Welcome to the Solid Verbal. I'll that for me. I'm a man, I'm forty. I've heard so many players say, well, I want to be happy. You want to be happy for Dake Ado State? Is that whoom whoom? And Dan and Tye welcome back to the Solid Verbal. Boys and girls. My name is ty Hilda Brandt. Joining me is always over there in beautiful New York City. My man, the one, the only Dan Rubinstein, Sir, how are you? I am so good.
I am so so so good and excited to be doing previews.
Tyler, Oh god, it feels so good.
Maybe it's just the hydration talking.
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good friend Peter. He runs the sub and folks are out there talking about each and every show that we do. Also, before we go too much further and steer too much into the acc twenty nineteen season, Dan our first preview for the coming year. Hell yeah, if you haven't already, the weekend of August the seventeenth and eighteenth, we will first be starting our Solid Verbal World tour in the great city of Dallas, Texas or a little bit north, I should say, to be prettyect W. Yeah, the DFW area.
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All of you. Speaking of college football stupidity, Dan, we have made it officially, well sort of, we have made it through the long, cold off season of college football. Yes, the summer is in the rearview mirror, at least in a college football since because starting today, right here, right now, we are launching our twenty nineteen preview series. We're starting with the ACC and, as long time listeners will know, over the course of time, we've evolved this format a
number of times. We've gone through by a division by team. Today, we're just going to simplify this, yeo. We're going to do all of the ACC. One episode might run a little bit longer than you and I are our custom too, but that's okay. We want to make sure that we have a self contained ACC show for any and all who are interested. We've put an extraordinary amount of research into this, and I think we're excited about the next couple shows where we actually get to talk about some on field stuff.
Yes, totally and completely true. The ACC kicks things off for us because it is America's Championship conference'.
That is the correct accent in America's.
That's what it stands for, America's Championship Conference. So our format is we're doing the entire conference. We've decided to split things up divisionally, and we are going to ask each other questions that we have about our own or the other person's division of quote unquote expertise that is correct.
So these are our burning questions to each other, sort of like we had with the Q and A, where we came up with our own cues and a's and we're using that to discuss America's Championship Conference.
I have not written out, at least not yet, a full on role playing series for the ACC or really any conference, but I'm not ruling it out because, as you know, these preview episodes sometimes take a bit of a left turn.
I don't want to rule that out in ACC game like a Dasio's Dungeon, So the dice.
The way, thank you, the way that we've broken this up up. You're gonna ask me questions about the ACC Coastal or as we know it here and love it here, the ACC Postal. Everybody's far and far. I am going to ask you questions about the ACC Atlantic or the so called ACC Fatlantic.
Yep, this is true, and I believe Christian Wilkins. Yeah, I was gonna say, thanks to Christian Wilkins, there's something beautiful about the Fatlantic.
So Dan, I guess we're a little bit undecided on what sounds we would like to use to lead into right, all this great information here could go breaking news, go, Picks of the week, could go lightning, round, shootout, murdered. What are you feeling?
Just do what anybody knew to playing Street Fighter two would do and just mash those buttons on your soundboard.
That actually came out.
Okay, you know what, that's not bad, and there is a Patriot League tie in and we'll get to it.
That's true. Wow, pretty good.
That's I mean, you could put the hypothetical one just because it's a questioning sound, but I don't know if you have.
That loaded up. I will find it before you put it in post. Put it in post. So, Daniel, I want to start by asking you a very important question.
Are we going back and forth or are we going division and then the other division.
I'm just going to see where the where the show takes us down. Let's do it.
Let's get in the gondola of information.
I want to talk about Clemson. Okay, perhaps a bit of a cliche start to this show, but I refuse. Okay, here's what I want to know about Clemson. Yeah, I want to know with all of their turnover on defense. Mm hmm Okay, we can talk three levels, all through levels. Does that to you, as the newfound expert on the ACC Fatlantic, does that represent any kind of significant step backwards in terms of production, in terms of expectations? What does it mean for the twenty nineteen rendition of the
Clemson Tigers? Define significant?
I would define what does government mean to you? No, what I would mean by significant is does it mean we're going to see I don't know, a twenty point or a twenty place drop in their SMP plus defensive ratings? Is their defense going to get noticeably worse? Now that We're going to have so many new faces playing on that side of the ball. So are they going to fall down to merely really really good or fall to excellent instead of they are all assassins and never blink.
Instead of being the number two defense, are they now going to be number twenty two something like that? Okay, which is still very good. But short answer is they won't fall that far. I don't believe. No. The short answers no.
The losses up front are significant, and I think it will change how they play defense a little bit. Perhaps they bring more pressure because they can't count on Cleveland ferle I forget how they pronounced that officially, but and Austin Bryant off the edge and then you know everything Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence did in the middle. So they're not going to be able to trot out a team within a team in the way that they've been
able to do these past couple of years. But Clemson's participation levels and rates on their defense, especially it's through the roof. They get in so many guys both when the game is on the line and not because they happen to blow out a number of teams. So they get a number of people on the field, So whether it's I think there's two Xavier's, but Xavier Thomas is the big one. And then whether it's Justin Foster, whether it's you know, Darien Kendrick who's now switching from receiver
to corner. Like throughout the defense, they're working in guys who either have a ton of promise or have played a ton for this defense. So I think the big difference will be how much they trust the defensive line to do things alone, but results wise, against the offenses they're going to be facing at least after Texas A and M and I technically before Texas A and M with Georgia Tech, there will be a drop off, but
nothing noticeable to the eye. It'll be like a magic eye drop off where you're really gonna have You're really good.
At those, right, I'm very good at those.
Yeah, you're gonna have to squint, You're gonna have to dive deep. Situationally, there's just too much talent there, you know, there's too much continuity with the coaching staff. And we've seen this before with Clemson. We're going into the season.
We're like they lost ten of eleven start and like up just as good because so much of defense is effort and confidence going both ways, players being confident in the defensive staff and the defensive staff being confident in letting their own players loose and trusting them to execute a game plan. So with who they're facing, with how they've recruited, you know, they bring in the number one, two, three,
defensive linemen whatever, each and every year. It's great that Isaiah Simmons is coming back behind the line they're leading tach last year, even with a couple of losses that linebacker behind him. The secondary is mostly intact. If you remember the pick six against Bama with aj Terrell, there's a lot, there's a lot, Yeah, And I mean so I don't see any sort of WHOA what happened kind of drop off.
Yeah, And look, it was sort of a rhetorical question. I think everyone who listens to the show totally fair knows the answer already. But it's a question that frankly needs to be asked. This is a team that went fifteen to oh last year. Of course, they won the national championship, beat Notre Dame in the playoff, beat Alabama in very convincing fashion. In that championship game, and now they bring back a lot on the offensive side of
the ball. We talked here about defense, and I'll go back to that in a second, but so many key contributors are coming back on the offensive side of the ball. Not to mention Trevor Lawrence potentially a Heisman front runner. He into a tongue of I Loa, potentially duking it out for the Heisman. They are the odds on favorite,
at least at this early juncture in the preseason. Also got Travis etn maybe the best running back in college football, t Higgins justin Ross they're back, and Maari Rodgers got hurt, maybe back later in the year, but still has eligibility so huge. The point here is that so much of that potential and offense is coming back that at least to some degree, looking at the schedule, it will definitely balance out any rough spots will have in the beginning
with the defense. But look, replacing four guys on that incredible defensive line, their top three linebackers, five of their top six tacklers as a whole, there's going to be a bit of an adjustment. I like that you bring up the fact that Brent Venables is so good at working in a rotation. That's part of his brilliance as a defensive coordinator. It's played a huge role in building depth, in building this sustained success that we've seen now under
Daboswiny and Brent Venables at Clemson. So I think Clemson's in a great spot. The schedule's favorable. I don't know if you look at the schedule at all, they do. And I have an order of threats that I'm curious your opinion about. So the three games that jump out to me, you got Texas A and M in week two. You've also got a road game at South Carolina on
November thirtieth. The one that I'm most intrigued by, I don't know if it's the biggest threat, but the one that I'm most intrigued by is actually in week three. It's the week after that A and M game. Everyone's going to be amped up for A and M at home, but then the very next week Clemson on the road at Syracuse. Should be a pretty good Syracuse team, And I don't know if it's going to be a letdown spot there, but at least the dish juncture in late July. There's some potential there.
Dan, Yeah, hard to believe that there's going to be a letdown against the team they almost lost to last year and did lose to the year before. I think they're going to be ready. This is a not a championship caliber team. This is a championship team. So my order is Texas A and M Syracuse, South Carolina, though I think South Carolina is better, Yes, Syracuse, I think situationally, Syracuse is in a better spot to win that game. And then at the end, just in terms of potential,
Florida State, but that's that's pretty far after. So that's my order of threats because there's not much you can point to one offense. Mitch Hyatt's gone, but they've recruited the line really, really well, and the second half is pretty much cake until South Carolina. And I believe both Florida State and Clemson have buys before that game, So the Florida State threat is pretty pretty microscopic. So that's where I'm at. At worst, they're going they go eleven and one.
