The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Greg McElroy on Saban Pivot, Conference Realignment, Playoff Expansion

Episode Date: August 9, 2023

First, Colin explains why this NFL preseason is so much more interesting than last year’s. Then, Always College Football podcast host and national title winning quarterback Greg McElroy joins Colin to discuss Nick Saban and Bama pivoting from defensive to offensive identity, how conference realignment will impact the SEC product, if CFB Playoff expansion will hurt the overall product, and if there will ever be a “Cinderella” national champion. Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Herd #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. Hi, everybody. Welcome in to the Wednesday morning podcast.

I'm going to have on an old friend Greg McElroy is the former quarterback in the NFL and very well known as a national championship quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He's now a very popular radio show host down in the south. And we're going to bring him on today and shoot the bull for about 20, 30 minutes about the college football season. I have not been this fired up for college football in a long time. Even though my beloved Pac-12 conference is circling the drain, that was fairly inevitable and predictable. But Greg McElroy in a few minutes,

you know, I was thinking about last year's pre-season exhibition season. And all the years I've been doing talk radio, it was the slowest pre-season of all time because Sean McVeigh, several years ago, as I've noted multiple times, stopped playing starters and all these young coaches followed suit. So the only story we had last year in the preseason was Kenny Pickett, who, you know, was a good college quarterback, not stupendous. He wasn't a hot Caleb Williams, Andrew Luck, Trevor Lawrence prospect, not even a Kyler Murray to Sean Watson, Baker-Macefield prospect. He's a solid guy who had a lot of college starts.

And I remember thinking after about two weeks of Kenny Pickett discussion, thank God he plays for the Steelers. What if he had played for the Jaguars? There was just no story. This year's preseason feels entirely different. First of all, there's three first round quarterbacks. All could succeed. But I do think one of them is fascinating Anthony Richardson for the Colts. Not only because at 6.5-255, he is Big Ben Cam Newton-like,

Josh Allen-like, where he will just be such a force, a productive force running the football with that new offensive coach, Shane Stike, and a brilliant guy who had Herbert and Jalen Hertz. So I think the Colts are going to be a fascinating watch. I don't think they're going to be a great team. but between Jonathan Taylor, the running back and Anthony Richardson, I think they're going to catch people off guard. I think they're going to look like Cam's rookie year,

although he's not as polished as Cam, Big Ben, a little Josh Allen, and a little Lamar Jackson. It's going to be all of that mixed into one. So I think that's fascinating. I think Bryce Young is interesting because Frank Reich is one of those coaches that didn't get a ton of credit because he had reclamation projects. He had to clean up Andrew Luck,

clean up Philip Rivers, clean up Carson Wentz. All three, three for three, Frank Reich, did an amazing job. Now he gets a rookie Bryce Young, who I think was head and shoulders above the other quarterbacks coming into this draft. I'm fascinated by that. Also, in this preseason, Sean Payton has said, I'm going to play Russell Wilson. Really interesting. My guess is Russell reverts to about 75 to 80% of what he was at his prime, but I don't

think he's as good. I think quarterbacks that move get hit more, quarterbacks that get hit more, age much quicker. I mean, Big Ben got old fast. Cam got old fast. I was talking to Michael Vick on FS1 yesterday. And it was about, you know, year five or six, that Michael Vick, the fastest player in the league, couldn't outrun Carolina's outside linebacker Thomas Davis. And that's when Michael realized, okay, everything's changed. So I think this preseason's got a lot of stories, not to mention, I think week one, Buffalo and the Jets and Aaron Rogers. Listen, man, you look at that jet schedule. And that's a tough matchup with Buffalo.

