Will Cain Country - Chaos In The Bayou: LSU AD Fired, Coaching Search Goes Wild

Episode Date: October 31, 2025

On this Friday sports edition of ‘Will Cain Country,’ Will and The Crew go over the hottest sports stories of the day, from what it takes for a team to be considered a ‘Dynasty’ as the Los Angeles Dodgers are one game away from losing the World Series to the ever-increasing role of AI being used to help set lineups and formations. Plus, Co-Host of ‘Crain & Company,’ Blain Crain joins to give his analysis of the biggest games in College Football this week, before unpacking what is shaping up to be one of the most enthralling head coach searches in college football history after LSU fires their head coach and athletic director. Subscribe to ‘Will Cain Country’ on YouTube here: ⁠⁠⁠Watch Will Cain Country!⁠ Follow ‘Will Cain Country’ on X (⁠@willcainshow⁠), Instagram (⁠@willcainshow⁠), TikTok (⁠@willcainshow⁠), and Facebook (⁠@willcainnews⁠) Follow Will on X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are the Dodgers a dynasty, and can you set your lineup by AI? Plus, breaking down every coaching search and every game in college football with the host of Craning Company, Blaine Crane. It is Will Kane Country, normally streaming live every Monday through Thursday at 12 o'clock Eastern Time, But every episode, like this episode of Canaan Sports, available by subscribing at Spotify or on Apple. Blaine Crane of Crane & Company's coming up in just a little bit to break down the biggest college football games of the week and the biggest coaching searches in college football. But two-a-day's Dan, tinfoil Pat, Dumbo Ed, all here today with us on the program to get us started for a fun weekend of a sports. I looked over and Ed was making some kind of gesture with his eyes. I'm like, yeah, I got to give Ed a new nickname.

It's not going to work. I agree. It's not nice. So I don't know. I don't know what nickname to give Ed. The World Series enters game six tonight with the Toronto Blue Jays leading three to two. It's a bit of a surprise, at least a surprise for me, kind of expected every step of the way, especially after the Dodgers won that 18-inning game two.

But I thought that would be a little bit of a spiritual backbreaker for the Blue Jays. I've seen it happen. I saw it happen to the Texas Rangers in 2011, a horrific game six that went to extra innings over and over and over. Had that game won. The Rangers were one strike away from winning the World Series twice, two separate occasions. Ultimately, the Cardinals won that game. in game seven was a nothing burger. All the energy was with the Cardinals. I thought that would be something similar here. The Dodgers win that game two, 18 inning game. But no, the Blue Jays came

right back. And now they lead three, two. And that leads to several interesting conversations, which may be null and void at some point, because the Dodgers have Yamamoto on the mound. And right now, I believe, his last two outings have been complete games. Lights out. He's been dominant. Lights out. And so he starts game six. which puts you to game seven potentially and then in that 18 inning game though oh that's true he came in everybody did everybody but show hey exactly so yamamoto has a you know not a full rested arm so but this is the question if toronto wins the world series what do you do with the dodgers what do you do with a team that has been this good for this long

but really only ends up with one world series. And Tinfoil Pat is an Atlanta Braves fan. And that's pretty on the nose for what it was like to be an Atlanta Braves fan in the 1990s. And I will grant you, Pat, that one world series saves you from being the Buffalo Bills of the 1990s. It saves you from being the Denver Broncos of the 1980s.

New York Yankees or 2000s, only won 1-0-09. But they won one. That one saves you, right? I'm saying from being that team. There's a classification of teams. They're the greatest teams never to win at all, right? And we could come up with these teams, and there's a lot of them in every sport. Dolphins.

Utah Jazz in basketball in the 1990s, right? Yes. Couldn't get over the hump of Michael Jordan. The sons. But a legit great team. The sons with Charles Barkley. Oh, the sons with Steve Nash you're talking about. Those.

Uh, yeah. But those are in one class. This, what would be the Dodgers are in a different class where winning it all and yet it still feels like a disappointment. Is that how you feel, Pat, as a fan of the Braves? No, I, I mean, it is disappointing and, you know, you hate teams like the Yankees because you know they stole some of those those uh wins from you but well it's like i don't know it's like we i mean we got really close i mean you know a few time quite a few times i mean we should have beat the twins those two are stacked yeah i mean we were we were just like glavin maddox

yeah i mean and and we and the back end of the rotation was always good too it's like i don't know It was just so fun to watch. It was fun to always be in the race. I don't know. I wouldn't change it for the world. Sounds so nostalgic. Okay. Yeah, I love it.

