The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Prime Cuts: Westbrook Trade, Biles Reaction, Texas and Oklahoma to SEC

Episode Date: July 31, 2021

The best of The Colin Cowherd Podcast. Colin rants on why Russell Westbrook to the Lakers is a smart move for LeBron (0:30), and why the Simone Biles reaction represents the biggest paradigm shift in the history of sports (2:55). Matt Mosley has more on the fallout from Jerry Jones admitting he “f****d up” his relationship with Jimmy Johnson, and why Texas is going to get "run" in the SEC (5:14). Bruce Feldman on the uncertain future for USC, and where Notre Dame could end up (19:22). Plus Dan Porter, the CEO of Overtime, on the founding of his massively successful company and how they plan to change basketball forever with a new venture (26:00). Make sure to subscribe NOW and follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content and updates. Also, check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action!  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. 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.

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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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild.

It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart 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 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. 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. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this Valentine's with 1800flowers.com. From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, gourmet treats, and more. Surprise your Valentine with 1-800flowers.com.

Right now, get the 18-stem enchanted rose medley for $3999, or upgrade to 24 red roses for $10 more. Go to 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. That's 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. This is the best of the Colin Coward podcast. Some great guests this week. Going to bring you all the best moments, but first up, the best of my rants for the week. The Russell Westbrook, to the Lakers, for KCP Kyle Kuzma, Montrez, Harold and a draft pick. Initially, you know I'm not a huge Westbrook fan. I've said this, that

Cam Newton's game as an NFL quarterback, and Westbrook's game as an NBA player, the game has moved away from them. In the NFL right now, it's about efficiency. That's not Cam. In the NBA, it's about shooting. That's not Westbrook. And he would have to play often off the ball with LeBron James, and that's not really his strength. He's not a shot maker. He's a playmaker. But I thought a lot about this. Is LeBron James thinking, because you know he okayed this, listen, I know Westbrook, we work out at UCLA, Westbrook, by the way, has a house about three miles from LeBron, their friends, they respect each other. Is LeBron saying, number one, nobody plays harder than Russell Westbrook. And I have got to get, regardless of his inconsistency, I mean, Westbrook's not

even the best version of Westbrook anymore. But he plays a lot of minutes. He plays with undeniable passion. He absolutely is completely utterly committed to basketball. He's often said my best friends the ball. From a psychological standpoint, do you bring Westbrook in? AD watches his commitment. He sees LeBron's commitment. And there's a feeling like, hey, I got to get my shit together. I can't let these two down. Like we know Westbrook's a flawed player. We know he can't hit three-pointers. Even his free-throw shooting has dramatically dropped in recent years. But I think there's a psychological play here. Westbrook plays as hard as anybody in the league. LeBron plays as hard as anybody in the league. That's the knock on Anthony Davis. Listen, KSma, KCP, Montres-Harrell,

and a draft pick. Those are marginally talented players who are inconsistent. LeBron's thinking, why not get a Hall of Fame player that's inconsistent? The other thing, that jumped to the forefront with me. It's kind of funny. I thought to myself, is Chris Paul looking at this thinking, wait a minute, I got a house in L.A. too. We're way better friends than Westbrook. Westbrook left Oklahoma City. I came in with a tanking team. We made the playoffs. Westbrook bombed with Houston. I got Houston to the Western Conference final with James Hardin. I made the laughable sons into a finals team. Is Chris Paul looking at this thinking, LeBron, I'm the perfect piece for this.

You know, right now we're witnessing one of the biggest paradigm shifts in the history of sports. Athletes speaking out on their own mental health and the steps they feel they need to take to protect it. So Simone Biles withdraws from the Olympic team over mental health reasons. Aaron Rogers saying recently, he needed time away from the game before reporting to camp. Naomi Osaka took time away from tennis. Last year, Dac Prescott admitted that his family issues and the pandemic led to him suffering from depression and anxiety. Yeah, it happens to football players too. Sports has always been about a machine that never stops, and sometimes athletes have been the casualty of that machine. Now we're recognizing it doesn't have to be

