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Sports Radio, iHeartRadio. Dan Orlovsky of the Mothership a little bit later on, and the former ESPN or Mike Golick will stop by as well. Phone calls. Operator Tyler sitting by eight seven to seven three DP show. This first down. We're brought to you by Rapid Radios. Make sure you take advantage of this offer. I asked them if they could extend their holiday sale that Rapid Radios up to
sixty percent off free shipping. They are walkie talkies offering national LTE coverage, clear connection with the touch of a button, great committee cation device for the kids. We use them on the show all the time. All Right, we have a pull question play the day. Stat of the Day Notre Dame handled Georgia. They look more of an SEC team maybe than Georgia did last night. And it's a long time coming because Notre Dame has been roughed up
when it comes to bowl games. But they look like they are a complete team that have a few too many penalties for my liking, and Georgia just didn't have the skill level and I can't remember the last time a Georgia team didn't have a true, legitimate running back running game. Georgia gets handled twenty three to ten. So the final four is set Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, and Notre Dame. Here's the early point spreads. According to DraftKings, Notre Dame is favored by one and a half versus
Penn State. Ohio State is a six point favorite against Texas and Peak. Speaking of point spreads, I don't know the last time we had a point spread of twenty points or more, but we we have that right now as of this morning. The Ravens are favored by twenty against the Cleveland Browns.
Now.
I go back to Super Bowl three when the Baltimore Colts were facing Joe Namath and the Jets, and I think the Colts were eighteen point favorites, and that's just because they dismissed the AFL. They didn't think the AFL could match up with the big bad NFL, and we know what happened with that huge upset here. But the
Browns are getting twenty against the Ravens. That's sad. Like you know when you talk about your franchise, your team, and you're like, all right, you know, we're okay, we're competitive. You know, maybe we're a thirteen and a half point you're twenty twenty point underdog. Now the Chiefs are ten and a half point underdogs against the Broncos. They're not playing anybody, and it's in Denver and Denver has to win. But those are The Bears are getting ten against the
Packers last night. Look, the Bears are still the Bears, aren't they? Are they resting players for next season? I know the Packers got to keep winning, But the Bears are getting ten. The Saints are getting fourteen against the Buccaneers. Okay, Tampa has to win. The Saints are bad, but it felt like it feels like every time these two teams get together, it's the team that's not supposed to win.
Who wins. But the Saints are getting fourteen, the Bears getting ten, Chiefs getting ten and a half, the Brown's getting twenty. Wow, and it's playing time for the NFL with the playoffs starting on Saturday. All right, Seaton pull question today. Phone calls always welcome. We'll get to those coming up in a little bit.
Well, we might as well start with a sort of an easier one. Who are you rooting for to win the national title? Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Texas. Okay, it's pretty easy rooting.
Yeah, who would you like to see? When I know that the TV executives that the Mothership would like to have Ohio State versus Notre Dame. I do know that. But we got four heavyweights here. Yeah, okay, it didn't go as scripted. You know, we thought, all right, these teams that have first round buys, well they all lost Heisman Trophy candidates. They're all out of here. The SEC, I like how the SEC says, hey we got one team, it's Texas.
Yeah.
The long standing member of the SEC, Texas is the loan representative of the SEC. You know, things have changed now, like this might be an anomaly, and I think There'll be a lot of people go out on the ledge today and say, hey, sec, everybody caught up with you.
I'm not going to go there yet, but I will say the following NILN transfer portal have changed everything because it used to be these big programs with STOCKPI talent, like Georgia would have three running backs ready to go, much like the you had back in the day, be like, oh that guy got hurt, well, going to bring in this guy. You can't do that anymore. Kids want to play, they want to get paid. They may not stay around. They may go try to get you a raise. And
like Jalen Millroe and Alabama's going pro. I don't know if Alabama wanted him back, but he's going to go pro. It just things change and quickly. And then you get a quarterback. You know, Oregon, are they going to be in the market for a quarterback? Notre Dame will they bring in Quinn Hewers And you know Riley Leonard still playing played well last night, but they I mean, this is what's going on right now. Remember when you had Brian Kelly left Notre Dame because he wanted to go
play and win national titles. So he went to LSU, while Marcus Freeman has Notre Dame in the final four. Things change and everything's above board now everybody can pay you is one booster. He's just one guy who says, yeah, all pony up, just like SMU speaking of the ponies. They ponied up and you know, joined the ACC, brought in talent, and they made the playoffs. So things have changed.
