The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - RB $$$ Outrage + T-Bob Hebert on Kelly LSU Impact, Saban Decline Narrative, Riley/USC Potential

Episode Date: July 19, 2023

First, Colin explains why running backs shouldn’t blame media narratives for not getting paid like other positions. Then Colin is joined by SNAPS Podcast Host - and former LSU OL - T Bob Hebert to discuss Brian Kelly’s impact on the program, what could prevent them from contending for a title this year, if Saban’s decline is exaggerated, why Oklahoma and Texas could be in trouble in the SEC, Lincoln Riley and USC’s scary potential, Ed Orgeron’s ultimate legacy at LSU, and what it was like growing up as the son of SAints QB Bobby Hebert. Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Herd #Volume #SNAPSSee 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. The volume. All right. Coming up in 10 minutes, I have yet to bring him on, but about nine months to a year ago,

we hired Snaps. It was an SEC college football show. Aaron Murray is the former Georgia quarterback. And then T. Bob A Bear, his dad played in multiple leagues, USFL, NFL, NFL, was a quarterback. professionally for 15 years, Falcon Saints. And Teabob, A Bear, a wildly colorful, outspoken, hysterically funny, thought-provoking host. I think he's, I think he is really the most compelling voice of college football in the South.

And I feel so goddamn lucky we have him at the volume. But I'm going to give you 30 minutes of his worldview on Brian Kelly, Ed Orgeron, Nick Saban, Lincoln Riley, Texas, Oklahoma coming in, and something on his dad. So his dad was the quarterback for the Falcons, the Saints, that jumps out to me, went to a small school, great story. And I want to introduce you to him. I introduced you a couple years ago to Jason T. Three years ago to John Middlokoff.

T. Bob is truly one of a kind. He is just a remarkable talent, and he joins us in 10 minutes. But first, I want to address something. unlike college basketball where a player doesn't have to go to college, he can go to the G League, he can go overseas, college football players have to go to college for a minimum of three years, most go four and some red shirt and go five.

And at some point during that college career, I presume at least some of them took Econ 101, an economy class. I understand being upset, but it's basic supply and demand. Rule changes have made it more of a passing league. So receivers, quarterbacks, tight ends, and left tackles have never made more. And because the supply and demand, especially the demand part for running backs is on the low side. And there's a pretty good supply of them in college.

They're not making the money they did. Folks, it's analytics. These running backs are all upset. Guys, it's business. offensive players are getting paid, those directly connected to passing. For the record, the highest paid running back is also the best receiving running back in the NFL, Christian McCaffrey. So for years and years, in the NBA, players were often dissuaded from shooting threes.

Now, they're persuaded to shoot threes. It's called analytics. In baseball, strikeouts were bad. keep the ball in play. Math analytics says no, strikeouts are not the worst thing. Ground balls are. Hit it out of the park, walk. Strikeout. Don't hit ground balls. And in football, we have all sorts of players that have never been more valuable. Again, left tackle, tight end, wide receiver, quarterback, great corner, edge rusher, interior lineman, Chris Jones, Aaron Donald, Fletcher Cox. But there are positions because The middle of the field now is an offensive player zone, not a defensive player, that the dominating, intimidating safety, less valuable. The linebacker who's off ball and can't cover it in space? A very little value.

Interior old linemen less valuable. Running backs, unless they're great at catching the ball and running it and are healthy, not as valuable. It's supply and demand. It's not complicated. The running backs can be upset. and I feel bad for a guy like Austin Echler who got drafted low, never made big money, and now is left without the contract he desires.

I feel bad. But Sequin Barclay was a top 10 pick. He's made more money than all but Christian McCaffrey and Derek Henry in the entire league at his position. He made his money early. Some guys make it late. That's the way pro sports works. Cultures, analytics, change.

Business changes. I saw a study the other day where airline pilots, 35% admit napping during flights. That's because the cockpit is more automated. I mean, outside of the first three minutes in the last eight, they don't do much. You still need a pilot in case of an emergency, but they're not as responsible for the safety as the passengers as they once were. So, you know, people are getting very emotional about this.