that way. The top athletes now are realizing they shouldn't have to be servants to those sports. What changed. Well, it used to be the league. The league was the business. The athletes were the employees. But now, thanks to social media and shoe companies and other sponsors, the actual individual athlete is a business, too. Athletes have more demands, many of them coming from outside the sport. So star athletes are basically CEOs of their own brands. And that means it's up to the individual athlete to speak up and say, hey, this isn't right for me. This is too much for me. I got to step off the treadmill. This is where the line needs to be drawn. Aaron Rogers, Dak Prescott, Simone, own bile. Too much on their plate, they can step off. Pressure, responsibility is overwhelming.

They deserve to be treated differently. They deserve the chance to have a say in managing those demands. Listen, dumb guys argue all the time about toughness. The reality is too many people see mental fatigue and anxiety is a weakness. I don't think the average fan understands the pressure athletes are on, elevated now by the vile nature of social media. People forget that LeBron James, in the finals against Dallas, pre his first title, acknowledge it got to him. He couldn't be the league villain, the stress, the anxiety. He had the only really awful series in his entire career.

Yes, LeBron James. Matt Mosley, co-host of the Doom Day podcast, he's covering the Cowboys. thoughts on the Big 12, Texas, Oklahoma, bolting. Let's start with this. Jerry Jones admits last week at a press conference. He screwed up the dynasty. First, were you surprised he admitted it? Had he ever said that privately around, you know, the cowboy circles? No, he'd never gone that far. That's, that's as far as he's ever gone. He's kind of joked about it, but to say, I should have been more deferential. and I screwed it up. Now, of course, he sort of let that Switcher story almost tell the joke for him,

so he didn't have to make just an out-and-out apology. But, I mean, we've been around him a ton. We've never heard him go that far. What was the reaction in Dallas with his comments? Well, you know, he had already been really emotional through that whole news conference. And that's an old Jerry tactic. It's kind of over the last 10 years as he's aged a little bit. is to, he sort of believes if he can cry a little bit.

I think it's pretty genuine, but he leans into his tears a little bit because like when he says, I'll write a check. I would write a check for a Super Bowl. In his mind, well, the tears accompanying that, that's a big deal. But the thing about with Jimmy, I think the reaction was one of shock and even a guy that, you know, I do the podcast with Edward, that was back there covering those teams, I think was taken aback. by that level of, I mean, everybody else has said it.

Darren Woodson has told us that Troy Aitman has said over the years, what would it have been like to have several more years? And for Jerry to say it and admit any fault is pretty like I think most of us are kind of worried about him. Well, you know, it's funny. People get older. They get a bit more melancholy. You're on the back nine. It's, you know, everything hurts when you get up in the morning.

In Dallas, though, is it largely understood, did people hold it against Jimmy Johnson when he left, or do they understand it? Well, at the time, it was, I think it was probably more Jimmy's fault. There's a big argument over that. But I just think Jerry was still so fresh off of the whole Landry thing that even with the Super Bowls that it was easier for folks to blame Jerry. because there was still some leftover resentment. And so when that happened, the blowback was more on Jerry. And he was the one left to have to wear that. And you remember, he famously said, I could find 500 coaches who could win a Super Bowl for this team.

And Jimmy, let him have a try at it. You know, it's interesting. As we pivot now into this year, the NFL basically came out like Thursday and Friday and said, Yeah, get vaccinated or there'll be new rules for you. And it's fairly obvious that if you're a borderline player at the 53 man cut and you're not vaccinated, you're done. If you're a star, you're Cole Beasley, you know, whether he's a star or not, but he's a very vital top slot receiver for Buffalo. You know, Cole Beasley is not going to get vaccinated. He'll probably hang around.

But a borderline player will not. I mean, if I can choose vaccinated or not vaccinated for a gunner on special teams and they're close, I'm going vaccinated. Do we know every cowboy coach, I believe, is vaccinated? Is that true? And what's the rate do you think among cowboy players? You know, interestingly, I think Mike McCarthy offered his players some cover saying that he was hesitant to get it. And so I think we live in such a polarizing world right now. it's kind of like, oh, you didn't get it, you're stupid.

