Andy & Ari On3 - Why Penn State’s time is NOW with Matt Campbell | ACC & Conference Tiebreakers | Nate Bargatze lands Jared Curtis a movie role

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

As the college football coaching carousel was in full swing this past offseason, Penn State’s hire of Matt Campbell was one of the more notable fillings in the sport. Filling in for James Franklin after 12 season, the former Iowa State head coach made sure Penn State was worth leaving Ames for. Watch here as Andy & Ari talk with the new Nittany Lion head coach in Matt Campbell.   (0:00) On Today’s Episode (0:55) Presenting Sponsor (2:10) Intro: Previewing Matt Campbell (6:05) Penn State’s Matt Campbell joins (11:40) Players coming from Iowa State (16:52) Building a roster in year one (24:46) Rocco Becht, Rules for Life (28:53) The food at PSU, Closing Out (30:36) Penn State Expectations (32:53) Penn State’s schedule (38:35) ACC proposing universal tiebreakers (46:45) The CFP Committee’s plate (48:43) How much do you pay at the movies? (49:57) Baerskin (51:48) Who Am I? (54:18) Who Am I? - Answer (58:16) Nate Bargatze lands Jared Curtis an acting role (1:07:00) Conclusion: See you tomorrow!   Once the fellas wrap up Penn State and Matt Campbell, the guys head back to the ACC, where another piece of news regarding tiebreakers in conference standings was addressed. Watch here as Andy explains why Jim Phillips and the ACC want to introduce universal tiebreakers, but why the SEC and Big Ten want no part of it. Do you agree?   In this week’s edition of Who Am I, Ari tries to guess this week’s iconic college football player.   To close out, Andy & Ari look into an interesting piece of news as Nate Bargatze has landed Jared Curtis a role in his next movie. Will we see more of this in CFB?   Thanks for watching!   Send your questions to: [e-mail] [e-mail]   Right now BAERSkin is running 60% off on the Heavy-Storm Rain Jacket with free shipping. Text ANDY to 3-6-9-twelve - that's ANDY to 3-6-9-twelve - and they'll send you a link to grab one at 60% off. Get yours today at baerskintactical.com   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! https://youtu.be/mSbMvC4lTSQ   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 Narion 3 presented by BetMGM, new Penn State coach Matt Campbell joins us to explain how he's marrying the cultures that he brought from Ames, Iowa, to State College, Pennsylvania and the players he brought from Ames, Iowa to state college Pennsylvania with a pretty good roster that was already there. Plus, how many tight-ins can he put on the field at once? Also, the ACC has an idea for uniform conference tiebreakers. is that something the other conferences would be interested in. Also, new vandy quarterback Jared Curtis

will be in a Nate Bargetse movie. What other teams could tap into their Hollywood ties for recruiting purposes? Plus, another edition of Who Am I? Today on Annie Narion 3 presented by BetMGM. We are presented by BetMGM, all the lines and totals you hear on this year's show come from BetMGM.

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Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in seven days in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Welcome to Andy Nari on 3 presented by BetMGM. And Ari, we have a very special guest today. Penn State coach Matt Campbell joins the show. A guy we weren't here was ever going to leave Iowa State, but Penn State came a calling. and Matt Campbell headed back to the Midwest. He's from Ohio, Mount Union guy, coached at Bowling Green,

and the head coach at Toledo before he went to Iowa State, and now he is in the Big Ten, and I would say has an opportunity to compete at a very high level right away. You know, we've had some pretty big-time coaches on the show. Like, it feels really cool to, like, look back and see who's come on and give us some time, and, you know, Matt Campbell being the latest of that. that like I think that it's humbling and I'm super excited that he's here and uh you know I think that he's probably one of the more fascinating coaches to track heading into the year.

I think that the storyline of achieving less or more with less going to a place with more is is really cool and I'm really excited to see what what Penn State does. You know, obviously it's a it's a pressure cooker now. You know, James Franklin got fired in the middle of a season in which they had national championship aspirations, you know, and I like that we were able to dig in with how do you evaluate your own players, who do you bring with you, all the things that, you know, make this new, exciting venture interesting. So really appreciate him. He brought a lot of players from Iowa State. This is, you know, because we're seeing different versions of this everywhere. I think this is

the more common version because we're seeing, we're seeing it with him from going from Iowa State to Penn State, Eric Morris going from North Texas to Oklahoma State. Alex Kolis going from USF to Auburn. We've seen it, but not everybody's doing that. Like we had John Summerall on the show. He didn't bring a ton of two-lane players with him to Florida. So everybody's got their own recipe for this. And Matt Campbell leaning hard into guys that he's very familiar with,

like Rocco Beckt, like Ben Bramer. There are some really good players that have come with him that already know what they're doing. But they've also got guys at Penn State who, I don't know that, that would have even considered Iowa State at a high school. You know, that's the, some of the guys on this roster like Malachi Goodman, who's a redshirt freshman, who's probably going to start left tackle for them, that was a five-star guy. I don't think Iowa State was ever on his mind or a school like that was ever on his mind.

He was going to a school like Penn State or a school like Ohio State or, you know, one of those. Yeah. And I think, you know, in the interview, Andy, he gets into how, to make a team and, you know, what wins. Obviously, individual talents are important, but he has a philosophy on that. I'm very curious to dig in with you after the interview on what you think. But, you know, Matt Campbell has, I mean, he is, what is he the greatest coach in Iowa State history already?

He definitely is. I don't have any question about that. He's at a place now that is going to give him all of the things that he needs to win. And I think, you know, James Franklin is a part of that, too. like James Franklin fought to get those resources. And, you know, I think that they gave them a taste of playoff run, playoff success, being a drive away from playing in the national championship game two years ago. And I think that success makes places want to invest more.

And they've done that with Matt Campbell. So I'm excited to see how he does. Yeah. So we have a little schedule switcheroo. So I said yesterday that Brent Key was coming on the show today. We will have Brent Key from Georgia Tech tomorrow right now, Penn State coach Matt Campbell. honored to be joined by Penn State coach Matt Campbell in the midst of a new job. And Matt, this is one of those.

We weren't sure if we'd ever be talking to you outside of the confines of Ames, Iowa. And now you're here with this new challenge at Penn State. You're melding a roster that includes players that were at Penn State, players that were with you at Iowa State. How has that process been so far? Yeah. Well, I think for you to even say, I don't know if I would ever thought about leaving Ames, Iowa, unless it was going to be the right situation and maybe the right time.

