Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - DEVASTATING: ACC Can't HOLD Florida Sate & Clemson past 2031 After buyout REVEALED

Starting point is 00:00:00 Okay, we now know the exact cost to leave the ACC, take your meteor rights with you. And it's way lower than we thought. 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, and 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 Locked on podcast network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:39 He is Kenton Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack. I am Alex Dono from Lockdown Caines. On this episode, we'll talk about the ACC's long-term future. A lot of what got done this week is for the short term, not the long-term. We'll talk about an alternative narrative because there are other shows, national shows, and columnists that are covering this thing a little bit differently than Kenton and I have so far this week. But Kenton, we found out, and thank goodness, now that the settlement has been signed, we get public record information. Pete Thammell from ESPN put this out on Tuesday, the new exit fee formula for the ACC, which is per the Clemson Public Board meeting.

Starting point is 00:01:24 It would cost, at the end of the fiscal year 2026, it would cost $165 million to leave the ACC, which is still kind of steep. But the fee descends by $18 million every year until it gets down to just $75 million in 2030, and then it levels off at that point. And importantly, the member, if you buy your way out, you would leave with your media rights after paying the fee. So Kenta, did you imagine that it would cost only 75 million, five, six years from now to leave the conference? Absolutely not. That's never something I saw as being a feasible possibility. But again, this just tells me that there is some other force at play here because I'm not understanding from the ACC side of things. The last thing we heard was, hey, ESPN has agreed to the extension. The ACC now has stability and security. That is a massive win for the ACC. And then I come back and look up and all of a sudden, the ACC, is giving away the barn. So, you know, there is, in terms of the cost dropping from 165 right now to 75 in the future, I mean, it's one of those things where you just look up and you're like,

Starting point is 00:02:50 how did this happen? How did this come to be? Obviously, I am not a lawyer. I have not been in the courtroom every day. I have not been to discovery or anything along those lines, but I'm still looking for some way to make this math make sense. Because even if we go by the most aggressive, and by the most aggressive, I mean the most egregious folks who I would consider to be somewhat reputable, we're saying that the buyout for right now was approximately $200 million. So even that is not accurate to right now. It's $35 million lower than that if it is $165, correct?

Starting point is 00:03:28 I think it might be $200 now, but it's $165 at the end of the 2020. fiscal year. Okay. So either way you cut a slice it, it's just one of those things that's just like, you know, the cost being that low. And again, everything must be put into proper time, right? Because the deal gets lower right around the same time as everybody in terms of the big chain and SEC are doing what now, renegotiating their TV deals.

Starting point is 00:03:59 Things that make you go, what's going on there? that seems a little suspicious. What do they know that we don't? Yeah, and so this settlement, which of course, not only as we just discussed, defines the terms and the buyout number to leave the conference. We know exactly now what it costs to get out of the ACC, which is huge. That was something that Florida State and FSU wanted. They wanted to know how much, can you give us a number, how much it's going to cost to leave. Not only that, but the initiatives, which are going to be part of this settlement.

Starting point is 00:04:33 which I love, actually. I mean, the success initiative, if you do more winning on the field, you win more football games and championships and you win in basketball, you're going to earn more money through your success on the field and on the hardwood. I think we can all agree that seems fair, right?

Starting point is 00:04:50 If you compete and win more, you should get paid more. And then you have the brand initiative. If you get higher TV ratings, you earn more money because of that. I also think that's fair, Kenton, because where does the money come from? The money comes from the TV deal.

Starting point is 00:05:05 So if you're getting more eyes on your product on TV, stands to reason you should get paid more, right? You know, I'm okay with that delineation coming in, but how grave the delineation is is what is a little bit disheartening for me because as much as we would love to say, hey, these things function off of, you know, we're professionalized in college sports, so these things are going to be very free market.

