Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - UNDERWHELMED: Penn State Roster Exodus FAILS to Boost Virginia Tech, Can Hokies Compete in ACC?

Starting point is 00:00:00 James Franklin is taking a dozen former Nittany Lions with him to Virginia Tech. Let's talk about the impact on the Hokies and the impact on Penn State. You are Locked on ACC, your daily podcast on the Atlantic Coast Conference. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. It's another epic locked on crossover. We got Zach Saco from Locked on Nittany Lions. I'm Alex Dono from Locked on Cain's, Kenton, Gibbs from Lockdown Wolfpack and thank you so much to the everydayers for making this crossover episode

Starting point is 00:00:40 your first listen. We're available free wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the number one lockdown podcast network, your team every day. There's been so much crossover with Penn State and the ACC, especially Virginia Tech. We'll talk transfer portal. We'll talk whether or not Virginia Tech can actually compete for an ACC championship next year because for the most part, the conference is pretty wide open. And of course, all this championship, James Franklin stuff. So, Zach, of course, you've been working tirelessly to cover all of this on Lockdown Nittney Lions with your former head coach trying to get the band back together in Blacksburg. Talk about some of the dozen former Nittany Lions that are now in Blacksburg,

Starting point is 00:01:23 including the potential new starting quarterback in Virginia Tech and the impact they can have for Franklin. And I think, I mean, I think that's a guarantee. I think Ethan Grunkumeyer is the starter and waiting as much as I liked Bryce Baker as a prospect. I don't think there should be any doubt that Grunkumeyer is going to be the starting quarterback for Virginia Tech over the next couple or three years max, right? I will start with this for maybe the sake of controversy, but also my two cents on it. If I'm Virginia Tech, I'm a little underwhelmed here. I'm kind of disappointed because a lot of the discourse, a lot of the chatter was that Virginia Tech was going to raid Penn State's roster, that they were going to get stars, they were going to get assistant

Starting point is 00:02:08 coaches, everybody in between was going, there was going to be a pipeline that opens up to Virginia Tech. And that didn't happen. Matt Campbell, part, we'll talk about, I know Kenton's going to give me a lot of flack for the Iowa State players all coming over to Penn State and that they're the nitty cyclones. I'm waiting for that. But Matt Campbell did an outstanding job of player retention at Penn State first and foremost and build a foundation. I think a player. I think a player, like Tony Rojas. People were trying to, it was, whether it was social media rumors or message board chatter,

Starting point is 00:02:39 but there was this anticipation that, oh, you're going to get, if you're Virginia Tech, you'll get Amari Campbell and Tony Rojas. And Rojas was in some Miami conversations for a hot second, too. Exactly. And that's the thing. Matt Camp, for somebody that seemed like, oh, he's going to walk out the door one way or another,

Starting point is 00:02:58 he stayed at Penn State. There were players that were from the state of Virginia that Anthony Donko, for example, he is an all-conference caliber offensive line member. He could have went back to his home state. He stays at Penn State, doesn't transfer to Virginia Tech. And then the assistance, okay, you pick up a quarterbacks coach that Penn State fans were good riddance.

Starting point is 00:03:19 He can go. But what about Anthony Poindexter? Dan Connor was expected to take the linebacker job. Dionne Barnes was expected to take the defensive line job. There was hope maybe, okay, do you get Stan Drayton? Do you get any of the other, do you get Terry Smith, the interim head coach? He wants to be Franklin's number two guy at Virginia Tech. And they didn't, the Hokies didn't get any of that.

Starting point is 00:03:42 You got Ethan Grunk-Meyer, you get a couple, maybe a few capable starters. But most of the players that were there still haven't proven much. And I don't know that a majority of them even start their first year at Virginia Tech. So if I'm a hockey fan, I am disappointed. And I think it's Cope if you're not. You feel that way, Kenton? That's very interesting. Coming from a Penn State guy, for this reason and this reason only, right?