And I think probably globally, all those things kind of came to fruition, probably in a really quick way. And I really think since we've gotten here in early December, it certainly has felt like a whirlwind. You know, we've we've had to probably challenge ourselves on one, how to build a roster. Then number two, how do you unify and align the roster? And then obviously the next phase of that is preparing yourself for this upcoming football season. So it's been a whirlwind in a lot of ways, but really fortunate to have had great people around us to be able to be unified to kind of build forward. Matt, you were a name that popped up during every coaching carousel.

for what felt like the last 10 years. Can you explain your process and how you remain disciplined and not just hopping from place to place or jumping into temptation of a new opportunity? And how do you think your life would have turned out differently if you would have just taken another job seven years ago? Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I think for me,

I became a head coach at a really young age, right? I got the Toledo job really young. And I think like anybody in this profession, there's almost like two phases of this journey. And I think the one phase of it's like, man, you got the head coaching job, which I really didn't expect to get it when I got it. And it wasn't really in the cards for me as I was evaluating

what was going to be the next phase of my career. It happened. And then next thing you know, a couple years later, you knew you kind of were outgrowing and you were going to start to lose your staff. You were going to start to lose a lot of people. So it was like, gee, should we take another job in the Iowa State situation came up? And, you know, when we got to Iowa State, it was, you know, he was like, geez, this was a heavy lift. And, you know, we got going.

And next thing you know, COVID hit. And, you know, that was the first time in 2020 when COVID hit for me that it gave me an opportunity. opportunity to sit down and reflect and just kind of say like, what are you doing in your life? You know, you, you're, I think I was 40 at the time and just really kind of evaluated to take a step back. You know, you usually don't get that opportunity in this profession. And I always say unless they fire you, right? And you have a chance to kind of sit down and reflect. And man, where are you going? And COVID did that for me. And I really kind of came out of it with three things. Number one is, you know, my family is really important to me. I mean,

remember looking around we had four kids and I looked at my wife and I said holy cow like this is what goes on in this house every day I I was humbling you know like like you took it for granted right and I remember saying that and number two was boy you want to surround yourself with really good people I remember how impressed I was at that time by our president at Iowa State who was the first female president of Iowa State Wendy Wintersstein and her leadership through COVID with our players and our team and I was really fortunate to feel like, man, you were linked arms with great leadership. And then I think the last piece of it for me was probably the most important. It's like, what do you want to really stand for in this profession?

You know, for me, this was never, my goal was to be my high school football coach. It was never about how much money can you make or what was this or what was this. It was always about, man, my high school football coach made a profound impact on me at a critical moment in my life. and I really wanted to give that back to young people and their families along the way. And we were doing that every step of the way at Iowa State. And I think that was what was really hard for me to leave, you know, Iowa State when we did.

You know, it was the, were I letting down a bunch of young men and their families who I made promises to? And that's really what kind of had to come to balance a little bit of what was the best situation. and was this really the right thing to do at the right time? When I saw how many players were following you from Iowa State, I thought back to something. So when Brock Purdy was training for the draft, I went up to see him in St. Augustine, and we were talking about your program.

And we were talking about how the transfer rules had just changed at this point. And Brock just sort of laughed. He said, you're going to see a lot of coaches' true colors come out with these new transfer rules because they're going to be held accountable. He's like, but Coach Campbell's not going to change. He doesn't have to. And he said, Coach Campbell's always been that way from the jump. Even when you're being recruited, he tells you how it is.

And then he said that, you know, you're the guy that kept everyone united no matter what you went through. And I saw how many guys were willing to come with you to kind of share this journey with you. And how much does that matter to you, that there are guys that trusted their careers to you that want to keep playing for you now? Yeah, and I'll tell you, again, all this went down so fast that Iowa State that I really, my number one goal is for our football team there to be taken care of. And ironically, as things unfolded after I left, I think it created a lot of question marks. And, you know, I remember two weeks later, or a couple, maybe it's three or four weeks. later when when the transfer portal opens, things kind of changed at Iowa State.

They went the way they went. And I remember we had about, I don't know, 20 players in their families at Penn State for a visit. And I literally broke down in the first meeting with them because it was an overwhelming feeling that, number one, I felt a deep-seated responsibility to make sure those young men were taking care of no matter where or what they were going to do because those were our guys. And then number two, I think what was really critical was just the faith

that they had in myself, our staff, and how we build a football program. And that is really the ultimate goal that I could have winning and losing. Yes, nobody wants to win more than I do. I get it. That's our profession, our job. But the reality of our job is that we are in charge of 18 to 22 year olds in the most critical point in their life. And I still deeply love and enjoy the process of helping a young man reaches full potential on and off the field and become the best that they possibly can be in creating a team every fall that has a chance to reach their full potential, that they can be the best that they possibly can be. So, you know, I think it was a really surreal moment. And it's been surreal, to be quite honest with you. I don't know if I would ever imagine

and that that was what this journey was going to look like. But to be able to do that with so many of our players, it has been a reward. And I've been very grateful to have them a part of this journey with us for sure. Matt, the thing that touched me when you first got hired there, there was a video of you walking through Beaver Stadium and you got emotional looking up at the seats

and, you know, kind of just, you know, your new surroundings, the new cathedral you guys are going to be playing in. And I think that, you know, when you took this job, you understood that the standard of what, Penn State is expecting is a lot of wins and playoff wins and a national championship. And I'm wondering, as you are going through the first off season and, you know, bringing some players with you from Iowa State that you want to take care of, how hard was it to evaluate your own guys when it, when it came to what Penn State needed and expected from you?

And how did you handle that balance between wanting to take care of people that, you know, have been with you for a long time while also understanding that Penn State may have a new, expectation that wasn't a reality for you, you know, a month earlier. Yeah, I think number one, I guess I'm probably naive enough to feel like I always felt like we could build that roster no matter where we were. You know, I think we were in some really special moments the last couple years at Iowa State of building teams that could compete and play against the best of the best in college football. And I think the number one thing in college football today as crazy as our world has gotten, I still feel like the reality of it is,

can you build a team that has the ability to withstand the emotional, the mental, and the physical challenges of a college football season? And you're right, there was emotion coming here and seeing and just knowing, growing up in this region and knowing what, you know, this place has stood for and the players that have represented this program in its greatest eras and its greatest moments. And I think that probably was one of the things that I have enjoyed the most and continue to enjoy is how do you build a team that can be its best every fall Saturday? And I don't think that's drastically different than what we were trying to accomplish at Iowa State. Obviously, this is a place that has done that at a really special level through multiple decades.

and multiple great coaches that have come through here. But I think the reality of it is, you know, putting a team together to be its best, the emphasis has to be on team. And I think that's sometimes where you can get lost today in college football. Yes, there are great players that make up great teams, but great teams are still what wins the games on Saturdays. And that's always what I've enjoyed more than anything is building a great team, a collective team that's bigger than just yourself.

