The Triple Option - Ohio State Claims 9th National Title, AFC and NFC Championship Preview, & Joshua Perry Joins

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

Introducing your first 12-team College Football Playoff National Champions: THE Ohio State University Buckeyes. Coach Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone look back at the Buckeyes season, the highs and lows, and how Ryan Day became the fifth head coach in Columbus to be named National Champion after their win over Notre Dame. Coach and Mark then share some of the behind the scenes backlash that can come from being in the spotlight. (1:41) The first time a new playoff format debuted, Joshua Perry led the Buckeyes in tackles and on their way to the Championship. He joined his former head coach to talk about Ohio State's turnaround, the future of the playoff, and if the Big Ten has surpassed the SEC in football supremacy. (29:10) The man who led the Buckeyes to the title in 2014 will be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. Urban Meyer discusses what the honor means to him and we hear from some of the guests on the show from the season about the honor. The guys then turned their focus from college to the NFL and previewed the AFC Championship between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills and the NFC Championship between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders. (53:23) New episodes of The Triple Option drop every Wednesday throughout the season. 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. Pick between a Classic or Spicy Chicken Sandwich, Hot and Juicy Dave’s Single, or 10 pc Nuggs as part of Wendy’s 2 for $7 deal - https://m-wendys.app.link/247  A big thank you to the rest of our sponsors: BetMGM Use bonus code OPTION or go to https://betmgm.com/OPTION and get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! 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

It ain't no hall of fame if Coach Meyer ain't in that thing. You know what I mean? How does Saban Amir make it without Deuce Deuce? How does that happen? Hey, you know, man, it's haters everywhere, man, but it's appreciators everywhere too. So, you know, we going to stay loving with the appreciators. Cause I don't see no national champion Heisman winning, running

back, going into the college football hall of fame this year. That's all I'm gonna say. Like it. I got a feeling we're gonna be hearing a lot from Coach Meyer this week. I don't know, Mark. He feeling good by the cell. He's got a feeling. OH. I just got a feeling.

He's got a little extra scarlet in those cheeks today, man. Oh, Irvin, get ready to talk to talk baby as we welcome you to the triple option presented by Wendy's two faves for just seven bucks gotta be Wendy's terms apply. Thanks for joining us on the triple option. Remember to rate subscribe at Apple podcast Spotify wherever you get your podcasts as well as across social media at three x option show new episodes every Wednesday on YouTube. And wherever you get your podcast,

Mark Ingham, Rob Stone and the beaming Urban Meyer with you this week 2014 Buckeye national champion Joshua Perry will join us. We're going to talk the NFL playoffs but we begin where else with the Ohio State completing a historic four game run through the college football playoffs. As they held off Notre Dame to claim their seventh national title Monday night in Atlanta. Coach, I know you were there. What was it like to see your Buckeyes and the man who followed your big

footsteps Ryan Day lift that national title, their first in Columbus since 2014. Well, all of us have devoted a good portion of our life to college football and is on full display in Atlanta. What a stadium. The crowd, the fan base was incredibly, two blue bloods. You, there couldn't have been a stronger, you know, the, you put the Wolverines, you put the roll tide up there, maybe USC, but those are blue bloods playing in that game. And the great pride, first of all, it's great to see Notre Dame

back being important in the game. They get a great young coach. They're going to be back being important in the game. They get a great young coach. They're going to be back. They played their heart. They were under man, Mark. Ohio State, it's part, when you really watch the tape, they're superior talent. But I'll tell you the grit that we've seen from Notre Dame all year, but to see

a coach day, his coaching staff, the infrastructure he has there and the Buckeye Nation, I'm from the great state of Ohio. And I made this comment, I think the last time on, on the podcast, but football is a way of life. That's not a pastime in the state of Ohio. I mean, high school football, football is football. It, you know, that's why the NFL hall of fame is in Canton. That's why, uh, the game of football is so important.

And I, I promise you, I landed in Sarasota. I see Ohio state flags everywhere. So it's so cool. The fan base is arguably the largest fan base. And as we'll discuss in a minute, a very critical fan base, but to see the boys let their trophy and, uh, they get to enjoy that for 365. They really do. And as, as we're going to talk to my former captain leader and leading tackler in the 14

national championship game, your brothers rest your life, Mark, you know that they'll never ever take that away from you, your national championship. That's what's so cool about it. When you win, you walk together forever. When you win championships, you walk together forever for show. Ohio State merchandise guys spiked 550% ahead of this national championship game. Okay. And it's hard to even put that in perspective because it is the brand of college

football. Dallas Cowboys are America's team. They are the brand of NFL. Ohio State is the equivalent on the college football landscape. To bump it up 550% is unfathomable. My dear friend, Chris Spielman, former just absolutely legendary linebacker at Ohio State, we used to work together doing college broadcasts and he would travel in from Ohio, I would be traveling in from Florida or Connecticut, wherever the hell I was living at that time. And he would play this game and he taught it to me. As soon as you

land, you know, wherever wherever you are in that, you know, the busy airport and just kind of go outside your gate and stop and hit hit a stopwatch and count how long it takes to see somebody wearing Ohio State gear. And I'm telling you, whether you're in Atlanta, Hartsfield or you're in Minneapolis or Dallas, Fort Worth, wherever it is, it's seconds. It's like, you whether you're in Atlanta, Hartsfield, or you're in Minneapolis or Dallas, Fort Worth, wherever it is, it's seconds. It's like, and that could be a Monday, that could be a Friday, that could be a

Saturday or Sunday. So Ohio State is just such a mammoth brand, and they get just an incredible win. There's a couple things I want to hit. Let's talk about this run real fast through the college football playoffs. Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petiti said that is the greatest run in college football history. Mark, you agree with this? Going through two SEC programs, Tennessee, and Texas and in between the victory over the number one seed, Oregon

Ducks and then having to finish it off against Notre Dame. Are we talking about the greatest run in college football history? I mean, you talk about the path that they had and how they made those teams look pedestrian. It definitely is. We knew that this team was probably one of the most talented was the most talented roster in all of college football. Yes, they had their adversity that they had to overcome. But what a great teams do, Coach? They learn from mistakes. They learn from losses. And what this team did, they got better every single time

where they had a setback. Every single time they had a loss, every single time they had a tough point in the season, they got better from it. The best thing that could have happened to this Ohio State team was that loss to Michigan. Because they came out with a vengeance and they went on, probably the most legendary college football national championship run in history of the game because of how many

games they had to win, who they had to beat, and how they beat those teams. So I agree, man, that it was a very impressive run for them to win this national championship and I'm interested in by dominating everyone. I'm interested, Mark, and I think we'll hit Josh with this too, but this this pad is blueprint that the Wolverines put together a year ago, you have grown ass men in these locker room. Could you imagine what you would have been like your senior year, Mark, if you came back at 20, how weathered experienced and you know what you know now. I never coached a senior.