very good front seven, very good pass rush. Jet start 0-1-1, fair or not. There's going to be heat on Aaron Rogers because their early schedule for six games is a gotlet. So I feel differently about this August. I'm excited for it. Last year, I felt like I was just trying to fill space. But Anthony Richardson, a Bryce Young, a Russell Wilson, all really interesting to me. And the other one I'd throw out there,

that I find myself kind of rooting for is Mac Jones the Patriots. I contend that Mac Jones is as good as Kenny Pickett, not as athletic, doesn't run as well. I think he throws a better football. And I thought the organization completely got in Mac Jones way last year. I think Mac Jones is going to revert

to a good B quarterback, sort of a Kirk Cousins, with maybe a little better arm. I think Mac Jones maybe not quite as accurate. but a little better arm. And if Mac Jones becomes Kirk Cousins, then Bill Balichick's back on track and can make the playoffs and win playoff games,

maybe the division. So this preseason, pro football, fired up. Well, Greg McElroy was at the very early stages of the Alabama dynasty. And the early stages of the dynasty,

quarterback's got no effing credit. It was all defense. Now it's not about linebackers and safeties and corners. Now, Saban the brilliant man that he is has really pivoted and transitioned to more of an offensively dynamic dynasty. And Greg, I want to bring you in on this. The world changed. And a lot of people, Greg, don't change with the world. And I got to give Sabin a lot of credit about the time.

Lane Kiffin got there, he started really, really upping his game with offensive players. When he started, your years, it was McLean the linebacker, it was corners, it was, right? And guys like you were like, well, Greg just hands the ball off. And I always feel like, Greg actually played in the league. Greg was really good. But when you look at it now, there are some remnants of it. But when did you notice that it really pivoted to more of a USC-feeling dynasty or a, you know, a Mack Brown dynasty where the offense is a 60-40 advantage? I mean, I think it's well observed.

It had to have been 14 when Lane Kiffin came in. And it's easy to look at it through the lens of the USC because that's her lane that came from. So they really started to acknowledge there was a time and a shift in college football at that time. where Ole Miss was starting to roll a little bit, maybe he had to kind of start scoring some points. Auburn had just been to the national championship in 2013 on the heels of a high-octane, high-tempo offense that really created a lot of conflict for the defense.

I think Coach Saven started to realize, but it's going to be really hard to win games 21-13 moving forward. So we're going to have to get real comfortable winning games 42-41, which he's had to do a couple times. Now, I actually think, Colin, where it's starting to go back, though, because teams can now simulate with their scout teams the tempo. They can simulate the quarterback play.

They can simulate the run-pass options, but what they can't simulate is incredible offensive line play, a fullback that's coming at you 100 miles an hour and blowing up the middle linebacker. So I actually think the pendulum is starting to shift back the other way, and we've kind of seen that with Nick Sabin's hire of Tommy Reese, because at Notre Dame, we knew what he was all about.

It was three yards in a cloud of dust right downhill until you liked it. So I wonder if you're sensing something similar in college football as well. Well, I say you can't really look at Georgia and say we could duplicate that. Okay. So the state of Georgia. You better recruit. You better be able to get some dudes in on defense. Georgia was always the sleeping giant in college football.

I mean, for years and years, you would talk to NFL scouts. And they're like, why doesn't Georgia win more? You know, we always know that the state of Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, California, have a lot of players, Ohio. Georgia now has as many D1 players as California, and you have a third of the population or a quarter of the population. So I don't think Georgia is something you can duplicate. They do remind me a little of Alabama early, where it's a defensive culture with very capable quarterbacks who are going to get drafted. you, A.J. McCarron, maybe not superstars, maybe not like a Caleb Williams or a Vince Young. But it's a defensive-leaning culture. I just think they recruit at a different level.

And George has always been a sleeping giant. But, you know, I've said this for years, even though I work at Fox and we have the Big Ten. And I said this for years when I worked at ESPN. People. SEC dominates recruiting, draft day, and Saturday. Get over it. it's the best conference. Here's though what's really fascinating. By including Texas and Oklahoma, and I think specifically Texas,

that's another game on the schedule that's going to be, it's becoming an arms race, Texas money, Texas coaching. I know the SEC fans thumps their chest, but do you really want to face LSU, Georgia, Florida, Texas in one season? Is there anybody in the South that's going,

this isn't potentially and you're going to add Clemson and Florida State here in the next 18 months as well could you become just too rich you're the AFC, you're too powerful there's too many stars I think that there are programs Mississippi State a good example

when the schedules came out for the 24 season Mississippi State didn't have Alabama on the schedule they didn't have many of their SEC West foes and they were doing parades through the middle of Starkville. But hang on, that's your closest team as far as proximity is concerned, even closer as far as just straight mileage

