Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - Alabama Crimson Tide's Playoff Controversy: Fair or Foul?

Episode Date: December 9, 2024

ACC in Turmoil: College Football Playoff Controversy and Coaching Shake-UpsJoin Alex Donno, Kenton Gibbs, and Brian Smith as they dissect the ACC's role in the College Football Playoff selection drama. With SMU's unexpected inclusion over Alabama, the hosts debate the ramifications for conference championship games and the playoff landscape.The episode also explores the buzz around Bill Belichick potentially coaching at UNC, with insights into how this move could reshape the program. Additionally, Florida State's aggressive transfer portal strategy is analyzed, highlighting their quest for a mobile quarterback and offensive line reinforcements.Don't miss this comprehensive breakdown of the ACC's current challenges and future prospects in college football.For your next listen, check out the Locked On College Football podcast! From NIL deals to never ending conference realignment rumors, Spencer McLaughlin gets you ready for an exciting season on the gridiron! Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Omaha SteaksFrom legendary steaks to mouthwatering desserts and more, save 50% off sitewide at OmahaSteaks.com. Plus, our listeners get an extra $30 off with promo code COLLEGEANDa $30 reward card when you shop early. Minimum purchase may apply. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. 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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Man, the ACC just got bailed out by one program that's currently suing them and another that's a first year member making zero TV revenue. You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Shout out to Dabo Sweeney, to whom I owe a few apologies. And shout out to the everydayers for making Locked on ACC your first listen and your first watch today. 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. You can start the season with a big return on Fandual because new customers can place a $5 bet and you'll get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. Visit Fanduel.com to get started. Have with me.

I'm Alex Dono from Lockdown Cains. As always, Kenton Gibbs, from Lockdown Wolfpack. And we got our dude, Brian Smith, from Lockdown Seminals. We will talk about FSU's transfer strategy. You know, how do you turn two and ten back into something a little bit more palatable? We know Money Mike's going to be heavily invested in the transfer portal this offseason.

We're going to talk about continuing momentum for Bill Belichick to North Carolina. Still doesn't feel real saying that. But Kenton and Brian, let's open up with this college football playoff. A lot of feathers were ruffled on Sunday when SMU. despite losing in the conference championship game against Clemson. Shout out to Clemson. Again, for the Clemson fans who are here because they want to hate on me and Kenton for doubting them, that's fine.

You guys earned this victory lap. Shout out to Davo and Clemson and Clubnik and everyone for winning that game. SMU still gets the nod, in my opinion, they absolutely should have still gotten the nod. But Kenton, your take on Alabama, because there's been a lot of complaining in Tuscaloosa and in the SEC circles about Alabama not sneaking in. Well, I don't give a damn if there's a herd of, you know, Tide fans. If there's a parade of elephants coming from Tuscaloosa to Raleigh, if there's every single elephants you can find on every safari in the land coming for us to tell us how wrong we are.

I don't give a piss about the tide if you sit here and lose to Oklahoma by 21 points. Less than a month before the playoff committee selects. What are we supposed to do that? What are we supposed to do? You know, I knew I would be getting a call because my grandmother listened to this. Oh, shut up. Oh, sorry, Grandma.

Grandma gifts. You called me after the game or after the selection committee and she said, grandson, you're the reason my tie they make. The committee heard you talk about my boys. And I said, listen, if I was at that day great, we'd all be a pet house as gruff. I'm sorry. But more importantly than that, what kept them out was losing the way they did.

And if anything, first of all, shout out to Clemson for getting into the playoff via winning the conference. SMU, way to make it a competitive game and get two games in there. If anything, I'm looking up and saying, why the hell is my name out of it? Why do not have it? If anything, because some of these teams and some of these arguments that are being made, the exact same arguments can be made for Miami. And for some reason, everybody keeps saying, well, Miami just don't blow a 21 point lead. Well, which one do y'all think is a harder bargain? Not blowing a 21 point lead or not losing by 21 to a team that had they not beat you wouldn't be ball eligible.

Oh, come on. Come on, man. So, again, I look at this playoff committee and I would say they got it mostly right. Again, I don't know why Texas is hosting because who have they beaten all year? and as much as people crap on Notre Dame and what they did this year. Last time I checked, they went down to Aggie land and walked out victorious. So, you know, if the Aggies are a good win for Texas, they also got to be a good win for Notre Dame or they're nothing for both.

