Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - EXPECTATIONS: Will NC State, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh DELIVER? CJ Bailey, James Franklin, Pat Narduzzi EVALUATED

Episode Date: August 21, 2026

NC State Wolfpack face skyrocketing expectations—can Dave Doern finally deliver that elusive ACC title run? Kenton Gibbs and Julian Council debate whether this season’s roster, including CJ Bailey and Duke Scott, has the firepower for a breakthrough, while highlighting concerns about defensive depth and Raleigh's history of missed opportunities. Virginia Tech Hokies launch a new era with James Franklin at the helm and high hopes for Ethan Grunkemeyer at quarterback. Is this the most talented Tech roster in a decade? Billy Ray from Sons of Saturday examines key players like Kemari Copeland and Luke Reynolds, outlines win benchmarks, and points to renewed investment at the university. Plus, Pittsburgh Panthers’ Pat Narduzzi aims to extend his legacy, banking on QB Mason Heintschel and the next linebacker stars as Pitt fends off transfer threats. Can Pitt exceed 7.5 wins with a tough ACC slate? Get the inside scoop on these pivotal ACC storylines. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! KALSHI For a limited time, Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10. . The Game Don't miss this chance to celebrate 40 years of The Game with 40% off your entire order. Visit https://TheGameCaps.com and use promo code LOCKEDON at checkout. 5-Hour ENERGY Bring on the sweetness with Cotton Candy 5-hour ENERGY®️ shots—available online now at https:/5hourENERGY.com or on Amazon. Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM to play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season. 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.

Is 2026 finally the year of the wolf? Can James Franklin win big in year one at Virginia Tech? And what does Pat Narduzzi have in store for us in year 13 at pit? It's preview week here on Locked on ACC. You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome into another edition of the Locked On ACC podcast. I'm Julian Counsel, and he is former NC State Football.

Letterman, Kenton Gibbs, and we're back for another episode of our preview week here on Locked on ACC today, focusing in on the teams, projecting to finish 7th, 8th, and 9th in the standings this upcoming season. That's NC State, Virginia Tech, and Pitt will be joined by Christopher Carter, the host of Lockdown Steelers, but he covers Pitt for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. We'll also talk Hokies, but let's start off by talking about the NC State Wolfpack. We don't need Grayson Boone from Lockdown Wolfpack to do that. We just need the other half of Lockdown Wolfpack.

former again football letterman, Kenton Gibbs, who's here with this as a co-host every day on locked on ACC. So Kenton, it's year 14. We've been waiting a long time for Dave Doran to break down the door. You say he gets short at one time. He gets a statue. I think that's a little crazy, but I don't know. You know better than I do. How are you feeling about your boys heading to the season? Well, in the words of Sam Cook, it's been a long time coming, but I know, whoa, whoa, change is going come. This team eventually has to break through that ceiling. And the vibes are pretty high. around Raleigh right now. The only thing that was problematic for everybody in Raleigh,

the only thing that was problematic for all the wolfpackers across the world is people were worried because all of a sudden the media hit us with a blitz of expectations. Okay. The underover for the preseason or preseason underover started at five and a half and then it rose up to six and a half. But we were all right with that. That's not a problem. Money moves it, whatever.

It got problematic when David Pollock first says, NC State's going to win 10 this year. Look it. Okay, now we worry. We worry, but it's all right. And then Tom Lugan Bill says, NC State's going to win 10 this year. Bucket. Now we're starting to have some concerns here. And then Mark Rick sends it to a fever pitch when he agrees with Lugan Bill. I think this team can win 10 this year. Lord have mercy, the Lord Wolf.

We all know when you expect the most, you get the least. When you expect the least, you get the most. And so we were cautiously waiting on the AP top 25. We were cautiously waiting saying, not only should we not be in, we should not get a vote. And then we will have a chance to get that 10-win season. And you know what the AP voters did? You know how good they are?

I serve a mighty God. Hallelujah. We did not get a single vote in the AP top 25. So now everybody starts calming down. Everybody starts to realize, all right, okay. You know, the media, it's a few members of the media doing their thing, but all in all, there's not big expectations on this team outside of what we know this team is capable of.

Well, I'd to ask Christopher Carter later on the show. He is an AP voter, whether he voted for state to see where he, I guess he didn't get a single vote. They did that vote. So never mind. Never mind. It's so funny, the fan psyche and even just like for you, like, because I can't imagine having like been out there,

having control of things and now having to watch as a fan and just how tantalize like not. What is it? Traumatizing. There it is. Not tantalizing. Not tantalizing. Not the more like traumatizing.

Maybe even the, moralizing at times. It has to be having to watch that team try to go out there and win these games. So it is funny because, yeah, you hear all the media talking at, especially like ACC network people saying they can win 10 games. They're always going to be higher on ACC teams and people on the outside. That's why it is interesting that David Pollock came out and said that state would win 10, but then nationwide, the voters, not very high in the Wolfpack heading into the year. And it's weird to me because we've seen in recent years, like SMU two years ago, Louisville, three years ago that the schedule is a big reason why people thought they would win or at least make it to the