Everybody, if you had a senior, he's probably, you know, you're probably trying to replace him. Yeah. Certainly not a fifth year guy. Everybody, if you had a senior, he's probably, you know, you're probably trying to replace him. Yeah. Certainly not a 50 year guy. But these guys, they got hit square in the jaw against Wolverines, picked himself off the map. And I can't wait.

There's going to be a book. There might be a few books on this thing. I want to know how that happened because I don't, unprecedented. Coach, you talk about it. It's through the type of players you have in your locker room. It's through the leadership you have leading those players in the locker room. And it's not only the coaches leading the players, it's players leading players. So for them to be able to bounce back continuously off of tough losses

throughout the season, it shows you about the character of the players into that locker room, be able to lead each other, be able to grow with each other, the coaching staff, I commend Ohio State, man. Kudos to them. Obviously, we know they had the best, most talented roster in college football, the best $20 million you could buy, but what they were able to do by bringing each other together through tough points in the season and being able to overcome that and put their best foot forward when it mattered the most, that's what champions are made of. And that's why essentially they are the champs, the Buckeyes.

Coach, there was one image I was so happy that the ESPN cameras were able to catch after the game concluded. And it was Ryan Day finding his wife, finding his kids and the days having that family embrace, that family hug. And as soon as I saw it, I was like, coach can a hundred percent relate to what's going on there right now. Yeah, I do. Uh, you know, I think this is what makes our podcast so compelling is you have

Mark Anger, one of the greatest players to play Heisman winner, national champion, leading rusher ever. And then obviously I coached a long time and, and a lot of them made of it. And it, you know, about a coach day and the pressures of coaching at a place like Ohio state, and I made the comment that that's, that, that's not going to change. The thing that has got to change and has changed is the idiots on social media that don't sign their name to stuff.

And when you start involving families, you're pushing it too far. Buying because you don't get first downs and, and you lose to the rival. That that's part of the game. That that's, that's all fair, but you got to stay to keep the families out of it. I'm going to give you a couple of quick stories and a Mark, I can't wait to ask you this, but when I first go to Florida, you know, they wanted Spurrier. I'd want Spurrier too. I mean, he's a Heisman trophy winner there and won a national championship. But it was coach Spurrier went I'd want Spurrier too. I mean, there's a Heisman Trophy winner there and won a national championship.

But it was coach Spurrier went, I think to the Redskins, he, he got fired or left. He was available. The contingency wanted him back and they hired me from Utah. I really don't understand the dynamics until I got there and I get there and, and I'll never forget, we lost, he goes to South Carolina. We lose to South Carolina, which you don't do that at Florida. And I walk in, it was Bephal Brady's or something like that to do my radio show on a Thursday and I am the most miserable human being I'm in.

I'm a stranger in a strange land down South there. And I come walking in and they boo me. They boo their head, I'm seven and two, I think at the in and they boo me. They boo their head coach. I'm seven and two, I think, at the time. Yeah. I get booed. Uh, and I walk up to the, uh, dais up there. I'm sitting with the McHuber, our, our voice of the Gators.

And we start, you know, talking about, I, I mean, of the misery. I can't be more miserable. And he looks at me and says, Hey coach, you ready to take some calls? And I look at him like, what the? yeah, I'm looking, I'm really looking forward to taking a call right now. And this guy calls hardcore Southern accent and he says, Mick, how you doing? And a coach, you Yankee MFR starts going snapping on me about you need to go back where you came from.

We want spurrier, we want this. And I'm looking at these, this crowd and now your mind starts playing games. I got young kids at home. I was never physically threatened. I want to make sure, but did I feel threatened in my own? Cause I was out of my element and we were struggling. And I remember I had two police officers follow you around during games and all that, I was very close with one of them and I would call them and I would say, were struggling. And I remember I had two police officers follow you around during games and all that.

I was very close with one of them and I would call them and I would say, I might need you. You know, I don't want anyone messing with this. That, and then other times Shelly would go to my daughter's volleyball games and tear down these nasty signs. She would go, she's tough as, you know, Shelly's tough and tough, tough. And she would go to the games. Queen Shelly.

And rip down this, you know, they'd say a lot of bad stuff about me. And she'd go in the arena where my daughters are playing volleyball and tear down these signs that were bad. And then I remember I went to, Nikki played at Georgia Tech and I'd go to games. And obviously, you know, some of the teams, she'd play some of the teams I coached against. And some of the stuff that I'd hear them calling her and that, you know, so your, your, your family gets very scarred. And I want to say in a negative way, but also I know this is hard to imagine

in some way or the positive way. There's not a closer family than our three children in, in Shelly. And I there's not why, because what does that do? It brings that mentality to you. I mean, if you don't have each other, and we felt like that at times, like, I mean, you are up against it. Ohio state, Ohio state one situation, we never got the issues with the losing part, but we got issues with just nut job fans that would say things about my girls or something, and we would have police come 24 seven around the house a few times. Just because you're in the public eye and what you're doing is you're not that would say things about my girls or something. And we would have police come 24 seven around the house

a few times just because you're in the public eye. And Mark, I want to ask you this, that JT Barrett one time had a bad game. And I love JT's as tough as nutter is. One day I was talking to him. He said, these fans are nuts here. And I said, no. And he said, look, and he showed me some of the things

that were hitting his, I don't know. I'm not in social media much, so Instagram or whatever. Oh, and he said look and he showed me some of the things that were hitting his I don't know I'm not in social media much so instagram or whatever Mark, did you ever get just smoked by fans? Oh, yeah got killed plenty of times, especially on social media. The thing is like They talk whatever they want to talk behind the keyboard Whenever i've been out in public I could count on one hand where somebody really had some sideways to say to me. You know what I mean? Like, they say whatever they want to on social media, but I could, there's been a couple of brave people who

have probably, you know, talked out the side of their neck in public. You know what I mean? I just gave them the look. Like, do you really like, I will hurt you in real life. You know what I mean? Like, you know what I mean? And like, it just died, but yeah, you have moments, especially over social media, where people are talking crazy, just say whatever they want, but you just, at this day and age, you just can't let it bother you.

You kind of gotta let it just roll off your back like water, man, and just focus on the people who care about you, focus on the people that matter. Because if you get caught up and consumed with the opinions of people who do not matter, then it will make you go crazy. But definitely got killed on social media plenty of times. I got booed in my own stadium before, dropped a pass, but I probably could have caught it, ran for a first down, whole stadium booed me. I'm like, oh, they booing me? Then I had my best

game, went for like a buck 30 and a touchdown. They was all cheering. I'm like, oh, they booing me? And then I had my best game. Went for like a buck 30 and a touchdown. They was all cheering. I'm like, no, don't cheer for me no more. Don't cheer for me no more. No, but you talk about family members too. Like, I don't care. Come at me, do whatever you want, but leave my family out of it.

So like, you know, my family, they go to the games. They gotta sit in the games. They gotta sit in the stands. And so I must've had fumbled or maybe I fumbled a game before or something, and somebody's popping off at the mouth and my sister hears it. Yeah, it's different when, when, when, when your father and you have the kids and that, that changes the whole world.

