The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - GBF: Mike Elko and Gojo

Episode Date: August 29, 2024

Mike Elko joins the show ahead of his game against ND. Is he trying to end his former QB, Riley Leonard's chances of winning the Heisman? Gojo gets us ready for Week 1 in college football, plus the return of Stu Ya Gotz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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God bless football, Billy Gill. God bless football, Mike Ye. God bless football, Mike Golick Jr. God bless football, Stu Gotz. Thank you, Gojo. We needed to get younger. I mean, that's really what happened. Is that really what happened? That's not what happened.

That is not what happened. Come on. Listen. You don't have to lie to me at this point. It's a combination. When me and your dad started to become friends, we realized we were both very unorganized. We have no idea what our schedules are.

And so me trying to book your dad on this show has become a ridiculous task for me because I don't know where I'm going to be in five minutes and he has no idea where he's going to be in five minutes, you know? Well that's because he's outsourced his entire life to my mom. He doesn't know where he's going to be because he's waiting for her to tell him where he's going to be. The best part about working on the show with my dad now every morning is sometimes we'll take guests after the show. And when we mentioned a time that's around noon,

cause that's usually when they go in like workout and do an orange theory class or something, the deep sigh that my dad gives knowing he's going to have to move his workout class to come do this is just incredible. Mike Elko is going to join us the head coach at Texas A&M. So it's the mere picking up of the phone to reschedule the class that no one wants to do that, especially as you get older. And you know him, my dad's a creature of habit. He gets up and eats the same thing every day.

Him and my mom have a very specific routine with the dogs. So when you've got to break him out of his routine, all of a sudden he gets a little fussy, right? Fussy or where the Billy likes it. He's like a baby word. Fussy. Fussy got burp him a little bit. You rock them and they get bad.

It's going to be a little bit. You rock them and they don't get bad. It's gonna be a little bottle. Yeah, it's okay. Loves a good bottle. His dad. Mm. My dad would be the most uncomfortable person to rock at this point. He's so like tall and lanky and skinny now.

It's too bony. But if I were a baby, Billy, do you agree with this? I would want Mike Golick to be the one rocking me. You know what I'm saying? Golick seems comfortable. I mean. Would I agree with that? I don't know if I would agree with this? I would want my Golic to be the one rocking me. You know what I'm saying? Golic seems comfortable. I mean. Would I agree with that? I don't know if I would agree with that.

He was a great swaddler. That was his claim to fame. Great swaddler. Ask him about it. He'll tell you all day swaddling down cold. When you say if you were a baby, you'd want him to rock you. Do you mean like in your present body

or in a baby's body? No, like in a baby's body? No, like in a baby, a baby's body, not my present body. I want Stu Gotts' head and body. I can't say I've thought about this too much. I would say if I were a baby in a baby's body and I could think, I would be thinking to myself, wow, that man looks comfortable. I want him to rock me.

You know what I'm saying? Go Joe. I don't know. Maybe Bobby Bowden, I mean one of those. Baby Stu Gotts is a great character I want to explore. Just Stu Gotts''m saying? Yeah. Go, Joe. I don't know. Bobby Bowden, I mean, one of the. Baby Stu Gotts is a great character. I want to explore just Stu Gotts his head and consciousness on a baby.

Gaga, how about that? Baby gots. Let's work on that. Before we Bobby Bowden, Bobby Bowden is the guy in sports I would most want to be my grandfather. I mean, why? He just looks like he's a great guy.

Nice guy. I've gotten to know Bobby. He's a super guy, thoughtful. But Bobby Bowden just seems like he would be a great grandfather. I mean, Gojo, does he not? What in your mind makes a great grandfather, Stu? That's what I want to know.

Like what are the characteristics you associate with a good grandfather? A guy who, when I see him for the two hour window that I see him is going to spoil the hell out of me. He is going to give me whatever the hell I want in terms of food. He's got tickets to the game. He's going to take great care of me. Then hand me back to the parents in worse shape than I was before I got to grandpa.

That's all. You know what I'm saying? I have some sad news to tell you. Your grandfather died three years ago. Bobby Bowden is no longer with us. I know, I need a new one. Okay, so I don't think he's gonna ever be your grandfather. I just need power.

Condolences to you. I call it. I, Stu Gotts, I feel like you're gonna have good grandfather energy though, cause I like a grandfather who's a little mischievous. I was lucky. My mom's dad, my late grandfather, Ken Hanson, my dad told the story the other day on Gojo and Golick.

When my dad was in his second year with the Houston Oilers, he wasn't sure if he was going to make the team or not. And you get a call when you get cut, but you don't necessarily get a call when you make the squad. And so my grandfather, my dad's father-in-law called the Houston, uh, Euler's office and talked to a secretary and posed as a media member who was on a deadline and got them to tell him the cut down list and was able to call and tell my dad that he made the team because he lied and got them to give him that

information. That seems right up your alley. because he lied and got them to give him that information. That seems right up your alley. Yes it does. I'm going to be a great grandpa. Right, you got to sneak into things. You got to. Yeah, exactly. Like you said, you're spoiling them.

You're giving them all the stuff that their parents don't want to give or do for them. And then you don't have any of the consequences. That's what grandparenting is all about. But it's like, hey kid, let's go to the game. Mecca Madison Square Garden. Grandpa, you have tickets now. We'll figure it out when we get there.

All right. I'll talk Billy. Just get me to sweet level for the Kansas City game. I will get us into that swift sweet. Who was it? Someone told us or I read an article. I don't remember who it was. It was like a famous ish person who was saying that they used to go to every big game

in Madison Square Garden because their dad, it was like a scan that they would run where the dad would lie to security and say that they were there and would fill out fake credentials and say that the son was a reporter for Sports Illustrated for kids. And no one ever checked this and they would go in

and the dad would take a fake camera and the kid would go in and they would have access to all the players and teams because no one was verifying who the reporter for Sports Illustrated for Kids was. I need to look up who this is before this episode's done. But I remember reading it and I'm like, that is the strangest con ever

and I can't believe they did it. And I think for whatever reason, they would always change the names slightly. I don't know, who was it? I'm gonna figure this out. If someone who joined us or something that you read? I don't remember. I think it's something that I read.

I'm looking this up. All right, it seems like something Schafter would do. I mean. Honestly, it seems like something more of us should be doing. Kids are already such a great loophole in sports for getting hard questions asked and answered. So using them for entry and exit into sporting events does seem like smart business. You're right. You are right. Well, and then,

and then by the way, they would use this access to get a bunch of autographs and stuff. So it was like definitely not sports illustrated for kids behavior, right? Cause if anyone's definitely not sports illustrated for kids behavior. Right. If anyone knows anything about sports illustrated for kids, journalistic integrity. Yeah, that seems out of character for them. You're right, Billy. Billy, you were making a big deal about Tom Brady.

