The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Coaching Carousel Conversation with Bruce Feldman

Episode Date: December 7, 2022

On this episode of the Joel Klatt Show, Joel is joined by FOX College Football Reporter Bruce Feldman to talk four of the biggest coaching hires of the year. Bruce and Joel discuss Colorado hiring Deion Sanders, what it means for the Buffaloes' program and how Sanders can clean up in the transfer portal. Then, Bruce and Joel discuss two big hirings in the Big Ten: Matt Rhule at Nebraska and Luke Fickell at Wisconsin. They discuss if either of these coaches can have success in their first year similar to the likes of Lincoln Riley and Sonny Dykes. Lastly, Bruce and Joel discuss Auburn hiring Hugh Freeze and the baggage that Freeze has heading into his new gig. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now this is how you break on a slant route. Will Johnson read it perfectly. He's one-on-one coverage. Watch how quickly he breaks. Right when he sees the foot in the ground from Purdue, he takes off into the inside and beats the wide receiver of the ball. All Sheffield can do then is become a defensive bat and tackle him. And now that's two interceptions for the young Will Johnson.

Welcome into the show, everybody. Joel Clat here. This is the Joel Clat show. Lots to get into, but first, I'm going to direct you back to Monday's episode. If you have not downloaded and listened to Monday's episode, I don't know what is wrong with you. We had full reaction to the college football playoff rankings. We had full reaction to Dion Sanders. That's right, Prime, going to the University of Colorado. So go back, make sure to download and listen to Monday's episode of the Joel Clat show. But today, I wanted to get in. into some of the other coaching hires, including Dion. We'll get into Dion as well. But to do that, I wanted to bring on the guy who I think is one of the best in America at covering college football. And I'll tell him that as soon as I bring him on as well. Bruce Feldman joins us here on the Joel Class show.

All right, Bruce, thanks so much for coming on, man. I've told you this all the time. You are the foremost. If you need any information in college football, you go to Bruce Feldman. So thanks for coming on, man. Thanks for having me, Joel. It's going to be a fun time to have talked about. All this stuff going on.

It's been crazy. Including Colorado. We're going to get to the buffs. Dion Sanders goes to the buffs. Matt Ruhl goes to Nebraska. Luke Fickle to Wisconsin. Hugh Freeze to Auburn. Let me just start with this.

There's going to be more, right? And these are the four big ones that I want to talk about. But when you look at the playoff rankings that we just got, on Sunday. Sunny Dykes TCU first year. Lincoln Riley, USC first year. Kaelin DeBore, Washington, first year. Dan Lanning, first year,

Oregon. Brian Kelly, Marcus Freeman at LSU and Notre Dame. I don't think it's out of the realm possibility to think that these guys can turn around what are not great scenarios fairly quickly. Am I wrong?

You know, to me, the Lincoln Riley one is a tough analogy. But no doubt, you know, for me on those, I thought those were two terrific hires. I thought Nebraska did so much better than I thought they may have done. I just feel like there's too much of a gap for them to close to maybe do what USC did. Because you still have Michigan and Ohio State in that conference. To me, there wasn't that real heavyweight in the same, you know, as it was, certainly with USC. And look, they went up against the closest thing to a heavyweight in the league in Utah.

and they got beat and then they got beaten up. And so we felt that shortcoming. But no doubt, we're going to see so many people going to the transfer portal this week. Like we thought it was, it's going to be a feeding frenzy. And I have no doubt for your alma mater that Dion is going to bring a bunch of talent, not just with him from Jackson State,

but a bunch of other guys. They're going to dramatically upgrade a roster that I think they have so far to go because that was the worst roster in Power 5. but I look at it as I think he will make the kind of get kind of leap jed fish at least did at Arizona we're going from awful to dangerous within the first year that's an interesting one because I you know and I think for buff's fans in a utopian scenario it'd be even better than that you know that the roster could do even more than maybe Arizona but that's that's a really good

that's a good one I want to sit with dion and granted I was close to it so I know a lot of the same things that you do, but this whole process, what can you tell me about the way that you learned that it's all ironed out and played out? I mean, for the last couple of weeks, you were hearing just from the sources I was talking to that CU was going all in on Dion, and what is going all in mean in this case? And you know this, you know, and I have talked about this a little bit, I think, last week, where it related to some stuff I'd heard from the guys on the current staff. When I mean the current staff, I mean who were there in 2022.

