The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Klatt’s Heisman vote & his Top 5 favorites for 2026 + the latest on the Michigan coaching search

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

FOX Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt reacts to Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza winning the Heisman before revealing who he voted for on his official ballot. He then looks ahead and lists his Top 5 favorites to win the Heisman next season and explains why there should be a crowded list of candidates in 2026. Klatt celebrates the Army-Navy game that turned into a classic. He then gives his thoughts on Utah’s Kyle Whittingham stepping down as Head Coach and tells some behind-the-scenes stories from his time covering him. Klatt provides the latest that he’s hearing in the Michigan coaching search including who their top targets are and why this such a tough time for them, in particular, to be conducting a search. Klatt wraps up the show with a rant about player and team announcements with regards to their players deciding to come back for another season. Head to www.eckrich.com/TakeItToTheHouse and enter the time on the clock for your shot at winning tickets & a trip to the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship. Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/KLATT10 Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you are at your best, when you are great, when greatness is needed, and Fernando Bendoza was that in spades. Every single time they needed a big throw, a big drive, he was there, the Army Navy game, and it did not disappoint. Tip of the cap and thank you so much for your service. I'm incredibly indebted to you. Hey, welcome into the program. This is Joel Clatt.

I'm Joel Clatt, and we are brought to you by graduate by Hilton. them for their support as always. What a week of college football, even though we didn't have a ton of games. We had the great Army Navy game. We'll react to that. Obviously, we have a new Heisman trophy winner. We've got more news in coaching circles. I've got a little bit of a rant. I'm feeling a little bit like an old guy, so you're going to want to tune in for that. There's no doubt at the end of this program. But a lot to break down and get into here as we get into playoff week. And we're going to have these games starting on Friday night as Bama is going to travel to Oklahoma. more on that in a little bit as well.

Hey, before we get into everything, just make sure to subscribe to the show here on the YouTube channel. You can hit the notification button. You can get in the comments below. That would obviously be awesome. Now, if you're listening to this show, it's a podcast, please rate and review us wherever you're listening. And then you can follow us on social media.

If you want this content in shorter form, wherever you like to social media, we are there. And you can find us at Joel Klatt Show. I don't normally wear a lot of logos, but I'm sporting the Dude Perfect hoodie right now. You know, I always support the Rose Bowl, but I got to support my guys over at Dude Perfect. Listen, if you've got boys or really, you know, any kids or, heck, any adults as well,

you know about Dude Perfect right here on YouTube. They are legendary. Their videos are incredible. They're family friendly. They have been really, I would say like a godsend in our house, because with three boys, man, we consume a lot of this. Dude Perfect content. Well, if you did not know, we did a bit of a collab this year with Dude Perfect where I was involved in some of their gaming on the college football game. And I would give them

updates and break down some of the games that they played on their gaming platform. Well, they're making a bit of a playoff run. They sent me some stuff. I wanted to rep them out right here. So Kevin Sparkman, thank you very much for your support. Tyler Tony, everybody over there with Dude Perfect, all the dudes. I'm repin. My kids love you guys. and if you haven't checked it out, go and check out, Dude Perfect. The content is incredible. Okay. Now we get into the college football conversation.

We start with the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious award, I think, individually, in all of sports. I can't think of another award that you can win in sports that is as prestigious as the Heisman Trophy. There's just so, I mean, there is just so much behind. There's the history. There's the legacy. there's what it means to the school, there's what it means to this player. And heck, you get to be in those awesome commercials for a long time, which is, you know, a plus, I would say.

And Fernando Mendoza etches his name in the Heisman Trophy. Congratulations to Fernando Mendoza. What an incredible year. And he becomes the very first Indiana Hoosier to win the Heisman Trophy. So congratulations to Indiana and Indiana football and all the people there. Listen, I've gotten to know those people over the years covering the big. 10 and now covering this rise of this football program in Bloomington, which has been special. Because let's face it, a couple of years ago, the only reason that Gus and Jenny and I were

going to Bloomington was because, like, you know, maybe number two Michigan or number two, Ohio State was coming to town. And that was our game for that weekend. And trust me, I've done those games. And we call them half loaf games. And it's like, you've got one great team and it's just whoever they're playing. And that was the only reason we would ever go to Indiana. And now, Indiana is the reason we go to Indiana. Indiana is the reason that we pick games, even when they're on the road. And they're drawing enormous numbers, enormous numbers.

