The Triple Option - Virgina Tech's James Franklin Joins, Brendan Sorsby Saga Ends, and World Cup Vibes Are High

Episode Date: June 25, 2026

Enter (The) Sandman. Coach Urban Meyer and Rob Stone get caught up in the World Cup craze after the fans showed out in Seattle and got the guys thinking which college campus has turned out the best for them. Cougars, and Hoosiers, and Tortillas, oh my! New Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin joins from his office in Blacksburg and discusses the transition from Penn State, his legacy in Happy Valley, what the future holds for the Hokies, and how he is leaning on past icons to bring success back. Brendan Sorsby thought he was going to the NFL and putting the gambling scandal behind him, but the NFL has different ideas. Coach and Rob discuss the NFL not holding the supplemental draft and what Sorsby can do ahead of the 2027 Draft. Chapters 00:00 Show Start 00:55 World Cup and CFB Crowds Collide 08:40 Best Pregame Campuses 12:52 James Franklin, Virginia Tech Head Coach 34:43 Sorsby Saga Comes to an End, Kind Of New episodes of The Triple Option drop every Wednesday. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube and following on all podcast platforms. Also make sure you’re locked in on social @3XOptionShow on all platforms for highlight moments, bonus content, and to engage with the guys and the TO community. (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://tripleoptionshow.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)   The Triple Option is presented by Wendy’s. Try Wendy's® New crispier than ever Spicy Chicken Sandwich. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://m-wendys.app.link/gm-spicy-chicken-26-display-banner ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ #CollegeFootball #CollegeFootballPlayoff #CFP #OhioStateBuckeyes #BigTen #ACC #SEC #Big12 #NCAA #VirginaTech #Hokies #JamesFranklin #BrendanSorsby #NFLDraft #TexasTech #Indiana #WorldCup #DeionSanders #Colorado Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you ready for that first enter Sandman and that first walkout? Not really because when I was at the opening press conference, I said enter the Sandman. I said it wrong. It got destroyed for that. The Triple Option is presented by Wendy's. Wendy's invented the spicy chicken sandwich and now we're reinventing it, making it crisper than ever before. Wendy's spicy chicken, we're so back.

Welcome to another edition of The Triple Option. He's Urban Meyer. I'm Rob Stone. Today, coach, let's go down to Blacksburg. New Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin joins the show. We put an end to the Sorsby saga. Maybe, kind of, we're not really sure. Please rate, subscribe, send us your questions.

You can find us on social media at 3X option show. New episodes drop on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast. Coach, here we are, man. We are 65 days out until we got football. And guess what happens on any given Saturday? Let's talk about what are some of the best things about college football. And I think you and I both agree it's the environments that keep it going, right? And whether it's Big Ten or the SEC or the Mac or the new Pac-12, welcome back.

We always lean into those crowds, particularly at Big Noon kickoff. We had a bit of a big noon kickoff vibe. You certainly did. Yeah, did you listen to that and see it in Seattle the other day? No, I watched the whole thing. and I saw you do your introduction and your whatever you do, the whole thing. And I've watched more freaking soccer in the last couple weeks. And I've watched my life.

And I've loved watching it. And I love watching your show. I know you're my guy, but Carly and Alexi and the crowd was phenomenal. And then obviously USA wins. But you told me the next one might not be as big in L.A. So they play Thursday in L.A. The U.S. has already wrapped up the group, right, with a game to spare. But you still got to come out, right?

they'll still be a... It's fascinating, coach, because I think about this in college football terms, too. Like, how do you manage these moments when you know you've got other fish to fry, right? Like, there's bigger games down the road, but you need to keep that momentum going. So, like, how much do you play these guys? Like, I guess for you, I'm trying to think of what a good comparison would be because, you know, end of the regular season, Michigan, Ohio State is not fair, right? You are going out to win. You have to win that game, even with the Big Ten championship game, you know, on the horizon.

But maybe if you're up big on Michigan back in the day, would you have a tendency to say, all right, we got a week to get ready for Indy and the Big Ten championship game. Well, the SEC, the SEC every year plays a much smaller school near the end of the season. You know, SEC's famous for that. We played Western Carolina. We played Citadel. And those are the questions you have. How do you stay sharp?

