Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - ACC SQUAD - What Happened in Week Eight for the ACC

Episode Date: October 23, 2025

The ACC is shaping up to be wild in 2025 after an important week eight slate. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are atop the conference, the Louisville Cardinals upset the Miami Hurricanes, the Florida State Seminoles are spiraling out of control. Plus, previewing the Week 9 slate. Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOACC?sid=YouTube Locked On College Conferences, HBCU, Basketball & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnCollege Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!  PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com. RipplingGet Rippling FREE for 6 months. Terms and conditions apply. See site for details: https://app.rippling.com/legal/promoterms PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)  #ACC #CollegeFootball #CollegeBasketball Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Just like we all predicted in the preseason, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are atop the ACC standings. 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 ACC weekend.

Hang on, it could get loud, it could get heated, and it will definitely be fun. Squad up, you're part of the ACC squad. And not only is Brent Key's rambling wreck atop the ACC, a little over halfway through the season, but they're also in the top 10. Number seven, in the top 10 for the first time since 1966. Shout out to the everydayers,

and thank you so much for making the ACC squad your first listen. 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 FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app today.

I am Alex Dono from Locked on Cainz. And I come to you humbled today after Miami's first loss, which came at the hands of Dalton Pence's Louisville Cardinals. He hosts Locked on Louisville. We got Jackson Holzer from Locked on Syracuse. Isaac Shade from Locked on Tar Heels. Don't worry, basketball season's coming up, Isaac. and we got Kenton Gibbs from Locked on Wolfpack. Thank you so much for making us your first list.

And Kenton, I'll let you buy the first round on this one because you and I have really been, we've been high, not to say we predicted them to win the ACC. That still hasn't happened yet. But you and I have both been high on Brent Key's Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. But we've gotten some comments. I think they're deserved from some Georgia Tech fans that we're not talking about their team enough. And you know what? We should be talking about them more because they have been.

so far, arguably the most consistent team in the Atlantic Coast Conference. I want to take a step further than that, Dono. We've also got comments saying Georgia Tech's one of the worst teams in the league and creating turnovers. What are you all talking about? Quick question, everybody. What was the play that completely turned that game upside down on its head? I believe it was a forced fumble recovery for six.

Scoop and score the other way. Red zone turnover. If only, Dono and I know a little about ball. And because we know a little about ball, this is the reason both. of us said this is a dark horse team to watch out for if they can maintain relative health that if you keep positions they can be right here at the end what is surprising to me is they have not they have won every single game that they've played and you can talk about their winning ugly you can talk about their playing down you can just cut it slice however you want there's a big

old goose egg in that loss column okay and this team is getting better they're getting more confident and everybody's talking about their offensive coordinator as one of the hottest names in this coaching carousel. But I'll tell you what, defensively. They've done a hell of a job. They've done a phenomenal job. Week in and week out, week after week. And again, they do another great job on Deerian Minchin,

one of the most high-powered offenses in this league, a team that, again, did not have a turnover. Three straight games in a row. I believe all three were against ACC opponents, if I'm not mistaken. If not, I know they're all against FBS teams. Either way, you cut or slice it. That was a Duke officer.

that was rolling. And what did Georgia Tech do to him? They hobbled him a little bit. They slowed them down. They convinced they condensed the game. They ran the ball effectively and they took the ball out of his hands. And when he had it, it was like either score right now, we're going to take another eight minutes off the clock, buddy. So hell of a job by Georgia Tech. They've been doing a great job all season. And the ACC is theirs to lose right now. So key in company, y'all have the key to winning the ACC, just play your best football from this point in forward because they'll be favorite in almost every game going forward. Every game in the ACC, Georgia game, you can lose that and still be ACC chance. Hey, let me, can I pose a scenario to you all in the Georgia Tech vein?

Let's do it. What if I told you there was a team that was 16th in the nation, is undefeated in the ACC, and their remaining schedule is at Carolina, at Cal, hosting Wake, at Dube, and and hosting Virginia Tech, what are the odds in your mind that said football team goes undefeated the rest of the way? And it ain't Georgia Tech, obviously. Pretty good.

I'm talking about Virginia. I'm talking about the Virginia Cavaliers. We're looking at a real world scenario where Georgia Tech and Virginia is an ACC championship game that we are all watching that doesn't include Miami or Louisville or Clemson or anyone else.

