Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - SHOCKWAVE: Georgia Tech STUNS Clemson | Virginia Tech FIRES Brent Pry

Starting point is 00:00:00 Down go the Clemson Tigers. Now, does America need to be taking Georgia Tech seriously as a college football playoff contender? You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Shout out to the Everydayers. Happy Monday and thank you for making Lockdown ACC your first listen. He is Kenton Gibbs, former NC State defensive linemen and co-host of Lockdown Wolfpack.

Starting point is 00:00:35 I'm Alex Dono, host of Locked on Cains. We love the everydayers, and today's episode of Lockdown ACC is brought to you by Fanduel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the Fandual app today. On this loaded episode, we're going to talk with best-selling sports author Gary Myers, who wrote a book, Brady v. Belichick, the dynasty debate. Because I, we want to pick Gary's brain on Bill Belichick at

Starting point is 00:01:05 North Carolina, how that happened, why that happened, and can he turn around a college football program? We'll talk about the AP rankings that dropped yesterday, but bigger story, fair to say, is Brent Pry out at Virginia Tech? I didn't think it would happen quite this quickly, but when you start 0 and 3 and you're getting steamrolled every week, it had to happen when it did. But Kent and Gibbs, I mean, the story outside of the Pry firing, and I would argue, the even bigger story of the weekend was what Georgia Tech was able to do to the Clemson Tigers. Now, Georgia Tech was more physical. They led for most of the game.

Starting point is 00:01:46 Clemson did put themselves in position, though, to make it a knock them out, drag him out, fourth quarter type game before Georgia Tech kicker Aidan Burr, who not only went three for three in the game, lines up for a 55-yard game-winning kick at home and made himself the big, man on campus by drilling that as time expired. So Georgia Tech could beat Clemson 24 to 21. Kenton, let's start with the Clemson side of it. We started the alarm bells last week, and here we are. Donno, my week one had a lot of people doubting me.

Starting point is 00:02:24 A lot of people saying, oh, that Kent guy, he doesn't know ball. If he picked your team this week, you were going down. He doesn't know no ball, okay? This game here, this week here was a redemption week for me. Because from the Clemson side of things, I had concerns about their ability to stop the run. And if you cannot stop the run, guess who you do not want to see on your schedule in the ACC? The team who uses their quarterback as a battering ram, Georgia darned tech, okay? You had to see a head coach that is a former offensive lineman coming down the pipe when you cannot stop the run.

Starting point is 00:03:02 how did everybody think that was going to go for Clemson? How did everybody think that was going to go? So from the Clemson side, you have to do some major soul searching and some major getting it together because we've talked about the fact that Clemson could lose to LSU to start the season. They could lose to South Carolina to book in the season and they could still end up in the ACC championship. Now your role just got six. significantly tougher. And even if we think back to last year,

Starting point is 00:03:37 last year, Clemson needed, and I'm sorry to talk about this, Dono, because I know you got a little PTSD. Okay, I'm over. Go ahead. Grant Brown and the boys to stage a three-tuddy comeback to get them into the ACC playoff

Starting point is 00:03:55 or the ACC championship, which then in turn got them into the playoff. This year to start off your ACC. schedule with a loss to Georgia Tech, that's rough. And even beyond that, Donald, here's the most concerning thing about it. Because defensively, you know that the talent is there. And defense is mostly based off of alignment, assignment, talent. Do guys know where they're supposed to be aligned?

Starting point is 00:04:21 Do guys know what their assignment is? And do you have the talent to do it? When we talked about Miami's defense last year, right? The talent was there. The alignment oftentimes was not. You talked about the fact that they struggled major. against the very basic motions. That's an alignment problem that you cannot figure out, wait a minute, what are we doing

Starting point is 00:04:39 pre-snap, which then messes with your assignment? Clemson seems to have the alignment part down. They have the talent part down. Guys are not executing their assignment. So they may be able to figure that part out. They may be able to figure out, hey, this is how we're supposed to execute. That's not what's concerning to me. What is concerning to me is this why receiver court is supposed to be one of the best in

Starting point is 00:05:01 the nation has been a massive disappointment. What is concerning to me is your Heisman darling quarterback Has not played like a Heisman darling That chain is looking funny It's looking funny in the light, Donald. They said fake diamonds don't shine at all In the dark, some folks still bleed. It ain't shining at noon, Dono.

