The Triple Option - Coach O Is Back, Big 12 Commish Brett Yormark Joins, and Best Quarterback Debate

Episode Date: May 27, 2026

What do Ed Orgeron and Dorthy have in common? There's no place like home. Coach Urban Meyer and Rob Stone head down to Baton Rouge where Coach O is back with the Tigahs. Coach Meyer looks back at him time competing with Coach O on the field and on the recruiting trail. The guys then debate who they would build a team around between Tim Tebow, Cam Newton, Vince Young, Baker Mayfield, and Joe Burrow. The Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark stops by ahead of the Big 12 Meetings to discuss the future of the conference, the perfect College Football Playoff number, and how gambling as affecting student athletes. Finally, during Memorial Day week, Coach talks about his latest training experience with the Navy Seals...he has a very specific set of skills. Chapters 00:00 Show Start 01:36 The Return of Coach O 07:39 Ultimate QB1 14:31 Brett Yormark, Big 12 Commissioner 38:28 Urban Trains with the Seals New episodes of The Triple Option drop every Wednesday. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube and following on all podcast platforms. Also make sure you’re locked in on social @3XOptionShow on all platforms for highlight moments, bonus content, and to engage with the guys and the TO community. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://tripleoptionshow.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)   The Triple Option is presented by Wendy’s. Try Wendy's® New crispier than ever Spicy Chicken Sandwich. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://m-wendys.app.link/gm-spicy-chicken-26-display-banner ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thank you to or additional sponsors Arkay - Arkay Zero Proof delivers the taste, aroma, and even the burn of real spirits — without alcohol, sugar, or carbs. Shop now at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.arkayzeroproof.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ NHTSA - Click it. Don’t risk it. Paid for by NHTSA. ⁠⁠https://www.nhtsa.gov/clickit⁠⁠   #CollegeFootball #CollegeFootballPlayoff #CFP #OhioStateBuckeyes #BigTen #ACC #SEC #Big12 #NCAA #LaneKiffin #LSU #EdOrgeron #OleMiss #Tigers #Rebels #JoeBurrow #TimTebow #CamNewton #VinceYoung #BakerMayfield Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tell me about some of this hostage rescue stuff. If Rob Stone has been taken hostage, how are you going to help me out, Coach? We're going to go get you, Rob. We get in advance, and you've got masks on, and there's enemies behind the lines, and it is violent. It is wild. We crawling around, getting down low? Oh, yeah, yeah. And getting shot at it.

You get home. You'll jump in to take a shower, and you've got all these welts all over your body, so it's pretty cool. Coach Marr, taking one for Rob Stone. I appreciate it, coach. I got your back, right. Light it. The Triple Option is presented by Wendy's. Wendy's invented the spicy chicken sandwich, and now we're reinventing it.

Making it crisper than ever before, Wendy's spicy chicken, we're so back. Glad you're with us for another edition of the Triple Option. He's Hall of Fame head coach Urban Meyer. I'm Rob Stone, our good friend, our partner, Deuce Deuce, Mark Ingram, will be back with us on our next episode. Today, one of our favorite guests, the Big 12 Commissioner, Brett Yormark, joins the conversation, a lot to get through with the commissioner. We're going to raise our glasses to the military, of course, with Memorial Day just wrapping up.

And a familiar face and a familiar dialect, shall we say, returns to Baton Rouge. Please rate, subscribe, send us your questions. We can be found on social media at 3X option show, new episodes coming away on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast. All right, coach, let's get this baby going. 95 days out until kickoff of the 2026 college football season. it is now time for muscle memory. Click it, don't risk it, paid for by NHTSA. One guy who has had some muscle memory of Baton Rouge is returning back to Louisiana. Lane Kiffin, the new head coach down there at LSU, has added to his staff. Former LSU head coach Ed Ojron, Coach O,

O, led the Tigers to the Natty in 2019. He will be coach a special assistant to recruiting and defense, what were your initial thoughts when you heard about Coach O going back to Baton Rouge? Yeah, I've known Coach O forever. You know, there was a time, Rob. He was, you know, obviously became a successful head coach. He, one of the great teams in college football history at LSU. But he was arguably the best defense-aligned coach in the game. He coached for Pete Carroll, coached at LSU.

