The Ryen Russillo Podcast - College Football Check-in With Matt Leinart 

Episode Date: October 8, 2020

Russillo is joined by USC legend and Fox Sports analyst Matt Leinart to discuss the PAC-12 getting its schedule in order, what's going on with USC, Alabama's hot start, concern in Texas, hanging out with Lane Kiffin, working with Urban Meyer on 'Big Noon Kickoff,' and more. Then Ryen answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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When you want the real deal, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Today's plan for the podcast is a simple one. We're going to have Matt Leiner on, talking college football all over the country, and then we'll do life advice at the end. And if you want game four NBA Finals jonesing, I did an hour plus with Bill Simmons last night. So we'll link the Bill Simmons part to this one when it comes out, because I'm just, I don't want to be, for those of you that listen to both, I don't want to just do the same segments over and over again solo this time around.

Although Bill losing his mind about the Lakers likely cashing in on their 17th championship is probably worth listening because as much as he tries, we just know. And he knows this because I said it to him. I go, you're having a very hard time right now because the lakers are going to tie the celtics um and that's where we're at right now that's that's uh kyle have you noticed it you've been sitting in on those oh for years yeah yeah yeah he's a sports guy he's bill simmons it's just comes with the territory right i think he's kind of losing his mind a little bit is my point so yeah okay he's a guy i've got to know since i moved out here excited about it matt liner also part of the fox big noon kickoff show uh it's a great show so i want to talk about the show a little bit but we'll uh

cover everything going on in the country right now okay perfect time to talk some college football with uh my guy matt liner legend national legend more of a local legend now though oh god well okay and I even got the back to school sign behind me that's how legendary I am at the house that is good yeah this is you transistor right into your homeschooling after this all right I want to talk a bunch of college ball and I want to start first with your conference here because you know depending I get to the point where I was reading stuff and then I was like, you guys just let me know when you're kicking it off. And then I'm going to stop reading this stuff because I couldn't read another big 10 update. It was all over the place. And then the PAC 12, not surprisingly follows the big 10,

which then followed everybody. So we have the dates now. We know that it's going to be November 7th when these games start. So what do you think about where the conference is at right now compared to what we thought was going to happen? Well, listen, I mean, I'm happy they're back. It was looking pretty bleak there for, you know, for a couple of weeks. And, you know, I just, you know, talking to people, you know, people, USC, other, other schools, just the state of California, the restrictions were so rigid for, for those football teams and even in Oregon

too. And then you combine that with the wildfires, you know, a lot of, you know, a lot of people talking crap on social media and this and that. And obviously the Pac-12, the perception is what it is, but they were really kind of handcuffed with what they could do. And people really didn't understand that. And I know, you know, talking to people that Governor Newsom's office wasn't, had really no clue what was going either with, with how even football practices can be, can be ran with, you know, talking to people that Governor Newsom's office wasn't had really no clue what was going on either with with how even football practices can be can be ran with, you know, 11 on 11 and all that stuff. It was really kind of crazy to hear some of these stories. So all that being said, obviously, there was some push.

You know, I think USC players wrote a letter just say, hey, we want to play. So there was a little bit of pressure and push there like, hey, let's get this going. So obviously the city, the restrictions were lifted. I believe they started padded practice this week. So they just got into pads this week and they have a game in four weeks. It's pretty crazy. But just happy that they're back then. I mean, obviously college football is better when all the conferences are playing.

happy that they're back man i mean obviously college football is better when all the conferences are playing um and uh even though they're playing six plus one seven total games it's still uh still they're still able to salvage the season so to speak and put themselves in contention maybe for a playoff maybe for some big bowl games we'll just have to see how it plays out the media vote came out for the pack 12 oregon got most of the first place votes, 21, but USC got 15. So what needs to happen with USC this year? Personally, I think USC is the best team in the conference. And I'm not just saying that. I believe with the pieces they have back. And the most important thing, Ryan, I think with this offseason is, you know, you look at kind of Clemson, you look at Bama, you look at just some of these teams that have the continuity,

they have the quarterback, they have the system, they have the coaching. Those teams kind of started week one and hit the ground running and playing really good football. That's what USC has with Graham Harrell, the offense, Slovis. Their whole defense is back. Todd Orlando, I think, is an upgrade from what they've had. I think that team is actually really poised to make a run here through the conference. I think just staying healthy.

They need to stay healthy defensively. They open up with Arizona State, in my opinion, which is kind of a sleeper team. I think those are the two best teams in the South. And that's week one, which is crazy. So that'll be a big game. And then with Oregon, the thing about Oregon is they just lost so many guys. And they've had a couple guys opt back in, which are huge defensively, but a lot of question marks there. So I think i think it's usc i think it's oregon

i think keep an eye on arizona state um and we'll see how that plays out as well yeah the game limitations here because everybody's kind of keeping it in conference and because this is a little bit later uh and we know i don't want to rehash it all for how everybody's kind of doing their own thing but you know it's one thing that's perception i think some of the pac-12 perceptions are fair i think some of them are completely unfair as an east coast guy working in bristol for a decade plus i'd have moments where i'm like that conference is the deepest top to bottom it may not have the champ i mean there's just been years that right to me is no question i'd love watching those games to be like the worst teams in the Pac-12 are so much better than other bad teams at other conferences. But now, because you have this playoff void, which I don't think is a I think it's a cyclical thing more than it's a long term thing.

I know that's hard to buy into. But when it's six games against SEC with 10 games with the Big Ten, I am open to any kind of combination we can have in the playoff. with 10 games with the Big Ten. I am open to any kind of combination we can have in the playoff, but it feels already like the Pac-12, whether it's perception or now the scheduling, it's going to be a lot of ground to have to make up. Yeah, it's a challenge.

And I would just say this. First of all, USC, Arizona State, kicks off at 9 a.m. Pacific. Think about that. That's the first time ever they follow our big new kickoff show. And the reason is, and you obviously being on the East Coast, you know, earlier in your career, think about like the Pac-12 after dark and all those games start.

You don't get a chance to really watch the Pac-12. And now with that early kickoff, I mean, it's prime time on Fox. I mean, that's huge. That's huge for those teams, right? Especially USC and trying to make a run here. But to your point, the only thing I would say is a couple of things is there's no guarantee clearly that any conference is going to get through their whole schedule. Look at the Big 12. I mean, the Big 12 has already had postponements. I mean, Houston, I mean, they had, I think, three or four weeks in a row where their game got postponed. I think it's going to happen. And with the way

the Big Ten and the Pac-12 are set up with the daily testing, that was the whole deal. They should be able to go through this schedule unscathed. That's the whole point of it. So, you know, I think there's no guarantee the SEC gets through 10. There's no guarantee the ACC gets through 10. And I'll say this to the Big 12, because what's happening in the Big 12 right now, obviously Oklahoma State's still undefeated. With Oklahoma losing twice already, and who knows who's going to come out of that conference, that's kind of opened the window for some other teams. Maybe a Pac-12 champ, maybe a second place.