ACD title game. But what about the talent on the field? Like, where do you think state is talent level wise? I know CJ Bailey is phenomenal. But outside of that, like, when you look at them now compared to years past, where do you think they rank as far as talent level in this Dave Dorn era? You know, this is one of the more talented teams in the Dave Dorn era. I wouldn't say the most talented because this, Dave Dorn has filled in some teams where the entire defensive line went to the NFL. They had a quarterback to start in the NFL. They had a run. running back to start in the NFL. They had a Hback by the name of J Sam or Jalen Samuos,

who's also started in the NFL on those teams. And it's like, I genuinely do not know how you didn't get 10 one time. But that was that ACC was when Clemson and Florida State were at basically the high of their powers or descending off of the perch and they were still decent. So I would say that this is a more talented team than average for. Dave Doran, I'd say this is an upper echelot talented team, but this isn't like a, hey, we're having an argument of, is this the most talented Dave Doran team ever? And that definitely goes for the offensive side, especially where you're looking at a lot of talent and all that good stuff. Like you said, CJ Bailey's there, but also Duke Scott and your boy, Davy and Goss from right down the street in Chapel Hill, that's going to be a really good one, two, of backs.

I don't think either one of them have a ton of wiggle, but they're both powerful. And they're going to get what they need in terms of that short yarder situation. And then you throw in the Jonathan Paler, who's coming off in ACL, that, you know, if he's back to 90%, 80% of what he was, he'll be pretty good back there as well as the change of pace to those two bruisers who, they may not be the biggest guys, but they run with a punishing style. And the wide receiver court has been completely rebuilt, right? Everybody in the wide receiver court except Keenan Jackson darted last year. And of course, Teddy Hoffman suspended for the year. you had to rebuild that thing for scratch. But Davy on Dozier, Jojo Trader, all these guys that we got,

Victor Snow, there's a ton of very, very good quality there. A tight-in room that, you know, you're losing a lot of production from last year. But Gavin Locklear seen as one of the rising stars in the coaching ranks as he produced the most productive tight-in room in America last year. So ultimately, this team has a lot of talent on offense. Defensively, you're asking yourself, you do enough? Can you do enough? You don't have to be great. We don't have to act like Tony Gibson, Payne Wilson, and Isaiah Moore walked through that door, and Drake Thomas. We don't

have to act like that. But what we need is for this group to be serviceable to above average. Yeah, and look, you talk about wide receiver. I feel like in a portal era, pretty easy to find guys can catch the ball. Defensively, a lot harder. You got to recruit out of high school at a high level. And look, Dave, you talked about some of the teams that he had. I mean, 2017, I feel like was the year for y'all losing that game at home against Clemson when you got off to a great start there and then of course that's that's a, that was a Kelly Bryant-Clinton team. Like that was the year where I was like, okay, State, when they had Bradley Chubb, when they had Justin Jones and had Contavius Street, BJ Hill, all this defensive line me talk about who got drafted.

They had Germain Pratt. Like I'm looking at, because I have a notes app just of Dave Doran's tenure at State because I've been trying to understand why State fans don't like this man. Like that 2017 team at J. Pratt, the guys I mentioned before, A.J. Cole, punter, Garrett Bradbury, Jalen Samuels, Will Richardson, Naimei, James, Smith, Williams, Kobe Myers, Reggie Gillespie, Kelvin, Herman, Ryan Finley. That was crazy talented team. And I look at this team, like, I don't see that amount of time.

But does not mean that they cannot have a big season this upcoming year. Because I think Dave is obviously a phenomenal coach. It's been a great coach for NC State and somebody who I think state fans at this point in time to really appreciate, especially when you look down 20 miles down the road and see what you could be when Dave leaves or if you have an administration that makes the wrong decision. So I think state has a chance this year. Defensively, that's really my question as far as whether they can find a way to take a step forward after last year. Losing Tony Gibson, obviously not helpful as far as state continue to have the standard there on the defensive side of the ball.

But look at the over under wind total. Top of those five and a half with the six and a half. It's currently at seven and a half right now. How are you feeling about that with the pack over or under this year? Oh, I comfortably go over there. I comfortably go over, and let me tell you why I comfortably go over, you have to lose a very bad combination of games and win none of the games that are like toss-ups to be under eight. And I mean that very genuinely right now. You look at the games that you're coming in and people are saying, oh, there's a chance that you lose this or it's a toss-up or whatever the case may be, that Virginia team in game one.

you beat them last year with a better quarterback. You beat that team with running backs that those dudes, there were some dudes now. I watched the play fourth and I believe it was

fourth and one or fourth and two. NC State had five defenders touched that running back within a yard of the line of scrimmage. That play resulted in a 30 yard touchdown. Like that's the type of stuff. There was freak show stuff from UVA and that's just what happened there.

The reality is you look at a lot of these games and you say, well, this is a toss-up, that's a toss-up. This NC State team can lose to anybody because of some of those deficiencies defensively, but they can also beat anybody because you have a quarterback who has the ability to go legend and get it done at virtually any moment and a running back that I think is quietly, quietly, quietly, gearing up to be phenomenal in Duke Scott. And the only time that he started a game, no, none much, just 200 yards of total offense, a couple tuddies, and all that against the number eight team in a nation in Georgia Tech,

and undefeated Georgia Tech at that time. So I would say I'm comfortable with the over of seven and a half. And also, you're going to be coming down the stretch those last five games. I believe it's Duke, and then you've got Syracuse, and then you've got, what is it? It's Cal, Duke, Syracuse at home, then at Florida State at North Carolina. Yeah. I mean, the best that you can say about any of those teams is it might be a toss-up if jk.S has a great game for count. That's the best you could say. You're not worried about Walter Eagot or Dan Mahan. That's just not a world that we really live in at a high clip.

