The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Bruce Feldman on Coaching Carousel & Bowl Game Pick Em

Episode Date: December 16, 2021

Bruce Feldman joins Joel Klatt to break down the moves in the coaching carousel like Oregon hiring Dan Lanning and Jim Knowles joining Ohio State as a DC. Then Klatt picks his bowl game winners, and shares three reasons why he loves college football. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up, everybody? Welcome into breaking the huddle. Cannot wait to get into everything that we've got for you today. This show, as always, is brought to you by Dr. Pepper. It is the one fans deserve. I'm Joel Clatt, and let's go. We got Bull Preview to get things started. Bruce Feldman joins me with all the coaching carousel news that you're going to want to hear. I'm also going to give you three reasons why I love college football,

and it's probably not the obvious reason. So stay tuned for that in a little bit. But first, let's get to the Bowl preview, folks. not going to get to the playoffs. We'll get to that next week. So let's start right now with some of these New Year's 6 Bulls and then the bigger bowls that we see on New Year's Day. Let's start with the Peach Bowl, okay? Pitt, the ACC champion, at large, Michigan State. What a great year Michigan State had. Michigan State leads the all-time series, if you care to know about it, 6-0-1.

They're undefeated. Kenny Pickett, though, he's thrown for the fifth-most yards, third-most T-Ds in college football. Michigan State does not have a great pass defense. That was laid bare for all of us to see against Ohio State. Because of that, folks, even though I love Kenneth Walker, I really love what Mel Tucker has done. I'm going to take Pitt because of that past defense from Michigan State there in the Peach Bowl. All right, let's move on.

Outback. We've got Penn State and Arkansas, first ever meeting between the two schools. Really, I love Penn State's defense in this game. They have been great all year long. I think Sean Clifford, by the way, announced that he's coming back to school. They're going to have a new defensive coordinator. next year. I just, there's some momentum with Penn State. I'm going to go with Penn State. That's the third in the Big Tenant in scoring defense, giving up only 16.8 points a game.

So I've got Penn State in that one. The PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, Notre Dame and Oklahoma State. Man, how close was Oklahoma State to win the Big 12 title? That was so close. First ever meeting between the schools. Notre Dame has scored 30 points in six of their last seven. So that offense has started ticking along a little bit, but they're going to face an Oklahoma State team with a great defense. the nation with sacks, 54 of them. Jim Knowles is moving to Ohio State, but as a coordinator, he has laid a foundation of success there with Oklahoma State. I'm going to take the Cowboys, a veteran team, finishing it off the right way in the Fiesta Bowl. Okay, here we go, the Citrus Bowl. Iowa and Kentucky, first ever meeting between these schools. Iowa is tied for second

in college football in turnover margin at plus 14. They are a ball hawking secondary. They can get it done. Kentucky has the worst turnover differential in the SEC. What, folks, that makes the pick very easy. Turnovers create wins. Iowa beats Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl. Hawkeyes get it done. Let's move over to the granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl game. By the way, congratulations to Utah, their first Pack 12 championship ever, and they get

to go to the Rose Bowl to face the Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State leads the nation in total offense and scoring offense. Folks, that passing game is second to none. C.J. Strouds, remarkable. Their core of wide receivers, where they're talking about the starters or even the backups is amazing. Ohio State did win their only meeting 64 to 6.

This is not going to be like that because Devin Lloyd and that defense is very good. Utah has won four straight over AP ranked teams, but that's going to stop the Buckeyes win in Pasadena and they get a Rose Bowl championship. Then the Sugar Bowl, Baylor and Ole Miss. Baylor won the only meaning 20 to 10 in 1975. Is that going to play a factor?

No, it's absolutely not. Ole Miss leads the SEC and turnover margin at plus 11. Is that going to factor in? Yes. Give me the Rebs. Oh, Miss, beats Baylor and the Sugar Bowl. And that's going to do it for our bowl preview. Let's now go out and join the best insider in the business, the guy that I call if I need any information, Bruce Feldman, who joins us now live. Bruce, what's up, bud? How are you? Good to be on with you, Joel. I appreciate the kind words. Thank you. There's no doubt. Let's start with kind of the biggest new. since the initial movement of coaching,

which is Mario Cristobal goes to Miami. You're familiar with that program, obviously. He goes home, back to Miami. And then Dan Lannning, the defensive coordinator, will replace Mario up at Oregon. Dan Langing, the coordinator for Georgia. Take us through those a little bit, what you know of what went down.