Obviously, I think the chance of getting two SEC teams in are really high, but maybe a second place Big Ten, maybe a Notre Dame if Clemson wins it all. So last week was big for other schools, especially the Pac-12. So I wouldn't rule them out. Obviously, it's uphill battle. But if SC or Oregon go 7-0, they dominate their conference. Anytime you have an undefeated Power Five conference, there's always an argument at the end of the season.

Okay, I have two more Pac-12 things, and we and we're gonna open up to the rest of the country but i'm sure it's incredibly annoying for you i mean hell i get asked that i'm and i'm not you i'm not a heisman trophy winner in his hometown where hey what's wrong with sc what's wrong with sc and when i look at like bama with Mac Jones and then John Meche, who steps in and he was like, here we go again. It reminds me of what SC was like when you were there. So what, what's the problem? Is it, is it that the school is spooked post Reggie? Like what, how is it that this factory can't get close to the consistent talent development that we had when you were there? Right. Cause that's a great question. And so obviously when we were there, you know, Pete was Pete. And again, it's really, I mean, they've spent so many years trying to replicate what Pete did. He just

can't, you know, Pete was kind of the diamond in the rough. Even when he got hired, no one expected him to, I think he was like the fourth or fifth, uh, you know, in line to get that job. Um, the, the thing about us is in that era, and we had coach Ogeron, we had Lane Kiffin, two of the best recruiters in the country at the time. And even still today, two of the best recruiters. And they, they went all over the country and they, they were just relentless. And when you have great recruiters like that, you can, you can steal Mike Williams from plant, Florida. You can steal Keith rivers. Who's the number one linebacker. You can go into Texas and get some guys, um, going to the South. I mean, Dwayne Jarrett, you know, my roommate and one of the best receivers at USC was from New Jersey, you know,

Brian Cushing from New Jersey. Those are all, you know, big time, big time players. And that was recruiting. And then you develop players. And, you know, I talked to urban about this a lot urban Meyer. And, you know, when he, I think in those years he was at Utah, then he got the Florida job in the mid two thousands. He was like, we didn't even go into California. Cause we knew that was Pete Carroll. They didn't even try. And now all these teams, Clemson, you see crystal ball is you see all Oregon.

The post ship stuff was like, okay, that Oregon thing's over. It's worse now for California. Dude, Alabama is going in and getting guys from Mater Dei High School, which is my high school, which has never happened. That's kind of a USC factory. Alabama's coming in. Clemson's getting the Bosco quarterback last year. And the reason why is just it's kind – it's kind of like, you know,

you see a wounded duck, you go for the kill. Like, they're going for the kill. You know, Clay Helton, the staff, for whatever reason, they just haven't been able to keep, you know, those big-time players home. And it starts with their home bed. I mean, we did – we did some graphics last week with Texas and kind of the state of Texas. You think of Texas, you think, holy, you know, I guess some of the best high school football in America. Texas is a top

five program as far as branding and just the history and all that. And you should see, and they have recruiting numbers, but you should see a lot of those guys are just, they leave, man, they go and they want to be developed. They want to win championships and they want to go to the NFL. So if you look at USC, are they winning championships? No. Are they being developed properly? You know, yes and no. And are they sending guys to NFL? Not very many. And look, we could point to coaching. You can point to anything you want, but they just got to do a better job of keeping these guys close to home, developing them. And a lot of that has just been obviously with Clay Helton,

who I'm close with, I respect. I think he's a good football coach. The uncertainty every single year with if he's going to be there or not. I mean, it just, you know, if I'm a recruit, it's really hard to say, hey, I want to go to USC. I have no idea what's going to happen there. So there's a lot, man. There's a lot that's going on.

You know, obviously they have talent. I mean, God, there's a lot that's going on. Um, you know, I, obviously they have talent. I mean, God, you look at some of these players are really talented. They're talented roster. They just haven't been able to take that next step. Okay. Final pack 12 thing here. Um, what do you think of the job Larry Scott's done? Should that, should that be my answer? That'd be my answer. Um, you my answer? You know, I think I... I left it open-ended. That's a vet question right there. Yeah, that's a vet question.

You're trying to get me in trouble, man. No. Listen, I think, obviously, I think he could have done a better job in handling all this. I know Larry. I think he's a good guy. But there's been perception problems from this conference for a long time.

And I think the fact that you're going to see some of these earlier kickoffs this year, I think it's a testament to him and understanding, Hey, what we have to do to get the Pac-12 front and center. But, you know, I think, look, I think it's a difficult job. I think this whole year has been really challenging and you know, I think, look, I think it's a difficult job. I think this whole year has been really challenging. And, you know, I think disappointing at times. So I don't know if that answers your question, but, you know, I think anyone could do their job better. I'm surprised it isn't a bigger deal nationally, though, when you dig into the finances of it. And I know, like, there's two specific writers that have been on this. Well, that wasn't a good time. That wasn't't good time that wasn't good time you can't take a 2.5 million dollar bonus and furlough the entire department

and move the bonus up i mean honestly if you wanted to pull it off because i'm going to do more on this because i've been looking at all this stuff and i'm like this is actually the part where the pac-12 has been better off being under the radar because if an sec commissioner were doing what larry scott were doing it would be a bigger deal. It really would be. I mean, but you just – and that's – look at Greg Sankey. I mean, just like – Sankey makes like a third of what Larry makes. And it's not even that, but it's like the professionalism, how he runs that conference, how he stands for his conference

and how he's handled the whole COVID thing. It's like he's just been like – it's like that's why the SEC is the best, man. I mean, like that guy is – that guy is – he's a beast. He's like, that's why the SEC is the best, man. I mean, that guy, he's a beast. He's great at that. He understands. He puts a team to players. He's all for football and doing anything possible and all that. And I just think it's been sort of the opposite out here.

And, you know, unfortunately, like I said earlier, like Pac-12 is back. They got the daily testing, which I think is big. There's been a little i think excuse me more you know obviously more restrictions out here than in the south clearly so that's kind of simple yeah no it's a big part of the optics the optics of what he's done obviously don't paint uh paint a good picture okay let's talk the rest of the country here scc east we know tennessee's on a roll schedule wise it's not the most impressive stuff, but I think the way they they're pushing people around with that old line, like it's that old

line first. And those two running back, you know who they beat. Do you know who they beaten in their eight games? I do. It's, it's not that impressive. I just looked it up. Why do we need to go over it again? Cause they got housed by anybody good last year. They lost, they lost. And again, I'm not, I listen when – listen, Tennessee is one of those programs where – I love the uniforms. When Tennessee is good, it's like Florida State. When Florida State is good, college football is better. Tennessee, I'm happy for them.