Syracuse, yes, you lost your quarterback last year. You're getting them back. You can't tell me that one quarterback is the reason you didn't lose a single game down the stretch by less than double digits. That's a true fact, by the way. After their starting quarterback Angelio went down, they only lost. lost by double digits every other game of the rest of the year. And then, of course, Florida State may not have a head coach. You know, UNC may not have a head coach by that point in time.

You're just looking at a situation where a lot of things have come in your favor to where even if you can't get that mythical double-digit win season, even if you can't get that elusive trip to Charlotte, at minimum, you could put together the Dave Dorn, eight and four win my last three games special. that he is so apt for. Yeah, and if they get there, I feel like if you're in over better, the games that are going to swing it

are probably the opener at Virginia at Vanderbilt as well. And then it's going to come down to not laying an egg. I think that's been a big issue that state fans have had with Dave. You talk about potentially FSU not having Mike Norvell. I think he's not the coach by November 21st.

I don't know about Bill Belchak on November 28, North Carolina. We did see State go out there and lose to a Virginia Tech team that had fired Brent Pry. We saw them lose the bottom. in college a few years ago in a game where like Zay Flowers is awesome but come on. Like they can't lose to that BC team. So we have seen it happen in the past.

Let me ask you this. We're going to go over on this one than we usually do. But if state goes eight and four with the schedule that they have. Yeah. How do you think the fan base is going to handle that? Because after 14 years, like there's a legit question like, how is he still here? Well, look at the standards of the program,

what they've accomplished, one 10-win season and 100 plus years of playing football. but how do you think the fan base handles an eight and four season and misses out on another trip to Charlotte? Well, I think that a lot of fans are going to be very upset by that, right? A lot of fans are going to be, you know, eight and four. Like I said, it's the day of doing special. It really and truly is. But the problem is, like you said, it's about the historical expectations of the entire deal, right?

When you look at what NC State has been, you talk about over 100 years of football. Well, how many of those years were we finishing ranked? in the AP polls. How many? Right? Like that, it's not a normal thing. Dave Doran,

when I tell people Dave Doran is the winning his coach in NC State history. Everybody says, well, no, no, no, that's my volume. That's my volume.

And I said, well, look up the winning percentages of every coach who coached over 50 games at stake. Look at him. I mean, he's number two there. So it's not like...

They finish people 15 times. Got it written down here. Right. Okay, they finished 15 times over 100-some-odd years of football and how many of those are Dave, right?

Like, that's just the facts of the matter, right? Dave has not been here for one-fifth of NC State's entire sports history. And yeah, and that's what I'm saying. That's what one-fifth of the sports history he was not here for. But one-fifth of the top 25 finishes at the end of the year, he's responsible for. So again, this is not a, when I say Dave Doran is one championship game appearance away from a statue, people look at me like I'm crazy.

But my response to them is Frank Gore's in the Hall of Fame. Mike Evans will be one day two. That's my response. He is, in essence, the Frank Gore of head coaches in the ACC. He just keeps chugging along. He gets what he gets, and he just does it year in and year out. Does that mean that Frank Gore was ever the best back in the NFL? No.

Was there ever an argument for Frank Gore to be the best back in the NFL? No. But he's going to be in a hall. Why? 16 years. He just chugged along for all those years at a position where you normally look at four five years of your ceiling. And he just chugged along for all those years.

So I think that Dave Dorn is very similar in terms of he just chugs along, does what he does. Fans would be extremely disappointed in 8 and 4, but you also have to realize you're 8 and 4 in a Power 4 conference at NC State. Like that still, and that 8 and 4 would very likely include a drubbing of your biggest rival. And that would mean six in a row, which would mean that's three graduating classes from over there that do not know a world. where their side wins that rivalry game. That's big time stuff, whether you want to admit or not. Yeah, and he's 10. He would be 10 and 4 in North Carolina if that happened.

So 9 and 4, and certainly W. L.L. came out and said had he not won that game on Black Friday back in 2016 over Mitch Trubisky and those Tarrios, that he probably would not still have his job at that point in time. And that is, you look at it, guys, college football, a lot of these programs are just realistically never going to win at a high level, go deep into the playoff. So what do you want to do?

beat your rival. And Dave Dorn has done that. And that's probably one of the biggest reasons he still has this job and has continued to be able to have the standard of eight and four. So appreciate Ken's perspective here on the show about state. We'll take a quick pause. Come back here. And James Franklin is back. Not back, but he is in Blacksburg. We'll preview the Hokies next year on locked on ACC. Since 1986, the game has been creating classic college hats that fans are proud to wear. Whether you're an alumnus, current student, season ticket holder, or simply someone who, never misses a game. A great college hat is more than just apparel. It's a way to represent your school wherever you go this year. The game is celebrating its 40th anniversary by giving fans a chance to save on some of their most iconic college hats. If you've been thinking about replacing an old favorite or adding a new one to your collection, now is the perfect time. Everyone has their favorite hat to wear on Game Day.

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takes over after successful 10 years at Vanderbilt. And most recently at Penn State, it's not a matter of if, But when Franklin will turn around Virginia Tech, joining us now is Billy Ray from Sons of Saturday. And I got to imagine after all that y'all been through since Frank Beamer lap, going under Justin Fuente, going through the last couple years with Brent Pride to finally have a coach who fits your program. I mean, the vibe's got to be so high heading to the year. Man, I'm not going to take another victory lap because as soon as he was available, I was like the best possible outcome is for James Franklin to be the head coach of Virginia Tech. And that 10 year slide, man, I looked this up today, just thinking about grunk and thinking about kind of what we're looking at. And since 2018, Josh Jackson, Ryan Willis, Hendon Hooker, Quincy Patterson, Braxton Burrmeister, Connor Blummerich, Grant Wells, Colin Schley, Kiron, Drones, and Pop Watson all started a quarterback for Virginia Tech.

