Andy & Ari On3 - Will Stein has the Oregon offense ready to FLY | Dear Andy

Episode Date: June 13, 2024

It's a #DearAndy episode and we answer YOUR questions, but first, Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein joins to preview Oregon's offense this season.(0:00-1:48) Intro(1:49 -26:17) Will Stein Joins(26:18-27:24) Dear Andy Intro(27:25-33:44) Winning the CFP this century(33:45-42:01) Dabo Swinney or Marcus Freeman on the hot seat?(42:02-46:45) Group of 5: 12 seed in CFP(46:46-53:40) CFP Super League?(53:41-57:44) EA Sports - Is it worth it?(57:45-59:37) Patrick's Bold Stance(59:38-1:00:33) Conclusion, Wrapping UpWant to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube and join us LIVE, M-F, at 8 am et! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn2g2Wy8uiE9BhDPV4knT7AHost: Andy StaplesGuest: Will Stein (Oregon offensive coordinator)Producer: River Bailey

Welcome to Andy Staples on three Thursday, my favorite day of the week, because it's a dear Andy show. Your questions drive the show. But first, we do have a special guest. So we've got some great questions from you. One about who could win a national title for the first time this century or maybe ever. One about Davos Sweeney and Marcus Freeman that I think is absolutely fascinating. One about potentially great, sneaky good on-campus playoff environments. We've got all kinds of cool stuff. You guys were paying very close attention the past few weeks to the show

and have asked some incredible questions. I cannot wait to answer, but first we have a really fun guest, Will Stein, the offensive coordinator at Oregon. So this is a guy who came in last year from UTSA, takes over. Kenny Dillingham leaves to become the head coach at Arizona State, takes over the offense with Bo Nix that had been really successful. They make it even more successful. Now he's got Dylan Gabriel coming in from Oklahoma. Will Stein, one of the brightest young minds in the coaching profession, and he's a very interesting guy. Very interesting former Louisville quarterback, was a walk-on, wound up becoming the starting quarterback at Louisville. So there's a lot to talk about with him.

And also a big, big season coming up for the Oregon Ducks where they enter the Big Ten. They're going to be expected to compete for the Big Ten title. They're going to be expected to compete for a college football playoff berth. There's a lot going on in Eugene. Will Stein at the center of it all all let's talk to him right now we are joined now by will stein oregon offensive coordinator rising star in the coaching community uh left-handed quarterback whisperer that's where i'm going to start. Well, so for those who don't know, you came to Oregon from UTSA, did a great job with Bo Nix last year, but you go from,

from Frank Harris at UTSA Southpaw. And now you get Dylan Gabriel to work with at Oregon Southpaw. Like, do you know something special about working with lefties? I guess I just know how to move the pocket to the left. They'd be better than most. Other than that, there's not a lot of difference, to be honest. As long as they're accurate and they get the ball out on time, we can work with them. Is that something you actually think about in terms of play calling?

Because I know I've heard coaches say most offenses are right-handed because most OCs are right-handed. But like, do you have to think about that in your mind? Like when you first started working with Frank? You know, at times, but it still goes back to what, you know, what we do well on offense and what he does well. But yeah, I mean, like everything's kind of left-tash dependent for me in terms of my play call sheet and how that's set. Probably because i'm a i'm a right-handed guy and right-handed quarterback but yeah it's nothing that is

too out of ordinary for me obviously being used to it with frank has helped me in this sense now with dylan but uh you know i enjoy guys that are competitive that love the game that are football junkies and i've been very fortunate to be around a lot of really good quarterbacks. So you left your last year at UTSA, I think was year four of Frank or maybe it was year five of Frank. Maybe six. You got year five of Bo Nix, like year five as a starting quarterback of Bo Nix, and now you get year five as a starting quarterback of Dylan Gabriel.

How much different is it coaching guys that are very experienced that have played in a ton of games? Yeah. I mean, I think just the conversations on a day-to-day basis are, are upper level, you know, it's like, um, teaching a grad student, um, you know, basic level algebra, right? It's the conversations are, um, well thought out. They usually come very prepared to work. When you think about Bo and the way that he prepared on a daily basis was unlike anybody else I've ever been around. And Dylan has exceeded all expectations in that, you know, in that facet of his game is his preparation. Only on the field, off the field, his film study, the way he takes care of his body. It's truly like coaching

a pro. I've never been in the NFL, but I imagine this is as close as it's going to get coaching these veteran quarterbacks in college as it's going to be in the NFL. So I'm very fortunate to have been around guys that are veteran. It definitely makes us a better offense. Now, you also have helped young quarterbacks along i i go back to your your your playing career at louisville you started out as a walk-on uh turned into a very valuable quarterback to have on the roster because at first they were kind of putting you in when they needed to and then you actually were the starting quarterback when teddy bridgewater got to Louisville.

And he had to come in when you got hurt. How did you help Teddy along during that part of it? Well, you know, I think it kind of goes back to what I just talked about, a veteran quarterback that knows how to handle his business off the field, knows how to prepare the correct way, knows how to watch tape. Teddy came into Louisville extremely raw, but you could tell from the minute he stepped foot on campus how talented he was and what type of person he was, which anybody that knows Teddy,

he's as good of a dude as you're ever going to meet. So, you know, obviously I started in front of him, which is, it's borderline comedy thinking about my playing career compared to Teddy Bridgewater. But, you know, things happen. I got hurt against Kentucky and he came off the bench. And next thing you know, coach strong was winning a lot more games than he was with me at quarterback and ended up getting a Texas job and allowed me to meet people like Jeff trailer, like Tom Herman and work with other guys at University of Texas. And I think it kind of springboarded my career as a coach.

