Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - REDEMPTION: Louisville Cardinals and Jeff Brohm SET to Bounce Back Strong in 2026 ACC Football?

Episode Date: August 7, 2026

ACC football faces a shake-up as contenders shift and dark horses emerge—can Virginia and Louisville reclaim dominance, or will Georgia Tech and Syracuse disrupt the status quo? Julian Council and Kenton Gibbs spotlight regression, bounce-back, and steady teams primed for the 2026 season, analyzing pivotal roster changes, quarterback battles, and key coaching moves across the conference. The conversation covers Georgia Tech’s physical run game, Wake Forest’s transfer challenges under Jake Dickert, and Syracuse’s hopes riding on a healthy Steve Angeli. Virginia’s portal-heavy rebuild is scrutinized after a string of nail-biting wins, while North Carolina’s talent pipeline faces questions. Insights include the impact of Miami’s and Louisville’s shifting conference records, plus predictions for which squads will maintain their place amid relentless competition. ACC fans—get ready for bold projections, inside stories, and in-depth analysis of the league’s next chapter. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! KALSHI For a limited time, Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get up to $500 in bonus credits when you trade $25. 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. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast 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.

Which ACC teams are due for a regression, a bounceback, and are likely to maintain their place in the standings in 2026. We'll tell you right 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 in today's episode of Locked-on-A-C-C. is brought to you by Cali for a limited time, download the Cali app and use code locked on to get up to $500 in bonus credits when you trade $25.

As we continue to count down today is to the beginning of the 2026 college football season here in the Atlantic Coast Conference. We're going to do a little exercise today. We're going to give you one team each that we think is going to bounce back this fall. That's going to regress from last fall. And another team that's going to just maintain their place in the standing. It's hard to win football games, y'all. So be able to stay there as an eight, nine win team, help. Stay at a seven win team.

That's not bad. So we'll give you one regression candidate, one bounce back, and one candidate that's going to maintain their standing this upcoming season. Let's start out with the positives and talk about a team that's going to bounce back after a poor year from last fall. Kenton, who are you looking at this upcoming season you think is going to bounce back? I mean, when you look at the overarching theme of the ACC and who was bad last year, who were teams that were like, man, there should have been. some something there that we didn't get. The main one that you think of is probably going to be a Florida State Seminoles. But I want to point to another team really quickly because this team,

despite all of the talent that they had, despite all of the big upsets and wins they had, they ended up finishing in the middle of the pack. And that's the Louisville Cardinal. I know that people are going to look at me and say, they're a nine-win team. What does bouncing back look like for them? I think that their conference record was 500,

and they're going to be much better in conference this year than they were last year. I don't know what happened with Louisville last year, because there were certain games where you were just like, oh, no. And the thing is, it's part of Brian Brown experience. You're going to win a game that you shouldn't every year, and you're going to lose one that what leaves you walking away, like, wait, how? How do we – where in that game did it make sense for us to lose it? But last year, there were multiple games that you walked away from saying, wait, what?

We lost to whom exactly? And so you're not going to see that this year. I don't believe because you could say, well, Cal, you know, Virginia went to the ACC championship. Kyle, that was an upset, Clemson and SMU. Those were all three teams that you would say, hey, they should just about beat them. They weren't competitive against SMU. They did not look like they belonged in the same field as SMU. that was the game that won a year that they looked like they forgot how to play football

Clemson they needed that when they get to a bowl game. I don't care if there's a paw on the side of their helmet. I don't care if that was the head coach. That was a team. You could have put it out of their misery for the year. You could have said, hey, no bowl. Go home early. Go on.

Oh, y'all. You got some NFL guys. Go get ready for draft. And what happened instead? You lose that game. So, you know, the Cal Ups. as well, lumped into there, it's just like, well, damn, what happened last year to get this thing going off the tracks and lead us down the three game losing street? I think that they'll be better than that this year.

Yeah, that's an interesting pick because I definitely did not think that would be your choice, especially when, I mean, you bring up, rightfully so, that they were a nine-win team, that they have been really good over the last three years under Jeff Brom, but we have seen that conference record go from 7-1 down to 6-2 down to 500 last year. And you're right, that Clemson game on that Friday night, Clemson had no business winning that football team. Louisville gave that away, the misfield goals, the mistakes that they made. And it's not like Clemson went out and really acquitted themselves well in that game in Cardinal Stadium. It was honestly an embarrassing effort from the Tigers, and Louisville still let them win that game. You're right, they were not competitive against SMU.