I agree, you look across the board at all the positional groups. Probably the best quarterback. I think he's the best quarterback in the league. Best running back, best wide receiving core, best line, best defensive line, maybe in the top two if you want to go that far. At linebacker, at defensive back, they're the best defensive line in the conference. Oh, I think it's up there.
I got I mean, certainly up there. I can't I can't name them right now when Nina really played significant, significant snaps.
Yet it's either them or Miami. Yeah, it's one or the other. I think Syracuse has a couple really good. At Syracuse is good. We'll get this. There's a couple of conversations to me. The point is Clemson is still very good. Still your odds on favorite for sure to win their side of the conference and probably the conference as a whole. No, not probably full on favorite. They are the favorite.
Yeah, where would you like to go next? You want me to ask you a question? Do you want to stick at Atlantic?
Now ask me a question. Let's go post right here.
Let's start with what I believe to be not the most important, but maybe the most interesting team in the in the postal Georgia Tech. Because this is, as you know, because you own a hat, an Orange Bowl caliber program.
I do.
Yeah, so, Jeff Collins takes over for Paul Johnson, meaning the option done with in Atlanta, Atlanta, is there reason to believe Georgia Tech's offense.
Because I think the defense still is a long way.
To go as well, but won't look like a group of newborn giraffes coming together to play an organized sport as they go dramatically away or at least a little bit at a time away from that flex bone.
Yeah. So it's been interesting because when Paul Johnson stepped down, he himself was talking to a similar point, and his spin at the time was, Hey, these kids are still football players. Like they didn't play this system that we just ran when they were in fifth grade. They were recruited to a system, but there's still really good football players. And the larger implication that he was driving towards was they can play in any system, right. Can somebody throw
the ball forward? Can somebody throw the ball forward? Right? Yeah? And you know these things, they all sound fine, and they're very inspirational, and of course that's the kind of thing he's going to say. But at some point, Dan, at some point, the rubber meets the road, and that's when you get the real transition. Which is essentially what
you're asking about here. How is this personnel going to adapt to Dave pat Node's system on offense because he wants to achieve more balance, He's not going to run that option. The truth is, Dan, we've got quarterbacks recruited to an entirely different system. We've got inexperienced wide outs, we've got an offensive line that, frankly is used to blocking for the run and not so much the pass.
The vision that I keep having in my head is, remember when Dennis Northcutt was playing quarterback for the Cleveland Browns for that brief moment in time, very vaguely, And it wasn't all that successful because Dennis north cut was wide receiver, right, But damn if it wasn't interesting, Yeah, damn if it was, and at least exciting enough to keep you interested to watch to see what was going to happen with the Browns and offense.
We've all rooted for teams that have put somebody under center or in the shotgun where we've thought, I don't know if this guy is the guy. He looks like a left fielder coming into the mouth, right, what's happening?
Just like a lot of wildcat concepts that maybe somebody could throw it, and if they do, we'd be interested in seeing seeing what happens there. I remember the Chris Harper era at Oregon very well. Sure I feel that way about this version, this twenty nineteen version of the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets. It's going to be a transition. It's probably going to be ugly, okay. I So on offense, I guess the answer to your question is that, to some degree, yes, it's going to be a flaming bag
of you know what. But look, there are questions on defense along the line as well, and they're young, but it should be a pretty okay defense. Jeff Collins knows how to coach at least that side of the ball. There are pieces there. They're going to hold their own. That's a bright spot. I don't want to focus on the negative so much, but I think defense is a bright spot. I like what Jeff Collins has done. He's a guy who was born in Georgia. He's had two
stops at Georgia Tech. He has really steered into the fact that Georgia Tech is in Atlanta. He's gone full on Atlanta with the branding of this Georgia Tech.
I think waffle House Wednesdays, like on the video series on their website waffle.
Yeah, he's doing that. He's tweeting about Big Boy right like he's he's fully indoctrinated into Atlanta. And I think that's a smart move to try and just brand this program a little bit differently. There are still gonna be weird things, like he said, he said, Tech's not gonna have a depth chart. Instead, They're going to have something that he's calling the quote unquote line, which is quote a measure stick that will judge whether players are ready
to play. M hmm, a little too like New Age Herm Edwards for my liking, but hey, he's trying to start something new. The schedule certainly is not doing them any favors, if you got that up. But it's not. It's not doing them any favors. They open at Clemson week one home against Georgia last week of the year. Tough book in there. But the answer to your question, very long windedly, is it's gonna be weird, but it could be fun and there are some bright spots and I really like Jeff Collins.
So by the end of the season they could be full on adolescent giraffes and not newborn's struggling to find the ground under them.
I think that's right.
Yeah, I think that's you mentioned the line, and I'm gonna connect Georgia Tech to something that you have buried deep within the recesses of your memory. If the line for success is be better than Demetrius Jones, Notre Dame, Oh God against Georgia TI trying to all of the sudden install a new offense on the fly, is do you think the line can be above that by mid season?
Probably not mid season? Probably not. How many points did they score in that game? Three? I blacked out? But yeah, I mean, look, there's a lot of talent, but it's just it's for a different system. And I do subscribe to the notion that these are still athletic kids. They still know how to play football. They're football players first and not option players first. Rue. I mean, just there, it takes a while. This is not easy stuff to
just pick up. You can't study it overnight and then get all the machinations down the next day when you go out for practice. It's just it's gonna take a while to set in. I think Jeff Collins is a good defensive coach, which is going to help pick up some of the slack for the offense. But it's just going to take a while till they adjust to Dave Patnode's system. I want to feel old, not particularly, but go ahead. Georgia Tech's running back in that game to
shard choice. The great to shard choice is now Georgia Tech's running backs coach. Wow, Okay, shall we move thirty three to three?
By the way, so that's the bar for success, being able to score more than three points against the two thousand and seven version of themselves.
It's very incestuous. I apologize, Dan. Let's move on. Okay. I want to talk about the Syracuse Orange. Let's you familiar with something called the Ewing theory.
Yeah, I am. I mean I for college football. I like the Manning theory. The Manning theory t Martin winning the national championship after Peyton Manning.
So the Ewing theory is Bill Simmons thing about Patrick Ewing and Patrick Ewing not playing for the Knicks and the team got better essentially with him not on the court. But the Manning theory I think we could apply here as well. Peyton Manning leaves. What happens the very next year tem Martin, Tennessee Volunteers win the BCS Championship. They're the first BCS champion, right yep. This year for Syracuse,
Eric Dungee star quarterback, big kid, he's graduated. And now Tommy DeVito, who I'm still gonna try and call him in a guttada Vito.
The Chris bermanization of Ty hilden Brand is complete.
It's not full Berman. I think it's catchy, okay, continue, de Vito is taking over the Dino Babers offense. He's a different quarterback. He's fast, but he's not quite the runner of Eric Dungee. Is Syracuse now a better team on offense despite the fact that Eric Dungee, who was so good for them for so long, is now officially off the team.
Eric Dungee was not a great passer. I would go as far as saying he was below average, but coupled with his running, he was a plus at quarterback for sure. On big games with him, you know what they have. I think both the quarterbacks played against Florida State in the very comfortable win last year. Tommy DeVito looked very good against North Carolina real Roff both looked real rough against Notre Dame.
Yeah. The reason I'm hesitant is the offensive line has questions. They're okay.
At receiver, they lost a big piece to transfer, They're okay. I like mo'neil some at running back. One of my bigger questions is what does this offense actually look like? Because Eric Dungee ran the ball so much. I think I saw I was twelve or thirteen non sack carries a game. So that's either going to a running back or it's going to a running back via screen or swing pass, sort of how Washington State uses their running
backs in a more wide open passing offense. I don't think Tommy DeVito will be running in the way that Eric Dungee did. I like DeVito's arm talent. I like him as a talent, but to run that system, you got to have the bodies, you got to have the star power. And I think they're fine. They were great special teams which affected few position last year. There was a lot to like about Syracuse's I think they finished nine to three in the regular season. I think they
take a step back. I think Tommy DeVito is like two thirds good and a third kind of rough around the edges. So I have here on my little document, You have Syracuse, then I have your question and the way I interpreted his touchdown Tommy or Tommy Defedo, and I'm not.
Proud of it.
I hope we don't have to call him Tommy Defito, but it really worked out quite well with his last name. So I think they're a step behind. I think he'll be fine, but I don't think he's going to be the gamer that Dungee was necessarily in huge spots. So I have them going from nine wins to about seven. All to say, still good, still dangerous against whoever they play, especially since Clemson's coming to Western New York. The defensive line real nice position to ask. You mentioned this on
the Dude episode. The pass rush should be good. There are elements that I'm not crazy about, but Syracuse actually tightened up really well last year on third downs and in the red zone, so situationally and special teams wise, there's a lot to like about what they showed last year carrying forward, so I still think they're a bowl team. I still think if they get a couple of breaks at the end of games against you know, the ACC is fine, but it's nothing crazy stacked. They could get
back to eight wins. I still think they're a tick worse than they were last year.