You know, ended up backing up Teddy and made me a better coach today. How did you decide that you wanted to be a coach? Like at that point in your Louisville career, did you know when football was over for you that you wanted to be a coach? You know, that's a great question. Somewhat. You know, I've been on a team since I was four years old, you know, dating back to T-Ball at St. Matthew's Little League in Louisville, Kentucky. So that's all I've ever known is teamwork, it's football, baseball,

and the greatest people in my life besides my parents and my grandparents, and now my wife or my coaches, you know know I'm still extremely close with my high school offensive coordinator Andrew Coverdale still talk to you know Jeff Brom who was my quarterback coach at Louisville Matt Wells who's my quarterback coach in Louisville still talk to coach Crackthorpe coach Strong you know guys that coached me that impacted me as a player you know they are my heroes so when I had the opportunity after I was playing, when Sean Watson offered me a GA job at Louisville, you know, I jumped right on it. I already knew the system. You know, Teddy was coming back for year three. We had a really good team coming back. And, you know, I guess to answer

your question, I never really knew. I didn't dream of being a coach. I dreamt of being a player, just like most of us do. But once the time came and I couldn't get away from the game, it was, you know, adamant to me that I needed to get back into coaching. Now, I was told by a couple little birdies that when you were quality control at Louisville, the move was after long days back at your apartment, there'd be these jam sessions with you on the guitar. So do you still play? And what songs are your best songs on the guitar. So do you still play and what songs are your best songs on the

guitar? Well, yeah, I still dabble. I started playing guitar as a seventh grader. One of my best friends growing up, his dad had this entire music studio. It was super cool. I've been a music fan my whole life. My first concert was ZZ Top at I think eight years old with my dad you know I grew up on classic rock and you know kind of turned into different phases throughout my my my childhood adolescence and then in the teenage years and today but yeah I picked up a guitar as a young kid kind of self-taught never took a lesson YouTube was was kind of booming at that time so I'll just watch YouTube videos, learn and still have a guitar today. And now that I have a little boy who's 18 months old, got it back out kind of resurfacing, playing some ABCs, playing some,

you know, ring around the Rosie, some, some itsy bitsy spider. So it's my, my old hoodie and the blowfish, Dave Matthews band has now transitioned to some more children's songs. But yeah, it's a cool skill to have and to know and, you know, like to try to be as well-rounded as I can. You know, I was always kind of the jock athlete, but to be able to have a musical artsy side, I think is cool to have. You were a guitar playing quarterback in high school. That's not even fair. Yeah.

So the other dudes at Trinity high in Louisville, I'm sorry, you had no shot. Like it was over. It was a tough act to follow, you know, you know, at the friend's house when,

you know, you have those little basement parties, you know, you bring a guitar, you know, it's a tough act to follow. That's for sure. I know,

I know Gary Patterson, you know, I know he's, he's put on some to follow that's for sure i know i know gary patterson you know i know he's he's put on some so he's at the bar pretty high you know so well now that he's got more time on his hands i know he's consulting with he's trying to complete the the set of big 12 schools with his consultant work but uh i i do see a lot of concert footage of him lately so he's he's he's moving now he's he's way more classic rock than you though because they're like the bands that were on his tcu practice playlist which did not change year to year like some of them i had never heard of like there was a band called like sheriff that i had never heard of that was on his playlist yeah i was more like 311 sublime you know i had

my whole kind of rock reggae mix and kind of bled in the country more in college. When you're playing some country songs at a party after a game or whatever in college, you're golden. Oh, yeah. Especially after a win. That's right. Speaking of college, you became pretty internet famous while in college because of one particular screen grab like we always have these people who get famous because the screen grabs like some some fan who's doing the surrender cobra but for you it was this and and producer please please put this shot on the

screen uh this is what became known as sunny will stein so well this is the this was the uh what the cable cam at a game y'all were playing and you just kind of looked up and thumbs up. My mom took that photo from the stands after the game. What? Oh, that's what that is. How did it get on the internet? This is not a cable grab. It's not like a, uh, a tower shot. Well, you know, back then it was like Facebook, right? Twitter was just, I mean, I think I got a Twitter in college, you know, but it wasn't a big shot. Well, you know, back then it was like Facebook, right? Twitter was just, I mean, I think I got a Twitter in college, you know, but it wasn't a big thing. Instagram wasn't coming of age, but it was Facebook. Everybody was on Facebook. So yeah, I believe my mom took that and just posted it.

Some funny, funny shot that I did after the game, after a win. Next thing you know, whoever she's friends with on Facebook, I'm guessing grabbed it and posted it somewhere else. And then the folklore, the legend of Sonny Will Stein was created. And that was it. And I think they still post it every once in a while. It's funny. There was some picture of a young child, like an infant, on top of this giant flag that was created and painted with

the Sonny Wolf Stein. So it was hilarious. I mean, you got to have in your lives, you got to be able to have the ability to laugh at yourself. And, you know, that was definitely a funny moment and it's still in some carnal, you know, legend status, so I'll take it. Well, that's exactly right. Jeff Brom has his own Louisville legend, and he's got his XFL interview, and you'll have that. I'll never forget when I saw Jeff. Jeff was my first quarterback coach at Louisville. Went to my high school, too.

I've known him for a long time. And we pulled up the XFL video as a player. It was like a stat. I mean, our, our quarterback room was like, it was like nine guys and it was kind of wild. I was my first year, but I'll never forget. We pulled up the XFL, let's play football. And God, that's one of my favorite videos. That's a great video. Did you guys do impressions of him behind his back? I'm sure there was some of that going on, you know, I'm sure there was,

but no coach Brahms, phenomenal, love him and uh really excited to see you know obviously last year what they did in louisville and what direction he's taking that program so i mean you think about this that means probably dylan gabriel and dante moore at some point probably pulled up Sonny Willis-Stein like in January or February? 100%. Now we have what we call a sensitivity board. It's in our offensive quarterback room. So it's a 24-hour offense. If you're sensitive in any way, we have pictures of everybody.