You know, like there's no middle ground. There's no conversation about this at all. And so McCarthy sort of said, I had some issues with this. And it took me a while. I believe the whole coaching staff has it. I believe Jerry's playing fast and loose with like a handful of guys haven't been fully vaccinated. I think he's counting guys who may have had their COVID tests

to make sure they don't have COVID. You know, he's also obviously counting the people that have had the first shot. And what's weird to me in this whole thing, I think we're finding out more, Colin, people that got the first vaccination just said, I think that's enough. I think I'll stop right here. My thought is like, okay, if you want to have an argument and don't want to do it, I don't come on here. I don't try to like tell everybody what to do.

But if you do go to the trouble to get the first one, it doesn't make a ton of sense to me not to get the second one. Right. And I think part of that is there was so much talk about people getting sick and having a little bit of a bad reaction to the second one. I mean, I'd heard a little bit of that. And so I probably, I was taking, you know, I was just knocking down Advil and NyQuil right after I had the second one. I'm like, I'm going to ward this off. I'm not going to allow this tap, but I did fine.

It was kind of groggy from all the NyQuil. But I hung in there. I think Jerry and a lot of the NFL is. fudging the numbers on this thing. I do find it fascinating that a coach has been, I mean, like thrown overboard, basically. I mean, now that was, that got everybody's attention. It's one thing, even star players to react,

well, I don't want to do this. I can't believe they're making me do this. If guys are going to get paid, they're going to get in line. I don't think guys are going to retire over the vaccination. But a coach losing his job over it, that really made things real for me. I was like, whoa, I didn't. And I thought Jerry would walk a fine line.

You know what I think Jerry did, Colin? I think I, he and Michael Irvin are extremely close. That's what I've heard. I, I'm not so sure that Jerry and Michael hadn't talked before Michael's comments. I'm not saying he told him to go off and rip anybody or anything like that. I'm simply saying that they are very close. And even though Michael basically called people out and said the guys that haven't hit this threshold, they don't want to win a Super Bowl badly enough.

Jerry, given the chance to kind of walk that fine line and said, I agree with everything Michael said. So I think it's easier for Michael to send that message than for Jerry to come out that strong. I mean, Jerry does not want to be the bogey man and skis. his guys, scare his players, but he doesn't mind Michael doing it. So I kind of, every once in a while, I start thinking, I think those guys might have been working together a little bit. The Big 12 is essentially the Mountain West Conference with humidity without Texas and Oklahoma.

I mean, that's what it is. So my first reaction to it is, you know, they're saying is it just means more in the SEC. They're just trying to assemble the biggest brands. they don't know how it's going to shake out. Nobody knows how it's going to shake out. But the SEC is saying, listen, however it shakes out, we're going to have the best assets. And if you guys want to do realignment, if the NCAA wants to step in, because what's happening with the SEC, I heard a rumor today from a very reliable source, the Big Ten is going after USC. Hard.

Hard. So my takeaway is the SEC and the Big Tenor saying, we don't know how it shakes out. Matt, we just want the best assets. So, you know, it's funny, Mike Leach years ago made a prediction. He said, I think we're going to end up with a PAC 12, the Big Ten in the SEC, and then some little Northeast conference. And the conferences won't matter as much. We'll have an expanded playoff. And, you know, if one conference has six of the 12 teams, they do.

I've always thought that Texas and USC are two of the biggest glamour brands in the sport. They don't win as much as people think historically, but they're so valid. valuable, great cities, Austin, Texas, Los Angeles. They're sexy. They're not rural. They're not Southern. I'm not shocked by this. What was your initial reaction? Let's start with that when the story broke. Well, I'm reacting to this USC news right now, and I'm just hoping the Trojans have the academics to get into the Big Ten. You know, they really love to brag on their research, their research grants and you've got to be a certain level. So let's hope USC has the academics to get in there. No, that's fast. That's very interesting to me. I would like to, if the Big Ten's looking,

I would like them to look at Baylor, if they truly wanted, you know, an academic bastion, my alma mater, and your Mountain West jokes, I mean, I almost walked out on that. I mean, we're, we're in a world of hurt, the leftovers in the Big 12. So this is hurting. Now, my initial reaction was, this is the most Texas thing ever. And what you said is so right. There's two things that are happening. Two teams are going in there. There's a football program with OU,

wins constantly, and there's a brand. And, I mean, there are people, I mean, the UT brand, I get it. It's a big deal. They bring it in a bunch of money. I'm just interested. The brand may be huge.

