Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - How Potential Will Wade Hiring Impacts ACC

Episode Date: March 12, 2025

Will Wade's potential move to the ACC could shake up the conference landscape. Could his controversial past and coaching prowess bring a new era to NC State basketball? Dive into the latest ACC basket...ball and football updates, featuring discussions on Kevin Keats' firing, ACC tournament controversies, and spring football insights. Key figures like Will Wade, Kevin Keats, and Pat Kelsey are at the forefront of these dynamic conversations.Join Alex Stano, Jackson Holzer, Kenton Gibbs, Grayson Boone, and Isaac Shade as they dissect the implications of these developments. From Duke's tournament prospects to quarterback competitions in spring football, this episode is packed with expert analysis and insider perspectives.Tune in for a comprehensive look at the ACC's evolving sports scene and discover what lies ahead for your favorite teams. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Is Will Wade the savior that ACC basketball needs? Maybe. You're talking ball with the ACC squad. From Florida State to North Carolina, from Syracuse to Miami, and from NC State to California, it's the local experts of the Locked-on Podcast Network, bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming ACCC weekend.
Starting point is 00:00:25 Hang on, it could get loud, it could get heated, and it will definitely be fun. squad. Squad up, you're part of the ACCC squad. Shout out to the everydayers, and thank you so much for making the lockdown ACCC squad. Your first listen and your first watch today.
Starting point is 00:00:39 We're available free wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by TurboTax, ready for stress-free taxes and the most money back. Head over to turbotax.com today and get matched with your expert.
Starting point is 00:00:56 We're going to talk some football on this episode because all of our teams have spring football in progress. I am Alex Dono covering Miami with Locked on Cains. We got Jackson Holeser from Locked on Syracuse, Kenton Gibbs, and Grayson Boone from Lockedon Wolfpack, Isaac Shade from Locked on Tar Heels and Locked on College Basketball. We'll talk about top spring football storyline so far. Yeah, hoops, we'll talk ACC tournament and what it's going to take to get a fourth team
Starting point is 00:01:22 in the NCAA tournament. But, guys, Will Wade, who of course has been super successful, wherever he's been, including his cameos on those old wiretaps, Will Wade, who has been super successful, VCU, Chattanooga, LSU, McNeese is being linked to multiple jobs in the ACC, including NC State. So I'm going to let either dealer's choice, Kenton, Gibbs or Grace and Boone, you can buy the first round amid these Will Wade links. Well, first of all, Donald, are you a sports analyst or historian?
Starting point is 00:01:57 Why are you bringing up old stuff? That those wiretapsed. Everything that he did back then is legal right now, okay? If I screen free shirtwood blunt, if I scream free short woodblum for SMU, I want Will Way free to come to the ACC for NC State. By the way, Will. I know people talk about the money might not be right.
Starting point is 00:02:16 I like all Wolfpack Nation, we're taking the change cups loose, brother. We turn them over for you. I got everybody on Lockwood ACC to bring in their chain receptacles. Fellas, bring them off of it. Bring it what I'm looking. Will all of this can be yours if you come to the ACC? Does he take Apple Pay?
Starting point is 00:02:35 Apple Pay, Ben-Moseil, we'll pour it all out for you. You see, even the USC fans is pouring it out for you, Will. We like it. All I'm saying is he's being leaked to the NC State job the most right now. But there is also a world where he comes to the ACC and does not go to NC State, which would break my heart into a million little piece. because not only would he be in the ACC, but he would be potentially right down the road
Starting point is 00:03:01 at his alma mater at Clemson if Brownell was to take a job elsewhere. Now, I will say this, with Clemson getting an uneven revenue share, they should be able to pay him, get him a raise, get him kept and happy and away from Indiana, but you never know. But again, to hell with Clemson so, strong, baby.
