The Triple Option - Heisman Hopeful LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina Preview, & Washington AD Pat Chun Talks Portal

Episode Date: July 16, 2025

College Football is a month away, are you ready? Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone check in to Big 12 Media Days and react to Scott Frost's Nebraska regret and Coach Prime's plan to slow down the money. Yes, you read that right. Washington Athletic Director Pat Chun then stops by to discuss the next off the field decision hanging in the balance: where to put the transfer portal. He makes the case from the Big Ten's point of view as well as why not all conferences are on board. If you don't know the name LaNorris Sellers, you're about to. The Heisman hopeful quarterback of South Carolina is shooting up draft boards after a stellar freshman season. The guys then take a look at the Gamecocks schedule and discuss where South Carolina falls in the SEC pecking order. 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. Find your new favorite Frosty Fusions™ flavor today with choices like OREO®Brownie, Caramel Crunch, and Pop-Tarts® Strawberry. ⁠https://m-wendys.app.link/frostyfusion25⁠ Thank you to our additional sponsors NHTSA Speeding Catches Up With You⁠ https://www.nhtsa.gov/campaign/speeding-catches-up-with-you?utm_source=sinclair&utm_medium=read&utm_campaign=speed2025&utm_content=dogwalker⁠ Zip Recruiter Try FOR FREE at ⁠https://Ziprecruiter.com/Option BetMGM BetMGM is giving you the chance to win a prize every day during the baseball season! Step into the batter’s box for BetMGM’s Swing For the Fences free-to-play game! Visit BetMGM app to access the game and you’ll score a prize if you hit a single, double, triple or home run. See ⁠BetMGM.com⁠ for Terms. This US promotional offer not available in DC, Mississippi, New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER, available in the U.S. For New York, call 877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE NY (467369). For Arizona, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP. For Massachusetts, 1-800-327-5050. For Iowa, 1-800-BETS-OFF. For Puerto Rico, 1-800-981-0023. For West Virginia, visit www dot 1 800 gambler dot net. Subject to eligibility requirements. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let's say the haves turn into a win. That's eight wins and three losses. Oh, no, there's 12 games there stoner There's 12 games, bro. I do fuzzy math the haves. I'm counting. Oh, you're right. That's how you spell Kogi See you. Well, I'll get back to you on that one Welcome to the triple option presented by Wendy's try Wendy's new frosty fusions with flavors like Caramel Crunch, Oreo Brownie, and Pop Tart Strawberry. Light it, light it, hit it, all of it. Welcome! Triple Option is back. Rob Stone, Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, Deuce Deuce back here with you. Thanks as always for joining us. Thanks for joining us all season long man. It's been fun to bring you the triple option. Please rate subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find us at social media 3x option show new

episodes every Wednesday on YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. Today, we have not one but we have two interviews. We're going to talk with Washington Athletic Director Patrick Chun about the battle over college football's calendar and its future with college athletics and the transfer portal and rev share, all that good stuff. Also, Mark, you and I had a chance to talk with a name a lot of folks are going to be hearing about, we think this season, South Carolina quarterback, Lenora Sellers. He's already in a Heisman conversation He's already in a round one NFL draft conversation, but I'm a fan Yeah, I am too. Let's begin down to the great state of Texas big 12 media days wrapped up

Recently a couple of interesting quotes from some of the coaches out there We start with news lately and old UCF head coach, Scott Frost. Here's his quote that caught a lot of people's attention. I wouldn't leave UCF unless it was someplace you could win a national title. I got tugged in a direction to try and help my alma mater, Nebraska, and didn't really want to do it. I'm lucky to get back to a place where I was a lot happier. Yeah, right? Oh, coach. Oh, coach. Oh, coach. I know that one hit you because A,

it's coaching fraternity. B, it's the state of Florida. And C, you know dudes who've been in that position. Yeah, we've all stood at the podium and you say something, you're like, ouch, why did I say that? And you can't take it back. And I'm sure he'd want to take it back. I mean, that's, I, if it's not meant to be, it's a direct shot in Nebraska. And, you know, I'm sure, you know, I know Scott Frost and, uh, hell of a coach, you know, and I've known him for a long time. So it just, that didn't go well.

I actually had people send it to me and said, wow, look at this. And, you know, that's one of those ones, would you want to take it back? Sure. So I will say this, Mark, that you do take jobs and you love the play. When I left Bowling Green and I went to Utah, I loved Bowling Green. I had a quarterback coming back and, and I can give you the reason why somewhere down the road, but, and then I get to Utah and all I keep hearing about is the Mormon this, the Mormon that, you can't

recruit a black athlete, you can't do this. And I'm like going, I'm there. And I start recruiting and I remember my mind starts playing games with you. I just left an incredible team and I'm starting to hear all this chatter and we're losing, you know, they're using that against us in recruiting. And I remember saying, I'm going to go back to Bowling Green. And I called Shelly and I said, we're not going to win here. I got to, how do I, you know, your mind starts playing games with you. Of course I didn't.

I talked to some people and all that thing, all that stuff about the Mormon, about the black cat, that's not true. Obviously we, it's an incredible place. Or they're having a, no, I think one of the top places in the country. However, I was also with Billy Donovan, Mark, when he was a Florida and he left to go to the Magic, came back. Came back. Think about that.

