Welcome to the solid Verbo hell 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 a day? Edo steak?
Is that woof? Woof? And then and tie, welcome back to the salververbal joys of girls.
My name is Ty.
He'll a brand that fine gentleman away over there on the far side of the good old us of A the one the only still the comfortable.
Dan Rubenstein, sir, how are you. I'm good. Some might argue that you're the one who's way over there, terribly far away from the best coast. But I'm good. I'm good.
You know.
It's it's a lot of family time. There's been a lot of rain out here in southern California, but it's it's been largely good. I'm always just more worried about my av setup, which is now on a card table literally here you can. That's next to the bed that I sleep in, And it's just it's it's a different setup with toddlers running around. And look, life is all right. I've been watching some Bowl games, been paying attention to
some news. Excited for we're recording this with some of the bigger Bowl games being yet to be played, so I'm not going to like, oh my god, I can't believe blobbity blohmity blah. But life is all right, ty, How you doing, I'm good.
Are you pulling the Michael Barbara with the pillow for it to get maximum sonic optimization?
I have two pillows directly in front of me, and if you're watching, if you're lucky enough to be on rulers dot com and watching the video, I don't have any anything soft behind me. There's just some books. I'm literally staying in my middle brother's childhood bedroom and he's a pilot and there's a broken wing just like the Beatles song. There's a broken wingtip And no, it's a relatively soft room. It's carpeted. There's a bed right here,
there's a closet to my left. And it's not the full New York Times treatment though I have made the audio igloo before and it's not bad. It's a nice experience.
Well, welcome back to the sho Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. We are the solid verbal don't forget to go on out and subscribe and rate and review. You can do that now on both Apple and Spotify, So we would appreciate your support if you do like the show. Also, don't forget to go on out to
Verballers dot com. That is our Patreon where you can get access to this show, all of our shows early and last but not least, Solid Giveaway dot Com is where you can go and throw your hat in the ring, throw your name in the hat to get your Desmond Howard signed mini helmet Dan Desmond Howard friend of the podcast apparently apparently.
Yeah. I just learned this yesterday. I went on his podcast and he apparently likes the solidverbal. That's pretty cool. Yeah, I think you hit everything you need to hit.
So here is the deal, Dan, We've got a game today that I'm calling three reasons why. Three reasons why.
For new coaches. Okay mm hmm.
As you know, this is a very active coaching carousel, was it not.
Man, it's gonna be a different looking sport in twenty twenty two.
We're gonna go through one reason why new coaches will work, one reason why they won't. You are one pathetic loser whoa? And then finally, just one burning question as we head into the twenty twenty two seasons. All right, does that make sense to you?
I'll do my best it does.
I was doing a little shimmy there listening to Bruno.
Not a sponsor, could be You're suggesting that it's on the table that Bruno mars sponsor of the solid verbal. I'm just saying, okay, if he's looking to attract an interesting new demographic, I'm ready, LSU. LSU got rid of coach.
Oh, they're bringing in Brian Kelly, Brian Kelly and his family. Um, give me a reason why it's gonna work.
Brian Kelly, if nothing else, is somebody who wins a lot of games and a lot of places, understands, we presume, what it's like to hire a winning staff, what it's like to instill a week to week winning culture, to wather down moments, and you know, reverse course, he understands
how to put together a staff who can recruit. But with what he's done at what Central Michigan and Cincinnati and Notre Dame and Notre Dame being a humongous place with humongous pressure, and the ease with which LSU and you know, any SEC team really, if they're on their game, can geographically, go out and sell their program and bring in top flight players to develop into a top flight team. More difficult after Dame, given geography and academic restrictions in
some cases, but certainly Notre Dame sells itself. But LSU's just different. LSU is a team that has actually won and played for national championships multiple times, whereas Notre Dame couldn't quite get that over that hump and do it as consistently as LSU. Everybody wins and wan at LSU, and Brian Kelly wins everywhere. So that's the case.
Brian Kelly's won two hundred and eighty four games if you count the twenty one that the NCAA vacated back in twenty twelve and twenty thirteen, everywhere. As he said, Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati a Notre Dame for the last twelve years.
It's notable.
I think Brian Kelly has been a pretty good recruiter, even in that SEC footprint, right, He's recruited nationally at Notre Dame. It's just something you have to do. He has left every program better than when he found it, and in Notre Dame's case, for the last five years
that's been double digit wins. So I think yeah, on the surface, as opposed to some of these other hires that we're going to discuss here momentarily, there's a very promising track record with Brian Kelly that you got to feel good about.
He did it largely and what he rebuilt a down noting program that took over and turned into So right now you can argue LSU is a down program that needs a lot of elbow.
Grease as for one reason why it won't.
Work.
M H. I don't believe for a second that it won't. But this is very much a marriage of convenience, and as you said, there are previous coaches. Each of the last however, many coaches at LSU have won a national championship. That's the one goal here if you're Brian Kelly, it's a one goal if you're LSU. We have seen Brian Kelly in this play before where he's been on a big stage, either in a playoff or otherwise in a
big game, and it has not exactly worked out. Go on over to Andy Nation, they'll tell you all about it. They've been trying to get rid of Brian Kelly. For years because they don't think he performed well in that stage. There's a case to be made though that what was holding Notre Dame back with Brian Kelly. So with all that said, now onto the burning question Dan.
Yeah, I think by the way, everything you said, I think is correct. I think the SEC West is harder than what Notre Dame has scheduled in recent years, by and large, especially with the ACC being down and the Alabama exists, they're scheduled in their division every year that the case against LSU is the blueprint for historic championship football is one of their quote unquote rivals, and that is more difficult than playing a down USC or a
random NC State team or occasionally Clemson. It's just it's a more difficult place to meet expectations. Yeah, I mean, and BK in big games is a work in progress. Let's Sure's be honest here. It just is so SEC West. Yeah, we'll see what he's made of. That's why they're paying the big bucks, and they expect him to win.
How long of a leash she gets if he doesn't win, And again I don't think that he won't size of said leash that will be interesting to see, and.
