The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Deion Sanders introduced as new Colorado head coach & Final CFP Rankings Reaction

Episode Date: December 5, 2022

FOX Sports’ lead college football analyst Joel Klatt reacts to the final college football playoff rankings of the year. Joel believes the CFP Committee got the top four right and agrees with the decision to keep Alabama out at #5. Then he previews the semifinal matchups and wonders if #1 Georgia received a bad draw in having to play #4 Ohio State, and touches on how #3 TCU will be a tough matchup for Michigan. Lastly, Joel shares his excitement about his alma mater, Colorado, hiring Deion Sanders to be their next head coach. 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. Hey, hey, hey, hey, what's going on everybody?

committed to the Joel Clatt show. I am Joel Clatt and this one is going to be a great one. We got so much to get into. Obviously, Michigan took care of business in that Big Ten championship game that Gus and I called on Saturday night. They're heading to the playoff and the committee gave us on Sunday yesterday the top four teams in the country and so we know who is going to the playoff. First and foremost, folks, follow the show, subscribe to the show at Joel Clatt show. You can follow me on Twitter at Joel Clatt. Instagram at Joel underscore clat because all of this week, we've got great stuff going on. We got coaching hires, which I'm definitely going to get into a little bit today.

And you know, you know which one I'm going to be talking about today. But first and foremost, we've got to get into these playoff rankings. So all year, we build up to this point. We finally get those rankings kind of come, what, early November. And you know how I feel about them. You know how I feel about the system. And so it begs the question. did the committee get the four teams right?

And this is what they gave us. Georgia number one, Michigan number two, TCU 3, and Ohio State 4. Based on the resumes and the cases made by every one of these teams, yes. The committee obviously got it right. I said that this was going to be the order on Saturday night, and this is exactly the order that we all expected, at least those of us that were based in some amount of reality. It was an interesting year and the committee, in the end, had a very easy selection to make. There were only four teams in the country that were either undefeated or only had one loss in the Power 5.

And so here we are. And they had it a bit easy, even in a year in which three of the champions in the Power 5 weren't even really close to the playoff. So normally that would present some chaos. But really, when you look at the cases and when you look at the resumes of the final three teams that, we're trying to vie for playoff spots, two spots, three teams, they got the two right. The first thing that I'll say is that when you look at a state and TCU, are any one of these resumes light years better than the other? Probably not.

Now, are any of them without flaw? Nope. They all have a flaw. Okay, so we're operating under some common ground. And then the next truth that you have to realize about this entire system, and it's something that I've been saying for a long time, is the fact that there's no set criteria means that this is going to be somewhat of a gray area. So we've got to walk through it.

And you've got to piece through all the details of these cases made by these three teams. Everyone wants to say, not everyone, I shouldn't say that. I just say, there are some that say you have to take the four best. You have to take the four best, period. end of story, let's go to the Vegas odds. I disagree with that. There are some that say you just have to go with the foremost deserving. Well, it's a bit more nuanced than that, obviously, with the system that they gave us.

I've argued for a long time that it should only be conference champions that are allowed to go. Now, I still somewhat feel that way, but this year is a unique year because we had three power five champions that, again, were so far off as it relates. to where we were discussing that line of where we would cut it off for playoff participants and those just outside of the bubble. Utah, Clemson, and Kansas State were not remotely close, to be quite honest with you, to the team's TCU, Ohio State, and Bama from a resume perspective. So even though they had those championships, I just never felt like they were threatening whatsoever. So here's what you have. You have Alabama trying to make a case based on

their history based on their quality losses and maybe the fact that their quarterback was injured in some of the games that they didn't play well. You have Ohio State trying to make a case about the fact that for 11 games, they were one of the most dominant, most complete teams in the country. They won those 11 games by double digits, the only team that could say that before finally getting beat, this time at home, not great, against Michigan and which Michigan went away. Now, they would try to hang their hat on the fact that it was basically an eight-point game with seven minutes and 20 seconds left. It was a four-point game late into the third quarter when they didn't execute a fake punt that was called from the sideline, not executed on the field.

