The Josh Innes Show - Brian Kelly is a Bigger Story Than Notre Dame

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

Notre Dame has advanced to the National Championship Game. That's fine. But, the real story across the sports landscape is that Brian Kelly sucks. Notre Dame is essentially grandfathered into this tournament on a yearly basis. They've now beaten a back up QB and an inept offensive team. Ohio State or Texas will crush them. I appreciate Marcus Freeman's perspective on being a black head coach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, friends. What's going on? Glad you're with me today on another snowy day in St. Louis. Wake up to more snow. It is seemingly never-ending. Apparently, the snow today is supposed to go for a little bit. It's not going to be as bad as the last one, but it's going to be enough that I'm going to have to get out and shovel again. And I'm going to have to get out and clean off the car. And I'm going to have to go out and sweep some off the patio for the dog. And it's just, I'm sick of it. And look, I get it. Like one of the people sent me a message and says, well, what would you rather, be out in the wildfires

and have your house burned down in LA? Are those my two options? Be stuck in the snow and have my house burned down? There's got to be a better way. There's got to be a third option. I like when there's always that one person who's like, well, it could be a lot worse. Yeah, it could be a lot worse, but just let me have my moment. This has been a shitty week. And I guess it all kind of started about six days ago is when we started with all this. I guess we're like Saturday night into Sunday is when the snow started. Then Sunday happened. We couldn't go

anywhere on Sunday because of the snow. And then Monday we couldn't go anywhere. And then finally things started to clear up a little bit. Now here we are on Friday with a new batch of snow and I'm sick of the fucking snow. I need to be rescued from this hellscape of snow. Look, I hate it. I despise it. I know that there are some people that love it, but again, the people who love snow are the people who don't live in snow. If you live in snow, there is no way you wake up in the morning like, yeah, can't wait to get out there and shovel my driveway. Can't wait to get up and find out if I can go to work today. Now granted, places that just have snow all the time have it figured out and know what they're doing. I'm sure Denver has

it figured out. I'm sure Juneau, Alaska has it figured out. I'm sure that Fargo has it figured out. St. Louis doesn't have it figured out. Like two inches of snow, which is what we're supposed to get today, is going to shut this damn place down Like, it's not like it doesn't snow here. It snows here. People know it snows here. Figure it out. But that's where we are right now, dealing with snow again here in St. Louis. But how you doing? Hope your day is going well. Watched the game last night. Didn't hit a bunch in the game last night. What did we talk about? We said that everybody thinks the game is going to be an under and it's going to be, you know, first of all, I thought the game, I thought the game was boring. I think the outcome of the game and the last couple of drives made it more interesting than it was. I don't think it was a very exciting football game. The first half

of it was woefully boring, very slow, lots of running, not a ton of excitement, just inept offenses. Riley Leonard is inept offensively. Drew Allard is inept offensively. These are not good offensive teams. Drew Allard did not complete a pass to a wide receiver. These are not good offensive teams. I don't believe this was great defense shutting down offenses. These are just two shitty offenses, and they looked like two shitty offenses until you got towards the end of the game where basically one big play happened for Notre Dame and that changed everything and then Drew Aller turns the ball over a ton which is something that doesn't normally do but he did

I didn't hit a lot in the game last night I took the the Drew Aller yards that didn't hit I did do a live bet on Riley Leonard's yards which hit outside of that I didn't have much I did do a live bet on Riley Leonard's yards, which hit. Outside of that, I didn't have much. It was not a good day for me on that game, and I knew it wasn't going to be a good day for me, yet I still went out there and put down the bets because I needed something to keep me interested in that game. Now, again, the end of it turned out to be fine. I see people questioning the decision for Penn State to throw it late in the game with it tied. I'm all for it. You got a chance to go win the damn game. Go win the damn game in regulation.