Cal was a tough loss. And then Virginia was an overtime loss where, I mean, just barely, just Chandler Moore's getting the end zone. And back then, we weren't sure about Virginia. No one thought they were going to be an 11-win team. team. And Louis was sitting there at 4-0. We were thinking about them being potentially, as things were still interesting with Miami and Clemson, they were off to a bad start. And you look at Florida State, they could potentially have been an ACC title contender. So I like that pick. For me, I'm going to go with Syracuse.

I'm not necessarily that high on the orange going into the season, but they were dreadful last year. It was the second time that we have seen them beat Clemson early in the season, then lose out every single game. When they won that game, Steve Angelly was leading college football and passing guards. They were three and one. They were two and one in the game against Clemson entering that Saturday before he tore as Achilles, but left that game three and one, then lost every single game. Go back to 2017, they were four and three. They knocked out Kelly Bryant beat Clemson on that Friday, and then they lost five straight games.

So this has now happened two times of Syracuse. That time they weren't that great. Last year, I thought they had some real talent at receiver with Darrell Gill, who's now at Ole Miss. Jante is also at Ole Miss as well. They had talent. And even at ACCC media days, there was a former Syracuse.

There's a current Syracuse player. Forget his name. He said that, yeah, the team kind of lost faith after Angelie went out. And you look at the rest of the roster. Is it overwhelmingly talented? No, I think Fran did a really good job in the portal of the first time around. We'll see how he's done this year. But having Angelly back.

And he's in a quarterback competition, but I expect that when healthy, he will be the guy, they can get to six wins. And at Syracuse, even though they had 10-win season year one, getting the six wins after going three and nine last year, that's a quality bounce back. So I'm looking at the orange to bounce back this season because they'll have Angelie back healthy

and he should be able to elevate what they have on that roster, especially offensively. I don't think that anybody in their right mind would say three games improvement for Syracuse is not a bounce back. And not only that, I'm going to ask you a very interesting stat that nobody realizes. Okay. How many games did Syracuse lose by single digits? last year.

One? Zero. Every single loss was by double digits. They were non-competitive in a lot of those games. And a lot of people say, well, Ken, you overrate how much a blowout matters and all that. A blowout, I don't take to heart. Nine?

Nine blowouts? That's a different, and you know what? I'll even give them the benefit of the doubt. Okay, all nine weren't blowouts. Sure, some of them got away late. A majority of those, games, they were not competitive. It did not look like a college football team

was on the field. Sure, they were competitive against UNC. Absolutely. Against Notre Dame, I was not competitive from start to finish. Against Pitt, not competitive from start to finish. There were too many games where they were non-competitive from start to finish for anybody to argue, well, six wins ain't really a bounce

back because they won 10 in year one. I love me some Fran Brown. And hopefully for the sake of Mrs. Brown, this is a bounce back year so that he could finally get washed. Nobody wants to smell him. stinking up the owl and stinking on the field. Nobody wants both stings. Pick one stink and stick to that stink.

But the reality is you need to have a more cohesive unit. And I like the fact that he addressed the backup quarterback position as well. Because having your starter go down, it's not ideal. It's happened to plenty of schools, you know. I mean, I hate to be that guy that's like, oh, look at my school. NC State had to play four quarterbacks in one year when they had the ACC preseason player the year and they won eight games that year. Like that it wasn't like, oh, our

ACC preseason player of the year is down, everybody, we're cooked, it's over, it's done, we don't have anything left. And I get it. I'm comparing year, I want to say eight or nine for Doran to year two for Fran Brown. So I do want to point that out to be fair to Fran Brown. But that team last

year, that did a number on my psyche for Fran Brown because as much as I know the quarterback is the most important position in all of sports. I struggle with the idea that a quarterback going down made you non-competitive in about 80% of your remaining games. Yeah, and that's really the problem because what was the rest of the roster like if you're not able to overcome that? And it was immediate. After they beat Clemson, the next week, they lose 38 to 3 at home against Duke. So it wasn't

like it took a couple of weeks with Ricky Collins as quarterback for them to completely fall up. Don't happen immediately. And yeah, they lose the North Carolina in a game where it was It was kind of close at half time. And that's when he played Joe Fulardi, the walk-on true freshman lacrosse. Which is insane. And say what you will about the job that Belichick did last year. Defensively, like those guys didn't really get up a lot of explosive plays, which was a sight for sore eyes for Carolina fans after watching all of just a bust under Mac Brown.

