The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - The 2020 season is here! Klatt ranks his Top 10 teams & talks Texas football with Tom Herman

Episode Date: September 9, 2020

Joel Klatt ranks his top 10 teams in the country in this very... unique... college football season. He also catches up with Tom Herman about the state of Texas football, Sam Ehlinger, and if they'll ever resume that great rivalry game with Texas A&M. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is up and welcome to Breaking the Huddle. I'm Joel Claddle be with you all year long. And before we get started, just a big shout out to Dr. Pepper, the official drink of Fansville, who is bringing you breaking the huddle in this new way. Listen, college football is going to look different. Breaking the huddle is going to look different. Welcome to my house. We're socially distanced, but we've got the same energy.

We love college football and it's back. It's game week. Can you feel it? We're actually going to see some football this Saturday after getting those appetizers for the last couple of weeks. Lots to get into today. I'm going to give you my top 10 teams in the country. Then we're going to pull out the teams that are not playing, and I'll give you my top 10 teams that are still playing the season here in college football. We've got a great conversation with Texas head coach Tom Herman coming up, as well as my breakdown of why Trevor

Lawrence is my best quarterback in college football. We're also going to get to your feedback and some of your questions on social media at the end of the show. But without further ado, let's get into it. the top 10 teams in the country right now. I started this top 10 with the Big 10 and Pac-12 available, and this is the way that I would have rated them if it was a normal year. But it's not. So Ohio State and Penn State, sorry, but you're not going to be included in my top 10 teams who are still playing.

So let's go through the revised top 10 of the teams that we're going to see this fall. At number 10, a team that I really like and is not getting a lot of pub outside of, of some of the controversies that have surrounded them during the course of the off season. I really like Oklahoma State, guys. I think with a returning quarterback and Spencer Sanders, he's going to cut down on his turnovers. He's got Thailand Wallace back after that ACL injury. He's got the best running back, I believe, in college football and Chuba Hubbard.

Watch out. That's an explosive team. And remember, oh, you, while I have them rated higher than Oklahoma State, they've got a tough schedule more on that in a little bit. At number nine, I've got Auburn. One of the things that you'll hear me say constantly during the course of the season is that this SEC schedule is going to look. It's going to feel so much different. I can't wait to see how these teams navigate this schedule having to play each other each and every week

because it's going to be so different than what we've seen in the past with those eight game conference schedules. But for right now, the ninth team in the country is going to be Auburn. At number eight, I'm going to go with LSU. LSU is in a precarious spot right now because they're trying to break in a new quarterback. They've had several opt-outs. They've got new coordinators, and they haven't had an off-season to get things done. So while you're trying to repeat as a national champion, not many things are going in their favor, at least at this point.

They're very talented, love their head coach at O. So I've got them right now at number eight. Number seven, I'm going to go with Notre Dame. And I know that this is higher than maybe some people would put Notre Dame. But think about it now. Notre Dame has what I feel like is a really good returning quarterback. They've got a head coach that, knows what he's doing and knows how to win. And they've been a 10-win team three straight years.

So while they're getting a new offensive coordinator, he's not going to feel new to the program. Tommy Reese is going to go from quarterback coach to offensive coordinator. And I think that that could actually help Ian Book become a better player because here's a guy he's comfortable with from his meeting room. Now he's going to have the keys to the offense, that could help him in the long run. So I like Notre Dame in that new revamped ACC schedule. At number six, I'm going to go with Texas. Again, a team that people are going to hate on me for putting up there. I don't want your hate.

I don't want it. Look, they got a returning quarterback, really good head coach. The defense is experienced now. Remember all the injuries they sustained last year? I mean, a plethora of injuries, would you say? Yes, I would say a plethora of injuries. And now they've got all that experience back on the field. They've recruited very well.

We're going to talk with Tom Herman here in a little bit. This is a schedule that I think benefits Texas as opposed to OU and the way that the Big 12 has revamped it. So I like Texas a lot at number six. Now let's roll through the top five as I see it. Georgia is going to be an interesting one. I think Georgia for me is a team that probably should be higher, but I'm going to put them at five because of the new coordinator. The new quarterback, J.T. Daniels is probably going to be the guy after Jamie Newman opted out.

But we'll see their defense, by the way, should be excellent. Lots of returning players and talent on that defense. At number four, I've got Oklahoma. Oklahoma still has Lincoln Riley, folks, and it doesn't matter who his quarterback is. This one's going to be a redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler, probably going to be in New York or wherever they're going to have the Heisman trophy, probably on Zoom somewhere.

The Zoom Heisman Trophy finalists probably includes Spencer Rattler because at this point it's a right of passage. The OU quarterback becomes a Heisman finalist. Florida at number three, I love Florida out of the east and the SEC folks. Kyle Trask and Kyle Pitts, or excuse me, Trask and Pitts are the guys I think are going to lead that offense under Dan Mullen and do special things. Pitts is one of the more underrated tight ends in the country. Trask is a guy that I really think could have a big year.

