The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Colin Cowherd on Arch Manning Expectations, the Magnitude of Ohio State-Texas, USC & more!

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

FOX Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt is joined by Colin Cowherd to discuss what he’s most excited for this college football season. Cowherd explains why he’s not worried about Arch Manning meeting the moment this season and why he thinks the Texas-Ohio State Top-3 matchup is the biggest regular season college football game in a decade. The two discuss why the Big Ten has closed the gap with the SEC before Cowherd gives his thoughts on USC and why this team is different than any Lincoln Riley team he’s ever seen. The guys wrap up the show with some NFL thoughts including what he expects from Shedeur Sanders this season and Colin’s never-been-told story about Baker Mayfield. 0:00-1:41 Intro1:42-3:52 Colin Cowherd joins the show!3:53-10:56 What should we expect from Arch Manning this season?10:57-14:51 Is the Big Ten or SEC the most dominant conference in CFB?14:52-16:35 The state of college football right now16:36-21:18 Most interesting storylines In CFB this season21:19-25:46 What do Lincoln Riley and USC need to do this season?25:47-30:41 Will the Bill Belichick CFB experiment work?30:42-34:41 Will Nico Iamaleava succeed at UCLA?34:42-40:50 Surprised by Baker Mayfield’s success in the NFL?40:51-44:46 Will Shedeur Sanders start for the Cleveland Browns this year? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So I look at the sport and I just see more good games, more heavyweight fights. The big dogs are still the big dogs. By week five or six, Archmanning, he's going to have it dialed in. He always studied. He was always prepared. He was tougher than a cheap steak. I think Ohio State losing to Michigan, though Buckeye fans would disagree, was great for the sport. Because Ohio State, as a 20-point favorite, lost and still got into the playoff and won the Natty.

Why we love college football. Hey, welcome into the program. I'm Joel Kla. This is the Joel Clatio. We are brought to you by graduate by Hilton. We always thank them for their support of this program and of college football more broadly. All right, a big show coming up at you today. I've got an amazing guest, amazing guest,

and I can't wait to have him on my turf rather than me always being on his turf. But before we get there, just remember, go subscribe to the show. You can click that link and you'll know when all of our content drops. That's on YouTube. You can also follow us on social media at Joel Clatio. We're there. We're going to be there. all season long, getting you ready.

And it's game week. We're finally here. Week one of the college football season is finally here. And we're getting after it. Ohio State and Texas this Saturday. We've got the live show on Thursday night in Columbus. Cannot wait for that. But without further ado, let's get into it right away.

Like I said, my turf finally and not his. So this week's guest is Colin Cowherd. Let's go. The man the myth legend, Colin Coward. Colin, what's up, dude? How are you? I love having no responsibility for the first time ever in our interview. Like, you have to make this work.

I can just be out there throwing haymakers and not making any sense. That's great. You're going to figure out really easily. It's way easier to be on your side than this side, you know, because. That's the responsibility chair you're in. That's right. That's exactly. Well, you can give me a grade at the end of this thing.

Okay. All right. So here we go. I thought we would just start out with something like really. big picture college football and I would love to just hear where your interest is like what what is the one thing two things if you want that you're most interested in for this college football season well I think what's happening in the sport is something my primary complaint has been for years we don't have enough great games too many people are gaming the system they're ducking big games

and this year it's like nope Texas Ohio State week one and last year's oh it's or it's Oregon, Ohio State, Notson, is that the system now is not as punitive. The storylines will last longer. They'll be more fluid. And I think we really saw it last year. I think Ohio State losing to Michigan, though Buckeye fans would disagree, was great for the sport. Because Ohio State, as a 20-point favorite, lost and still got into the playoff and won the Natty.

That's the NFL. College football has some things I like. I like the band. I like the stadium atmosphere. crazy wild. I love that about it. But I didn't like the punitive nature of the sport, where you're taking younger players than pro football that have midterms, that have school. And oh, by the way, if you have a bad half on Saturday, seasons over October 8. No, it should be the opposite. We should ask more from adults, not from kids. So what I'm looking forward to is more big games,

where if you lose, you can improve. It doesn't ruin the season. I love that. I love that. about college football now. The other thing, and I think, I think everybody's looking forward to this is the Arch Manning story. I can't wait to watch him play. I just think I get a Manning, but with mobility, I get the brains, I get the competency, I get the high school college arc, which all the Manning's had. But he's a pretty special athlete.