And even before that, where it's hard to get transfers into CU. And one of the examples somebody had made to me was a kid at a really high academic school who had a really high GPA. And they were like, we can't even get him in. And it was too specific of an example for me to go, that doesn't seem right. So in order for them to take full advantage of the portal, in order them really to make it worth Dion's while, I think there were going to have to be, I don't even know if I want to call it some concessions, there was going to have to be made some significant adjustments. And I think the wow factor to me on this, it doesn't surprise me that Colorado would look at its situation. And as you all know, I mean, there's basically been one really good year in like the last 15 years. It was the year with Mike McIntyre take away the shortened season of the pandemic,

but it has been a huge struggle. And they've lost a ton of players to the portal. I mean, you know, we did a game at TCU, really good safety, former buff. You know, obviously USC has a defensive back, you know, former CU player. There's a handful of guys out there, and they weren't getting it back. And so it doesn't surprise me that Colorado would go all in for Dion for the potential that he could bring. What I was wondering about was, well, some bigger school that has had more recent success, maybe closer to where he has been based, which is in the southeast, would they swoop in? And, you know, you have these jobs open, Georgia Tech, Auburn, even USF.

I know USF is not a power five job, but it's one where you'd say, all right, he can go there and bring a bunch of players. He might win the league in a year, right, or definitely in two years. And then he springboards to something else bigger. But as we got closer to this this week, you know, we had reported on Big Noon a week ago that not only had CU offered, but Dion was legitimately considering it. I kept on hearing from people going, you know, this thing is a go. It's happening and more and more. And as you got further into the process, you're like, wow, I could see it from CU's standpoint. You just weren't sure was Dion because Dion is different than a lot of these other, he's different from all the other kinds.

coaching candidates. But what is also different is, Dion's not a Jimmy Sexton guy. He's not a Trace Armstrong guy. And those are, those are prominent coach ages. Jimmy Sexton represents like almost the entire roster of SEC head coaches. So I'm not saying that like it's always goes kind of according to form, but Dion's more of a wild card. And for them to get across the finish line was, you know, it's still kind of surreal. And I watched the press conference on Sunday. And, you know, I was saying to my colleague, Stuart Mandel, who I do work on the Audible with, I said, I don't know who I think is the second most charismatic FBS head coach. But there's a huge gap between Dion and everybody else. I just to imagine how he is not going to clean up in recruiting because, you know, he was a Hall of Fame player, but he is such a dynamic personality.

There's a mentorship quality to him. You know, I did a column that we went with Saturday night that, you know, I'd worked on a little earlier with Mike McCartney, who you well know, you know, is Bill McCartney's son, has been in the business for a long time, knows that program well. And he just said, you know what? My dad always said, if we can just get him here being obviously to Boulder, I think we got a really good chance. And he said, I think what's going to happen with Dion is there'll be kids who will be like, well, we don't have to you in our top two or three.

but, man, it's Dion, let me just go meet him. Let me see what he's about. Let me just try to make that connection. And then he goes, he gets him there, and then he's going to get him. And I totally can see that happening. I got to be honest. And I know that I'm totally biased on this. It's going to work.