All those are, just like Alabama's case, excuses. Why? Because their resumes are flawed. Then you get to TCU, and this is a team that, well, was basically a foot away from a Big 12 title and a 13-0 season. I think that the committee is always going to take at this point in the rankings the path of least resistance, and they did it again. Okay. And again, that's not a knock. It's just that it generally can play itself into a point where they have some obvious ways to go, some paths to take, in order for it to not be just a total sham. All right. So now that we say that, do I think they got it right? Yes, for the most part. I think that they got it right. Let's get through these top four and then the fifth team that was just on the outside looking in. So let's start with Georgia. I want to talk about Georgia for a moment. Georgia's been the best team in college football for the better part of 18 months. All right, you cannot argue about that. I believe they're 31 and 1 in their last 32 games.

After really dominating an LSU team and the SEC championship game, scoring over 50 points, this is one of the things that I think has been new this year, is that this Georgia offense has more confidence. Their defense is good, yes, probably not quite as dominant of what they were a year ago. Remember, this is a defense a year ago that only gave up 20. or more points one time. They did that in the SEC championship game when Bama kind of got after him in a game in which Georgia did not need to win. They did not give up over 20 in any other game.

They've already given up 20 or more points this year four times. Not saying that their defense is bad. It's just not quite as dominant as what it's been in the past, in particular last year. Of the four possible teams that you're looking at in the top four, they're clearly a number one team because of what they're. done over those last 18 months. So then you start looking at, well, who do we want to play? We've earned the right to be the number one seed. Who do we want to play? And where do we want to play? Well, it's very clear where they want to play. And they'll play in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl right there in Atlanta. But then you have this question that you just started to ask yourself as last week was playing

out. And you think to yourself, okay, of the four possible teams that they were going to play. See, I never thought Alabama was going to get themselves all the way into the mix, and that's exactly how it all panned out. So Georgia really, during the course of last week, they had four teams that they would potentially be matched up with in their semifinal. It was Michigan, Ohio State, TCU, or USC. Those were really the four possibilities. You can make an argument that of those four, the toughest matchup for Georgia, is Ohio State. So you can make an argument

that as a champion and a number one seed, the week went about as poorly as it could have for Georgia. Say for them actually losing to LSU and not getting to take home an SEC championship. They've got to face the toughest

possible opponent that they could have from those four. Now, why would you say that Michigan's not as tough of an opponent, Joel? Well, that's a good question. because Michigan did beat Ohio State. The difference, though, is that Michigan is a team that plays a very similar style of football that Georgia does, whereas Ohio State plays a style of football, that Georgia, at least in the last 32,

is the style the one style that actually gave them problems. And that was in the loss to Alabama last year when they had John Mechie and Jameson Williams and they were able to throw the ball down the field. That's really what hurts this Georgia team. Now, can Michigan do it? eventually in a potential championship game, we'll have to wait and see how J.J. McCarthy continues to mature,

but of those four team, maybe Max Duggan with Quentin Johnston, but certainly with the roster that Ohio State has, and C.J. Stroud and Marvin Harrison Jr. And Mecca, Buka, this is the team that I think is the toughest matchup for Georgia. So being the number one seed got them what? The toughest possible matchup that they could have gotten

leading into these playoffs. That leads us to number two, Michigan. This Michigan team has put themselves on a really elite pedestal and good on them. That game obviously on Saturday night didn't mean much. I thought before kick, I was telling teams. In fact, a couple of their coaches from Michigan said, well, what do you think? And I said, well, I don't really think it matters what happens tonight. You guys are going to be the number two seed.

