The Triple Option - National Champion Head Coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes Ryan Day and USA v Canada Hockey Reaction

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

What happens when two National Champion head coaches walk into a podcast? It's no joke, it's The Triple Option. Head Coach Urban Meyer and Mark Ingram II are joined by his successor Ryan Day after Day delivered the first College Football Playoff National Championship to Ohio State since 2014. The two former staff mates talked about the magical playoff run the Ohio State Buckeyes delivered this year, the future of the CFP, how coaching has evolved, and how to prepare a National Title defense. (2:10) Rob Stone and Meyer then drop the gloves, lace up their skates and slide into the world of hockey after the US and Canada squared off in one of the most memorable All-Star event in any professional sports. The guys made their picks for the 4-Nations Faceoff and Stanley Cup futures. (33:23) 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. "Go to Wendy's® and taste the difference in a hamburger. - https://m-wendys.app.link/hamburger25 A big thank you to the rest of our sponsors: BetMGM Each Wednesday throughout the season, pick the skater you think will light the lamp first in the game. If it’s not your player, but he scores the second goal of the game, you get your stake back! And with Bet MGM at your fingertips, every play and every game matter more than ever. Place your moneyline, prop, and parlay bets with The Sportsbook Born in Vegas today at BetMGM.com First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Bonus bets are non-withdrawable. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. See BetMGM.com for Terms. US promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US) Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY) Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA) 21+ only. Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA),1-800-981-0023 (PR). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm sorry, coach. I'm doing this. I got a prop for you here because there is only one team in hockey that matters. You see this logo, don't you? Can you see it? I do my beloved Hartford whalers that were taken from us far too soon. There's only one song. brass bonanza baby. The Music Names, we're back. Welcome to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's. Go to Wendy's and taste the difference in a hamburger. As always, thanks for joining us. Remember to rate, subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you find your podcasts, as well as

across social media at 3X Option Show. Again, new episodes every Wednesday on YouTube. Next week, Nebraska head coach Matt Ruhl joins us. Hockey this week makes its debut on the triple option. I've got a special sweater for coach or a jersey as we say in normal lingo, but we begin at the top of the college football food chain. Last week, coach and Mark Ingram chatted with national championship winning head coach Ryan Day after that season in which the Buckeyes member ended the regular season with that stunning home loss to their rivals Michigan and then went on one of the most impressive

four game runs in the history of college football. They took down number seven, Tennessee, number one, Oregon, third ranked Texas, and then finally number five, Notre Dame to win it all. And those wins are our fresh moves of the week brought to you by Wendy's. Go to Wendy's and taste the difference in a hamburger. So I want to make a quick note before this interview happens. It was conducted before Matt Patricio was named the new defensive coordinator of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Here now, Coach Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram, and Coach Ryan Day. Welcome back to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's. It's my honor to welcome the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes and the 2024-25 CFP National Champion, Ryan Day.

You had about a month to sink it in, brah. So, real quick though, the cool thing is once you win a national championship, all problems go away. There will be none, none, Mark. You won one, I won a couple and Ryan, it's over. You don't have to, no more problems. No more problems.

And literally lasted until the confetti hit the ground and then it's on. Well, thanks for, thanks for joining us. And, uh, I'm going to hit you with a couple of things. And this is really cool to be able to do this with you, a guy that I love and, and, uh, I love your family and congrats. So, uh, people have asked me, so I'm going to ask you, there, there was a moment in the first one in 06 when Percy Harvin caught the screen.

I'm everybody. I was ripping everybody on the sideline. Everybody's, you know, cause we're, we were up pretty good. And, you know, we don't, you know, I just kept thinking not over until it's over and Percy Harvin kind of bubble screen. He got the first down. I remember watching the official, they measured it. And he goes, first down. I look at the clock and I said, this sucker is over.

And it's like, it flushed me. Did you have that moment during the game? I had two moments. I think the first moment was when, in the Texas game on that fourth down, when Jack had that sack and the ball bounced right up to him. That ball hadn't bounced that way in previous games, like, you know, in those moments for us. And when it bounced right up into him and he started running, it wasn't then, it was when I looked back to make sure there was no flags on the ground.