Starting point is 00:04:10 I don't even mind the nitty cyclones thing and all that. I don't mind all that. Hey, hey, coaches leave. They take their players with them and all that. But in the composite rankings compiled from 247 and ESPN, Virginia Tech finishes with the 24th rank recruiting class in this year and the 14th ranked portal class as opposed to Penn State who finished with and I cannot make this up the 71st recruiting class in the nation they are the worst recruiting class

Starting point is 00:04:44 in the state of Pennsylvania including Temple and then the situation was rough though they had no head coach for a long time but but but the redeeming part of it which we have seen they've done well in the portal being the fourth overall team team in the portal. So I'm a little bit confused as to how Virginia Tech is supposed to be underwhelmed with 14th and 24th, but Penn State fans are supposed to be over the moon about 71st and 4th. I'm a little bit, the math don't exactly math there. Help me out, Seco. Tell me I'm doing the math role. Help me with how I'm doing the equation. I mean, maybe it's because, okay, I'm not saying Virginia Tech fans can't be happy and can't be

Starting point is 00:05:26 content. You upgraded your head coach. James Frank. And there is optimism there. I'm saying from the perspective, a lot of the chatter that I was listening to. And maybe it was just, are you, maybe it was just trying to take jabs on social media, maybe start to, you know, maybe bring up some fears that Penn State fans are going to lose their roster. Who knows what it was. But when you don't get, okay, hey, Dan Connor is going to be your linebackers coach. It doesn't happen.

Starting point is 00:05:55 You're supposed to get star players. Tennessee, I know they're not in the ACs. but Tennessee, they should be the ones that feel the best out of this because they took a majority of Penn State's Ross. Well, they only got four players. You got a combined, I think, what, a thousand snaps between all the players that they got. They got more out of four players from the portal between Chas Coleman and Xavier Gilliam and Amari Campbell and Dejan Lane. And then they get Anthony Poindexter and they get Jim Noles and they get Andrew Jackson, a former assistant defensive line. coach. That's kind of what Virginia Tech, I was anticipating for them, that you would get

Starting point is 00:06:35 star key impact players across the board, right? That was the understanding. And that didn't happen. So I'm not saying, hey, you can't be content with what you got. You got a dozen recruits, a dozen portal guys. But if Chas Coleman ended up at Virginia Tech, okay, Amari Campbell ends up, surely somebody, Anthony Poindexter, no, and they all go to Tennessee. That's a King Mack, right? King Mac ends up at the Wolfpack, NCS. There you go, Kenton. I'm at it. I mean, I'm at it. I get where you go. I get where you go. Let me, hold a little. Let me ask you guys this. Kenton, I can start with you. And then Zach, you can weigh

Starting point is 00:07:13 in, you know, obviously, because nobody knows more about James Franklin in this room than Zach does. I know we're going to see a lot of this between now and football season. People will be asking the question. Can Virginia Tech be a dark horse to get to the conference championship game because, you know, if Miami is able to get Darien Mensa over the finish line with what Miami's bringing back, you would assume the hurricanes who haven't actually won the ACC yet would be favorites to win the ACC next year. But then after Miami, there's a lot of uncertainty, Kenton. I mean, you know, is Clemson going to bounce back? We've had a couple of rough years for Dabo. I don't think Florida States any good with their lame duck head coach

Starting point is 00:07:55 still in place. You know, SMU kind of came close at the end of the day. Virginia had a magical year, but like, I don't know, Kenton, like, do you take Virginia Tech? Like, I think Virginia Tech at the very least is in the mix. Can they be a dark horse to get to the ACC championship? Well, you know, Jackson Holder and out the other day, we're talking about teams in terms of stock and investment, right? If you're saying buy them as a dark horse where like you put a little money on it and you're not, you're not banking the savings on them being there at the end of the year, I'll sprinkle something on it. And if the returns are great, we're going to live like kings off this thing.

Starting point is 00:08:30 Absolutely. Absolutely, I'll take Virginia Tech as a dark horse. Would I take them as my favorite to be second in the conference or to be in Charlotte at the end of the year next year, which is where the ACC championship is played, Seiko, in this case you didn't know. No, I wouldn't take that. I wouldn't take them as like, this is the horse that I'm on the ride and put all my money on. But again, as a dark horse, absolutely. Do I see them finishing top six-ish at worst?

