The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Snaps - Rick Neuheisel on why Penix Jr. & Washington can win national championship

Episode Date: December 28, 2023

Aaron Murray and T-Bob Hebert are joined by former Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel to discuss the College Football Playoff, and how he thinks the final four will shape up. Rick explains how Michael Penix. Jr. and the Washington Huskies can shock the world and win the national championship over Alabama or Michigan. 06:00 - Alabama vs. Michigan 21:30 - Texas vs. Washington 32:30 - Steve Sarkisian 36:00 - National Championship Predictions (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.)   #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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bonus bets expire 100, 68 hours after issuance. See dkng.com slash football for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms, and responsible gaming resources. Hey, what's going on, y'all? It is our pleasure to welcome in the coolest man in college football. And of course, that is Coach Rick Newheisel. Every time I talk to him, he's doing something smooth, whether it's on a golf, of course, teaching guys how to hit in minor league stadiums, whatever the case may be, again, the smoothest and coolest man in CFB.

Coach New Heisel, what's up, man? Thank you so much for joining us today. It is my pleasure to be with you. That's the best picture you could find of me, the former coach CBS analyst Rick Neuheiser. That's what we're looking like. It's fourth and 29 and I don't have a play for it. Is that the one you could come up with?

It's kind of like all this beautiful decoration I have behind me. If you're listening on podcast, yes, we have chosen to where he is looking discombulated. That's the hot shots right there, Murray. That's probably after you riddled me for like 300 yards that night in Arizona. Aaron Murray's last greatest victory was against those. My last year was against New Heysel. That was probably the best game I played in my entire post-NFL career was against the hot shots there in Arizona, taking down new highs.

It'll be undefeated. Took me down, which is why I can't afford, you know, all the fine appointments that you have behind in your backdrops on your screen. Wait, so, Aaron, what team were you playing for at the time? Is the whiteers? No, this was the legends. This was A.A.F, not XF. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you guys, you get a kick out of this. So I'm at my son's school. So they drop off my three-year-old. Then all the kids are playing. Parents get to hang out before the bell rings. And there's this guy like staring at me. And I'm staring to him. I'm like, I know him.

I don't. So I like, you know, my wife a few weeks later is like, and we actually went to his house for his daughter's three, four year old birthday party for the birthday party. Still then say hi. Or age, you find yourself. You still never said hello. Never said hello to him. I'm like, why do I know this guy? Well, my wife, like two weeks later, she's like, you know what?

I figured out who it was. It's Charlie Ebersaw. He moved to Atlanta. His daughter goes to this is in the same class as my son of the of the A.A. Yeah. Right. I'm like, you probably think that's like, I don't want to talk to because he owes me money still. The alliance of American football was what we thought the AAF stood more.

Actually, it was adaptable, adjustable, and flexible. That was what those things needed to be if we were going to be successful. Yeah. Man, this, quick Google surge. This guy looks too young to own a professional football league. But hey, what a what a? Shut on Charlie Ebersoll. It was me some cash money.

Come on, Charlie. Hey, yeah. I think we're a lot. lot of us in that category. I was going to say, I would say take a ticket, right? It's like in the butcher, take a ticket, and we'll see, we'll serve you when we get to you. Yeah. All right, let's talk some college football guys. Oh, by the way, I hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas. I would be had a very good Christmas. I know I did. My kid said, Dad, you're probably the best dad ever. It was the most fun Christmas day ever. It was awesome. So Merry Christmas, both of you. But we're preparing for the new year.

and in the new year comes college football, playoff games. Let's start to break them down. Let's start with the big boy, Alabama, Michigan. Once again, Alabama, given the nod, the opportunity to compete for a national championship. And this time it's against a team that's been the ones pretty much the entire year in the Michigan Wolverines.

Coach New Heisle, do you believe this is the year where Harbaugh and the Wolverines can finally break through or shirmed? shake-off, whatever weird, you know, playoff miasma seems to snag them the last couple times out? Listen, I'm a big fan of J.J. McCarthy. I think he's been undervalued as the Michigan quarterback because they've just decided that they're a land acquisition type of program. They just want to grind you up and play old school physical football, which, you know, to each his own is a way to win. but I don't think they're explosive enough to,

I think they're the least likely of the four teams in the college football playoff to win it. I think they're the least likely. If you look at what they did in their game against Iowa, they averaged, and listen, we all know Phil Parker is a heck of a defensive coordinator, but they averaged less than five yards a pass and they averaged less than two yards of carry.