Starting point is 00:05:33 And I understand that this is a contradiction from me because I'm very much so one of those guys is like a players need to get paid. They're driving all of this. However, at some point in time, we must acknowledge this is still college efforts. Yes, this is professional to some extent, but there are still many, many things in place

Starting point is 00:05:49 that are like, hey, if you have this, you have to have that. Hey, these two things have to be somewhat equal. The entire existence, or let me not say entire existence. Let me not say that. A bulk of the existence of Title IX, the principle behind it is, hey, because of things that are out of these folks control, they will never have the same viewership, the same, you know, they'll never have those same things, but they deserve somewhat the same capacity or the same facilities or the same resources in some way. So I look at this situation, and I say, again, a lot of people are saying you've helped the conference. I live in Central North Carolina, and I live in Raleigh, and I want to quote a fellow Central North Carolinian in one Germain Cole.

Starting point is 00:06:35 Look at you, brother, you came a long way. That's the good, oh, I'm sorry. The good news is, brother, you came a long way. The bad news is you went the wrong way because I really believe the ACC is sacrificing a bunch of teams at the altar of Clemson to Florida State. And again, I am not saying that, hey, they have not carried the conference for years by themselves. I'm not not acknowledging. They absolutely have.

Starting point is 00:06:56 I just think that the lineation being as great as it's going to be, that's a little bit tenuous. Well, here's my rebuttal to what you just said, because this is something else we now, we've learned this since our last episode. This settlement was unanimously approved by every school. So even the ones that are theoretically getting money taken away from them, because as you have pointed out, if, you know, teams that do better TV ratings and win more, if they're getting a bigger piece of the pie, it's still the same size pie. You're just, you know, in order to slice a bigger piece for Florida State, Clemson, Miami,

Starting point is 00:07:32 you have to take away a portion of other pieces. So, you know, what do you think, like, you know, for the Wake Forest, the Boston colleges to vote unanimously to approve this, were they just too afraid of the alternative? And being in the ACC with less revenue is still better than any other option. Like, why do you think this was unanimously passed? I think it was unanimously passed because again, there's information that we're not privy to in this thing. That is very perfect. I feel like the only way that I can understand unanimously, not one school saying, hey, I strongly oppose this is based on the principle of, hey, listen, we've, the reality is this.

Starting point is 00:08:16 If anything goes wrong in either of these lawsuits, that extension we just signed with ESPN is done. It's cooked. It's off the table. because if that's the case and if that's what was relayed to these schools, then I get it. I understand, oh, hell, no, we can't risk it. We legitimately cannot risk the 1% chance or the 50% chance or the however many percent chance that anything goes wrong because there are too many administrators, there are too many people making hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars based off of things kind of maintaining

Starting point is 00:08:46 the status quo or as close to status quo as possible. So if you are looking at the opportunity of that going away, then sure, I can understand that. But again, Donald, you and I have no information that has indicated that. But there seems to be something more at play. Because again, as we understand it, the last major battle was the victory for the ACC. And then the actual war goes to Clemson to Florida State in a way that we could not have imagined after hearing, hey, this is a huge legal blow. It just doesn't make sense. So that's why I would imagine this kind of being. being approved and, and like you said at the end of your moment there, in terms of,

Starting point is 00:09:30 hey, this is better than the alternative of going to some other conference. Absolutely. I mean, with all due respect, who would take some of these fools? We can all pretend, hey, Drake told, I know you're listening, you little hater. I know that he's going to sit here and say, oh, yeah, the Big 12 will take all of you guys. Let's be honest. The Big 12 ain't try to take Boston College. Let's be honest.

Starting point is 00:09:51 The Big 12 ain't try to take away for us. You're cutting up your pie. You're cutting up your pie for somebody who ain't bringing much. And that's with all due respect to those programs. But, you know, that's just what it is. Well, when we come back, I want to, I want to, you know, kind of offer up what others are saying. Because Kenton and I, and we believe that the way that we're covering this settlement is logical and fair. Others are covering it a different way.