So I like Florida out of the east. And then the top two teams, it's Bama and it's Clemson. Without Ohio State playing, these two teams are the class of college football right now. Alabama getting Dylan Moses back is absolutely enormous. All right. Last year, their defense wasn't even close to what Bama normally puts out in large part, because they didn't have Dylan Moses. Now having him back allows the offense to get their feet wet with a new quarterback.

Probably Mack Jones will see what Bryce Young's able to do. They still have Najee Harris. They still have those great wide receivers. They've recruited really well on the offensive line. Alabama is going to be a really good team. The only thing that I'm interested to see is how they deal with that new SEC schedule playing 10 league games. And number one in the country is the Clemson Tigers. When you've got a coach like Davos Sweeney, when you've got a quarterback like Trevor Lawrence,

I think it's easy to put them up there. Think about what they've been able to do. They are, along with Alabama right now, really the cream of the crop as it comes to college football. LSU is putting themselves up there. But you've had five straight college football playoff appearances. You've had four title game appearances, two national championships, and they have decimated the ACC. This is why I'm not concerned about a league-only schedule or basically league-only schedule for Clemson is because they're so much better than their league. It's not even funny. Even if you include, Notre Dame. Think about what they've done. 43 and two against the ACC in the last five years. What? In fact, last year, while North Carolina played them tough, that was the only league game that was within 31 points. 31 points. That's incredible. So Clemson is my number one team in the country that's currently playing in this revamped COVID college football season. So there you have it. into now and the rest of the show because I've got a great conversation with Tom Herman. That's coming straight at you as Texas tries to get over the hump of the Oklahoma Sooners who have won five straight big 12 titles.

Welcome back to breaking the huddle with Joel Clatt and a good friend of mine, the head coach of the University of Texas on Game Week. We are finally here. Coach Tom Herman joins us now. Coach, thanks for joining us. How you doing, man? Appreciate you having me, Joel. I was telling you off camera that I haven't gotten my invite. It must have got lost in the mail, so I guess this is as close as I'm going to get to see in the inside of your house, huh?

Well, at least for now, social distancing and all, you know, we've got to maintain protocols. Speaking of protocols, by the way, we've talked about this offline all summer long about, you know, how well you feel like your players have done maintaining the structure of the protocols and the testing regimens that you guys have at the University of Texas. How has it gone, first of all? And then secondly, how confident are you that we can get through? some portion of this season starting this week. Well, I think we can get through as much as the diligence of our student athletes will allow us to.

And I couldn't be more proud of the guys on our team, our players, our staff, our support team. You forget you've got student managers and student trainers and academic advisors and tutors and all of these people that come in contact with your players. And so it's not just them, although I am extremely proud of them, you know, any time that we've given them off for an extended period of time, even this past Saturday. We had a Mott game Saturday morning, and they were out of here by noon and didn't have to be back until Sunday. And everybody was on pins and needles about what they were going to do. Saturday night, Labor Day, school had just started.

And, you know, everything that we have tested for since then has come back, you know, everything's clear. And so just really proud of our guys, but it is, it's difficult to maintain this level of diligence consistently day after day, week after week, month after month. And I just, I can't applaud our guys enough. On the field, you guys have a couple of new coordinators, two guys that I have a lot of respect for, a guy that you have a long past with. Chris Ash is now your defensive coordinator. You worked with him at Iowa State and then won the national championship with him at Ohio State. And you also bring in Mike Yurchich, who's been a long time Big 12 coordinator at Oklahoma State spent last year at Ohio State under Ryan Day.

What do you think they bring to you as you're trying to get over this hump and potentially win a Big 12 championship? Well, I think what Mike certainly brings is allowing me to focus my time, effort and energy in the big picture, as I'm used to doing as a head coach. It was wearing on me as a play caller, full-time play caller last year. It really took it's a toll on me and I wasn't my best. I was a jack of all trades and master of none and I think it showed in where we were we pretty good on offense. Yeah, we were top 15, top 10 in the country in a lot of statistical areas, but I'd let the defensive side slip a little bit. And so the two new hires allow a couple things. One frees me up to spend more time with the players to get to know

them better and to, you know, having Mike allows me to spend more time. with the defense, but in the same breath, I've got Chris there, who's been a head coach. He's been a national championship winning defensive coordinator, so I really trust him with the defense as well to kind of be the head coach of that side of the ball. And then obviously new coordinators without spring ball in an offseason could be a precarious situation, but you have this incumbent starting quarterback that feels like he's been playing college football now for 18 years. How big is it to have Sam Ellinger back in the satellite quarterback? I would have lost a lot more sleep over the months of, you know,

April, May, and June had he not been here. And that's an unbelievable credit to him. He's a gamer. You know, he loves football. He's so cerebral when it comes to the game. And yet such a good leader and so approachable. and relatable to his teammates. And so again, I'm not saying we didn't lose any sleep over those few months of the pandemic, but knowing that number 11 was coming back for his senior year and kind of provided a stabilizing force,

not only in that locker room, but for us of the staff, to kind of rally around him. All right, so now you're in the throes of building this program. Your arch rival has won five straight Big 12 titles. Texas has not won a big 12 title in over 10 years. It's been since 2009. What are the things that have to take place for you guys to get over that hump and potentially bring down that Big 12 championship to Austin?

