Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - Big Ten Commissioner SHOOTS DOWN Florida State & Clemson? | Top ACC Players Speak Out In Charlotte

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti said the Big Ten is focused on their current eighteen members, when asked Tuesday about further expansion. Florida State and Clemson have been rumored for months to be candidates to join the Big Ten. They are both currently suing the ACC in an effort to break the Grant of Rights Agreement. Petitti’s remarks were almost identical to those of SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey last week. Are they both just posturing, or could FSU and Clemson both be stuck in the ACC or Big 12?Hosts Alex Donno and Kenton Gibbs break down the latest. Donno points out that if the process takes a couple extra years, FSU might be able to earn AAU designation in time to join the Big Ten in a few years. AAU is generally a prerequisite to join the Big Ten. The guys continue their coverage at the ACC Kickoff media days. They air conversations with Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones, SMU QB Preston Stone, Cal RB Jadyn Ott and Stanford WR Elic Ayomanor.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.eBay MotorsFrom brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM and add a big win to your summer bucket list!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.

Did the Big Ten Commissioner just shoot down Florida State in Clemson? 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 the everydayers. Thank you so much 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. Guys, I know that the sports may not be sportsing the way you want them to, but this summer, Fandual is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. Visit Fanduel.com to get started. Continuing our week-long coverage here at the ACC kickoff media days, we are going to have interviews on this episode with Kairon Drone,

star quarterback from Virginia Tech, Preston Stone, star, star, quarterback from new ACC member SMU, top running back from Cal Jaden Ott to you haven't watched him play. He's going to shock some people. And star Stanford receiver. I know I'm going to butcher his name. Impressive young man. Ehrlich Iow Manor, I think is how I say that.

He's going to be joining us here. We'll have conversations on Lockdown ACC. I am Alex Dono from Lockdown Canes alongside Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack. So, you know, Kenton, we now have dueling conference media days going on is the Big Ten kicked off today. And this is what Commissioner, Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petiti said on possible expansion, quote, we're focused on 18. We had to do a lot of work just to add these four new schools. We're really comfortable where we are. We have to get this conference right. This is where our focus is. And I also noticed

that when Petiti was talking about the four new members in the Big Ten, like he went out of way, Kenton, to talk about the four AAU universities that they're adding. AAU is the research designation that Florida State and Clemson do not currently have. And I feel like he went out of his way to deliberately say that. And again, like, I'm not saying Florida State and Clemson will never be in the Big Ten, but it seems like all these commissioners are offering a similar message right now. We're not adding anybody anytime soon. Let's stop tiptoeing around it, right? Because you and I have tried to be delicate. I've rewatched some of our shows. We may have tried to be too delicate about this thing. The Big Ten is saying, forget those people in very generous terms.

They're saying, hey, not now, not now. It's not happening. And here's the thing. It could be, I was before on the side of, oh, this could be legal reasoning. This is all legal mumbo-jumbo. The AAU designation thing was completely uncalled for, completely unnecessary. What did that add to the conversation besides creating an us versus them, creating a situation where they not like us and guess who's in the day that's not like the rest of the big tip. Clemson and FSU. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a moment where I'm starting to believe and I hope, again, I hope that the court cases work out fairly, equitably, all that good stuff. This is starting to become a situation where the more of these commissioners talk, I'm starting to start.

become more concerned for Florida state and Cleveland. Not from a standpoint of nobody will add them. That's not the concern. The concern is nobody will add them at the price point that they're seeking. Nobody will add them as a full member right away because what is the competition and incentive to do so? What's what's the incentive? It seems to me, you know, obviously nobody would collude with another conference because that's illegal. Very illegal. Just to add to something. Just to something, of this. We were both talking off air. Like it almost, I don't know if these guys are tight with Jim Phillips,

the ACC commissioner, but it all, it almost seems like the three of them, Big Ten Commission, SEC commission, and Jim Phillips are like working together here. Now, I don't, your mark from the Big 12 is the wild card. I don't think he's necessarily like working with any of these other commissions,

but it almost, because Sankey and Sankey from the SEC and now Petiti from the Big Ten, they're both basically saying the same thing to the point where it sounds like they rehearsed what they were going to say about expansion. Yeah, at the end of the day, you have to think about it like this. The Big 12 is wanting to do anything they can to get that big dog status back. They want to be in the big dog seat again, so they're willing to take more risk.