That's fair. You mentioned the line, I'm going to call these guys out again, but Alton Robinson, Kendall Coleman, those are the names to watch along the line. And Syracuse actually has a ton of guys coming back who played as freshmen. Yeah, last year. You look at their defensive backfield, mostly freshmen, really good, almost surprisingly, so they're pretty much all back. Andre Cisco is the guy in the defensive backfield. He's a sophomore and he's already stars ballhawk back there.
Keep your eyes and ears open for that name as you're watching ACC football. This year could be interesting against some of the competition, most notably Clemson very early on in the year. So you know, Syracuse won nine games the regular season, they won ten if you count the ball. There is another school of thought. Of course, this was a breakout year for Dino Babers, and he's got a
lot to be excited about. There's a I guess more negative school of thought around what Syracuse did in twenty eighteen, and that is that you should temper the results that we saw in the field, given the fact that it was sort of a down year in the ACC as a whole, you could make that case. But you still got to win that last year. Yeah, I still gott to win the games in front of you. I like Syracuse to win nine again this season. I like where they're at. I do. I feel good about what Dino
is building up there. I like Tommy DeVito. Tommy Defto might be a bit extreme. If in a gotta DeVito is eighty percent of a full Berman, that's at least seventy percent. That's such an old reference. Though we span generations here on the show. You know that it's true. That's true.
So the biggest threats outside of Clemson for Syracuse, if I'm guessing, if I'm putting words in your mouth, are NC State Florida State. Would agree that they're both on the road or some combination of their October of NC State pit Florida State.
I like Syracuse. I think they finish second in the Fan nine attic. Okay, fair enough, Can I ask you a question? Please? Boo doo dooo do do Boo doo doo.
Another team that is certainly worth talking about. In terms of changes at the top, It's got to be Miami.
Caine's baby c Ans former.
What Mississippi State Louis is an attack Texas Temple ESPN coach Manny Diaz. So job number one obviously discovering a clean burning, renewable source for swag fusion, Yes, swag fusion.
What is job number two?
If Miami's challenging for the postal with I think a lot coming back on defense and not so much on offense. Job number one is definitely the clean burning swag Yes, always, always, always, always. Job number two is getting more consistent quarterback play. Because last year they were not that far off from having a much better season. They could have gotten a little bit more at the quarterback spot. It stayed healthy out wide, it would have been a much different story. I'm being facetious.
You get the wow.
Okay, I think the same holds true at quarterback this year. Now, what I like is that Manny Diaz brought over Dan Enos as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. Opened some eyes when he came over from Alabama, but that was a really good move. He's been working since he got on campus to try and rebuild that quarterback position the Canes last year. Listen to this six point one yards
per attempt. That was one hundred and sixteenth nationally. Almost as bad as Kansas, not quite right, too close for comfort, point two yards better than Kansas. If you're a betting man, if you're looking at the quarterback position this year, I still think you look at Nikosey Perry wasn't great, wasn't great last year, but showed flashes. He's probably your starter on August twenty fourth, in week zero is what we call this now, and they square off against Florida. He's
got the most experience. But don't forget Tate Martel came down from Ohio State. He transferred in. He's immediately available. Also Jaron Williams, red shirt freshman. He is still in the mix as well. If you listen to the way Manny Diez tells it, I.
Don't think Tate Martel is that good. Could well be he's going to be starting, but we'll see. So then is their confidence from what you can tell in the combination of dan Enos and a good amount of skill talent albeit raw at Miami, and improvement at quarterback because you were very kind, albeit I guess facetious in what
Miami looked like near the end of the year. Offensively, it was back with getting a good yeah, getting a good performance from their defense regardless, and still not being able to pull out games.
Is there reason?
Like obviously, you know, coming out of camp and things like that and press conferences and media day, But we're like, well, let's you know, it's a new year, it's a new blah blah blah. But it's gonna take somebody better than to Cocy Perry, isn't it. I would think so, or at least a better version of to Coocy Perry. Yeah, And quite frankly, there are just still a bunch of unknowns about how these guys are going to look in this system. I like the fact, though you mentioned the defense,
we have to bring that up many. Diaz has done a couple of things all right.
Firstly, he went out and used a transfer portal, maybe more so than any other college football coach, to add bodies just about every position to build depth. And he did so on defense where he's really going to need it because they're a little thin. They're good at the good starters, yeah, good starters, talented on the top line, But a little thin defense is going to be the strength of this team. Miami won of just nineteen teams last year to allow fewer than twenty points per game.
They led the nation and tackles for loss, which is a staple of many Diaz defense. And then they went out and they hired Blake Baker away from Louisiana Tech to run the defense, someone who's very like minded, shares that same defensive mentality with Manny Diaz. Turnover loock from twenty seventeen wasn't quite there in twenty eighteen, but we still know that this is an aggressive defense. They like to take the football away or remember the turnover chain
thing it gripped the nation two years ago. Didn't quite carry over, but this is This is a defense that likes to get behind the line of scrimmage and affect the point of attack. So I think that as a bedrock for where Manny wants to take this team in twenty nineteen is important. There is talent on offense, it's just about assembling the pieces, getting better quarterback play. And I think we also need to mention the offensive line. The offensive line is a bit of a work in progress,
not exactly sure which direction that's going to go. But if they can get better quarterback play, if they can figure out that offensive line and feel more confident about it, I think twenty nineteen is a successful campaign in year one for many das.
You actually mentioned one more thing that you wanted to talk about about Manny Daz.
You're talking about his hair.
Well, yeah, Ty, obviously, if there's anybody who's going to talk about a coach's hair on this show, maybe steal that thunder.
Maybe the best head of hair, maybe better hair than Bob Biaco Wow an air to the throne. See, because here's the thing about Manny da the diac here's the thing about Manny Diaz. Bob Diaco didn't use this degree of product in his hair, right.
Do you think that's the performance enhancing No, I'm saying sometimes it reveals your flaws.
You put a little too much product, It clumps together, it doesn't look quite as thick. Manny Diaz still puts the product on and he's got like a full on four layer mane up on top of his head. He's like, Mufasa, did you go through a period of time in your life where you put a lot of product in your hair, like high school, middle school, something like that. You know, I did a little in college, and it was totally inadvertent. I didn't realize until I was in the workforce that
I was going a little bit overboard. Little heavy, little Paul heavy, little heavy. No, not Polly d That's not not that heavy.
I'm a little bit worried about the amount of product he uses in the Miami sun because when you create a helmet effect like that, Yeah, yeah, it can keep the steam in and then you start to drench.
And it's unfortunate. He's from there. He is from there. He's from there, and he saw that his dad was the literal mayor of Miami in the early two thousands. This is like welcome home Scott Frost on steroids. Yeah, you'll hear more about that in an upcoming show. But he did go to Florida State. Yeah, he went to Florida State. But he's from Mia. I think he knows how to handle himself in the hot, hot sun of South Beach. Next question, I want to talk about Florida State.
He mentioned them briefly there with Manny Diaz. Yeah, okay, so Florida State's offense kind of a mess last year? Am I right? M HM one and thirteenth in points per game, one hundred and tenth in yards per play. There was already after one year some chatter that Willie tagger could be on the hot seat after that performance
five and seven didn't make a Bowl. Do you have confidence, Daniel that the offseason moves Willie Taggarts made are the right ones for Florida State leading to a more productive second season.
Is Larry Allen going to play guard or State this year? Because if so, now we're talking you would be held retired larger state.
You're talking yes that.
I mean they can only go up from where they were upfront offensively last year. And I don't think Walt Bell was a great fit necessarily for Florida State. The running game took ahead. Everything took ahead, and it started with the offensive line. The injuries, the attrition, the misevaluation going in. Everything that could have gone wrong basically went wrong. For the offensive line. They bring in Kendall Briles. I don't want to be saying that last name all season long.
Maybe they bring in the Stephenville Texas offense Stephenville High, but it's it's an offense that has proven what we saw at Baylor, what we saw at FAU and Houston last year with de Eric King. It has to go upward. I know Willie Taggart has a history with him. Offensively, they get in, I think a couple new linemen from transfer, a grad transfer, Ryan Fitzpatrick. I believe James Blackman is another year older cam Akers should be better and it has to be better. It just had they they bring in.
I think it's Randy Clements who comes with Kendall Briles from Houston, new offensive line coach. So yes, the the offseason moves have to be improving this Florida State squad. Defensively, I think it's going to be a little bit trickier. The secondary has to be better. This is it's a bad sign when there are two position groups going in where you say, how could they get worse? How could they stay on the same level? How could that possibly
happen in this universe? They they've sorted things out. I think in the secondary, moved safeties and corners back and forth to find the right fits. The talent is there the offensive line, even if the offensive line has just said, well that's their weakness. Even if it's that matter of fact. Florida State will be better, even if it's not saying it is a void with a depth that is not seen by modern science.
Right right, that's an improvement.
So the line seven eight wins, seven eight wins feels like a really nice step forward.