I've worked in local and national TV radio podcasting for a long time. I started my career doing local sports. It basically got eliminated. Then I did local sports talk radio. ESPN radio went all in. That mostly got eliminated except major markets. Then I did syndicated radio, ESPN. Not that it got eliminated, but if you didn't have an accompanying television simulcast, it wasn't as valuable.

That's why I went to Fox. And now cable TV is eroding. So cable TV, my career in cable TV could be ending here in the next six or seven years or whenever. There's no guarantees. I've constantly been trying to pivot to retain employment. I'm not bitter about it. Running backs can absolutely enhance themselves by being better receivers, Christian McCaffrey,

being better run blockers. I mean, Cam Acres got in the doghouse for the Rams. Why? He refused to pass block. And he gotten Sean McVeigh's doghouse. He improved in the second part of last year, got back on the field. So there's where to enhance your status,

enhance your longevity, but some of it for running backs is luck. They're the last player you can tackle viciously from any angle. Everybody else is protected in football on offense, except the running back. He remains the pinata of the league. So some of this was inevitable, and I can feel bad. But like any other career, doesn't matter if you're a banker or a running back or a media personality. Side hustles, constantly trying to add value to your career.

It's part of the game. 20 years ago, if you didn't, I don't know if Gail Sayers was a pass blocker or OJ Simpson, but it was a running league. Now it's a passing league and the quarterbacks making $47 million a year. Protect him. So I can feel bad for running backs. They still get paid, not as much as they used to. Sports tend to be cyclical.

Maybe it comes around. Let's be honest now. It was a small ball NBA about three years ago. now yokech a title yonis a title the lakers were a big team in the bubble a title bigs are coming back around as long as they're highly skilled can pass shoot a jumper and defend so cyclical the league will never be the cfell the league may get so finesse and pass happy with continuing rules to help offense that a big strong running back that can control the clock and keep it away from the homes and lamar and josh allen and herbert may emerge and we may move into a different cycle of the power running back who can keep it away from Mahomes. Maybe that will be the future. But guys, supply and demand, econ 101. You have to go to college for three years to be in the NFL.

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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. So let me ask you, I pick LSU to win the title this year. I think they have the most depth of talent.

I'm a huge, huge Brian Kelly fan. Yeah, me too. And when he got called out by the media, he's never been, he's a little grumpy, a little rigid, and he doesn't have, you know, he's kind of got that Tom Coughlin, face turning plum, screaming. I always thought he was tough on quarterbacks, but I think once you do it four times, four quick turnarounds, you know what the hell you're doing.

So he goes out and does a couple of cringy things on social media. And everybody crushed him. How did that play, though, in LSU? How did it play in Baton Rouge? How did it play among your fans? Well, it's interesting, right? Because right now, he has a near 100% approval rate. but that's what beating Alabama and winning the SEC West in year one will do,

like especially in a year where you were picked to finish last. Like a lot of day, I think L's youth win total last year was like six and a half. And they end up going 10 and 4. And you think about it, Colin, you know this better than anyone. In sports, what actually decides a fan base's happiness level is not the results themselves. It's where do they land in relation to expectations, right? So Brian Kelly vastly exceeded expectations. But even at the time, even pre-wins, there was a belief at LSU that they had a special guy.

And that wasn't hard to get there. I mean, if you looked at Kelly's resume, it's unparalleled. Well, unparalleled without an addict. Right? I mean, he's the winningest coach in all of college football. He's just missing that crown jewel. He left a Notre Dame team that was on the edge of the playoff to join a six and seven LSU team with 39 scholarship players. So that tells you what he thought about.

potential of LSU. And I think that played with a lot of the local people. And more than that man is, he wasn't Notre Dame Brian Kelly. Everything you just said, grumpy and personal, authoritarian, that's all melted away. He's one of the most personable people I've ever seen. I was blown away, one of the first nights when he got the job. I was invited up to the stadium for a little meeting greet, a bunch of alumni, boosters, you know, one of those type deals. And watching him worked the room, I was like, okay, this dude's different. He's like he, this is, I love Coach Joe. That's my boy, like I just said, right?