And because people love to see this, the rise. And I just, I got to tell you, I'm happy for everybody involved. Obviously, Kurt Signetti, the administration at Indiana and everybody, you know, a guy like Jeff Keg, who is the sports information director, who we deal with a lot. Like, I'm happy for Jeff. This is an incredible moment for this entire program and certainly for Fernando Mendoza, for his family,

everything that he's been through with his mom and her health issues. Alberto, his backup, who's his brother, who he shared a room with his whole life. What a story. What a story. Transfer's in from Cal and has a magical year. And now they're number one in the country, than a number one seed in the college football playoff.

And I mean, you can't write this stuff. This is a Hollywood script. There's no doubt. So I'll share with you. We can't obviously before the announcement, but I'll share with you how I voted. I am a Heisman voter. I did vote Fernando Mendoza number one.

I think that was a pretty obvious vote for number one, in particular because of the way he played in his biggest games. More on that in a moment. I did. You cast three names. my names were Jeremiah Love in my second position and Jacob Rodriguez in my third position. Obviously, the running back from Notre Dame linebacker from Texas Tech. They had incredible years.

And congratulations for finishing that high in the Heisman trophy really quickly. By the way, there was a pretty big gap between Jacob Rodriguez who finished fifth and the sixth place vocator, which I believe was Jeremiah Smith, if I'm not mistaken, if I saw the graphic right. I don't understand why they don't just bring the five guys. Like, bring five every year. Bring five. And if you finish in the top five and the Heisman Trophy voting, you should be considered a finalist.

It's big for your school. It's big for the individual. Like, we remember it. We remember the ceremony. Chris Fowler does an incredible job with that ceremony. Everybody over there does. honoring those teams and those schools and the players, just bring five.

I've been saying this forever. Just bring five. But that's how I voted for. Fernando Mendoza, one, Jeremiah Love, two. and Jacob Rodriguez was my third place vote getter. Let's go into why I voted Fernando Mendoza number one. Why did I think it was such a no-brainer? Well, he not only had the numbers, which you have to have,

that's a prerequisite. He was, I think, the most important player on a great team, which I think goes without saying, obviously, is the number one team of the country. But more than that, you've got to play great when greatness is needed. You see, I've said this a lot, whether it's on this, show or during games. And that is like, it's a rare thing when you are at your best, when you are great,

when greatness is needed. And Fernando Bendoza was that in spades this year for Indiana. Think about some of the performances that he had late in games. It was remarkable. Every single time they needed a big throw, a big drive, he was there, orchestrating it, making the plays, making the checks, throwing the ball down the field. This guy's had absolute ice water in his veins against their best competition. That's another reason why I thought it was a no-brainer is that you looked at some of these other guys.

And like, let's face it, you know, Rodriguez is a linebacker. And Julian San loses the toughest game he played all year to Indiana. Diego Pavia loses the two toughest games he plays all year. Jeremiah Love loses the two toughest games he played all year. Guess who didn't do that? Fernando Mendoza. like let's go all the way back. Let's start at the beginning here.

All right. Let's start. Iowa, it is an incredibly difficult place to play. And what does this guy do? Yeah, he throws a pick late. Could go in the tank. What does he do? It comes back.

It's tied. It's under two minutes. Boom. Touchdown. Drives him down the field and scores at Iowa against a really good Hawkeyes defense. Really good Hawkeyes defense. Then they've got to go out to Otson Stadium.

Everyone's saying like, okay, this is when Indiana comes crashing back to Earth. All of us, including me, thought that Oregon was like, hey, my Oregon's favorite. This is a team that's likely going to win this game. We love Dante Moore. We love the balance that Oregon showed, the defense that Oregon showed. What did this guy do?