And I said, you know what, I think we're going to win the national championship because that, that, that ball just hadn't bounced for us, you know, the Georgia game and the Clemson game and just, and so there was that moment. And then in the Notre Dame game in the national championship, there was a moment where I was doing that we were up 31 to seven, and I'm doing the math on this saying, as you know, when you get to that moment, you're like, okay, like we just like we got this game, we just have to eat up clock, we have to run the ball, and there's no way that they can win the game. Well, we called a, you know, a reverse to a Mecca and I mean, Mecca is one of my favorite players of all time. And I just said, no matter what,

you come back with that ball and you hand the ball to the official. And somehow the ball got punched out. And I said to myself, oh my gosh, like now this thing's in the balance. And so then now it's panic mode. And we call the shot to Jeremiah, he catches it. But it wasn't then, it wasn't even, after we kicked the field goal, it was when they ran that first down play and the clock kept running.

And I finally just took the headset and said, get off of me. I love that, man. That's great. But coach, you know, you've had a lot of success at Ohio state. We know that's a high pressure job, a lot of wins, a lot of championships. What was it like taking over that program after Coach Meyer and like, how did he help you in that transition? Yeah, I mean, it was, it was such a blessing to, you know, be able to as a first time head

coach, you know, step into a situation where there were so many things in place for us and what coach, you know, had. And first off, like the first two years that I was there, it was like being an apprentice. And I was learning from the best in the business. And I say this all the time, where do you learn to become a head coach? You go to med school to become a doctor,

you go to law school to become a lawyer. Where do you learn to be a coach? Become a coach, especially at Ohio State, because it's not like any other job in the country. And so to learn on a daily basis how that looked, you know, the ups, the downs, everything that comes with it, and then learning how to, you know, put it all together and the decisions on staff and recruiting and just all those things. And so when, when, um, when that all happened, you know, at the Rose Bowl, you know, there was,

there's a lot of emotion there. There was, you know, you're grateful for the opportunity, but you're also like, man, how am I going to step in these shoes? Right. But you know, you can't worry about those things. And, you know, you talk about Mick Moratti and Mark Pantoni and all the pieces that are still here. But along the way, you know, you have to find your own voice. Right. your own voice, you're talking about a hall of fame coach that you're coming behind. And so, it was, along the years, you learn a lot about yourself. You learn a lot about the position. You learn a lot about coaching and you try to get as much advice as you can. And you try to be yourself.

But was obviously very fortunate to learn from the best and have a situation where, you make the transition with a lot of pieces in place. Let's talk for a quick minute about this. You mentioned the staff and, uh, you've lost two coordinators and, uh, and, uh, I think a line coach, uh, that's one of the things that really haunted me is that when, when I, players are fluid, you're going to lose good players. That's just what happens. And I started that system.

I'm not sure if you still do with the one through five where I would meet with Gene Smith every year and said, these are my fives, Ryan Day's a five, you know, Greg Chiano's a five, Dan Mullin, you know, you know what a five is. We're not losing a five. You got to paint, you know, that's just Annie up and we got to do, we got to do fours you'd like to keep the threes are transitory, you know, whatever happens happens. So a guy goes to Penn State and a guy goes to the NFL as a coordinator.

And then I think Justin, what, do you go to the NFL? Justin, Justin, what's the Arizona Cardinals? Yep. So, so here you are, you know, regrouping and all that, uh, talk to us about, first of all, the process, how those things happen. You don't have to go too deep and then how you move forward. Yep.

Well, um, I think maybe it was Belichick or somebody said their champagne problems, you know, and when you win one, there's a lot that comes with that. And I think for us, because we ended the season so much later than almost everybody in the country, um, you know I think for us, because we ended the season so much later than almost everybody in the country, um, you know, so many staffs were set. Um, you know, we missed a couple of weeks of recruiting. Um, you think about that Tennessee game was played on December 21st. We ended the season on January 20th.

So that's a home that's different. I think that's significant. And so after, after, you know, the confetti falls and you know, there's going to be things like this to come up. Um, yeah, to your point, like there's going to be opportunity for guys. And, um, but you know, we, we, we have a core in place here that to your point, um, you know, we want to make sure that there's consistency in all three phases. And, you know, when you talk about, you know, our offense and what

Brian Heartline has done in recruiting and, you know, he was the coordinator and then Chip came in and then, you know, now he's the coordinator. You know, this is a guy who's paid his dues here. You know, he didn't just jump to the next job. He learned and grew and got better with every year. And I think his receiver play is the best there is in the country. And so, you know, you get guys like Keenan Bailey and different people within the program that you just want to work with. And then on defense, it's the same thing. You know, Tim Walton, Matt Guerrero, James Laurinaitis, Larry Johnson.

I mean, they were integral parts of the day-to-day operation. And so we want to make sure that there's consistency in those things. And we're not going to change, you know, the Ohio State defense is the Ohio State defense, the, you know, the Ohio State offense is the Ohio State offense. And we want to make sure that we bring folks in that embrace that. And those are big decisions, as you know, I mean, these are the decisions that, you know, make or break where you're at. And, um, and it's the same thing with special teams.