I played for less miles for many for five years. LSU hadn't had anybody like this since Nick Saban. His political acumen as he worked that room, it's like he had a whirlpool of influence around him. He had people kind of subtly feed him information, cracking jokes, getting in, it just felt like watching like a Fortune 500 CEO work through me. He just carries himself with a, where the, bravitas that is palpable.

Yeah. And I and I think sometimes the media does a poor job of hiding their agendas is that Brian can be gruff. The Notre Dame job is one of the unique jobs in college football where the media still believes it's elite. But the truth is they can't recruit with LSU, Bama, Georgia or even I would say Lincoln, Riley or Ohio State or Harbaugh when they're really rolling. There's an academic umbrella. It's a small rural cold weather, Notre Dame now is a hard job. Now, by the way, his three predecessors, Ty Willingham, you know, Bob Davy, Charlie Weiss illustrated how Dan Howard is, right?

So it's like people don't understand. Everybody wins at LSU. Yeah. In the last 20 years, one guy has won at Notre Dame. And so when he took the job, I said, I get it. LSU in my opinion and I really I've said this before

it may be the best job because Louisiana the state gives you 30 division one players you can get 12 to 15 year class especially interior linemen the size just is in is so important California you can't find

an elite defensive tackle you guys have like six to eight a year in a tiny state but y'all got the quarterbacks dude everybody still goes out west to farm them quarterbacks but we got oh yeah we got your skills. We've got some size down here for sure.

So I guess I think this is the best team in the country. I like Jaden Daniels. He elevated pretty marginal talent in Tempe. Give me your takeaway on my proclamation. They can win a title. What worries you about LSU and where do you think

they can be even better than Georgia? So I think what worries me is still, what Brian Kelly Dex has been talking about is this recent media tour where he's kind of saying, look, we're in year two. We're not as fleshed out as a Kirby Smart, Alabama, or excuse me, a Kirby Smart, Georgia, Nick Saban, Alabama.

LSU still has some filling into the corners to do. If you're like, now, now, front line starters, they're 22s as good as anybody, right? Jay Daniels, second highest highs or odds. You're returning the entire offensive line. You had true freshmen started tackles in the SEC last year, and they did well. So frontline starters, yes, but they're,

may be a little brittle, right? A couple key injuries, and I don't know that they have the ability to absorb it in a way that Georgia would in a way that Alabama would. Now, quarterback, ironically, it might be all right. Garrett Nussmeyer's probably about as frisky of a backup as you're going to find. But to me, like, the thing, it's interesting because Cal's been going around and saying, you know, I think in year three will be in an even better spot. And as a head coach, it's probably true when it comes to the overall health of the program.

They're still taking transcers or they'd like to. get more high school development. But to your point, Colin, there is a sneaky good window right now in year number two. Nobody has a quarterback. Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State. They're all working in your guys. But LSU between the coaching staff and the players has more returning than nearly anybody else. And they do have the talent win a championship.

It's just that they're not as complete as Georgia and Alabama right now. Like the secondary answer questions, don't know who the starting corner is going to be. You have talent there, but you don't know who's going to win that job. Edge defender is probably the biggest weakness on the team right. You don't have a true dominant pass rush. I mean, you're probably talking about relying on a true freshman in Sean Womack to play that role. So very, very good championship potential. I still just see little imperfections.

And when you're talking about what decides these things, that may be the thing that holds them back. So Saban, the South can be insular and protective of its history. So Saban is a combination of feared, beloved, and hated in the South, right? It's a very, the trifecta that they're very proud of what he has created, the greatest football dynasty ever collegiately. And I look at it now and he goes up against, he's going to go up against Sark and Lane Kiffin and Kirby Smart and Brian Kelly. And I've said this for years.

Part of the success of LeBron James in that Eastern Conference was a lot of bad owners, a lot of bad coaches in the Eastern Conference. I mean, some of it was the West had the dynasty, the KD, Steph Dina. LeBron wouldn't get to the finals through the West in those years. And so when Saban first came into the conference, the first eight, nine years, there's a lot of bad coaches. And a lot of the big dogs, the Georgia's, the Tennessee's, sometimes the LSUs, they just Florida. They just couldn't get their act together.