from Starkfield and Tuscaloosa than it is to Oxford, Mississippi, where Ole Miss resides. And they said, no, no, no, we don't want to play them. So I think for some, they are a little bit, not only say intimidated, but they kind of acknowledge

where they are at in the pecking order. But I also think, too, if players are going to flock to it, and the money's going to be there. But we look at the big, I mean, the Big Ten is comparable. I mean, I think Wisconsin's an unbelievable program

with tremendous history and success. We know what Michigan is. We know what Ohio State is. I've seen Michigan State at their best, even though they didn't have their best that day, but they were 11-win team 10, 12 years ago, playoff team back in 15. SC is, I think, you referenced Georgia as a sleeping giant.

SC to me has been the sleeping giant for two decades because there was a time when I was 15 years old when I never thought I'd see him lose a game. I think UCLA is dangerous because Chip Kelly now in the NIL era with his NFL pedigree understands how to work that system. Washington is just getting started under killing divorce. I don't think there's one right now that is significantly more difficult than the other. I think the SEC's bottom is better than the Big Ten's bottom. But at the top, you have very capable programs with tremendous resources at their disposal.

As a Pact 12 diehard and loyalist, I had told friends five years ago that, it wasn't going to survive. And my takeaway was once the NFL came back to Los Angeles with two teams, is that, you know, Pete Carroll was in a time, no NFL in L.A., all the resources, all the resources, all the time, sellouts. And also, people were spending their money on USC. People were totally supportive of USC. Games were sellouts. Also, you didn't have a Pac-10 tournament you could lose.

You didn't have to play a semi-final game. If you were great and you beat your Oregon states, Arizona states and Washington, you ended up playing for the national championship if somebody thought you were good enough. So it's a different time. And so I'm not that I'm not bothered. I'm bummed out about the PAC 12. Sure. It's a SEC Big Ten money is just greater.

How is that viewed in the South? How do you look at it? You guys always think we're soft out here anyway, but how is it viewed that the four best teams are basically going to join the enemy in the Big Ten? Well, I don't know if I want any of my southern friends to know that I'm actually originally from Los Angeles. So I don't want to be perceived as soft. I don't think you are necessarily. I do think that there is a bit of a perception that when it's good against good and best against best, the likelihood of the SEC winning that game is higher than that of what we see sometimes from the Big Ten.

I mean, Ohio State did beat Alabama in 14, has beaten the SEC. teams came within a field goal away of probably being the national champion last year. But those have been more few and far between, even dating back to the 2006, 2007, when the Big Ten just had a difficult time matching up on annual basis against

the best that the SEC had to offer. That's why the SEC won every championship from 08 all the way up until 2013 when Florida State finally brought it home. So I think that will be kind of an interesting evaluation. It's going to be a tug of war. I mean, we don't like them, they don't like us type of mentality for Big Ten fans.

and for SEC fans. Some will pound their chest about the money earned. Some will pound their chest about the ratings. Everyone's seemingly trying to find an edge. But at the same time, I still feel like the edge is that both leagues are beyond elite. It's just whether or not now the Big Ten, which doesn't have as much talent density as the SEC, if they'll be able to go south and attract kids up to the north to play at some of those places with a few less division one level high caliber prospects that they would normally.

have at their disposal in the SEC. Like South Carolina goes down the street, they can get 15 guys that can play a high-level D1 ball. Iowa might have to go 250 miles in every direction, and they might not find that many. So I think it's just a little bit more difficult when it comes to the recruiting pipeline. But if the identities are clearly established in the Big Ten,

I think they can play with anybody. I love Saban. I think sometimes he can be, if Nick wants to talk about something, he's going to go to the podium, and he's going to find something that can get him into what he really wants to talk about. He does this all the time.

About three times a year, it's like, I'm going to talk about transfer portal. I don't care what your question is. I'm going to bring it up. And there have been two different occasions where he's complained about the NIL. And he said, you know, it's not even. It's not fair. And my takeaway has always been, that's a message. And my gut feeling was he's a little concerned about Texas, that the fact that Texas money is like USC can't compete with it.