They're playing good football. But as you said, last year, they lost to Florida, Georgia, and Bama. I'll do it right now. I just pulled it up. They lost to Florida 34-3. They lost to Georgia 43-14. They lost to Bama 35-13. And then they went on a run. South Carolina, who I swear doesn't beat anybody good, 41-21. They had that Georgia win a couple years ago. UAB 30-7. Kentucky 17-13. Missouri 24-20. Vanderbilt 28-10. Indiana 23- 21. And then the two wins this year, Missouri and South Carolina. So look, it's still eight in a row, but I think when people start going like, look out, look out, I had no problem with them jumping up the polls because I don't know what the hell

you're supposed to do with the rankings right now, but I'm just, I'm leaving it out there. Kind of like an sec East recap for you. Absolutely. Like, like, and I'm, I'm high on them. I just, they're kind of like Miami to me, Miami plays Clemson. Like is Miami back? Like we'll, we'll find, even if they lose a close game to Clemson, I'd be like, all right, like Miami looks good. But until then, um, you know, I just, I can't, I can't say Miami is back. And we had that conversation for Tennessee. Um, they, they look, they started, they're starting to look the part again, you know,

they're getting the big guys they've been recruiting. Well, I think they're, you know, Ty Chandler, they're running back leads the conference again. They're getting the big guys. They've been recruiting well. I think Ty Chandler, their running back, leads the conference and rushing through two weeks. They're taking care of the football. As you said, the offense line, they just look – Those guys look real. Yeah, they look real. Yeah, they look real. The whole SEC looks real, man.

I swear when you watch them. Me and Coach Meyer talk about it all the time. They just look different. I'm like, Coach, that's how we used to look, man, back in the day. But, yeah, that East, like that East is like Florida and Georgia obviously are legit. Tennessee, I mean, Tennessee looks the part. So, I mean, Tennessee is going to beat somebody this year.

They're going to upset somebody in my opinion. Yeah, because, you know, Georgia has to bounce back once they get to um was a Stetson the quarterback so you're like all right you know like these look like good numbers I'm not a Bo Nix guy I really haven't been you know even when he made that throw against Oregon I went eh like it worked but people I almost felt like and he gets he's a freshman and the whole great story but it's not getting built up but I feel like if you watch a lot of Bo Nix you go eh so I'm not sure about that. And what any of those things mean?

I think the Florida offense is probably the scariest of any of the six units. I mean, maybe it's a George D line, but what have you seen from tracks? Cause I even sent out a tweet like Tony there. It's not Jeff Demps. Cause honestly, peak Jeff Demps was like, unlike you, you just haven't seen a lot of guys like college Jeff Demps, but with pits and trash and some of the weapons, it's starting to feel like, Hey, that's, that's what it looked like when urban was there. Well, yeah. And, and gosh, like trash, like he's just, he's playing out of this world. And, and you know, you, I watched a

lot of film on him last year, you know, when he came in for Franks and he just played well. It's like, okay, this kid, he was a good player. Like he didn't turn the football over. He was really good with situational football, third down red zone. And those, you know, the numbers kind of back that up and the wins back it up. And this year he's, you know, cause he's not like, he's not mobile. Um, I think he's got a good arm, not a great arm by any means, but like, he's tough as tough as shit. I don't know if I can cuss on this yes he's tough as shit um he's a big dude and he's competitive and you put that around with dan mullen who's a great offensive line and kyle pitts like like we like they have they have

so much speed and weapons with all their skill players they always do really but kyle pitts like when you watch him play and i gotta be honest with you like i i mean last year i knew he was but this year i was like the first first week he had four touchdowns like it's like and then you watch the film like this dude is just an absolute mismatch nightmare and when you can do that with your tight end really slash receiver um you know it's just it creates so many mismatches against the defense and then you combine that with obviously the skill and the speed they have all over the place. And they have a quarterback who's distributing the football. He's he's he's been really good. I mean, I would I would put Florida ahead of Georgia right now just because I think Florida's defense,

obviously, through two weeks hasn't been as is probably as advertised and given up quite a few points. But with that offense, and I still think Florida defensively is pretty good, I'd probably give them the edge over Georgia right now. But boy, that's going to be a great matchup, man. That offense versus Georgia's defense. You got Stetson Bennett, who I sat up on my show last week

and said there's no chance in hell he could lead this team through this conference. And he came out and balled against Auburn. Like, he's a good little player, man. But yeah, Trask, Pitts, and um and company man but watch out for them okay bama they're just a they're just a machine man it's yeah look and they're not even i mean there's there's some thoughts too like they're not even running the football as well as you'd expect them to at some point,

especially with that offensive line. But I loved watching them, even in blowouts last year, because I loved watching those receivers. And Judy has moments, and Ruggs has his moments, and then Waddle gets the ball, and you're like, is Waddle the best one? And then Devontae Smith,

who I mentioned earlier this week, he never got any of the love because all the other guys are like lock first-rounders. Right. And Smith is open all the time he's just he's almost like it kind of reminds me like duvernay a little bit but not as fast uh and duvernay was just kind of an odd like he just looks different his body looked different when you watch him in person and then he had that return the other night in the nfl and i'm like oh my god i didn't really, it was a high four, three guys. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't, I don't really know what to say other than it's, it's to be expected, but

it's almost like pencil them in. Like, I don't know what to do with their offense. Yeah. Their offense. It's like, it's kind of like chiefs, right? Like obviously Jones isn't my homes, but when you have so much speed and so many weapons, and then you have nausea Harris, who might be the best back in America, it's like, you know, how do you stop the Chiefs? You can't. You got too many guys. Hill, Hardman, Kelsey, Edwards, Allaire.

And then you have one of the best quarterbacks to do it. With Bama, it's like they're so I mean, I'm talking like elite speed, like elite, elite speed all on the receiving core. And then you put in Najah Harris and then maybe the best offensive line in America. They don't skip a beat, man. I want to give a shout out to Mac Jones. He's come in. Think about this. He shadows Tua, who might be

one of the best to ever play at Alabama, maybe the best. Then Bryce Young comes in for modern day, the number one recruit in America, who's a big time player. By the way, I know the numbers weren't great against Missouri, but he's got some stuff to him. Just watching some of those.

