The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Klatt explains his Heisman Vote and gives his Way-Too-Early Favorites for the 2024 Heisman Trophy

Episode Date: December 11, 2023

FOX Sports’ lead college football analyst Joel Klatt reacts to Jayden Daniels winning the Heisman Trophy and explains why he voted for Michael Penix Jr with his ballot. He then breaks down the Heisman field for 2024 and ranks his Top 5 leading contenders going into next season. Klatt also breaks down the big moves in the Transfer Portal. He analyzes what the Dillon Gabriel move to Oregon does for the Ducks’ future in the Big Ten next season. Klatt then discusses the impact of Coach Prime and Colorado’s moves in the Transfer Portal so far as they bolster their Offensive Line ahead of their move to the Big 12. He wraps the show by answering listener-submitted mailbag questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, welcome into the Joel Glaccio. We have got a Heisman winner. Plus, I'm going to tell you who I think the top five Heisman candidates are for next year. And we dip into the mailbag. That's all coming up. College football has never been better. Interest has never been higher. Believe that we are at the dawn of the golden age of college football. It was an epic day of college football. It was just one of those days where you fall in love with the sport all over again. Hey, what's up everybody? It is the Joel Clatt Show presented by Hampton by Hilton. I am Joel Clatt and I cannot wait to get going here today. It's been wild. I've enjoyed a really fun Friday and Saturday at home with my sons. It's the first Friday and Saturday that I've been here at home since August. So as much as I would have loved to have been at Army Navy because that's a bucket list game, more on that little bit. It was really nice to be at home. So I wanted to get

through what I feel like is a lot of good college football topics because this sport has in so many ways become a 365 sport. I know that the season just ended. So there's there's a lot to get into here today. We'll get into Heisman some portal news among other things. We'll also dip into the mailbag. Remember to follow the show, subscribe wherever you're listening to your podcast. Leave us a review. Like us, comment, all the different things. Make sure to subscribe on YouTube. We're going to continue to have exclusive content out on YouTube during the course of the offseason. So that'll be good. So even if you're listening, you're going to want to go over to YouTube and be there.

And then anywhere that you like to social media, we are there, Joel Klatt show on social media. You can follow me on Twitter at Joel Klatt. I'm on Instagram at Joel underscore Klatt. Those are personal accounts that you can follow me in. Let's get into this. Let's start with the Heisman Trophy because it was, I felt like a really great race. the Heisman Trophy, including coming down to the stretch. Now, you can make an argument that, you know, some players or teams kind of fell off at the

end and that it was anticlimactic in some ways. But I actually don't believe that that was the case. So Jaden Daniels wins the Heisman. And good for Jaden Daniels, man. He was spectacular. Loved watching him play. He was electric. And in so many ways, he's the only reason why LSU had any amount of success this season.

had to overcome what was a totally inept defense at times. And he had to produce at what became a historic level. And he was tremendous. Loved watching him play. Really loved watching him play. I also thought there were other viable candidates, including Michael Pinnock's, namely. Michael Pinnock, Jr. was phenomenal this year. And he had to be in so many respects.

So as is the case all the time, I always wait and we're supposed to as a Heisman voter, and I take it very seriously, obviously. I think it's the most prestigious individual award in American sports, pro or college, anything. It's just it's the most prestigious individual award. It means so much. It means so much, obviously, to the person, the player, that player's family, but also the institution and the program. There are so many things that the Heisman trophy represents, and rightfully so, and so winning this thing is a giant deal. It's a giant deal for so many people and obviously the player at the top of that list.

And so Jaden Daniels becomes a Heisman trophy winner. And rightly so, again, his productivity was off the charts. He had to be great in order for his team to be competitive because there wasn't a lot on the other side of the football for the LSU Tigers. that defense was not strong, to say the least. That being said, I don't give my vote, nor any of us are supposed to give our vote, until the actual ceremony takes place. And I'm always of the belief that transparency is the best way to cover the sport. That's why I will always tell you when I feel like I've made a mistake, which I've done on this show.

I will always give you my 100% honest opinion. And so I threw out there on Twitter, you know, how I voted. And you're allowed three votes. And my vote went Michael Pinnock's Jr., Jaden Daniels, number two, and number three was Bo Nix at Oregon. I thought that it was a phenomenal race. And that's how I voted. Now, it's interesting.

