Josh Pate Breaks Down CFP First Round W/ Will Compton & Taylor Lewan + Michigan Head Coach Search

Summary

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Bussin' With The Boys

Episode: Josh Pate Breaks Down CFP First Round + Michigan Head Coach Search

Date: December 22, 2025
Hosts: Will Compton, Taylor Lewan
Guest: Josh Pate

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into a packed week for college football — recapping the College Football Playoff (CFP) first-round games and dissecting the chaotic Michigan head coach search. Will, Taylor, and Josh bring signature humor, candid locker-room banter, and sharp analysis to controversies, big wins, coaching drama, and what needs to change in college football.

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Main Discussion Points

1. Michigan’s Head Coach Search Meltdown

[04:01]–[17:44]

• Surprise and Disarray:

  • Michigan’s entire head coach contingency plan "went to shit within a total of like an hour" (Will Compton, [04:17]).
  • Taylor Lewan, as a Michigan alum, expresses shock at the lack of a robust plan:

    "I like to believe that Michigan has a better game plan than 'Hey, hopefully Kalyn DeBoer loses to Oklahoma and we'll get him.'" ([04:22]—Taylor Lewan)

• Leadership Vacuum and Fumbled Strategy:

  • Taylor questions Michigan AD Ward Manuel and the possibility that multiple campus "camps" (power factions) complicated the process ([08:54]).
  • Josh Pate adds:

    "You always like to think somewhere behind that curtain they're just a bunch of mad scientists... It's just a bunch of people who have very, very little idea of what tomorrow may bring." ([07:57]—Josh Pate)

• Why NOT Kenny Dillingham?

  • The group crushes circulating rumors that Dillingham "played Michigan:"

    "He had never even talked to them... They really were waiting for Kaylan DeBoer. And Kenny's just like hanging out there in multiple press conferences in Arizona State saying, 'Yeah, I haven't talked to Michigan.' It's because he hadn't talked to Michigan." ([15:01]—Josh Pate)

• Short-term vs. Long-term Fixes:

  • Taylor, reluctantly, supports making Biff Poggi the interim, reasoning it’s better to "rent" a coach now and truly find 'our guy' in 2026 ([17:28], [18:06]):

    "The only answer is Biff... I think Biff is not the long-term answer at Michigan." ([17:31], [17:36]—Taylor Lewan)

  • Worries about program stability, player transfers during break, and recruiting.

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2. Lighthearted Coping & Locker Room Camaraderie

[10:48]–[14:13]

• Will delivers a tongue-in-cheek existential take on losing:

  "Losing is not that bad... you can direct your anger toward other teams and just sit back and realize, this is just a game at the end of the day." ([10:48]—Will Compton)

• Jokes about Taylor possibly becoming jaded if Michigan’s turmoil drags on:

  "His silver lining to me was, you can direct your anger somewhere else." ([11:54]—Taylor Lewan)

• The boys riff on stress, caffeine, kids with fevers, and the toll of fandom.

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3. CFP First-Round Recap & Game Analysis

A. Oklahoma vs. Alabama

[20:35]–[28:13]

• Comeback & Choke:
  • "Cannot believe they blew a 17–0 lead. Can't believe it. Especially with their defense." ([21:21]—Taylor Lewan)
  • Josh pokes fun at Taylor and Will for doubting Ty Simpson yet maintains, "Oklahoma just got it wrong... They screwed it up" ([22:09]—Taylor/Taylor/Josh).
• Game-Changing Plays:
  • John Mateer’s costly interception:

    "He could not have hit a DB in the chest any more effectively than he did with that ball. So I'm going to say miscommunication." ([23:35]—Josh Pate)

  • Different takeaways on Alabama's resurgence after a sluggish start.
• Alabama’s Flaws:
  • Will refuses to believe this version of Alabama is a title team:

    "No one's going to sit there and tell me this is the plan you win the national title with, right? You're 2 for 12 on third down. You average 1.1 yards per rush." ([22:18]—Will Compton)

• Upcoming Matchups:
  • Looking ahead to Indiana’s ground game, and a Big Ten flex opportunity.

B. Miami vs. Texas A&M

[30:04]–[33:33]

• Defensive Showcase:
  • "It was what I thought Bama-OU was going to be." ([30:07]—Josh Pate)
  • Miami’s defensive progression under new DC Corey Heatherman hailed as a game-changer.
  • Josh summarizes:

    "A year from now... they're going to go on the road, they're going to score 10 and that's going to be good enough to win a game. Would have sounded insane." ([31:33]—Josh Pate)

• Quarterback Play:
  • Marcel Reed’s inability to finish drives; missed key chances.
  • Will points to missed opportunities but admires both teams "flying around with their hair on fire" defensively ([31:50]—Will Compton).

C. Oregon vs. JMU / Tulane vs. Ole Miss ("G5 blowouts")

[39:25]–[56:36]

• Predictable Demolitions:

  • Oregon’s "five possession lead in the first half was the big takeaway" ([40:28]—Josh Pate).
  • The panel laments uselessness of these G5-vs.-Power games:
    • "Nobody wants to see those games." ([40:57]—Will Compton)

• Time for Structural Change?:

  • The group unanimously agrees the playoff format needs fixing.

    "We all believe that the College Football Playoff needs to be different next year." ([42:11]—Taylor Lewan)

  • Advocacy for:
    • Ranking-based G5 inclusion (not automatic bids).
    • More home playoff games for top seeds ([42:45]–[43:06]).
    • A separate, well-funded G5 playoff.

• Defending the Argument:

  • Josh:

    "Most of the examples people use...it was a G5 team playing their Super Bowl against some SEC or Big Ten team that missed out on their goal and now they're playing a consolation bowl game...This last weekend is actually what it looks like when a G5 inferior opponent gets the full focus of a power program." ([54:41]–[56:36])

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4. How College Coaching Staffs Get Poached During Playoff Runs

[33:38]–[36:35]

• Weird Dynamics:
  • Josh explains the havoc when assistants accept head coaching jobs during playoff push (e.g., Dan Lanning losing both Oregon coordinators).
  • Contrasts NFL’s ability to block lateral moves versus college “open season”:

    "None of that exists in college." ([34:54]—Josh Pate)

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5. Broader Playoff & Sport Restructuring Debates

[43:06]–[52:29]

• Promotion/Relegation & Pooling by Resources:

  • Taylor floats a European soccer-style promotion and relegation; Josh advocates for transfer/restoration penalties when players are poached ([50:26]–[52:22]).
  • The group riffs on how virtually everyone in “lower” playoff games is looking to use it as a transfer springboard.

• Notre Dame and ‘Bubble’ Definitions:

  • "Tennessee has comparable resources to Ohio State... There are no JMU wins over Oregon." ([49:10]–[49:50]—Josh Pate)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Michigan’s botched search:

  "It’s just a bunch of people who have very, very little idea of what tomorrow may bring trying to conduct a coaching search."
  —Josh Pate [07:57]

• On coping with football heartbreak:

  "Losing is not that bad… This is just a game at the end of the day."
  —Will Compton [10:48]

• On G5 teams in the playoff:

  "It is just a tier of college football that’s beneath the likes… they play the same sport from a rules perspective, but from a resource perspective, we’re on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon."
  —Josh Pate [44:34]

• On playoff restructuring:

  "We all believe that the College Football Playoff needs to be different next year."
  —Taylor Lewan [42:11]

• On college football emotion:

  "We have been like Icarus, dude. We have been flying towards the sun. It was about damn time we fell a little bit. So actually shout out Oklahoma because we needed a good humbling."
  —Taylor Lewan [57:48]

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Timeline of Key Segments

| Time | Topic/Segment | |-------------|---------------------------------------------------------| | 04:01–17:44 | Michigan Head Coach Search, Strategic Fumbles, Biff Poggi arguments | | 20:35–28:13 | Oklahoma-Alabama First Round Recap, Alabama’s flaws, key plays | | 30:04–33:33 | Miami-Texas A&M Defensive Battle; Miami’s transformation | | 39:25–56:36 | G5 Blowouts, Playoff Structure Debates, G5 vs P4 future | | 33:38–36:35 | Coaching Staff Poaching During Playoff Runs | | 43:06–52:29 | Promotion/Relegation, Pooling Teams by Resources, Notre Dame | | 57:48–59:48 | Humbling travel stories, Oklahoma trip post-mortem |

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Episode Tone & Language

• Signature ‘Bussin’ With The Boys’ banter — locker room humor, sarcasm, inside jokes, camaraderie.
• Passionate and candid takes, “just a game” perspective through heartbreak.
• Mix of sharp analysis and self-deprecating coping mechanisms as fans/former players.