And then I was also with Dan Dachich is a basketball coach at Bowling Green. Hottest coach in America. He takes a job at West Virginia. I get a call about four days later and he said, this ain't what I thought it would be. I'm coming back. They both came back. So I get a call about four days later and he said, this ain't what I thought it would be, I'm coming back. They both came back. So I get that. I get you sometimes put your feet down somewhere

and you're like, uh oh, this ain't Kansas. That's what they say, the grass ain't always greener. Yeah, the grass ain't always greener. And it's the fit, like how many times have we seen somebody drop into some place, to your point coach, and you're like, that doesn't seem right't seem right right that doesn't it's it's strange although I would say when I thought Scott Frost anybody right for Nebraska the one person that's right for Nebraska Scott Frost yeah seemed like a no-brainer to

me the one like so and by the way Matt rules got it going there in Lincoln so that's just that's just fine. I didn't take great offense to what Scott Frost said. It just, it raised my eyebrows like, Oh, wow. Uh, I didn't think the situation at Nebraska was. Was worthy of a comment, you know, it was more to me like, Hey man, I'm happy to be back at UCF. This is a place I had going. This was comfort.

And he, I'm sure he's thinking just move on and you know, yeah go coaches Yeah, so he's super fired that we're bringing it up back up again. Yeah Man we gotta cover the news. We do we got covered news Hey UCF is gonna be just fine with Scott Frost, by the way I I'm excited so that we make it down there like you remember when we made it down there last year mark Yeah, I think you're still sweating from that trip. Yeah. yeah, I know not to wear a light color if we go there Mark and these angel wings on the back of his jacket What am I looking at mark? It was just wet wrapped around your t-shirt, right?

Right on the window in September in a suit who was the music person we had and he was sweating DJ Khaled we had DJ Khaled and um who was with DJ Khaled Joe uh yes yes yeah yeah yeah yeah black leather or whatever oh my goodness it looked like a breathable fabric yeah all right it's time to control your game. When you speed, you have less time to react. Follow the speed limit to keep other road users safe. Speeding catches up with you. Paid for by NHTSA.

Coach Prime trying to find a way to control the NIL game after the house settlement was passed. Here's what he had to say. I wish it was a cap. You know, like the top of the line settlement was passed. Here's what he had to say. I wish it was a cap, you know, like the top of the line player makes this. And if you're not that type of guy, you know you're not gonna make that. That's what the NFL does.

So the problem is you got a guy that's not that darn good, but he could go to another school and they give him a half a million dollars and you can't compete with that. That don't make sense. And you talk about equality, not equality, like equal, I guess equality. And all you have to do is look at the playoffs and see what those teams spent. And you understand darn near why they in the playoffs. It's kind

of hard to compete with somebody who's given 25, $30 million to a darn freshman class. It's crazy. We're not complaining because all these coaches up here could coach their butts off and give them the right opportunity with the right players and play here or there, you'll be there. But it's what's going on right now don't make sense. And we want to say stuff, but we're trying to be professional. But you're going to see the same teams darn near the end and with somebody who sneaks up in there.

But the teams that pays the most is going to be there in it. So Coach Prime is basically saying, hey, let's find ourselves a salary cap for NIL. At least that's the way it sounds like to me. So we have a level playing field across every entity in college athletics and college football. Mark, does that sound right? Does that sound like something we should be doing?

Yeah, if you want equal opportunity for all our colleges, there should be a cap on the NIL. Because if you look at the recent contenders in the playoffs, they have spent the most NIL money. Georgia, Michigan, Texas, Oregon, Ohio State, they're not shy about their NIL investments. So if you want equal level playing field for all college football, then there should probably,

like there's a cap in rev share, there should be a cap in NIL. I have two thoughts. Number one, I thought that was one of the purposes of this entire settlement, and everyone was with a salary cap. And number two is I could care less. I mean, this is, I think the 780th time we've talked about this. So, but it's still, it will never happen.

It will never happen because Colorado was not the same as Ohio State and Alabama and big market cities that have alumni that are willing to do that. But in the perfect world, you'd like it to be like the NFL, but it's not, it's like Major League Baseball. And we said this over and over again. You got the starting left field, the Dodgers left side of the infield,

making more than most major league teams. That's going to happen. So I don't foresee. So Tony, like show hay. Yeah. Well, Texas tech isn't calling for a salary cap on NIL. Things are going just fine down there in Lubbock, right? Like these are the rules.

This is the way we're going to play it. And that's why I've been saying for months now, like watch out for Texas tech, man. We just talked about the big 12, Texas Tech is now has that target. Yeah. Hey, by the way, did you know coach that the big 12 did away with the preseason rankings? Like who was going to come in first, second, last, because remember they had Arizona state last, last year and they ended up going to the college football playoffs. So they did away with it, but everybody's kind of talking about Texas Tech and we you know we talked to the head coach earlier you know they're the team to

beat in the Big 12 and watch out man tortillas watch out for Texas Tech everybody watch out for them Red Raiders all right coming up next we're gonna be joined by Washington athletic director Patrick Chung who will have some strong beliefs on changes that need to happen and need to happen quickly in college football. Light it. Stop. Do you know how fast you were going? I'm gonna have to write you a ticket to my new movie The Naked Gun. Liam Neeson. Buy your tickets now and get a free chili dog. Chili dog not included.