Starting point is 00:03:20 Strong. He's strong. I botched the Woolway quote. I'm sorry. We here. We got even stronger offers, but you're great to take it away, brother. I'll tell you what. I might be buying one of the first rounds here,
Starting point is 00:03:34 but I'll go ahead and pour it out for Kevin Keats. Of course, NC State is being linked to Will Wade because head coach Kevin Keats was fired on Sunday, just one year removed from winning the ACC tournament and taking NC State back to the final four for the first time since Jim Valvano in 1983. A lot of Wolfpack fans were kind of waiting for this. in fact, we expected it to happen before the magical run happened a year ago.
Starting point is 00:03:58 But it's kind of crazy. Kent and I have been pulled pretty consistently over the course of this season, regardless of how bad it went, to not expect Kevin Keith to be ousted until he was ousted. And the season was so poorly. We still need all that change. I think don't put it away. Don't put it away, Isaac. Leave it where it is.
Starting point is 00:04:18 I think shows that change to Belichick. NC State missed. the ACC tournament for the first time basically ever was embarrassing enough to get Kevin Keats out. For him to be fired is a statement from Boog and the AD and NC State that they are ready to be competitive on a greater scale. And being linked to Will Wade, Will Wade would be a home run hire for NC State. Has a little bit of a checkered pass with all the FBI stuff. Like Kenton likes to say, he's just ahead of his time. Getting some players, a little extra coin, just ahead of his time. Yeah, man of other people, really. Man of other people.
Starting point is 00:04:54 You know who else was a little bit ahead of their time? Let's talk about Kelvin Sampson. There we're right. Yeah, it's like we've got dudes like that. Rick Petino, right? Like guys who are like phenomenal basketball coaches that have been exiled or exonerated for some reason or another and they're just dudes and at some point like it's kind of different with Chris Beard, right?
Starting point is 00:05:13 Like that was a moral thing that caused him to get out in Texas. Phenomenal basketball coach. I can't touch what he's doing his personal life. But these other guys bring on Will Wade, y'all. This dude is 55 and 10 in two years at McNeese. Hey, you want to know the biggest gap in any conference this year from first place to second place? Wild guess. It's McNeese won by five games this year.
Starting point is 00:05:40 Bring Will Wade to the ACC. We need great coaches. That's why we're falling apart right now because of the exodus of all these dudes. Will Wade can help start a new era. Well, let me give you a statement followed by a question. Now, this statement's crazy. All that Will Wade has already accomplished in multiple different spots, 42 years old. So if, you know, if NC State can turn this guy into someone who maybe doesn't mind spending a decade plus there, you have the opportunity.
Starting point is 00:06:12 I'm not saying it happens, but you have the opportunity to try to build a Will Wade dynasty. And so, okay, let me pose this question. whoever wants to answer. If Will Wade arrives in the ACC next year, does he immediately become the most high profile coach in the conference, considering everybody we've lost over the recent years? No.
Starting point is 00:06:32 No. But he would be up there. Yeah. You don't be shy. You don't be shy right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like John Shire's doing just okay at Duke, but he would certainly be up there.
Starting point is 00:06:42 And he's also one of those coaches where you don't have to ask the question, you know, what can he do? How's he going to be as a head coach here and a high major program? You know, there's too much trial runs going on right now in the ACC. That's all it is right now. They're all just trial runs. I mean, you know, what's what can this guy do?
Starting point is 00:07:05 Can he really be a head coach? And I want to give credit to NC State here. Because you know what they're saying by this firing? Magic carpet rides are not good enough. Magic carpet rides are not enough to save your job. Let's be real. NC State, if they lose in the finale of the ACC championship last year, they don't make the ACCC tournament. They don't make the NCAA tournament, and they probably fire their coach now. Lo and behold, obviously, they have that magic carpet ride to the final four. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it.
