The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Joel Klatt: Conditioning Of College Athletes Right Now Is Below Average

Episode Date: October 1, 2020

Joel Klatt: Conditioning Of College Athletes Right Now Is Below Average

I'll say how to our friend, Joel Klatte, from Fox Sports, who was there to call an amazing upset. Hey, Big 12 football on the old Fox Network didn't disappoint last weekend, did it? I mean, both weeks we've actually gotten the game that haven't disappointed, have they? A couple of huge upsets. I was pretty shocked, to be honest with you. I just, I didn't expect that from OU. I thought that they were more talented. I think one of the oversights that I made, and maybe all of us, I don't know, but certainly that I made,

was just discounting the fact that they didn't have a lot of veteran players in particular on their offense. And, you know, when it came down to crunch time, I think that that was the biggest factor. I never felt like they were able to stop the bleeding. And one thing that I guess I glossed over is all those quarterbacks that Lincoln Riley had at OU had maybe not significant, but certainly more significant than others, playing time before they ever got to OU at the college level, certainly in Hertz's case. And so all of a sudden we're seeing Riley have a break-in quarterback, right?

I mean, that's the first conference start for Rattler, and it showed. Yep. And I just, I don't know why I like Kansas State, but I just love the fact that they didn't quit. They had some great receiving. They took advantage of some silly penalties. It was great game. So that was your game was the good appetite.

My son was in Lubbock for the game last Saturday in the stands. And he is texting Ross, because you know, Ross is a big UT guy, and we're having a good time. And they get up 15, I think is what it was. And he's getting ready to celebrate. He wants to jump on the field. And I'm like, Cameron, you do realize they never play defense in Lubbock. Is there another school in this country, Joel? I don't know how much of a stirring you are for college football.

You obviously play the game. Is there another school that can never proclaim anything good defensive? like Texas Tech can't? Well, I mean, certainly a brief in vintage, oh, you would say that, but they had great defenses in the past. Yeah, and you know what, that to me, I'm like, you know, for that fan base, how many times did they have to sit through Mike Leach throwing the ball late and

not running out the clock and losing a game that they should have lost? You know, and that certainly happened. This was different, though. I do feel like it was different. yes, there was a defensive collapse, if you want to call it that. You know, Ellinger is one of the better players in the country. And I felt like Texas just executed at such a high level, at least in the last three minutes. And to that, you kind of tip your cap. You know, I didn't think that there was, you know, does that make sense?

Like, there's nothing from a Texas tech standpoint that you're looking at that you're just like, man, that was an egregious decision. Well, you know what it was? Or a mistake. They literally ran out, I guess. If you DVR, which I'm sure you watch the game back because you're going to be working the Texas game this week, there was zero pass rush the Red Riders put on in the fourth quarter. I mean, they looked completely gassed. They weren't, they were barely upright, Joel.

Well, Texas looked gas, too. That was one of the reasons why they had to have the onside kick because they weren't generating any pass rush either. And I think when you look around the country and certainly in the games that I've done, I felt like that was the case, you know, with OU. and it calls at least into the conversation the fact that there was no summer conditioning. Trust me when I tell you this is that winter conditioning, spring ball and then summer conditioning prepares your body and your cardiovascular ability for the season, and they didn't have that. Guys are running around in their streets, pushing cars around and they get back in June,

they're trying to be socially distanced, working out with masks on. the overall conditioning of the athletes right now in college football is below average. Not that it's their fault. It's just below average. So I think you're going to see more and more and more fourth quarter comebacks, crazy endings, because guys are just gas. They're going to make mental errors. They're not going to get pass rush.

You're going to see a lot of passing yards in the fourth quarter. And I think that that's going to be ongoing. So as you call Texas this weekend, we've got a lot of Longhorns that will listen to show. What do you make of their first of all, their comeback was impressive, but what do you make of all the points that was given up for the first three and a half quarters of that game? Yeah, I mean, certainly it's disconcerting. And when I watched the film, I see a team that was in position to make a lot of plays. There wasn't a ton of plays that were just, you know, miscommunications, blown assignments,

in particular, like not lining up on time. There wasn't that type of mistake as much as it was just mistackles. And I know that that's so frustrating, but I'm watching the film and I'm like, Texas Tech, I felt like, gained 60% of their yards after they were supposed to be tackled. You know, the first guy almost never brought the ball carrier down, and I know that that's incredibly frustrating. And again, that's another product of just not having spring ball, not having an offseason, not being able to practice the same way that they would normally practice with the new protocols and, you know, team by team. I think what's interesting for me, though, Matt, is that if I'm a UT fan,

and I'll talk specifically to that bunch. I'm going to take solace in two things. One is this is a veteran defense. They got a lot of playing time, and so you would think that there would be more consistency moving forward, and in particular, from an assignment standpoint, there was not, at least from my standpoint, a lot of missed assignments and blown coverages.