How do you number one stay healthy? How do you stay sharp? because when you got momentum, when you have momentum, I would always tell our staff this, there's only one thing that can lose momentum. That's a coach by screwing it up. So you have to somehow let them play. A lot of times I would talk to the leaders

if I had a mature team and say, you tell me what you need. And then I'd get them out because you've got to get ready for the next one. So listen, I know you're not a soccer coach. You are far from a soccer coach, all right? Or a manager, as they like to use. So I'm going to give you this hypothetical.

Right now, you're Mauricio Pochitino, the head coach of the U.S. men's national team. And you know you have a game Thursday that will not impact what your next game is outside of how guys feel. Your next game after that

is five days away, right? So that's a, for soccer, that's a decent recovery time. You got four guys on yellow cards. You don't even play them, right? Because that means if they get the yellow card, that game, they're not available for the next game.

You don't play them. But you got your star, your quarterback, if you will, right? Christian Polisic, who has only played 45 minutes, this tournament, and a lot of the old coaches I spoke to said, man, if he's game ready, get him out there. Let him play for what it matters. How do you manage those superstars that haven't played for a while knowing that they might be ready to go, but you really need them

in five days or a week? Yeah, this is the first time I've followed soccer like this. I've actually been thinking about that. And if you have a mature team, which when you watch the USA play, they look like a mature outfit, I would, this would be a team decision along with the head coach driving it. Not a team decision, a leadership decision. You know, how much do you need? Only the player knows how much you. Now, it's an immature person. You're not part of that conversation. You're going to do what I tell you to do. But if you have a mature group of players, the number one thing is keep your routine and keep your momentum. How do you do that? I don't know enough about soccer. I know enough about football. You practice the same way, even on your off week as you would

a game week. You get them in the same routine because the body and the mind love routine. great athletes need to have a routine and the coach cannot screw that up So we're talking about this atmosphere in Seattle Can we just relive it for a moment? Do you mind? Absolutely. Can you indulge us? All right.

So this was the scene in Seattle, not too far, by the way, from the University of Washington. I'm still smiling. Spectacular. Yeah, I got goosebumps just watching that back and I've seen that a lot of times. And, you know, coach, we get so caught up being professional, right?

Being a head coach or being a broadcast. And I think sometimes we can lose track of some of the elements of what makes athletics and sporting events so beautiful. And to my credit that day, that moment in Seattle, I just, I shredded that up and I spun that chair. And I'm like, I'm taking this in. I'm one of them. I want to hear this. This is why I love when we go on the road with Big Noon and the crowds are going nuts. Now, look, you said maybe the one in L.A., where do they go after that, the five days after that?

They go up to the San Francisco Bay Area, so they're going to play at the home of the 49ers. And that'll be ridiculous big. That should be good. It should be good. That's around a 32 game. So that's a knockout stage game. If they get through that, guess where they go? Where?

Back to Seattle. Oh, goodness. So what you thought was a 10, I think Seattle can. So you did ask me a question if I was a head coach of USA. The first thing I would mandate is if I ever see a player flop around on the ground, you're out. You're out. So that's my only. I was a veterans event.

I had one of the 12 horse soldiers. You know the whiskey horse soldier? The 12 Strong? I don't know if I know that. It sounds like people should know. It's a great movie, 12 Strong. He's a green beret and he sat there with me. And I had some other veterans sitting there, some tough-ass guys,

and we're watching soccer and loving it. And then you see a couple of guys flop around on the ground and then get up and jog out. So somehow, I mean, soccer's on fire. Get rid of that stuff. I will say this. You're not going to see that from the American team. There's other nations where that's more in their DNA. Get them out.

And that's what they do. And to the credit of the governing body of soccer, FIFA and the officiating, they are trying to find ways to sniff that out. So like if a trainer has to come on the field to tend to you, that means you're hurt enough that you have to sit out at least a minute. So like a semi-power play. But they're trying to figure it out. But it's so hard when people are rolling around, like you don't know how hurt somebody is from. 30, 50 yards away, right? More times than not your gut is saying to yourself, like, come on, dude, get up, right?