He's going to get great players to go to Colorado. They've come before. They've got a Heisman trophy. They've got a national championship. They've got Thorpe Award winners and Buckus Award winners. and their history. So it can happen. Just like you were talking with Mike McCartney about it,

you get the players there. They'll stay. And he's going to get them there. And you're absolutely right about just the personality. There is no close second. There is like Dion go down to 99 and then start the list. You know, a line like, listen, you know, I don't need to, I don't need to be nervous or I'm not nervous because of my confidence.

and then he said, my confidence is like my cologne. I'm butchering the lines, but this stuff was so good from a head coaching perspective. A couple of things that I want to touch on that you touched on. The transfer issue at Colorado, they have addressed it and fixed it, and the chancellor, Phil de Stefano, talked about it in their press conference.

The bottom line was this. It's not about some sort of outlandish academic requirements, to get in. The problem was is that at Colorado, there wasn't a general education degree. Because of that, any credit that would fall under that, so any sort of PE credit. So it doesn't matter if it's from a really good school or not. There was just not a spot for it at Colorado. They have fixed that now, both for athletes and non-athletes. That's going to help them in the transfer portal a great deal, Bruce. And then the last part that I would just, just say is I'm so interested in is what does his staff make up?

As you and I both know, you know, a head coach, he's certainly driving the bus, but it matters who is on the bus with him. And so I'm really interested to see and kind of feel and talk with the guys that he hires as his assistants there at Colorado. The sky's going to be the limit there. They're talking about expectations almost immediately. and this is the type of guy that I wouldn't bet against him, Bruce, that he's going to transform this roster very quickly. Let's go to Matt Rule at Nebraska

because that's the other one that you kind of touched on. And, you know, Matt was involved. Colorado, I don't know, you know, like reached out to Matt, and it didn't work out. And I think it was pretty obvious that it was like he was interested in other jobs. and it's like, oh, that's great. And I think this is a good fit for Matt Rule. Here's the hard part for me.

However many years ago, what was it, five, six years ago, I sat here and was just like, oh, Scott Frost's home run. So I don't know about this. I think Nebraska is a great program. They have a lot of good finances in terms of how they can support their program, what they're doing from facility standpoint. what do you think? Because Matt's kind of putting the band back together again.

A lot of guys that were with him at Baylor are going to be with him now in Lincoln. How is this going to play out? Yeah, I mean, I'm with you. I was not just home run. Grand slam hire Scott Frost, you know, coming home. Here's the thing that, you know, our big noon group was at in Lincoln right after he got fired. And I talked to, you know, a bunch of guys I know on the staff. Really good point, which was when they got, and it was pretty much the whole staff,

at UCF and then they brought the band to Lincoln and made the point that, you know, we followed George O'Leary and George O'Leary is, I don't know if I can say a hard ass. I don't know if that's the right. You know, like he was on people. I had them under his thumb and could be really tough to be around. But so when they got there, they were kind of more players, coaches, the kids responded. They had a lot of talent. And they went from a no-win team to decent to undefeated. and they lit the fuse and it was rolling. When they got to Nebraska, they said they weren't following a Georgia Leary. And it was like there was a fire here and we never put it out.

And so you had a lot of dysfunction. They recruited badly, right? We heard a lot about that. Not just the talent wise, but maybe character wise. There was a lot of reaches. And then it was kind of really dysfunctional. I think what we know of Matt Rule, not just, you know, he did a really good job at Temple. but let's focus on a bigger power five here.

Baylor was such a issue. It was the football program, but it was toxic around it. Bruce, I can remember saying, I don't know if they were going to win a game in the next four years. Like, that's,

like, I didn't know. Like, I was like, I don't know if they're ever going to recover from where they were at, just to your point. Yeah.

I mean, we did a game. It was their second game. It was the Jim Grobe year, right? Jim Grobe is a high character guy. Everybody respects him in the, in the coaching profession.

And he went in there and they got a lot of, honestly, it felt like there was a lot of stink on him because, you know, the, the, the, the,

the bryl's holdovers were all there. There was a lot of bitterness, you know, around the place, not necessarily to, not to Jim Grove, but just in general. And it was a really ugly environment.