So that's number one. Then number two, their new defensive coordinator, Chris Ash, while he hasn't been a coordinator in a while, he is one of the foremost in terms of the experts in teaching tackling in the modern day college football. He was one of the first to bring in what is now roundly thought of as the most formidable way to tackle, which is the rugby style tackle. He brought it to Urban Meyer. They implemented it at Ohio State and then it kind of went through college football like wildfire.

He can teach it. There's no doubt about it. So now it's about just finding the time to get the reps and the bodies to get the reps and practice. in order to master what I know that he's teaching, which is very fundamentally sound. So I expect it to get better, but they better get better quickly because CCU's offense is very good. They've got a lot of weapons. And with Duggan Beck at quarterback, you've got a threat with his legs as well. So they've got, I think, an equal challenge this week as they had last.

Joe Clatt, Fox Sports with us here on the Matt Thomas Show for Little College Football Rewind. What do you make of Mississippi State LSU? everybody not named Tiger or whatever their nickname is on Twitter, was not surprised by how LSU could potentially struggle this year. I think they were probably perhaps more surprised that Mike Leach in his first game in the SEC sends a quarterback out there to put up record numbers. What do you make of what he did and how far have LSU dropped after that first week loss? Well, let's be really clear.

The only thing that's the same about LSU this year is their uniforms. Right? And that's not a giant knock. I'm not trying to take a shot. That's just reality with the number of players that they lost, coordinators that they lost. They have the same head coach and they get the same helmets. Heck, their best player, but I would consider by far, outside of Jamar Chase, outside of opt-outs, was in the hospital. Thankfully, non-COVID related. It was in the hospital. But, you know, they're going to have to find their footing. And the fact remains that Edo struck. lightning in a bottle last year. His resume would not suggest that he is that level of head coach. Again, not a knock. That is just a pure assessment of his body of work as a head coach in college football. He had a great coordinator in Joe Brady and an even better player in Joe Burrow and just the skill position players, NFL player after NFL player after NFL player. Their offensive line won the Joe Moore Award. I mean, everything worked for LSU a year ago.

This is not that same team. So there's that context. You all. don't have 100,000 fans in Dad Valley, and it's not at night. So what does that mean? It's easier for the opposition. Now we focus on the opposition. Here's why I think it's easy for Mike Leach to go and replicate success across quarterbacks and across programs, is that his system, the air raid, he's the only one doing it in its purest form.

Everybody else has added to it, changed it just a little bit, added their own flare. He's the old. He's the OG, right? Like he's the only one doing it and it's an original form. And in its original form, Matt, it's incredibly simple, very few number of concepts that they're going to focus on reps and execution. And that's all they're going to do. And they focus on reading the progression to grass.

And so a lot of quarterbacks can have success because it's easy to learn. So a transfer quarterback, in particular a smart one who's got experience under his belt like KJ Costello can learn the system easily. And I thought that they had some wide receivers that fit the system very well. in particular on the outside. So moving forward, what does that mean? Will they continue to have success? Yes, they will continue to have success. Is there a ceiling on the offense? Yes, there's a ceiling. They're not going to win the division. He's never won a division as a head coach in college football. closest he came was 08 when he tied with Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree with Texas and

Oklahoma. So there is a ceiling. There's a ceiling because of the simplicity. There's not a lot of answers if it gets shut down. And two, because of his overarching philosophy. And I touched on it earlier. How many times this year are we going to see him with a 10-point, 14-point lead, continue to throw the football and allow a team to come back and beat them because he's too stubborn to run out the clock? Those two things afford a feeling on that offense and the overall accomplishments of the program moving forward. But rest assured, it's going to be better at Mississippi State than it has been in the past. No doubt about that. I got 30 seconds. Do you give A&M much of a chance in Alabama this week?

Not based on what I saw last week. I think they would certainly have to improve, and I think Alabama is prime for a very quality run. The quick answer is that A&M is a better team this year, but they're not quite the Alabama standards. All right, we'll leave it with that. Joel, have a great trip to Austin. We look forward to watching Big 12 football, and Joe Clatt.

Peas and a pod, my friend. Thanks for the thanks for the time. We'll talk again next week. Absolutely, guys. Hey, go Astros. You got that right. Thank you very much. Appreciate Joe Clatt, Fox College Football, top analyst.

Gus Johnson will be on the call, Texas and at TCU this Saturday at 11 a.m. Quick time out. We'll come back and start welcoming you on the conversation, if you so choose. 713-212-5-790. Did Joe Clyde just say go Astros? There's somebody nationally that likes the local nine. You got to like that. 116.

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