And I just think it's very rarely, I guess, Tebow had this. Vince Young when he beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, next year came into college football. He had it. We were like, oh, wow, I can't wait to watch that quarterback play. That's the NFL. I can't wait to watch, you know, who, Caleb Williams or Jay.

In college, it's like, oh, there's a lot of surprises. Drew Aller is pretty good. Let's see. But it's like, oh, this is like, we may have ourselves a star, like week one. So I'm very fired up for that. Yeah, let's sit on that for a moment because that's the game that Gus and Ginny and I will be at. you know, this Saturday.

The expectations. I'm so fascinated to see how Arch deals with the expectations. Because here he is, he's never been a full-time starter. Granted, he started a couple of games a year ago. But Colin, Heisman Trophy Favorite to come into the season. His team is ranked number one in the preseason. And basically, his expectations are perfection. So not only does he have to live up to the last name,

but now the expectations of you've got to be the best player in college football, you've got to lead your team to a national champion. I'm incredibly interested to see how he just deals with it. Now, from all the reports and every interaction that I've had with Arch or his coach, Steve Sarkisian, he's incredibly even keeled and can handle things like that. But we're going to find out in a big way just this week. Well, I think all the mannings that I know, Eli, probably best of all, Cooper, best of all, Eli, they're all self-deprecating.

And what does that mean? they all have a very strong sense of self. They're not insecure. They're self-deprecating. They can laugh at themselves. So that means in his life, he's probably, people have poked him in the ribs. It could be his granddad, his dad. It's a very funny family.

All the manning share that quality. Humility, and they can laugh at themselves. And I think when you have that as a function of your personality, that you're not too uptight. you're not too rigid. I mean, all the Manning's, Manning family dinners are a big event. Texas football practice feels like a big event.

So you say, oh, it's the first game against Ohio State. Do you know how many big games Arch has gone to that weren't his? But like, it's like the Manning's are American football royalty. In the history of the sport, there's this one family that is royalty. And now, I'm not saying the Matthews family has. hasn't been great. And I'm not saying, you know, there's, there's been multiple families. But I just look, I never worry about the mannings and the moment. Like, it's a family of the big moment. Like, of course he chose Texas football, right? Like, you know, and so I, I just don't

worry about that. I worry about him being too confident and not sliding. Because he's really a couple of times last year, I'm like, bro, it's like Lamar Jackson for sure. Get down. stop running into linebackers Justin Herbert. That's the only thing I worry about. He's going to be so amped up and so fired up. He's just not going to slide and he's going to do an Andrew luck and give somebody a shoulder. But I think Arch Manning will just be ready for the moment. I think being a Manning is dinner's big.

Family gatherings are big. He'll be fine. The athleticism is something that I can't wait to see because we saw glimpses of it last year. and to me he plays a lot more like his granddad than he does his own. And I've made this comparison. I don't know if I've ever done it on your show. I think I have. He reminds me a lot, a lot of Trevor Lawrence when Lawrence was at Clemson,

where it's not his game. Like his A game is still going to be from the pocket because trust me, he can threaten every blade of grass on the field with his arm. And that's where he can showcase his real ability. but he also has this extra gear where he can hurt you as an athlete. And as every coach that will ever talk to you will admit, the most dangerous thing that a quarterback can do is hurt you with his legs. And that's certainly something that in college football is incredibly valuable.

What I, to your point about sliding and things of that nature, is just like how much will Sark expose him to that in the designed game or aspect of the game plan? and then how much of that will be on Arch just improvising. Because he's going to face a defense that I don't know if they have a real good idea what they're going to see. Because remember, Matt Patricia comes in as the defensive coordinator for Ohio State. Jim Knowles is now gone. He went to Penn State. And so there's a chance he's seeing things that they've never prepared for.

Well, yeah, I mean, there is a way. I mean, I almost feel like I know what Ohio State is going to do. Texas has four new offensive line starters. and Arch Manning hasn't played a lot. I mean, if I'm Matt Patricia, I'm bringing a lot of different looks. I'm bringing corner blitzes. I'm going to make, I'm going to try to confuse the young kid. I'm not going to make him less mobile.

He's got a beautiful arm. The only advantage Ohio State has is he doesn't have a ton of in-game starts. It's on the road. He won't hear things. So I think you're going to see a really aggressive Ohio State defense, at least early. They're going to come after him. They're going to bring all sorts of pressures. And another thing, Texas, I mean, I don't know if it's a weakness, but Texas is young up front.