TCU had already lost. I have already made up my mind before this weekend's games that Ohio State was going to be ahead of Alabama. and it's not just me, by the way. The committee did. The committee decided that Ohio State was going to be ahead of Alabama. And once TCU, once USC lost and then TCU lost, Ohio State wasn't necessarily ever going to pass TCU. So I thought that the seating was done before Michigan ever kicked off. But they go out there and they win the Big Ten title and they get to a point that they've never gotten to before in their history, which is 13 and O.

They were obviously excited about it. But I will tell you that this Michigan, team, even during the course of this season, has evolved a little bit. Michigan's 25 and two since the start of last season. That's the second best record to Georgia and all of college football. And yet we've seen different styles from them, albeit little nuances. You're not going to see a drastic change in their style, but a little bit of difference. You see, when Blake Corum was there running back, before he got injured, I kept saying all year on this show, and I know that you guys that listen to Michigan fans, thank you for.

for all the kind words during the course of the weekend in Indianapolis. But you kept asking me like, how about our seventh gear now? And the reason that they would say that is because I said all year, Michigan has a great fourth and fifth gear, but I don't know if they can go to sixth or seventh gear like Ohio State can because I've seen Ohio State kind of go to the stratosphere. Now, when Blake Corum went down, I was very nervous for Michigan because their whole MO was about that steady run game and he was going to give you four or five on every single carry. In fact, against Nebraska, he had a long of 12 and went well over 100 yards and averaged five

yards per carry in that game. Okay, so like he was just a four or five, six yard machine. Now, it's not quite that way anymore. Now, are they more explosive? Yes. And that was proven out against Ohio State last week and then even against Purdue in the Big Ten championship game. But what is a little bit different is that with Donovan Edwards now as they're featured

back, what I would say is they have a bit more of the ones and twos and threes. And then they also have the ability to hit the home run now. So it's a little bit more inconsistent, although in the end you look up and it's like, well, they do what they always do. Yeah, but it just feels a little bit different because Purdue was actually stopping them for a time on some ones and twos, you know, and forcing J.J. McCarthy to make plays with his legs and his arm. He did, by the way, and he continues to grow and play much better at the quarterback position. But this is a team now that needs that to be a little bit more aggressive with J.J. McCarthy.

Now they need some of those explosive runs from Donovan Edwards, because they're not just going methodically go down the field with the fours and fives and sixes that they did with Blake Corum. So their offense, although not drastic, has changed a little bit. Defensively, they haven't necessarily evolved, but I think they've just, I would say, come into their own. I've said for a long time during the course of this year, hey, this defense might be better than a year ago. And the statistics bear that out, by the way. They're better in most categories than they were a year ago. And it's hard for people to really wrap their heads around that.

And the reason is, is that you can clearly look at the personnel last year and say that the personnel last year was superior to what they're playing with this year. Aidan Hutchinson was the top five pick on the defensive end, outside linebacker. David Ajabo was going to be a first round pick, probably in the top 15 before he tore his Achilles in that Pro Day incident. He was on the other side of Aiden Hutchinson. So bam, you got those hard edges. You also have a first round nickel back in Daxton Hill.

it was a very, very good defense, obviously. Now, statistically, they've actually taken a step up. Now what they have is a group of players that might not have the star potential, but is playing really well as a group together. Now, we've seen them dominate at times and rush the quarterback and their sack numbers are decent, but what they have now kind of evolved into here at the back half of the season and really the last two weeks more specifically,

is a defense that plays kind of a, Ben Don't Break style of defense, right? You can gain some yards in the middle of the field against Michigan, but they're outstanding in the red zone. Outstanding. In their last 10 possessions that have gone into the red zone as a defense, they've only allowed two touchdowns. In fact, on the year, they're the number three defense in all of college football

in terms of touchdown percentage in the red zone. They do a great job once the field is condensed. Okay, so they might not have the edge rushers that they did a year ago to create some stops all the way during the course of the drive. Purdue had a few different drives that were 10 plays or more. But once the field is condensed and you can't exploit those zone coverages, and then the quarterback has to hold the ball just an extra beat, just a smidge of an extra beat,

now the pass rush can get there. And what you saw in particular against Purdue and then at times against Ohio State in the week previous was the fact that the pass rush would show up and then they would get off the field and force a field goal. Listen, that's nothing to scoff at. In a large sense, that's the way the Patriots were winning Super Bowls and Tom Brady's last few years there.