Then he went on his own journey as a, I think before Pete Carroll, he was the head coach at Ole Miss. And I coached against him when he was a Florida side. and I use a term often certified nut job is what he is. I mean, riffs his shirt off, but I'll tell you what, as far as a defense-aligned coach, as far as a defense, they got him doing the right thing.

And then he was one of the great recruiters in the game for many, many years. I recruited against him, coached against him. So this is a no-brainer. You know, I'd love to know these salary structures that are going on. You know, you don't hear much about that. So what's that, you said special assistant, special assistant for defense. And then he's allowed to go recruit.

I think that's more of why he's been brought on, right? With all those Louisiana ties and that Cajun dialect. Yeah, that's a, that's a win-win for LSU. It's just, again, this is, you're operating in spaces right now that go do what you got to do. Get a touch. And they are, and they are doing what they got us to do. As Mark, as Mark Ingram has been saying for a while, LSU is going to be a problem. I think that problem starts in about less than a hundred days.

Well, here's the thing, if people ask me, like, will Lane Kiffin be successful? Will John Summerell be successful? Will Kyle Winningham be successful? There's some big new names out there. I always say that's relative. What is success? So a John Summerall season is going to be much different than a, than a Lane Kiffin season. But Lane Kiffin's got, I remember when I was at Florida, a reporter in the preseason said,

Coach, how does it feel unless you go undefeated win every game, win a national title? It's a failure. Is Lane there? I don't think he's there, but it's pretty close. With the investment, what if he loses a couple games? Yeah, so what is success at LSU in year one? Obviously, it'll be different in year two and three, but what do you think success is in Baton Rouge this year? Oh, they better win the SEC, I think.

I mean the investment that they put into that program, the fans are, you know, that's one of those stadiums down there that's a tough one. So I don't know. I don't know, Rob. I think LSU is one of those few places that they just ran Brian Kelly out of there. They ran Ed Ogeron out of there after a couple years after national title. I would have expectation that they have to make the FCC championship game.

That's what I would say. I would say they have to be in Atlanta for the FCC championship. championship game. Let's talk about the Ed O. Factor real quick. How good of a recruiter was he back in the day? One of the best out there. When Ed Ogeron got his hands on you, that was a tough get. I told you when I was the head coach at, and this is also about Louisiana. When I was a head coach of Florida, we played around in Louisiana and we get to the, you know, get to the dance floor with a great player and then he wouldn't come. So I said enough. We're not, we're not, I'm not flying into Louisiana again. I'm good. there's enough good players around Georgia and Florida that I'm not going to go beat my face against the wall and go in Louisiana.

Now, I know Nick Saban went in there and got some players, but I just, that was a whole different level game that I was not willing to go do. I always love the pregame interactions between the head coaches, and usually they're pretty brief. Sometimes, you know, you guys can have some long conversations. They're good friends. What was the pregame meeting handshake with Coach O like? Yeah, I told you a story. I mean, why would I, I would never go talk to the head coach, even if he's a friend, and I would tell him, you know, say, listen, during the season, I don't really, I'm not going to ask about your family.

I'm not going to, we'll do that after the season because, you know, and I hope, you know, it's, hey, good luck, have a good day. No, I hope you have an awful day. I hope we make this very miserable on you, and then we'll talk after the season. But could you even understand, Coach, Oh, yeah, yeah. You have to lock in. It's one of those things he's talking. Okay, now what did he just say? But he fits in, man.

He's where he needs to be. He is, as they say, home. Yeah, yeah. And he'll make a difference. He'll make a difference there. It's interesting. We're seeing this theme more and more coach of coaches going back to a former home. I mean, I understand Coach O and Louisiana, that is, that sounds like home home.

But, you know, Brent Pry, going back to Virginia Tech after getting fired from there, did you ever have any issues with bringing in coaches or having coaches on your staff that had a past history at that institution? I didn't. You know, my biggest one was keeping Kyle Whittingham that interviewed for the head coach at Utah. There was a certain group of constituents out there that wanted him because he was Mr. Utah. And I was young enough that, you know, I was like, man, I don't need this issue right now. But then when I met him,

and it was the best hire I've ever made to keep Kyle Winningham, and we became very close. So I've never had one of those, but you're right. There's a tendency to bring guys back home. The Brent Pry at Virginia, Brent Pry at Virginia Tech is a very unique situation. You talk about leaving your ego at the door for Brent Pryor. I don't know him well, but that's, I'm very respectful of that.