You know, so I look at this and I'm like, Ward and Company and not Cam Ward, I believe it's Ward Manual and Company on the committee. They kind of word manual. They did what they wanted to do, how they wanted to do it. they justified by hook and crook here and there to get certain teams in and out. But I'm just so glad that we don't have to sit up here for 10. Because again, the SEC and hypotheticals, let me tell you something. This integration of Bama, oh, they destroy the 85 bears.

No shot. The bear's got no shot. This, the, you know, sellers and company down in Colombia, the Detroit Lions right now, they'd be devastated. Dan Campbell wouldn't know what to do with those bulls. Oh, don't get me starting. on the mighty Missouri Tigers and what they would do to everybody in the country. You know, don't get me stark because anybody that goes in the SEC country, that's not SEC, they can't win.

Even though Texas is in them 110, their first year there, Texas messing around and is in the conference championship, their first year there. Oh, you upset the Bama team that's been the king of the hill for how many years there. I, you know, again, and I believe Missouri won 10 games, their first couple years in the SEC as well. So everybody comes in and has all this success off the back, but they're just a different breed, you know, because again, hypothetically, you know, they're getting it done, you know. And hypothetically, if I was to take mega statin on the dead, I'm going to take her home to seal the day. You know, hypothetically, of course, if it happens. But, you know, I want the benefit of the doubt that the SEC gets.

Well, and Brian, I felt like when the ACC championship game was going on, the committee, I'm sure they were salivating over. Oh, yep, we're going to, because it looked like it was going to be a Clemson blowout. Like, it was looking like Clemson was going to roll them over. And the committee was all ready to pencil in Alabama. But I, you know, SMU, I thought they saved themselves by nearly pulling off the comeback. You know, shout out to Clemson for a dramatic final 16 seconds in the dub. But SMU, obviously, they didn't win the game.

but I thought they saved their own butts by making it so close down the stretch. To be honest with you, I thought SMU was done. I mean, what was it at 1.24 to 7? I mean, they were down 17 points going to the fourth quarter. Yeah. That fourth quarter, man, they were on fire. And they ran that drill at the end offensively to a T. Now, the kickoff thing, that's a whole other animal.

Oh, right, yeah. I don't know. I think Kenton could have done a better job with that as the kickoff guy. It was bad. But their offense is legit. And if Penn State screws around, they'll get beat. SMU is not a fun team to play. Ask a bunch of teams that got beat by them this year.

So I think they deserve to be in because of how they performed. They're an exciting brand of football. And as Kenton said, they didn't lose by 21 points to Oklahoma. Who, by the way, I was watching some of that game when it happened. Oklahoma, without any talent receiver because they're all hurt and quarterbacks that can't throw had 205 yards rushing. Everybody in the stadium knew it was going to be a running play, every play. And Alabama couldn't stop it against the team that shouldn't have, as getting noted, been bowl eligible. Leave it to the committee to screw you.

There's a chance you'll get screwed. And in this case, I really don't think they did. But they didn't beat the teams they should. And their out of conference schedule was garbage too. Three mediocre teams, FCS, whatever, plus Wisconsin who finished five and seven. So Alabama has nobody but themselves to blame. But that can't make sense. Hold on, Dono, because I'm confused.

Everybody keeps saying, Bama has no incentive to schedule tough out of conference games anymore. The SEC has no incentive. And, you know, I think, I think that we all need to give DeBoer his flowers for scheduling, you know, tightness of the college football landscape that he didn't have to schedule. They weren't put there for him like Vanderbilt. Oh my God. Who could have seen that?

Who? What an admirable thing to do to offer yourself up to slaughter for an absolute buzzsaw like Diego Pavia. Hmm. That's interesting. Somehow, somehow beating Mercer and beating USF, that's a tough out of conference schedule. Okay. And I'll tell you what. You know, the only thing fickle about Lucas is last name.

because that Wisconsin team, they got to be in the Big Ten championship, right? They scheduled it as tough as it is. Didn't they? Why are you guys quiet? They didn't schedule it tough? Oh, no. Oh, okay. And I'm going to just say one more thing, and I'm going to pass it back to you, Donnell.

