The McShay Show - Ohio State’s Dominant CFP Run and Ben Johnson’s Fit in Chicago

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

Welcome back to ‘The McShay Show’! Todd and Steve open by reacting LIVE to Ohio State’s 34-23 win over Notre Dame in the CFP national championship. Then, the guys reflect on their favorite moments from the past year in college football and share some under-the-radar prospects they’re excited about heading into NFL draft season. To close, they react to reporting that Ben Johnson’s been hired as the head coach of the Chicago Bears and discuss his fit alongside Caleb Williams. Host: Todd McShay Guest: Steve Muench Producers: Tucker Tashjian, Mark Panik, Conor Nevins, and Daniel Comer Social: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the McShay show presented by Fanduel. It's time for the first 12-team playoff, and you can bet on all of the action with Fandul. Just think about all the opportunities we're going to have to bet on the college football playoff. We're talking about different conferences, home games for certain teams, the three or four-week run that you're going to have to play.

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The ringer is committed to responsible gambling. Visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available. And listen to the end of the episode for additional details. must be 21 and older and present in select states. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help.com. I want to start with this, okay? As we reset, we're here with Ohio State 24-25 national champions. I want to start with this.

We got a lot to fix, okay? The 12-team format is not perfect. we'll get into later in the show we'll talk about things that we want to change and i think we're both going to start with the fact the seating is broken it was broken before it started let's get that fixed shouldn't be conference champions it's got to be the top four teams okay but for all the complaining in this first year of the 12 team playoff i want to remind everyone ohio state's not in the old format ohio state is not playing in the college football playoff if it's the format from a year ago.

Four teams were in. Ohio State lost to Michigan. Ohio State's not in. And we said all along, Ohio State, if they're not the best team, they're one of the top three teams. They played like it, the vast majority of the season. And I said this after the Michigan game, let's not forget. That's not Ohio State. This isn't indicative of what the Ohio State program is.

That's a Michigan problem. And we'll get into all. We get a whole season next year. we get an offseason to talk. That's a mental, you know, they get tight, they get worked up. That is a Michigan problem that they're going to have to go see, get like a lot of therapy in the off season to try to overcome. All right.

But I want to make this perfectly clear as we start this national championship, our first ever national championship reaction show that, my goodness, we're fortunate. Like if you're not a fan of one team or if you're a fan of one team, but you're just a fan of college football, thank goodness that we have a 12-team college football playoff. Because at the end of the year, if you're truly a fan of college football, if you love this game that so many of us love,

you want the best team to be there at the end, right? And we got the best team there at the end, and we would not have had that in the old format. So that's my initial take to all of this. Like, let's celebrate this 12-team playoff. And if it gets to 14, 16, whatever it is down the road, hear about changes maybe in 2026, hopefully some changes to this current structure in 2025.

But let's celebrate what we have because it's better than what we had. And to me, that's progress. Agree? I mean, think about the Texas-Arizona state game. I mean, that game, again, neither one of those teams wins. But what a game we got to see. What a game we got to see with Scatavu, you know, with that outrageous performance, the underdard.

dog tough sun devils making a game out of it queen yours legacy on the line throws a overtime pass on fourth and 13 or whatever it was to keep texas in the game and then throws the game winning touchdown the next play i mean there is there's a lot that you can pick at and i get it but this is a step in the right direction and ultimately i think you look back of this and say it was an overwhelming success second thing i want to do is i want to thank everyone who's here and i know i said thank you to everyone who joined us. We said we were going to be on for the last five minutes of the game. Is everyone that I've worked with, and it mentions known for 25 years, sometimes I operate on McShay time. I've gotten a lot better as I've gotten older. I've got kids. I've got responsibilities.

I've gotten a lot better, but still I rolled in here with 529 left in the game clock and expected us to just go live. And like, that's not how the world works. We jumped on in about 425 on the game clock. And we were a bunch of people here joining us. Every week during the this live show. We started up like eight weeks into the season. Every week of this live show, it's gotten significantly like more of an audience. I call it our community. We'll come up with a fun name. I don't know what it is right now. But I look down like Brian Haas, Garrett Fitzgerald, Despy 2-2, Mike Palmieri, Devin O'Rourke, who's mad at me about something, Texas. We'll get to that, Devin. But you guys are here and we appreciate that. And we're going to grow this thing. And this is the last

time we're going to do a live reaction show to a college football game because it's the last college football playoff game. But we're on to the senior bowl next week. And it's going to be the NFL combine. This wraps up the season. The good news for mention I is like, this is kind of when our season starts. So we appreciate you being here now.

And we're just like we're just starting to take off. So thank you to everyone who's here. Next on the board. Let's get into this game. Okay. I want to start with this because I think the biggest question that you and I kept asking all week, we asked her curb street about it, we talked about it.

We, you know, everyone I talked to, like the biggest question was, what's Notre Dame going to do in coverage? And I wanted, you know, is it going to be man to man or they're going to trust their guy? I want to get into that in a minute. But the one thing that happened to start the game was something I didn't necessarily expect. And that was Notre Dame came out with all the confidence of, of Goliath, not David. They were the bully. Uh-uh.

We're the, it's not the Kirk Herb Street thing that you guys were talking about. Like, maybe they'll let us put our uniforms on. Like, if you guys will let us, well, maybe we'll just come out of the locker room and see what happens. Like, uh-uh. Like walking out chest high, like beating their chest. Okay, let's do this. 18 plays later, nine minutes and 45 seconds, two fourth down conversions later. A touchdown run from Riley Leonard.

It was an unbelievable drive. At the end of that drive, Riley Leonard, scores a touchdown, goes over the sideline. I think it was it Holly Row or was it Molly. I forget which one. Both are phenomenal jobs. Like getting us to the access to the sidelines. I have so much appreciation for that.

I haven't been a sideline analyst. But one of the two reporters for ESPN, ABC, I told us, Riley Leonard went over immediately, went and threw up. I had to get oxygen, could barely talk. You know, like one drive took that much out of him, but he laid it all in the line. And so, like, it's in a loss, I get it, but a legendary drive that will all kind of, when you think of Riley Leonard, like 10 years later, we'll all be, oh, yeah, remember that drive in the national championship? Yeah, they lost, but like that drive and everyone will know what you're talking about.

So that was awesome. Like, gave me, honestly watching it at the end of that drive, seeing him, like, having to peel himself up, it gave me like chill bumps, you know, like goosebumps. I was like, this is what it's all about. And he did that. And so that shocked me right off the top match. And I'm curious, I don't know. Maybe it's what you saw on that drive, like what your thoughts were. Were you concerned at all, though?

Because Fowler said it right away. Fowler was on it. He was like, man, he just expended a lot of energy. And we're on drive one. And everyone's fired up and I get it. And it was a great drive and unbelievable. All the things you're saying are true. What's also true is.

is you cannot sustain that. And I was immediately thinking to myself, I think it had nine carries on that drive, maybe. Maybe nine or ten carries. I thought it was eight, but I could, yeah, somewhere in that ball. Maybe it was eight, sorry, eight to ten, somewhere in that range. Taking big shot after big shot, just laying it on the line. In my mind, I'm thinking, man, you cannot, he's not going to be able to do this all night.

They need more help from their backs. They need to make plays in other ways. And I was concerned. having worked a lot of games with Chris and a lot of game days over the years and gotten to really, like, Chris is a good friend. And he's, like, I was talking about McDonough, right, who I traveled with for like, I don't know, six, seven years, very close with Sean, too. Sean's the things that you don't know about. They're obviously have great pipes. They're obviously unbelievable buckled up and they're situational aware, like all those things.

They're phenomenal on air. They're phenomenal at their job. but if there's one thing professionally that you don't know about those two guys for Sean I've told you a couple times like clock management is like savant like it's like goodwill hunting shit like right I'm like well he'll he'll like be five steps ahead Fowler you can't even tell on air a lot of times I know they joke around so I think most people are in on kind of the joke now Fowler's an unbelievable physical shape I don't know what age he is, but it doesn't, like, he's always been X amount of years older than me,

and but like X times four more physically fit than me. Like every place we go to, he's best friends with the, you know, the strength and conditioning coach and is in there. But he also, like, he has an unbelievable knowledge of, like, the human body and studies it, you know, and studies, like, physical condition. And he does a lot of the tennis, too, right? And so when I heard him say that, it's like, certain things I listen to. Ding, ding, ding, yeah.

Yeah, it's like he's, he's done enough of these where he's seen this before, right? Whether it's a tennis player in that first set or in football, you know, so. But I think it's built to do it. Riley Leonard's not a small guy, but he's not, he's kind of a leaner, wiry guy. You know, Josh Allen is built to do that. Right. Tim Tebow could have done that, you know, he did that. That's what Tim Tebow made a career out of.

Great points. Not that, great points. So at that point, though, I'm like, All right, we got something. We'll see, but we got something. And then Ohio State's drive while it was, it was like, it wasn't like, I don't know, it's hard to explain it just in my brain. I'm curious to see, like, and I'll check out the live chat here.