It's like if I could go anywhere in time, it would be 1990s. A hundred percent. Give me a time machine. I'm going to 96. I would easily go back to 1995. September 95. If you guys had a time machine, you'd go back to 95, 96.

That's what you'd do? I would experience the Yankees streak again. So yes, yeah. I will tell you, those Cowboys just a little bit earlier in that. That was a great time. It was so much fun being that dominant. I enjoyed it with you. Yeah, I was a huge Cowboys fan, you know.

It was so much fun. Always a frontrunner, Dan. Now he's a Packers fan. Always a frontrunner. Oh, frontrunner, Dan. Really enjoyed. But you stay the same. Really enjoyed the game.

You're like the Matthew McConaughey. You're like the Wooderson of sports. That's what I love about those high school girls. I like feeling good, bro. They stay the same age. I like winning. Those teams change, but I stay the same. I like rings, baby.

That's right. Winning. Yeah, it's a disappointment for sure if this only results in one world series. And we should come up with the list of these franchises. The Braves are the most obvious one. Yeah, I don't know. In football, it's harder because you don't have as long. I mean, the Patriots kind of blew our minds on this stuff,

but you really have like three to five-year windows in football, and then you're like, well, how many could you get in that three-to-five-year window? I mean, I'll give you a team that may fit the billing, but that's the Rams, the St. Louis Rams with Kurt Warner. Like, that was a great team. And they only came out with one. right, one Super Bowl? Yeah, because they lost the Patriots, yeah.

The other time. That's probably a team you look back on and go, man, that one should have won a little more. Well, I have a list for you, Will. I came up with a list. Hold on. Is Aaron Rogers Green Bay Packers on there, too? Probably is.

Go ahead. What's your list? Aaron Rogers, Green Bay Packers is one. Only one Super Bowl, but sustained success for a long period of time. and then you have in the NFL you also have Peyton Manning's Colts where they even went I think they went to another Super Bowl only one Super Bowl win and then uh but that was sustained success for I don't know over almost a decade over a decade um until Andrew Luck was yeah where the chief's at how many years what did you get to I think their dynasty easily

they have three Super Bowls I know but over how many years would you call it rain so far when was it was the time it was like the year right after Brady beat them with the Patriots is like when they started the run

essentially so we also have in the NHL who else is on that in the NHL we have the Washington Capitals with Ovechkin Ovechkin only one cup finally got over the hill but they

you know but they did it and then the Oklahoma Sooners under Bob Stoops only one championship early early on in the run but lots of success there and that's pretty much the list in basketball you don't really

yeah in basketball you really have this because it feels like the teams the teams they end up winning it all win, or they used to win sustainably for a couple of years. I mean, the Mavericks won it and then went away. And so starting about that time frame, the Pistons won it, then kind of went down.

And the teams, lately we've had the one-offs, the Toronto Raptors, but there's too much change. Like, you lose Kauai Leonard, whatever it may be. There's no other, so for the Dodgers and Braves, is there no other parallel in baseball

to a team that was that dominant, always up there, but only came away with one? Potentially, the Cardinals were close, but they had two. So they did get two under Pujols and Molina.

And that's not a dynasty, right? No. You got to get three. Three is the magic number for a dynasty? Yeah. For most people. I think you can have a dynasty with lots of sustained success. I mean, the Braves are on the edge, but

you know, it's a debate that a lot of people have, and most people would say three. But they're a better team than the Blue Jays. I mean. The Dodgers? Yeah. Right now. I mean, I don't know what's happening.

I look this up, okay? So do you know how many innings the starting pitchers had? How many of their starting pitchers the Dodgers had who pitched over 100 innings this year? How many? One. One. Yamamoto pitchers.

177 innings. I think Kershaw might have hit hit 100, but it's like all the other guys were injured the whole year. I mean, like, count-wise, they might be better, but like, I mean, these guys can

barely, I mean, they were barely playing the whole year. But now they're pitching. You know, I mean, it's, I don't know, it's weird to me. I do think that, like, the Dodgers. The Dodgers won another one. In the meantime, maybe they can turn to chat GPT because the other story we want to talk about today is there is a NWSL. I know. You don't know what the NWSL is. National Women's

Soccer League, professional soccer coach, who has set his lineup using chat GPT. This morning, I saw this headline. And then Patrick, this one jumped out to you as well. And I was like, ooh, ooh, interested. So I took my son's high school soccer team and I ran it through it. And I described for AI all like 11 to 13 players or so, you know, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, skills. I said, set me a lineup and give me the formation. Because that's the fun thing about soccer, too. You have different formations, right?