Don't let it come down to overtime. And for the love of Christ, if it would have gone to overtime, there's a chance we could have had that two-point conversion fest, which is like the hockey shootout, which is the worst. So God, imagine a national championship being determined by the battle of two-point conversions. Of all the things people bitch about in the world imagine the national championship being determined by teams running two-point conversions it would be

dreadful but at the end of it all game ended up at least being dramatic had some drama in it had some excitement late but i believe that that notre d Dame who everybody's blowing now because they like the coach and they like to shit on Brian Kelly Brian Kelly what the bigger what's amazing is the bigger story is not Marcus Freeman winning and I know they're trying to push the whole black coach thing and all that and and Marcus Freeman to his credit it's been like I don't really give a shit like cool I'm a blackhead coach I'm in the national championship game. That's neat. But like at the end of the day, I'm just a fucking person. And maybe if we got to more of that shit in the world, then maybe, uh, well, a lot of people wouldn't have a job anymore. Cause all they have

is to fall back on racial differences and political differences. So they wouldn't have jobs. That's why they keep it at the forefront. But I appreciate that Marcus Freeman's kind of like, I don't give a shit that I'm black. Who gives a fuck? Like I'm out here. I'm good at what I do. And that's the thing that these idiots don't realize, or they do realize it, but they're, they're suckling off of this teat trying to, to gain clout. So they probably know they're full of shit, but they keep riding with it. They don't realize that every time you focus on the race of somebody who is successful and you make it about their race. You make it less about their ability, right?

Like I saw a Saints fan, a guy that posts a lot of stuff like online content, seems like a nice guy. And I guess he was probably swept up in the moment of the black head coach in the national championship game, I guess. But he says, you know, I really hope the Saints hire Aaron Glenn just because I think it would be cool for us to have our first black head coach. So literally then you're acknowledging that your only true criteria for hiring someone is their race, which is stupid. But of course it's stupid and you know it's stupid, but you don't give a shit. And what you do when you take guys like Marcus Freeman, who obviously when he inherited

the Notre Dame program, it wasn't like it was in the doldrums. It wasn't a dump of a program. It's fine. They're almost grandfathered into this thing. All they got to do is beat a couple slap dicks every year. And then they're in the college football playoff and they're guaranteed to be in it, right? So Notre Dame, like people talk about Notre Dame is tough and academic standards, blah, blah, blah. No, Notre Dame is easy. All you have to do is schedule a bunch of slappies, have a year like this year where you catch USC at six and six, beat a couple of dipshits, lose to Northern Illinois, and still get into the tournament because you're Notre Dame and you're grandfathered into this shit. Notre Dame is an easy fucking job. But anyway, so everybody's caught up in this moment. And of

course, the bigger story from this game is not that Marcus Freeman won the game and not the story that ESPN and all the questions that are being asked of him are trying to sell, which is black head coach, black head coach. The biggest story from this is that Brian Kelly is eight and four this year and Marcus Freeman is in the championship game. And one of the narratives I've seen that is false, and I'm not sitting here trying to defend Brian Kelly to you. Like I'm some Brian Kelly honk. I don't totally dislike the guy.

I can even understand why there is some issue with him and why some people don't like him for whatever reason. He's just a dude people fucking hate. And some will tell you, well, it's because he killed that kid. could be it I don't know but they fucking hate him they just don't like Brian Kelly so the argument is that Brian Kelly left Notre Dame and he went to LSU to say he had more resources to win championships at LSU which is by the way a fact he does have more resources there it's LSU it's the SEC he's putting up his own goddamn money to try to get recruits and get portal people so like the resources are there at lsu notre dame doesn't

have them notre dame again is notre dame and they are grandfathered into this college football playoff by the fact they play pretty much nobody they beat up on a bunch of dipshits and then they're guaranteed a spot in the college football playoff, right? It is what it is. Just like they were guaranteed spots in the BCS if they won a certain number of games, which we all know. But one of the narratives I've seen as it relates, or not even the BCS so much as the old format of the college football playoff, which was the four teams. But one of the narratives I've seen is that that Marcus Freeman has already taken Notre Dame farther than Brian Kelly has taken LSU and like that's kind of what they fall back on they make it sound like the motherfuckers won the national