Yeah. Yeah. And so, you know, you know this. You don't get preseason in college. And the most important unit on a team in terms of cohesion is the offensive line. So like Belichick's teams when they had Dante Scarnicca, September's choppy sometimes up front, even for good offensive lines, it's choppy. So I think the way to beat Arch Manning in Texas, because I don't think you're going to beat them late.

I think they're just going to get better and better and better. They're going to be vulnerable in the first two to three weeks, O-line Arch, and I think Ohio State sees that. They're coming into our place. It's loud. A lot of looks, create confusion. Because you know this. By week five or six, Arch Manning, he's going to have it dialed in. Yeah.

Yeah, he'll certainly be more prepared, and he's going to be much better mentally. Let's pull back out, but in view of that game, Ohio State, Texas. How big of a game do you feel like it is, not necessarily just for Texas and Ohio State specifically, but more for this narrative, this theme that we keep talking about in college football, about the power of each conference, the Big Ten and the SEC? Well, first of all, I think it's the biggest college football regular season game in a decade. I don't remember any. I mean, Oregon, Ohio State we knew was going to be good.

There was not a manning at quarterback. Yeah. Right. Right. And Texas, I mean, Oregon's a very lively brand. Texas. I mean, Manning, Texas, Buckeyes, a natty. It's like, oh, this is a prize fight.

Like, this is gigantic. So I think it's a remarkable game. And what was the second part of that question? How big of a game is this in terms of who wins? as far as conference supremacy, you know, and narrative that we continue to talk about, you know, in college football. I think even SEC fans, if they're being honest with themselves, Michigan, Ohio State, not only won Natties, I mean, Ohio State embarrassed. Like physically embarrassed Tennessee.

Like, and Michigan pushed people around. I think the NIL with bigger, often wealthier, big. 10 schools, I think SEC fans know. It's those are the two powerhouses. I don't think there is a gap. I think you could argue the SEC's fifth best team is better than the big 10's fifth best team. That was an easy argument for years.

It was an easy argument that, you know, Ole Miss would be the fifth seed. They could go to a sunbowl and they'd crush somebody's third seed, right? Or you could look at Bamma and Georgia and go, yeah, there's nothing in the big 10. Maybe Ohio State. if I mean if Nebraska's the sixth

the seventh best team in the Big Ten I don't care who's sixth or seventh in the SEC I'm taking Nebraska

so I think I don't think I at least I do not think in terms of relative to what we used

to talk about four years ago yeah I think I think we have two powerhouses it's like arguing AFC NFC

NFC yeah right now the AFC's got better quarterbacks I think the NFC's got more quality rosters. So we don't talk about that in pro football.

Like, it's just like whoever wins wins. Like Kansas City's been dusted twice and two Super Bowls, once by Philly, once by Tampa. And Mahomes in Kansas City is the dynasty. I think those days are over. I think it's a wash. I think the Big Ten, I mean, USC's still not where they should be.

Right? Like, what if USC gets to like Michigan-ish level? Now, what are they the third, fourth best team? So, I mean, Oregon's a top five program. Ohio State's one or two. I mean, Penn State this year, I think, is going to win the Natty. So I think that talk is subsiding quickly. It's fascinating because we used to have long conversations.

And I felt like they were always good about this, you know, six years ago, really pre-COVID and maybe even into Georgia's supremacy and what was that, 21 and 22, is, you know, like nobody could play with the top end of the SEC. They just couldn't. You could tell on television. You could watch the game. They had just more NFL bodies.

They were faster teams. And now we, I think everybody, if they're being honest, would say, okay, talent is equated across the country. And to me, it's made the sport much more national and less regional. Now, we still care regionally, you know, about conferences and things of that nature and rivalries, which makes the game and the sport. special. But to me, the sport is in such a better place. And I would wonder what your thoughts on that are. Just where college football is right now, generally in terms of the sports fan in America. Because to me, it's so clearly a second place to the NFL because it's more national.

I'm going to button up that last topic before I go there, just to give you a sense of the Big Ten and how they've grown. The best backfield in the country, and it's not particularly close is Penn State. The best offensive line in the country, I don't think it's particularly close, is Penn State. The best pure player in the country is a Buckeye, Jeremiah Smith. The best corner or secondary player is Caleb Downs, Ohio State. We can argue about a lot of stuff.

We don't know who the best quarterback is. That could be Clemson's K. Clubnik. It could also be Arch Manning or Drew Aller. But O-line, back. Field, player, it's all Big Ten now. So that's, nobody's disputing the backfield of Penn State is second. It's, it is, they may have that O-line running back room and quarterback. They may have five guys go in the first 38 picks or something like that of the draft or 45 picks.