Coach, one thing I'm worried about you guys all season long was that. When something didn't go as planned, you guys learn from it, bounce back from it and got better from it. I mean, that comes from the head, the head man and it trickles down. So that's one thing I admired the most. And I say, you probably don't say this and nobody in Columbus Columbus says this but I say the best thing that happened to Ohio State was losing that game versus Michigan because I felt like you guys I felt like it bandaged all together I felt like y'all came out with a vengeance or the sense of urgency and y'all had an epic national championship title run what was

said after that loss in the game in the locker room that kind of galvanized this team together to get the mindset moving forward to go win an else championship like you guys did. Yeah, when when you don't win that game, you don't just wake up the next day and move on. I mean, literally, there's there's like a morning, you know, phase and grieving phase, you have to go through it the way it is, man.

And there's a lot that comes with that and you have to take a step back and let the emotion clear. And what we did was, first off, we got everybody together because at that point there's narratives being thrown out everywhere. There's all types of things that are going on and talking about players, talking about coaches, what's gonna happen?

The guy's gonna get fired, who made mistakes in this area and who's to blame. And so the first thing you had to do is to bring everybody together to make sure that you set the narrative for what it is, the truth. And the truth is there were certain things that were done in that game

that cost us to lose the game. And so we brought everybody together and identified what those things were. And the guys have to take accountability. And there was, there was, you know, guys challenging each other. There was conflict. There was, you know, groups going at each other. But, um, but at the end of the meeting, you know, it was guys walking arm in arm outside the room, because we talked about, here are the things that we're going to do to get these things fixed. Because, you know, as players, they want to see their leader, Like, all right, what's the, what are the answers?

You know, what are we going to, what do we do wrong? What are we going to do to get this fixed? And then there was a bunch of dudes who stood up and said, man, like, do you still believe that we can win the national championship? Because if you don't, like, get out of this room because we all believe. And, and so that was really the genesis of the conversation. And then we put that plan together and then you put one practice in front of another. You know, you can't solve that problem two weeks,

you know, before the Tennessee game. You just got to go back to work. And the biggest thing that I kept thinking about is, you know, what Bill Parcell is just, they just coach the team, man. Like just keep coaching the team. Don't worry about all the other things and trusting the coaches and the players that are with you.

And that's it. And I also told them that it was an opportunity to write one of the best stories in the history of college football. As hard as that was, you got the pen and the players that are with you. And that's it. And I also told them that it was an opportunity to write one of the best stories in the history of college football as hard as that was you got the pen and you can do it and, and they believed in it. And then once we got that Tennessee game going, we got some momentum. It went from there. Y'all did that coach for sure.

You know, when you, when you win a championship or really the, the profession we chose, you see council, you know, you want to run the spread offense. Let's go visit the West coast. We want to run the four three versus three four. There's people to go visit and you seek advice. All of a sudden you're now dealing with expectations. And there's very few that sit in the chair that say, 134 teams, there's one that lifts that trophy at the end of the year.

Mack Brown was my guy. You know, he was a guy that trophy at the end of the year. Mack Brown was my guy. You know, he was the guy that, uh, I felt the weight of the world year after year, week, day after day of if that doesn't look like a national championship, it ain't me alive because I knew that was, that's it, anything other than that. We screwed it up. Have you thought about that yet? Is it starting to hit you that, you know, when you walk in a weight room, or you're looking at your players, you're looking at your staff, you listen to them.

Say, damn, I just, just doesn't, you know, this is not the level. And then where do you seek that counsel? So two questions have, has that hit you at the expectations? And then where do you seek that advice? Yeah. So in the profession, you know, it's, it's guys that you've coached with, but, but also like, you know, you know, we've had these conversations, Jim Trestle and even coach Cooper, you know, just about, you know, living in this, this

world and coaching at this place, because nobody really understands this place. And you've been here and coached here. And so, um, you know, certainly, you, certainly in the football world, that's important. Also for me, like I have become really close with a guy by the name of Clint Bruce, who is in the Navy SEALs, and he's been really good for me in just the process and understanding what it means to be a leader.