But you'll get swallowed alive if you go in there and they play like they have in the big 12, and their sixth or seventh, and I mean, right now, they would be like fourth and whatever they end up in, into West or fifth. I mean, that's where they are.

That's kind of what level they've been playing at. So, I mean, A&M has actually gotten pretty good. I mean, they're going in this year as whatever, expected to be number maybe four or five of the country. So this thing's paid off for them. I just think it's hilarious. The way we see this in Texas is, They can't stand for Little Brother, which is A&M, to go and have all this success and enjoy the riches and the whatever that come with the SEC.

They just couldn't stand it anymore. And they had to go jump in. And what you got to know about UT, they may be a great brand. What they also are are homewreckers. And they screw up everything they join. and they in the Big 12 gave them everything they possibly could have wanted like the longhorn network nobody else got anything what did oh you get i mean i don't even think anything exists up there like as far as like a special network we got the rest of us got third tier rights which means nothing i mean

literally you don't you know like it's like watching stuff without broadcasters i mean there's it's it's horrible and then they get their own network it's not great it's not a great network but they got it So they've been given everything in the world they want. So it's just never enough. So what I tweeted about the other day and most, you know, a lot of my Twitter stuff is jokes. But the thing that I'm being truthful about is people thought I was joking. Within two or three years, Texas expects every single one of those schools to report to it.

They really do. And people say, well, they'll have to fall in line. That won't happen. That's who they are. So you say they're the biggest brand. the USC and brand. I saw something today that you maybe you retweeted it. It was like some bill in the billions or whatever.

Their brand is the biggest right above Alabama. But you got to, you actually have to win in the SEC to remain relevant. And they didn't even win in the big 12. A conference that quite honestly is putting out no NFL players. And in Texas couldn't win three titles. in 25 years. And we're supposed to be in the SEC.

We're supposed to, oh, my gosh, in the SEC, Sark. I mean, you guys on the West Coast, y'all know Sark? I mean, Washington, USC, he rehabbed his image because he waited at Alabama. But do we all think that Sark is going to show up at Texas and just roll? I don't see it. And so I think they're stepping into, their fans will get excited for temporary. And then they're just going to go get run. One of the things I love about betting my favorite sports, I'm always finding new player props or game props I like.

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Some big super boosts each weekend around the biggest local and national matchups. Just download the Fandual Sportsbook app today, create the same game parlay, and please use the promo code, Colin, to sign up. New users, if you use the code, get their first bet risk-free. 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 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. 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 Podcast, 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-tapped 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 at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a 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 is big to me, not just because.

of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, 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. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. 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 Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross,

because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing,

growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app, Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. A thousand bucks. Fandul will refund you up to $1,000 back in site credit if you don't win. The promo code again is Colin so they know I sent you. 21 plus and present in Colorado, Indiana or New Jersey.

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Shopify.com slash C-O-L-I-N. What grows in the forest? Trees? Sure. Know what else grows in the forest? Our imagination, our sense of wonder, and our family bonds grow too. Because when we disconnect from this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other.

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Let's bring on Bruce Feldman. Writer for the Athletic, New York Times bestselling author, Fox Sports Reporter, lots of stuff to dig through with football. Let's bring him on. Let's talk about USC. what are they best served doing going forward, Bruce? I think USC, if Pete Carroll is still the head coach and they are, whether they're the preeminent program or one of them, then I think they have a lot more leverage here. You know, I think whoever's going to be the head coach of USC three years from now, maybe it's Clay Helton.