Well, start with the Mario piece of this. I think for a lot of people who looked at it and said, well, Miami's a mess. And Oregon, he's built this. We know you and I both have. have spent a bunch of time around him, know that he feels like the 2022 and 2023 Ducks teams, the way they've recruited, he thought they would compete for national titles. He had a really good situation, but ultimately, I think the pull to come home to take over that program, I don't

think he felt like he could pass up an opportunity to do it. His kids are still relatively young, their elementary school age, I think being around his family, but also having the chance to get the U back was something he could not pass up, especially with the way Miami, at least now is aligned. Dan Radicovic, who had been around Miami as an early administrator back when Howard Schnellenberger was building that program, did a really good job at Clemson. He's coming in as the AD. That was just too much for Mario Cristobal to pass up on. So he makes the move. And then I think a move that surprised a bunch of us was ultimately that Dan Lannning ends up getting Oregon job. Now, he's done a really good job at Georgia as Kirby Smart's defense corner. Only 35 years old. He's a guy from the Midwest,

but he did spend two years at Arizona State on Todd Graham's staff. This is obviously a really good job. I think from talking to a lot of coaches, Mario Cristobal is not a bad guy to replace or to follow because you know how well he'd recruit. That's right. And I think he does it. stocked. I think that made it very enticing to Dan Lannning, who was going to be choosing. He knew he was going to have some good opportunities this year, as well as next year, and he jumped on the Ducks

job. The one thing I would say that interested me is that this seems like the third coach in a row that could possibly view another job as their dream destination, you know, which, say for, like, that's why Justin

Wilcox to me felt like a better, not, I shouldn't say better, just felt like a, a fit for Oregon or even Chip Kelly going back to Oregon, whether that was out of the realm of possibility or not, this now feels like a guy like in the back of my mind, it's going to be, as Dan always going to want to go back to the SEC, if one of those jobs pops open. And it seems like Oregon has put themselves in that position now with three straight head coaches. Right. I'm glad you kind of put that out there because that's something that came to my mind as well, I was a little skeptical. The last two hires they made, Willie Taggart, you know, Florida,

Florida State was a big deal. He grew up an FSU fan. He jumped at it, you know, a year after he got the job. Mario with Miami, that was going to be the sell. I think when you take guys who are not from those areas and don't have maybe as much of a connection to the place, then you do run that risk. And so we'll see how this plays out. Because like you said, I mean, the part of Justin Wilcox, Chip Kelly obviously was very close to some people high up at Oregon. His wife is from there and worked there. So I think there was probably a lot of stuff that, in that regard made some sense. We'll see if it works out for the ducks here now, though. Some assistant coaching move because I think that's what's always so interesting. Levy, Jeff Levy goes to Oklahoma. Jim Knowles from Oklahoma State, defense coordinator, now hired at Ohio State. And then Manny Diaz, who was the head coach at Miami, he's going to replace Brent Pry at Penn State.

Can you take us through some of those high-profile coordinator moves that are really going to shape the next college football season? Yeah, let's start with Jim Knowles because he was very much in demand. Obviously, did a terrific job at Oklahoma State. There was interest in him from Penn State as well. And there was a couple other big power five jobs that wanted him before Ryan Day got him. Now, in terms of Penn State, they ended up with Manny Diaz, who might be a better fit because he's a four down front guy and a lot of the stuff that you had with both Brent Pry as well as before him. Bob Schupe, I think that is probably very attractive to James Franklin. in terms of getting the TFLs, a lot of negative plays, a lot of big plays. But look what Jim Knowles had done in Stillwater was pretty remarkable. And I think, look, you know, I did an Ohio State game. You did a bunch of Ohio State games. You know that there have been issues on that defense for a while.

And so now you have a guy who's got a pretty clear identity of what he likes to do. Let's see how the personnel fits. That's going to be interesting. I'm excited to see some breaking the huddles probably down the road of seeing how you think, you know, what Larry Johnson and how they've been so good up front. Yeah. Because obviously we saw Oklahoma State had some, you know, Colin Oliver and a bunch of guys who really got after the quarterback. We'll see how this thing is going to, is going to transition to that.