And I remember calling up police officers down in St. Gainesville. And once again, I want to make sure there is nothing, someone said, we're not going to kill you or something like that, but I felt it. And my allegiance is to the Meyer family. And I said, stick around. I don't feel good about this situation. And it actually happened in Columbus a couple of times.

Not the rabbit fan about losing a game or something, but it was something about your family. And I was like, this is not right. And so we had 24 seven surveillance a few times around our house in Columbus, because everybody kind of knows, you know, that's the other thing. They all know where you live.

And that's, so I- Family is off limits, dog. Family is off limits. And people that be doing that, that's crazy. Like they deserve the bad things that's going on. I made a comment last week or a couple weeks ago about I was protecting, you know, I was fighting for the fan

base because a passionate fan base, there's nothing like it. Because I've been an unpassionate fan base. That's not fair to your players. But you got to stay within the guardrails. And the guardrails is you start mentioning the families, you got to go away. You got to go away fast. I'm thankful because I've never had a point or situation where my family was brought into it. Like my wife or my children or my mother or my sisters, you

know, it was always kind of just directed towards me. But my family don't play about me. So when you talk about me, you best to be aware of who is around you. Because I'll tell you the story because my sister, they were sitting at the game, they're sitting in the stance and somebody's popping off about Mark Ingram this Mark Ingram that, and my sister like, Hey, like calm down. Like that's my, my, my mom's like, that's my son. And you're not going to be talking about my son when I'm sitting right here. And they like, you, you not his mother.

They start looking it up and they start popping off again. My sister like, I told you, was like, you ain't going to be talking about my brother like this for one. I don't care how many times he fumbles. He got more money than you, you, you, and you. And he's living a better life than all y'all anyway. So you don't talk about my brother. She said this at the stadium, bro.

Mark, it probably sounds a lot like what Rob went through a pole gate when he was playing soccer. Yeah. But, but they were always on my side coach. That's what happens. I'm a winner, man. I'm a winner. We we we take down those Lehigh's and fucking hell. This is in New Orleans, because it's in the Superdome coach. When my sister did this, she said the whole row got up and

left. And they didn't come back the rest of the game. She put them in a I've never met your sister. But I think I knew in advance. I wasn't gonna mess with your sister, right? Hey, my sister is a kind hearthearted... Yeah my sister, I have three sisters but my sister the oldest one the closest to me well I'm close to all of them but closest in age to me she don't play when it comes about her brother Mark Ingram the second. So if you gonna say something you gonna have to get ready to fight a woman. Because she got hands too. She ain't playing for you.

Maya Ingram. You don't talk about Martin Luther second with Maya around. She going to get to you. What's up Spotify? This is Javi. I remember this one time we were on tour. We didn't have any guitar picks and we didn't have time to go to the store. So we placed an order on prime and it got there the next day. Ready for the show. Whatever you're into.

It's on prime. So Ryan day, the last 10 weeks of the season, I remember every big 10 network, every, every big noon, every BTN that I did. The first question is, is coach day under a lot of pressure? And my answer is like, yeah, he will be the next year. This, I think alleviates a lot of it. Will he been a pressure? Hell yeah.

It's Ohio state. It's Alabama. Was it, is Kailin DeBourne a pressure? Of course. It's, that's what it is. But the, when you start talking about jobs and all, no, I mean, it's, it's, it's done. It's that, if that conversation comes up on big noon next year, I said, what?

Stop, stop. Let's talk about something else. Yeah. Remember, we had that every day. Ryan Day is certified. He just won the national championship. But he wasn't certified after that home loss as a three touchdown favorite to Michigan.

He wasn't. No, you're right. The cat calls and the boo birds. Hey, all you can worry about is the next game. And that's what he did. That's what he did. They lost that game. And then it's it's, it's a new era, right? Because the fan base is

so used to saying, you lose to Michigan, it's over to right. And there's a transition out like, okay, wait a second, we so we're not going to the Big Ten Championship game, and we lost to Michigan, but we still have this, we still have the ultimate goal in front of us. And I think that's, that's what the Ohio State Athletic Director Coach was trying to get at when he made those comments after the loss to Michigan at the end of November. But I get it. But I guess there's that part of me that hopes that never goes away that game. But, you know, I don't know. I mean, there's so much stuff happening in college sports right now. You scratch your insides. Is that really,

you know, is that, is that really taking place right now? So we had, we had this conversation over and over. Was it Michigan or bust championship or bust and coach, you said it was the game or bust and I was like, that's not necessarily the case because like they could lose to Michigan and still win the national championship. And to me the entire year, it was national championship or bust for Ohio State. Although that importance that significance of that rivalry, that matchup, it can never die down. And obviously, there's a

group of guys who are leaving Columbus without a pair of gold pants. Right? So that is substantial. But they do have that beautiful gold. you feel me? You know, that trophy. And when you win a championship, you walk together forever. So they are intertwined forever. I want to move in a little direction, Rob, where, when I knew that I was 55 years old is when I wanted to end it and I wanted to have a successor in place, you know, and Bob Stoops is a dear friend.

We got to get them on the podcast. 100% Trip Boxing. But I called coach and our AD called their AD and I said, I found the guy. His name's Ryan Day. I hired him. He was with Chip Kelly at the Niners. They all got let go there and I hired him as our quarterback coach.

And he was my GA at Florida and I think, oh five. We stayed in touch and the minute he steps on campus, I'm like, uh, we got something here. He's young. He'll learn how, you know, Ohio State's a monster, but he's a brilliant coach, X and O wise. He's a leader. And I went to the president, I went to Gene. I said, we, we got the next head coach and they're great. So they met with him that June.

And we got the next head coach and they're great. So they met with them that June. And, um, and, and so I wanted to make sure that first was my home state. I wanted to make sure, and I made a mistake at Florida. When I left Florida, it was just sudden. So I didn't have the chance to make sure everything was in place. And the infrastructure, the strength coach is still there. They were the best general manager in college sports. Mark Pantoni is still there.

You got the academics were that actually they've been there. They have the best trainer, the best equipment people. We have the best. And you start talking about this just monster infrastructure that is really. Most people don't understand behind the scenes, especially now because of the investment these schools have. And Bob Stoops is incredible. He really helped us to set the table for how do you make this transition from one

coach, especially a coach that's never been a head coach. Marcus Freeman is a little different scenario with Brian Kelly, but Marcus Freeman didn't get hired in order to name have to change the whole training staff, change the whole academic program, change the whole weight staff, change the whole. Do you realize if you do that, you're probably a year behind because it's a mess. And if what happens if you make a mistake when you hire the strength coach, right? They hadn't had to do any of that.