Georgia is not Georgia. Alabama's not Alabama. You know, they're still going to be very good, but it feels like I don't know if they'd come down as much as the rest of college football has kind of come up a little bit here, like Arizona State. Arizona State should have won that game against Texas, went toe to toe with Texas and lived to tell about it. Alabama, I mean, Alabama got embarrassed this year, so you're even last night. I mean, that wasn't a true Georgia team what you
expect out of Kirby Smart. They just didn't. Now the skill position, guys, Now, if Carson Beck is playing quarterback, is it a different game. Yes, But I still think Notre Dame was the better team last night. Georgia was unbelievable last year with lad McConkey, and they had brought Boers. I mean that's different. Those are game changing players. They didn't have that, and you have these kids who are there, and then do I want to go someplace else? Can
I go someplace else? And that's what's happening here. You're not waiting around now. Arch Manning is an anomaly. He waited. Now he comes from the Manning family, so they have money. He waited. He's not waiting anymore. After this season, it'll be his job. But any other place where you've got quarterbacks who are going to two schools, three schools during their three or four years in college or five or six years of college. So it's it's changing. Do I
want to say that it's parody. I don't, but I do think you have more teams now, knowing that you can get into the playoffs. You'll spend money to be able to make money to be able to get into the playoffs. Now there's more hope instead of hey, they're just going to take an SEC team and a Big ten team, or when we had the Pac twelve. Now it's not the case anymore.
Yes, he'd yeah, it is funny. The timing of nil and SEC struggling.
As a college football source said to me last night, Yeah, now that you can do everything above board, it's leveled the playing field.
Now that everybody is just clearly paying Yes everybody because it's legal to do yes.
Uh yeah, that's funny. But I don't know if it's parody. I don't know if we've gotten there. I'd like to see a little more of a sample size here. I mean, Alabama was down this year. I don't think we expected it because it's Alabama, but they weren't a great football team. They at times were just an average team. They were non threatening. Yes, there's there.
They're great brand names these teams left, but are they the four best teams left?
Uh? Yeah, Like I'm fine. I don't go like I'm not a Penn State fan because of their coach. But still they have a good quarterback, they got a good edge rusher, and they got a really good tight end. Like you can't deny that. But we've never like Penn State doesn't win these games. But they're winning these games this year. And credit to them because normally we go, hey, Penn State and then we'd be like, oh, yeah, they
bowed out. They're playing in the Gator Bowl. But here they are, and they're going to go toe to toe with Notre Dame. I would not be surprised if Penn State won that game. Texas has been good. Ohio State, you know, they they had the hiccup and they paid for but then they made Oregon pay for it. So I'm fine with where we are with the final four. I think it's a pretty good representation here. I'm okay with it.
Yes, all four teams with a buy eliminated. Yeah, what does that mean?
They're going to change that though, because you know two of those teams, Arizona State and Boise State next year, like if they had you know, the same resume, wouldn't get a first round by. That'll change. But you know, I'm not surprised at any of that. And then people say, oh Rust, you know Oregon had rust or Arizona State had Boise State had run. Okay, I mean, I don't know if you can say we don't want a first round by, we'll give it back to you. But you know,
to see Georgia and they weren't manhandled. I mean Georgia still and then there's some grown ass men on the defensive line, but Notre Dame. You know, they made plays. There were sixty seconds that changed the game at the end of the first half, in the start of the second half, that was it. And we wondered, you know, how many points is enough. We thought maybe two touchdowns would be enough for Notre Dame to win that game. I just didn't think Georgia could score and Notre Dame's
got a really good defense. But here is Georgia head coach Kirby Smart.