I think that'll be fun to watch. The first one, I'm trying to black. I know we talked to Danny. Jeff Levy. Jeff Levy at Oklahoma. So Jeff Levy, this is a homecoming. He started out as a student assistant. He was actually going to play at OU and then I think had an injury that ended his career. We saw what he did.

He was the play caller for Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, and obviously they had a really explosive offense. I think what's going to be really fascinating for me, one of the big assistant moves that didn't happen that we thought might happen was Bill Beadenboe, who's arguably the best O-line coach in college football, and he's the run game coordinator, really when we talk about why Lincoln Riley's air raid at OU

was nothing like Mike Leach's air raid and was very different because they, did so much of that counter game. A lot of people thought, because it was an early word that Bill Biedenboe was seriously thinking about following Lincoln, Riley, out here to Southern California. That didn't happen, as we reported over the last week. He was going to stay. His wife is from Oklahoma. That was important for him.

He liked the situation there. So how does that piece work with Jeff Levy's offense? I think that's going to be fun to see how, just similar to what we're going to see, I think, at Ohio State on the other side of the ball. I think it's going to be fun to see what that version of what they did at Baylor, what they did at UCF, and obviously what he did with Lane in Oxford. Now let's see how it works with the run game of what you get with Beatenbow. Well, listen, there have been no shortage of stories this season of coaching carousel, and I'm sure that there'll be a few more out there.

But Bruce, you're always on top of it. You're always so informed. I appreciate you joining me, man. Thank you so much. Always a pleasure, Joel. look forward to talking you soon. What an amazing season it's been. It has reminded me why I love college football.

In this season in which we got fans back into the stadium when we kind of came home to the sport, there's some things that just resonated with me about this sport that I love about it. And listen, yeah, I love the players and the plays that they make and all of that. But there's some deeper things that I wanted to just talk about here as we kind of plow forward.

towards bowl season, the playoff, the holidays. I want to share with you maybe these three reasons why I love college football. All right, so let's get into it. First is football is a land of opportunity. Folks, I think this is pretty self-explanatory, but think of the thousands of opportunities out there for young men to go and get a college scholarship in order to play football. That speaks for itself. That land of opportunity is fertile, and you can go out there and achieve and get yourself

out of situations and it's the engine of progress for thousands of young men out there that can go and further their education and therefore their life because of the sport of football. But it's not just the young men that are participating in football. The beauty about football and college football specifically, it is the economic driver to the opportunity for every other sport in intercollegiate athletics. So if you're great at anything else and striving at anything else and you're a young man or a young woman and you're playing golf or tennis or soccer or you're a swimmer or any of that, football is the economic driver to your progress in your sport. That's why I love it. Those thousands, there's over 150,000 scholarship athletes in the NCAA and football pays for almost every single one of them.

And so this sport is meaningful, yes, in and of itself, but it even has a more profound impact on young people all over as the agent of change through education and opportunity in that college environment. So that's number one. Let's move over. Let's take a look at some other things that I love about college football. Football in general, but college football specifically, is a refining fire that builds a man's character. Okay, folks, here's the deal. If you don't know what a refining fire is, it's this process with external force, in this case, heat, that removes imperfections, right? Impurities and things like metal.

And that process has to take place so that you can come out with something that is refined, and those impurities have been removed. And what I love about football is that it is a tough sport. That is the external factor or force. Okay, it's a tough sport played by tough people. And there are going to be hard times. There are going to be really hard times that you have to face as a player. And the best part about actually being on the field is that the film, which is taken every single day and every single drill, lays bare for all to see whether you can or you can't.

So because of that, it is a true meritocracy where results are the currency of what you can. then go and play with in the locker room. Okay, everyone's going to know what's happening to you. So there are going to be trials for the first time in your life. Remember, these kids are great youth football and high school football players. And then they experience failure for the first time a lot of kids in college as freshmen and sophomore when they're facing guys that are 22 and 23 and are more developed and they're failing for the first time. That's a trial. That trial needs to take place. You face losses a lot of times for the first time. You think you want to quit. It's difficult. It's a tough sport played by tough people, but that process has to take place. It has to take place

so that you can be mature and complete, not lacking things. That refining fire, it purifies you as a man. College football produces better men, period. In particular in a time in which great men in our society or in short supply. We move on to the last reason that I'll give for the reason that I love college football. As humans, we have this innate desire to be connected to something that is bigger than ourselves, and college football provides that.