Something going on with Tom Brady. Before we get to college football, it really kicks off this weekend. I know it kicked off last weekend. Georgia Tech sprung the upset. But you were mentioning Tom Brady before Gojo joined us here on the Zoom. But you were mentioning Tom Brady before Gojo joined us here on the Zoom.

Well, yes. So Tom Brady, there's reports now that there will be restrictions for him if his ownership stake in the Raiders goes through. He will face restrictions as a minority order in terms of broadcasting. And on the front end, it sounds like, wow, this is not great for Tom Brady.

But it actually sounds pretty awesome, because here's the thing. Tom Brady, but it actually sounds pretty awesome because here's the thing. Tom Brady, if he becomes a minority order in the Raiders is now going to have certain restrictions that he won't be able to do certain things that announcers have to do. Like, for example, Tom Brady will not be allowed to witness practice in person for other teams. So now Tom Brady doesn't have to go to the practices that he doesn't want to go to. Tom Brady won't have access to certain members, certain players and coaches. He won't have to sit through, he won't be allowed to,

I should say, sit through some of the production meetings where he meets with the broadcast crew and they sit down with the players and coaches. Tom Brady's not gonna be allowed in certain practice facilities and other meetings. So it seems like Tom Brady now is gonna be able to get paid the $375 million or whatever it was to broadcast for Fox, but won't be allowed

to do a lot of the job he should be doing in order to broadcast the game. Also, Tom Brady can't be overly critical of officials, and he might not be overly, he might not be allowed to be overly critical of players on other teams. So it seems like if Tom Brady wants to still be a minority owner in the Raiders, all he can do is show up

and call the game and he can't really be that critical of players or he may face sanctions, I guess, or whatever fines. So he gets $375 million for just showing up on Sundays and calling a game with minimal preparation. I love where this is headed. He could still come back to the NFL if he wants. He has an ownership stake in the Las Vegas Raiders as well. Greg Olson somewhere is seething. I mean, Greg Olson was kind of at the heart of this because remember, these were a lot

of rules they put in place when he called the game as an active player. He was injured and he called the game against the Vikings and everyone was like, how are we doing this? So Greg Olson in a weird way, tied in with this, right? So we're also skimming over, we're also skimming over one of the best parts about all this. He has a built-in excuse to be bad. Yes. He has a hey, I would have been better, but they they can't come to do no one's like the meeting. I'm sorry. I'm not coach, right? Yeah, I can't criticize a ref. I mean, what

do you want me to do? I would have said great things here. I'm not allowed the Stu got so strong and Tom Brady. It's that's the only logical conclusion for this is that Tom Brady spent the last year not studying other broadcasters, not meticulously taking notes in the side of these booths, but just figuring out the parts of the process that he didn't actually want to have to go through and then going and using this as the final boss to get out of them. I'm proud of him. Yeah, I imagine him going into the meetings and they're like,

Tom, we have to have a talk, sit down, and they go over these whole things and he goes, I accept these conditions and just gets up and he goes on to play golf or whatever. Check doesn't change, right? Check doesn't change? You guys have my direct deposit info? All right. If it has to be this way, I suppose.

Tom, you can't criticize refs. Okay. Tom, you can't meet with the coaches before the game. Okay. Tom, you just have to show up at 12.55. You can leave refs. Okay. Tom, you can't meet with the coaches before the game. Okay. Tom, you just have to show up at 12.55. You can leave at 4.15. Okay. I mean, I love this guy. What a gig. It's great. I mean, it does give him the opportunity to do my favorite thing that Tony Romo does in the booth with Jim Nance, which is, because again, like the normal ebb and flow of the broadcast booth is like, you're supposed to be watching the game through the analyst's eyes.

The play-by-play is there to set up big moments and all that stuff. But you're, you're, the analyst is there to show people the game through their lens with all that experience that you get from a Brady and a Romo and stuff like that. And so you get to these critical moments where it's, Hey, was this guy in bounds as a penalty like this happened. And Tony Romo routinely flips the script to where he'll be going like to break and he'll be looking at Jim like, I don't know, Jim, what do you think about this one in this play? And I'm like, that's your job, Tony. This is incredible.

He's asking dance. It's like, what do you think on this one? Should they call draw on third and long or what? You think Nance is ever like, you think he's processing that? Like, Hey Tony, you're not supposed to ask me like I mean I feel like if anyone and like I love Jim Nance's way but I feel like if anyone would like to get their own opinion on it in there wouldn't mind getting involved with that Jim Nance is probably in that group he probably thinks he's got some things to say yeah go Joe me and Billy are already down in the college football season because you can no longer say hey if you're gonna lose lose

early I mean you can't do it now. It's you can lose whatever the hell you want. Just don't lose more than two or three times. You know? Listen, might I invite you guys to Notre Dame football? I think if you still want to look at some of those last vestiges, their Notre Dame football without a conference championship to get them in there, needing to be one of those other at large teams, I'm already looking at Notre Dame season. Now the Florida State loss certainly changes some of that, but Georgia Tech on Notre Dame schedule can't sleep on them anymore. But for Notre Dame, like if I was going to draw up a loss for this team to say, Hey, go 11 and one and still make the postseason losing on the road in a close game to

a Texas A&M team that I think is going to be better than expected this year with Mike Elko. I'm not just buttering him up because he's coming on your podcast, but I do think he's the right coach for Texas A&M right now with all the talent they've got, especially defensively. Where if Notre Dame dropped that one in a close one and then the O-line gets better and they start rattling off and burping the ACC the rest of the season could be the team that still fits that paradigm that you like That's cute that you're pretending that Notre Dame isn't automatically getting into the top 12 But Notre Dame Designed for Notre Dame to get in every year like if it was a 12-team playoff Notre Dame would have been in the last 10 Playoffs, I mean they're gonna be in the next 10 It doesn't matter what their record is this was designed so Notre Dame gets in

People are gonna figure it out if you say it too loud, Billy, shut the hell up. Go Joe. I do. I was almost beside myself listening to Andy Staples the other day, talk about how the five seed, if you're Notre Dame is actually like the sweetest spot in the sport, because you go through as the five seed, then like, you're going to likely pay the four seed who's probably going to be, you know,

a team that gets in on the lower end of the spectrum there, like a lower ranked conference champion of the groups up top, maybe like, you know, the big 12s conference champion in a down year or something like that. So you get that, you get to host a home playoff game. You don't have to play in a conference championship game. It's great business for us. So Billy, in the AP poll last year, Notre Dame finished 14th. They had three losses. Are you saying that gets them in this year? No, I'm saying had they been top 12,

they would have finished 12th. They would have been the 12th. I think even if they finished 14th according to the AP, the committee still would have put them in. Well, no, the top 12 teams get in. What I'm saying is they would have changed. Well, no, and Billy, the interesting part too, in the source of consternation this year, and the thing that's going to be fun to watch is it's not the top 12 teams that get in.