Bend don't break solid defense, not necessarily a star defensively, but certainly a group that knows how to get out there and get stops in the red zone. There is a star emerging, though, and that's the guy that you just saw in that highlight at the top of the show. Will Johnson is emerging as an absolute stud. on this team for Michigan at the corner position. And he's now their best corner.

He's probably the most talented defender. And when you look around the team, what you see is a lot of first or second year players that are the best players on the team. Donovan Edwards and J.J. McCarthy, Colston Loveland at Tide End. Mason Graham on the interior of the defensive line and defensive tackle.

Will Johnson was in there. Rolder, the linebacker. He gets in there. There's a lot of those types of players out They're young cats that are playing really well. So this is a team that's only going to get better next year. And now here they are as the number two seed looking to potentially, you know, beat TCU and get to a national championship game. Speaking of TCU, let's take a look at those horn frogs.

When I look at them, it's not so much about the way I'm evaluating them as much as I was really disappointed, you know, for them, for a guy like Max Duggan, that they weren't able to get that extra yard, punch it in and potentially. eventually win that Big 12 title. It's not that I was rooting for them over Kansas State because I wasn't and I love Chris Klyman and he's done a marvelous job with Will Howard and the cats and Deuce Vaughn. I love those guys, right? It's because

that ending sequence for TCU in that game is going to eat at them forever. Forever. Max Duggan was sensational during the course of that game. With Caleb Williams losing

on Friday night and getting banged up, by the way, in the process, there was this crack, crack in the door to potentially creep in and win the Heisman trophy for Max Duggan. And for the large part of that game, it was like, okay, you know, it's probably not going to happen. But then he did what Max Duggan does. And he started willing his team to a victory, willing them down the field. One of those touchdown drives, he willed him down the field so much on all those long yard conversions, running the football himself, he could not breathe. Like he was totally spent.

The guy put it all on the line in that Big 12 championship game, which is what makes the ending sequence so disappointing. So disappointing. As an analyst and someone that doesn't have a dog in the fight, what you want is for someone to go down with their best. And at third and goal inside the one yard line, I'm screaming at the television. Sneak. Quarterback sneak. J.J. Watt probably is yelling,

Sneak. He tweeted out, by the way, quarterback sneak is the single most difficult play to stop for one yard or less, without a doubt, especially when you add pushers from behind, which is now legal into the equation. We'll never understand taking the ball five plus yards away from the line of scrimmage to try and gain one yard at any level. That's J.J. Watt. That's an NFL defensive player of the year. That's a guy that has made a career out of trying to stop things like this.

And again, he says it right there in the tweet, especially when you have pushers from behind that are now legal. Bush push is legal now. And it's third down and it's the one yard line. And Kansas State didn't even cover up the three interior offensive linemen. There was a little bubble there. I just, that should have been a sneak all day long. and even if you're not going to sneak it, the ball has to be in Max Duggan's hands.

If you're not going to sneak it, then it has to be some sort of read where Max can make the decision of whether he's going to hand it or he's going to give it, putting some edge player in conflict. Those are really the only two options, but they decide to go old traditional and reverse out and try to slam the running back into there, and they didn't get it on both of their last two snaps, third down or fourth down. Great hold for Kansas State.

Good on you. And you deserve to win when you can do that. The disappointing part is that Garrett Riley, as good as he is, as an offensive coordinator, and make no mistake about it. He's a brilliant young offensive coordinator. And he's going to have a heck of a career in this business. But this is one of those, as a young guy, he's going to learn from. And this was a development moment for a young play caller in probably one of the biggest

situations that he's ever had to call place in his life. And he's going to learn that it's like, I don't have to go to my play sheet. The hunch is correct. Just sneak the ball in. And the fact remains is that Max Duggan willed his team back into the game, willed his team to overtime, and then didn't have an opportunity to win it. That's not going to set right with frog fans.