Starting point is 00:10:20 And I kind of wonder why. You want to keep it locked right. here. We're not done yet on this brand new episode of Lockdown ACC. Get the supplies you need from the site made for the skilled trades. Supply House. Whether you're in plumbing, HVAC, or electrical work, supply house is the reliable way to order products online. They're easy to use website. It's packed with helpful resources and the latest product info to help you get the job done right. Plus, with a complete inventory of over 200,000 parts from 400 plus top brands, you'll find exactly what

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Starting point is 00:11:35 That's supplyhouse.com. Thank you so much for making Lockdown ACC, your first listen and your first watch today. For your next listen, make sure you check out our other shows. Kent and Gibbs and Grace and Boone do an awesome job hosting Lockedon Wolfpack, covering everything NC State. I cover everything Miami at Locked On Cains. We're available free, wherever you get your podcast and available free on YouTube.

Starting point is 00:12:00 I'm not saying everybody is covering it differently than we are because obviously, you certainly see a lot of celebration, and rightfully so, from Florida state fans in FSU media, scored a big win with this settlement. Clemson's same deal. I have noticed, Kent, that some of the national publications and big national shows are though trying to paint this like this is one of those win-win things, right? I mean, don't you always look, whenever you talk about a great deal, when you make a great deal, usually both sides feel a little bit of pain or, you know, both sides get something big out of it. I mean, in our opinion, Florida State and Clemson are getting a lot more out of this. I thought Bud Elliott, who's, you know, a national college football guy, but his roots are Florida State. And he's not shy about that. He tweeted out today, FSU and Clemson end up with what they asked for two years ago.

Starting point is 00:12:57 ago, but fall short of getting what they sued for. But isn't that usually how it goes, Kenton? Like you sue for something extreme and they end up getting everything they wanted two years ago an opportunity for more revenue, uneven revenue split, and clear, defined, and affordable terms to get out of the conference in a few years. This is a much bigger win for Florida State and Clemson, despite what others may say. Even if the thought is, hey, these two are suing to get out right now, it's better. but I need you to be smart.

Starting point is 00:13:29 It's better for you to stay here right now. It's literally better. Yeah. Which conference would unilaterally say, bring them in. Bring them in as a full member right now. Who? I don't think anyone. And by the way, it's important to point that out because there were some

Starting point is 00:13:48 potentially, you know, bad faith actors in social media who were creating this buzz. Like, oh yeah, the Big Ten wants them right now. 2025, 2025, 24, even 2020. The big 10, I don't believe that was the case. Now, in 2031 with the next TV deal, sure, that might be the case, but I don't think, like you said, I don't think they had anywhere to go right now. Not only did they not have anywhere to go right now, but again, people, this, the distortion of what this case was and is, and the fact that it is a defendant of win for Clemson and Florida State, it distorts the reality around all of college sports. people are saying, oh, well, you know, now not only is this a win for Miami and UNC, it's also a win for Bama and Georgia because they're going to demand the same thing. Florida State and Clemson had the leverage of we will leave if we do not get our terms. Where are Georgia and Bama going?

Starting point is 00:14:47 I don't know. Could they threaten to go independent? And I'm being serious when I asked that question. Sure. And they could. They absolutely could. They absolutely could. What TV company is going to pay them enough individually to give them over what the conferences is talking about? I hear lifetime. Lifetime wants to add football games. Yeah, okay. And what you're going to end up with, what you're going to end up with in essence, even if these schools were to think, oh, that's going to work out, it would work out in a way where business guys who are smarter than us regular folks have more leverage than us regular folks are going to say, no, this.

Starting point is 00:15:25 This is stupid. This is like a different streaming service for everything instead of just getting cable. No, give us one central location where we can get all this stuff. Oh, wait, those are called conferences. So when you look at this and you say, you know, how was this a win or did Florida State and Clemsing and everything? And well, again, put this in context of what just happened. What more could they ask for other than a free and unfettered release? And even if you got that, it may work more to your.