Do y'all think if they actually did schedule a tough out of conference, had they scheduled a top 10 team on one of these last weeks of the season and won? Do you all think they're in at that point? Because I do. I do. I believe if they scheduled one of the tougher team. team in the conference, if they schedule a Notre Dame and they win that game, that's a playing game to me at that point.

You know, but we're instead talking about going to opposite direction where it's like, we're going to schedule softer than Mercer? What are you going to do with put Cass Tech on your schedule? What the hell are you talking about? Yeah, I don't see how they can look at it that way. They lost the games inside their conference as you're obviously pointing out. So, come back. I want to say something on the other side, guys.

we have a lot more to get to here on Locked on ACC because I see a lot of Alabama fans and advocates who are, they're so concerned about the message and the precedent that the committee just sent by leaving out a team with so many quality wins. Well, folks, you're not looking at the flip side because the precedent that the committee would have set by putting Bama in to me is far more harmful.

We'll explain what we're talking about next. You want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started on this brand new episode of Lockdown ACC. Oh, my friends, do I have a recommendation for you for your holiday gift giving needs? I've been all over Omaha Steaks today because nothing delivers comfort and joy, quite like the unrivaled quality and taste of Omaha Steaks. It's guaranteed a perfection every single bite. And right now, you can save on unforgettable gifts with 50% off sitewide at Omahasteaks.com. Plus, score an extra $30 off with promo code college with five generations of experience.

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Thank you for making this episode of Lockdown ACC, your first listen and your first watch today. For your next listens, check out our other shows. I host Locked on Cains. Brian Smith hosts Locked on Semittals, who, by the way, despite 2 and 10, Brian is crushing it. And Kenton Gibbs does an awesome job

on Locked on Wolfpack covering NC State. So, yeah, again, guys, I see a lot of Alabama fans. And listen, I get it, right? You're disappointed. Your team got left out. I was very disappointed when Miami was ranked behind Alabama. We're all disappointed if you didn't get into the CFP. But I see a lot of Alabama fans and even other SEC fans that are talking about,

oh, this is this dangerous precedent, that they're not rewarding, the SEC schedule. You also have to look at the flip side, guys, because had the committee decided ultimately to drop SMU, to drop them below an Alabama team that was sitting at home, didn't have a game championship weekend, what kind of a message does that send? I'll tell you what kind of a message it sends. And maybe, listen, if SMU had gotten blown out, maybe they could have justified it. I get it. But it was a close competitive finishing.

And maybe even if they didn't get blown out, the bottom line is if you send the message that you've got this team ranked in front of a team that's not playing in a conference championship game. And if they lose, we're going to drop them below. Guess what happens next, fellas? You're going to have teams opting out of conference championship games because why play it? Why play it if you could cost yourself a shot at the CF? why play the conference championship game. Now that doesn't apply to Iowa State who lost the Big 12 because they were already ranked below, but it would have absolutely applied to SMU.

If they go into the weekend ranked in front of Alabama, Alabama doesn't play, they did, they lose by a field goal. How do you drop them below? You might as well cancel every conference championship game moving forward because it doesn't make any sense to play in it. Go ahead, man. That stinks. I had to break the for Breeze, though,

because that whole strategy right there stinks, that whole idea of dropping a team for playing in the conference championship wreaks to the high heavens. And I do want to say something here that's very important in terms of precedences and all that good stuff. If we're talking about, well, the wins are what matters.

Who did you beat? Who did you beat? Who you are at your peak is what matters more than anything else. Well, why is nobody discussing Michigan being in? Does Michigan not have one of the best? wins in the nation. Yeah.

Yeah, they beat Ohio State on the road. Put them in, right? Yeah. Penn State doesn't have as good of a win as Michigan. Why would Michigan not be the team to get? Oh, you're telling you. Michigan might have the best win in the country. Hey now.

Hey now. Because when Oregon beat them, Ohio State was on the road, correct? They had to go up to Austin and lose that game. So why is Michigan not considered? What is Jerome? more do to the committee to have you all not allow him to defend his, oh, what's that? Y'all said that there's a whole other side of the court. Yeah, yeah, that's kind of how it works.