The Naked God. Tickets on sale now. August 1st. At New Balance, we believe if you run, you're a runner. However you choose to do it. Because when you're not worried about doing things the right way, you're free to discover your way. And that's what running is all about. Run your way at newbalance.com slash running. Welcome back to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's urban Mark Rob Stone back here with you. We have talked to

commissioners and coaches and general managers post the house settlement. Now we take in the view from an athletic director's box. Washington AD, Pat Chun, welcome from the wilds of Alaska to the triple option. You're out on a Washington, are you out on a, what is this, a fishing trip you're doing? It's a, well, the fishing is a part of matching. Go look at some bears today, but I'm with one of your old teammates, Brock Heward and a Brock I've learned as an exceptional outdoorsman. I don't know what that means, but that sounds good. All right, Pat, uh, dear friend, you know, Mark and Rob, we, uh, Pat and I

worked together at Ohio State and we became very close friends, share a lot of the same beliefs about college football and building a team. So I talked to Pat the other day and I want to hit you with this because I've been doing some research on this. We talked to James Franklin, obviously the head coach of Penn State. I talked to the former vice president of enforcement, Julie Lashrow, of the NCA. Now she's a commissioner of a conference. And she's terrific, by the way, a dear friend. And this thing that's intriguing to me that this new czar, the College Hopewell Commission,

and I've spoke about it, my skepticism about it, now that I am aware of what it is. So in your mind, are you being led to believe that this will be different? And what I mean by different is the issue With the NCA there's lack of subpoena power and there is no everything gets litigated and everybody loses So what does lack of subpoena power mean people lie the ex, you know It takes years to you're seeing it right now with the Wolverines in other cases. I mean what in the world and so There there's this feeling out there that I think is incorrect that things are going to be much different.

First of all, the new czar is only in charge of the NIL and the tampering, from what I understand. So the old issues remain old issues with little to no enforcement. But the new college football commission does not have subpoena power. They still have the issues of litigation. Have you been led to believe that it will be different?

So a couple of things. One, great to be with you guys. Two, coach, full disclosure, when you work with Coach Meyer, his view of football does have a profound impact on how it shapes you and its purpose and what it can do for young people. To your question, coach, I would just start the construct of what this new entity is is different, meaning it is an agreed-upon settlement in a federal court. So at least there's some legal backing there. This new

entity does have, will lead down to a path where the final backstop is arbitration in arbitration there is discovery and subpoena power in in in arbitration I think those who have been around pro sports will tell you you'd never wanted to get to arbitration that's always kind of the last the last wall that that there's no turning back from but the reality is you have primarily the defendant conferences which includes a big ten that agreed upon that there's no turning back from. But the reality is you have primarily the defending conferences, which includes the Big Ten, that agreed to the settlement.

There'll be a new, there are new rules, new governance, new enforcement in and around this. I would sit here and say we have to make this work. I think we all live in this college football environment that is very disconnected and motivated for different reasons. But at the end of the day, this is a good reset for college sports.

Will it, is it a permanent solution? Probably not, but at least it takes us out of the past environment, which had zero regulations. And as I tell people, I don't know a business that can survive in this world with zero regulations in and around how you support that environment. I got one more question I'll hand it off to Mark and Rob here is that we had a conversation the other day and the transfer portal was a big topic right now.

Yeah. You and some of your colleagues feel very strongly about the window and you shared that with me and I shared it with my colleagues, Rob and Mark, and actually the big noon guys as well because I think it's intriguing. Mark, how about, how would you as well. Cause I think it's, it's intriguing. Mark, how about, how would you like to be, they were through this at, Pat through this at me, how'd you like to be playing for a national title or a major bowl game? And you have players in your team.

You saw it at Penn State. Player leaves. You're in the playoffs. Player leaves and he's not only a great player, great person, great leader, yet his hands are tied because he had to go. We're talking about the backup quarterback at Penn State. So Pat Chung and his colleagues are pushing for an April, as opposed to the January.

Please share this with your thoughts there, Pat. So a couple of things. When I am sitting on the committee, this house implementation committee that's been put together to put this new environment together and probably the last piece of the puzzle is this football calendar that we probably all need to have that we're actually to this. We are having some robust discussions about. I will say that when we met as a conference in the springtime in Terranea at the Big Ten, we contemplated where the, you know,

discuss all the merits of where the portal should be. I think we all, you know, our implementation committee came to a consensus that there needs to be one singular portal sometime in the spring. And what I talked to coach about, and coach will have a very unique lens in looking at this problem,

because you know, you guys know coach, you woke when he was when he had the headsets every day he woke up he thought about winning a national championship period and and but that type of thinking layers into how you manage every day how you manage recruiting how you manage game planning I mean it goes into like when you wake up every day and that's that that is the goal of your program. You also want to have an environment that puts you in the best position to be able to work with your team.

So when you talk about where the portal should be, I think there are a couple of things that have to be discussed. Number one is this new settlement does put a does put a little bit more focus on what's called progress toward degree. So to be eligible to receive revenue share from your athletic department, whether it's your freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, you have to have enough credits at the end of the year, which is a current rule anyways.

The second piece of it is I think we have to have an introspective look at this game that we're all a part of is all this player movement that is happening in December, maybe in January, is it good for the game? I think that's the question. Like, is that a principle that's important to us as caretakers of this game? Because I know this and being around Coach Meyer is, man December come January like you want to be at your absolute best as a team like that's the goal and and were that and and to be able to go through that and get to the finish line win or lose and how that sets you apart for the rest of your life is a significant thing but also as a sport if we're not prioritizing the playoffs the National Championship game the postseason and not have all this player movement happening because it's not great for it.