It's the top 12 teams if they're there, but really the top 11 teams plus whoever the highest rank group of five champion is. So we're going to see a team that's sitting there in the top 12 get bumped because this year if you've got Boise State in the Mountain West that potentially gets in or App State and the Sunbelt, you're going to have one of those teams potentially be the 20th ranked team in the country, win their conference and be the highest ranked group of five and then knock off Ole Miss or Miami or someone like that. Gojo, Mike Elko is going to join us. It's interesting because Elko's quarterback from Duke last year is now your quarterback at Notre Dame.

So I'm looking forward to asking him if he has to change all the play calls, the formations, all of that. Congratulations, by the way, Notre Dame. I mean, your third quarterback in three years. Notre Dame, quietly right now, the most quarterback depth they've had probably since I was in school there. When you look like Lloyd Carr's,

I think CJ's his grandson. CJ Carr who's on their staff is the one that like is a freshman right now. And if you're looking for Notre Dame's next multi-year starter, they seem to think that he's the guy there. So you've got simultaneously like depth in that room. Steve Angelli was the backup last year

and started the bowl game in there. And then Riley up top there. Like if you're looking for the area where Marcus Freeman and this regime have had the biggest impact so far, it's in the portal era, which is really difficult having quarterback depth there. But I have enjoyed this week Riley and Mike Elko both publicly doing the like, no,

I'm not going to hang up first. You hang up first of like, who has the edge and knowledge in this situation of the other going into this matchup. It's very cute. Yeah, it's very funny. We have a I'm very big on there are three levels to a college football Saturday in terms of times, right? 1230, 12, 330, 730.

And this weekend, opening weekend, really, they nailed it. I mean, you have Georgia Clemson as the noon game. You have Florida and Miami at 3, 30. And of course, your Notre Dame fighting Irish and Texas A&M coming up at night. But let's start with that first game, Georgia Clemson, because the whole day is covered. Sit on your ass. sit on your couch,

enjoy 15 hours of college football on Saturday. But Georgia Clemson, Mike, your thoughts there? Cause I think Georgia, if you asked me Georgia or the field to win the national championship, I would take Georgia. Yeah, I'd probably go with the field just because that field includes an Ohio State roster that we now know publicly is worth $20 million. Like that team is a Death Star in the Big 10

Oregon's froggy too like there's enough teams where I would go the field but this Georgia team is going to be incredible. They bring that you know the easy stuff to look for at the start of every season who brings back a ton of like good offensive line starts like the Georgia offensive line was a good unit last year. They return a bunch of starters off that group. Now you've got the quarterback back in Carson back. The defense is blue chip stock.

It's all going to be there and I'm with you, Stu gots. They are the favorite rightly going into this season. And I think in this game, they're almost a two touchdown favorites. They're hurt 13 and a half point favorite as of right now when we're recording and I get it. Now what I will say is this game does have rock fight potential to an extent

It's week one offenses are usually always behind anyway, although you get Carson back there this Clemson defense Is gonna be really good really like there are oh, yes You gots up and down this roster Clemson's got a bunch of future like the D line guys that you've got on this team already are going to be incredible. Peter Woods, defensive tackle as a sophomore and was routinely putting guys on their ass last year. Barrett Carter back at linebacker TJ Parker on that defensive front like you will go back and look at last year. Clemson's problems didn't have anything to do with the defense like they have managed to hit the dismount from Brent Venables, one of the best coordinators in the country, going to Coach Oklahoma,

and still have a unit that looks like a top five unit, both talent-wise and execution-wise. So I don't worry about that side of the ball. It's just can Cade Klubnik turn into something closer to resembling those old Clemson quarterbacks in year two with Garrett Riley. All right, you and Mike, a lot of people are high on them. Mike Ryan has convinced me I have an unreasonable amount of money on this game. I took the, uh, the Canes minus two and a half on the road at the swap.

Take it on Florida. What a great game. Three 30 on Saturday. What are your thoughts there, man? I think the Canes, I don't, I don't want to say this. I'm going to say it. The Canes are a playoff team. How about that? They need like this for this way. They need to be. Like if you talk about season expectations with what you've done recruiting in the portal, getting Cam Ward to come over and come back from, you know, potentially putting his name in the NFL this offseason. Mario's built up the lines of scrimmage. That's what you expected when he came over here. Now it's can he do the thing that a lot of people criticized him for at Oregon? Can you maximize the quarterback?

We don't feel like we got the best of Justin Herbert out of those Oregon teams. There was a reason that you know, Mike Tannenbaum got to look really smart after that draft because he was the one going, No, this guy, this guy's really good. He's got all the gifts. We just didn't get to see it there. Are they going to cut Cam Ward fully lose? Can he be a program changer there for them at the helm of that offense? You know, Damien Martinez at running back to and so I just just think, yeah, this should be their time. And this Florida team is talented and you are going on the road. And I heard Mike Ryan on a podcast the other day, I think it was on with Zaslow talking about, Hey, Utah was supposed to be a playoff team two years ago. And they went

into the swamp and got beat week one. Like it's still an sec road game against the team with a ton of talent, but Miami should win this game. Miami should be a team vying for winning the ACC this year. And they absolutely should be a playoff team with this talent on this roster. It's going to come down to the coaching staff. Napier's job's in jeopardy, huh? Yeah, I feel like both of them. I mean, whoever loses this game, and we talked about this the other day.

Lose their job? That would be great, yes. We're going to be having hot seat conversations about it after it. Like whether or not either of them should actually lose their job at this point, that's going to be the reaction based on where both teams are. Billy, you would love a game for your job though. That would be, I mean, the thing is, is that like, you have can't afford to fire Mario Cristobal and pay him his remaining salary.

They signed him to a 10 year deal, like 8 million a year or something. They owe him so much money that I don't think they can afford to fire him. It needs to work out for him because it needs to work out for him. I don't think there's another option. Billy, to that point, and we always discount this because college football seems to be this place with limited financials, but you look at Florida State in the state. I think a couple of years ago, if Florida State had more money behind them, Mike Norvell might not have gotten to last season to get to where he got.