You can't win if you can't score. Yeah. The history of the college, football playoff is you've got to be hot at the right time and be able to move the ball. And I just don't think right now that's who they are. I don't think they have nearly the explosive players that the other three rosters present. And as good as their defense is, I don't think they've been really challenged with a great offense.

The best offense they played all year was Ohio State. And I think Ohio State was not the same Ohio State that we've seen over the course of the last 10 years. this is an Ohio State team that finished in the 30s in college football in terms of the rankings. So to me, this is the wrong teams favored when they put Michigan as the favorite here. Alabama should be the favorite. So this is more playing devil's advocate because I said it on yesterday's show, but my intuition leads me to kind of the same thing that you said.

But then you really start to think about it. So like what's the difference between Bama looking awful against Auburn? in Michigan looking awful against Iowa. Okay, fair point. We know that that game at Auburn is always a tricky one for Alabama. It's just historically, whether it's a self-filling prophecy or what have you, that one's always a tricky one. We go back and look at Hugh Freeze's game plan against Georgia.

They ran for over 200 yards in that one as well. So they just have a nice little recipe for that. particular defense that styles between Kirby Smart and Nick Saban kind of from the same family, the three four front. So they have a way of dialing up offense. So I give Auburn credit, but as I look at Michigan and I look at J.J. McCarthy and, you know, the touchdown passes and the big plays, they just don't look to create that. And if Michigan thinks that they're going to get through Alabama on the Rose Bowl,

Monday or the Texas-Washington winner by, you know, grinding it out and doing so with a 21-17 type of victory, I think they're sorely mistaken. These are going to be big play games that are going to require you to score 35. I want to get into the head of the coach here. And obviously, Nick is the greatest and his postseason record shows part of that in the championships and winning in the playoffs. And, you know, Hardball has not had success in the postseason, has not had success in the playoffs the past couple of years. What is, we always talk about, we always start from a player's mindset of a regular season, the championship weekend, the playoff weekend. What is it like for a coach?

Like what makes a coach better shooted for playoff compared to other coaches? I grew up in the UCLA program where Terry Donahue won eight straight bowl games, eight straight. Now, this is before the college football playoff became. So these might have a day. different recipe. But the idea was that there needed to be some measure of reward to go along with the hard work as you prepare for these games. Because everybody else is home for Christmas vacation, right? You want to make sure that this is a pleasurable experience, not something that's just mundane, grind it out, and so on and so forth. Go back to Harbaugh's first year at

Michigan, they went out to play the Orange Bowl against Jimbo Fisher's at the time, Florida State team. They said no to the jet skis. Florida State was the only team that showed up to go out there and have some fun and Michigan got whipped in that game, despite being the favorite in the game. So to me, you have to have some measure of that. Nick Saban doesn't necessarily present himself as the ambassador of fun. But I think he has realized over the course of time that there has to be some of that. And so I think that's all part and parcel of the recipe for Alabama, as they have been clearly the standard bearer in the college football playoff.

Having won three times, having been there multiple times, I just think that this is a, and we also, and this is to me, maybe the biggest point. the ability to continue to grow over a three-week period. Now, Michigan's getting this three-week period, too, but to grow the offense for Jalen Milrow in the quarterback run game. Tommy Reese didn't have an offense for Jalen Milrow early. It has grown by bits and pieces over the course of the time.

You saw in the Georgia game a couple of key quarterback run opportunities there to seal the deal, as you have three more weeks now to grow inventory in that regard, I think it becomes the X factor in this game. What about, so speaking of a quarterback run, like when I look at Michigan's weapons, right, especially going to get that Alabama secondary, which is the best in the country, it's like,

how was Michigan to break through? Are they going to have to hope that they have a healthy J.J. McCarthy and is him adding to the run? Like, is the only way for the Michigan weapons to have success? if you can somehow force them to respect the rushing attack, and is the key to that, J.J. McCarthy? You mentioned that you can't just sit there and expect you run over Alabama, and I would imagine Michigan believes that as well and would know that as well.