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Summary Takeaways

• The Michigan head coach search was chaotic, mishandled, and the panel is skeptical of interim solutions; 2026 might be the real inflection point.
• CFP first round saw expected blowouts from G5 teams, fueling calls for playoff restructuring.
• The group wants more meritocracy, fewer handouts, and meaningful home games in future playoffs.
• Coaching carousel chaos and NIL/transfer realities loom over all these debates.
• Humor, humility, and open questioning of the status quo make this episode worthwhile for any college football diehard or curious newcomer.

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Transcript

[Will Compton]

Welcome to another episode of the Locker Room with your boy, Will Compton, Josh Pate, Taylor Lawan. We will be talking all things college football playoff recap in the round one games. Miami gets a win. Bama gets a win. How Notre Dame would have beat everybody on the field over the weekend. G5. I'm sure the crowd, the G5 crowd at home was super excited for how everything went down. We are happy you're here. If you're a fan of the boys, you're a fan of the locker room talk, you're a fan of college football. This is the show for you. Make sure you are subscribed on all channels, whether you're watching or listening to me right now. Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon, YouTube, all of it. Make sure you're subscribed, leaving comments throughout the episode. We're happy you're here, big cuz, tiny kisses. Let's have a show.

[Josh Pate]

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[Will Compton]

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[Taylor Lewan]

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[Will Compton]

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[Taylor Lewan]

What a weekend.

[Will Compton]

Where do we even start? Because I'm curious, I know you put out a video. I'm curious to also dive into some Michigan talk about what even the hell you guys are going to do because it seemed like the entire operation and plan, some of the dominoes and strategy you had in place just all went to shit within a total of like an hour.

[Taylor Lewan]

It felt like to the public eye, I 100% agree. And I am the public eye. So I 100% agree. I like to believe that Michigan has a better game plan than hey, hopefully Kalyn DeBoer loses to Oklahoma and we'll get him. And if not, Kaylan Dillingham's chomping at the bit to leave his alma mater in a place he loves more than anything to come to Michigan. I'm hoping the thought process went a little more farther than that. And we talked about this on the bus. If you're a top five program, you want to sit there and like we hear with Eddie O when he's on the LSU getting the interim head coach job, he's meeting somebody at a gas station, there's burner phones involved. Like we have to cover all basis. If you're the ad. If this happens, this happens. You're always ready for every circumstance. So if something happens that seems catastrophic.

[Josh Pate]

Contingency plans.

[Taylor Lewan]

You've got your answers. My thought process in the Michigan thing is this. If. Sorry, sorry.

[Will Compton]

I just. I know last week you had this strategy and I was bought into it. Like, there's a strategy out there, and now the strategy is just pure hope. Like you're just hoping everything's okay.

[Taylor Lewan]

Strategy. I'm gonna play. I'm gonna talk as if the only game plan was Caleb DeBoer, Kenny Dillingham. Because if your thought process, if you're Michigan is those are our two guys, then it's everybody else, which there's great coaches out there that could take this job and be very successful. I have no doubt in that. But if that is the Michigan thought process, why would you, in your mind, settle them for somebody else and just kick the can down the road of the issues you already have, hoping that this person's be successful when those other two, you know, would be successful? So for me, it's Biff Poggy. The thought process is 20, 26. Say, hey, we're gonna go with Biff for the year. You frame it as, we have a lot more issues than just who the head coach should be at University of Michigan. It's great for primary. You get your president in place. Who knows what happens to Ward Manual, whether he is the guy. He is not the guy. Clearly, it seems like the ball has been fumbled with football. But if you look at every other sport at Michigan, which he's the athletic director, not the football director, they're doing a very good job on that end. So maybe he stays with me. He doesn't. But foundationally, Michigan needs a whole lot more than just, we have a head coach now. We have our answer. Because the last five years have not been ideal other than a national championship.

[Josh Pate]

Yep. So you would think in a. I'm not going to say a perfect world within the framework of this situation. In a perfect world, you knew that the Sharon fire firing was coming from a long way away. So you had your Ducks in a row. They didn't know the Sharon firing was coming. There were rumors. I heard him. You heard him. We talked about him a dozen times during the season, but we never knew, like, are we sure they're going to fire him? As it turns out, because they went, what, nine and three regular season? I don't think they were going to fire him until it all hit the fan the week after the Ohio State game. And then You've got an entire investigation and then they are firing him. But the thing about it is I'm convinced that Michigan folks woke up the Sunday of that week not expecting to conduct a coaching search. And because of that, they had to scramble a plan together. And because they had to scramble a plan together, just like Penn State a few months earlier, there were a certain number of candidates that, that would be obvious. Yes. Don't even need to get approval for type guys. In Penn State's case, that was Marcus Freeman, that was Kalin, guys like that. And then once they quickly, Mike Elko was another one. Once they realized we're not getting those guys, okay, those are like the peak of the mountain. Then the mountain gets really, really wide, really, really quick towards the base. More people get involved, more voices, more sign offs, more checks and balances. So with Michigan, once you realize, and like you said, this happened in like a eight hour span, once you realize it's probably not Kalin, I don't think it ever was. But once you firmly realize it's not Kaylin, then Kenny says, no, I'm staying home, you're kind of back to square one. You always like to think somewhere behind that curtain they're just a bunch of mad scientists and they're five steps ahead of us and they've got a master plan. And if that master plan doesn't work out, it's got several side roads of contingency plans and we'll be good. It's just a bunch of people who have very, very little idea of what tomorrow may bring. Trying to conduct a coaching search.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. Here's the problem is based on the reports that have come out since Sharon got fired, is apparently allegedly this was brought to the athletic department in the summertime. Those are the reports that are being said on Twitter. Whether it's true or it's not, let's just say it is true. If you are the people making decisions at the top and you're like, hey, we're going to conduct this search, a piece of you an alarm has to go off of if there's validity to this and the road would be to fire him, what is our contingency plan?

[Josh Pate]

That would be if you are the athletic director in this case, we don't know that the AD is the one running the search.

[Taylor Lewan]

Right. Because it seems like there's multiple camps vying for the top spot to make the decision at the University of Michigan. That's where I sit there and I'm like, yeah, Biff is. If Biff sat here right now he would say I'm not the long term answer for Michigan. Would he take the job? Yes, absolutely. He knows he's not the long term answer. Michigan knows and the fan base knows. But if you're in the position you are now where the coaching cycle has pretty much all the way gone through and the two guys you thought you had a real shot with that you believed was of Michigan caliber, which is debatable at this point, they're no longer on the table. It's like, well, there's going to be a whole new coaching cycle next year. There's going to be job availabilities that we didn't see coming, just like we saw this year. There's going to be big names that are back in there and why not be in the front of the line for next year as opposed to back at the line. You have a year of uncertainty. Who knows, like how boosters get behind it? Donors. Because there's a level of Michigan arrogance in the donor category where it's like, regardless of who the head coach is, we want to be competitive. They're willing to put money in, be like, hey, Biff, you're the guy. Get the players you want the players you can get and let's be as competitive possible against this gauntlet of a schedule. And now you're in the middle of October, you're seeing the board more clearly, you have a better foundation for Michigan and you're able to go, this is our guy. As opposed to a rushing. Because today is December 22nd when we're shooting this. I got a Christmas shop, the same. The players either today, tomorrow, yesterday are going to go on Christmas break. You are absolutely foolish if you think these kids are going to go home, open presents with their family and not hear and have a million conversations about what's revolved around them in the football building. And guys are going to get in their ear. You can go here, you can go there. Tampering period is crazy right now. But now you're away from your main storyline and you're talking to.

[Josh Pate]

Now your parents are tampering with you.

[Taylor Lewan]

Exactly. They know all the money could possibly get. This is going to be a very tough Christmas break for Michigan fans, myself included.

[Will Compton]

Can I take some?

[Taylor Lewan]

Go ahead.

[Will Compton]

Losing is not that bad.

[Josh Pate]

Wow.

[Will Compton]

Losing is not that bad. Like you'll have to deal with weight loss, you have to deal with muscle turning into fat. You have to deal with some short term pains that you could. You'll have to deal with shaved heads. But then you can direct your anger Toward other teams and other fan bases and other chaos. And then you just sit back and realize, this is just a game. This is just a game at the end of the day. And then you just. You gear up for next season.