I'm curious to see like what people thought early on offensive. It was very efficient. It was like they dialed up some things. They created some mismatches. Like Chip did some phenomenal things, like little things. But it was really more, it was really more about two things, me, that first drive, and really the first three drives. But my reaction to, oh, shit, Notre Dame came to play tonight. And maybe this isn't as big a physical mismatch as we thought. And then Ohio

State drives, and I'm like, all right, chips in his bag tonight. And they got a lot of weapons. But I also thought this, it looked like watching on TV that Notre Dame will get, now we're going to get to that. What's Notre Dame going to do? Notre Dame played. Notre Dame play more man-to-man coverage than I think two or, I think three or four other teams in the country maybe played more man-to-man coverage, whatever it was. I read something 60 percent. I'd read something like over 70 percent. It was an extraordinary high percentage of man-to-man coverage. But we saw a similar team in terms of success defensively that lived and died on man-to-man coverage, go up against Ohio State and week one of this college football playoff, and that was

Tennessee, and it got ugly fast. And as we talked about with Herb Street on the Thursday, we're expecting it to be a little like give it, like, we're not going to get away from what we do, but we're going to have to, whether it's mix in Manning's Zone or kind of back off a little bit and not be quite as in your face, like, you know, and their decision on the first drive was we're actually going to show more zone. Kirk said it at the end. I mean, this is the conversation we had with Kirk on Thursday. That's why it's awesome to have him on Thursday and then to listen to him on the game, what he's seeing there. As he's seeing different camera angles with his remote up there, he's actually looking at the

same things we were talking about. He's seeing it live. He's got better camera angles, so he's seeing a clearer picture that we can on TV. And he said after the first drive, they played zone coverage on every play, every snap except for, he said one or two on the first drive. So a complete shift for Notre Dame in terms of what they wanted to do defensively. Ohio State accepted that. And the task then became, okay, we're not attacking them man to man.

We're going to, we're going back into kind of Texas mode. And we're going to have to earn these drives and be efficient. And that's okay. Deep breath. Let's relax. And let's start moving down the field. And Chip was brilliant. That's what I saw.

I thought that was the brilliance of Will Howard in this game was him taking what they gave him. like deciphering what the look he was getting, whether it was on that first drive where he's, he's completing passes against zone looks, or whether it's on the big play at the end of the game where he finds Jeremiah Smith against one-on-one downfield. I guess that's not as tough a read. You kind of know what they're coming with. But I thought Howard did a great job of just, you know, taking what was given to him and making sound decisions throughout the night.

Yeah. I'm looking up now at the game feed. It looks like he is the MVP. Reese Davis is interviewing him now, so I'm assuming. that he is and much deserves. The wrinkles didn't really affect Howard, I didn't feel like. And listen, that offensive line for Ohio State, I mean, the up and down all year, another physical showing.

They ran the ball well. I thought their past protection was really good tonight. I thought Notre Dame was having a hard time getting any kind of pressure on Howard, which also helps. But yeah, again, just going back to Howard, is him making sound decisions. Simplifying the game, right? Take what they give me, make accurate throws, run when it's available, make the most of my designed runs.

I thought he was really good as a runner tonight. He just played the best game he could without getting outside of what he does well. We always say this. Go ahead, yeah, sorry. We always say this with quarterbacks. And I feel like we're able to say it with more confidence than ever before, because now we're seeing quarterbacks play more college football than we've ever seen before. Truly.

Like every year it's a new record. It was Bo Nix with, I'm going to get the exact number, like 62 starts. Then it was Dylan Gabriel with 65 starts. And it's like, okay, who's in the draft? Who are all these quarterbacks coming? Oh, oh, it's Caleb Williams, transferred from Oklahoma to USC. It's Jaden Daniels, Ohio State to, I mean, Arizona State to LSU with 50. starts. It's, you know, Drake May was UNC. He was kind of the exception of the rule and there was

concerned. Let's not play him as a rookie. He's not ready compared to these other guys. But his starts would were like kind of, you know, mid, mid plus of what we were used to seeing. He was, I think he met the Parcells thing. Maybe he was just shy of 25 starts. Bo Nix, I just touched on him. Michael Pennix from Indiana, right? Indiana transfer goes to Washington. develops, plays more ball. Well, Will Howard, I view Will Howard differently today than I did five weeks ago. 100%. Because Will Howard tonight, and Will Howard even against Texas, but Will Howard tonight, he saw, there were, so that first drive was 80, 90 percent zone. Second drive was a lot more man. I don't have a pitch count for that one. I don't know exactly the numbers, but I know there

was there was one play they converted with it was soft zone coverage for first down but like i want to say seven or eight of the other plays were were man coverage i kept seeing hearing hearing man or seeing seeing a safety move around and a wide receiver going motion with a db following like click click man coverage and so i'm seeing a different will howard that i saw five six weeks ago. And yeah, it's playing more with Chip. Yes, it's Chip actually. He gave him the keys of a car, but he had a governor on it. You ever been in a golf cart? When you, yeah, but no, we've all been in golf carts. But have you ever been in a golf cart with that jackass friend who gets in there early and goes underneath, pulls the seat up and takes the governor off? And all of a sudden,

you're zipping around the course and like people are looking at you and you're swinging around, things are falling up. Chip took the governor off. They gave him the keys to the $20 million golf cart and began the season, but it had a governor on it. It's been off for five weeks now for the last, you know, for the college football playoff. And so we're seeing a different player in Will Howard.

And I think that's critical as we get in the senior bowl and we start talking about him as a pro prospect at six foot four, two hundred and thirty-five pounds with some mobility. And now I'm seeing anticipation throws. Now I'm seeing a guy who sees man and attacks. He sees Jeremiah Smith and he goes after fourth quarter when everyone thinks they're going to throw underneath or they're going to run the ball to run out the time. Throughout the game, he sees man to man,

knows when to take shots, knows when to be aggressive. Then he sees zone coverage and understands where the soft spots are, understands let's pick up three, four here and get to second in six, right? Seeing a different guy. And sometimes we just don't know because, you can't improve if you're not playing ball. And this year with this 12-team college football playoff, what do they wind up with 16 games?

Was it 15 or 16 games? I think 14 and 2 was their final record. Am I wrong on this? Someone in Tucker or Connor or Dan, just let me know. No, 14 and 2. You're right. It's 14 and 2. So 16 games he played.

Yeah. It's been last year. And I go back to my original point. When we jumped off on the reset of this show, had this been last year, and there's a 14 college football playoff, he played 12 games. They didn't play in the Big Ten championship game. They lost to Michigan. He got 12 games.

Good season, not great. Now I'm going to the senior bowl, and I'm like, huh, show me more. I want to see more. Yeah, the last time you saw him, too, he did not play well. So you're leaving with kind of a sour taste in your mouth. the last time. Yeah, it is really good college player, great competitor. Maybe he goes seventh round, six, seventh round, like, probably out of the league.

Try to catch on. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. So that part's fascinating to me. The more ball we're seeing out of these quarterbacks and how that's going to affect the draft, how it's affecting quarterbacks deciding to say the Garrett Nuss Myers of the world, you know, the Carson Becks of the world.

But it didn't affect Quinn Ewers. It didn't affect Jalen Miller. And we'll see, we'll see Millrow down at the senior bowl as well. But that's for another time. A few other things I want to get to before I've got some story time and some, some interesting stuff. Jeremiah Love, very frustrating night. I wanted to bring this up to him.

Jaden Greathouse, frustrating first half, awesome in the second half. He ignited that long, that touchdown drive to make it 3115 with a long catch. It was like the first sign of life from the passing game. for Notre Dame. And then the next, it was the next driver, or two drives later, he had a long reception on the fourth quarter to keep that drive going. Then he, exceptional route. You see that route he ran, they ran back and run the highlight up for the 11-yard catch

on fourth down to extend that drive. And he had another catch. And then he had a couple catches really late. So like, I thought Great House, I want to remind people, too, Jaden Greathouse for a team that just never had consistent production at wide receiver. It was always the running backs, three-headed monster of Riley Leonard and Price and Love, and even the tight end in the past game, Mitchell Evans.

Great House stepped up big in these two games. So I want to give them a little bit of a shower here. You know, Penn State seven catches, 105 yards in the touchdown. Tonight I don't have his final, I'll get his finals numbers. Six for 128 and two touchdowns. Six for 128 and two touchdowns. So we're talking about 13 catches for 232, 233 of my maths, right?

And two touchdown catches in the last two games. Okay? Not bad. Previous five games before this two games stretch, Penn State and Ohio State, previous five games, you ready for this? He had six catches for 49 yards and no touchdowns. You talk about stepping up big and big moments. So I want to make sure we give Jaden Great House some love.

But you take it like from a Notre Dame before I switch it over to Chip Kelly and Ohio State, what did you see from Notre Dame tonight as we kind of closed the book on their phenomenal season that just didn't end the way that Notre Dame fans hoped it would end. Let me know if you already know this, but you know how many carries the price of love had tonight? No. They had to combine seven carries. Like what is that about? Four of those carries came in.

the first drive. So they had three carries, combined three carries after the first drive. Maybe this just felt like they couldn't run the ball. I just, I don't understand. I think you got to find a way. When you have Riley Leonard running 17 times

and Price running three and Love 4, and Love came into the game, the reports where he felt better, maybe it's not true, but the reports were that he felt better than he has in a long time. You didn't have the brace on. Yeah, I heard Molly pregame, 95%, I was actually fired up when I heard Molly in the pregame.

I was like, oh, here we go. This kid's a dude, this is going to be, this is a good sign for Notre Dame. And then for them, you know, the other thing that was surprising to me is they kind of lost the special teams battle. They have the miss field goal and then the fake punt in the most obvious fake pun situation, which honestly wasn't that bad of a call. They just needed to execute it. They, it was kind of a drop.