I think that it's somewhat self-explanatory for the player, but let me just go through it as a player. As a player, you enter this locker room and you enter this team, and immediately you're asked to buy into a common goal that is going to supersede any personal goal. All right. So that's important because research has shown that when we are connected any one of us to something bigger than ourselves, we are actually happier and healthier. So college football produces that environment where we're trying to connect with something through a common goal with these other men in this locker room. that is bigger than ourselves.

What that produces, though, is beautiful. Here's what it produces. The best melting pot that you will see in this country and maybe even the world. All right. Cultures and societies have a hard time replicating what a college football locker room can produce, which is men from every single background, creed, race, religion, and in the age of political purity processes, every political affiliation.

It's beautiful. And they all are circled around and moving towards a common goal. So none of that stuff matters. None of that background. None of that stuff matters. So in a day and age when our culture wants to define groups,

put them in corners, and pit those groups against each other, here comes college football. And it produces an environment in which anyone, from any walk of life, can buy into a common goal and then as men together, you can work, bleed, sweat, and chase that common goal.

And then the beautiful part happens. You laugh, cry, hug, and celebrate with one another when you achieve that common goal. It's a beautiful thing, but it's not just the players, folks. It's also the fans. See, for fans, we are connected to something bigger than ourselves when it comes to college football. College football acts as almost like an heirloom that has passed down in families through the generations. I remember my dad took me to a game at Folsom Field in the University of Colorado, and I saw Colorado play the University of Oklahoma in 1986.

Brian Bosworth was a linebacker playing Barry Switzer's team. I saw Ralphie run out on Folsom Field. I fell in love. I fell in love. That became an heirloom in our family. Ralphie running around that field. We passed it down through the generations. It's all I wanted to do was play at the University of Colorado.

You see, rather than a watch or a necklace or a ring, like in some families, some families pass down things like fight on or go blue, hail to the victors, dotting the eye at Ohio State. That acts as the Thanksgiving dinner for the greater community and the fan base that comes around the dinner table of college football. It is a beautiful thing to see in particular this year. because for the first time this year, we saw some true joy, whether it was jump around to Wisconsin, the Iowa wave, the storming of the field at the big house after they beat Ohio State, grown men and women hugging each other from all walks of life. See, for the first time in a long time, folks, in our society,

we stopped yelling at each other, and we started cheering with each other. Why? Because we were connected to something bigger than ourselves through college football. That's why I love this amazing sport. Let's go. Clat back time. Let's get after it. What's out there on the Twitter sphere? Tachalla says, Joe Clat. I love it. It's an awful game analyst. Fox Sports should be renamed the Ohio State Sports Network. All they do is good off on making Ohio State sound like the best team ever every year. Well, Tachala, you're an awful speller because I have an L in my name. So that's number one. Number two, apparently you didn't see Charles Woodson running up and down the sideline with a Michigan

flag. That doesn't sound like the Ohio State Sports Network, does it? No, it doesn't. By the way, I miss where Michigan State thinks that I love Michigan and Ohio State thinks that I love Michigan. And then now I'm an Ohio state lover. Listen, pound sand, Tichala. Get out of here. There's no bias in our business. Let's move on. Rick Devereaux says clad is grandstanding. He knows nothing about what is going on inside the program. Speaking of OU, last week, he was pushing Matt Rule to OU. How is it pushing anybody to OU to just ask? Hey, fans, what do you think about Matt Rule? That was literally my tweet.

What do you, oh, you fans, what do you think about Matt Rule? And then everyone gave responses. That was it. So get out of here. Rick, what is that? Devereaux. Devereaux. Devereaux. Devereaux. Devereaux.

Devereaux. Thanks for joining us, everybody. It's been a fun show. Next week, we're going to have a little preview of the college football playoff. Those great semi-final matchups. I'm going to break them down in-depth, in-depth. a lot of film analysis, so you're going to want to watch that. Thank you to Dr. Pepper.

As always, it is the one fans deserve. Folks, coming up on it, bowl season, enjoy. We'll see you later.