Phil Knight and Oregon can't compete with it. the Longhorns have two to three billionaire donors. And that when Nick talks about the NIL, my takeaway is he's doing some battles with Sark. And some of these, they're wrestling people away. I mean, they're getting great recruits. That's my take. What is yours when he complains about the NIL? Because Alabama's collective, I'm sure, is just fine.

Why is he doing that? I think it's as much calling to rally the troops of his own fan base. Everyone made a big deal about the argument between Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban back in the summer of 22. It was never about Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban. It was never about Alabama against Texas A&M. What he was doing and what he thought was a controlled environment amongst friends and family unknowing that there was televisions there and all this other stuff. He was basically saying, hey, look, these guys, look at the recruiting class,

they were just able to bring home. you guys better step it up. That was a call to action for his own fan base. I think more so than it was being frustrated with the current system. Are there as many billionaire donors in the state of Alabama as there are in the state of Texas?

No, but I would be willing to probably go probably on the record and saying I'd be willing to bet that people worth $500 or $600 million are putting up a higher percentage of their net worth to make sure that Alabama succeeds than maybe in Texas or in California or other places. it just means a lot in this particular state.

So I will be interested to see how that all unfolds and how the arms race really ends up working out. I'm really actually more interested, though, not as much as NIL, but what would you do if you were one of those teams right now that is perceived to not have that war chest of NIL at your disposal? If you're behind as far as your approach right now and your television contract, I don't want to say Florida State and Clemson, because I think they have enough. resources to be able to support them on the recruiting trail. Just look at how they've fared in recent years. But what message would you send if you were one of those teams that was lacking behind and not a part of the big two or hopefully en route to the big two? Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds, I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver

Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing

something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap

Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the look Back Added podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the

80s. To be clear, 84's big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but yeah, yeah, literally. But just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. So, Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah.

For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, Greg, my belief is that college football is going to become a little bit like college basketball, that the playoff is going to be a big chunk of the sport. It will go to 12. then I think it will go to 16 or 24. Now, people are concerned that it'll ruin the college football regular season, and here's why it won't. Because, Greg, March Madness did not kill college basketball's regular season.

We watched Leitner. We watched the running rebels. We watched Georgetown. We had March Madness. What has killed college basketball is one-and-done culture. The quality is not good. The playoffs not going to hurt college football because you watch LSU play Georgia. There's 34 NFL.

players on the field. Because of the cultural reality of college football, you have to play three years. Most guys play four. You have grown men playing. People think by adding to the playoff, it'll hurt college football's regular season. And I said this two days ago on my show. Texas is playing Bama. You're not watching? Really? George is playing LSU or Oklahoma. You're not watching. Really? USC's at Michigan. You're watching and you're watching, even though they may meet. to get in the playoff. You're watching because Caleb Williams is going to be against their first round quarterback pick.

It's Harbaugh and Lincoln Riley. Play end of year playoffs don't kill the sport. Lack of quality has killed college basketball. Hell, Victor Wemignyama, he didn't even play college basketball. Scoot Henderson, Jalen Green. So as long as you're forced to go to college, I'm going to watch Georgia, Bama, LSU, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, Michigan, Ohio State. So, but I do think, Greg, to your initial question, the bottom part of that, 10, 11, 12,

that's going to be the area where an Oregon state can win that mountain west if that happens, and they can get in. You're going to get four from the SEC, four from the Big Ten, one or two from the Big 12, but instead of getting like Cincinnati and we argue about it, you'll get two of those. You'll get two of those. And so I think what will happen is we're going to do 12 for about four years. It's going to make everybody a fortune. And everybody's going to go, all right, let's go to 16.

And it won't hurt the sport. You're going to watch Auburn, Alabama, even if you played a second time. Greg, you and I have watched March Manda since we were kids. If Duke and Carolina play in the Elite 8 for the fourth time, we're watching. You're right. There's no deny that. but I am curious, your thoughts, are we getting to a point in the NIL era

in the college football world where they're looking at the top 25, the coach's poll came out the other day, and people are saying, all right, how many teams can win it? And people aren't getting past five right now as far as teams that can actually win the championship. Now, can Caleb Williams elevate his team to a level

that is just unrecognizable and maybe pull off two upsets and root to a championship? sure, but the Vince Young taking over the game against USC back in 2005 doesn't feel like it's as capable nowadays. Do you still think that Cinderella or a run like a Cinderella is possible in college football? Yeah, I do because I think the SEC's always had more elite athletes, but the game used to be tighter and smaller and that Nick Saban could suffocate you. I watched Ohio State play Georgia.