Any thoughts on all four teams that had buys losing in the first round.
Do you think that played a factor at all? I don't know. I lot me.
I look at the what Vegas says, and it went kind of with what Vegas said, you know what I mean, like at least in those two games, I guess ours was a I don't know where it was.
It was close, but you.
Know, two of those teams were better than the other teams, to be honest with you, you know, and that is what it is. That's more about the seeding process and where it is. But I'm not here to complain about anything. You know, given the opportunity, Notre Dame also their best defensive player, so I don't know how that's an advantage.
He's right about Vegas. This is what I keep telling you college football. You've embraced gambling, so now embrace Vegas to help you seed these teams. Because Vegas has no emotion, they have no opinion. They're not part of a fan base. Their fan base is the University of Money. That's all
they care about. That's it. So next year I would embrace how the Vegas oddsmakers view these teams of who should be favored, and then that will get you the seeding that will get you home field advantage a first round by That's the smart way to go.
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He is the parapatetic Dan Orlovski, always on the move, and in fact, Dan, where are you right now?
Nowhere that I know what peripatetic means? I know that, but I am. I'm just south of like I think Grand Central, on the way to Philly and then on the way to Baltimore.
Okay, so you're taking the Amtrak train.
You got it.
Okay, are you in the quiet car that you might get yelled at for talking?
We are going to find out. I have no idea.
Well, let's start with your game. What do you expect? Like, how important is this game?
Oh? I think it's a big deal.
I mean, obviously Baltimore wins, they win the division, you know, and they get to host the playoff game, and you know, that's a huge deal to them. It's a huge deal to Harball and Lamar, and Lamar's trying to cap off a very worthy MVP campaign as well, So it's a very big deal, you know. And I think that you know, if we're just being candid about the seating and you say, okay, well, if.
You win the division, will someone's got to go to you?
And it's more than likely going to be maybe, you know, you'll see what happens if it's Pittsburgh or if it's the Chargers or whatnot. And we ask them that like technically winning the Vision you might have to play the Chargers or the Steelers losing and not winning the division, you might get to play Houston. And I would argue most people would want to play Houston over the Steelers or the Chargers but I think they wanted to win this vision.
Okay, your twenty point favorites against Cleveland, Yeah, how did cleve?
Like?
Really, is Cleveland that bad?
Not individual talent wise, and certainly not defensively, you know, defensively when you look at their defensive ross and go, wait, a defensive Player of the Year candidate. And you've got linebackers that are really good. Grant Delpit's playing really good, Denzel Ward's fantastic. Now Denzel Ward's not playing, so that's part of that. They just are so poor offensively right now. Obviously,
multiple quarterbacks have played this year, Baby Zapi's playing. They don't really have somebody outside on the perimeter that's really impactful outside of Jerry Judy, who having a really good year.
But they I don't think.
They're that far off as a team, but they have obviously the massive question at quarterback in the future.
We're talking to Dan Orlovsky NFL Live and he'll be on the call. That'll be Saturday with the Browns and the Ravens, Chris Fowler, Lewis Riddick, Lord Rutledge Kickoff four thirty Eastern on the mother Ship and also ABC. You talked about Lamar being the MVP, how much confidence do you Is there any difference in your confidence level for him in the postseason as opposed to in previous seasons.
I would think that they're more equipped this year with the people that they have, you know, the addition of Derek Henry. In talking with them, both Lamar and Todd Monkin and Coach Harbaugh, they can't say enough good stuff. They can't bring up Derek's impact enough, and the way that in their words, you know, Todd Monkin stated it really well, was if we can just stay on track right, stay ahead of those chains he goes, it gates us
the opportunity to run the ball again. It doesn't negate the role of Derrick Henry, and I think that's a really big deal. So I think they have more answers the defenses and what they want to do against them. I think I'm way more confident in la I've always been confident in Lamar in that regard. More confident just because this is probably the best he's played and it's
the slowest the game's ever been for him. There's also the reality of being said that it's you got he's got to go do it when it's winner go home against you know, Patrick Mahomes if that's the case, and so when it's that game, he's got to go play his best football. And until he does that in that moment, it's fair to have that question.