He goes out there and plays unreal, in particular late, in particular late. Now, again, he did make a mistake and he throws a pick. It goes pick six and all of a sudden it's tied up at 20 in the fourth quarter. and then he drives his team right down the field and scores and goes up and they win by 10. I still believe that they have two of the three best wins in all of college football during the course of the year. I think Bama at Georgia is up there, Indiana at Oregon, and then Indiana beating Ohio State. Those are the best wins of the season.

And this guy orchestrated two of them and was sensational down the stretch in that. After throwing the pick six, he drives him right down. Then he goes to Penn State. He's on the road. and that place started really going. Gus and I, of course, on the call, and Omar Cooper happens in the back of the end zone. But before Omar Cooper happened, it was Fernando Mendoza on second and 18 after a sack when you had to have it.

What does he do? He made incredible throws, right down the seam multiple times. One to Cooper, one to Noakowski, finds Charlie Becker on the sideline. He was clutch in the best moments. Then you get into the toughest game he had all season, against Ohio State and the number one defense in the country, four first round draft picks. He was sensational late.

Throws the touchdown to Elijah Serat on the little slot fade over the left side, finds Becker on the huge third down conversion that basically ices the game. He was brilliant. So why did Fernando Mendoza earn my number one vote, earn the Heisman trophy? Because he was best when greatness was needed. When the stage called for it, he played like the most outstanding player in college football.

Congratulations to Fernando Mendoza. I'll tell you, getting to know this guy. He is as authentic as they come. I would call him a football nerd in the best possible way. And I wish him all the luck in the world, both in the future and, of course, in this playoff run. Let's look ahead, shall we, towards next year's Heisman Trophy. There's going to be some incredible candidates. I know that we haven't finished this season, but now that we've wrapped up this

Heisman Trophy, we look forward to next year. It's really hard not to start with the top two guys being. a guy that just finished as a finalist and Julian San and a guy that just finished, I believe, sixth in the voting, which was Jeremiah Smith. So they would probably be my one and two, Dante Moore three at Oregon. I think that Marcel Reed at A&M, he's going to have Craver back, most likely, and he would be my number four. And then watch out for Demand Williams.

You know, like, that's a guy that I think could be up there. So my Heisman favorites for next year are five DeMond Williams, for Marcel Reed, three Dante Moore, two Jeremiah Smith, and one Julian Sane. But here's the thing. It was really difficult to pick that list because there's a lot of great names. This is one of the benefits of name image and likeness, the revenue sharing that we've got in college football is that guys are going to stay in college football longer. And I think that we're going to have an incredible amount of stars. So I started trying to make this list earlier, and you start listing guys out.

And you're like, hold on a second. He could probably be in a top five Heisman list. He could be in a top five Heisman list. And all of a sudden, the list is like 15 names. Check this out. Check this out. Where does Sam Levitt end up? Who knows?

You know, he could probably be on there. Guys like C.J. Carr at Notre Dame, Malachi Tony and Miami. He was incredible. Amad Hardy is coming back. He was absolutely incredible. from Missouri. Bo Jackson at Ohio State just ran for 1,000 yards for Ohio State as a true freshman. Wayman Jordan is coming back to USC. He could put up huge numbers. Whoever the Indiana quarterback is going to be next year is going to put up huge numbers. Whoever is going to be the LSU quarterback

next year is going to put up monster numbers. And then I just started listing other guys out, like Lenora Sellers. Is Jaden Maiava coming back to USC? He would be right up there. Obviously, I already said Dante Moore, Trinidad Chambliss. They've officially submitted a request for an extra year for Trinidad Chamblis. So is he going to be back at Ole Miss? That would be interesting. Andrew Marsh at Michigan, Bryce Underwood at Michigan, Justice Haynes at Michigan. You got Gunner Stockton at Georgia.