Marcus friends, not any do that. Uh, Lincoln Riley hadn't had to do that. You know what they were able to do? Go recruit and go coach. And I'm wondering if that's going to be a little bit more of the model as you go forward, you get these young monster coaches like a Lincoln rally like a Marcus Freeman, like a Ryan Day, you know what the pattern used to be go to

Bowling Green and go figure it out for a while. Yeah, as opposed to and Ryan did it. You know, he won the Lanny coach day did it. Dan Lanny. Yeah. Sorry, let's talk about this team real quick. How good was this season? Let's put it in perspective. Ohio State, they had five wins over AP top five opponents. That is the most in AP poll history. They're the second team in FBS history with two000 yard rushers, two 1,000 yard receivers, and a 4,000 yard passer. And those made us do a double take, try Wendy's two for seven deal today. Coach, I want to go back to, and I believe this is what you say, the three most important

things every season for Ohio State football. All right. Beat the team up north, correct? Correct. Win the Big Ten, win the national title. That's it. Okay. This team only achieved one of those three. So will there be an asterisk next to this Ohio State program for winning the national title but not getting those two other wins? No, it'll be discussed with some of the diehards but

no it'll go down and I would always tell our staff how do you evaluate recruiting? Number one is wins, number two is NFL draft picks. I mean that's the business we're in. You want to evaluate your players, they do it for you every May or whenever the draft is, April, May. The NFL evaluates your players for you. So this will go down. Cause I think they're offensive skill, the guys you mentioned, the two tailbacks. I'm telling you, there's a couple of backup receivers. They're going to be first round draft picks that car. Nail Tate.

I stood next to that cat. Holy he'd be anywhere right now. It was an all American, maybe not all American, but an all conference starter. And then the same thing on defense at Caleb downs and the corners and the, and I mean, there's going to be impact players all over. So this will go down in my mind as one of the great teams in, in the last. 20 years of college football. It'll go down as one of the great teams. But when you talk about those Ohio state teams who have won national championships,

cause that's what it comes down to a prideful thing amongst the Buckeye faithful, amongst the Chris and Ty faithful,, amongst the Krypton Tide faithful. Who is the best national champion, who is the best team, who is the best national championship team in the program's history? And they won't be able to be up for debate because they didn't win Michigan. They didn't win the Big Ten title because what you do, you beat Michigan, you won the Big Ten title, you won a national championship. So when you have that kind of like pettiness amongst the competitive nature of the faithful, you know, of the championship teams,

that's what's gonna hold them back in those conversations with a fellow Buckeye alumni. You know? Maurice Claret was on the sideline, you have Michael Doss, a good friend of mine, they won the 02. And then I saw Raekwon McMillan and all the boys from the 14 national championship. And then you saw that team and I was kind of talking about their personnel and Raekwon

McMillan looks at me and he said, coach, you talking about, we had as good a player. You know, he started, I can feel it already, Mark, coming. I'm sure you do that with a tie. Who's better? Who's better? Who's better? My team would have beat your team. Who's team would have did this?

Your team wouldn't have beat my team because y'all ain't even beat Michigan. We did. You feel me? So it's all fun and games, though. But congrats to the Buckeyes for sure. So congratulations to Ohio State for sure. Right. But it's time to pivot to next season already. How about the betting favorites to win the national title next season?

The top two teams. Ohio State and Texas. Wow. Guess who opens the season against each other August 30 in Columbus. And you well know it's going to be on Fox, Texas, Ohio State, August 30. Enjoy the break. Enjoy the national title Ohio State. Guess what? It's a semi final rematch to start your defense of your national crown. Former Buckeye national champion Joshua Perry joins us next on the Triple Option presented by Wendy's.

We welcome you back to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's. Yeah, let's keep talking about the Buckeyes and why not. We're joined now by the leading tackler of the 2014 National Championship side from the Ohio State, the Joshua Perry joins us. Good to have you here, Josh. I know you're still kind of a buzz over that title win, but but you weren't too down to like kind of hit the old the old keyboard over there. And you sent out a tweet the other night saying that you lost belief in the Buckeyes. You thought the wheels fell off after that Michigan game. I don't think you were alone, by the way. So what happened from that Michigan defeat in Columbus to the point where the Buckeyes are

celebrating in Atlanta? I appreciate you guys having me on. It's an interesting thing with teams and you all know about it, but I think there are moments in a season that happen that force you to tell the truth. And the great teams get really good at being honest with one another. And people have talked about the meeting that Ohio State had. I had been a part of those.

And I think there were a couple of points throughout the season where they had them. After Oregon, defense probably got together and said, this is not our standard, we need to get better. And they played phenomenal defense from that point on. After Michigan, of course, they had to come together as a group and really figure out who they wanted to be and how they would approach the postseason. But I think it's that honesty and that leadership, both from Ryan Day,

who really created buy-in with those guys. I didn't know he would be able to create after they lost to Michigan, but did a phenomenal job with that. But also those veteran guys, the four and five year guys that came back because they wanted some hardware, they had to be able to drive that thing too. So I really think it's about getting vulnerable as a team. And when you're faced with that adversity,

you have to be able to respond in a way that you can go out and live up to the program standards. Hi, Joshua. The Wolverines a year ago kind of set the blueprint with there was a day when Mark Ingram, Joshua Perry and urban Meyer coach, you guys played that there was no seniors, they all left. And then also the Wolverines a year ago, come back with a veteran team that had unfinished business.

They lost in the playoffs. They said they got together and they came back. But the reality is they came back because I didn't know this until I was, I was educated on this yesterday. The mid-round picks will make more money in college than they will in the NFL for four years until they get a chance to get a big contract. Do you foresee that becoming the modern, the, the blueprint as you move forward? Do you want to go win a championship? Let's all come back. Let's go fight together and get one more year together. foresee that becoming the modern, the, the blueprint as you move forward.

Do you want to go win a championship? Let's all come back. Let's go fight together and get one more year together. I think so. And, uh, you know, I speak from my experience, I was a fourth round pick. My contract was somewhere in the $3 million range. I didn't even finish it because those are the stats in the NFL. Right?

So somebody said you could come back and play for one year and you could make 800,000 a million bucks. Like, of course you're going to take that. And if you look at the stats from the last few years before NIL, probably a hundred or 120 or so guys would declare early to go to the draft. And that number has been floating in the 70, 80 range over the last couple of years. So I think players are starting to realize that that year of development plus the NIO makes a lot of financial sense is probably better for their career from that point forward. But you said Michigan, they did it. Ohio State did it this year. We're watching Penn State right now where drew Aller said he's coming back and to running back said they're coming back and deny Dennis Sutton said he's coming back. Zane Durant's coming, right? Like I do think that people are starting to look around both coaching staffs and players. And they're saying we can leverage the new age

of college football, get these guys back for one more year, develop them so they're better off for the NFL. But also we have an opportunity to make history as college football champs. I think it's something special. Hey, just look at Indiana, you know, and what they did this season as well. You know, coach went out for maturity and repetitions and game experience rather than

some some young talent and building building up from the freshman or sophomore class in Indiana. What do they do, Mark? Right. They make the college football playoffs in their first season under their new head coach. And they did it the kind of the same method that coach and Josh were talking about. You know, last night, Josh, I got to see a bunch of year old 2014 national champions on the field.