And so I actually have another one. It's not the original Sonny Willis-Stein picture, but it's another one from like me just doing the thumbs up. I think I was mocking the Sonny Will Stein, but that is my sensitivity picture. So if I'm sensitive at all, take the picture, post it up. It's the Michael Jordan crying face and it's a 24 hour fence. So that's when they get to see the Sonny Will Stein, but everybody's got a picture so i mean so fine picture okay so go ahead yeah i gotta figure out how i want to understand how this works so like if dylan or dante is being overly sensitive you there's a picture that you can post to as as punishment but if you are being overly sensitive they can put your picture there 100 this is a everybody's on board here i mean nobody's off limits on the sensitivity but we have one in our offensive staff room with coaches and their pictures

and then we have one in our quarterback room so you want to be sensitive all right you're up there for 24 hours if you're super sensitive it's a 48 hour offense so if you're sensitive about being sensitive right your picture going off to get even more sensitive, that's 48. Has anybody stayed up there for like a week or two at a time? Bo wrote his name up there last year. Yeah. He was just, he's on there forever type sensitive. He must have been more sensitive in practice because it didn't show in,

like in the games, he kind of looked the same. Right. Let's say we have like our throw of the day, right? We vote on it. And if you're sensitive about that, you didn't get voted on. Like you're going to go up there. So of course, Bo, you know, he thought every throw was the best throw from him,

which most of the time they were, he was phenomenal. But then it just got to the point. He was like, you know what? Put me up there, write my name. I said, all right, that, I think that's, that, that just made you the most sensitive of all time. So you're going to be up there and you're going to stay up there and if you go in our room right now it says bo nicks below michael jordan's crying face and and so he's still up there you know as a first round traffic he can probably afford to just buy a plaque and put it up there like that's that's his donation to the quarterback room. That's right. No, Bo is a guy I love to death. He's enjoying Denver, man.

He's, he's killing it. He's already texted me. And he's getting some plays put in that he wanted to from, from our system last year. So it's really cool. How, how tough was that for you coming in where, you know, Bo had had so much success with Kenny Dillingham in that first year. And then Kenny gets the Arizona state job and you come in and your job is to continue that, surpass that. How much pressure is that? And how do you and Bo kind of work that out initially? Yeah, I mean, there's definitely, I mean, there's pressure, you know, for sure. I think that's a good way to put it. But

the first thing that I tasked myself with was, let me get to know Bo the person. Let me get to know what makes him tick. Let me get to know Izzy, his wife, his dad, Pat, mom, Krista, like let me know the Knicks family. And when he knows how much I care, he's going to allow me to coach him as hard as I want. So that was the initial thing. I mean, I knew I was, he was a veteran guys, 23 years old guys played a ton of ball, played in some of the biggest games that you can wrap your head around in college football. So let me know him and let me build off what he

did last season in 22, and then try to enhance his game, uh, in ways that I, that I saw fit and then build schemes around him that maybe they didn't have in 22 that I felt could fit him and fit our system. So it just started with getting to know him, building that trust on the personal level, taking you out to the field, experimenting with different concepts and then learning like what he was taught before. I think a lot of guys come in and try to just, you know, shove new schemes down people's throat. Like we didn't reinvent the wheel last year. We took what he was good at.

We built on that. And, you know, I think the best thing that Kenny did and then what I continue to do, which, you know, which I love as well is give our quarterbacks the keys to the car. Give them the keys. You know, Dante had it. Ty Thompson last year had it. Dylan has it now.

Dante Moore, Austin Novosad. We teach the why behind the plays, what is negative about a certain concept, and then how you can get me as a play caller out of poor calls. You know, out of a 70-game script, 50 is going to be pretty even. You know, O has a good call, D has a good call. script, 50 is going to be pretty even. You know, O has a good call, D has a good call. Ten, we're going to be dialed. We're going to have guys running wide open or big holes for the back. The other ten, the defense has a better call than the offense.

So how, as a quarterback, can you eliminate negative plays? It doesn't have to be big gains on, you know, eliminating negative plays. It could be getting us back to the line of scrimmage on a simple one scheme or getting us two yards to create a second and eight instead of a second and 12 so that's what Bo had a good grasp around you know in 22 and I felt like we built on that and then grew even more last year in 23 and you you just mentioned not you know shoving scheme down people's throat and kind of figuring out what what they do best like Dylan's an interesting situation because he's been at two different schools, but most of the time he's been with Jeff Levy running that offense,

and it obviously worked very well for them. I know your offense is a little bit different, but how do you then take what you know and what Dylan knows and have that meld together? Yeah, I mean, first off, I had a ton of respect for Jeff Levy, like what he's been able to do in his career on offense. I mean, the guy only has explosive offenses every single year. So knowing that having a ton of respect for the guy that called it for Dylan

prior, and then having a ton of respect for Dylan and his career and his ups and downs. And, um, but to answer your question, the first thing I did when we got Dylan on board was I went back and watched every single game from Oklahoma and tag plays that are in our system that fit what we do along with what fit Dylan, what fits his eye and his ability. So the good thing is there's a lot of carryover in their shot game, their three-level pass game. I feel like there's a ton of carryover in their shot game, their three-level pass game. You know, I feel like there's a ton of carryover for Dylan.

It's just different words that we use compared to what the offense that he was in before. You know, I was in – in 2016, I was in, you know, the Bryles offense at Texas with Sterling Gilbert and Matt Maddox. That wasn't quite exactly what Jeff's doing now. I think the offense has evolved since the Baylor days and into those early stages at UCF and even Tennessee. You see what Jeff Levy's doing now with his intermediate dropback game and the shots that they have produced.

It's way more pro-style, which I think goes back to their time with Lane Kiffin. So to me, that's good for me as a play caller because I know Dylan's been exposed to schemes that are more pro-style in their premise and their evolution of the play. And so I think it's blended very well. And Dylan's a fast learner.