Starting point is 00:08:56 Absolutely. I think highly of James Franklin as a coach, and I think much more highly of him than most people do, because I think 10 wins a year in the Big Tenor SEC, I don't give a damn how you got there. That is, it's untenable to think about firing that guy. And I've said this about Penn State, and people think I got a gripe of Penn State.

Starting point is 00:09:17 I say this about every single school in the Power 4, except like four to five. If you get 10 wins a year, be happy with that. That's that's even if you never get the upset, even if you never get, I'm telling you right now, I think that James Franklin is, is a great coach that's going to get them close. But do I bet on them to go? No, but do I bet on them as a dark horse? Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:09:42 Easy one. What do you think, Zach? In year one, it's one of those, because Duke was seven and five, right? And snuck, snuck their way into the ACC. title because of some tiebreakers and stuff. That's what I could maybe see for Virginia Tech, right? That's an interesting schedule, right? And I know we can talk more about it here in the upcoming segment as well,

Starting point is 00:10:07 but Virginia Tech has the foundation, has the building blocks to be seven and five, eight and four. And that's what fans are hoping for, right? So it's kind of all the, it's a matter of expectations. So anybody that's from Virginia Tech that is listening to this saying that, well, we're still happy we got James Franklin good because it was, well, are you going to be three and nine this season? Are we going to be four and eight? Look at our recruiting classes.

Starting point is 00:10:31 They're way outside of the top 50, the top 75. And now you have a solid group year in and year out. So it's kind of what, and Penn State fans, and this is part of my perspective is you should want better. You should want more. And BT is just, hey, let's get started. Let's start with seven and five, eight and four. And then we'll talk about ACC titles going 10 and two on a consistent basis, that type of thing. because there's nowhere to go but up for Virginia Tech.

Starting point is 00:10:55 But I also do want to reset. I just want to have a conversation about it. Let's not ignore the fact that maybe it's because Virginia Tech was trying to aim for the stars. You still hit the moon in the process. Like I said, overall, you just kind of cross everybody off the list. No superstar. The influx of assistant coaches, none of that. But you still got Franklin and you're still headed in a podcast.

Starting point is 00:11:22 positive direction. Well, when we come back, I want to break down the Penn State side of it, because from the outside looking in, the coaching search looked very chaotic, but boy, did they stick the landing. Like I thought the Matt Campbell hire ended up being great, and sometimes it's not about the journey. It's about the destination. You want to keep it locked right here. It's a locked on Nittany Lions, locked on ACC crossover, and we're only getting started. Folks, Fandual is officially in playoff mode. Every game day during the NFL playoffs, Fanduel is giving customers even more ways to get in on the action. Because right now, every NFL playoff game day,

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Starting point is 00:13:31 locked on Cains, and all of your other favorite shows. All right, so, Zach, I'm sure it was probably pretty stressful covering the Penn State coaching search. A lot of names came up, a lot of them were shot down. And then ultimately,

Starting point is 00:13:44 the guy that you landed, I think, was better than some of the guys who allegedly turned the job down. Yeah, that's the right way to look at it. You can say, and I'm not going to, you're not going to get the Penn State Homer take from me.

Starting point is 00:13:58 They lucked into this. They basically fell into success. I have no idea how. Just because I don't know what good fortunes are supposed to come away from firing a head coach that was successful, right? But Matt Campbell, why he wasn't one of the primary candidates, the initial reporting from, I think a bunch of different places, the New York Times, is ESPN, all came to the conclusion that, well, it was just kind of lost in the communication, lost in translation, if you will, that there was an agent that they reached out to. Well, that agent wasn't affiliated with Matt Campbell anymore, and he represents himself,

Starting point is 00:14:39 and he never passed on that information. So Matt Campbell never really knew that Penn State was interested in him, and he wasn't outreaching to them. That's kind of the understanding here. So I am not afraid to admit that Penn State, Pat Kraft, got very, very lucky with this search that that became the laughing stock the joke of college football all as well that ends well i suppose but certainly uh it was a 50 60 day roller coaster that it's uh they could have ended up with brian dable and i tried to kind of talk myself into the vision of it i am so glad they got