And we're going to get into that with James Franklin in the coming weeks here on the Triple Option presented by Wendy's. All right, coach, this is a good one. Last week, our social team posted a question. It received over three million views, so we thought we would get you to chime in. And we take a look at the graphic on the screen. Left to right, we got Tim Tebow, VY, Vince Young, Joe Burrow, Cam Newton, Baker-Mayfield,

one, two, three, four, five certifiable studs. Our question on the triple option is, and you've coached three of these guys, you can only recruit one to build your program around. Of those five studs, who is it? Only one. Well, of the five, I recruited three of them. Obviously, Tim Tebow, Joe Burrow, and then Cam Newton. Cam Newton was an incredible story.

We had another quarterback committed, and Cam Newton came down to Friday Night Lights with Dan Mullen and myself, and after about six minutes running through the cones and watching them throw. And a lot of people thought in the recruiting, in circles, he was going to be a tight end. You know, he was a giant and a really good athlete. And after about six minutes, I grabbed him and said, hey, let's go up to my office and talk a little bit.

And about an hour later, he shakes our hand and says, I'm a gator. So that's a tough go, but I think you know which direction I'm going to go. I think so. I have a high has been in two national championships with that first name there, so I'd take Tebow. What is it about Tim that leans into the concept of, can build around this guy. Yeah, he's got the, I mean, he's still doing it. You know, I'm on his foundation board for anti-human trafficking and all the things he does. He's an incredible

leader. He's a magnet, and he leads by example, man. The tough is tough as guy as I've ever been around. A lot of people don't give him credit for the toughness piece because they know he's such a great kid, but he is one the toughest cats. And when people saw him, you go watch a fourth quarter against Oklahoma in 08 national title. And his will to win and his toughness just elevated the entire team to go in that game. All those dudes, all those dudes are. I coached against Baker Meathield. In a good way.

Y'all, man. And obviously Joe Burrow, we recruited Joe Burrow with the idea that it's going to be a developmental player. And he was. Did I know that he'd become one of the best players in NFL currently? No. Did I know he'd have one of the greatest seasons in college football history? No. did we start to see it when he broke his right hand, his throwing hand as I believe he was

junior year, we started to see it. So love him. And then Cam Newton, I mean, my God, I mean, he was with us. And there's a lot of people say what happens if he would have stuck around. And then obviously, found his way to the planes, didn't he? Well, the guy we're not talking about is Vince Young and Matt Liner. Some of those guys say he's the best maybe to ever do it. So what names? Hard to go wrong with that. I signed three of those guys, man. I'm staring at that. That's pretty cool.

Three of them. Yeah. That's, did you ever recruit? Was Baker in play when you were in college ball? No, no. I mean, I can't remember. And Vince Young, I can't remember, I'm sure. But we weren't involved in any of those players.

All right. Tim Tebow, we're building the triple option. So we get to go again with Tim Tebow. Someone said you get to do it one more time with Tim. Yeah, if it's right now, though, if it's right now, it's obviously the two dudes that are playing, right? I lean Baker because I'm a Buccaneer fan. I love his swagger, man. You're going to Baker.

Well, whatever you want to. When you want to plant something into concrete on an opposing team's field, you got some certain swagger to you, whether that's good or bad. Coming up next, we're joined by Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark on the triple option presented by Wendy. Light it. From the pitch to the stands to communities around the world. The beautiful game is coming to our beautiful country. Uniting fans around a shared passion. Now you have the opportunity to hold this chapter of Canadian soccer history in the palm of your hands.

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With Wayfair, there's no what if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.cair. Every style, every home. All right, welcome back to the triple option presented by Wendy's Urban Meyer, Rob Stone. We're joined by one of our all-time favorites, whether it's via Big Noon kickoff or here on the Triple Option.

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yor Mark joins us. Closing in on his three-year anniversary in charge of the Big 12. So let's start with this. Give us your elevator. I got to say it feels like, well, it's four years this summer. Four years. Is it, it's four in August?

Four in August, yeah. Okay, all right. But it feels like what? Go on, you're ready. Well, I mean, listen. That's 28 years and dog years. Well, I go both ways. You know, we've done a lot in a short period of time.