Is he going to be back? You've got Jordan Davison and Deere Hill at Oregon, both back in the backfield. Arch Manning, haven't even listed him. Is Ty Simpson coming back and playing for the tide? Who knows? John Matier at Oklahoma. get what I'm trying to say here? Like, depending on some draft decisions,

like next year looks loaded with talent in college football, loaded with talent. I'm sure I'm missing some guys, and I hate the fact that I could be missing some guys. There's, I'm sure, guys that are going to transfer and be great, and I apologize for missing you right now. And here's the thing. Here's what's so great about the mom.

modernization. Modernization. Am I saying that right? I don't think I'm saying that right. Modernization of college football. If I'm not, I'm sure I'll hear about it in the comments. So just throw it down there. Am I pronouncing that incorrectly?

Probably, probably, but whatever. What's up, Clats show fans? If you're looking for a great gift idea or something fun to do with your friends and family, look no further than Seat Geek. With over 35 million downloads, Seat Geek is the number one rated ticketing app out there. Now, there are more than 70,000 events listed like concerts, festivals,

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Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account so you can use it later. A huge thank you to Seat Geek for sponsoring today's show. In this era of college football, I don't think that the decision is quite as cut and dry about whether you have to go to the NFL or not. Now, obviously, this has been talked about it, but I wanted to give you some sense of the numbers

because as the numbers in college football grow, in particular with revenue sharing, that it's not just a booster cut in the check and everything like that, but through revenue sharing, now these guys, like, listen, if you're not in the top half of the first round, the dollars and cents,

you know, it's kind of a wash, to be honest with you. And you can make a strong argument that if you play your cards right, if you develop well and you play well, that you could get yourself into the top half of the first round in next year's draft, and then all of a sudden it not only makes sense, but it's absolutely what you should do. So think about this.

All right, we've got all these quarterbacks trying to make a decision, Jordan Mayava, maybe Ty Simpson, you know, these guys, these type guys. And you start thinking about like, well, where will they be draft? Well, let's just take sake of argument. Tyler Shuck last year was, I think, the 40th pick. And he got a four-year, $10 million contract. Sounds incredible, right? But obviously, averaged out, that's well under $2.5 million.

Now, part of that also is a signing bonus. So he gets $4 million in a signing bonus. So the first year, he's making like $4 to $6 million, which is great. And it's more than you would make in college. But the problem is, after that first year, you get into the latter years of that contract and you're making between $800,000 and $1,000 and $1,000,000, because it's front-loaded. All right. So that's not great. And you're a second-round draft pick that doesn't have a ton invested in you from an organizational perspective.

And do you really get an opportunity to start? Is that the best and most advantageous place to be in order to try to earn your second contract, which is, of course, the more lucrative contract? the one that everybody wants when they go to the National Football League. So you can do that. You can go. You can say, like, okay, I'll take my chances. Maybe I'm not a top half of the first round, but I'm going to be a draft pick. And it's going to be pretty high.

Hey, because early, second, late first, these types of things. Okay. And I know that the numbers are rough. But these quarterbacks that have a proven track record at places with resources are going to make anywhere between high twos to high threes in terms of million. of dollars next year and college, which is insane, yes, but, but think about that. So maybe you take a little bit less for this one year, but you get to develop, you get to have more reps, and you can propel that, catapult that, use that to your advantage in order to

get to the top half of the first round, where then you get the big contract, where you get the, you know, $13 million signing bonus. You get all of that invested into you. Now, the organization needs you to succeed. They want you to get to the second contract. Like, to me, that's why we're going to have more guys staying college football. And I think that that's a good thing. I really do. You come back, you get drafted like 12th, and you're going to get, you know, a large signing bonus. You're going to have a lot invested in you from an NFL perspective. So that equation, I hope, is going to lead some of these quarterback's back. By the way, that's not even to mention the fact that, and you guys know I always talk about this, the guys that succeed in the NFL and win Super Bowls, by and large, have long

college careers. They are incredibly prepared to go to the NFL. They've started 30 plus games. They've attempted well over 1,000 passes. You know, we've got the numbers, and it's pretty overwhelming. The guys that succeed have a ton of reps in college. So why not take those reps? You can make a lot of money doing it. You can get yourself into a position where you can become a better draft pick moving forward. I think that's why we're going to see a lot of these guys coming back and on something like a Heisman list for next year. So I'm excited for next year already, even though we haven't even crowned a national champion. We're going to have a lot of great players back in the fold for next year in college football. Now on the field, Saturday was one of

my favorite days in college football, which is the Commander-in-Chiefs trophy. It is the Army-Navy game, and it did not disappoint. That game always is one of my favorites. I was talking with Steve earlier today, as you know, Steve and I prepare for this. And he said something that was like really interesting. And I thought about it for a second. I was like, yes, that's exactly right. And I've gone back and watched some of the film as well, the coaches tape. And he said, like, that game And it's more than just the colors, but it's also the style of play is just aesthetically pleasing. And he's exactly right. And that's what it is.