So how do you craft a game plan against what looks to be arguably the best events in the country? I think that you hit the nail on the head. If I'm looking at this from the vantage point of Michigan's offense, I've got to have J.J. McCarthy's legs as part of this recipe. I have to. We have built, I mean, if you go back and look at J.J. McCarthy's box scores over the course of the season, there's somewhere between 15 and 25 passes for the large part. There's a couple games that are outliers, but that's what they do.

And they just grind you up and play fantastic defense, play a little ball control, and win the game's going away, ended up kind of bludgeoning you to death. But again, looking at the offenses that they played, they were, they could afford to do that play the field position game. This game is going to be different because Alabama's explosive. Mill Rose, not, we just talked about quarterback run, which I think is going to be the key, but go look at his yards per attempt. It's over 10.

I mean, he has great accuracy down the field. Isaiah Bond, Germain Burton have been, you know, big time weapons down the field. They have the ability to get you into all that, you know, eyes in the back field who's got the ball. And then all of a sudden, here comes those deep overposts, you know, down the field to whether it bond or, and to really confuse safeties, it, to me, you have to be able to score with Alabama to beat them. And Michigan's going to have to find ways to either incorporate downfield throwing or quarterback run. And I think the easier way is to do it through quarterback run. Do you, are we over the jail in as a turnover guy? Like, do you think it's completely cured?

I mean, or is that still in the back of everyone's mind, like that can still poke its nasty head out at some point. And also, we may look up in Mill Road, there's two interceptions in the first half. I think what's happened, Aaron, is that we've gone, if you're talking about Alabama, they've gone to a place where they're not asking him to read the entire field. No.

You know, it's not necessarily a read. So here's where your throw should be. I think it's more of a progression read, you know, one to two to three. that's not to say that Milro can't do the other stuff, but it was difficult for their protection to be in dropback. And it was difficult for him to get exactly what he was looking for from a Reed standpoint. So they've gone more to this play action off the quarterback run game and opportunities down the field that are much better suited to maybe actually adding more to the protection or giving chances to, to seal somebody from a safety standpoint and play one-on-one against a corner.

So the Alabama offense also fascinates me because, as you like, we all, explosive is the word, right? It's not the most consistent on a play-by-play basis, but they've cut out the mistakes like Aaron alluded to, and then they really just have this explosive element. How do you game plan against an offense of that nature? Because I feel like we don't generally see that this often. Like if you're an elite football team, I feel like you tend to be a bit more solid on a down-to-down basis than what you see out of this Alabama offense.

It just feels very kind of feast or famine at time. So what's the key to forcing Bama? How do you take away that explosivity? Yeah, you've got to take away big plays, which means there's got to be great communication in the back end between corner and safety. They've got to be great communication. Most of times, defense has split things into half fields, right? We always count from outside in. and okay, who's got one, who's got two, who's got three, counting the receivers the furthest away from the ball,

and then play off that. Like you might lock one, meaning man to man and play zone against numbers two and three. But ultimately, with Alabama, they cross hemispheres. They can go from one side of the field. So the hemispheres of the defense have to be in communication. Or they've got to travel with the guy who's going from one hemisphere to the other. And that takes, that's what's going on in these three weeks. and that kind of communication.

So you don't give up the big play to Bond or Burton as they've made people pay over the course of the year. If you can make Alabama beat you be a running game, beat you in a 11, 12 play deal, we've seen Alabama make multiple mistakes from a penalty standpoint. They've had multiple games where they've had double-digit penalties. We've seen Alabama give up protection issues. And we know Michigan has a formidable defensive front, front sense. So to me, don't give up the explosives and play bail out with Alabama. And then you've got to make some explosives.

That, to me, is going to be the Michigan plan. And whether they're up to it is going to be curious. Or you can have the big turnover too. I mean, that was one of the big things in the Georgia game. Obviously, turnover is always a factor, yes. Georgia turned it over inside their own 15-yard line, Alabama turns into a touchdown. Like big games like that against two teams very similar. That was the difference.