Starting point is 00:05:21 His chain not shining at noon. Too much enamel in that thing. Too much cubic taconium in that thing. So there's absolutely a lot to be concerned about with Clemson, but I'd say I'm more concerned about the offense than anything else. Yeah, so I pull up the Associated Press rankings here, which dropped on Sunday because, you know, we can use this to segue into the Georgia Tech side because, yeah, obviously we alarm bells with Clemson, but credit to Georgia Tech who kept in their 3 and O now, they just beat number 12 in the country. And I feel like this is one of those situations where, again, you have that, you live that charmed life in the rankings when you're in the preseason rankings. and now they don't really know what to do with teams like Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt at number 20,

Starting point is 00:06:05 who I think both deserve to be higher. So Georgia Tech knocks off number 12. They're 3 and 0, yet they come in at number 18. I mean, you talk about living a charmed life. Notre Dame is 0 and 2 and they're number 24. They've both been competitive losses, obviously, against good teams. But Notre Dame is at number 24 at 0 and 2. Georgia Tech comes in at number 18.

Starting point is 00:06:25 I believe the yellow jackets, based on the early season resume, should be ranked higher. And I think we have to look at Georgia Tech. And obviously, I look at my Miami Hurricanes as well, who put belt to behind on USF over the weekend, who deserve to be where they are at number four. Florida State is up to number seven now. But I look at Georgia Tech as a legitimate threat, keeping in mind there are other successful teams in this conference right now. Georgia Tech needs to be taken seriously as an ACC championship contender and thus a college football

Starting point is 00:06:59 playoff contender. Yeah, they absolutely should be. And I'll tell you what, at the end of the day, you think about the two things that travel, run game and defense. Georgia Tech has a high clip of both. They have a very high clip of both. They play good defense. They run the ball well.

Starting point is 00:07:16 You know, and so that's something that you have to look at and say, down the stretch, they're going to be a threat. they're going to be a team that gives people problems. Now, granted, at some point in time, with Georgia Tech now being the hunted instead of the hunter, people are going to be more tuned in to, all right, what do the numbers tell us, right? All of the motion, all of the misdirection, all of that. At some point in time, you just got to line up and punch people in the face. And that question is going to be remaining there for Georgia Tech.

Starting point is 00:07:46 But I will tell you, you can take nothing, not a darn thing. away from the yellow jackets right now because we all knew against Colorado, yeah, they were going to be the more physical team. Yep. Yeah. There was not going to be a doubt up front. That was going to be what it was. Against Clemson, however, Clemson with two defensive linemen that everybody's saying,

Starting point is 00:08:08 hey, they're going to be waiting in the green room for about 20 minutes before we hear their names called next year. That's a different store. A Clemson team that had four offensive linemen that were first team all conference or three offensive arm in our first team all conference to be more physical than them that that definitely says something Georgia Tech is living really really good right now and I'll tell you this Donna I'm gonna say one more thing I'm gonna give you one stat and then I'm gonna turn it over to you Georgia Tech does not have a single team left on their schedule

Starting point is 00:08:40 in terms of ACC play that meets the following criteria was rated in the upper half of the preseason power rank is by most folks and is currently undefeated in conference play and in general on their schedule. They don't have a single team like that left. They've got Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Duke, Syracuse, NC State, Boston College, Pitt. That's the rest of their ACC schedule. So when you talk about a playoff contender, I mean, Dono, which one of those games do you think they're going to be underdogs in in terms of ACC?

Starting point is 00:09:15 Yes, against Georgia, they'll very likely be underdogs regardless of what happens the rest of the way. But, I mean, Wake Forest, no. Virginia Tech, no. Duke, probably not. Syracuse, no. NC State, probably not. Boston College, no.