Linger fill in the blank here. The Buffalo Bills only having two Pro Bowl players is blank.
A testament to the depth of their football team. It's a little bit of a testament to or a reminder that their division is not very deep. It's not loaded with really good teams. It's also a testament to how great Josh has played and how much his performance has really masked some of the I guess, the youth in their team that's developing, and also the injuries they've dealt with.
Should he win the MVP? Will he win the MVP?
I think he should.
Yes.
I think that there's a ton of guys capable of making the case for it.
There's probably three or four that are going to get a heavy amount of the votes.
I think that Offensive Player of the Year is a very statistical generated award. MVP has to be a visually justified or visually dependent award. You have to be able to watch what that person is doing with what he's given against what he's doing it against, and just evaluate, like how much you think that performance was necessary for that play to be successful, and then that obviously when to be successful.
So I think he will. I think he should.
I've said this for a couple of weeks now, Dan, if you want to vote for Lamar, that's one thousand percent justified. If you wanted to vote for Saquon if he was going to break the record, because I think it was going to be more realistic if he.
Did, thousand percent justified. I've said it last week.
If Joe Burrow somehow drags the Bengals to the playoffs, it's going to be hard not to vote for him. So there is the reality that it is a very difficult MVP Award vote this year. But I do think that because of all the things that I just mentioned, Josh is probably the one that I lean towards.
Yes, Sam Darnold is a pro bowler. Patrick Mahomes is not.
Who would have thought? Who would have thought? You know, everyone's making a big stink about that. I think if you asked Patrick in early November, late October was he playing good footballer to his standard?
He would have said no, has.
He probably had the most challenging road this year when it comes to everything that's been thrown at them, losing for she Rice, and you know, the overhaul of their offensive receiving unit and the offensive line specifically left tackling right tackle playing so poorly.
Yes, now he's played much more to his.
Style over the last six or seven weeks, and he's he's one of those guys that could be in the MVP conversation if we're just being candid about the MVP award and the reality of it. But you know, he didn't play his best to start the season. And Baker's been absolutely sensational this year. So I don't have a massive, massive issue with it.
Okay, but Minnesota has an issue here, a good issue here with keeping Sam. And then you have JJ McCarthy. I'll let you be the GM here in Minnesota.
Yeah, a month ago, I would have said, no, you know, we're gonna move on from Sam. I just a ten or eleven months removed from not wanting to pay Kirk Cousins a certain amount of dollars.
I don't want to change that philosophy. We really like JJ. We liked him coming out. He was really showing well in the preseason.
But I do think what's happened over the past couple of weeks is really hard to put value on how a team feels about a guy, how a locker room feels about a player, a leader. And you know, if you have that guy that's that you know now can play at a really high level and you have now the impact that is really cool to put your finger on in your locker room. You can see it, though, I think you got to have a conversation of keeping
them now. Is there a certain number you don't want to get to maybe and we all know that if you give it to their quarterback, the roster becomes lesser.
But I do think it's a conversation.
Uh, we haven't had a lot of conversation or it doesn't feel like there's a national narrative with defensive player of the Year. And I was wondering, tough one this year. Can Patrick certain of the Broncos steal this.
No question?
I mean, he's the best player at his position on a top three defense in the NFL, you know, and you know it will matter, it will matter if they get in that that just will to voters. You know, it's I do think that there is something too hard to vote for guys at those awards if the team is not in the playoffs. So that that's another reason why Denver's game is such a big deal. You know, you have to have his name very much so near
the top of your list. You probably have Miles Garrett near the top of your list and Zach Bond near the top of your list. Maybe Jalen Carter I would throw in Kyle Hamilton every If you remember not seven eight weeks in this season, the Ravens defense was terrible. I mean they were really bad, and all of a sudden, there was one change. Simply put, they moved Kyle Hamilton back to safety, and they've moved their best player further from the ball and it's made their defense one of
the best in the NFL. And if you ask anybody in that building, they say he saved their season. And I think for a team that is going to be, you know, likely a top three seed and a defense that is playing as good as anybody's in the NFL, to have people say that that move and that player saved their season, you've got to make sure that his name is.