As far as the sports health, listen, it's always been lopsided. I wrote down today the eight teams, I'm guaranteed. that are going to be excellent. Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, Clems, and Georgia, LSU, Oregon, and Bama. Oregon is the only one in the last 30 years. It's the only top seven to eight program that's emerged, and that's due to Phil Knight. It's the same big dogs. By the way, I think Notre Dame should be probably in that, but I have to see their quarterback play. I just don't know. I think they'll be in that. So if I add Notre Dame, there's another traditional power. So the traditional powers are almost all good outside of USC right now.

Most of your traditional powers. Oklahoma's a little rocky. I think there are still second tier teams like Arizona State. I think it's a fascinating program with Dillingham. I think there's Ole Miss, which has disappeared for decades. Now with Lane Kiffin is a real player. I think our big eight to ten as good as it's ever been. I think there's those second tier fascinating stories.

Arizona State, Ole Miss, excellent. Miami, I think, could be a decent team, and we all love Miami's glamour. I think the TV games are getting bigger ratings. I think it has a better relationship with its pro sport NFL than any other college sport does. I think the broadcasting, I think the playoff to me, I think the first year we were trying to figure it out, I think this year will feel like, okay, here it comes. We didn't really know what the hell. I don't think fans were ready for the games. They're like, oh, a playoff game tonight, right? Like, we're not ready. So I look at the sport and I just see more good games,

more heavyweight fights. The big dogs are still the big dogs. There's enough interesting. I mean, Matt Rul in Nebraska. It's very interesting to me. Illinois, by the way, this year, I contend is going to win 10 games. So don't tell me little guys can't compete. Arizona State, Illinois are little guys. They could both win 10 games. I think Illinois is going to be the shocking team in the country. So I think the sports fine. I think here's the thing.

Joel, we always know in sports, there's dominance. There's no such thing as parity. Serena Williams dominated women's tennis for over a decade. Nadal, Joker, Federer. Like, Yokevich, we know that. We know that in, it could be downhill, skiing, it'd be international soccer, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man United, like, or Manchester

City, Man City, Manchester United. It's the same big dogs that have been dominating sports our entire life. But we're okay with it if it's because of topography or geography or brilliant coaching. Yukon women's basketball. Shocker, they're both great. We don't like it when it's money. That's why we're much more comfortable with salary caps. The NFL The NFL, we always think, oh, they got a hard cap. Two franchises. New England, Kansas City have dominated the last 25 years of the sport. It's NBA that's got seven champions in seven years.

The thing about college football, the money is so in your face now. We're like, I'm not comfortable with this. It is getting lobsided. Oregon is the only top eight program that has emerged in 30 years. It's always been a have. have-not sport. Sports has always been have-and-have-not. International soccer to college football, you know, but because the NIL is discussed and we know what they make and we hear about bidding wars, it's icky. It's like our parents always told us. Don't talk about money, right? Like you could talk

about the legacy of your family and the heritage and I come from the Rockefellers. Just don't talk about the money. So I think the NIL makes people uncomfortable, but college football, there's plenty of second-tier programs flourishing, don't buy the fear-mongering. I love where the sports at. Yeah, it's an interesting point. And I really like it, too. And I would say the only one that you didn't bring up is baseball, because that's where it also feels icky. When you're like, well, this team has a $200 million higher payroll than the team that they're playing, you know, whether it's the Dodgers. Yet the best team is Milwaukee. Yeah. Milwaukee is the best team in baseball. What did they rattle off like 14 straight wins?

They swept the Dodgers six and oh against them. Yeah. So, you know, I think that you're right. I think that because of the freedom of movement and the money being so new and so in your face. And the reason maybe kids are choosing certain locations, that's what people don't like. But to your point, and I continue to bang this drum as well, the sport is better than it's ever been. You know, from a national perspective, from a quality perspective, broadcasting perspective. and so I certainly hope that that continues.

Now, it also, though, puts a microscope, you know, when the resources are there, and we know the programs that should be good, and when they're not, we just zero in on them. So USC, you and I have been talking about USC for a long time. The expectations for this season, I think, are high. I think in the future they're going to be higher because of the way that they're recruiting in this cycle. Yeah. But I would be fascinated to hear what your expectations are for USC and maybe more specifically Lincoln Riley this year.