Your season is not defined by one or two or three games. Those can be pivotal in defining your season, but guess what? You play 12 damn games. You play 12 of them. And you've got to go out there and prove to everybody. Prove to the committee. Prove to the nation. We deserve this spot because this reason.

And I'm going to take it back to the old school because maybe I'm only 29 years old, but I grew up under the BCS, baby. Back in my day, you had to win out to even be considered. And sometimes even when you won out, you weren't good enough. And so to see three lost teams crying, I'd never thought I'd see today.

I'd never thought I'd see today. I got to pull out my Steve Harvey. I've heard of old school. You see, y'all don't understand. Y'all are praying at him. I never thought I'd see the day that I had to go in that bag. And yet, here we are. Because, again, I was raised under the tradition of you go out there and dominate.

You leave no doubt. And if you leave doubt, you shut up about whatever a committee, whatever, a arbitrary group, whatever, whoever is getting to the side says. Guess what? Bama, guess what? Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin? Guess what? Anybody else who has problems? Beat the teams in front of you.

I love the Al Walker. That's my boy. I'm sure he's going to be a first rounder in next year's drive. That team was four and eight. They won one conference game. Who was that conference game against Ole Mitch? Huh. Billy Napier was two seconds away from being on this show.

He was going to be by replay. It was going to be him McDonald's talking ball every day. You know how he didn't get there? That'll be awkward for me, by the way. Oh, absolutely, absolutely. But I love it. I think it'd be great TV. But you know, you know why he gets to keep his job?

Because he beat a team like Ole Miss. Hmm. It seems to me, me thinks perhaps, if you win the games that are placed in front of you, there will be no questions asked. You talk about IU didn't play anybody. Well, did IU lose to any four-win teams, guys? I know they play some, but did they lose any? Oh, but let me guess.

Kentucky would have ran through the Big Ten, right? Kentucky would have just dominated everybody. Because, again, the SEC, every hypothetical SEC team just is done. Again, it just means more. The reality is, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it'll just mean more in the Boko Retone Bowl. Hey, enjoy yourselves. Enjoy yourselves, Beva.

Go enjoy yourselves down there in Tampa. How fun with Michigan. You know, Rayleigh Stadium's waiting on you. Congratulations. Because, again, at the end of the day, wins, losses, they have to mean something. You are the summation of what you put out there on that field. And imagine how sweet life would be if all of us got the benefit of the doubt to the point where we were not seen as like, oh, man, you mess this thing up at work. Instead, they were just like, well, you got it right.

sometimes. That's good enough for us. Oh, you don't got to pay rent this month. You paid rent sometimes. You don't got to pay your mortgage. You paid mortgage sometimes. So we're not going to pay attention to the times you didn't pay it. We'll just pay attention to the time you pay it in the major.

That's not how life works. That's not how this committee should work. That's not how this playoffs should work. And thusly, we get what we get in this situation where, again, there are a bunch of SEC teams whining and belly aching it. And I'm being told by our boy, Stephen, Willis that locked on Old Miss. You know, I think that SMU

is on the same level as Missouri. Take that as you will. My brother and Christ, I will take it as one of those teams is in the playoffs and one of them is getting ready to learn some quick lane bowl or something. Hey, more power to you. Have fun.

The motor season is a great place to be. I'm joking. They're not actually going to the quick lane bowl, but you get my point. I don't give a damn where Missouri is going and I love me some coach drink. But the reality is, again, you have to win the games

that are placed in front of you. By the way, we should have to, like, get some of these bowl sponsorship approved by a committee because the amount of jokes that I've heard about Miami being in the Pop Tarts Bowl, which is like that that bowl has a long lineage. It's actually a meaningful bowl game, but, you know, as soon as you allow Pop Tarts to sponsor it, I mean, they used to be the Champ Sports, right? Then it used to be the Champ Sports Bowl, or was it the World Cup? Yeah, it actually, it started as the Blockbuster Bowl. Oh, we love Blockbuster. I miss Blockbuster. They should have sponsored the game for longer.