and just because of those receivers for Ohio State and C.J. Stroud, they moved that ball. I thought they were the other team that day. Right. Caleb Williams, Quinn Uers, C.J. Stroud. The game is, you know, if you go back, Greg, and go back to Nebraska when they were winning titles, they had one receiver wide. Right. I mean, everybody was jammed up on the size of my screen. The game is so fast and so wide and so many young players now want to be quarterbacks or wide receivers that nobody,

including Nick Saban or Georgia, is going to cover Marvin Harrison. You can't do it. And so I think the U.S.Cs and the Texases and the Notre Dame's may need to have a Caleb Williams or a Vince Young. They have to make up something, right? Stetson Bennett's good. Caleb Williams is different. Trevor Lawrence beats Bama. Those schools to beat the SEC King have to be better at quarterback and probably transcendent.

You know, Trevor Lawrence. That's a different. Caleb's a different kind of number one pick. I mean, Baker was a number one pick, Caleb. That's not close. And I do think the field is so spread now and the offensive coaching is so good that if you have that superstar quarterback and you're 85% of Georgia's roster, Bama's roster, you can win.

I watched Tennessee last year drop up, was it like a 50 burger on Alabama? They couldn't stop them with Hen and Hooker. They've scored 52. Look at you. I mean, thanks for rubbing it in and bringing it up. I appreciate the reference. I am curious your thoughts on this because I don't think anyone in the world does a better job with analogies and being able to recreate the idea and the visual.

As I'm listening to you, you can sum up something up. And I'm like, how did he come up with that? And I tried to do my best Colin Coward impression and said, if you put too much on the quarterback's shoulders, it's like the quarterback is the bicep and all you do are curls. Meanwhile, your triceps are atrophy, your pecks are atrophy, your legs are atrophy. If you put too much on that position, it's going to actually result in the rest of your team not being as good. Now, it's totally opposite from what you just described, but I think there's a real analogy to be made at, say, Alabama, maybe even USC to a certain extent last year.

At Ohio State, at times, especially on defense, back in the end of the Urban Meyer era, early era of, of what Ryan Day is doing. Dwayne has to their defense fell off. I mean, other things, the run game has at times fallen off. Do you think that there's a possibility that if you put too much on your quarterback, the rest of the roster actually won't be competitive enough to maybe win the national championship? Well, a twofold. I had Urban Meyer on my show today, and I made this point.

And Urban even said, he goes, you know, that's actually a really good point. I said, Ohio State's receiver recruiting is so good now. they only take five stars that they've become less physical as a team because you have to get those players the ball or they're not going to go to Ohio State. And I said to Urban, I watch Ohio State. And it's almost like, okay, we got to give Marvin Eric's. We've got to give this good. And I said, I feel like Ohio State is not a finesse team, asked Georgia, but they're not, they're not quite sure what they are. simultaneously, Michigan is doubled down on physical play and running, and now they've separated

between the two. And another point on this, I said this years ago on the air, I said the downside to making the NFL so quarterback dependent. And all this, Greg, is based on the CTE check. The NFL wrote for almost a million dollars. They changed the rules. Literally now the middle of the field is offense. You can't hit anybody except the running back.

And I said, the downside to this sport. It'll be good for fantasy players and ratings. But if you don't have a star quarterback, we know you're done. And you look at the Super Bowl bubble. Mahomes, Murrow, Allen, Lamar, Jalen Hertz, I mean, Trevor Lawrence, that bubble used to feel like 15 teams. It feels like seven.

I mean, Kirk Cousins is good. But in this day and age, he's simply not good enough. Dax good. He's not good enough. And so I do think, to your point of atrophying, due to safety reasons, the NFL and college football to a lesser degree is so quarterback reliant and driven. You don't want football. That's Canadian football. You can only win with passing.