And the soldiers are like doing all the fighting. It's your job as a head coach. And as a leader, as a captain, like look around along the horizon and figure out what's coming next. And there's just so many parallels to the military and to, to coaching that, um, you know, he and I would share a lot of conversations and, um, just by chance, we played down in Dallas, like where he's stationed is like five minutes from our hotel and he just came over and gave our team an unbelievable talk about just how when they go to a certain hot spot, you know, in Afghanistan or different places and

they set up shop and they got a few days to kind of get, you know, regulated with the area and then they create a storm, you know, wreck and then leave. And like that was, that was what we were doing, you know, it was really cool. And so just trying to find as many people who live in this world, like you're talking about, of being in the top 1% of 1%. If you're not chasing that elite 1% of 1%, you don't quite understand what it takes on a daily basis and what comes with it. So try to find as many of those people in my life as possible.

And then, like you said, the expectation, it comes from the players. And one of the things that we've done is, you know, we create this leadership committee that we vote on before spring ball, and then we revote on it after spring ball, and we let, we write the expectations up on the board and Mick and I go through it with the, with the leadership committee. And if they don't agree with it, like we change it, we work through it, but they have to agree with it. And usually like they're the ones that want it harder. So if they don't agree with it, like we change it, we work through it, but they have to agree with it and usually like they're the ones that want it harder.

So like if somebody is late and there's Dawn Patrol, like they get thrown out of the locker room, well, they want them thrown out for like two weeks. But as long as they're all on board with that and they're the ones that decide on that, then they take accountability, they take ownership and the rest of the guys on the team, you know, they know that this was decided by the leadership committee. And so that part of it is critical now. We're going from winning one to now having to repeat. And I know, and I've done a lot of research on this

on how we have to re-bite at a big time level and make sure that no one's taking a deep breath. Coming up, more of our conversation with Coach Day with Urban and Mark, including the importance of mental health for his players and why the Columbus community is so important to him. That's coming up next on the Triple Option presented by Wendy's. This is an ad from BetterHelp Online Therapy. We always hear about the red flags to avoid in relationships, but it's just as important to focus on the green flags.

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Coach, you talked about the leadership group that you have. Clearly, you have a tremendous amount of leadership on your team and that's going to be leading. You just signed a much deserved extension after winning the national championship. And I see right away you made a million dollar donation to the mental health programs at the Ohio State University Medical Center. Why is that important to you? And what do you do to help support your players at place that stresses at an extremely high level to be able to perform? And how do you how do you support them mentally

throughout the process? Well, Columbus in Ohio State is just known for philanthropy and the charities and, you know, whether it's the cancer research hospital or children's hospital downtown. I mean, you know, you just kind of get indoctrinated into that here. And you know, I think it's important as the head coach to be a leader in that area and just to, you know, make sure that we're doing our part and giving back to, you know, all those who do so much for us. And we have the best fan base in America. And so, you know, we want to we're doing our part and giving back to, you know, all those who do so much for us. And we have the best fan base in America.

And so, you know, we want to make sure we're giving back. And it's also a great example for our players to see how important it is because nowadays, you know, and I L's involved, you know, and now guys, you know, you have fans have to travel across the country to these playoff games. And so we just want to make sure that, you know, they understand how much we appreciate them. I think it's a big part of giving back. And, you know, the mental health thing has always been important to me based on

the way that I grew up and some of the things that, you know, I experienced growing up. So through Nationwide Children's and through OSU, I think Columbus is the leader in the country in the mental health space. And I think it's good for, you know, Buckeye nation, for Columbus, for Ohio to see, you know, guys who are at the biggest stage there, there is where they say big, strong guys who are still willing to say, Hey man, like, yeah, I'm struggling today. I need a little help.

It's just like I do if I, you know, sprain my ankle. Let's move to the CFP, the first of all, the experience, what would you change? And then, uh, you know, if there's a critique, you know, I hear a lot about, you know, the Indiana, the SMU and, uh, what was it Boise the seating and then, you know, do they get the same swing at the prize as a team that's playing, you know, a much more difficult schedule and conference. So first one, the experience, what would you change? And then kind of talk about just the, do the, you know, do those guys deserve the same shot that a team

that plays in the SEC or Big Ten? Right. I think first off, the experience is something we really got to learn from. You know, I think that the player experience can be much better. I think that the player experience can be much better. I think that the focus needs to be on the players. And I think we need to look at a lot of it because the national championship is not run by a bowl. The other ones are. But even the ones that are run by a bowl, as you guys remember, there used to be events. There was a lot that came with that. Now that's no longer the case.

It's just like being on a road game, except you're there a day earlier, but there's no events, like nobody going on any events. Nobody's leaving the hotel. I think that, you know, we need to consider moving the hotels outside of these big cities because we're not going to these events anymore. So I think being a little bit more secluded and looking at some of those locations is just better for everybody, especially for the players again. Um, and I think that, you know, we need to pour into the players.