They didn't execute ultimately. You know, you had to win the special teams battle, and I felt like they lost a special teams battle. which was surprising to me. All of that said, what a great run for Notre Dame. For a team that, I mean, I remember watching them going to Texas A&M and thinking maybe they got something here. And then next week you're not really watching them. You're watching all these other games.

And you're seeing the ticker. And they're losing to Northern Illinois. And you thought that was nice. I guess that Notre Dame team's not what we thought they were. And then for them to, you know, climb the mountain to get back to where they did. And then to make the run that they did in the playoffs, I mean, a great year for Notre Dame. They're not going to feel like that tonight,

but they shoot when they look back at it. Yeah, it was a great run. I mean, Notre Dame has one of, I truly believe, one of the small handful of elite head coaches in the game of college football, and he's young and he's hungry, and people want to go play for him.

Like, yeah, that's hard to find. Didn't feel like Signetti and Franklin were trying to get under his skin and lead up to those games. So they were trying to say things about the conferences. And he just wasn't having it. That was one of my favorite things about this playoff run was Freeman dealing with these older coaches trying to give him a hard time. And he was like, dude, I'm not really interesting. James Franklin was the worst. Like, Signetty's just as our Casey, Casey Whitele, you know, the Whitels love him.

But like he kind of prepped like, just be ready. Like he's an interesting cat. like he's not for everyone like social like you know he's gonna he's gonna rub some people the wrong way and that's what that's who signet he is and we knew it from the second he took the the um the job google me and all that stuff but that's who he is and that's be who you are but the james franklin stuff was like hey buddy hey buddy you know yeah and then like and like a little bit of this like needling yeah but then also like hey you know you're the young guy I'll show you.

I'll show you where the door is. Yeah, we go through that door. That was interesting. But Marcus keeps his composure, keeps his receipts, gets to his players, and gets him riled up. And I love that dude. And I don't know a single person who's come in contact with him

that doesn't absolutely appreciate the job he's doing. And Notre Dame, like, you got your guy. Yeah. So, like, yeah, keep locking him down. When the next contract comes up, when the next phone call comes, when the next sniff around from the NFL comes, like keep signing them because it's worth it. Because it's hard to get that guy.

It truly is. And a program that can be a little challenging with some of the, you know, the academics and all those sorts of things. Like he's their guy. And so if you're a Notre Dame fan, this is a brutal night. I get it. But my goodness, you played in the championship game. you've got a program with phenomenal leadership,

and I think it's going to keep getting better. You know, I really do. And I don't know about next year, and I'm not projecting, not into recruiting and transfer portal and all that stuff. We'll get to that after the draft for us, our purposes. But from a program standpoint, he's going to keep climbing.

I truly believe that. All right, Ohio State. You want to know something that jumped out to me, man? What's that? I keep saying, like, Chip was in his bag and I'm laughing about it because I've gotten to know Chip pretty well over the years. Let me give you a background on Chip. All right. Funny story.

So Chip gets fired from Philadelphia. He's done with his Eagles. Chip was with Oregon as an assistant coach for a long time, offensive coordinator. They did some winning. He took it kind of the next level, the Oregon blur offense, whatever that people were calling it, took it to the next level. I want to say like 2009 to 2011 or 2012. He was the head coach there before he goes on to the Eagles, okay? Kind of he wasn't the start of the spread offense.

He wasn't the first guy ever to do tempo, but he like put a shot in the arm. You know, it was like on whatever drug of choice you want to say. He just like, you know, like he took like, all right, like Rich Rodriguez is doing some spread stuff and Urban's doing this. and this guy's doing that. And he was just like, all right, let's just throw it all together. Let's rev it up.

Practices you can't hear yourself think. He would have practice and run like 130 plays in like 60 minutes, you know? Anyway, so that's kind of how his career started developing. So they lost in the national championship game versus Florida State, right? Was it Florida State? No, no, Auburn. Auburn. It was Auburn.

They lost to Auburn, Cam Newton. Nick Farley, we've talked about that class. They had two first rounders and then it was an ugly, ugly pro day. But anyway, why am I getting in the history of Chip? So Oregon, a couple years later with Helfrich, winds up playing Ohio State. In the 20, is a 2014 season, 2015 was the year. It was January of 2015. And Ohio State beats Oregon.

This kind of has nothing to do with it, but it's kind of part of the history. He's still, he's in the NFL, and that's his program. Like, UNH and Oregon are his places. So he's watching, and he's watching his bud who he passed the baton to. And Mark Halferich, right? Was it Mark? Am I saying that right? Take the baton and run with it.

Now they're back in a national championship game. And they get the doors blown off of them in that game, okay? I wanted it was 42 to 20 I wrote this down 42 to 20 okay anyway doesn't necessarily have any but like yeah we lost to Ohio state there right the next time Ohio states in a national championship game this is where it gets interesting and fun the next time the Ohio states in a national championship game is 2020 the 2020 season it was in 2021 Devante smith won the Heisman that year right Steve sarkesian is the offensive coordinator. under Nick Saban, right, goes to kind of resuscitate his career a little bit after what happened to him, the USC. And Alabama beats Ohio State 52 to 24. I'm going to get back to that game in a second. As the backdrop, Chip's an absolute lunatic, right?

And if he was sitting here right now, I'd like, Chip, you're an absolute lunatic. Like, in the lab, I can't get enough. losing his mind like clicker back to the clear he's got the remote out he's going to the clicker and he's a kind of a football history buff like you hear about Belichick all the time all great coaches are and

and and okay here's the if you're sitting like I sit in this room and turn it dark and watch tape when you sit in there long enough and mention I have been up to three four in the morning with Kevin Weidel and with Nagy back in the day and a bunch of different guys and GMs and scouts come And when you get to like two, three in the morning and you're delirious, like, little squirrely, any little thing.

I can remember us laughing for 45 minutes about someone from some receiver from SMU scoring a touchdown and dancing with the, dancing with the mascot. So there's like little things, right? So he's in the lab all the time and he's a junkie and he's kind of a football buff and all that. And so my quick story on Chip one year, he gets fired from the Eagles and he comes to work for ESPN. You remember that? Mm-hmm.

So we'd already been friends, but we wound up, we're in the airport, both flying out of Boston. He's got a beautiful property up in New Hampshire, and he comes down, and we're flying down to the ESPN preseason, the college football meetings, right? And we're talking before we're bored. I board the plane. I'm in first class. Part of my contract.

I'll self-admit. Part of my contract, got to a certain level. you get the opportunity, you fly first class. Chips in his first year at ESPN. Chip Kelly coached Oregon to the national championship. Chip Kelly brought Philadelphia Eagles to the playoffs. Chips are like legend, right? I sit down.

I'm waiting on a Diet Coke to come sitting in first class, and he's in like 34B. And he walks by and I grab him. I'm like, I'm like, Chip, take my seat. You know, I don't want you back there. A bunch of Patriots fans. and like fans are like he's like he's like no get out here enjoy your seat you know choice words and walk back but we got to talking when we landed and he was like it was like he hadn't had his

fix he's like I'm struggling I don't know what to do the people the eagle shut me out I can't get to my exos I can't get I don't have a computer so like so here I'll keep keep this going keep talking about how crazy this I'm going to show you what I gave to chip this should be good I feel like we're we're in a situation where you have the poster board behind you. We had an old computer. Thumb tax and yarn attached. Right? You remember these external hard drives.

We had to like spend weeks. This is from Joe Douglas, Joe D. 2011 NFL draft film. He, you know, some years we'd call different people. Hey, can you have your guy just down on. So Chip didn't have it. It was before it was all on the cloud, right? Right.

So I sent him. I'm like, yeah, just give me. your address. I'll, I've got an extra computer. I think it was when Wightle went to the league and we had an extra computer. So I shipped them a computer and I shipped him like, we had like six of these for the entire college football season. You'd have to like plug these in, plug them out, depending on the school, right? And Chip steals the computer, never given it back. Yeah. But he's sitting there and he's watching college tape. And I'm like, how does Chip freaking Kelly not have access to college tape? And he was telling me, I saw him later in the season. He's like,

I'm like, are you watching Prepar from games? He's like, yeah, I mean, I watch games and whatever. He's like, but I'm starting to work. I'm trying to get the next variations of the offense and trying to like expand it, what it can do. And going back in the league or going back to college, all that stuff. So if you're watching Chip, and I know you're not because you're celebrating a national championship,

but if word gets back to you and I'm sure I'll shoot your text, you owe me a computer, right? But with that kind of is the backdrop, like how big of a theme he is and how many hours spent in the lab, When you get in that lab, you start to lose your mind and you look for little things, something that is just intriguing to you. So the last time Ohio State, so now he's the offensive coordinator of Ohio State. The last time Ohio State was in a national championship, they absolutely got embarrassed.

52 to 24. In that game, the Heisman trophy winner, he had won it just a week earlier, Devante Smith, superstar wide receiver, last name Smith. they run this orbit fake motion. Do we have it? Text our guys before the game. Here we go. Watch this.

If you're watching on YouTube, watch, okay, this is the play they ran tonight. This is Jeremiah Smith. Fast forward from 2021 to 2025. A superstar wide receiver runs a fake orbit to the right side, coming back to the left. That was back.

And then they dump it up. The cornerbacks season. Now watch Devante Smith on the left side. Same freaking play. I was watching it. I'm like, this is unbelievable. Devante Smith, same thing. You can't unsee, you can't forget the play once you've seen it. Wait a second.