Well, I think I've told you this before. The NIL, these coaches that all hate it, it actually makes many of the coaches unfireable. Because if I'm spending 18 million on players, you can't go to a booster and go, hey, by the way, can you buy out Lincoln Riley for $72 million and pay the next coach $80 million? And he's like, I'm already giving you $7 million a year for players. So the truth is, it gives Lincoln Riley's unfirable. I mean, Brian Kelly, you can't run him out of town. They're struggling to make NIL payments.

USC just spent $300 million on the facility, $18 million on NIL. Jen Cohen's going to go, you know what, I want an $80 million check for Lincoln and then $80 to hire his replacement. So the bottom line is Lincoln's safe. I don't like their offensive personnel. Now, they have Jacoby Lane and Lemon the receiver, Mackay Lemon. I think they have a couple of really interesting receivers. Lane's got a very unique body type. I also think Elijah Page, who they flipped from Notre Dame at the very ends, their left tackle.

He's a redshirt sophomore. He is a high-round NFL draft pick next. year if you'd like to leave. So they have three really nice players, a couple of nice receivers, a good left tackle. But I don't, Alani Noah, right guards a pro. So I got four guys. And I'm like, those are pros. But I look at Lincoln Riley's history at Oklahoma USC is like, I don't love them at quarterback. I think they really want to play the five-star freshman, but they can't or the other guy would leave. I think they're better personality. on defense.

I look at their schedule. I don't think they can win at Oregon. I think those games, like at Illinois, at Notre Dame, it looks like an eight-win team. It's the only Lincoln team I've ever looked at. I go back to Oklahoma where I like the defensive personnel way more than the offensive personnel. And I like the defensive staff that they flushed out last year.

Lynn, the defensive coordinator, I think is a really sharp guy. So you can talk about flushing him out. He's going nowhere. He's going nowhere. They're having a very good 2026 recruiting class. NIL, Jen Cohen, the AD has done a terrific job to raise funds to kind of galvanize all the boosters. They're bigger than they've been, but it's just weird to say this. Lincoln's going to have to coach up the quarterback spot.

The offensive line is okay. They don't use the tight end much. I don't see a ton of firepower. So I think it's a USC team, Joel, that's going to be in a lot of close, interesting games, but not a great team. Which was the case last year. They just lost them.

Yeah. Right. I come back to like this idea, just philosophically, if you think back to the good Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma teams, they could really run the football. A lot of those Baker teams,

and even Jaylen, Hertz team because of him or Kyler because of Kyler. You know, they were running the football for 280 yards a game and throwing it for 300 yards per game. They were prolific on offense, but because of balance. And he hasn't found that. They ran it decent in their first year with Caleb. And then they have not been able to run the football since.

And so it's turned more into, you know, kind of a Mike Leach style of offense where all you can do is throw the football. And that's an offense that's hard to win at the top level and be consistent. in game to game, and in particular if you're going to be in close one score games. And so getting back to that, playing better defense, getting back to being able to run the football better so that the quarterback doesn't have to throw it 25 times, but you can want to throw it 25 times. There's a big discrepancy between the two.

I think that'll be a big key for USC. Another guy I wanted to ask you about Bill Belichick at UNC, I thought it was when I sat down with Brady, and I know you picked up some of that interview. and talked about it a little bit. You know, Tom was fascinated by how Bill's going to handle young players. Yes. Because of his expectation when it comes to game situation, preparedness. He doesn't have the time to prepare with those guys like you would at the NFL level.

And I thought it was a really smart point that Tom made. And yet, like, I can't keep my eyes off of this situation at UNC. because I actually, I think he's going to succeed. This is not a league that's overwhelmingly difficult, the ACC. And if you can be better in those situations than your opponent, then you can win close games. Am I crazy to think that Bill Belichick will work at North Carolina? Well, the NIL is his friend because he can just write checks.

I do not believe six years ago Bill succeeds at college. football. He's not eaten his third pumpkin pie knocking on doors in Shreveport. It's not happening. Now he can buy guys. So I think the NIL has made it very professional and that's attractive to Bill. 40 transfers. I mean, come on. I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, Bill was hard on his first and second round draft picks to start. Like he liked to draft guys, sit them, learn the system and then play them year two. And those were like 24 years. year old guys and and and you know like bill rarely went and spent big money and free agency until like that one of those final years 40 new players limited practice time like i don't know it's got a