Now, Ad Sark is going to be a handful. Is there a sense? Nick's aged. Doesn't work the recruiting trail quite as much. People have stolen some of the secret sauce. Is there a sense now that Alabama on any given Saturday, you guys last year, is much more beatable? Well, I think there's data to back up the more beatable thing. So there is some measure of decline there.

And that isn't credit to the hires. I mean, what about a shoe freeze at Alpern? Like, that's a perfect fit. Maybe not here in year one, but like there's only so much oxygen to go around in the room. I don't know how it's all going to break. The only thing that worries me about Alabama, and I'm being worried in terms of those who have suffered at the hand

of the crimson emperor in the past, who have felt that boot heel of oppression on our neck The only thing that worries me is everybody's kind of talking down to him. Nick Saban, very famously used to have to fight against rat poison, right? He has to fight against what Kirby Smart is trying to fight against him. Now he has more legitimate bulletin board material than he has ever had previously. And it's shocking, Colin. But blue chip ratio, have you heard about that?

Bud Elliott puts it together. And basically it looks at, okay, what percentage of your roster are blue chip prospects? No teams, as they started doing this, about 17 years ago, has ever won a Natty with less than 50% blue chip ratio. Alabama leads the country once again. I think they're at like high 80s right now. So they still are, even though they have questions. Who's going to be the starting quarterback? If you didn't win with Bryce Young, how are you going to win this guy?

They have questions, but they still have the most talented roster top to bottom. And where it becomes concerned is if they figure out quarterback, If one of these new guys hit, if Ty Simpson, maybe Jaylen Miller, maybe one of these freshmen, if they hit, they're immediately as much of a championship contender once again as anyone. I mean, go look at all the computer models, whether it's Austin Mott's model at the Athletic, Bill Connolly's at ESPN, all the computers love Alabama, love Alabama as humans. You're like, but these questions. So I think, I feel like Nick's, thanks to Kirby's rise, Nick is in the spot that he's never been before,

where he's kind of playing a relative underdog. You know, relative to what Alabama has been, this is as doubted as they have ever been. So Oklahoma and Texas after this season will enter the SEC. It's a good news, bad news. The good news is the SEC will extend its dominance in college football and its status. The bad news is, you know, if your off week is playing Oklahoma at home, it's just going to be impossible to go undefeated.

Like you just have two more. teams to face. And Sark, for all the misgivings about him, is an elite recruiter, and they got big, big bodies on the O&D lines. Yeah. How are, listen, SEC fans, the ones that call a Paul Feinbaum show think, you know, Alabama's never going to lose. But when you talk to your realistic fan in the South, is there some concern that shit, man, how many how many top 15 teams can you play. I mean, Texas, I watched them play Alabama last year. Yeah. Athlete to athlete, they looked like the same. I can argue Texas had the better roster. Bamma had the better coach. I mean, I watched that game and I thought, you know, you needed Bryce Young. That's why it was the

number one pick. Texas looked bigger and stronger. So not just your fanboy, but is there some concern that guys, like, it's a gauntlet. Forget the playoff. How do you get there? Well, that goes back to like the only so much oxygen in the room, right? Like how in the world are all these teams going to breathe? All these teams fans, again, to go back to expectation levels, it's to be in the playoffs. Now, for Texas, that may be a bit unnerved. But Oklahoma fans, that's the winningest program the last 25 years. All they did was win 10 games every year.

Like last season was an aberration for them. But in terms of what the realistic SEC fan is expecting, honestly, Colin, I don't. I don't think at this moment, I don't think they're very intimidated by Texas or Oklahoma. And the reason being are a couple, first off, Texas has been down since that Mack Brown National Championship, right? They've been pretty consistently down. And it's interesting to hear you talk about Sarko-Yx. I'm a bit of a Sark downer here, where Sark's never won 10 games. I need Sark to prove to me that he can win 10 games.

I need Sark to prove these things before I give him the bit of the doubt. It's an elite recruiter. But how does that team go eight in five last year when they're more talented? than every other Big 12 team that they're facing. How does Oklahoma under Brent Bidivores go six and seven when they're more talented than every Big 12 team that they're facing? And so I think for now, this is likely hubris, right? But that's what we do as people.