The line was dreadful a year ago. It can't get any worse. In twelve games, Florida State started nine different combinations of linemen. Mm hmm. That was not a recipe for an efficient offense. No, not at all, not in the least bit. It can only get better along the offensive line. It looks like it's going to be James Blackman. We'll mention him again. I caught some flack earlier in the off season when I said that Alex Hornybrook would
be a clear upgrade over James Blackman. Sounds like James Blackman is going to be your starter to be determined, to be determined, sure, I mean basically, if Kendall Briles can figure out a way to get the ball creatively to Cam Akers and to Mary and Terry quickly that you're already talking about a step forward.
Defensively, they lose their best pass rusher and Brian Burns. I think they sort things out pretty nicely at linebacker, and we mentioned the secondary. They've got promising guys in the middle. Marvin Wilson, I think was a former If he wasn't the number one overall recruit, he was like two or three a couple of years ago, and so
he has potential to have a breakout season. So they should be in a pretty good place if they can maintain health and come into this season with that full reboot mentality.
It is not the easiest schedule, though. They've got Boise State in Florida to bookend their season. The Boise State game is going to be really interesting right out of the shoot. Week one neutral site game I use neutral siting quotes has played in Jacksonville to see what Florida State's got right out of the shoot. In between the start and finish of the season at Virginia, at Clemson home against Miami, there's a Syracuse game just sort of
hanging out in there, which could also be interesting. So I agree with you seven to eight wins. It's certainly not where Florida State wants to be longer term, but I think you're looking at this, you have to look at this from the perspective of is our line going to get better? Is our offense going to feel better than it did a year ago? How is that secondary
going to look? If you see noted improvement across the board, as a Florida State fan, I would be really encouraged, because, let's be honest, Clemson is still a buzzsaw this year. You want to have a good season, want to feel like it's going in a good direction. You want to eventually catch Clemson. He ain't going to catch him in twenty nineteen. No.
And it's, by the way, Ryan Roberts, not Ryan Fitzpatrick. All that would be great if Ryan Fitzpatrick was playing right tackle, sure for Florida State, be wonderful.
All right, where are we going next year? Okay? Back to the back to the postal? Sure? Okay, Okay.
This surprised me. Maybe it's just because it's been so many months since the season, but last year's best coastal quarterback was and please don't look up the rest of them, Bryce Perkins Virginia. Yeah, he led the postal in yards per attempt, rating, completion percentage. He was the dude, and you know, led a surprisingly fun Virginia season that fell just short after they lost to pitt I believe in a bunch of muck that was like a really ugly weather game.
Does that hold?
Does Bryce Perkins maintain his position atop the the coastal quarterback rankings? And please show your work, tie.
Please show me like this is a rubric? Yeah, yeah, the answer is I have the proof. The answer is yes, both, Okay, enthusiastically, because I believe it. He was really good last year and also simply by process of elimination. If it's not him, then who Kendall Briles and James Blackman. Oh other side, right, wrong side, Ricky Tricky. I guess you could make a case for Ryan Willis, but that's a tough sell. We'll
get into Virginia Tech here, Yeah, a little bit. Perkins was one of only two players last year with more than twenty four hundred passing guards and eight hundred rushing guards. The other guy won the Heisman Trophy and was drafted number one overall into the NFL. Right, I'm not saying Bryce Perkins is Kyler Murray, but would I take him over to Cosey Perry or Kenny Pickett or Sam how of course they would of course, Sam how sorry, Yeah, yeah, Okay,
Virginia last year seven to five. They shut out South Carolina in the Bowl Game. I know I've told the story before about Broncomenen Hall, but he was one of my favorite interviews that we've ever done on this show. The question then.
Always takes as a coach talking about pizza and Ty and I are submitting it was pizza and it was his son's names.
Remember has great great son names. Yeah. But the question then was how is he going to acclimate to a place like Virginia where he doesn't have a ton of familiarity, or didn't have a ton of familiarity, didn't have the recruiting inroads that everyone thought he needed. R How is he going to adapt? And of course all that stuff helps, right, But what's becoming clear now is that Bronco just knows what he's doing. Maybe he's just a good coach. He's
just a good coach. Right. Yeah, they've improved each of his first three seasons in Charlottesville. It stands to reason that they're going to improve yet again because there's a lot coming back. I think a lot of twenty nineteen comes down to whether the offense can create big plays and whether the defense can stop big plays. That was a thorn in their side on both fronts from a year ago. But eight starters back on defense, a really
good secondary. They're at Notre Dame, They're at Miami right in the middle, right in the media part of that season. But you look at this Virginia team and I think there is a ton of reason to be opt to mystic here for them to take another step forward another year under Bryce Perkins, Bronco menden Hall, a lot back on defense. I am very optimistic about the who's in twenty nineteen.
Okay, I'm glad to hear it, because Virginia was hanging around in a very strange way last year where I think if they had beaten Pit they were either going to clinch the Coastal or would clinch the Coastal sure, and just just hanging around the musical chairs or sliding out one by one was like, oh hey, hi, Virginia, And it would have been wild if they won the Coastal and the basketball team wins the national Championship in the same year, probably could have gotten some some decent cash on that.
The thing is, though you look at Virginia and it's been a while since his program was notable. Yeah, it really has so to see them bubble up the way they have now under Bronco mended Hall. There is definitely a tendency among fans to look at them and not take them seriously, like it's some sort of flash in the pan. And maybe they maybe they are are the beneficiary of a weak ACC. Virginia was good, they were legitimately good last year. They're gonna be legitimately good again
this year. And I'm excited to see what they can do because Bryce Perkins, as I said, best quarterback in that side of the ACC.
Barnunn shout out to Continental Divide, shout out Little John's, shout out the Belmont all great in Charlottesville.
That's all I'm excited about Virginia this year. All right, better do better, do better. D Daniel, I have a question for you. I'm ready. Tell me about your experience with Indochino. Oh, that is a loaded question. You went to get fitted, did you not? I did go to get fitted.
There is a place to get fitted in Brooklyn, So I made the track to get fitted and it was incredible.
Really, it was so cool.
It I was going in thinking, like you know when you get a suit altered and or you go to a tailor and they just sort of measure you, like tip to tip of your head.
They put you up on that little weird podium, right, it's kind.
Of a weird podium, and it takes a few minutes and you're just like, all right, this is your waist, this is your this is the distance around your chest, this is your neck size, whatever, and then you just move on and go grocery shopping whatever. Not with Indo Gino, not with going to a showroom to get fitted for a custom se.
So is it like getting fitted for the batsuit? What exactly is this?
Like, I think more specific than a batsuit. It was the we've mentioned I think with a mattress company, we've done spots for the natural topography or geometry.
Yeah, they were.
It was busting out pro tractors from my natural geometry. It was. It was around all leg types and different cuts of suit types that fit my body type and around my chest and my waist and head and every like everything. And I was turning to the side and there were different angles. It took the better part of forty five minut Okay, very important question. Then I promise we'll get to the actual meat of this ad. Yes, did they use lasers?
They did not. They should know.
I had a conversation about lasers. I think it was Jose was my guy really great service. Could not recommend going to a showroom enough to get fitted for a custom suit. Despite the lack of lasers. They were super nice. They were attentive to my natural geometry. Once again, I am very excited for this Endochino custom suit to arrive. It's great and crazy affordable.
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made to measure suit. Once you go custom, you don't go back, no brainer. Come on now for my actual ACC question, Daniel, Yeah, let's talk about Louisville. Did you read any of the coverage from ACC Media Day No? I definitely didn't. Oh, actually, no, I take that back. I read a little bit. Yes, Scott Saderfield, new coach at Louisville. Louisville. He said that players weren't previously allowed
to walk into coaches offices. Yeah, Louisville. Which that does not seem like it promotes a whole lot of trust within the probram right that.
An actual cardinals with their messages into the windows to get any point across.
You wouldn't think cardinals could be used in a messaging capacity, but they can. Mm hmm what else Daniel outside of being a little bit more of an open door situation. Will Scott Satterfield be doing differently at Louisville? What can fans expect that's gonna look different, feel different from what they saw under Bobby Patrino.
I think they will not lose many games by seven thousand points. I think that will be a good first stets, a good star. Difference is it's going to be culture. Initially they're not. They don't have the talent right now.
They don't have the depth right now. As they switch systems a little bit, you know, Bobby Patrino, even though Lamar Jackson was yes, very much a running quarterback who could also throw incredibly well, they're switching systems a bit, and they're recruiting more to what they are going to try to do offensively, which I think is going to be more reedy with the quarterback we saw it at
app State really succeed. He brings over a number of his coaches, He brings back Court Dennison, who was at Louisville before now comes back after a year at Oregon coaching linebackers. So I think he's the co DC. So culturally, I think there is going to be a lot more buy in and a lot more players simply liking the coaches they play for and the head coach for which they play than where they've been these past few years.
I also think it's going to take a good chunk of time to fully get both the culture and talent level and depth to a place that Louisville can compete just week in and week out in the ACC, just because it's not just Bobby Petrino screwing things up at the end, it's how do he recruit? How did he evaluate?