We've seen that before. That's the Devante Smith. Sark stuck it to Ohio State. So he's such a lunatic. He's going back and study and just marking it down. It wasn't against Alabama, but it was the last time Ohio State's the national championship game, they got embarrassed. We're going to flip the switch.

We're going to flip the script, I should say. And now we get down to first drive, first opportunity, almost the same yard line, first chance to give it to him and to show like, we're going to flip it. Ohio State fans, like last time you were here, you got embarrassed, this time we're going to go the other way. I thought that was awesome.

Crazy confident to do it that early in the game. That's what I'm saying. Do you know how long he's been sitting on that? Do you know how long Chip Kelly's been? sitting on that where he saw it probably two in the morning and was like at some point I'm going to unleash this thing. And he's like, wait a second, I can unleash it in the national championship game just like the last time of Ohio was it. And so all the fans for this program that were part of that that traveled there were at that game that spent all that money

or spent all the time this season, following the team, and we're embarrassed in that national championship game. They've been dying, see, like foaming at the mouth to get back to a national championship game. Here we are. Maybe you'll get a chuckle with me. Like, I don't know. I wonder how many recognized it. I wonder how Notre Dame knew something was up and they pointed out that that out in the broadcast too. Christian Gray was like something. He's pointing at him. By the way, he's, Christian Gray's point at him and then he's running to the other side of the field. I'm like, just, man, stay with that guy. If you get beat because you let someone else lose, don't let it be Jeremiah Smith. But yeah, it's a great, great.

call. Unbelievable. Is this the best Ohio State team we've ever seen? Wow. No. It's really, really good. And maybe overall it's good, but I do think about some of the defensive fronts and feel like as much as I like Jack Sawyer and how much he's gotten better over this playoff from, by the way, another player, we talked about quarterbacks. He's a player that I look at differently than I did. And I liked him before. I, you know, I think he's made some in this little run. I don't think that defensive front is as deep as dominant as some of the fronts they've had. But man, it's tough.

When you start to think about it, that receiving core with Smith, it matches up with a lot of the other great receiving cores they've had there. That backfields as good as a lot of the other great backfields they've had there. It's tough. It's tough. But I don't think so. I think it's a damn good team. I'm not sure it's the best Ohio State team.

Connor and Evans are one of our producers. He's been with us from the jump. Literally the first creative conversation I had with the ringer was with Connor. He brought up a good point. It was interesting. He got me doing a little digging, but like the game was going on. So I was trying to like, I don't want to miss a play. But I started doing a little dig in.

And then he sent us the list. And I've got this list. I've marked up a little bit. I don't know if you can see on YouTube. And by the way, thank you. I haven't forgotten that you guys are all here. I see Brian Haas. What the hell did the Notre Dame corner runaway?

I see a wide way. Kenny, what is he doing? Scuba driver, Garrett Fitzgerald. I see everyone there. So we appreciate everyone being here. It keeps getting bigger every week. We appreciate this is the last live show that we're going to have. We're going to be at the Senior Bowl next week with a lot more to come, as I've mentioned before.

And I feel like we're just kind of hitting our stride. Every, the season kind of winds down. All this college football shows are going to start to wind down. And this is kind of our, this is our sweet spot now. We get warmed up. But Connor sent this, sent a note. I don't have it exactly in front of me, but basically that the 20, remember the, so I just referenced it, right? I just referenced Ohio State has been in the college football playoff era, they've been to two national championship games.

It was 2014 season played in 2015. That's when they blew the doors off of Oregon, right? And I just read you the score was a 42 to 20. And then they lost the one to Alabama that we just talked about with Devante Smith. But going back to that 2014 team, it was played in 2015, and the players that were on that team were in the 2015 draft, the players that were eligible. his contention was and it's not wrong i did then i think it was 19 players it was 24 players from that

from that team i think they they were all on that team went on to be drafted in 2015 2016 2017 okay interestingly enough for as loaded as that team was they had a small draft class that year. A bunch of them came back, okay? That draft class was Devin Smith, the wide receiver, who was a second round pick. Then they had one third round pick, Jeff Eurman, the tight end. And then it was like a fourth round pick and a couple six, six round picks. They only had five draft picks that year. But they had five first round draft picks the year after. Because remember, it was kind of like this year. They all came back. Right. After winning the national championship, they're going to go win another one.

And they didn't, okay? But that was Joey Bosa. These are all first round picks. Ready? Joey Bosa, Zeke Elliott, Eli Apple, Taylor Decker, Darren Lee. Then second round picks, you ready, Munch? Those are five first rounders.

Second round picks. Michael Thomas, Von Bell, Adolphus Washington, Braxton Miller, who was playing wide receiver, don't forget. Right. And the quarterback. Remember that national championship team, third string quarterback. That was the first year of the college. football playoff.

Urban Meyer and the gang snuck in as the number four seed. Are they, should we even let them in? Third string quarterback, Cardale Jones, remember? You remember all that nonsense, right? Yeah. And then they routed that. I think they beat, was it Notre Dame? And then, is it Notre Dame, then Oregon?

I forget what it was, but they won that national championship. But all those players, Nick Van at it, tight end. So they had five first round picks. Beed Alabama. That's right. Alabama. Then, and that's right, because that next national championship was kind of a, was a grudge match. Yeah, grudge match.

Right. So five first round picks, two second round picks and four third round picks in 2016. Then 2017, still some of those players, Marshawn Latimore, Malik Hooker, Gary on Conley, that secondary was phenomenal, all first round picks. Curtis Samuel, wide receipts. Rayquan McMillan at linebacker. So his contention was that really the conversation started with. And I think he makes a good point.

Like the elite programs typically are the elite programs. And so, yeah, there's all this NIL money and all that. But like, Ohio States had the ability to have this level of talent. And I would kind of back that up and saying, and this is what Herb Street talked about on the broadcast. and we brought it up the other day, all that $20 million, very little of it was spent on bringing other guys in.

It was almost all spent on keeping guys there. They did that graphic two weeks ago. It was all third, fourth, and fifth year players on the defensive side. They brought in one guy, Caleb Downs. Now it's a phenomenal guy, but they brought in one guy, everybody. So here's my point in all that. I think what makes this team so unique. And yes, NIL money kept it, kept it together.

And you can't tell me that four or five of those guys, maybe we were shocked. I remember when JTT decided to go back. Jack Sawyer decided to go back. We thought, hey, the second rounders, they're going to come out. They played a lot of ball. We were shocked when, when Tile. Amiga. What?

Amiga, when he went back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, so there were a bunch of guys. we were shocked that came back. So NIL money kept it together. But my greater point, forget NIL, forget old versus new. I don't know that this is the best team. It's not. It's not the best team. It's not the best talent that's been on a roster at Ohio State. It's not. Right. Period. It's not. Because I look at these names and I, like Joey Bosa, 20, Joey Bosa, Zeke Elliott, Eli, Apple, Taylor, Decker, Darren Lee, Michael,

Thomas, then Marshawn Lattimore, Malik Hooker, Gary and Conley, Curtis Samuel, Rayquan McMillan, get out of here. It's different because those are three, those are eight first rounders in a two-year span and a whole bunch of second and thirds, okay? Right. But what this team is, is the most experienced group of talented players that Ohio State's ever had. Because balanced. Because they're all coming out this year. All of them, except the guys that that absolutely can't. And ironically, the two most talented players on this football team are guys that are not eligible, right?

Downs is eligible in 2026, and he's going to be a high first-round pick, like top five potentially. 27, Jeremiah Smith is going to be eligible, and unless there's someone who's a team that absolutely needs a quarterback, and there's a great quarterback in that class, then he'll, maybe he's the second overall pick, but he very well could be the first wide receiver taking number one

overall since 1999, okay? But my contention would be this is the most experienced group of talented players ever at Ohio State in one year because here's what I came up with. I've got nine guys who are going to get drafted on defense,

the four defensive linemen, the two linebackers, correct, one safety, not named downs, that's ransom in both corners, burks and Igbenoson, right? Yep. That's nine.

Offensive side, you've got the center, the guard turn left tackle, and the left tackle, Simmons. Simmons Jackson and my Irish kindred. So that's three offensive linemen, Abuka, right? Yep. Wide receiver. That's four. Will Howard is going to get drafted. That's five.

And the two running backs, that's seven. Right. So nine plus seven is 16. They're going to have 16 draft picks from this class. That's outrageous. Yeah. How many first rounds? How many first round?

Simmons. Josh Simmons, left tackle. I think Tyleek Williams will be. He's in the mix. He's in the mix. I think he'll be late first. He should be. I don't think either of the edges will,

but I think they'll be top 50 picks. I think some years they could have been. I think this edge class is too good. It's going to squeeze them out. Yeah. the linebackers won't be the running backs won't be they'll be day two um that's it abu no oh yeah yeah you're right you're right me mecca could be a meca vuka could be i think he will be i actually think he will be like 20 to 32 range so what is that three so that's three that's three

first rounders but none of them like like laddimore was 11th overall malik was 15 overall. Bosa was third overall. Zeke was fourth overall. Eli Apple was 10th overall. Decker was 16th overall. You know, so again, that group over three drafts had more elite top tier talent. This group has more pick 20 through the fourth round. They're going to be like 12, 13 Ohio State guys come off the board. And that's something you almost never see. Right. there i'm out of wind i've been talking too much what do you got mentioned i don't know it's it's it's up there though it's and then you get into the whole conversation of you know it's funny i hit the name you i apple and you forget how good he was at ohio state because of how bad he was in the pros but

um they're up there and you and you also get into that conversation of collections of talent versus teams i think one thing you'll look back maybe this isn't the quote unquote best team I think if you're Ohio State fan, it's going to be one of your favorite teams, even though they lost that game to Michigan. Because you look at how they responded and how they came together and figured out a way to win a national championship when they, it seemed like there was no shot. It seemed like everything was falling apart.