You know, I called 2021, they lost to like Louisville at home and started 0-4 for the first time since the 70s. And I'm like, this does, I don't know if they're going to have this kind of patience, just financially, they could not afford to fire him. And so you stick around long enough to where he gets this old roster of the guys that he's brought in there and gets that success. So it might honestly be a good thing because it forces you to do what more programs

probably need to do, which is sit, be a little bit patient even in an era where it seems like you can microwave success. All right, go, go. The thing with Mario and Yuan though that's like interesting and it's kind of like the problem is, so he says this is his class, right? Like we finally got all our guys,

but he's like recruiting has never been his issue. It's been his game management. It's been his in-game coaching. So that's not gonna change theoretically. You know, I mean, hopefully he learned for their sake, for his sake, for my side, but sometimes the talent is so good, Billy, he can overcome his bad coaching, you know?

I mean, yes, but that's what you kind of have to hope for. Right? You saw what happened with Georgia Tech last year where he refused to take a knee. They ended up blowing that game. Like, hopefully you learn from that situation and that's a change in coaching. But yeah, like I it's not this isn't a talent

issue with the Hurricanes. That's the problem with crystal ball at the moment. And you can also like afford to like make normal mistakes in coaching, like timeout usage at the end of half stuff like that. Like you got also like afford to like make normal mistakes in coaching, like timeout usage at the end of half stuff like that. Like you gotta just nix the big stuff. Like, you know, I mean, listen, I, I, I root for an alma mater where we had 10 guys on the field for a critical play last year. That's something that Marcus Freeman is going to have to wear going into this season. As people

talk about that, like, you know, talk about our program there in a way I'm confident he's going to be able to address, you know, the way that they've structured their coaching staff now. But for Mario, it's just like, Hey, like, you know, talk about our program there in a way I'm confident he's going to be able to address, you know, the, the way that they've structured their coaching staff now. But for Mario, it's just like, Hey, yeah, just, just banging on a knee when you got the lead and let's ride out and take this dub. They also don't have the toughest schedule. Like they could make it to the play. They'll make it to the ACC championship game. I think, right. Then they could make it to the playoffs. And then, you know, they exit in the first round, second round, whatever. You still have the wind of saying we made it to college football playoffs, if you're Mario.

So he'll be fine. Sorry, Steve. Is that statement or question? No, no, no, it's okay. Mikey and I are laughing because we were told by our producers to rap and I tried to do it on time in my defense, I did. And you just kept going in on Mario Cristobal

and you don't like that guy. I mean. That's not fair. I don't. I'm sorry. Billy loves him. I root for every offensive line, tangent person in a head coaching position just off, you know, blind faith. So I don't know Mario, but I root for him. He used to coach at FIU. I was rooting for him to get fired.

I was like, get the hell out of town. You got, you, you have this great recruiter. You can't recruit past three wins in the sunbelt conference. Get the hell out of town. And then somehow he ends up in Alabama the next season and then rebuilds. He's the head coach of Oregon, gets $80 million. Like get out of here, guy. Enough of him.

Anyway, sorry, go on. Mikey, yeah, I knew if we just stayed with it long enough that he would get there. He would get there. He got there. He got there. He got there. No.

No. I don't even have time to ask him about Notre Dame, Texas A&M. It doesn't matter. Mike him about Notre Dame Texas A&M. It doesn't matter. Mike Elko, the Texas A&M head coach, is going to join us next. Check him out, Gojo and Golic, 8 to 10 AM Eastern, on the DraftKings Network and wherever you get your podcast.

Gojo, we love you. Thank you for joining us. God bless football. And we will see you next week, my friend. You and Mikey A reuniting. Oh, this is so exciting. Me, you, Mikey A and Billy and your dad in Kansas City. In the NFL, there is no margin for error.

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the the the the into it with Notre Dame, huh? Yeah, for sure. Nothing like putting a little bit more into the first game, right? We got game day. We got Notre Dame. We got a top 20 matchup. You know, we're just going to come running out of the tunnel ready to roll for sure.

Congratulations to you, by the way. Very rude of me. Congratulations on the new gig. Yeah. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. It's obviously great to be back here. And this is a special place for sure.

Do you prefer, so do you prefer jumping right into it with a game against Notre Dame or do you prefer to kind of ease into it with a couple of, I don't want to say easy games, but easier games? Yeah, I think it goes both ways. I think the benefit of this one is, is we have our kids attention for the eight months in the off season.

I think once this game becomes game number one in the schedule, I think all of our players are pretty locked into, okay, we've got to be focused to come out of the block the right way. And so that's the benefit of having this one in the opener. Coach, this is a tricky situation because we may have a double triple revenge game situation here. So you used to be a DC at Notre Dame. But more interestingly, and more importantly, you have a game against your former quarterback,

Riley Leonard coming up this week. And here's what I've learned. He is on the short list to win the Heisman this year. Now, he's an offensive guy, you're a defensive guy. Who has the leg up in this battle? And also, are you coming for blood? Are you trying to end his Heisman campaign week one? I am not coming for blood.

It's a weird thing to come for Billy. I got an unbelievable amount of respect for Riley and what he did for us at Duke. You know, I think I said this in the press earlier in the week. I do think he has the leg up because I think the amount of snaps he's taken against this defensive structure. You know, you talk about every day at practice for two years, I think there's some built in knowledge of what we do that we're going to have to be really careful how we present things to him.

Do you have to change like formations, names, anything? Because you know he's going to be standing next to Freeman chirping the entire time. Yeah, for sure. I think all that stuff. I think you got to be really conscious about what he knows and make sure that you do things the right way. Have you given your defensive line or your linebackers anything to say to Riley like, hey, if you say this, you're really going to get under his skin. If you give him a little bit of a little hint like, hey,

Mikey, this is a good man, Mike. I'll go. What are you doing? This is a man that wants to win. Yeah, no, I haven't. We haven't gotten down to the down and dirty. Although I think they can go on Instagram these days and kind of pick up their own talk-thrashing material. But no, I think obviously we understand him.

We understand his strengths. We understand the challenge that he presents. And I think it's just making sure our kids are on par with all of that. Coach, how does it work when you're going against your former quarterback? You're playing Notre Dame, like are you guys still communicating? Have you not like turned it all off for the week?

Like how does that work? Yeah, we talked kind of towards the end of the summer before football started and I shot him a text congratulating him on being named captain. But outside of that, I don't think you're not having a ton of conversation. It's just kind of you'll get through this opener and then hopefully he'll continue to root for me. I know I'll continue to root for him and get on with the rest of our seasons. Coach, I'm wondering, are you more surprised,

the big news in the off season was Nick Saban, I think, leaving. I mean, you went to Texas A&M and you had to board leave Washington and he goes takes over for Nick Saban. Are you more surprised that Nick Saban left college football or that he joined sports media? Probably neither to be honest with you. I think game has changed so much now. And I think everybody kind of saw where this thing was going

for the guys who've been, you know, coaches, coaches kind of achieved everything you could ever achieve in college football. And it's a new day, it's a new era. There's a lot of newness going on and could certainly understand why at this time he decided to step away and be part of his family. And then he has such a strong knowledge

about the game of college football. It certainly doesn't surprise me that someone was able to convince him to spend his Saturday mornings talking about college football. Seems like such an easy way to continue staying involved in the game and, um, you know, do it in a different way, a little less stressful way. I'm sure. You mentioned the new college football and it is, I mean, we're starting, essentially we're starting from scratch this year. It's a new playoff system.