You certainly have. But I do think the job has aged me a little bit. Okay. So how about this? Let's do an elevator pitch right now. Real quick, we're going from floor. floor one to floor four, let's say, of what the Big 12 is right now. A different league.

I'll start there. We're a different league. We lean into our point of differentiation. When I got here in the summer of 22, I saw great bones, but the conference need to be reimagined and reinvented. And I think we've done that. And, you know, when I think about building companies, because I've done it previously, I think about it in three different phases.

First, you stabilize, which we, we. did and the impetus for stabilization was going early on our TV deal with Fox and ESPN. Then you've got to build. And we did that both internally, the infrastructure, the human capital resources, and then we did that externally, obviously, with the composition and adding the four corner schools. Now we are in total growth mode. And I love the trajectory of the conference. I love the fact that we're getting on the consciousness of current and future student athletes. I love the fact that we reside, you know, within the business community, but we also connect a culture, which is critically important to us. And I love the cohesion of our board. I mean, it took a little while, you know,

obviously we have eight new schools in the last three years, but I love the trajectory of this conference, where we're going, how we're building, and spending, you know, in addition to making sure that we're refining everything from a conference perspective, spending a lot of time on some of the national issues, which, of course, we're all addressing and we're going to speak about today, but just love where we're going right now. Coach is going to get to those in just one second. I'm just real fast, and I apologize, you say growth mode. I think when a lot of people in college athletics talk about growth, particularly if we're

talking to a commissioner, you're talking about growing, expanding your conference, as in adding, not you're talking in a different type of growth. No, my reference to growth is how do we grow resources? and create value for our member institutions. Okay. And you've got to be ready for that moment, which we are, and we've been building towards it. When you say that moment, I'm sorry,

that moment where conference alignments potentially change? Listen, I love the composition of this conference. Okay, so there's no focus on realignment. For me, it's all about growth. And when I think about growth is, how do I create value, material value, resources. for our member institutions. And we're doing that commercially.

We took all of our commercial business in house. We're controlling all revenue from a conference perspective, very different than some of my colleagues. And we're very aggressive about going into the marketplace, creating a point of difference and getting people to vote yes for the Big 12. I first have a comment, Brett. And when you lost Texas and Oklahoma, I was one that like Mike,

that they're done. The Big 12, that's the opposite. What you and your, I saw this in the Big Ten, we first went to Big Ten, is that you, you and I imagine the ADs and staves and the atmosphere is that you and everybody have created in the Big 12. I'm speaking on Big Noon now because it's incredible. Those are when that comes across our desk that we're headed to one of your schools, the Big 12, we are fired up because of fans, and I'm telling you it wasn't that way. It wasn't. And when, you know, when everybody started burying the Big 12 that the, you know, the two top schools are hitting the road, I never foresaw what I've witnessed in now as a first

as a, you know, as a fan. I can't wait to go to those Big 12 schools because a lot of them I've never been, but the atmosphere has been. So kudos to you guys for that. Now the question is that the White House visit, you were there. We had a conversation with Cody Campbell. We had Charlie Baker, the president, and I just think this is a phenomenon that, first of all, the amount of powerful people that have a sincere interest in the future, not only of football, but of college sports, I think it's incredible to see that. Yeah, I agree.

I agree. And I was honored to be there with the president and a part of that roundtable discussion. Then obviously, as you're well aware, we have formed committees since then. working committees to address all the different issues. Those committees also include student athletes. So we're getting a broad perspective. And there's been a lot of work over the last couple of months. And I'm hopeful that we can get some federal legislation that reflects all the effort and work that's been put in. It probably won't be perfect. But there will be a lot of progress for sure. And as you and I know, and we could speak hours about it, we need a sustainable model

that works for all. And, you know, I was very impressed no different than you, or been on, you know, the types of people that were in that room and continue to do work. And it's amazing because, you know, collegiate athletics is a common denominator for a lot of people. It brings people together. And it did that day. And it certainly has brought people together ever since. And I'm just looking forward to a moment where, you know, we can have some stability and a model that works and that ultimately we can all just look forward to brighter days ahead. And, and, you know, despite some of the challenges, and I often say this, that we're all facing, and we've discussed them amongst ourselves, the product's never been better when you think

about collegiate athletics, starting with football and basketball and Olympic sports. So we have a lot of good things that are working for us right now, but we have to refine the model and get to a better place, and I'm hopeful we will. One of your athletic directors recently, Jamie Pollard at Iowa State, because I've heard the same, is that the SEC and Big Ten are throwing their weight around and then threatening to leave. And then I don't want to, you know, I'm going to paraphrase Jamie Pollard, but he's like, you know, if you're going to leave, leave, quit threatening us. What's your thoughts on all that?