And a lot of people, and this is the way that social media is, so I don't pay too much attention to this. But there were some people that were very upset that I would do such a thing, which is not vote for Jaden Daniels. There were others that were saying, well, this is absolutely correct because they felt like Michael Pennock got job. And in so many ways, that's the way fans are supposed to react. So the fans are doing their job and supporting the player that they deem as either their player or the one that they're trying to support. I thought it would be interesting, though, just to just walk through how I arrived at this conclusion.

And again, my vote, Pennix, then Daniels, then Bonix. Let's start with what I felt like Pinnock did, okay, rather than trying to knock any other players. First of all, Washington, their last nine wins were by 10 points or less. Won all of them. This is an undefeated team, won the Pact 12, which was the deepest and best conference in America. And they did so because specifically of their quarterback play and their passing game specifically. Pinnock had to be great. Otherwise, they lose, you know, similar to Jaden Daniels.

And Daniels was unable to overcome his defense. And yet Pennix was able to overcome what I feel like was weaknesses around him within that program, namely, you know, at times that defense. Now, there were a couple of games that he didn't play great. Absolutely. I'm not saying that this was a slam dunk, but it is accurate to state that this guy was the most important player on the field by a a wide margin for this team who relied on their passing game. And in the last nine wins, they had to win those by 10 points or less. So he had to be great in every one of those moments.

And he was against really good competition as well. Oregon twice, Oregon State on the road. He was 4-0, Michael Pennix Jr. was against the CFP top 25. Meanwhile, a guy like Jaden, Dana, she was only one in three. Okay, so this is as I'm walking through and I'm looking at all the data and I'm watching film on all of these different players, where are their strengths? How are they operating within the confines of what this award is? And that's the other part of this is you have to define the way that you're going to vote. And there's a lot of people that will,

you know, similar to the college football playoff committee, just say like, well, this is the four best teams or this is the most outstanding player. And in so many ways, those stark definitions don't always fit. And we know this. We know this to be true. Okay. You can't just say four best players or else let's let's face it. Or excuse me, not four best players. You can't just say most outstanding player because there are players that are incredible and outstanding. There's no doubt. But they just don't have the team success or the production success in order to Trump some of these seasons that these guys have. You know, in so many ways, it is a mixture, whether you like it or not, of MVP, most outstanding, all of those that you're like,

that has to be a part of your consideration because it is a team sport. So the way that you are impacting your team is a direct evaluation of you as a player. I think that that's, you know, common sense, to be honest. So here's Pennix, who is. the most important player on an undefeated team that wins the toughest conference in the country while playing nine league games. And he's doing so in close matchups and against really good opponents. Like I was saying, he led the country in deep passing attempts, 100. He completed 44 of those.

His ability to throw the ball down the field was incredible. And here he is in some of his most important games, including a game in which he is a 10-point underdog, underdog, as an undefeated in the conference championship game. and he goes 27 of 39 for 319 and a touchdown. And it went against Oregon. His second of the year, by the way. And this is an Oregon team that all of us thought was like, oh, yeah. We definitely feel like Oregon's one of the best teams in the country.

And they were. And he beat them twice. He beat them twice. Something to be said for that. Something to be said. Okay, so I evaluate Pennix that way. And then you evaluate Jaden Daniels. And the numbers are eye-popping.

What he did in so many ways was historic. And Dan, that's why, like, I'm not going to tell you that a vote for Jaden Daniels was wrong because it's not. I'm just telling you the way that I viewed it. And Daniels, while his season was spectacular, there were a couple of things that drove me towards landing with Michael Pennix. Because of what I was just talking about, the importance of his play and the importance of his win and being an undefeated and doing what he did against great opponents, playing fantastic in his team's most important games. You're the most important player. You've got to play great when your team needs it most, and he did, and he did. And maybe that's unfair to Daniels, but let's face it,

he's a three-loss quarterback. Okay, so that's where I started is that, okay, he's a three-loss quarterback. And the precedent for what I would call, you know, like, I'm almost about to say losing quarterbacks, but that's not the way to categorize this. Let's just put it this way. There's only a few players that have won this award while their team lost three or more games. If you go back to like, you know, early 2000s, here's the list. You've got like 2007. Tim Tebow. His team was 9 and 4. You've got 2011 Robert Griffin III at Baylor. His team was 10 and 3. You've got 2016 Lamar Jackson. His team was 9 and 4. And again, Daniel's numbers are comparable or in some ways better than some of those guys. So this is not an argument of why he shouldn't have won. This is just how I landed on the ranking that I did. When I looked at those players, something stood out to me.