That is a possibility that is on the table. Good luck with the TV ratings for that one. I think it would be very legitimate possibility that we're staring at, boys. And one of those teams would be essentially guaranteed a playoff berth. I know technically it's not a guarantee, but for all intents and purposes, they would be guaranteed a playoff. Georgia Tech is seventh in the nation. If they don't lose, it's not like they're going to fall.

My question with Georgia Tech, though, with where they're at is, so if they win out the ACC, then they're a lock for the college football playoff no matter what. Right. If they were to, let's say, lose a game in the ACC and lose to Georgia, would they get in at large, even if they're not in the conference title game at 71? I don't think they get in 10 and 2 at large. I think there's a scenario where a team like Miami or Louisville, if they go 11 and 1, even if they don't play in the ACC championship game, I feel like one of those teams would slide in front of what would then be a 10 and 3 Georgia Tech in that scenario. Donno, I don't think any 10-2 ACC team is getting in at-large. I think that that's kind of-stop it.

You know, it's right. It didn't last year. They weren't going to get it. A 10-and-2 at-large with what we've seen out of the SEC and Big Ten this year, to say a 10-2-at-large ACC team doesn't get in, there would be riots in the streets. The SEC. They don't care about riots in the streets.

They don't care. year ago they didn't allow Florida State and they were undefeated. They didn't know who it is, first of all. Miami, I think, is the one team that you could say, you know what, right now, you maybe can make a case for it. But the only way I see a two-team ACC, or I'm sorry, two-loss ACC team making it would be, let's say, one of the teams that makes the conference championship game loses that game.

Then you have a better case. I just don't see it at-large two-loss team making it. considering there could be some more teams in the ACC with only one loss that end up being an at-large team. So it depends on how many teams from the ACC you think are going to make it in the college football playoff. And I just don't see it. It's going to be very context specific to where you just have to hope for a ton of pandemonium. Well, if you're talking about the context of there will be multiple one-loss ACCC teams, I understand what you're saying.

Okay, I can get behind that. But I'm saying if our champion is whatever they are, one-loss, defeated. And then our runner up is that two lost team that like those two losses are yeah. That's where that's where I get what I'm saying like if you lose to Georgia like exactly like if Georgia Tech runs the table loses to Georgia loses in a C check. They're still in. That's no. Exactly. There's no way that's what I mean. I agree with that whole thing. I was like at large not making the conference champion. And I was saying with Georgia Tech if they were to lose a conference game and then lose to Georgia and they're 10 and two.

if for whatever reason they're not in the conference title game, I don't know if they would get in the college football playoff at large, depending on what happens against Georgia. I think that there is a world in which if they lose close, they would get a ton of respect. And they're already getting a ton of respect. But we never know what the committee is actually going to do at the end of the day. SMU barely got in.

It's not. SMU barely got in and they should have been a lot no matter what to get in because they were in a playoff spot before the game even started. Isn't it crazy to think SMU still has a chance to get to the ACC championship game? And to my point about Virginia being undefeated, obviously SMU is, but here's the difference. Here's SMU's remaining schedule at Wake. They should win that. Then they host Miami at BC, host Louisville at Cal.

I guess the good thing you're looking at is the two hardest games are at home, but SMU ain't like SMU all do apologies to the Mustang fans in the place. They ain't going undefeated in ACC. And they would probably have to win the ACC to get in because they've got two non-conference losses. That's right. So, like, SMU's margin for error is zero. Yeah, yeah, they got too bad out of conference losses. Yeah. You cannot lose to Baylor and TCU and say, I'm a playoff team unless you mess around to win the conference, which.

That's the only way, yeah. And then that cast a whole other lot of aspersers on the ACC, because, you know, when the Big Ten and the SEC beat up on each other, they're cannibalizing each other. But when Louisville beats Miami, it's because the conference is mid overall. And Miami, are they a fraudulent team? Well, you know what's funny about that? The people that are, some of the people who are most down on Miami are Miami fans, because the last, the last 20 years has conditioned Miami fans to, if you lose a game, that one loss is going to turn into three or four losses.

That's just what Miami fans expect at this point. I want to talk a little bit more about it. I give credit to Louisville because Miami didn't just lose. Louisville went down to South Florida and won. And Jeff Brom, that was one of the more impressive play-calling performances I've seen. He maximized that by week. Meanwhile, there's a tailspin happening in Tallahassee. The Florida State Seminoles have lost four straight games.