Yeah. Bryce, like where he jumps out at you immediately. And then you're like, oh, okay. He was the number one recruit. Makes sense. He's, he's going to be good, man. Like he's, he's, he's going to be really good. Um, so like Matt Jones, it's like everything all the the deck is stacked against

you you know like it's kind of like here here's the keys to the ferrari dude just like you better just stay straight and just run this race or else you know and and like he's just come out slinging it man and like sarkeesian they're attacking downfield they're just there hasn't been a drop off like he's not tua he's not going to run around and make those kind of plays that tua made but he throws the ball as well as tua i mean as far as what they're asking to do, accuracy down the football field. He doesn't turn the ball over. And, you know, I talk to Sarkeesian often and he says just he's tough as hell, man. Like he's a competitor. And I'm happy for him. Like, you know, obviously being a quarterback and just understanding like, you know, when you work and your hard work pays off, like it's paying off for him.

And the guy is, you know, you can make the case Bama might be the best team in the country right now. And I just – I don't – obviously, the SEC West, they're going to go through that. Florida, Georgia, obviously, those are good matches. But like you said, you can almost pencil Bama in. I just don't see them getting beat. Real quick side note, you don't have to add anything to this,

but when Mon got benched, and I don't think Mon got benched necessarily because he was terrible. I'm just, you know, Kellen Mon, like a Bo Nix, like there's a lower ceiling maybe for me with them because I've just watched him enough. But when your boy Hayes King got in there,

Haynes King, the freshman from Longview, he just started shocking. Like he had no fear. He was throwing to guys that were nfl open i mean i know he only had three passes like the first two attempts i'm like okay this guy's not afraid and then he had a pick late and he's like oh what the hell right it was open i just i'm just telling america right now and haynes king gets into a game expected to be uh i think yeah i think the thing with kellen on too is is like you too, is he just hasn't played well.

I thought coming into this season, he had an opportunity. Every year at Texas A&M, they're the team. This is the year. They recruited well on paper. I think they had almost everyone back. I think a couple guys might have opted out, but they had almost everyone back. Watch that week one against Vanderbilt, and just, like, they had no flow offensively.

And I just was a little – I think where Kelamon is his best, like, they got to run him. He's got to run the football, get outside the pocket. He's not a drop-back guy. And so to your point, just, you know, I just haven't – I'd say I've been a little disappointed with him and maybe it's other things as well but i just thought he would be better earlier in the season um but yeah i mean it's listen man when you don't play bring in the bring in the gun slingers dude

did you see the end of that it's not worth it's not worth going back but i'm just telling there's gonna be a saturday where he gets in a game weeks from now and you're gonna go oh yeah it's like it's like cj bether coming in dude just going 14 to 15 just slinging the rock last week but you'll see young kids come in that go all right I'm totally freaked out hand off flat flat and he was like we got a chance to get back in this he was he was oblivious to the scoreboard okay let's stay in Texas then because, look, I like Tom Herman. I have a hard time believing he's a bad head coach. Right.

And it's not like they're winning four games a year. But now this program in Austin's lost to TCU six or seven times. They're not all on Herman. But Duggan, by the way, being back and healthy for a game, I think changes TCU. He's a good player, man. He's a very good player. So that's not weird because of TCU and the expectations. But's a very good player. So that's not weird, you know,

because of TCU and the expectations. But when Duggan's back there, you're like, you know what, they're not going to be a bad team this year. But when I look at what Ellinger has done, Ellinger, without him, I don't know who Texas is, except maybe a much worse team. So give me your Texas assessment now. You know, it's, gosh, talk about like,

you look at the talent and you look at the way they were actually recruited really well. I mean, they're in the top, I like 10, 15, five, like every, almost every year, like last four or five years. So they've recruited players. They're just, listen, they're not developing players and kind of a more broad, like bigger picture of Texas and Ellinger, I like Ellinger. I think he's a really good college football player. You know, there's some plays that show up on tape where he's –

sometimes he's not seeing everything. But, you know, at the end of the day, in college, he can get away with some of that stuff. And he's just – you know, he's a competitive as hell. So we did this graphic last week. And you may have seen it or heard, heard like all of the Texas quarterbacks that, uh, all the great quarterbacks from Texas that passed on Texas to go out there

were like, you know, the Baker Mayfields, RG three, a history, Andrew Luck, um, Matt Stafford.

I mean, go back like the last 10 years, like they've missed on everybody. Now, granted they've got, you know, they had a couple of shame. Buchel was a big,

they've had some also big recruits that they've gotten. And so we did this graphic and like a deep dive. How about this? I don't know if you know this. They've had a new offensive play caller almost every single year in the last decade. They've had a new play caller every single year. You can go, you know, Norvell, you can go at major major apple why you can go all of these guys and my point i'm making is they just have had on the coaching staff the reason why texas is in the way is is where they're at is there's just no continuity in the coaching staff remember charlie strong here like all these coaches they just fire their guys and they're trying to save their job what happens to coordinators is so stupid because it's

like, Oh my gosh, like it's there. Think all the D coordinators that we loved and we loved the higher and then it doesn't go that way. And then all the boosters are like, well, get him out of here. And this is basically what happens, right? Yeah. And basically, I mean, basically when a head coach knows kind of like, you know, the seat's getting hot, the first thing they're going to do is fire their coordinators, obviously, to make a change. But the point is, man, it's like there just hasn't been any continuity on a staff. Think about how important it is.

I think that's why you respect Saban. You respect Dabo, Clemson staff. Think about that. Venables could have been probably gone somewhere. I don't think he wants to, honestly. The guy's making a couple million dollars a year. Why would you want to? But I'm just saying like the, you know, when you have success,

coaches are going to leave to get a head coaching job. That's going to happen. But they haven't had that and they haven't had that continuity. So all these quarterbacks are just, and Sam has been the best quarterback they've had since Colt McCoy since 2009. And so flipping it to kind of this year and then I want to talk about the defense real quick and what the problem is um and they haven't had a defensive player drafted I think in the first two rounds since 2015 that's Texas

football right I mean think about that you think Texas I think i think is malcolm brown it was a db in 2015 dbu they aren't put yeah they aren't putting any guys in the nfl on that side of the ball and that side of the ball has been pretty bad over the last couple years um so it's it's a lot and and all of that is it's is is coach developing players because they're recruiting guys i mean they're recruiting four or five star guys um and then can you keep your staff together? And they're just not doing that, man. And that's, it's, it's disappointing because I want Texas to be good. I mean, it's great for the big 12. It's great for the country. And that's the problem. And, you know, now, obviously when you look at their football team, I mean, last night you said Max Duggan and TCU, they're sneaky

good. They're a good football team, but when you're Texas and this is kind of, this feels like it's their window with Oklahoma kind of going through a transition right now this is like their opportunity and you know i mean they might blow it obviously there's a lot of football left they only have one loss they could run the table and listen a 10 and 1 or 11 and 1 texas team may get into a college football playoff because of who they are. But this is the opportunity. And Sam's a senior, like he's a really good player. This is their chance. And I mean, who knows? And obviously the big game this weekend. So, but it's been disappointing, man. It's just a lot of, a lot of coaching turnover and, and lack of development over there.