I feel like he's recruiting, you know, better now than he did two years ago. But he's basically been on the perennial hot seat. And, you know, there's a lot of, you know this place too. They could, they have enough talent and they're in a league where it is, nobody is really close to them, at least in their division personnel wise. So maybe Oregon has some guys USC really wants and there's, you know, there's some at different program. But by and large, USC, you'd have to screw it up for them to do worse than nine and three. And so they're in this kind of weird, like kind of tricky region of do they make a coaching change and feel like, hey, we're going to push forward? Are they still going to have Clay Helton and feel like we're going to be pretty good?

But that is not drawing people the way the PAC 12 needs USC to be. And if Ohio State was a four and eight, five and seven, six and six middling program, I'm not saying USC is that point. far back, but it was a couple of years ago. They had a really awful year. 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 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. 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 Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or we're 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 at it 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 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, 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. Yes. 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we, are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid?

Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and personal.

on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. I haven't had a great year in a long time. That would diminish the Big Ten in a big way. You know, I mean, the Pact, the SEC always has somebody really strong. Even when Alabama takes a step back for a year, unless you has one of the best seasons anybody's had in 50 years. So it just kind of, there's always somebody there.

If I'm USC, you know, you got to, by the way, you just had a new president. You had a new AD who's getting established just in the last couple of years. You've got a scandal-ridden university, not just in athletics. So they've had a lot of stuff to kind of get, try to get a handle them. I think if they were to go independent, it would be a really gutsy move. I think it, I just don't know if they have the foresight to be able to orchestrate it when the rest of the university, is in such an instable situation. It doesn't feel like a move USC is ready to jump out and have the confidence to be able to be proactive

and that rate to pull it off. Notre Dame's an academic power and right now a football power. I don't feel they fit the SEC. I do feel they fit the Big Ten. If I said, where's Notre Dame in two years? What's your guess? My guess is they're going to still be, independent. They cling to that uniqueness. If they go to the Big Ten, you know what? You just said,

you know, Notre Dame is a great academic institution. So is Michigan. So is Northwestern. By the way, Northwestern is like kind of in the same footprint as, you know, nearby Chicago, even closer to Chicago. It's not to say that Notre Dame would fall apart in the Big Ten. But whatever they are, I mean, they recruit nationally. So does Ohio State. Ohio State has been able to get closer to the, you know, they've won a national title, albeit it was, you know, it was a little while ago now. But I think that's the challenge.

Notre Dame is going, you know, they have the right coach. Brian Kelly has done a tremendous job there. Now, they've gotten blown out whenever they've gotten really close in the playoff. And I think the challenge is if they go someplace else, if they go to the Big Ten, if they try to, you know, make it permanent with the ACC. You're right. I don't see them. It doesn't.

And this was something I heard in my reporting a week ago was that among the financial models and projections ESPN did with Greg Sankey that included Texas and Oklahoma, I understand that there was something, you know, kicked around about Notre Dame. I don't, you know, Notre Dame seems like a really odd fit to me with the SEC. And, you know, I just feel like when you talk to. I talked to the new commissioner of the PAC 12 the other day, George Cleopkov, and one of the things that, you know, you hear talk about is cultural fit of how things are. I mean, I don't think that's entirely a cop-out at certain places that really cling to it. And I think Notre Dame is definitely one of those places that it would just seem like you really want to get into this end of the pool.

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Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that could lead to adventure. And they see you. Their fearless guide is this fascinating world.

Find a forest near you and start exploring at discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles. They see a windy path that could lead to adventure.

And they see you. Their fearless guide is this fascinating world. Find a forest near you and start exploring at Discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. We're going to bring a guest today on that has created an already successful business. And the business he had was called Overtime. Now, if you have not heard of Overtime, you're probably over 50 years old. Overtime is a sports brand founded five years ago by a man named Dan Porter and Zach Wiener.