The fans want Mike Norvell out, but he gets a vote of confidence from the athletic director. You want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of the ACC squad. friends one of the tools that helps make a huge difference for business owners is quo formerly open phone it's the same great business phone system you've heard me talk about before just with a new name and here's why it matters every missed call is money left on the table when every customer conversation counts you need a phone system that keeps you connected 24 7 and that is quo i love how quo formerly known as open phone lets your team share one number and collaborate on calls and text like a shared inbox so no customer gets left hanging. Their built-in AI agent is a game changer. It can answer after-hours calls, capture leads, and keep business moving even when you're off the clock.

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The first of those happened on Friday night when number two, Miami fell 2421 at Hard Rock Stadium to the Louisville Cardinals. and I'll let I'll let Dalton give the Louisville side of it, like from the Miami side of it, I definitely felt that there was some complacency. I think Miami's approach to it was we can do essentially what we've done all year. We're going to win the majority of our 11 individual matchups on the field. We don't have to get too innovative because that's not who we are or who we have to be. Whereas Jeff Brom came with a couple dozen new plays that Miami had never seen before on tape. That was something that Safety Zechariah Poyser said afterwards.

They punched Miami in the mouth and tuned of a quick 14-0-0 lead. We all saw Carson Beck's performance, four interceptions. You know, by far his worst game is a Miami hurricane so far, was forcing a lot of footballs when he did have some checkdowns available to him. Louisville's defenders made great plays on the football with those interceptions, by the way. Those were dynamite. Some of those could have gone incomplete despite the bad decisions, but they were hauling in all of them.

And, you know, something that Dalton and I talked about before the game was which team is going to be sloppier. And that's not just in the tune of turnovers. That's also penalties. Miami committed nine penalties in the game. You're not going to overcome four interceptions or nine penalties. Credit to Louisville for taking the game. Miami also did their part to give it away at times, Dalton. Yeah, I think that this game was like the epitome of the notion that games are played on grass.

They're not played on paper. I'll be honest. I read all through my comments through the week, and I was told that the Louisville Cardinals stood no shot unless Miami forfeited that game. I was told that Louisville wasn't going to score touchdowns. If they got to 24 points, it was eight field goals. And on defense, I was told that Louisville was going up against the most physical team that they were going to see, and they would have no answer for Carson Beck.

They would have no ability to stop the Miami rushing attack. And all of those predictions, aged like a year old bottle of milk at this point. I will say this. Shout out to some of your viewers. They gave me a little bit of credit. Look, I predicted a Miami victory. I thought that Miami was going to win this game because up to that point,

I hadn't seen Louisville put it all together. Inconsistency was the name of the game. And I was not really banking on the first showing of consistency being against their toughest test. And Jeff Brom, I apologize. I wasn't familiar with your game. Or maybe I was, but I just forgot about it. So that's my baddies four and O against AP top five teams because he gets his teams up for these types of games.

And he just gets into his bag coaching. Donnell, you mentioned it. He brought out some new plays. He faked a field goal on the first drive. They gave some looks that we had not seen to the point to where I'm looking at my friends like, dude, where is this team been? So it's awesome to see this.

It's one of those types of wins that just reconfirms that Jeff Brom is one of, if not the best head coach in the ACC. And I truly believe that. So great win, great ability to allow your season outlook to do a complete 180 now. But, hey, moving forward in six games where you're going to be favored to likely win all of them, you got to show that consistency. So great showing down in Miami with your back against the wall. Loved what I saw from the offense. Loved what I saw from the defense especially, being able to disguise coverage, being able to get pressure to Carson Beck. But shout out to Chef Brom, Big Game Brom, was in full effect on Friday night.

And you know who else had a good showing today is Dalton's internet, keeping him in here just such a time as this. As soon as he talks about the internet, his internet glitches up. Ah, I see what you did there. I see what you did there. I'm going to tell you this, though. We got a shout out, Brown. We got a shout out Dawton's internet. We also got to shout out that defense.