You could go, you know, 433, 442, 532, whatever. I'm not just saying numbers. That's like where you put people in positions. Sounds me. And it was fun. And it did. It created a lineup and told. me why and told me what guys would be where according to their skills.

And it, you know, I'm not going to, it's, it's what you put in is what you get out. So if you describe a player in a certain way, you kind of know it's going to end up putting it there. So I may play with it more and give it more detail. Wouldn't all the other parents love to know exactly how I'm describing their sons like, you know, like you got to get. But the point is, I think it would be interesting giving the, AI more and more detail about each player because right now I think it's kind of wrote it's going to give you what's obvious but take take the world series I mean you could run those stats those situational issues the thing about coaching is you know you're always going to look at it

and you're going to go yeah but you don't know what's between that guy's ears and how do you I don't know explain it to the AI explain this guy's usually really good in clutch he's calm He's a real positive locker room guy. If you add all of those elements more and more, I don't know, it might spit out something better than the coach comes up with. Clint Frazier did an interview. They do? Yeah, Clint Frazier did an interview.

And he was like, everyone gets mad at Aaron Boone. I don't understand why. Because AI sets the lineup. They have a team that kind of just does analytics with artificial intelligence that sets the lineup for almost every game for the Yankees. It's crazy. Oh, yeah, but that's true. Yeah.

Oh, I bet that's a hundred percent true. Against pitchers. I didn't think about it. In my mind, it was Aaron Boone sitting there talking to his phone like I am. No, this is a whole wing of the, this is a whole wing of the Yankees running stats and the opposing pitcher and all that through coming out. Of course they are. Of course they are. And so it's not even his decision.

Is football using AI? Guarantee it. I'm sure. Where? I'm sure for play calling in certain situations. No way. I bet they have a book. I bet you they have a book.

They probably don't use it every time, but I bet they have a scenario book that's AI-driven. I bet you a team out there does. They might set a game plan, but I don't think they could go play to play with it yet. Do you think? In high school football, do you guys know this? They wear things on their wrist like a touchpad type thing or a just. just a reader. And you know how, like,

chat GPT? Call is often, they don't, they don't huddle. Yeah. Play call goes straight to your wrist. Everybody. All skill position players, play call goes straight to your wrist. You look at it, you get to the line.

I don't know that AI is involved. You know, it's a, it's the offense coordinator putting it in and it immediately sends it out. Is that cheating? Is that changing the game? You're not allowed to do that. I don't know.

I don't know. It seems like it, right? I mean, think about all this. It's going to change. Sports is changing like everything else so fast. I do not want it with baseball, though. But what happens if everything goes AI? I don't want balls and strikes called by AI.

That would ruin it for me. I would stop watching baseball. Well, get ready. Really? I would stop. Absolutely. Yeah, it's definitely coming. Get ready. Exactly. Manfred does that connect with. Let's get ready for college.

football, get ready for Blaine Crane. Coming up, will Texas beat Vanderbilt? Will Georgia beat Florida? And who will coach? LSU. With the host of Crane and Company, Blaine Crane on Will Cain Country. Blaine Crane of Crane and Company joins us now here on Will Cain Country, and he is sporting, as he has been for quite some time, one hell of a look. Now, the mustache, the blonde hair, I don't totally know the backstory on the bet, and the the blonde hair, but would you share with this while you're doing Joe Burrow? Oh, absolutely. Look, it's kind of fitting today, since this technically is Halloween, but it's been like this for a while. So me being the genius that I am,

let's go back to the first week of college football. I might have been a week zero. It's too long to remember. But I made a bet that Texas, because I believed in your guys, well, believed in your guys, believed in Steve Sarkisian, believed in Archmanning, all the talent that was around them, bet that Texas was going to go beat Ohio State, week one, and if I lost, I dye my hair blonde, and look where I am now, Will. But the good thing is, the good thing is, because I get a lot of questions. Blaine, you should shave it off. Just take it off. Balls in.

Hey, we're getting some, it's growing back a little bit, okay? So it's a waiting game, but slowly but surely, it's in there. I know you really can't see it on camera, but just believe me, it's in there. No, I can see that the carpet doesn't match the drapes. I can see that the mustache and the sides are now brown, and the top is blonde. and good for you for maintaining it, that you didn't just shave it all down. My kid, who I believe he was 12 years old at the time, did a bet like this. I have to say, though, Blaine, my 12-year-old was a little ballsyer than you.