We don't want that. I want defense. I like when Georgia rocks people. Those Georgia Notre Dame games were physical and intense in line of scrimmage. That's what separates us from the CFL. So I do think physicality is still a huge. I mean, listen, the best offensive line wins most NFL games. If you have a competent quarterback and you control the clock, you win most games.

At least to a certain, I got to the point in college football, though, because the advent of spread and no huddle and all the stuff, it's almost like offensive line. As long as you're always not a liability down in the NFL, it's different. Those past rushers, when you got, you know, 35-year-old Vaughn Miller still. wreck and havoc. I mean, we were talking about guys that are just different. And not everybody has a guy like that on the end of the line of scriments. Now, the SEC, yeah, most teams do. Even Mississippi State, Vanderbilt had a guy last year that was legit. Kentucky always has two or three. Big Ten, Ohio State's got them. Michigan's got them. Michigan State occasionally has them. Penn State absolutely has them. We haven't seen

someone at SC or UCLA's got one, Washington's got two. But you don't see that down and down. great, unbelievable defensive front to where your offensive line has to be rock solid or else your quarter actually get killed. So maybe it's coming down in that direction a little bit as the talent starts to separate, but I don't see the depth of defensive line talent in the college game that we do in the NFL. No, I see it in the SEC. You know, the state of Louisiana probably has six million people that live in it and they have eight good D1, D-line prospects. or 8 to 12. California's got

California's got 38 million people. We have three. I mean, some of it, Greg, I've said, is diet. You know, the West Coast, it's just health and wellness. You know, you'll go up in California. Health and wellness out in California. I mean, like, I say this, I had lunch with somebody today.

And he's a Californian, and he lives in the, you know, he lives in a different part of the country. He goes, he goes, you come back to California. It's like, does anybody eat out here? He's like, offensive linemen and high. school or 255. It's like, and so I just think other parts of the country, they just, you know, the SEC produces more. Midwest produces them. Northeast does. I always, you know, I just, I kind of feel like this college football season, I'm really excited because I was known when I was at ESPN as a college

football guy. Then I thought the sport got really insular and very southern. And, you know, I would say the SEC is the best. But when you're a syndicated talk show host, you have to talk about national sports. I talk a lot of NFL. I'll talk a UFC fight. For about seven to eight, maybe 10 years, college football, once USC eroded, it felt like the sport was down to three teams, Ohio State and two SEC teams. I actually think Texas this year, Michigan this year in USC can play with anybody. Don't know if they can, but I think they match up. You know, Alex Grinch, the coordinator for USC has got to prove himself. He's got three NFL bodies up front. They had none last year. So due to the transfer portal, they got three Sunday guys because their corners and

safeties are fine. They have maybe the best safety in the country, Kailen Bullock. Their offense is exceptional. They've gone out and gotten NFL bodies on the O line. So I always feel like with the transfer portal, you can fix one side of the football per year. So USC fixed their offense last year. They went and fixed their defense this year. It takes about two years.

Without the transfer portal, it took Nick Sabin a third recruiting class to get it rolling, right? Like you were part of that. Now it takes two years. And I think Brian Kelly, first year, got the offense kind of figured out. Now he's going to get the defense figured out. So I have Michigan facing LSU with a championship. And I don't think LSU's the best SEC team. I don't think they're the deepest.

But I love the coach. I love the quarterback. And I looked at their schedule. And I'm like, I think LSU is going to, I think they're going to, you know, it's going to be a lot of people knocking each other off. I like LSU a lot. If LSU wins the national championship, what's the headline in the L.A. Times or wherever,

paper, the Manhattan Beach Post, whatever it is. Well, I think it would be a real story because Brian Kelly is at Notre Dame and Notre Dame has a big, has resonance here. And I think if they beat a Michigan and it was a competitive game, I think it would be a win for college football. It's SEC winning's not bad. SEC beating Michigan State in the playoff by 40 is bad. So if it's LSU 3533, I got no problem with that. USC losing. I don't want USC and Sam Darnold playing Ohio State and two series in.

It doesn't even look like they're by the same sport. So I don't think the SEC winning is bad. I think them dominating and suffocating teams is bad for the sport. And I don't think we'll see that. I think Quinn Ewers, Caleb Williams, the Michigan kid. I think those guys can move the ball on anybody. Listen, Ohio State, I thought they outplayed Georgia. I did.