Starting point is 00:07:36 But that is not good enough because that is not a sustainable long-term strategy for success. And then you miss the ACC tournament this year. And of course, it is part of it. statement he has to say something about how he wasn't properly supported or anything like that, which is now every coach is, it's in the book right now. It's in, it's all in the list of excuses. It used to be, you know, recruiting, you know, we never can get the talent from high school. And now it's simply, oh, we just didn't have the NIL. Bull crap. Enough. You're not very good. It's okay. Will Wade is a far better coach. And this would be a fantastic hire for NC State. And I wish that there were other schools in the conference that would follow suit of NC State.
Starting point is 00:08:21 They know that this guy is not the guy. They're not going to try to sit here and wait around any longer. And they're just going to go out and get someone that is simply better. You know a great example of that is Indiana, which is funny as we have this conversation. Indiana should have fired Mike Woodson last off season and hired Dusty May, who is from Indiana. He was at Indiana. Where does he wind up instead? at Michigan, now they're wishing they have it.
Starting point is 00:08:48 Like, it's a whole perfect thing. By the way, Aladdin, I need you to give us a little snippet of that song while you're talking about a magic carpet ride. Come on, Jackson, bring it. Let's hear it. No, you don't, I will. All I'm saying is this. Everybody is talking about Coach Kevin Keats getting fired.
Starting point is 00:09:04 Oh, there's no security, job security. Listen, Coach Keats did something that no coach at NC State has done since, Jim Bob, God rest his soul. However, he also ushered in two of the worst seasons in NC State basketball history. It's like if you say, I'll never leave my wife, no matter what she does, then you come home one day,
Starting point is 00:09:23 the house is on fire, she spent your savers on the car, and she's like, oh, I quit my job, by the way. That may change your mind a little bit. Based on the fact that, wait, I thought she was kind of normal before this. Like, this is what this season was. It was an absolute dumpster fire
Starting point is 00:09:38 in which the can't get rightitis would not leave NC State. So this isn't a traditional. Oh, he was all right. There's a middling team, and they fired her. They were terrible this year. You ended your season by losing to Miami. Ouch.
Starting point is 00:09:50 You ain't got to talk about. Defeated on the road. Not a single road win all year. In conference, out of conference, nothing. I don't want to hear. I don't want to hear. And to that point from Jackson, you talked about NIL support. Did you think it was going to get better going into next year after having the work?
Starting point is 00:10:05 Exactly. Absolutely not. These ADs, they're like, we don't have the NIL support. I'm like, yeah, well, maybe if you hire someone that people believe in, you will get more NIL support. You hire Will Wade. People are going to be like, oh, yeah, I know Will Wade. Will Wade's teams typically go to the NCAA tournament. Will Wade has just led McNeese State to unprecedented success in their history. Oh, by the way, he was really good at LSU. Have you seen LSU since Will Wade has gone? Does LSU have a decent NIL budget? Absolutely. Can they win basketball
Starting point is 00:10:38 games? No, they can't. This would be a fantastic hire. You're going to get more NIL. And lo and behold, you're probably going to become a really good basketball team, maybe as soon as next year, if not the year after. When we come back, let's shift gears to the ACC tournament. Early action on Tuesday, that Pittsburgh got a host. Let's talk about it right here on this brand new episode of the squad. Keep it locked. My friends, it's that time of year.
Starting point is 00:11:09 And this is a message from sponsor, Intuit TurboTax. Taxes was waiting and wondering and worrying if you're going to get any money back and then waiting, wondering, and worrying some more. Now, taxes is matching with a turbo tax expert who can do your taxes as soon as today. An expert who gives your taxes, their individual undivided attention, I should say, as they work on your return while you get real-time updates on their progress so you can focus on your day. An expert who will find you every deduction possible and file every form, every investment, and everything with 100% accuracy.
Starting point is 00:11:41 Also, you can get the most money back, guaranteed. No waiting, no wondering, no worries. Now this is taxes. Get an expert now at turbotax.com, only available with TurboTax Live full service, real-time updates only in iOS mobile app. See guaranteed details at turbotax.com slash guarantees. Thank you so much for making Lockdown ACC your first listen and your first watch today. For your next listen, make sure you give our guy Isaac and Andy Patton some love on Lockdown College basketball. They are your cheat sheet for all the conference tournaments and the NCAA tournament coming up. You're going to be ready to fill out your brackets. So in the very early ACC tournament action, it looked like Notre Dame and Pitt were about to head to overtime because Notre Dame, we thought, missed a potential buzzer beater.