And really just historically, since Bush Davis left Carolina when Larry Fedora was around as well, they were going against a lacrosse player. Bill's going to take care of that guy. much like he took care of rookies in the NFL back when he was with the Patriots. So that was an insane decision by Fran. And you mentioned they now have a backup quarterback and Amari Odom from Kennesaw State. Malachi Nelson, who was the number one recruit out of high school when he went to USC. He's been from to USC to Boise last year was at UTEP.

So I'm hoping that if Angelie goes down, doesn't win the job, that they will be in a better position. But yeah, that was rough to watch last year for Fran. And hopefully he's not going to be as musty this season. with the orange, hopefully bouncing back this year. I think they will, but better quarterback play. But that roster also needs to improve as well. And the mentality of that team can't be what it was a year ago when they decided to basically give up after Angelian went down.

They started getting their ass kicked. So those are a bounce back candidates who are regression candidates. We'll tell you that here in just a moment 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.

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Back here on Locked on ACC, giving you some bounce back regression candidates and even telling you some teams we think are going to maintain their standing heading into this 2026 season in the ACC. Kitten, who's going to regress from having a strong season last or maybe even a middling season a year ago? You know, when I look at all of the teams in the ACC and what we saw last year, we saw a lot of teams that were, there was a huge glut in the middle. Like that, that was something that you cannot deny.

I mean, we had SMU at 6 and 2, Miami at 6 and 2, Pitt at 6 and 2, Georgia Tech at 6 and 2, Duke at 6 and 2, and then you had a ton of. of four and four teams from last year. So you had to ask yourself, well, who's four and four meant the most or who's six and two meant the most? Obviously, Miami going to a national championship game, their six and two in conference felt a little different than Pitts, eight and five, you know, ending to their season. So you're asking me who I think is going to take a step back.

And it has to be from one of those two groups in essence. And the team that I've got, I hate to do it because I believe in this guy. I think he's a heck of a coach. I think that Dickard and the boys take a step back. I do. I do. I do. And hear me out, hear me out.

I think the G.O. Lopez is better than what they had at quarterback last year. And so, you know, I really and truly think that Aston Daniels or was that, no, no, it was Robbie Ashford. Robbie Ashford. Yeah. Yeah. I think that Robbie Ashford was a big bowl of mid, you know, like some skyline chili out of the Ohio area, anything out of Ohio. going to be mid. But I think that Robbie Asher was a big bowl of mid. But the thing is, they had a very experienced defense last year. They had a lot of guys that were elder statesmen that had been there

for quite some time. And the thing about Wake Forest, Coach Dicker said, we've got to win the Wake Forest way because we have certain barriers up. One of the barriers that people don't know about, about Wake Forest, bringing in transfers is really, really tough there. Like they're, according to the rigors of their university on the academic and moral. standing side. It is a very different process than getting transfers into NC State, getting transfers into Clemson, getting transfers into Florida

State, getting transfers to the UNC. It's a very different ballgame. And so seeing what I saw out of them last year gave me a lot of hope. I wouldn't be surprised if they're a seven-win team this year, which by the way, I think it's still very good because their schedule their schedule this year

is just objectively a little bit tougher than it was last year. So I wouldn't be surprised if that's a seven-win team this year instead of not. Yeah, looking at their schedule, they have Miami at home on a Friday night. They're at Louisville the next week. They get Stanford at home. They're at State.

They're at Cal. Two teams, I think they're going to have a tough time bidding on the road, home against Virginia, at SMU, at Shored Detect and home again against Duke to close out the season. So, yeah, a tougher ACC schedule for them. And I do think Geo Lopez is a lot better than what we saw last year at Carolina. Remember, he did not come until the summer. He was not there for spring. Belichick Lombardi.

They wanted Ryan Brown from Purdue to be their guy, then told him after spring practice, yeah, buddy, you're not good enough. Go away. And Purdue actually paid him more to go back to Purdue than for him to stay in Chapel Hill. And they weren't really interested in Bryce Baker. They immediately brought another recruit and told you right then there. Yeah, Baker, that's a Mac guy.

He's not our guy. Tori Newkirk is. Now Bryce Baker's up in Virginia Tech. But they never really tried to cater the offense when Freddie Kitchens was the O.C. To what Gio Lopez does well, which is getting out of the pocket. which is utilizing his legs. We saw that at South Out. We did not see that last season in Chapel Hill.