They're willing to do more to get there. The Big Ten and the SEC right now, this is pure speculation, purely my opinion. I'm not saying I have a source that will confirm us. they are in a position of our boats are steady and extremely strong. Why will we potentially bring somebody in that's going to go Tasmanian devil and tear this thing up? Because the Big Ten is making more or the SEC is making more and you're in the opposite conference. Why would we want to bring in somebody who would do something like that, which both of these teams have shown they will do? So, you know, all in all, I'm not all that surprised because, again, when you are the, I'll say this, winners,

Focus on winning. They focus on themselves. They focus on what they can do better. Losers are focused on everybody else. They're focused on what are they doing? How do I do this? It's very clear that the Big Ten in the SEC right now, they're the winners of the group because they're not looking at nobody else.

They're saying, we're good. We got Oregon. We got Washington. We got Texas. We got Oklahoma. Expand it would be nice. Are you a bigger brand in Texas? I don't think so.

So we're good. Yeah, outside of maybe Alabama, I don't know if there's a bigger brand than Texas when it comes to college sports, college football, specifically. And, you know, again, I'll reiterate something that you and I, we've both been in concert on this. Because, again, like, you know, some people like, oh, you guys are just haters and you love the ACC so much. No, eventually Florida State and Clemson are going to get out. We're not saying that's not going to happen. You and I have just been saying not anytime soon. And I notice a lot of the other folks out there who cover this stuff have been saying,

the ACC is going to collapse by June 30th of 20204, and Florida State's going to declare by August 15th that they're leaving and they're going to be out next year. It's become very clear that this is a slow burn. And these settlements are not happening anytime soon. It's going to happen eventually, folks. But I think you're looking at 2026 at the very earliest, 27 being a little bit more conservative.

And to what we were just talking about with the AAU designation, Florida State may be able to get that in two or three years time. So this may, the slow burn of the process may end up working out for them to get into the Big Ten. My understanding is I'm not an expert on academics, but my understanding is Florida State probably a little closer to that than Clemson is. But Florida State may be able to get AAU designation within two to three years. So the timeline may fall into place. But we're talking about, you know, we just spoke about it yesterday, Kent, in the comments of the ACC commissioner. I've never seen Jim Phillips that animated. He is he is committed to this legal fight and the

ACC lawyers will do whatever they can. And there are strong arguments on both sides, right? I can understand, you know, Florida State bringing up the, you know, alleged shady dealings of the previous ACC commissioner. And, and obviously, you know, the TV contracts aren't fair necessarily. But Jim Phillips brought up the point that Florida State and Clemson happily signed that grant of rights. And, twice, not once, but twice, 2013 and 2016. And by the letter of the law, that seems like a pretty strong argument, right? I'm sure there are loopholes to anything, but the fact that, hey, now they're unhappy, well, they weren't unhappy to sign that long-term deal, you know, eight years ago.

Now the goalposts have moved. Yeah, yeah. And it's, you know, that's the unfortunate part of this thing. Again, like you talked about, the contract's worse high. Whether or not you agree with everything in it, you had the chance to, voiced that opinion, abstain from the vote, vote no, not sign it, whatever the case may be, you did sign it. That's just the reality of what we're looking at here. So, I mean, at the end of the day, it is what it is, but I'm, I highly doubt that we are looking at a

situation here where, again, the Big Ten or SEC adds these teams as, as full of members right away, because why would they? Right. Yeah, no doubt. And so listen, they're stuck together for the time being, whether it's two more years or three more years, Florida State and the ACC are stuck together for at least a while longer. Clemson and the ACC, same thing. But we're going to be talking with some awesome ACC football players throughout this episode. I had a chance at media days to catch up with a quarterback.

Kenton, you and I, we've hyped up Chiron drones a lot. And we're going to chat with Chiron drones. We're going to chat with Preston Stone, the SMU quarterback, high expectations for their offense. And Preston Stone, he said they've got the best. receiving core in the ACC SMU. Stone drop that he believes in his talent. We're also going to talk with a guy who might be the best running back in the ACC,

Jaden Ott from Cal. He's certainly in that conversation. And one of the better receivers in the conference that you probably don't know about, Elic Iommander from Stanford. So folks, we're only getting started. You want to keep it locked right here. ACC Media Days coverage continues right here on locked on ACC.