But I think for now, SEC fans, it's not, oh, man, we don't know what we're getting into with them doing. I think SEC fans look at Texan and Oklahoma and say, you don't know what you're getting into. You know, Oklahoma's been able to just run through the Big 12, for a decade now and just kind of have their way. As Texas kind of flounders and tries to find themselves once again. So honestly, I even think kind of irrational fans here aren't overly concerned.

That's why this year is so important for Texas, right? Sart needs to prove it that he's the guy going in there, so important for Oklahoma fans that they can believe in Brent Benibles because we've never seen Brent Benibles be head coach. And even as a coordinator, he's in that Davos-Sweeney environment, which isn't really representative of other environments around the country. Both have recruited at elite levels, right? I didn't think Venables could recruit. He already proved me wrong there.

Now they've got to prove it wrong. I feel like, answer me this, Con. Texas and Oklahoma, they have to finish one, two, in the Big 12. Like, they are markedly more talented than any other team in the Big 12. Why shouldn't they? Kansas State returns like 18 starters. The feeling is this is the best Kansas State team in forever. So they got picked second.

They returned a ton. But I agree with you. Oklahoma doesn't look at 70% of Kansas State players. They don't recruit them. They're not even interested. So to your point, here's my concern about Brett Venables. I think Oklahoma missed on their head coaching hire. And by the way, even schools like Alabama have missed several times.

USC has missed several times. Michigan has missed several times. Notre Dame has. It happens. The first thing I always look at, does the coach? you hire is his side of the ball locked up, cinched up, dramatically better immediately. Lincoln Riley took a four-win team to an elite offense. Sean McVeigh NFL, Kirby Smart Defense. Saban got the defense right before the offense. Forget the Sooner's offense.

The defense was an S show. Like that tells me, that tells me, T. Bob, he's over his skis. They got a coordinator. The defense was awful. Yeah. No, I mean, look, it's again why I think Oklahoma this off the show, they have a very good gymnastics program. And you can tell because fans have been doing a lot of mental gymnastics to try to explain why Brent Prentibals is a guy. Now, granted, again, to their credit, this is like they're, they're kind of drowning right now and they're desperate. They're looking to fight everybody. They're looking for something to latch onto. They've latched on to recruiting. You know, he's done well there. And so that's kind of their only comeback right now.

But I'm with Yukon. He's supposed to be in a defense coach, a guy. Again, they had talent on the defense. Lincoln took offensive guys. He didn't take the defense. And they were dead last. And they were awful, completely awful. They gave up more first downs than anyone in the power five. So I'm, look, I'm not a Brent Venables believer.

I've been very clear about that. I'm also not a Sark believer. I think both these schools have all the potential in the world. I just think they got a hit on the right guy. Here's my goal. With Vennibles, again, I think he has to win Tink. games, he has to be able to try that he can compete for champions for Big old champ to Oklahoma.

I'm giving Sark a low bar this year, Texas, win 10 games with a bowl game. If you do that, I'll eat crow. I'm wrong. Vinnable's kind of the same deal. You get the 10 wins. I'll allow for being year two. The only thing that makes me a little angry also on the Oklahoma Venables front is he talks about need to change the culture when he got there.

the culture was 25 straight winning seasons, stacking six in a row big 12 championships. The culture is one of the most successful football programs of all time that you took over. And like you said, and this is where I'd be really terrified if I'm a Oklahoma fan. Everything college football is about the head coach. He is your Roman politician general. He is the one that's going to decide the fate of the country that you love so much. Look at what happened to Oklahoma when Lincoln, Riley left and look at what happened to USC when Lincoln Riley got there. That is an elite guy.

That's a top five guy. And when you have one of those, you kind of hold on to it for everything it's worth. And Oklahoma never in their wildest dreams would have thought that they could get one of those guys poached. I mean, it's crazy. Like that's one of the most successful programs in college football history. That should never happen. But it shows you the power of USC and that that Trojan brand. 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 you're 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. Here's my theory on why Lincoln Riley left. Oklahoma, unlike Louisiana, unlike Georgia, unlike Alabama, unlike Florida or Texas, Oklahoma's recruiting profile, the state now provides about six elite players a year. So he looked at going to play those recruiting hotbeds. He's not going to be able to pull players out of Lish, out of Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and Texas going to the SEC was going to make him it harder to pull players out of Texas.