And it was really just mind-boggling that they continue to put them under center to continue to do a square peg round hole and not try to build the offense around the strengths of their player. But instead, we're going to run an NFL system. And now it seems to be different with Bobby Petrino as he's going to cater it to what he has talent-wise, which is what a smart OC does. And what a smart coach in general does. So I do think he'll be better. I still question just how much better he. he really will be at Wake and if he can be good enough to try to keep them from falling off from that 9-1 mental, which Wake having that, that's always going to be a question the next season,

even before the NIL transfer portal era, whether they could be a team that could maintain that status. So I love with Jake Dickard, it is done at Washington State, what he's done so far in one year at Wake, but I certainly am questioning with all the losses they had at receiver like Chris Barnes, Sterling Burke-Hulter, and Carlos Fernandez is back, but then you lose a guy like Melbourne Siani to Texas, which is going to just continue. happen. Ibrahimovah, the Mateen, he's gone to Texas tack. It's just tough to lose some of your

best players, especially in the trenches and out wide. So we'll see how they do. Now, for me, my regression candidate, it's UVA. They want 11 games. They want 7-1 in the ACC. I have a hard time seeing them do that again this season, and it could start off 0-1

in conference play, which stayed at home in a couple of weeks, and that would not surprise anybody. And the thing too is, like, it's so hard to maintain that level so they could drop back to an eight, nine win team. And that would still be positive when looking at what Tony Elliott's Virginia was before last season and what they would be after this upcoming season if we're talking about 19, 20 wins over the last two years.

I do like the fact that they have a lot back from their offensive line like Mikhail Boldie and Noah Josie were both third team all-ACC picks, Drake METCAF. And to remember, Monroe Mills from Louisville was one of their key signings in the portal last season. He tore his ACL. He's back. So was McIll and Thomas, who also was in. injured during camp.

So they should be good up front, which should allow guys like Bro Perula to have success. But it's such a heavily portaled roster that I honestly do not know what to expect from the skill positions. Defensively, I think Zion Wilson from ECU is a big ad for them there in the middle of that defense at defensive tackle, getting Cam Robinson back, who may not be ready for that state game, will be important for them. But there's a lot of questions just about can they portal heavily again and be good enough. I don't think Virginia is to the point where we see Tony Elliott, we see transfer

to Portland, we're like, okay, they're going to figure it out. That's just my only thing. It's just a lot of wins last year, a lot of portal, not there yet with Virginia, that they can maintain that kind of level of being an ACC title contender every single season. Not only that, the way that they won last year is not sustainable. Five and two and one score games. Five and two and one score games. There's some years where you just have a special horseshoe in a special hidden place that

we can't exactly talk about on there. and that gets you some of those extra wins. I struggle to see that for them. And also, I am a big, big, big, big. You know, normally I get on here and talk about how much I love this guy, love that guy, I think this guy's great. I'm a big daughter of Boca Bula. He has a lot of room to show me like, oh, he's decent.

He's decent. And I also think that your point there about they could regress and still have a great season, I think that's also true. if they regress down to a nine-win team, is that a bad year for Virginia football? Absolutely. Hell no. Hell, nobody in Charlottesville would be saying,

nine wins at Virginia, the sky is falling. They're one of those schools. If Tony Elliott stays there for the next 10, 15 years, and all he does is an average of eight wins a year for the rest of his career, they'll build him a statue. He'll get a statue there. The reality is, I think that that's more in line with where they'll be this year.

I really and truly do. Like you talked about, heavily portled and Beau Perbueh as your quarterback, I'm not going to be surprised. And here's another very interesting thing. They benefited last year from playing NC State as a non-conference game. They lost that game in NC State, but it did not go against their conference record. So they were still 7-1-8 conference,

despite the fact that they lost to a fellow ACC team in Raleigh. Now, it took everything the NC State had. It took an interception by a defensive end. shout out to Key and Sloan. Yeah. And Chandler Morris missing like a wide open receiver too. Like, I mean, that was a game where Virginia could have had it. Who, wipe one off your head there.

But, yeah, I do think that Virginia is a prime candidate for regression. I just didn't want to pick them because everybody's picking them. Everybody said, oh, Virginia got so lucky last year. There's no way they repeat that. And here's the thing. Do I agree with that? Yes. But I also feel like it's tough for me to call it a regression if this team wins

eight or nine because it's like when you think about what Tony Elliott has been through while he's been there forget the overarching theme of what UVA football has been forget the fact that Virginia Tech was stuffing them in lockers for decades like literally if you look at that rivalry it's like Virginia tech tech tech tech tech tech tech tech tech tech oh Virginia again like that's that's that's kind of what happened there you look at some off-to-field tragedies that are one of one that no team has ever had to face. we were all rooting for him to have that type of year. We are all excited about Tony Elliott having the ability to do great things there.