[Taylor Lewan]

Can you give me one? Can you give me one second gear for next season?

[Will Compton]

We're gonna take it all.

[Taylor Lewan]

Can you give me a timeout? We're gonna put you in the little box real quick. It's soundproof. I don't wanna end up like that.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

I do not wanna become who that is. You can't hear us too, so you can see what we're doing.

[Josh Pate]

Let me tell you something. That used to be Will Compton. Yeah, that used to be Will Compton.

[Taylor Lewan]

Did you see his eyes?

[Will Compton]

I got bags under my eyes right now.

[Taylor Lewan]

He's got bags under his eyes right now because of all the losing.

[Josh Pate]

It's like a doll's eyes, like a shark size. They're just glassed over. They're looking off into space. What is he looking at, me or Jupiter? What is he looking at right now?

[Taylor Lewan]

Exactly. He was talking to me, but seeing through me. I do not want to become that. His silver lining to me was. You can direct your anger somewhere else.

[Will Compton]

Do you rem insane?

[Josh Pate]

Do you remember the fall?

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Josh Pate]

Do you remember week zero? Week one, and you know what's up?

[Taylor Lewan]

Josh is. I'm so glad I can't hear us. When we get on the bus in March, he's going to pull up the schedule and he's going to tell me. He's going to look me in the eyes and say 10 and 2. He's going to say 10 and 2 again. And being his friend, I'm going to say, yeah, you're right. I'm riding with you. And if I ever go against it, I'll all of a sudden the bad guy. I'm in the trenches. The anger is getting directed at me when I'm just trying to look at my boy. Hey, all the things you just said, I've kind of said to you. But anyway, I'm worried about him. I don't want to become that. So let's let him. Should we let him back out of the box?

[Josh Pate]

I'm gonna do everything I can for you. Okay?

[Taylor Lewan]

I need that.

[Josh Pate]

I'm gonna do everything I can for you.

[Taylor Lewan]

My only hope, my only wish is we can go back in time. And when Will was starting this journey with Nebraska, you were there to be there the way you're gonna be there for me. Yeah.

[Josh Pate]

I stayed in the foxhole as long as I could as long as I could.

[Will Compton]

Foxhole's not built for everybody.

[Taylor Lewan]

Cause there's a lot of question marks revolving around Michigan. But, like, year three, Matt Rule.

[Josh Pate]

Like, even Dylan left.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. And what happened in year four?

[Will Compton]

We're building a program.

[Josh Pate]

Is he reading our lips? He's talking in there. I see him talking in there.

[Taylor Lewan]

Doing something. Anyway, let's get him out of there.

[Josh Pate]

Okay.

[Taylor Lewan]

I'm sure he's running out. You're back.

[Will Compton]

I'm not running out of air. I'm just. I'm running off a strictly caffeine and Greek yogurt. I pounded about 16 ounces of it. It's all I'm running on. I got a kid at home right now with 103 fever.

[Josh Pate]

You got a scratch on your neck.

[Will Compton]

I got a stretch scratch on my neck for my one year old. It's just a game.

[Josh Pate]

It's just a game.

[Taylor Lewan]

I don't want to become. I'm excited to hear that because we weren't just talking about you. We had a couple other things. But, like, I really don't want to become what you're doing right now.

[Josh Pate]

This. This. This went from we're going in tonight and someone's not coming back alive to. It's just a game.

[Taylor Lewan]

It's just a game. Serious.

[Will Compton]

We would.

[Taylor Lewan]

If we die, we die. Why are we taking it so serious?

[Will Compton]

That's.

[Taylor Lewan]

That's. That's me. Soon. Yeah. If Michigan can't figure it out, you're.

[Josh Pate]

One or two more no's away from.

[Taylor Lewan]

And if I could just go back in time and. And talk to somebody that's making a decision. Be like, just call Kenny right now and offer him the job. Cause him be in a press conference saying, they never offered me the job. We knew that.

[Josh Pate]

Yep.

[Taylor Lewan]

But why not?

[Josh Pate]

Yeah, that was what was funny. The whole time.

[Will Compton]

He was playing everybody. I don't.

[Josh Pate]

Do you know what?

[Taylor Lewan]

I don't think he was.

[Josh Pate]

I want to address that. I got. My eyes are watering. Well, so. A lot of. A lot of people are saying what you just said. A lot of people think, oh, man, Kenny and his agent just played Michigan. No, they didn't. We were like, you. Now that this is over, you talked with Kenny several times throughout this, did you not? Yes, I talked with Kenny Dillingham like five or six times throughout this. I know Kenny's agent very well. When most people were speculating that they already had an offer and they were negotiating with Michigan, he had never even talked to him. And I don't mean that thing where your agent is talking so you can have plausible deniability. I mean, there was nothing in front of them. They really were waiting for Kaylan DeBoer. And Kenny's just like hanging out there in multiple press conferences in Arizona State saying, yeah, I haven't talked to Michigan. It's because he hadn't talked to Michigan. He had no idea. You assume the offer is going to come. You don't know if the offer is going to come or not. Just because the Internet says so. You don't know if the offer is going to come. So no one played anybody. He was brutally honest this whole time. That's why last week on the show, I said, hey, I don't think just if he gets the offer, it's a slam dunk that he's going to take it. I agree, because he actually is truthful when he says, I love Arizona State. Now, if you're living in Missoula, Montana, and you say, hey, if you could have the Arizona State job or the Michigan job, which would you take? Well, that guy's taking Michigan, but that guy's not Kenny Dillingham. So it was always going to be a tough pull in the best of circumstances. And Michigan search is not being handled in the best of ways right now.

[Taylor Lewan]

No, it feels that way. We could get a week down the road. It could completely change. But it seems like to me, the deadline has kind of is at. We're at or starting to pass the deadline to where these kids are going to get impatient.

[Josh Pate]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Because they've done a great job of staying in. We've had. We think we've had two guys transfer out. Both guys, you hope for the best for them. And when these kids do leave, a lot of Michigan fans are going to be mad. But how can you blame them if they leave and there's no structure or nothing around them to where they go. I feel confident about the growth of my. My football career, hoping to make it to the NFL. That's the shitty part.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

So you sit there and you just go, name a guy. And the name you have right now is Biff. And you can get all the answers you want in 26 and just hope a lot of these kids that say they love Biff, that want Biff, like Marlon Klein is the. Was a captain this year, tight end. He said to the press, I want Biff Poggy to have be the head coach of Michigan. So if a captain's saying that and guys are aligned and it feels like dudes are knocking at the door of the ad saying, Biff we're leaving. Then call them on their bluff. Hire Biff. They're probably going to leave. Yeah, but at the end of the day, man, it's like you can't expect them all to stay anyway. It's 20, 26. New nil. Find your guy in 26. Don't force it right now because it's too late.

[Will Compton]

Do you want Biff?

[Taylor Lewan]

My. My call would be Biff if. I mean, I think if like Kyle Whittingham.

[Josh Pate]

But he asked. He didn't ask who your call would be. He asked if do you want Biff?

[Taylor Lewan]

The way it feels right now, I think the. The only answer is Biff.

[Josh Pate]

But he didn't ask what the only answer is.

[Will Compton]

He has to. Do you want Kwon? Do you want Biff Poji?

[Taylor Lewan]

I want biff poggy. 426. I don't think. I think Biff is not the long term answer at Michigan.

[Will Compton]

So you want a short term. You want a short term guy.

[Taylor Lewan]

I think you go into an interim head coach situation. Gary Moeller, similar situation in Michigan. Gets fired. Who takes over as interim head coach for a year? Lloyd Carr. Lloyd Carr was there for 10 years.

[Josh Pate]

But that's not the game plan here.

[Taylor Lewan]

Probably a different situation most likely, but it's the closest one I can give you right now.

[Will Compton]

Right.

[Taylor Lewan]

Like I'm look at the situation in Michigan. I'm pulling at straws right now.

[Josh Pate]

Why buy when you can rent?

[Taylor Lewan]

I'm just sitting in the batter's box and I'm. Exactly.

[Josh Pate]

Why live when you can squat?

[Taylor Lewan]

Exactly.

[Josh Pate]

Go Blue.

[Taylor Lewan]

Go. Yeah. Go Blue. Go Blue.