colorado feel to it that's why it's so ironic they're opening with tCU which is who d on opened with it colorado yep and it was about a three point spread there and it's a three point spread here the irony is i think it's going to look like colorado it's going to be talking about about they're going to sell out games it's going to be fascinating it'll be great for tv ratings in the end of the year you're like they don't really know how good they are but it's a it's a good story i think i had mac brown on today and we talked about this this year texas only took in ten transfers i've i've talked to coaches about this eight to ten in a locker room full of at 85 is about my max you know listen we're going to go get a right tackle we got an nfl level

quarterback. We got to get a corner. We are in a league that passes. Like, I get it. But 40 new players, limited practice time, sophisticated systems, that sounds like to me it's choppy. It's not beautiful. I think I like TCU in the opener. And I like TCU over Colorado in that wild shootout. But I think it shares a lot of the same storylines. Fun, can. can't wait, sell out crowds, TV ratings, and you're left with, I don't really think they're that good. But you know what? They're better now than they were before Deon or Bill got there.

Because I think the boosters with both stepped up and allowed them to buy some very, very special players. Yeah. I think that it's probably better than what Deon inherited, you know, but Dion brought a quarterback that was elite, you know, Shadour was an elite player. And obviously Travis was an elite player as well. I've talked a lot to coaches about this, and I know you love analogies. I think building a college football roster is a lot like building a boat.

You know, if you're trying to build the entire boat out of putty, then your boat's probably not going to be very good. But if you can construct a boat that's pretty good structurally, and you can use the putty to just fill in a couple of holes, putty being the transfer portal, the transfer players, to your point, Okay, we got a great roster, we got a good boat. What do we need? Well, you know, if we had one more back for depth or if we had a corner or a pass rusher or a lineback, whatever it is, and then you go to the portal and you get that putty and fill in the hole, now you've got something. And that's exactly what we saw with Michigan to win the national championship. It was a boat built from guys from Michigan. All right. And they supplemented with a couple of transfers. Same with Ohio State. Everyone wants to talk about Caleb Downs and Will Howard. But that team was really of Buckeyes that had been there for a number of years, which is from a blueprint standpoint why you and I like Penn State a lot this year. Yes, they've got some transfer

players, but guess what? They're there to fill holes, namely at wide receiver, whereas the real hull of that roster, the structure of that roster, those are Nittany Lions. Those are Penn State guys, and they've been there for a long, long time. Can I give you the most interesting player in college football? Can I take over hosting duties for one question. Please do. Let's get this thing. You're way better as a host than I am. No. No question. And you're the much better analyst. Nico I'maliava. At UCLA. Fascinating. Okay. So, you know, I've said pageant mom has become quarterback dad. Like, it's the same thing. Like, you're squeezing so hard,

you're hurting your kid, right? It's just, it's off balance. It's the parent getting too close. he shouldn't have left Tennessee. They have better players. You're going to face more NFL bodies, maybe in that schedule compared to UCLA's this year, whatever. But he is good. And he is kind of what the NFL is looking for. And he moves really, really well.

And I watched Tennessee play a couple times last year. And I'm like, this kid's going to be good. He's not there. Like Drew Aller, by the way, who popped last year. Oh, that's an NFL quarterback. I don't think he's going to win a lot of games at UCLA. But if he hits, if you and I go, yeah, That's an NFL quarterback.

We're going to have Nussmeier, Kade Klovenick, Drew Aller, Archmanning, maybe the kid at South Carolina. I have to watch him more. I only watched him like once last year. If this kid pops, I mean, this, you keep your eye on UCLA's quarterback because Tennessee, will he become the cautionary tale of NIL? Yeah, that's interesting. most players have benefited. Will he be the, oh, don't do that.

Will he be the example of don't chase? Because he didn't chase the dollars at UCLA. He said it was family. But in the end, he basically, the family offended Tennessee. A Tennessee said stop sign out. Yeah. I thought that that was, it was an interesting deal. And I will say, I like to come to his defense.

Yes, a lot of the things that you said were true. here's why I would defend Nico a little bit is because he never really got a chance to tell his side of the story. And, you know, Tennessee ran out basically a propaganda effort and got to tell the story without Nico being involved at all. It was not all about money. It really wasn't. If it was, he wouldn't have gone to UCLA, you know, which is the telltale sign. he wanted the offense to grow with him because and let me tell you why so that that offense that Josh Heppel runs is is a very it's almost like a glorified high school offense it's the old Art Bryle's offense that they ran at Baylor and the reason that it doesn't develop a quarterback is because everything is a half field read so it's wide receiver choice routes on one side of the field which is why none of those Baylor quarterbacks made it Colin in the NFL yeah and Nico understood that and he knew that. And so they wanted the offense to expand and to grow and to develop.