It's just one of those things, man, where it's, I don't know if you can sustain 11. And if you go back to back 11, they need to be in the playoff. 12th playoff, 11 win Virginia, get their asses in because they earn it. And if Clemson falters again this season, it may be people being like, hey, come back home, Tony, we need you down here in Death Valley. Yeah, I think the Perbula thing is interesting because if he was, you know, I'm not going to say good, but if he was somebody that Eli Drinkwitz really felt high about, he would probably still be at Missouri. Instead, he's here at Virginia. And in college football, there's levels to this.

And Mazoo being the SEC, being permanently that 25th ranked team in the poll and being eight and four and never really challenging for anything, he was not good enough for them. And now he's there in Virginia. I do think having Eli Holstein is a backup. is a good thing because if something does happen for Bula, maybe he's not better. We've seen Holstein have his moments at Pitt the last two seasons, even though he got benched by Heinzsche or for Heinzsche.

Last year, that O-Line, again, I think can allow those guys to be able to have success potentially offensively this season. And, you know, the schedule, it's interesting to stay at home. They can win that to Norfolk State, West Virginia up here in my hometown in Charlotte, Delaware. Like, they could be 4-0. And then you go to Florida State and God knows if FSU's at that point in time, depending on Labor Day night.

and then against Alabama. So I know I just said the regression candidate, but it is possible if things maintain in a way and they don't fall off and they maybe are a 10-win team instead, they could get out to a hot start just based off of how the schedule could play out and how there's some kind of coin flip games there start the season. But those are games that they won last year, and it's hard to do that two years in a row,

especially with basically a brand new roster. All right, those are our regression candidates. Who do we think is going to maintain their place in the ACC standing in this upcoming fall? We'll tell you that here in just a moment. on Locked on ACC. Before the season even kicks off, everyone's making predictions. Who wins the conference? Who makes the playoffs? Who's lifting the trophy at season's end? On Calci, America's number one prediction market, you can trade those predictions in a live market. Will Virginia win the ACC this year? Right now, UVA is trading at 5%, meaning a $100

trade would pay out $1,875 in 20 cents if they win the conference on Calci. You're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house. And as a probability, changes you can buy in and out of your position. Trade a draft pick, the game, and more on Cali. Download the Cali app and use code locked on to get up to $500 in bonus credits when you trade $25. K-A-L-S-H-I-Ca-Couche trade on anything 18-over only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply event contract. Trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Cali products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calci.com.

Regulatory. One final segment here on this Friday episode of Locked-on, ACC, and thanks so much to all of y'all who have tuned in this week as we begin a new iteration of the show with me hosting alongside Kenton, Alex Donno. Appreciate all the work that he's done. You can still check him out here on the network with Locked-on, Miami, where he's going to be breaking down the ACC favorites and a national title contender Miami Hurricanes throughout this upcoming fall.

So go check them out on YouTube and wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Of course, if you love Donna, you can still check them out there. All right, we're giving you regression candidates. We're giving you bounce back candidates. Kenton, who is going to maintain their place in the standings this upcoming season? It brings me no joy to say this. It hurts my heart, really. Oh, my God.

There we go. Please ignore the ball up there that reads off a score of, I believe that's what, 35 to 7 or so. It doesn't bring me joy. It doesn't bring me joy. You know, it hurts me because I know it hurts Julian counsel's lineage, ladies and gentlemen. them and mom and dad born, bred, dead tar heel,

you know, he's one of those through and through. So it hurts me to say this. The tarhills are still going to be at the bottom. They're going to be at the bottom.

And again, I'm not tempering by putting in a call to my boy CJ Sadler. I just want a technician to be in a better situation. But they, you talk about the quarterback position.

You talk about, well, last year you had the situation where we all saw Johnson was better in that system than Lopez. for whatever reason you keep trying out Lopez. Okay.

Defensively, you weren't terrible. I actually would say defensively, they were not terrible. They were just on the field so damn much because the offense, I mean, you know, they couldn't run the ball. They couldn't pass the ball. Other than that, the offense was just fine. Like, it was that type of deal for them, right? So you talk about, well, what did they do to address those offensive holes?