That was the difference, right? That was the difference in the game. All right. Last one on this one before you move to the other game. Just your final score prediction. I said it's going to take 35 to win the game. I'm going to go Alabama, 35, Michigan 17. Whoa.

Wow. Wow. So Coach Newheisle down on the Wolverines. Aaron, take us to what I find to be the more exciting and sexy round one matchup. Yeah. Well, this is definitely the more exciting. You took coach, you talked about all the explosive players that, an explosive team. You guys are saying that the Michigan Wolverines and the Alabama

Crimson Tide number one and two in the history of college football isn't sexy. Are you Casey? It is very sexy. It's just not in the granddaddy of all. I mean, holy smoke, you can't ask for better. I'll tell you this. College football than what we're going to get now in the in Pasadena. They're their classic Hollywood starlets, but I'm into these young Instagram thoughts. Okay. I'm in, I'm into these, I'm into these TikTok stars. Yes. The Texas, Washington, TikTok stars. I'll be honest. That is more my game.

I don't want a 40 to 42 game. I like a nice little low 30s, mid-20s type of football game. So I'm digging more of the Michigan, Alabama. But as we transition to the other game. Now look at these line pictures of Michael Penickson, Quillard is right there. You came up with me and the hot shots looking forlorn for that. PG. Can we find just a quick one before the show just to help break out,

maybe in the suit for CBS looking for. Something that makes gives me some sort of hope. Goodness. Husky boys, I'm dealing with two husky boys over here. Washington, what's the initial thoughts when you saw this matchup? Well, remember, they played each other in the final game last year. This was the Alamo Bowl matchup. So they know each other.

They've spent three weeks studying each other. Pete Kwikowski, the defensive coordinator at Texas, was the defensive coordinator at Washington with Chris Peterson. So these teams, and Sarkas, we know, is the head coach at Washington. So these teams know each other. I think people diminish what Washington has accomplished because, number one, it's in the Pact 12, so it's the afterthought.

And now clearly the afterthought, because we've already had a funeral for the Pact 12. Washington's won 20 in a row. Yeah. 20 in a row. Thank you. Put some respect on that man's name. That is a, and Kalin DeBoer just was named the AP coach of the year, deservedly. So it's built around Panics. Michael Pennix, the transfer from Indiana, who obviously had a relationship with Kalin DeBoer.

They were together at Indiana, follows him now to Washington, and they have made beautiful music together. Absolutely beautiful. There are three gifted wide receivers and others that play role plays. The tight ends are an understated value to the Washington offense. But these three receivers are all ones. Polk, McMillan, and Adunze, which is maybe my favorite name to say. Rome, a doonese. I mean, if you don't let that roll off your tongue, I don't know what's the matter with you.

But those three guys are phenomenal. and an offensive line that is right now, I think, up for the Joe Moore Award. They're one of the four finalists for the Joe Moore Award, which is given annually to the best offensive line across the country. This Washington offensive line versus that Texas defensive front, and particularly those two defensive tackles, Devonre Sweat and Byron Murphy, if they can hold those guys up and those guys don't bang the, you know,

push pennics out of the pocket, and push him off his timing. And I think Washington goes up tempo to keep those guys from having a lot of success doing that. If that happens, then they are in position to be in rhythm. And then the newcomer to this offensive equation, which is Dylan Johnson, the transfer from Mississippi State, who's been brilliant. He had 250 against USC. No big deal.

Everybody runs for 250 against the drug. But the bottom line is that will be played back somewhere. No question. But he is a real factor. Give you an idea. We know about this Oregon-Washington rivalry, right? Oregon has lost the last three to Washington. Dan Lanning and his three goes against Kalin-de-Bore is 0-3,

and each game was a three-point loss. The first game, Oregon ran for 300. Washington ran for 100. The second game, Oregon ran for 200. Washington ran for 100. The last game, Washington ran for 150, Oregon ran for 124. So you saw an unbelievable switching of

physicality and in the trenches, and if that physicality travels to New Orleans, give me the dogs. Wrong team favorite in this one. Coach, help me out here because Kailen DeBoer is someone whose overall head coaching record is just unbelievable. I mean,

a hundred and three and eleven right but you know a lot of it took place on lower levels of football but i'm a big believer that like i put stock and if you're winning championships i don't care the level you are outperforming your peers right 100% it's one of the reasons why gave them the nod over land all that other stuff so like yeah give me the coaches perspective what is it about caleb de bore that has made him such an unbelievably consistent winner at every level of football that he's been on well obviously I only get to watch him on game days. I've met Kaylin.