Starting point is 00:12:30 from Marcus Burton, but a foul was called on Zach Austin, and that put Notre Dame on the free throw line with half a second left. He only made one. He didn't make two, but it didn't matter. He just needed to make one because then Pitt didn't have time to even keep up their buzzer beater after that. And so it's one of these things that, like, I want to let Isaac by the first round here because I see the way you're shaking your head.
Starting point is 00:12:54 As I know bad calls happen in most every game, but that was probably the most untimely of bad calls that I've seen in a while. The referees literally gave Notre Dame a regulation win. Yeah. And first, just to correct director a little bit, it was Tade Davis, not Marcus Burton, that hit that, that free throw at the end there. But what I want it, what's funny about it is now Notre Dame is going to be playing North Carolina tomorrow.
Starting point is 00:13:21 I know that pretty well. And I also remember back to the lone regular season meeting between North Carolina and Notre Dame in Notre Dame. Carolina is down three with 14 seconds left. Carolina gets a four point play to go in the lead. Marcus Burton, to Dono's point, comes down the lane, kind of gets fouled by Elliot Kadoe, both a handcheck and a bump. Guess what?
Starting point is 00:13:40 No call. And it's funny how those two things were so wildly different. Here's my biggest issue. If we're calling those tick attack fouls throughout the game, great. Maybe you do that in that moment. This was a wildly physical game, which is what Pitt's M.O. is all the time. And so I feel like because the refs have allowed, like, it's almost like in baseball. If you're so used to a certain strike zone and then the umpire changes how they're calling that,
Starting point is 00:14:07 you don't know how to hit or pitch. In this scenario, we cannot have refs adjudicating the end of game differently than they do the rest of the game, which is already an issue because people are going to advocate for swallowing your whistle here anyway, regardless of how the rest of the game has been called. This is a massive miss. And Coach Cable has every right. to be wildly upset. Everybody thought that Southwest Airlines
Starting point is 00:14:31 is gonna have a worst call at a day by charging people for their luggage. And the ACC ref said, hold my beer. I got some worse for you. Coming right now the pipeline at the end of regulation. But I a thousand percent agree with Isaac. I'm not one of those people that's like,
Starting point is 00:14:47 rules are rules. And that's just saying if you don't want to go, don't follow. Because playing a sport for 17 years, I know I've played on crews that you know you're not gonna get a hold and call on again. I played against that.
Starting point is 00:15:00 I played against Cruz where you can tell like, it feels like they got something against this. And I wouldn't even go as far as to say that. But in this moment, in that moment, it just felt insane because, again, it wasn't the only one being physical. Notre Dame, that's their physicality for much of the game.
Starting point is 00:15:16 And you didn't have players fouling out left and right. So to see that call call in that particular moment was just so disheartening, because, again, it was a phenomenal game. It was a phenomenal game. Stress three as a walk back there because I don't give it to happen in the ACCC turn now. My team got on.
Starting point is 00:15:34 I remember thinking throughout that game, man, this is 12 seed versus 13, even matchup. It was tied most of the way, lead changes, physical, and then they had to go and finish the game like that. Well, we should have gotten overtime. Absolutely. Yeah, the overall vibe of the game aside, just the foul call by itself, it was completely phantom. There was little to no contact at all.