Overtime distributed content through all the major social platforms. It now has five years later, nearly 50 million followers, two billion views a month. The account, the overtime account show highlights from top, high school athletes. Trey Young, by the way, got his initial exposure through overtime. And then five years later, this year, overtime announced it was forming a new professional basketball league called Overtime Elite that will launch in about seven weeks. The league will pay 16, 17, and 18-year-olds to play basketball in Atlanta. The players will receive at least 100 grand salary and equity in the league. They can forego high school. They can forego

college basketball and the G League. Kevin Durant, David Stern, the late David Stern, both investors. Not only is overtime a raging success, I believe overtime elite, as we describe it to you, the nurturing of 16, 17-year-old athletes, a choice they didn't previously had, will fundamentally within a decade change basketball. It has almost a European academy feel to it. It is a fascinating business, and I wish I had the money to invest. And so now, Dan is joining us with the overtime elite basketball league debuting in September.

So first of all, give me, Dan, your kitchen table moment. You were an executive, a very successful guy, the kitchen table moment with you and Zach when you said, why didn't we think of this before? For us, it started when I worked at Endeavor, William Morris Endeavor, WME, IMG. And I was running the Digital Talent Division. I had started and sold some companies before that. And I went in and I started talking to the major sports leagues in 2013, 2014. And they're very smart and they do an insane amount of research.

And they all basically said, like, we're really concerned about the next generation of fans. Right. You know, you have, you know, MBA and NFL fans, like young people picking their favorite team based on playing 2K and Madden. And I grew up in Philadelphia, like, you didn't have a choice. You were an Eagles fan or like your neighbor would beat you up. Like the idea that I was like, oh, you know, I think the saints look amazing. I love their uniform because I play them every time I play Madden. They're going to be my favorite team.

Like, that was not a narrative that ever happened. And why do we care about that? care about that because cities rely on fans to watch local broadcast, to come to games, to fill those games. And so it was clear that the nature of the fan was changing. It was clear that the access, like, we have less than half the people in this country have have cable television. And so their ability to watch and it's like, oh, is that game blacked out?

How do I watch that other game and all that type of stuff like that? And it's clear that, you know, the viewer now who's 18, 20, 20, even us, we have so much choice that we've never had before. Right? We can watch Netflix. We can watch Game of Thrones. We can listen to five different podcasts on Kong Cowards Podcast Network. We can play Fortnite.

We play Call of Duty. Like there's so many things. And I remember I went to Europe and I sat with like one of the most famous soccer football coaches of all time. And he's like, look, I'm worried in 10 years that every kid who grew up playing Fortnite isn't going to be filling the stadium. And so you kind of step away from that and you think, okay, well, there's not a lot of opportunities in sports. Here I am, I'm representing like all the biggest creators, YouTubers, Instagramers.

I mean, these people have billions of views. And here sports is saying like, oh my gosh, we're worried about the future. And the future isn't like getting a cool YouTuber to come to a game and be like, hey, kids, football's cool. You should start sitting for three hours on your couch and, you know, watching. And so it was clear that each generation needed a different story, a different narrative. And we thought between the fact that Zach at that time was 24, 25, and this was his generation, and the fact that I had this experience running these companies and then was representing all these big creators that we could create something that was really different. And what's interesting is that we basically had to look for where our opportunity was.

So if everybody was indexed on live sports, we went an indexed on social. You know, if everybody was like, the only thing that matters is, you know, pro sports, we're like, let's find opportunities which people, in areas that people don't think about. People didn't think in 2014 that you could build a big sports business on top of every social platform. They didn't think anybody cared about a bunch of kids in high school. And if I say it like, they don't care about a bunch of kids in high school. They don't care about a bunch of kids in high school. And I think what we understand. But if I say, this is Iian Williamson, this guy is literally pulverizing. rims and I'm going to show you stuff that happens and it's going to feel amazing, all of a sudden they care. And part of the secret of overtime was almost the antithesis about everything that we know about sports. So what do we like to talk about? What place are they in? What's their one loss record? If you like baseball, how many games out are they? You know, what's his percentage from the free throw line? When you start to talk about a player nobody's heard about, like it makes me. It makes people not care. Like if I show Zion or Lamello Ball or any of these young players who are coming

out, nobody knows what place their team is in. They don't know what league there. And they don't even know what team they play in, right? They're like, this is a dope story about a bunch of cool kids. I want to be like that kid. And by the way, I saw him before he was in the NBA draft. And so in a weird way, taking all the preconceptions that we have, the only thing that matters is pro sports. The only thing that matters is live games. And everybody cares about stats and standings and everything else. And essentially turning those on our head, that's kind of how we snuck up on everyone. And then you create overtime elite basketball league that doesn't, you're going to go in, you have a huge facility in Atlanta. And essentially what you're going to do. And this is where