Maybe they'd still be around. It's been Champ Sports, Russell Athletic. It was the Cheez-It Bowl, which is also funny, and now it's the Pop-Tart Bowl. Anything else, Brian, you want to add on the committee before we move on to Bill Belichick? No, other than they're probably going to have to figure out something. I'll let people just mow on this. The automatic bids for conference championships, especially top four seed considerations,

how that works and all that. I mean, like Georgia, by the way, just throwing it out there. Their quarterback, it's obvious. He ain't playing it anytime soon. And they got to two seed. Where's the consistency on that? The Florida State got held out

for having an injured quarterback. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when Carson Beck walked out there to hand the ball off on that last play, did you notice his right arm looking funky? Did you understand? Let me tell you something. I've been to the players ball in Detroit.

Not unseen pimps with less of a limp than he had in that right arm right there, okay? He clearly was not going to use that right arm for anything, which is why I'm confused as to why Texas lawbacks were sitting there as if they were going to have to buzz the flats or something. Downhill, brother, downhill. Downhill, downhill. Fill a gap. I promise you, the guy that's supposed to throw it, cannot throw it.

It can't happen, but, you know, low and behold, here we are. So, guys, are we actually, is this real life that Bill Belichick might actually end up the next coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels? Because, you know, Kenton, we did a show about this on Friday. And the whole time, I'm like, I even said it like, we're talking about it because it's been in the news, but I can't believe this could really happen. They've had three meetings now, UNC and Belichick. And apparently the conversation that they had on Sunday was really, really long. And, you know, the guy that I really thought North Carolina wanted, and maybe this was their top choice, John Summerall at Tulane, he's already announced he's staying at Tulane. So is Bill Belichick the top target now?

And this is the most decorated NFL coach of all time. But he's also, he's about to be 73 years old, zero college experience whatsoever. I mean, Brian, have you accepted that Bill Belichick could be a reality to UNC? Only if Kenton gets me an autograph. That's the only way that I'll accept it. But it sounds ridiculous to me, to be honest, because I really don't think Bill wants to coach it. And I'm sure Kenton will go into this.

I think there's some extra incentive for him to be the head coach for the Tar Heels. Uh-oh. I'm sorry, the USC lobby tried to silence me right there. Don't worry. We've done the knowledge. That's what everybody got to know about. on ACC. We do the knowledge here. Bill Belichick's girlfriend is trying to get her

masters for free. You can't fool us for it. You can't fool us at Larkville on ACC. We've done the knowledge. We did it. We did it, Joe, but we not only got that figured out. We also figured out the real motive

because I have never and correct me if I'm wrong here, guys, because y'all have been around ball lower than me. Y'all have seen more coaching situation to me. But the guarantee of his son being the head coach and waiting. Have you ever seen something like that written into a coach's contract ever? That is the guy at eye.

Like he's the, he's it. He's all there will ever be. He had to fire his boy because he couldn't produce. So a situation like that, hey, I'm all for it. Tar Heels, go for it. I think it'll be great. You know, who can't learn how to recruit at 73? Okay. I'm sure, have you ever been to a nursing home full of life those folks?

They're ready. They're bright. They're rolling. Okay. Don't let those people out on the recruiting trail. Okay. Because the first back in my day that a recruit hears when they're dancing on TikTok, they're definitely going to think. Oh yeah, Chapel Hill is the place for me. If they end up doing this and his son is the next in line, I mean, in all seriousness, that's a really big risk. The right coach gets the UNC job because the population of that state's growing. It's a massive state. There's a lot of, that's a team that could become an elite program. I mean, you eat.

No, Kenton, if I don't know here, but like the easiest school in that state to win big is Carolina. It's not really that. You're not wrong. You're not wrong. I wouldn't disagree with it. But they're not handling this to the best of their ability. They're just not.

They've got the biggest recruiter budget. Yeah. Yeah. If I was Stephen Belichick, the son, I don't think I'd want to be in that situation. You know, obviously, you always, you carry the Belichick name with you. And I'm sure that that opens up a lot of doors for Stephen and he's worked for Bill before at New England. So you already have the Belichick name. Fine. I get it. You know, there's a certain amount of treatment that's going to come with that. But then the idea of I've got to be the in. And this is rumored, right? But if the scenario is true, I'm going to be the in. contract coaching waiting because my father's the coach there, that's a really awkward spot to be in because, God forbid, things aren't working out with senior up there. Then you're going to be the most hated man in Chapel Hill if you're the son.