These are the guys that are doing the work. So I think that we need, you know, the best food there is that can possibly be served to these guys. I think it should be the best conditions. I think we should try to find as many mementos for these guys that possibly can be done, just little things that money can't buy, but it stays with them forever. And then in terms of the seeding, I think it was clear this year that the automatic buys were a little out of whack. When you see kind of how it all shook out, I think they need to rethink that.

I understand why in the first year it was done that way, but I just, I think that, you know, if you're, if you win your conference, sure, you should get in. Yeah. That you get a buy. I think that's, that's a little much. I think you should go to the top four seeds. That's right. And just, and rank those guys from there.

Yes. All right. Coach, you rank those guys from there. Yes. All right. Coach, you've done a great job. You're a former quarterback coach. You've done a great job of developing quarterbacks that you've recruited. You've also been able to identify, you know, quarterbacks coming in and the transfer reporter, like Will Howard did. Um, how do you balance developing quarterbacks while also keeping an

eye like in the transfer portal as well? Yeah, it's a great question. When you look at the quarterbacks who have had success in the last five years, I mean, there's a lot of them that have been older guys who have transferred from schools because I'd like to hear and tell you that, transferring from schools isn't the right thing to do. And, you

know, it's not going to help in your development, but you know, the numbers tell you differently. A lot of these guys have found different places. You know, Will Howard's a great example of that, you know, and, but, you know, so was Pennex and Bo Nicks, and you start going through the list. There's a lot of them. Now, I believe in bringing in, you know, quarterbacks and developing them into your offense and keeping them for multiple years. CJ Stroud and Justin Fields, you know, both went to the NFL

after three years. And so that was tough because you're playing against guys who are fourth and fifth year seniors, 22 and 23 years old. And that matters at quarterback. So it's this balance that we're constantly trying to figure out of developing your own and having somebody there for multiple years, but also having somebody mature enough to be able to sustain a whole season and play at a high level. Thank you. You know, you, you cracked me up and, uh, when, uh, you said, you know, about the player centric on those trips and I mean, they're getting paid now.

So it's a little bit different, but back in the day, I got so pissed off. Uh, we're playing Alabama and I look out, I, you know, I just look out the plane. I see who's coming on the plane and there's a majority of, I have no idea what they do. No. And I mean, all of a sudden I see their kids and every, which is fine. I mean, that's not in my business, but that's, and then I remember talking to hire them in or talking to some of our players that just put in, they did not get a day off, there was no day off from July, you know, remember that we used

to go away for the summer now there's no days off. I went through the calendar with our players one time, the only time they, I gave them a week off or spring break. That was it. When they're really off. And so we play Alabama and I remember I'm walking up to the podium and I'm thinking about it, the majority of families can't afford to go to a big 10 championship game, to a playoff game, a national championship game.

They can't afford that. Yet I'm seeing the assistant AD to the assistant AD to the assistant AD, the assistant to the conference commissioner to the assistant, you know, the point I'm getting to, right? I do. All these people, and I'm looking at my boys over there,

their fricking parents and uncle or sister can't go to the game. And I walked up on the podium and for 10 minutes, they kept asking questions. I said, no, we got to change this. And they did, they gave him, I think, 2,500 bucks for a fan, which is still not enough. But I think that's a great point.

I think that's your job. You know, I'm not preaching to you, but you gotta push that man. I mean, you gotta push. It's gotta be reasonable. But the player and their family has gotta be number one and then let's kind of start filling in the blanks after that.

That's it. Yeah, I totally agree. I felt like while we were going through it, once the dust settled, that like, you know, situations like this was an opportunity for me to speak up and to say that no, I think we need to do better. And over the next few months, you know, for those who went through the different games, you know, I think the way that we've historically done it, it's great. It's fine, but we need to really do a better job because like you said, the most important people here are the players. And I think it's easy sometimes unless someone's advocating for them to forget about that and they deserve the best of the best.

And, and so, yeah, to your point, we've got to make sure we're constantly ringing that bell. All right. As we close up, we're one and one in tennis. So I'm never going to play again because you're getting younger. And have we played golf? I played golf and golf, I think. Right. Can I know you're asking golf?

No, he's a sandbag or anyway, coach. No tennis. Ryan's like he's a country club dude, man. He he's got like a real tennis swing. Although I will kick your ass. Give me another month. I'll get going. In what? Either.