Like, you're fine. But there is that outlier where you're like, oh, that referee or that goalkeeper is just lying on the ground, rolling around, and then you see him limping out and being subbed out in a minute. You know, like, oh, he tore his hamstring or his Achilles. And it makes it difficult, but it's a challenging aspect. It's something that, yeah, that has played soccer. Let's spin it back to college football coach.

We saw that atmosphere in Seattle. I've seen great atmospheres around the country for this World Cup, whether people are out there cheering on Messi in Argentina or England or Brazil. What is a location that you've been to either, let's just say as a broadcaster with Big Noon, that resonated with you, that still pops with you? I'm going to go back to Dion Sanders when we went back to back out to CU. And we were an hour early, so I want to say we're on stage at 8 a.m. Or, yeah, I think we did a three hour.

And out there, that's 6 a.m. So you're talking about those students were out of their minds at 6 a.m. rushing the stage and all. It was fantastic. So I put Colorado, I even wrote these down, maybe number one, Texas Tech. That was a great one. It's way up there. You know, you're going to always have Ohio State because, you know, they love Big Noon and they love us.

And they were fantastic. But also Iowa. Iowa shows out. And then the Utah, BYU, once at Utah, the other at BYU, those are fantastic. Is there one that we have fantastic? that we haven't been to that you would like to go to? Yeah, the SEC. We have Mark Ingram, and we could, hopefully that's somewhere into works.

But the Big Ten, you know, Wisconsin's got to get back because they got a great, you know, great, that's a great stadium. They just have not been, you know, great team. They've got to come back. You know, the Wolverines can't stand us, so they do like Portnoy. So I don't know. I guess the Wolverines is a big crowd. I'd love to see us, Coach, go to places that are underserved.

Indiana was big for us a couple of times. Yeah, and we'll be there week one. I'd love to get out to like the Montana's, the North Dakota's, the North Dakota states, you know, places that play real football and have had great success and care about it immensely, but are underserved in the national scope of things. I would love to take Big Noon out there in November, December, December. We had a big crowd. Had a blast. A blast at Kansas. Yeah.

So much fun. By the way, this year, we're going to London. week three of big noon kickoff in London for a big 12 game, Kansas versus Arizona State. I've always been saying for years, like the closest comparison to the college football fan base and the energy is soccer. And obviously we're seeing that in the United States right now. Now we get a chance, coach, to bring some of our college football attitude over the pond to London in week three. I can't wait for that. You know, as a coach at Notre Dame as an assistant, we went to play in Ireland against Navy.

and as a player and as a coach, you don't get to experience much of the hoopla because you're just worried about getting on that field. Great crowd, but I'm anxious to see what happens in London as well. Can I get you to come to a game with us? Absolutely, you can. Oh, boy. Oh, boy.

Brady's got like part ownership in a team over there. I forget what it is. And Mark's a big fan. Will it be going on at that time? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we'll go. The show is Saturday. We'll go to a game.

Sunday, then fly home. That sound good? Plan? Perfect. Done. All right. That was never cutting quarters presented by Wendy's. Wendy's new spicy chicken sandwich is crispy or crunchier and more flavor pack than ever. Wendy's. We're so backed. And when we come back on the triple option presented by Wendy's, we're joined by Virginia Tech's new head football coach, James Franklin. Lady. Welcome back to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's. Rob Stone, Urban Meyer. Let's take the conversation to Blacksburg, Virginia. We welcome in first year. head coach of Virginia Tech, James Franklin. Coach, thanks for joining us, man. Great to see you and the new colors look good on you. You as well. Appreciate the opportunity to be with you guys.

Are you getting a little gray? So what's going on? Coach, you're going there already? Come on, man. He's only 54. So I was there when James took over for, that was a strenuous time of Penn State with that Sandusky stuff. And then Bill O'Brien actually stabilized the place a little bit. did a really good job. And then I remember James, I don't know if you remember that, we played them in 12. And Ohio State was going through not the same, but similar stuff.

And both teams couldn't play in bowl games, and it was one of the great games there. And you took Penn State back to where they belong as one of the top, won the Big Ten, and then 16, and did a hell of a job. And then I'm reading it, they sent us some stuff. They said, you've got a chip on your shoulder. You're going to shock the world win now.