And when it didn't do that through spring football, that's when he was like, I don't know if this is the right place for me or the family, you know, started to think, is this not the right place for me? Now, he never got to tell that story because Tennessee immediately ran out there and made it a money issue and tried to take the virtuous route and say, oh, woe is us. Look at what our quarterback is doing, holding us hostage, which in the very same breath or in the next sentence, Tennessee was turning around and contacting guys that were at other schools and trying to get them to transfer to Tennessee in clear tampering violation. And so like Tennessee got away with all of this from a narrative standpoint, which is unfair

to Nico I amaleava. And I hope he succeeds. And we'll see. But your point about this being a cautionary tale for other guys that could potentially leave some sort of location is a very good one. Last one is, you know, I've never brought this up, but now that we're on my turf here, we've got to go back to Baker Mayfield because one of us really loved Baker his whole career. And now here Baker is, you know, a lot of people thinking Tampa Bay could make a run in the NFC, in large part due to the fact that Baker has become a real

bona fide, maybe not star, but quality starter at quarterback in the NFL. Have you been surprised by Baker in the NFL? No, I think I actually will argue that I've been really accurate. I didn't think he was mature enough to draft number one and Stefansky and Andrew Barry got rid of him after beating Pittsburgh in a playoff game. If I would have told you, hey, Baker Mayfield beats the Steelers in a playoff game, you thought, Oh, it's a lifetime contract. No, they got rid of him because they didn't think he was mature enough. That was my knock.

But I always argued. I've said this for, he's absolutely one of the 20 best quarterbacks in the planet, including all the college guys. Baker can play. When you give him time to step into it and throw, he's got a great arm. He's tough as hell. He's kind of a relentless competitor. He gets a little over his skis, thinks he's a little better athlete than he is.

I never doubted Baker. I said, I will not give the keys to Baker Mayfield as a number one pick. I'm not built for it. But he's also smart. He's also married. He's matured. And so now he doesn't step in it. Like it was never that he lacked.

I mean, I don't think he is big. He's not a physical specimen. He's a good player. He deserves every penny. I think him and Sam Darnold are in that like 11th best, 10th, 11th, 12th. They're in that category. I think they're both.

have better days than Jalen Hertz, who everybody considers a top eight, nine quarterback. I trust Baker in the pocket more than Jalen. I think Jalen's stronger and a better athlete. So I never thought he was a stiff. Like there are guys like Tebow. I was always like, yeah, that's not an NFL quarterback. Or, you know, Christian Ponder.

I'm like, yeah, that doesn't work. I was never a Trubisky fan. I didn't like Baker's personality. I didn't think Johnny Mansell could play in the pros. I thought Baker could play. I just thought he was immature. So what we, so you,

you helped him then, really? That's what I'm here. It's like, your critique helped him mature into the player he is. No, but, no,

but I do think he deserves credit for listening to a lot of people. Sure. The removal in Cleveland, Andrew Barry, Stifansky. I think there was a, chorus of us, you know, criticism, and he grew from it. Like Johnny Mansell never did. Like a lot of guys

get criticized and they get defensive. You know, Baker was like, yeah, I probably shouldn't, you know, I probably should do this, this. First of all, he always studied. He was always prepared. He was tougher than a cheap steak. Like, I never doubted any of that stuff. He's super smart. it was like, bro, how about you scale back from the 27 commercials? How about you play in the league first? I mean, Brady wouldn't do commercials until after he beat the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl. There was a reason for it, right? So I thought he got ahead of himself there.

But I can say this absolutely definitively. I am genuinely happy for him. People don't know this story. I don't know if I ever told this. A friend of mine knows a restaurant in Manhattan Beach. Baker is at dinner at my friend's restaurant with his beautiful wife, Emily. And he gets like a homeless guy comes in, doesn't know who he is, and kind of attacks him. And it's like a wild scene.