Starting point is 00:09:30 Pitt, probably not. So here's the way that I look at it then from a Georgia Tech point of view. So the other top two teams in the ACC right now are Miami, number four now. They moved up a spot and Florida State, who's top seven. But Miami, Florida State, they play each other. So if you look at this from a Georgia Tech point of view, you're in the driver's seat right now to get to the ACC championship game. And whoever wins between Miami and Florida State, that could be potentially an elimination game for whoever loses that game in a few weeks. So that's where I'm looking right now if I'm Georgia Tech.

Starting point is 00:10:08 But I want to take a look at some of the other most surprising results good and bad in ACC's week three slate when we come back. Plus, Virginia Tech Hokies have fired head coach, Brent Pry. You want to keep it locked right here. We're only getting started unlocked on ACC. We're only getting started, folks, with the game cap. And you see, that's what Kenton Gibbs has it on. Quick question for all the college football fans out there. If you could go back in time and sit front row at your school's biggest rivalry game,

Starting point is 00:10:42 what hat would you be wearing? Yeah, I said that. For me, and obviously for Kenton, it's the game. These aren't just hats. They're the same vintage styles that fans wore back in the 80s and 90s. And guess what? They still go for the same price they did back then. When you use code locked on, you're going to get your vintage hat for 1699.

Starting point is 00:11:02 I mean, look at that, Kenton. And, you know, you obviously didn't play so long ago at NC State. But when you were watching the film of the vintage teams from the early 90s and the 80s, you were seeing them wear that beautiful hat that you have on. Absolutely. Everybody remembers surviving events, baby. You know, everybody remembers Jimmy V and the bags being packed. And this was the hat that was featured prominently in that 30 for 30

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Starting point is 00:12:54 your first listen. All right, so Kenton, the next place we go after Georgia Tech's, you know, mild upset win against Clems. Although if you listen to Kenton Gibbs, it wasn't an upset because he predicted that I predicted a close win for Clemson. Kenton predicted the Georgia Tech dub. I had actually, Kenton in number, then number five, Miami against number 18 USF. I was a little bit conservative on that one. I went 31 to 17. You told me not to worry about USF because Miami is stacked on both lines of scrimmage. And the hurricanes, quite frankly, Kent, and I've covered Miami for a very long time. And I go back even farther as growing up a fan of the U.

Starting point is 00:13:32 This is probably the most, like, balanced hurricanes team and the toughest that I've seen since like the early 2000s, like lingering a few years after the last national championship. Ruben Bain and Akeem Mesedor on the edges have basically been unblockable so far. Miami's offensive line is as good or even better than you'd think a Mario Cristobal offensive line should be. Carson Beck is playing really well. And despite the fact that Kent and Miami had to replace their top six pass catchers from last year, you've got receivers like CJ Daniels, Malachi Tony and now true freshman Joshua Moore, Keel and Marion stepping up left and right.

Starting point is 00:14:13 The running back is working well. Mark Fletcher had a big day against USF. Like, listen, I've been following Miami long enough. to know that, you know, sometimes things can go wrong down there in Coral Gables, but this looks to me like the type of team that can contend into and through the playoffs. Dono, I'm not joking when I say this. This is the perfect storm for Miami. If Miami cannot win the ACC this year, this year in particular, they will never do it. If Miami cannot be a playoff team, this year, I am guaranteeing you as sure as the

Starting point is 00:14:50 the sun rises on the east and sets on the west, they will not do it. Because who could have predicted how Clemson was going to look? Who could have predicted that? All of this talent returning, when you think of, even if you take away the name, right, even if you take away the name, if I were to tell you there was a double-digit win, power 14, who won their conference last year, and they went to the playoffs, had a really good showing against a really good team, but came up a little short, right? but played the best game passing the ball of any team that played,

Starting point is 00:15:24 the team that they lost to all year, right? And they returned 84% of their production. You would have said, oh, that's a surefire slam dunk. They're going to be phenomenal. Again, take the name off the side of the helmet. We don't even got to say you've got a multi-time winning, a national championship winning head coach. Just those things alone add up to that team's going to be phenomenal.