This is a young James Franklin coming out of, the statesman, James Franklin. You got a little chip on your shoulder, huh? In Blackstone? Yeah. As you know, Coach, you know, you've kind of been in his profession a long time and went through the Vanderbilt experience and very proud of what we did there. And then Penn State and didn't really think I'd be in this position.

But now here we are. It's been good because I've been able to kind of get the band back together a little bit. You know, Brent Pry is a defensive coordinator, which is unusual. Sean Spencer back as my D-Line coach who was with me for a long time and left for the NFL. So it's been really good. And as you know, coach, you know, you played these Virginia Tech teams when they were rolling. And it hasn't been that way in a long time. So this place is hungry and they're motivated.

You know, I came to a Miami game last year. and they had won three games and the place was sold out and Rockins. So there's a lot of pride here, and they want to get back to that Virginia Tech brand of football. Let's go back to your staff. That was interesting when I saw. I remember Coach Pry at Penn State and then excellent football coach to be able to, I ask these guys to research it. I think that might be the first time in history that a head coach leaves and then comes back as a D-coordinator. you have to have a very special relationship with him,

but then also that fan base has got to be very unique to welcome him back to your staff, because obviously he's a great football coach, and he's got to put his ego, I mean, that's a very unique situation, how that'll work out. Yeah, so I'm like you. I don't ever remember that ever happening before,

and a couple reasons why I think it worked out, coach. First of all, Brent's dad was my offense, coordinator in college. So we go back 30 years. Brent's first year coaching was my senior year in college and then was with me for three years at Vanderbilt. And I think eight years at Penn State and then left to go be the head coach of Virginia Tech. And then as this process was going, you know, we talked to a number of different schools and me and Brent were talking. You know, if I had gotten one of them other jobs or taken one of them other jobs, and Brent was going to come with me most likely as the defensive coordinator.

And then as this Virginia Tech thing, you know, got more serious and got real, you know, I was having a conversation with them and just said, hey, you know, I know the Virginia Tech thing is an option for you. Do you have anybody you would recommend as a defense coordinator? It goes, no, it would be an option, which kind of calls. me off guard. And part of it was, coach, you know, his family was going to stay based on where his girls are in school. They were going to stay for another year. So they would have been separate as a family. So that was part of it. And then the other part of it is, you know, his love for Virginia

Tech, his appreciation for this place. This was kind of always the job that he had eyed. But as you know, coach, the humility that you got to have to stay as the head coach and walk past that office is very unique. And I don't think I could have done it. I don't think many, get many guys could. And when we had that first team meeting and I introduced him and brought him back in and the room gave him a standing ovation, I thought that was, that was really cool. So he's been phenomenal. And I think you guys understand us in today's transfer portal world, how having guys like that on the staff that I could say, okay, who do we need to retain? Who's critical in us retaining on the roster and who are we okay with leaving?

That information is so valuable and helped us kind of hit the ground running. A lot of people forget how good Virginia Tech football was. Obviously, it's easy coach just to go back to the Vic days, whether it was Michael or Marcus. how do you get back to those days in Blacksburg and do it quickly? Well, first of all, coach, you'll like this, both of you will. You know, I had to practice our last week in Spring Ball where I invited Michael Vick and the whole Norfolk State coaching staff and they came and spent two days with us and then Coach Beamer came to practice as well.

So that's the first way you do it. You just invite those guys. and I was trying not to be a fanboy kind of looking over there and seeing Vic and Beamer, which was awesome. But I think that's probably our biggest challenge is the media remembers that Virginia Tech. The fans remember that Virginia Tech, but none of the recruits do. You know, they haven't seen that. So that's a challenge, right, is get them to understand what this place has been all about. And we got some pretty good momentum right now and doing some good things.