They're celebrating with the 2025 Buckeyes. Um, I used to tell you the great Bill Parcells, I don't know if you remember when he, we held the ring in that video and he said the minute a big ring on his finger and he said, the minute you want a championship, it's like a blood transfer. You become brothers the rest of your life. That's so cool to see that to happen to them. Have you stayed close with your 14 national championship team?

Oh, absolutely. Uh, talk to those guys all the time. I was, uh, talking to Tyvis Powell, who's defensive MVP of the national title game. Uh, saw Evan Spencer on a zoom call this morning, who, uh, through that phenomenal past, uh, Mike Thomas there against Alabama. You know, we just had to bring that up. Well, you know, I just had to had to bring it up real quick. It was a dynasty. We had to go through the dynasty to get it.

But it's it is special. And, you know, we're 10 years removed from that year, which is crazy to think about. But those relationships are as tight as can be. And for these guys, I'm glad that they were able to do it. You know, I talked about the guys who came back, but they had individual careers that were phenomenal. You look at a Mecca, Bucca, who's got, you know, Ohio state records, Trevion Henderson was great for them.

Jack Sawyer built himself into a first round pick, but all of that feels hollow when you don't have the wins versus team up North and you don't have the big 10 championships and ultimately a national title. So now those guys have a legacy, but to your point, they'll go back to Columbus. Some point, maybe they live there. Maybe they don't, maybe they visit. You get to be legends. They get together and it feels different.

Hey, Mark, I don't want to, or Ralph, let me jump in real quick. So this guy comes after me yesterday. Don't come after me. And he's, and, but he, he kind of is aggressive. And he says, what do you think about moving the Wolverine game till middle of the season and quit worrying about that game so much? This is all about the playoffs and, uh, and I'm sitting there and I mean, my skin is starting to curl on me a little bit.

I'm going to wait about what? No, that game is still going to be played at the end of the year. And you know, imagine an AD coming out and saying, well, let's, you know, let's not play it then. So the reality is you have three goals. You have beat the team up North, won the big 10, with a national championship. They are being celebrated as one of the, that is truly one of the great teams I've ever seen play.

Yes. Excellent coaching staff, great support staff with them. I'm my, my gosh, the skill players on the offense defense line. Will they ever deemphasize the rivalry game? They can't. And I was talking to some people about this. It feels strange in this moment. I, I'm not trying to take anything away from what this team just did.

That was the most remarkable post-season run that I've ever seen the teams that they had to beat to get to the title. But it certainly feels now like that game lost a little bit of the consequence. Typically, that would be a loss that's disqualifying to compete in the postseason. And so I hope that for the players in that building, it's still one of the program objectives, right? I hope for fans that they still show up with the same intensity that they have every year before this, regardless of what the outcome of this year was as the most special game in college football, in my opinion. And I don't want it to lose any of that feeling because it's, it's remarkable, especially

when you're on the winning side of it, the way that you can feel. Yeah. Josh, you were part of the first college football playoff champ. You know, all the anticipation this year was the 12 team playoff and how that was going to pan out. What did you think of the format? Do you think it was successful and what would you change about it? I think for for reasons that developed later on, it was successful. I didn't like the, the, the seating and that led to potentially some first round games that weren't necessarily great. I I'm not mad at the committee for who got in.

Right. Like I think you look at resumes and you decide and there's a lot of data points there, but we're arguing about teams that typically wouldn't have been in the first place. I can't shed tears about that. I wish it was more balanced, but the deeper that we got into it, I do think that the drama started to pick up certainly. And, you know, kind of validating for having an expanded playoff. Ohio State in 14 being the four seed, winning it all is validating. And then, you know, a seven and eight seed playing in the national title feels like it was validation for

having this new structure anyway. So I think it needs tweaks. I think it needs changes to be at its best form. But ultimately, I did enjoy watching the postseason and to see the paths that teams had to take. You know, Notre Dame, regardless of Carson Beck playing or not, got to beat Georgia, got to beat Penn State, who was the top five team all year long. That was a hell of a path. Ohio State, you get Tennessee boat racing, you get Oregon jump out 34-0. You get Texas, who was one of the top teams all year long, a little bit of a tight game, but they win it hard to argue that those two teams

weren't the two best teams by the end of the year based off the path that they had to take. Right. So you had you had two Midwestern programs in the national championship game. First time since 1941 42 that the Big Ten has won back to back national champions. There's always this narrative about how strong and how great and how deep the SEC is. Full respect to that conference. I get it. I understand it. But is there an actual shift in the pecking order of college football away from the

SEC and into the Midwest? Or are we just reading too much into what's transpired over the last two years? I think it's funny looking at the way that college football is right now. So the SEC, the way that I always saw it, they got the premier guys and you could stockpile them and coach brought that to Ohio State in 2012 where he came. He's like, we need to reshape the way that the Midwest recruits. And so you got all these top guys and you stockpile them. Well now the portal comes around and you can't build depth throughout your team because guys that are what has stayed around for two years without playing and said third year, fourth year, I might become

a first round pick. Those guys are going somewhere else so they can play. They can get an NIL check. And I totally understand that. So now you lost the depth, but at the top of the programs, you still got your three year guys, your four year guys that are going to be out. And so I do think that's affected it. The big 10 has been a little bit more developmental where you have some schools that have those top tier recruiting classes, but many of them are sitting there kind of the twenties through the thirties and recruiting, and it might take four or five years for a guy to get right.

But if you can keep bringing them around, got the COVID year, it certainly helps some programs. All of a sudden you start to balance things out there. So the SEC, I don't think is going away for all the people that are like, oh, that conference is gone. Think you're crazy. They got great coaches. They have great players.

They got proximity to really good players as well. They're all right there in their backyard. But I do think like the big 10 has created this little thing of, you know, we can get our veterans, we can get them in the program, develop them. Some of these schools have come up with a lot of NIL money to keep some of the debt pieces that they think are going to be necessary into the future. And I think that's been the big change between kind of the big 10 sec

conversation. I want Mark to be just a little background on that. So we go 12 and O our first year. And reality is we were at, we were a good team, not a great team. We, we found ways to win games, two overtime games that year. I went to the Ohio, uh, to the Alabama Notre Dame national championship game. Mark, I saw the roll tide run out of that locker room and I was like, damn, we'd look nothing like that.

Our coaches don't coach like that. And I, I mean, for the next four hours, Joshua got text after text after text. And I made a point to our staff and our, not publicly, but we're not chasing the big 10 anymore. I said that. I said, we can win the big 10. We're not, we're, we're going after them. And it was called the chase.

I put a huge sign in the indoor facility and no one really knew what it was, except for our players and staff. I knew every player Alabama recruited. was called the chase. I put a huge sign in the indoor facility. No one really knew what it was except for our players and staff. I knew every player Alabama recruited. I knew everything that they were doing. And I, if our coaching staff wasn't recruiting that level player, it was a really tough day on that coach. I wanted to make sure that if we get to swing at them in a couple of years. And it was like, uh, prophetic.