That game is college football. I love that game. I love that game. And obviously what it means to our country and what we know these men are preparing to do for us after they're done playing college football, which is really remarkable and selfless and tip of the cap. And thank you so much for your service, for your self. selfless attitude. I'm so grateful we live in a country where we've got guys like that that we saw compete

on that field that are about to go protect our freedoms, protect us, and do everything that needs to be done in order to keep this country free and safe. And that's why I love that game, obviously. And then the game turns out to be an absolute classic. Army had to pick six overturned, cut that I&T with a knee down. So they had to settle for a field goal. And then you get all the wild wacky fumbles and recoveries, the fourth downs. And Navy ends up coming back and Horvath ends up, you know,

ice in the game on a fourth down. Heidenreich recovers the fumble, Eli Hydenreich. And then he catches the fourth down touchdown, which is awesome. Like, it's, I mean, come on, man. Like this game is fantastic. Navy got that fourth and one conversion after Horvath recovers the fumble. on the previous play. It had everything in there. And then to watch the celebration at the end, it's everything that's great about college football. I love this country. I love that game.

And again, thank you to all of you that are about to go and serve this great nation because I'm incredibly indebted to you. Navy wins the Commander-in-Chief's trophy for the second straight year. So congratulations to them. That was a really cool deal on Saturday. I can't wait to get out there. Here's the hard part. It's like, it's the first weekend that I'm ever not on a plane. for since August. And with three boys, it's like the last thing I want to do is get on an airplane, but I've got to take them at some point to this game, and I will. I will at some point.

I think it's time now for our weekend check-in presented by graduate by Hilton, hotels made for fans in all your favorite college towns. You know I love them. You should too. You will. Trust me, when you go to these games, you take these trips. Stay at a graduate. They are awesome.

Okay. coaching news from around the country. I'm going to start out with one that is a bit close, which is Kyle Whittingham at Utah is going to step away after 21 seasons as the Utah head coach. He's been on staff for 32 years at Utah. He is Utah. I love Kyle Whittingham. I think he is a tremendous football coach.

I love covering his teams. I love watching his teams compete. They play hard. They play the right way. He's born out of toughness and physicality. This is a man that is honest with his players, with us when we come into town. I've loved every interaction that I've ever had with Kyle. I can't wait for him to go and enjoy playing golf and enjoy skiing.

He's an avid skier. I want him to enjoy his grandkids. He deserves it. He has been a class act his entire career. I'm very thankful to have covered him and his teams. And I just want to wish him the best of luck. There's no doubt. A couple more things on Kyle.

First and foremost would be a quick story that I wanted to tell you. Because Kyle's a competitive dude and he's very in shape. You can tell, you know, on the sidelines. He's in an incredible shape. I have a Peloton bike and like I like to ride the Peloton bike fairly hard. So I'm competitive with it. And I can get up there and post some decent numbers. Okay.

Let me just say that. Don't worry. Don't worry. This is not about me. So Kyle walks into our production meeting. This is two years ago, I think it was. We're in town to do a Utah game. And on Fridays, we meet with the home coaches. And Kyle always works out right before he walks into the production meeting. And that's how he's always done it, you know, and he always walks in with a towel around his neck. And he sits down and he's still sweating a little bit. And he does the production meeting. Now, I always love our conversations because, again, he's honest. He's forthright, loves his team, and he does it the right way.