It's not going to set right with Gary. Riley is not going to set right with Max Duggan. And by the way, if Max Duggan propels himself in there, brings him all the way back, scores the touchdown, you never know. That could have been a Heisman moment touchdown for him, even on a quarterback sneak. Because it would have been the moment that that kid,

after all the adversity that he's been through, would have willed his team to a championship and a for sure playoff birth. Now, they're still going to the playoff, but that was a missed opportunity for TCU. That leads us to the number four team in the country who was able to just sit at home and get themselves into the playoff. I don't love that. I've never loved that.

I've never loved non-divisions going to the playoff. But the fact remains is that this year, with three of the conference champions being really not even close to acceptable into the playoff, this is going to be Ohio State's spot. And Ohio State now is going to be asking themselves a question. And I think this is more a question to the fan base, potentially, than it is the players or the coaches. But as soon as it was clear to me that they were going to be in the playoff, which was Friday night. Friday night. USC loses and I'm like, okay, Ohio State's going to be in. Now it's just a matter of where does the seating fall?

As it fell, Georgia stays at number one. now Ohio State goes to play Georgia. TCU is going to play Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl. So the question is this. Is Ohio State playing with house money and free and clear? Or are they playing under immense pressure? I think it's an interesting question. And when you've got to pose to yourself,

because I can tell you, the vitriol from the fan base, after the loss to Michigan was striking. And in a lot of ways, totally uncalled for. But that's what you get with a fan base like as big as and as passionate as Ohio State. They're going to care a great deal. And it begs the question, after a loss to Michigan, the way that it happened, are they playing with House money? or under immense pressure.

You see, I think it's actually both. Because from the outside looking in, if you were to just ask any college football fan, maybe outside of like a Bama fan or a Georgia fan, any of the playoff fans, just anybody on the periphery, okay? And you were to say like, oh, you know,

is Ohio State playing with house money? They'd be like, yeah, absolutely. Kind of, you know, back into the playoff. Now you can go cut it loose. You know, no one expects you. I mean, Georgia's the best team in the country over the last 18 months. So it's like, hey, you know, go have at it.

go cut it loose, which is, by the way, when Ohio State is at their best, when they're freewheeling and when they attack, in particular on the offensive side. But the same can be said on the opposite for the fan base, because if you're in the fishbowl of the fan base, there is an immense amount of pressure that you are shoveling on to this team. You know, it's kind of like that moment that it's like, well, okay, well, you know, you better prove it to me now. And so it's both.

And Ohio State's charge, Ryan Day's charge, during this break and this preparation time, up until they go down and play Georgia in Atlanta, is going to be, can you get to a spot, can you get to a place both with a game plan and with your approach where you're cutting it loose and playing free? Because that's when they play their best football. And by the way, this has gone all the way back to 2018. I could have told you this all the way back then. and it has been the case ever since.

So that's going to be their task, is how do they get themselves in that free mode where they're really being aggressive, they're playing with good tempo, they're, you know, think about the game plan, by the way, and Field's second year

against Clemson in the playoff. Man, they were attacking. And even early in the game, the first game against Clemson, the previous year in the playoff, they were attacking. When they go on their heels, then it's not good.

Then it's like the COVID-year, national championship game against Alabama. Then it's like the last couple of years against Michigan, right? You don't want to get onto your heels. Ohio State is better when they are moving forward, when they're being aggressive and when they're cutting it loose. And if they play like that, they're really dangerous. I've already told you from a Georgia perspective, it's not the matchup that they would

love to see out of the four possible matchups that they could have had going into the playoff. Okay. That leads us to the last team that I'm going to talk about. And that's Alabama. Before we get into Alabama, let's get a word from their head coach who was making the rounds this weekend, even though they weren't playing. Here he is, Nick Saban. And what I would say to the committee or anyone else is if we played any of these teams that are on the edge or getting in, would we be the underdog or would we be the favor?