So, yeah, I wouldn't want that. So let me just say two things. Number one, Brian, you're absolutely right. I would never deny that North Carolina is the easiest place to win that for a multitude of reasons. A multitude of reasons. You talk about their recruiting budget being bigger than everybody else's. That's just a fact. Outside of Clemson of Florida State, I believe they have the biggest recruiting budget in the ACC.

How the hell are you not winning more? What are you not doing? It's flabbergasting. It's mind-blowing. How they don't have a bigger NIL situation with some of the pros that they've had in basketball. Hey, guess what, buddy? Guess what? Those basketball players have guaranteed contracts and you don't have to pay as many basketball players as you do football guys.

Go ahead and pull some of them. of that brand on back, but for whatever reason, it just doesn't work out for. And beyond that, I want to make a definitive statement right now. And if I am wrong, I will happily eat crow on this, but I believe this to be wholeheartedly true. If North Carolina signs Bill Belcher, it will set their football team back 10 years, at least, at least, because I think that you cannot undo the damage of number one, showing that you're an unsurious football program, in hiring a coach that has zero. This man has been coaching for 50 years.

Fun fact, he has spent more time coaching the Detroit Lions than he spent coaching college football. He was a special teams coach for a year or so, I believe. That is how different of a game this man is looking at. When he started coaching in the NFL, they barely, and when I say barely, I mean, just barely had film projectors and whatnot in the 70s when he started coaching. And we're going to say now, oh, it makes a ton of sense for him to be able to hop in an entirely different bag,

not just from pro to NFL, from pro to college, but pro to college with all of these different caveats. NIL transfer portal, all that? Come on, man. Come on. Come on. I have literally never heard any player say, Bill Belichick did a hell of a job recruiting me. When I hear the older guys who took pay cuts to go there, they always say what? I wanted to win and I didn't care about the money.

How many players are you going to hear that from in college today? Didn't we just see a young man on sign that they say, I wish I could have went to my favorite school. But we all know two things. Number one, the position coach got fired out of Florida State. Alma Thomas, yeah. And number two, the bag is the bag is the bag. And that young man is from a underserved area.

you know so again i i think that this is going to be a very deleterious moment for unc football if it happens as a nc state grad i'm rooting for it to happen hey bill go ahead and put pin to paper okay if you need a five-hour energy for those meetings i'll supply it to you i'll drive to chapel hill and break you off myself i got a good pin for you too so you know let's get let's get PIN the paper. Let's get that eight drop. Well, we got Brian Smith from Lockdown Seminels with us. I want to talk about Florida States transfer strategy, transfer strategy. When we come back, you want to keep it locked right here. We're nowhere near done yet on this brand new episode of Lockdown ACC.

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storylines. All right. So Brian Smith, we know, of course, Florida State, the transfer portal has been a double-edged sword. Mike Norvell has relied on it heavily. The transfer portal helped him, you know, provide, you know, a 13 and 0 start and a college football playoff snub. They should have been in a year ago. They weren't. A lot of portal players again this season, two and ten. So what's the strategy this time around, Brian, and are there any big names?

Let's start at the quarterback position because I've seen a handful of quarterbacks who are going to be visiting FSU this week. There's all kinds of possibilities, but Thomas Castellanos and Caden Salter, of course, Costiano was with UCF and Gus at one point. Now, he's the O.C. for foreign state, but he was also at BC. That didn't work out there. He's going to visit. He's got other schools as a possibility. Then Caden Salter, the kid that was at Liberty, I mean, he's a great deep ball thrower, another twitchy kid that can run.

Those are the two kids that I'm most curious about because, let's be honest, quarterbacks run the show, whether we want them to or not. I know Kenton's not a big fan of quarterbacks, but I'll speak for him on that. But you've got to have them. You're not going to win. And they're in a bad spot because they're starting quarterback right now as true freshman. even true sophomores, especially with the consideration for what I consider to be the worst FBS offensive line, I can remember at a major program in my lifetime.

They need a mobile quarterback. So they need to get one of those guys. And I think they'll still take another 17 or 18 guys from the portal. And here's, I'm just curious to see your guys look when I say this. But I mean the following in all sincerity. A low number for what they need out of the offensive line group is four. out of the portal. Whoa, because most of the guys they had were seniors, 50 years, and 60 year seniors.

