College Football Live - Coachella

Episode Date: November 14, 2023

Host Kelsey Riggs is joined by Tom Luginbill, Pete Thamel, and Desmond Howard as they talk about the recent vacancy of coaching positions, a new look at the Heisman race, & the new rankings for the week. What team really deserves the number 1 spot & what team still has some things left to prove prior to the post season? Who is the most deserving of the Heisman this week? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At Desjardin Insurance, we put the care in taking care of business. Your business, to be exact. Our agents take the time to understand your company, so you get the right coverage at the right price. Whether you rent out your building, represent a condo corporation, or own a cleaning company, we make insurance easy to understand so you can focus on the big stuff, like your small business. Get insurance that's really big on care. Find an agent today at Dejardin.com slash business coverage. Welcome into college football live. I'm Kelsey Riggs, and we're coming out the tunnel with this. Michigan beat Penn State on Saturday without their head coach Jim Harbaugh on the sideline due to his suspension by the Big Ten. Pete Thamwell joins us with the latest on that story. Plus, Texas A&M fired Jimbo Fisher on Sunday after a six and four start to the season. What needs to change in College Station to turn that program around? And Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey joins the show after an impressive win over.

top 10 Ole Miss. We'll find out how the two-time defending champs are feeling headed into the final stretch of the season. College Football Live starts right now. Welcome to College Football Live, presented by Zillow. It's Tuesday, which means Great Vine, Texas is once again the center of the college football world. Here's the CFD Committee and the room where they're meeting discussing the top teams in the country all day long ahead of the third college football playoffs. rankings release tonight. It's a 9 p.m. on ESPN in between two games from the Champions Classic as we say hello here on college football live, Kelsey Riggs alongside Desmond Howard and Tom Lugan Bill will get their thoughts on the top four teams in the country based off of what they have seen so far in just a second. But right now let's start with the biggest story in college

football involving one of the best teams in college football. The investigation into number three Michigan signs stealing scandal continues on Friday. The Big Ten suspended Michigan. Head Coach Jim Harbaugh from coaching during games for the rest of the regular season, meaning he was not there for their win over number 10 Penn State on Saturday. Harbaugh in Michigan appealed the decision and now a court date is set for Friday. Here's Harbaugh on Monday speaking for the first time since the suspension. Not looking for special treatment, not looking for a popularity contest, just looking for the merit of what the case is.

You know, I senior in high school had a civic class. talked about government, justice, and what I took away from that class was that you're innocent until proven guilty. Not an attorney, I always wanted to be. You know, watched a lot of shows, watched Judge Judy, you know, a lot. But I always kind of felt like it'd be cool to get up there and thunder away at a jury like Tom Cruise and a few good men. Or be a judge, like Judge Judy.

Alas, I did not go to law school. All right, so college football insider Pete Thamwell here with me now. And Pete, we heard a lot of things from Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh yesterday. He also said that this was America's team when he's watching. And obviously, as you heard there, talked a lot about the ceremony of what's going to happen, the hearing on Friday. What are your expectations for what will come out of that hearing when we do potentially hear from Jim Harbaugh? Well, Kelsey, I think the biggest drama heading into the preliminary injunction hearing on Friday

in Michigan is whether or not Jim Harbaugh will end up taking the stand. He obviously had some funny quotes yesterday about thundering in front of a jury and civics and such, but Harbaugh has obviously denied any knowledge specifically of an illegal scouting ring at Michigan. Will he go on the stand and defend himself? The same burdens of proof that Michigan had needed in the temporary restraining order, which was not ruled on Friday and Saturday, still hold here. And the key legal threshold for Michigan is going to be proof. a reparable harm. And whether Harbon or not gives a case of why the temporary injection is needed

because it would cause a reparable harm would be a compelling one. They, of course, have the game against Maryland this weekend. And then, number one, Ohio State. All-Eyes going to be on what happens there on Friday. We'll check in with Pete in just a little bit. Let's bring back the guys in just a second because we've got to talk about what we saw on the field on Saturday from the Wolverines without their head coach.

Michigan, they didn't need much of a passing game to beat Penn State. They had eight pass attempts, fewest by the Wolverines in a game since 1987, but they dominated Penn State on the ground, rushing for 227 yards and ending the game on 32 rushing plays, including the two kneel downs at the end of the game, their most executive rushes in a game in the last 20 season. So, Des, it seems like they knew what they needed to do.