Okay. I mean, Louisville's defense absolutely came to play in a spectacular fashion. And we knew that that front seven was going to be who they have been all year. But to me, that was going to be a close matchup between the offensive line and Louisville's defensive line. Louisville's defensive line said, hey, hey, hey, hey, I know. I don't know who y'all been blocking their practice. Y'all must not be doing enough wards versus ones because we got something for y'all boys that,

you know, they came in droves all. night long. It was not just about about Carson Beck missing some throws or making bad reach. It was also about the fact that this was the most uncomfortable I've seen him in the pocket all year, constantly having to move, constantly having to kind of get off his spot

a little bit. And, you know, it's not a knock on Carson Beck, because this is every quarterback. If you move a quarterback off his spot, if you move him off his rhythm, you've disrupted the office. The offense is all offenses that run well. It's like a good song. It's like everybody's on beat. You hit the cord,

you hit the notes when you're supposed to hit him. And a really great defense is like that one kid that plays triangle and band that he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. He's just coming in, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, and throwing you all off. And that's exactly what Louisville was doing. Like Dalton said, disguising coverances, bringing pressure when you are not expecting and all those types of things, they played at a very high level defensively. Yes, coach, big game, Brown did come out.

Yes, the fake on the first drop absolutely set the tone for, hey, we're not here to mess around. We're here to win a ball game, but the defense bought it all night long up until the fourth turnover at the end of the game. Yeah, no. I don't know. You can go ahead, Dalton. I think that Dono's mentioned it, and I listened to his show on Monday, and he brought up a point to where it was like I almost kind of questioned the adjustments that the Miami coaching staff did not make. The offensive coordinator is his name Shannon Dawson. Is that his name, Donovan?

I feel like there wasn't a coach. commitment to running the football early in series. And it got Miami behind the sticks to where when they did run the ball, boom, you're in third and long. And then defensively, their pressure win percentage was astronomical. Ruben Bain was winning his reps. The issue is that Miller Moss got it out in under 2.5 seconds so often. And it seemed like Miami just did not make an adjustment all night long to the point to where you're running crossing routes all game long and guys are wide open and he's hitting guys wide open because it felt like a chess game where Miami's, I mean, no pun intended, their internet connection went out and they weren't able to make

that corresponding move, Dono. Yeah, it was, and I went over, went over some of the film and it was some pretty shocking stuff defensively stuff that we haven't seen from Miami so far this year. And like, I give the defense some credit because they did buckle down for large portions of that game. They started very poorly. They finished poorly because they did allow another long Chris Bell touchdown on a crossing pattern late in the game. But, you know, for times the defense was playing well enough to win, the offense wasn't answering the call. But the gap integrity was really bad. Like it was glaring on some of the big runs that Isaac Brown had where just nobody had an angle on him.

And credit to Isaac Brown because he looked like last year's Isaac Brown all over again. I think for him getting healthy was probably a big part of that. sensational. And there was just a lot of, I thought, miscommunication in the back end of the defense for Miami. So it was the type of film. I'm sure D.C. Corey Heatherman had a lot of notes jotted down to go over this week. But it was, you know, and I think a lot of it was really off balance, like Louisville's offense put Miami's defense off balance in a way I hadn't seen all year. Donald, let me ask you this. Did you see things on Friday night that gave you pause and concern season long?

Or is it just like, ah, it's a weird Friday night in the ACC, you chalk it up, you learn from it, and you move on? That's the trillion dollar question that every, every Miami fan is debating just that, because people have seen it before with this team. I mean, they started 9 and 0 last year, and then they lost three out of their final four games,

including the bowl game. So I think everyone is wondering that. Are they going to be able to adjust midseason? Now the teams have film on them? Yeah, There was definitely some concerning stuff, Isaac, to answer your question. Miami has this obsession with only running between the guards. Like there's nothing hardly outside of a touchdown that they scored on a Malachi, Tony,

who's not a running back. He's a receiver very fast end around, which worked. But Miami doesn't run outside the tackles hardly ever. I think that's something they need to employ a little bit more of. There was this weird insistence on going back to wide receiver screens all over again, and a lot of them were getting blown up. So I thought the play calling was pretty poor with the defensive stuff. I feel like it's more correctable.