But he sits down and he was, he was like extra tired and he was sweating hard. And he sits down. And he goes, I just kicked your ass on the Peloton. He's staring right at me. And of course, my whole crew starts laughing. And we're just like, wait, what do you mean? He's like, yeah, I found your name on there. And so he had found a rye.

that I had done, like a 45-minute ride, and he found my name on the leaderboard, and then he just put it in his head. He's like, well, I'm going to beat him today. And he did. And I'm just like, I'm telling you, I rode really hard, and it was a high number. It was not an easy number. I believe it was, I think it was something like 620, 650, something like this, maybe on a 45-minute ride, if I'm not mistaken, or maybe it was a 30-minute ride, and it was like 580. I don't know. One of those two. But anyways, like, I was impressed when he said that. And from that point on, that's all my crew would talk about. That's all he and I would talk about when we saw each other. And then the last thing that I would say, I've got three sons. And I don't know if they'll be athletes in college. I don't know.

But if any of them were ever to be a college football player, here's the greatest compliment that I can pay any college football coach is when I would say, I would want my son to play for Kyle Wittingham. And there's only a few guys that I'll say that about. He's one of them. He's one of the best. And so Kyle, congratulations, man. You are a class act. And I'm really happy that you guys had a successful year here in your last year. Winning his coach in program history, 177 wins two-time national coach of the year in 08 and 2019. Now, they don't have to get on the carousel because they knew that this was coming and they're going to plan to do what we've seen other quality programs do, which is higher from within. So Morgan Scali, their coordinator, defensive coordinator has been named the head coach. He was the coach in waiting for a few years now.

And so they knew that this was going to happen. They've been prepping for this. They hired other assistant coaches last offseason with this in mind. So I think Utah is not going to miss a beat personally. I think Morgan is more than suited to pick up that torch and carry it forward for the Utah Utes. All right, Indiana has agreed to an extension with their coordinator, defensive coordinator, Brian Haynes. You've heard me say his name on this show.

This dude is one of the best coordinators in the country. Think about what he's done with this Indiana team. They're second in the nation in defense. And he just put together an incredible game plan against Ohio State in that Big Ten championship game. love talking to him. This dude knows ball. He knows how to win. He's now been in this Signetti tree for a long time.

Their continuity has been great, and they're going to keep them. So they're investing heavily in this program to try to keep this going, and I think that they will. I really do. So Brian Haynes is going to sign an extension, be one of the top paid assistant coaches in the country that would put him well over $3 million. And that's what they're going to be paying their assistant coach.

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take it to the house time. Then you head over to the website, www. eckrich.com slash take it to the house and enter that exact time for your shot at winning tickets and a trip to the 26 college football national championship. So keep your eyes on the clock and eckrich in your game plan because it's almost take it to the house time. Michigan continues their coaching search. Obviously, that's taken a lot of twists and turns and not in a good way. But as far as where the search is right now, here's the latest. of what I've been hearing. And of course, it changes almost by the hour.

So at the time that I'm recording this, I still believe that the three names that they are looking at are names like Kenny Dillingham at Arizona State, Clark Lee at, of course, Vanderbilt, and Kalyn DeBore. I would still throw that out there. And I know I'm recording this after Kalin has come out and put out a statement, but I'll just say this. that statement was like, if you really read it, it's like, I haven't had any conversations. Okay. You know, the ending part, I have not spoken and have no interest in speaking with anyone else about any other job. I am fully committed to this program and look forward to continuing as the head football coach at the University of Alabama.

Now, it seems cut and dry. Maybe I'm crazy. I don't know. We'll see. And until there's ink on a contract and he's signing an extension at Alabama, I think that there's still going to be smoke in the air. So we'll see what goes on with Kaelin DeBoer. Dillingham, I think, is interesting.

And Clark Lee is interesting as well. Now, we knew that this was not a great time for Michigan. They're at the tail end of this thing as far as the coaching carousel goes. So it's going to be difficult for them. And again, I think that they should not be scared by extensions. Okay, so a guy signed an extension. Great. Like, go talk to them.