Starting point is 00:15:55 and to end a game like that, it's brutal. And maybe this is a step too far, but that ref should probably not be involved in the rest of the ACC tournament. That is how bad of a call that was, even though I won on Fandle, sorry. Here's another thing with it, too. If it, like, sometimes you got to make a call
Starting point is 00:16:15 if it's winning or losing, if he just doesn't make a call there, we're just going to OT. Yes, exactly. Right. What the players decide it in that scenario? I think it's another part of that. Real quick, by,
Starting point is 00:16:25 the way, game two is happening in real time. Cows up two on Virginia Tech with a minute and eight seconds to go. Another close one. So I'm going to be that guy because I agree. It was a bad call. It was a bad call. Phantom call, not good at all. Should have gone to overtime. Pit, you have a right to be upset. But what's rule number one? Don't get yourself in that position in the first place. There you go. Don't put your fate in the hands of officials ever. It's not a good idea. We talk about long-term success, right? Trying to win five games in five days into the tournament and then winning all those games in the tournament. That's not a recipe for success.
Starting point is 00:17:02 You know what else is not a recipe for success? Putting your fate in the hands of the officials. Because you know what? They might screw up. They might make a bad call. Even the dogs are disagree with you, Jackson. Even the four-legged furry friends are coming into the fray saying, what the hell are you talking about?
Starting point is 00:17:24 See, this is, this is my problem with Jackson. You were a hallmarker, weren't you? You were that guy that used to tell the teacher, excuse me, excuse me, Mrs. Smith, you didn't collect the homework. No, I was definitely not. I was the opposite of that. I would actually be on the other side being like,
Starting point is 00:17:38 if you do say that, I'm going to actually, I mean, look, I'm not that big, but I'm going to do something to you. I'm confused as to how you come away with that check, because again, obviously, yes, you don't want to leave it in the rep's hands, but the job of the team is not to be, so much better that no external factors can take it away.
Starting point is 00:17:56 Your job is to be one point better than your opponent. And the ability to be that was taken away. But hold on a second. We had this conversation all the way back in September and October when we were talking all this football and Miami was getting all these calls going their way. And every single time we come on here talking about the referees are not rigging the game for Miami or anything like that.
Starting point is 00:18:19 They simply make judgment calls. And guess what? They're also human. So sometimes they just screw up. Your job as the opponent is to not leave it so that the official has to make a judgment call. Because they could get stuff wrong. It happens. Here's the thing.
Starting point is 00:18:37 I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I have to because here's what bothers me about it. That was, and maybe the foul part of it was not reviewable, but they did review the play to seem out how much time was left on the clock. So it's like if you're able to review. view the play, shouldn't the officials also have the autonomy to say, okay, man, we really screwed that up. Yeah, there's a problem with that too, though. Here's the problem with it.
Starting point is 00:19:01 If they review that play, the foul would have stood because he actually does hit him in the arm. So, like, who's to say that it doesn't get, it probably stays and then we're even more mad. Like, there was a, like, a slight little contact here. I probably just let it go, but it was there. Okay. Look, can all of these teams are about to get obliterated today as people are listening to and watching this on Wednesday. They're not going to. Can we talk about the real basketball that's going to happen the rest of the league?
Starting point is 00:19:34 And let's talk about that. And so, okay, I think an angle to get into this would be, like, we all know who the ACC tournament favorite is, Blue Devils. They're the ACC's best chance of winning a national championship. And obviously, no matter what Duke does in the ACC tournament, they're already a lock for the NCAA. tournament, lock for a top seed, probably the number two overall seed. So my question would be, can anybody knock Duke out of this tournament? And let's say if North Carolina were to knock them out in the ACC tournament semifinals, does that get UNC a bid to the NCAA tournament? Absolutely. UNC has to be in if they beat Duke because the big knock against you.
Starting point is 00:20:15 Anybody beats Duke, right? Well, again. What do you say anybody beats Duke, they should be in? No, no, no, I disagree with that. Again, if Duke loses game one, who would they have in their first game? That's true. You know what I mean? Like,
Starting point is 00:20:28 Georgia, Virginia. If Georgia, Virginia, they're not in. But if they lose in the semi-final or the final, then whoever you could be in. Exactly. If it's UNC that knocks them out, and again, I'm saying nice things about Tar Hears. I'm doing my good deed for the year.