I know defense was Miami's Achilles' heel last year, but the personnel and the philosophy is so different. Like I feel like the defense is probably a little bit more fixable moving forward. But there's definitely some stuff on offense, and I think some of it can be cured by just a little bit more variety in like the play design of the running plays. because also I did think that the awful game that Beck had is partially correctable. You know, I don't expect, you know, Miami's offensive line is not going to face a defensive

line that good again all season, right? I mean, they've already had their biggest battles when it comes to D-Line versus O-Line. So you expect the protection to be more consistent. And, you know, I think that Carson Beck, his decision-making, you would think it's correctable because he's processed games well up until he just seemed in 10 times. on taking the kill shots. So some of it is long-term concerning. I think that this is going to force Miami to be a little bit more innovative on offense.

And I know a lot of people have their thoughts about Mario Cristobal not being willing to innovate. But for Christobal and Dawson, I think they're going to have to be. Because, you know, if you want to make it into a postseason run, you're going to face other teams that are really good. So I think you have to be ready to innovate a little bit more. So it's a mixed bag. And a lot of it, of course, coming off a loss. of your players. I mean, Florida State is a way better team than what we've seen losing four consecutive conference games. So sometimes when you lose, bad mentalities do creep in. So some of it's

going to be on the locker room and the leadership to really respond to it. So there's some non-football components to this as well. But in terms of the football components, I think some of it is easily fixable. Some of it's going to take more effort to fix. I don't think the sky should be falling for Miami just yet. Like I don't think I get the the past trauma. Trust me, I get past trauma all the time with when it comes to this team and when it comes to any sports team you can think of. But with Miami, the way to look at it is you can make an argument that they, they easily could have won the game. And Carson Beck had four turnovers. How often is you going to have four turnovers? Not often. You lost the game to a good team at home by three points because your quarterback turned the ball over four times, whether it was his fault or not.

It doesn't matter. He has four turnovers. And Louisville had one turnover. So sometimes it's as simple as look. We shot ourselves in the foot too much. And it came back to bite us. And Louisville is a good team. They were able to take advantage of it. And they won. Now, going forward for Miami, the issue is their margin for error at this point is not very hot. You basically got to become Notre Dame fans for the rest of the season. You can't have Notre Dame have any sort of slip up because you need that win to hold up. Because other than that, you look at the rest of Miami schedule and you look at some of the wins they have, yeah, they could blow a team out here or there, but now all of a sudden

beating Florida State is not impressive at all. Beating the Florida Gators is not impressive at all. Nobody cares that Miami beat USF. I don't know. USF's on track to make the playoffs, Jackson. Actually, that's a quality. Because they're the representative in the group of five. Especially now the Memphis loss.

Nobody is actually going to give Miami a lot of credit. for that win. I think if USF goes 12 and 1 and gets into the playoff, I think that's one you look at as a quality. I don't think that's going to be a resume building win for them. Like, we could sit here and argue that it should. Are you saying, is it a resume negative? Are you saying that?

I don't think it's, no, it's a resume neutral. It's, I don't think it's, I think they'll look at it and say, okay, that was your second best win. What was the third? What would South Florida do in the ACC this year? Tell me that. I don't know what they would do. Maybe eight wins.

I don't know. But we already know how the committee operates. They never are going to give the ACC a lot of credit. So you think they're going to all of a sudden turn around and say, hey, Miami, we know that last year you were 10 and 2 at large with the number one picking the draft and still not going to give them an at large bid. And now this time around when their second best win would be against USF, that now all of a sudden they're going to flip flop and say,

we'll give you the respect that you deserve. I just don't see it. It's not about whether USF is good or not. It's I'm trying to put myself in the eyes of the committee and say, I don't think they're going to give them. a lot of effects. Well, look at Indiana last year. Indiana didn't have a signature win by any means. Their one loss was to a good Ohio State team. If Miami goes 11 and one, and their losses to a Louisville team that's knock on wood going to stay par for the course

and win at least 10 games, you're not leaving an 11 and one Miami team. No, you're 100% right. I'm just saying, I think Miami it's fine right now, but I don't, you don't get to trip up again for the rest of this. I agree. You lose again, your season. is very much in jeopardy as far as going to the college. In fact, like, because not all 10 and two resumes are created equal. Exactly. At this point, it would have been better for Miami to have lost the Notre Dame game than if they were to lose another ACC game because you're, you know, you've got,

and obviously SMU is turning their season around. Still a two-loss team right now, you know, on the road at Pitt at the end of the year, Pitt's playing good football, but, you know, Pitt's not, not a juggernaut on paper. You know, they got Syracuse. and Syracuse Orange was doing a little bit better right now for the resume. NC State. What, what's that? Is Steve Angelly playing in that game?