And it's about the collective whole. And I still really appreciate that a part of the journey. How different is that team building part as you're dealing with the construction of the roster at Penn State versus construction of a roster at Iowa State? Because fairly or unfairly, the talk about you was maybe you didn't want to get into that world where you're dealing with that level of recruit and that level of BS that come. when you have to have that kind of roster. You're in it now. You're fighting for five stars. You're in the portal going after some of the most sought-after guys.

Does it change? Or can you have it be the team-building concept you want it to be with recruiting at that level? Well, I think number one, I think we just, college football just got taught a great lesson a year ago, right? I think when you watch what Coach Signetti did and that Indiana team, team was the emphasis of their success. And I think when you look at even the last couple

national championship teams, you know, and obviously they've come from this conference, so there's easily identified replication of team and success. That, yes, those teams had great players, but ultimately they were great teams. They were resilient. They were tough. When adversity struck, they had the ability

to be unified through it. And so when you say in recruiting or dealing with that kind of stuff that comes with maybe the recruiting process or any of those things, I still think when you cut great teams together, yes, how you put together teams has continues to evolve and change, how you put together rosters has evolved and changed and gotten uniquely different. But I still think the ethos of, man, what does a great team look like? what kind of culture, what kind of characteristics, what kind of character,

and what are the characteristics of the humans that need to be on that team, I don't know if that's really ever changed. And I don't know if it ever will in our sport because our sport demands that kind of resiliency, and it's going to always bring you adversity, and you're going to be defined by your ability to overcome that adversity and to be able to get better and persevere through it. And so I think those characteristics are the same,

no matter what level you're at or no matter what level, level recruiting. I think that's your responsibility as the coach to put that kind of team together and find the best way to get that done. Matt, what? I'm so interested in your job process. And I know you've probably been asked this a thousand times since you've taken the job there. But when you were courted by all these different places at different levels, I'm sure you had a process of, does this meet this criteria, this criteria, this criteria? Can you walk me through what the criteria it was your process and how you arrived at that and what did Penn State offer you from a packaged standpoint that met that threshold?

Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me, and again, I go back to those three values of, that were critically important. Number one, you know, my own family, what I, what I loved about where we were at Ames, Iowa was a great place to raise our kids. You know, we've got four kids. you could still go be a great father and a husband and you can live close to the facility and you could build a culture where the young men in the program felt and got to be a part of that journey of that real significant family feel. And I think that's very similar, you know, campus setting to where we are here today. I think the second piece of it to me was leadership.

You know, again, I think times were changing, certainly in Ames. You know, our president was retiring and obviously Jamie was getting to the end of his career. And I think the reality from our end of it was President Neely was extremely impressive. The conversation that I had the opportunity to talk to her and what she stood for and what she was about. And obviously, Pat, as a former football player that has played this sport and knows kind of what this sport is like and feels like. like. So I really appreciated that conversation. And I think the last piece of it, which was the most important piece, honestly, for me, is, man, was this a place where you could live by the value system that you believe in? Building culture, building team, and giving young men an unbelievable

opportunity to chase their goals and dreams on and off the field. And I think when you really look at Penn State and you cut it open in its greatest moment in its greatest era, it's one of the best academic institutions in the world. It's a place where culture and community means the world to this region. And it's a place where you show up every Saturday and it's got one of the greatest fan bases in the entire world for the sport of football. And they care and it's purposeful and meaningful. And it is bigger than you. It's, you know, it's an opportunity to still teach the life lessons and still unify and in line and impact the community. And I felt really strongly about that. And I think that part of it where I felt like I could come in and make it.

difference and help unify a line and heal both our football building and outside of our walls. Those things meant a great deal to me. And it gave me purpose to sprint into the facility every day and be a part of that. Okay, scheme question, because I know how much you guys love telling us what the plays are going to look like this year. You got to have five offensive linemen and one quarterback. Are we ever going to see you play five tight ends at once? Is that, is that the next step?

Boy, I would love it. I would love it. That, you know, if I could, if I can get away with it, I will. depends if brammer can carry the football as a tailback if he can maybe we'll we'll do it i think he can so you got ben bramer gay berkeley cooper alexander came with from iowa state you've got guys with that body type and and that skill set who remain from penn state's previous roster we've seen you do a lot of 13 personnel 12 personnel which is you know two or three tight ends how much is the game condensing because it seems like you're taking it

advantage of that. You know, defense has got smaller to defend the spread. And you're like, okay, let's bring some big dudes in here. Yeah, right. Yeah, I feel like the evolution, you know, and I feel like we lived it in the big 12, right, the last 10 years. You got into the big 12 and it started out with Baylor and Oklahoma and Texas and everybody spread out. And, you know, boy, we're just trying every way possible to figure out how the heck do we slow the game down. And that's really where we evolved defensively into what structure we played with that Iowa State the last 10 years at which you know, created a lot of change in college football. And I think then as that was changing around us, we had to figure out a way to beat that because everybody was now doing some version of that

and they were getting thinner. They were playing with smaller bodies to defend some of this area. And so, you know, I think the evolution came to what you've seen happen in college football. And, you know, I feel like the big 12 that's happened, right? You saw it go from spread out to now everybody's playing 12 personnel with great tailbacks or 13 personnel and, you know, felt like we had to be on the cutting edge of that just to be able to dictate the pace of the game. So I do think our game's changing. I think you see it in the NFL, the Rams, and so many teams like that are starting to live in that same kind of lifestyle there.