He's making a lot of money. So it is a golden diamond encrusted leash, so he will be given time. What is your burning question about BK at LSU, what that full staff looks like, and what kind of autonomy he has with big decisions, be it with staff, be it with getting rid of staff. We saw at Oorzron have a lot of latitude in terms of hiring, firing, making new decisions quickly cutting the cord when a guy,
a coordinator isn't working. I assume they're going to invest a lot of money in top flight coordinators as they have done these past few years, or quote unquote top flight quarter coordinators if you look back at the bo Polini experiment. But yeah, it's what that offense looks like. It's what quarterback looks like. If there was a question at Notre Dame, it was a rotating cast of coordinators who worked to various degrees. He hired Brian van Goorter, right,
So his hiring is not bulletproof. His quarterback development and evaluation is not bulletproof. And if it doesn't go well at LS you it's a nightmare that I don't know how quickly he can recover from well.
And that's my question, can develop a quarterback because the best three quarterbacks in the last twelve years at Notre Dame have been Ian Book, Deshaun Kaiser, and depending on which way the wind blows, either Tommy Reese or ever Golson. Sure Book was a good quarterback in college. There was a ceiling to what he could give him. He was good winning his quarterback in program history. But go back and listen to some of my old commentary to get how I felt about ian Book sure and how that
quarterback position developed over the years. It's like seven of the twelve seasons in South Bend for BK that he had a hard time committing to a quarterback and LSU knows that song and dance well, like outside of twenty eighteen and obviously twenty nineteen, it's pretty much been a deep dark hole outside the Joe Burrow years.
That's not what they're looking for.
They're looking for somebody who call and harness the true power of that recruiting operation and the talent that they bring on to play as part of that offense.
So can he do it? At LSU?
I don't know if a change of scenery helps him do that, but he will have the chance, and I think that's going to be truly the burning question for me, not just this coming year, but really throughout his entire stay in Baton Rouge.
Yeah, I mean, you're totally right, and he's again. I go back to the division thing. For whatever reason, we are now in a golden era of SEC West quarterbacks. With what Alabama does the year after year, we know Mike Leach and Lane Kiffin are going to develop, find and develop dudes who are productive. Same goes for Jimbo Fisher, same goes it seems for Kendall Kendall Briles in Arkansas with how quickly they got Felipe Franks up to speed, and now kJ Jefferson is to me a big national name.
So you don't want to be the one left standing without solid to very good quarterback play. When the music stops. All right, where do you want to go next? You tell me, man, you made the Google doc. Let's go to Lincoln Riley.
Okay, and USC Clay Hilton out Lincoln Riley in Here is why I think this works. I think this works because there are now serious people running the USC football program, the athletic department as George Costanza would say, these are men with jobs. They've finally gotten away from that whole USC guy thing because they've got Mike Bone in from Cincinnati. He's not a USC guy. Lincoln Riley clearly not a
USC guy either. It starts at the top, and now there are capable people running this thing, So I feel good about that. I think the situation is better, will be better now. Lincoln Riley has clearly proven that he can develop talent, he can put it into the NFL, he can recruit nationally, he can recruit California. He's been a perennial top dog in a conference that I'm sorry to say is much better than the Pac twelve much and he's been doing so for the last couple seasons.
No, I mean the case for Lincoln rally is very easy. I mean, his offenses are electric. He produces Heisman winning quarterbacks and high draft picks at receiver, quarterback, running back, whatever. The offensive line has been great. And yeah, his path towards his path to the playoff within the PAC twelve, if USC is merely good, even if they're not great, is a lot cleaner than it would be in many other conferences. His name came up with the LSU opening.
It's a lot cleaner that path to get to the playoff and restore USC to where its fans think the trojan should be in the national conversation with what the PAC twelve looks like right now. No, it's I mean, the recruiting is interesting because you know, Southern California is not what it was during the Pete Carroll time. And I just I think the big thing is the path and path and offense I think is the clear case.
More importantly, the program didn't go off a cliff after he took it over for Bob Stoops. Correct, And we've seen many a coach step in for a legend and go full Thelma and Louise.
Just true with a couple of years and no, it survived. Why won't it work? Dan, give me a reason it won't work? Because everybody looks at USC and says, man, look what he did at Oklahoma with that offense, Imagine
what he could do at USC with that path. He's bringing the Oklahoma defensive coaches with him, and that's something that's interesting, I suppose, And maybe there were reasons it didn't work out at Oklahoma, but he recruited good defensive prospects, a lot of blue chip players on all three levels that Oklahoma was able to bring in. It won't work because of the defense. It won't work because Lincoln Riley
has never taken over a down program. He was, you know, he was handed the keys to a maserati with experience, having already driven it some of the time. And at USC it's a rebuilt, it's a construction. It's a different place. And we think USC has invested resources and is now a more serious place with more serious leadership. But we actually have to see it right. We don't have actual
evidence of it yet, And so is it Lincoln. And we're also on the heels of Lincoln Riley's arguable worst season as an Oklahoma head coach, not making the Big Twelve championship game, And so is there any sort of momentum to people figuring out Lincoln Riley or people figuring out Okay, if he doesn't have a top one pick in the NFL Draft, maybe his teams are merely good and not great, And so maybe there's that Lincoln Riley regressing to becoming a merely very good coach, not a
coach with an elite reputation.
Yeah, I think we're kind of saying the same thing here. I'm gonna ask the question about the defense in my burning question bit here, But okay, on the specific topic of why won't it work? I do think the risk of failure is pretty low. But even though he's not a USC guy and we feel good about that, they did still sort of use the same hiring template, didn't they? Like Riley is the latest on this long list of up and coming offensive geniuses that USC has tried and spit out over.
The young guns, the hot, sexy Clay Helton type.
So you know they've tried this before, and albeit now with new leadership, perhaps that's more of a fertile crescent for a program to rise up and take the playoff in the PAC twelve by storm. I don't know, mm hmm, but I would like to see one year before I fully committed the bit and saying that, yeah, this is gonna work.
So what's your burning question is defense? You said?
My burning question is can he toughen up the defense? Like you said, he brought over Alex Grinch with him from Oklahoma. They're gonna have their work cut out for him because this past year for USC, the defense was Drake Jackson and then around him ten guys who got pushed around, and developing defense has not been his forte. He's trying to get better. That's why he brought Alex Grinch over from Ohio State a couple of years ago, and there have been marginal improvements there. But I think
this is a different kind of rebuild. He's going to need to toughen him up, and I don't know if we've seen a whole lot of proof that he can do that.