Instead, that team reacted by, you know, really bonding. We've talked about this before. The way they bonded instead of fracturing is impressive. It's not that I wasn't listening to you. I just got a good comment. Gisepi, Bussi. Bouchemmy, maybe? He said, have a good night.

I love Ohio State, and this show is awesome. But as an adult, I need to hit the hay before I say something dumb. Good night, Guseppe. Oh, sleep well. Congrats. I truly congratulations to Ryan Day. Oh. And congratulations to everyone involved.

But how awesome is it for two elements of this? One, it's hard because you don't want to give the double guns up to a fan base that you want to just embrace my family and I trust us. We're doing right by these kids. We got a bunch of really good guys. They represent this university well. They represent you as fans well. They really are. How many bad guys are on that Ohio State team?

You can't say that about every team in the country. There's some, you know. there's a lot of good guys doing good things, giving to charity, like good teammates, hard workers. Like, we're trying to do the right thing here. And we're also pretty damn good at coaching. So, like, maybe cool it on the Michigan thing. We'll figure it out.

Yeah. But at the end of the day, to be as down to see that. Remember that look on Ryan Day? Like he saw a ghost after that Michigan lost and planting the flag. And he's like, what's going on? What happened? You know, remember when we were like, it just looks like he lost the ship he lost like you know and to see them turn things around and

rally around their head coach and rally around their leadership that way that's an awesome thing anyone who's been in the locker room anyone who's been a part of this thing that's an awesome thing i i get it and you know because we went to school in the south you'll get this i know you can't do the double guns up for for ryan day you can't like you know you can't just burn burn the place down with the revenge store i would be the most passive aggressive human being you've ever ever met for the next six months, though. Give me an example. Give me an example.

You go down the south and like, oh, bless your heart. Bless your. Yeah, like, Marissaulah. I joke around about that. God don't make your trash. And they have all these sayings and they seem so sweet. And the reality, like, what did you just say to me? Like, I think you just like, just put me down in a pretty bad way.

Yeah. I would, that would be me if I were Ryan Day. I'd be so passive aggressive and, and, you know, just stick it to as many people as I could without, you know, burning any bridges. I mean, listen, when you do that, that's what you get to do, man. That's, that's you, you're able to do that when you respond the way that they responded. Yeah. And I'm petty.

I think we all are a little bit, right? Like, it's, it's after midnight. Like, we're all a little petty. When you're passionate about something and like, and you have to, here's the hard part. When you know you're doing it the right way and, like, the chips didn't fall your way or you tried something, it didn't go. like whatever it is, but you're grinding and you're pouring your whole life into it. And then you got someone who's like eight beers in yelling stupid stuff. And then like that gets louder from the next, you know, like we've all kind of been in that

situation. And you know when you trust what you're doing and then you, and you hear it, it's hard not to have a little bit of that like, God bless your heart. Yeah. Have a blessed day. You have a point in Spain. That would be a great one, yeah. All right.

Let's say. See you later. I'll say this, by the way. I, looking back on it now, because Ryan Day wins the national championship, everything works out well for them, I sneaky love that Michigan won that game now. And I'm not that I'm rooting for Michigan, but the legend of that rivalry grows. Because you remember the year that Ohio State went on that run, and they beat Tennessee, and they beat Oregon, and they beat Notre Dame and whoever else they beat, you know,

remember when they had that rivalry, you know, remember when they had that rivalry, run and they were so dominant in those games. But we beat them. Yeah, they lost to a Michigan that year because you never know what's going to happen in that rivalry. That's great for college football. Oh, it is. It's phenomenal. It's phenomenal. And like the buildup, the buildup, and I remember talking

to Urban and I'm sure it's still true, and I think it was true with Woody. Like, there's a clock. There's a countdown. Like we do on every show, I think we're down to like 91 days until the draft. But there's a clock that's until kickoff for the next year. So it's like 360, well, not

not now, but it's, you know, 310 days or whatever it is. But you can already feel a building for next year, right? And now Michigan went out and they bought their quarterback. And then, oh, oh, McShay said, I just heard McShay and Munch, you guys got 17 or 16 guys getting drafted. Okay. Well, we just bought our quarterback. Right. You know, so, yeah, it's going to be phenomenal.

You know, all those Michigan fans are sending it home there. Like, it couldn't beat us. Who cares? They couldn't beat us. And that would be a perfect segue, and we'll get right back to in a second because I do want to go over a couple of quick things. Looking the next year,

kind of looking back on this season. But also to bring in your guy who got you going in coaching. Oh. And I want to remind you, I had to look it up. Chip has never, and I hope I didn't look it up wrong,

and I'm sure people on the B will let me know. Chip has never won the big, game at any level as an assistant or a head coach. And so while this decision had everything, this decision had three parts to it. And the first two significantly outweighed the third. But it was absolutely a huge, still a big factor. But the first part was in even the thought process starting, and I know this. It was, okay, we're at UCLA.

I love it here. I love the people I'm working with. I know what we want to do, but can we accomplish that? And now that NIL, we're not getting the support. Pack 12 is falling apart. Like, maybe it's time. Like, I don't want to bail on this thing, but maybe it's time to like look. College football is changing and we're not changing with it.

What's the best way I can put it? Then number two is my guy from UNH. that I was his coach and helped them get going in this whole thing is now the head coach at Ohio State. And we talk and we're close and we share ideas and all that stuff. What if we were doing this thing together? What if we said a year or two year run and we did this thing together? And then you start thinking,

I've never won a freaking championship, man. Went to playoffs in the NFL and won a Super Bowl. Went to a national championship, I think four or five years. at Oregon. I want to say four actually. It felt like a lot longer, but I think it was four years at Oregon. Awesome teams. Best offense in the country. Revolutionized, like,

you know, took it to another level. Got to a national championship game. It was close, but we lost to an absolute freak show in Cam Newton. Wouldn't it be awesome to go there and help him beat Michigan? Didn't happen. But to actually get him over the hump. My guy is so close. we've done this thing together or like from a far and now let's go do it together.

Can you imagine the feeling like reunited, putting it together? Everything is, it's over. It's miserable. It's done. What we tried to do, it didn't work. The Michigan game, oh, my God, like, I'm worried about it. It's like mental health. Like, what is going on?

And then to be able to reel it back in that quickly, change up some of the offensive schemes, get the misdirection going, trust the quarterback. with these wide receivers. Attack, attack, attack. Now we're going to run some counters. We're going to, we're a zone team. We're going to run counters. So everything's going this way and that that way.

Yeah. And to have the creative headspace to do that on the fly and have veteran players that are able to adjust on the fly with you. And I look down the hall and that's my guy, Ryan Day, and I can help him. Like, my gosh. It's just like there's, it's like a Disney movie. There, the UNH is the same division.

as Richmond where we played. I love the idea of them saying, do you remember that play we ran against Richmond in such and such year and in this situation and whether or not those things show up? Because, you know, you're a part of that. I love that idea. And I also say this.

I put on my dad half for a second. I love the example that that decision sets for people and that not allowing someone else to define what success is for you or what career happiness is, I guess that's a way of saying it. you don't have to be a head coach if you're not happy. That doesn't, you don't, if you're Chip Kelly and you're going to be happier being an offense coordinator and working with quarterbacks, I think it's great that he makes that

decision instead of feeling the pressure of I'm supposed to be at X spot in at this point in my career. I think it's a really great example to set for younger people. Sorry. No, no. And I just saw on the chat, it's a good point. Before we, we go, finish this with some big picture and some quick stuff, let's do a quick reset. we got all these Ohio State fans here, some Notre Dame maybe even, but like one last rip

through, anything else we missed on this game. I'll start with this. JTT, I thought he played one of his best games from the jump. He had five tackles. He had a sack. I thought he was disruptive. I thought he was sound versus the run. I thought he was great. Caleb Downs once again was awesome. Didn't have big, I mean, he was tied for the team high in tackles of five. Didn't have any massive plays. But he and Ransom, I think Mitchell Evans, what did Mitchell Evans have? He didn't have much. That was my whole point. And Ransom did the Yomans work on that. He was covering the, he was taking Mitchell Evans out. He wound up with four for 52, but he had like two catches throughout the vast majority of the game. So they shut down that tight end. I thought,

I thought the safeties for Ohio State were awesome. I thought JTT was awesome. I did not think it was Jack, Captain Jack's best game, Jack Sawyer. And not that he was bad, I'm not saying, I'm just saying he didn't have the impact plays that we've come to seeing the college football playoff. But Simons and Stiles and Stiles and the Siles of the sack. I thought the linebacking play for the linebacker play and the safety play and obviously the defensive front floor throughout the college football playoff. But the really honest to God, the whole defense elevated every like throughout this entire college football playoff. specifically styles.