Joshua, do you remember signing the chase when it was over? Absolutely. I remember we pulled the banner down. Everybody signed it. It's crazy because I talk about that story all the time where, you know, in, in, in coach came into Ohio state, obviously a place that he loved had history there, but it was like a war path to, to make Ohio state into this, like Death Star program that year after

year was just going to go out and steamroll people, but he knew that the coaches had to be right and the players had to be top tier caliber. And so the first couple of years, it was really getting that thing right. But I remember at the end of that year, he sent us a text. It was like a big group text to the team. And he said, it, this is coach Meyer. He was like the way that their defensive line goes through warmups and the way that they place their hands and they shoot their hands is perfect hand placement.

Their feet work together with their hands. Our guys don't look like that. We don't practice like that. We're not good enough. And it was from that point we were working to get to, to be like Alabama. That was the chase for us. And then ultimately had the chance to beat them. So coach used to be like Alabama. That was the chase for us. And then ultimately had the chance to beat him. So coach used to tell this story.

And then I was there to us in the locker room. And this was funny. He would be like, you guys are going to be the best trained players that walk out on any football field. When you go out to warm ups, I want you to look across at the other sideline and your neck is going to be bigger than their neck. You're going to have big biceps with veins bulging out there. And when you walk out there and see that, you know, you're going to win the football

game and every game we did that. We absolutely felt that way. We'd walk out. We'd be like, we look better than those guys. It's going to be a good day for the Buckeyes in that semi-final. I walked out for warmups. I saw dudes like Ruben Foster on the other side. I saw Derek Henry on the other side

I said coach we're gonna be in for one today because those dudes look exactly like we do and it'll be in a battle But we had that mentality that we knew exactly what we were working for that. What a great story. That's an awesome story That's an awesome story, man. I was there at that game man. I hurt my feelings, too But I think that's what's happened Joshua I think I think that's what, you know, and Shelley was involved in this too. The, and I'd mentioned this on big 10. And I told the commissioners the big 10 environments were average. They weren't very, the Penn state has a great environment. The Wolverines environment wasn't rugged at all.

It's become very rugged. You had these other programs that the Wisconsin, even Purdue, Iowa. I mean, these places have really ended up. They've hired really good coaches. They've put a lot of money into these programs. You can tell. And when you first started playing the big 10, I didn't feel as the, but big 10 was kept playing catch up to us.

You saw these programs getting great players. Look at the Wolverines. Are you kidding me? What they got the last couple of years and the environments talk to us about that. A little help. The big tennis said, you know what? We're not, we're, we're going to step up. I'll give you an example of that.

Uh, Purdue, we went to Purdue in 2013 coach. I don't know if you remembered this, but we came out the locker room for that game. We went through warmups and there were maybe 6,000 people there. You know, my mother, I could hear her shouting my names during warmups. It was that quiet. We went back in the locker room and you made us come back out and warm up again because you're like, we're going to, we're going to lose this game because there's no energy in here. That was Purdue.

I went there last year when they played Syracuse for a night game, they had a light show. People were on their feet. The whole game ended up losing, but that was the difference is even a place like Purdue that maybe doesn't have the history of some of the big programs. They've stepped up the way they want to do game day operations. They've made it a tougher environment to go into, uh, for visiting teams outside of the big 10 and other big 10 teams. And it's great to see that the conference has gotten to a place where it's like,

you know, we're as serious about this sport and what it does for our student athletes in our university as anybody else. But you know, back in 2012 and 2013, you walk into some of those places and coach would make you warm up twice because there was no energy in there. I'm always curious how you guys watch games. Okay, when when you are so heavily invested in the outcome and obviously one of the programs. So last night, or the other night, Joshua, you watched the game by yourself, correct? Yes. In a hotel room.

Yeah, I'm in my apartment here in your apartment. So like a soundproof. What are you take me through Joshua Perry watching his Buckeyes fight for the national title all by yourself in your apartment. It's it's it's absolutely wild. So during the season, you know, doing my work watching college football, covering college football, we do it in the green room. And there were two games this year where I was particularly emotional. We had Ohio State and Oregon on our network and that had me feeling away. And then of course, the team up North game at the end of the year.

So I have been emotional at work watching these games when I am home. It's it is every swing in the game I am tied to. And particularly this year, I felt a way leading up to the game because I wanted the Mecca Buka Jack wanted the, you know, Mecca, Buka, Jack Sawyer, you know, Cody Simon, Lathan Ransom, some of the guys that came back, I really wanted this for them so they could have hardware to hang their legacy on. And so as I'm watching it, Notre Dame, and I'm coming from work yesterday, while this game is starting, Notre Dame is on a 10 minute drive, and I'm losing my mind.

I couldn't get back home soon enough. Get on the elevator. I'm hoping it goes as quick as possible. No stops and I sit down and I'm just locked in and everything that you can feel during a game. I'm feeling that's the beauty of this sport, college football in particular. But that's also the beauty of some of the big programs that have history and legacy. I know Notre Dame fans probably felt similar watching the game too. So it makes it one of the greatest sports on our planet. Joshua Perry, national champion with the Ohio State. Thanks for taking the time to join us, man. Enjoy enjoy the offseason.

It's finally here. I appreciate you guys. Thank you. Thanks, brother. Love you, brother. See you, man. We welcome you back to the triple option presented by our great partner Wendy's and the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class was announced a week ago. You know who's in it? You know who's not in it? Okay, sorry, Mark. Sorry, Mark. We're gonna get to that point. Yeah, I don't see. Yeah, I don't see no

uh, Heisman Trophy National Championship running backs in that in that class. That was so who's lost is really so we'll get to that. How about next year? We'll get to that one. But right now, I don't even want it. I don't even want it. Coach Meyer, congratulations. Get yourself into the College Football Hall of Fame class.

How did you find out, by the way? Well, I got asked quite a bit, say, what's the process? I really didn't know. And then I later found out you have to be out a certain amount of time unless you're 70 years old. And I didn't realize coach Saban's over 70 and he's in now immediately. And it's great to coach Saban. I've competed quite often.

We had a good laugh about it the other day at a charity event, but I got the call from the Steve Hatchell from the national football foundation. And I'm a big fan of NFF and did a lot of things for them. And he kind of looked at me and said, I want to make sure I have your number. I'm going to call you Monday. And I turned to him and I thought you ha I think you have my number. And he gave me a big wink and I walked away and I said, Shelley, I think, uh, I think I'm going to Hall of Fame.

She said, why? And I said, I told her, the call came. It was kind of cool called the kiddos and, uh, her, and the call came. It was kind of cool. Called the kiddos and it's rare, error, man. When you start seeing it and then what it does immediately, Mark, you jump in reflection mode. And I think it's Zeke Elliott splitting the safeties against Alabama. I think Nick Bosa, Joe Bosa, I think a Percy

Harvin, Tim Tebow and Carlos Dunlap and all the great players, major right Joe Hayden, Marshawn Latimore. I think you're going on and on and on. And then I also think the Hall of Fame coaches that I had on my staff, you know, they might not make it to Hall of Fame, but they were outstanding. One of them just won a national title.