In the case of Lamar Jackson and Robert Griffin, they either finished better as a team or right at where everyone thought that they would finish. Lamar Jackson's team at Louisville started the year 19th. They finished 21st. By the way, along the way, he beat number two Florida State, 63 to 20. They lost in that incredible game to an unbelievable Clemson team. who was top five in the country. And that was a 42-36 game. And he was putting them on par.

Remember, three of their last losses happened at the end of the season. Their last three games of the season. So for the majority of the season, he's playing in the games that are impacting the postseason. And he's doing so an incredible rate. Robert Griffin III, his Baylor team finished, or excuse me, started the season unranked, finished 13th. They were two and two against ranked opponents.

They beat OU, who was fifth in the country, 45, 38. They won 10 games at Baylor for the first time since 1980. So that's 31 years that he is reversing. He is reversing Baylor was a non-factor in college football until this 400-meter hurdler who committed to Art Bryles at Houston and followed him up to Waco and all of a sudden he's the quarterback. And then he has this year. And again, two and two against ranked opponents.

Their team, he elevated. their team from unranked in the preseason to ranked 13th in the postseason. And then you get to Jaden Daniels and then his closest comparison. So again, Daniels and Lamar Jackson and Robert Griffin, the third, like, they don't fit. They don't fit. And so you get to Tim Tebow and Jaden Daniels. So 07 Tim Tebow, his team that Florida team started sixth in the country, finished 13th. That's basically right where Jaden Daniels' LSU team is.

started fifth, now they're 13th. All right, Tim's team was two and two against ranked opponents. Jaden Daniels, LSU team, one and three against ranked opponents. You know, LSU lost to Florida State by 21, Bama by 14. You know, and you're starting to look at this, and I'm like, man, that's different than this 07 year. I'm looking at the 07 year, and I'm like, well, wait, why did Tim win then with a four-loss team? I get that he had incredible numbers, but like, help me out with this. And then you start to look at what was happening in 2007.

Well, the guy who finished second that year was what, Darren McFadden on what was an eight-win, Arkansas team. Darren McFadden ran for 1,800 yards. The leading passer in the country was the quarterback from Hawaii, Colt Brennan. You know, it was the year Missouri and Kansas were great, you know. And so Chase Daniel was up there. And you start to realize, like, oh, it was a wild year. It was a wild year where there was not an obvious choice.

And so production could carry the day, which Tim had, even with four losses. But that's not necessarily the case in 2023. Is it? No, it's not. In fact, the guy that he's directly competing against Michael Pennix Jr. is the nation's leading passer for the second straight year. He's also a quarterback of a team that won the toughest conference in the country, went undefeated and finds themselves in the playoff.

you know, so in my estimation, all you have to do is trade the logos on the helmets and trade the conferences. And I think Michael Pinnock walks away with the award. There's no way that you could lead the country in passing two straight years, be the most important player on an undefeated team that gets into the playoff, wins your last nine games by under 10. Play incredible, again, two straight years leading the country as a passer and play for Alabama and not win the Heisman trophy. Of course he would.

Play for USC, he wins the Heisman trophy. Plays for Oklahoma, he wins the Heism trophy. Plays for Texas, Ohio State, or Michigan, or Georgia, or any of those teams, he wins the Heisman trophy. There's not a doubt in my mind. the West Coast, you know, drought, if you will, is a real thing. It is a real thing. If you take USC out of the equation, do you know what you find? West Coast winners are non-existent in Heisman Trophy history. You've got Marcus Marietta, who was incredible,

and then you've got to go all the way to Jim Plunkett. Okay, again, non-USC West Coast winners. Mariotta broke so many trends in so many ways. The last West Coast winner that didn't go to USC was Jim Plunkett. That's wild. That's wild. And again, you look at this and I would say that my argument is clear. It's clear. And so I went back to it and I was like, hold on, hold on. Am I really, you know, viewing this correctly? And then this is when I finally landed on what I felt like was for me, the last straw, if you all. This is what actually turned my vote to Michael Pennix. I'm walking through all this. And then you really dive of the numbers and you realize that Jaden Daniels had 582 total yards,

eight touchdowns in the second to last game against Georgia State, who went three and five in the Sunbelt. Like, I can't do it. I can't do it. You don't play nine conference games. You know, so you play the eight conference games and this league is playing nine. You know, he's got 11 touchdowns if you include grambling. So, gambling in Georgia State, you get 11 touchdowns,

and then you want to scream about production. And this is why I was just so frustrated with so many people and pundits that would sit there even before the conference championship games were played and talk about how this was just such a foregone conclusion that Jaden Daniels was going to win the Heisman Trophy. In my mind, no, it was a great debate. Now, you can land either way, okay? I'm not saying that a vote for Jaden Daniels is incorrect.