So we'll see.
I don't know.
Yeah, at a certain point, you have to keep going further and further back in time for Alex Grinch's success, and that's not always the best, right, That's not always the like, this is a dude year in and year out, he just even producing solid defenses might be an improvement over where Oklahoma was. So yeah, I think that's definitely
an open question. On a coast, in a recruiting footprint that doesn't produce four five star defensive tackles, edge rushers, safe like, it's just that it's your farther and farther away geograph, which is why you know I and Ryan Abraham when we did our show, we talked about the national recruiting footprint that USC sees itself with, because that's what it'll need to be. It's it's difficult. We both feel pretty bullish on this move, though.
I do. Yeah, okay, let's go on over to the replacement at Oklahoma, Lincoln Riley.
Out Brent Venables in.
I feel like this is a much more interesting conversation because now we're starting to pop the hood on guys who have not any previous college football head coaching experience, right. That was sort of a theme with some of these hires. These guys come in with much acclaim. Brent Venables is no different. Brent Venables knows the place, loves the place, is from the general area, coached under great coaches, and
has been very patient for the right situation. He didn't just jump at the first opportunity or knows he had a ton of opportunities out there. But one of the reasons why I think this will work is because he was patient, waited for a situation that he thought was good for him. He also knows how to recruit. He certainly knows how to build an elite defense, which probably means a very high floor like, defenses respond to this guy, and I think he will get them playing a tougher,
better brand of defense in Norman pretty quickly. He also did a good job of quelling fears about his offensive expertise by hiring away Jeff Lebby from Old Miss to run the offense. Now, some folks are mixed on Jeff Lebby, there's baggage from the Baylor thing and whatever. But in a pure football sense, Jeff Lebby did a good job at a really good job with Matt Carrall and Lane Kiffin at Old Miss, and so that's a pretty good hire as football things go. Those are the reasons why
I think it will work. He's a good guy, he knows the place well, he knows how to recruit. He obviously brought in some firepower on offense.
I'll talk about ted Roof on defense. We'll get to that in a second, but yeah, I think ted Roof is probably the patsy if things don't start out well on defense, and it's Brent Venables's defense, and I was like, oh, we got to move on from ted Roof, right that you hired like that patsy guy that is friendly and interview as well, But no, I think you made the
case pretty well. I mean, it's also Brent Venables has experienced fielding very strong defenses when his own offense, when his own team's offense is explosive and electric, at least until this past season, which is where Oklahoma struggled. They didn't have the depth, they didn't have the strategy. They weren't able to force the turnovers that a defense that sees itself on the field a lot because of a
quick scoring offense is not always able to do. So, I know, I think that the force of personality, that the experience, the stage with which Brent Venables is used to winning, it's all a big plus. In his column, why won't it work? It won't work because he's a first time head coach and it's difficult as a first time head coach to take over a major, major, blue chip program with expectations on the level of Oklahoma's, which should realistically be the playoff. USC's should maybe eventually be
the playoff. But what Oklahoma has and what Oklahoma invests in this program, what they're able to attract in terms of national recruits, you know, bringing the number one quarterback from the DC area with Caleb Williams, you know, going to California, you know, obviously going into Texas, there's a ton of pressure to win at Oklahoma. And if he's merely good and he is merely running a nine to three program, he's a failure. And so that's why it
won't work. He just he hasn't been in that seat before, and to be in that seat for the first time with those types of expectations, it's Man, it's a lot that day to day of running a huge program all the small medium in large elements, it's difficult.
Yeah, he's also moving into the SEC shortly good call, which does mean tougher competition on a week to week basis. Maybe it's good to get that defense in prime working order beforehand. That would serve them. Well, I just wrote down ted Roof. I don't I mean ted Roofs. I'm sure a nice guy. I don't like ted Roof running my defense.
I don't want him. I don't think my defense. I don't think he's running the defense.
Even if he's not running it, I don't I don't want the leaky Roof anywhere near my defense.
I honestly I don't think his his his fingerprints will be all over this Oklahoma defense in the way like he will be tasked with helping to run it. I don't know who's calling the defensive plays during a game, but I don't think and I could be wrong. Brent Vennable said, Yep, that's my dude. And maybe Ted Roof is just an iron chef type. He only wins with top top, top, top, top level talent. But also that kind of hasn't been the case either, So I don't know.
No, I don't want I don't want the leaky Roof anywhere in my defense. That spooked me a little bit.
That's that's kind of like the cooler that the casinos bring in when somebody's too hot at the craps table.
That spooks me to the same degree as Jimmy Lake hiring John Donovan.
I hate to say it, Okay, that's reasonable.
Burning question for me is can he continue the momentum on the offensive side of the ball even though he hired Leby, Yeah, and even though he held on to Kle Williams. There's an open question for me, like two or three years from now, what shape is that offense going to take? Because I think whether or not Leby is successful. He's probably destined for a head job somewhere relatively soon. And so that means or hire an other people. That means you got to continue with that recruiting operation.
Certainly at the quarterback position. That recruiting operation ran through Lincoln Riley. This is a dude who pumped out Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks first overall draft picks. If you're Caleb William or someone like Caleb William Spencer Rattler, why wouldn't you want to go there?
Now?
It doesn't have that same level of cachet, So what's it look like a couple of years down the road. On the offensive side, especially defensively, we know the drill there. Defensively, he puts guys in the league. We saw it did at Clempson. Everywhere he's been he's done a good job with defense. But offensively, even with a really good coordinator, that to me is is the burning question. I just don't know what to make of that.