See what you've got. There's obviously problems with all three of these guys. DeBoer has a game on Friday, so it's not like, and that's going to only dig his heels in at Bama, because it's not like he can say, he can't do the Kiffin deal and just be like, I'm not going to comment on open jobs. He's not going to do that. So he might dig his heel-ins because of the Friday game that they have with Oklahoma. If they win, he would be playing January 1st. The portal opens the next day.

So that creates some hair on Kailin DeBore. Dillingham is at his alma mom. and they're reportedly working on an extension with Kenny Dillingham at Arizona State. There's also some family dynamics that might keep him in the Phoenix area. Clark Lee already signed an extension at his alma mater. But again, you know, like, I think that you've got to kick the tires on a guy that you would feel might be a good fit. So those are three names I think you still keep an eye on. If they miss out on one of those guys, I don't know.

I would just say this. I don't think it's ever time to panic. If anything, you know, at the, what was it, early 2000s, when USC went, what, five names deep to find Pete Carroll and then went on a historic run at USC. So there's a lot of guys that can succeed. No one thought Kurt Signetti was going to do what he did at Indiana. So even if it's not one of those names, you've just got to dig until you find the right fit and the right guy at Michigan. Unfortunately for Michigan and Michigan fans and the department, this search is now going to coincide with an announced investigation or query

into the practices and culture of the athletic department. Not great. That's going to be difficult for Ward Manuel as he's trying to navigate this whole coaching search and it might hamstring it pretty severely because as a head coach or a prospective head coach, What you would want to do is be hired by the guy that you will work for, ultimately. And if that's in question at Michigan, based on some investigation or query into practices and culture, which is very vague, you want to find something in terms of culture? I mean, like, isn't that fairly subjective? Probably. Probably. So a vague investigation or query, not great. Not great at Michigan.

And of course, they've had a lot of different things happen. The sign stealing, assistant coaches, getting in trouble in pretty severe legal cases. Now, obviously, the Sharon Moore incident that has happened over the last couple of weeks. So we'll see what happens at Michigan. This is going to impact the search, by the way. And we'll see how dramatically it impacts the search here in the coming days and weeks. Last thing that I wanted to touch on before I get out of here. Listen, I don't normally do this.

I don't think I normally do this because, as you know, I remain very optimistic about our sport. I really do. I think college football is in a great spot. I think that it can get better. That doesn't mean that I'm blind to the problems. And some people are like, what are you talking about? It's ruined. It's not ruined.

It's not ruined. And if handled properly, these. issues that we face in college football, like the calendar and, you know, player movement and coaching movement and these things that are frustrating to fans, they're fixable. So I'm not going to throw out college football and be all displeased with the entire sport when the things that are broken are fixable. These are fixable issues. Meanwhile, there's a lot of things that are incredible. Like what I just talked about with the Heisman trophy and guys being able to come back and they don't have to go to the National Football League. The product has never been better. The interest has never been higher. Now, you know, call me an optimist. I will wear that. I will wear that hat proudly. I will be an optimist for college football. This sport is amazing. And it will be amazing for the foreseeable future. With that being said, I can't with the, re-signing of players.

I'm sorry. Oh, man. I started seeing some of these announcements on social media. Guys would text me these announcements. And this is going to sound like I'm picking on guys. This is not their fault. This is not their fault. Okay.

But like Malik Washington, Weiman Jordan, Lenora Sellers, there's all these stories about like, oh, they're going to come, you know, they're resigning. They're working on a deal. to stay. And I'm like, I don't want to, I don't want to hear that. I don't want to see it.

This isn't, wait, you mean, was he about to leave? You know, this is so different than in the National Football League when your favorite team has a player that you love that you know is a free agent. And then they re-sign him and you're like, nice. that feels a lot different than like, I'm a fan of a college team and I just think that this player who's committed to this school,

who's at this school, who has more eligibility left, and is making a large sum of money through NIL, and then all of a sudden he's like, I'm re-signing. It's like, I didn't know you thought about leaving. It feels a lot different, doesn't it? It feels a lot different. And candidly, I don't like this. I don't like it.