He was incredible. I love watching him play. He's electric in so many ways. He is a great player and a great representative of this award. I love the fact that he won this trophy. But it was a strong debate. I landed on Michael Pinnock for the reasons that I just declared during the course of that last dissertation. And I think that this notion or argument or narrative that it wasn't close and that it should have been decided even before the conference championship, games was false. It makes me frustrated with the voting base. It makes me frustrated with a lot of voices that I really trust and like throughout college football. To suggest such a thing, I think, is irresponsible in some ways. Because we need to see the games. We need to see the most important

games play out. And I think that that's, I think that's fair. I think that's fair. So again, congratulations to Jaden Daniels and LSU, a couple of Heismans here in the last few years with also Joe Burrow and Daniels was tremendous. Pinnock's was tremendous. Bo Nix was tremendous. Congratulations, Marvin Harrison, Jr. I'm becoming a finalist. That was a great race. A great race. Okay, let's go on to next season. I want to give you like an early list here of my 24 Heisman contenders, because I think we could have a great, I think we could have a great race next year. I really do in so many ways.

And again, this goes to what I've always talked about on this show. I think we're entering in to a golden age of college football where guys stay. And we get more experienced quarterbacks in particular, but players in general playing the sport. And so we're going to have more guys playing at a high level. We saw that, obviously. Daniels played a lot of football. Pinnock's played a lot of football. Nobody played more football than Bo Nicks, you know, over 60 starts in his career.

that's why they were such good players. And hopefully that sets them up for success at the next level. But here we go. We look towards 2024. I'm going to go five to one. All right. So this first player, he needed a lot of help, but they're starting to get it in the transfer portal.

And when you look at the entirety of the program set up for him specifically to succeed, his ability level, his resources, in particular at the skill position, player positions, skill positions. Shador Sanders from Colorado, I think is a dark horse. I know he's not at the major brand, but Colorado has a Heisman trophy winner in their past, 94 Rashon Salam. You know he's going to get a lot of attention. Now, some of it might not be great, and maybe some voters are out there and won't want

to vote for Shador Sanders. But with what's going on in the transfer portal and the help that they're getting at the on the offensive line, you can't tell me that this guy won't, be among the nation's leading passers if he gets protected a little bit. He was headed in that direction this year until it just like Katie bar the door, like they couldn't protect him at all. No one was sacked more than Shador Sanders. But they're getting the help up front.

They're getting some really quality offensive linemen. And if he's protected just better, not even great, but just better. This guy is going to have the numbers. And the question will be, what does his team do? Are they excelling? Are they getting to that 8, 9, 10 win clip? And if they do a couple of years after winning one game, I think he's going to get some consideration for the Heisman Trophy.

All right. So at number four, I've got Dylan Gabriel, and he's going to Oregon, transferring from Oklahoma, and this is a perfect fit, right? Like, similar to the NFL, fit matters. And Dylan Gabriel at Oregon is a perfect fit. They require their quarterback to be a, I don't want to say game manager because there's a bad connotation to that,

but a game manager. And a distributor, I think, is a better way to pull. put it, a point guard. That's what Bo Nix was so good at, right? He's such a smart player, and he could distribute the ball on time and accurately, and he did that so well. That's exactly what Will Stein, the offensive coordinator, requires out of his quarterback, and that's what he's going to get from Dylan Gabriel. I don't think if I were, if you were to ask me, even before this transfer, name a spot where Dylan Gabriel fits perfectly. I would have said to Oregon. Even before he's in the transfer portal, this makes so much sense.

And because of that, he's going to be so experienced. By the way, Bo Nix set an FBS record for starts at the quarterback position. Well, I think Dylan Gabriel's got like 49 now. So if he stays healthy, he's going to beat Bo Nicks' record. So they're going to have these experienced quarterbacks year after year at Oregon. I love what they've been able to do. At number three, I've got J.J. McCarthy. And I wanted to just give the caveat.