I mean, yeah, what a turnaround. What a negative it's been not having him there. But yeah, but no, like Miami can't afford to lose another game. Like if they were, if they finished the season 10 and 2 and one of the losses was to Notre Dame, they might get in with that. But if you finish 10 and 2 with your other loss being one of these remaining ACC games, it's not going to be good enough. Hey, question.

We were talking about ACC coach of the year. Does this solidly put Brom in that conversation now? I feel like it does. I feel like it does. It has to. I think that Mario and all the cachet that he had built up here, it's going to be tough. It's looking like it's going to be Key, Elliot, or Brom,

depending on how the rest of this season go. Key is obviously first place. I mean, his team's undefeated and top five for the first time since 1966. Do you think they just give it to whoever wins the agency? Do you think that that's just going to be like the easy cop that? I was like, hey, look, you won the conference? Well, don't they have knownst the awards before the ACC championship game or is it after? I'm not sure.

Is it after? Okay. While I'm reading the next commercial, somebody Google that. Ask Gemini or whoever you need to ask. We can look at last years. We can look at last years. Yeah. Well, because I do want to take a look at coaching because there's a lot of unhappy folks in Tallahassee

right now with their coaching situation. You want to keep it locked right here. We're not done yet on the ACC squad. Folks, we're also brought to you by Mazda. Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move. Mazda delivers confidence with every ride with more I-IHS top safety pick plus awards than anyone else. From footwork to breath work, athletes sweat all the details.

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Check out our other shows. Kenton Gibbs and Grayson Boone host Locked on Wolfpack, Isaac Shade on locked on Tar Hills and locked on college basketball. Jackson Holeser locked on Syracuse, Dalton Pence, locked on Louisville. Brian Smith could not be here with us on this squad episode. He's probably updating his hotboard for next Florida State head coach. But that change, guys, apparently will not be made this season. Florida State Athletic Director Michael Alford put out the dreaded vote of confidence for Mike Norvell.

Now, the language of that statement certainly implies that the coaching change could happen at the end of the season, but it's not happening in season. And ultimately, this is a $100 million decision that's being made because you see the numbers that are thrown around there. Remember, Mike Norvel got a big extension a couple of off seasons ago when he was linked to the Alabama job when that was open. So, you know, his agent did a nice job negotiating his new deal to buy out Mike Norell. Norville and his top staff members, 60 million plus. To bring in a new coaching staff, you know, it's another, it's another eight-figure deal. So they're throwing out numbers like $100 million plus to make this coaching change. So Florida State's got to think long and hard about how to implement this guys.

But anyone can jump in here on this point. Is it possible for them to turn this around with Mike Norvel or does this run just negatively impact booster support, fan support, and recruiting so much that there's no turning back for him. I mean, I don't think that it's regardless of what you think about Mike Norville potentially next year, I'm not sure if Florida State has the ability to sit around and wait because, and I'll make this point here in a second, they're three and four. They've lost their last four. You would think, well, they've got a relatively favorable schedule with Wake, Clemson, Virginia Tech, NC State, and Florida. don't forget, they just lost to Stanford, a Stanford team that A is not really all that good.

And B, they're extremely injured. I mean, you're playing the hospital squad, so to speak. I thought Andrew Luck was going to suit up the other night. Yeah, I mean, Frank Wright is taking snaps at wide receiver. But another thing, this is another aspect of this. And I had a conversation about LSU in the same life with all of these openings popping up already. And you've got Penn State, Florida, Arkansas, all these jobs that are popping up. Can you afford to wait another year when the quote-unquote top prizes in college football that are the coaches that are going to get these top jobs? Can you afford to wait and let these guys go elsewhere?

And I'm okay with them giving him the vote of confidence through the rest of the season. Now, things can change on a whim, but I just don't see after what happened last year. And now this season, the wheels have fallen off the bus. I just don't know how you could look in the mirror and say, yeah, you know what, Mike Norville is the guy to lead the Florida State program back to prominence. I just, I can't see it. I think the biggest thing that we're missing, you said the school can't afford to keep them. Can they afford to replace him?