Starting point is 00:15:55 detriment than you believe. Bingo. You may believe, hey, there'll be a bidding war out for me, but just out of curiosity, right? We know, again, there's always more information at hand than what anybody that's not directly involved knows. There's always that. Why would those

Starting point is 00:16:13 folks make those arguments? Again, that's why I feel like this was an ESPN or Disney influenced thing because there was a lot of money that they stood to lose if even if Clemson says, hey, we win this case, we're going to go to the Big Ten, we're only going to take a partial share, whatever the case may be. We'll take less money just to not be there. And the ACC loses their media rights or whatever the case may be.

Starting point is 00:16:42 You've just taken a massive risk, so ESPN loses a lot of money, and so does the rest of the conference. It feels like, again, there was just more at play here. because, again, the narrative that this is a win for the ACC, I would say how, because you've got five more years of very much so stressful and rocky existence? Sure, I guess. Yeah, let me play devil's advocate on that. Because obviously, like, it's not a complete L for the, like a complete L for the, like a complete L for the ACC would have been, hey, you're losing Florida State and Clemson right now. They're gone and they don't have to pay anything. 0.0 is what they have to pay.

Starting point is 00:17:26 That's what complete loss would look like for the ACC. But, I mean, how much of a win can we paint this as, Kenton? I mean, I know Jim Phillips was not sleeping very well, you know, for the past couple of years, you know, with these lawsuits going on and all this disturbance happening with it. So at least Jim Phillips gets momentary peace, the ACC commissioner, and you do buy yourself short-term stability, which isn't nothing, right? I mean, I had a conversation earlier this week with Spencer McLaughlin on Locked on College football,

Starting point is 00:17:58 and he sees this as more of a win for the ACC than you and I do. But part of his logic is now, Spencer McLaughlin, he also covers Oregon, and he used to host locked on Pac-12. Why does he no longer host Locked on Pac-12? Because there's no more Pac-12 to talk about. And so his point was, like, hey, the Pac-12 disappeared as quickly as they did because they were not willing to do what the ACC just did. And that was agreed to an uneven revenue split, which is something that, you know, the USC's and UCLA's and Oregon's, you know, the big hitters there,

Starting point is 00:18:34 that's what they wanted an uneven revenue split. The Pac-12 was not willing to do it. So they died a much quicker death. And Kenton, that's not nothing, right? I know the long-term thing is still scary, right? I mean, you and I know we may only have another six years hosting locked on ACC. So in like five year's time. I'm going to have to spruce up my resume a little bit. But short-term security is not nothing. That is somewhat of a win for the ACCC compared to what happened to the PAC 12. But again, and this is why I say we always need to put into alignment to proper context of these situations. The PAC 12 was at the end of their TV deal and they guys were like, hey, we're not resigning unless who had to pay to leave the PAC 12? Did USC pay? UCLA pertains. Why? Why?

Starting point is 00:19:22 Washington, Oregon. Did anybody pay anything to leave? No. They were at the end of their deal. And these schools said, you know what? You're not going to give us a realignment of this. And then the smaller Pactwell team said, well, the Big 12 is looking for folks. Now, I heard ever since they lost Texas and Oklahoma, they say,

Starting point is 00:19:43 hey, if I can't get another dime, I can replace it with two nickels. You know, I can do a little something. I can do a little something. And that's what that is worked out to be. This is a very different situation because the ACC's deal runs through 2036. Yeah. If we were at 2035 and people said, hey, Kenney, this deal was struck to extend us to 2040. I'd say, hell yeah, this is a win for the ACC.

Starting point is 00:20:09 You got five more years on top of what you already got. Hey, Jimmy P. You're my boy. You did your thing. Them lawyers did they big when they court. You know what I mean? This is undefeated in the courtroom. brand is brought. However,

Starting point is 00:20:22 the deal was to 2036, and now we're talking about an impending implosion in 2030, 2031. I don't see how you can spend that as a win. And again, if it was a very similar situation, if it was a exact, I'm mirroring

Starting point is 00:20:38 situation where you're at the end of the least, that's a different situation. We're at virtually the beginning. We're at a decade left. And you've got it cut in half. And we're saying, well, Because you didn't, I'll pitch it to you like this and then I'll give it back to you, Donna. Okay.

