yeah.

And winning does kind of soothe some tension. So, you know, it'll be interesting. Dusty May is like the rising star in the sport and, like, can be a star on Monday night. He's already a star. He took Florida Atlantic to the final four, already. Dude, Atlantic was awful. them too. They were awesome. Yeah. Yeah. This this guy is going to be, and that's the thing. You have a guy

who's young, who's dynamic, who's already got you where you want to be. Damn right, you hold on to him because you could have him for a long, long time, and be successful for a long, long time. So, very excited to see what happens in that Arizona-Michigan game, just because I think it's one of the most fun semifinal matchups we've seen in a long, long time. But also, curious to see what happens with Lloyd and with May relative to the UNC job, because it certainly seems like that's what we're waiting on.

And I wouldn't leave if I were either one of them. I would stay right where I am, but maybe I'm too risk averse. I don't know. Loser of the final four games coach goes to North Carolina. Which is wild to think about. No, I mean, that's kind of how it, I don't know if that's actually true, but I think that that's how fans are. It allows you to engage them because you, the portal opens the seventh. Those two days actually probably matter quite a bit.

Yeah. So, but, you know, God, I can't wait for this. It's going to be a great game. It's going to be awesome. One more thing, Ari. Today is, of course, April Fool's Day. You pitched an April Fool's joke to me before the show. I declined it.

You wanted me to come on and say that we were canceling the show as of July, that I was going to go join the circus. And I said, no, we're not doing that to the people. We're not playing with their emotions. Yeah, we're still building, too. You don't want to kick the legs out of the building. Yeah, exactly. You know, we're still ascending.

Yeah. Okay. You may not be that dedicated of a viewer slash listener yet. We want to make you that. I know there are a few people who would just be, you know, beside them. themselves. Lori, Stephen San Antonio, Matt. We've got a core group of five listeners that I think would be said.

I hope it's more than that right now. But no, as we build the audience, though, I definitely don't want to confuse them with anything that they might think is real. So we're just coming at you shooting you straight. Your favorite college football program is not. They are all about the April Fool's jokes. So Texas A&M. on Wednesday.

Time for an upgrade. Project fourth deck at Kyle Field. I don't think this is possible, Ari, because I think if they put a fourth deck on Kyle Field when they do the Aggie Warham, they might shake it off.

Yeah. I don't know. Structurally, we've done some pretty crazy things. Could you imagine? I just don't think that's the one stadium where you can't go any taller

because it's pretty tall. Yeah, it's already pretty tall. literally sways, which feels a little weird and kind of scary. So, no, you can't go any higher. Kentucky with the blue field, big blue nation, go big blue. Could they copy Boise State and add the smurf? You know, I actually think it wouldn't look bad. I think it would look pretty good.

The thing that's awful about the graphic that you're saying here is that the end zones are still green. Right, right, yeah. You'd have to make it. You'd have to go all the way. Or you could make white end zones with blue. writing to make them pop. That'd be sick. I can go to that. I don't think you can go green there though.

Best alternate field though. Utah State, look, they're in agricultural school. Jersey cow print. I'd watch games on this field all day. This this blows away the smurf turf and the surf turf and blood field at eastern Washington. It has been quite a long time since we've had any field innovation. in college football. And there needs to be a school that needs to... I would say the last one I think was the Eastern Washington going red.

Because I think that happened after post went teal. Yeah. Yeah. But like we don't have any patterns. Like you saw, have you seen some of the basketball courts? Oh, the Oregon. In Oregon basketball court?

Yeah, with the trees. Yeah. Let's go. Stuff going. Come on, Utah State. You make a video football field. Oh, Eastern Michigan's gray field. That was okay.

Yeah. I'd love to have been in the marketing meeting. You know, I got it. Gray. That'll pop. Yeah. No, we need a pattern. Florida Atlantic with the best one. Beach game. And they've put the field on the beach in Boka.

That'd be sick. I would go. I would cover this game. Yeah, I mean, like, remember what basketball used to do? Like, I don't even know if they do these anymore. They still do that? It's been a couple years. I thought they stopped doing it because the precipitation from the water was like making the court

unreliable or something. Yeah, there were lots of complaints. But I would do that now, obviously, think about how, do you have to change the way you recruit? Obviously, strategy changes. Everybody's playing barefoot on the beach probably, right? I walked on the beach three days ago. It's exhausting. Your calves aren't built for that.

I mean, I've got great calves. That's the best part of my body. But, like, I think maybe they're more visually good than they are effective in terms of walking in the sand. It was awful. Visually amazing, functionally. Yeah. Functionally lacking. which is what I would like to be one day.

Visually amazing and functionally lacking. Yeah, that's all I care about. I don't care about being strong. Gives a shit about being strong. You've already hit one of two. You're halfway home. Oh, well, listen, next year, we will have an April Fool's joke for you. That's my promise to you.

We'll come up with a good one. I don't know what it's going to be. Yeah, we can't wing that. It's going to be a good one, though. Ari, we have a very big guest scheduled for tomorrow. Very big guest. I'm just going to leave that right here. You're going to want to tune in to tomorrow's show.

Very big guest alert. Who is it? You'll see. Make sure you're subscribed to the On 3 YouTube channel. Make sure you're subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Big guest. Big guest. Talk to you tomorrow.

Thank you.