It was working to run the ball, go ahead and come out and be physical and dominate. But what was your biggest takeaway, Des, from what we saw from Michigan in this win? Yeah, I guess my biggest thing, The takeaway was just how resilient this team is. Don't forget that they're a commissioner, commissioner of the Big Ten, put them in a very precarious situation, like, what, 24 hours before the game,

first suspending their head coach, Jim Harbaugh, while they were on their way to Penn State, and then worrying about the TRO. Is he going to be able to get this temporary restraining order so he could coach, so not knowing if he was going to be on the sideline Saturday afternoon or not? So I thought that those young men, you know, they mentally, they are as tough as it gets. I mean, to go through what they went through that whole week, and then they get to Happy Valley, get news that their coach has been suspended,

but there's a chance he might coach. And then, you know, we're game day. We were counting down the clock. We were waiting to see if he was going to ride into some car and start to coach right before 12 o'clock, but it never happened. So I thought that those young men and then Sharon, more and the rest of the staff did an extraordinary job at just carrying out the mission. And like you said, for them to go the whole second half and run the ball 32 straight times

at Penn State's defense just shows you just how strong they are as a team mentally and physically. Well, Des, there's no doubt it's a resilient bunch there at Michigan. And they don't seem to care about any of the clutter, any of the distractions. They just line up and they go play. And I think, you know, if you're going to credit this staff, whether it's Jim Harbaugh, or the staff collectively, it's what they sat down and did Friday night prior to the game in deciding how were they going to manage moments, all right? How were they going to manage critical down in distances?

How were they going to manage red zone moments, special teen moments? And one of the things that you have at your disposal now that maybe 20 years ago, if this would have occurred you didn't have at your disposal, is you've got a wealth of analytics to fall back on. So if there's not that one singular voice in Jim Harbaugh to make that call, you can sit down and collectively say, hey, guys, if we get into this situation, let's rely on the book, let's trust our players, and let's out-execute the opponent. I don't care who you are. If you line up and run the football 32 times on somebody consecutively in that stadium, you could have had Bugs Bunny coaching this football team.

It did not matter because that is pure dominant by a football team that, whether they're not, you could have been. their coaches there or not, they just line up and play. They were willing and able to impose their will, despite all the other distractions, biggest test of this season. What I'm interested to see is if this stands and you don't have Jim Harbaugh, that last game of the season, if you face some adversity and go down, then what happens? How does this team respond? It'll be interesting. We'll find out more first on Friday about what happens with their head coach. Speaking of head coaches, look at some of the other things that we've seen because the coaching carousel, well, It is already spinning here in college football. Penn State fired offensive coordinator.

Mike Yersich over in Penn State's disappointing showdown against Michigan. Penn State ranked 102nd in the nation yards per play and 133rd in the country and plays with 20 plus yards. And there was Boise State. Their head coach, Andy Avalos, was fired Sunday after a five and five start of the season. Wallace with 22 and 14 in his three seasons as a head coach and was named the Mountain West coach of the year just back in 2020. Then you've got Mississippi State. They fired head coach Zach Arnett. Arnett was in his first year after being the Bulldogs defensive coordinator for three seasons.

The firing comes after a 51 to 10 loss to Texas A&M. And oh, by the way, speaking of Texas A&M, Highies head coach Jimbo Fisher was also fired Sunday morning despite the win. The move is expected to cost Texas A&M more than $76 million to buy out his deal. Nearly triple the highest known coaching contract buyout at a public school.

So Pete Bammell back with us now and clearly money, no object there in college station. But Pete, what are you hearing about some of the names that could be in the mix to take over and be the next head coach at Texas A&M? Well, Kelsey, one of the certainties we have were some very pointed language by Oregon coach Dan Lannning in a press conference yesterday. He said unequivocally he will not be the head coach next head coach at Texas A&M and pledged his fidelity to Oregon. He'd obviously been a name that had emerged as a potential candidate for the Aggies. If I had to distill this race to three candidates right now, Kelsey, I would say Lane Kiffin, the old Miss coach, who flirted heavily with Auburn last year, is someone who the boosters and some of the money people at Texas A&M like.

He's a flash hire. He's a sexy hire. And he certainly can get the ball moving on offense. Mike Elko, the Duke Head coach, was the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M before he went to Durham. Since he left, Texas A&M is six and nine in SEC play. They had two very strong seasons under Elko prior to that. And then there's the local option, Jeff Trailer. He's the head coach at UTSA. He's a well-regarded former high school coach in the state. That would be the build from within option for the Aggies. It would be interesting to see how that plays out. We will see

moving forward. But let's bring back in Tom and Des now. And Tom, I'll come to you first on this one. Obviously change is inevitable. And now it's coming at Texas A&M. but what needs to happen to get this program back to where they want to be? Well, number one, don't worry about winning the press conference. Worry about winning the long haul if you're Texas A&M. And that may mean making a hire that's not flashy. You know, I look at a Jeff Traylor as a self-made guy at the high school level, a very successful state championship head coach.