This is guys that we don't know yet, but possibly could stay in college football. I don't know if J.J. McCarthy is going to declare for the NFL. I think a lot of it has to do with and will depend on how they do in the postseason in the college football playoff. They have a chance. If the right guys come back, you know, he's going to have Colston Loveland his tight end. He's likely going to have Donovan Edwards. There's a chance, Roman. Wilson could come back if he doesn't like his his draft stock. They've got some really good young

players. They've got an offensive line that's going to be solid in front of them. They've got good young running back. So Michigan has a chance to be really strong again, but a lot of it depends on like, is Jim Harbaugh going to be there? Will McCarthy be there? I'm not sure. If he's back, he's going to be in the running for the Heisman Trophy. And he's the type of guy that if Michigan continues to win, he will get kind of that career achievement style. of narrative and momentum. Because you know his numbers are not going to be from production standpoint amongst the elites

as it relates to overall volume of production just because of the style of play that Michigan has. But just as a player, he's going to be in the conversation. Number two, Jalen Milro. I think that's a no-brainer. Look at what this guy can do, throwing the football with his legs. he in so many ways has evolved and developed into a great player.

From the player that we saw against Texas early in the season to the one that beat Georgia, he makes good, clean decisions. He's so athletic. He can throw the football really well down the field, and that's just going to get better. You know, now Nick Saban and that offensive staff, Tommy Reese, the offensive coordinator, they know what they are offensively with Jalen Mill they can now build around him for a whole offseason.

And because of that, he's going to be right in the mix there at number two. And the number one, and again, this is a lot like J.J. McCarthy. I think he's going to come back. I don't know this for sure. But if he does, I think that up front there would be Quinn Ewers at Texas. He's now led his team to a playoff berth. And here's Quinn yours. And I know you're thinking to yourself like, are we sure Archmanning's not going to be the quarterback?

Well, you know what? He might. And if Archmanning's the quarterback, then he would be on this. list. So I basically should say just the Texas quarterback. But if it's yours, which I'm actually expecting him to come back, he will continue to develop and continue to put up quality numbers. This is a highly explosive offense. It will continue to be with Steve Sarkesian. They've got things rolling up front on the offensive and defensive line. They're recruiting at a high level, and yours could sit there and have a tremendous season once again. A year after, who knows?

Maybe they win the national championship. I don't think it would surprise me at all. if any of these four teams in the playoff win the national championship. That's one of the reasons why I'm so excited for this playoff is because I don't think that there is an outright favorite. I think Bama could win the national championship. I think Michigan could win the national championship. I think Texas or Washington. So when you think about that,

maybe Texas is coming off a national championship and there's Quinn Ewers and he would be up there at number one. Now, that being said, there are some guys that I wanted to mention because they didn't fit in my top five, but I think it would be a disservice to you listening to this show to not mention some of these guys. How about Cam Rising at Utah playing in his 75th season of college football? He's going to garner some attention. There's no doubt.

This guy was the back-to-back Pack 12 champ when he was the quarterback. Now he's moving to the Big 12. Their schedule is going to get easier. Utah could very well win another conference championship wind up in the 12-team football playoff. And there's Cam Rising and he would garner a lot of attention. that's number one. Carson Beck. With what Georgia was able to do in the passing game this last year, I know that they're not in the playoff, but Carson Beck will garner a lot of attention.

And rightly so, in so many ways, they evolved offensively from a passing perspective. Now, he's going to have to do that without Brock Bowers, but we'll see that no one recruits like Georgia and they should have athletes out there. How about a guy like Travis Hunter? He's the closest thing that we've had in a long time to a Charles. or a two-way dynamic player, and he's more of a two-way player than even Charles Woodson was to win a Heisman trophy. But there's no doubt that there will be a lot of eyeballs on Colorado.

Again, if they're able to protect Chodor Sanders, think of the numbers that a Travis Hunter could have offensively. If he throws out there and he throws five, six, seven interceptions at you as well, he's going to garner a lot of attention as one of the best players in the country. And then that leads me to my final wildcard. My final wild card is a guy that I don't know where he's going to play. So a lot of this for this player is dependent on what he decides to do. That's Cam Ward.