Well, I haven't spoken to Jamie this morning, but, you know, I was aware of some of his comments. And, you know, listen, our RADs are free to say what they want when they want. But I can't speak for Jamie. I can only say that, listen, as far as I'm concerned, I've been very collegial with my colleagues. I want to see us come together and figure this out as a collective group. We have spent a lot of time discussing federal legislation, the CSC, and a model that works. and listen, if people believe that they're better off going out on their own, then they've got to pursue what's best for them.

I can only speak for the Big 12, and our preference would certainly be, let's stay together, let's work through some of the challenges and issues, and let's land in a better place. But I don't control what my other colleagues do or for that matter what their rooms do. I can only speak for the Big 12. I'm curious, how far away do you feel is a big 12 team from winning the college football national title? That's a great question. I think, well, I know our schools are making sizable investments in college football.

College football obviously drives the ecosystem. We haven't been as successful as we'd like, obviously, in the CFP, but I'm bullish on where we're going and the investments that are being made. and I'm hopeful that, you know, next year, that, you know, will be a bit of a breakthrough year for us. You've got to win your first game, which we haven't done yet. Okay, and then you've got to build on that. And I don't want just one team in. I want multiple chances, you know, to win.

And, you know, that's the goal to have. Is that the breakthrough getting more than one team into the playoff system? Yeah, 100%. I mean, listen, we've got to win a game. Okay, in the last two years we haven't. But besides that, Yes, I want multiple bids. And that's what we're working towards.

And, you know, the coaches and RADs are certainly aware of what the expectations are from a conference perspective. And I'm hopeful that in the near future, you know, we can attain some of the goals that we've put in front of ourselves. You talked about growth mode for the Big 12. There's a lot of growth mode conversation around the college football playoffs. What is the right number in the Big 12's mind? Listen, it's debatable out there. Obviously, you've got different people thinking different things. But from my perspective today, we like the concept of 24.

Now, the caveat to that is there's a lot of work to be done. You know, what does 24 really mean? Are there unintended consequences going to 24? What are the economics mean? Because in order to go to 24, you're going to have to do away with your champ game. And that champ game for us drives a lot of economics. But it's also a 10-pole event for us. It's a rallying effort around what I would call our college football franchise. And last year alone, I mean, we set in all-time college football champions conference championship game attendance of over 85,000. It's a big time moment for us. And candidly, it's right here in Dallas. I mean, we played AT&T Stadium. It's a big moment for us. We have a great partner, a TV partner that gives us a great window. And our ratings were fantastic.

So, you know, we've got to think about that in the context of going to 24. And we've got to think about what the additional economics are as it relates to, you know, what kind of new revenue can we drive if we go to 24? You know, for us, it's not just, you know, making sure that we drive enough revenue to offset, you know, the value of our champ game. And I know my conference commissioners feel the same way. We want additional revenue if we're going to go to 24. And we've got to figure out, you know, are those resources available to us? And if so, what does it look like? So there's a lot to unpack around 24. But in theory, I like it because I think too many good teams are being left out of, you know,

the CFP. And I think going to 24 would afford us an opportunity to, you know, get the type of access we need. And I'll tell you two other things. you know, there's there's coaching carousel, you know, that we all speak about. You know, there's the cost of constructing a roster. And all that is based today on, and success is being based today on, are you one of 12? But if that, if that narrative changes to being about, well, are you in the top 25, effectively? And I'm rounding up from 24 to 25. It takes some heat out of the system. You know, when you think about what defines success for a coach, how much do you need to invest? in a roster to be competitive and to be part of, you know, the big show, if you will.