Because everywhere he goes he leaves it kind of a mess, which is sort of selling what he actually leaves behind. Short.
So the good news is app State. As much as you have fought the Mountaineers on this, they've been a really, really good program in the Sun Belt, maybe not beating Miami. I mean when they put thirty eight on Penn State came back and almost won that game last year in Happy Valley.
That sound right? Sure?
So they looked app State last year like at the very least pretty good Big ten team, right, Yeah?
I would agree.
Their defense, Their defense was excellent, especially against the pass, seems helpful in the ACC if they can keep that going. The offense was very good, especially on the ground, so there are things to like about this year's squad. Des Fitzpatrick, the receivers are pretty strong. They're trying to figure out
what they're going to do at quarterback. Your guy Puma Pass is probably in the lead to get that job once again, but Malie Cunningham offers more of an athletic perspective if they're going to look to run a little bit more this year. I know he brought a quarterback commit in from who's committed to app State to Louisville, So if they're truly horrendous once again with a little bit of promise, maybe he starts playing by the end
of the By the end of the year. It's a rough schedule, so that's, you know, kind of the same they have Notre Dame. They go to Florida State, Clemson, I think they're at Miami, at NC State, and they finish at Kentucky. So it's going to be a tough go.
But even if they go three and nine, four and eight, two and ten, whatever they whatever they do, the big difference is going to be the effort, the buy in, the attitude and if they happen to find themselves in a sixteen thirteen game, maybe that effort, attitude, buy in, holds on or comes back whatever. Maybe they tip a fifty to fifty game because the players seem to care a lot more for four full quarters. So that's the big difference no matter what the final record is.
And hopefully they play some better damn defense, huh, yeah, that'd be nice. Last year Louliville on our show is a punchline love defense.
Yeah, we said what Bobby Patrino bought a yacht betting against himself.
You know he could have Loulville went two and the defense was atrocious. Defense at app State has been one of Saderfield's calling cards, in addition to running a pretty run heavy system on offense, really good defensive coach, and I think if you're a Woulsville fan, you'll take that right now. I don't know if you measure success in terms of wins and losses in year one. I think you just hope for a new foundation, yeah, that you can build upon in the future. That would be fourth a good start.
I was gonna say fourth defensive coordinator now in four years for those upper classmen and it's.
Not Brian Van Gorder, which is an improvement, not BVG.
Peter Sermon not great, but third and Grantham was good for them. I'd stand by that forever and ever.
So we'll see. I am excited about Scott Saderfield. I know you were excited when he was hired. I thought that was a sneaky good hire. Of course, Jeff Brohm was the name that was more closely tied to this opening. But Scott Saderfield coming over from app State sneaky good hire, a solid higher. He's going to build this program into I think, something that's a lot more sustainable than under the old model.
Yeah, the big thing is going to be from the administration. I think they're all on the same page that they're breaking this down to the studs and rebuilding. They can't expect to win nine games next year. That's just you can't speed up this kind of rebuild when it's sunk to the depths that it did last year.
All right, Dan, where we going next year? All right, let's talk about let's talk about Mack Brown. Oh boyout that. Yeah.
So North Carolina not as bad. I love this, not as bad as their record indicates. Yeah, they were. They had chances to win games and they didn't win it. Well that's not great, yeah right, But they were not They weren't Loville. They were not truly heinous at college football last year. So to you, if they're going to scratch and claw and improve to threatening Bowl eligibility this year, you know, five games late November, you know a couple left,
five wins. Excuse me, what will be the reason why they are scratching and pawing at the door of bowl eligibility.
Okay, interesting because they were in a lot of those games. They were in a lot of those games. There were opportunities to win six seven games. The elephant in the room is that they've got a new old coach. Yeah, and that's Mac Brown. I think I saw what twenty two years since he was last there. He is the front man for this operation. He's already doing the whole charm offensive thing, which I made draft for my fantasy
things roster. But if if North Carolina is gonna paw at Bowl eligibility, I don't think it's because Mac Brown. I think it's because of Phil Longo. I think it's because of Jay Bateman. Their offensive and defensive coordinators now
at Chapel Hill, Phil Longo. He needs to rekindle some of the magic that he had running the offense at Ole Miss. He's going to have to do it with resumably Sam Howell, who I think is the odds on favorite to be starter, and he's going to have to do it with a personnel group that might be better suited for the run even though he wants to pass it. So there's an interesting conflict there. But you know, there
is some experience out wide. If he can find something that works, if he can use space and tempo to his advantage, which we know he wants to do, then UNC could at least be somewhat serviceable on offense, but that's a big if. And then on the defensive side of the ball, they need to get better. Everyone knows that Jay Bateman comes in from Army. He's got this reputation for being an innovator, very innovative, right, He's going to need to be real innovative because opponents have literally
no reason to try and throw against these guys. Their run defense looks like it's going to be super porous. He needs to somehow force the issue, make teams throw into the teeth of that secondary because it actually should be pretty good. Hm. So I think that's what needs to happen. We need to have Phil long Goo rekindling some of that old miss magic. We need to have Jay Bateman finding some way to force teams to throw. It is a tough draw for Mac Brown in your one.
It's not easy out of the shoot. South Carolina and Miami Wake, Apstate, Clemson all in September. Five wins would be an absolute revelation.
Wow, okay, and scratching up all eligibility seems distant.
I think that's out of the equation entirely. But if they can just look like they're building something in a better direction, that to me would be a huge improvement. I think he can do it. I know this formula for bringing back the old coach hasn't always been that fruitful, but I like mac Brown. I think he can still recruit. I just I need to see that everyone is rowing in the same direction and building towards something more.
A couple of fun things for me about this North Carolina team. Well, first of all, you've penciled Sam howel And as the starter, the true freshman blue chip quarterback.
Maybe that happens. I mean, nobody really has that much experience at quarterback. No, and why is that?
Because Chaz Sarat Sarratt Surrat is a linebacker. That's right, he is Joel Landing, maybe hopefully for North Carolina. I always love the linebacker from quarterback, not the reverse Maryland. But I like that storyline. I like that perhaps we see a true freshman quarterback, if not to start the season is probably pretty quickly.
Dan, this is the worst quarterback situation in all the ACC right here, unless Sawls, unless he's really good, but yeah, without any basis, or Jase Ruter or whoever, Yeah, without any basis. Otherwise, right, if I'm looking across all fourteen teams, I say North Carolina has has the worst situation in the ACC. So there is certainly room to grow there. He could be really good, but we won't know what Phil Long has to work with until we see him
out there. The other thing is the push pull, the alley ooping that we've talked about in years pass of past Phil Ango at offensive coordinator, playing with pace, wide open offense. Jay Bateman's used to not to say he can't succeed at North Carolina, but he's used to coaching a defense on a team whose offense possesses the hell out of the ball in Army, and he did a pretty good job for Army. If you actually break it down for pace, he was sort of below average a
chunk of the time there. I'm curious to see what that change looks like for him in that defense, because the stress of an offense moving quickly and scoring, or moving quickly and going three and out on the defense and getting back on the field, especially when you can't stop the run you're not particularly deep anywhere, can be pretty extreme. So that push pull alley oop in a not so good way. You've seen alley oops go wrong. I hope it doesn't happen.
At a basketball school like North Carolina, but that's going to be a challenge how they marry systems on both sides of the ball.
Just two wins last year, mcbrown taking back over. I wish him well. Certainly he is doing his best to put a very positive spin on this situation. He's not gonna be the long term answer. The guy's sixty seven, so he's trying to build something, get it started on the right course, presumably then to hand it off to somebody else who can take it from there, but Phil long Ago, Jay Bateman. A lot rests on their shoulders and what they're able to mold with this unit.
In twenty nineteen, two wins, although I think they had a game canceled being canceled. Game was canceled, so two to nine they would not have beaten US enough, but they had I mean cal Virginia Tech, Syracuse I think was doubler triple overtime Duke, NC State. These were all winnablel games, which is not necessarily a great thing. But also they're not Louisville. We're losing by fifty, so I think there's some hope that there is a good amount of buy in from the players that even if they're losing,
they're playing hard. You know that the NC State game goes to overtime and they're a two to eight team at that point, so they're playing hard in a rivalry game. I think that's an encouraging thing for North Carolina as they move forward, and I think mac Brown's going to recruit pretty well.
Yeah, I agree. I don't know about what.
The long term coaching prognosis is, but I think they get in some blue chips in a pretty good region to recruit.
Agree. I agree? Okay, Uh, Daniel hit me. Are you familiar with a book, Oh the Places You'll Go?
Not only am I familiar, I've read it to my son multiple times and love that he he has tried to eat that book.
I love that book, and I know maybe it's cliche. I got it as a gift, I think from mom h after I graduated high school. I've got it here in my bookshelf, in the studio, constant reminder. And I'm reminded of a passage that doctor Seuss wrote about something
called the waiting place. Okay, waiting for the fish to bite, or waiting for wind to fly a kite, or waiting around for Friday night, or waiting perhaps for their uncle Jake, or a pot to boil, or a better break, or a string of pearls or a pair of pants, or a wig with curls or another chance. Everyone is just waiting. So my question to you is, Dan, m hm, what must NC State do to finally escape the waiting place?