It's terrible for the player. I think it puts the coaches that are participating in the playoffs in an odd spot. We've all lived in this world where there's opt-outs for bowl games, opt-outs for the playoffs. I think that's a second piece of it. And the third piece of it is we have we have quarters, semesters, March is a spring break month, as I told coach, January, there's NFL Declaration Day, we're also in this new environment where everyone has to be smarter about how they spend money

in revenue share in this cap environment, which is a critical piece. So you need roster certainty. And we all know this, like pick your sport, the schools like in the pro level, the teams that draft and develop better are the ones that win long-term. College football is still the same. The coaches that identify, recruit, now retain, because we kind of live in this one-year world, are the coaches that theoretically will continue to win.

If you look at the last four teams that played for the national championship this last year, Ohio State, Notre Dame, the previous year, Michigan, and us at Washington, I mean, I think they're one and two of the oldest teams in college football, because they had retention. Yeah, they went to the portal and got, you know, we would not have got where we went to without Michael Pennex. But the core of that team stayed together. They're actually Chris Peterson recruits at the end of the day. So when you piece it all together, I think they're

they're the portal piece is such a critical piece as we talk about player retention, as we talk about recruiting, and then go to the quote unquote free agent market sometime later in the spring. We gotta rethink our football calendars. We've seen spring football change right before our eyes. A lot of coaches aren't using it for what it was. But I also will throw this, and my final thought is,

you know, we failed in college football because we keep tweaking and tweaking the old environment. I think with this house settlement, we got to take a holistic view of what is the calendar and how do we set ourselves up for success in college football. You mentioned the challenges of the rev share and what that presents. You know, with Washington joining one of the highest revenue conferences in the Big Ten, how do you balance investing in football and those major money making sports and you know,

with making sure UW remains competitive and strong across all the Olympic sports? Well, one, I think the day I've told our coaches this and you pick the school, it's, it's, you know, schools that win at football win at all sports. Right. So I think it's one thing it's it's cultural within an athletic department that that it's pervasive, like there's a championship mentality, it's cultural within an athletic department that it's pervasive. Like there's a championship mentality. You hire the right coaches that understand how to recruit young people. That can be successful on your campus. So yes, we're like many schools in the Big Ten and in the Power Four,

that a lot of those dollars will go towards football, but those dollars are acquired because of football. Because look at the Big Ten, our great partnership with Fox is a big reason why, you know, we're financially viable like we are. But it's not going to put a de-emphasis on what we do with those other sports. At a place like Washington, we're used to, you know, we're built to win that we compete for national championships. But I don't think, yeah, the dollars may flow to different sports, but the focus on winning and the merits of winning don't change at places like Washington. Pat, I want to go back to the transfer portal. To the layman, it seems kind of clear like, yeah, we need less transfer windows and we need to push it back because programs should not be forced to make these decisions while they're still competing. But obviously, it hasn't happened yet, so there's pushback. So what is the pushback out there to changing these dynamics right now? I think one is just one, just maybe we are an industry that's slow to change. I think two, there's also advantages.

If I'm competing against an Urban Meyer coach team, yeah, I want a transfer portal open because I want coach to have disruption on his roster as he's trying to go compete for a national championship and I'm looking at the guys in our playing for coach Meyer because you know because you have future NFL quarterback sitting the bench that aren't getting playing time. If you're on a coach my roster. So I think that that may be one piece of it is we're ultra competitive in this industry. I think that's why we may want to just take a pause and do what's right for the sport. Meaning that, you know, like pick that like there should be nothing more important than then crowning a champion and the end really the the the spotlight of the sport needs to be on those competing in the playoffs and the championships. Finish the year, and then start a new year but I would just put it it's just everyone has different motivations in our sport. We're also slow to change. It's really been the problem of college football, but I know with us, myself here at Washington, many of my colleagues in the Big Ten, we're ready to kind of position this sport as in the best possible position we can put it in.

Last last thing, comment and slash question for you is, and you're with me, Pat, in the real life Wednesdays and our focus on life after sport. And if you had to ask me, one of the things that really bothers me about the game, and the game's great right now. It's on the field as good as it's ever been. Coaching, the playing, it's never been better. The fan support, the viewership.

However, the residual damage, and Mac Brown said it earlier, that NIL is gonna run out. And you see these big numbers, and players in my mind should have got paid a long time ago. But what I'm really struggling with, even talking to you, no one talks about academics, getting a life after football because you know, and I'm, because I know I see my former players. There, there's nothing worse than to have a 29 year old man that gave his heart to

us at the University of Florida, Ohio State. And he's unhireable because the university and coaching staff and the parents, et cetera, did not force this guy to, you know, to go get a job, to get prepared for life after sport. I am so, that's what I loved about college football. There's no better feeling than a real life Wednesday to see Archie Griffin's son get that job with fidelity or you know, you see these players get these jobs because they went through the program as opposed to Zeke Elliott and Joey Bosa. I get that, but that's a small number of people, man.

And so I just get so pissed off sometimes and I'm that, but that's a small number of people, man. And so I just get so pissed off sometimes and I'm like, what about the other 85% of these athletes that are making decisions for $8,000 and they're gonna leave school because some agent's telling them to. I get the Mark Ingrams of the world. I understand that and that's great. But you know what, Mark Ingrams are hard to find.