He's eager to learn. He's a football junkie. He grinds. And I think it's been really good for him because ultimately going to the next level you know he's gonna be running a lot of these same schemes and uh we're gonna try to put them in place to have a really successful year and keep this train rolling now you went from one league to another last year changing jobs but now you're going from one league to another

because oregon is moving to the big 10 How exciting is it kind of studying these new opponents and getting ready for what new challenges they're going to bring? It's really cool. I mean, I have the utmost respect for the Big Ten. You know, growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, it was really SEC country, even though Louisville is now in the ACC. But, you know, all the fandom, all the Kentucky fans that live in Louisville. And I grew up a diehard Cats fan, actually.

My dad played there. So I went to every game at Commonwealth Stadium. I grew up in really SEC football. But just north of Louisville is really Big Ten country. So there's a lot of Big Ten fans as well in the Midwest, obviously. So I have a ton of respect. My wife is a Michigan State grad. So whenever we got off at Louisville, I'd go up to Lansing or East Lansing

and go to some Spartan games. So I have nothing but respect for the Big Ten. It's going to be extremely challenging. The defenses that we're going to be facing this year, I was looking at, for instance, Wisconsin. They're sixth in the league in scoring defense at around 20 a game. But compare that to the national picture of their top 25. You know, every defense we see each week is going to be stout, going to be sound, is going to have great players on that side of the ball.

And we're going into environments that are extremely hostile, you know, going to Camp Randall, going to the big house, you know, going to West Lafayette to play at Purdue. You know, we, we understand that we're going to be everybody's, you know, big game. It's the Ducks. It's the new guys in the league. It's a, you know, a top three opponent coming to these, these, these venues. And, you know, it's something that we don't take lightly and really excited. I think we've built a roster. That's going to be able to, to really play extremely competitive and play really well going into this

league, you know, coach Lanning and Tosh and a leak off of the line coach really beefed up the offensive defensive lines. I think we have great skill. Obviously have really good depth at quarterback. We got a back that runs really tough tight ends. You know We obviously have a really good depth at quarterback. We got a back that runs really tough, tight ends. We have a really good team, really good roster coming back. I'm really excited to see these kids compete in this league

and hopefully make a run at it. Well, we always ask play callers about how they feel based on their quarterback, but I am curious. I don't think I've ever asked a play caller this, but I should be asking it every time. Like when you have tackles as good as Josh Connelly and a Johnny Cornelius, like how much more confident does that make you as a play caller? A lot.

And, you know, the last two seasons in 22, they gave up five sacks on the year. Last year, we only gave up five sacks. You know, that's a testament not only to our scheme and how we block certain fronts and pressures, but to those players. Like, let's be real. It's a player's game. Teams with the better players typically win the most games. You know, Michigan had what the most drafted players last year and they won the national championship. UW had 15 guys drafted. They played for it like Texas, you know, us, Ohio State.

The teams with the best players usually win the best games. So it definitely makes things, I don't want to say easier, but a little bit more comfortable as a play caller to be able to drop back on first and second down, to empty the backfield on first and second down, to use our shot plays on base downs, you know, just because we feel really confident with those guys up front, the work that they put in, their ability to process information like our quarterbacks. You know, Josh and Johnny are really smart guys too. You know, I mean, up front, guys see multiple looks on the same play.

We call inside zone to the naked eye where we're blocking inside zone, but to the offensive line, it's going to look and feel and play out like five different plays. So you have to have uh you know really smart guys up front and tough but those those two that you mentioned along with our other you know crew up front we have a talented group and good people too yeah well i i am very excited to see it because that's you know it seems like you guys have built so well on the lines of scrimmage,

and then you add a lot of the skilled guys like Evan Stewart coming in from Texas A&M to the receivers that you already had. It feels like you've got a lot to work with. I do. It's a fun – I don't want to call it a problem because it's not a problem, but it's fun. It's fun. It's fun. It's fun.

We're going to have to do a great job this year of getting guys involved and involved early in the offense, not just on situational third down calls, but based on calls, you know, it's going to put good stress on me to get those kids involved. And like I said, anytime the best teams I've ever been on, I want to have the best players. And when you couple that with a culture like we have, that Coach Lanning has set here at Oregon, built on connection, toughness, sacrifice, and a growth mindset, it usually gels very well.

We've got a coaching staff that has very little, zero ego. Guys just want to win. Guys will do anything for these kids, for this program, for our head coach, for our president, for our AD, for Phil Knight. Everybody's aligned here at Oregon. It's the most aligned place I've ever been a part of in my life. And it trickles down to how we play on the field. So blessed and fortunate to be in this position, that's for sure.

Well, we appreciate it. We're blessed and fortunate to have you on the show. Thank you so much. Thanks, Andy. I really appreciate it and love watching you and watching the show and got nothing but respect for, for all you guys and the hard work that you put in as well. Thanks to Will Stein. Hopefully he didn't say anything that's going to get put on the sensitivity board, but does sound like the threshold for that is actually kind of low. So if Dylan Gabriel, if Dante Moore, if they're watching, if Austin Novosad's watching,

he said anything that you feel merits his inclusion, just throw him back up there. I don't think he minds just being up there with Bo Nix pretty much all the time. Sounds like it's a kind of a place of honor, whether they admit it or not in the Oregon locker room. All right. It is now time for your questions and you've asked some doozies. This is, this is a great bunch. I, it was one of those where I threw out the call for questions on Wednesday morning and just boom, within about 45 minutes, you guys had delivered just emphatically. So I am thrilled to answer these. And there's some of these ones that I think are going to be tough. And I think

some of them, you're not going to like the answers, but the first one from Eli is really, really good. So Georgia snapped a 40 year drought before winning its titles and Michigan won it all for the first time in 27 years, who will be the next team to win a title that hasn't won one this century. Now I'm going to, I don't even think this is cheating because by definition, a century starts in 01. It doesn't start in 00. That means Oklahoma has not won a national title this century. The last Oklahoma title was 2000, the 2000 season. Now they did, it was 2001 when they played the game that clenched it.