It feels like a blur, and it also feels so great. Counting down the days to football season. cannot, cannot wait. It's the most positive without having to force myself to be positive. It has felt in a long time. Well, now let's get into that quarterback position because you talked a lot about all the different quarterbacks

that y'all have had in that 10 years and how with Beamer, you knew who the quarterback was and he was going to be the quarterback for at least a good two, three years. How are you feeling about Grunkelmire? Because there are some folks who believe in them, some folks who don't.

What's your thought around Grunk of my in the quarterback position? You know, I think whether you're talking about the quarterback position, whether you're talking about the defense, whether you're talking about like this season in general, I think the overall vibe for Virginia Tech is just so positive and it can't possibly be worse. It's actually definitely going to be way better. If you're asking specific about Ethan Grunkmeyer, like first three starts being against Iowa, Ohio State and Indiana, playing pretty well,

went out there, played a hell of a game against Clemson. And if you look at, I fully expect Ethan to be the starting quarterback. He will be the starting quarterback. But you also look at the depth at this position. We couldn't even really find a solid starting quarterback. Now you have a solid and established starting quarterback who played really well in a really good conference last year, being backed up by Bryce Baker and Troy Hune and Kelden Ryan.

Like it's a pretty nice little group of quarterbacks. And again, regardless of who you brought in as a coach, you're not going to see the type of talent flip and roster flip that you saw. And I know we're going in a couple different directions here, but that was the big thing that year one under Pry, I think we really missed, was when you have the ability to completely flip your roster, you have to do it.

And that's exactly what happened over this offseason. And I think there's obviously optimism with James Franklin being the head coach, but there's optimism from the fact of this is going to be the most talented the Virginia Tech football team. I don't think it's crazy to say that we've seen since maybe 2011, 2016 maybe. So it's an exciting time and looking forward to it. Yeah, as a North Carolina guy, I'm very interested to see how Bryce Baker turns out there at tech. I know he's probably not going to get a lot of valuable reps as long as Grunk of Meyer stays healthy this season.

And you would even think next, Rucker Meyer is probably going to be the starter at Tech if everything works out well for y'all. but Baker is a guy who James Franklin was going at hard when he saw Penn State and North Carolina did not have a coach that they had not hired Bill Belichick and for whatever reason Bryce Baker said, nah, I'm staying here in Chappell. I'm going to stick with the program and Belichick immediately brought somebody in that he preferred over him and he was a fourth string guy last year despite making $700K.

So that was a lot of money that he got paid last year. Looking at Virginia Tech though, like they're going to be good eventually. Like how soon do you think James can win there? Like, does he have the talent to win this season, or is this kind of more like a two-year build to where, okay, they can be ACC title contenders? So it's weird. And I was talking with Ty and the salad verbal about this is it's hard to define win because for Virginia tech fans, like it's literally, we have been in, I don't want to say hell, but at least purgatory for a long time. And now with the conference is being so big, and especially with the ACTAs, I mean, the ACC, to me, is what the Big 12 has been for the last 10 or 15 years.

Like, I have no idea what's going to happen in this conference other than Miami is probably going to be really, really good. So if you're defining, like, how quickly can he turn this around, I think he's going to turn it around for Virginia Tech folks immediately. In terms of competing for, like, the conference, you know, some of that has to do with schedule luck, but also one of the stats, Pete B, who does great work over here with two Deep in Sons of Saturday. He pointed this out. So we're talking roster turnover. There are 30,300 pounders onto our roster right now. Last year, we had 13. We have 15 offensive linemen at

310 pounds plus. From what I understand, that is the most by a long shot that we have had. So for the longest time, Virginia Tech's M.O. has kind of been, well, our players might not be as good, but they're really smart and we play really well on special teams. If we can play really smart and have really good players. You're kind of looking at a different season, a different ceiling for Virginia Tech, and I think that's a cause for optimism around the family.

Virginia Tech and some of its stars do not get the national recognition that I think they deserve. So talk to me about Kamari Copeland and some of the other guys that you're like, hey, these are going to be dudes in year one. James Franklin, I got to go out and recruit because I think keeping

Kamari there was one of the biggest gets possible to keeping him out of the portal, So talk about his star power and what you see on the rest of his team is this going to be an impact player right away. I think it's, I used to push back on this because I thought it was silly. But James Franklin does an unbelievable job marketing his program. From a social media standpoint, talking about it standpoint, Kamari Copeland was always one of the strongest players in the ACC. He immediately played great against South Carolina. We played against Lenore's Sellers.

And, you know, I look at it. this roster and I look at a Luke Reynolds. Like Luke Reynolds is going to be, for people that don't know, Luke Reynolds is going to be one of the best players, not on Virginia Tech's team, not in the ACC. He's going to be one of the best tight ends in the country this year. And Kamari Copeland, another guy, one of the strongest players in the absolute country, but nobody's really had a reason to kind of look at Virginia Tech, really. For the longest time and what's been so frustrating is the conversation with Virginia Tech began and ended with, used to be really good, has a really cool entrance, and that's about it.