[Will Compton]

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[Coca-Cola Announcer]

What a matchup we got, y'.

[FanDuel Announcer]

All.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

This is that classic hbcuva non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit chant. Echo drum beat. Everybody showing that school pride game like this. Yeah. It calls for an ice cold Coca Cola.

[Josh Pate]

Ah.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

Crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there.

[Greenlight Announcer]

Mmm.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at Halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere, and an ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.

[IBM Announcer]

So you're telling me that the AI that's meant to make everyone's job easier to manage just adds more to manage on top of the thousands of apps the IT department already manages? Funny how that works. Any business can add AI. IBM helps you scale and manage AI to change how you do business. Let's create Smile to Business IBM.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Flu season is here and the in store pharmacy has you covered with a free flu shot with most insurance plans. And as a thank you, get up to $20 off your grocery purchase. Plus it's cough and cold season. Stock up on all the season's essentials and get ready for relief with discounts on items like Hall's Menthol cough drops, Tylenol Cold and Flu, and Mucinex Fast Max products. Offer ends December 30th. Restrictions apply and offers may vary by location. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Will Compton]

College football player we just hit the first round.

[Josh Pate]

Hey, Merry Christmas.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, guys.

[Taylor Lewan]

This is awesome.

[Josh Pate]

Just a game.

[Taylor Lewan]

I'm going to have a.

[Josh Pate]

It's just a game.

[Will Compton]

Let's talk about the games that happened over the weekend.

[Taylor Lewan]

Oklahoma.

[Josh Pate]

Yeah, tell me. You tell me about Oklahoma.

[Taylor Lewan]

I will say this about my experience in Oklahoma. I probably won't be going back for a while. That being said, I thought the people in Oklahoma were great. I thought the coaching staff was amazing. I thought the beat reporters were awesome. Everybody on the sideline I talked to was great. But there was one situation. I'm just like, I probably won't go back there for a minute. I'll let. I'll let it breathe. And that's what it is. Because it's not. I'm sure the players are great. Gabe Eichert, great guy. Played with him. He's a big. He's big in Oklahoma. Probably won't go back. Environment was awesome. Cannot believe they blew a 17. 0 lead. Can't believe it. Especially with their defense. With their defense. Clump. Ty Simpson, though, he got it back high. Ty, he got it back high and tight and he got it back between the ears.

[Josh Pate]

It's really got to make you two feel kind of dumb that you doubted him. You picked against him.

[Will Compton]

I Don't feel dumb.

[Josh Pate]

And you got called out.

[Will Compton]

I still don't feel dumb.

[Josh Pate]

It's got to make the two of you specifically really look in the mirror and ask, how did I doubt Ty Simpson?

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

And I tell you then I look back in the mirror and I say, Kurt Big Nettie Indiana, you're Will, you're right on doubting them. They, Oklahoma, just choked the game away. They blew it.

[Taylor Lewan]

This is going to say we were right. Oklahoma just got it wrong.

[Josh Pate]

They screwed it up.

[Taylor Lewan]

They screwed it up.

[Josh Pate]

Yep.

[Taylor Lewan]

They screwed it up.

[Josh Pate]

Welcome to my world.

[Taylor Lewan]

Big fan of Ty. Love him, obviously. Love Gaylon Borg. Seriously. With Greg Mason Blue. But they fucked up. Oklahoma. Messed up bad.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, I got nothing but love for Ty. But no one's going to sit there and tell me that this is the plan you win the national title with, right? You're 2 for 12 on third down. You average 1.1 yards per rush. The punter, he just drops the ball. He drops the ball. Did you see? Yeah, he drops the ball and then John Mateer, he can. Talk about miscommunication. Receiver all you want. You gifted a Christmas gift to the corner. He was taking that to the house no matter what the route was.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Josh Pate]

Well, I would say if it was a quick button hook, which I'm pretty sure he hand signaled to him and he picked up on it, it wouldn't have gone to the house because it would have had to go through the receiver's body before it was taken to the house.

[Will Compton]

I think that's corner was sitting inside. All he was doing is sitting there reading the quarterback.

[Taylor Lewan]

It was cover two.

[Josh Pate]

Yeah, but I still think so. You go back and watch tv. Copy. Which I assume both of you have. He looks out there. Whatever in the world this means for Oklahoma, he gives it to him. I think he got a head nod from the receiver, but I'm not sure. Whatever he told that dude to do, I'm pretty sure he blindly trusted that he was going to do and that kid didn't do it. You're just. Look, I'm someone who held a John Mateer Heisman ticket. I've got a dog in the fight here. Not anymore, but I did have a dog in the fight. I am not going to believe that John Mateer took that ball, said no receiver over there. Sabian Brown was good enough. I'm not going to believe he did that. If he throws an errant ball over the middle or something like that. Okay? Dude, he could not have hit a DB in the chest any more effectively than he did with that ball. So I'm going to say miscommunication.

[Taylor Lewan]

Oh, for sure, miscommunication.

[Josh Pate]

But I just want to be in.

[Taylor Lewan]

Fact, to use your eyes.

[Josh Pate]

But I'm going to say it's all on the receiver. I just don't want John Mateer to get any of the blame.

[Taylor Lewan]

Okay. Hey, if that's how you want to live. Absolutely.

[Josh Pate]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Team sport. Eleven guys gotta be on the same page.

[Josh Pate]

He was great on third down in the first half. Yeah, I thought that was gonna end up being the stat of the game.

[Taylor Lewan]

Well, you said it's funny too, because.

[Will Compton]

The stat sheet was basically flipped from the last game. It was not, like, as bad as Alabama kind of had him in the.

[Taylor Lewan]

Last game, but the turnover margin, all that stuff.

[Josh Pate]

Think about the first quarter and change of this game. It was like the fifth quarter of the SEC championship game. How lifeless Alabama looked, how bad the field was getting tilted on them. Average starting field position, all that stuff that we talked about after Bama Georgia, and to an extent, Bama ou. Round one was the first quarter of this game. Okay? So, like, I'm joking around a little bit about Ty, but after the game, I'm on the field and some of the Bama coaches, they're kind of messing around, but, like, they're saying, man, you doubted us. You doubted us, dude. Yes, I doubted you in this game. I doubted you. Down 17. Oh, who in the world wasn't doubting you?

[Will Compton]

And by the way, I still doubt you.

[Josh Pate]

It's not like, okay, I don't want to go that far yet.

[Will Compton]

And I still doubt you.

[Josh Pate]

It's not personal. It's not personal. Yeah, it's definitely not personal. It has nothing to do with Alabama. I'm just gonna come out of my chair when I yell. It has nothing to do with Alabama.

[Taylor Lewan]

This is entertainment. Wells is doing entertainment.

[Josh Pate]

Right. And after. It's just a game.

[Will Compton]

This is me versus Deep State.

[Josh Pate]

Yeah, it's really just a game.

[Taylor Lewan]

It's just a game, right? Well, it's a game.

[Will Compton]

It's just a game.

[Josh Pate]

But this thing people do sometimes, when you've given them every reason to feel away and then you feel that way and then they act differently than the way that made you feel how you originally felt. And they're like, you had the audacity to feel that way.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Josh Pate]

Yes. And I'm going to tell you why. Because you were terrible in Atlanta last time I saw you, highly ineffective. Some people didn't even think you should be in the playoff. Yeah, I defended you. I Went to bat for you and you're giving them all the ammunition that he'll ever need. Slash they will ever need. So, yeah, I think there was a little bit of reason to doubt Alabama.

[Taylor Lewan]

Absolutely.

[Josh Pate]

They overcame. Okay. Now they get to go against Indiana and that's a game we're going to cover post Christmas. But that one we got. We got Miami, Ohio State, we got Oregon, Texas Tech. That's the Big Ten's chance to flex and just knock everything on its. On its ear.

[Will Compton]

And Indiana can run the football. Indiana's got Fernando Mendoza. And we talked about the drop punt. You saw the drop punt.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Before that drop punt, he just dropped it. He just dropped it.

[Taylor Lewan]

He literally just dropped the ball.

[Will Compton]

He dropped it.

[Taylor Lewan]

I'm glad you saw that.