Starting point is 00:15:12 matt campbell because i do think he's somebody that can continue to sustain success of you know winning at a high level being a factor in the big 10 uh on a season by season basis that's That's really it. It's being relevant, but let's, you know, Kenton, you said, hey, you shouldn't fire a coach that gets you to 10 wins at a minimum every single year. It was just, we've hashed this out before. It was the same song and dance. Matt Campbell is supposed to win that Ohio State game every few years. You don't have to, well, here we go again. It's Ohio State. Well, here we go again. Michigan's peaking. Well, here's Oregon now. USC is now going to be peaking. And I'm not necessarily anticipating that in year one for them to go on the road and defeat Michigan. win against a USC team that is going to be one of the favorites in the Big Ten, or a silent, I think a dark course contender to win the conference or get to the conference title game for

Starting point is 00:16:04 26. But that's the idea is that he wins those games. And it gets Penn State over that threshold where you knew they knocked on the door and they got turned away every single time. That's the big game. That's the metaphor for the big game, every single time in 12 years. You know, we asked a very interesting question of Virginia Tech. Do we think that they're in position to be a dark horse for the ACC based on year one? And I hear so often everybody asks what the expectation is for James Franklin. But Matt Campbell, lots of people love the hire. Lots of people believe they lucked into things.

Starting point is 00:16:42 So answer me this one, Zach. Do you think Penn State is a team that this year is going to be competing for a Big Ten championship? Do you see this as a team that you're like, hey, I feel comfortable with Matt Campbell. I feel comfortable with all the cyclones we bought in. I feel comfortable with everything going on here. We'll be in that conversation and we'll win those games that we could not with Franklin in year one. 100% because, and here's the thing with 2026, they are closer to 10 and 2 and finding their way closer to the playoff than they are being 6 and 6, 7, and 5 in a rebuild. And it goes back to what I said.

Starting point is 00:17:21 It goes back to what I said in the other segment is that they were able to retain some of the best that Penn State had to offer Tony Rojas, Kobe Howard, offensive lineman, Anthony Donko, Cooper Cousins, Max Granville, guys that I did think, you know, hey, these are 50-50 players. Who knows if they're going to come back? Oh, they came back. And you built a foundation there. Then you add a starting quarterback, a starting running back,

Starting point is 00:17:46 two starting wide receivers, two starting tight ends, starting offensive line. multiple starting caliber linebackers, all conference caliber defensive backs. You combine all this veteran talent together, and this team can absolutely, the expectation can be, hey, they can be close to 10 and 2. We'll see how it all, you know, hey, Matt Campbell hasn't coached in the Big 10. Maybe the competition might be a slap in the face early on. That's fairly reasonable to think that, okay, but this isn't, oh, they might go five and seven at best, Six and six.

Starting point is 00:18:19 They sneak into a bowl game. No, no, no. And especially with where they're, I imagine you guys aren't familiar with their schedule, but they are playing a lot of easier competition. I say easier. That's the big key. In the Big Ten,

Starting point is 00:18:31 the schedule is very favorable. The ones that I have circled on the schedule are at Michigan and against USC. Those are two, but everybody else, the expectation is that Penn State should be either an even, that's an even matchup or favored in those games. So hypothetically, let's say James Franklin goes through this year and I'm sorry not James Franklin Matt Campbell goes through

Starting point is 00:18:53 this year and has a nine and three year he wins all the games that he's supposed to except he loses one that he might should not do you look at that as like a hey this was a success of the year or this was a failure of a year it's a net neutral to me because like I said I want them I I don't expect them but I do anticipate like I said I framed it as they can win 10 games. So nine and three, it's not disappointing, right? Six and six, that sneaking into a bowl game. That's a problem. That's a red flag. And it's like, oh, shoot, we really have some firing remorse, hiring remorse here with Matt Campbell and James Franklin. This isn't what we anticipated. But if they go nine and three, again, that's where you can chalk it up to. Okay, it's the big 10. He's never coached

Starting point is 00:19:43 against big 10. He's never coached against big 10 competition like that. There might be a team that, sneaks up on them that we're not really necessarily anticipating. Maybe Minnesota, for example, is better than advertised, right? They're making a ton of portal moves. I can't project them right now as we sit here in January. So if there's a game that they drop, but if it's multiple, right, if it's two, if it's three. And it's a seven and five season. And this team's at the middle to the bottom of the Big Ten, then it's okay. We got to reassess and we'll see how year two goes with 2027, especially since the 2026 recruiting class wasn't that great, as you pointed out.