And it's not necessarily only because of wins and losses. We really haven't had a lot of folks to write home about. The one season where we were bad that had a really talented roster was 2020. When you look at Khalil Herbert, you look at all the offensive linemen on that roster, but that season was a complete wash and you didn't even really get to see it or pay attention to it. So I think Virginia Tech playing meaningful football and also having, let's call it what it is a really good coach but also like a celebrity coach like everybody's going to be interested to see how james franklin does there's just going to be a lot of more a lot more

eyeballs on the program what are you concerned about going into the year because i mean obviously there's a bunch of optimism like there's got to still be some things for a program that for the last decade has largely been irrelevant and certainly has not my program standards like there's got to be concerns even heading into this year i'm really i'm going to knock on wood because i don't think this is really a jinksable thing. If we want to talk about like roster stuff, I'm a little concerned about linebacker depth. I'm a little concerned about wide receiver and safety.

Linebacker, if you're asking me specifically, which is the one I'm most worried about, it's that. But I just really truly, guys, it's been so bad for so long, and it feels like Virginia Tech, not only hired the right guy, but is financially putting themselves behind the program at the level that fans expect them to.

I almost think that that's worse. A lot of people want to clown Texas Tech, right, for the Sorsby situation and they're buying players and everything else. Like at the end of the day, it's an administration and a fan base that's like, we want to be good. So we're going to pay to be good. Like, I don't think that's something to really make fun of. I think every fan base should want to do that.

And I don't think Virginia Tech is rigging the local courts system, right? But it finally feels like they're saying, hey, like if we're going to be putting Virginia Tech as the front door of the university, we need to invest in it that way. And unfortunately, for quite honestly, the end of Beamer's era, Coach Fuente's entire tenure, and Brent Price's entire tenure, they didn't get that support. They have it now and they have the right coach. I'm really not that worried because it can't possibly get worse and it's probably going to get a whole lot better faster. So that's kind of my thoughts on it. You know, I said it was going to be virtually impossible for James Franklin to lose the breakup with Penn State.

And Billy Ray, you're getting us excited as if you've already wanted. But before we get to the under over, please tell me this. James Franklin, quarterback development has been the Achilles Hill. People have wondered, hey, when is he finally going to do it? Is it finally going to be a thing that he can get together? Is that a concern for you at all going forward in the future? Are you more like, you know what? in the ACC, he might be able to do this thing without developing a damn quarterback

or maybe he's figuring it out at this point in time. Where are being in tech beds in terms of quarterback players? You know, trends are trends, right? And perception is reality. I think that the dialogue around quarterback play at Penn State has gotten a little bit out of control. I think there's some truth to it where it's like, hey, they've had highly recruited quarterbacks and they have not.

want at a high level or they have not succeeded on the level that they that they anticipated those quarterbacks they did win in a high level. But at the end of the day, here's what I know. James Franklin is going to win a program or going to run a program that wins the games they're supposed to win. He's going to recruit at an elite level. And I feel like if you recruit at an elite level and you run the type of program that he runs, it's just going to turn into James Franklin hasn't produced a quarterback that developed and got great until he does. Like Josh Payne says this all the time. For Ryan Day, well, he can't beat Michigan.

Well, he did. And then for the longest time it was, you know, he can't win a national championship. And then he did. So at the end of the day, I think walk, crawl run for Virginia Tech, get me to a point where we're competing and winning nine, 10 games a year. And then we can really start to get concerned with that. But I think Ethan Grunkmeyer is going to be a great start. Looking over at Fandall Sportsbook,

six and a half is the over under win total for you all this year. And you look at the beginning of the season, VMI, old dominion, Lord knows you can't lose that one anymore. Rice Baker's going to get some run. You want to watch him play. He's not playing those games. I will. I'll suit in.

I'll tune in at Maryland. I know James, after not getting that job, after being a coach and waiting under Frigian is always going to want to beat them. Where are you at with this schedule? and with that win total heading into the year? Well, conveniently for us, you left out, the back half of the schedule is brutal. Like, I look at this schedule and I say,

like, six and a half, in my opinion, is a little disrespectful, but I'm not going to go as far as say, like, I see 10 wins in the schedule easy. Like, if I'm looking at this, I kind of look at it in a couple different ways. I think the Maryland game is going to be a big game. I think, like, Virginia Tech fans thinking

that they're just going to beat Maryland because James Franklin did it at Penn State, I think that's kind of crazy. I think that's going to be a big swing game. Pittsburgh, home game. That's going to be huge. Everybody thinks Pitt's going to be bad. And when everybody thinks Pitt is going to be bad,

they usually have a pretty good season. Cal, terrified of Cal. I think they're going to be a massive problem. I think they're going to be a tough team. You got to go out West and play that game. Now, Georgia Tech, not the Georgia Tech we've seen the last couple of years. And then you get into the Clemson, SMU, and Miami, who are the three teams everybody's talking about,

I'll be the one to say it. Virginia is also going to be a very difficult game. Like you can look at how many times we've won it in the past. You can say we own Virginia. Like we do if you look at the totality of it, but they have a bunch of guys that are about as old as we are on the roster right now. It's not wrong. They've really done a good job over at that program.