Starting point is 00:20:55 What were your optimistic expectations for Miami football this year? My optimistic expectations were at least get into the college football playoff. That was where I was at. Okay. So that team fell short of your expectations, correct? Yeah. Okay. What were your optimistic expectations for Miami basketball issue?

Starting point is 00:21:16 NIT. NIT. NIT. So that team fell short of that, correct? right? Is there not a difference in how desperately they've fallen between where they missed, missed the expectations? So when you talk about this isn't a complete loss for the ACC, absolutely, it is the blowout. It isn't like, hey, Florida State and Glimson are going to be laughing at you guys all the way to the bank for forever. Sure, it's not that, but you still got your assworth. It wasn't a knockout, but you went to the decision and all three judges picked the same

Starting point is 00:21:48 guy winning by six rounds. That's what this is. Well, when we come back, I want to hypothesize what the ACC is going to look like after 2031. I don't necessarily think it's going away completely, but I think it's going to look a lot different. You want to keep it locked right here. We're not done yet on this brand new episode of Lockdowne ACC. Thank you for making us your first listen and your first watch day. Make sure you're checking out Locked on College basketball. It's March now. You know what that means big time games conference tournaments the big dance is coming up this month Isaac shade and Andy Patton on locked on college basketball will get you ready for you want to become an expert before the tournament starts going to help you fill out that

Starting point is 00:22:37 bracket if you know what I mean so make sure you're checking out locked on college basketball available free wherever you get your podcast available free on YouTube you know as you note Kenton the TV deal for the ACC with the SPN it runs through 2036 despite all this uncertainty up to 2031, right? I wonder if the extra five years of that deal can help somewhat keep the conference together because, okay, think about what might happen in 2031, right, when it becomes a lot more affordable for anybody to leave. And we know the teams that want to leave most are Florida State and Clemson.

Starting point is 00:23:14 Well, Kenton, even if FSU and Clemson, if they decide to, yeah, we're going to pay the $75 million buyout, we're going to the SEC or the Big Ten. then you take them out of the picture and then theoretically you can carve out a bigger slice of the pie for everyone left. Do you think that might give the ACC enough leverage to convince your Miami's, your UNCs, your Louisville's, you know, SMU, who had a really good season and so on, that, hey, you know what, we still have something to offer you that obviously we no longer are as relevant of a conference as we just were.

Starting point is 00:23:49 We're not as relevant as the Big Ten and the SEC, but you still have automatic college football playoff bids here. And now that those two are not only leaving, but had to pay their way out for a combined $150 million, we're going to have extra revenue to present to you. So the ACC might be able to use that college football playoff tie in even more extra revenue to keep most of the rest of their conference together. I have said this multiple times and I still say this now,

Starting point is 00:24:18 even without Clemson, even without Florida State, the ACC is in much more of a Big 12 without Texas and Oklahoma situation than they are to being in a PAC 12 when USC and UCLA announced they would leave a situation. Or was it USC in order, whichever one it was. The USA and UCLA were first. Yeah. So USC and UCLA, whichever one is, yes, that. We're much more like the Big 12 because, again, there is still something that holds you together for. years. You are still all locked in four years. If y'all think that I'm lying, then just tell me this, of all the schools that I left, because there will be 16, how many have 75 million to fork up right

Starting point is 00:25:01 away and have a new home that's going to pay them more? That's, I mean, 75, 75 million is still 75 million. Like, I know that it doesn't, when we were talking about 500 plus, like 75 million in comparison, doesn't sound like a lot of money. That's still a lot of money. But I, I, To me, the $75 million isn't even the toughest part. It's the and a place to land that will pay you more. Because when you look at what these TV deals are talking, what's the current revenue share for each team, Donna? What is roughly the revenue share for each team?