Starting point is 00:20:19 But 2027 is supposed to be the pinnacle. They're going to look to take 35 to 40 recruits in 2027. Well, when we come back, I want to talk some transfer portal. You know, Zach mentioned King Mack, formerly at Penn State, is now at NC State. NC State also, you know, they got a receiver from Miami and Chance Robinson, and they might be getting another because Kenton, I am predicting Jojo Trader to likely end up at NC State. And then, of course, Miami has some irons in the fire, including a legal battle with Dary and Mensa. We have a lot to get to because the portal keeps turning on this brand new

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Starting point is 00:22:20 All right, guys, so I've obviously, Obviously, I've lost a lot of sleep this week trying to track the Dary and Mensa situation. You know, he puts his name in the portal. A few hours before the deadline, he is being sued by Duke. They had a temporary restraining order that allows him to enter the portal, but does not allow him to enroll or sign anywhere. Miami is the presumed destination. But then as of this morning, fellas, Kenton, I'll start with you on this one.

Starting point is 00:22:51 Pete Naco's of on three reports in an affidavit filed Friday by Darian Mensa, the Duke transfer quarterback states that, quote, deadlines at other collegiate institutions who have indicated to me their interest in my enrollment will expire on Friday, January 23rd. That's today. Let me read you a little bit of this emergency motion. So basically, you know, Mensa, obviously, you know, he signed a contract with Duke, which they want to hold him accountable for. I think it's ultimately going to come down to a settlement, a lucrative settlement being paid. But then Mentsa's argument now is, hey, like, you can't actually keep me from enrolling in another college, right? So a little bit from this motion he filed, these are written in the words of Dary and Mensa.

Starting point is 00:23:37 I understand the temporary restraining order, among other things, and joins me from enrolling at another collegiate institution. after the hearing and as part of my efforts to comply with the TRO, an agent on my behalf communicated this restriction to other collegiate institutions who have indicated to me their interest in my enrollment and playing football. After the hearing, I learned for the first time that enrollment deadlines at other collegiate institutions who have indicated to me their interest in my enrollment will expire on Friday, January 3, 2026. There's a little bit more to it, but one thing that stands out to me, Kenton, is

Starting point is 00:24:12 I feel like his representation should have communicated that a little bit better to him before today, that there are academic deadlines and we've got to get you enrolled. I have said this for quite some time, and this Darien Menter case is becoming the greatest example of this. These players need to surround themselves with wise counsel. And wise counsel does not just mean in the sense of good people around you. No, literally your counsel, your legal counsel needs to be wise. How the hell did nobody tell you? Hey, bro, it's going to be, we're up against some very tight deadlines right now.

Starting point is 00:24:46 I'm going through a legal battle myself where my lawyer alerts me of every deadline a month in advance. Yeah. Love the guy. Shout out to the guy because he tells me every time, hey, Ken, we bought a month out from this deadline. You got to get this and you got to send me this and I need this. I need that. And you go on from there. How you are in a battle to continue to be a student athlete and a very, very,

Starting point is 00:25:09 well compensated student athlete and they don't warn you about the student part which comes first is what the hell are they doing just racking up billable hours on my boy oh the lawyers always win oh my god this is foolishness yep yep the agents and the lawyers love it seriously because there there's no there's no caps on the commissions there's no regulations we at college football right now is controlled by that class by the makeshift agents, the hiring agent overnight type of thing. And that's, the NFL has a standard protocol, right? You can't get away with any of this.