Cam Ward now is the most coveted piece of the Transfer Portal market. Now, it's good for him. He's going to command a lot of NIL dollars and good for him. But if he goes to the right place and if he makes the right decision, Cam Ward is going to be in the Heisman Trophy race. There's no doubt. Now, there's some places that I just, I don't think that that's the case. If he goes, like, for instance, and this is not a knock, but like,

if he goes to Miami, I don't see him being in the Heisman race. because I don't see Miami having the type of team season that it would require for him to go do that. You know, maybe Florida State is a place, but the one spot where I know he would produce, be developed, and be the centerpiece of a team that would compete for their conference championship, and very likely being the college football playoff is Ohio State. You know, so for me, if Kim Ward were to go to Ohio State, he would be firmly inside of that top five in the Heisman trophy, at least in the preseason. And we'll see where he goes.

But that's a big piece of next year. That is a big piece. That's a big domino that's going to have to fall before next season. It is my favorite time of year. We're almost to the playoffs here. We've got the Heisman trophy. Now we're almost to the holidays. We've got the playoffs coming up.

And as you know, I take it seriously. So when I'm traveling on the road to watch my favorite teams, I know that I cannot risk calling the wrong play with where I stay. I know that I can count on Hampton by Hilton. I can depend on their comfortable rooms, their warm and friendly service, and you know the thing that I love most is their free hot breakfast, go downstairs, get a cup of coffee, get a warm, fresh waffle, absolute game changer. So whether you're cheering on your team from the stands or never leaving the tailgate, Hampton by Hilton will always give you that win. I want to get into the transfer portal and the latest in the transfer portal because I just touched on a couple of the aspects there in that previous Heisman discussion.

David, Dylan Gabriel goes to Oregon, and here's the thing, is when you're looking at Oregon, he's going to replace a quarterback in Bo Nix that had 60 career starts. He's got 49 right now. If he stays healthy, he's going to break Bo Nix's, you know, FBS record. This is a perfect spot for him. It's a perfect coaching staff. And this roster is loaded. Oregon is loaded.

I went back and I looked at my charts from the Utah game. I did the Oregon, Utah game earlier this year. And I remember thinking to myself back then, and I had this discussion with Steve, who's obviously on the podcast, on our games, Steve is the man. And we had this discussion and I just started walking down the two deeps. And I was like, look at all these freshmen. Look at all these second year players. They've got so many guys.

they've got 10 first year players on offensive two deep, six second year players. That's just on the offensive two deep. They've got 16 basically freshmen in the defense on their two deep, four second year players. They're loaded. And a lot of those guys were playing in particular on the defensive front seven. So Oregon's not going anywhere. And in so many ways, they are the best suited of the four West Coast teams going to the Big Ten. they're the best, you know, built right now to go in and have success right away in the Big Ten.

If you were making the top three or four for next year's Big Ten championship, Oregon's in that conversation. Oregon's in that conversation. You obviously are going to have Michigan and Ohio State in that conversation. I think Oregon absolutely is in that conversation. And then it's a question about like, what is the offense going to look like at Penn State? Because I know they've recruited really well. they had their second year players were as talented as any in the country last year. All of those guys are going to be back.

So, you know, that Penn State team is a bit of a wild card. USC is a bit of a wild card. And we'll see about the rest of the conference. Nebraska might be a bit of a wild card with what they're trying to do in the transfer portal. I mean, it's, that's going to be interesting. But again, Gabriel to Oregon, right now for me, I'm not going to look at the transfer portal rankings. it's going to be like, did you get the right pieces to really impact your season? And as of right now, the most impactful transfer piece of this offseason is Dylan Gabriel to Oregon.

Guys, you can't talk about this transfer portal without at least mentioning what Colorado is done. This has been a really good week for Colorado. I know there are a four-win team and there's a sector of college football fans that just like immediately don't want to hear about this. But if they get better in the right spot, they're going to be competitive. Moving to a conference in which they'll have an easier schedule than they did a year ago. If they protect Shador, as I was talking about there in the Heisman discussion, they're going to be a really good team. And so here they are, and they land the top offensive tackle prospect in the high school class,

Jordan Seton, a five-star player. They get, you know, a few other players in the transfer portal, including a guy that was a top 100 player out of high school, Tyler Johnson, he's transferring now from Houston to Colorado. They're going to be a lot better on the offensive line. These guys have size. They should be able to protect, at least better. And I know that Prime is, Coach Prime is excited about this. And Shador is excited about this. So Colorado is starting to make some moves right now. And then when you look at this, here's the thing is that there's always going to be people trying to tear down what, Colorado is doing. Number one, they hit the over of wins. Now, I thought that they had a chance to get

to a bowl game this last year, and they really did. They did have a chance. They had three or four games that they were in, and any play here or there could have gone the other way. Stanford comes to mind. Arizona was a close game. There's two wins right there. That's a bowl team. Okay, so they're close to that point. And any improvement outside of that, now you're talking about eight, nine, maybe even ten wins. Okay. Maybe you can compete for the conference title. And this first year, the new look big 12. And yet, there's people that just constantly want to take shots. Oh, Sean Lewis went to San Diego State.