but then we're also going to have to put that on the field. You know, we're going to have to show everybody evidence of what this place can be. And we're excited about the opportunity. What was that sales pitch to that first transfer portal class, that first recruiting class? Well, a couple things there. I think, you know, one of the things that we were able to do is recruit guys that we had previous relationships with. I think, you know, when we came here and a number of Penn State. players came with us. I think some people interpreted that as a shot at Penn State. I want to be

very clear about that. That was not. I'm very appreciative of my 12 years, which is unusual in today's college football to stay somewhere 12 years. That really just came down to if you're going to build something, you want to build it with people you know and trust and have a rapport and relationship with. So, you know, for us, I think it was the same thing for them. They wanted to go somewhere. was somebody they trusted that there was a relationship with them and their high school coach and their parents. So we were kind of able to get it rolling. And then I think the pitch also is, you know, we did this in the SEC at Vanderbilt, had a ton of success there. We went to the Big Ten and did something similar. And now we got a chance to do it again. And we're going to need your guys

help to do it. So those stories, I think, resonated with some of the families and kids that we didn't know. And then the ones that we did, you know, they already kind of knew the story and wanted to be a part of it. You know, when I see, when I watched your teams over the years, I mean, really good defense, really good tacklers, violent, really strong defensive line. And then offense, when you guys just took that big step with McSorily and the Saquan Barkley and... Mike Gisicki. Oh, man, he was a pain in the after cover. And then they, and then you had the skill out why, but how far are you away from that kind of? Because that was, I mean, you won it, I think, in 16.

That was a national championship caliber type team. How far are you at Virginia Tech from that? We also had Chris Godwin at wide receiver on that team. Yeah, so we had some guys. And I think, Coach, your point is a good one, right? Like erasers, we had erasers. And I think we're in a position now where our depth, I like our depth. We were able to keep the right players and then we brought in other guys.

So I think we have a chance to have legitimate two and a half to three deep at pretty much every position. What I don't know at this point, coach, is how many true erasers do we have in those big games? You know, that's what I'm still trying to kind of figure out. How are they going to be in the biggest moments? So still needs some time to figure that out in training camp and early in the season. but I do like our depth. One of the challenges that I think we had, coach, when you talk about that year 2016 and really early at Penn State, we still weren't as good up front as we needed to be,

as you know, to make a true run at it. But we did have some special skill players, and we did have some really good players, but we just didn't have the depth on both fronts that we need to have, and that's what we're trying to build here. Three wins last year. What are the realistic expectations for Virginia Tech football this year? Well, I think, again, that's where I lean on the people that I retained from the previous staff. And I think everybody, you know, feels that our depth is in a much different category than it was in the past.

So I think we got a chance to be competitive. Now, what that is, you know, I'll see. I got 15 practices that I've been able to value. these guys. Training camp is going to be really important. But I think we got a chance to be competitive every single week. And I'll have a better idea again once the playmakers really start to separate themselves this summer during summer conditioning as well as training camp. But some of our toughest games are on the road. It's something that we embrace and we're excited about it. We've got a challenging schedule. And you look at the ACC, it's kind of a funny

situation, right? Duke wins the ACC championship with seven wins, you know, seven and five, I think. And then you look at Miami, you know, isn't in the championship game, but then they make a run the national championship. So it's kind of an interesting league right now, and we're excited about the opportunity, but it's going to be very competitive. The home field advantage that you created at Penn State was always great, but I thought in your tenure, I actually moved I said that publicly. That's the hardest place. I moved ahead of LSU at the damn white.

The good thing is, James, I'll never see a whiteout again. The rest of my life is. You hear him coach that damn white out. That's damn white out. I told him that. I'm in the pre-game. I'd walk out and say, this damn place.

But also, Blacksburg, I took the Buckeyes down there one time. My gosh, is that something? I've always heard about it, you know, during the Beamer years. But it was even, it was actually Frank Beamer's last year. We took the team down there. And it was a, I mean, it's hell's fire down there. So can you create that same? The white, you know, I'm sure you would come up with something.

That atmosphere down there is going to be something. Well, they've done some pretty cool things here. They've done a white effect already. They've done an orange effect. They've done a maroon effect. So it's not something that I would have started, obviously, coming here if it wasn't already there, but they're already doing those things. There is a white out down there?