But that one, I feel like it's a little bit cheating, but it's not. Because again, the definition of a century is what it is. So I feel like Oklahoma is the easiest guess because Oklahoma has been the closest to it multiple times since winning the last one they won. And you know how this show goes. You know how we feel about the Sooners. They've had one down period in the entirety of their football history. They don't really ever slip off. They don't fall off.

If there's any sort of slippage, they make the changes they need to make and they figure it out. Obviously, as they go into the SEC, it's going to be difficult. It's going to be challenging. But I have faith in the administration in Oklahoma to figure it out. Obviously, as they go into the SEC, it's going to be difficult. It's going to be challenging, but I have faith in the administration in Oklahoma to figure it out because they always do. So I feel like that's the easiest answer right there. Now, there are some other answers that are possible. And so you just heard from Will Stein. They are very excited about the roster they have at Oregon this year. They're very excited about what they can do with this team.

And if you look at the win totals, you go to FanDuel, you look at the win totals, Oregon's win total at 10.5 is the highest of anybody. It's tied with Ohio State, tied with Georgia, tied with Texas. Translation, they are considered a national title contender. Well, if Oregon were to win one, I'd be the first. They would be the first first-time national champ since the 1996 Florida Gators, a team near and dear to my heart. That is a crazy stat as well, that there hasn't been a first-time national champ in that many years. Don't make me do the math on that. It will just make me feel old. But Oregon certainly is in position to be that. And Oregon's been kind of hovering around that for about 15 years now.

They made the national title game in 2010. They made it again in 2014. The roster that they have put together there looks like the rosters of national championship-type teams. They got to get through a pretty challenging gauntlet to get there. They've got a regular season schedule that includes Ohio State and Michigan. If they get to the playoff, they're going to have to play three or four really good teams in the playoff. So there are no guarantees. But I would say of the ones that have never won a national championship,

Oregon certainly feels closer than anybody else another one that hasn't won one in a while but the roster seems to be getting better they seem to be in a position where they should be able to make the playoff a lot of years now is Notre Dame Notre Dame hasn't won a national title since 1988 Notre Dame has made the the four-team college football playoff. They made that twice. They also made the BCS title game once in 2012. Didn't go well any of those times.

All of those times they were exposed for a lack of depth. And that has been the issue. Under Marcus Freeman, it feels like they were recruiting a little bit better in terms of depth. They were building the kind of depth that would maybe make them capable of winning multiple games. Now, remember, Notre Dame in the playoff, because they do not play in a conference, they cannot play in a conference championship game. They have to play four. They can't get one of the buys that comes with being one of the top four seats. So they have to win four in a row against some of the best of the best. Are they deep enough of that yet?

I don't think they are. I think the last two seasons of results have shown that. Now, if Marcus Freeman continues to recruit well, and you look at where they're at in the class of 25 rankings, I believe they're in the top 10 squarely right now. And if that continues, then yeah, I think they will be deep enough. Now they're in a little bit more of a difficult position because while they can take transfers like Sam Hartman last year, Riley Leonard this year, they can't take as many transfers as everybody else because it's hard to get into Notre Dame. They don't really just fly you in as an undergrad necessarily unless you're coming from a place like Stanford or Northwestern or Duke. So really it's a grad transfer situation in a lot of cases. And you see they're doing that with Riley Leonard, Bo Collins, the receiver who's

coming from Clemson this year. That's how they're trying to build the depth, but are they going to be deep enough? I don't know if they're going to be deep enough now. I think if they keep recruiting the way they have been, they should be deep enough within a couple of years. And if the playoff system is either the same, what starts this year, this 12-team system, or the 14-team when we've heard about, discussed, as the potential alternative come 2026, well, Notre Dame should be in that a lot of years.

So I do think that would be one that would have a chance to win the first national title in quite some time. But I still think Oklahoma would be the safest bet there just because, again, they're hardly ever bad. If there's any sort of little slight drop they figure it out and if you look at the last national title Oklahoma when it came after that one down period we talked about the the mid to late 90s were the one down period of Oklahoma football Bob Stoops gets there in 1999, turns things around in season one.

Season two, they win the national title. So, yeah, I feel like that's the safest bet. But again, if you don't believe me about the actual definition of a century, you're going, no, no, they won the one in the century, so they don't qualify. No, they haven't. They do, and that's my easy, cheap answer.

Next question comes from Mac. I know this sounds crazy, but which coach do you think is on the hot seat more, Marcus Freeman or Dabo Sweeney? All right, I'm going to start this off with a disclaimer. Neither of these coaches is on the hot seat. Neither one of these guys will get fired if they have a bad year this year. And bad year is relatively speaking because we're talking about Clemson and Notre Dame with significant talent advantages over most of the teams they're going to play.

So we would be talking about quote, quote, bad year would be like eight and four. Nobody's getting fired. I'm going gonna say that right off the bat but if dabbo swinney keeps trending in the wrong direction there will be angst if marcus freeman does not continue to ascend as he grows older and more mature as a coach, then there will be angst. So while nobody's getting fired this year, this is a case where the trajectory needs to be correct by the end of this season, or there will be angst going to next season. And again, I'm not saying anybody's getting fired because the numbers are pretty ridiculous,

especially when it comes to Dabo Sweeney. So Dabo Sweeney, after this season, his buyout would be $60 million. And it was funny because I actually had a hard time finding the buyout because when anybody's written about Dabo Sweeney's buyout, it's been in terms of if he left to take another job, what he would owe Clemson.

Nobody even thinks about the possibility of him getting fired, so nobody even thinks about what his buyout would be. Yes, I know that Texas A&M paid a $77 million buyout to fire Jimbo Fisher last year. Clemson is not paying a $60 million buyout to fire Dabo Sweeney. Not happening. Also, here's an incredible stat that I'm sure my mind knew was true, but when I saw it again just today, I was like, are you kidding me? Last year was Clemson's first single-digit win season since 2010. 2010! 2010! Remember that season they went 6-7? Dabo fired Billy Napier as the offensive coordinator, hired Chad Morris. That's how long ago that was.