And I'm trying, like, I'm not upset about it. But we need to stop. We need to stop. This is one of those things. This turns fans off. You think that it's like a huge plus. And you think your fan base is going to be excited about it. I'm just telling you, programs out there,

stop sending these messages out because it sends the wrong message. We didn't know these players were about to leave in the first place. Let us be dumb and ignorant about it. I don't want to know. I don't want to know that that player was about to leave. unless he re-signed another deal. Right? And this, by the way,

this goes more to the point of the idea of guardrails and structure in our sport that would allow everyone to flourish. Because here's the thing. I don't think that this is good for players either. I really don't. And let me tell you why. These contracts can be binding

and they can be loose. But it all depends on how they're negotiated because there's not a formality to the process. So the schools can kind of do whatever they want to do and they're making their own rules. And then there are some representation out there that is representing college players and they want to play by their own rules. And some of the representatives, by the way, not very sophisticated. Guess why? Because they're not representing a client that is a part of an association or a union.

So they don't have to register. so the players can hire whomever. It can be like Uncle Eddie driving in with the tenement on wheels. You know, it's like coasted in the town on fumes, you know, traded it with a buddy for mine, the RV straight up. We don't know who these representatives are. That's not to say that all of them are bad, but there are some that certainly don't know what they're doing. Certainly don't know what they're doing. So there are players because of that that are signing contracts that they don't even really know what they're signing.

I mean, you're seeing some of this right now. Like Georgia is suing Damon Wilson after his transfer to Missouri because they believe the contract states that he owes them money because he left. Okay, so like, well, did he know that? Did the representatives know that and advise him to leave anyways? That's probably bad advice, right? So I believe that more structure towards an association and a collectively bargained agreement

would allow us to force the players to sign representation that is registered with the association. Then you know who's coming in and you can standardize some of these deals. I personally believe that you should have like one-year contracts, two-year contracts, three-year contracts, and they should be negotiated as such.

Listen, if you're a player and I'm a school and you're saying to me, like, I'm willing to be at your place for three years and not move. I'll give you more money. Obviously, more money per year. But if you sit in front of me and you're like, no, no, no, I want a one-year contract. And after this, I want to be able to have my options open. Well, at least I know.

And then that's going to allow the program to build their roster in what I think is a more appropriate fashion. It's going to allow all the people that are in the transfer portal and being recruited as high school players to understand what seats are open and what programs and how many. So you would essentially have like a portion of the roster that could move. So you would know how to recruit those players back if they are free agents. Other people would know how many seats are open at that place. All of this would be better.

More information would be better for everybody involved for the agents, for the program, and for the players. This is pretty obvious. This is pretty obvious stuff. and then we would only get a resigning tweet or whatever social media post if it was a player that was actually a free agent. Doesn't that make more sense? It's got to make more sense.

Of course it makes more sense. And it would be way better because right now, I didn't know these players were thinking about leaving. So no, it actually makes me more panicked. It doesn't make me relieved. It doesn't make me excited. I just think to myself like, wait, he was going to leave? So I think it would be better all around if we just did what is necessary.

Listen, Congress is not going to act. It's not going to give intercollegiate athletics antitrust exemption. It's not going to do so. The only avenue towards fixing the structure of our sport, towards fixing the calendar, towards fixing when coaches can leave and not leave, fixing NIL, fixing revenue share, fixing player movement. The only way to do that is through a collectively bargained agreement. These players have to be considered employees, period.

And the more we can get closer to that, the better for the entirety of the sport. Okay, we're going to be back on Thursday with our picks for the first round of the college football playoff. Let's go. It is here. Cannot wait. Again, I ranted on something, but I love this thing. I love this sport.

I'm going to love these playoffs. Even if two of these games are going to be lopsided, at least in my estimation, neither here nor there. We're going to break these games down. We will pick the games on Thursday. So come back to the Joel Clash show on Thursday. I will be here breaking them all down. And then, of course, next week we'll have our thoughts recapping all the games that happen over the weekend. Have a great week, everybody.

And I hope you're enjoying this holiday season. Can't wait for Christmas. Merry Christmas to you guys. Hope you guys are getting your shopping in. And we'll talk to you on Thursday. Have a great week.