Starting point is 00:25:50 So it's also, and it's not to take a jab at Miami, the hurricanes. They need a quarterback, but there's nothing stopping them. And I've talked, I don't know how often you guys talk to Brian Smith, but our transfer portal recruiting expert, there's no spring transfer portal window anymore. okay, well eventually some college is going to make one by proxy. They're going to say there's an injury in spring camp. He just kind of laid it all out. He said, don't be surprised if we see a situation where somebody loses a star player,

Starting point is 00:26:21 most likely a quarterback at some point. But who knows, a running back, a linebacker you could name just a player, a captain face of the offense or the defense. And a team, who knows, is it going to be Texas Tech? Is it going to be LSU? Is it going to be Miami, right? The schools, but nobody's following the rules. right these are just the teams that are kind of in the headlines right now so to speak there's going to be

Starting point is 00:26:42 somebody that says after spring practice hey we need a ball player uh well let's let's go and get them there's nothing here's the thing though you can still transfer and enroll somewhere else and who's going to stop you try to stop us kind of thing and that might happen outside of the portal window you can still transfer as a student but then there's that athlete component to it right so what when's that shoe going to drop yeah so like with mensa um So they're scheduled to have their next hearing on February 2nd. And the whole thing is a mess because the judge in Durham that granted the temporary restraining order, which was definitely if it benefits Duke, obviously.

Starting point is 00:27:21 But the judge who granted that TRO is a Duke basketball season ticket holder. And he's married to the library and at Duke. So he's like, I'm going to grant Duke this TRO. But then I'm going to recuse myself for future hearings. But he still gave Duke that. And I think if anything. He did his job. Right. So if I'm sure Mentsa's legal counsel is definitely going to use that as, hey, that's why you have to lift this in an emergency situation because the judge who ruled on that was clearly biased.

Starting point is 00:27:49 So the whole thing. And again, like I do feel that your signature on that paper should be worth something. So like I, and I've talked to lawyers about this. I had a lawyer on Locked on Cains earlier this week. And like I it just, I think it's too late for Mensa to do what DeMond Williams did. Like he's not going to stay in. play at Duke. I think that ship has already sailed. I do think he's going to wind up at Miami. But Kenton, it's going to cost Miami, you know, four plus million to settle the NIL situation with Duke. I think money is going to eventually solve this. But obviously, you know, for Duke, they need to get something for this. Otherwise, the NIL deal is worthless. Now, it's an NIL deal. It's not an employment contract, but Duke is going to want to make sure that deal is worth something. I mean, I think the biggest thing that if I was due, if I'm on their end, what I'm pushing for, I'm not selling anything. No, go play for them.

Starting point is 00:28:45 Don't, you can't make any money in marketing. Why can they pay you? No, we own your marketing right. You signed away your marketing rights for two years. You go over there. Do you have fun? Do you know how big Duke's endowment is? Do you know what those alums give back to Duke?

Starting point is 00:29:03 That's basketball. That's what I'm saying. If I was them, if I was them, I wouldn't argue with anything. I'd say, hey, going over there, but we own the rights. And we're not selling them back to you, brother. We're not selling them back to you unless you pay me two to threefold what you've already, what you would have made. We're not selling a dime of these rights back to you.

Starting point is 00:29:23 And you could claim it's punitive. You could claim whatever you want. At the end of the day, you were presented with a contract. You were presented with a contract that said for two years, your marketing name, image, and likeness rights will belong exclusively. Exclusively, let's make that part important because this ain't like when you messing around with a young lady, are y'all too ain't exclusive yet? You're still on the market.

Starting point is 00:29:46 You've been on a couple days, but you're still on the apps and all that stuff. No, no, no, no, no. Y'all going steady like Dono and Mrs. Dono. You're committed. You signed on the dotted line. You went down to the courthouse and said, let's get married. You can't get an old because you see a fine or a woman.

Starting point is 00:30:01 and walk by and think that she's not leaving with half your stuff you can't you can't just pass on her and say oh the nanny's looking real looking petite she looking pretty and petite i got to get it yeah okay it's going to cost you something derion Miami might be the petite nanny that's coming along saying we got all these good things for you everything they're not doing we'll do for you but guess what it's cheaper to keeper or in this case it's cheaper to stay with duke for a reason but even though that both sale if i was duke i'm saying go where you go where you go just not your right stick. Yeah. Let's give a quick rundown on biggest portal additions or subtractions.