Like we're talking about afford as in the support of all these people and all that people. The reality is the boosters only have. but so much money. Like we like to think that, oh, yeah, it's the college arms race and the money's going to keep increasing, keep increasing. Sure, it's going to increase over the years.

Let's talk about the finance of the Florida State for just a quick second here. Which school were the ones that spent all that money on lawyers to figure out a loophole to get out of the ACC? Was Florida State one of those or no? Mm-hmm. Yep. Which school recently did the most expensive remodeling of their stadium in America?

I'm pretty sure, but I know for a fact in the ACC conference this last season, was that the nose as well? Yep. They were already looking at getting some outside investments from either private equity or they were going to pull a Mike Lombardi and get on that, get on that plane and go over there and talk to the Saudis real quick and say, hey, hey, what we got going on? What? Talk to me, Prince. Talk to me, Royal Prince.

Got me some Spriller. I need some paper. Give me a little loan. But the worst part about it is. they're between a rock and a hard place. Because if you keep them, you know that all of this fan attendance is going to drop. The interest is going to drop. The entry is going to drop and all that.

But if you get rid of him, where are you getting the money? Because forget all the rest. Forget all of the other stuff about how valuable is a job in comparison to Penn State, in comparison to Florida, it compares to all these other things. Let's talk strictly about this. How much money will you have to pay Top Coach and his assistants compared to Penn State, compared to Florida, compared to some other massive jobs that we've heard are on the verge of that we cannot talk about publicly, but we've heard our own the verge of potentially being

open as well. Where do you line up in those places? Because as much as we say, oh, coaches will go to the best situation. Coach is going to follow the money just like everybody else. Coaches going to go where they get paid just like everybody else. Fran Brown ain't going to be a Syracuse tune. No, I'm joking. But seriously, all of the room. Bram Brown into this. But seriously. I was going along with you. I'm agreeing with you.

You know I can't go a whole episode without disagree with yourself. You're going to go four and eight this year. Who wants Fram Brown? Fram Brown's still a high commodity, okay? Trust me. It could be worse. I know.

It could be worse. You're on the show with two guys with a guy that's got, you know, Bill Belichick. But in all seriousness, do they compete financially with these other schools? Everybody's catching strays here. This is not fair. You know what? NC State sucks and so does Dave Doran.

Can it does it change your personal now? Knowing that it doesn't have to be one full lump sum that they can pay it out over the lifetime of that contract. Give me a Bobby Boonea contract over here. So here's the thing. Here's the thing. That does sound good. But again, how much of that is how much of that are you guaranteeing it? How much is the increase?

How much are you saying? Because if you're going to pay somebody backloaded, everybody knows that if you don't understand interest and compound it, that back end is always going to be massive compared to the front end. Is Florida State willing to take that type of swing on a coach that, again, you may not be able to match a school that says, I can guarantee you what they're paying you on the back end on the front end. Did you just say that back end's going to be really massive? Was that a Sir Mix-a-Lot reference there?

Baby got back? What are we doing? I forgot he was talking about money for a second. You all get a little freaked out of me. Y'all get a little freaked out of me, okay? This has nothing to do with my preference in women. this has nothing to do with what I like outside this show. A loaded back end is what we're talking about on this.

I am simply saying if you want to say the money is going to be towards the end of the contract, you're going to have to pay more. And again, would Florida State be comfortable doing that? And again, who do you get? Who's your guy that you can say like, hey, I feel a thousand percent comfortable paying him 40 million in a few years? You know, I just don't. They have the opportunity to do the wildest thing and bring Bill. Napier from Gainesville to Tallahassee.

No, hey, you know, here's something funny. I saw, I saw somebody put out a landing spot for Billy Napier the other day. You know who was team number one on the list? Please stop. Please. Oh, my gosh. Somebody put out a list where North Carolina was the top landing spot for Bill.

Good luck. Somehow they got worse than the Lernerner. I think they go from Bill. I think he's still spending the Florida State buyout money. That's a crazy question. Oh, my God. Well, I mean, you know, what if you brought out James Franklin? I mean, that might make the most stents because he, because Penn State will pay the difference with whatever Florida State is.

Florida State could say, hey, we'll pay you a mill a year and Penn State's going to pay you the difference of your old contract. I say, you have to pay, I don't know how much if they still owe anything off the Willie Tagger buyout. But if they do, then you can just count that as money saved and rehire it. Yeah, I think they might. I'm not sure. Florida State fans can correct us, but I think they might still be paying Willie Tagger. Is it backloaded, though?