championship he hasn't he is in the championship game how many championship games was Brian Kelly in at Notre Dame like Like two or three? Again, I'm not trying to defend Brian Kelly, and I'm not some LSU homer about Brian Kelly. I've ripped Brian Kelly many times on this show. I don't give a shit, right? Like, go win some fucking games. When I watch the dipshit Brian Kelly pounding his fist on the table

after losing another season opening game, I'm like, shut the fuck up and figure out how to win. But I give the guy some level of credit because he's figured out a way to kind of usurp the NIL system by putting up his own money and doing, you know, like a match type of thing where he's able to get donors to match his donations. They're able to put the money into the Tiger Athletic Foundation and use that to pay portal players. That's a smart move.

The guy's committed to try to win. So I give him credit for that. But you got the guy's committed to try to win so I give him credit for that but you got to go out you got to win these season openers you play Clemson to start the season next year if you lose that fuck you dude but like this idea that that Marcus Freeman has done something that Brian Kelly didn't do Brian Kelly took Notre Dame to multiple national championship games and college football playoffs right like got Like got his ass kicked, but he went. And you know what's going to happen when Notre Dame faces Ohio State or Texas? Teams that have actual offenses, teams that have actual quarterbacks that aren't Drew fucking Aller, and they have a quarterback that can throw it to receivers and they have receivers to throw it to.

Like it's one thing to be Notre Dame and beat Penn State who did not throw to a wide receiver, did not complete a pass to a wide receiver all night. You know what's going to happen if you have to face Ohio State, Egbuka, and Jeremiah Smith. Those are two legitimate NFL playmakers. They're not the slapdicks that are over here at Penn State. So I think there's going to be a rude awakening for Notre Dame when everybody's blowing them, oh my God, he's done more than Brian Kelly has done. Brian Kelly did exactly what Marcus Freeman has done. They are in the championship game. Brian Kelly has done that. Now go win it. But everything I see is he's taking them to the natty. They got the natty. No, they're in the championship game and they're eventually going

to have to face someone who actually has an offense. Here's who Notre Dame's gotten the luxury of facing as well. Congratulations, Notre Dame. You faced a backup quarterback at Georgia in a year where Georgia's playmakers are not good. Like, this is not Brock Bowers, okay? So you faced the backup quarterback of Georgia in a game you had to win by kickoff returns and turnovers. And then this one you faced Drew Aller who isn't very good go face Will Howard and Jeremiah Smith and Igbuka and the playmakers they have and see what happens they will not win that game I wonder if they have any future

here let me do this let me play a couple commercials here and let me um see if they have any future? Let me do this. Let me play a couple commercials here, and let me see if they've got any potential futures bets up for whatever the matchup may end up being. Sometimes they do that. All right, let's play these commercials, and I'll look that up. All right, if you're ready to win some real cash during the basketball playoffs, you've got to check out Pick 6 from DraftKings. When it comes to basketball payouts, DraftKings Pick 6 poster comes to basketball payouts, DraftKings pick six posterizes the

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Okay, all right When a Coors Light is cold enough the mountains on the can turn blue So the next time you want to cold lager cold filtered cold package Coors Light just wait until those glorious mountains on the can turn blue it's easy to say that fast when you're freezing gold all right let's see here uh do they have potential futures matchups for the national championship game let's see. They do not, at least on fan... Oh, hypothetical. Here we go. So let me try to take a guess

on what the line would be if Notre Dame faced Ohio State or if they faced Texas. All right, so remember, Notre Dame just beat Penn State. They were a slight favorite, I believe, in that game last night over Penn State, like a point favorite.