When you have those athletic tight ends that can line up at receiver, but they can also block a D-gap and a knee-gap at times, things become, you know, a real challenge for sometimes defenses to be able to defend the football. No accident that the Rams current OC is your former OC. Yeah, I know. I said we should get a little bit of cut of that salary. Maybe that can go in an NIL bucket here or Penn State. Obviously, some of the biggest pressure when building a roster is finding your

quarterback, didn't have to go far to find yours. What was the importance of bringing Rocco in and how important is it to, you know, start the build with a familiar face taking snaps? Yeah, I guess I've always believed that the head coach quarterback relationship is so critical to the success of the football team. I feel like that veteran leadership, that voice in the locker room has to be aligned to what the head coaches believes of building the football team are. And, you know, I think that's one of the great joys that I've had coaching Rocco. So, you know, we went through a huge transition during our time at Iowa State. You know, the, you know, the four-and-eight season, Rocco was a redshirt freshman

and was kind of the backup and played sparingly and redshirted to kind of flipping after that 22 season, really turning the tide again. And Rocco was an anchor to that. His leadership, his consistency, his grit, his toughness, and his ability to lead the football program the way that you would hope any selfless leader would and be a unifier, be selfless, have the ability to bring others with you. And, you know, I think Rocco did an incredible job of that. And for him to want to be here at Penn State to want to be a part of this journey, you were just really grateful and humbled by his want to be that and want to do that.

And I think he's already done an incredible job of kind of bringing those selfless work ethic trips here and being a great unifier from, you know, the young men that stayed in this program from Penn State and kind of unifying all the young men that came on our football team in January. I think Rocco's been a great anchor for all of us. All right, Matt, you are a first time guess, which means you get the same question on the way out the door that everybody gets. What are your rules for life or one rule for life? Well, I would say probably my one rule for life and I learned this at a really young age is surround yourself with great people. And, you know, I, it's a, I feel like my father taught me that lesson at a young age. And I feel like I've

tried to live to that every step of the way. And, you know, small words, but I think really impactful and meaningful in every stage of my life. Yeah, I surround myself with Ari, which Andy Andy failed that one. It's why you're driving. It's why you guys are thriving. That is a great one. And it seems like good people want to be around you. I'll go back to that conversation with Brock Purdy.

And actually, you and I talked about this in a story I did on Brock when he was playing for you. Just it seems like when someone meets you, they say this is a guy I can trust. And how do you, is that just a thought? vibe you give off how do you how do you do that yeah i i i don't know other than try to try to be authentically myself and you know i i i've always said there's there's really like two types of people in this world there's the type of person that's trying to be somebody or there's a type of human that's trying to do something and you know i i've always felt like that value of trust is something that i hold probably nearest and dearest to me and you know ironically it's

the everybody says, man, what's the mantra of your program? It's been that word, trust. And that's, as we know, trust is really, really hard to build in life, but it's really easy to break. And I think when you have that value system that resonates in every aspect of a program, then really great things can happen. And we've really tried to build that foundation here. But I don't know, other than authentically, try to be you and always try to do the right thing. And again, surround yourself with the right people that live by that value system for sure yeah you're living in a very underrated food town i think there's a lot of really good food have you eaten at a restaurant or had a dish that's like pennsylvania i know you kind of grew up in the area so maybe it's not that

different for you but is there a spot that you've hit in state college that you've enjoyed well listen and you're you're talking to if you said what's been one of the ultimate great wins we were um hopefully the people in ames i won't be mad that i say this but it's sometimes you felt like you were a a little bit of a food desert in Ames, Iowa. So, you know, there's, number one, there's multiple options for, for dinner here. There's multiple places to go out to eat, and the food's been outstanding. I think the biggest, the bigger, the biggest win for the Campbell family is there's a Trader Joe's in town. So that's, that's been a monumental win for the entire family.

So that, that, that won me big, that won me big praise right away. So I am grateful for Trader Joe's. See, I love this. I'm thinking Barrel 21 where they make their own whiskey, which is fantastic. But, Matt Campbell, Trader Joe's right there. Our friends, Stuart and Bruce are sponsored by Trader Joe's. So we got to get the Trader Joe's money coming this way. Thank you for the endorsement.

I guess by proxy, Trader Joe's is actually the cheapest grocery store right now, too. They have like, it's not that expensive. So, yeah, they've got the Ming's, uh, crispy chicken in the freezer, dude. It's economic efficiency. Look at us right here. Exactly. Yeah.

Where's the best pest is the cheapest pesto we can find? Matt Campbell, thank you so much. Thank you, guys. Thanks, coach. Appreciate you. That is Matt Campbell. And very good rules for life. He's done a good job of following those rules throughout his career.

And I think you got the sense if you watched that interview, why people gravitate to him the way they do. He just comes off as very genuine, and this is who he is. Like, hey, we're going to Trader Joe's after this. But he's that kind of guy, and you talk to people who played for him or who worked with him,

and they will tell you, he will just tell you how it is good or bad, and isn't going to really BS you? And I think in a profession where maybe not so much now because the rules have changed and the rules of engagement have changed. But in a profession where you had some used car salesman, he never was one.

And he's probably better suited for this time in this era. I actually think that actions also prove that too. Like anybody can come on and say nice things and seem genuine and all those things. But like you don't stay at Iowa. He was going to Detroit Lions and changed his mind and stayed at Iowa State. There were times for him to do things that, you know, a person that wasn't quite as a. bought into the place that he's at or the players on his team would have left for in a second.

And, you know, I think that we know that he's a Midwest guy. I think his dream was always, my understanding of it anyway, Andy was that his dream was always to coach at an Ohio state or a Michigan or a Penn State type big 10 power team. And this opened up at a time that it wasn't broken, frankly. Like they had a bad year last year, but the program's not broken. In fact, I think that you could make the case that they're the most, this is the most advantageous time to take over maybe in program history, considering where we are in the transfer portal era and the investment in the program that you're finally getting out of them. They're treating it

like their Ohio state now, and that wasn't always the case during the James Franklin tenure. So, you know, I do think that I'm appreciative of Matt Campbell coming on because he gave us a great random ranking. I don't know if we'll ever do it, but think about this, top five items at Trader Joe's. Oh, I like that. I like that. I'd be a good one. I don't know if you're a Trader Joe's guy. Do they have one in Gainesville? They do. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So speaking of advantageous time to come to Penn State, check out this schedule. All right. Matt Campbell should have a big first year.

In case you're listening in podcast form, Marshall at Temple, Buffalo, Wisconsin, at Northwestern. The biggest test of the season is you go USC at home at Michigan in a two-week span in October. then Purdue, then at Washington, Minnesota Rutgers at home, at Maryland. If these guys are what we think they should be, this is a 10 and 2 or an 11-1 team. So the translation to that is playoff team? Playoffs, yes. That is the translation. Now, this is where the argument we always have comes in.

They did not challenge themselves in the non-conference. And it's not a shot at Matt Campbell. That schedule was made before he got there. Penn State has not been challenging itself. in the non-conference of late. That could hurt them and the fact that other teams had a more difficult Big Ten draw could hurt them.