[Will Compton]

Before that, on that third and three where Mentir kind of makes it happen. He's got old buddy down the field. He just drops the ball. Yeah, like that right there would have been 24, seven.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, yeah. And Alabama, like, their defense is pretty clear now. What they want to do is they want to play zone and back up and not give up X plays. And they're like, hey, well, as you just pick us apart up and down the field, who can do that? Indiana all day long. That's what they can do in a very nice way. In a very nice way. In the most robotic computer way you could possibly ask for.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, they're going to have to find some more, like offensive just production. Because again, you look at them in the first part of the year until essentially what, like November, mid November, whenever they started to play South Carolina, like Alabama's offense, and you go. And if you look at box scores and everything else, like they're averaging well over like 20 first downs per game. And that kind of just goes away. Like when you look at their body of work at the late part of the year, which is where all the doubt crept in. Is something wrong with Ty? Is something going on with the offense? They can never really run the football, but they're only averaging around. It's like south of 15. Like south of 15, first down. So where they're just. They haven't had a whole lot of production. You're kind of hanging on explosive plays. Like they scored 34 points in that game. And you look everywhere else, whether it's on the box score, everywhere, it's. I can't believe that there was. What was the total in that game?

[Josh Pate]

41 and a half.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, but they both teams combined scored like what, over 60 point, 58 points. Yeah, yeah, 58 points. I'm just. It did not feel like a game where both teams where you just generate 58 points.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, no. It was just explosive plays and then miscues on whoever's fault it was. We're gonna. For this show, we'll say it was the wide receivers, the punter, like just crazy stuff.

[Josh Pate]

Yeah. But if you take, if you take so that the pick six, that's a defensive score. Just take it off the board. Take the three points they got from the. The muff punt or muffed handling of the punt off the board. Even if you shave 10 points off that, still 48 points. It didn't even feel like a game where 48 got scored.

[Will Compton]

Right.

[Josh Pate]

It's pretty crazy.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

And you had a couple missed field goals there at the end too, which I know that Buddy was in hell mentally missing those field goals.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, yeah. He had to be dying.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

What a matchup we got, y'.

[Taylor Lewan]

All.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echo drum beat everybody showing that school pride. Game like this, yeah, it calls for an ice cold call.

[Will Compton]

Coca Cola.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere and in ice cold Coca Cola, that's a winning combo. No matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan word, thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.

[IBM Announcer]

So let me get this straight. Your company has data here, there and everywhere, but your AI can't use the data because it's here, there and everywhere? Seems like something's missing. Every business has unique data. IBM helps your AI access your data wherever it lives. To change how you do business, let's create Smile to Business IBM.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Flu season is here and the in store pharmacy has you covered with a free flu shot with most insurance plans. And as a thank you, get up to $20 off your grocery purchase. Plus, it's coughing cold season. Stock up on all the season's essentials and get ready for relief with discounts on items like Hall's Menthol cough drops, Tylenol Cold and Flu and Mucinex Fast Max products. Offer ends December 30th. Restrictions apply and offers may vary by location. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Taylor Lewan]

What was your thought on the Miami, Texas A and M game? Pretty boring.

[Josh Pate]

It was what I thought Bama OU was going to be.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Josh Pate]

It was extremely windy there. It was more windy than the night before. I think once Miami realized we're sort of sinking in our teeth a little bit and Marcel Reed's not running the ball on us, which mobile quarterbacks don't. Against Miami, once they realized that, it was like, we're not going to let Carson Beck lose the game is how I felt. They handled it. Fletcher, you know, they got a four quarter approach. They think that they can bust the game open in the fourth quarter on the ground. They did. So they were able to stick to that. But they were able to stick to that because defense allowed them to. And so I'm sitting there the entire time thinking, okay, rewind. One year ago, Miami's having to score 40 every game with Cam Ward doing it basically on his own. So they have a shot to win because defensively they're just atrocious. And they made a personnel change and went and got a new defensive coordinator, Corey Heatherman, out of Minnesota. They made a huge deal about it internally. Probably went under the radar a little bit nationally. Well, now look at them and look at the ability. Imagine me telling you a year ago, Miami, a year from now is going to lose Cam Ward. I'm not even going to tell you who they're going to get at quarterback. They're just going to portal in a guy, but there's no way he's going to be as good as Cam Ward. So you're thinking downgrade there. Then you're. I'm going to tell you they're going to go on the road in a playoff game. So they are going to make the playoff. That's great. They're going to go on the road, they're going to score 10 and that's going to be good enough to win a game. Would have sounded insane.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yep.

[Josh Pate]

And yet they did it.

[Will Compton]

You bring up great points. You like. Imagine if this Miami team had Cam Ward on it. Yep.

[Josh Pate]

Or imagine Cam Warden a fraction of this defense last year.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, they're in it and they're probably. They have a good chance to win.

[Will Compton]

It actually, outside of just the missed field goals. That was. That was brutal.

[Taylor Lewan]

That poor kid, man, I felt so bad for him.

[Will Compton]

But I was actually enjoying watching the defensive battle. I mean, Miami A&M2, but just flying around with their hair on fire, tight windows. I'm thinking, who, which quarterback's going to like, step up in the spotlight and really, you know, neither of them, neither.

[Taylor Lewan]

One of them they're really leaning on the first half. Marcel Reed's going to be the one to come, kind of like step up and finish this. He had a deep shot down like he did a play action, scrambled around a little bit, had a guy wide open and the left side of the field got that and they stalled out, ended up getting nothing on that. It kind of felt like if there's a quarterback that's going to win you the game. It felt like Marcel Reed moving Carson Beck throughout it.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. And there's going to be plays that I know Marcel Reed's watching where just like timing and rhythm. He's going to want plays back where. I feel like when you're going against Ohio State, Julian will thrive more in some of these situations. So I'm excited to kind of watch the Miami defense against the Ohio State offense.

[Josh Pate]

There's one more thing that's happening right now. Lanning's dealing with it. Elko dealt with it. It's this thing with the abnormal hiring cycle where your staff gets new jobs, but then they're still coaching through the playoffs. So Elko is losing both of his coordinators. Colin Klein took the Kansas State job. Like he's going to be a head coach. Well, he's still your offensive coordinator. Bateman is leaving as well. So I was talking to some folks about the dynamics that that creates in a building. And on one hand, it's really, really weird for prep because on one hand you're. You're very happy that your guys are getting opportunities, but job's not finished. So your most important games are coming up and the attention span is fragmented from your, theoretically your second, third most important guys on your staff. But also, here's where rubber really meets the road. If I'm head coach here and you're my OC and you're my dc, you're getting looks because we're winning, probably. So then you get hired as a head coach and you get hired as a head coach. But the way it works is you don't just leave and say bye, you leave and you got to put a staff together. And the first instinct you have is to look right back in my building, because I've got a building full of top level people in nutrition, strength and conditioning, your own support staff, like whatever the case may be. So I go from wishing you well, congratulate you, I may have even recommended you for the job, to I don't want you taking my staffers. And so I'm fighting against you and against you to keep people in my building. Who you only got an opportunity to work around because I gave you an opportunity and you did your job. So we're even there. Imagine sitting in a staff room where we're having to work together to put together a game plan to try and get ready to go win a game, hopefully multiple games. And I'm also competing against you kind of to keep staffers. Yeah, that's not an easy dynamic.

[Will Compton]

It's all happening quietly, too. It gets loud, then there's an argument. Yeah, yeah. It throws every is there world in.

[Taylor Lewan]

College football, like NFL, if a coach gets hired and he's trying to bring guys on, coaches for other teams can block guys leaving. Unless it's like a pay raise or not a pay raise, but, like, you get elevated as far as your role goes.

[Josh Pate]

Great question.

[Will Compton]

Like, they can't make a lateral move.

[Taylor Lewan]

They can't make a lateral move. Like, there's multiple times, like Lafleur, when he left, I know Vrabel blocked a couple of people from leaving because, like, hey, I want you guys here. You're taking a lateral move. So he would keep those guys in the building.

[Josh Pate]

This will shock you. None of that exists in college.

[Will Compton]

Oh, man.

[Taylor Lewan]

College football is the best right now.

[Josh Pate]

There's no.

[Taylor Lewan]

I'm getting up my fan. My school is getting by the brunt of it right now, but it is awesome.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, that would be tough because again, if. If you're the head coach of the situation, you're doing everything you can to pour into the situation that b. Which is, hey, we gotta. We want to win the national title, win the college football playoff. Then whenever I know in my brain if all of my prep and all my stuff gets done, once I get moments of time where I feel like I would be finding whatever the creative ways are, whatever you're obsessing about within the team. Now that I'm going to be a head coach, I feel like all that free time now would be going into whether it be the relationships inside the building, hitting people up outside, like, hey, what's your situation going on with this school? Like, I'd be putting more toward into what my future is going to be at my next school. Because now I'm about to take my first head coaching job.