I really, I thought. It'd be hard for us to push back on that. I don't know if all of the guy could. Yeah. So I think we're in a good spot. I think going forward, the really big brands not in the SEC have really good coaches. And I think that's good. I think Sark, you know, you can say what you want about him.

He can recruit and he can coach offense. Lincoln Riley is very clever. Harbaugh's unorthodox, but more than competent. Dabo Schweeney's great. So I think we're in a good space right now going forward in college. As long as FSU and Clemson. stay in the ACC? Because you thought it was going to not even catch up, catch that for a second.

What's stopping them from going? You said they were going to the SEC. What's stopping Clemson and Florida State from maybe going to the Big Ten? I don't think they feel like the Big Ten. So I, first of all, the Big Ten, and this sounds snooty, but they view themselves as sort of an academic elite conference. Washington, USC, UCLA are considered really elite universities. So is Northwestern, Michigan, Penn.

state, Wisconsin's considered a public ivy. I'm not knocking Florida State Clemson. Those feel like football powers. One of the things I appreciate about the SEC is they don't lose any sleep. They love their football. They're not going to pretend they're this or that. Not that universities don't matter, but they're all in on football. It drives the cultural bus and the revenue bus.

I'm okay with that. You know what I mean? I lived out in Tampa. I cover the Gators. I love the passion. I think the PAC 12 got. way too precious. That's why they've unraveled. I mean, Cal football, Cal cares more about rugby than football some years. So I can't take them seriously. But I do think the Big Ten would love Notre Dame.

And if Notre Dame came in, would consider Stanford. But I think some of their school presidents, they view themselves a certain way. And whether it's snooty or not, you may disagree, but I kind of feel that they think Washington and USC and UCLA fit their academic profile. percent right we've said it before the only pretentious fan base in the SEC would be vanderville everyone else is kind of like man we're just happy to be here let's win the party right let's win the game when the party let's see what happens but i'm talking my degree at the time but i'm not i mean we're proud of our football that's what it is man this has been awesome this has been a great conversation i so appreciate brother by the way i know three families in fact one of my dearest

friends, Trace Gallagher at Fox News, dear friend for 20 years, his daughter goes to Alabama, loves it. So I don't know what it is, but Manhattan Beach, California has a lot of kids that went to Bama. I'm not joking. My daughter went in a leadership conference years ago to Cape Town, South Africa with about 15 SEC girls and loved it, loved the girls. And she, you know, she considered it. She considered going to the south.

So it's really interesting. I think there's a mystique about the South and country music and college football. It's almost mysterious to kids out west. And I think people are very attracted to it. I know a lot of families. You know, I work out at a gym around the corner from my house. And Alabama is a topic all the time during football season. There's a lot of roll-tied shirts in my little beachy California gym.

And a lot of that, Sabin. it's the greatest dynasty ever and it's it's noteworthy right i think it is but then again i live 45 minutes from tuscaloosa so not exactly in the same part of town as you buddy but this has been awesome man this is a great conversation i appreciate you so much love what you do love us do at the volume appreciate you guys and we look forward to continue to watch your your pod and your show and listen on fs1 all that other fun stuff my friend yep man you've been a big hit you're you're the morning guy is it kjox uh wj ox yeah w jel So yeah, doing that.

My bad. East Coast. Yeah, it's the big stick in the morning. And I remember when you were up for that, we were at the volume looking at you. And because we were going to bring you on to the volume. And somebody said he's up for a huge morning radio show in the South. And I remember they gave me the call letters. And I'm like, oh, yeah, that's the big morning show.

That's going to be. And I think you made the right choice. I say this all the time. I'm a radio guy at heart. They put me on TV, but I'm not a, I don't look like a TV guy. I'm a radio guy. there's nothing like connecting to a radio audience. Storytelling, it's the very best.

It's the best. But you at least have the gift of gab. I have voice for radio or voice for TV or whatever they say, voice for print, face for radio, something along the lines of that. I don't know exactly how it works. But at least you got it good, man. I'm just trying to figure it out, I'm falling your lead, buddy. Well, great seeing you.

Appreciate you, man. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed human.