And I think if you can answer that question and the goal is to get the best teams in, then you would say they belong in there. Okay, I want to talk about the fact that we, Fox, on the Big Ten championship, had Nick Sabin on at halftime. And there was a lot of talk on social media. By the way, in both regards, because I made, and I'll admit it, somewhat of a snide comment before halftime when I learned that this was going to take place. And then Twitter just blew up once Saban was actually on. with the guys at halftime. Let me just say this, and I'm going to state this for everybody

so that everybody knows exactly my thoughts. Nick Saban did exactly what he should do. Exactly what he should do. He should be lobbying. He should be presenting the best case for his team. How else do you stand in front of you? your team in a team meeting and, you know, have their respect unless you're fighting for them. And he did that.

And he did that. And so it's not his fault that we were willing to put him on the air. By the way, we would have put others on the air at Fox. Okay. But Nick Saban took that opportunity to go on and fight for his team. Good for him. And that's what, that's exactly what he should do. That's exactly.

I want to play for. guys like that, that have my best interest in mind as a player, that want to further our ability to achieve our goals as a team and as an individual. So this is exactly what he should do. Now, I can think that and also disagree with some of the stuff he was saying. Okay, those can be mutually exclusive, right? So he made basically, well, before I get to his points, let me just also say this. The reason I made the Snide comment before halftime wasn't because it was Alabama and wasn't because it was Nick Saban. I believe Nick Saban is the greatest college football coach that has ever lived. I believe this dynasty that he has built at Alabama will never be equaled, ever, ever.

What he has done at Alabama is totally unprecedented, will never be equaled, and this is the best program in all of college football. Georgia might be the best team for the last 18 months. Alabama has been the best for the last decade and a half. Okay? So, like, this is the preeminent program. I have an immense amount of respect for Alabama and what they do and how they recruit and how they go about their business. Do you know why? Everything is about winning championships, which is exactly what this interview was about.

If they want to have the opportunity, it's like, hey, would you take Coach Sabin on at halftime? well, we're a television and entertainment business. We're like, well, absolutely, he's the goat. We'll take him. And what's he going to do? Fight for his team. Why? Because that's what Alabama does.

They fight for championships. That's why they're in this position where they're the greatest dynasty that we've ever seen in the history of college football. Now, having said that, I hate a system in which any coach for any team has to lobby in a week in which he's not playing. So when I say, like, and I guess Coach Saban's going to come on and, I don't know, lobby for his team, I guess. Good for him. It's nothing about Alabama. And it's nothing about Nick Saban.

It's about the system. The system sucks in a lot of regards. Right? So like I can be totally, have total disdain for a system that allows for lobbying and not have disdain for a program. I, in a lot of ways, I love Alabama. They're the Michael Jordan. of the modern era of college football. I love greatness. We all should love greatness.

Why? Because no one can be great unless they look at something and say, I want to be like that. Someone has to set the bar of expectation and Alabama has done that. Having said all of that, so you know my genuine feelings out there, all you Tide fans that think I hate the Tide, couldn't be further from the truth, have immense amount of respect for the Tide and Nick Saban. I disagree with his three points that he made in the interview. Let me just go through the three.

Number one, he brings up, like you heard in the clip, Vegas. All right. Well, I'm sorry, but I believe he was an eight-point favorite against LSU, right? And that didn't prevent them from losing that game. So that's just not an argument. I understand he's trying to fit it in the box of we're just taking the four best. But as I told you before in the show, there is a gray area, and we know there's a gray area. Okay.

So you can't just say Vegas, Vegas. I'm sorry. That's not how this works. why would we play any game if we were just going to go by the metric of Vegas? Then he started to talk about the losses. And yes, they were close losses to good opponents in really tough environments. But do you really want to live in a world in which the main argument that you would use as a team to get into the playoff is, hey, our losses are great?

