I'm a year. You could deal the weather.
This weekend, drop a little bit falls right around the corner. Utah Football, Big twelve Football, b YU football, college football.
Pro football is right around the corner.
And our next guest, it's been a minute, one of my favorites breakdown college football with now with our friends of the ACC Network, Our buddy from the old Pack twelve days is Max Brown. On a Tuesday afternoon, Max, I apologize about misbehaving with the clock.
How are you, buddy, No, it's all good.
It's all good. You made up for it with the PAC twelve intro. Always got love for that, never can never forget.
For sure.
But it still is weird. We don't have to re litigate. It's still just wild though. But let's start with what's new with you? So what is what's the college football season and schedule going to look like for you this year?
Max?
Yeah, switching up network networks. I was at the CW last year calling their full ACC package. It'll be a similar schedule for me, but now with the ACC network, So I'll have no ESPN be calling games with Chris Cotter over there, and it'll be a rotating schedule, so you know, sometimes the one pm kick, sometimes the four pm kick, but it'll be a lot of East Coast college football these days.
Good stuff, good stuff. Well out this way we are again.
I'm shaking my head as I say we're in the big twelve footprint because for so long we were in the back twelve footprint.
But it's year two for Utah. Max.
Let me just ask you, just macro standpoint, take it whatever direction you want to take it. What gives you the most confidence that year two for Utah will look much better than year one in the big twelve?
Yeah, just the history of what Ale Whittingham has been at that program, which I know you fans know well, but I think nationally sometimes sometimes people forget about that of just how obscure and how disappointing last year was and how much of a surprise it was. And I
don't think that'll happen again for Utah. I do think, you know, these past couple of years feel like, on paper, like that was the window if Utah was going to get that championship, whether it was a CFP type of win, whether it was a Rose Bowl type of win, might get Unfortunately, says that window may have passed, but I do think in the conference of autonomy these days, in the Big Twelve, there's no reason Utah can't be right
in the thick of things. And I think we were this time last year expecting that Utah would be the enforcers in the Big twelve. And hey, Big twelve, like, you know, get ready for the utes coming to town.
That obviously didn't come to Fruition last year. But I feel confident in a conference that doesn't necessarily have physicality across the board, there's no reason that can't be Utah's mo and you know, kind of sent a message to the rest of the conference still being someone of the new guys in that conference.
So Devin dan Pierre is the new quarterback and it actually is a little i would say relieving for the fan base.
Around here just to know who's going to be under center.
And he arrives in Salt Lake with his offensive coordinator for a year ago now it was New Mexico. Devin put up some good numbers last year, a lot with his legs. The throw game numbers, as coach, we would like to say weren't necessarily all that good. But what sort of challenge is does a step up in competition, pos and Max. What are you expecting from Devin dan Pierre under center for the Utes this year?
Yeah, right away, specifically with Dan Pierre, like because he's such a mobile quarterback and his legs being a factor, Like I would have still imagined that's obviously going to be a huge part of his game. But I do think it's a notch higher in terms of the athletes you're getting in the secondary and the athletes you're getting that linebacker. From a throw standpoint, which if Utah is going to be in Big Twelve title contention, I do
think they're gonna have to throw the rock. I anticipate, you know, games being more quarterback run centric, maybe a little bit ball control, lean on your defense, don't make mistakes and offense kind of thing and wear you down type of offense, which that's more how Utah was when I was in college. But I do think they're gonna have to throw the rock to win a championship, and i'd imagine that will be the biggest adjustment for Dan
Pierre coming into the next level. But you said it coming over with your offensive coordinator, it's becoming a trend in college football. You're seeing it at Oklahoma with Jeah Mattier and his offensive coordinator coming from Washington State. You've seen it in years past. I mean Diego Pavia at Vanderbilt last year took the college football world by storm.
He came over with his play caller and whatnot. So in my era when a quarterback was transferring, so much of the conversation with hey, they're gonna have to learn a new offense and that's going to be the biggest adjustment. That's not the case when you're coming over with your OC, which is a huge level up compared to the different era of recruiting.
Tell me Max, what you know about Ucla? Utah is opening opponent this year on the non con We'll be at the Rose Bull against Ucla.
We're still eighteen days away, but we already have odds.
Utah is about a touchdown favorite DraftKings right now has a minus six point five. So it's a road games first game for Devin. What you know the Bruins Utah's first opponent this season.
Yeah, they have the most noteworthy and I'm sure he's covered it with your audience with the most noteworthy quarterback transfer really of the entire offseason and Nico Yamalayava coming from Tennessee. A lot of controversy around that, obviously transfer and after spring because if you believe the reports, you hear that he wasn't getting the money that he wanted.
So welcome to new school Nil and transfer portal. But I would say from a Utah lens, I mean, the threat of what that team can be with Nico behind center, to me is a lot a lot scarier than where they were before him, obviously, or funny enough, I shouldn't say obviously, but Joey Aguilar was on track to be their starter. Nico comes in and so then Joey just transfers to Tennessee and it was a little musical chairs game there. But I think Nico's got a lot of talent.