Obviously, getting your boy Kelly back at center, I think that was a big deal for them. I think that he's going to help sure up that offensive line. But other than him, what are you seeing? What are you seeing outside of Christo Kelly? Say, oh, man, that offensive line, they're brand new. We got some bad dudes up front. Okay. And then you're backfield. What outside of the quarterback position? Well, actually, if we talk about the quarterback position, Billy Edwards, William Edwards is your guy. Potentially. Yuck. The fact that he's even in the competition is the problem.

You know, like, Julian, I know you've been off the dating scene for quite some time, but if you see a guy with a certain type of woman, you just like, oh, oh, that's the best he could do. I ain't going to get mad out of my head. He did the best that he could do with what he got. And that's what I look at with UNC right now. And then defensively, I mean, they lost everything outside of their star defensive end. Them there, everything else is going.

So it's going to be the Jordan Ships show, and you're going to hope that your defensive end that was one of the leading Sackman and ACC can do it again. And guess what? Even with him being a leading Sackman in ACC, how did the season go last year? So UNC, welcome to the bottom, buddy. Perpetual bottoming is what we're going to see from UNC here. Yeah, well, as long as Belichick's there, most likely, especially this upcoming season, I'm not very high on the tar heels. But notice, folks, I have not thrown a single shot at the Wolfpack all week long. And I'm taking shot after shots from KG my first week on a job.

Like that, that is wild behavior and how to treat somebody. I mean, this is the South now. We treat our neighbors with respect. I got plenty of nice things say about the Wolfpack. But let me at least try to make a case for Carolina not being God-awful this upcoming year. Talk to them. Okay. Quarterback play will be better.

Miles O'Neill was the ham-picked quarterback. for Bobby Petrano, the new OC here in Chapel Hill when he was at A&M. He never coached him at A&M because Jimbo got his ass fired. But he took the first snaps last week when the media was out there for their viewing portion. Now, that does not mean during team drills, during seven-on-seven that he took the first snaps. But he is going to be in the competition. And from people I've talked to close to the program, he is by far the most physically gifted quarterback that they have.

The only problem he has right now is got to put some touch on there. Everything can't be a laser mile. So if he wins a job, I think that's good news for Carolina. If it's Billy Edwards, then, yeah, I'm not feeling very good about it moving forward. Running back, I don't love to Monjeune. I think he's slow as hell. Caleb Jackson from LSU showed up fat, and they had him wearing 62 instead of his actual number. But Benjamin Hall, I think, can be a dude.

So I actually do like him. I think Tretch Cat Cahuna coming from Wisconsin. And then one of these other receivers can help out Jordan's ship. Carnel Warren, a freshman apparently, is look pretty good. They're much better at Tide Inn. That was a weakness for him last year. I don't know great about the offensive line. I know you bring back Christo Kelly and you brought him up.

I don't know if you can really anchor at that center position here at the FBS even the snaps we played last year weren't impressive. Adam Banfield is actually the offense alignment that they bring back. That's the most impressive. They do bring back Jordan Hall who started the last four games at left tackle last year. They never really had continuity. They only had two stretches where for four straight games, they started the same combination.

So I had a lot of injuries on the offensive line, especially at center, left guard and left tackle. right guard and right tackle is pretty much the same. So if they can have continuity, that will help them. And the fact that everybody was here with spring, no spring portal, no bringing a bunch of players after that. I think that helps him. I don't feel great defensively.

And Bill Tick, by the way, he is now going to be on medical leave. Bill Belichick said that on Thursday morning, hoping that he'll be back at some point in time soon. We don't know when that will be. Malkar de Bouguja is back. He did clean up when it came to Saks against the worst. teams on their conference, they're not even their conference on record,

but on their schedule last year. So that's the same. That's also against Richmond. But he's a solid player. I have a hard time believing that they upgraded from what they had in, Tyler Thompson and what they had in Smith, Gilbert with the other Penn State tranches they brought in and in Donovan Hoylett from Richmond.

I feel like linebackers probably worse. And like you look at defensive tackle, Leward Jackson, really good player. Zai Johnson was solved for them last year, but they do leave CISIA MEMs to A&M and Indiana and the Johnson province in Oregon. But they do bring at least high

highly touted freshman, but how ready those guys can play. So I think offensively, they will be better. Defensively, there was a good argument that they've gotten worse at every single spot. So I hear you there. But again, they were disciplined to the point where they weren't coming up a bunch of explosives so they can try to keep things in front of them. Force teams to have these 10, 11, 12 play drives, mistakes will happen.