I remembered, even at like big 12 media days. Again, Jim Grob is a really decent man. But there would be times where it was almost like people would ask him stuff about what was going on, you know, around the program,

the bryles here or whatever. And it was almost like, ooh, he kind of stepped in it there, where people made it into something where I'm not sure he meant that way. When Matt Ruhle took that job and he could have had Oregon, I was surprised he took Baylor over Oregon. And I just thought, man, Baylor's just such a heavy lift and it's so messy. And he went in there and he did everything right just about. And one of the things he did really right is you look at this past years. And I know we both spend a bunch of time around the Combine and the draft. there was a lot of super fast dudes that came from Baylor and you look what Dave

Miranda was able to accomplish last season they win the big 12 I think they go 12 and two those were mostly guys that he had recruited and he had developed and made really smart evaluations I think he will evaluate much better than the Nebraska staff did before but you know of these let's say these three jobs Colorado certainly Wisconsin and Nebraska I feel like with Wisconsin it's like, can you get it over the top? Because they've been good. They just haven't been, you know, quite great.

When Nebraska, it's like, why can we not get to, even where Wisconsin was, whereas Colorado, you just got to, you just got to get it out of the ditch entirely. Get up off the floor. Right. Yeah. Get up off the floor. Yeah. Yeah.

I love the mat rule higher. I think it's an A plus higher, but I'm going off track record. Like if you told me, and again, to me this is different than LSU where it's like, if you're at LSU and you're Brian Kelly when you took the job you know last year it's like you better win a national title because the last three guys have that's the bar I don't necessarily think it's like hey you can you can't do I don't think what Tom Osborne did but can you turn them into some version of where Michigan is where you were a bully and you were the physical team and that's kind of the blueprint and you can make them a playoff team I don't know if you can win a national

title there but can you do that um I think he can but obviously it's going to be harder because now Jim's got Michigan rolling. We know Ohio State's always going to be, always going to be loaded with talent. I mean, it's going to be really interesting to see how it goes, but he definitely makes the Big Ten better. There's no doubt, and he's a fantastic coach, and that's why I'm with you. I want to say A plus home run. I'm just hesitant because I just said that the last time, right, the last cycle with them. To your point about where the Big Ten is at, Michigan has elevated themselves. They're the second best team in college football over the last 18 months record-wise. And so now it's not just Ohio State.

You've got to face kind of two Goliaths, if you will. And for Luke Fickle at Wisconsin, they are looking for that guy to take them over the top. They have been to those championship games. They've been close to the playoff at times. Now they're expecting an expanded, you know, playoff era. Bruce, I would expect Badger fans are thinking, we're going to go to the playoff. We're going to compete at that next level, that higher level. So that's what Luke Fickle is stepping into at Wisconsin.

And the question will be, can he retain their identity and move them forward and up a level like they're expecting? Yeah, I don't honestly, I don't know. I mean, he did a really, really good job. And I think unlike, you know, we're talking about Scott Frost, I don't think anybody looked at what he did at Ohio State in a really tough situation in the post Jim Tressel. you know, run and looked and said, oh, this was a slam dunk. He's going to go to Cincinnati and crush it. Well, he did.

And he made some really good hires. And obviously he established a culture there. And that thing was in the ditch from Tommy Tuberville, right? They got a lot worse. And he really built that back up. You know, to me, this, I feel like it's almost harder in some ways. Like, whereas in Nebraska, it's like, hey, they've been struggling to just get bowl eligible. I think Matt Rule, and I'm not saying he's going to get satisfied with eight and four and everything, but it Wisconsin, because Paul Chris had had so much success, Jim Leonard had done, you know, almost everybody who's coached their recently feel like has been really, really good defensively. They have really smart kids. They know the identity and they fit to the system. I like the hire. I think it's really, really good. I don't know how much, you know, is he going to be that much better than Paul Chris was or that much more successful?