Like Simon was always a good place. Styles got better and better and that's your guy. And Ransom played great in this game. And the front, the edge guys throughout the majority, it was JTT tonight. It was Jack Sawyer the week before. But throughout the college football playoff,

they played great. I thought the defense, I mean, yeah, that stood out to me. Like the defense, the defense grew into the unit. We thought that they might be.

and Ohio State fans hoped that they were going to be throughout the year. They grew into that. They owned it and they played violently but with discipline. And they were like, it was like watching an NFL defense almost towards the end of the year. Like the different things that they were able to do, the adjustments they made, how smart on that defensive side that they played. Yeah, I mean, Notre Dame had two yards of carry tonight. I mean, that was just, that's what they needed to do.

And that's what they did. They shut down the run. I mean, there's not much really to add it to the, to the, conversation at this point. I agree with everything. Defense was outstanding. Chip Kelly had a great game. Justin Frye, the offensive line coach for Ohio State. Someone needs to get him a steak dinner tonight. I mean, it's been a hell of a year. Hell of a year for that guy. I knew you'd have something else. And for what you lose your starting center who's an absolute dude. Stud. And was playing his best ball. And you lose a left tackle who still, what do you play? Like,

six games, something like that. Yeah. Still could be a top, still could be a top 15, top 20 pick. He's that talented. And to patch that thing together, all the different O-line variations and center moving out to guard,

then guard moving out to tackle, and let's take the backup center and plug him at guard, and then over at center, like, and to protect Howard as well as they did. And to, I just talked about changing, like not just all zone moving one way,

but now we're going to pull the guard tackle and the counters and become something a little different than what we used to be heavy on. Yeah, phenomenal job. Yeah. Coaching players, a great win program-wise. Not the best color man in the business for nothing, folks. Oh, yeah. I mean, that's in the running.

And Judkins. Judkins had kind of taken a backseat to the big plays from Howard, I mean from Henderson. But Judkins was the guy tonight. You just mentioned it, 9.1 yards per carry, two touchdowns. Also, don't forget, he had a big, he had a touchdown catch, two catches for 21 yards. He had one of his best games in the season tonight. Yeah, all right, let's move on.

A couple other things we wanted to get to. Most memorable, we're going to review a little bit, and we're going to bounce around. We're going to go quick hitters here. But get involved on the check. We'll throw out some stuff that you guys throw out to. But now the season's over. Just a quick look back. I'm not a big look.

Let's go through the top 10 memories of the season. But like a couple of games that just stood out. They didn't have to be the best games or the most impactful games. But when you think back on the season, what jumps out to you? For games, Texas, Arizona State in the playoff game was the best game by far. But one that I think that's sneaky was one that was a Friday night game, late September. The cardiac canes were still. starting to develop into the cardiac canes.

And it was that Virginia Tech Miami game. Hail Mary, ruled a touchdown, overruled. One of those, like, and it's Friday night. So it's really the only game you're watching that night. You got Cam Ward on. Virginia Tech balled out that night. Again, not one of those big games. You know, Georgia, Georgia Tech was great.

Connor brought that up. Great game. LSU, Texas, A&M was... Hold on. Kiron. Kiron drones threw it, 41, from the 41, one yard line, scrum of players. Dayquan felt and came down with it.

Catch, no catch, catch. Catch, no catch. Is it a catch? Where's the ball? Hockey fans still say it's a catch. And ultimately, they overturned it. They overturned it, too. Don't forget about that far.

And the review lasted 48 minutes at like 1 a.m. It felt like, I don't know. I'm wanting to get to bed. Like, all right, I'm done. But I got to know. Cam Ward had 343 and four touchdowns in that game. Come back win, yep. This thing's destined.

Like they find ways to lose and still don't, you know? Right. That game was awesome. Go ahead. Sorry. Yeah, so that was, you know, the Georgia Jordan Tech one was awesome. I love the 8-0-T's, the smart and key conversation at the end of that game. You just felt bad for key.

And then the LSU Texas A&A when Marcel Reed came in, that was a fun game. I wrote that down too. I think it was because honestly, I think we're biased on that because I think it was the first live reaction show we did. Maybe. But it also had this. For people who love the draft the way we do and cover it and evaluate players and watch tape and like they're about to dive so deep into it that like my head starts to spend thinking about what's coming up in the next three months, let alone the next three weeks. To watch on social media, Garrett Nussmeyer is my guy. I had him four weeks ago.

he's my QB1. I told you, I told you, I told you, I told you to like the one interception out, he was dealing, man. He was dealing.

And I'll never feel like, Connor, Connor takes like he was feeling himself. And then all of a sudden he rolls left. And he throws back against the grain interception. And it's like the whole season collapsed. Yeah. True.

Wheels came off. Marcel Reed comes in. They like don't throw the ball more than three times in the second half. And they rip off like 35 points. it felt like. Yeah. And then all, and Garrett Nussmeyer now,

it's like, oh, I don't know. It's like, everyone just calmed out. And A&M looked really damn good. But yeah, that was a fun game.

Vandy upsetting Bama. Yeah. Carrying the goalpost down. That's a good one. Grown in the river. That was awesome. This game didn't want, I mean,

it mattered. It wound up mattering. It absolutely mattered. But Penn State, USC game. But I always think of it. Tyler Warren had 17 catches in that game. Unreal.

Seven. Unrear before. He snapped the ball to a quarterback and then went down and caught the touchdown. He was like punting, catching, throwing, snap. Like, he did it all. That was an awesome game. Obviously, Michigan, Ohio State, the flag planting, skies falling. And what that led to, right?

Georgia, Texas times two. ugly games quarterback play. First one better than the second one, though. Yes. Oh, no question. No question. Yep. Oregon, Ohio State. That was an awesome one. Yeah, I mean, there were a lot of, just. Another one that was kind of under the radar, but because I love Lenore's

sellers so much in that game was South Carolina, Missouri. His performance in that game was unreal. I mean, keep calling him Superman. If you go back and watch that and look at his numbers, that was an incredible performance. All right. I want to get to some breaking news today in the NFL too. Let's save it for the very end.

And if you're probably not here to hear some draft stuff, but like, my goodness, let's just touch on it and then we can get to it as we start transitioning to NFL draft and all that coming up this week. For those who are here, you know, it's Tuesday now. So we're not going to have our normal Tuesday show. Thursday morning, we'll be back. And we'll start the Thursday. We have a show.

we're going to go to twice a week for a little while here, but I say that, and then I'm also telling you that we're going to be, we're going to have three shows during the week of the senior bowl, which is the following week. So just follow along. We're just going to keep moving the goalpost until we settle. But eventually it's going to be twice a week.

It's going to be like Monday afternoon and then Thursday, first thing in the morning as we get closer to draft. And then I'm sure as we get to the last couple weeks of the draft like, shit, maybe we'll do five shows a week. I don't care at that point. We just did nothing but information. and the Hayes and the barn at that point. But we'll get to some of the news in the NFL concerning the NFL draft to a certain degree,

but really focus on like a huge shakeup and a move. But I want to, speaking of the draft, who were the players this year for you, Mensch, who rose the most? Like guys coming into the year didn't really know, maybe day three or whatever it would be. But fastest rising are guys that really helped themselves the most this year. Look, I'm a little late to this party. It feels like everyone's talking about this kid at this point, but it's the linebacker from UCLA who's going to be at the Senior Bowl.

Carson Swessinger, I think I'm saying that right, Swessinger. 90 solo tackles led the FBS in that. I got Lance Zerline hitting me up in my DMs for Twitter. You've got to watch this kid. He's that good. I texted you immediately because I said it reminded me about when we were first watching where I remember when we were at ESPN and you got Teddy Bruskey to come watch linebackers with us and tell us what he looks for.

Oh yeah. Yeah. That was that was so much. Yeah. I mean, you learned so much in that kind of environment, obviously. And we were talking about Sean Lee who was coming out of Penn State that year. And Brucey talked about snapshots and good linebackers take snapshots of where a ball carrier is before they get into traffic before they take on blocks.

And I haven't really thought about a player like that until I was. Polaro. I could tell the, it was like a Polaroid. I'll never forget sitting in that room. We were in a small, someone's office. We just went in and we hooked up our,

again, we had this like, who was four guys in the closet, essentially. Tiny little wrong. It was you, me, Kevin Weidel,

who's now with the Baltimore Ravens's scout and, and, and Burski. And Teddy comes in. It's funny. Like, Teddy, the boys, like people,

when they get, and they get in their environment, like, it's like the real, you got real quiet. And you started talking like, this right and i'll never forget you can't really see my tap tap tap run that back yeah run that back you remember like and i was like oh all right he's in he's in a different place right now right

and he loves sean lee and i remember he loves sean lee and the thing it but to speak to what you're saying is he's like i don't he's like the best way i can explain it is as a linebacker sometimes you have to give up a little bit of leverage and in order to get where you want to go, meaning like you're going to have to kind of give up a little bit and not let the guy, not go try to barrel a guy down, but maybe come in soft a little bit,

give up a little leverage. But when you do that, you recognize you're going to be engulfed for like a split second. Right. So the thing I always equated it to was taking a Polaroid. And for a lot of people out there, like you don't even know what a polarity, but picture,

it's just a quick snap on your iPhone, right, of a camera. quick snapshot. And so what you say is like before I go in to give up a little leverage, I'm going to be lost in that like scuffle for a quarter second. I take a snapshot of where the back is. First key is read the offensive lineman. If the guard is the key,

then the second read is locate the ball. So first read's done. I know I'm going to take a snapshot. Where's the ball going? That running back looks like he's trailing this way. Or right before I enter into that spot of engage. with the snapshot. Does the Polaroid tell me that he's getting ready to cut back, whatever it is?