Starting point is 00:15:44 Clemson has looked pedestrian at best so far this season, right? Florida State, who is. resurgent is just that. They are resurgent. And also, I'm going to be honest, we haven't really put a diamond tester up to their chain yet. With all due respect to Florida State, we ain't really saw

Starting point is 00:16:01 that we have not seen them against a team that knows they were coming and expected them to be really good. Alabama looked completely and it's still like Florida State beat Alabama. I do not take that away from them. Absolutely. They didn't look like

Starting point is 00:16:17 Bama. They didn't look prepared. And how many have we seen under Kalin the board that is the story they are unprepared against unranked teams that's just the fact of life right they they had more losses to unranked teams last year than ranked teams interesting fact about that Alabama team for last year so you look at this and you say well what's going on here what's who are they really the only team that has lived up to what they're supposed to be so far that was in that upper echelon that was in that, hey, this group, we don't really have that many doubts about them, is Miami. And Miami's having guys making plays that you were not thinking about at all.

Starting point is 00:16:57 Dono, you're the Miami guy. Was Malachi Tony expected to be an impact player as soon as he stepped on the field in the way that he has been? Not, not quite. I knew he was going to be a player, but to see him do what he did against Notre freaking Dame week one as a 17-year-old, I wasn't quite expecting that. the boy can't even get into 18 and up clubs yet. Y'all remember what it was like back there. That's mind.

Starting point is 00:17:21 We ain't going to go there. But the young man can't even get into an 18 and up club yet. And he's making one of the best defensive back groups in the country. At least we expected them to be. They haven't looked like it so far. But a group that we expect to be one of the best of the country looked like fools. Miami's got receivers out there making hellified place everywhere. So this team here, they have got to, got to, got to do it.

Starting point is 00:17:45 because everything is rolling in the right direction for them. And again, you talk about what travels, run game and defense. You've got a literal hurricane coming off the edge in Ruben Bain. And you've got a stalwart, a stonewall of Mr. Everything in CC, Maui Noah on offense. This is Miami's year to win the ACC. Meanwhile, this is a crossroads in Blacksburg, Virginia. and Kenton, I think the fact that you and I made an executive decision not to lead off the show with a coach being fired, I think tells you a lot about how far Virginia Tech has fallen off since the Frank Beamer days. The Virginia Tech Hokies, they didn't just lose to Old Dominion, and this happened again at home.

Starting point is 00:18:36 They got demolished, 45 to 26, and it wasn't that close. Like Old Dominion, what were they up 31-0? and then they took their foot off the gas. Like Virginia Tech didn't show up. And they didn't show up in the second half at all against Vanderbilt. You know, they actually like, okay, they showed a little something on defense against South Carolina for a bit. But Virginia Tech is 0 and 3.

Starting point is 00:18:57 And their former head coach, Brent Pry, entered the season as the consensus hottest seat in the Atlantic Coast Conference. It doesn't make it three weeks. And I'm not going to question that decision, Kenton. That move needed to be made. Brent Pry has been fired. Donno, we're talking about two Big East teams that were headed in the exact opposite directions, right? When you think about the teams out of the old Big East that came over to the ACC, it was a

Starting point is 00:19:25 situation with Miami where they've had some down times and now they're headed upwards. And you're looking at a Virginia Tech team that came in to the ACC and basically for years had a chokehold on the Atlantic in a very meaningful way. and oh, how the mighty have fallen, all how they have come in and had so many problems with everything that is going on after Beamer, you're absolutely right. You cannot bring a power four coach back

Starting point is 00:19:57 that starts off the season. Oh, and three with two, and mind you, this was year four for pride. You come into year four with a losing record overall. You're 0 in three in your first. three and two of those games were non-competitive for a good chunk of the game. The entire second half against Vanderbilt, non-competitive. That was not a competitive football game.

Starting point is 00:20:21 The entire game against ODU until they decided, all right, let's calm down. You had ODU players in the end zone hitting NCAA, or I'm sorry, college football 26 celebrations in the end zone. Yeah. doing a whole step-back crossover fade away into the trip out on your field Blacksburg used to be hollowed ground you used to have to respect that place when you came in regardless of how good or bad of a year that that team was having so when I look at those things in conjunction together Virginia Tech is a proud university with a proud tradition and they should not be mocked. They should not be laughed at.