So does the waiting place mean they're pretty good in a vision? They probably won't win for a long, long, long, long long time because Dabo Sweeney exists.
I think that's right. Last year they go nine and three. Yeah, that's good. It's good. It is good.
Nine and three is good. They had precisely one indefensible loss. They scored like twenty points against wake Forest lost, but they got murdered by Clemson and they lost a shootout to Syracuse, both of whom they lost to on the road. Those are both okay. I can't be angry at NC State.
For those results.
They should be a little bit more competitive against Clemson after the past couple of years where they were. But they beat their rival, they murdered Louisville, They comfortably beat Florida State, they beat it decent enough Virginia team, I think they had what was I think the West Virginia game was canceled, and their schedule wasn't particularly difficult, and they looked pretty atrocious against Texas A and M. But what's wrong with being nine and three in the ACC
pretty consistently nine to three, I ask you. So you're saying that they've already escaped the waiting place.
I think so.
I think they could be a six and six program with too much neglect at certain places. But I think they've recruited smartly. You know, he's hired really well. And now Elaiyah Eli Drinkwitz is onto app State, the offensive coordinator who had a good deal of success in Raleigh. Heard great things about the town of Raleigh by the way, home to Chip Patterson and Will Brinson. Matt McKay is the probable starter, sort of a tall, lean red shirt sophomore.
Bam Knight is a promising name at running back, sort of an explosive potential guy. A lot of the defenses back this is. It's one of those good news bad news.
Great.
They they're familiar, they're experienced. They were real bad against the past last year. They did not get pressure. The secondary was kind of a nightmare. I guess they tightened up in the red zone, which is fine. Schedule's fine as well. If Clemson Syracuse, North Carolina at home, they're at West Virginia at Florida State. But I don't see even without Ryan Finley, I don't see a huge step back. There's any talented enough places.
But hold on, Yeah, they're not just without Ryan Finley. They're without Reggie Gilaspie. They're without yeah, Kelvin Harmon, without Jakobe Myers, Tyler Jones, Trone Prescott, Garrett Bradbury, A ton of guys here that are walking out that door. Defense should be pretty good, but remains they were good against the run remains to be seen to me. How they're going to fare against this schedule, which I agree with you isn't totally daunting on its face, but the road
trips aren't the best. And I see a bunch of one possession games in there. That's sort of the recurring theme as you look across the ACC.
So there are two and a half teams where it's totally defensible that they lose to me, some combination of West Virginia, Florida State, Clemson. Those are all oh in Syracuse, those are all somewhat defensible losses. But I think they can beat Syracuse at home. I think they can beat Florida State on the road after what they did to
him last year. West Virginia has a first year head coach North Carolina, the rival first year head coach Georgia Tech on the road, yeer head coach Louisville at home a week after Clemson first year head coach rebuilding project
going to Wake. It's not pleasant, but it's not you know, going to the Tokyo to home at Boston College and whatever the hell Boston College is trying to do offensively, If NC State is a team that's always good enough to win most of the games, if not all of the games, they should maybe this is a manning theory with Ryan Finley. Okay, I just I feel much better about the continuity of what Dave Dorn has done in Raleigh than a lot of the teams on their schedule.
That's fair. Where are we going next? All right, diy.
My next question to you is an important one. What do you think about Indo cheet?
No? We did that, right, we do.
Okay, let's talk about and I hate this, but let's talk about Virginia Tech because I had such a good time in Blacksburg and they are I don't want to say quietly because that's disrespectful. People pay attention to Virginia Tech, but they've gotten worse by a game in the ACC each year of Justin Tho and Tay and don't let it get lost that now mac Brown who pronounced his name like that, and Justin Flentey are in the same division.
They are.
If the trend continues, of getting worse by a game each year in the ACC. They go four and four last year, so they would potentially go three and five this year in the ACC. What's the difference for them between going three and five and getting back to five and three as they did in flent Day's oooh went Day's first year.
The difference is twofold. First off, can a brother get some stability at quarterback? Please? Oh my god? Please? Daniel okay? Josh sumfortable? Josh Jackson snapped the leg last year. That had an impact. Yes, Ryan Willis came in. He was the fourth highest rated passer in the conference. He got good experience. He's back this year. He's got a good arm. He's got good receiving targets out wide at tight end. That should help the offense should be better the defense.
The defense has to be better. Dan got it for so long. This has been the calling card for Virginia Tech and specifically Bud Foster and the lunch pail defense. Right last year, herb straight is heartbroken about. That has to be. Last season Tech gave up fifteen more points per game than it did in twenty seventeen fifteen. It's like two touchdowns fifteen. Yeah, it has to get better, has to get better. The season last year was underwhelming
if you're a Tech fan. They finished if you count the bull loss to Cincinnati under five hundred, for the first time since nineteen ninety two. That is not a good look for Justin Fuente. But what I like about this team this year, why I think they get better is a lot of returning production. Doesn't mean everything, but there's a fair amount of continuity now coming back even despite the turnover that they've had via transfers and the injuries they've had to deal with in the past. They're
eleventh in returning production this season. And while it could go either way for Virginia Tech this year, they're tough to predict. I think Justin Fauente still has what it takes. He hasn't been bad, he just hasn't been good enough. This revolving door hopefully ends in twenty nineteen. They finally can build on something. So I am optimistic about the Hokies road.
Schedule mixed because they do have Miami and Notre Dame on the road, but otherwise it's okay. They miss Clemson, always always great. I believe they miss Florida state as well. So that's great.
I just.
Man, you'd like to see it before believing it, with how this offense has looked has looked and really how the defense looked last year. So I'm hopeful that they are at least five hundred.
In the ACC. They have what O you again? When that game? Please? Oky? That was the game last year Josh Jackson broke his leg and remember Virginia Tech lost that game. Right.
They have Rhode Islands, they have Furman there. They should be able to pad enough. They have Wake at home, they have North Carolina at home. They should be a bowl team. They should probably get to seven games. This is not a terrible, terrible schedule. You know that Miami and Notre Dame road trips aside. So I'm rooting for Virginia Tech to have a comeback year.
Ryan Willis was not bad last year. No, he's fine. It was not bad. He's a sneaky choice for one of the better quarterbacks in the ACC. Yeah.
I don't know if that's an indictment of the ACC or a compliment, but yes.
I'm intending it as a compliment. Got for Ryan Willis. Twenty four touchdowns, nine interceptions last year. And above average arm. A good player, a good prospect. I think he has what it takes. He's got targets out wide, and that tight end it's there. It's there. Maybe not to the extent that and your tech fans want, but I think we're going to see a big jump forward in twenty nineteen. Look at you, Sunshine pumping Hoky Daniel. Yeah, Steve Dazio speaks to a bunch of guys being dudes. I can
we also have the dude remix. We're gonna have to play that one over and over when we talk about Boston College this year.
If anybody, if anybody from Boston College is listening, and you want that drop for first downs or when BC has third down on defense and you're trying to get everybody pumped, we can do that.
Let us know.
Just let us know.
We got you. CLIVERB at gmail dot com.
Steve Dazio. He has won exactly seven games in five of his six seasons at BC. Each year a couple names that bubble up. We have this m but are we going to see any proof in twenty nineteen that this is a program that's actually improving, striving to win more than seven games?
I don't see it. I don't really see it.
It's it's not because they're not talented, it's not because they don't have a good defense. I think it's all offense. I think it's all a dull headedness about what BC's offense should be, and it's we got a control the line of scrimmage. We've got to run power, we got a wind scream in the trenches, and Boston College is not really going to have consistently the talent up front to do so, and to have a quarterback who can
take advantage in play action. I think Boston College is a place you have to be a lot more creative and think about running a unique system. We don't have to run the option, but you have to open things up. You have to say, Okay, we're gonna find a bunch of like super fast five eight dudes who are going to be too short for Penn State in the northeast or Syracuse, but let's figure out.
Something to do with them. And Boston College is let's just run off taracole.
And they have a new offensive coordinator. It's former Butch Jones, guy who was awesome at at Central Michigan. Mike Pajakian. He was okay at Cincinnati. I imagine Tennessee fans are not a huge fan of his. What Tennessee offense looked like early on in Butch Jones' career there, But man, the offenses have ranged from like average to horrid. Sometimes they're kind of bad, which is fine. This year they'll have a new offensive line, but I'm not terribly worried.
You've got two offensive line coaches because of Adazio also serving in that role.
We want to turnover up front, though Dan turnover up front. I thought Anthony Brown.
If the argument is that Bryce Perkins isn't the second best quarterback the ACC, it might be Anthony Brown. He got pretty good. Kobe White's pretty good out wide. AJ Dillon has stud tendencies, which is what they said about you in high school time.
They did.
But they use him in such a way that he's getting three yards and falling forward. So I don't think it's fully his fault. I think it's more of a limitation by the system. It'll be a new look defense. They promoted their new defensive coordinator. The lineup front on defense is also almost entirely new. I think they're a six and six team, I think getting anything above seven wins, which is where they were last year, I think they just give themselves a ceiling.