Yeah, I think that's totally reasonable. And some of the continuity for Oklahoma, especially Bill beat and Bow up front, certainly is an amazing starting point. His reputation as an offensive line coach, But You're right. It's when you have these defensive standout minds taking over a full program, what do they want their offense to be like? And we've seen it time after time where defensive coaches want the
offense to serve the defense. They want ball control, they want the defense rested, they want to dominate the game via defense. They don't want to play with pace because you know, they don't want to risk getting off the field super quickly. And so is Brent Venables open to airing it out, letting it fly, playing quickly, you know, playing creative RPO stuff, which obviously comes with you know,
the Jeff Lebby fingerprints on the offense. I don't know what Jeff Lebby's play calling experience was under both Josh Hipel and Lane Kiff, And I know Lane Kiffin called the plays last year for Ole Miss. So to what degree was Lebby involved with the architecture of that offense? My guess is significantly. But yeah, I think you're right, what is the vision for this offense with Brent Venables perspective coming from the defensive side? Defensive? So I'm right there with you.
Dan, Let's go out west to Washington. Your favorite school.
I like Washington. That's right on a lake. Seattle is a great city. It's wonderful.
Jimmy Lake out, Caitlin de boor In.
I love this higher Okay, talk to me. I love it.
This is low key my favorite hire of the cycle. What it is?
It is wow? Okay, I love this move. I love it.
He's forty seven and seventy nine and nine as a head coach if you count the two years at Fresno and the five years before that at Sioux Falls, which is lower level of college football granted, but won three championships there. He has had an almost instant impact everywhere he's gone, especially on offense. Mainly on offense. That's been his nay right yep, sort of an understated guy, like a really good cultural fit for that part of the
country in the Pacific Northwest. He brings over Ryan Grubb, who was his OC at Fresno, and that was a good Fresno team. They made a former Husky quarterback and j Camp looked really good. Just a lot to like you made Michael Penick junior. Michael Pennix liked him so much he's transferring up to Washington now. H So this is a guy who, by all accounts and x's and o's genie, seems like he fits in very well culturally.
I do have some questions about the recruiting, which we can talk about, but talk me off that position, Dan, Yeah, I mean the case I think you nailed the case for it's is really as simple as he wins everywhere he's been on smaller, medium, and larger levels in the Mountain West.
Now he hasn't run a program of this size. And the expectations in Washington are winning eight plus games, competing at their best, competing for a conference crown, and given you know, expectations in the history of Washington at its best, and this was a playoff team what five years ago, So it's not unrealistic to say they should be at their best and when they're at their most experience and when they've nailed evaluation and development, they should be winning
ten plus games at their best, not every year, but when they're hitting their ceiling. The question to me is Oregon's not going anywhere. To me, USC is improving, Wazoo will see Stanford is down. The Arizona schools are. I mean, I think Arizona is heading in the right direction, but it's going to be a while. UCLA I think is decent. But is Kaylin de Borr able to acquire and develop talent recruiting against the West Coast powers and obviously Utah
is a year and a year out very good. Is he going to be able to build a roster to compete to win nine plus games? Because I think they can win eight or nine, But I don't know about his ceiling if he's not able to bring in top flight talent, and so what I've seen from the staff hires early is familiarity. I'm curious to see. I think it's more of an open question. How much does Washington
invest in recruiting. Chris Peterson really built a recruiting operation in Seattle and they were fielding top flight recruiting classes and taking advantage of SARKS classes as well. Just the question to me is what does the talent level look like? Are they going to rely solely on development? And if so, that that's great, but that's sort of that that's when you get into that nine win ceiling. So on the margins, how talented will Washington be in three years is my
open question. Yeah, I think we're both sort of saying the same thing. Yeah, when we talk about the reason it won't work as well as the burning question totally, can he build a recruiting operation that can match up with the likes of Oregon? Schematically, everyone loves him, everyone thinks he's a genius. Schematically sure, but the recruiting side
of this is very interesting to me. And on some level, Yeah, you got to take that recruiting operation up a peg, and you've got to find a way to bring in that top flight talent and develop that that gives you the higher ceiling. I don't know, I don't know if we've seen that he can do that yet. And so Washington, by the way, the state of is an underrated place in terms of recruits. And we've seen the path from
Washington to Ohio state look fertile. You know, JT Toamalu, A couple of receivers these past couple of years heading to Ohio State. It's can he even just keep those kids home? Can he convince and build the Washington brand to a point where top flight Northwest recruits are saying, yeah, Washington's the move, not even just Oregon, not even USC,
but staying away from Notre Dame Michigan. You know Ohio state obviously that you know teams nationally are going to the Pacific Northwest, and so it's rebuilding Washington from the failed Jimmy Lake experiment.
All right, Dan, if only for dramatic interlude, It's our DraftKings Game of the Week, presented by the DraftKings Sports Book. We talked about this on the Monday Show. We're getting closer to the playoff. This show dropping on Wednesday, the playoff on Friday. Again, it's Michigan, it's Georgia right now. Georgia favored by seven and a half. You're over under listed at forty five points. It's like a freaking NFL game. This is the game that I am looking forward to.
It is on Friday evening. I need to find a way to watch this game amid the other New Year's Eve festivities. Thanks Bill Hancock. But I'm excited. I'm excited for this game. I am still on Georgia minus the seven and a half. You I believe are on Michigan plus the seven and a half.
Who are you picking out right?
One more time?
Michigan the Wolverines. I'm staying with it.
Are you saying that because you believe it, or because you want to stay married.
I believe it now. I do believe it because I was on a podcast and one of the hosts brought up a good point that Georgia is secretly like the super rich Man's the billionaires Big Ten team with winning with defense and ball control efficiency and a quarterback who is good and make plays, but it makes plays but is not always. This is not an electric, explosive offense from Georgia all of the time, especially without having the
consistent speed and playmaking outside. And so I just think Michigan may just be built via their pass rush, via the creativity of this offense, and even without Ronnie Bell. I'm curious about, like, what would your case be for the under? Just that the quarter you know, Cad mcnamaraanstats and bended are underwhelming. What's the case for the under of forty five so that we get like a twenty three to twenty game or something like that.
The case for the under is that, frankly, both defenses overpower the opposing rules. Yeah, Michigan's defense is able to confuse and curtail and keep down the Georgia offense, which by the way, is entirely plausible. Entirely plausible. Georgie's offense against good defense. This is not something we've seen a whole lot of this season, So I think that for sure. And then on the flip side, George's defense. We know all about the George defense, been singing its praises all year.
Can they stop what Michigan wants to do, which is run the ball forty times?
Yeah? Absolutely?