I don't understand how you do it. How do you, because Nike's in this business, they go find 14 year olds that are great, 12 year olds. They find Dwight Howard when he's a you're going to go find elite high school basketball players and say, don't go to college, don't go to the G League, come to overtime elite, like an academy in Europe, right? Like, and you're going to stay there for, so the players, do they come to you or do you go scout and find them? Yeah, it's a good question.

So the first thing I want to say is like, I am pro college. I'm pro the G league. I'm pro everything. I think for us, we wanted to create another choice and another option. And I feel like there's literally nothing more American than having freedom of choice. And three or four years ago, you had one choice, right? You used to at least be able to go to the NBA out of high school. Your choice was you had to go play one and done.

Or you had to be like one of a million players and go play in Europe. And lack of choice is bad because every player is different. Every young person is different. Every family situation is different. And so we just wanted to offer a choice that was, different from college and where, you know, you said, you said this stuff about the G League. I think the point about the G League is the G League is a development league. It's not a media property, right?

Like it's a great option for to develop players, to stash players, to do things like that. But at the core, team owners own an NBA team. They don't need a competing media product for, you know, their NBA team. That's a fantastic media product. But for us, you know, we can do both. We can offer an option to players. We scout players. We recruit players.

Players reach out to us. We're international, right? You know, you think about who won the MVP, Janice. He didn't go to Duke. You know, neither did Luca Donchich. Neither did any of these guys, as you know, because you were making the academy references. And so for us, we scout players come to us. We're trying to find 24, 30 young people we think are going to be pros in the NBA

or abroad. We want to give them essentially the Juilliard of basketball. with education around that. And we want to create a dope media product. Like, you have, like, the best voice for radio. Like, you should come down and call a game for us. Because I don't need another version of Marv Alpert. Like, Marv Alpert's amazing.

And, like, all that stuff, I go on a catatonic stupor when I hear those announcers because it, it, like, makes me feel like I'm in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and the but, like, that hasn't changed. Like, I can watch a game now, and it feels like I'm watching a game in 1970s. except Howard CoSell is dead. There's really almost no change or innovation in the whole nature of the broadcast. And I think for us, we have this amazing thing.

We can take the players, we can train them, and we can pay them because they want to make money now. And we can create a media product around it because we don't have to touch what's on the court. Right? We don't have a five-point shot or a 10-point shot. We can change the way it's filmed, which is why we built our own kind of sound stage,

our show court to plan. We can change the way it's called. We can change the way the fan. engage. We have almost like a blank whiteboard in terms of our ability to create innovation around that. And if you ask me, how do you know when you're successful? I feel like we'll be successful when other leagues copy stuff that we've done. If you look at Instagram now, sports center, house of highlights, those guys, they look like overtime. Like they use our captions, they use our videos. So I consider that success. Does it annoy me? Absolutely. But like the fact that in

four years we could create innovation about visual and what text looks like, Sarah. I think that that's some of the power. That wraps it up for the week. We're heading into another big week here at The Volume. Make sure to subscribe and follow us at the Volume Sports on Twitter and Instagram. The Volume. Get right to the romance and find the way to wow this Valentine's with 1800flowers.com. From classic roses and bouquets to decadent chocolate-covered berries, gourmet treats, and more.

Surprise your Valentine with 1-800flowers.com. Right now, get the 8,000. 18-stem enchanted rose medley for 3999, or upgrade to 24 red roses for $10 more. Go to 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. That's 1,800flowers.com slash tune in. 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 Acapable a Pella 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 I-Heart 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 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that experience. excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard 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.

On the Look Back at a podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84's big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors, like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. It was a wild year.

It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.