I want to hit in the ACC because I, I don't think we should rule out, especially with Notre Dame's inclusion. There's a version of this where we could have two ACC teams. Oh yeah, absolutely. hitting the ACC because I don't think we should rule out, especially with Notre Dame's inclusion, there's a version of this where we could have two ACC teams. Oh yeah, absolutely. So I don't like writing off any of this stuff. I don't like assuming a ton of things. And to be fair to the ACC, just like Clemson, I think because it was a carryover of Lawrence and Etienne that I just went, okay, whatever, where Bama was some new pieces. And I'm like, okay, it looks just as dominant as before. But I know you touched on the Miami part of this a little bit before, but do you have any idea because the ACC gets started a little bit earlier? Do you have any feel on that other than just Clemson's going to roll through people again?

Well, we'll find out. We'll find out this week. I mean, I do believe. Is anyone picking Miami on the show, you think? No. Okay. All right. I just was trying to guess,

trying to see where we're at. I don't think so. I think it's just more of a wait and see, you know, like, okay. Like it's just, you know,

I don't want to, we don't, we can't jump the gun. I think, I think right. Lashley's done wonders over there. Offensively. And De'Ara King is the best quarterback they've had.

I was even thinking about like, I mean, is he the best quarterback since like, I mean, who like Corey Harris, Ken Dorsey. I mean, look at Lee can literally go back like the last, you know, Brock, like, I mean, who? Like Corey Harris, Ken Dorsey. I mean, look, you can literally go back like the last, you know, I don't know, 15, 20 years. Think about that.

I don't know. And he's just he's just a dynamic player. He's a stud, man. And he's obviously helped in the way they're playing offensively. They can definitely create some problems for Clemson this week. That's for sure. You know, I think North Carolina was kind of the sexy pick, and Mack Brown,

I like them. They haven't really played great so far. I mean, they're undefeated, but they've kind of been sleepwalking. I can't tell if BC was terrible, or BC's got some fighting them. BC's got a, you know, Halfley, they got a new head coach, they got a good defense, and, you know, they're kind of competitive. That was a weird game.

For you to have big UNC hopes, that was not the game you want to see where BC's a two-point conversion away from tying it up. But I don't think BC's terrible. They're not terrible. Look, I think UNC has the... They're not afraid of Clemson. I think last year...

Was it last year or the year before when I think they missed the two-point or whatever? They could have won. So they'll play them tough. They have the speed. They have the quarterback, Mack Brown. I mean, I love Mack. So North Carolina's there.

I think Miami's got a shot, but we'll know more about them this week. You know, Virginia Tech has got a big game this week. They look pretty good so far. But it's Clemson, and then there's just a pretty significant gap of those teams trying to chase them. Okay, we're going to do five questions. do five questions it's time for five questions in honor of uh Craig Kilbourne I'm gonna do it with you here Matt so I'm ready to go we can do a little quicker with these all right here we go number one when Lane Kiffin comes to Manhattan beach does he hit you up oh absolutely he's even spent the night

at my house no kidding funny story funny story real quick this uh we're in quarantine and uh this was early like april and uh he's in town seeing the kids and stuff and i don't know if you see lane around town but i do all the time oh Oh yeah. He's awesome. Anyway, he comes over with his, he's divorced with his ex-wife, Layla, who they're really close. I'm close with both of them. Their daughter, Presley, and my son, Cole are really close friends, same grade. So really close to the whole family. They come over and ask to, and we talk about the gym all the time and working out. whole family they come over and ask to and we talk about the gym all the time and working out they use the gym in the garage dude like mid-april they just come over but lades on the elliptical uh layla's doing the peloton in our garage and we're just you know standing six feet apart so

yeah every time he's in town almost every time we talk to either get together or you know whatever he's the best i tell you i got some my christmas morning routine now that i'm i'm here which i think you west coast guys and christmas and the holidays new england would would like it'd be it'd be witch trials for you guys out here like the coffee shops ice cream places are open bars are open christmas morning and people do breakfast and then i guess you guys just do christmas later like Like I couldn't believe my first Christmas Manhattan beach town is absolutely mobbed in the morning. I'm thinking what the hell's going on. So my routine, cause I know I got to watch a lot of basketball and like two years ago I went in and did sports center. And then I think I may have

done some live ringer show for last year, but I go get shots up. So I go down to the park and I get shots up in the morning. What park are you going to? Live Oak or whatever. Oh, Live Oak. Yeah. Yeah. So I would get shots up there. Now everything's closed. I did find a place to get some shots up though.

By the way, just real quick, dude, I got a court in my backyard, man. Like a half court. Well, you don't seem to ever get the humor online. Like when you were showing you and I think you're your boy you were getting shots up and then i tweeted at you must be nice to have an outside oh yeah right so listen man you got an open invite okay all right so i see this guy in the old miss blue with some kids running around playing with their toys on christmas morning and i'm getting some shots up and i go i think that's lane and i had met him you know but he he I was like hey

you know and he was just like all right yeah yeah gonna be a great season it was so funny that I I actually couldn't wait to like share it with somebody because there wasn't really much to it but he just sort of like oddly oblivious not that he was supposed to know who I was or anything but he's just oh yeah he knew who you were for sure he's's just the best, man. He's the best. Okay. Speaking of the gym, do you miss Equinox? I do. I miss the ambiance. Don't you?

I miss it. I like what I'm doing more than I thought I would with the home deal here. I'm very happy with it. I thought I was going to hate it. The question is, will you go back? Yeah. I like to get out of the house. deal here i'm very happy with it i didn't i thought i was gonna hate it um i don't know the question is will you go back yeah yeah because i like to get out of the house i mean this is ridiculous i'm in the house a little bit too much okay is urban gonna coach again i'm gonna say i'm gonna say no i think he's done

do you want me to elaborate or just want to say no i yeah i'd love for you to elaborate do you want me to elaborate or just want to say no i yeah i'd love for you to elaborate um i here's my personal opinion and i i would be lying to say if i haven't talked to him about it since he took the tv job last year um but my sense is that he's done i think he loves and i know this for a fact he loves the family time He loves the fact that his head is not exploding. You know, he's got the cyst. I mean, it's a real health issue for him. And now he's getting paid, obviously, not what he's getting paid, but he's getting paid to talk about TV, hang out.

We got a great group, man. We have a lot of fun. So I would say I'm not going to be shocked he ever went back but i i my opinion is i think he i think he's done okay i'll do the last one here we don't always do five that's that's the fun i'm sorry man i'm long-winded no not at all that's sometimes i just decide to stop because this one has nothing to do with any other ones does alan bowman a texas tech have the worst look of any quarterback and he's good okay he's good. Okay? He's good. So I'm not – but he's dressed like a middle linebacker, like a Juco transfer.