He's a wonderful guy. He's kind of an understated guy. He's not trying to be, you know, the life of the party. He's, but he obviously has a way of galvanizing a team, making sure everybody understands what the, what the requirements of being on the team are, and making sure that people are adhere to those requirements

and that there's glue. There's glue in this room. You don't win 110 or 100 games, 90% of your ones. games if you're not doing something right, right? So give credit where credit is due. He was fabulous at Fresno State when he got that job and had tremendous success there with the Bulldog program and then got this chance. And as I said, has won 20 in a row. 20 in a row. That's a phenomenal accomplishment in a league that plays nine conference games and a league that you're not necessarily

lining up with superior talent every time you're playing, you're just playing better. And this panics and these gifted receivers. Now, if we're X and Owing this, what I think is the genius in this, and I haven't studied it like I'd really like to, Aaron, but I think they play with a lot of three ride receiver sides, okay? And play with numbers two and three in a really creative ways, whether they're switching and then coming back, they make it very difficult. And because you're playing numbers two and three, the corner that was sitting there out

there locked on number one, he doesn't get involved in the past defense. They rarely throw to one. It's a two and three world that is playing as a two receiver side. And they just have all sorts of things that cross over and they just occupy people. We're seeing some of the best receivers in the country do that, Luther Burden slot receiver. I mean, that's always been their philosophy there. Dabers played a lot of slot forlous, you too.

I mean, they made it inside a ton. The whole world of a one route tree, meaning an outside receiver route tree being at number two or number three, and all that putting it on safeties, we now have to have corner responsibilities and the inability because of a running game. If you put a Dylan Johnson involved in that, you can't have your cake and eat it too. So I can't reroute number three,

meaning I'm in his face or in the face of number two, I can't reroute those guys and have them actually in position to be in a run fit. So that halfway split is not, it's like the equivalent of a single side receiver, bringing him down into a nasty split, as we used to call him, right? They're just four yards away from the tackle. That corner that comes down with him now has to play outside leverage

because he has to be in the run fit. Yeah. He has to have the outside gap. Now he can't reroute the wide receiver so that receiver now gets free access on a safety who's sitting there flat-footed, not in position. He doesn't go and play one-on-one against wide receivers in practice. And now you can have a corner or a post on him. And if I've occupied the rest of the other side of the field, I'm having my cake you need it, too,

if I can hold up. And this offensive line, as I said, is one of the top four offensive lines in college football. they're giving penics all kinds of time. And the guy has dropped dimes. If you watch the highlights, these little rainmaker balls just land on the money over and over again. So it's which way do you want to die? Pick your poison.

Rick, now is the best-looking analyst in all of college football. That's a big back. There's a good-looking picture right there for Mr. New Heissel. Great-looking picture. Everything, whenever we hear this game, I feel like so much of the focus is so much on, Washington's offense, Texas's defense, the lack of ability to cover on the back end, which is

plagued Texas. 95th. 95th in the country. We forget that Texas's offense is pretty damn good with weapons, with an elite quarterback against the Washington defense that is good. Maybe I would say better than average is a good defense. But we don't talk enough about that. I think Texas can score a bunch.

They have been, they have been better. Yeah, they're pretty damn good in that Oregon game. And listen, go back to the Arizona State game because the offense was struggling. True. They'd gotten attacked in the A-GAPs and they were struggling. And that defense with a pick six changed the deal. So this defense has been opportunistic. They'll play great.

They're going to give up points. We're in for a 38, 35 game. Yeah. I really think we're in for that, which is going to make it really exciting. I just think that the way that Washington has won their games over the last several weeks puts them in position to not panic if they're in that situation again. No, I'm a firm believer in that. Washington's extremely battle tests,

but also, as you mentioned, they've been very adaptable this year, right? They've won a ton of different ways. On the Texas side of the equation, I'm guilty. I was a huge Sark doubter, right? You looked at the resume and you saw a guy that has had a ton of big jobs, but it never won 10 games anywhere.