There are new rules. Uh, is there anything about it that concerns you? Some of the new stuff? No, I don't know that it concerns me. And I'm fortunate because I became a head coach with it all. So I became a head coach three years ago for the first time at Duke and the portal was live and NIL was live and everything that we were going through in today's world of this was live.

And so I don't know any other way. I just know how to try to make it work with the rules and restrictions we have now. So I don't know any other way. I just know how to try to make it work with the rules and restrictions we have now. So I don't know that there's anything on my end that I'm concerned about or I just think it's different for sure. You can't run away from the fact that it's different. I think Mike would have made a lot of money playing at Notre Dame these days. Well, listen, he's doing just fine.

Yeah, he's doing great. I mean, listen, the guy went down radio row. He was promoting diabetes medication. That was one side of radio row. Then he turned around, did the other side of radio row, and he was promoting beef jerky. I mean, he's doing OK. Does your approach change at all, Coach,

because it's a 12-team playoff? Meaning, maybe there's not so much emphasis on a single game, or perhaps you'll arrest a guy that's a little bit banged up, because you could afford to lose two times, maybe three, who knows, to get into the playoffs? Yeah, I don't think so. I think people are kind of thinking about this more like the NFL, but I don't think in the college world we think of it like that. I think the competition to get to two wins at the end of the year is so challenging. And if you look back through it over the years, it's a race to get yourself into position.

And so I don't think anybody certainly from the beginning is thinking that way. Now, maybe if you get to the end at 11 and 0 or 10 and 0, maybe you start having some different conversations. But you also gotta remember too, that a lot of these teams have these huge rivalry games, week 12 and there's not a lot of people that are going to be real excited

if we lose our Thanksgiving weekend rivalry game, even if we make playoffs. And so I just think college sets up a little bit differently than the pros when it comes to those types of things. Mike Elko is with us. He's the head coach at Texas A&M. They take on Notre Dame at 730 on Saturday night. Listen, at least you know you won't win the, you might win the game, but you're not going to win best looking coach, okay? at Coach at Texas A&M, they take on Notre Dame at 7.30 on Saturday night.

Listen, at least you know you won't win the, you might win the game, but you're not gonna win best looking coach, okay? Like, you know that, right? What? What are you talking about? What is that question? The guy across the side went from you.

The guy across the side that Mike, yeah. I thought that competition was still wide open. I happen to find Coach Elko to be very attractive. I do too. But Marcus Freeman is the best looking person I've ever seen. Period. All right. Now this is getting really uncomfortable.

Don't worry, Coach. Coach Freeman can blow an easy game. We've seen that over the years. Oh, and go explain like a coward today. He should be here right now. Coach, was it odd for you to replace Jimbo Fisher, a guy who And go explain like a coward today. He should be here right now. Coach, was it odd for you to replace Jimbo Fisher, a guy who hired you to be his defensive coordinator?

Yeah, I mean, I've got so much respect for Jimbo. And I certainly am not here if he didn't bring me down here to be the defensive coordinator, what is it, six years ago now, I guess. And obviously, we did some really good things here together. I think we were 34 and 14 in our four years here together. And so, you know, coach is a great coach. I got a

lot of respect for him. But I think when you come in, you just kind of spend all of your time talking about your branding, your messaging, how you want your program to look and certainly not having any conversations about what used to happen or how things used to be. Has has much changed since you left Texas A&M and now you're back? Yeah, I think so. I think so. I think, you know, the world of college football now is evolving so quickly. And then from a facility standpoint, we've actually

built quite a bit since I left in the two years we were gone. We built 160 yard indoor, we built a brand new nutrition center that's opening on Monday. And so I think we continue to invest into this football program to try to elevate it and make it what we all want it to become. Are your kids at a point where they're just dying to play a game like a day? Like you just you came from practice. They're tired of you, aren't they? They don't get to see anybody else. We don't get to do the clothes, practice, the scrimmages.

We don't get to bring other teams in. There's literally nothing else't get to do the close practice scrimmages. We don't get to bring other teams in. There's literally nothing else we get to do. And so, yeah, I think you get to this part and it's just trying to stay consistent, trying to still have good practices, knowing that this thing's right around the corner and you guys are certainly ready for it. How's that work for the coaching staff? Same? Probably, although, you know, we still find things to do and find ways to do it. But I've had some people ask me like, oh, you must be really busy. I'm like, actually, this week is probably the one week. You know, I don't think for the last six months, I've been watching film. I don't know that there's anything I haven't watched 10, 12, 15 times already. And so, you know, again, I think probably the same.

You know, we're just ready to kick it off and get ready to play the game. The expectations, they're different here, obviously, where you can win eight games last year or seven, whatever it was at Duke, and you have that season at Texas A&M, and fans are going to get on you, and media might get on you. Did you think about that when you made the move? Does it bother you even? No.

I mean, to me, that's what we all want, right? I want to be at a place where we have expectations. I wanna be at a place where fans demand success. I wanna be at a place where we have the ability to win the national championship. And in this day and age, there's certain things that come with that. And that's part of the game.

And we got a lot of confidence in what we do. We got a lot of confidence in our process, how we run a program. And so, we're here to build this thing and everything it should be. Coach, I want to ask you about your quarterback because I was looking at a mock draft because I'm a sicko Jets fan

and it had him go into the Jets in the first round. And I just want to know what your impressions are of the kid and what you've seen from him so far. What he's saying, coach, is he doesn't really care what your response, he only cares as it relates to the Jets. I mean, very selfish question. I'm a Northeast guy so we can talk about that. what your response he only cares as it relates to the Jets. I mean he's got a great release

he's got tremendous arm talent I think he's in a small sample size been extremely successful in this conference which I think speaks volumes for what he's capable of I've known him for a while because I watched him as a high school kid and he actually was a really talented baseball player so he played baseball with my son back when I was here as a D coordinator. So I've known Connor for a really long time and he's healthy now. And I know he's really excited to lead this team this year. Wait coach, did you was there a conversation? Did you try to get Riley to come to Texas A&M with you?

Well, we knew we had Connor and so it wasn't really Connor was kind of locked in as the Texas A&M guy. And so we didn't really see the want to bring in a guy from a competition standpoint. Mikey, how do you feel about his analysis of his quarterback only as it relates to the Jets? Like what did you think? I'm just waiting on a hand size measurement. And I'm all in. A wonder lick test. A wonder lick will do it. Coach, are you a Jets or a Giants fan?