So I would go over on the six and a half. I would be very happy with eight wins and then anything over that I think is is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is an improvement. It's at least a two X improvement over last year. I would go over with that. I know it's juiced. I'm not sure if you guys have the live odds, but I know it's it's, it's juiced pretty significantly to the under. I would take six and a half over and I would even go ahead and take seven, uh, seven and a half over. Yeah, I mean, I wrote these down, I think Monday. So that's what it was at. and a half. But, I mean, so eight and four, you feel good.

Will you take seven and five and that, that's the over? Are you happy there? Or is eight kind of the number? Julian, it depends on who we beat. Like, I said this, I said this. Do you need to be, like, let me ask you this. Okay, so we're looking at the schedule. Like, who, what game do you need to win other than like, obviously, like, Virginia?

You always want to win that game. Like, do you need to win against, like, Clemson or SMU or Miami on the road to, like, really feel good about the direction and feel good about, this season if it's like only seven if I were eight and four. I want to win every game on the schedule, but here's what I would say. If you were telling me, you could either win at Miami or win at SMU or beat Maryland and Maryland and let's say Cal, I would trade losses against Maryland and Cal for a win at Miami because the narrative shifting that would happen for James Franklin on year one comes in,

wins a top, I think SMU and Miami are certainly going to be top 20, 25, and maybe even in the top 10, especially for Miami. So I think from a narrative shifting perspective, winning one of those games would be huge. I just have no idea what Clemson is going to be come. Is that game in November or October? It's October 24th. Yeah. So I don't know what they're going to be, but look, again, the seven wins, if the seven wins are teams, you're supposed to beat and you lost to a couple teams that you're not supposed to lose to.

Probably a little disappointing. But I think that if you can steal one of SMU and Miami, handle business against Virginia, as long as you're bowl eligible, I think people would be very happy with that result for year one of James Franklin. Yeah, I think it's kind of silly for me to ask a Virginia tech fan, like, hey, you want to beat Miami or not? Because obviously, but a lot of people, but I do think, though, from a narrative perspective, of like, to me, it's more important to beat a Miami or an SMU than it is to beat a Maryland or a Pittsburgh or a cow, right?

Because if you go eight and four and those four losses are Miami, SMU, Clemson, and maybe Georgia Tech, then it's same old James Franklin. On the recruiting trail, it's same old James Franklin. He's still going to pull in a good class. But if you can do something to shift that narrative a little bit, I think that would be worth its weight in gold. And we also have to remind these people in the new ACC, hey, Virginia Tech, Miami, that. was a thing and hopefully can get back to being a thing with James now there. And of course, Mario's got that thing home. And so we're all trying to play catch up here to him.

But he is Billy Ray from Suns and Saturday doing a great job covering Virginia Tech a pit. He says that everyone thinks it's going to be bad. We'll ask Christopher Carter who covers Pitt whether he thinks there'll be any good this upcoming season in just a moment on Locked on ACC. Baseball fans, if you think, you know, who's hitting a homer today. Fandle was giving you a free chance to call your shot with Daily Dingers. it's easy to play. Just make your free pick for who you think will hit a home run in their game.

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who has been on a hot streak for a while now. So are you ready to play your game today? Join all the action at fandle.com. That's fandle.com to play dayday dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer, play ball and swing for the fences on Fandle, an official partner of the MLB. Pat Narduzzi enters year 13 at Pitt coming off of an eight and five season. and returns one of the nation's best young quarterbacks in Mason Heinzsche. Joining us now is Christopher Carter, host of Locked-on Steelers,

but y'all, find you someone who can do both, as he also covers the Pitt Panthers for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, where he also has Steeler covers as well. Chris, good to see it, man. Glad to have you on the show. Talk a little college football. What are the vibes up there right now heading into year 13, which I cannot believe it's for even 13 years of Pat and Arduzzi up there in PA.

It's crazy to think. once Pitt has played three games this season, he'll be the longest tenured Pitt Panther coach in program history. So kudos to Pat Narduzi and what he's done there. But there's a lot of excitement right now because Pitt, as we know, like, you know, you guys were just talking, you know, our Florida state guy about money being spent

and how Miami's just throwing money all over the conference. They can get whatever they want. Pitt's not in that big spender category. But somehow they fended off Miami from being able to buy away Mason Heinzel, their quarterback who stepped up last year as a true freshman and is now still with the team. I broke that story for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette a few months ago and how basically like when Mason Heinzel just got an offer that was like, I coach, I can't say no to this. And Pat Narduzzi called up the athletic director of Pitt and said, hey, we need to keep this kid.

And then the calls were made. Money was brought together for NIL and Maintiff stuck around. And Pat and Rduzzi straight up told me if they lost Mainson Hineshiel, there's at least like 15 or 20 other guys. it probably would have left too. So there's a lot of excitement about keeping Mason Heinzel around from last year and what he's going to be able to do in Cade Bell's offense, which is very quarterback friendly in the decisions that are set out for him. So there's a lot of excitement for it.

And they've also kept other key players. Well, yes, Rachine Biles, big linebacker that went to Texas and Kyle Lewis went to the NFL and he's with the Dolphins. You know, a lot of people are excited for this defensive front. Nick James, Sean Fitzsimmons, Isaiah Neil, Jimmy Scott, all homegrown guys that have stuck around, been ready to play. Braylon Lovelace, Cam Lindsay, two homegrown linebackers that are still there. Cruz Brookings, a safety that has been just waiting to pop off and have his big year.

They have so much talent that they have just grown at home and developed over the years that they're confident that that will stand up to a lot of the teams and their transfer portal ads that they've got in the offseason. Now, listen, I love watching those pit linebackers play more than anything. And darn near in this conference. There's no other group that I like watching play more than them. But the sharks are gone. Who are the baby sharks?