He didn't just bet to go blonde. He bet his buddies that he would do the Ronaldo R-9 haircut. Now, I don't know if you're enough of the soccer fan to know that haircut. But it's the original Ronaldo, not Cristiano Ronaldo. And if you look back, the story goes, the original Ronaldo had a tweak knee in the World Cup, and he didn't want the coach to bench him. So he thought the way to keep the coach from paying attention to his knee was to make sure he was staring at his head. And he shaved it, bald everywhere, but the front patch right here, like a circle patch right here on the front of his head.

And my kid did that look. And like you, this was what I was most proud of, not only that he could set vanity aside, but he maintained it, man. after it was over, he's like, I'm going to keep this. I'm going to keep it for about a month. And I can see you're two months in to being blonde. So he was going, because I, look, I'm not a big soccer guy. I can admit that. I'm just not.

But I do know what you're talking about. So it's this front patch right here. So he went to school with that. He went to school. And they called him into the principal's office to ensure that it was not hazing. And they double checked apparently the rulebook to make sure that it was with. within code, you know, it's a private school. They wear a uniform. But they came back with nothing. They could find nothing in the rulebook. So he had to, he got to keep it for about a month.

He is a soccer guy. So he liked it because he walked on the field and it was immediately intimidating. Like what kind of guy has that haircut? It's not a good look, but it's a statement. Yeah. Look, at the end of the day, I mean, got to be proud. Got to be proud. Sit on business. stand on business sit on business let's see if you continue to stand on business or if you've lost the faith college football one of the big games of the weekend is an 11 o'clock central time kick and it is the texas longhorns against the vanderbilt commodores now Diego pavia is right now riding as high as it gets and i have to say i think he's getting a little cocky Theo Vaughn's now seemingly, maybe, dating his mom, and Diego's become a champion of the press conference.

I might be just trying to talk myself, Blaine, into some hope for Texas against Vanderbilt, only that finally maybe they've flown a little too close to the sun. Otherwise, I just don't see it for Texas against Vanderbilt. Well, I will say this. If you go back to the Missouri Vanderbill game, Missouri did a lot of things on defense to stifle what Diego Pavia and Beck, the offensive coordinator, want to do on offense. And I think Texas can take a lot of notes from what Missouri did.

And let's be realistic. Look at this Texas defense. Look, I know Taff could hurt its safety. He's probably out for the rest of the year. I'm pretty sure he had surgery. You still have athletes and talent running all over the field. And the way Texas is built on defense can stop what Vanderbilt wants to do on offense. And I will say this.

One big question, obviously, being a Texas guy yourself, well, is Arch Manning going to walk on in the field Saturday in pads and going to play in this football? game because if not, there could be a whole new narrative starting at Texas with Matthew Caldwell from Auburn, Alabama. Shout out to 3-3-4. If he comes down there and looks pretty good because Arch has been disappointing this year. I'm pretty sure we talked about this pre-show. What's Matthew 3-4-3 with a touchdown? A good-looking touchdown. So if he comes out and it looks good, there could be some quarterback controversy in Texas. I think this game's going to be extremely

close. Diego Pavia is the engine that makes Vanderbilt run. Right now, I believe it's sitting minus two and a half on Texas. I'd probably buy this up to plus three and a half for Vanderbilt, but I do think this might turn into a game. Whoever has the ball last wins it. Yeah, Texas is favored, which is shocking, but I will say the last time Texas was favored against everybody's expectations was against Oklahoma. And I remember talking to you guys on Crane & Company, and I didn't think Texas would be able to be at Oklahoma, and then they put on that performance as the favorite. So Vegas likes them again, so maybe we're in store for another surprising victory for the horns. The other big game,

game of the weekend is Florida, Georgia, world's largest outdoor cocktail party. It's a big game by brand. I don't know what to make of Florida. They're a little bit like Texas. Bad, good, bad, bad, new coach on the horizon. And Georgia is just not quite as invincible as they've been in the past. So it's on a neutral site, but this is the other game everybody will be tuned in for and everybody will expect it to be the Bulldogs. Yeah, well, I'm so glad you called it at the world's largest outdoor cocktail party because that's what it is, all right? People need to stop changing the names because they're scared of words.

Well, I will tell you this. I wonder if Florida's, what bump will Florida get, right? Because sometimes when you do fire a head coach, that offensive coordinator bump, that new play calling style can transfer into that first Saturday. And you can come out with a spark. You can come out ready to go. But I will say this about Florida, DJ Lagway. We've seen him be great.

Jane Ball, I think it's one of the most underrated backs in the country. You have Dallas Wilson, Eugene Wilson. You go look on their defense. They have talent running everywhere. Sapp is going to be a first round pick. And then go look at Georgia. I think Gunner Stockton doesn't get talked about enough for the way that he's been playing in that offense. I think, look, numbers aren't everything.