Yeah, well, they call it the white effect. I like it. Here we go. Marketing. orange effect, the maroon effect. So, you know, we need to get this place rocking. As you know, coach, home field advantages are real. And this is a place that's, that's hungry and they're motivated and that enter Sandman, you know, is significant and crazy. And we want to take it to a whole other level. So, you know, we're going to work hard at that. But there's nothing better for

your defense and specifically your D-line, you know, than an unbelievable home field advantage. Are you ready for that first enter Sandman? No. Well, not really because when I was at the opening press conference, I said enter the Sandman. I said it wrong. It got destroyed for that. But we had one for the spring game. It was pretty good.

But as you know, you get these night games here in Lane Stadium. And it has a chance to be special. So, you know, if we take care of our business and do what we're supposed to do, then, you know, we'll start to create some of these environments and make it difficult for people to come and play. You know, there's a great mind there. And have you, Bud Foster and you got a relationship? I thought he's a hell of a football coach, man. Yes.

So Bud is retired. Right. You'll like this, coach. He's at every single practice. I look up in the crow's nest. He's up there like yelling stuff. He was part of the search committee that hired me. Bud and the defensive staff came out and visited us when we were at Vanderbilt.

So I've known Bud for a long time when I was a young, offensive coordinator at the University of Maryland. We came here and played Virginia Tech and Bud, and I got, I got, you know, Bud, Bud took it out on me that night. And the veteran defensive coach got after the young offensive mind. And I got a ton of respect for Bud. He's still heavily involved in the program. He still works for the university as an ambassador and fundraiser.

And like I said, he's supposed to be retired, but he was literally at every single spring practice. Well, Bud Foster had a little special spot on our game plan sheet for the rest of our career at Ohio State after that debacle. You remember what he did? He was a 4-3 guy with a cheat half like he did for years with the defensive ends tilted in. And he came out against us with a young quarterback, JT, and played Bear Zero every snap. And they beat us. Yeah, I didn't know what story you were talking about, but I did know that. But Bud still tells the story. Yeah, Greg, headbutt him for me next time you see him for me. Bud's got a few stories.

I love that guy. Great coach. Yeah, it's cool, coach. You're talking about having conversations with past dignitaries, if you will, at Virginia Tech. And you mentioned you had time with Coach Beamer, who I look at as he is Virginia Tech football. What were some of the snippets that Coach Beamer passed on to you that you've tucked away in your back pocket and said, man, I can really use that this season and going forward? Well, I think the first thing is. I called Coach Beamer and asked his permission to take the job.

I wanted his blessing to take the job. So I called him. He didn't answer. So I called his wife. She answered and then got him on the phone. But I think the biggest thing that you look at at Coach Beamer and, you know, and I think, you know, Urban did this as well. And we were doing this at Penn State is it's got to start at home.

And I thought, you know, when Coach Beamer was here, They own the state of Virginia and they own the 757. It was a ton of really good players coming out of that area. And before you can convince a kid from California or Texas or somewhere else to come, you've got to be able to keep the best players in the state of Virginia home. And we got to show those young men and their families that they can achieve all their dreams here. So it starts with that. And that was a big part of, I think, what Coach Beamer was able to do here.

And then the other thing I think was huge is obviously his ability to retain his staff. You know, Bud Foster is a huge part of Coach Beamer's success and vice versa. And that's a challenge that's more difficult than it's ever been is to keep your staff in place as well. Because when you have success, people try to go steal some of your success. You know, during my time at Penn State, I lose Joe Moorhead to go to Mississippi State. I lose Brent Pry to go to Virginia Tech. I lose Ricky Ronnie to go to Old Dominion. Just a number of guys.

When you have really good people, people try to steal pieces of your information. Manny Diaz at Duke. So, you know, that's going to be an important piece of this as well, is making sure that we have the budget and the resources to keep the staff together and get the right pieces that are going to allow this place to continue to roll like, like Bud and Coach Beamer were able to do. Since taking over the job, how many trips have you taken to the 757

to that Hampton Roads area? Well, because spring recruiting is dead and you're not really allowed out during that time a year. And now with the new rules, even when we got the job, we were almost on campus every single day with official visitors.

So I haven't been there as much as I would like, but even saying that, I've probably been down there five times to the 757 already. I was just there last week for a fundraising event as well. So, yeah, that's going to be really important. One of the things, again, you talk about the dignitaries. So we fly into the 757 and Bruce Smith comes to meet me at the airport, which was awesome.