Yeah. And Mark Ingrams aren't the problem. The problems are me are the ones that are being ill-advised. So there's our random rate of a little bit about that. I just, I hope the world doesn't forget. You want to solve all problems? I'll take a team full of all graduates and all guys that have jobs over three or four guys that are making 20 million and everyone else is a mess.

I hope that doesn't get lost. And I'm, I know you, I know you agree with that Pat and Mark, I just had to get off my chest. I appreciate you. I hope we don't get lost. And I know you agree with that, Pat. And Mark, I just had to get off my chest. I appreciate you. I hope you don't lose that, man. I appreciate you using my name in a positive light, Coach. Just a historical reminder, Coach Meyer did that in year one. He took a 6 and 7 team and made them undefeated the next year

because he had a bunch of young guys that just wanted to go figure out how to be the best they could be. And that's really the magic. I would say one of them, you know, I obviously have a great love and admiration for coach, but man, to be under the hood and watch him, you know, those real life Wednesdays, all those things he did that no one ever talks about that he did to try to just get the most out of his guys. It's really a fascinating thing to be a part of.

And really, it's really where the beauty of college football comes into place is when you have, you know, these environments that really try to get the most out of young people. Pat, your university, other universities around the country are paying these teenagers, they're paying teenagers thousands, if not millions of dollars. What is the university's responsibility to them in managing those funds? A significant responsibility, like we do not want to come in the springtime and have one of our young people with a tax issue on tax day.

So we're like many schools, if I can speak to Washington, we have a very, very thorough student athlete development program that includes financial literacy, tax education, repetitive education on those pieces. So, but it's, you know, it's one of those things. And, you know, Mark, you played in the pro level and you've probably seen a lot of horror stories, but we got it. We have to educate our young people on how to manage their money earlier than ever.

And I think it's a huge priority on our campus. And my hope is a huge priority throughout college athletics. Pat, man, we really appreciate your time. But I just we've talked about the many different things, different issues, different problems in college athletics today. But if you could snap your fingers and fix one system wide issue in college athletics today, what would it be? Wow, good question. I do, the longer I'm in this, I do think we do need some type of commissioner or someone with authority from one singular seat to help with the sport. I always joke around Chris Peterson, who's still in Seattle, that when I mentioned his name for that, it's not because I

don't respect him and care for him because that's a horrible thing to put on somebody to run college football. But we need someone that cares about the sport and understands what the purpose of the sport is for the long-term health of it. It's a second most popular game in this country. You know, and for it to get to this place is really a byproduct of how compelling the games are, and all the stories that come with it. But to me, as we keep as we keep evolving as a sport, you can see the need for one one person to have authority. I don't know if we could ever get there just because the way we're structured. By the way, thanks for doing this interview in what looks like a sauna. Like it's the temperature like a hundred and twenty in there.

It's an elastic cabin. It's a cabin. It's an elastic cabin. It's an elastic cabin, man. Looks super spacious. All right. Good luck on the bears. Bring some bear spray with you just in case.

Make a lot of noise. I think you're supposed to like have a bell around you or something. I'm a slow person, so I'm in trouble. We'll just put it that way. You just got to be faster than the next to the next one or something. Exactly, exactly. Pat, we appreciate your time so much.

Enjoy Alaska. Say hi to Brock for us. And coming up next on The Triple Option, a Heisman candidate, Lenora Sellers from the University of South Carolina joins the conversation. Like it. ["Triple Option"] Welcome back to The Triple Option presented by Wendy's. It's time for Treat of the Week Option presented by Wendy's.

It's time for Treat of the Week presented by Wendy's. Try Wendy's new frosty fusions with flavors like caramel crunch, Oreo, brownie, and pop tarts, strawberry. Mark and I recently had a chance to catch with a player that will be a treat for college football fans this season. He was last year as well, to be honest with you. It's a name that maybe if you're not familiar with right now, you will be in the coming months. Here now, our conversation with Heisman Hopeful and South Carolina quarterback, Lenora Sellers. All right, let's take the

conversation out to Columbia, South Carolina, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Year, a quarterback who's getting a lot of hype. We're talking Heisman, we're talking NFL. Lenora Sellers joins us right now. And Mark, man, there is a lot of glass in Lenora's car, man. This is, this is a nice little ride you got there, Lenora's. He got that panoramic roof, that NIL, you know, the big man on campus. He making that, that, that money. I appreciate it. I appreciate it.

I appreciate it. How's this offseason been for you with all the the chatter about you moving up the NFL draft boards and the talk about other universities coming after you? How have you been able to manage all that this summer? I mean, really just not focusing on it too much. Still got workout, still got a train, still got the workout and do all that stuff So I mean yes talk tonight here, but I'm not really worried too much about it. I Love that man. Um, I watched you man. I heard about you But then I saw you you went to Tuscaloosa man and almost pulled one off on us and I was like, I'm

I'm more willing to you know have him on the podcast interview he ain't go in there and beat up on us too bad. But, man, you were a third freshman in history alongside Jalen Hurts and Johnny Manziel to throw over for 2500 yards and rush for over 500 yards. Man, so so a big arm elusive, got size smarts. Who would you say you like, like, your playing style? Who would your playing style kind of emulate? I'd say Cam Neal, just because that was my favorite player. I watched him all the time growing up or something.

And you were a captain as a freshman, dog. Like, not too many times does a true freshman come in and be a captain. What did that mean to you, that responsibility? It means a lot. I knew coming into college, being a quarterback, you have to step into that leadership role. Open up a little bit more. I only like to talk too much, but just do that and step into that role and do that. I knew it was going to be something I had to get better at.