And when it comes to Heisman, I think Gunner should be up there in that conversation. But the big question is, is Georgia's defense, right? They don't have that elite pass rusher. They don't have that Jalen Carter. They don't have that guy coming off the edge that can disrupt. somebody in the backfield. That's why they've been giving up so many points. I think this game's sitting at plus seven and a half. I love Florida to cover this. I don't think Georgia is good enough on defense to stop Florida's run game. I think it's going to be close, but I always say this.

Kirby Smart is the difference in games like this. He knows how to win games like this, whether it's 41 to 40 or 13 to 10. He's malleable, and that's what makes him one of the best coaches in college football. I like Georgia, but I think it's going to be closer than a lot of people think. Let's take a quick break, but continue this conversation with the host of Crane and Company, Blaine Crane. Welcome back to Will Kane Country. We're still hanging out with the host of Crane and company, Blaine Crane. Well, Florida and your invocation of Kirby Smart provide us the perfect transition to talk about football coaches. So, Florida job is open, Penn State job is open, and now the LSU job is open.

It has been a remarkable week in Louisiana, with Governor Jeff Landry inserting himself absolutely into the future of the LSU coaching search. And as of this morning, the athletic director at LSU is out. Landry and his beautiful Cajun accent promised earlier this week that the AD would not be picking the next coach of LSU. That seems to be obvious now that he's been fired. But Landry is also saying something interesting, Blaine, in that he's not just mad about the results with Brian Kelly. He's mad about the buyout. The 54. million buyout. He thinks it's absurd that these coaches are getting these buyouts. He's promising a new kind of contract for anyone that wants to coach LSU. That's great. I'll bet you and I agree

and everybody agrees. We should reform the way these contracts are being written for college coaches. But I don't know what the market and the agents are going to have to say about that. They're going to want those buyouts. And that would seem to say to me, I guess you don't get Lane Kiff in LSU. Yeah, I don't know how, one, I mean, you're going to have to pay that $53 million buyout. I mean, there's no way, unless Brian Kelly goes and takes another job. I don't know the exact wording for that, but I will say this. One, you knew Landry was the governor of Louisiana the first time he opened his mouth and the first word he said.

You want to talk about a Cajun accent. That's the perfect fit. Two, I think he was a little bit hard on Scott Woodward. I really do. Go look at what Scott did at LSU and all the national championships he's brought there. not in football, but in everything else. And look, if you have a guy, if you think it's your guy, you go get that guy, right? If you believe in it, you go get them.

No matter how much money you have to pay, and that's what Scott Woodward did. And it didn't work out. It's the same thing with A&M. But I will say this, you're going to have to drop money if you want to go get a big guy. If you want to go get Lane Kiffin, you're going to have to pay him, and that buyout's going to be for real. If you want to go get Marcus Freeman, you're going to have to go pay him, and that buyout's going to be for real. If not, you need to go get an up-and-coming guy, right? And I know of one sitting in Tulane right now named John Summerall who knows how to win football games,

who knows how to build a culture, and you don't have to pay him a $300 million to come coach at your football team. So Landry, I get what you're saying and trying to find out a new contract. I would love to see that and see how that works. But if you want to get one of the best college coaches in football, you're going to have to open the vault to go get him. Former colleague and friend of mine at ESP and Peter Burns had a really interesting proposal. Blaine, he proposed a new structure for a coaching contract that basically went like this. A million-dollar signing bonus the minute that you're hired. And then a stratified, incentivized contract that worked like this.

Something like go six and six, you're going to get paid $4 million. And then take it on up to the point where at which you are 10 and 2, it's like $6 million. But in the playoffs, it jumps you to $11 million. dollars. One round in the, win one round of the playoffs, $13 million. Semifinals, $15 million. In the national championship game, but lose $17 million. Win the national championship, $20 million. So you have a range of $4 to $20 million.

I know why he structured it that way, because what's the average coaching contract right now? Something like $7 to $9 million, maybe $10, 11 in that range for most of the top coaches. So you're all of a sudden putting them $8, $9, $10 million. more than they're getting on average should they win it all, $6 million, $4 million below average just for being a coach, and taking out the buyouts. And a lot of people are pointing out these buyouts are actually incentive for failure. Like, you're telling me that if I get fired, I get $50 million for doing nothing. I get $70 million for doing nothing. And I don't know if that's actually playing a role. There are reports that Brian Kelly was kind of checked out

at LSU, didn't know the player's names, I don't know if that's all true or not, but I do know the incentives are skewed. I don't know. What do you think about? I understand if you're Lane Kiffin or Marcus Freeman, you're going to say no, because the market's going to dictate like you said, and Jimmy Sexton's going to dictate that I get something that where I get my money regardless of incentive, but maybe like the Tulane coach. Maybe you can get him on a contract like that, one based around incentives, but you could make 20 mil. No, look, I'm all four incentives. All right, incentives in my contract.