I think He's gotten a raw deal a little bit from a perception perspective, because he was the first quarterback to be one of these multi million dollar guys coming out of high school. I mean, the number you heard from him out of high school is getting offered eight million dollars a year. So the expectations have been so high. They've been Hey, if you're not a first rounder in three years, what's going on the kid can still play. Does he need to get better for sure? Does he
need to clean things up for sure? Is he a top five quarterback in college football? No? But do I think he has the talent to potentially get there if things work out for him. Sure. The only problem is there's not a lot of talent around him at UCLA. So when you look at who those playmakers that he's going to be throwing the rock to or who's going to be running next to him, I don't know the answers to that. I don't They've lost some talent in the portal in their own right. That's concerning to me.
They lost J Michael's sturt event or go to receiver a year ago to Florida. I believe it was one of the one of the state of Florida schools, and so that to me is the biggest concern is I think Nico's got some talent, but I wonder what UCLA has around him. And so I'm from a Utah lens. I think it's an opportunity to, uh, you know, send a message. Week one.
So the Vegas odds to win the Big twelve depending on which sports book you look at. But it's more or less Arizona State, K State, Texas Tech, Utah, and Baylor as the five team. And look, we were all so wrong about this conference a year ago that they just decided to kill the Big twelve preseason media poll. So odds are what they are and preseason polls are what they are. But I guess the way I'll ask it, Max, is your tier one teams in the Big Twelve are who and why?
And as Utah in that mix.
That's hilarious. I actually didn't even know that. That's funnygether like, we picked ASU to finish last last year, so we're not going to have the terrible PR crisis what that was. That's hilarious. I mean the Tier one is probably as wide as any Tier one of any conference, which is what makes the Big Twelve amazing because I do think, you know, there's well probably five or six teams in there.
I mean maybe this is media West Coast byas. I still put Utah in that tier because of the upside of what Dan Peer can do, because of what Whittingham has done, and again I think last year was an outlier. I put Texas Tech there, I put Iowa State there, I put Kansas State there, and I probably put Arizona State there first too. Out For me, I had TCU, I called one of their games last year. I'm still
not there with them. I know people like Josh Hoover their quarterback, and then Colorado also has questions at quarterback. So yeah, to me, it's those five teams that I mentioned. I'm very intrigued with what Texas Tech is. I mean, big picture, I think Iowa State, Kansas State, Arizona State, like those are quality football teams you know, and to some extent what you're going to get. But Texas Tech, as I'm sure you've covered as absolutely rated portal as
you know, cranked it up a whole notch. And one thing that I don't think is getting covered as much with their transfer portal acquisitions as maybe should is they are betting on Baron Moore, their quarterback, to be the guy that can lead him to a championship, and they did not go to the outside and invest in a transfer portal quarterback, which I think a lot of schools
with that kind of money would have done that. I'm not saying Morton's a bad quarterback, but I'm saying, if you're gonna have an influx of millions of dollars that you did not have a year ago to your nil program. I think there's a lot of head coaches I would have tried to go get the big fish in the quarterback portal market. They didn't necessarily do that and invested those resources, and all the dudes around him don't. I don't necessarily know if it's gonna be a good or
bad strategy. I just think it's an interesting strategy because on paper, Texas Tech had a huge portal class and that's the team. That's interesting to me, Like when you look, hey, the past two years, what are the teams that have popped nationally that on paper, we probably could have projected that Indiana last year, Right, they had a lot of proven talent that came over and we dismissed it because it was Indiana. But then in hindsight, it's like, wait,
those guys were playing really high quality football. Yes, it would a level down, but we probably could have seen that pop coming better than we did. And then the year before that, I know a lot of West Coast people had Washington with Michael Pennix and Klin de Boor making a pop, but that was not a national storyline. I think it should have been, because when you look on paper, that was a Husky team that had NFL
prospects at every level. My point is when you look at Texas Tech and the damage they've done in the portal, I mean, they should be right in the thick of Big Twelve title conversations come November.
BYU a year ago they were picked to finish second to last and finish second in the conference. Further in the narrative of why we're no longer allowed to rank these teams pre season, but they lose their quarterback, Jake Rahtz laugh is now at TWU Lane. Of course, that story was wildly, you know, widely covered not just here locally but naturally with the honor coache stuff. It was certainly sticky and certainly messy. It sounds like Max they're going to start the bear Bachmeyer kid. I don't know
if you know anything about him. He's a freshman that spent some spring ball at stan Ferd. Aaron Rodgerick BYU's offensive coordinator badly wanted him out of high school. It sounds like he's gonna get that job over McKay Hillstead and Trayson Borgae, who sounds like he's the odd man out. B yu Well, ranked ahead of Utah in both the AP and the coaches poll, is eighth in Vegas and odds to win the conference even behind Kansas, just.
Ahead of Colorado.
Good defense, good coaching staff. What are you expecting this year from bringing me on?