They have won 10 or more games every year since then until 2023. So when Dabo Sweeney says buy Clemson stock, and that was just a momentary dip the beginning of last season it's okay if you believe him because he's got the record to back it up and it's also why if you're Clemson you are not firing him or even thinking about it. That said, if this season looks a lot like last season, and then the next season looks a lot like this season and last season, that's not going to go over well. Because while Dabo Sweeney has raised everything to do with Clemson's football program,

he also has raised the expectations. And so they expect more than losing four games. They expect more than not fielding a roster that can really compete for the national title. And I think in the era of the transfer portal, if you don't use the transfer portal, then you probably won't, because the teams that do use the transfer portal, then you probably won't because the teams that do use the transfer portal are just more efficient. If they make recruiting mistakes, they cover them up with players that they got out of the portal who are veterans, who they have scouted playing as college level competition,

who they know they can plug and play. That's something that Clemson can't really do because they don't use the transfer portal. And Dabo has talked about why, and it makes sense. Most of the players in the portal, not good enough to be better than the players Clemson actually recruits. Also, a lot of those players that go into the portal, the deal's already done. They've already figured out where they're going. It's the third group, the ones who actually could help Clemson that according to Davos Winnie, Clemson can't afford. That's the one that they've got to figure out now with the schools putting in most of the money to pay the players for now on. It

won't be all of it. It'll be most of it though. Does that change things? Does that increase what Clemson can afford? That's what I want to see this coming off season. How much does that change? Does Dabo start using the portal because suddenly they can afford players that can help Clemson? Because if they do that, they're right back in it. But if they keep going down this path, they're not going to be back to the level they want to be. Now, Freeman's a different story. Notre Dame has been pretty all in on NIL, on helping him get the best players he can get. He's now got to just show he's learning as a head coach. And remember we had him on the show after the Ohio State game, and he was talking about the play where they had 10 men on the field and how they, the next day had devised a call to make sure they never find themselves in that situation again. And I, I, I pointed out

the Kirby smart comparison. You know, we all, we talk about Kirby smart. They, they made the national title game. His second year as a head coach, they lost the third year. They have the horrible fake punt in the sec championship game. And the whole time I'm thinking Kirby Smart is a young head coach. This is all still very new to him. Same with Marcus Freeman in the past two years. And so the first year they lose to Marshall. Yeah, that's the sort of thing you sort of learn from those mistakes. Now, they didn't have the shocking loss last year, except you could say Louisville,

but you kind of saw it coming a mile away. Louisville was really good. Notre Dame was playing all these huge primetime games in a row. You kind of saw that coming. If they're going to win the games they're supposed to win, looking at the schedule they have this year, then they should be in the playoff. You're talking about an 11-1 or a 10-2 team that should make the playoff. That's where Marcus Freeman needs to live. He needs to live in that five to eight seed range of the playoff because that's where Notre Dame should be. That is kind of why Jack Swarbrick, the former Notre Dame athletic director, helped design the playoff this way because it allows Notre Dame to stay independent in football, which is what Notre Dame wants,

but it allows them a chance to compete for the national title. So that is why that system is the way it is, why Notre Dame is positioned this way, and Marcus Freeman's got to live there. Now, if they go 9-3 this year, they miss the playoff, yeah, people are going to be pissed. And I think Marcus Freeman would start next year on the hot seat in that case. You would have to be better than that.

Because this system is pretty much designed for Notre Dame to be an at-large team. So he needs to put them in the playoff. Now, do they have to go deep in the playoff? No. Just get in and then you're going to have years where you go deep. And especially as he recruits a deeper roster, like we just talked about, you will have a chance to play for national titles.

But you got to be in it. And so can't put 10 men on the field in a critical play against Ohio State. Can't lose to Marshall. These are the things that if Marcus Freeman has learned from those things in his first two years as head coach, guess what? He's going to be just fine. But yeah, if with this schedule, they don't make the college football playoff with a 12 team playoff, people in Notre Dame are going to be pissed. It won't be good enough. So I think

Marcus Freeman understands that. I think he's well aware that he needs to make the playoff. All right, next question comes from Errol. Which hypothetical would be more likely to be the number 12 seat? A 12-1 Miami of Ohio, an undefeated Liberty, or a 10-3 Boise State? This is a really interesting question because we don't yet know how the committee

is going to handle that top-ranked group of five champ last year remember liberty was the top-ranked group of five champ at number 23 smu was the american champ with two losses i believe they finished 24th and obviously right lashley was very upset about it. Liberty had played a pretty easy schedule. And Liberty goes and plays Oregon. It's very clear that the talent levels are very different, that Oregon's a much better team.

So the question is, how do they handle these situations? I think you can kind of power rank the group of five conferences where you've got the Mountain West, the American, and the Sun Belt. I think you can kind of power rank the group of five conferences where there there's, you've got the mountain West, the American and the sunbelt kind of in one bucket and then conference USA and the Mac and another bucket where it feels like those are a little bit easier road than the American and the mountain West and the sunbelt,

especially the sunbelt feels very deep this year. It feels like there's a lot of teams that could win it, and it doesn't feel like somebody's just going to run through it undefeated. Now, if you've got a one-loss Sun Belt champ, I think you've got a really good chance. That's not one of the options that was presented to me in this hypothetical. This is an interesting, plausible hypothetical, though, because I do think there's a good chance to have an undefeated Liberty.

Now, Liberty's best out-of-conference opponents, Appalachian state, maybe East Carolina. I don't think either one of those is going to wow the committee. If that's your best win and you're 13 and oh, but again, it depends on what you're being stacked up against. The 12 and one Miami of Ohio is very interesting because if Miami of Ohio is 12 and one, it means they've beaten at least two of the following teams, Notre Dame, Northwestern, and Cincinnati. And I've been going over my mind because I think the assumption is the loss is Notre Dame. And by the way, if Miami of Ohio beats Notre Dame, all that stuff I said about Marcus Freeman in that last question, yeah, just apply it. But the assumption is they lose to Notre Dame.