He's got this weird swag to him that's unlike any other quarterback. It's just a weird look. Dude, is he the – I love how you said college football because immediately I'm going NFL. I'm going like Fitzpatrick every week just doesn't disappoint you got minshu and the stash you got cj bethard out there looking like i don't like like jason white like he's just i don't know where he's from um uh jason white no i come on man get my bowman some dude i love bowman he can sling it i'm not knocking his play at all and he's a tough guy but he just if you saw him on the sideline he just doesn't look like a quarterback yeah you wouldn't go oh that's that's the guy behind i could i could i could see that i could see that okay that's all that's all we're doing here um that's matt liner

i also want to remind everybody you know matt with reggie and rob stone and of course urban meyer the crew is unbelievable. Brady Quinn. Brady Quinn. The show is awesome. Okay. And I know the habits of everybody and years, but I'm just telling you, if you give Fox a chance and check out their big noon kickoff show, it's I think it's good. A pregame show. There isn't any sport.

I really believe that. I'm not saying it because it just works. You guys found the chemistry. The way you've used urban versus the way I've seen him use in the sport. I really believe that. I'm not saying it because it just works. You guys found the chemistry, the way you've used urban versus the way I've seen them used in the past. It's a completely different thing. So I think the people behind the scenes deserve credit for the way they developed it and they found a combination that really works. And I think it's a great show. So I love it. Thanks, man. Yeah. I think, I just, I think real quick with, we're trying, like we're competing obviously, but we want to be the best we can be.

I think we have the unique group up there. You have Urban, who's arguably the best coach of all time, and he's coming into his own on TV. He was a little apprehensive last year. Yeah, but you could see him turn in the corner last year. Yeah, you can. He does the playbook, he's so he's so he's just so smart and and god i learned so much from him just because my era of football and the offenses i played in are just so different than they are now so i've learned so much every single week i learned

something new from him um and then you know with with reggie who just reggie's obviously i think maybe one of the best college football players of all time. He's just his personality and his, what he kind of brings to the show is just unique. And then I think with Brady and I just being quarterbacks in the history, I think it's just a, like you said, like it's, we were, our chemistry is great. We have a lot of fun, man. We're trying to bring great content to the viewer, but also have fun. I think Rob does a great job at quarterbacking the group and,

and navigating through. And yeah, just credit to the guys behind the scenes. They do a really good job. So we're fired up, man. We just want to keep growing and keep getting better. There you go. That show starts 10 a.m. Eastern time for those checking it out around the country.

Thanks, man. All right. Thanks, buddy. You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid.

So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. If you want to hit us up here for life advice life advice rr at gmail.com kyle people are wondering if um the long island home wrecker was going to check back in maybe be upset i hope so man i hope he's best too we did not we did not receive any correspondence from him that got real man good good good on you as they say yeah i i gotta tell you there was halfway through it i was like okay guy's 25 and a married woman started hooking up with him and this stuff happens but then it became about

all the things that he would benefit from without talking about any of the other stuff you're gonna're going to move in with a 39 year old woman, that's divorcing her husband that has kids. And he was like, the house is sick, dude. And, uh, yeah, I just said I had a hard time with that. Although I am, I always try to be, even as I get older, be very sympathetic to the fact that when you're younger, you look, when you're older, I love how when it's like, Oh, young guys, they make mistakes. Old people make mistakes too. It's just, uh, they like telling you your mistakes are a bigger deal. So there you go. All right. Um, checking in here. Oh, this is a, this is a pretty basic one. I, I guess it's cause it's a little different. It's kind of, all right. Uh, James says, Hey Ryan, long time, first time advice. I'm looking for a specific and it's something you are the definitive subject matter expert on several years ago. I was

walking into a meeting at a high end yacht club in Sarasota, Florida, uh, which my clients were members of. It was a mid afternoon meeting. So the club was almost completely empty except for two guys sitting at the bar while I was walking past. I noticed that one of them was the cohost of my favorite ESPN radio show, Mr. Ryan Russillo. Okay. I'm not really an autograph, so I think it's a little creepy to ask people you don't know to take pictures with you, but I did not want to walk up and let you know I enjoyed your

work and offered to buy you a round. That's my move. I'm not better than anyone who wants the autograph or picture. My kink is to be able to tell my friends, yeah, I bought him a drink. Oh, okay. It's a weird sentence but all right there's just one issue the person drinking with you was jay williams not the murderer um that's jay from duke co-worker long-time co-worker uh this is before

he'd done anything of consequence in media so if i also wanted to acknowledge him i only had his playing career to go off of what am i supposed to say at this time of my life hey man i like watching you play sorry you can't do it anymore that's kind of mean or as an indiana fan thanks for missing those free throws in elite eight actually picked indiana to make it to the final four that year um when when duke lost to them so i'll never forget that game either james um obviously i couldn't have said any of those things to you but i'm invested enough in sports to recognize the co-host of radio show who didn't disingenuous to have acted like i didn't recognize the former national college player of the year in

the second overall pick in the draft what was my move how should i have handled that situation have satisfied my need to have the interaction with you but also not act like a jerk to jay will well you know normal people man could have come up and said hello to both. Trust me on that arrangement. When I'm sitting with the athlete, I don't get upset when 99 out of a hundred times, the person wants to talk to the athlete and not me. Uh,

you know, so I don't think J Will would have cared. I think this was a wedding years ago. And by the way, he had been working at ESPN at the time of this. So it's not like he and I spend a ton of time at yacht clubs throughout the country or the southeast. So I think you should not overthink this so much. A big overthink.

Yeah, this is not that complicated. You come up and you say hello. And if you offer to buy a round, I think most guys would probably say no. That are doing all right. It's usually kind of the move to say no. I'll say it also depends on what, yeah. Kyle would say yes. I say yes every time.

Right. Right. It's only been like six times. Yeah. It's been six beers. Right. If you see, if you see Kyle out, make him make sure he gets a seventh. All right.

So there you go. So yeah, I just, there's not a lot to that. Just in the future, if it is that scenario, you can say hi to both people and then you can focus the conversation on the person you want to. And very few people, look, there's some complete egomaniacs out there, but very few people are going to be that turned off by it i have never been upset when i mean all right i'll give you one because that's never is a lie we had uh dennis leary in studio so good and he was promoting something and it was it was early early svp days so i don't even call those svp and rossillo even though it was. So we started that radio show in 09, July of, we found out I was getting this co-host gig in May of 09, um, because my friends were like, man, you moved to Hartford on purpose.