Yeah, I'm waiting to see on the quarterback position. I think obviously anytime you're losing a starter that was super
successful for them, that's that's concerning. I do think, you know, it wasn't like Retslop was always the reason they were winning games, which would make me encourage if I was BYU where hey, maybe you know, if it is Bachmeyer, who I've covered his brother in person, called a couple of his games last year at Wake Forest, you know, if he steps in and he's the guy like you don't need to light the world on light the world
on fire. The thing that always is intriguing to me with BYU, especially in this transfer portal era where there is so movement, BYU's roster makeup is much more sticky and the culture is much more ingrained, rather than a lot of other programs have to reinvent their culture every single every single year because you know, there's a heavy dose of portal fluctuation for lack of a better term.
And oh, by the way, BYU is an older roster, which has always played a factor and has always been an advantage for BYU, but I think it's even more of an advantage in this era of college football. So I'm never counting BYU out. But obviously they got to find an answer at quarterback or I don't think they're going to be back in the back at the level they were a year ago.
Moving off to Big twelve and talking some big picture national college football, Texas is your number one team of both the AP and the coach's Paul of course, Steve sarkisian Arch manning a lot of buzz around Texas this year. Are they deserving number one? Do you think they're the best team in college football this year?
I do. I would have put them there. I was actually kind of a rise number one because everything I'm least listening to and reading it feels like most people have either Penn State or Clemson as their number one team. But I like Texas. I mean, I'm a believer in what Arch can be. I mean, I know you're I'm getting ahead of myself with that take, But I just
the brief action. We've seen everything you read, you listen, you listen to his interviews, like you know, I'm I'm bought in and and the hype there and and what he could be. But I think it'll be really interesting because this year, more than other years, there's a lot of big time programs rated inside the top ten that have a huge question that quarterback and what that quarterback
situation will be. You know, you got Notre Dame at six, Oregon at seven, Alabama at eight, who named their start today. Georgia is gonna be breaking in a new starter. I mean that's what five four teams there and Ohio State, So half the top ten has brand new quarterbacks. That's I feel like we haven't had that in years past, which obviously a lot of those starters are highly ranked guys.
But what's the upside Because if one of those teams is going to come up and win a national title, it's because Hey, the quarterback that we don't know anything about could be a guy that's the high upside guy. Like I know, I'm super intrigued with what Dante Moore could be at Oregon after sitting out a year and
being a former five star guy. I feel like sometimes people latch onto only what he was as a true freshman youngster at UCLA and forget a he was a big time recruit and he's not a finished product as a freshman. So those schools are fascinating to me. Like the Alabama's Organs Notre Dame Georgia with new quarterbacks, I think they have maybe a higher upside than some of
these other teams. And again obviously with Texas as well, but right now, middle of August, I do think Texas is a worthy number one team overall in the country.
Well, Voye said, you lose and your point about these schools breaking a new quarterbacks certainly a good one and certainly one we've covered a lot because BYU and Utah are also breaking in new quarterbacks. Penn State and Clemson are not, and they are two teams that did receive votes as the number one team in the country with Clad Kid Club Nick the Kid who I think a lot of people might believe might be the number one pick and Drew Aller, I think answered a lot of
questions last year for Penn State. How beneficial is that for those two teams really maybe the only two teams in the top upper echelon of college football that actually do have returning qbs.
Yeah, it's huge, it's huge. I do wonder though, like, because we fell into this trap as a media world last year, at least a lot of people did. I won't speak for you, Spence, but we we anointed Carson Beck this time last year as like the shirt fire number one overall pick in the NFL draft or at worst he's at least a first rounder. And how wrong were we with that? I mean, he's not even a
top ten quarterback in preseason list this year. And I wonder if we're doing the same thing with Drew Aller because he looks the part coming off the bus and he's obviously got a rocket arm. But man, sometimes I think, hey, Tyler Warren, you know, we underestimate the impact that he
had with the offense. And you know, we've seen two full seasons from Drew Aller, and sure he got better last year, but to me, he's not in that conversation yet of hey, where at cam Ward was as a number one overall pick, or certainly where a Kayleb Williams was as a number one overall pick, or even you know guys like a Michael Pennix that I know we've covered a bunch, like those guys still have a big
step to do. And Kate Clubnick, I think is deserving of being the top returning quarterback in college football, but again looking at the NFL, like his his legs are a huge part of his college game, I think his mobility gets minimized a lot in the NFL. So I think he's got to develop a lot as a pocket passer and like, show me that you can win games from the pocket, you know, leading two minute drills without your legs being a factor. That's when I think he
gets to the NFL ceiling. And again that's also why I'm intrigued about all these other new quarterbacks because I think as a media world, we're falling into a trap. We're like, we know what Kate Clubnick is, we know what True Allur is, So we're talking about those guys a bunch. We don't really know what Julian saying is at Ohio State. We don't really know what Notre Dame's quarterback situation is. So if those guys were to hit, it could totally change the complex of college football.
Max, you are the man. It's been too long. Always appreciate the time. I have a great week, ed and we'd love to chat soon.
Thanks buddy for sure.
Thanks Ben, appreciate you all right.
Max Brown, our old buddy from the PAC twelve network now landing with the ACC.
Always appreciate Max's time.
He's very active on social media, whether it's Instagram or TikTok or wherever the kids are doing these days. At Max Brown is where you find them. Brown is spelled with a knee.