Yeah, that's awesome. I've really enjoyed your story and your dad, Lenoris, whose name is Norris. I'm assuming that's where Lenoris came from, right? Mom and Pop just added a la in front of it? Well, my mom hated my dad's name. So I was like, just add LA and put up the chain group. She don't like Norris, but she loves Lenoris. Yeah. But she loves Lenoris. I love that. I love that.

So your dad, you know, made some headlines this off season talking about a program out there that offered you a ton of money. But I really love the response that he had and that you had in that, you know, you guys just kind of give off the vibe that you're in a good place and we don't need the money to mess with things. Am I reading that correctly? Yes, sir. So what went into that decision? Why is this such a good place and we don't need the money to mess with things. Am I reading that correctly? Yes, sir. So, what went into that decision? Why is this such a good place for you? Just, it's close to home. My parents come to all my games. I still go home for holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving and all that. If I ever need something, I can just shoot up the road home. If they want to just come up here, just get away from home, they can

come to me. So, I mean, I run off run out my family now. That's all I need. So you're in the off season right now. What would have been some of the priorities for you as far as what elements of the game you want to improve on? This is small things like anticipation, footwork and all that. Just building off of mistakes from last year, just trying to fix them and get better at them for this year. 75 yard rushing TD, man.

Like when, when the play breaks down, like, what's your go to move, man? Like you trying to break the pocket and like take it 75 yards like you had last year. You trying to, you know, hit the deep ball. What's going through your mind when the play breaks down? Sure. It's just I mean, whatever is there like I'm getting get out of trouble. If I'm going out of trouble and they just try to make something happen, somebody down the field, I'll throw it. If everybody covered and it's open grass, I'm gonna run it. So rather run or throw? Dude, I don't have a preference really, just really whatever it

takes in that moment. QB1 answer for sure. And you're getting a lot of attention, a lot of spotlight, man. Everyone says they want the spotlight. Everyone says they want the limelight. But, you know, it comes with a lot. And so what's something that, like, behind the scenes that you do that nobody sees, man? When I'm away from it, like, I actually try to get away from it. So like, yeah, May off. So I try not to do like, I think I had some stuff that first week in May, which like first week head off and then the last week before do like, I think I had some stuff that first week in May, which is like the first week we had off. And then the last week before we went back is when I started like doing football stuff. So that two to three weeks in between, like I didn't do any football, like try not to watch any football, but it's just

second nature. You have to watch something. I didn't like throw or anything. Like I just, we went to Miami and just spent some time up there on the beach and all that Play golf just be stuff like that. So you a golfer. Yeah You play for real next time next time you die. I'll keep score So don't ask me my handicap for none of that But if you're if you're a real golfer, we got to get you a handicap man Yeah, I'm a so I going to start keeping scoring out. I just see you on that.

But, okay. Okay. Some people in Norris golf is the handicap. Let's, let's go way back. And I know you've got some soccer in your DNA from, from the early days. What, what drew you to that sport? Just really my dad. He told us we could either do soccer or like ballet and dance.

So I chose soccer, athletic route. Nothing in between soccer or ballet and dance. It's both like birth foot footwork stuff he said. So I'm going to obviously I'm going to do soccer. Have to over ballet, man. You six, four, two hundred and what? 40 pounds. Yeah. No tip toe dancing like that. Your brother, Jaden, is going to be a freshman wide receiver this season. So tell me what it's going to be like, A, to have him around you even more. And also tell me about the genesis

of his nickname. So it's good to be back around him. It's been like two years since I spent consistent time with him. So, I mean, it's good to have him back up here now. He right down the road from me, he can come to my apartment if he needs something. It's a washer and dryer book, so he had to use mine. And then so it's like whenever he needs something, he right there. But then, my high school coach just started calling him puppy just because he was smaller. He was just like a puppy, like didn't know what was going on.

He started it and he just kept it from there. So I see you got the goggles, man. I read something that you kind of got the specs, man. You got a nickname that everybody call you or what? Goggles, four aspects, whatever, whatever. Are you wearing goggles under your helmet? I did, but I want to context. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Let's hit a couple South Carolina type questions. I'm going to go way back. George Rogers. What does he mean to the state? What does he mean to South Carolina football? I'm a lot. I mean, first husband, super good. I didn't know much about until I got there, but I mean, he won.

How's that? So he obviously did so much right. Right. He's named every day on board. He's still affiliated with the university, right? Do you have interactions with him? I think I've talked to him like once or twice, like before, after a game or something like that. George Rodgers is the man, he's good people, man. He's got a statue, he's got a road named after him.

That means you've done something right in life. Speaking of that, your head coach, Shane Beamer, he had this quote the other day, and this is about you. He knows what he means to the state. Lenores has a chance to leave a legacy here. So what do you mean to the state? And what do you think about when coach says those words about you? I mean, I play for the school. So a lot of people here are fans of Sockelot or Clemson.