So everybody blowing Notre Dame today. Oh my God, Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman is so amazing. Yes, the team that went out and lost to Northern Illinois and has been grandfathered into the playoff. Congrats, you're beating a backup quarterback, you're beating Drew Aller, you rock. All right, I'm going to say if they faced Ohio State, Ohio State would be favored by seven and a half or eight. And I think Ohio State is better than Texas. I will say if Texas were to win that game, Texas would be favored by six and a half. That's my guess. Let's see the hypothetical. Notre Dame, Texas would only be favored by three if they face Notre Dame, and Ohio State would be favored by nine and a half. Like, that's what you're looking at here.

Like, Ohio State has NFL talent everywhere. Texas has playmakers and can do shit with dudes everywhere. Like, Notre Dame really hit the lottery. And if you're a Notre Dame fan you don't feel sorry for it you don't feel bad about it you're like hey we faced who we faced we faced who's on the schedule we faced who they lined up to play in the the tournament here fine you're not going to feel bad about that that happens that's how the NCAA basketball tournament works sometimes you just get the right matchups that work out and you're not going to feel bad about the fact that you have

to face a backup quarterback not your fucking fault you face the backup quarterback you won the game but Ohio State like this is a different world for Notre Dame because Notre Dame is out here facing Drew Aller who can't get the ball to wide receivers and they're facing backup quarterbacks at Georgia this is a different universe that you're getting into. If you are Notre Dame, you're going to get beaten by either one of those teams. I think Texas is better than a three-point favorite, by the way, over Notre Dame. I disagree with that completely. I think Texas has too much talent on the field. Now, Texas also, the issue you run into at Texas, and I think people kind of, like, look, I'm not a Texas guy. I was reading some story about how SEC fans are really pissed, I guess, that Texas is the only SEC team remaining because they hate Texas.

I don't hate Texas. I think Texas is just arguably the most overrated athletic department in college sports. Notre Dame might be the most overhyped football program, but the overall Texas sports vibe is an overrated vibe, but particularly football, because people talk about Texas football like it's this longtime powerhouse that just wins tons of national championships. In my lifetime, Texas has won one of them. And Texas has been mediocre far more than Texas has been dominant in my lifetime. Texas has won once. That's V-Y, last minute of the game against USC. That's all I know about Texas football.

I don't care what Texas football did in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s. And by the way, Texas football wasn't all that dominant or great back then either. Like, I don't know where Texas became this giant brand that people parade around like it's this like dominant powerhouse program. It isn't right. So when I see this story that SEC fans are worked up about Texas, like Texas almost bothers me more than Notre Dame just because Texas like is both of them are programs that are considered greater than they actually are. Right. Notre Dame just because Texas, both of them are programs that are considered greater than they actually are. Notre Dame hasn't won a national championship since what, 88? So when I was two years old, I'm 38 now, when I was two years old, Notre Dame won a national championship. Texas hasn't won a national championship in nearly 20 years. Again,

every year it's Texas is dominant, Dame who gives a shit win something I mean Alabama's got a long history winning championships but when Alabama was mediocre for about 15 years or so they were out of sight out of mind Saban came back they won six titles it's just uh the whole thing like look I don't like Texas. The football program, like, they annoy me. Not as much as A&M annoys me. A&M annoys me more because A&M is just like a sad program. Like, A&M strives to be Texas, and they're jealous of Texas, yet Texas doesn't win dick either.

It's just like two dipshits punching each other in the balls repeatedly for, like, superiority in this state, which is allegedly this great, amazing football state, which we know it is. There's tons of football talent that comes from it. Yet somehow the national championships don't come from that state. Very fascinating. All the super talent in the universe in Texas, this football hotbed, yet the national championships don't come from that state. And a lot of times they aren't really even close, but A&M is different because A&M is so desperate to be Texas.