I said we play tennis and then we play golf and then we'll have to figure out a third one to break the tie. Bowling or ping pong or something. So you're playing, I didn't know you were playing golf much. Not, but I think I have. Out there, Muirfield coach? We could possibly play a big time course here in the next couple of months.

So I got to get my game going a little like the one done in Georgia. Yeah. It looks like maybe there might be an opportunity. So I can't screw that one up. No, Coach Dave before we let you go man on the podcast. We do one thing where we let the guests picks who they want to ask a question to. So we've been showering you and peppering you with questions for 27 minutes. Now's your time.

If you want to throw one back at either one of us, man, it's your opportunity. Don't speak now forever. Hold your peace. No, I caught me off guard. I think it's probably just for both of you guys is like, as you guys watched this from your guys perspective this year, because when we're in it, and I said, like, we're like train rats, we just went from game to game to game. And then it's over. And like, I don't even think it's sunk in yet that we won the national championship. I almost wanted to keep

playing. But I guess from your guys perspective, as you watched the playoffs and you watched the season, what was probably the biggest thing that you guys saw in the last, you know, from November all the way to the last, to January that was different this year than the last few years? Because I think, all right, we went through it all and now we're trying to adapt because spring ball for us might be different because we played 16 games. And so I guess just from your perspective, as you guys covered these games, what did you notice significantly about this season as opposed to

maybe the seasons in the past? I'll jump Mark and then let you close up. So the first thing is that I think it was phenomenal. I think the fact that the greatest players in the country kept playing. Yes. That would break my heart back in the Mark Ingrams of the world. You know, these fricking phenomenal players would sit out the outback. Not me, Coast.

I didn't do that. I know, I know, but I mean, that, that just used to end up first happening at the cotton ball when Gen Z Ward came out to me and his family said, we're not going to play us, what do you mean you're not going to play? So that number one, and then the fact that you're still alive, you know, that, that, that game at the end of the year, that history used to say, you're done, you got to eat that thing for 365. You don't anymore. Now you just rally up and keep going.

The thing I am worried about Ryan is this, is that why would you dare play? You're open. And I think what Texas next year, why, you know, other than, other than it's good for the game, it's great for the fans. It's good for the player. It's, for the fans. It's good for the player. It's, it's good, good, good, good. Sure. But once again, you're, you're evaluated on one thing, not good.

You're evaluated at the end of the season. So I'm worried that these teams play these just God awful schedules. Yeah. Horrific schedules. Somewhere in the playoffs. And then, and you're like, no one's talking about that. So there's gotta be some kind of analytics done to say, okay, this game is worth this. Yep.

So you play it, you know, Boise state SMU can solve all those problems. They can go schedule the big dogs and go play for, you know, there'll be no more conversation about are they worthy, you know, same with maybe in Indiana, you know, which I mean, they all had great years, but go play Tennessee and the Wolverines and whoever, Texas. And then, so those are the two thoughts. Number one, I thought it was fantastic.

Number two, I'm worried about the non-conference games. Yeah, I think just to go back to that point, and I think it's, we play nine conference games in the Big Ten. Now when you add Texas, now know, we play nine conference games in the big 10. You know, then when you add Texas, now you're talking about 10 real games on the schedule, that's that matters. Yes. One less loss by somebody in the league and you know, the wear and tear

of the season as well. Yeah. But, but for me, coach, it was, I think that in the previous years when there was 14 playoff for the BCS, only two, you had teams that weren't fighting for anything towards the end of the year. I felt like there was, me and Coach and everyone on the show, we talked about this, that there was probably in the last two, three weeks of the season, there was 20 teams that had life.

You know what I mean? You talk about the Big 12 with Arizona State and BYU and Colorado. You talk about, you know, people in the ACC. You had all these teams that still had hope. They still had a belief that they had a chance to get to, you know, the college football playoff and, you know, continue into postseason. So I think that was what was most exciting for me was that more teams had a belief, more teams had something to fight for towards the end of the year. So the games and the product that was being put on the field was I thought,

I thought it was really good. So I thought that was something that I noticed towards like November towards the end of the year that there was just so many more teams that had something to fight for it as something to believe in. I think that made a great product for us, you know, in the later stages of the season. So that's something that I really noticed. I think the other thing that I felt was that this format allows your team to grow. Yes. And, you know, coach, you remember like every game, like you lose this game, like your whole season is ruined. Yeah. It's just, I mean,

it's a hard way to live now. Try losing a game in Columbus, Ohio. I mean, the world's coming on in. I get it. You still allow your team to grow as the season goes on. Look in the peak towards the end of the season. And I think overall it's just, it's a healthier approach, even though there's a lot more games.