Starting point is 00:20:42 But if it's one of those teams to beat them, the knock on USC, no signature wins. Last signature win was in December. Ain't won a big game since September. if they find a way to get hot at the right time, you have to give them their respect. You have to give them that. I say the same thing about Wake Forest.
Starting point is 00:20:58 If Wake Forest is a team that finds a way to beat them, either one of those teams are close enough to the bubble, that a win over the number two team in the nation, even if you don't win your conference championship, you need to be in. Because again, Duke is not a fluky number two where it's like, oh, we just kind of meandered around and we're decent enough for most of the year
Starting point is 00:21:16 and everybody else is bad. No, the field this year in terms of the top, has been really good. And Duke has maintained their position on top of everybody except Auburn in that regard. So I don't see a world where you're looking at, oh, one of these two teams that's on a bubble beater, or SMU, obviously, who's on the other side of bracket,
Starting point is 00:21:34 they'd be winning the ACC championship. I mean, they de facto get in. But there's no reason to me to say one of those teams beating them shouldn't be. It's convenient. I mean, legitimately, the only team I would even take a flyer on is Clemson. Yeah. No Louisville? Not Louisville.
Starting point is 00:21:56 I don't think Louisville has the ceiling to do it. I mean, look, anything could happen, right? But I don't think I would take a flyer on it. But still, like, let's respect this guy, Pat Kelsey, which I guess we probably should have talked about ACC postseason awards today, some on the show. But Pat Kelsey, ACC, ACC coach of the year. What a marvelous job he's done.
Starting point is 00:22:17 I just don't think they have enough horses to run with Duke. The funny thing is, the recent trend in the ACC is that the team, like a team that wins the tournament is not typically a team that we expect to win the tournament. That's the madness of this whole thing. That's why it's 12 March madness. It's hard to envision that the ACC champion is not going to be Duke. And then if you say it's not Duke, then it's hard to say, well, is it going to be Clemson or Louisville? At the same time, if I'm going to take a flyer on anyone here, I'm going to put it on Carolina.
Starting point is 00:22:52 Yeah, I agree. I would say if there's any team in this field that I think could make a run that we don't expect to make a run, it's Carolina. Because they're also on the bubble right now. They kind of need to make a run if they want to get in. And they have, they have talent. It's there. They have it.
Starting point is 00:23:15 They just have it jelled together and they haven't been consistent enough this season. but you just need to come together for one game at each time. And if they're able to do that with the talent that they have, they are that one sneaky team. I would say, you know what? Maybe they can make a run. But it's funny because I don't know exactly when this is going to air. They're playing at 2.30 on Wednesday.
Starting point is 00:23:36 They could lose to Notre Dame. That's the funny part of this. And let me slide in really quick, Dono, because I know we've got to move along. But one of the questions for Duke is motivation. Do they care about this week at all? Or are they so locked in on the big dance that they're just kind of 60% in it this week.
Starting point is 00:23:52 Well, but hold on. How do you 60%? Yeah, they're too young. They're too young to not be locked in. You've got to be locked in day and day. I don't think they're going to go. I don't think they're going to like the coaching staff, they are the ones who can quote unquote mail it in.
Starting point is 00:24:08 If they want to sit here and say, you know what, we're not going to play Cooper flag all this time. We're not going to play Knoopal all this time. We're going to rest our guys and we're going to play our bench, the entire ACC tournament. Sure. I, is, Isaac, you probably know better than I do.
Starting point is 00:24:22 Is there any team in the history of college basketball that has ever done that during the conference tournament where they just rest all their starters? Oh, I don't mean rest start. I just mean the dudes like, right, but not caring as intimately as they do during the regular season. I get what you're saying. I'm just trying to sit here and wrap my head around it. Like, these guys are competitors. I don't see them going on the floor and being like, oh, yeah, you know, we're not going to care all that once that. If you bring it down and not.