If you believe in yourself, you want to bet on yourself, go do it. But I promise you guys who's already done it, right, aren't going to sign this contract. Exactly what you said. Well, guys who already know they can do it, have proved that that they can do it, are going to go sign a contract where I can make $4 million if things don't work out for a year.

You're going to have to go get a group of five guy. If you're LSU, something small, a guy you believe in, that's going to take that risk to go sign that contract, and I can understand that. But the big dogs in college football, Jimmy Sexton on the other side of the phone, if you think he's gonna be anywhere near this, good luck, it's not gonna happen.

He'll burn the piece of paper right in front of your face. And look, I hate the buyouts too. I've never seen the head coaches be able to fail upwards. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life. But I promise you, the top guys in college football and LSU is a top job in college football are not going to do this. And I'm fine with it.

I think it's an interesting idea. I think it's a creative idea, But you're not going to go get one of the best, so you're going to have to reach lower in the barrel to find a guy who do believe in to sign this. Okay, but who, so there's not enough top guys, which gives the existing top guys a lot of power to get the exact contract that they want, Blaine. I mean, help me come up with the names. As of this morning, Matt Ruhl has signed an extension with Nebraska, so he's out. Kurt Signetti already did that at Indiana. He's out.

That gives you Lane Kiffin, basically. Now, you brought up Marcus Freeman, whose name I hadn't been heard, floated a lot, and it continues to confuse me that Notre Dame serves as a stepping stone job and not a landing point job. But Lane Hiffing has his pick, Florida, Penn State, LSU, whatever he wants, or stay at Ole Miss. I don't even know who he's competing with at this point. I could – could you and I come up with a list of five coaches – Penn State, Florida, LSU, Arkansas, Who am I forgetting? That's just where we are today. There's going to be more.

And we can't come up with a name to fill every job. No, Lane's, I mean, right now, Lane's the Golden Child. I mean, he is. He's the chosen one. A scene guy Eid, right? I mean, Dune 2, whatever it is. He is the guy that everybody wants. But who's behind them?

I mean, that's the real question. I don't think Marcus Freeman's leaving Notre Dame, but if I'm LSU, I'm calling everybody. I'm calling Sabin. I'm calling Urban Meyer. I'm calling Moses. It doesn't matter. They're getting a phone call.

I want them to tell me no to my face. Other than that, it's Lane Kiffin. If you miss there, I don't think, I don't drink a wits would probably be your next best than John Summerall. And then you just shoot for that second few of your eyes. James Franklin? Well, I'm hearing James Franklin's getting the Virginia Tech job.

Right, I'm heard they're this close from him, except which I think will be a great fit for James Franklin and Virginia Tech. But look, it's to the point now if you're LSU, it's like, look, you're not gonna get free. And if I'm Freeman, why would I leave Notre Dame? I'm not in a conference and I win 10 games every year and make the playoffs. Signetti has already signed the contract.

I don't know why Penn State would sign that rule, even with him signing the contract with Nebraska. Because, I mean, I don't know why you sign a guy who can't win against top 10 teams to sign a guy who can't win against top 25 teams in that rule. So I don't know. I don't know if there's legit top five names out there. Right now, they're probably just gunning for three if I'm LSU. And I think that is Lane Kiff and Eli Jenkowitz and John Summerall. Let's take a quick break, but continue this conversation with the host of Crane & Company, Blaine Crane.

Welcome back to Will Kane Country. We're still hanging out with the host of Crane and company, Blaine Crane. Well, let's talk about this game this weekend because it may soon play into the coaching search, but is looking at the best games this weekend. Another one is Oklahoma versus Tennessee. At Tennessee, Tennessee is favored by two and a half. And I think at this point, the Oklahoma job, that seat is about as hot as it gets, and that might be another one out there.