And it wasn't like those jobs weren't. capable because Chris Peterson came in right after him, did great. Like, like, like, you, you saw guys who would go in and immediately do well where he just was. And obviously, there were some personal issues mixed in there as well. But the point is, I was a big start doubter. He proved me wrong and then some. Texas managed to win without their starting quarterback. They were consistent.

They were great offensively like they should have been given that that's his side of the ball. Have you seen anything out of Sarkesian, his growth as a coach? that maybe led to this breakthrough or is it as simple as, well, they just have an incredible roster. They got the money and they can get really good players now. Well, I think if you look at Sark's background, he worked under Pete Carroll and learned, you know,

Pete was let roll the balls out there, let's get a bunch of great players scrimmage all the time and see where the dust ends up and we're going to have a great team. It was a rah, raw, it was a rah, type of way of going to going about it and Sark was all in. Lane Kiffin was a part of that whole world. They both blossom from it. Maybe not as buttoned up, maybe not as discipline oriented in that environment. And so both those guys, when they got their opportunities, certainly went and did the player

accumulation thing, but didn't have the details. There was not a real attention to detail. And so things got through the cracks, which required both of them to go to what I call the happy ending halfway house of Nick Saban. They basically went to their rehab. And I don't mean that in a way that's disparaging towards Sark. They went to the Alabama halfway house and basically learned how to pay attention to the details of football. and both of them have benefited greatly from that. Whether they enjoyed the experience,

whether it was something that they couldn't wait, they were counting hours to get out of, they both profited immeasurably, whether it be perceptually, where people now think that they have a little bit more Sabin acuity to them, or whether it be they actually were paying attention while in that, call it a house of detention or house of attention. You picked the,

the terms you want to use. But both of them, if they paid attention, as we think now they did, are way more detail-oriented than they were prior to going there. I wish, when I got fired, I wish I had gone to McSavent. I mean, I think, I think Edo's very happy to be making his 17-mill and kind of chilling. But certainly it's so funny here you say that because Ogeron was the same way in terms of that Carol philosophy. and then he too, just after the success, started playing a little fast and loose and lost a little bit of that detail. Both those guys were fun lovers, right? They have lives away from football, but they learned about the, you know, painstaking attention, the devil's in the details, the painstaking process that Nick Saban lives in.

And one day at a time, and both of them have built programs by accumulating talent and now trying to follow that. model. They both are tipping their cap, whether they mean to or not, to the greatness that is Nick Saban. All right. So, Coach, you said, you said 3835. 3835, taking the dogs. Taking the dogs. You already know, baby. We, you got, you got dogs, Alabama. I don't know if we'll get you on the show for the national championship. Who wins the national championship? Uh, you know, I really want to say Alabama here, just because I think that's Nick Saban, but I think Michael Penix, I, I think this is the offense that might be the one that can get through to that secondary and put some issues.

They will leave. I don't know what Washington coach Nick Saban can hire before that game actually takes place as he did with George Hilo from Michigan. I don't know who he's going to get in there. Remember, he interviewed Ryan Grub. He tried to get Ryan Grub to come to be his offensive coordinator. So there's no question that he shook Ryan Grub down trying to learn about Washington. in its offense.

But I kind of like Washington. I kind of like Washington to win the thing. And wouldn't that be the appropriate way for the PAC 12 to finally get the last

shovel of dirt thrown on top of them? Okay, I'm going to ask very self-interested, maybe not self-interested, but we didn't have this on the run. I'm going to go off script for a second. But it's something that I've been thinking

about a lot lately. Washington, Oregon, going to the Big Ten next year. Who's better set up for success? Oregon. Oregon has the more sustainable model because of the Nike stuff. Their ability to finance their expectations in Eugene, even though it's not a television entity, they have the ability to recruit nationally because of the Nike brand.

And that sets them up for success going forward. They're right now number two. If you look at the Big Ten as it will be constructed going forward, they're number two in recruiting. USC's number five, right? They're number two in recruiting only behind Ohio State. And to me, Dan Lanning, I got a chance to have him on our program on full ride on Sirius XM.