Starting point is 00:25:35 About $20 million? About $20 million. So if we talk about, again, just through the duration of 2031 through 2036, even if we go perfectly round with $20 million, that's $100 million over those years. Who else is going to pay you that? Somebody's got to be willing to take you in and pay you that. And again, a lot of these schools who believe themselves,

Starting point is 00:26:00 who think very high of themselves, who look at their numbers from that poll saying, last five years, we've done great things in terms of viewership. Sure. Good. Great for you. Wonderful. The reality is you still have to prove your value

Starting point is 00:26:16 and prove your work to the big two if you want to see that that big dog table. And like I have said, a billion times which people refuse to listen to me on, realignment has not been driven by basketball. And the unfortunate part is the ACC is historically a basketball conference. So you can say, oh, my brand demands this and my brand demands that and my brand is bigger than all these schools that have been in the Big Ten for forever. where you just stated why they're going to be there. They've been there forever.

Starting point is 00:26:48 Even if Purdue doesn't pull in the same numbers you do, they've been there forever. They've already, they're already sitting at the table. It's harder for you to get into a table you're not at than for them to maintain a seat at a table that they've been sitting at for 50 damn years. So, you know, I look at this and I say, I think that we're in much more of a Big 12 situation

Starting point is 00:27:13 because a lot of big 12 teams were in the exact same situation. Where else were you going to go? Tell me. Since you're so smart, you know everything. Tell me where you were going to go when things fell apart. And we saw a lot of those teams stayed because they didn't have any of us to go. Same thing is going to happen here much more than the Pactwell where, again, those biggest brands had somewhere to go right away.

Starting point is 00:27:36 And the smaller brands were like, well, hell, we'll go somewhere and figure out something. But again, we're not in that same space. I'm moving on from the settlement. We've got spring football practices happening in most of the ACC and around the country right now. Like, I've been covering Miami spring football this week. I noticed something about, and I can't wait to hear Kenton's take on this, North Carolina Tarheel's spring football. You want to know what Bill Belichick has cook in there in his first week is a collegiate head coach. So North Carolina players, and I don't know.

Starting point is 00:28:11 Maybe some people probably love this, right? External motivation for your players. So North Carolina players in spring practice, they do not have names on their jerseys. And none of them have been assigned numbers because Bill wants to preach this idea that you have to earn, not only do you have to earn getting your name on the back of your jersey, you need to earn your numbers. So we got every tar heel is running around spring practice. And by the way, I'd hate to be a reporter covering it, trying to figure out who's who. But everyone's running around spring football practice wearing, you know, regular plain, blue and white jerseys, no names, no numbers. Because Kenton, those have to be earned.

Starting point is 00:28:56 I don't, this is one of those things that I think is, like, greatly overblown. It's like the black, it's like the black stripe thing at Ohio State and all that. It's like, eh, I mean, more power to you. I don't really, like, whatever you do to motivate your team, cool. This isn't one of those things I feel strongly enough about one way or the other to say, oh, Bill's an idiot. I told you all. I was hoping for that.

Starting point is 00:29:21 I'll be honest. I was hoping to get some of that. And here's the thing. Here's the thing. Anybody who knows me knows, I never ham it up for the air. Any way I feel about it, if you talk to me in real life, for the listeners who have seen me out somewhere and after you buzz up, the things I'm passionate about, I'm passionate about. The things I don't care about, I really know.

Starting point is 00:29:36 And this is one of those things I'm just like, I mean, more power to you. I, again, I think it's really hard to instill that when, again, cameras are on you because of HBO doing hard knocks off season. When, again, you talk about earning it. What has that program done to deserve that? So I think it's kind of, you're talking out of both sides of your mind. We're the 30-30 NFL team despite not having the drive picks to align with that. but we need you to earn your jersey number. You know, it's just one of those things

Starting point is 00:30:08 where it's just like, more part to you, bro. Hopefully it works out for you. We shall see. So no, no, and apparently I was reading, this is something that Belichick always wanted to do this with the Patriots, but the NFL would not allow it. Like, you have to have assigned numbers. And probably the NFL is thinking, like,

Starting point is 00:30:26 we really don't want to screw out the reporters that cover training camp. Not because, again, like, Kenton, when I'm out and, you know, I've covered Miami long enough. Like, I recognize. some of the faces and the body type, sure. But I'm also like, when I'm watching these practices, I got the roster I had in front of him. I'm looking down, wait, who's that?