And Baker settles the guy down. Baker wants to buy him dinner. Like the thing could have been chaotic. And my friend who owns a restaurant is like, man, he was classy. He was such a good guy. And Baker was in this. kind of brief, like weird, you know, because California's got, you know, there's, there's some mental illness stuff, beats communities all over the city. Everybody knows it's a well-documented

issue. And Baker had one of those come face to face with him and apparently handled it with such dignity and such class and such humanity. So I think he's, I think he's a really genuinely good guy. I just thought he was a little, he was a little, it was a little puffy chile. chest for me when he walked in the chest was a little out for me the backwards hat you know right yeah that is uh there's a distinction between bad human and bad hat you can be a good human you just have to turn it around that's funny um yeah and i know baker that story doesn't shock me um at all and and i appreciate you telling it because that's that is that is him um is there a court i offered him a volume. I contacted a friend of his and I said, I know he won't do it, but I'll offer him

blankety blank money if he wants to be a college football once a week guy. He didn't have to talk NFL. He comes on. He can talk Sooners. I said, I think he could be a great analyst. You were trying to replace me? I thought I was your college football guy. Well, I wouldn't say replace. I would say, no, I said at the volume, I said, I would love to have a guy that just is wildly passionate at the volume. And so I said, and I offered him, I said, go offer it to him. I said, he won't accept it, but just to let him know, not as an olive branch necessarily, because I never felt guilty for criticizing him, but because I think he's super talented and super smart and super interesting. And he's a great leader. So I'm, people think like when I'm

critical of people, I don't like them personally. That's just not true. I, I, um, Shadur Sanders, I think, is silly and needs to grow up. I'm rooting for him. He's a nice kid. He's a little silly. I don't think you should get two 90-mile-hour speed tickets when you're a fifth-round quarterback before the season starts. But I think he's a good, likable kid.

So I'm not, you know, we have to be critical. It's what we do. Do you think Shador starts at any point this year? I do. And I, I, it's just kind of fascinating. I mean, like when you drop in the draft, it's like Aaron Rogers dropped to the late first. You don't get, oh, first round guy dropped to the mid fifth or something. I mean, it's like, what am I watching? It's like a boulder coming down a hill and wrecking a neighborhood.

It's like, whoa. I mean, I was like, okay, I get it late second. And like, by the fourth, I'm like, you're not going to get drafted. He's not going to get drafted. So it was historic. And yet, he was okay with it. Like he wasn't sullen, he was a little somber, but he wasn't, sullen. He wasn't angry. He wasn't defensive. He was like, hey, man, I can't wait to get the opportunity. So I was like, all right, that's an easy guy to root for. I'm okay with that. I thought he handled it pretty well. Colin, can't tell you how much I appreciate you coming on here. Week 1 of the college football season. Ohio State, Texas this week, can't wait to get it started. Can't wait to start being on your show every week again.

It's one of the highlights of my week. And like I said, I appreciate you being here, By the way, I know it looks like my hair is gray. This is just the lighting. If you're, I know it looks. I mean, I know it comes a closet. We don't have the lighting budget here that you do on the hurt. So, you know, that's, we'll do our best. We'll do our best. I can see anybody. Yeah, thanks, man. Man, that was fun. Absolutely love being on with Colin on his program. He has been so great to me over the years. He's completely genuine. Everybody always

asks about, you know, what's Colin like off the air? Colin is exactly what you see on the air, off the air. He loves sports. He loves takes. He'll ask about your take. So, you know, having him on this program has been a bit of a bucket list for all of us here. So to finally get it done on the biggest week of the season, obviously, week one, Ohio State and Texas coming straight up on Saturday.

Okay, so here's what the rest of the week looks like for us at the Joel Clat show. on Wednesday, we will have another episode for you. So again, this Wednesday, and we're going to have Urban Meyer on. We're going to discuss this game, Ohio State and Texas in greater depth, getting you all set for this matchup week one. Then on Thursday, we've got picks and previews. Huge weekend. Week one is a monster. So we're going to have all of our picks and previews.

Remember, last year we were 63% against the spread, just picking the biggest games of the week. And then again, Thursday night, live from Columbus, we will be doing that live show with all those Buckeye fans there are in preparation for the matchup against the Longhorns. Lots of great responses to my tweet about the tattoo. So I think that we're going to be giving a tattoo on Thursday night live during the program. It should be a lot of fun. And we can't wait for that. So that's what's coming up this week on the Joel Clatchio.

Cannot wait for this season to get started. And a big shout out to all of you fans. You've been with us throughout the entirety of the off season. Now invite a friend to bring them in for the regular season. because as we saw last year, college football is a lot better what we just discussed with Colin right there, a lot better than what we like to talk about. We all talk about the problems, but this sport is incredible. And the 12-team playoff made the regular season even better. So invite a friend, bring them into the Joel Klatch show. They can subscribe, and then you guys can chat

about everything that happens right here. You can agree, disagree, get in the comments, and maybe I'll jump in there as well. So that's what's coming up. Enjoy your night, everybody.