Starting point is 00:21:07 They should not be a national laughing stop to the level of, with all due respect, a UCLA, perhaps, right, who has also fired their coach. But with all due respect, the Bruins don't have the same legacy that Virginia Tech has. They just don't. They don't. Westwood is known as a basketball place. They're known, oh, you know, John Wooden did all those great things. Oh, you know, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar back when he was called, back when he had a different name, was oh yeah you know that's a good UCLA has never been the spot that people think of in terms of

Starting point is 00:21:39 if you want to play some good football that's where you go and so to see that Virginia Tech has fallen off to the point where UVA players are saying hey class of 26 recruits you know where to come just for reference dono that's a robbery that's played every year and I want you to guess how many times Virginia has won it since the year 2000. year 2000 I don't know five times twice Twice? Two thousand three in 2019. Wow.

Starting point is 00:22:08 Yeah. And that school is now looking at you as if their coach's seat isn't hot as fish grease in the middle of July. Now, mind you, he still got a seat. So I guess you can say that if you're them. But it's a really tough situation. All right. So the last thing, we're going to talk with bestselling author Gary Myers here in a few minutes about Bill Belichick at North Carolina. He wrote the book Brady versus Belichick, the dynasty debate.

Starting point is 00:22:34 But okay, so Virginia Tech needs a new head coach, Kenton, and the coaching search has effectively started. I've been trying to look at, like, coach candidate hot boards. Obviously, people are, they're going to bring up the name Shane Beamer, you know, given who his daddy was and growing up in Blacksburg around that team, Beamer. And South Carolina doesn't look that great right now. So I don't know. Maybe he will want to go try to finish the job that dad started there. But, you know, Shane Beamer would be like, I guess, the pie in the sky for the. them, you know, they're, I see like Alex Golish, who's the coach at USF may be on their hotboard.

Starting point is 00:23:10 I've even seen some folks wondering about, you know, the most famous Virginia Tech alumnist, Michael Vic, who is very green in the coaching season, Norfolk State right now. But I've even seen him show up on some hotboards, Michael Vic coming to Virginia Tech. I mean, what, well, any specific name you want to go all in with or what sort of profile do the Hokies need for their next head coach. Because I think this is the most important time in the history of their football program since things fell off the tracks. Hokies, if you can hear the sound of my voice, Virginia Tech Board of Regions, if you can hear

Starting point is 00:23:47 the sound of my voice, look at another technical school in the ACC and look what they did. They gave an unproven position coach that is an alum of that school and loves that school a chance and look what he turned them into. This is J.C. Price's job. Give him the interim tag and let him cook for the rest of this season. And if he gets you about four to five, really, to me, with the rest of Virginia Tech schedule, if he gets you three wins, give him at least two years to be the guy. Give him at least two years to be the guy.

Starting point is 00:24:25 But I'm telling you, a lot of those guys that you're talking about, those pie in the sky guys, Donno, let's be honest. Is Blacksburg that attractive of an option right now? Regardless of what these last two coaches have done, you will always live in Beamer's shadow until you do something special, special there. That is a team that does not have the most resources in the world with all due respect.

Starting point is 00:24:49 They don't have the resources of some of the bigger schools, but you know what they do have, the pressure of one of them. Virginia Tech is on the borderline where I don't think you'll get fired if you win eight games a year there for forever, but fans will start to get restless after a while. There are many other schools that if you're goalish, you could go to that school and eight games a year,

Starting point is 00:25:11 they'll build you a statue. They'll build you a statue, and then you can get the big, big money job where there is more pressure. There's plenty of schools where, I mean, Shane Beamer is at one of them. If he wins eight games a year at South Carolina and beats Clemson regularly,

Starting point is 00:25:25 they're happy. South Carolina is not going to fire you for that, brother? So I think that there's a situation where you start off giving J.C. Price to enter him tag, let him kind of cook there. And then when you go from there, I think that your next hire has to be a guy that knows like, hey, I really want to be here. I really want this bad because this ain't just a job for the faint of heart. This ain't a job for we're going to be good in a year.