It's virtually unheard of. Oregon's an outlier, though they have no national title, to be from a state that delivers less than 15 elite players annually and win a title. So Phil Knight has made Oregon geographically isolated in a state that gives you three viable. They recruit California. But Lincoln Riley looked at the weakness of the PAC 12.

the supply of California athletes and said, I can put a stop sign on Big 10 teams and SEC teams, get 12 to 18 of my players from here. My competition's weak. UCLA is a basketball school. And I think Lincoln Riley smartly, everybody said he's not a man. I think it's business.

I think he looked at it and went, Oklahoma, its best days are over. And USC is a sleeping giant. That was my take. When it happened, And the day it happened, what was your initial thought? So the day it happened, I was one of the, I was one of the kind of poo-pooers running away from competition sort of guys.

You know, it felt like a sexy tape at the time. But combined with that was the potential of USC. And this is something that I actually have a lot of trouble getting through to my audience in Louisiana. because I'll mention USC. And they want to act like USC is just far away, high flutin, untreated. And they don't care. They're like, oh, but they don't care there.

We care. And I'm like, okay, that's fine. But economically, 90% of the population of Louisiana buying in, like, what does it take? 5% of L.A.? And you match the economics. So, like, yeah, the potential of USC exceeds out of Oklahoma. Now, I do think you get recruit to Oklahoma.

I think that's been proven like the Texas football economy is unbelievable. I was looking at some of the other day, Colin actually was based off of your take. So I was like, okay, is it realistic to think that A&M and Texas and Oklahoma can all take players from the same state? And they actually have. So like Texas just produces an unreal amount of players, but it's way harder. But it's way harder. And it takes way more work. And if Texas gets strong, it's only going to get harder.

And in the SEC, it's only going to get harder. And the big 10 is a better conference in the PAC 12, but it's top heavy. It's very, very top heavy, right? Like, you got your big three and USC's going to fit in fine amongst a big three and immediately be able to compete. So, no, I agree that the inherent potential of USC is greater than that of Oklahoma. Even if Oklahoma is still really good. I just don't get, if I'm Oklahoma, I do not get settling for eventables.

Like, what did Scott Woodward do when the LSU job came open? He swung for it. He went and recruited. He pried Brian Kelly. out of Notre Dame. Why did you go with Clemson's defensive coordinator

when you have some of the most highsman to college football history, some most national championship of college football

history. It just, it's tough, man. It all felt very kind of reactive to me in a way. One final question.

I want you to, because you're such a funny guy, that we all dated girls, fun girls, but there was something why

we married who we married. Yeah. And whatever it is, we had, there were just women that you make that decision. And they think the same way with us, by the way. They look at some of us as datable, some as marriage material. I consider Ed O the best girlfriend in the history of college football. He's not long term.

He's exciting. But he's a lot of every weekend is a blast. How is he viewed now? I mean, literally, you don't know what he's going to say. he's got his own brand. You'd think he'll, you know, I mean, he got a divorce. There's recruiting stuff. Yeah.

But he's just a good time. How is he viewed by UT Bob and LSU Nation? So it probably is like the greatest one-night stand in history. Like you said, like when you're laying next to your wife and you love your wife, or you love Brian Kelly. He's dependable. He's incredibly intelligent. He's caring.

He does all the little things. But you think about 15 and O and Joe Burrow and the Heisman and Jamar Chase and Justin Jefferson and all these sorts of things. So that is actually what it's been a real fascinating kind of revelation that I've had recently, which is ironically, Brian Kelly is the best thing that ever happened to Ed O's wrong. And it's because nobody cares about the bad two years now. Nobody cares. It doesn't matter. Like, it's gone. And now all the pressure's on Kelly. Because instead of Edo, like, the fear is something like what we mentioned has happened

at Texas or a USC, where you hire the wrong guy or at least it starts to go wrong because Edo was the right guy for a while. Now, he wasn't ready to have success. Right. But he went six and two interim. He went nine and four, 10 and three, 15. So there was a consistent climb there. But then success came and we all kind of.