That's the way they could be better, is if the player development, especially defensively, and with the recruitment, the influx of talent that's still young, has been able to really groom and cultivate. this offseason, then they could be better. But yeah, I'm not very high on the heels either. I'm just not going to be as disrespectful as you are, my friend. Hey, CJ, give me a call, man.

We got to call the island and rob. We got to call the island and rob. Hey, Mr. Sagan. Why didn't you call him before? Why did you not call Dave? Like, hey, Dave, there's this kid at Cast Tech. How about you go drop a bag for him? Hey, listen, listen, all right? Sometimes you know that the money just ain't right. Sometimes you know, the numbers just, it ain't

there, you know, and you got to accept that. No new friends. Oh, wow. here we go. Here we go. See, nah, but again,

the broke boys seem to be doing just fine since the institution, the NIL, five straight. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. If you're talking to me about, like,

who is the prime candidate for this, the reason I picked USC more than anything else is because all of the teams that I saw at the bottom, I'm like, all of you are equally just as bad. Like, I did not see anybody that I said,

oh, you had a great offseason at this, this bottom stage. So it left the room, it left the floodgates open for us to say, this team's not going to be good because we didn't see them. Yeah.

We didn't see them put together an offseason where we thought, okay, there's a shot. When UVA last year, they at least put together an offseason that while on paper, it was not great, it turned out to be great during the regular season. All of the bottom feeders from last year,

Stanford, nothing great, nothing to speak up. Boston College, nothing great, nothing to speak of in the offseason. UNC, nothing great, nothing to speak of in the offseason. So it's hard for me to tell who that team is. It's just so happened to be that they're the team I'm closest to.

You know, I'm the closest in proximity to. So that's what I came up. Who's your candidate to stay right where they are? I'm going to Georgia Tech. And I think this is going to be an eyebrow razor, obviously, for you and for a lot of people, because Tech always plays an incredibly difficult schedule. They're playing 11P four games this season with Colorado, Tennessee, and Georgia at a conference. God bless you, Brent Key for not being afraid. Now, I don't think Colorado is going to be

that tough. Tennessee breaking a new quarterbacks week two at home. That'll be interesting. But I just simply believe in Brent Key. Now, the Alberto Mendoza thing is interesting because if he was that guy, wouldn't he still be at Indiana? Maybe Signetti just didn't really want to have a young inexperienced quarterback, wanted to go with Josh Hoover, who does throw a ton of interceptions, but they feel like they can do something with him. I have no idea who they're going to throw the ball to, whether it's going to Jordan Allen or Isaiah Furman who left my alma mater, Elon to go there. But here's a thing that Brinkie once said when asked about the game playing in the second half, run the ball.

That's what they're going to do. And that's what their identity is going to be moving forward, especially with their just famous quarterback George Godsey backcalling plays there as the O.C. Justice Haynes could have been a Doke Walker finalist last year at Michigan had he not gotten hurt. I think he's spectacular. They paid a pretty penny for him, Malachi Hoseley. last year coming from Penn was excellent there next to Jamal Haynes.

And then Child Alexander was banged up last year. I think that trio can be one of the best running back rooms in the ACC. They bring back two starters. I'd argue with the nation, brother. Yeah, yeah, thank you. In the nation, because, I mean, Haynes is that good. You got two starters back on the offense line and Ethan McKinney back at left tackle where they're going to move Malachi Carney from right to right guard.

And there are some young guys like Jamison Riggs and Kevin Pee, who had really good springs that they like and they brought in a transfer Alabama. I think they're going to be solid up front. And then defensively, it was kind of a train wreck last year with Blake Gideon coming in as the D.C. After Tyler Santucci left them pretty late in the cycle to go coach for the Ravens. But now Brent brings back a guy in Jason Seymour, if you remember back in 2022, when Jeff Collins got fired and Brent took over, Seymour was on the staff as the linebackers coach. And what did Brent Keith task him to do immediately fix special teams?

Because they had so many punts that got blocked, so many kicks that got blocked, and they fixed it. That did not happen anymore. they upset North Carolina. He got the job. So Seymour now comes back as the D.C. And I think the linebackers who really struggled last year in Gideon system that Kyle E.J. Lightsey were experienced guys will now play better in this scheme. And back in 22, Seymour was one of the finals for linebacker coach of the year,

according to football scoop. You got guys through like Noah Carter from Bama and Jordan Walker, who should be able to elevate a pass for us that had 11 sacks last season. I think they brought in some solid corners in jailing them blockway from Alabama and Jonas Ciclona from. USF. I like what tech has. I like the foundation. I love the mentality in the flats. And Brink Key said they're back and they're not going anywhere. They may not be right now an ACC title contender, but I could see them getting eight and four. I could see them be right there as a nine-win team again. I think Georgia Tech is going to maintain and that they're here to stay as being a thorny side of all the ACC.