But if they handle business and beat the teams they're supposed to beat, I think they have a really good chance of being in the playoff. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, I don't know if Grace is a side effect of this job. I don't know that he's going to have

two or three years to get it going. So I think it's a pretty good spot to start. But I'm very curious to, the thing that's always been so fascinating, to me, Andy, and this is probably more of a thing 10 years ago than it is now. But whenever coaches, this is something that with Billy Napier, going to Florida too, whatever coaches

jump a level or jump a rung on the hierarchy chart, how do you recruit when you have to up the level of athlete that you're recruiting? Because he is loyal and I think I don't think this is as big of a jump as what you just mentioned.

No, no, Penn State is not going from Louisiana, Lafayette to Florida. This is... Did he sign a single five-star prospect during his time at Iowa State? I would venture to say the answer to that's no, right? No, no, they got some four stars, but that was, yeah. I think that once you jump the level of player-ranked 631st in the country to player-ranked 31st, it's a massive jump. That's what I asked him about, because the thought was, would he want to deal with that?

And the answer, if you wanted to coach in an Ohio State or Michigan or Penn State is, yes, you do ultimately want to deal with that. but we're going to see how he deals with that. And so as this show is coming out, Ari, they should be getting a commitment from a running back, who's very highly touted. Tomorrow, Steve Wolfgang's put in an RPM prediction for a quarterback for the class of 27. So they are, they're headed that direction.

You don't often see coaches that were successful at lower levels going to big time brands who absolutely flop in recruiting. Is there anybody that comes to mind? I mean, the only one that comes to mind to me is Dan Mullen, but Dan Mullen also wasn't interested in engaging in it. So, like, I don't know. He also got some good players. And he got some good players while he was there.

It wasn't a total zero effort. So, oh, I mean, I guess Brian Harson, but again, that's a little bit different with the way that he was approaching it. He thought he was going to Al-evaluate Alabama and wasn't engaging in the I mean, like Brian Harsen's final year of the air, Auburn was in, I used to do this thing for the athletic. You remember this week in recruiting every Wednesday I would go back through the previous week and just like update the general reader on like what happened in recruiting.

And there was a year where like Auburn wasn't ever in the story at all, like not even like being considered. So maybe that would be a flop. But for the most part, these good coaches and talented coaches like Matt Campbell weaponize the place as much as they do themselves. And, you know, I think being a good recruiter is about being personable and genuine and wholesome. And I think that he is.

And then when you combine that with the Penn State brand, it should, it should, you know, pay a lot of dividends in that regard. Yeah. I mean, that is, that is the question, though, is how will he handle that? But I think more immediately, they should be able to, to roll because they did keep some really talented players from the roster. Tony Rojas at linebacker, who we didn't get to see as much as you would have liked to see last year because he was injured. But I mentioned Malachi Goodman before we got to the interview.

That's the kind of player that probably not available to you at Iowa State. And Penn State's been producing really good offensive linemen. Now, their Phil Troutline, their offensive line coach under Franklin is not there anymore. So they're going to have to keep that rolling at Penn State. Guess who used to be an O'Line coach, Ari? Who? Matt Campbell. So I have a lot of faith in them to do that.

And I think you saw at Iowa State they were really good at finding players that were maybe a little bit undervalued and turning them into really good players. Will McDonald was a first round draft pick as an edge rusher, Brees Hall. Brock Purdy didn't get drafted where he should have gotten drafted, but we realize now that was a mistake on the NFL team's parts. So we're going to have to see what he does here. But I think the success should come fairly quickly. So Ari, before we get to Who Am I, I want to talk a little bit about something else I learned at the ACC Spring meetings.

So we talked a bunch about them supporting a 2014 playoff yesterday because that was the biggest headline. But I thought there was something really interesting that Jim Phillips said. And I ended up writing a column about that that came. out on Thursday. Jim Phillips wants the other commissioners to sit down in June at the CFP meetings and hammer out a uniform conference tiebreaker format. So look, we keep talking about 2014 playoff and all that's going to eliminate conference title

games. In the here and now, there are conference title games and they're going to happen this year. And, you know, the ACC had a five-loss conference champion last year. They were the only power conference whose champion missed the playoffs. Now, Miami made the playoff and made the national title game, but Duke was the ACC and missed the playoff. And so Jim Phillips wants everybody to have a more standard conference tiebreaker. And he's, he is interested in the idea of using CFP rankings or maybe using some sort of advanced power rankings,

similar to the ones he didn't say this, I'm saying this, similar to the ones the bookmakers use more predictive power rankings like Bill Conno. to determine who plays in the conference title game. And I'm curious to see how that works because the American did use something like that last year. And I think it would be helpful for the ACC if they did that. I think it would probably be helpful for the Big 12 if they did that way. Big 12 didn't need to because that was very clear that was Texas Second BYU last year. But. Well, it's funny because the team that would have been.

removed from the equation in the ACC last year, if these tiebreakers were in place, would have this team that ultimately won it. Yes, yes. Well, other teams would have been removed too. So I'll explain how they got to what they got to. And I'm going to tell you right now, the SEC and the Big Ten are going to nod and smile when Jim Phillips brings this up, but they're going to be like, no, absolutely not. We're not doing this.

there's no reason for the SEC or the Big Ten to do this. And because the two teams that make the conference title game in the SEC and the Big Ten, no matter how they do their tiebreakers, will make the playoff in a 12-team format. Yeah, this is an ACC problem that doesn't even pertain to those two conferences. Right. And I'll explain why it's interesting because the ACC tiebreaker, the one that was used. So let's bring the ACC standings from last year back up in case you're listening in podcast where Virginia is in the title game because they're at 7 and 1.

They were the only seven and one team in conference play. Four-way tie for second place. Duke, Miami, Georgia Tech, SMU pit. Five-way tie. Five-way tie. Yeah. So Duke, Miami, Georgia Tech, SMU pit, all six and two. The reason that Duke got to go is it came down to a tiebreaker that basically said,

who played the toughest conference schedule? what is the cumulative record in conference play of all of your ACC opponents? So Duke's ACC opponents were a combined 500 in conference play. And all of the other teams that were tied had a lower winning percentage than 500 in conference play. And so that's why Duke went. Now call up the SEC standings. So the SEC last year had four teams tied for first at seven and one. Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M.

Alabama and Georgia wound up playing for the title because of the same tiebreaker. They played the tougher conference schedule. The teams they played had a higher cumulative conference winning percentage than Ole Miss and Texas A&M did. And that's interesting because if you did a system where the CFP rankings factored in or the predictive power rankings factored in, then Alabama would have not played for the SEC title. They would have been punished because they lost to Florida State in the non-conference.