So there is that added benefit that, again, where I think it takes a little heat out of this system in addition to the obvious, which is more access. Hey, Comish, I got a question because this is personal with me. I had two daughters play college volleyball, and I know the president talked about this so did his staff. Are you feeling pressure from ADs and chancellors and presidents about the potential of losing sports with this economic crunch that's gone on with the fiscal responsibilities of a school now to pay exorbit numbers for a roster? Are you feeling it at all?

Not really. I mean, you know, my, I can tell you that when I get in my room, whether it's with the ADs, the presidents, everyone knows that there is huge growth within Olympic sports. and we as a conference are doubling down on Olympic sports. You know, you think about volleyball. You think about softball. Softball, our championship game in our tournament was the highest rated Big 12 championship that we've ever had in softball.

Okay, we are driving a lot of value in Olympic sports right now, and I'm focused on volleyball, soccer, gymnastics, wrestling. So it's critically, critically important for us to continue to invest in in Olympic sports. And, you know, when you think about just scholarships in general, we added hundreds of scholarships towards Olympic sports this year as a conference. So we will continue and invest in all the right areas because we see the growth. We see the upside. We see the opportunity. The gambling issue in college athletics literally, you know, fell on your front door with what happened

at Texas Tech and Brendan Sorsby. Is there enough being done and what needs to be done about handling this issue of gambling in college athletics? Well, I'll tell you this. First of all, it's a serious issue. And I think everyone knows that. You know, many of the student athletes today, you know, grew up in a legalized, you know, gambling environment.

You know, I didn't grow up with that. They did. And they do. And we as a industry need to first recognize there's a serious problem, and we have to continue to educate and support our student athletes in all the right ways. And I think the NCAA has taken, you know, great steps in doing that. We as a conference have done that. You know, we have partnered with IC360, which is a, you know, a monitoring system of, you know, sports betting. And we've been a partner with them for seven years now.

We are one of the very few conferences that mandate that our schools also partner with IC360 and a platform called Proabet, which provides an alert to our schools when there's behavior out there that we should be concerned about. So we're doing everything we need to do now, but could we be doing more, of course? And in fact, in our spring business meetings next week, we will address sports betting as a collective group, and we'll look to continue to double down in the areas of education and support when it comes to our student athletes. Job number one for you is looking out for your institutions, your conference.

How much communication do you have on a daily or weekly basis with the other commissioners of the other big three conferences out there, ACC, Big Ten, and SEC? Can you just pick up the bat phone and call up Petiti at any moment and you guys hash some stuff out, or do all four of you need to be on the phone at the first? the same time to actually have proper constructive conversations? I'm on the phone probably with a Power Fort Commissioner every day. And then we have organized meetings, a great cadence, you know, where we're chatting with commissioners.

In fact, I was on for 90 minutes with the four commissioners this morning. There's a lot of respect in that room. But listen, we all have our own perspective. We're all fighting for what's in the best interests of our conference. We agree to disagree from time to time. But it's very collegial. I think it's fair to say we like each other. We're all a little different in how we approach things.

But there's constant communication. And there needs to be. I mean, just given where we are today. So what were you communicating about today for 90 minutes? And yes, you are very different than the others. Yes. There are various views. You know, what we typically do before we get together weekly is we all put, you know,

in certain agenda items that we want to discuss as a group. And we do. And it's a great exercise. You know, everyone's free to kind of discuss what's on their mind and any issues or challenges they want to address with the four of us. And it's a very healthy conversation. And candidly, I enjoy it. I think it's a must for us to be doing.

those types of things. And you say it's weekly? Weekly, yeah. Yeah. Set date and time like every Monday at 9? Rob, let it go. I'm loving this. I think this is great.

This gives me hope. We're at a regular basis. So without giving too much away, you know, what's, what are the top things on the agenda typically that you guys? And I'm not saying the SEC wants this and the Big 12 wants this and Big Ten. Just the four of you are saying, hey, man, these are our main talking points that we need to flesh out better. I mean, big, big picture. Okay, big picture.

We talk about CFP. We talk about CSC. We talk about federal legislation. I mean, those are, and we talk about rules, you know, within the ecosystem, enforcement, eligibility, tampering. I mean, we talk about it all. All the things that you read about every day, we're addressing, you know, as a group and trying to make progress.