He was phenomenal. That story of Dan Lanning being a high school coach in Missouri and driving 13 hours to go get a job with Todd Graham at Pittsburgh without even having an interview, you're just hanging out and then being at all the different places and paying attention as he has, I think Oregon for the long term. And it's going to be hard for Washington to replace all that's going to be leaving at the end of this year. So enjoy this run, dogs. Another program that you obviously have close ties with Colorado,

and you've seen out the build this year and you've seen kind of what they're kind of doing next year heading into the Big 12. Can Dion win in that conference with the team and kind of how he's building? What are your expectations for next year for the buffs? I have mixed expectations. I don't think that Dion's learned everything about coaching that he will learn. So there's still much to do in terms of putting his staff together and making sure all the pieces fit. It becomes even more complicated when the number of the players are your kids.

Not that they aren't worthy players, they certainly are. But when that relationship's making it more difficult for you to really evaluate your coaches, I mean, for Sean Lewis to get demoted there and get the head coaching job at San Diego State, that's a head scratcher, right? But Dion is Dion. Dion is the real deal. I was with him in Baltimore. He's authentic.

Recruiting will not be the problem. It will be the complication is always. always is people, right? How do you get people together that are all pulling in the same direction? And to me, given Dion's attention elsewhere at times with, you know, the branding, the Amazon show, the commercials, it just becomes difficult. I go back to Nick Saban. Nick Saban, the devil's in the details. Dion says that Nick Sabin's one of his heroes. Dion would be do well to study Nick Sabin. if he does if he wants Nick Saban type of success. And this is a man who knows long time college football head coach CBS and Sirius XM.

Looking analyst. There we. Look at that. Renaissance man. The coolest man in college football. One of the only ones that could break down a defense, give you an offensive game plan, and then sing you a little ballot as you lay your head down on the pillow at night. I should have brought my guitar to this, guys.

We could have, we couldn't come up with the ditty. Hey, Coach, I want to send you the video of T-Bob was in the ballet the other day. Little Nutcracker. You should have seen him dancing with his little tights on. Not to brag, it wasn't tights. You never say little tights. To T-Bob, never say less of the t-bop. Never say, thank you.

Also, if I ever, you know, as my ballet career continues, if I ever do wear tights, I'm absolutely wearing a cup. You know, you got to, you got to feel calm. We got to feel good up there. I can't be worried about, like, shrink it, or anything like that. Put him on stage in all this. Probably an overshare. Probably an overshare. We appreciate it.

Listen, will you do me a favor and give my best to your dad? Absolutely. One of the all-time great first meetings I've ever had in my life. I don't know if you knew this. Bobby was the quarterback for the Michigan Panthers while I was at San Antonio Gunslingers in the old USFL. And I had a roommate in my first year in the USFL, which was year two of the league that had been on the Michigan Panthers the year before as a fullback, a guy by the name of Mike.

Mike Hagan. So Mike Hagen and I are roommates and Bobby comes to San Antonio where he's hanging out in our apartment. I have to, Mike Hagan had to serve as an interpreter for me to understand what the hell Bob. That's like his, that was his pot and a partner. Rest in peace to Mr. Mike. That was his like best friend ever, dude. So yeah, yeah, that's how I know y'all were real ones if he was hanging out. He said dad and Diz and Dad and Doa Doha, Doha, Dando, I'm the Honda. What is he saying? What the hell's happening here? Yeah.

Shout out Mike Hagan to power to power lifters for Jesus. That was Mikey. That was Mike. Hell yeah. I will definitely do that, coach. I can't wait to ask about that, actually, even though it's probably going to suck me in like an hour-long conversation. Thank you.

One of a kind, man. One of a kind. You guys are gems. College football needs more like you. It's always a trade. And as we always say, as the dismount of these conversations, is if we always will say the same thing. We need adults in the room to fix the problems that are existing college football.

Hopefully that will happen soon. But no matter what we try to do to screw it up, college football always delivers. Always. Always. There we go. Some very sagacious. Didn't really land the disown there. It's very wise.

Multiple. Multiple. Multiple. Always makes people think you know what you were talking about. A very wise perspective from a very learning man, Coach Rick Newhouse. Thank you so much, Coach. And we'll see y'all for some more snaps later this week.