given what we know that this conference has gotten harder now because Michigan is way different than it was five years ago, right? And I think Nebraska is going to be better. Brett Bielma is like, I mean, you watch the film of them against Michigan and you saw, I know you talked. They're really good. They're a really physical, nasty team. You know, like that guy knows how to win in the Big Ten. So, um, I think it's hard. I don't like, Again, I think it's a really good hire, but the math isn't going to work here. Some of these teams are, some of these coaches are going to end up going eight and five and seven and six when they're not used to it or maybe the expectations aren't there. So I mean, I'll ask you this.

Do you really think knowing what you know about like the other side, and I know eventually it's going to have divisions, but knowing what you know about Penn State's still recruiting at a high level, they have terrific freshman players in the program now. We obviously know about Ohio State and Michigan. But like one of those two guys that they just got hired, Matt Rule and Luke Fickle, both of them are not going to, you know, kill it. One of them is going to, you know, probably because I mean, look, even Minnesota is good. You know, so it's just it's a stacked group right now. I mean, think about Iowa, Bruce, right? I mean, Iowa's not going anywhere.

You know, they have that identity there. Pat Fitzgerald, you know, is going to ride the roller coaster. He goes way down, but then he goes way up at moments. Bilema is there. And now all of a sudden, you're about to add Lincoln, Riley and Chip Kelly. How about Hugh Freeze at Auburn? This one's interesting. Auburn is a team that has those expectations, I think, very similar to LSU.

They want to compete for a national championship. They feel like they can do that. I don't necessarily agree with them, and I might be not in terms. tune with their fan base, Bruce. But it seems like they feel like they should compete like LSU and Georgia and Alabama. And again, the problem with that is that you've got to compete with LSU and Alabama and Georgia, amongst others now, like Tennessee, who's had a great year. So Hugh Fries at Auburn. What do you think about this one? He is, he has a ton of baggage. Let's to start with that.

He is a really good play caller. He's a very clever offensive mind. You know, look, Malik Willis was a career felt like it had flatlined at Auburn. He went to Liberty and he's turned him into an NFL quarterback and he finds a way to utilize what guys are really, really good at. And I don't, I think he's very good at finding out what they can do as opposed to some of the stuff that most coaches are going to go, he can't do this or whatever. So I think in that regard, he's really good.

I think the part that's interesting because, as you said, with the LSU part, before Brian Harrison, the previous two coaches at Auburn, one won the national title. And the other one came within a play of winning the national title. And those two guys were Gus Malzahn and the one who actually won it. Gene Chiswick, it's not like those guys are going to be, you know, on the rushmore of coaches, right? Gus Malzahn has some similarities, old high school coach to his buddy Hugh Fries. I think Hugh Freeze is just a better with a passing game in that regard. But what is different, I think, than, and look, Chiswick basically had, and I'm not saying he doesn't deserve credit this, but he basically had Superman on his team.

You know, he had the best player, arguably the best players ever played quarterback in college football and Cam Newton in that system was dominant. But, you know, you got to remember now, like, all right, what's changed? Georgia is a way different animal now than it was five. years ago or 10 years ago, and that's not a knock on Mark Rick. Kirby Smart is recruiting incredibly well. There's a machine that is running. Now they won a national title, so there's no question marks about it. And Georgia is really close to Auburn proximity-wise. They're recruiting the same kids. That's going to be tough for freeze to win those. The other thing, like different than LSU certainly is everybody who grows up in the state of Louisiana wants

to be an LSU tiger. In the state of Alabama, I'm not saying they all want to be. Alabama, you know, Crimson Tide, but a big chunk of them do. And so you're the other school in the great state of, you know, football state of Alabama. And I think it's hard when you are now competing in a different way, right? Like, I think it hurt Tennessee for a while that Davo got Clemson up and running because they were taking a lot of kids that typically, you know, back when Phil Fomer and Johnny Majors were going, Clemson was kind of shaky. Clemson's not.