So you get in reflection mode real quick. It ain't no Hall of Fame if Coach Meier ain't in that thing, you know what I mean? It ain't no Hall of Fame unless- But how does Saban Am. You know what I mean? It ain't no hall of fame unless- How does Saban and Meyer make it without Deuce Deuce? Without Deuce Deuce. Hey, you know, man, it's haters everywhere, man, but it's appreciators everywhere too. So, you know, we going to stay loving with the appreciators.

So there's hate, wait, say that again. Say there's a- There's haters everywhere, but there's appreciators everywhere too. So we going to stay with the appreciators. You know what I mean? We going to let the haters do what they do because I don't see no National champion has been winning running back going into the college football Hall of Fame this year. That's all I'm gonna say That's all right mark because we have a reason to go to Las Vegas in December, right?

All of us to go celebrate coach. My the next year. We'll have another reason to go to the long game. Chess. That's the short game, brother. Yeah. Although I have to admit, Coach Meyer, I'm a little sick that you got a phone call and you didn't get that news from your big noon family because that's what I wanted.

I was asking our Fox family, hey man, coaches going in, like I know you're going in 100%. And I wanted us to unveil it. And and I was hoping out of that Mountain West Championship game and Boise that we would be able to get the kind of the green light to go in the post game to announce it and that never happened. But from all of us from your big new family from your triple option family. Congratulations. And what a cast of characters going

in. You mentioned Coach Saban. Michael Vick, who's left Fox Sports and is now in the coaching business. We'll talk to him in the off season. Our Fox colleague, Michael Strahan, Texas Tech quarterback, Graham Harrell. Others will be inducted in December in Las Vegas. You know we're gonna be there for you, Coach,

but before we get to pick six, a few friends wanted to wish you congratulations on this Hall of Fame induction. Coach, it's your boys at the throwback. It's Maddie Icelander and Jerry Farrar. We just heard the news, man. And we wanted to congratulate you on your induction in the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame. Obviously, no one is more deserving. You had a hell of a career coaching three national

championships, J.R.1 at Ohio State, two at Florida, coaching some of those Gators and then the Ohio State. And now I had the pleasure to be able to work with you every weekend during the fall. It's been an awesome ride. Congrats, and I'm pretty psyched that you're sort of my podcast coach.

Even with podcasts, you made me want to run through a wall. So thank you, coach. Congratulations. Sometimes I forget you're more than just a professional podcaster and TV talker. You're one hell of a coach, man. One hell of an awesome human being too. Congrats on getting into the College Football Hall of Fame.

What took them so long? Congrats on being inducted to the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame. Well deserved and thank you for the impact, not just on me as a player, but as a man. Coach Meyer, just wanted to wish you congratulations on the Hall of Fame. You know, you got your start in the Mac at Bowling Green,

and you couldn't be more proud of me. It's such an exciting honor and so well deserved. I wanna thank you for being such a great mentor to me, and even more importantly, a better friend. Hall of Fame Coach Urban Meyer, a better friend. Hall of Fame coach Urban Meyer my great friend congratulations well deserved what an incredible career all the lives you've influenced all the success you've had the teams you've been a part of and and how you just contributed to the game

over the course of your career congratulations really proud of you be Navy. There ain't no Hall of Fame for Coach Myron in that thing, man. So big herb all day long. Congratulations, my dog. Certified, gold status now. Let's show. I will just say this, and you know this,

we would have kicked your ass in 2004 when you were coaching Utah. And I know you guys think you deserve to be in the BCS National Championship game. We would have absolutely dominated you and Alan Smith. It's okay. You still deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. I love you coach man. Congratulations. That's awful. Nice. Wow. You're talking about reflection, right? You know, sometimes I

think you forget about all the lives that you impact, whether it's directly coach or indirectly with all those fans out there and the fan bases that you have led to national titles. There is a big part of me, I wish Big Noon would have been able to do it. Because I see that, I see like the Jimmy Johnson and some of those guys, even Nick Saban got it with ESPN. That's, I did think about that.

I just got a phone call I'd rather do stews. The green light man. They did it for the other people. They should bless us. They knew you was going in. We are all good. Oh, I'm sorry. I tried. I'm telling you coach. We'll just have to tear up Vegas. And there's appreciators. You know what I mean? We're gonna stay with the appreciators man. You know, we coming. Hey, that table is going to be lit in Vegas. By the way, you're

gonna want to be a table whatever it is that we're sitting at for the College Football Hall of Fame inductions in December in Vegas. Congrats again, coach. All right, time now for pick six brought to you by BetMGM. Place your money line, parlay and same game, parlay bets at BetMGM. Download the app today. Please gamble responsibly. Again, these lines, as always, subject to change.

So we're going to pivot now from this historic college football season to the NFL and the Conference Championship weekend. And let's start guys in the NFC. The Washington Commanders back to back road wins and now they try to make it three in a row on the road. They head to Philly to take on the Eagles. These two teams split the series in the regular season. Of course, though, in that final meeting, Jalen Hurts left with a concussion in the first quarter. Mark, I'm gonna take you back to the year 2017. Your Saints took on the Panthers three separate times.

How do you go about facing, we talked in the past, Mark, right, about how tough it is to beat a team twice in a season. Now we're talking about seeing a team for the third time. What is that like? Oh man, it's tough, man. Especially your division rival, man. Three times division rival.

There's so much familiarity. You guys are so kind of, you know each other. You know Tennessee's, you know the cause. So it comes down to mano y mano. Who is going to hit in the mouth harder and longer and make the least amount of mistakes to win the game? So we have the Eagles. We have the commanders.

And what do the Eagles do really well? They are running Saquon Barkley. Saquon Barkley, you talk about MVPs, this is an MVP candidate right here. Saquon Barkley is single- MVPs. This is an MVP candidate right here. Saquon Barkley is single-handedly carrying these Eagles throughout the playoffs. And what does the commanders have? They have a beast in Jane Daniels. But they also have a really good D-line, studs all on the D-line, and a Hall of Fame middle linebacker in Bobby Wagner. So, I think this is gonna be a bloodbath, man. I think it's gonna be a bloodbath. I think it's gonna be a close game, and I think it's gonna be a close game and I'm gonna take the commanders with the points. Oh, let's go. Eagles favor by six.

I'm taking the commanders with the points man. I like this. I think they gonna cover this spread man and It comes down can can they slow down Saquon because I think if they slow down Saquon They gonna make Jaylen Hirsch kind of rely on his arm, which he can do But you know, we'll see I like Jay and Daniels. I like their defense. I like the run game They got scary Terry one of coaches guys. I Like these commanders man, and I think I'm gonna take them with the points man. I'm taking the commander I'll tell you what when when the Giants got rid of Saquon Barkley, I, I, I was one of those things like, what in the hell are they doing? I coached against that cat.