And based off of that, I'm going to shed this way. I'm going to shed to the left to get to the right or I'm going to shed to the right to get to the left, but I'm going to have to give up some leverage to do so. So when I come out of this and I'm off balance, I'm giving up leverage, he's going to be going this way. I better have taken the right snapshot or else I'm cooked. That's what he was explaining that day. And this kid, you say he does it.

It's perfect the way he does it. And then you got his tackling, you had his range. I mean, he's a player. This is his first year starting. I don't know where, I don't know why UCLA didn't have this guy in the lineup. He's got a great special team's background, but this is his first year starting, leads the FBS and solo tackles. Again, a lot of people have been talking about him.

I finally got a chance to watch him. I watched four tapes. I was blown away. I think he's got a chance to go on the first round. I went more mainstream, just figuring this is going to be a national championship crowd. like the three players and three players not the but three players that absolutely just every year there are players just you know skyrocket it's a new new team new opportunity they're healthy whatever the reasons are but i don't know that any player helped themselves more cam ward was

like universally like yeah maybe some fourth round right you know fourth fifth round now we're legitimately hearing rumbling so you could be the number one overall pick for the tendency titans you know and it scares you a little like what's so different in one spot you know but but talk about having a season and i just talk about three 343 four touchdowns against virginia tech that was like every week you know and carrying that team so like when i think back on this season i think like cam ward was one of the true stories of the season and what he did to elevate his team but also to elevate his draft stock um cam scataboo unbelievable and then the legend peaked at the end like out of his mind throwing touchdowns

was that the best game of the playoff that was the best game of the playoff right it was the most exciting game of the playoff right and it was still to this day and i said i bet you at the end the best individual performance in the game that i'd seen that i saw the entire college football playoff. Yeah, Jeremiah Smith went off and all, but like gutting, like grinding, gutting it will, another guy throwing up on the sideline, nothing left to give. All right, fourth down and 11. I'm going to throw a touchdown, but like. And then he did that celebration with the arrows. I was like so awesome. Yeah, like Michael Pennix a year before. So Scataboo went from a guy again, like day three in the mix of like 170 running backs. It feels like we were going to get drafted,

elevated himself to where he's in the top 10 running backs, which means like he's got a legitimate chance. He's going to be a day two pick in a loaded running back class. And then the other player came on late, but I've fallen in love with him. I just watched more tape of him. Matthew Golden from Texas. I'm curious to see what he runs.

I'm guessing high four threes, maybe low, but he's fast, and he's quick. He's sudden. He's about six foot, 195, I think he's listed. He's got to get a little bit stronger. He can get knocked off of it. But as a route runner, his ability to get in and out of brakes, the way he rolls his hips on speed outs,

the way he tracks the ball. Who was it? I was watching him again. The Arizona State game tracking the ball down the right rail, adjusting to it, that long catch he had huge play. He's a good player. And I think Isaiah Bond,

like they were trying to force feed him at times. I just don't think they, they got into a groove or got comfortable with him, whatever it was. But I forget exactly what game it was. I think it was Georgia. It was Georgia. The Georgia game, he started going off. And then I said, Isaiah Bond, the injuries and kind of got in his head,

and he's jumping to catch the ball and all these different things. And he just took over the reins. Like, no, I'm the guy. I'm the guy now. Let's go. He was awesome down the stretch. I think he's one of the top five receivers in this year's class. So those are three guys that jumped out to me.

I got a quick exercise for you. I look this up today. Athlon, top five next year. I'm going to read off this top five, and I want you to tell me a team or two real quickly. You're going to love this. I can already guess. Ohio State is ranked one.

I already know the answer, and I had no idea. Ohio State is ranked one, Texas is two, Georgia is three, Penn State's ranked four, Notre Dame is fine. Again, I just literally, I googled in, two early rankings, 2025, and Athon came up first. So I'm not playing any favors to anyone or excluding anyone. So Ohio State, Texas, Georgia, Penn State, Notre Dame.

Who belongs in that top five? Who's prime to have a breakout year? I think there's... You're going to say Clemson, you son of a bitch, aren't you? You are. We did not talk about this, by the way. I did not text him. I did not say anything.

but Cade Clubman came on at the end of the year. All those talented receivers coming back, four to five starters. All those Clemson fans hated me this year. Next year they're going to love it. I'm on you, Andy. TJ Parker, listen, my Clemson Tigers are going to be great next year.

I think that they have a chance to be really good. Tom Allen coming in as defensive coordinators and the help. That defense was a little lost. They, NIL transfer portal, all that stuff, but they were young. So you're counting on a new coordinator to come in with, I don't see elite talent, but I see good talent and guys that were younger, they can get better. So I can see that happening.

And obviously, I do think offensively, they were just scratching the surface. I think Kade Klobnik came into his own. I think he's now, I think he's ready to make that next jump. He made it. Second year with Garrett Riley, right? And the first year was ugly. Second year, it got better and better as the season went on, threw for almost 3,700 yards, 36 touchdowns,

won the ACC title game, nobody expecting to do it, played great in the playoff game. Like, and they get guys back. Like, I'm not the biggest Phil Maffa guy, and he's off to the NFL, so I think they're going to plug that. I'm all right with that too, yeah. I was just going to say, And that's my kind way of saying is maybe some of the long younger younger upgraded running back.

But you got Westcoe, T.J. Moore, Antonio Williams. They've got some talent. How about LSU? By the way, they open against each other. Oh. Isn't that great? I think it's going to be interesting. This is a critical year for Brian Kelly.

This is like make or break. Garrett and Osmiger comes back, passes on the NFL, could have potentially been a first round pick, made the absolute right decision. He comes back. They hit the portal hard from what I've read, and I took two seconds to read over it. But Nick Anderson, Berrien Brown, offensive line, they brought in two more guys,

which they're going to need. Yeah. Their offense scored almost 31 points a game, though, this past year. So, like, that wasn't the problem. The defense is the problem. Blake Baker showed promise for a little while, and then things fell apart.

I guess they hit the portal hard too already. So we'll see. but I think LSU would, because Nussmeyer's back, has a chance to bounce back. But the team that I would, the team I'm most excited about, I want to see, DJ Lagway, Florida Gators.

Only coach we've had on all season long. DJ Lagway, they finished the season. On a good note, you got to remember, too. Graham Mertz was lost to the season for injury, lost for the year because of the injury. Lagway is just a pup.

He gets injured. Then they're down to the Yale third string quarterback, right? They gave up 27.3 points per game in the first four games, and then they didn't allow more than 17 points. So we know we got a quarterback, and then the defense is young, hungry, and got better. They didn't allow more than 17 points in their final four games. The schedule is brutal again, but- That's the problem, right? I know.

It's like, yeah, but you got to, you got to, you really didn't lose anything that I'm worried about losing from this past year. And they finished like that. And you could argue that they were the third or fourth best team in the SEC at the end of the year, truly. And they were beating Georgia before Lackway went out. Yeah. Yeah. It beat Ole Miss. Like, I don't know.

I think, I think that Florida's got a chance to be interesting this year. All right. Last thing. We've been on for an hour and 45 minutes. Holy smokes. Sorry, folks. It's not official. So that's why I'm hesitating.

It's not official. But what? Just get it done. I mean, I don't know what the, all the smoke, just announce it. Well,

when Schefter comes up. Sheffter doesn't write a long, a long ex post. And they're finalizing the deal. We have seen this before, though. We have seen, like, they're finalizing a deal and something happened.

I'd better offer. came in, someone said something to piss somebody off. And Ben Johnson, Ben Johnson to the Bears is what we're referencing here. Ben Johnson to the Bears would be a monumental move in the NFL. And I know we're making a hard shift here, but cover the draft hard. We're getting ready to get into the NFL draft. The Bears have the 10th pick overall. Massive disappointment from the number one overall pick this year.

Ben Johnson is closing in on this deal, and he held out. He could have been a head coach this past year. He held out to find the right spot at the right time. What does this mean? Is it mean his poll is going to stay there? Ryan Paul is a general manager? What's he requiring as the head coach to become the next head coach of the Bears?

Let me say this, though. if this occurs, while neither is a proven commodity in their role at this point, in this next role, if this is the venture, neither Caleb Williams is a proven commodity in the NFL, nor is Ben Johnson a proven commodity as a head coach. They're not. But this will be the most talented combination of head coach, offensive head coach, and quarterback in Chicago Bears history. And that goes back to 1922 when the Bears became an organization.

After the Decatur Staley's, Munch, the Decatur Staley's for a couple decades became the Chicago Bears. I'm telling you, look it up. They have never had an offensive coach and an offensive talent like this. I love telling you. I love telling you're wrong, but I don't see it. Yeah, I think you're right. But here's the deal.

Detroit had an offensive line that they built from scratch over time. This is an opposite build. You have the quarterback, and now you don't have an offensive line. The protection's got to be better. And here's the other thing, too, if you look at Detroit, I said this recently. We were just talking about this. Detroit is the toughest sons of bitches on the block.

Don't want to meet him in an alley. They're going to grit you to death, all that stuff. And they are, except this past game. but they had the fastest getaway cars, right? Jameson Williams. Absolute burner just takes the top off like a freakish fast play speed. They're running back out of his mind fast. Jamir Gibbs, just ludicrous fast.

Fastest Alabama player, including some of the storewide receivers, hit 24 in the miles per hour in practice, Nick Saban told me. Crazy. Right? Sam Laporta. Difference maker, a tight end, right? Amonra St. Brown. All the things you want but has speed.

