The Josh Innes Show - Brian Kelly and Diego Pavia Get A Bad Rap

Episode Date: August 11, 2025

Last week we talked about a review of the new SEC football series on Netflix. The review stated that Diego Pavia and Brian Kelly were unlikable. I beg to differ. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaking of college coaches, we watched five, I guess five of the seven SEC show episodes on Netflix. It's a pretty good show. You know, it's your typical, you know, day in the life of type of show and following different teams throughout the season. Some teams get featured more prominently than others. LSU is featured pretty prominently through a few episodes. Vanderbilt has followed pretty closely. Florida had a, like, I think a full episode about Florida. South Carolina is featured pretty prominently in there.

as well. Other schools weren't involved. Like Alabama had nothing to do with it. I don't think Georgia had anything to do with it unless they come up a little bit later. There's still two episodes to go. Got to finish those. Let me play a couple commercials. And I want to get into something we talked about last week when I read a review of this show, which said that there were two people that really stood out as the dopes of the show or the villains are the ones you don't like. And we'll talk about that after these words. So I believe it was Barstool where I read it. Was it Barstool? It was one of the sites that, no, it was Outkick. Sorry, not to rip on Barstool here. It was Outkick that we're dumping on. So Outkick, whoever wrote

the story for Outkick last week, watched the SEC show, watched every episode and loved it, and said the thing that stood out the most is that Diego Pavia and Brian Kelly come off as assholes and unlikable. And I disagree. I'll start with Pavia, right? Like you watch him and he's like a five-foot-nine Mexican dude and, like, high confidence in himself. And a braggart carries up. And some of it comes off as goofy, right? Because it's Vanderbilt. And Vanderbilt will never be a prime program, which is wild because, like, if you go

back and watch the history of the SEC documentary, Vanderbilt used to be. Like, Vanderbilt used to be this big-time program back in the day. Now, Vanderbilt is not a big-time program now, obviously, and just going to a bowl as a big deal. Like I'm watching the story in one of these episodes where they become bowl eligible. They're wearing T-shirts that say bowl-bound. And it's like, okay, that's pretty sad. You're Vanderbilt. What a sad existence Vanderbilt is.

But like, it's about the context. Like, I don't care that the dude's arrogant. There are moments, though, when you laugh at it and go, okay, dofess, whatever. Like, he's like, man, when I was going to school there, I was talking to one of the guys. And he's like, do you, I don't think you can get us bowl eligible. And I said, well, when I get bowl eligible, you got to apologize. to me, to one of his teammates, and I'm like, congrats on winning six games.

But then you also have to understand the way of the world. You're at Vanderbilt, winning six games, seven games at Vanderbilt is huge. You know what winning five, six, seven games get you at Vanderbilt? A better job. Go look at the history of Vanderbilt. Jerry DeNardo got the LSU job. Homeboy James Franklin got the job. I mean, we've seen cases.

And then I want to say the dude that eventually went to SMU was the Vanderbilt coach at one point in the 80s, too. So Vanderbilt is a feeder. for these other schools. All you have to do is win six or seven games there. So I actually find the coach to be an annoying dufus more so than I find Pavia to be annoyed. Because like when you look at Pavia, why shouldn't he be confident and cocky? That's what you have to be. You have to believe your own bullshit, especially if you're an undersized guy.

And he's, that dude is an underdog. Pavia is the definition stone cold underdog, you know, Mexican dude, five foot nine, played at New Mexico. He gets an SEC spot at Vanderbilt, the worst of the worst places you can be. Like, give the, like, I'm fine with that dude dick swinging. And it's also, I get people making fun of him when he fails. But guess what that dude did? Beat Alabama. Guess what that dude did.

Went to Auburn, beat Auburn. They weren't great, but he went to Auburn with Auburn season on the line. You know, they weren't in the playoff or anything, but, like, they were trying to get bowl eligible. It's like, Vanderbilt goes in there and beats them too. So give that dude some crows. it let him dick swing let his nuts hang a little bit man he's like good for him like his arrogance didn't bother me because you have to think that way especially that's the thing when you are the underdog you have to do whatever it takes to get your mind into the position that you can beat anybody

so fuck it good for him like i didn't come out of that finding pavia to be unlikable i didn't find myself rooting for them to lose that they will lose so it doesn't matter but like i don't find myself like there are times I'll see dudes and I'll go I want that fucker to lose so bad like I find the coach to be annoying but I also understand what you have to do when you're the coach at vanderbilt you have to create this universe where you're building something special you have to do it so like I found the coach more annoying I call him coach noho Hank because he just looks like the no ho Hank character on Barry which was a great show for a while then it went away for too long and it came back and I'm like this a different show I hate when shows do that random aside

You watch a show, and it's one show for like two or three seasons. Then it becomes something completely different. You're like, this is not the shit I signed up for. I don't want this. And then you lose interest in it. Shows, do that a lot. It's bullshit because they get bored, whatever it is. I don't like it.