And so if this turns into a rock fight between Stetson Bennett and Cade McNamara, yeah, I feel pretty good about that under. I would track towards the under if I were actually betting. I'm not good at over under, so maybe don't take my word for it. But at forty five points in a game where both teams are probably terrified.
Of making the big mistake, yeah, totally can see the under. Yeah, And it's one of those things also where I mean, what was the largest number of points a team scored against Georgia. Was it Tennessee, was it Kentucky? There wasn't a lot of points scored against this defense before Alabama. It was seventeen points. That's yeah, that's not many points if you're looking to cover an over.
All, Right, well, download the Draftking Sportsbook app. Now use the promo code Solid Solid. Bet just five dollars on Michigan or Georgia or any college football team, and you win two hundred dollars in free bets if they are victorious.
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Florida's fascinating. Florida's fascinating. The case for billion Apier is he has major experience programs, major experience, program experience, major program experience. That's English, right. He has the experience, he has experience winning, he has experienced as a head coach. He comes in with obviously high expectations at Florida, given where Georgia is as a program, given where we believe the SEC East is going. You know, Kentucky has ascended to a good place. Tennessee we think is on the
way up. South Carolina appears to be on the way up, and it's a you know, we'll see with Missoo, I suppose, but they're recruiting very well, and expectations at Florida are compete to win the East, compete to win the conference, and if you win the conference, it's compete in the playoff.
And Billy Napier is a proven head coach who has won big games relative to the place he was at in Louisiana and won that conference, and comes in, as I suppose, by all indications, a grown up running a program that very much needs a grown up running it. And you know, there's there's definitely we'll see elements, and
there's definitely, I suppose, cases against it. But in terms of his resume, in terms of his reputation, I don't know what more you would like to see from somebody coming from the G five level.
He's forty two, he's familiar with the area. He's already forty one to twelve as a head coach at Louisiana, which is a good base. He's coached under both Dabo and Nick Saban, which is sort of like going to both Harvard and Yale. It was the least spectacular big hire, and I think you always feel good about Yeah, Florida, Florida. This monster job somehow flew completely under the radar. As USC and LSU and Oregon in Miami and Notre Dame, we're all doing their thing and just it worked into
a frenzy. This was a very unspectacular hire. And what I like about it is there's no stick is there, there's no show. He's an adult. His teams were rock solid, and they were always good, and they were at a clear talent disadvantage when they played some teams from the Power five, but they were always competitive. And they played Iowa State beat I twelve runner up Iowa State. Yeah, and so this is just a guy who knows how to coach really good football and he does it the
right way. And he's going to have his work cut out for him now because he's not playing Louisiana competition. He's playing the SEC East. That's really my only case against I like the billiy Napier higher. We brought Bruce Felman on the program, you know a couple of weeks ago, months ago now, and it seemed as if the Napier High was sort of a no brainer to Florida. Everyone wanted to move, he wanted it. It happened very quickly. The case against, I think, is that it's the SEC East, and.
The SEC East has.
Gotten demonstrably tougher in the last year and a half. Even if you win all the games you're quote unquote supposed to, that's like a ten and two season. Dan Mullen did that twice. Dan Mullen went to three New Year six Bowl games.
They canned him the first time. He didn't go to one.
Now I get that there are extenuating circumstances, and we could talk about.
The mollenisms if we want to.
But the bar is much much higher at Florida than it is at a place like Louisiana. That side of the conference is getting more difficult. New teams are coming into the conference, which is going to make it even more difficult than it's been over the last decade plus, and so we just have not seen Napier coach on this level. That's not necessarily a reason why it won't. It's a reason why it might not. But I feel
really good about the higher. I just I question about him running a job this big, an operation.
This huge. Also, if you look at programs with the expectations of a Florida, a University of Florida Gators, which programs across the nation have succeeded on that level hiring from a group of five school, a head coach from the group of five now Chris Peterson Washington took them to the playoff. Ultimately long term didn't work out. But who else, Right, It's a lot of internal hires, It's
a lot of coordinators from huge places. In the case of Michigan this year, it was Jim Harbaugh at Stanford, Jim Harbaugh with the forty nine ers, Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. And so that leap is not always the most successful one at a major place. Maybe I'm not thinking of one, but in terms of track record of winning major conference getting to the playoff, who is there? Is there another
name across the country? We are like this guy worked at a G five place and is now killing it at a huge job at a you know, a power five school. Maybe I'm missing it, but you know, if it's I guess Lane Kiffin at FAU. If that's the goal. But Lane Kiffin obviously had a lot of major head coaching experience at you know, Tennessee briefly and USC. So where where is the track record? Necessarily? That's what I'm curious about. It doesn't mean he can't do it, It just means it hasn't been done a ton.
I think the burning question for me is, you know, as we alluded here, Florida made them move away from Dan Mullen for a number of reasons, notably because of concerns in the recruiting operation. Right also he basically lost the team, which that happens, you're pretty much dead, doesn't matter what you did. But can Napier build that type of operation on the recruiting trail that's going to rival Georgia, that's going to rival even South Carolina. South Carolina is
bringing in Spencer Rattler. I mean, they're all up in their game.
In the SEC.
Tennessee is doing a good job, Kentucky is doing a good job. Like this is a side of the conference that has gotten a lot lot better very quickly. Can he build an operation that's going to rival the competition on the side of on that side of the conference and in the short term and still more discipline on the roster because these guys did give up off for Yeah, they don't want to be there.
So I'm curious. I'm very curious to see what he can do on that front. On the recruiting trail, Yeah, well, how good is he at rebooting the Florida brand after it suffered both in terms of the on field product and on the recruiting trail also just an open question and not necessarily why he won't succeed. But now in his state at Miami is one of the best five recruiters in the nation that they're competing against for in state kids, which is not always the case when you
look at some previous Miami head coaches. Not that Miami hasn't recruited well, but now that's going to be what we presume to be an in state machine, unlike you know, maybe the height of Florida state for sure under Jimbo was. But that's definitely a new challenge. I would say for Florida, why don't we go there? Next, it's a pro segue.