I saw what happened. And so the fear is, if you miss on a couple of those guys, you set yourself back years. And that's when people get angry. And that's when legacies are tarnished. But all of a sudden, instead of those setting you back years, you're good. You feel like you have your best coach that you've had since Nick Saban. And you feel like the future is brighter than ever. And now all the pressure is on Brian Kelly.

So all of a sudden, at O, there's no bad ill will towards going six and seven in the last year, all the drama, all the bad press, it's like the hex girl and the exactly perfect because you only remember the good times now. But it's all because of the success of Kelly and how happy you are now and where you think your relationship's going currently. What was it like to be the son of the New Orleans Saints quarterback, Bobby A Bear? What is that life like? It's cool, man.

It's funny. So I was I was born in 89. and all men went to the Falcons about 92. So my memories were of him playing Atlanta, but he used to have every Saints game, all of his games. We had him on VHS. And so I'm being a little kid, and I would pop in the old Saints recordings

and watch like Saints Raiders or like 1990 or whatever, like Monday night football. And I'd sit there and I'd like take notes and stats during the game. So I got a bit of the Dome Patrol zeitgeist, right? The birth of the Saints actually being a team that could consistently make the playoffs. And so I gained through these VHS tapes, I gained kind of almost like a time travel understanding of what he meant to that city and to that franchise where they had been so bad for so long. They were the aides, the paper bags. They were losers.

I mean, perennial losers. And I know what pains. I mean, you never want a playoff game. They ended up going to win for the playoffs. right but it was still the most consistent winning that they had and and it's funny man because like i think it can always whenever you have a father who has done these great things um sometimes that can be a negative right maybe you get in your head maybe it applies too much pressure or it's just too much and and maybe it's because they didn't play quarterback but i never felt that it was

always dude it was always such it was always just such like a positive like i aren't I remember, like the insight. I mean, he played professional football for 15 years, starting to USFL, Michigan, Panthers, Oakland, and Vaders, Saints, NFL for 12 years. The insight that he gave me growing up on how to mentally handle things, technique things. And then when I get older and I need more offensive line work, I got to work with like some of his old teammates, everything. So like, I'm someone who it's always been in that positive, man.

It's just, I feel, look, I am very blessed. I'm a beneficiary of nepotism. I would have never gotten my start in this industry without him later becoming a radio legend in New Orleans, right? And so I'm very cognizant of this. I do not take this for granted. And all I want to do is try to do the best with the kind of unearned opportunity

that I was given at a very young age. And I thank my father for that, man. He was, it's, yeah, like I said, I just think back and think about how he put his body on the line, Caging Kid from Louisiana, didn't grow up with much. And then he rose to these heights to provide for his family to set up the next generation. It's something that I don't know. I think about a lot.

Well, I think you're the most creative, articulate, thoughtful, southern voice in college football. I thought that when I listened to your first podcast. We were looking for you for a year. and Logan Swain, who runs the volume, gave me a tape. I got a tape of you. You and Aaron are great. He's the straight man, and you are crazy town. We could not love you more.

I think you're just such a unique voice in the sport, and we are so effing happy to have you, man. I'm not going to lie, God. I feel like I've been like a little tight here. I'm a little nervous. It's just a boss, man. I grew up watching you and everything. and so I mean I think I'm blushing pretty hard right now I can't that that that means

but make no mistake bro we got big things coming to snaps here me and Aaron are fired up brums fired up we've been recorded a bunch of stuff here in Nashville we've been taking going around making the routes I um the volume's been like one of the best things ever happened to me because I love LSU I love doing the morning show and everything but I've been you know I'm doing Louisiana for like 10 years now. Now all of a sudden I get to expand and talk about the Pact 12 and the fake 10 and just all of college. And I love it all and I know it all. And it's, yeah, thank you, man.

It's been awesome. Thanks for having me on the pod, dude. This was super fun. Well, I'm going to try to do this on a regular basis. My man, congrats. Say hi to Aaron. And I'll put this out in the morning and on the volume page tonight, bud. All right, Colin.

Take it easy, man. YouTube.com slash at volume. Snaps. Hit it up. The volume. 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 I-Heart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.