Brent Venables has a tough schedule ahead of him. It's reasonable that they could lose their next, what, three, four games? Mm-hmm. It is reasonable. God, they're scheduled in the back house, probably one of the toughest in the country. It's so hard to win football games when you're one-dimensional. I don't care how talented you are, and that's what Oklahoma is. And John McKears kind of falling off the last couple weeks,

and I really don't think it's because he had surgery on his thumb. Go back to the Michigan. game, right? There's a three to four plays in there that should have been interceptions where he did not look great, but he made those two wow plays, right? Those two Heisman moments. And then you keep going on from there. It's just really hasn't been the same. The defense has shown up somewhat, but then you go play an Ole Miss team who has a legitimate offense with Lane Kiffin. You see what they did to them. I mean, right now, this game is at Tennessee. I like Tennessee in this football game because they're two dimensional. They can throw it and they can run it. I know they don't have depth on defense, but I really don't believe in Oklahoma's offense that much when you can't. run the ball. And where's this game? This game is 6.30 at Tennessee. These fans are going to be ready. Josh Hypo is going to be ready. And Brent Venables could be in some real trouble because if you look down the stretch, it's at Tennessee, it's at Bama, it's Missouri at home, and he finished the year with LSU. Oklahoma job could be open. Will, the coaching carousel is only getting started. Yeah. Right. By the way, Oklahoma's a better football team. And I was a, I believe,

in John Manteer just like you, but he's actually the problem. John Manteer is he makes bad decisions, and that's the main thing. He throws it to the wrong guy. He's too aggressive. He's throwing it downfield to cover guys with open guys underneath. It's like trying to win the ball game on every single throw. And for that same reason, I agree. I like Tennessee.

What would have been maybe the game of the weekend had Wake Forest kicker not hit, I believe it was a 54-yarder. at the end of the game with the clock expiring to beat SMU. SMU versus Miami this weekend would have been the game of the week, but now it's an 11 a.m. kick in Dallas. Yeah. Well, it's just my thing is, one, speaking of coaches, I mean, where does Rhett Lashley end up at the end up in the year?

Well, let me ask you this. What's a better job right now, SMU and Arkansas? Well, I live in Dallas, and I ask that question to all of my SMU friends. And the big caveat in here right now is that Rhett Lashley is from, Arkansas. So that does play a role. He's an Arkansas guy. So going home may have some appeal. But my SMU friends laugh at that debate at this point, which is pretty fascinating. They think they're the much better job. They have more money. They've got a better recruiting base.

And they do have a lot of money. So I don't, I think they're pretty determined not to let, by the way, on the other side of that negotiating table would be another Dallas guy, which is Jerry Jones, funding Red Lashley to move to Arkansas. But unless he just isn't love. with the idea of going home to Arkansas, I think you stay at SMU. I think it's probably the better job. Yeah, I think so too. It's so crazy now in today's college football. It's not about tradition, really. It's about who has the most money. You know, that's why a lot of people question is LSU a better job than Penn State or Florida. But I will say this. It's going to be an interesting football game because if you've watched Miami the last two weeks, it's been rough, especially in the

first half. Louisville physically beat you up for four quarters, which I did not expect to see from a Miami team. That's this talented up front on both sides of the ball. And that first half of the Stanford game, Stanford was in it 100% of the way. And then Miami came out in the second half and figured it out. It ended up winning 41 to 7. Which Miami team are we going to see, right? Is it going to be the Miami team? We saw early in the year show up and be dominant and attack on both sides of the football, especially in the secondary, mixing blitzes, showing hot pressures. And Carson Beck, what schizophrenia moment I'm going to get from Carson Beck? He's like the guy from split. Every time he shows up, I don't know what he's going to get. He's either going to

throw for 300 yards or four interceptions. Mario, Chris, the ball, Miami, need to get it back to what they do best, and that is turning around and handing the football off, right? That's how you're going to beat an SMU team, but I promise you this, Rhett Lash is going to have these guys ready to go, right? Kevin at quarterback's going to be ready to go. They have talent, and the big surprise to me, he's been SMU's defense this year. They have some guys on that side of the ball that can run around and fly, and you're going to feel them once they get to you. So, I'm a lot of the ball. I'm I think this is going to be a low-scoring affair, to be honest. I think it's going to be a lot of running from Miami.

I think SMU covers the spread, but I think Miami pulls it out late. All right, last game, and we'll use it as an excuse to discuss the Big 12, but it's Cincinnati, Utah. That's where College Game Day is this year. Big 12 keeps producing teams that no one's talking about that look pretty good, the latest being Cincinnati. Prior to this, it was Texas Tech. They lost Arizona State. you've got BYU out there also. And a lot of these teams are going to play each other,

so it's going to sort itself out. But Cincinnati, Texas Tech, BYU, somebody from the Big 12 is going to be in the playoffs and probably just one of them. And my prediction is they're going to be trouble. They're going to be trouble for that, I don't know, third or fourth, SEC or Big Ten playoff team. Yeah, legitimately good.