And, you know, it wasn't anymore. And then I think, again, the Georgia thing hurts Auburn. I think Hugh Freeze is really good. I think he is a guy who knows what it takes to win in the SEC. And I think he will. I think he will have them as a top 15 team within two years. And, you know, if you ask me who's a better coach, him or Lane, I might say Hugh Freeze.

I mean, to me, it's close. They're similar. Where they're really different is Lane Kiffin's really clever and has a feel for social media and Hugh Freeze needs to stay as far away from it as possible. You know, it's like, I think. I think Lane kind of has figured some things out and has found his voice, whereas Hugh Freeze, I think gets really caught up and can't get out of his own way. And remember back like, I don't know, 10 years ago when Lane was in Knoxville or even when Lane was at USC for the, you know, the second time, I feel like Lane couldn't get out of his own way. way. So I'm not sure Hugh Fries will, you know, no matter what he says, will totally change kind of that, that way. But on the field, they're going to support him in a ways that they didn't support

Brian Harsen. Because I think, I think Hugh Fries will speak to them in a way that I think that they're comfortable with. And he will get players because guys know, you know, I mean, to me right now, it's up for grabs who's the second best team in the SEC West. Jimbo has. turned out to be a dud. You know, you look at, you know, Mike Leach, I don't know how much better he will get in Starkville. I think Lane has done a good job, but, you know, I don't think, you know, I don't think they're that close to Alabama.

You know, they can be competitive, but, you know, it feels like there's a bunch of, like, top, you know, fringe, top 20 teams, and then Alabama in the SEC West. Like, let's see if LIS you can stay there. I mean, I know they had a good win over Alabama, but I don't think, you know, this was not a great Alabama team. we talked about A&M. So I think it's there for Hugh Freeze to hit the ground running.

And I think the portal will help him. They're going to spend a ton of money, I think, to make some of the, to upgrade the roster. You know, now to go full circle, if you asked me, because I know that like the Auburn, Dion dynamic didn't really get off the ground, I wonder if you're Georgia Tech or if you're an Auburn fan, two years from now, you're going, why? did they not give him what he wanted? If you had asked me three days ago, grade these hires and you cannot give anybody the same grade, I would have said, okay, Luke Fickle A, Matt Rule A plus. I mean, just knowing what I know about Colorado in the situation, I'm like, I got to redo those grades because I know, you know, if I'm thinking about what they did, to me, Dion is

the most A plus higher of the year. here's what I kept thinking when I was watching that press conference is what does this type of personality do in a living room? And I just thought to myself, man, these kids are going to clamor to play for this guy. You know, he's he's honest and yet aspirational all at the same time. Confident yet some level of humility, which sounds crazy. crazy. You know, like arrogant, I should say, and then some humility. I know that the roster is going to turn over very quickly at Colorado. What I'm interested to see is when those list starts coming out of high school recruits, not just portal guys, but high school recruits that are

top 100 recruits in the country, how many of those guys are now listing Colorado in their top four and five schools. And I think that's what we're going to be shocked at, because I think it's going to be the majority of those guys. To your point, at the beginning of our conversation, these players are going to think to themselves, well, I've got to at least go see it. And at that point, that's a foot in the door. And with that personality, you just never know. Joel, I don't even, what I suspect will happen is you may not see them have like one, two, three, it'll be, you know, Texas, Alabama, and Colorado. I suspect what will happen. is Colorado won't be mentioned and then come signing day, there'll be a bunch of whiplash,

oh my God, this kid's flip into Colorado. I feel like it's going to be dramatic flips kind of like that or, you know, can't believe this kid is transferring to Colorado. I think those are the things that's going to happen. The one thing that I think will be interesting going forward is Dion is such a big presence and he is running the show and he was running the show in Jackson and it's, It's almost like everybody is kind of figuring out how to work around him. How, I don't want to say, how do you manage that? But it's like, it's going to be a lot different to manage it in a PAC 12 conference than it was in the SWAC. And I think that will be a challenge from everybody from Rick George on down to support him.