Do do do to do. No, seriously, though. Who are the new sharks that are going to come in and take over for Kyle and Rachine? Because those two were ballers. Those two were studs on another level than what most people are seeing. We know Pat Narduzzi don't like having less than three linebacks on the field unless he absolutely has to. He wants to keep all three out there. So who are the new three that we're going to be seeing this year?

So Braylon Lovelace was the other of the sharks who played really well. He's a guy that's made plays. He's a senior. This is a guy who's gotten picked six. in games. Like he was the, he wasn't the stander because he was kind of the younger of those guys, but he was very much one of the sharks. And he's going to be the leader of the sharks this year. But don't mistake, they got other young guys that have been coming up to two red shirt sophomores that you got want to keep your eyes on Cameron Limsey and Jeremiah

Marcellet. Cameron Lindsay is a guy when they recruited him years ago. I remember covering them maybe four years ago. When I saw them get him out of high school, I was like, that kid's going to be a dog. Because I've seen, I've covered him. I've seen him in high school football making plays. He's going to be a bad man. And so, I think, you know, I've seen him develop, do the smaller jobs, the special teams really well. He's going to be a shark this year. I think he'll be really good there. Jeremiah Marcellan was going to be one of the top sharks that came off the bench,

but he suffered a season-ending injury that kept him out of the season last year. So now those are two other younger guys. They've added some transfer guys, Alex Sanford Jr., a senior and DeMarco Ward, a junior there. So they've added some guys there. But make no mistake, I think that the sharks will still be a thing, particularly because this is a defense that is teaching these guys year and year out just fly attack go get them and you know there were guys before rachine byles i think solomon shiels is a guy that when he left everyone thought oh my goodness they're never going to be able to replace him sure enough they did and there

there were guys before him too pit has done such a good job at just home growing guys and that hey when guys become too expensive and they can't keep everybody they find guys to replace them especially in that defense so if you're looking for new sharks Brayland Lovelace, Cam Lindsay, Jeremiah and Marcellin. Those are my three I'd be watching out for. Yeah, it feels like every offseason they do lose a big name to the portal. As you mentioned, Biles. Also a big Francis going to Notre Dame on the defensive line.

He's gone too. But be able to keep Hintels huge because it sounds like, as you just mentioned, it was going to be a Duke situation. Now, Duke didn't lose like 15, 20 guys after Darry and Minson and Cooper Barqueh Bolted, but they did, of course, lose their top quarterback and top receiver and another receiver in Cway Sean Brown going to Virginia Tech. I'm curious about wide receiver for Mason Hintrell and at Pitt this year, considering they lose Raphael Williams.

He was a leading receiver last year, due spawn, both those guys graduated. You saw Kenny Johnson take the bag to go to Texas Tech. Who are the guys who step up now? Because it's nice to have your quarterback, but who's he throwing to? So it's going to be a group of guys I think will be really interesting that know how to operate in Cade Bell's offense. Sincerely, I think, is going to be a big receiver for this team.

I think that he's going to be a guy that kind of takes the Poppy Williams role. Because remember, Poppy Williams came with Kate. Bell from the Carolinas to pit to be like, hey, we're going to institute this new system and get these things going. Look out for Blue Hicks is maybe the best athlete of the group. I think that he's going to be a guy that is like kind of dangerous and explosive. Malik Knight of transfer that they got. I think he's going to be like their deep threat guy that they say, hey, just go go for the long ball. We're going to, and if you get behind somebody, Mason's going to launch it to you. Bryce Yates, another guy. I think he'll be the slot of this team that kind of gets open for

them. This seems like an athletic group, but I will say. say Kenny Johnson was the guy that they were hoping to keep it wide receiver because he was the guy that they thought like, hey, we put him against the top corner, he can cook somebody. I think these guys, they still aren't sure if these are guys that can cook one on one or if they're going to need to be given situational opportunities to get open. And that's what Cade Bell's offense does a lot of is there's a lot of the schematics to force just tough decisions for guys in coverage, especially guys in zone coverage of whether to play lower high and who to jump on. And then that gives the quarterback a decision to make.

But the problem is sometimes teams will run man. And like we saw when they played Miami last year, it didn't matter what plays they called. It was just outmatched. Same thing with Notre Dame. And so when they run up against those problems, that's still going to be the thing. But I think against a lot of the ACC teams that they'll play this year, I think that they'll have a really good fighting chance to be in on the mix. You talk about keeping players out of the portal.

You talk about what it's like retained talent there. But you've talked about K Bell multiple times. I'm a big K Bell guy. I think that he's one of the rising stars in coaching. I think he's going to be a head coach of the Power 5 within the next four years, tops. I'd say so. Do you think that Pitt can hold on to him beyond this year? Or do you think like, hey, this is the year.

Y'all better get what you're going to get out of this one because there ain't going to be too much juice left to squeeze as he'll probably be receiving at least a G5 or G6 head coaching offer in this offseason? I think the main thing that they want to do is they want to keep Cade Bell and Mason Hintchel together. Because I think I think Cade Bell recruited Mason straight up. Like that's it. That's his kid. That's his guy. He wants to develop him.