And so, yeah, they were seven and five last year. They played you'll remember those glorious thirty two plays in the first respondible which got canceled because of the lightning. That's seven and five right on the number. I'm with you. I think they get marginally worse this year, and I think it's due to that defensive turnover that you just address. Not just worried about that, Okay, I'm worried about it because we've got turnover at defensive end the entire secondary
and just as a whole. The way that this program has operated is they've really relied upon that defense to pick up for the offense because the offense has never been yeah, never been something that you can feel confident in. But now if the defense is gonna get worse, I think it makes Boston College marginally worse as well. So six and they also five and seven feels about right to me.
They lose hamp Chievers, who was a great ballhawk for them at corner they were, and why I think it's the offense rather than the defense is can you can get effort. I think these guys are gonna get effort. I think they're gonna get stops. Offensively. They were so they were so bad on third down, just staying ahead of the chains, just keeping drives, going to keep If they're going to rely on their defense, give them some resk, guys,
let's go alley up here. If they're able to improve, Like your question asks from last year, it means Mike, but Jakian game plans well, keeps them ahead of those chains and gets a little bit creative. I just think he's going to be hamstrung by Steve Dazio.
I really do.
I think they're going to be hamstrung by saying we want to control cool. You know, all that voice over and over. It's a very good impression.
You're very good. Thank you.
They were awful in first halves in winnable games where they had to crawl back, they had to rely on Anthony Brown. I just they they dig their own grave too often for me to think, well, they're going the right way. I don't think that at all all.
Right, where are we going next year?
By the way, the second half of their schedule they could start five to one and still not make a bowl. The second half of their schedule is NC State at Clemson at Syracuse, Florida State at Notre Dame at.
Pitt very backloaded.
Not remember when Kansas started out six to no or just Kansas or Baylor six to no and finished six and six.
It could be that kind of year that was bing Boston College. It was Baylor.
Okay, So next question, does a team have a is it schedule of death? Group of death? In the World Cup it's usually the group of death. Yes, group of death? Does somebody have that or does somebody have like a can they just stumble into bowl eligibility because of a particularly easy schedule?
So if you're asking about the schedule of death, yeah, the answer is Louisville. But we already covered Louisville. And I know you, I know you want me to answer duke with this, hit me with some Duke, So I will stick with that. They open the year with Alabama, which is not sem optimal. Not optimal. They don't have to play Clemson, which is good, but they do have to play Notre Dame. They do have to play Miami Syracuse at Virginia. That's tough in a vacuum. That is tough.
I don't care who you are. Then there's the whole thing about them turning over so much on offense. They have to navigate that schedule without Daniel Jones, who was drafted still astoundingly sixth overall by my giants. Then they've got turned over at wide receiver as well. Again in a vacuum. You look at what that typically does to
numbers and efficiency, and it's a recipe for regression. You take those two things, the schedule and the turnover in tandem with one another, and that's just a tough look. Tough look for twenty nineteen, Duke's been very consistent under David Cutcliffe, and that should not be under sold if you're a loyal viewer of the ACC network, which of course we are. It's worth noting that twenty twenty twenty twenty one they look much more promising for the Duke
Blue Devils. But I think in twenty nineteen we see a bit of a step back, just because it's going to take a while for them to figure out this offense. It's going to take a while for them to do so in the face of what looks to be a really tough schedule. Can they improve at quarterback? Can they improve? Yeah? What is it? Quentin Harris? Quentin Harris looks to be the new starting quarterback, very limited experience, he waited his turn behind Daniel Jones.
He's I think Daniel Jones is that good. I don't think he's that good either. But can they improve?
But here's the point. Daniel Jones was there for a while, had a lot of good experience, and had an experienced wide receiving core to throw to. This year, Duke has a new starting quarterback and essentially a new wide receiving corps. They may not move the ball at all against Alabama. It may take them a while to move the ball in general. Can they improve over the long term? Maybe this year? I don't think we'll see it.
There's just too much turnover, right, Yeah, Duka was depending on the metric, you care about twelfth or thirteenth out of fourteen teams passing the ball, whether it's rating or yards per attempt, whatever it was. Forget the Daniel Jones comedy of being.
Taken number six.
Overall, that's pretty stunning in a down year from a David Cutcliff experience quarterback. Sure, oh yeah, the passing offense was that disappointing, I guess would be the most accurate word.
I just I don't know.
They finished the season well in their bowl game against Temple, obviously, but for them to go through their A SEC schedule and I know people are beat up, whatever, but it was it was a rough watch.
One other thing here, Yeah, a lot of experience up the middle on defense and on the back side of the defense. They were banged up. They were young last year. They still played pretty well. They got to find a way to rush the passer this year though, that was that was the issue last year. There isn't a clear solution. But I did see our friend Bill Connolly newly with ESPN. He's got them projected as the thirty eighth best defense
according to his smp plus. And you know, that's a significant talking point because in neither football nor basketball do we look at Duke and say, hey, they played pretty good defense.
Right, Thirty eighth overall in defense would be pretty good for Duke. If they were wearing a couple of years ago with Jim Knowles, they were.
They were, they were. They've been pretty consistent again across the board. So if they can get that level of production from their defense. It papers over some of the issues that I think they're gonna have on offense. Duke is still gonna be fine. I just I see some regression because of the turnover, particularly at quarterback and wide receiver.
They have a co defensive coordinator. I know nothing about him, but I'm looking at their their coaching staff right now. He his name is Matt Gary Garyery Gary.
I don't know. It's g U E R R I E r I. Okay, Okay. He graduated college in twenty eleven. Whoa uh okay, Doke.
So he's thirty thirty maybe so, I I has nothing to do with whether or not I think Duke will be good or bad on defense.
I am just stunned. I am still just feel old, is what you're saying.
I just feel very And he looks nineteen. Yeah, he looks like he is about to serve you food at Peta Pitt. Did you have Peta Pitt in State College?
We did have a Peta But I think every college town into pet Pitt. Yeah.
So I feel okay about Duke in the long term. But this, I mean, the schedule is rough, It's tough s still is not great. So yeah, hopefully they can get better through the air at least.
My final question for you about the acc Fatlantic, it's about Dave Clawson. Dan Okay, Dave Clawson newly extended at wake Forest through I think twenty twenty six. Congratulations to him. Great. He said that it's taken him five years to get wake Forest back to a point of being a quote normal program, m M normals relative. What does that mean? Always? I think it means better depth. I know it means better facilities. That's been one area of emphasis on the
field for him. It has equated to three straight winning seasons or winning records, if you want to be particular, three straight Bowl wins. It's sort of been a slow burn of constantly improving in the margins for wake Forest. How far off are we from a true breakout season where they finished a year with like nine wins or something crazy.
Tid Remember when the Wolford wagon was rolling at wake Forest. Yeah, that's the breakout year. Okay, it happens. I think normal in not even wake Forest case. But if that word is being used, the only thing I can think it means is not a nightmare. It's above a nightmare. That's all I think, Like, Yeah, things are operating. We have people working in various departments. We have chairs, we have a practice schedule, we have water for the players after practice. Somebody vacuums the locker room.
Like I think.
Thing, They're just operating as they should and they're recruiting on the level that they should for not necessarily a top tier ACC team, but a respectable Bowl eligible ACC team.
That's normal. That's not a nightmare.
The only way I could see Wake Forest getting to nine wins is if whatever polluted the minds of Louisville players last year pollutes like six teams this year in the ACC. That or like Trevor Lawrence T Higgins, Travis Etn and Justin Ross are like, why don't we just transfer to wake and be legends, Why don't we just do it, guys, let's get to Winnie Salem. Outside of that, normal is great for Wake Forest. Getting to a bowl
game is great. Having two capable quarterbacks and Jamie Newman teenage heart throb sounding name and Sam Hartman is wonderful having you know, depth of positions, even though I think their defense is going to be kind of a nightmare. This year, especially in the middle. They're a team that they play quickly. They're coached well. They take talent that's probably four or five win team talent and get to six or seven. Wake is in a great place. Go Deeks, normal is great.
They're in there.
They're sailing right now. Stop being selfish and asking for nine wins from my beautiful demon deacons.
I like Wake Forest, I do. Yeah. I like the job that Dave Clausin's done. I'm curious to see how they replace the production of Greg Dortsch, one of my favorite names. Torched by the doors, you know, all timer a good got a good laugh out of that. One hundred and twenty five targets, eight touchdowns over a thousand yards walking out the door. They gotta find a solution, got to find a target out wide. And I do think though you called attention to the defense, I think
they'll defend the run pretty well. Okay, they didn't have nearly enough of a pass rush. Pass last year was me last year? Yeah, so I think they got to cure the pass rush. But I think they'll be good enough against the run. And sure it might be a bit greedy asking for nine wins, but the question needed to be asked. It is a program that has consistently gotten better. He's gotten them to normal. The next logical question is can he take them above normal? So we'll see. Let me hit you with this.