Very much so in that conversation.
What do people talk to you about when they see you, Like you're on an Amtrak train going, you know, to Pennsylvania.
Most people that like come up to me say like one of three things. Number One, I love how much you and steven A argue, So that's a huge thing.
He's They're like, keep giving it to steven A. Don't let him. Don't let him say that to you too.
They say, man, love love your show, or love your work and this and that, which I'm super grateful. Four or three though, bring up like, hey, that really wasn't a fart on McAfee's show, was it. So those are like the three most most prevalent things.
So you have really strange eating habits. They're not bringing up stepping out of the end zone anymore.
Not much.
It really doesn't happen that now, mainly because I've probably had a couple more embarrassing things and since then. But no, the stopping the running out of the end zone has not come up often here and there, but not nearly as much as it did, say, two or three years ago.
I'm happy for you because it felt like it growth. Yeah, And you know, the first thing I always think of is that you cheated on your forty yard dash, that you had a like a thirty eight yard dash to improve your time. If you don't cheat on your forty yard dash, are you in this position at.
Esn Though not at all, No, not at all.
So it's a great lesson for the kids out there. If scounces are coming over, how about you measure out thirty eight yards with the cones and then you have a better forty yard dash time.
Dan, I think it's a lesson of whatever it takes. Man, Like, listen, whatever it takes. At some point we got we gotta go meet our creator and we got to, you know, have that moment of I did this and that.
But it's whatever it takes.
It's funny, dude, because on New Year's Eve, I'm not a big New Year's person, but New Year's Eve, my wife is. Our boys just turned thirteen on December twenty eighth. They have triplet boys and so three and our nine year old daughter or so. For years now, we've never been the big party family, but she always does like a game night with them, and on every hour leading
up to New Year she does this game. And so as they've gotten older, the games have evolved, and so we were with some friends this past time and she lined up like eight solo cups and we had.
To throw ping pong balls or ping.
Pong balls in today cups, and the teams have two in the first team to win was like the winner.
And I played me and my son.
Against two of his buddies, and these freaking kids were cheating left and right, and I was calling them out, like, you guys are freaking standing ahide the line and you're cheating or you're only supposed to.
Have one ball in your hand.
And so it's funny that you bring that up because they were like winning, and I'm like, you guys are freaking cheating.
Dude, Yeah, but you weren't drinking. This is usually what you do with just waterah yeah, just water. Wow.
Yeah.
It sounds like a crazy time and at the that is wild. Yeah. Well, have fun there with Baltimore and it was great to talk to you. Thanks for making time and your travel there. We appreciated his.
Course of course, boy can see man.
That's Dan Orlovsky.
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
He's Mike goli co host of Gojo and Golick on DraftKings Network and of course former stalwart with the mother Ship. Joining us on the program, Big Mike, Sam, Sam Darnold. Let's start with Sam Darnold. Listen, I'm back Claire of the Year.
I am.
I'm calling the Detroit Minnesota game for Westwood One Sunday, and the first thing I'm gonna do when I go on the field before the game is apologized to Sam because a few weeks ago I had talked on my son and I show that you know, is he going to fall to the you know level he had been or is he going to keep going? I was kind of questioning it, and he's been nothing but money. He has been absolute money. But no, he's not winning Comeback Player of the Year. That that that's for illness. That's
for injury. That should be stated. I know there's the other part that you just mentioned in the in the rules, but I think comeback player is for an injury or an illness.
What do you do if you're the Vikings. I don't know if you bring this up during the broadcast, but you know there are they in a good situation because you have this decision that you might have to make with Darnold and JJ McCarthy.
Oh yeah, it's a it's a great situation.