And I think we've got a good bit of fans. So I mean, I think I mean a lot to them just for this play football, being a quarterback, just like everybody else on the team. And then even the legacies like my hometown, my home state, down the road from everything, know pretty much everybody. So there's something to be remembered by after I leave here. I know we talked about this earlier, man, but I think, you know, the huge number, with eight million allegedly got offered to you to go ahead and leave. and in this day and age of people just playing at three different universities chasing the bag Man, you stood on loyalty man. You stood on loyalty and that's rare to find these days like I

Think you have that situation with a lot of maturity and I have a lot of respect for you Like how do you stay locked in with so much noise around you and somebody throwing, you know, almost 10 figures at you to come leave a school and but you stayed grounded, stay principles focused on a, you know, the task at hand being where your feet are being there right now. I'm just I'm just intrigued at your mindset and what made you make that decision. I mean, I started here. So he started some here we built some good last year. This year, we just built keep building our foundation. I'd started some here. We built some good last year. This year we just built key building our foundation. I'd rather stay here and keep building on that. And it goes to one have to start over and build another foundation. If that makes sense.

It makes a lot of sense. Yep. And I know you talked about repping your hometown of Florence, man. How important is it for you to rep your hometown? And like, do you feel pressure or is it all pride? What do you feel about that? town and like, do you feel pressure or is it all pride? What do you feel about that? It's just exciting. It's like super rare. I won't say it's like it's like rare, like one every 10 years, but it's like rare enough to go play for SEC Division I

football already as it is. And then it's like just to do it from Florence, it's like, you know, it's other guys like Jordan Burge, Xavier Thomas, those guys, for example, they're from Florence, South Carolina too, and they're in the NFL now. So it's just like, just keeping that train going just to keep giving kids in the city hope, stuff like that. So. What was your highlight from last season?

Um, the substance game. Which element about it besides beating them in Death Valley? Just really like the atmosphere is a hostile environment Already as it is it was a good defensive game. It's like It was like an SEC game. They were a CCT. They won a CCT championship and all that But it just like another SEC game low-scoring game came down to the fourth quarter last two minutes Of halftime and the fourth quarter is a two-point support partsime. And the fourth quarter is the two most important parts of the game, and that's where we showed up

in our biggest moment. Nine wins last season, you guys beat Texas A&M, Missouri, and as we just mentioned, Clemson. So what are the expectations in the locker room for this upcoming season for the Gamecocks? Just to keep winning, no matter who we play. We know it's not gonna be easy. You know, last year they got a tape or whatever, but we just gotta keep it up No matter who we play, we know it's not going to be easy. You know, last year they got a tape or whatever, but we just got to keep it up. Bring it again.

This season don't underestimate them just because we beat them last year. Is it fair to say college football playoffs is in the conversation for South Carolina this season? Definitely. Why? I mean, we saw what we could do last year. He was four to five plays away. Couple mistakes away. We understand that is a small margin for error.

So he was just learning from that last year. Like I said, I know you said you don't like to talk, man, but you captain as a true freshman, your leader. What is something that you should what is something that South Carolina fans should know? You know that that that you think they know, you know, that you think they should know about you, that you think they should know about this team coming up into this next season? We're still hungry.

We're not like super high and then we get like cocky, confident, thinking like we're untouchable. We still understand and know that it's not easy to win and to win nine games. Like you should have 10 wins in the bowl game but it's hard to get 10 wins playing at any school. So I mean, we hungry, we understand what it takes. We know what it takes and we just gonna go work to get that.

I know you said, you mentioned how important it was for you to leave a legacy for the youth and inspire the youth. If you could leave one message for young kids dreaming of being in your shoes, what would that be? Don't be afraid to make mistakes. If you don't make mistakes, there's nothing to learn from. So as long as you keep learning day by day, year by year, whatever,

take in what you can take in. I love it. I love it. Good advice, man. Lenora, enjoy the rest of the offseason. We cannot wait to see you this upcoming season. Your second really your second season with the Gamecocks under center, man. Lenora sellers. Thanks for joining us. Congrats.

Enjoy the summer. And we look forward to seeing you more next season. Yes, sir. Thank you. I appreciate you bro. Appreciate your time for you, dog. Until you play my time. I'm roof.

Hey, you got to play. Are you, are you a homeowner now in Columbia? Yeah, I am What goes look do you live there do you have it for bomb or for dad now I stay there I'm moving officially I'm still paying rent on my apartment. So I'm gonna stay there and then once I'll have to pay rent on one apartment I'm slowly one more stuff in there and I'll move in before fall camp. Cause after that it's going to be like time to go. So look at that man get assets already, man.

He got assets already. Will, uh, will Jaylen come in with you or this is, this is, or Jayden, will this, or this will be just yours? He asked you, I'll still think in the side of what I want to be with her. You make him pay a little rent. Oh yeah. A hundred percent. He not living for free.

I chip in on his mortgage. Oh man. Well, as long as you got a good washer and dryer, Jade might be interested, right? You know, you know, he's going to be over there. Yeah. He's going to be over there. Might as well charge him on the front end. Yeah for sure for sure. We appreciate you man Blessings to you great season. I got to say we root for you to you play Bama

Yes, sir The triple option crystal ball is brought to you by bet MGM bet MGM is giving you the chance to win a prize every day during the baseball season. Step into the batter's box for BetMGM's swing for the fences free to play game. Visit BetMGM app to access the game and you will score a prize if you hit a single, double, triple or a home run. So after that conversation with Lenores, we said, well, let's keep the ball rolling with the Gamecocks. We're taking out our crystal ball. We're going to talk South Carolina. Where's the crystal ball? Tiny. It blends in. It's right next to the Wendy's football.