Starting point is 00:24:46 Yeah. the ACC tournament. Like, that's who I'm... People don't care about the conference tournaments as much as they do the regular season or the NCAA tournament. That's the issue. Well, we may...
Starting point is 00:24:54 I don't know. Like, I can't see that. We've taken the floor and just be like, we don't care. Well, let's shift gears and talk a little football on the other side. Biggest spring football storylines from Miami, UNC's definitely got some. NC State and Syracuse. You want to keep it locked right here on this locked-on squad.
Starting point is 00:25:16 looking to optimize your nutrition this year. Factor makes eating well easy with chef prepared, dietitian approved meals that are fresh, never frozen, and ready to heat and eat in just two minutes. With 40 options across eight dietary preferences every week, you can customize your meals to fit your lifestyle, whether it's calorie smart, protein plus or keto. Plus Factor even offers wholesome smoothies, breakfast, and grab and go snacks to keep you fueled all day long. I love how Factor takes the stress out of meal. planning. I've tried their protein plus meals, guys. They were packed with flavor. They kept me full throughout the day. The convenience is unbeatable. No prep, no mess. Just great food in minutes.
Starting point is 00:25:58 Eat smart with Factor. Get started at FactorMeals.com slash Locked on college 50 off and use code locked on college 50 off to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. That's code locked on college 50 off at Factor Meals.com slash locked on college 50 off to get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box. Thank you for making the locked on ACC squad, your first listen and your first watch today. Make sure if your next listens, you check out our other shows. Jackson Holzer hosting locked on Syracuse, Kenton and Grayson, hosting locked on Wolfpack, Isaac Shade hosting locked on tar heels.
Starting point is 00:26:41 Spring football is underway across the country, guys, including the ACC, all by the first round here. I'm looking at a trio of quick notes on Miami, and I was at their first week of practices last week. They're off this week for spring break. Number one to me and to everyone is the health of Carson Beck, Miami's new starting quarterback. He's still not cleared to throw just yet, fellas, but he could get the green light within a couple of weeks. So Beck might be able to throw at some point during spring, which would be big, would indicate he's ahead of schedule on his recovery from offseason elbow surgery. In the meantime, pleasant to see that even though he's not
Starting point is 00:27:19 clear to throw. Beck has been involved in practice. He's been engaging in non-throwing drills. You know, he's doing all that rapport building and install that a new quarterback and a new offense would do this time of year. So he's been very involved. Hopefully he gets the green light to throw in terms of who he's going to throw to this coming season. The guy who's looked like the Alpha in Miami's receiving course so far, remember they lost their top four receivers from last year has been Jojo Trader, who's a former five-star recruit out of South Florida. He's entering his second year. Didn't get a whole lot of playing time last year because the top four guys had it kind of on a stranglehold, but he's someone who's really emerging in practice so far. And then
Starting point is 00:28:01 for Miami defensively, they brought in a ton of new defensive backs, including Xavier Lucas, which was a well publicized transfer out of Wisconsin. He transferred without ever hitting the portal, which was the first, a new precedent that was sent. And he's looking good so far, because we remember, as good as Miami's offense was last year, the defense kept pretty much everyone they played in the game, especially Jackson Holzer's fighting Syracuse Orange. We're able to pull off that dub. So that's what I've been seeing so far at Miami. Obviously, it's hard to get negatives in spring football because everyone looks good when there's no pads on, but definitely seeing some positive trends out there. Who wants to buy the next round?
Starting point is 00:28:43 I guess I'll go. All right, I guess I'll go. Yeah, so we got a quarterback battle. So that's obviously going to be the big story. The two leaders in the clubhouse, LSU transfer, Ricky Collins. He sat behind Garrett Nussmeyer last year, Jaden Daniels the year before that. So obviously wasn't good enough to beat out those dies. Most quarterbacks are not. So that's okay. He comes to Syracuse. He's going to have a chance to earn the starting job. But also Syracuse recruited someone out of Georgia last year. year named Jacari Williams. He's a three-star guy, dual threat quarterback. He could potentially be the quarterback one for Syracuse next year. And don't sleep on true freshman Luke Carney out of Texas. I would not be surprised if he gets an opportunity to also be the starting quarterback for Syracuse next season because one thing we know about Fran Brown, he's going to be, he's going to play the best player no matter what. He does not care if you're true freshman. He does not care if you've been in college for seven years, he's going to play the best player regardless of the position. So I would say that those three guys have the chance to be Syracuse's quarterback one next season.