Yeah. I agree. Well, thanks brother. All the best to the Dave family and great hanging with you, man. Yeah, much love. Appreciate you. Yeah, Coach, we appreciate you, man. And good luck. Good, thanks brother. All the best to the Dave family and great hanging with you, man. Yeah, much love. Appreciate you. Yeah, Coach, we appreciate you, man.

And good luck. Good luck, man. Keep going. All right, thanks. Light it. ["Dreams of a New World"] Welcome back to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's, Rob Stone,

Urban Meyer here with you, Mark Ingram on assignment somewhere in Africa, chasing down the big five. He's out on a safari. I cannot. I hope we get some pictures of that. Oh, he's got it. He's got it. You know what? We're going to dial him up here after this and we'll, we'll see if he's got something for us. It's time now for pick six brought to you by our great partners at bet MGM. Now each Wednesday throughout the season,

we're going to pick a skater now coach, a skater. We're talking hockey that you think will light the lamp first in the season. We're going to pick a skater now, coach, a skater. We're talking hockey that you think will light the lamp first in the game. If it's not your player, but he scores the second goal of the game, you get your stake back. You only get that here with the sports book born in Vegas. These lines as always are subject to change. We're going to talk hockey right now. And it's amazing that hockey has seized the spotlight as of late. And I give them a ton of credit right now. The four nations championship game between the U S and Canada. The other night had not won, not to three fights coach in the first

nine seconds of the game. It was proper old school put on the foil hockey. You know, what's great about hockey and coming completely clean with it for 50 years of my life, I couldn't spell hockey. I knew it was a game played on ice. That was about it. I moved to Columbus, Ohio, Muirfield, and there's three or four high,

Dubinsky, Wozniowski, Scott Hartnell, Jared Bowler. So I just became friends with these guys and they're complete absolute whack jobs. In a good way, in a good way. No, in a great way. Yeah. And their families are awesome. And so I said, I gotta go watch these guys.

And I got invited to the owner's suite, Mr. McConnell, a couple of times. And it's fantastic. And they went to the playoffs, they beat the Penguins. I met Mario Lemieux, which by the way is a giant, usually hockey players aren't that big. But then I got invited down to the glass and that changed my, for that point forward,

I really can't watch hockey. I watch it, but I wanna be on the glass. Rob, I'm telling you this, the toughest, most athletic guys in all sport might be hockey players. When I saw what they're doing on ice, you can't do that on firm ground. And to see that, also this, think about this,

where NBA and NFL, they're all-star games, you really can't watch, they're not really all-star games anymore. No defense, nobody cares. I can't watch that. A bunch of buddies hanging out. Yeah, and all of a sudden hockey makes a decision to do what they're doing. And then all of a sudden they boo the national anthem, and I'm a strong patriot.

I love our country. And to see the guys, there's three fights, and I read about it. The one guy said the other guys were throwing gloves right before they do the, they throw the puck in, the face off a conscious decision gloves Yeah, you and me they throw the gloves down. The two officials are standing there watching it They beat the brakes off each other I might add the American one or the USA guy was on top and then they go to the penalty box Three seconds later Rob. What happens they do it to other guys, his brother, drop them. Let's go

the third time again, they have it happen. So I'm a huge hockey fan. I'm a huge patriot, I believe in our country. And if someone booze our national anthem, they should get throw the gloves off. I have a flag out back, someone's going to touch that flag. So I'm a big fan of hockey players of the sport and I don't think they get the respect they deserve. No, 100%. And also some of the nicest human beings you'll ever work with in this business. When I was a cub reporter in Tampa, I would go into the Tampa Bay Lightning locker room and work with these guys and they couldn't

have been nicer. And you're right, these dudes grind. I mean, it's, they're not walking, right? There's no, you know, breaks in action. It is full on. There's no flopping, Rob. There's no flopping. No, they're, they're taking pucks to the face. They're like, oh, how many teeth did I lose? You know, whatever, stitch it up, put some, put some gauze in there. Let's go. The one thing you have to be aware of, you have a cocktail with a couple of them and they go for a while. They will put you down. Yeah. You will not win that one. If that's, yeah, yeah. They're going to win a lot of mats. Those mat contests go to the hockey guys. All right. So kudos to NHL. Kudos to hockey overall for making the sport, I think, come into a lot of living rooms that frankly it probably wasn't in as of late. This four nations face off,

it is an all-star game, right? They have national teams of US, Canada, Finland, and Sweden replacing the NHL all-star game. Coach, remember an all-star game where there were fights ever? Right? Like no defense. The last one flag football. The last one was 1970 when Pete Rose hit Ray Fossey. It took him out of the home plate. Yes! That's the last time you saw that kind of action in an all-star game. God bless them, man. It's awesome. So here we go, coach. We're gonna actually pick the final of the Four Nations Championship. The United States versus

Canada. The U.S. is favored by one and a half goals the game in Boston. Who do you like coach? Oh, what are you talking about? I know. I know. I know who you like. Yeah, I know. I'm pro American and I'm pro hockey and I'm pro what those guys did. So I hope someone boot it's not in Canada. They're not going to probably not going to boot the national anthem.