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Thank you so much for making this episode of Lockdown ACC, your first listen and your first watch today. Make sure for your second listen, you check out our shows. I host Locked on Cains every day. Kenton hosts Locked on Wolfpack. So for Miami, their day at ACC Media Days will be tomorrow Wednesday. NC State will be there on Thursday. So we will have coverage on our shows as well, locked on Cains and locked on ACC. Virginia Tech returns the highest percentage of returning talent from last year.

How important is it to have so many guys back and to have that continuity? It's just real important based on like you don't have to learn anybody new. You already know what everybody capable. love you already know how they play and what they like. And it's just a big thing with people coming back. You already know, like, there's a lot of experience going on. So we're really excited about how this season is going to turn down and what we're looking forward to do.

So I'm just really excited to get this first game going. You finished the season so strong last year. Does it kind of feel different heading into this season? Like, this could be the year you guys put everything together? Yeah, I feel it's different just based on like the mindset everybody has where everybody coming back and knowing that everybody came back for a goal is to win an ACC. and we're really capable of doing that, especially with how my schedule lined up

and how everything lines up with it. So it's a real good feeling. It's just a mindset of, and there's a different confidence booster that's going around in the locker room. And we're just really ready to work, to get faced work going with fall camping and ready to go out there in Nashville

and get the job back. In the press, or I heard somebody ask you about Michael Vic spending more time with the program. Is he giving you any advice? I always gave me advice just to be myself and go do it. I usually do, just not really worried about the outside noise and just go make plays and go execute and lead your team.

You just said in there to think about opening up the offense board throwing it. Tell me about that receiving court, why do they allow you to do that? I just, the receiving court just know as long as I get one of them in the ball, that somebody's going to go make a play no matter what. And then Coach Boyan, trust me enough to make the right play and not make the dumb decision, make the smart decision and go execute whatever he draws up. How good are your, because we've talked a lot about your big four, you've got some depth, How good is that receiving before this year?

I was really good. I feel like they're one of the top, if not the top receiver room in the country, they definitely are one of the top receivers room in the country. And I'm excited that they get to go showcase that this year. They were very productive last year, and that was with Ali, power of the plan.

Yeah. What does he bring, what does he add to this group? He's an add another veteran receiver that is a big play threat. You never know what you get out of Ali, whether it's a jump ball or him making a guy miss and then just going for a long touchdown. So I'm really excited. I get to play a long time.

of him, me and him real close. I always live next door to each other since we moved in. But that's my boy and I really felt for him last year. And I really hope he just stayed healthy and then just get the job done this year. And you probably remember this throw, but you had a perfect default to Dacon in the Rutgers game at the drop.

And then after that, he was pretty money. Yeah. But when you think about his ability to get behind the defense as a stretch, get separation, what does he bring in the offense and how confident are you in him running under and hauling in those deep balls? I'm real confident. about him being a deep threat, but I'm really excited for him to show what he's been working on

throughout the offseason, not just being able to be a deep third. Like, yeah, he's fast, but he can run routes, he can make people miss, and that's just what he's been working on this year, just being able to be a receiver. You can line him up anywhere to do whatever you want him to do, so that's what he's been working on, and I'm ready for him to showcase that this year. Karen, you got four road games in your first six to start this season. Is that something that you've noticed already, and how are you kind of mentally preparing? How's the locker and preparing for that? I mean, at the end of the day, a road game and a home game is the same game. It's just taking it one week at a time, knowing our opponent,

and then just going out there and executing you in the win, whatever it is that really don't matter. You still got to go out there and win the game. So, yeah, I've seen the schedule, but I'm not really worried about where it is. It's just going out there and then just go one and a year each week. You had to take a move from Atlanta to show. Tell us about how that's getting out. But, yeah, I took a, my flight got canceled two days ago to leave Atlanta to come to Roanoke.

So I knew I had to be ready to leave the school for me today yesterday. So at 4 in the morning, I found the Uber that was willing to take me to Charlotte Airport that I can fly back here to get here. To get here before we had to leave. So as soon as I got into Uber, I went straight to sleep just because I've been up all night. And then I was just glad. And I really thanked him for just being. able to drive me to Charlotte knowing that's a long way. Shoot, I grew up watching James Winston, you know, a bunch of really good players in

Florida State and getting to play against them is going to be a, we're going to have a work cut out for us, but it's going to be a bus. Interesting, you get this. What type of quarterback are you? You know, people don't know you from the FCU union, the 8-8. What time the quarterback are you? I think I'm a winner. I'm a winner.