So actually, I grew up a Cowboys fan. I grew up in Central Jersey as like the only Cowboys fan in the area. So I kind of escaped. I'm Yankees, I'm Devils. I was Nets growing up. And then for some reason from a football standpoint, just got drawn to the Cowboys. If Aaron Judge was doing this in the 90s,

he'd be our biggest sports star right now. There's no doubt. That I still keep an eye on from the 90s. They ruined baseball coach. I mean, like they saved it at the time, but they ruined it moving forward because the judge is doing something so impressive and no one's impressed. There's no doubt. There's no doubt. What are you proudest of? Go ahead.

Back in Texas. Now you're a Cowboys fan and not a Giants fan coach. No, that's always been the case. That's always been the case. We got a lot more Super Bowl rings. Oh, okay. Do you believe in Dak? Yeah, I do.

I actually played against Dak. I was the defensive coordinator of Bowling Green when he was at Mississippi State. And so we went down and played him in his early years. And yeah, I think Dak's the heck of a quarterback. When you were coaching against him, did you think at the professional level that he would turn into this?

We actually played him in his first start. So I didn't get to see him come from. Yeah. But he took off for about a 75-yard touchdown run on us. I do remember that vividly. And so yeah, you certainly saw the talent, for sure. How do coaches remember all this shit, man? Like, you don't remember any of the good.

You remember all the bad though. All the bad stuff. Every single bad play that's ever happened to me throughout the years. Seven of 11 with one interception that game, but he did have that long run, 75 yarder, two touchdowns, 139. I was dead right on the yards.

One, yeah, his long was 75 yard, he had 15 carries, 139 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the day. Yeah. He was dead right on the yards. Cause he has nightmares about every single one of those yards. Cause he's crazy.

Well, if that goal line wasn't there, probably would have gone for 200 yards, I'm guessing. He would have ran as long as he wanted to. Exactly right. Coach, we're gonna get you out of here in a second. What are you proudest of? High school hall of fame, degree from the University of Pennsylvania, or being the head coach at Texas A&M? High school. I'm proudest probably of the degree

from the University of Pennsylvania. As you should be. That took a significant amount of work on my guy with my IQ to actually get that done. But no, I think the journey through coaching from, Stony Brook to the United States Merchant Marine Academy to wind up sitting in this office as the head coach of Texas A&M, I think certainly extremely proud of everything we've done and everything we've done along the way. Where were you headed if it wasn't coaching?

Like what were you gonna do with that Penn degree? So I had no idea. Like I did one class in Wharton and realized that wasn't getting out of Penn if I tried to do that. I looked into communications a little bit. I was a huge Mike and the Mad Dog fan growing up as a kid. And maybe that was something,

cause I was a huge sports fan and maybe that was something I would do. And, but just football was always kind of what I gravitated to. And so when I got out, I said, you know, we'll give this thing a try and see where it goes. And it's kind of done well for me. Were you more a Mike guy or a Mad Dog guy?

I was probably more of a Mike guy, but I loved them both. I did. I loved them. I thought they were such a great compliment. And then I was probably more of a fan of the calling. You kind of related more to the calling people too, over the years. And the guys that consistently call into that show like Jerome on a car phone right Jerome from the Bronx that's amazing he's a famous caller into a radio station

Doris from the Met I love that they still said car phones even years after there were no more car phones I kept saying car phone yeah that's's great. Coach, good luck against Notre Dame. Listen, here's the rule. If you win, you gotta come back, okay? But you get to come back and you get to make fun of Golick for 15 minutes and he'll get respond to you at all. We'll mute him, okay?

Yes, I want to hear you say I'm a prettier football coach. There you go. I offended you, I'm sorry. I just meant standing next to Mike Freeman. That's all I meant. His name is Marcus. Listen, you stand next to me,. That's all I meant. You're Davis Marcus. You stand next to me, you win, guys. I appreciate you guys.

Thanks for having me on. All right, Coach. Good luck, man. We appreciate it. Thanks. Thanks, Coach. You look happy, Coach. Appreciate you guys. You got it, man.

Mike, thank you so much. That was good. This bowling green Mississippi State game was crazy. Yeah. Oh my gosh. 21-20. 21-20, there was a touchdown, then a miss field goal, turnover on downs, turnover on downs, turnover on downs, turnover on downs, fumble ended the game.

Crazy game. Wow. Classic. Wow. How about him nailing the exact yardage on Zach's run? Yeah, I mean, he probably had nightmares about it. Every yard. Yeah. Fantastic name alert. Did you see who had the interception for Bowling Green? Boo Boo Gates.

Oh, really? Boo Boo. The throw made a boo boo. Oh, boy. Is Boo Boo Gates. If you're on a right. Yeah, it was a terrible joke. Gates is out. If you're a rogue scout and there's a guy playing football and his name is Boo Boo Gates, do you recruit him like without watching him black?

Immediately. Yeah, just on name alone. Boo Boo Gates. Name alone. Boo Boo Gates. Hey, I got Boo Boo. There's a guy out here. Boo Boo. Is he good?

Don't know. Don't know his name is Boo Boo though. Take a flyer. Oh God. It's both bees are capital by the way. Yeah, Billy.er. Oh God. Both bees are capital, by the way. Yeah, Billy, it's going to be a hell of a weekend. Huh? Yeah. We have massive games. We have UF in Miami.

We have Notre Dame and we have Texas A&M. We have Clemson in Georgia. Georgia might have some guys suspended for that game. That line is shrinking a little bit. Is there a game you're looking most forward to? For me, it's you and UF only to see UM lose. That's it. I mean, if that happens.

If it happens. If that happens. But to your point that you've been making all week. What do you mean? Like, I realized that- Billy went to FIU. The success of Miami is kind of a big deal, but at the same time, is it almost better to see the pain

in certain members of your crew's eyes? Just name names, Mike. Yeah, of course. Oh no, I mean, I have friends and family that like you. Well, I barely consider them family at this point because of their allegiance to the school they never went to, but that's a story for another day. But yeah, no, I love to see them lose, it's hilarious.

The best. But Mikey, here's a problem that we realized, and I'm kind of wondering what your opinion is on because we discussed this earlier in the week. Stugas kind of made this astute observation, and it's something that we've been discussing all week. The early loss doesn't matter anymore. Doesn't matter if you win or lose.

Before you say if you're gonna lose, lose early. Now it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter if you lose early, doesn't matter if you lose late, doesn't matter if you lose two times. Just don't lose more than two times. Yeah, you might get in with three. If you're in Alabama, you might get in with three losses.