Let's talk about Mario Christobal, Mario crystal Ball for the cultured among us. Going back home to Miami, christ Ball played their offensive line back in the heyday for Miami football is Miami guy. He knows what the U is all about. He is an ace recruiter. He is a very good coach. There is a lot to like about the Crystal Ball situation. Those are the reasons why it will work. I have more reasons why I don't think
it will. I have other burning questions, but outside of the recruiting, outside of his familiarity with that part of the country, with this part of college football, give me some other reasons why it'll work.
Remind me who played in the ACC championship game this year. That's a reason it'll work. If you have to merely be better than pitt and Wake Forest to win the conference as it stands now, I understand Clemson is in this conference. I understand Florida State and a potentially improved, revised Florida State is in this conference. I understand North Carolina and the way they've recruited, and the way that the best of North Carolina is is in this conference.
In NC State. There are cases to be made for several programs, but the two that broke through are Pittenway Forest so merely being talented and winning games and more talented than everybody maybe save for Clemson of in two three years or whatever. Should be enough for Miami to win a ton of games. And they have a quarterback, you know, Mario christaball inheriting the quarterback has been a thing already and he's won conferences with that inherited quarterback.
We like Tyler van dim a considerable amounts. That's a great starting point. When you have quarterback and recruiting, you can go a long ways. And Mario Cristobal has apparently had the resources added to the program that he felt were necessary for Miami to compete with the best of the best nationally. We'll see if it works out. We'll see if it's an actual long term dedication. But everything is in place for Miami to win a ton of games with a ton of really good players. The situation's
a mess. It's a mess.
And I know that you got this infusion of cash now into the athletic program, and that's why they went out and they poached Mario as well as Dan Radakaevich brought him over from Clemson to be the athletic director. There's talk about building stadiums on campus and upgrading facilities and just as he said, putting all the things in place that they feel they need to revive the program.
That's all great, but that stuff does not happen overnight. Dan, If we're gonna I think Mario knows that, but yeah, he knows it.
Do Miami people know it?
Because if we're gonna dunk on USC for going after all the USC guys, the same should hold true here. Miami has been a program that has arguably been much worse at following that same playbook over the last decade. And so we can talk a great game about all these things that they're gonna to fix the program, but really what I question is what is the definition of success here? How are we going to score? How Mario
crystal ball does? As I understand it, Over the last decade, there have really been two measures for head football coach at Miami. Number one, are you Miami enough for the job? You know, like this this purity test, this purity test that's sort of a pre wreck for the job, And it was, oh, well, Manny Diaz is from here.
But he's not Mario who played here. Oh okay.
And then once you're in too, are you winning national championships? There has to be some middle ground, like maybe we start with getting to the ACC title game. Maybe we start there, or maybe we get the ten wins to a better bowl game or something of the sort. But there has to be some middle ground that we can grade Crystal Ball on something of a curve, somewhere between being here and playing here and being beloved here and winning national championships. We need some dose of realism here
in this program. So all the good stuff is, let's build the stadium on campus, Let's get the athletic department in order, let's spend more money on the football program.
Let's get there. But in the interim, the.
Program is still sort of a mess, and we need to rebalance expectations a bit because he's not going to win a national championship that quickly.
Not saying you won't do it.
He's a good coach, but it's going to take a while to get there, to get to the ACC title game, to do these interim things that need to happen first. And so for me, why won't it happen? A? The situation's a mess, and B what is the definition for success? That's my burning question. I want to know how are we grading Mario crystal ball, and what are Miami fans saying after year one, if he goes eight and four.
Do you have a favorite Miami ACC championship? There have been, Sonny, we have it there. It's so hard to pick. Miami's not an ACC championship program. I mean, that's the reality in which we live. Maybe that changes, but we have a lot of data to suggest that Miami as an institution, which is what Bill c Is quickly quick to point out is sometimes you don't blame coaches, you blame places. There are reasons places can't win, and Miami doesn't fully
reflect USC. But there are some faint whiffs of USC hiring a Miami guy, big city, big expectations to get back to pass glory without actually doing what it takes to win, you know, the step before that or the three steps before that.
And so.
There's a lot of talk tie, there's not a lot of walk so far. Right, So I'm just talking about the last twenty years, not necessarily Mario Cristobal's tenure. That's the issue to me, that there's gonna be a crazy amount of pressure on Mario Cristobal because of his status as an alumnus and you know, player for the Kaynes and also Miami is just not a conference championship program. It's just not. Again, it can change, but sometimes we are who we are at a certain point and can change.
But there are reasons why Miami hasn't been there. And so this is it's not like I was like a booster, Right, there's a billionaire booster who was like, I'm going to tear down a middle school and build a stadium, and it just didn't happen. Right, it just is not happening. I haven't seen blueprints, I haven't seen bulldozers. So it's it's a program built around talk and not necessarily built around walk. Maybe it changes, but again, sometimes we just are who we are.
The swagger baby got to bring the swagger back since nineteen eighty nine.
Okay, by the way, the open question, the open question to me is offense and offensive coordinator and what the vision is going to look like that's different than what really did hold Oregon back. Yeah, that's the question for me with Miami. Not necessarily can he get them back to glory or whatever, but the actual in the next two years question is how is it different than what held Oregon back? And yet to see.
All right, let's go on up to the Pacific Northwest. Let's pull in this thread a little bit more crystal ball bolts. He goes back home to Miami, Dan Lanning. Dan Lanning is your new head football coach at Oregon. Dan Lanning gonna be calling the plays for Georgia as defensive coordinator in the playoff game against Michigan, so we'll get one final look at him. I guess, I guess if they go to the National Championship, he'd call him again.
But we'll see. I mean, he could always be Lane kiffined right where you're just like, I don't dig your head's here, bye bye. Between those two games, who knows.
We'll have to wait and see what happens if they end up winning. But for the time being, anyway, we'll see more of him and his work at Georgia. He is young, he is charismatic, He is an awesome recruiter. He has no familiarity with the Pacific Northwest. He's a first time head football coach. He's gonna be put in charge of this big operation. Where are we at on, Dan Lanning?