Yeah, to be a head coach. Like, name a team that doesn't have, you know, some staff turnover. And by the way, when it's for a promotion, good for them. Good for them. And then a player will enter the transfer portal. And like, look at that. The tied in went to the transfer portal. Yes.

I mean, this happens everywhere. It's called college football. And a lot of people taking shots at Colorado's ranking in the high school recruiting rankings, I will just tell you those are aggregate rankings, okay? Those are volume specific. It pays off in your recruiting ranking to have 20, 22, 23, 24, 25 commitments. When you've got 10 like Colorado, because that's all the openings that they have, your ranking is going to get crushed.

What I would suggest that you look at is the average player, rating of the class. Because that will tell you more of the quality of players you're bringing in and the impact that those players may have right away. If you've got an average rating of your class of 90 or more, you're recruiting at a really high level. Now, the elite level is up there like the 92 and a half or higher. Those are the programs like Ohio State and Georgia and Alabama and those teams, right?

But if you look at the average player rating, here's what you'll find. Here's what you'll find. And this is the truth. So here are the facts. Outside of the narratives that you hear pushed by those that want to tear down Coach Prime and Colorado, Coach Prime is dominating right now in recruiting as it relates to the Big 12. Because right now, their average player rating is 90, which is number one in the Big 12. But you don't hear that in some of these articles.

Well, you hear it from me. You hear it from me. So there you have it on Colorado. They're doing a nice job right now. They're doing a nice job. So Army Navy was Saturday. And I wanted to just frame Army Navy for you in this respect. Army Navy is one of the last bucket list games that I have in my life. I would love to cover that game. Now, I know I don't think the contract is.

up until like 2028. And I don't even know if it would move. But that's one of those games. Like in my career, if you were to ask me, Joel, like create three things that you would love to do in your career. I've said two of them publicly. So I'll say it again. I would love to call a national championship game. I would do, I would love to call a Rose Bowl. And then the other one would be like calling Army Navy. That would be incredible. Now, whether those things happen or not, I'm not sure, you know, as of it, as of right now, we don't have those contracts. So we'll see what happens. But that game in so many ways is one of my favorites.

As you know, my dad is former military. My dad was a Marine. He used to take me and my brother down to the Air Force Academy. We grew up in the Colorado area right outside of Denver. And he would take us down to Colorado Springs because he got free tickets because he was a high school football coach after his military days. So he was a veteran of Vietnam, began to coach high school football,

would take us down because he loved to watch the cadets march in. reminded him of his past and being in the military, and he would take us down there. So I fell in love with the service academies, all of them, you know, kind of obviously. And by the way, all of us Americans should be in love with that. When you watch that game and you see the pageantry of the service academies, and then you realize the selfless athletes that are on that field and where they're headed in the coming years, man. in a lot of ways it kind of takes my breath away. And then when you couple that with the game we got in the Army Navy game,

that was sensational. For it to come down to basically a scrum at the end was, I mean, I don't know how it gets any better. I don't know how it gets any better. That was an incredible game. I love that it has its own weekend. I think it actually sets up perfect for what the college football schedule could or should be in the future, and we'll do more on that in subsequent episodes.

But that's a bucket list game. That was an incredible ending. And to every one of those players, every one of those players, to every one of those service members in the stands, thank you from the bottom of my heart and everybody associated with this show. Thank you for what you do now and what you will do in the future. Time for the mailbag. Our mailbag is sponsored by Hampton by Hilton, Hilton for the stay.