They don't have speed. They're slow. This team is they can't protect and they're slow. I know DeAndre Swift ran a 4-48, but it feels like it was 100 years ago. It was 60. It was DeAndre Swift ran a 4-48 six years ago coming out of Georgia and three teens ago.

Okay. They're backup, Roshan John. and ran a 458. They're not fast at running back. Cole commits the closest thing that they have for positional fast. He ran a 4-70 and the 40. Good football player. Not a burner running.

Good football player. But behind him is Mercedes-Lewis and Gerald Everett. It's like a retirement home at tight end, bud. Okay? It's no high-res. Wide receiver, DJ Moore, ran a 4-4-2 coming out of Maryland. that was what seven years ago i don't i i just i don't see him playing i don't see him playing to that speed he's not fast he's not he's just not playing fast maybe with a new system but like

keenan allen ran a 471 46 years ago when he came out of his word four seven one four seven one romema dunzae ran a four four five but i've never viewed him as he's not a four four five in today's day and age is a possession receipt you know what i mean and it's not all about 40. I'm just, I'm trying to give some context. This is a slow offensive football team. For an offensive coach who is used to having burners. Didn't always. They were good without, but they plugged in Jemir and James.

So they pick at number 10 overall. They need to protect and they need weapons. And a wide receiver class is not very good. So there's just a lot of work to do here. But my goodness, I can't think of another head coach out there that would, that could potentially, it's like watching those, what's like home HD TV when they go and try to rent it. We got one going on down the street here, okay?

1910, this house was built, literally down the street. If I open up this door to my office and looked at it, I could look at it. They actually had a television. There's some television channel that's here and they're doing it because it's like this antique New England build. I just heard the story today from the daughter of the girl was hanging out with Mia. she's basically a family friend she's over here all the time apparently they went in they were supposed to do this huge project one of those like you know tv things we're going to do it in three

months it's going to be awesome but we want to focus on this because we're rebuilding the deal these old new england homes 1910s but but turn of the century they get in and they find out that the the dry or the um the insulation is made you ready for this parchment paper seaweed and like class. And so for three months they halt the project, right? And electricians are in and it's like, you know, whatever X amount of dollars goes X times 10. But typically in these shows, they come in and like it feels like a month later,

they've like rebuilt it and the house is beautiful, had wonderful bones and it's beautiful, right? Well, we know that Caleb Williams has wonderful bones if we're kind of running the correlation here. but there's some parts there's some wiring that's crossed and it's never gotten addressed or dealt with or fixed and i can't think of a better coach to come in and try to fix all that he's he did not have in his rookie year any leadership that was that he could trust and that we're you know like and i've heard him talking and you know he's kind of taking cuts at his old coaching staff but Like, first of all, we need clock management.

We could have won some games. Yeah, I get that, but you need more than that, Caleb. You need someone who actually has a plan offensively, who can creatively design, but can actually get your ass to fit inside what we're doing because it's going to work. So it's going to be a give and take. And when we spend all this time on players and evaluate them and get to know them and hear all the shit that's been talked about them,

their fingernails and crying with mom and all that, you start to poll for guys. And he's a different cat. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care what you do, who you are, what you believe in. I don't care with the color of your skin. I don't care your sexuality.

I don't care about anything. You play this game that we all love. You're committed to it. And you play your ass off. And you play to the point where you're broken down enough that you're going to go in the stands and take all the heat and cry and cry for a moment because you care that much, right? So we want the best for these guys. And Caleb needs a true rebuild.

And I think Ben Johnson's the guy to, to do the fixer up right i'd really do so i hope this they get this done i don't know those are my thoughts i have i have my doubts you have a first time you have a first time head coach who's got to figure out all the other stuff that goes along with this you've got a generational talent at a quarterback who's now competing with janey danes seeing what jane daniels is doing and wants to be doing the same things and it's probably wondering why he's not right now the amount of pressure there and oh by the way you got to play Green Bay twice a year. You got to play Minnesota twice a year

and you got to play your old team, Detroit, twice a year. I'm not saying, I love all the stuff that you're saying and it's exciting to think about that offensive mind with that talent, that marriage seems real exciting on paper. How does he manage all of the other stuff in his first run as a head coach in the NFL? That's going to be tough to say. Where is Caleb Williams in terms of his headspace right now?

and can you get him to buy into everything you're doing? And, you know, is there any aspect of this where he says, and I don't know, but a young player might say, look, I'm not Jared Gough. I don't need you to manage me like you manage Jared Gough. You know, there's some things here that I'm a little hesitant about. And we've been waiting on him to become a head coach, Ben Johnson to become a head coach for so long now that it's just been this thing where, like, he's kind of get the guy is going to be ordained to be the next great head coach.

And maybe he is. I hope he is. I don't want anyone to fail. I certainly hope that everything goes well. But it just seems to me that, I mean, it's a tough. You look at what's happened with, again, we'll just, the easiest comparison is Jaden Daniels. You have Dan Quinn, who's in his second run at this.

He's a defensive guy. He's a manager of the team. He understands how to be a CEO, for lack of a better way of saying it. Whereas you have a guy that you're calling, you're bringing into call plays and foster your quarterback, while also being the head coach, which you can do,

Andy Reid has done that for years. But I also think it's very difficult and it takes some time to find your footing. And you're in a real tough division. Yeah, but I mean, okay. I don't disagree totally. And what is the Peter principle? Like sometimes you're best saying like what you're ultimately staying, stay in your lane. I might have, it's late.

I might have it all wrong. But I think that that's right. Like stay in your lane ultimately. Let's just call it that. But he's the most coveted guy out there. for a reason. His success is undeniable, okay? He's had time, and I'm glad that he took another year.

He's had his eye on this while still coordinating his ass off. And you can see by all the plays and the creativity and the success and the efficiency and everything, still doing his job at the highest of levels. But he's been building this plan, and it's not been, it's been a very poorly kept secret. Like he's been building this plan. So when the right opportunity. And it's also not, it was not a well-kept secret that he wanted the Chicago job. a year ago, right?

Right. So I hear you and I don't disagree, man. Think about Kingsbury in Arizona, man. But yeah, but Kingsbury was the college guy coming up. I know. But I also, in that breath, I think like, well, okay, well, what about McFay? What about Shanahan? What about, like, they had to start somewhere.

Like you said, like Andy, but that was a long time ago. but we're seeing more and more of these guys. It's not a great example now because this year, but like Mike McDaniel and McDaniels and Mike McDaniel, Josh McDaniels, I always do that. Yeah, me too. Oh, I just lose my whole feed here. No, you're good.

You're good. All right. I clicked it on my screen. There we go. Hey. But my greater point is this. But who else? who like if you if i'm telling you okay it mentions now your job you're the owner forget the

GM you're the owner of the bears and i get it maybe it's not fixable maybe we're too far down the road maybe maybe maybe maybe i've invested in an unbelievably talented quarterback with the number one overall pick and i've got to build i've got this house down the street i can't afford to go buy another house. It is my, my only purpose is the only thing I can do is to rebuild this house. And I have an opportunity, right?

This TV shows coming in and they're telling me that we can build this thing. And they're going to help me fund it, like, however it works, right? But it's the only chance I got. So what else, where, what other direction do you want? I don't. I mean, both of those things, I think it'd be true. I think it could be true that he's,

he's their best option. but I think it would also be true. But you're just skeptical that it's going to happen, that he's going to... I honestly think skeptical is maybe too harsh. Listen, I think he's a great candidate. I think he's a great mind. And I think Caleb Williams is a great talent. I think all those things are true.

I don't think all... I don't think one plus one plus one is always three in the NFL. It's just, it looks so good on paper. I hear what you're saying. It looks so good, right? I mean, this is the guy that's waited a year to come out. one's thinking that he's ready to go. No, I hear you.

And you know what? It doesn't necessarily make sense and play to sensibilities, but sometimes when it's like, oh, it's a perfect coordinator. It's too good to be true. Yeah, I hear you. And look where you are. Chicago. Hasn't really been working out there for a little while now.

I mean, it just hasn't since, you know, that great run in the 80s, what have they really done? I mean, I think they had a Rex Grossman Super Bowl against the, against Peyton Manning and the Colts, I think. I mean, this is not a. this is not a storied organization in the last two decades three decades all right and on a positive note after the national championship bench mr downer just a downer that's why we love you skeptical steve

uh oh solv oh oh solvin sorry peter solvin devon o'orick that's why i added oh a bunch of irish guy i see you i know where you guys are fissie sully o'rork It's our market. Yeah, we connect with the Irish guys up late. I see you. But we appreciate everyone being here. Next show, Thursday. Thanks for being here.

Connor. I actually said I was going to bring Connor on. It's too late. I don't want to do it to him now. Tucker, Dan, Eduardo. I think, I don't know who else is behind the scenes tonight. But if I miss you, I appreciate you. thanks for sticking with us.

We went two hours. Like we're going to be shut down. Two hours. Yeah, light. But we'll be back. And thanks again, everyone for joining. Please subscribe. If you're here and you're buzzed enough to be on at 1247 a.m.

Eastern time and you're a 50 or a Sully or an O'Rourke, hit the subscribe, if you wouldn't mind. We need to keep this thing going so we can stay alive. But we're fired up to get in the draft season. This is a perfect way to end it. Thanks for joining. Thanks for being with us. Mench, love you, brother. We will be back on.

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