And, you know, sometimes it's a little slower than I'd like. because I do think speed matters. But we are addressing all the issues that the industry is speaking to and doing our best to try to move things forward in an expeditious way. I'm sorry, a quick one for me and then Rob will wrap it. But it felt like it's fairly unanimous our time at the White House that the hotspots of NIL eligibility and transfer, that the four conferences are fairly agreeable on the surface.

Behind the scenes, is it that way, too? I'm talking about the end I, the collective going away and it being more of a structured revenue share, period. Then you got the eligibility, the five-year, and then you have the transfer portal, one, free one, and then the penalty. And, you know, is it behind the scenes is agreeable? Is it seems to be on the surface?

Yeah, I think so. You know, when you look at a couple of the issues, the antitrust exemption so we can obviously enforce rules and not find ourselves in court, you know, you think about federal preemption. So the interpretation of NIL is the same from state to state. When you think about the age-based eligibility, which is out there now, when you think about the direction that we want to take with tampering, when you think about the portal and, you know, and a one-time transatliferation. or possibly a second time if you graduate, I think there is consensus across the board there. And I will tell you from my perspective, and there's not a silver bullet out there,

but the portal, you know, in the movement, the under, you know, when you think about the unlimited free agency, has created a lot of challenges for all of us. And you also think about some of the agent behavior that's out there. And listen, there are a lot of good agents, but no different than what I raised when we were in Washington, You know, there are some agents that don't do it right and are preying on the vulnerability of our student athletes.

And we need agent regulation. And hopefully in whatever bill ultimately gets passed, there'll be something in there. But the portal is a big issue. And, you know, it doesn't exist unlimited free agency anywhere else in sports. And we got to get our arms around that. But I do think there's a consensus on some of these ski issues. Let's do a real fast process here of both. I'm going to bullet point a topic and the best you can, give me a one or two line topic

or response on it. Okay. Let's start with private equity. Is it here to stay in college athletics? I think it's making its way in. But people define private equity very differently. And I'm going to just speak for a moment. You know, we did a strategic partnership with Redbird.

It's all about. driving revenue for this conference. And it had nothing to do with private equity from the standpoint of giving up a piece of the conference or for that matter changing our operations or governance. It was all about how do we create value? How do we partner with a company that is part of an enormous ecosystem? But most importantly, how do we create someone that strengthens our bench? Redbird does that. Traditional private equity has not find it. It's found its way into the ecosystem. And I can't speak for everyone.

But I would assume at some point in time, it will. Coach is getting poached during a season. How do we handle that? I don't believe in it. Okay, I don't believe in it. I don't, you know, I come from the, you know, a basketball background. And I can't remember a coach, you know,

coaching two different teams in the same season, which has happened in our ecosystem. And I don't believe in it. There should be a period of time that, you know, a coach can determine if they want to stay or leave. That doesn't compromise the season, doesn't compromise players, and we've got to get our arms around that. That's my personal opinion. An Olympic sport that has great growth that we're not talking enough about right now. Well, I'm all in on many, but I would say volleyball has incredible upside right now.

Men's and women's? Well, we only have women's in the Big 12, so I can't speak to men's, but I can tell you that women's volleyball has incredible opportunity right now, and we certainly want to take advantage of it. Lastly, your thoughts about Big Noon kickoff, potentially joining the Big 12 in London early this season? Oh, I mean, listen, if you guys were to make it to London, and obviously that's a big if, that would be huge for us. I mean, listen, every time you guys are on campus

or supporting the Big 12, it's like an infomercial. And you do incredible things for our schools. So if you guys were ever to show up in the UK for the first ever college football game at Wembley, it'll be a big time show. And it didn't take much convincing, did it? Thanks, Commissioner Brett, you are Mark of the Big 12.

Always great to hear from you. Appreciate your both. look forward to seeing you soon, okay? Absolutely. Enjoy your summer, Commissioner. Thank you again. You too, guys. Thank you. That was Never Cutting Corners, presented by Wendy's. Wendy's new spicy chicken sandwiches,

crisper, crunchier, and more flavor pack than ever. Wendy's, we're so back. Coming up next, we cheers those who paid the ultimate price on this Memorial Day week here on the Triple Option. Light it. Time now for Cheers of the week, presented by RK Zero Proof. Zero proof delivers the taste aroma and even the burn of real spirits without alcohol, sugar, or carbs. Memorial Day week just wrapped up.