All you need to be is in the top 12. Yeah. Everyone's allowed one boo boo. Yeah. Two. And I think that was, well, the other loss, I feel like has to be a, okay, you lost to top four, top five ranked team on the road and you're, you know,

like I feel like that gets overlooked, but everybody's allowed one boo boo. And I don't think you want to get yours out of the, I think you want that in your back pocket going into the season. Well, you want to save your boo boo. I want you want to save your boo boo. I'm looking at the rankings from last year.

The 11th ranked team in the country was 10 and three. That was Arizona. The 12th ranked team in the country was LSU. They also had three losses. Then it was Penn State LSU. They also had three losses. Then it was Penn State, Notre Dame, also with three losses. You're gonna have three lost teams get into the playoff, Billy. They're more than one boo-boo, it seems.

Yeah, it's safe to say three boo-boos. But also remember, one of those group of five teams has to be in too, so knocking them down. So Mikey, here's another thing that is breaking news. We haven't said this out loud yet, but the BCS committee has gotten together already and there may be some sweeping changes in the BCS this year. We'll get to that when we get to that.

We're not gonna get to it this episode, but there is important news in the world of the BCS that if you're a loyal listener of God bless football, you might be interested in checking out. So we're gonna get to that at some point in the coming weeks soon, hopefully. Yeah, that's good to change it around. I mean, everything changes.

We gotta change, we gotta roll with the times, you know? Exactly right. I'm excited. We were the first one to expand our playoff and now we have some more changes because now, you know. We're gonna shrink it cause they expanded it. We're pioneers, man. We're always on because now, you know. We're gonna shrink it because they expanded it. We're pioneers, man. We're always on the forefront, you know.

We'll get to it when we get to it. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha But next week, if you're a fan of the show, we're gonna be in Kansas City. Come on by, check us out, say hello. Shake our hands. We'll be hanging out with the Gollix, we'll have Trey Wingo out there. We got a lot of stuff going on next week in Kansas City. My mission, Billy, and this is the only mission, okay, is to somehow wind up in the Kelsey Suite. How about that?

Okay, so. I'm working on it. I may be able to get us closer to that reality. Really? Yes. Now, not to the point of getting there, but I may be getting us closer to that reality. Here's what I think I might be able to do.

I might be able to, in a baseball analogy, get us through the eighth inning, and then you're gonna have to kinda of come in and close out the games. You gots like we're gonna need you for the save, but I think I can get us through the eighth because I had a fan of the show reach out to me and invite us to his suite for this game. Oh my God.

So I can possibly get us to the suite level. Okay, so we get to sweet level. Where is this person sweet in relation to the big sweet? Well, I don't know, but sweet level, I don't know the inner workings of the stadium, but I imagine a lot of us sweet. Just get me to the sweet level, Billy. I think the sweet, I think the sweet,

well, that's kind of a follow-up I need to have, because like, yeah, come on by our sweet, and it's like, well, that's not exactly how this works. I can't just walk up to the sweet. No, no, no, that's not inviting you to the sweet. That's inviting you, assuming you're on the suite level, to stop by there. Billy, tell them we want tickets in the suite

with suite passes or there is no stopping by because we won't be able to get up there. Well, okay, so here's, I'll be there. I hope you guys can join us in. And then the suite number. We're a good group of Chiefs fans and big fans of the show. We have food and booze too.

So this is an invitation into the suite. That's all right, that sounds more like a good idea. They have food and booze, they have tickets though. I mean, that should be the natural follow up. Well, we've been invited, be like, hey, you know. I can't eat their food from the 100 level. Okay, so like, all right, all right. We gotta get in the stadium.

I could. Then I think we can get into the sweet level. And then we may be in a situation where we have to very politely blow them off and say, hey, thanks so much, we'd love this, but we're going over to the Kelsey Suite now. I'm certain they'll understand. They might understand,

but we need you to kind of get us into that suite now. So you got you know what I mean? Listen, you get me to the suite level and I will get you in said suite. I promise you that. Well, you can't make that promise. That's an impossible promise to make. No, I can make that promise.

No, you can't. I can make that promise. You guys, the hurdle is not us getting to the suite level. Like that's not the hurdle in this scenario. That's a big part. I was concerned about that part. I gotta be honest. Suite passes are very tough to come by.

I'm not joking. But the suite pass that you want is the toughest to come by. So it's not just getting to that level. Because again, also, I don't know the way the stadium works. I don't know if there's multiple levels. I don't know how this is going, but imagine security is very tight also.

I'm gonna wear a Taylor Swift shirt. I mean. I don't think that's gonna, security would be like, well, you may be problems, but you're a Swiftie, so come on in. You're the only Taylor Swift fan here. Come on in. We've never seen one of these.

Exactly right. Oh, Taylor's gonna love this. It's a terrible idea. It's the worst idea I've ever had. Don't do that. Yeah, I almost feel like, and I could be crazy, I almost feel like the play is, and a very stupid play, the play is you get into the Kelsey Suite

and you're just not interested in the Taylor aspect of it at all. You know what I mean? You're like, oh, okay, cool. I'm here watching football. Excuse me, miss, could you pass me the ball to Irv? Thank you. I'd rather talk to Donna about the game

to be perfectly honest. I'm only here for Donna, that's our point. Exactly right, yeah, or Ed, that's names Ed, right? Because you know Donna's getting tired of it, Donna and Ed, they're like, hey, no one used to come by the suite before, now everyone wants in the suite, and I just wanna hang out with Donna and Ed,

because they are the stars of this whole thing, right? That's kinda, yeah, so that's what I'm thinking. Just get me there, Billy. Well, I'm gonna make an effort, but also, and here's another thing, Stugatz and Mikey, that we need to figure out is, I think that this is, and I'm not 100% certain, I think this is a scenario

where they will take your phone away from you. Like, it's like, come in and we take all of your, like, electronic devices, like, you're not gonna be bothering anyone, right? So I think that you want to go in because you want to have that moment and you wanna capture this and you wanna tell the story. But if you can't capture it,

do you still want to do this, is my question. 100%, yep. Easily, because I will make up the better story than what will actually happen. But if no one believes that it happened, then. That's their problem. We'll get proof. We'll have Donna on.

Respectfully, respectfully, you have a history of stretching the truth from time to time. So like, if you say, hey, I did this thing, people are gonna be like, no, you didn't, right? No, I know. So then what you need to do is you need to be having the conversation

at the exact perfect moment where the camera sees. Right when Travis catches a big pass. Yeah. So they can see it on TV. They're on, they go to the booth to check in and then someone's like, Stu Gotz is in there? Is that Stu Gotz? That can't be.

That can't be. Hey, I'm gonna tell you the one thing I am gonna bring to this whole scenario because I'm not getting us on the suite level or in there. But if they flash up to that suite on TV, you're not missing me. And you gotta set picks and box people out, okay? That's what you need to do.