I don't think it's going to happen, and it might end in August. My question, and it's any sort of relevance tied to it. Utah State new coach Gary Anderson, old coach Rice North Carolina with Mack Brown Elon at Boston College, Louisville, Okay, and bye before Louisville. How many iterations would it take? For like, if they played the season one hundred times, how many of those times does Wake start six and oh with that opening nine seventeen thirty three, three thirty three times? Yeah, so one in
three seasons that Wake Forest. If there are three identical universes, including the one that we are presumably broadcasting in right now, in one of those universes, we're dealing with a top twenty Wake Forest come mid October. Yes, whoa, And then it should be said Florida State, Etsey State, Virginia Tech on the road, Clemson on the road, Duke at Syracuse in the Dome.
Yeah, all right. Okay, Wow, I would say it's more like eleven out of one hundred. Oh ye of little faith. This is a good team. Okay, it's not a bad team. Final question.
I mean they have I mean Jordan Love is very good. So that might end before September.
But okay, final question, Dan, go ahead, all right, do I have one more question? You have one more question here than we've made it from all of our ACC teams.
We're already through everything everything. Okay, we're ending with the ACC's one true team. That's right, you're Coastal champion Pitt Panthers. The pit Panthers seven to five last year regular seats seven and five finish murdered in some of their finished seven and seven. Yeah, after the lost to Clemson and then again in the bowl game.
Should they lose to Stanford? I believe, yeah, yeah, yeah Stanford. You were saying something, let me can I ask my questions? I was going to say, what is what is your specific question? I have many thoughts on Pitt.
Okay, so they technically played more games, and I was looking at Bill C's numbers where their offensive or defensive percentile was like under fifteen percent. So they were playing you know, fifteen percent of what they should be capable of considering what their performance is. That's that's awful. That's atrocious that they were that bad so often on one side of the ball. Do you have hope in your heart that Pat Nardoozy and Pitt can normalize into I
don't know, consistently not bad overall. As they know it's Kenny Pickett is back. They lose two running backs, but as they sort of remake their offense, I.
I have hope, Okay, explain, I don't have confidence. What's the difference. The difference is I want it to happen versus I don't think it will. Okay, okay, heart verse head up front, the O line loses four starters. The backfield loses both Quadri Allison and Darren Hall, both of whom went over one thousand yards combined for twenty one rushing touchdowns. Cadre. That's putting a lot of pressure on Kenny Pickett and to be fair on the new offensive
coordinator Mark Whipple. Mm hmm. Defensively, there's talent on the top line. It gets shallow in a hurry. Voice has gone up. Your voice has gone up. I know, I know, and I think they're in a lot of close games. Is here again recurring theme around the ACC. The margin
is razor thin here. So what I'm what I'm saying, what I think I'm saying is if I am forced to pick, if I am forced to put my confidence behind any scenario, I'd put more money on it all falling apart than on both sides of the ball rising up to make this an average team across the board. Does that make sense? Yeah, I think there's greater potential. Yeah, I'm hopeful. I'm not rooting against Pitt. I'm not right, And I know we've we've had fun with Pitt, and
we've talked about the offense. People have written in and they've they've gotten upset about that. I I have no issues with Pitt. I'm rooting for Pitt. Yeah, but I think the way that this is constructed, especially upfront, especially losing the backfield, especially with Kenny Pickett, who I am not terribly confident in. I have a greater degree of confidence in it all sort of falling apart than all that collectively getting better.
Their final three games of twenty eighteen, Miami on the road, Clemson in the ACC Championship game Stanford in the it's Stanford, it must be sunball. Two combined touchdowns in those three games they end They ended the year not enthusiastically playing football on offense. Twenty four to three Miami, forty two to ten Clemson fourteen thirteen Stanford. So at least that
was a game. Kenny Pickett against Clemson through not five, not six, not seven, but for eight total yards against the one big measuring stick in the conference.
That worries me. It is a little worrisome that, Yeah, that worries me.
Eight yards in a big game. So I know the weather was weird, but that's not that's not okay. That doesn't fill me with confidence. So I think Pitt is going to have.
Not a great year. But the thing is not feeling good about Pitt at all. I'm not either Coastal Champ twenty eighteen, the Coastal Champ and Pat and Ardozy's just so tough to put a finger on. And maybe this whole thing with Mark Whipple will work out. Maybe he'll find some way to reinvigorate the offense. I don't know. He's got a reputation, He's got a good reputation around college football. Maybe he can be the guy who breathes some new life into the situation now, but they're going
to have to come up with something in a hurry. Here. They really are again a ton of production walking out the door, and I'm just not confident that the solutions are there. That's where I'm me.
And yeah, I mean that's all reasonable. But last year Pitt's offense with I think two backs that went over a thousand yards, right, yes, and Darren Hall, yes, they finished And I know you questioned the science tie you
are a d analytics truther. They finished eighty fourth in the country in points per drive excluding garbage time, with maybe the best combination or second best combination of backs in the conference they finished eightieth and defensive points per drive allowed, winning the Coastal mind you through I mean this is also a team that played UCF and Penn State.
So this was a Penn State team that got it together in the second half of that game in UCF, which was enormous all season on offense when Mackenzie Milton was healthy. Especially, I'm I am worried that pat NARDUCI is not that good despite some of the results, despite beating Clemson, which now looks like, Wow, what a higher end. Wow, Matt Canada is not of somebody with a job. And we talked about this on Twitter. It's like fifty eighth, eighty fourth, and eighty sixth when Matt Canada is not
in Pittsburgh, when he is tenth with Nate Peterman. It's such a weird career that pat Nardoozi has had in Pittsburgh. I think it's going to be like a four and eight year for them.
All Right, there you go. We've covered all fourteen teams. Mm hm in the acc fel good to get this one under the belt. A little rusty, I felt very good about this show. A little rusty. I feel good about the show too. Yeah, feel a little rusty. I'm sure there are things that we left out. I hate to put out this call because I always get stuff that I missed or left out or screwed up. Sort
of the nature of the beast. But right in Soliverblegmail dot com, book us up on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, go on the sub Yeah, talk to other folks, let us know what we glossed over, what we missed, or where you agreed as well, and.
Make sure you drink a bunch of water. Make sure you drink a bunch of water, not too much water, but make sure you stay on top of your hydration. Do we have any official predictions for this conference?
Oh?
I mean basically, it's just the only thing is who does Clemson play? I guess in the championship game?
Yeah? So who is it? Mister Coastal? Mister Coastal? Huh. I'm tempted to say Miami. Okay, I'm very tempted to say Miami. For me, it's between Virginia and Miami, and I'm gonna go with the Keynes. I think they are in line for a pretty big first year under me. Wows.
Yeah, Yeah, I don't. I mean, I can't really question that. I don't think it's Georgia just eliminating teams. I think Duke Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pitt and probably Virginia.
Tech are out of it already. I think Virginia Tech. Could you can make a case for Virginia Tech? Mm I do? I didn't seem to no, I didn't say, well. I mean I think they've got continuity and I think they can only get better on defense. Yeah, so I feel better about Virginia Tech than maybe I let on.
But I've had continuity with my body for thirty six years and I still can't dunk.
It's still not happening. I'm gonna go Miami, Virginia, Virginia Tech in that order, at the top three, top three of the castle.
All right, I think I agree. I think it's Miami of Virginia. I think I'm gonna where's that game this year? I think that'll decide it. Whoever's playing at home. I'm just going to award the coastal too.
Right now? The game is at Miami. The game is at Miami.
All right, give me the cans and the hopefully not too much product in Manny Diaz's hair.
All right, Well, that's it, right in one more time, Silverbleeginia dot com. Let us know what's on your mind. We will be back next week, talk about a different conference. Won't give too much away. I say that because we honestly have not figured out which conference we'll be talking about a week from tonight.
We forgot to mention the Patriot League connection that we probably oh, right, Louisville.
Louisville, Louisville. I believe it.
It's TJ Nole, Yes, TJ Nole is the linebacker. Gosh, he's not coming up on Google, so I feel like I'm pronouncing it incorrectly. But there is a Colgate linebacker, not just a Colgate linebacker, but a I think it was FCS All Star All American And let me get this Colgate linebacker Louisville.
I'm so ashamed. Yeah, TJ Hole, not TJ nole. H O l L.
He was Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. We saw him play in Fargo, North Dakota. He is now playing for Louisville. So that big stanky Drummond Fife travels to fine state of Kentucky in the acc Fatlantic. So that's something that's fun.
Okay, that's it. All right, Well, thank you again for listening. You know how to find us. Don't forget to get those tickets if you are ever so inclined to be the Dallas Fort Worth area on seventeenth, we got tickets avail soliverbal Tickets dot com, Slash Texas and if you're gonna be in d C in that metro area the very next night, on the eighteenth of August, it's a Sunday,
seven point thirty. The show starts soliverbal tickets dot Com, slash d c if you're interested, for that guy over there, my good friend Dan Rubinstein, for myself, Ty hilden Brand. Longer show, catch your breath, we'll be bout having a week. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your week, all of your weekend, and stay solid peace,