There are only a couple of games last year that came down to the fourth quarter, but, you know, I've been saying this all day. There's not a single game where I see other than it's a layup. So I'm excited to go the distance with a bunch of teams in our league and playing those games where it comes down to the end of the game. The moment of communication with their coach guests from the match, how do you think that has impacted development or are you looking forward to being able to do something that you get to face me for progress?

I am, yeah. It's going to, I think it's going to help a lot. I think it's going to be really good for college football. I'll get to have a ton of input on field with coach. actually and he was even telling me on the player in the web period he's going to be like you make a bad play you throw an interception I'm going to be joking with you on the helmet so that's going to be really fun

to have that opportunity to have them in my ear this year. How do you think that will help you in development? Well I think as an offense it gives us certain things where we are a very up-tempo huddle offense but I was telling coach I love the command of being able to have guys in a huddle look people in the eye and say like, all right, so it's third and long here. Maybe we got two downs.

We don't need to get everything here. I think it's going to help us a lot with just right now communication. And it might be able to help us in certain situations to just communicate to my guess. Last year you were just taking over as the starting quarterback. This year you're back. Got all the experience you had last year. Does that help you just get off to maybe a quicker start offensively this year you would think? I think so.

You know, as a competitor and as a quarterback, you want to be thrust in uncomfortable situations. And we played several big games last year, TCU, Memphis, OU. And so having played in those big games last year and taking those hits, weekend, week out, I feel great going into this year knowing that there's really nothing I haven't seen yet. And when it does come to those championship rounds, I'm going to be ready. Preston, do you think you'll be able to compete right away or do it's going to take it off or adjust in this level? Absolutely. We'll be able to compete right away. I think regardless of who we're playing on Saturdays, if we can show up and execute our game plan and play our football, we've got a chance to win every game in our schedule. Preston, last season you guys played three power conference opponents, including one that's in the ACC in Boston College. You guys went 0 and 3 in those games.

Has there been talk in the locker room about using those games as a season? sort of like measuring stick for what this leap is in the power conference? I think we, when you take a look back at those games, there wasn't really one kind of common underlying reason of why we lost those games. Stepping into this season where I think every game, but our first two games is a Power 5 conference game. It doesn't necessarily matter as much, you know, what sticker is on the helmet of the team that we're playing.

It's like I just said, can we go and execute our game plan? And I think we have a lot of veterans, a lot of really strong leadership on our team. A lot of guys who are coming from Power 5 schools that transferred in. So we'll be comfortable when those big games coming to town. I'll tell you earlier playing college of all 25 over there. What do you think of the game and what do you think you're rating? It's awesome. I grew up playing NCAA 14 forever.

And I think they did me pretty well. I'm pretty content with an 88. So it's been a blast playing that game. And it's honestly a dream come true. There's a lot of excitement around your offense. Talk to us about some of your playmakers and who fans should watch out for. Yeah, I think we have the best receiving goal in the conference. You know, we had, I think it was seven guys that were close to 400 yards last year,

which is pretty unheard of. It's a great problem to have when you have too many guys to get the ball to. So, you know, I'm really excited to see Breschard Smith, Miami Transfer. He'll be a great utility running back. returner receiver. Every receiver coming back except for curly is going to be very strong. I've been saying I think we have two sets of starting receivers. So you got some big time playmakers like Kishan and J. Hud and then RJ is the best tied in the conference. And then Jake and Jr. are really difficult to guard the slot. What has coach Lashley meant for your development?

What has coach Lashley meant for your development? He's yeah, he's the best coach. ever had. Coach Lashley means a lot to me, not just as a football mind, as a coach, but as a mentor and a friend. He's a great coach, and with how he coaches, he doesn't try to fit you into a certain mold of quarterback. He lets you do, he lets you play your game and puts a lot of trust in you to call plays that you want to run and lets you run the offense in the way that best suits you and he's helped me grow my game in the time. Good stuff there from a couple of quarterbacks,

Kyron drones and Preston Stone, and we're going to talk with a couple of players who are new to the ACC. Well, Preston Stone is as well. We're going to talk with Ehrlich I.O. Manor, star wide receiver from Stanford and star running back from Cal, Jaden Ott. That dude is really, really good. You want to keep it locked right here.

Don't go anywhere on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. Yeah, I'm excited to play against the team in the East Coast School recruitment. Thanks, John. Thank you. Where is Yale? Yale? Yeah. It's up in the East.