Starting point is 00:25:52 No, no, no, no, no. You've got to reestablish some important recruiting ties there. and you've got to really dig in to be great in Blacksburg. When we come back, we're going to talk about Bill Belichick at North Carolina with bestselling author Gary Myers. You want to keep it locked right here. We're not done yet on this brand new episode of Locked on ACC. I'm so glad it's football season.

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Starting point is 00:27:59 first $5 bet. Thank you so much for making Locked on ACC your first listen and your first watch. For your next listen, make sure you check out Kenton Gibbs and Grayson Boone, who do an awesome job on Locked on Wolfpack. I host Locked on Cains. And of course, here on Locked on ACC, we cover the North Carolina Tar Heels. And you talk about perspective. Let's bring on our special guest who is a best selling author of seven different sports books, including Brady versus Belichick, The Dynasty Debate. And who better to pick a brain on Bill Belichick than Gary Myers, who joins us. Gary, welcome to the show.

Starting point is 00:28:40 And I got to ask you, with all the research you've done on Bill Belichick and the Patriots dynasty, were you surprised at all when we got that news several months ago that Bill Belichick is taking a college head coaching job at North Carolina. I was shocked. But then when you think about that he still wanted a coach very much and nobody in the NFL was going to hire him, well, he wasn't going to go coach in high school. Maybe he would have. But, you know, his fact that his father coached at North Carolina was probably a little

Starting point is 00:29:12 bit of an emotional attachment to him, whether that was an awfully long time ago. I just think he was desperate to coach. Now I'm not saying that you only take the Carolina job if you're desperate. I'm just saying it just shows how much you want to the coach that he's willing to get into this whole NIL transfer portal era, which has got to be just incredibly difficult for any coach. But a guy who's never coached in college, it's just got to be just a monster task. Now, Gary, I know that in America we like absolutes. We like a quick answer, 100 here, zero here, zero here, 100 here, whatever it looks like, right? But in terms of the success that we saw from the Patriots and all that,

Starting point is 00:29:51 what percentage would you say this is a direct result of Bill Belichick? And do you believe that he can recapture that type of magic that he had going way back with Parcells and then with the Browns and then with the Patriots? Or is it kind of like B.B. King said, the thrill is gone. It's over. Wow. I mean, I would just bet on Belichick turning it around to Carolina because he's, He's a great coach.

Starting point is 00:30:18 Yeah. And, but a great coach needs really good players. So we don't know what kind of recruiter he's going to be. And, and how much he's going to be able to really, I know he, he's got like, what, 70 or 75 new players at Carolina this year. Then he, then they had, you know, a turnover from last year. I mean, I don't know how good they are. I saw, I watched the TCU game. I wasn't overly impressed at that point about on the roster that he put together.

Starting point is 00:30:45 but he's so good at what he does and he surrounds himself with smart people that I think that he will be able to to assert himself as you know and win there to the degree that he won in New England it really depends on whether it gets himself a great quarterback it really comes down to do you have a great coach do you have a great quarterback and if you have both then you can I think you can win because you fill out the roster and win that way. But if he doesn't have a great quarterback, then he's not going to win there. And is he going to be able to recruit a great quarterback? I don't know. He didn't in the first transfer portal from what I saw on opening night. I don't, I didn't really pay attention to the last couple of games. I know they won. They

Starting point is 00:31:33 won big on Saturday. The quality, he's not into the ACC schedule yet. So we'll have to wait and see. But he was very instrumental in what happened in New England. I mean, you'd be foolish to say that it was all Brady. Now, I think the majority of it was Brady as it evolved. Early on it was all Belichick. He didn't have a great quarterback when he went there. Drew Bledso, he was not a Drew Bledso fan and Tom Brady was a sixth round pick. So he proved with Brady that he could develop a quarterback. And Bill was very instrumental in Brady's development because the quarterback coach, Dick Raybine, passed away in the middle of his second training camp and Bill became the de facto quarterback coach during the most important part of Brady's career.