I was like, yeah. And then, uh, like things really started taking off and I was like, Hartford's good. Look, I don't know what to tell you, man. So July 09 is when we started. So very soon after that, because we had this, it wasn't really even a studio. We had one of the side closets there and I had, you know, been at ESPN. This is my fourth year, third, fourth year. And Dennis Leary came out to promo something and he walks right in. He's like, Hey, look at this guy. Oh, you know what? Because he was on mike and mike and dennis leary started

doing this thing where he's making fun of van pelt for being bald he's like his name should be scott bald pelt or scott van bald or everybody's like oh you know so he's just killing van pelt and he's just doing this routine but then he has to come by and do the van pelt show with us and he's kind of like oh then they're going back and forth like famous people that both know the other guy's famous but they're actually not friends whatsoever. If anybody listening ever becomes famous, you'll understand it where it's, where it's, you, you pretend like you're long lost friends, but what you're really doing is like, Hey, we're the only people in here that are actually, you know, and again, I don't really even include myself in that group. Certainly

not with somebody like Scott or Dennis Leary. Uh, and especially not in 2009. So I don't want anyone to take this as arrogance it's just the reality of like i like asking celebrities sometimes i'll be like oh that's my buddy i'm like are you actually friends though or did you see each other at like one award show and exchange numbers and you never ever have hung out ever like yeah it's more like okay cool so um leary and him kind of go back and forth and leary i'm invisible dennis leary is not even acknowledging me he's nothing zero and i'm like oh hey you know and i've got my sick button down on i get up to shake his hands like i live in boston who you know and he's like yeah

yeah whatever i think leary always had makeup on even when he wasn't on tv which was weird it was really weird i saw him at a bruins game i'm like i think he has eyeliner and some I think Leary always had makeup on, even when he wasn't on TV, which was weird. It was really weird. I saw him at a Bruins game. I'm like, I think he has eyeliner and some highlights going on. I don't know what the hell's going on. So Van Pelt was asking about getting a gig on the Fire TV show. Rescue Me?

That's right. Right? And Leary's sizing him up, and he's looking, and he's going, yeah he's going yeah i may have something for you yeah yeah and leary had nothing for him and that went nowhere but he was he was playing the game a little bit and then i am like hey so do you think into the microphone and leary looks like who the hell what's this this guy's intern the intern's talking who turned this guy's mic on and And that was, it was pretty clear. And then he kind of was like giving me the business and Van Pelt's looking at me going, oh, Priscilla is going to get so pissed off right now.

And I was definitely that pissed off and I don't, you know, remove from it. I mean, Dennis Leary is not supposed to know who I am. I doubt he even knows who I am now. So, but yes, there's one, I'll give you one. But it all removed from it makes sense. Like it's not Dennis Leary's fault. He doesn't know who I am. And you could sit there and say, oh, it's great if everybody treats everyone the same. I don't know.

Because sometimes when you see somebody treating everybody the same, you're like, do you actually feel this way? Is this genuine? Or are you just doing it because you read about it in some book about meeting people? So I spent way too long on that. But I'm just sharing that story with you. I think it's just think less about this stuff. If you want to go up and say hello, because as I say to anybody, if somebody goes, oh, I didn't want to bug you.

It's never a bad thing to hear from people that like what you're doing. Um, but you know, if somebody's with, uh, somebody's on a date or something, fuck off. Just kidding. If somebody's on a date or something, fuck off. Just kidding. Okay, one more here. This is unbelievable. This is a good pick, Kyle. Long-time listener from back in the SVP and Rosillo days,

ECU sign guy is part of the reason I ended up going to ECU Go Pirates. For those that don't know, ECU sign guy, Van Pelt and I were live from Fort Worth. We were live from Fort Worth quite a bit because the guy that runs Fort Worth is like this massive Disney stockholder. So every time ESPN had to do something in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, we would take over the downtown of Fort Worth. So I've spent many,

many a night in Fort Worth, which is a pretty crazy stat if you think about it. I did not think in my 20s be like you know, a place I'm probably stay a lot. It's Fort Worth. So there was a guy because it was cold out and I don't know, I think it was an all day lineup. So it wasn't like a scheduled public appearance, remote deal. And one guy showed up by himself with a white sign with purple letters, spray painted on it that just said ECU. And it's one of Scott and I's favorite memories from the entire show. The fact that that sign was part of the reason you went there though, that seems ridiculous. So I don't know. Already we're off to a bad start. Okay.

25 years old and working as a laborer for an asphalt paving company. Not exactly what I imagined I would be doing post-grad, but work is work. Previous to starting this job, I had left another job to move back to North Carolina for my hometown. Long story short, moving didn't work out. Family matters to attend to. Sorry to hear about that. Been there, know what it feels like. So I needed some cash to pay the outrageous, we're going to have to learn how to spell outrageous, pay the outrageous student loans I've acquired. And what started out as helping a friend seal coat driveways when his coworker quit turned into two seasons of seal coating driveways. Finding decent paying jobs in my degree field has been difficult. Giving my long list of better paying labor jobs. I've had to take

to help pay for college rent, food, car. This has left me unable to get a job, any job related to my communications degree. Okay. At least that's my excuse. Recently, my boss offered me a promotion to become the company's project manager estimator. I reluctantly accepted this offer and will be starting that position next season. So promotion, probably more pay. While it's the best opportunity and best paying opportunity I've ever received post-grad, I'm starting to grow feelings of failure and coming up short in life. Okay. The amount of bills I have at such a young age seems to be the main roadblock for me taking a chance of pursuing a career tailored to my passions. My question is, knowing how your mid-20s went, at what point did you say enough is enough and took the leap off the edge to go chase your dream career?

What did you have to take into consideration before doing it? Or is it gut check and pray it works out? It's simply an insane work ethic and a willingness to struggle for years. it works out simply an insane work ethic and the willingness to struggle for years a lot of people i've asked simply say just do it man uh without taking into consideration what it takes to provide for oneself uh am i deep down afraid of the struggle or thinking about having to pay bills preventing me for having to take a chance okay uh look very similar so i think i've answered some of this kind of stuff before but i guess we'll just do it here a little bit again. You're going to have to, I remember one of the times I didn't like advice that I got,

but it was the right advice. And I was working in media a little bit. But the first few years I was in the media, I didn't want to do it. I wanted to work for a front office. I mean, that's really what I wanted to do way more than be on the air. And I would say looking back on it, I still would have rather worked for front office than be on the air. And I would say, looking back on it, I still would have rather worked for front office than, than be on the air. Um, I did being on the air was not the thing I, like, I knew I wanted to do something special. And once the on air thing started happening, I was like, Hey, this is going to be a good career. If I can figure it out, I think I'm good at it. I'm getting some good feedback, but it's going to be a really, really hard struggle. I