I mean, Bruce is standing there. You know, to think about that that guy played 19 years in the NFL at Defense event. And at that time, you know, when football was football, is amazing. So it meant a lot to me that he went out of his way to come meet me at the airport before we had this event. And he looks like you still play. I was trying to convince him. I said, Lou, you got one more year of eligibility.

Come on, man. Give me a couple plays a quarter. But I couldn't convince him. I got last question for me, coach, is that we had Cody Campbell on last time. And obviously he's the billionaire that's really helpful. Texas Tech. You got a Cody Campbell there in Blacksburg somewhere hanging around to help that roster out or a few of those guys? Yeah, we have a few guys that have been very, very supportive. But obviously, I think your point is a good one. They've done a great job at Texas Tech,

but obviously he's had a significant impact. You look at SMU back on the map and all the stories about SMU and the resources that they have there, and they've done a great job too. So, you know, these things matter and they matter as much as they ever had. Those guys can be really impactful. So that's why I mentioned earlier going out these fundraising trips. They're more important than they've ever been. Just one quick final Penn State question, Coach. And I'm sorry to bring it up, because I know we're all about Hokies right now. But what do you think your legacy is going to be at Penn State? Well, that's not for me to decide or say. But I do, but I do. know this. Like, like Coach Irbs and, you know, Coach, Coach Meyer just mentioned,

we got there at a challenging time. And, you know, after year three, we win the Big Ten championship before people thought we were ready to do that and put it back on the map. And then we were consistently, after that, you know, between a top 10 and a top 15 program, pretty much year in and year out. So I know that we left the place a lot better. than we found it. And I poured my heart and soul into that place and those people and most importantly those young men. And I'm proud of it. But the page has been turned and our focus is on Virginia Tech and the maroon and orange. And hopefully I'll get a chance to see you at some point this year, you guys. Oh, man, we would love that. Real quick about your schedule. You talk about you got to win at home, right?

But your season is probably going to hinge on what you do on the road. There is a month period starting October 24th, running to November 21st at Clemson, at SMU, at Miami in that month block. Have we spent any time looking at how we need to manage that week starting now? Or that month, I should say. Well, first of all, that's going to be awesome, right? Yeah. What an unbelievable opportunity we have here at Virginia Tech. But, you know, I think we're doing like most people do right now.

We're focusing on the first four games of the year and breaking those people down and coming up with some preliminary game plans and studying the rosters and those types of things. And then we'll identify some games like you're mentioning where we're going to go on the road and be in some tough environments and have to be ready with that. But we better get ready for VMI. Everybody wants to talk about the games you're talking about. Nobody thinks the VMI game is very important. Or old dominion after that, right?

Lose the VMI and find out how important. that is. Again, enter Sandman. Yeah. Much respect, coach. Thanks for your time, man. Thanks, guys. You look good, man. He does look good. Thanks for your time. We wish you the best of success in Blacksburg. And thanks for joining us. Enjoy your summer, coach. Hey, Urban caused a bunch of this just so you guys know. Me too, coach. Me too. Light it. Welcome back to the Triple Option. Robin Urban here with you. We know former Indiana Cincinnati, and I guess you can call him Texas Tech quarterback, Brendan Sorsby's college career, is over. But now his NFL career coach is being put on hold for at least a year.

Remember, he was expected to enter the NFL supplemental draft, which is going to be held in mid-July. But the NFL just announced that there will be no supplemental draft this season, thereby rejecting Sorby's petition to enter. The quote that came from the NFL reads as follows, as Commissioner Goodell has emphasized participation. in the NFL is a privilege that carries with its significant responsibilities, including accountability. By all accounts, you are a talented player with a potential for future success. We encourage you to focus on preparing for possible entry into the NFL through the 2027 NFL annual draft.

Like they literally wrote a note to source. Blown away. How about that? There's a lot of people. There are a lot of people blown away. Let's start with. You talked to our good friend Todd McShay, draft expert. We have them on all the time.