I mean, listen, we've seen Green Bay do it twice where they drafted a guy high and he sat for three or so years, and in Aaron Rodgers and Jordan love So and JJ's coming off of a need. Listen, you you got to strike while the iron's hot. Now the issue will be what deals does he get offered
from other teams? Are they huge money deals? Can you get away with a Baker Mayfield type of deal for Sam a three year, one hundred million, fifty MILLI guaranteed it would probably be more than that instead of a fifty million dollar year, which I'm not sure someone will give, but they might get close to that, thinking that that this guy has kind of recaptured that that first round thought. But if I'm Minnesota, I definitely try and hang on to him and I run it to its course. I mean,
if JJ sits, he sits. I mean, you have a proven guy, a guy who's proving it on the field, as opposed to an unproven rookie who's coming off of the knee.
Yeah, I would probably franchise him. And I agree with you. We brought this up years ago that the agents had to come up with a middle ground here. It was not we got to get sixty million or fifty five million like you had to be smart, and Baker Mayfield's agent was smart. You're getting paid, you're playing well, you're going to be in the playoffs. He'll get commercial endorsement like it. I just don't want Sam to price himself out of a great situation that he has with the Vikings.
I think, what Sam, and it seems Sam's a smart person. He also realizes what he has with Minnesota and if you get offered now again there's a lot of money and a little money depending on your preference of what you get offered.
But what he has with Kevin O'Connell, make no mistake about it.
Kevin O'Connell call him plays and the offense that he has is definitely helping to his success. While he's playing great, there are other factors involved and Kevin O'Connell is one of them. So you have to think, do I go to take more money and go to a lesser coach and lesser offense.
Yeah, and this isn't a quarterback heavy draft as well, so you know, I mean, this is the right place at the right time. Unless Sam Donald. If they would lose Sunday night and they go on the road and they play Tampa and they bow out or play the Rams and bow out, I wonder if that would have any impact on Sam Donald's future.
Well, I think it'll be on how Sam plays. Right right now, the offense is humming the defense, while the defense is is fourth worse than giving up pass yards, are fourth best in giving up points, and that's the most important thing, how many points that you give up. So I think it would depend on how he plays, even if they were to bow out early.
I'm looking at the Lions. The pressure on the Lions to win, to be the number one seed, to get a bye week and have home field advantage and the better chance to extend your season and then get some of these injured players back. When you're doing a game, like can you ask these questions of Dan Campbell or somebody with the Lions when you're doing the broadcast where they'll give you a little more information.
Sure you could ask, but they're not really going to give quite honestly, I mean, they're going to talk around it, and I think one of the most important players. Quite honestly, I'm concerned more for the defenses, especially Detroit's defense in these games. Both these offenses are high profile offenses, but the defense is the injuries Detroit has had. Now they have alexanders along the linebacker broke his forum, missed the last six games. He's in the twenty one day window
to come back, and he's practicing this week. But the thought is Dan Campbell said it was an eight week injury and it'll be seven weeks this Sunday. So do you bring him back early because they need him and especially in defensive pass coverage, they need him.
But do you risk him.
Re injuring it and being out for the playoffs or just trying to get the job done without him and still get the number one seed. But if you get the number five seed, at least you're still in the playoffs and he has another week to rest his forum.
Those are kind of the decisions that they have to make.
He's My Golick, co host of Gojo and Golick on DraftKings Network. You're Notre Dame fighting Irish Last night let's look at like a bigger picture here with the nil transfer portal where Georgia wasn't Georgia like they had been before.
Alabama is not Alabama, Clemson is not Clemson. And I don't know if this is a one off, Mike, or is it because maybe the playing field is leveling and talent is dispersed and you're not stockpiling three running backs at Georgia or you know, five defensive linemen you know at Alabama. Is this a one off? Or do you think we're peeking into the future.
No, I think we're peeking into the future for guys that are sitting. I mean, Gunner stocked in the backup quarterback is a rarity. He's with the program for three years, right and kind of was waiting his turn. Normally you don't see that, you see a guy transfer. So no, I think this is kind of the new era of college football. We saw the portal opened a few Mondays ago and within a week there was over two thousand players in the portal. So this is the new college football.