mean, this is just a tough, tough industry to break into. And the entry-level job numbers are bad. They're just bad. I mean, there's less and less jobs. Even though there's more outlets, it feels like there's less jobs, more kids graduating. First of all, you're only 25. So why don't you give yourself this first thing and just take a deep freaking breath, okay? Take a deep breath. You're 25. This is not abnormal to feel this way. It's good that you feel this way. It's good that you're looking around you going, Hey, you know, I'm, I'm worried about this. I'm worried about that. I mean, you don't want to have it consume you because you know, that's the problem. That's what I did. But, uh, the fact that you want something to be better is important. Okay. So that's the first

part. And you're like, all right, well, this is cool. Like this is actually a step in the right direction. I'm, I have some self-awareness, not a great speller, but you're thinking about what the next thing is instead of just saying, oh no, now I'm 35 and I haven't really put any thought into any of this stuff. And now I feel like, oh, I've wasted all these years. So let's start by relaxing. Being outside and working is something I did actually really like. The bartending part of it, even though it was kind of fun at first, it ended up, it just wasn't fun anymore for me. I felt I have no problem with anybody bartending, but it just wasn't what I felt like I was meant to do the rest of my life. And I also was looking at some of the older guys that were kind of doing it. And that was like really becoming the lifestyle. And I didn't want that. I didn't want like, it's cool to have a boat and everything, but I didn't want to be out drinking five nights a week either. Somehow, some way, I don't know where the math comes into this, but day boat guy seems

to go out a lot at night. So I know you're thinking about all these bills and I don't know the exact details of your finances here, but I really do believe that things find a way of, of, of figuring themselves out. And I know this is not specific advice, but it's true. So you already know you're going to be miserable if you pave driveways for the next 10 years, like you're already feeling this way now. So the money can be good, but is this your career? Now, if this is your career and you like the driveway thing and there's room for growth, the next thing you know, you're running your own company in a few years because you learned the trade and now you're your

own boss. You're not answering to anybody else and you're taking better vacations and you can buy the wife the car she wants and all those things. There's nothing wrong with that. I personally, that was not the goal or the standard that I had for myself, but there's, there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing those things, but you're already hinting at like forward regret where you're going to start to feel bad for never taking the chance. So it sounds like other than the student loans, which yes, I know they suck. I think you could probably look into deferring some of this stuff. I did that. You could also not pay it and have your credit get screwed up, which you definitely shouldn't do because it's going to last there for a really long time because you're eventually going to have to pay all this stuff off.

I love all these credit companies that talk about fixing your credit score. And it's like, yeah, if you pay your fucking bills, that's the game. So I would now, first of all, you're going to find a landing spot. I don't know where that's that's the game so i would now first of all you're gonna find a landing spot i don't know where that's happening i mean i i'm having a hard time getting saruti a job right now so random emailers that keep asking kyle to get me get them a job through me it's just not happening so i i love just um this is this is the advice it's starting to suck but i just i i love kind of getting past that first mental hurdle of coming up with all these reasons you shouldn't do it and just saying fuck it man

like look it's not gonna be end of the world maybe i'm gonna get behind my bills here a little bit i mean i didn't care about any of that stuff when you ask like what things did i put in consider i put zero into consider i didn't think about any of it i was like whatever packing up leaving what yeah moving to jersey i mean the joke is as I'm writing my book, I had, uh, my landlord saw me unpacking like the day before new year's Eve. And he goes, Hey, what the hell? Like you're moving. I go, Oh yeah. Yeah. My bad. He's like, you're not going to tell me. I go, Oh, you know, totally slipped my mind. Totally came together last minute. Like I got to move. I can't pay next month's rent. He goes, Hey, you know, that's not the way it works. He's like, what are you doing?

I'm like, Oh, I'm moving to Jersey at double a Red Sox. And he was a huge Red Sox fan, the landlord. And he was like, no way. That's awesome. Are you serious? No way. And he was so happy. He's like, don't even worry about the rent. I was like, yeah, trust me. I wasn't, this apartment was going to be empty in an hour. I was going to be gone. So, uh, this apartment was going to be empty in an hour. I was going to be gone. So it's not the best advice. It's not the smartest way to go about it, but there is some benefit to being completely single-minded

if this is what you absolutely need to do. And I'm not sure. I'm not sure. You're going to be real honest with yourself at some point. You know it's the degree. You know it's your interest, but do you really want it that bad? Because back to the thing I'd said minutes ago before i kept rambling was i talked

to somebody about the front office thing again and he looked at me and was like hey it doesn't really seem like you want it as much as you think you do and i was like what he's like well have you gone to this camp have you have you gone and networked here do you go to portsmouth do you make sure you show up to this are you constantly constantly bugging these guys, staying after it? How come you're not going to more summer leagues? I was like, well, I'm doing a lot of the media stuff. And he's like, you know how hard these front office jobs are to get. They're even harder to get and you don't even play. So for you to get a job in the front office and you don't know anyone and you didn't play and you have no relationships in the basketball world, and you think you're just going to do some hits on Comcast,

breaking down the Celtics. And all of a sudden somebody's going to offer you a fucking front office job are you why don't you drug test yourself now tonight and then i was kind of like well well so as driven as i was on the media thing the guy was right and it stung it really stung because he was like it's clear that you're making some of the inroads with media you're starting to make a little bit of money again even at that at that point I wasn't, but the guy was basically saying to me, Hey, you think you want it. You think that's what you want more than the media, but you're not really doing the things that you did to get where you're at in the media side of it. So in, in conclusion, do you actually want this? Cause I think a lot of you guys send in emails. Oh, I want to do this. I want to work

in sports. I want to work with all these different things you wanting to and actually saying i don't care about anything except the thing i want um and that's where i think the single-minded focus is actually a benefit as opposed to some people thinking that you're just too wrapped up in your own deal all right there you go life advice that one uh i think back to back not great probably the worst not great bob kyle i was i was fine with that i mean that guy sounds like me at 22 you're too nice you're too nice to me it took me two years to figure it out i don't know i'm sure i doubt you're afraid of me i'm nicer to bill i'm not as nice to you as i have to bill so i mean it's not like i'm completely pandering no i don't think you're pandering unless it's just kick-ass content. And you, would you listen to the show if you didn't know me? If I knew of you, but didn't know you.

Yes. I don't even know what that answer means. All right. Okay. Well, everybody have a great weekend. Bill and I will be doing one more depending. I guess it could be two more because we don't know what the offseason schedule

is going to be here anyway. And then around the draft, which I need to pick it up on myself. But yeah, that's the plan. Please subscribe, rate, and review Ryan Russo's podcast, part of the Bringer Podcast Network. Thank you. you