So me and Billy can get right up there. We also, and this is kind of, this is the ugly part of this scenario. This is the mean part. But this is time where, you know, this is time where tough decisions may have to be made here. So like, if they say like, hey, four of you can go, who are the four?

Cause we have to cut out some people. And then if they're like three people can go then what do we do? And then if it's two people, what do we do? You know what I mean? Like what do we do here? How do we manage this situation properly? This is alarmingly close to my face. I'm very uncomfortable. But I'm in. Yeah, I'm in. What do you mean you're in though?? I'm saying is we may be a scenario

One of the three of us is out. You might not be in right? Let's have an alliance What they say to the lines who wants to form an alliance with me a former alliance with anyone? Still got you in an alliance. Do we take out Mikey? Mikey don't look at my mouth. Do you take out Mikey? Can you hear me? Are deaf what's happening here we may have to take out Stugats we get the invite Mikey that we take out Stugats on the way in plant something on him what can I plan on him that he won't already have on him I'm gonna get myself kicked out I'm gonna bring a second phone with me Stugats here for my friends over at DraftGangs we had the appetizer last week now it's time to feast college football is back don't a second phone with me. to get $250 in bonus vets instantly. Score big with DraftKings all college football season long.

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football week one Michigan State minus 13 and a half. Take it on FAU Michigan State at home. I'm taking the Spartans here. They win. They cover. They win by 21 points at home. We go to Stanford. They're taking on TCU. Stanford at home plus nine. I'm taking Stanford here. They're gonna cover and win the game outright. How about that? Stanford wins by four points. They cover the spread big game Clemson plus 13 and a half They're taking on Georgia by it up to 14 I'm taking Clemson here only because Mike Gola jr. On this episode of god bless football told us that the Clemson defense is ridiculous

So they're incredible Unbelievable. He said one of those three words. I think it could have been another one I have no idea but anyway I'm taking Clemson here Georgia wins the game Clemson coverage Georgia by four points at home we got it Gainesville Miami minus two and a half at Florida what a weekend week one this is gonna be a blast I mean what an excuse you get to sit around for 72 hours in your ass don't move drink beer Miller Lite of course and you get to watch football about that who's gonna, you get to sit around for 72 hours in your ass, don't move, drink beer, Miller Lite of course, and you get to watch football. How about that? Who's going to tell you not to?

Miami minus two and a half at Florida. Canes, Mike Ryan has sold me on the Canes, even though he will tell you he has not sold me on the Canes. I'm taking them anyway. The Canes win. They're going to the college football playoff. Canes win, they cover, they beat the Gators on the road. Canes by 10 points.

Northwestern at home they're playing on the link now. New stadium they're taking on Miami of Ohio. By it down to two and a half. Northwestern wins no one will notice no one will watch but they will win and they will cover Northwestern by 10 points at home. We go to Texas A&M College Station Mike Elko's first game thanks to him for joining us on the show this week. Sorry he's gonna lose. Notre Dame they are plus three by the three and a half. Notre Dame wins covers they're gonna win the game outright at College Station one of the toughest places to play in the country. Notre Dame wins by seven points on the road. Congratulations to the Gullicks. Fresno State plus 21. They're taking on

the defending national champions whose national championship will be vacated in three seasons and no one will care. They're taking on Michigan at Ann Arbor. Fresno State is getting 21 points on the road. Michigan wins. Fresno State covers Michigan by 10 points at home we go to USC finally Lincoln Riley on the hot seat I don't like him I don't think he's a good coach I think he was a product of Caleb Williams and not the other way around about that I don't even know what that means LSU minus four at USC big game good game LSU wins and they cover on the road LSU by 10 points those are the picks everyone enjoy week one

the Listen, I know it started last week. It's a weird week one. They're not calling it week zero. But this really feels like when you talk about all the games that we have this weekend. And what I love about this weekend, no NFL that starts next week will be out in Kansas City for the Chiefs of the Bengals. We'll be out there live. And I'm very much looking forward to that. But what you have this week is you have games that start. Well, they've already started.

They started last night. But you have games that continue all day on Saturday. Then you get a couple of games on Sunday. And then you get that Monday night game on Labor Day, which I love. And so college football, it felt a little empty last week. But it will not feel empty this week. Did it feel empty to you?

It did. I mean, you had the game in Dublin, and that was about it, right? There was nothing else. That was kind of it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we have a full slate this week. So cheer up buttercup. Yeah, are you excited for Kansas City? I Am excited for Kansas City. I feel like it should be pretty fun. I think that you know, we'll see her some old friends

We haven't seen in a long time. We'll be broadcasting live. This is gonna be our first Outside of Super Bowl on location broadcasts of God Bless Football. So that should be fun. We're going to try to go to this game. I'm told that we're going to go to this game. We'll see if it actually ends up materializing, but we should be going to the game. That'll be a fun game. Chiefs Ravens. Yeah, Mikey. Hey, what'd you think of the Patriots going with Jacobi percent? Not Drake May for me. I think they looked at the first four defenses they've had to

play and they're like Jacobi percent can take those hits. We'll bring Drake May for me. I think they looked at the first four defenses they've had to play and they're like, Jacobi Percent can take those hits. We'll bring Drake May in afterwards. Can we play a new game real quick on the way out here that I have to play? I think we only have a minute. You have to play. Okay, go ahead.

It's called, I Have a Bone to Pick. Oh, I like it. All right. Yeah. I have a bone to pick with the Big Ten Network. Okay. Yeah. Go ahead. So the Big Ten Network is, so this week, my university's team, Florida International University,

is playing Indiana, and the game is supposed to be on the Big Ten Network. Now, I went to look here on my provider for television and games and such, and the Big Ten Network has Northwestern's game scheduled to be broadcast at that time. Now I'm hoping that this is just an error in terms of what's being shown on my schedule,

but the idea that I have to watch Northwestern football is insane. And I understand what you're thinking. Billy, you're asking to watch Indiana football. Yes, I am. I would like to watch Indiana football against FIU and not Northwestern.

So Big Ten Network, I have a bone to pick with you. That's it, that's it. That's the debut of I have a bone to pick with you. Well, well done by you. My daughter goes to Northwestern though, you realize that. Yeah, so I don't give a shit. Respectfully. I don't care.

Is she on the football team? I don't care. No, but her boyfriend might be. Okay, great. Well, listen, I'm with you. I'd rather watch the FIU as well, but I did take Northwestern. Okay, I am pounding Northwestern this weekend. And by the way, if we're going to talk about this, if you're out there, you want to sponsor, I have a bone to pick with you, Chewy or Petco or

any of those out there. Feel free because I assure you every week we have bones that could be picked here. Okay.