And I don't think any game in the non-conference should affect whether you play in the conference title game. But I also think that it makes a lot of sense for a conference like the ACC to put your best foot forward by hoping that your tiebreakers put you in a position to get your best teams into the playoff. Now, it ended up working out. But the tiebreaker thing could have been an absolute disaster for them if Miami was left out last year, which was a thing that they floated with. They got a distinct possibility, yeah. There could have been a chance that the ACC had zero teams in last year.

Yeah. So Miami was the highest, going into the championship weekends, so coming out of the regular season finale. So this would be the week 14 rankings. Miami was the highest ranked ACC team, and Virginia was the second highest ranked ACCC team. So if you're just,

using those, you would have done Miami, Virginia, which is probably what it should have been. If you said who were the two best teams in the league this year, those probably were the two best teams in the league. Yeah. So I think it's an ACC problem. It's a problem that could be a big 12 problem because you want to try to get more than one team in.

Like, ideally you are putting the two teams in your league that have the best chance of actually making the playoff, you would want your conference championship game. So the ACC and the Big 12, that's a real problem for them, a real issue they needed to be concerned with. The Big Ten and the SEC is not a real problem for them. It's nothing they need to concern themselves with. So Big Ten, SEC, I'd say keep what you got.

But, yes, the Big 12 in the ACC, you may want to come up with a more creative solution. I don't know. What do you think of the idea of them all just being on the same page, though, just for the sake of clarity and understanding for the fans? Because I do think too sometimes that like what Jim Phillips said. He said the average fan should be able to understand it. And I don't know.

You know, part of me says a little bit of wackiness in college football is a good thing because I've always said that's a feature, not a bug. And we have a lot of people who listen to us and watch us who are complaining about it becoming NFL light and being too homogenized and too standardized. So I think it cuts both ways. I think in this particular case, it just doesn't make any sense for the SEC of the Big Ten to do this. But it makes a lot of sense for the ACC or the Big 12 to do it. I do think that there have been points with college football in general. Like if they would have gone to a 24-team deal or expanded the playoff to a point where they were playing games,

the way that we were discussing last summer, that like explaining the system to somebody, would be incredibly difficult. And I think that once you get to a place where people are having a hard time understanding the rules of the thing that can be a bad thing, but I think the straight seating 2014 playoff would avoid that issue because it's not that hard to figure out.

But like the automatic buys and the, like when you think about if you had to explain how college football works to a person that's never watched it before, it would be, it would require like 10 full minutes and you probably would get questions. Yeah, no, it's, it's, absolutely insane. Like in the NFL, there's like there's X number of teams and there's X number of playoffs spots. They all play each other this way. At the end of the year,

division winners get in. It's not that hard. Yeah. Yeah. Well, there's, let me start with this room in Great Vine, Texas. For people who are like, it's insane. But like you said to it also makes it a lot of fun to talk about and cover. So. And at the end of the day, too, it's just a baseline competition on Saturday two teams line up and play. So, um, I don't know. I like it. And then people argue about it in a room in Grapevine, in Grapevine.

Yeah, and then back to Grapevine. Great breakfast buffet, though. Phenomenal breakfast buffet. We've all stayed in that hotel. I think everybody in the business has stayed in that hotel at this point now. Well, the breakfast that they give you during the committee mock where media members get to go.

I don't know if the listener knows this, but there is a mock every year that they invite media members in to try to recreate how the process works for better understanding when writing about it. And the buffet that they served us before it is apparently the same exact buffet that the actual committee members eat every day. And I was told at the meetings last week

that it kind of gets old after a while. Ari, thick cut bacon never gets old. I was kind of shocked to hear it too. I thought the best thing about being on the committee is staying in the gay lord and eating the buffets that they give you. And watching football with your friends. Ari, these guys, like,

Now, the committee members are different than the commissioners, but they all get to stay in some pretty swanky places a lot. Like these ACC meetings were at a really nice Ritz Carlton. So it may be the Gailers just below their standard. Yeah, no, I'm not even saying that's like a Ritz or St. Regis or something, but like there is a great vibe to that place. Especially because I've gone there with my family, like during Christmas time and stuff. It's a really cool hotel. Oh, they do the ice thing. Yeah, the ice thing in Orlando.

Yeah. Four-year-old really likes going there during the holiday. I live where it's hot. We don't have ice. We don't truck it in. It's hot here. They could figure it out. They trucked it in.

It's in a convention center and you pay $27 for a ticket. And then you get to pay $10 more dollars for every extra ticket that you need. And it's $200 day, but it's fun. Oh, my God. That the average millennials first date now costs $263 for the date. Movie and Chili's looking like a bargain back in the day. But what do you think a movie in Chili's cost for two people? No.

Probably $263. We went to the movies this weekend, and the tickets were $18 a piece, and this was a matinee, and the snack bar was $60. And we got a popcorn, three drinks. I think Brett got raised the nets, and we got my daughter a little icy. And it was like $64. I think, like, in and out of that place, we were in for $150 to go to the movie. Yeah, our movie theater serves alcohol now, so it gets out there.

Which is why I don't have a problem paying for streaming. services because we don't go to the movies as much as we used to. And if we did, it would be a mortgage payment. If you went to the movies once a week with your family, that would be $1,000, depending on how big your family is. Over how long, like a month? I think if you took four people or five people to the movies and everybody ate the snack bar and everybody got a ticket,

it would be a $250 event every time you go. Yeah, $1,000 a month. Okay, we're a bad at math podcast. I was trying to make sure. Yeah, four movies in a month. But then also, too, a lot of people just don't order as much snacks as we do. Popcorn is like $12 if you want a bag of popcorn. I want to tell everybody about something that's worth every penny now, Ari.

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Text Andy A&DY to 36912. That's Andy to 36912, and they'll send you a link to grab a jacket at 60% off. Keep it in your truck, keep it in your bag. Next time it rains, you are the guy who's ready. So text Andy to 36912 for 60% off. Andy to 36912. Okay, Ari, it is time for our favorite game. Who am I?

Who am I? Is it weird that I get nervous when we do these because I don't want to look like an idiot? I get scared. I get very nervous when you're asking the questions too. Okay, you do. This is one where I feel like you will get it on the third one. or you will not get it till the 10th one. Yeah.

Or I won't get it at all, which is terrifying. There's no chance that you don't get this one. Okay, we'll see. I think you underestimate. The final question is a dead giveaway. Okay. All right, here we go. Clue number one.