But I hope someone does, it's not in Canada. They're not gonna boot the anthem in Boston. Probably not gonna boot the national anthem, but I hope someone does something that gets their hair up a little bit. But I'm going to the USA all the way. What are we talking about? Yeah, US is injured. A lot of their stars were banged up and had to sit out their last game.

But again, this goes back to that hockey mentality, right? If it's not broken, they're gonna be out there on the ice. They're gonna figure it out representing their country. That crowd in Boston is just like, the dream is going to be coming off. It's going to be amazing. So I'm with you. I like the US by two in that one. All right. So right now you can bet on future Stanley Cup champions, coach. And here we are.

The rooting interest is it starts to build to the final stretch of the season. And we're going to talk about who you think is going to win the Stanley Cup. But number one, I'm sorry, coach. I'm doing this. I'm doing this. I got a prop for you here because there is only one team in hockey that matters. Right? Wow.

Only one coach. You see this logo, don't you? Can you see it? I do. I'm putting on my sweater of my beloved Hartford Whalers that were taken from us far, far too soon. And, and if you're, yeah, here we go. If you're talking the Hartford Whalers coach, there's only one song, only one song. Brass Bonanza baby. Have you ever heard this song

before? Greatest song ever. Hold on. Here comes the kick. All right. That's it. Legally, that might be all I'm allowed to play. Brass Bonanza, the greatest sporting song in the history of the world. Love you, Hartford Whalers. All right. So unfortunately, my whalers will never win a Stanley Cup because they no longer exist. Who is your favorite right now, coach, to win the Stanley Cup? I'll give you a couple of favorites. Here's some of the best odds per bet, MGM. The Oilers at plus 575. The team formerly known as the Hartford Whalers, the Carolina Hurricanes at plus 650. You can't say them, coach. Sorry. Florida Panthers, boy, Florida, the state of Florida has been so good at hockey lately. The Panthers at plus 850 and the Dallas Stars at plus 900. Who you like, coach?

Well, I'm a big Wayne Gretzky fan. And ever since then, I've been following the Whalers. I just, you know, if I don't get to watch them, I check their scores and I want to see. And it's been a while, man. It's been a drought. Last one is 1990 with the great one. And by the way, the great one and his wife, Janet Jones are great golfers. Name dropper. And they're good people.

Absolutely. She's more competitive than he is on the golf course, by the way. But I'm going to go with the Edmonton. They're their favorite. They're their favorite. They're led by Dreisetal. He's the leading scorer in the league. And I'm going to Edmonton Oilers just because I just have visions of Wayne Gretzky. I know he wasn't with it, with the team in 1990, but ever since Wayne Gretzky played, I've been following the Oilers. Sponsor 5-time champs. And as you you mentioned their last title came in 90 that was without Wayne Gretzky he was in LA. The

Oilers this is fascinating to me coach because hockey is let's be honest it's a Canadian sport right without Canada there there really isn't isn't hockey. The Oilers trying to become the first Canadian team to win Lord Stanley's Cup since 1993. When I read that, that was shocking. Amazing. No idea. No idea. So yeah, we love our friends to the North Canada.

We'd love to see them get a title. And you're right, those iconic colors, the blue and the orange are the Oilers. I mean, not as great as the blue and green of the Hartford Whalers. Coach, do you know what's beautiful about this logo? What do you see in this logo? What do you see in the logo? Is that a whale? Yes. So there you go. You got the A for the Hartford. You got the whale tail and then the W for the whales. They're gone, man. They're the hurricanes. No, man. They live forever, baby. They live forever right here, right here to me and my Connecticut residents, the Hartford Whalers, brass bonanza, baby. All right. Tune in for our episode next week. What a guest we got coach, Nebraska head coach,

Matt Rule joins us. It's going to be a great conversation with him. Make sure to follow, subscribe, rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, as well as across social media. You can find us at 3X Option Show. As always, thanks to our sponsors Wendy's and Bet MGM and let's go big whale! All right!