Starting point is 00:29:52 One thing about NC State, you're not only breaking in one, but two new coordinators. You've got a new offensive and defensive coordinator and you're working on a situation where you had virtually a mass exodus at like 1159 the day before the portal closed. It was like, everybody's here, everybody's back, L of LJK, we're all going. See ya! So it's one of those things where you're developing a chemistry amongst a lot of transfers and in a new system.
Starting point is 00:30:23 Even with Roper being a holdover from the offensive staff that was under an eye and company, you're still going to see a very different system. It goes from an offense that is predicated on, we want balance and we want all these things, so we're going to go up-tempo. It's going to be NASCAR pace. we're going to be downhill, no frills, everything we do, rolling, rolling, rolling,
Starting point is 00:30:43 and go. Every time that ball is down by a rep, we want to be right on top of it. It's a very different philosophy than what we've seen in the past from NC State, which could serve them well because the wide receiving court is by far going to be one of the strengths of that team. So, you know, that's probably the biggest non-player specific storyline coming out of Raleigh. And in addition to that, having two new coordinators that's probably related, NC State has elected to close off all spring practices to the media, and they will not televise their spring game.
Starting point is 00:31:12 I saw that's kind of an epidemic going around college football. I'm not sure for the only ACC team to do it so far, but NC State wants to lay low. And I think after falling well short of expectations last year, Coach Doran's kind of looking for a little reset. They don't want the limelight on them. They just want to be about their business. We'll see if that pans out for them in the spring.
Starting point is 00:31:32 You talk about not telling anybody anything. Welcome to having Bill Belichick as your head coach. The Fort Knox in Chapel Hill, good grief. Look, the position battle for Carolina is obviously quarterback as well, similar to Syracuse, which, like, you think back to Mac Brown 2.0, you had three years of Sam Howe. You had two years of Drake May, and then you had last year's melting pot of, I think the five of us probably could have got a couple snaps, boys. I did.
Starting point is 00:31:59 Do what, Donno? I did get a full of snap. I thought I saw you out there against JMU. I knew it. I knew. You had been in the end of fourth quarter. But you look at guys who were quarterbacks on this roster last year. And just listen to where they are now.
Starting point is 00:32:15 You ready? Jacoby Chriswell, ETSU, Connor Herald, Charlotte, Michael Murdinger, Liberty, Max Johnson on the recovery train, I guess, right? And so just in the fact of where those guys let, they didn't transfer to another high major, they're at ETSU and Charlotte and Liberty. That's what we're talking about here. Coming into the preseason, I think it's either going to be true freshman Bryce Baker, who was wildly sought after and recruited. Coach Belichick did a great job to hold onto him as lots of suitors came knocking down the door after the coaching change.
Starting point is 00:32:50 And then Ryan Brown, the Purdue transfer, when his name came across the wave, I was like, and then the more you start looking into it, the more good things you hear behind the scenes about this young man. And I'm just like, all right, we'll see what happens. but I think it's going to ultimately be between the two of them, and we'll see whether it's the transfer or the true freshman. Well, good stuff by all. I want to make sure you check out all of our shows, Isaac Shade,
Starting point is 00:33:16 covering Bill Belichick and Tar Heels Basketball, of course, and College Basketball, and Clason Boone and Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack, Jackson Holzer from Lockedon, Syracuse. I'm Alex Dono from Lockdown Cains, and we'll talk to everybody next time on another episode of the squad right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team, every day.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.