Starting point is 00:32:17 He helped develop him. So you have to figure that if he gets somebody in North Carolina that has some ability, that he and his coaching staff are going to be able to turn him into a really good college quarterback that can potentially get him into the playoffs, not obviously not this year. I don't think it will happen. But I wouldn't be surprised if next year that Carolina has a really good team. We're joined here by bestselling author Gary Myers, who wrote, among other great books, Brady versus Belichick, The Dynasty Debate. And Gary, you mentioned it a little bit there on Brady.

Starting point is 00:32:50 You know, you look at his, I remember the debate was a lot more fierce when Brady was still in New England. And people would, you know, I've been doing sports talk for many years. And what one of the default topics is, is it Brady or is it Belichick? But then, you know, you fast forward to the post Brady era in New England. when Brady went down to Tampa Bay, got himself another Super Bowl, was a perennial playoff guy there while it went in a different direction for New England. Like how, when you're writing this book, like how much did that debate change in those final few years when Brady did what he did in Tampa?

Starting point is 00:33:25 Did that seem to settle it on the Brady side? Alex, I don't think that has anything to do with it. To me, it's irrelevant to the argument of what they did together. And Kenton, by the way, you're shaking your head. You probably don't agree with me either. But I think what they did a part, there was just different circumstances. Tom picked a really good team in Tampa that just needed a quarterback who wasn't going to throw 30 interceptions like James Winston had done. I mean, they won seven games the year before he got there.

Starting point is 00:33:53 And the quarterback threw 30 interceptions. Now, he also threw 33 touchdowns, which obviously is really good. But, you know, you turn the ball over 30 times. I don't know how many fumbles he had, but it was 30 interceptions. That team was ready made to win. had a good defense, good receivers, good offensive line. Belichick's downfall in New England, he didn't have a succession plan in place to replace Tom.

Starting point is 00:34:15 He thought it was going to be Garoppolo, but Brady kind of forced Garoppolo out of there. But Bill didn't, he had a couple more drafts after that to find a successor and never did it until he took Mack Jones, who turned out to be not so good, at least in New England. So I think the argument and the basis, of my book is who deserves the credit for what they did together. What they did a part, I guess I have no problem. Anybody who disagrees with me on this, but I just think what they

Starting point is 00:34:47 did a part is irrelevant to the argument. So Gary, I was actually nodding there because I do agree with you. Oh, okay. I told everybody that, you know, Tom Brady going to that, that, that, you know, that Tampa Bay team, everybody said, oh, Tom was the secret sauce. And I'm like, so drafting Tristan Worse Smith means nothing. Drafting Whitfield means nothing. You know, their linebackers being developing into all pros overnight meant nothing because these guys were going in a year two, three, four, where you normally see the biggest jump. All of that means nothing.

Starting point is 00:35:24 It was just Brady. It was the Brady difference. Grock coming back to play with Brady again means. Nothing. Gronk, who had more touchdowns than O.J. Howard and Brate combined meant nothing. That meant nothing. It was all time Brady. So I agree with you that the situations that we saw conspire later didn't have much to do with it.

Starting point is 00:35:45 But I want to kind of dig into what you said there in terms of Bill Belichick as a quarterback developer. This is something that we are going to see at a high level or not in the future. But I also want to ask in terms of, do you think he still has it as a quarterback developer? quarterback developers is one part of it. And the next part of it, let's say that things do get turned around this year at North Carolina. Do you see this as a one-year reclamation project for Bill or do you see this as something where he could potentially stick in college long term? And again, we know this is all speculation, but just from your opinion, as somebody close to, you know, close to that situation between Brady and Belichick.

Starting point is 00:36:25 I mean, that's a really good question. Now, are you saying a one, one, and done because he wins this year? Yeah, because if he were to turn this around and things were to go correct or things were to go in a positive direction for him, do you see this as a one and done in that regard? Because I think even if he's terrible this year, the U.S. he's going to give him another year. They're going to give him another year regard. Oh, yeah.