On that line? That's what, I mean, they regressed. Yeah. It is bizarre. Yeah, I mean, go look at the debt. It's so bad, it's comical. So minimum, they're going to need four guys. I'm not saying they'll all start.

There's a couple of younger guys that might, Jaywin Early is a good player, et cetera. But they're just not in a good spot. It is the worst O-line depth. chart in major college football. That's unbelievable that it's at Florida State. But that's the biggest problem. They need at least two receivers, their best receiver. Chikai Douglas is gone. Jackson West has hit the portal. He's a tight in. There was a backup. They got some young guys there, but receiver, like who's their stud receiver? Nobody, I mean, they're in a lot of weird spot. So every position from quarterback on down, they got to take somebody.

20 is kind of the number, I think, overall is where they'll get. And that's if they don't have any surprises, bolting. Every position needs something. Joshua Farmer and Derek Jackson are in the draft. They both put their name in. So both are detackles. I mean, there's a lot of holes to fill, brother. And it looks like based on they're getting, they've done a really good job

of the coaching search so far. Yeah. They're putting money in that. But how much money do they have for NIL now? I don't know the answer. but let's be honest how many kids want to join a program that just went to and take

yeah that's rough now they're going to get a few the Nebraska kids from what I'm hearing that's good news yeah because the DC yeah the DC and the D-Line coach are coming and one of the the safety coaches come and etc

they're during the pretty by the way Nebraska's in trouble that's a little side here that's not good news for the hostas that defense staff's pretty good considering what they had to work with Oh, no, that rule is in trouble. What a shock.

What a twist. I know you live in North Carolina, and you're shocked by that kitten. Yeah. What a surprise. But at the same time, again, it's still the O line and the offense. Like, where are the playmakers at receiver? Running back is the one spot if they didn't take anybody. And they got Cam Davis, Mackay Danzy, same single.

They got some young talent. They'd be okay. But even there, I wouldn't mind them taking an Hback or a fullback. So this team needs an overhaul. Will the N.I.L. money be there. Because I think they're going to have to overpay to get some of the guys they want. Nobody wants to hear that. Again, two and ten.

So let's say, let's say for kicks and giggles before we get out of here, Florida State does overpay. They reach in their pockets. They find it, you know, some private equity firms say, hey, yeah, take 20 minutes. We don't care where the money comes from. They get the money. What do you think is the best case scenario for, Florida State next season.

If they get their wish list players, not all of them, but a couple paired in with some solid guys out of the portal, mixed in with this coaching staff. What do you see is like their best case scenario for next year just to get Florida state fans ready and level seven. I mean, if they won every close game, maybe eight and four, but I think it's more unlikely they're four and eight than they are eight and four because you don't know who your quarterback's going to be. You have the worst O-line in college football at the major level,

and you're going to have a complete defensive staff turnover pretty much. I mean, Sir Tann's still going to stay at corner. He's legit. But you still don't have a receiver coach yet. Weinbacher coach situation is not settled. There's so many question marks. And you're going to be changed its scheme. This is massive.

I mean, your offense coordinator is a new, I mean, totally different scheme. Gus runs a totally different deal than what Norville does. even though they worked together at Tulsa, because Gus way back of today hired Norville at Tulsa. That's the connection. And that's great, but they don't run the same thing. So there's a million questions. Oh, by the way, they start with Bama next year.

Oh, that's the easy non-conference Bama wanted. It starts week one. I mean, if you don't talk, you know how these games get scheduled way ahead. Six years ago, you know, that would probably be a pretty good game. Yeah. Even a year ago, you would have thought that'd be a really good game, not even six years ago. A year ago, you would have thought Florida State is going to stumbling my whole little boys. Oh, this is going to be Bama's over party and lo and behold.

So I think they could win. I think a realistic number is between four and seven wins. Like everything falls in place eight. But I think that's like a 2% chance. Making a bull, it should be the objective. That's just reality. Well, we appreciate all the insight from Brian Smith. You want to make sure you check him out at Lockdown Seminels.

Of course, make sure you check Kenton out not only here, but on Lockdown Wolfpack. Check me out at Lockdown Canes. And we'll talk to everyone tomorrow on another episode of Lockdown ACC, part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. Bill Belichick is your main.