[Taylor Lewan]

And if coaches, they know this in the building, like, what is our actual chances of winning a national championship? Like, I'm sure there was like, Texas A and M saw where their flaws were and then saw the road and realized our flaws don't match up, can't be hidden through these future teams. So once you can make that decision. You're as an OC or DCU now as a head coaching job. It's even more of a reason to go. And hey, let me focus on what I got going on here. So maybe I can be the head coach here someday or somewhere else.

[Josh Pate]

And the important thing to remember now that we go into quarterfinal round is Dan Lanning's dealing with this. He's losing both coordinators. So keep that in mind as you start to think about the Orange Bowl. How do I think they match up with Texas Tech? Well, that. Other factors in the room. I know. No way you can quantify that because it probably works different program to program, case by case. So you just never know culture by culture.

[Will Compton]

And we're. I know Taj is going to Cal. Where's the OC going?

[Josh Pate]

Kentucky.

[Will Compton]

Head coach of Kentucky. Yeah. It's like unless you're going to. I feel like I'm kind of zooming out. Unless you're going to like an SEC or a Big Ten or like a really good job where you feel like there's going to be a lot more resource help to where people can kind of do some of these things, some of these responsibilities that you deem as a priority and you got people that can handle it. If you're going to like an ACC or a Big 12 school to where I feel like there's going to be more urgency there for you to have more responsibility because you don't have all the same resources and backing that like the Big Ten. Some of these prominent Big Ten in SEC schools have.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. What we interrupt this episode to bring you True Classic. Specifically the True Classic Pima T shirts. They got that little curve on the side, grab the shoulders, grab the chest a little bit. Your boy hasn't been in a weight room in God knows how long. But when I put that T shirt on, I think to myself, you know what? Maybe you'll be all right after all. You'd find True Classic at Amazon and Costco, Sam's Club and Target nationwide [e-mail] Bussin look good, feel good, play good.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

What a matchup we got, y'.

[Taylor Lewan]

All.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echo drum beatin everybody showing that school pride. Game like this.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Coca-Cola Announcer]

It calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right now there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere, and an ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo no matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.

[IBM Announcer]

So you're telling me that the AI that's meant to make everyone's job easier to manage just adds more to manage? On top of the thousands of apps the IT department already manages? Funny how that works. Any business can add AI. IBM helps you scale and manage AI to change how you do business. Let's create smarter business. IBM.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Flu season is here and the in store pharmacy has you covered with a free flu shot with most insurance plans. And as a thank you, get up to $20 off your grocery purchase. Plus it's cough and cold season. Stock up on all the season's essentials and get ready for relief with discounts on items like Halls, Menthol Cough Drops, Tylenol Cold and Flu and Mucinex Fast Max products. Offer ends December 30th. Restrictions apply and offers may vary by loc. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Taylor Lewan]

Would you guys make a video? Two games I just all I did was look at the the app. I learned that through the show. You can just go on the app instead of googling the scores. I put out my little goat Jurassic Park Jurassic park photo context and just waited for the scores to roll and seemed like Tulane got a whole lot better. They only lost 40, 41 to 10 as opposed to 45 to 10. So a four point swing from the last time they played. Then Oregon, they refused to cover JME and let him get back into was.

[Josh Pate]

That you could really tell who did and didn't watch that game by the amount of people who said Oregon didn't even cover bro. Yeah, they gave up 34. They gave up 500 yards of offense and I said well the University of Oregon logo gave up 34. The guys on the field in the second half were very very clean jersey, unfamiliar names because they rolled out their twos and threes in the second half because you are so inferior. They treated the second half as like an FCS tune up game. Yeah, they treated it like the last preseason like a preseason game before these.

[Taylor Lewan]

Guys got for next year.

[Josh Pate]

Yeah. So I all due respect, five possession lead in the first half was the big takeaway. It's 34 to three before the half, right? Yeah, that's the takeaway.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. And your two score 16 more points so is it time that we now just move on from G5S? Do we. What are we changing the structure in college football? Does something actually change going into next year?

[Will Compton]

I think something's got it. Something's got to change. There's been so much chaos that year that I feel like the structural. I like to hope to believe like there's going to be some type of movement.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Some type of restructuring, some type of figuring out a different process because nobody wants to see those games.

[Taylor Lewan]

No.

[Will Compton]

You know what I mean? Like, hey, in this structure, they deserved it. They got in. They were. Their conference championships were. Right. They were ranked higher than the ACCs ones. So, you know, Duke or. Yeah, Duke doesn't get in.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. So what you're saying is based on the structure of the College Football Playoff, the teams that got in should have.

[Josh Pate]

Been in the playoff based on the current rules.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Josh Pate]

As they exist. Those two teams should have gotten in based on the rules as they exist. Question is, do we change the rules?

[Will Compton]

Do I agree with what.

[Taylor Lewan]

What he just said?

[Josh Pate]

Well, there's no arguing it.

[Will Compton]

It's just fact that the G5 teams got in because of the current structure.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, I'm talking about the structure of college football. The teams they got in were supposed to get in.

[Will Compton]

Are you walking me into something?

[Taylor Lewan]

No, I'm just asking if you agree with that or not.

[Will Compton]

Do I agree with the current structure?

[Taylor Lewan]

No. The way the structure was that out. The teams that we're in were supposed to be in because of the current structure. Now we need to change something.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. I mean, it doesn't matter what my.

[Taylor Lewan]

Then we did walk him into something.

[Josh Pate]

I. I know what you were doing. I didn't know what you were doing at first, but you just made him say Roll Tide. That's what you made him do.

[Taylor Lewan]

I made him say Roll Tide.

[Josh Pate]

You made him say Roll Tide.

[Taylor Lewan]

Miami should have been in Notre Dame. We understand why they're out now.

[Will Compton]

I don't agree with the current structure.

[Taylor Lewan]

I'm sorry.

[Josh Pate]

But you do want to blow the structure up?

[Will Compton]

Yeah, I want to blow the structure.

[Taylor Lewan]

I just want to blow the structure up. I think we've all been aligned our paths to getting there or different, but we all believe that the College Football Playoff needs to be different next year.

[Josh Pate]

Most people think that. Most people believe that. Very few people. If we straw polled America, college football America, very few people are saying, I like it exactly how it is right now.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. One of the biggest things that need to change is the second round needs to be home. Home advantage.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, I would love to see that. I would love to see Texas Tech having a home game. Like the teams that got bys, the teams that were one through four, like they get to have a home game in the Cal State playoff.

[Taylor Lewan]

Right? Because what we saw last year, the team like Oregon who had a buy, they were not prepared, they looked a little rusty going to their game and getting mopped by Ohio State. Like now Oregon gets a little tune up game against jmu. Ole Miss gets a tune up game. Now they get to go in a little more fresh versus these teams that had buys. And if it goes the same way it went last year, it's like they're in a much better position playing more football.

[Josh Pate]

To go back to your thing about the G5, like everyone's spoken their piece on it. Then the result hits you in the face again the other day and you got two blowout games. So I warned you last week, I said if these games are close, there's going to be a ton of bad faith argument out there. Well, they weren't close. So then this is my opinion, you got more bad faith argument or maybe flawed argument on the other side. So I, like both of you, don't really love the idea of G5 teams just being kind of gifted a spot in the playoff. Doesn't make logical sense to me, but I know why it does exist. I'm not anti G5 or anything like that, but I know why it exists. But my take on it has never been they're going to get blown out. That's why they don't belong in. They happen to get blown out because they're inferior teams. But whether it was a three point game or a 300 point game, I don't really care. I just, I talked to you about last week, the strength of schedule and how I think there's a certain bar you should have to clear and most G5 schedules do not allow you to do that. It's not their fault. That's why I would love a G5 playoff. Probably what shocked me the most about this whole era is I thought G5 fans would be on board with the concept of a G5 playoff if it had like a full financial umbilical cord attached to it. Because you say G5 playoff and the first thought is, oh, you're choking us off of the big playoff which means we're going to die on the vine over here because we don't have enough money to survive. No, I would love to just pump money into that thing.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, they see it as everybody Wanting to put them at the kids stadium.