And I don't think Cade wants to walk away from a quarterback at a Power 5 school that is his unless he takes them with him. And I think that to me is the key here is if Pitt can find a way to say, hey, Mateson Hintzell, you belong here. That might be what keeps Cade Bell around longer to say, hey, you know what? I'm going to stick with this quarterback that I've developed. And then like if I can develop him into a guy that's a first round pick, that'll be the thing to be like, hey, that dude makes offenses and he makes quarterbacks. And so we're going to, we're going to offer him a bag to be a head coach soon.

So I mean, do I think people are coming to call it? Absolutely. If Mason Heinzel's gone, you know, this offseason, maybe Kate Bell isn't here right now. Maybe he has taken an offer from somewhere else. But truly, I think part of it also is Pat Narduzzi has developed a loyalty amongst his staff that like coaches love to coach for him. And like, you know, you look at Corey Saunders, their current defensive coordinator. He was a safety's coach for years on this team.

Arch Griffin, the guys that they have, Archie Collins, excuse me, the guys that they have on his staff who have been around for such a long time, there's a loyalty that Pat, that they appreciate from Pat and Arduzzi. And again, they appreciate the system that they're in. You know, Pitt doesn't have, you pit does try to be in the transfer portal game, but so many players stick around at Pitt because they believe in what Pitt's doing. Pitt's budget, as far as where I understand the NIL budget, is dwarfed by most of the ACC, yet somehow they're always in the thick of it. I think that is kudos to this coaching staff.

And I think I think Kate Bell doesn't necessarily want to just walk away from that too quickly unless Mason Heintzel's going and or he's going to a situation where they have an established quarterback that he's like, I want to put my name on him too. And that's a good point you bring up about staff continuity because you see Randy Bates retired this year and what is Pat too. He hires within and adds Corey Saunders to go up there and be the guy. And he's in ninth year pit under Pat. So, yeah, the trend has been you hire a guy as your OC. They bring the quarterback Oklahoma did that with Ben Arbuckle, John Mateer. We're kind of seeing now of Eric Morris leaving North Texas, go to Oklahoma State, bringing along his quarterback as well.

So I would think as long as Kate, as like you said, as long as he's there, they have a good chance keeping Mason Heinchel. But if Heinzl leaves, probably Bell's gone. If Bell leaves, probably Heinzl's gone, and we'll see how it plays out. Looking at the over-under for Pitt. We're going to have Fandul, seven and a half wins right now, according to them. The road schedule, that's tough, man, at Virginia Tech, at Miami, at Louisville, at Cal to finish off the season. Where are you at with the over as far as pit?

They're going over, they're going under. I'm giving them the over. I think the day they will be able to come out strong. They'll beat the teams they're supposed to beat Miami of Ohio. I think they can take UCF and Syracuse. They'll take Bucknell. I think they go four and oh there. I have them losing to Virginia Tech.

That's just a tough place to play. James Franklin's going to be. be getting them up for that game. I think they beat North Carolina at home and Boston College there. So right there, I got six wins. And then you get down to the last, what, five games of the season, I don't have them going into Miami and doing it. I just, I can't pick them doing that. Georgia Tech toss up. They, they have a weird history of them and back and forth with the yellow jackets, man. The Rambler wreck be giving them a hard time, but sometimes they dish it back. Florida State, another toss up. Louisville, I think, will be interesting because Louisville's

supposed to be really good this year, but there have been several times where I thought, Louisville's completely outmatched Pitt and Pitt found a way to dug that one out, Pat Narduzzi style and just making a game really defensive and really muddy. And then you get at Cal. So I'm thinking they can win six games early, struggle in the first half of the season, struggled against maybe Miami, lose a game to Georgia Tech or maybe to Louisville. But they'll get the other two, at least, I think, between Georgia Tech, Florida State, and California. I think they win two of those three, and that gets them over the hump to get there.

And I will say just want to put this one out there as far as week one against Miami, Ohio. Word on the street is that they have some whale donors and they have a $10 million NIL budget for their football program in the Mac. So that will be one to look out for week one. So I'm not saying Pitts on episode alert. But if it does happen, just want you all to know right now Miami, Ohio apparently has some money. So that's going to be a school. That's good to know because listen, the Mac the Mac don't play. I know the Mac shouldn't be real out there.

Miami, Ohio. That's where Ben Rothersburg is from. So Pittsburghers know that school very well. But I think that that could be one that would be very interesting to catch Pitt off guard. But hey, I think, you know, week one, I'll be there. Accresor Stadium, September 5th for a 1230 kickoff. You know, if Pitt can start the season out right or get around. But if they started out wrong, oh, boy, it's going to be a lot of alarm bells sounding in Pittsburgh.

1230 on a CW, I'd imagine, right? I believe so. Got to be. Okay. He's Christopher Carter, host of Lockthoddusts, Steelers. also covers Pitt Panthers for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. I appreciate your time as always, man. And hail a pit.

All right. Thanks again to Christopher Carter from Lockedon Steelers. And, of course, also covers Pitt for the Post Gazette for joining us on today's show. It's going to wrap up with this edition of the Lockdown ACC Podcasts for a Lockdown Podcast Network. We're your host, as always, Julian Counsel and Kenton Gibbs. Again, y'all subscribe and follow the show for free over on YouTube and wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. And be sure to follow us over on Twitter at Julian Council and at T. G-G-I-F-K-Kitten.

And it means not be safe, be happy, be-whole. And we'll talk to you all on Monday, where we're back for another preview week episode. We got Duke, Florida State, and Cal on tap on Monday here on Lockdown, ACC.