Why will it work? Why won't it work? And what's your biggest question. Uh, it will work because of his reputation connecting with kids and recruits and people within the program, and his reputation, his energy, given his age. You know, everybody is you know, wants the next Sean McVay, right, everybody wants the next Who's is the Packers coach? Could? I don't know the names of these young coaches in the NFL, but everybody is like seduced by that or
Lincoln Riley or whatever, that young hot shot coach. And he comes. He's on the defensive side. He's not like an an offensive wounder kind as that's a German thing, right,
wunderk oh yeah, yeah yeah. And he's recruiting his tailoff at Georgia and building a recruiting monster at Oregon with his staff hires, with hiring Texas A and M and previously Georgia's you know, I forget the exact title, but it's the the the chief personnel type guy, the director of whatever, Marshall Malchow, malt I don't know how to pronounce it. So there is an entire focus on, you know, recruiting and bringing in consistent top eight national classes, which
is what Mario Christobal was basically able to do. And so talent plus conference plus energy plus hopefully a rethought of offense that really struggled, and a new person to try to evaluate and develop quarterbacks and the quarterbacks existing and the roster that exists, which is arguably the deepest and best roster depending on who actually comes back. There's a lot to like about where Dan Lanning's Oregon potential is.
I don't know how I feel about this with a first time head coach, sure going to a part of the country that he's not terribly familiar with. My questions are around staff and staves. Staves what kind of support net will be put around Dan Lanning. Everybody loves Dan Lanning like you won't talk to anybody who doesn't think this is a good hire, especially as late in the game as it came together. This is about as good
as Orgon was going to do. So you know, if you believe the people who are closest to whom who have worked with him, everybody is very bullish on this move. But there are a lot of questions. It is not a Marcus Freeman situation, which we can talk about next.
Now he's been on the staff.
He's not a promotion from within like this is uprooting and going three thousand miles the opposite direction totally, and so I question it from that standpoint. Doesn't mean it can't work. But in terms of this little goofy game we're playing, I would say there's no familiarity with the region. He's a first time head coach. It's a lot of upheaval and then being put in charge of this huge operation.
Oregon obviously is sort of the crown jewel at the moment of the PAC twelve North, maybe the PAC twelve as a whole. That's a lot of pressure for a first time Totally.
I think you're right. I think look the lack of experience and going to a big place, just like we've talked about with other coaches in this coaching search that I mean, I guess it was Brent Venables, who's certainly older and more experienced and has been around more big programs with bigger roles at big programs. So it's not a direct apples to apples analogy, but you're totally right.
It's him putting a staff together for the first time, him putting together a you know, a recruiting department and personnel department and dealing with the ins and outs of daily college football bossing. That I think is a huge question. And you know, he trained under one of the best with Kirby Smart and before that, Mike Norvell at Memphis. It's it's a wide gaping question of what does Dan Lanning look like as a younger guy tasked with taking over a major program that has won on big levels.
And I guess the open question is again it's right now, it's quarterback. Why he won't is what I just laid out. What the open question is quarterback and offense and Kenny Dillingham and you know what does this look like? What is the vision for an offense like we mentioned with Bret Venables as a defensive minded guy. All right, let's close it out here.
Well, there are a bunch of coaches that we can talk about.
We can do a bunch of quick hitters. We can do a bunch of quick hitters.
But we do have to close it out with a little bit more detail about the Notre Dame thing and Marcus Streamer. It is a quick hitter to me, Marcus Freeman, Marcus Screaman promoted from within. He is young, he is charismatic, He's a hell of a recruiter, and I believe that for Notre Dame to get to that next gear, they need and even stronger focus on recruiting if they want to continue raising the floor. It's just where they have
to go next. I give them credit for recognizing that this is the guy who seemingly can help them do that.
It's a huge.
Shift for Notre Dame in a very brief period of time. They have gone from the older guy and Brian Kelly at the top of this thing, kind of a legacy coach has been there for a decade plus to this young up start. Frankly, it's been a huge brand revival in a matter of days and weeks, turning things over from Brian Kelly who was still successful and was still getting recruits to a thirty five year old Marcus Freeman and a twenty nine year old Tommy Reese.
We'll see if it works. I don't know.
I'm hopeful, but that's a lot of brand revival in a very short period of time. Marcus Freeman is going to give them that. He's going to give them I think a degree of continuity as well, because not only is he staying on staff, but a bunch of the heavy hitters outside of Reese are also going to be there. So even though Freeman is new at the top, functionally speaking, it may not be all that different, which is a good spot if you're Marcus Freeman. As for why it won't work, tell me why you think.
If he's young, he's inexperienced. He's taking over a major program with huge expectations at a unique place. And what does quarterback look like moving forward? What is you know, what is different? I mean that's an open question. I guess what is the quarterback? What is the offensive vision
for this Notre Dame team without Brian Kelly. But this is a this is a place that largely hires not older, but more experienced head coaches who can deal with the intricacy, intricacies and unique challenges of Notre Dame from a more grizzled perspective, perhaps especially the guys who have succeeded. And Marcus Freeman isn't that. Marcus Freeman just isn't that. He's
also relatively new. He's eleven months, twelve months in South Bend, and so while he is internal, he's not long time Notre Dame defensive coordinator, and so that's just going to be new. That's it's just going to be new for him. Uh with uh with the unique challenges of Notre Dame, with you know, the academic requirements, and I think he'll recruit well, I really do. I believe it might even you know, go up a notch consistently. But it's that
day to day. It's the dealing with players who want to transfer, it's dealing with parents, it's dealing with administrators that he's never done. And same can be said for Dan Lanning for sure. But yeah, it's it's the unique difficulties of taking over a major program without having spent a lot of time there. You know, Mario Christapaul did that Orgon he was only there for a year with Willie Taggert. So I, you know, I think it can
be done. I'm more optimistic than I am concerned. But you know, young guy Green, I think that's the case.
First time head coaches have not done well at Notre Dame.
No, there's not.
There's not a whole lot of success. The point to each situation is different, but they just they haven't. They haven't been successful, and it is a unique place. It's a tough first job to get, for sure. I think he's equipped well to handle it. He certainly seems capable. People love him, the players love him. But if we're being objective about this, you have to point out that this is a different kind of job that has not always had a whole lot of success for first timers.
So why won't it work? We've got a track record on that side. What's the status of his staff.