[Josh Pate]

Yeah. Which. Which that is. It's brutally honest. That is what you're doing.

[Will Compton]

It's the reality.

[Josh Pate]

It is just a tier of college football that's beneath the likes. I mean, it's so stupid to think Louisiana Monroe and Louisiana State play the same sport. They don't. They play the same sport from a rules perspective, but from a resource perspective, we're on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon looking at each other.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Josh Pate]

Okay. So I'm always a G5 playoff guy, but then I get pushback on that. So, like, I'm okay. I don't. It's not like I'm hard and fast on that. That's just how I'd like to see it, because it makes sense to me. But if you're not agreeing on that, what is your proposal? And I had a lot of people say, all right, my proposal is G5 teams should only get in if they're ranked in the top 12. I'd be totally fine with that. I'd be totally fine with that. The question becomes, if you don't give them a guaranteed seat at the table, but there are automatic bids for other conference champs, do you run the risk of a lawsuit? And then the third thing that I started to see some people broach this past weekend for the first time is, what if there is a lawsuit? What if you just let them take you to court, lose the battle, pay the check, and then go about it however you want to anyway, so there are a lot of different thoughts out there.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. And your opinion, what is the fastest way or the best way to fix it? And it has to be legally.

[Josh Pate]

It doesn't have to be legal. You got to basically just decide, whatever your structure is going to be 12 teams, 16 teams, whatever. I think they're always going to have one spot. I think they're always going to have one guaranteed spot at the table. I assume that that's probably not going anywhere unless. And this is why I go to the G5 playoff thing. If you created a separate playoff and there was the promise of a huge payday in that playoff, that's the only thing that I theoretically believe could convince G5 presidents and athletic directors to look at it, I don't know if they would do it. But if you put out this not an idea, but like a fully formed plan, here's the media partner, here are the major advertisers, here's the payoff. Here's the subsidy. Here's what you're going to get. If you're in it. Here's what you're going to get. If you win it, everyone's going to get something. You're not going to die on the vine over here because you got detached from the main playoff. Once the money part's taken care of, then you tell JMU or Tulane you're going to compete in a tournament where you can actually win. Like, right now, JMU's goal is get to the playoffs so I can get beheaded. Tulane's goal, their North Star, is we can get into the playoff so we can get annihilated. So it's never made sense to me. But G5, folks, many of them will look you straight in the eye and say, nope, we'd much rather have that than our own separate tournament.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Boggles my mind, even the level of separation, too. Like, everybody on JMU's roster or Tulane's roster, even though they're going in to get beheaded in the College Football Playoff, basically everybody's goal in that building is play well enough to then get picked up by from somebody bigger. You know what I mean? It's like, hey, we got into the playoff this year. Can't wait for all of us to come back. Like, strengthen this. If we get nil, we're coming back. Jmu, Tulane, we're coming for blood next year.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

You know what I mean? Even if they were to win, you know, they probably never win a game, but if they won a game, you.

[Taylor Lewan]

Could see them winning a game.

[Will Compton]

Let's just say they won a game in a simulation. Then this. The mindset for everybody still on that team is the exact same.

[Josh Pate]

We're putting film out.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. Yeah. We're trying to level up. Like, every coach is trying to get a bigger job. Every player is trying to get plucked by somebody from the P4.

[Josh Pate]

Now, here's. Here's what's. Here's what the intellectually dishonest counter argument would be. Okay. Isn't every kid that may play for TCU trying to do that for Texas? Isn't every kid that plays at, I don't know, like, Arkansas trying to do that for Alabama? Like, people will say that, right? The answer is yes. The difference is you've got to, at some point pool teams based on some kind of comparability. The comparability is resource. That's just like when people say, well, yeah, JMU got blown out against Oregon, but Tennessee got blown out against Ohio State last year. Does that mean Tennessee doesn't belong in the playoff? Which is one reason I don't track in that argument. Because they can get you on that. No, it doesn't mean that. Because Tennessee has comparable resources to Ohio State, they have athletes that can compete on the field with Ohio State. Like, yes, they got blown out in that game. The difference is if you play that game 100 times, there's some very competitive games. There's some Tennessee wins in there. Believe it or not, there are no JMU wins over Oregon. And it's not because you don't believe in them or think they should have a shot. It's cause there is a certain facet, like there's a certain level in football where it's a non starter. Like it's. I call it the freeze point. A lot of times, water, if it's 33 degrees or 103 degrees will not freeze. It has to be 32.4 or lower or 32.6, whatever it is, before it freezes. Those rosters don't meet the freeze point. They don't even get close to meeting the freeze point. And so, like, I just think that if you're looking at an Arkansas, Alabama versus a JMU Oregon, you're intellectually dishonest if you're making that argument. Cause even if you're making the argument, you know, Arkansas, Alabama versus JMU Oregon are totally different classifications of quote, unquote separation. You got to classify teams and group teams. At some point, there's going to be a worst and a best in any bubble. The difference is if the bubble's 30 teams deep versus 130 teams deep. That first bubble makes a lot more sense to me. Okay, which bracket does Notre Dame fall in? Which tournament do they get in? I would put them in the head bubble. I would just make them earn their way in like everyone else. Which they didn't this last time. But they got a new. We wrote a new law for them. Right, to get in.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, no, I list.

[Will Compton]

That's a great law. It's a great law.

[Josh Pate]

That's interesting.

[Will Compton]

Okay, Notre Dame's beating everybody that played a very.

[Taylor Lewan]

Let's play the game where there's a G5. There's a G5 tournament every single year. Let's say one school will just say JMU or Tulane win that tournament like 5 or 8 out of 10 years.

[Josh Pate]

Just like the FCS in North Dakota State, right?

[Taylor Lewan]

And they're just over and over and always crushing it. And then you have like the lower sec, Big Ten schools that are constantly at the bottom over and over and over again. Is there a like, relegation?

[Josh Pate]

Promotion and relegation is There.

[Taylor Lewan]

Is there a world that you would want to live in?

[Josh Pate]

Yeah. I'll tell you what else I would love to do. I would love that to exist. I would also love. I think they do this in European soccer. I know nothing about European soccer. They do promotion, relegation. What they also do is pay. I forget what the term is, but it's a fee. Basically. If you're JMU and I'm Oregon and I take five of your players, I am paying a penalty to you to take those players from you, which I've always thought should exist right now. It's a joke what what P4 does to the G5, but it's also a joke what the G5 does to FCS. It's not like this is a. This is a one way street here, like the G5. I was talking to a guy from Mercer the other day, which is just an FCS school in Macon, Georgia, but they're pretty good. They go play the big boys every year, take their check, take their beating. He laid out their roster and which players have been poached and what they're being offered. And it's like Georgia State came and got this kid. Troy came and got these kids. UAB came and got these kids. So the G5 does the same thing. It's just much less talked about because no one cares about the FCs relative to talking about P4, G5. I would love for there to be a restitution structure anytime you're taking talent, because that's really what in the long run could reinvest in those programs and help them level up to where eventually they're consistently good, they can retain their players, and then if they're good enough, they can be promoted up a level. And if you suck at that upper level, you're not taking advantage of your resources. You could fall down the ladder. Now I just said that in like two minutes. That's very easy. You got so many spiderwebs to untangle there with conference affiliation, not to name the other few to where. Yeah, it's very difficult to make that a rule or make that the new structure. But we're just playing perfect unicorn world here, right?

[Will Compton]

Yeah, we got a blank. We got a. We got a blank sheet. Fix it however we want to.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Will Compton]

For me, it's just that everybody who loves college football, the sport is becoming more and more popular every year. A lot of people, hey, it's my favorite sport to watch. Just when you're looking at the playoffs. This is the most, you know, competitive. You want the most Competitive tournament possible in our favorite sport. Sport that we're all watching.

[Josh Pate]

Yeah, that vibe Saturday night was bad.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, it's like the, the Oregon, Oregon, JMU and then tane Ole Miss. Like you're watching A and Miami. You're watching Bama, Oklahoma and then the, the other games. Like you're checking in to see is there even going to be a fighting shot. Oh, it's 34 to 3. I don't even care to watch the rest of this football game. Oh, JMU ended up putting 34 points on the board. I wonder if it was against backups, whatever it is. Yeah, but you're not, you just, you don't care to watch those games at all. And like, imagine the world. I know obviously I spout about the Notre Dame stuff, but imagine Notre Dame, BYU or Vandy that would have been in the playoffs or in some of these games this year. You're like tuned in, excited to see what's going to go down because now.