Okay. Lock in. My father was a minor league baseball player after playing at the University of Miami. Okay. Clue number two. I threw for 8,937 yards and 107 touchdowns in my high school career. Okay. I don't do high school stats.

Clue number three. I was the number 64 quarterback in my class according to the rival's industry rankings. Will you say that again? I was the number 64 quarterback in my class according to the rival's industry rankings. Okay. No? No, I don't know. Yeah.

The year I signed was the first for the December signing period, but I did not sign until February. Okay. My first scholarship offer came from Boise State. Okay, can you give me like a year or something? Come on, like, okay. Oh, you're about to get the year. You ready?

Yep. Tyler Shook was the highest ranked quarterback prospect from my state in my class. Okay. After the December signing day, I picked up offers from UCF, Alabama, Texas A&M, as well as the school I ended up signing with. Okay. Keep going. I took over as the starter. This is number eight, by the way. I took over as the starter in the fifth game of my freshman season.

Is it Brock Purdy? Very nice. Very nice. Eight's not good, though. That's pretty good. Because the one I was worried about was the year I signed was the first for the December signing period, but I didn't sign until February because he very famously used that period to pick up all like he had a Boise State offer the night before the December signing day but he hadn't taken a visit yet and he's like I just want to see what's out there and so he picks up Iowa State Alabama, Texas,

and I'm in UCF. I remembered that Brock Purdy got a bunch of big offers. Yeah, he was the first that that happened to. I didn't know the thing about his dad though. Yeah, his dad was. baseball player. He's from the Orlando area originally and played at University of Miami, played minor league ball, and enjoyed being in Phoenix when he was a minor leager, and that's where he and his wife decided to settle and raise their family. Did you write about that when you did

the Valley of the Quarterbacks? I did. That's why I was wondering if you were going to remember this story. That's the only reason why I ended up getting it, because I was like, let me give out Clues 9 and 10 for the for the Instagram video. Clue 9. I was the second. I was the second. I was second team all conference as a sophomore and first team all conference as a junior and a senior. And clue 10, and you're all going to get this after this one, I am the greatest Mr. Irrelevant in NFL draft history. Yeah. I think that my institutional knowledge of that story that you wrote, which was a story at the Athletic of five years ago or six years ago or whatever it was about people. Yeah, I would say it was Brock's senior year that I wrote that?

Yeah, about how Arizona was cultivating a wave of new quarterback prospects. And then I thought I remembered something about Brock Purdy's dad being a baseball player in that. And then I kind of used that to read the tea leaves all the way through. But that was a thing that will be difficult for a lot of people. I'm very curious to see how long it takes some people. I was also because we just talked to Matt Campbell. I wasn't sure. And I brought up Brock Purdy a couple times in the interview.

I didn't know. But that's why it was fresh in my mind because I had just read that to review. some Matt Campbell stuff before the interview. But you gave no years, and that's why it's hard. I did give a year when I told you Tyler Shook's class, but I didn't remember what class he's in. Do you know who the, so at Purdy, I think was the third ranked quarterback

in the state of Arizona that year. Do you remember who number two was? I don't. Jack Plummer. That's right. Who was number one? Tyler Shook was number one. Oh, Tyler Shook was number one.

Yeah. Now, who's number one in that class. Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields was number two. Okay. 2018 was a crazy year for quarterbacks. Yeah, that was a great year for quarterbacks. And like, yeah, yeah, I just, I'm just happy that I wasn't, I didn't, I don't know. I'm happy I got it. You were going to get it when I got to the last one. You were going to get it. Yeah, but eight out of ten isn't, that was the worst score that either of us have put up so far. I made it intentionally hard. because I had just mentioned him twice to you.

Okay, yeah. So. I mean, I was thinking we just had Matt Campbell on. Is he going to do something? Okay. That was my thought is great Matt Campbell players. So whether it was Breece Hall or Will McDonald or, you know, or Brock Purdy, that was my thought is one of those guys. Yeah.

Maybe as this game progresses, we can do easy mode and expert mode because, like, getting Wilma thought it would have been really hard. That would have been very hard. But I think you did really well there because I didn't give you much. Yeah. So all righty. One more thing today, and it's a fun one. So we've talked about Jared Curtis going to Vanderbilt and how unusual that would have been 10 years ago.

This was a, you know, Curtis from Nashville, five-star quarterback prospect was committed to Georgia for a long time, flips to Vanderbilt last season. is probably going to play for Vanderbilt this season as a freshman, would not have played as a true freshman for Georgia because he would have been backing up Gunner Stockton. We've talked about what it means from a recruiting standpoint. But there's also the things you can do now. And this is a really fun one. So Clay Travis reported that Nate Bargetse,

who is the excellent stand-up comic, who's a huge Vandy fan, massive Vandy fan from childhood, he has put Jared Curtis in a movie. Jared Curtis has a role in the movie The Breadwinner, and I believe he gets the speaking part. Well, I don't know if you've seen the previews of this, but I've seen Nate live a few times in my life, and it is so amazing because, like, one of the times it was in Vegas,

and, like, he doesn't curse in his comedy, and like it's just like just a really funny person like my stomach hurt when we laugh because I was laughing so hard he is so so funny and it's funny because when he depicts how he grew up in the state of Tennessee I think somewhere like rural Tennessee if I'm not mistaken you would think he'd be more of a vol than a than a Commodore just based on the way that he talks about how he grew up but I I do love this idea where you know it's part of his NIL deal I don't know what that means. Does that mean that like Nate Bargettze's film is going to pay him

for the role and but really does he get does he get sag scale? Is he getting is he getting? But that's the thing. What we learn from the CSC Nebraska hearing. If you did the paperwork right and this is this would pass through because it is a very specific thing. He is he has a role in this movie. Here's his role. Here's what we're paying. But is his role in the movie? That's the sort of thing

that goes right through. Is his role in the movie as Jared Curtis the quarterback or is it just they casted him as a kid buying a car? I don't unclear. Unclear. Because it's going to be, it's going to be, I can't wait to, I was going to go see the movie anyway because I find him hilarious. But it's like, it would be kind of cool if like you have a famous, uh, actor, comedian, musician that went to your school that like, like, maybe somebody will be a sound engineer

for the next album for Taylor Swift. What about McConaughey? I mean, McConaughey can get any Texas recruits into a movie. Like, when are we getting that? Yeah. Who are the most famous college football fans? Will Ferrell. USC?