The first question comes in from Hampton by Hilton. And it says, Joel, when you're on the road traveling for work, good sleep is a must. So what are your pregame sleep preferences and rituals? How do you prep to call the big noon game? Great question. Sleep is a big deal for me in the fall. I think about it whether I'm on the road or not. And this is why I'm so thankful for Hampton by Hilton is because so much.

much of my sleep routine has to do with consistency. So the first thing is I try to go to sleep or go to bed at the same time every night. Now, over the years, here's what I've learned is that to do the big noon game, a lot of those games are going to be on the East Coast, East Eastern time zone. And I need to make sure that I am not getting up just on Saturday that early. So my body clock. I try to prep it during the course of the entire week. So I try to go to bed anywhere between 845, 9 o'clock or somewhere around there on the West Coast, where I live, so I can start to prep for making sure I'm in bed by somewhere between 11 or 1130 East Coast. Now, what I don't do, and I think this is important, is I don't make unrealistic goals for myself. That's the first thing that

I've learned during the course of all of this traveling. Second thing is consistency. So for me, it's it's the time I go to bed. And then the third thing for me is I try not to look at my phone. Once I get in bed, I try like screens are done. They're off. I'm a big believer that if you're reading a book, then you'll fall asleep a lot sooner. So I always have a book with me. I'll always have notes or articles or something, not a screen.

I'm trying not to, I don't read on my phone. I don't read on an iPad. What I'll try to do is read whether it's about the game or something else. and that generally helps me fall asleep. So those are the things that I do. And again, the consistency helps. And that's why I'm so fortunate and thankful for Hampton because I know that once I get on the road,

I'm going to have the consistency of my room, the comfortable aspect of those beds. I know what the room's going to be like. I know when I'm going to go to bed. I know how I'm going to go to bed. And because of that, I get a nice night's rest. All right. Last one comes in from Liam here in the mailbag.

He says, hey, Joel, I am a hockey player. from the East Coast with family in Ohio, which has turned me into a big Buckeye fan. Your show has made me know a lot more about the sport. I recently got injured at a horrible time and have no idea how long it will take to heal. And it has taken a huge toll on me mentally. I was wondering how you dealt with injuries as a player, especially during your college football career. Thank you. Oh, man.

So Liam, I know this might seem like it's specific to just like an injury. but really what you're talking about here is just adversity. And every one of us listening or me, we've had to deal with adversity. Now, I relate to what you're going through. I had injuries during my college career. And they never happen at a, quote, opportune time. So, you know, the thing that I've learned through my life and learned the hard lessons during my playing days was about perspective.

This is hard because nobody wants to go through hard things. And yet, and yet, going through adversity and going through hard things is the way we actually become tangibly better. It's true. You show me someone that never deals with adversity, and I'll show you someone that is not tested. I have no idea how they're going to react. You show me someone that has been tested,

that has gone through adversity. I'll show you someone that is steeled and ready for anything that comes at them. And the thing that always helped me get through any piece of adversity is small incremental goals, tangible ways where I can know that I can succeed, you know, if it's just a small movement in the injury, it can be a test that you're doing, whether it's a knee or a shoulder, you know, I had an AC joint separation. So I can remember doing like, how far can I lift my arm, you know? And those these little goals where I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure I reach this small incremental goal.

And then I'm going to do that over and over and over and over again until until I'm healthy. and I'm ready to go. And what that does is, is it produces a bunch of elements or opportunities for success versus just defining success as being 100% back. Because if you just define yourself as successful or you define success in your injury or any adversity as being 100% through it, a lot of times that can feel and sense way too far. Way too far. So where are the moments within your adversity where you can define yourself as successful?

Those small incremental periods and moments are vital and important to keep you moving forward. And then for me, this is where my faith has to come into it. And my faith is what I try to have is an even if. Okay. So my prayer would go like this. I would pray specifically for a certain outcome. I'm praying to be healthy by a certain date. But even if that isn't the case, I'm still going to remain faithful, optimistic. I'm still going to have the peace and joy in my life. Even if. Even if you never recover fully from your injury. where are the opportunities for you to maintain the joy and peace in your life? Because it's not always going to happen the way we want it to happen. So even if that happens, how can you still experience joy, experience peace, and have impact on those around you? That would be my last thing.

Liam, I'm really hoping that you heal up. I hope everything goes well for you as you're dealing with that injury. And I appreciate you emailing into the show. Any of you can email into the show. I love questions about life, college football, anything. My baseball days will tell stories during the course of the offseason. And that'll be fun. You can email us at the Joel Clatshow mailbag at gmail.com.

You can follow us on social media at Joel Clat Show, wherever you like to social media. We really love it if you would follow it. the podcast wherever you're listening subscribe on youtube and most of all share with a friend because this sport is awesome and it's always better when you share it with someone that you love thanks for watching and listening everybody we'll be back later this week