There are the greatest example of a team takes on the temperament of the head coach. Their head coach is no nonsense, physical downhill, no frills, and he doesn't make excuses. But he finds that little bit of personality in there that, you know, he wins ACC Media Day every year. He just does. When you put him in front of a mic and let him talk about what his team is bringing, he's going to bring it. As a matter of fact, he was the only coach to interrupt a reporter while they were asking a player a question to say, we're going to win championships here too when the reporter was talking about Georgia and how good they've been. So, you know, I really believe in this team.

I believe in their identity. I believe in that running back three-headed monster. And I do not use that word lightly. Three-headed monster at running back. If your quarterback can make the right reads and just hand the ball off, pull it, and show a little something with his legs in Alberto, they'll be just fine there. So I'm with you there. I'm definitely with you in Georgia Tech as a candidate to stick in that eight-nine win range.

Yeah. And Alberto just has to do his 11th. Just do your job. don't have to do everything, especially with how they have this roster built around you offensively. Yeah, Tennessee is going to be tough. They do have at Stanford. That's what game you would think they should win. Have Mercer, Duke at home.

It's going to be a Duke team that could have been a regression candidate as well, no longer having Darren Minta Cooper Barcade, losing plenty of talented players like Aaron Hall to the NFL and some others like Quayshon Brown transferring to Virginia Tech. But yeah, got Virginia Tech out on the road, B.C. at home at Pitt, home against Louisville, at Clemson, home against Wake, and, of course, Georgia and Athens between the hedges. So, yeah, never going to be easy for Georgia Tech, but Brinkie's not running from the grind ever. And I love that about him. So we'll see how the jackets handle this upcoming season. Before we sign off here, one piece of news, Cozo and McQueen, one of just the all-time great personalities in the history of ACC basketball, played on the 83 national title team under Jim Valvano there at NC State passed away on Wednesday.

So I wanted to shout him out. As a North Carolina fan, I am not ashamed to admit that my favorite 30 for 30 on E. SPN is survive in advance. I showed my wife back when NC State made their final four run a couple years ago, just to help her understand just like how cool it was, even though how sickening it was to my core, just because of what happened back in 83 and kind of just the similarities to those two years that the Wolfpack had.

Thankfully, there was Purdue and Yukon to prevent the apocalypse from happening, but just wanted to say something about him. Can you got anything to say, especially having been a letterman there at NC State? Yeah, so, you know, because Earl Queen, was not just like an amazing personality to the people of Raleigh and to NC State sports. He was somebody that was not only part of that legend,

but somebody who we all knew is this extremely kind, extremely caring, extremely given, just a human being, right? Off the court, just who he was, you know, a wonderful smile, good, great man, great man. And, you know, for those of you who don't know, I'm a member of a cop office attorney, incorporated and both his sons, are my pro fights.

And so I know the family very, very well. I know their sister, China as well. They're great people, great people of the McQueen family. And, you know, my condolences go out to them. Obviously, I've reached out to them privately. But you can't imagine what a loss like this means, not just to the family, but to the entire community. Because obviously, there's no other, you can't go back in time

and put another Cozell on that surviving event. team. He just is who he was. You know what I mean? Or he is who he is rather. And that's who he'll be in our hearts for forever. And especially within the family, you know, regardless of the 80s or how long everything happened, that's still dad, that's still husband, that's still father. That's still man of God. And so, you know, it's a really unfortunate circumstance and my prayers and thoughts are with them. And again, I've reached out privately and I'll continue to be there in any way I can be. But it's, you know, it's the circle of life, but we never really liked the ending of these books anymore. Cozano McQueen was 64 years old.

That's going to wrap up this edition of the Lockdown ACC podcast, part of the Lockton Podcast Network. We're your host, Julian Council, and Kenton, Gives. 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 TGIF underscore Kenton. In the meantime, be safe, be happy, be whole. and we'll talk to you all on Monday as we're going to go over some camp buzz. Everybody's back at camp who is shining so far, how the quarterback battle is going on.

We'll talk about all that on Monday here on Locked-on, ACC.