And the thing about, like, we can talk about Will Ferrell as a movie star, but Will Ferrell is also a producer. Like, Will Ferrell was a major producer on succession on the show on HBO. Like, so he can get people into anything. He's got enough juice. Keegan Michael Keyes, a Penn State guy. He can put him in. in his own projects. He put a player in his own project. He can call his buddy Jordan Peel,

who is one of the best directors in Hollywood now and be like, Jordan, we got this five-star D tackle, and he wants to be in your next movie. I mean, we know Shane Gillis is a huge Notre Dame fan. Yes. And Shane Gillis has a show on Netflix. Have you watched tires? Yeah, of course. hysterical. Yeah. I, listen, can you imagine the next great Notre Dame offensive of Lyman gets a walk-on part on tires. Yeah. It could be great. Yeah, I mean, I do like this.

Like, is this the new era of creativity in NIL? How can you? And this is, this is, this is quote-unquote, real NIL. This is, this is the stuff they're not mad about. Go to Vanderbilt, and then you can be in a movie with one of the most famous comedians on the face of the earth. That's a pretty cool sales, bitch. I feel like the stand-up comedy world has been really good to Vanderbilt and

Blake, because Theo Vaughn, obviously, but, Theo Bonn's an LSU fan, right? But he was friends with Diego Pavia, and so it was a massive supporter of Diego Povia. Yeah, I know Bill Burr is a huge Boston sports fan, but I don't know if he likes college football. Oh, Producer River just sent us this one. Kevin Hart's son Hendricks has committed to run track at Tennessee about a month ago. So can Josh Hype'll call up Kevin Hart now and be like, hey, listen, or Rick Barnes, I suppose, for basketball. Yeah. Hey, Kevin, you got any walk-on rolls? Yeah, maybe you can get them in the Jimonji for, you know, I know he's working on

Dumongi right now. Okay, Jumongii, the reboot with Kevin Hart and The Rock. Who is the Rock? Well, that's former Miami Hurricanes defensive tackle to Wayne Johnson. Yes. So, like, is Darien Mensa going to be in the next rock, rock movie? And it's just like, I don't know if this is going to be, this isn't going to be a trend, I don't think. But what I do think, it could be the beginning of a trend of new creative ways to get people paid on the up and up in order to fulfill their NIL deals. But like, I don't know if Jared Curtis is a famous enough person for the random person to know who he is yet. Oh, I don't think it matters. Doesn't matter to Nate Bargettsey.

Doesn't matter to Vanderbilt. Probably doesn't matter to Jared Curtis. But if they introduce him as Vanderbilt's new five-star quarterback. who's shopping for a car in the movie. That would be funny. That would be great. Yeah. But also some of these guys can act and some can't.

Like, imagine if Baker Mayfield had been allowed to do stuff in college. Because Baker Mayfield was in that Heisman commercial that was really funny, right? Well, and the insurance commercials were really funny when he was the Cleveland Browns quarterback and he was pretending he and his wife were living in the stadium. Yeah. He's got legit good comic timing. So, like, if he'd have been doing that at Oklahoma, it, would have been spectacular.

It fell flat when he was the Browns quarterback because they were, they were struggling at times. Yeah, and he was the bronze quarterback. That, that too. But yeah, I listen, I'm all for this. I think if you have that person, you make it happen. Producer River says, does Arch get in a McConaughey movie? I don't think Arch wants to be in a McConaughey movie.

I think he, he seems to, he's got enough spotlight as it is. but I am sure there's somebody else playing another position who'd love it. Yeah. And maybe you need that extra nudge. Maybe there'll be a breadwinners too for the next five-star quarterback. Well, we'll see how this one does

because this is Bargetse's first foray into that world. He dominates his stand-up world. So how's he going to do in the movie world? We'll find out. But yeah, that could be the next great Vandy recruiting hook the first great Vandy

recruiting hook or the next I mean no they've got another recruiting hook you can be like Diego Bavia that's pretty good that's truly also it's a very good school yeah I think they're their ultimate

recruiting hook is you get a really good degree if you if you graduate from here very good school and probably one of the coolest towns to go to college in and they play in the SEC they've got some stuff don't come down yeah they got a lot of stuff actually when you come to think about it

but it's been harder for them and I think this new world does make it easy for them. And then, I mean, who to, who to thunk it, Vandy gets good as this lifelong Vandy fan becomes America's number one stand-up comic. Like, it is quite a meteoric rise here. Yeah, it's a new world, new world. You never know who's going to come in and chip in, whether it's the CEO of a tech company or a stand-up comedian. You know, there's people out there for everyone. Cultivate your fans, schools. Cultivation fans.

Makes me feel like our buddy Big Cat needs to step it up for the Wisconsin NIL fund. He's trying. Yeah. We're going to have him on. I have a question about this. He's going to come on. I think they were doing Grit Week this week, but he's going to come on and talk about this because I said, hey, you know, are you sure you don't want to be the AD? Because he said on his show that he wasn't probably too much paperwork to be the AD.

But it feels like he's kind of coming around on it. He did an interview with front office sports where he's like, yeah, maybe. maybe I might think about it. So, yeah, I want to talk to him as the AD search committee for Wisconsin is doing its business, because who knows, maybe he wants to do it. I doubt he'd leave his day job. He's got a pretty good day job. So does Big Cat have the best life of anybody in sports?

It's pretty good. I don't know. I think Jimbo Fisher has the best life of anybody in sports. Yeah. Well, Jimbo Fisher probably isn't particularly happy being unemployed at the moment. Boy, I would be. Don't just get bogged down with the money stuff. Like Big Cat gets to do what he loves to do, which is hang out with his friends, gamble on sports, watch sports, and talk about it.

It's a pretty good deal. Pretty good deal. I don't know how much pressure there is. Maybe there is some behind the scenes. I don't know. We got a pretty good deal for you tomorrow. Dear Andy, dear Ari Show, get those questions into us. Andy Stapleson3 at gmail.com. Ari. Dot Wasserman at On3.com. Plus, you will hear from Georgia Tech coach Brent Key.

talking O-line, talking new OC, new DC, a lot of change in Georgia Tech football. Random ranking, too, top rivalries. That's right. We're going to do a draft this time. It's not going to be a ranking. It's going to be a draft because we would have had all the same rivalries, I think, if we rank them, or mostly the same. But the draft is going to be very, very interesting. one overall pick.

We are going to have to play Roe Shambo for that. We'll find out. Okay. We'll talk to you tomorrow.