I thought it was just in the language. You're just paying the salary through the duration of the lifetime of the contract. I didn't think it was like you're adding anything on the back end. I just from what I read just a little while ago, you can basically, it's like you're paying him normally. He's just not coaching. I know that makes things a little bit tough, But if you are in immediate financial distress, not having to pay all that up front and operating with the sunken cost fallacy and understanding that keeping him would be more of a financial hit than letting him go.

The truth is, is that they're like Isaac said in the chat. They're damned if they do, damned if they don't. It's just you have to do whatever you can to salvage yourself to the best you can. Look, let's be honest about this. And they get the higher right, it could benefit them. Yes. And it's a big gift, too, right? I mean, there's no guarantee. Mike Norvell was supposed to be the next big thing. Of course. James Franklin, as a proven commodity, I would have him every day and again in our conference. Of course you would. Immediately raises the profile of the ACC.

James Franklin gets a bad name and I understand his reputation. Like we get it, the reputation of not winning the big games. But like, it's one of those like go back to like your ex-execkels. expectations of every single program and what Kenton always says about how like if certain programs went eight games a year, that coach will get you a, like, you'll get a statue at that university. Like that's literally James Franklin. Like he, he can go to anywhere, I think, in the ACC and make that program a successful program. Is he going to bring you a national championship? As of right now, he is not proven that he can bring your team a national championship team. Well, Bobby Baldwin ain't walking through the door. KG, you got thoughts down there. I want to hear it. He would give you much needed stability. All I'm saying is this.

Everybody's very high on, oh, James Franklin, he's really good and he'll keep you where you need to be. Are we talking about the same James Franklin that just lost to UCLA in Northwestern? That's one year. And I hear you. In theory, we can say, oh, the talent now, the disparity ain't what it was. And every team's in for a down year every now and then. I will caution everybody with the same thing that I cautioned a certain school that's very near mind with. sometimes the last time that we saw people is more important than the best we ever saw them at.

James Franklin at his best absolutely can get you eight wins a year, nine wins a year, ten wins a year. The James Franklin that we just saw was lifeless and hapless. And you cannot tell me that that guy going to Florida State and producing more of what we saw this last season. If he produces anywhere near that, Florida State fans, it'll be, it'll be, it'll be, Alfred would be run out of time. Okay, he wouldn't be allowed. They would take him out of state of Florida, like in the book of Eli, I say, and don't come back.

Don't you have a comeback. I don't doubt to you, but I just want to know, like, if, then who? Who are you going to hire if you're Florida? Because you're going up against the University of Florida. John Sumroll. John's going to get hired by somebody, but it might be by a school that's in that same state if that job. You might be competing with Missouri as well, if

Missouri loses drink wins. And if, you know, if Old Miss loses lane to Florida, then the Ole Miss job is open as well. So this is a crazy carousel. I'll have one more point into this. And it kind of goes back to Kenton's point about the boosters. And I agree. I mean, there's only so much money. Now, FSU does have a substantial amount of alumni money and whatnot.

But you also have to wonder with the amount of money that they spent on this year's roster. and the waning confidence in Mike Norville, you wonder, okay, if your decision is to keep Norville, how do you now turn to those same boosters that paid for this roster and say, hey, I know you forked over a lot of money for a roster that was going to be really good on paper. I need you to do it again. But hashtag, trust me, bro. That's what you're saying because, well, I know that it flocked tremendously badly this year, but next year's completely different.

There's so many different parts in this equation. That's why I feel like at the end of the day, it's going to be a decision to let him go. And it's probably going to be at the end of the year, but I just don't know if you're Florida State. I understand the commitment financially to letting him go. It's a great commitment. But this train's going nowhere but off the tracks.

Well, we'll end it on that because I think that's a very sensical point. and I want to send a huge thank you. I allow Dalton Pence in here, despite recent results on a Friday night in the ACC. Thank you, Dalton, from Lockdown Louisville. Thank you to Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown, Walthack, Isaac Shade from Lockedon Tar Heels, Jackson Holzer from Locked on Syracuse.

I am Alex Dono from Lockdown-Kane, and we'll talk to everybody next time on another episode of the Lockdown ACC squad. We are part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team, every day.