Hiring unclear at this point. The open question at the moment is on defense and what that looks like moving forward. Sure, that's what I'm looking most forward to finding out more about. I've got a couple burning questions about this. Oh okay hit most notably at his presser, he talked about how he wants to enhance. Use the word enhance a lot, enhance, enhance enhance. Pete Sampson, our friend who was on the podcast, he asked of what do you mean by that, Marcus?
He didn't really answer. It is probably one of those things like you and I when we just sort of talk ourselves into a corner and then you're stuck with it on the record.
You know, I hope he enhances.
That'd be great but I think it was probably something you said to be non controversial, and he doesn't have any specifics around that. For the short term, for me, it's can you go to Ohio State in week one and be competitive next year?
Right?
And longer term, can you develop a quarterback? This is a defensive guy. Can you develop a quarterback? I don't know.
So definitely a ton of burning questions about Marcus Freeman, but reasonable we could talk about those in due time. Let's do some quick hitters though. All right, kitters, give me, give me some quick hitters that you're interested in. What jobs out there did we not talk about that we owe a little bit more attention to. I mean, there
are a lot of them. But you know, Jeff Tedford at Fresno State, you know, can he hire and win like he was able to do before when kaylind Wore was on staff Jane Norvel, like Colorado State, there were some open questions about their consistency and especially on defense, and he's bringing over a lot of guys. He knows. Ken Wilson at Nevada, you know, coming over from Oregon as a linebackers coach, very familiar with that program, and
so can he rebuild that defense. Can he evaluate and find kids because he's a really well thought of coach and was at Oregon both from the recruiting perspective and from a coaching perspective, And so what does that look like at a place that you can win and is not terribly far from talent. I'm trying to think, what you know, Joe Morehead's going to accurate? I think is fascinating. Can he get them back to a bowlish program? It's much closer to where he's from in Pittsburgh.
Yeah, I mean area, and there are other Power five jobs too, right, TCU and Sunny Dikes. Sonny Dikes is from the area. He knows it well.
But can he play defense? Yeah, it's defense and quarterback. That's It's the name of the game. And what does the recruiting operation look like in a pretty fertile part of the country. His staff is I don't believe complete, but has a couple of couple of interesting guys. So, yeah, it's defensive quarterback. It's always been a fall around Sunny Dyke's Yeah.
And by the way, Tech Texas Tech isn't in all that dissimilar situation, but they've got this huge infusion of enthusiasm now with Joey McGuire, successful high school football coach who has taken over was at Baylor for a little bit. There's been a lot of steam so far on that program. People are very excited about him taking over.
With Kiley by the Way from Western Kentucky as his offensive coordinator. I think exactly so.
Yeah, I think they'll put points on the board. I think it's a very fascinating program to follow. But another first timer taking over a big job in Texas Virginia Tech, to me is very interesting. I like Brent Prye a lot. He's familiar with the region, he's a good recruiter. I think he will build a good defense. What I do have questions about, though, is he's a first timer and he's hiring two thirty two year old coordinators. Tyler Bowen who comes up. You worked with Tyler Bowen for a
couple of years at Penn State. Tyler Bowen's been the tight ends coach at Jacksonville and Chris marv who was I think a linebackers coach at Florida State. So first time head coach, two first time coordinators. Not to say it won't work, but talk about playing without a net, right, That's yeah, that's about as high stakes as you're going to get.
Oh yeah, and I'm not really bringing back a ton on either side of the ball that you're like, Oh, this is the core of a ten win program, especially on offense. So that to me is a question with him Tony Elliott. At Virginia a place that put up monster numbers, it's who can they convince to come back? I saw they just lost an offensive lineman officially to Michigan, I think their center. So it's who can Virginia bring
back from this offense? And what does he do in terms of fully, you know, going after a defensive coordinator and a defensive staff who can both recruit and coach their asses off because this Virginia defense was a nightmare in terms of production. So a lot of acc questions. I don't know who I like, Mike Elcho at Duke. I mean, it's just a matter of rebooting and having
a vision. After being around so long and in a lot of major programs, you know, going from Wake to Notre Dame to Texas A and m you know, Duke has a ways forward.
I want to know why he took that job in the first place.
It's a good question. It's an opportunity, it's a it's good school, good part of the country to live in. I don't know. I don't know. That's tough. That's tough. If he just wanted that shot, if he was just sick of calling and running a defense and Duke, you know, if you turn Duke into back into a bowl team, you can get a bigger job, right. So yes, I
don't know, I don't know. It's a springboard. But if he wasn't getting those sort of big twelve sec footprint type looks, then you know, he just felt it was time and he felt confident enough that he could build a good enough defense. He built a good defense at Wake Forest. You know, they're difficult places to win, and Duke is one of them. And so he has that
experience in that part of the country. We'll see other jobs, other openings, other higher you know, Don Brown at UMass familiarity certainly there with what he did at UMSS when they were an FCS school. Who else Jake Dicker at Wazoo Oh Wazoo. Yeah, I think that's fascinating because he is he has looked at some lower levels for his assistant hires, which has been fascinating. He has what we
think is a quarterback of the future. There's some talent on that defense, there's familiarity with an internal hire of a program younger and without the you know, years experience as a head coach. But I think the players really liked playing for him and playing hard for him. The open question is what does that system look like? What is on both sides of the ball that you become, at the very least a pain in the ass for everybody in the PAC twelve? Yeah, yeah, all.
Right, Well, please do right in and let us know your thoughts on Clay Helton Georgia Southern, Clay Helton Georgia Southern, or Joey Maguire Texas Tech or Mario to Miami or Marcus Freeman a notre dame or billion aper, Brent vannibles Lincoln Riley. Tell me again how to pronounce the Louisiana higher Desorma like the jockey disorma, Kent desormo. I think Kent Disarmo, Kentucky Derby or something.
I love the last name. I love the internal hire, I love the enthusiasm.
I'm good with that hire. Write in let us know your thoughts. Solid Verbal at gmail dot com. Don't forget to going out to YouTube as well. YouTube dot com slash the Solid Verbal That of course, is where we post clips from the show. We're gonna be posted more out there as well, so subscribe hit the bell so that you're notified whenever we post something new. Of course, subscribe rate review on Apple and Spotify if you haven't already.
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