Let's talk about how this impacts Sorsby. What was the vibe in the NFL circles of where Sorsby might fall as far as an NFL prospect? There's a big question, Mark, because you look, and I went to watch film this morning when I started, I knew we're going to talk about them. And I remember watching a play a bunch, and I loved watching a play. And then I called, you know, our opinion, the best out there, Todd McShay. and his, you know, his, we have very similar opinions of the guy. I made the comment, I would love to coach this player. He's tough, he's physical, he's got, he's big.

He's 6'4, 225 pound, can really run. I call him a courageous. He's a first down getting quarterback, so if something's not there, you know, that's why I love JT and Tebow, you know, the most important job of quarterback at a first down. And then go get another one. That's what he does. But they thought he could have played his way into maybe a, top 10 pick. Think about that.

Potential top 10 pick. Now there's two, two, two damaging things there. Number one is Swirsby. I mean, he will not be a top 10 pick next year. There's no chance. They're going to have to work him out and, you know, what he does because the most important thing that a quarterback can do is play. And he still is inaccurate at times.

He's still, you know, there's a lot of things he has to still work on. And Texas Tech would have been the perfect spot. The second part of that is Texas Tech. What in the heck do they do? I know they got that back at the young quarterback with an ACL that's coming off an ACL. But as I told people, when we lost Braxton Miller, it's not about J.T. Barrett. It's about also what do you have behind them. So you lose a potential top 10 pick at quarterback.

And now you're Texas Tech. So there's two issues. Number one is what happens to Sorsby. And I'll add this before I throw it back at you. Next year is loaded. You got Dante Moore. You got Miava at USC. Got Jolie at Ohio.

State, C.J. Carr, Notre Dame, Chamblis, O'Mess, O'Miss, NICO, UCLA, Mensa, at Miami, the transfer from Duke and Sellers at USC. And, oh, by the way, Archmany, you just jumped into that Sorsby. So that was a big mistake, man. I got three letters for you, Mr. Sorsby. C-F-L. Take your talents north of the border. No, don't do that. Go play a year in the Canadian Football League, man. Get your reps, right? Get in that weight room. You just said it's important to play. Where else is he going to be able to play? He's not going to be doing some like, wow, semi-pro Sunday pickup league in Venice Beach, is he? Or Fox Sports, UF, was it, USFL? Fox Sports you? No UFL, because the UFL season will be done. Otherwise, that would have been another

great spot. No, he just got to train like an animal, take his medicine. He's not going to be as high as pick. What did you make of the NFL saying, the way they word it, like, it is a privilege to be in the NFL. I felt like for the first time in a while, the NFL kind of had the NCAA's back. Like, hey, hey, we're in lockstep with you guys. Like, I know it's important to you that you can't be betting on your own team. And he's not really getting the quote unquote punishment from you. So we're going to hand it out in our own separate ways, kind of how it feels to me. Did you get that same read? I did. And I'm a big fan of Roger Goodell. I remember years ago when he, you know, the personal conduct of the, you know, he sat some players down and it was good for the league.

But you're going to make sure you open up this can of worms because I remember when Torel Pryor, he was going to be suspended for some games. I think he was. He was suspended for some games, but I'm going to throw this name out there. Jim Tressel went to coach and be a, he was going to work in the replay booth, if I remember, right, and they suspended him for five or six games because that would have been his suspension. Are they going to do that for everyone? and did they do that for everyone?

I think there's a rather obvious couple situations where they did it. Well, we're cheering for Brendan, right? Enjoy the offseason. Kick butt, do great. Texas Tech, I hope you do fantastic with whatever your quarterback situation is going to be right now. Again, there's nothing wrong, coach with being a rough rider. Go be an argonaut. Oh, man.

Go be a stampeter, right? Go to Canada, my friend. Sling it around up there. They'll take care of you. By the way, don't they have like two rough riders? How do you have two teams with the same nickname in the same league? I don't get that. Help me out with that.

Although I guess there's a lot of United's in Major League Soccer. All right. Well, that does it for the triple option. A lot of soccer in today's show, coach. Follow, subscribe, rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast, as well as across social media. We are at 3x option shows. Submit your questions in the comment section.

We are going to do a mailbag to wrap up season two. win the three of us when we get Mark back with us here together. So please submit those questions. As always, thanks to our wonderful sponsor, Wendy's. We'll see you next time on the Triple Option.