I think the Big 12 is probably the most interesting conference in college football right now, to be honest, probably second to ACC if you still look at it because you don't know how it's going to end up. I'm pretty sure BYU has Texas Tech left on the schedule. And you get this game. Another name, I don't think enough people are talking about is Scott Satterfield. I mean, what he's doing right now at Cincinnati is fantastic. I mean, go back there. Only loss, I believe, was against Nebraska in Arrowhead Week Zero. And I'm pretty sure they lost by seven. And right now, I think they have a quarterback in Blake Sorsby. That's playing. Some of the best ball in the country and the way that Cincinnati is built. This is going to be a hell of a football game. One, how healthy is Devin Dampier at Utah, right? He's coming in. He was questionable this week. And he is a running quarterback, right? That's what he is.

He can somewhat throw it, but not elite. A Cowan-Wingham team, I promise you, if you watch Utah, what do they want to do? They want to play defense and run the football. But I promise you, Scott Satterfield wants to hurry this up. He wants to go bombs over Baghdad, push the ball down the field, right? And kind of do everything in reverse. and you flip on the other side, Utah just wants to turn on and run the football. It's going to be an interesting game.

I have Utah winning this game just from a physicality standpoint, to be honest, but I'm just telling you the Big 12 right now. I have BYU coming out of the Big 12. If you've watched our prediction show on Tuesday, I have Slokky and Bachin the Boys. Give me Bear. I don't care if he's a freshman. I believe in. They keep getting better week in, week out.

I don't think you're right, Will. I don't think the Big 12 gets two in. I put me down for Texas Tech coming out of the Big 12, and they're going to be a problem for somebody in the playoffs. Like second round, I see Texas Tech in the playoffs. If they get that quarterback health situation figured out. Texas Tech only lost. I mean, they didn't even have their starting quarterback. So people need, if you're watching the show, just make sure you remember that.

All right. Last thing, jumping on this debate for us, Blaine, before we go, we're having the debate. I'll tell you why in just a moment. Were the 90s Braves a dynasty? Well, I'm a Yankees fan, so you're talking about multiple World Series appearances, like how many years of winning their division in the National League, but only at the end of it have one World Series? Yeah, my thing, no, I would say no. I would say no. I think a dynasty is you have to win. You have to win the final prize, right? You can't be a dynasty. So if the Blue Jays win tonight, or game seven, this Dodgers team also, not a dynasty, only one World Series, dominating now for 10, 15 years, but one World Series. No, you're not a dynasty if you only have one World Series.

And trust me, I can't root for the Japanese anyway in the Dodgers. I just can't do it. They're not a dynasty. I think you have to win at what, at least three? Three? So if they win the World Series, the Dodgers, they're not a dynasty with two? I agree with you. Two backed up. I agree with you. Two doesn't do it. Two doesn't do it, but two backed up by all these other 10 to 15 years of domination within the division, within the conference. But only two World Series. No, it's just, no, it just, it doesn't feel right to me. I need to see that three number, right? Three makes it for real. Okay. Three makes it legitimate. I can understand three. No, if anything, it makes it worse. It makes it worse, in my opinion. We won our division 15 times.

And we can only win one World Series? What are we doing? We're choking. Trust me. The Yankees... That's closer to the Buffalo Bills than the Dallas Cowboys. Yes. Yes.

Look, to be honest with you, I'm one of those guys. I'd rather get beat by 60 than lose by one. Well, I don't know about that. I would. Would you rather get beat by 60 than lose by one? Maybe that's the Auburn fan. If you lose by one, it's obviously. more heartbreaking. If you lose by one that's obviously more heartbreaking, but at least you

were in in the game, you were excited, you're having fun. Losing by 60 is just, if you even keep the television on, it's just, it's depression, signing up for depression for two or three hours. Yeah, well, you can give up early. That's what makes it great. You can just give up early. You can go about your day, right? I don't have to sit there for three and a half quarters, right, and watch us be down by one and figure out a way to lose. Maybe Solverfan. me, Will? I don't know. I don't know. I'm so sick of losing one possession football games. I don't think Teddy Roosevelt would sign up for you. I don't think he'd be with you. I don't think so either. I don't think so either. I'm dealing with enough right now with YouTube and ESPN. I can't take it. All right. Check him out at Crane and Company. Blaine Crane. I always enjoy talking with you. Thanks for being here today.

Appreciate you having me on. Good luck this weekend. Y'all go get a dub. A horn's up. All right. All right. Thank you, man. All right, that's going to do it for us today. Make sure you check out Crane & Company at The Daily Wire. Our thanks to Blaine Crane. We appreciate you being with us today. We'll see you on Monday. Same time, same place. Listen to ad-free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts.

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