They beat Northwestern and Cincinnati. I think that would really depend on how good Northwestern and Cincinnati are in their own leagues. Northwestern was a fair Big Ten team last year. Cincinnati was not a very good Big 12 team. If they are at the bottom of their league, I don't think that's particularly helpful, but at least it would be you played up and you won and then you went on and won the Mac. So I think the 12 and one Miami, and then now here's the other thing. Let's say they lose to Northwestern or Cincinnati, or let's say they go undefeated in the non-con and lose a conference game,

but still win the league. Like if you've got a win against Notre Dame and Notre Dame winds up being, you know, it doesn't matter. You know, I said, Marcus Freeman's in trouble if they're nine and three, but nine and three Notre Dame on a resume like this going to look really

good to the committee. So if they were to beat Notre Dame, then lose to say Northwestern or Cincy or lose in the Mac and be 12 and one, I, there in, I think that's the team. And then the 10 and three Boise state. So the mountain West is obviously tougher than the Mac and tougher than conference USA, but you got to look at Boise State's schedule. Now they play Oregon, Washington it's also the one we expect them to lose. So if you had three losses, it could be Oregon, Washington state and Oregon state, or it could be Oregon, Washington state and UNLV, Oregon, Oregon state, San Diego state. Like the problem is, I don't know if that leaves you enough really good wins

to go over an undefeated team, even if it's an undefeated conference usa team or definitely not to go over the 12 and 1 miami of ohio which would have two core four wins in some way shape or form so i do think in errol's hypothetical it's the 12 and 1 miami of ohio makes it to the playoff. This one's from Oscar. College football is most like world soccer more than any other North American sport, both the good and the bad passionate regional fans, corruption, organizational ineptitude, et cetera. Which gets the Super League first and when? Well, if I were a betting man, I'd say college football would because they tried to do a Super

League in soccer. And the thing that happened that stopped it is the thing that would not happen in college football. So the reason the Super League in soccer fell apart is because there were some English Premier League teams, especially that either wouldn't join or were going to join, but their own fans revolted. And these are so obviously the fans of the ones that were going to be left out were revolting. They were horrified. But. A lot of the fans of teams that were getting in protested. And I think that is where it's different because I can't see Ohio state, Michigan, Alabama,

Tennessee fans taking to the streets to stop a super league. I think they go, well, we're in. Good luck to everybody else. That's not what happened in European soccer. In European soccer, there were mega power teams and their supporters said, no, we don't want this. I don't think you would have SEC or Big Ten fan bases rising up en masse to say, no, you can't screw the Big 12 like that. I just don't think you'd see it. So that's why if I had to bet on one coming before the other, I would bet on college football. Now, the one thing that I do think college football should steal from international soccer

is the transfer fee. And we've talked about this on the show before. So how it works in international soccer is you have a contract with a player and they have these transfer windows, which is similar to the transfer portal windows in college football. And there's a set price attached to that player that's called a transfer fee. If Manchester United wants to buy a player from Barcelona, well, they can pay that player's transfer fee,

and then they can negotiate a contract with that player. So it would seem like the best way to handle it, like if Tennessee wants to take a player from Tulane, again, an example of a real, like Chris Bra brazel the receiver went from two lane to tennessee tennessee should have to pay two lane for the right to do that the problem here is you've got the schools fighting very hard to make sure the athletes are not employees and you can't really force a school to pay for a non-employee student changing schools. That's not going to happen. So if they ever do become employees or contractors or something like that, which I think inevitably they will,

then you might be able to institute something like a transfer fee, which if you're going to make these other leagues farm systems, which I think that that's what's going to happen, that's what's happening now, at least they should get paid for it. The money should be handed down for the player that you're bringing up. But again, they'll have to get on board

with the employment or their contractor thing before that happens. This one's from JJ. Dear Andy, on today's show, you were talking about the most obvious stadiums that would be incredible to host a college football playoff game. However, I would love to hear your take on which stadiums might be low key or most unexpectedly awesome or unique. A few examples that come to mind. Rice Eccles at Utah. High chance of bad weather. Snow-capped mountain backdrop. A little-ass stadium.

Remember that Florida player tweeted that out. Didn't go so well for him. That plays much bigger than its capacity and a physical team that wants you to drag you to hell and back. Also, Razorback Stadium. Not typically known for home field advantage, but when it's a big game, the atmosphere is insane. See the Texas game in 2021. Also, both Jalen Hurts and Greg McIlroy have said on record

that Razorback Stadium was the loudest venue they played in. I agree wholeheartedly on both of these choices. Rice Eccles is incredible. I remember Kyle Whittingham was pushing to get it bigger. I don't think it needs to be any bigger. It's in the mid-40s, I believe, in terms of how many thousand people fit in it. The backdrop is amazing because the Salt Lake City is kind of in a valley. As you go up the hill, you have the University of Utah. Rice-Eccles sits kind of midway up the hill. You've got the mountains in the background. They're beautiful.

The stadium rocks. It is incredibly loud for the amount of people that are in there. I could not agree more. That's a place I'd love to see a playoff game. Agree with Razorback Stadium, too. If you remember that 2021 Texas game, it sounded like the walls were closing in on the longhorns like that that crowd one they hate texas but two when razorback fans are getting after it they are nuts i mean i believe it was at arkansas at a baseball game that the dude tried to grab

the raccoon with his bare hands and got bit like those are Arkansas fans those are the people who are yelling so yeah it's loud and crazy I'll throw another one at you Kansas State you know I had them listed as a uh as a top four seed in my projected playoff because I had them winning the big 12 I would love to see though if they didn't get buy, if they were to host a playoff game at Bill Snyder family stadium, because that is a place that really gets after it. They gets loud. I was at the Auburn game when Auburn came on a Thursday night. Gosh,

it must've been 10 years ago. This, I believe it's 2014. And what an environment, what an incredible environment. It was so much, but Oklahoma state would be another great one. Boone Pickens Stadium is probably the tightest stadium in the country

in terms of the confines of the actual playing field relative to where the fans sit. It is very claustrophobic. Like, Florida Field, the Swamp, claustrophobic and loud and lots of people but i actually think boone pickham stadium might be more claustrophobic and you've got the the fans with the paddles right there on the front row like it is it's intense so those would be the two i would add to that list but i love rice eckles and razorback stadium on that list i think that's incredible our next question comes from our friend Kimmy Lin.