Starting point is 00:30:42 I mean, obviously, Miami's trying to get the Mentsa thing over the finish line. Edge rusher Damon Wilson is the biggest edition Miami is made, you know, trying to fill those Ruben Bain Jr. shoes. I think this is about as good as you could possibly do. He just had a monster year at Mizzou. Kenton, I know you guys brought in. King Mack from Penn State. You're maybe bringing in multiple Miami wide receivers. What else has stood out? You know, other than that for NC State,

Starting point is 00:31:11 obviously losing one of the best backs in the nation in Hollywood smothers, that hurts. That hurts, right? Noah Rogers is not as big of a loss, but you do still want to keep as many playmakers as possible, which is why NC State went out to replace him with a 6-4, 200-pound receiver. And I cannot remember the name for the life of me right now, but App State receiver who average 20 yards per catch at 6-4-205.

Starting point is 00:31:36 So that'll play. That'll play. You'll find a way onto a field doing that kind of activity. Ultimately, the biggest get that I would say in terms of upside of potential, NC State got top 15 tight end from last year's recruiting class, Vanderplug 6-6-242. Big fella can move. And he's only been playing the game for about four years. So he's still figuring it out in real time.

Starting point is 00:32:00 He's still figuring it out, transferring out of Oregon, has four years of eligibility left. He could be something special for the Wolf Act, especially considering Coach Gavin Lockler, who I played with at NC State. Shout out to Coach Locklear, that's my boy, had the top-rated tight-in room in the nation in terms of PFF grade. So, you know, I expect very good things out of Mr. Plu in short order. Zach, biggest, you could probably spend all day on this, we'll give the Reader's Digest version, as we used to say. addition biggest addition subtractions for Penn State.

Starting point is 00:32:33 I mean, I will say, hey, I thought I was going to get a summary about King Mack. Let me, let me just say that's a great addition. He is a captain type of player. That's kind of what I was anticipating for Penn State. Didn't like that he entered the portal. Surprised he ended up at NC State because Point Dexter went to Tennessee. And that would have made sense with Jim Knowles' defense because Mack was flourishing in Knowles' system.

Starting point is 00:32:55 But that's a game changer type of player for NC State's defense. If you need a face of the defense, he can be. year guy for for Penn State. And I also want to say about Darien Menta. He is Duke. He's Duke football right now. I can't name another player on Duke's roster. So if he goes to Miami. Well, actually, the next player you would name Cooper Barcate receiver is also trending to come to Miami with him. There you go. There you go. So Duke, yeah, you absolutely have to enforce that because you, you basically scrap the next season. You don't have a quarterback. You don't have your leading wide receiver. This is more than just $4 million in NIL. This is an entire 2026 season gone to waste.

Starting point is 00:33:36 As far as, look, we talked about Penn State. I like that they brought in over 10 starting caliber players, a few all-conference caliber players from Iowa State. I'm mostly pleased with the retention, the player retention, multiple starting offensive linemen, starting wide receiver, co-starter caliber running back. They got James Peoples from Ohio State. He was supposed to be RB1, never materialized for the Buckeyes this season. So there are a lot of things to like about this class. But they're not just the Penn State. Nittany Cyclones. They didn't get the leftovers from Iowa State. They got guys that were either serious contributors. They did get a couple fringe names that you're not going to recognize. But most of them

Starting point is 00:34:13 are guys that can play right away and be serious contributors. Well, we appreciate always when we can connect with our guy, Zach Saco from Locked on Nittney Lions. Make sure you check him out. If you're in every day or on Locked on ACC, make sure to check out Locked on Nittany. Lions. If you're a Locked on Nittney Lions every day or make sure to check out Locked on ACC, not to mention Locked on Wolfpack that Kenton also hosts, Locked on Cains that I host. And we will talk to the Everydayers next time. Make sure you check out the Every Day or Club. Links are in the show notes below. And we'll talk to you right here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. We are number one and we are your team every day.

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