Starting point is 00:30:43 That guy changed his number. Who's that? Transfer player. Covering UNC practices is not much fun right now for the media. I'm going to tell you what. If you know anything about USC media as well, as I do, with some of the things they've come out and said recently, I don't want them stare too close at too many players,

Starting point is 00:31:01 but that's another story for another time. That's another story. In all seriousness, this is one of those things where, I mean, you're absolutely right, Donald. That's a very, very, very odd thing to do, especially from the media side. But again, and again, I'm being nice to Bill Belichick because I've been told I need to be nice to tarry, so I'm doing it. I'm doing the nice thing. In all seriousness, I do think that whatever it takes to motivate your team, whatever it takes to instill your thing, go for it. More part to you, man.

Starting point is 00:31:33 Well, what do you talk about, like, you have to earn your jersey number? Like, I guess, like, whoever has, like, the worst numbers will know are the worst. Like, what would be, like, a bad number? Like, if you're, like, I don't know, like, number 57 or something. Like, is that like the way, like, whoever is that the worst player on the team? The guy who wears 57? Like, I don't, what's a bad number? I don't really understand that.

Starting point is 00:31:52 Well, that's the thing. Whenever you have a situation where you earn it or you get to, like, it's, you earn the right to pick. So some people, I was a guy, I love 99. I always love 99. It's a great number. And oddly enough, I loved it because of Hurricane the Lump, Warren Sapp. He was my guy and he wore 99. I wanted to be like him brought up.

Starting point is 00:32:12 So I always wanted to wear 99. That doesn't mean that you're a bad player if you wear 99, even though if you're a receiver wearing 99, people are going to look at you. Oh, what's buddy doing there? With Devin Gardner were 98 at quarterback for Michigan, everybody's like, that just looks won't. I feel like that's a thing in soccer. Like in soccer, if you're wearing like a number in the 20s,

Starting point is 00:32:33 you're probably not very good, right? If you're the best players on the team, if you're either a forward or midfield, number nine and number 10, those are the pinnacles. Like, those are the great numbers. Now, if you're a forward wearing number 17, you probably suck, right?

Starting point is 00:32:48 But I never felt that same correlation with football. I don't, it gives you the right to pick. And again, when you get the right to pick, you're going to see different things. Like, yes, if you're a wide receiver with 57, yes, if you're a quarterback, If you are a corner wearing 57, you're ready, go jump in that port.

Starting point is 00:33:08 Get ready to learn some Gardner Webb. Get ready to learn some Lenore Ryan, because you are not, get ready to learn some Sanford Bulldog football, brother. Because you are not there. But, I mean, for the most part, everybody likes different things because I was a 99 guy, but I played with a defensive lineman that he loved the number one.

Starting point is 00:33:27 I played with another guy who, it was a family thing. like everybody in his family of war on 20. And so he really won a 20, even though it was a defensive lineman. So it's tough to decide like what numbers make you trash and what numbers. It's just when you see it and you're like, you know, the only thing I will say this odd about the earn your number thing. What if a guy does great in spring ball and then stinks it up in fall camp? Do you like there's like a battle for number one, which of course there will be. Right.

Starting point is 00:33:57 What if one guy balls out in spring ball and then puts on a spring ball and then puts on a. world-class stinker in fall camper. You're like, no, he's number one now. You're number 11. Get out of here. Yeah, he gets banished to number 57. You'll see game one. It's like, he was wearing the number one in fall camp,

Starting point is 00:34:13 but now we got wide receiver number 57. What happened to that young man? You know, and the words of clip, what happened to that boy? You know, they're going to be asked. We love you guys. Thank you so much for making Lockdown ACC, your first listen and your first watch today.

Starting point is 00:34:28 Of course, huge thanks to Kenton Gibbs. him out at Lockdown Wolfpack. I'm Alex Dono. Check me out at Lockdown Cains. And we'll talk to you next time on another episode of Lockdown ACC. We're part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.

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