He's been an assistant coach at Arkansas and the SEC. He took over a fledgling UTSA program and has really, really risen in the ranks and the coaches in the state at the high school level absolutely love him. But I think when you look at Texas A&M for all of their resources, for all of the money, for all of the facilities upgrades, in today's world, listen, you've got to be able to recruit and you've got to have an elite recruiter at a job like that. But it's not just about signing those players. You've got to ask yourself, why are those players signing?

Is it because name image and likeness? Is it because they want to capitalize off of being a high profile recruit? Because that roster has way too many good players. for them to produce at the level they are producing. So whoever goes in there, better figure out who's there to win a championship, who's there to make themselves and the football team in the program better, who has some legency and some loyalty to Texas A&M, not just about the individual because they're too talented to play the way they've played.

And I agree wholeheartedly. And there's not been a college football analyst that has been on the bandwagon of the Aggies, more than Desmond Howard the last two years. Hell, I've been doing it all the year ago. And boy, I received a lot of ridicule for that. So I had a lot of confidence in Jimbo Fisher in this group. And then he went out and he got Bobby to run the office. And I'm like, Patrino.

I'm like, Bobby Petrino, O.C., I'm not going to pick him to win at all. But at least they should have a bounce back season. So I've been so disappointed by the Aggies. I think it's a cultural thing. you know, when you look at Jimbo, you know, we covered the season he had up there in Tallahassee when he won the national championship with James Winston, the quarterback of Florida State.

But you've never really looked at him like a culture guy. Like he's going to completely change your culture. And Luz just talked about the talent. They had talent there. Their record should have been better. But I just don't think they had the right culture in place so guys could flourish. So whoever they pick, first of all,

I'm not picking them. to win the damn thing. Second of all, they better be a person who can change the culture and get the guys to buy into it. That's all I got to say. They better go ahead and get that national championship plaque filled out in certain before Des is buying back in again.

I love it. Good stuff. Obviously, a lot of talent in Dr. Oscar and a lot of talent in Texas for them to pick from in the future. We'll see what it looks like in College Station. Coming up next, Georgia wide receiver, Ladd McConkey. He joins the show, fresh off the Bulldogs, dominant performance against number nine, Ole Miss.

Should the Bulldogs be the number one team in tonight's rankings? Plus, speaking of the CFP rankings reveal tonight on ESPN, we take a look at who is passing the eye test headed in to the most important time of the year. That's ahead on College Football Live. College Football Live is presented by Zillow. And in part by Arvys, we have The meets. And Goodyear.

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or CCTV. Their free, impartial complaint resolution services are available to anyone in Canada. As a consumer, it's important to understand your rights. Visit let's stay connected.com. And now it's time for this week's ultimate performance presented by BMW. It's got to be what we saw from the number two Bulldogs in Georgia's win over number nine Ole Miss. It was a 52 to 17 blowout win for the Bulldogs.

And Star Wide Receiver, Ladenacke played a big role as he has throughout the season. A touchdown in the first quarter and the Bulldogs picked up their 37th straight regular season win. It is Talk to Me Tuesday. here on college football live. And we've got Ladd McConkey here with us now. And Ladd, good to see you, first of all, because I know when you went out of that game, you had a lot of fans worried,

but your guys handled business. So you'd have to come back in and take care of business. They did. What did that dominant win say about where this program is right now? Yeah, it was definitely a good win. We played really good, complimentary football. Defense stepped up when they needed to. Offense did special team.

So overall, it was a great team win. Especially over a top. 10 team. It was such a highly anticipated battle. Now, your score was the second touchdown in the last three games for you. But this one, Kems in that top 10 battle. And at a time when it was a tied ball game early on, Carson threads the needle to you between two defenders. What's the feeling like when you have the opportunity to make a play like that? Oh, yeah, it's definitely special. Being able to do in Sanford, too, our fans show up and in loud. So you can definitely feel the support. And you see it coming right in there perfectly. You know the guy's coming, but you're still able to hang on

to it make the play and pull you guys ahead by a touchdown. There was also a lot of hype heading into this season about fans getting to see you and Brock Bowers on the field at the same time. And obviously some injuries have limited those instances. But what's it like to get to play alongside him? Oh, yeah, he's a special player. Sometimes you get caught up just watching him some of the plays he makes. So it's special to get out there and share the field with him.

We're definitely lucky to have him on our team. I'm glad he's getting back healthy and going to be able to. contribute these next couple games. It's definitely good to see both of you guys healthy, especially when you've got another ranked matchup this weekend, this time on the road at number 13, Tennessee, so another SEC battle. So what's the key to winning on the road in this one? Really just kind of staying connected. Knoxville is a tough place to play. So just kind of go in there with a mindset is us against the world. We're all we got. We're all we need and we're all we need. So just kind of go in there, be locked in, just got to know what you're getting into.