Now, I don't love that world either. I don't think anybody does. wouldn't you much rather say, okay, what did you do rather than what did you not do? So what did you do? Well, you didn't beat a team that was ranked any higher than Texas. TCU also beat that Texas team. They also beat Kansas State earlier in the year. Ohio State also beat Penn State on the road.

You get what I'm saying here, right? So like, you're chipping away at these and you're like, is Vegas really a metric? Well, absolutely not. Do you really want to live in a world where we're just saying, my losses are great, clearly not. And you had two of them, by the way, and the other teams only had one. And then the last one, he talked about the injuries to his team. You know, TCU is basically playing with their backup quarterback all year, Coach Savement.

I know he played great, but he wasn't the starter initially. So could you be doing this with Bryce Young's backup for the entirety of the season? By the way, the Bolitnikov favorite and maybe best player in college football at the beginning, beginning of the season was Jackson Smith and Jigba, which Ohio State has not had for the entirety of the season. You get my drift, right? So like that excuse only goes so far. Did Nick Saban do exactly what he should do? Absolutely. Do I disagree with his argument? Yes. Yes, I do. All right. So that'll do it for kind of my playoff take. We'll do a lot more content, by the way, during the course of the next weeks and months leading up to those games.

the Peach Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl. But I've got to get to the Dion Sanders hire. Dion Sanders coming to Colorado. This was his introductory press conference. We're going to have one of the best coaching staffs assembled, some of the best scouts, some of the best kids that were recruiting and commitments already coming on the way as I speak.

And now that I've gotten here and I see it, and I understand it, Rick, and I can grasp it and I can touch it, I can feel it, and I can taste it. I truly understand what you want. All you want is an opportunity to win, to compete, to dominate, to be amongst the elite, to be amongst the best. And darn it, I'm going to give you that. I mean, forgive me if I get chills right now. Obviously, at my alma mater, it has not been very good for a long time, better part of two decades.

And now Colorado takes a giant swing. in the coaching carousel and hires Deon Sanders. And I have told you before on this show, and I will reiterate this point, there is no more important hire at any university than the football coach, period. Period. That football coach sets the tone for everything that happens at the university. A lot of people scoff at that, but there's a lot of day. data to back that up. I've gone through the data at Alabama and Clemson. You can go through the data

at TCU and what happens at these places that put themselves on the map because they've got a great coach and a great football team. And what happens? The academics increase. The level of applicant increases. The number of applicants increase. The number of out-of-state applicants increase. it's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars a year when you get the right guy at your university. I haven't even gone into the program yet. I'm talking about the university. Now we get to the program and this specific hire. I could not be more excited as an alum and a guy that played at that school and loved that school. You've got to keep in mind.

The reason I love this sport, the reason that I do a podcast like, like this that I've wanted to be in this industry for almost my entire life is because of games at Folsom Field. My dad, who is one of my greatest heroes, was a high school football coach. And he would take me to the North Stans at Folsom Field. And I will never forget the first time that he ever took me to a game. And it was 1986 or seven. I mean, it's tough to remember. exactly the year. And Colorado played Oklahoma. And this was Barry Switzer's Oklahoma Sooners.

And this was mid-80s and they were rolling. They were really good. And I saw that Buffalo run out. And I saw those gold helmets ran out. And from that moment on in my life, there was nothing I wanted to do more

than play at Colorado. I fell in love with the sport because of Saturday afternoons at Folsom Field. that's what's in my heart. Okay, so now that person talking, I could not be more excited for this hire. Colorado, the program that I loved,

that I watched win national championships, that I watched have Heisman Trophy winners, and Thorpe Award winners, and Buccas Award winners. This storied program from my youth had fallen on some of the hardest times of any program in the country. You could make an argument