It's just a matter how much you want to use it. Like Dabos Sweeney has not used it a lot. Marcus Freeman said, Notre Dame will always minor in transfers.
They won't major in.
Transfers like they're already talking about next year. They won't go to a transfer quarterback. They had Sam Hartman now Riley Leonard, but now they'll use one of their younger quarterbacks. At least that's what they said. We'll see if they stay with it. But overall, I do think we had forty three different starting quarterbacks in FBS through the portal last year and I think that's going to continue.
See Notre Dame has figured it out. Though they bring in Sam Hartman, they bring in Riley Leonard. That seems to be the round to go instead of saying, now I'm going to raise an eighteen year old here.
It does. But I think they have CJ.
Carr who they really really like, and it seems like they're going to give him a chance.
Now.
That's not to say if there's a quarterback that they think fits their system that pops up in the portal that they won't still go for because you know what, the way it is now with the portal, you're.
Playing year to year, you're not playing for three years down the road.
Is Notre Dame likable.
Well, I think I think Marcus Freeman is likable, and I think that makes Notre Dame likable. He's he's the face of the program. Brian Kelly was this kind of this gruff guy who changed kind of his attitude halfway through when when people were tired of him turning purple on the sideline and yelling and it seemed like he was always yelling or mad. And Marcus Freeman is young, he's good looking, he's a great recruiter. Players love him, so I think people start to like because there's a listen.
There's always people that are gonna hate Notre Dame. But I do think that he brings up the the the rating, the Q ratings on Notre Dame because of Marcus Freeman.
But the fan base. When Brian Kelly left because he wanted to try to win national titles at LSU, was was there an outcry of you know, how dare you leave Notre They.
Were they were surprised that a coach left Notre Dame, because normal a coach would leave Notre Dame by retiring or being fired, never left voluntarily, So I think they were they didn't really miss a beat, They didn't really miss Brian Kelly, even though Brian Kelly's the winningest coach in Notre Dame history. You know, beat out Newt Rockney. I mean, so that's something. There's something to be said for that. But no, they they really didn't. Didn't really
bat an eye that he left. They were a little disgruntled that he chose to leave, and now it's kind of biting him. I mean, he left thinking he'd had better opportunity at LSU and here's a Notre.
Dame in the semi. So yeah, there wasn't there wasn't too much. Too much. Oh no, what are we going to do now when he left?
Who's the best team left in the final four? Oh?
I mean the way Ohio State's playing.
If Ohio State plays the way they played against Tennessee, uh and Oregon, I don't know who's going to beat them.
I mean it makes you go back to the Michigan game, like, how do you get that's coaching? To me? That your game plan you can accidentally score three touchdowns with that offense?
It is stunning.
Now, Michigan always has a very very tough defense, I'll give them that, but they don't really have an offense they rely on the running game so much. That was a stunning, stunning loss and really put Ryan Day's head on the chopping block. But he is more than making up for it. I mean, they're not just winning, they're blowing teams out. They're so explosive on offense, they're so stifling on defense. So they're playing the best right now.
I think it'll be Notre Dame and Ohio State in the title game, which would be interesting for Marcus Freeman since that's where he went to school.
Yeah, is Ryan Days? Is he still on the hot seat if he loses this game?
Man?
Dan, That is a great question because it's weighed so heavily. Losing to Michigan. Then it's like, Okay, you lost to Michigan, but hey, we'll take a national title overbeating over losing to Michigan. But if you fall short of that, I think he's safe. I think the two blowout wins saved his job. If it truly it was in the If he had lost the first game, I think there certainly would have been some some cries for it.
But I do think he's gonna be fine.
But if we didn't have this expanded playoff format, does Ryan Day. Is he still coaching Ohio State?
Probably not because they don't make the Final four, right, Yeah, And I would if they don't. If they didn't make the Final four and lost to Michigan for a fourth straight year, I would say he'd be gone because so much is put on that. But now that it is expanded and he has a chance to make up for which he is in spades, I think it'll save his job.
Good to chat with you again. Thank you, Mike, you got it. Damn it's big Mike Goldie