Stupid. He returned a kickoff a hundred yards against us and he's a great leader. And he, I, I don't know him well, but I, I incredible respect. I'm thinking why in the, and then he goes to a team that's already has a good foundation in the Eagles, which I'm sure Saquon's like happiest can be. But I gots to go with the commanders and I get personal on this one. I got Marshawn Latimer who was having a little bit of a comeback year, uh, for the commanders and Terry McLaurin,

who was arguably one of my favorite guys of all time, a guy that was basically unrecruited. He'll tell you he was recruited. He wasn't. And, uh, he he struggled his first couple years catching the ball, but my man is a beast. He's one of the greatest dudes. He's fast, fast. His leadership, I used to call him the selfless leader. He was my best special teams guy by far.

So, and Coach Quinn, I've always had great respect for him. So I'm gonna go with, I think the commanders might win the game. Man, and they're on this role, right? And they're playing with so much confidence and none of it's confidence just there. I mean, and led by led by a rookie quarterback and what Jaden Daniels has done is remarkable. And he has brought life back to that program that was so proud and so strong, you know, back

when they played in DC, you know, and the Hogs up front, and those great quarterbacks, the Kilmer and the Theismans. I love how he is seemingly single-handedly resurrected that program, but you're going to Philadelphia, man. It's the city of brotherly love, but man, they don't love anybody

that's coming into town to take on their Eagles. Saquon's gonna run all over the commanders. Eagles going to cover. Eagles are going to the Super Bowl. All right, let's pivot over to the AFC. The Bills back to Arrowhead Stadium. Take on your back-to-back defending Super Bowl champs, the Kansas City Chiefs. Mahomes versus Allen, right? Another MVP type debate. This is the ninth meeting. Allen, he's got a 4-1 record versus Mahomes during the regular season. Guess what Mahomes is versus Allen in the postseason? Three and oh, all right. So you're going up against a team coach that you've struggled against when it really, really matters. How do you handle the messaging through the course of the week and leading into game day? matters. How do you handle the messaging through the course of the week and leading into game day? Yeah, it's a little bit like Lou Holtz. Every time I asked him a question, he'd always answer me back. What kind of team you got? You know, it's not every team's different, man. Every team's got a living organism. You know, what do you have in that locker room? And I'll tell you, Josh Allen,

the way he plays the game, I'm I've coached against him once. And I just, I think the guy's an animal. You know, I think that guy, he plays the game with the intensity. I mean, he, I love a quarterback says, you know what? I got to get a first down. I'm going to go get a first down and you can't stop me. That's what I see when I see John and he can throw it obviously, but when his big ass gets those legs running and he says, I'm going to go get, I'm going to get a first down.

He gets a first down. He does. And more. Frickin Kansas city though, Joe Cullen, my old D coordinator is the D line coach there and Andy Reed's a dear friend of Spags. I've known those guys forever and ever. I used to go visit Andy Reed when he was with the Eagles and Spags, an old bowling green guy, a dear friend, the D coordinator, incredible coach.

I think this is, you flip a coin. I really do. I think if Josh Allen is on, this is going to be tough for the Kansas City, but I have Kansas City covering, but I think it's going to be a walk off field goal. Someone's going to win by two or three points. Yeah. Chiefs are favored by one and a half. Mark Ingram, is Patrick Mahomes getting preferential treatment from the officials?

Oh man. I want to hear. Patty Mahomes is Patty Mahomes. He's go status, man. I want to hear. Oh, man. I want to hear. Patty Mahomes is Patty Mahomes. He's goad status, man. He's on his way to being the best player in the NFL, but man, we got to call the game fairly. And when you just touch Patty Mahomes, they throw the flag out. They throw the flag out.

We saw a couple games. The Texans last week, early in the game, Will Anderson goes, kind of hits him, not like egregious, and they throw the flag. It was in the shoulder. It was not a flag. It was not a penalty. They give him the flag. Then he's scrambling, goes down. Both the defenders hit each other. They missed my homes. Throw the flag. Another automatic first down. Then I'm watching, you know, the Ravens play, and Lamar, he scrambles. He's on the sideline. Buddy is pulling him down five yards out of bounds. Hip drop tackles him.

No flag. Into the Gatorade cooler. Nothing goes. I'm like, I guess you do get preference for treatment when you're a GOAT, man. Because they did it for Tom Brady too. Yeah, he is. They show Paddy Mahomes some love, but he deserves it, man. He earned it because he's the best player in football.

And that's why I'm going to have the Chiefs winning this game. That's why I have the Chiefs covering. And it's just because of Patty Mahomes and who he is, what he does. They don't beat themselves. They have two great running backs in Kareem Hunt and Isaiah Pacheco. They got D-Hop. They got Hollywood Brown, Xavier Worthy. They got the man Travis Kelce back in pure form.

Then you go to the defense who has been carrying them all season long led by Stone Cold Jones, Spags, D coordinator. I played with Spags too when I was in New Orleans. I think they're just going to be ready to roll. Obviously the Bills are a really good team. Josh Allen, it all goes through him. Got to slow him down running the ball. Got to slow James Cook down.

He's been really efficient throwing the football Josh Allen has. So I think just things would be a very close game, a tight game. I think this easily could be a Super Bowl matchup if they both are AFC teams. But yeah, I got the Chiefs man just because of Patrick Mahomes, then Andy Reid and just the supporting cast that's surrounding the Chiefs man and they have the pedigree. They've been here, they've done that and it has to go through Kansas City again. So I got Casey winning this game. I got him covering the spread in a close game, a walk off field goal, like Coach said. So you know who's airing the Super Bowl this year, right?

Fox! It's our guys. All right. It's our guys at Fox Sports and I'm a sports TV nerd. So I like I like trickling up to the fifth floor every once in a while and like knocking on the doors of PR and programming and kind of bugging them and getting their vibe. You know who they want in the Super Bowl? They're not going to tell you but you know who they want the Super Bowl Chiefs commanders. They want Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl brother. Of course they want us they want Travis Kelsey's

girlfriend at the Super Bowl man that's just going to help the ratings and help those numbers. And I think in the end, Kansas City with that home field advantage, wins it again, man, it pains me to say it, because the bills are such a great story. And if you're a neutral, you're cheering for the bills, right? You're cheering for the common for the for the commanders you want kind of like this. Speak for yourself Super Bowl. Well, I am speaking for myself

because I'm the one talking right. Alright, so that's a tight line. I was my Ravens last week, I know you I was surprised it took you that long to talk about your I was paying bro. Hang in there. Alright, make sure to follow subscribe rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts as well as across social media

at 3x option show. Listen, just because the college football season is over now, it doesn't mean the good folks at the triple option are taking a break out. Yeah, we're gonna have next week off, but we are going to continue to release episodes weekly, following the latest in everything that relates to college football through the course of the offseason, whether that's the NFL draft. We're also going to interview legends of the game and leaders across the sports and business landscape. So plenty more of the triple option still to come your way through the course of this year as we build into the next college football season.

As always, thanks to our sponsors, Wendy's and Bet MGM. Enjoy the NFL playoffs and college football never takes a break and the triple option will always be there for you. Yes sir.