The win total, regular season win total set at 7.5 by Bet MGM. Oh, that hook. They love the hook. You can get the over for plus 110, the under for minus 135. So again, the magic number is seven and a half. Last season, nine and three lost to Illinois in the Citrus Bowl. They won six straight to conclude the season

before that bowl loss. Ranked wins over Texas A&M, Missouri, and to close the regular season against Clemson. Some of the losses, LSU by three, got blown out by Ole Miss by 24 and at Alabama, they only lost by two. All right. So let's take a look at the South Carolina schedule and guys, I've come prepared today. It only took me all season to get a whiteboard. All right, here we go. South Carolina, I'm going to track it. And I got, I got a tweak. So they open up in Atlanta against Virginia Tech. Win loss or a half?

W. Okay. Wow. All right. South Carolina state. Win. Vanderbilt. Win. Win. At Mizzou. Win. I know I'm with you on that one. Verse Kentucky.

Win. That's a home dub. Yeah, okay at LSU Yeah, LL verse Oklahoma home win. Okay with that mark. Yeah, I take a win though I take a wow you guys are really high on them. Okay. All right verse, Alabama Mark Go ahead and put that in the last column I'm gonna write the last column for you. Man, at is freaking, is at South Carolina. That's a tricky place to play, bro. It is at Ole Miss, at Ole Miss.

Payback. Half. Half? Half. At Texas A&M. Half. Coastal Carolina. Dope.

Versus Clemson. So home to Clemson. L. L. What do you got? Home to Clemson. Home to Clemson. I don't know, they beat Clemson last year. I know they did. I know they did. Half. All right you got home to Clemson? Home to Clemson? I don't know. They beat Clemson last year.

I know they did. I know they did. All right. So I'm giving the L. All right. So here we got two halves. So let's say, let's say the halves turned into a win. That's eight wins and three losses. If the haves turned into losses, we're at seven and four.

But with the Norris sellers at the quarterback, the win is seven and a half. The regular season win total seven and four. But with Lenora Sellers at the quarterback, I'm taking- The win is seven and a half. The regular season win total, seven and a half. We have seven wins over there, right? And then- But we need the hook. I'm thinking Lenora Sellers,

with those three losses in those two halves, I'm thinking Lenora Sellers makes up and gets a win. Okay, well there's 12 games there, Stoner. There's 12 games, bro. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I do fuzzy. There's 12 games, bro. Yeah. Yeah. I know I do fuzzy math. The haves I'm counting.

Oh, you're right. No, no, no. Yeah, you're right. I'm counting him. I'm going to give them both as wins. So that'd be a nine and a three. Apparently my, my board concept is not working out as great as I thought it would. That's how you spell Colgate.

C O L I'll get back to you on that one. So ideally their best they can do according to you guys is nine and three, seven, or it could be seven and five. That sound about right? I got them going over there. I got them going over seven and a half because of the little ourselves. I do too. Yeah.

He's named nine last year. Hey Mark, I'm going to say this too. I like their coach and I think it's the most underrated place in college football to play. It is tough to play there. That's why you said that Alabama at South Carolina. I was number one in the country, went to South Carolina. We got ambushed.

So that's not an easy place to go play. And with Lenora Sellers and then Dylan Stewart on the opposite side, I like this team to win over seven and a half games. Yeah, I agree. Shane Beamer, you talked about it coach, fifth year at South Carolina. Of course we know his dad, Frank Beamer, legendary Hokie head coach against South Carolina

Virginia Tech opened up the season in Atlanta. Nine wins last year. Lost a lot of starters though. Five the year before, right? And then eight and seven in his first two seasons. So South Carolina, you know what's interesting coach about South Carolina and it goes back to the old ball coach, your buddy Steve Spurrier.

South Carolina, four double digit win seasons in school history, three of them though, came back in the early 2011, 2013 under coach Spurrier. And prior to him, Lou Holtz had a couple eight, nine win seasons, but that is one, that to me, you stick South Carolina in another conference. They're winning it. Right, or they're pushing it. And they're winning double digit wins more often.

They're just stuck in a tough ass conference, man. And I'm telling you, I think that's one of the great places to go, not as opposing coaches. I used to hate going there. But great, great, great fans, great stadium. One of those programs, I think that it falls more into that pool of teams where you could say, boy, great fans, great stadium. One of those programs I think that it falls mark into that pool of teams where you could say, boy they are

this close. Like Ole Miss has kind of been there the last couple years and they've gotten a little lane, a lane push in that environment. South Carolina feels like they're right there as well. Yep, yep. And with that quarterback man I think they got a shot. I'm a real big fan of Lenore Sellers, man. He was what one of the first three freshmen in the history to throw for 2,500 and rush for 500 as a true freshman. Yeah, the kid can run, man. And he looks the part, doesn't he? Like on the field stepping off the bus. Similar to, similar. He said he looked up to Cam Newton, built like Tim Tebow, scammed

Newton. You know, built like Tebow, big dude can run a football great head on his shoulders man we talked to the young brother man he's bright and kind of really humble and grounded i'm a fan of lennor sellers and i'm i'm rooting for him except for when he plays alabama i got it i got it i'm rooting for him as well damn man follow subscribe rate us on youtube apple podcast spotify or wherever you get your podcast as well as across social media 3x option show Thank you to our sponsors Wendy's Nitsa zip recruiter and bet MGM and I promise guys next season the board the board will be better I'll do better with the board. No a better crystal ball. Okay crystal. Okay That math was not math not good. I majored in English.

Ha ha ha. I can read it.