that they had the worst Power 5 roster in America. this year. I mean, it was not good at all. And now, in the course of one afternoon, the most relevant program in the country is Colorado because of one guy. You want to talk about the importance of a hire, the importance of a football coach. How about Colorado and Dion Sanders? When you hire a guy like this, you've got to understand you're hiring a guy that is one of one. College football is about perception, it's about recruiting, and it's about your head coach. Can he put himself in a position to basically be a star so that when a letter arrives, when a text arrives, when a DM arrives on a player's phone or at the house or wherever it is, it's immediately

like, ooh, yeah, that's right. You know, hey, Nick Saban texted me. Ryan Day texted me. Kirby Smart texted me. Deon Sanders texted me. That's why this is such a great hire. He's one of one. There's no other coach in America that is remotely like him, not in charisma, not in playing resume. This guy is an absolute supernova. So yes, it's a home run hire. He's been a great coach at Jackson State. Someone was going to do it in the Power 5. Colorado just had the brass enough to do it first. And good for them. This is a guy that has an immense amount of confidence. He has done it before at Jackson State. And there have been some criticisms from those that just want to be naysayers because there's always naysayers about, well, is this really a great fit? A guy that grows up in Florida and plays

multiple sports and does all of this? It's like, is he really a good fit at a place that doesn't have a good local recruiting base? You know why I'm laughing? Do you know what? I'm laughing? Do you know I'm laughing. Deon Sanders is the only coach in America that is totally independent of fit and totally independent of local recruiting base. Dion is the fit. He's the son. Everything revolves around him. He doesn't come in and fit into Boulder. Boulder will fit into Prime. That's what he is. That's what he is. He's the sun. Everything orbits around him. So it doesn't matter where he goes. He goes. He's the sun. So it doesn't matter where he goes. It's going to be the same operation and the same person. He's not going into fit there. They're fitting into what he wants to do. And you can't say that about many coaches in America.

Maybe only one other one. Maybe Nick Saban is like that a little bit. Right. Like even even the culture and the, and the history of Alabama, they kind of just said like, hey, you know, like whatever you want to do. And he was that type of coach and that type of personality. Well, that's Dion. So it doesn't matter about the fit. and local recruiting base, Dion is the local recruiting base. The entire nation is the recruiting base for Dion Sanders. Whatever number is in his phone is the recruiting base for Dion Sanders. He's the magnet that everything else sucks over to. So it doesn't matter if there are going to be five, five-star players that are playing in Denver, Colorado.

It doesn't matter. Why? Because when he texts them and they're in Texas or Southern California or even the deep south, guess what? They're going to take the visit. Why? Because it's prime. That's why this is such a brilliant, brilliant. Higher. Colorado put themselves on the map in college football in the same year in which they went one of the 11 and largely had one of the worst teams in the Power 5. They did it by hiring a guy with an immense amount of character and swagger and integrity and charisma. He's one of one. Every kid in America will answer his DMs and he's done it before.

he's undefeated at Jackson State. As you can tell, I'm very excited about this. This guy is totally independent of fit and local recruiting because he is the fit. He is the recruiting base. Where does Deon Sanders recruit wherever he wants? That's the point. Couldn't be more excited. All right, that's going to do it for us today.

There was a lot to get into. I know all the college football playoff. Dionne Sanders new head coach at the University of Colorado. And we'll be back on Wednesday. We'll try to get up on all the news and notes now as we, you know, the games are obviously waning, if you will. So we'll try to get you all up to speed on coaching moves and everything during the course of the week. We'll be back on Wednesday. We'll be back on Thursday. Remember to follow the show, subscribe to the show,

at Joel Klatt show on all the social medias. Subscribe, rate and review our show if you would. I'm so thankful that you've been loving what we have been putting out there. We've got a great team of hardworking individuals that does this every single week. And I just thank them from the bottom of my heart. And we'll be back on Wednesday. We've got a playoff, folks. So here we go. As we're hurtling through December,

we will continue to look at that playoff and see what's going to pan out while Dion recruits the country.