I don't want to say getting out of his way, but I think that'll be a challenge. And I also think there's going to be a lot, you know, you were talking about just a minute ago about just the people wanting to play in the living room. there's going to be a lot of people who are going to want to fight to be to to play for dion right and i i think you know maybe they'll miss on some kids who it's like you may hear of us of a a really good player who like how did he get away from colorado where it's like well they took somebody out like you know i think the challenge will be i don't know how many local kids you'll end up taking when your footprint is from the deep south and i don't want to say they're going to go star chasing but i suspect they're going to be a lot of splashy hires right and so

I think some of the guys he's bringing it will go into personnel and some will be certainly position coaches. I think that's going to be fascinating to see because I just think it's going to be like a fire hose of kids, high profile kids. You go to the opening, you know, where Nike puts it on where it's like whatever top 200 ranked kids in the country. You know, I'd be surprised if you went to like 30 of them and go any interest in Colorado or Dion and they go, nah, I'm good. You know, because it just, I just think it plays so much into today's 16, 17, 17, or 18 year old to be around him. Like, who wants to follow that guy in a, in a home visit? And by the way, I'm sure that conversations that you have on other podcasts are not going to, well, this is what I'm trying to say is it. We're not centering this conversation on Dion Sanders because of me.

No, I'm, I'm. school. We're centering this conversation because that's the biggest higher in college football so far. And that's kind of, I think, what has taken everybody by surprise and really shocked everybody is this team that was, and I would admit this,

the worst team in Power 5, worst roster in Power 5, no life for really two decades. And all of a sudden, it's like they're, you know, they're up, standing off the mat and I think that they're going to be involved in all of those conversations. Last thing

that I would say real quick, Bruce, is that I've heard some people say, well, this isn't a good fit, or how long will he be there, or it's still not a great recruiting base. Okay, here's what I would say to that. Dion is his own recruiting base, and he's the only head coach in America that you can say that about. He's a magnet, so it doesn't matter. The fit doesn't matter. He's totally independent of fit. He's like a great top pick in the NFL draft.

It's like you can draft him and put him in any system possible. He's going to work because he's bigger than the place. That would be my place. And by the way, that was, you know, when asked, that's what I said. Yeah, I thought a bit ago, I thought you were going to say what I was thinking about was and I thought you were going to say, is this really happening? Am I dreaming this? It was like, it's the dream I remember having when I was a little kid.

And I thought I woke up and I thought I was playing for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA, where it was like this does, you know, it just seems so surreal. Like I can't imagine what it must feel like, you know, and I know a bunch of CU, you know, former CU players and CU people. I can't imagine the, is this really happening? Like, you know, is this us? Like, you know. So, look, it's good for college football.

So his first game on the field will be at TCU, who's in the playoff. His, I believe the second. game and first game in Folsomfield, Matt Rule and Nebraska going to Folsom Field. That place is going to be on fire. And I can't wait. Hey, buddy, thank you for joining us. And by the way, go check out all of Bruce's content on the athletic. I do not miss it. Subscribe to the athletic. It's the best stuff out there if you're a college football fan. I don't go a day without checking what Bruce puts out.

And then also check out what he and Stu, Stuart Mandel do on the Audible. That's their podcast. And hopefully soon I can come over and join you guys for a conversation about this sport that we love. Thank you, Joel. I want to say congratulations to you. I can't imagine how giddy you must be after seeing this come to reality. I honestly, just just. Because I'm giddy, I have no connection to see you, and I'm just like kind of in awe of what this, you know, what is about to take place.

Well, one can only hope, right? So Bruce, thanks so much, bud. Thanks, Joel.