I think that's pretty much it. And then they told me they didn't have any scholarships. It was just financial aid. Really? Okay. Yeah. I was like, bro, come on. So this is your opportunity, really, for everybody the East Coast to finally really see you.

Yeah. That's not even just me, just the team as well. Yeah. Yeah, how excited are you to be able to showcase your skills to a lot of new eyes on you that maybe weren't watching Pac-12? No, I'm very excited. I feel like, you know, football on the West Coast might get overlooked sometimes. A lot of people in the South and on the East Coast don't really know because, like I said earlier, like nobody's going to stay up until 2 a.m. And watch an after dark game on the West Coast.

But yeah, that's what I'm most excited about to show people that, you know, how we play ball over there on the West Coast. Have you guys had discussions about dealing with the schedule? Because I think Cal is going to lead the ACC and travel miles this year. Yeah, nobody's worried about that. That's not something we're looking into. We're doing everything we can and make sure that our bodies are prepared. I mean, travel will not be an excuse for any loss or anything during the season. You're coming off an excellent year.

How do you look to follow that up this season? Working harder, man. This offseason was one of the hardest off seasons I've worked so far. Really pushed myself to the extent. And so I'm excited to see, you know, I took my game up a level during this offseason, I feel like as far as taking care of my body and just acting like a pro.

You were talking about your rating earlier. What was it in the game? My overall, I think, is 93. Are you happy with it? I mean, yeah, yeah, it's smooth. It's all right. Do you have a go-to play in the game? Yeah, option or halfback direct snap.

Okay. But all I do is run the ball. You don't throw it at all? I told all my receivers, I said I'm not playing with them in the game. I told them they're not going to test the ball. So you run it literally the whole game? Literally. Do you have another team besides Cal?

Because obviously you all can't play with Cal. So I'm sure. Have you ever switched to anybody else? I don't like to. I think who have I played with before? I think I played with the, yeah, I don't know who. I think I've only played with Cal, honestly. Really? Okay. Okay. Okay. How'd you end up in the state for Deerfield Academy in the Northeast? Yeah, it's actually even more than that. I'm actually from Canada originally. And so when I was playing in Canada, I knew I always wanted to play college football in the States, right? Because you see all these media things. on YouTube and on Instagram, right? And just lucky for me, this guy in Toronto, his name is Justin Dillon, he works at 7-3 scouting.

Basically what he does is he sent Canadian players down to boarding schools to play football and get a chance at NCAA. And so he sent me to Deerfield Academy. And I knew I wanted to go to Stanford from the beginning. And so it was just a matter of me getting an offer and then finally committing. And so it was really more,

how did they find me out in Northeast? And I think it's just, I had really good coaches and I think Justin did a really good job with getting my name out there. Was it tough to leave your family and go ford? Yeah, I think it's harder on your family actually than it is on you. Because when you leave and make a big decision like that, you're pretty compelled, like you're convicted. I had a goal that I had in mind and I thought that this was the best way to achieve it.

But for my mom, I'm like 14 years old leaving the house to go live in a boarding school, right? it's pretty unfamiliar territory, right? So I think it was a little bit harder for her just to let her son go. Because at the same time, my sister had just moved out to go to university up north in Alberta. And so, like, everybody's leaving the nest at once. And so I think she's a little bit sad about that. But she knew it was for a greater cause. Did you grow up watching CFL, where did you have more college football?

Like, how did you? Honestly, like, I grew up watching and playing hockey more so than anything. Because, right, that's what every young kid. does in Canada. And so I went to a few CFL games, but really not that much. And I think I just played football, really. And then like I said, I started seeing all these things on YouTube. I want to say like UTR under the radar highlights and like Nike opening. I'll see all these things. You're like, man, I want to play out there one day. And I thought to myself, like I know I can play with these dudes. And I just got lucky that I got the opportunity and

I took advantage. Yeah, I was. I was. Yeah. Deerfield Academy has produced a lot of D1 talent. What was it like going there at first and being around guys who were also kind of the same level of talent that you were? Of course. I actually went to Petty School first in New Jersey.

And then the football program kind of went through some things there. But I think that was my first real exposure to like real Division I talent. I want to say everybody on our starting line up on both sides of the ball ended up going Division 1 there at Petty and I want to say that the same thing for your Deerfield. And I think it just brings like a new perspective. Like I'm coming from Canada. Like I'm by far the most talented player on every team that I play on, right? And then you come to America and you're the not, you're the least talented.