Like they're just jealous of Texas. Their fight song is about Texas. Like they're obsessed with Texas. I don't think Texas gives a shit about A&M outside of the idea that like, they don't want to see A&M rise up, but like they don't, I mean, they dislike them, but like they view them in to see A&M rise up but like they don't I mean they dislike them

but like they view them in that way that they're like we don't want to see them ever get their come up but they know that they'll never be on your level in terms of the interest in the state and everything else if that makes any sense but all that said I think Texas would beat the shit out of Notre Dame and I think Ohio State would beat the shit out of Notre Dame. And I think Ohio State would beat the shit out of Notre Dame to the point that I think Ohio State would throttle them. But I do think two things are happening here. I think people are overreacting a bit to what Texas was like. Texas struggling in the back half of that game against Arizona State.

I think that's kind of swayed people a little bit. Texas has had that issue where they have a hard time putting teams away. That's nothing new for Texas, but I think people are overreacting to how close that game was, and yes, they very well could have lost that game. They didn't. You could argue they should have, could have, would have. It's fourth and what, eight in overtime. They throw a touchdown pass. If that's not completed, they lose the game, and it's Arizona State, and Arizona State would probably be a 13-point underdog to Ohio State, if not worse. But it's there. They want it. Good for them. I still think with the talent and the skill that Texas has on the field, Notre Dame cannot match that. And Ohio State, with the receivers they

have, would just dismantle Notre Dame. I mean, just throttle these guys. So that's where we are right now in that one. Tonight's game should be better. I think the prop bet opportunities in tonight's game are a lot better too, at least a lot more fun. I did take a parlay tonight. Hopefully we're able to make it across the damn bridge and go put in some bets, but I've got Igbuka and Smith. I got Igbuka 60, Jeremiah Smith 70. That's a parlay I built with those guys. Let's see what the let's take a look really quick at the some of the props. By the way, tonight, Ohio State's a five and a half point favorite. I do not believe Texas is going to win.

Let's see passing props. When you were 238 isn't bad because they're going to have to sling. The receivers that I like for Texas, though, too, Matthew Golden seems to put up numbers all the time. And then there's the tight end. The tight end from Texas is another guy that's always a threat, Gunner Helm, who's at 44.5. Although last time out for Gunner Helm, it took a miracle for his numbers to hit because it went to overtime

and he made a couple catches late in the game in an overtime that hit it. But Gunner Helm's a solid guy to look at as well. But there's just weapons all over the freaking field. Let's see if they have any combo, like special bets, on both quarterbacks to throw for blank yards. Let's see. Dude, it's plus money for Jeremiah Smith to have 25 receiving yards in each half. That's solid.

Jeremiah Smith to have a catch in each quarter is plus 200. That's worth taking this all on fan duel by the way uh both quarterbacks to throw for 25 yards in each quarter that's a risk but i would consider it like i always like playing those just for the fun of it uh jeremiah smith and matthew golden to each have 20 receiving yards in each half at plus 300 those are all solid worth the risk type of plays, right? Like they may not hit, but if you put 50 bucks on that plus 300, that thing hits, you're making 150 bucks paying out 200. That doesn't suck. Right. So, uh, that's a solid play there. I think Ohio state's winning tonight. Like a lot of people are writing the momentum and what they've done and how they've

just throttled people, how they throttled Tennessee, how they're just, I mean, just beating the shit out of Oregon. So, but they're playing their balls off. They got NFL talent everywhere. They're solid and they're going to win tonight. And then they're going to go face Notre Dame and they are going to just pecker slap Notre Dame. And then we won't have to hear all these stories about how Brian Kelly, uh, Brian Kelly is, is not doing the job at LSU, but, uh, Marcus Freeman's getting the job done at Notre Dame. Marcus Freeman is doing what Freeman's getting the job done at Notre Dame. Marcus Freeman is doing what a lot of coaches have done at Notre Dame. You take advantage of a shitty schedule and you advance.

That is what Brian Kelly did at Notre Dame. But anyway, we will do more.