We want to take this moment to raise our glasses to those who serve in our military. Paid the ultimate price. And coach, I know you spend so much of your downtime with those in the military. And a couple weeks ago, you were training with some former members of the military. That was part of Folds of Honor. What is it, boot camp? Boots camp. Boots camp.

Yeah, I was down in Mockle, Florida. And I partnered with Mike Barker, a decorated Navy SEAL Team 6 member, became a very close friend of his. And I said, I got an idea. I see all these old men pay a lot of money to charity to run out in fantasy camps at Ohio Stadium and to the fights on of Ohio State. And I think, wait a minute, I've always wanted to be a Navy SEAL. I've always wanted to be an Army Ranger, a Green Bray. And who doesn't want to do that? And so we started this camp.

It's an invitation only because there's live ammo and there's certain people not allowed to be there. I did invite Ingram, though. He didn't show up this year. He's going to come next year. But it's a great camp. We shoot small guns, long guns, and then we do simulation,

which means we shoot each other with air guns and learn hostage rescue, how to take rooms. It's an incredible event. But here's the thing I've got to say, my father was Army, sister was Air Force. I grew up, Rob, in a family that we, said to pledge allegiance as kids. We had flags everywhere. We loved our country. My mother was a German refugee that lived in the Hitler era. And, you know, when she became a citizen, I remember,

it was one of the greatest moments of the Meyer family life. And my father had a rule that you've ever walked by our first responder, police officer, firefighter, or paramedic, and not shake their hand. That was a bad day for you. And my children do the same thing. So I just, I get confused sometimes when don't do whatever they can for first responders and our military men and women who fight for this country. So it's a very emotional time for me because I spend, I'm saying half of my moments working with the military right now. I'm on two foundation boards. And I guess the thing is there's theory and there's testimony. I would always tell our players this.

I've been to two USO trips, Rob. I've seen what the men and women do. I've been to Camp Erfjohn in Kuwait in 125 degree. and watching what these people do. They don't do it for money. They certainly don't do it for fame. You know what they do it? For love of country and love of brother.

That's what they do. Is there a greater sense of being than that or being with those people? If you disagree with that, I'd like to say, what's a problem here? I mean, I love them. I can't get enough of them. I love the concept of a fantasy camp for patriots and people who want to be more like me. And we raise a lot of money now. And you know, a folds of honor is Dan Rooney, Captain Dan.

Rooney, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney started it. They've added first responders. So Gold Star families or first responders and Gold Star means you lost a loved one, they pay for all the educational expenses of your family, which I personally think, you know, I hate paying taxes. You can double my taxes for that. Tell me about some of this hostage rescue stuff. If Rob Stone has been taken hostage, how are you going to go get you, Rob? We're going to go get you. Come on, coach. Help me out. How are you going to do? We get into vans and you got masks on and there's enemies behind the lines and you come and there's usually like a, I mean, this is a big environment. It's special ops actually trains there. There's a, they give you a, you know, you're going to go meet with a cartel members. They actually have cartel members there and you got to get people off a bus. You have to get. And it is violent. It is wild. My first time I remember as the bus was pulled up and you got these air gun, these, you know, they're pistols that shoot. little paintballs.

And we got jumped. I remember diving out underneath a car and I was just blowing people up, shooting them. So, yeah, I was living my best life, Rob. That is what we? Crawling around, getting down low? Yeah, yeah. And getting shot at and you get home.

Here's the best thing we'll close with this. The best thing, they have like, what do you call it, capture the flag against another team. So we're the scarlet and there's a, you know, whatever. You have two teams go against each other. And you get lit up with these little beaies, and you'll get home after it. You don't even feel it during the, that's how intense it is.

You'll get home, you'll jump in to take a shower, and you've got all these waltz all over your body. So it's pretty cool. Coach Marr, taking one for Rob Stone. I appreciate it, coach. I got your back, Rob. Thanks, buddy. That does it for the triple option. Follow, subscribe.

Rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify. Wherever you get your podcast, as well as across social media, 3X-option show, as always, we love our sponsors. We're so grateful for them. NHTSA RK Zero Proof and Wendy's will see you next time on the triple option. I got your back to, Coach. Always.