I like that mindset. I know you guys are only locked in on you and controlling what you can control. It seems like a pretty even-killed guy. Do we have any opinions on if Georgia should be number one tonight? You know we don't care about that. We just go out and play football. None of this matters. It's at the very end when it does.

So we just go out and take care of business. Back to back defending national champs and you guys put on a show this weekend. Looking forward to seeing you in action and another one. on the road at number 13, Tennessee this weekend. Ladd, thanks for the time today on college football live. Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much. Okay, so Ladd and the Bulldogs are only focused on the future,

but what will the committee say tonight about what they saw this weekend? The third reveal is at 9 p.m. on ESPN, there has been no change in the top eight in the first two rankings and the top eight teams all won this weekend. Their resumes definitely improved. We saw some top 10 battles as well. But, Des, let's come back to you first. And let's talk just eye test here. Based on what you have seen,

who would you say, Des, the top four teams in the country are right now? You know, I was impressed with McConkey's interview because he said one thing that resonated with me. He said that they don't care if they're number one or not. And I think my top two teams don't care. I think that Georgia, they don't care if they're number one. And Michigan don't care if they're number one.

I think because they're singularly focused on winning a championship. So their mentality is just get us into the tournament and we'll take care of the rest. And then Alabama, very impressive against LSU a couple of weeks ago. And you can flip a coin between Washington and Oregon right now. I think I'm just going to go with Washington because they won the head-to-head battle when they played. But those are like my top four teams right now that you just don't want to play because they're so dominant on the football field. Wait a minute, Des.

You can't have the head-to-head. It's only eye test, only I test. So I'm going to give me an opportunity to go back to Oregon. That's what I'm going to do. Give you an opportunity to jump on board because our top four is very similar just in a different order. I too have Georgia at number one. I actually have Alabama at number two, Michigan at number three. And I did go with Oregon. And again, this is strictly eye test. I totally acknowledge the head to head. But where Washington's gone since that game and where Oregon's gone since that game, I would lean slightly towards Oregon. And again, just on the eye test alone, I look at Georgia and Alabama and Michigan right now and Oregon for that matter.

And listen, I know Florida State's looming there, Ohio State's looming there. This is four teams that I look at and I'm like, if you told somebody they had to play one of these four, they probably wouldn't be too excited about it. I was going to say, no Ohio State for you guys, no Florida State for you. But this is just based off what you have seen and what have you done for me lately. And obviously the four teams that you guys have looked pretty good, especially Alabama. How about what we've seen from them and the way they've continued to get better throughout the season? Should have known it all along.

That's what they always do. It good and get better at the right time. Coming up next, the Heisman race is tight through 11 weeks. So we asked our Heisman winner, Desmond Howard and Luke's who they believe is in the driver's seat. And the answer may surprise you. That's ahead. You're watching College Football Live, presented by Zillow. When you're flying Emirates business class, enjoying a good night's rest in your lie flat seat,

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Slash giving Tuesday. College Football Live is presented by Zillow. And in part by Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen. Saturday, it's a big packed 12 primetime showdown. Michael Pinnock's Jr. and number five, Washington, square off against number 12, Oregon. state. Coverage begins at 7.30 Eastern on ABC and on the ABC app. Time to check in now on the Capitol One rewarding performance in which Heisman candidate had the most rewarding performance in

week 11. Well, it's actually kind of close. I thought this one would be a little bit more of a giveaway. LSU quarterback Jaden Daniels leads the poll with 37% of the votes. He reported over 350 passing yards and 200 rushing yards this weekend, making him the first player. And FB.S.U. history to do so. Don't forget to get your vote in on YouTube.com slash at ESPN CFB. So that's what the fans thought about what they saw this weekend. But let's talk a little bit about what we've seen when it comes to the Heisman race. Because some of those names, of course, and contention there. And Tom, who do you think right now is the favorite to win the Heisman? I love the Heisman language, the most outstanding

player. And I think consistently week in and week out, the most outstanding player has been Jaden Daniels. And I understand the multiple losses. And I know that's not traditional to have a team with multiple losses, have a Heisman Trophy candidate or a winner for that matter. I think this guy, if you took him off of this football team, would be having an entirely different conversation about LSU, the improvisational plays, the designated run plays that include him, and the game in the passing game has been exceptional. Yeah, I tell you what, Loux, I saw him against Alabama, and I was so impressed with this young man. And he's been like that from week one. He's just been such a consistent performer.

Like you said, the multiple losses may turn off some voters. But if you're looking for the most outstanding player, in my opinion, you start down at Baton Rouge with Jaden Daniels. That's really the only question mark you can find right now was they have those three losses. He has been solid, outstanding for sure. We'll see you tomorrow. Same time, same place here on College Football Live.