Well, we got to stay healthy. I think, you know, this year was certainly the year that everybody internally had circled. You know, we've had three straight top 10 recruiting classes that are now third year guys, second year guys. Some of these true freshmen first year guys will help us. But the development of these Ballyhooed recruiting classes, we had kind of all circled this year. We've got Sam Ellinger returning for his senior year. We've got Sam Cosmy, a potential first round left tackle. And so we need to stay healthy and we need COVID to allow us to have as normal of a season as possible. And then beyond that, I think we've got to play better to do.

defensively. You know, we were atrocious in most defensive statistical categories. And then offensively, although the numbers were great, we had a couple games where we didn't show up. And so we've got to play more consistently on offense and then defensively, we've just, we've got to play to the level of our talent. All right. Last thing for you, as schedules got thrown, you know, through the washing machine essentially and totally redone and re-done and re-earned. revamped. It was very clear that it would have been easier for teams that have geographic, you know, centers around each other and similar resources that those games would have been easier to play this year. And as it is, we're going to stay in conferences and so on and so forth. But you've been

a big proponent of getting Texas A&M back on the schedule. Why is that and how close are we to maybe get in Texas and Texas A&M on the field? Well, I can answer the second part really quickly. I have no idea how close we are. I wish we were we were much closer. But again, those decisions are made outside of my scope of influence sometimes. But it just makes sense to me. You're right. I've been on record as saying if Clemson and South Carolina can figure it out every year, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Iowa State, Florida, Florida State, I mean, where do you want me to stop? You know, these these in-state rivalries that are hundreds of years old, that these schools are in different conferences, that's okay. You know, let's figure it out. I would much rather play Texas A&M

home at home every other year and my one road game, non-conference road game being an hour and a half bus trip east rather than getting on a plane and going to Los Angeles for a night game on a Saturday to play USC or going to Columbus, Ohio, or Gainesville, Florida. It just makes too much sense. And, you know, I hope at some point here in the very near future, those decision makers can see that, put their egos aside and, you know, bring one of, if not the greatest rivalries in college football back to everybody's living room and, more importantly, back to Austin and College Station. Yeah, and hopefully on Thanksgiving week, right? Because that's the tradition that I think a lot of people in Texas want to see back. Coach,

I can't tell you how much we appreciate your time. It's game week. It's finally here. Kind of coming out of my skin, ready to see some college football. Hope to see you soon down in Austin. And until then, best of luck. All right, Joel. Appreciate it, man. Hook them and stay cool down there in Southern California.

You got it. Now my favorite segment of the show, clat back. And remember, it's only as good as the feedback that I get on social media. So make sure to follow and send all of your interactions to me. I love continuing the conversation all week. So on Twitter, at Joel Clatt on Instagram, at Joel underscore Clat. And we can do this all year long.

And maybe you're going to be featured in Clat back, right? I mean, that could be cool. So let's get to some of the tweets here from the offseason in the last couple of weeks. We start with Casey Holtz. And he says, over under for how many times Clat mentions how great Ellinger is. My guess is 23. You're talking about Red River because Gus and I will be doing Red River. I tweeted that out.

And guess what, Casey? I sense that you're dripping with sarcasm with this. How many times is he going to mention how great Ellinger? My guess is 23. Take the over. That's right, because I love Sam Ellinger, and he's a great player. Moving on. Let's see.

Ocifis T. Stark says, realize if there's no Big Ten football, it's a fall without Joel Clout and Gus Johnson. No, no, no. We're in the Big 12 with you every single week. Big Noon kickoff is back. Gus and I are back, and I cannot wait to be back in a stadium and that's happening this Saturday. Louisiana Tech at Baylor at noon Eastern on FOX, folks.

It's happening. It's live. It's Gus. It's me. It's Jenny Tap. We're going to be there, and we absolutely can't wait for this season. I know you can't wait for it either. So we'll be there.

Big Noon kickoff starts at 10 a.m. Eastern. Join the guys as they get you set for college football. This has been breaking the huddle. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you joining me. Join me all season long and as always, big thanks to Dr. Pepper. It is the official drink of Fansville.