I'm the worst player on my team, my sophomore year. And I think it just teaches you that it's not all about talent. Even more so it's about how intentionally you work and how willing you are to take in the knowledge of the people around you. And so like my first years in the States, I really just tried to learn from everybody and just put all the work into, like, deposit those skills. And I think those lessons that I learned when I was the worst player, like really helped me to keep getting better over time. How surreal is it that a team from the West Coast is in the Atlantic Coast Conference?

Yeah, it's definitely different. It doesn't make a whole bunch of sense in terms of us being on in the Atlantic Coast Conference and we're actually in the Pacific Coast. But I'm excited just to play these new teams, right? We're so used to playing the Pac-12 teams and seeing the Pac-12 teams and seeing that type of play style. But now that we're in the ACC, right, it's going to be a whole different brand of football. And so I'm just excited to see how the DBs play, how the defenses play. You and Cal are going to have more travel than anybody else in the league because, you know,

having to come east more than once. But how much more pressure or. Emphasis that put on you as a student. The NCAA always likes to call you guys student athletes, but it makes it a little bit more difficult, doesn't, especially at an academic institution as strenuous as Stanford? Yeah, I think in general, just to get into Stanford

in the first place, you have to have very good time management skills. And I think so, I think we're already equipped with those skills that you need to be able to play a ACC-type schedule over traveling the class of country. So I don't think it'll be that much different for us because we're already used to managing our time a lot. And so I think we're actually like pretty well adapted to be able to transition. In terms of play style, how different is the ACC from what the PAC 12 was?

You know, I really don't know yet. I'm going to, as soon as we get into fall camp, we're really going to start digging into these defenses and seeing what they actually do. So yeah, I really don't have a solid answer for you there, but I'm happy to find out what that is. did you anticipate that kind of always successful? Yeah, I'm not the type of person to really set, like, number of goals, like, numbers, goals like that, like, oh, I want to get this many yards, I want to get this type of accolade, I want to, you know what I'm saying? But I think what I did tell myself is that I'm going to put everything that I can into this,

and just leave all that I have out there on the field and try to come back every Sunday and be proud of the effort that I put it on the field. And I think if you can control that type of thing, the rest of it will fall into place. So I really didn't have anything in mind, but I just wanted to put my best self out there. And when you do put your best self out there every game,

good things are bound to happen. And so I'm not surprised that good things happen because that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to put my best self out there every day. the program just about this whole ACC thing, the demise of the Pact 12, which also all the folks, you know, it makes us sad. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I don't think it's as tough for, like, football players, but all of our other sports that travel a lot,

and for multiple games in a weekend, I think it's going to be a lot tougher. And so I think they're kind of a little bit resentful of us with all the football players would make us travel across the country every weekend, right? So I think it'll be a little bit tougher. for them. But like I said, to get to Stanford, you have to be a different caliber of person. And so I think they're very prepared for that. And I think they're going to do as well they had in the past and win multiple national championships and all the other sports. But I think it'll just be a little bit more strenuous on them over the scene. Awesome hearing from some of the best and brightest

football players in the ACC. It's also Kenton, it's nice to talk to guys from Stanford and Cal. And they, we asked them about the travel situations. And, you know, from Stanford and from Cal, they're very adamant. We're not worried about the travel. We're ready for this. Football's our pressure. So, you know, Cal, Jade, not, he's not worried about 20,000 plus miles of flights this year. Of course.

He's a football player. That's what football players are supposed to say. Obviously, that puts them out a grave disadvantage to the rest of the conference. But as a player, you're supposed to say, it doesn't matter. Put the ball down wherever we go, right? So what that you have one of the most academically rigorous schools in the nation, not just the conference in the nation? So what did you have one of those?

Put the ball down. Wherever you want it, that's how we're going to give it to you, because that's what you're supposed to do and say as a player. I'm excited to see him playing ACC. I hope that everything works out for him. I hope that they maintain relative health as much as possible throughout playing this gladiator sport with all that travel. But you know, this is, you would be remiss to say that that is.

not a concerning amount of trouble. Well, if you guys enjoyed the show today, make sure to hit the thumbs up. If you're watching us on YouTube, make sure you subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your pods. He is Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack. I am Alex Dono from Lockdown Canes.

We'll talk to you again tomorrow on another episode of Lockdown ACCC, part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.