[Taylor Lewan]

You'Re watching real conferences, real independents that say, hey, we're just as big as the big dogs. We're going to go prove ourselves because everybody wants to see the power forwards, like who is the best. At the end of this year we're going to have a conversation. Whoever wins the national championship, whatever, if it's Big Ten, sec, we're all going to sit there and be like, this is the best conference now the top of the top is the best conference. You're not getting that without getting like Vanderbilt to go to Oregon. Like that would have been a game I think we all tuned into. Hell, we even maybe go to because we have multiple dogs in that fight. I think we make the trip to Eugene over going to A and Miami.

[Will Compton]

Right?

[Taylor Lewan]

Because you're right. It was like there was two games this weekend. Everything else was, hey, congratulations.

[Will Compton]

If there happened to be that G5 team that is ranked in the top.

[Josh Pate]

15, top 12 Cincinnati from five years ago.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, like you're still, you'd be curious, like, let's see if they can, they can rock with the big dog if they do. It's much more entertaining and fun to watch. It's just we all knew how these games were going to go down over the weekend.

[Josh Pate]

It's always obvious when a G5 team actually belongs in the playoff. There have been several. Boise, a couple of UCFs, that Cincinnati team from just a few years back before they joined the Big 12. Those teams, Cincinnati made the four team playoff. And I remember like vividly saying, yeah, I think they belong in. I didn't push back on it. It's not like you're blanketly anti G5, it's you want deserving teams in the playoffs.

[Taylor Lewan]

Right.

[Josh Pate]

The other thing is I don't believe in comparing basketball to football at all. But for the people who do go down that road of comparing the NCAA Tournament March Madness to the College Football Playoff and they're like, man, we want a Cinderella, blah, blah, blah. I enjoy watching like a George Mason go up against duke in the first round. Point spread may be 24 and a half, but there is something in the back of my mind that tells me this could happen. It's unlikely, but it could happen. And also I enjoy watching the kids have that experience. There is nothing fun to me about watching JMU or Tulane be on the same field in any kind of competitive playoff environment with legit like top 10 caliber Big 10 and SEC teams. And the other dirty secret from the past. Two dirty secrets from the past. The first dirty secret is most of the great G5 teams people use in these arguments to prop up the G5 will never exist again because all the talent got raided in the modern age. Number two, and this is one that gets pushed back. But I don't care because I know it's true. Most of the examples people use Utah, Alabama, UCF, Auburn, whatever the case may be, it was a G5 team playing their Super bowl against some SEC or Big Ten team that missed out on their goal and now they're playing a consolation bowl game. So you got disproportionate motivation and buy in. This last weekend is actually what it looks like when a G5 inferior opponent gets the full focus of a power program. That's what that actually looks like. I had an auburn kid in 2017. They beat Alabama and Georgia, then they go to the SEC championship game. Kerrion Johnson's hurt. They get beat. They get beat by Georgia. And they go from thinking they're going to go to the playoff or whatever, win the SEC to they're going to play in the Peach bowl against ucf. I had one of the kids tell me this is not one of the six biggest games of our season. UCF has a banner in their building because they won that game.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah.

[Josh Pate]

Just to give you an idea of how different that was.

[Will Compton]

Well said.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah, I think we covered it. Yeah. Is there anything, boys? We missed anything in the back here. Jared, I know you're a big college football guy. Is there anything you got?

[Will Compton]

Shout out Oklahoma.

[Taylor Lewan]

Shout out, Oklahoma. Thank you for the hot dogs. Thank you for the hot dogs. Yep.

[Will Compton]

As an observer of the weekend, it was like I'm sitting there, I'm hearing about what happened to the boys, what happened to my boys. Then I see Pate's got his Rolodex of content coming out where he's on the field. All these things. I'm like, damn. There's levels to the tough. Yeah, there's a level.

[Taylor Lewan]

And all the things, all the things that went down. I'm sitting there at the end, we're flying back. Jared's sleeping with his mouth wide open. JP and I have a conversation, and I'm just thinking, the one time Will doesn't come with us, it all falls apart. Deep state to where I'm gonna have to go and tell Clump what happened. Tell ESPN what happened. And I'm gonna have to get on the phone with Will and be like, this is what happened, and it sucked.

[Will Compton]

I see my boy just in the top row, like the wind blowing, eating popcorn. And then I go to Pete's timeline, and he's in the Beast backstage petting a dog.

[Taylor Lewan]

He petted a dog?

[Will Compton]

Yeah, he did. They got the red carpet rolled out. He's so bad.

[Taylor Lewan]

You know what we. What's good for Bus with the boys, though, is this has been 2025 has been an incredible year for us. It's been awesome. I mean, our relationship, the locker room, the traveling, all the things. Doing espn. We have been like Icarus, dude. We have been flying towards the sun. It was about damn time we fell a little bit. So actually shout out Oklahoma because we needed a good humbling. We needed it. Go ahead.

[Josh Pate]

On the. On that topic, on the flight there, do you remember you just being like, man, everything is perfect. Like, dude, could go wrong.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yes. And it was. It wasn't the flight to Oklahoma. It was a flight from Oklahoma after everything happened. And I'm thinking, dealt with a bad, bad egg. Like, that happens sometimes. And I'm like, sitting there reflecting with all the boys, like, how cool is this year been? And it feels like every year is its own, like, whole lifetime that takes place.

[Josh Pate]

You gave, like, a positive speech.

[Taylor Lewan]

Yeah. And we're all, like, kind of shaking our heads, being like, yeah, dude, it's awesome. Go to sleep, wake up. Hell is taking place. And I literally have somebody from ESPN saying what people said about you guys in Oklahoma. They reference it to a terrorist attack.

[Josh Pate]

I can't believe you can even fly. You should be on a no fly list right now.

[Will Compton]

Kaylor's sleeping. The boys are sleeping.

[Taylor Lewan]

My bad, dude. I'm like, oh, this is a good humbling for us. Like, we stayed in Ritz Carlton for the SEC championship.

[Josh Pate]

We're in the good times right now.

[Taylor Lewan]

It's getting this holiday like, oh, we're snapping. Everyone's great beds are actually relatively comfortable too. Sit there. Wake up. Ah, a decent night's sleep. Look at my phone.

[Will Compton]

Hell grenade.

[Taylor Lewan]

Great.

[FanDuel Announcer]

Hell.

[Josh Pate]

I gotta tell you. I gotta tell you. I told you off air. I'm gonna tell you on air. I'm at Oklahoma a fair amount. I storm chase in Oklahoma. National Weather Service is on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. So me and Oklahoma. So I vouch for Oklahoma. However, I vouch for you as well. And so I think probably from a mediator standpoint, I got work to do. Maybe I take this personally. Maybe this is kind of on me. I haven't taken responsibility for anything on this show all year. So maybe it's time December 22nd. Maybe it's time for me to take my first L. Yeah. So I'm gonna fix this. I gotta find a way to fix it.

[Taylor Lewan]

I'm gonna tell you our game plan. We've said our piece. I'm now gonna sit back and pretend like it never happened until somebody reaches out to me. I'm just gonna sit in the pocket now and be like, well, hopefully it get fair. It's not worth stressing about. I got Christmas shopping to do. Or I'm like kind of stressed about that.

[Josh Pate]

Same, so.

[Will Compton]

Oh, God, yeah. God, yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

Gotta find those damn stalking stuffers.

[Josh Pate]

That's right.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Lewan]

The perfect way to bring up Oklahoma is us storm chasing with Josh and that one individual. Make them come with us. Yeah. And as the tornadoes coming, just.

[Josh Pate]

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just for clarification, I don't want to.

[Taylor Lewan]

Clarify what I just did.

[Josh Pate]

What in the world happened? Happened here?

[Taylor Lewan]

Don't even worry about it. You'll find out. We'll go storm chasing.

[Josh Pate]

Someone just died.

[Taylor Lewan]

Someone fell out. We don't know.

[Josh Pate]

Okay, well, from an insurance. From an insurance perspective, I can't allow that to happen.

[Taylor Lewan]

I'm kidding. I would never.

[Will Compton]

Oh, big hug. Signing kisses. Merry Christmas. We love you.

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[Josh Pate]

All.

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[Josh Pate]

This is an iheart podcast.

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