Anywho. So then you've got... So the coach I found more annoying than Pavia. I'm okay with Pavia. I don't come out of that saying, what an arrogant asshole. I hate him. I like him because he's cocky. I like him because he doesn't give a shit.

I like him because he believes in himself. What's wrong with believing in yourself? And I tell this to people all the time when they're like, Josh, why do you brag? Or Josh, why do you talk so much shit or Josh? Like a buddy of mine, one of my best friends sent me a message. And maybe his message was a little fair. But he comments on a post I put up yesterday about how bad the sports radio station is here. And he asked me, why do you post that?

Because all you're doing is burning bridges and what if you get fired and you want a job there? like, well, I probably don't want a job there because it's a bad station. And I told him, your point's probably valid, but it's what I have to do to get my mind in the position to do this. Well, Josh, why do you brag about your stuff? Well, if I don't brag about certain things and what we're doing, nobody will know because nobody writes about this shit. So you have to put it out there in the world. So, and Pavia, look good for him, man. Like, it's a little piss ant, but let him do, like, good for him. He beat Bama. That's good enough for me. Good for you, now as it relates to Brian Kelly

and granted I'm an LSU fan so take it for what it's worth I don't find him as unlikable but I think I can see where people would first of all he's a white guy and white guys like automatically like they already on the baseline

there's a group of people that will find them unlikable because they're wealthy white dudes right white football coach coaching mostly black football players I think what rubs people the wrong way about Kelly because I don't hate the guy I want him to win more football games

but I don't look at him and hate him I think a lot of the hatred for Kelly is all kind of still rooted in a lot of other shit they hold the kid dying at Notre Dame against him the fake accent when he got the job at LSU like I think a lot of people think he's kind of full of shit and that's why they don't like him I don't think this show did anything to better

or worse that or make that a better or worse perception of him but I don't mind him and if he goes out and wins 11 games this year I will really love him, right? But I don't hate him. He's fine. I have nothing against him.

But I think a lot of people do. A lot of people hate this guy. But I didn't watch it and come out of it going, ooh, I hate this fucking guy. He's terrible. He's the worst. Like, I never felt that way about him, and I never felt any different about him.

But there are certain things that I think he says that I'm not going to say come off as pompous, but I'm going to say come off as like, okay, bro. And one of them is he's on the phone with his agent, who happens to also be Garrett Nessmeyer's agent, which is already a weird situation. And he kind of acknowledges that. Like, this is my agent. I'm the one getting him the big, I mean, because he's got to be thinking, I'm getting you the big fucking paycheck. I got, what, $100 million deal at LSU.

Whatever Garrett Nussmeyer is going to make you is not going to be that. Maybe if he gets a big pro deal one day, but his deal right here will be nice, but I ain't going to get you a lot of shit. I'm getting you probably 10%. I got $10 million coming your way or whatever. five percent five million dollars coming your way like i'm putting a shitload of money in your pocket you got to have my back but he said something along the lines when referencing garret nussmire um and just players in generally is like my whole livelihood and everything and my happiness depends on the 18 to 22 year olds and i just think people hear shit like that and they just

think he's an asshole and maybe he is an asshole i don't know the guy but i think i think think a lot of people base a lot of their hatred of Brian Kelly is based on past things. My disdain for Brian Kelly is that he cannot win the first game of the season, and that's continued to be the case. And this year may be another case of that as they go on the road to face Clemson. But the hatred of Brian Kelly that I see from people has a lot more to do with Notre Dame, has a lot more to do with getting undeserved spots in the championship. games while at Notre Dame, while being considered and heralded as one of the great brilliant

minds of football. Another thing he said, like, I've left every place I've been, I've left better than I found it. And that's probably true. You know, Notre Dame wasn't in the greatest situation when he got there. Who was it before him? Was it Charlie Weiss? Right. Like, he left it better. I mean, look, he left that school. They bring in the defensive coordinator Freeman, who started out slow there and then got things going. They go to the playoff, right? Um, You know, I'm trying to say, where was he? It's Cincinnati. Did he coach at Cincinnati?

Was Brian Kelly? Was he at Cincinnati before that? So he's not wrong, but it's when you say shit like that. People don't like that because for whatever reason people hate when you're honest. That's an honest thing. It sounds arrogant, but it's an honest thing. But look, you should watch it. It's a good show.

I enjoyed it. All right. More to come.