I have never played a college football video game. However, I am tempted to get a gaming system to play EA Sports College Football 25. If I am not a gamer, is it worth jumping in for this? And what would the degree of difficulty be? I have not thought about it from this perspective. So to get the console, you're talking about, I think four or 500 bucks. And then obviously you buy the game, that's going to be 80

to a hundred bucks. And I hadn't thought about it from someone who's never been a gamer because even though I'm picking this back up and I've said, you know, I've had a longer hiatus than most people because I missed the last four years of the college football game. Because once I had kids, I just didn't have time to work and play video games and all that. So, but, like, I know how to use a PlayStation controller. One, I've got a kid now who wants to play me at Madden, and so I've been playing it recently. But even if I hadn't been, I was using a PlayStation controller.

You know, I go back to elementary school when I'm using a Nintendo Entertainment System controller where you had a D-pad and two buttons. Sega Genesis moves up to the D-pad and three buttons. First PlayStation, now you've got some sticks. Now you've got the pad and three buttons. First PlayStation. Now you've got some sticks. Now you've got the R and R and L buttons. I think you would figure it out pretty quickly. Kimmy Lynn. I know we've met before. You're a very smart person. So I don't think that's going to be a problem at all. I think the, the controls in the game are actually fairly intuitive. Like

the option pitch, for example, if you're, if you're a quarterback who keeps and you, and you're going to run the option, like if you, if you're a quarterback who keeps and you're going to run the option, if you're running to the left and the pitch man's to your left, you hit the L1 button. That pitches. If you're running the right, pitch man's to your right, you hit the R1 button. It's fairly intuitive. The screen tells you, in the past game, which button to press to throw to which receiver. Now, people who've been playing a PlayStation or, you know,

on a PlayStation or on an Xbox forever, they know exactly where the X button is. They know where the circle button is, where the triangle button is, but it's something you'd get to get used to fairly quickly in terms of degree of difficulty for the game itself on the easiest mode. I think they do a pretty good job making the easy mode accessible because they know some younger kids are going to be playing this thing and they're not going to be able to beat the computer on even the medium mode. They're going to need a gateway into this where they can have some success. They can hit some big plays and it makes them want to keep playing. So I don't think it'd be that hard. And I do think think because again, I've met Kimmy Lynn.

She's awesome. She's been, she's been following me for years, tweeting back and forth for years. Like I know how much she loves college football as a fellow college football nerd. I, you would appreciate all of the stuff that got packed into the game. Like the, you know, the Illabuck trophy, like when, when, when Maryland and Illinois play, like those are the, those are the little things that I think you would really enjoy. And then just having the actual players in there, because I know you like knowing about all of the different teams. I think you learn so much.

My son was talking about this today. He's like, I'm going to be so much more informed about college football because I'll just know who all the players are. Like he knows who all the NFL players are because of Madden. So it might not be a bad deal. Might not be. Like, I don't think you're going to turn into someone who just disappears and plays video games all day and all night. Like you're not going to be like one of those call of duty people or the people who play the role playing games. It's you'll be able to manage it very well. I have faith, Kimmy Lynn. So yeah, if you want to, if you want to do it, go for it because I

know how much you love college football and it is a way to keep in contact with college football basically year round. One more question. This one's from Patrick. Good morning, Andy. Thank you for your time. I am so looking forward to all the teams that have been talking smack ever since Nick Saban retired. Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, I'll say Alabama is going to become the doormat in the SEC. I can't wait to crush their dreams and watch Bama's new offense destroy them. Something they won't recover from very quickly. Georgia is going to be the first one to deal with. Can you imagine Alabama jumps out to a 21-0 lead on Georgia with that vaunted offense? How will Georgia react? Thanks again for your time.

I think this is the part where Bill Simmons would go, yep, these are my readers. Patrick, nobody's saying Alabama is going to become a doormat in the SEC. They're just saying Alabama might not compete for the national title every single year. And I got to be honest with you, after seeing Alabama in the spring,

talking to Kalen DeBoer, I think they still might. I think there's still a very good chance that they might be a pretty regular national title contender. So I don't think anybody actually feels that way. And I don't think anybody expects Alabama to just get crushed by any of these teams. Do you think Alabama is going to jump out 21-0 against Georgia? I think that would be a hell of an interesting first quarter, first half. I don't think that's what is going to jump out 21-0 against Georgia? I think that would be a

hell of an interesting first quarter, first half. I don't think that's what's going to happen, though. I am very, very excited about that game. Very, very excited. Part of Georgia's unbelievable road gauntlet this year, where they have to go to Tuscaloosa, to Oxford, and to Austin. But yeah, Jalen Milrow, Carson Beck in Tuscaloosa. Let's go. I don't know, Patrick. I don't know what's going to happen. Alabama's not going to be a doormat.

I can promise you that. But I also don't think you're going to be shocking that many people if Alabama's still good. All right, guys. That was a pleasure. Patrick's intense, as some Alabama fans are known to be, but we appreciate his enthusiasm. Thank you so much for all the great questions. You know where to find me. You can get some in for next week. Feel free. Oh, wait, no, on vacation next week. So save your dirty questions for the following week. But we do have one more show.

We dive into the video game a little more. Right before I head off on vacation. Give you one more little taste of the video game. And then it's off. Thanks so much, guys. Talk to you tomorrow. Bye. Bye.