Starting point is 00:36:46 Yeah. I mean, he can guarantee money for three years. Exactly. So if he turns this thing around, do you see this as a one and done or do you see this as a situation that plays out where we do see him get back in that developmental bag and building up a quarterback that, like you said, either comes from the portal or from high school to turn into something special. No, I don't think this will be one and done unless something unforeseen happens and they fire him.

Starting point is 00:37:11 But he's not getting another NFL job. I'm fairly certain of that. And if he starts to turn around this year, it's his chance to say I can join, you know, Jimmy Johnson, Pete Carroll, and Barry Switzer is the only coaches to win a national championship in college and a Super Bowl in the NFL. And that'll, you know, take his legacy to another level if he can win in college. I don't, you guys know more, I don't follow college football except for Michigan because my son went there. So I'm not really into the whole stuff.

Starting point is 00:37:47 I wouldn't imagine that Carolina has much of a chance to make the playoffs this year, right? Hell would have to freeze over. They'd be wearing meat coats in Dante's A circle. So we'll look at this as a transition year for Bill to become familiarize himself with the college game, how to improve the roster going forward in his second year, and get himself a quarterback, like I said. That's going to be the key to me. I don't see, unless they would win the national championship this year, which I guess they can't do unless they make the playoffs. And you say they're not going to make the playoffs, so I believe you.

Starting point is 00:38:25 I definitely think he's good. if it's his choice, he'll come back next year. The only reason it won't be his choice, I can't even imagine what that would be. And they just, you know, the Board of Regents or whatever, Carolina doesn't want him back. But I don't think he looked at this as a one-year thing. I think he's made a commitment there.

Starting point is 00:38:47 And he's got something to prove, too. Because even though I don't factor it into the Brady-Belichick argument in New England and in my book, I think he does need to prove. he can win without Brady, just for his own overall legacy. It would be better if he was in the NFL and can prove he can win a Super Bowl without Brady. But if he can win a national championship at a basketball school like that, and that's how we in New York look at Carolina. It's a basketball school.

Starting point is 00:39:16 If he can go down there and there's no reason in my mind that, I mean, I know it's a great school academically. There's no reason it should be a basketball school, not a football school. if he can go down here and turn it around and win big there, then that will do wonders for his legacy. And listen, as much as he can possibly say he doesn't care about stuff by stuff, he cares about that stuff. And believe me, it eats away at him and people saying he can't win without Tom Brady

Starting point is 00:39:44 because he didn't win before he had Brady and he didn't win after he had Brady. He wants to do that. Well, guys, let me tell you, our guest here, Gary Myers, He is the author for the sports junkie. You want to check out his new book, Brady versus Belichick, the dynasty debate. Gary's written multiple bestsellers on sports. Make sure you check him out. Amazon.

Starting point is 00:40:08 Is there any, Gary, any recommend, what's the best spot to get the book? Is it Amazon? Is there anything else you want to plug? Amazon, any, you know, Barnes & Noble.com, you know, any of those online, you know, those websites that you can pre-order books. And tomorrow, the 16th, it'll be in bookstores if it's not already. I'll tell you this. I walked into a bookstore on Fifth Avenue the other day.

Starting point is 00:40:33 And I was early for an appointment. And I just said, you know, I don't tell them who I am. And I just say, you get in this book, Brady v. Belichick in. And they go, let me look it up. And they go, you know, I think we got it early. We've had it in. And this was a week ago. So I went downstairs to where they keep the sports books.

Starting point is 00:40:51 And my book was there. So it might already be in bookstores depending, you know, but definitely tomorrow. That's fantastic. My favorite bookstore is closed in borders, all right, people. But I'm going to be sure. I'm going to be sure. So what I could convert from borders to Barnes & Noble. I really support the independent bookstores.

Starting point is 00:41:13 Yes, sir. So that's where I like to buy my books. Yeah, no doubt. Well, make sure you get Brady versus Belchick, the dynasty debate. And what insight, tremendous we got here from all. author Gary Myers. Huge thank you to Gary, Kenton, all the everydayers. We'll talk to you next time on another episode of Lockdown ACC. We are part of the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

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