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Chip Patterson
Have you ever heard of Gold Belly? We've been using it for a couple years now and honestly, I don't know what my family did to even eat before discovering it. Gold Belly lets you order iconic foods from all over the country. Everything from famous desserts to legendary dishes. And they ship it right to your door. You could even try the famous Christmas pie cake and completely wow your family. The flavors are out of this world and it'll make your holiday table feel feel extra special. I have to admit, I was skeptical about shipping something so delicate across the country, but it arrived perfectly, packaged, fresh and absolutely delicious. It's honestly changed how I've thought about hosting friends and family and even gift giving. Because now with Gold Belly, I can give experiences, not just presents. I'm thinking about sending my friends some barbecue from Joe's in Kansas City. Maybe some cheesesteaks from Pat's in Philadelphia. Some. So many famous options, so many ways to give the gift of food. It's something that they might not even know is available. So I'm giving you the wonderful food experience and also letting you know where we got it from. Of course. That's Gold Belly. So if you were looking for that perfect gift for everyone on your list or want to impress your friends and family with an unforgettable meal and make hosting a breeze this holiday season, go to goldbelly.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code cover. That's goldbelly.com code cover for 20% off your first order. You know how in football, the right call at the right time can change everything? Miss your window and the play's gone. The holidays are no different. That's why Amazon prime is the real MVP this season. With Prime's fast free shipping, last minute gift giving is a breeze. Forgot a gift for your holiday party? Need something for a friend? Prime turns last minute panic into a smooth win. Just like hitting the perfect play on the field, prime isn't just fast, it's your holiday game changer. Making sure you never miss a moment that matters. This season, you can count on prime to deliver fast during the holidays. Just when you need it most. Last minute gifts delivered, it's on. Prime heading out of town this weekend for a big football game. You know, cheering, tailgating, the whole experience. But while you're soaking in all the excitement, you might have realized something. Your home could actually be doing something while you're away. That's right. You can host your home on Airbnb while you're gone. And it's such a practical way to earn a little extra money. I started thinking about it for myself. A few nights of hosting could help cover part of a trip or even fun tickets to another game. It's easy. It doesn't take over your life. You just make your space available and let others enjoy it while you're out having fun. We've seen the benefit of it with family here in North Carolina. You're away, and then you come back to a little extra cash and no hassle at all. So if you've got an upcoming trip, whether it's a football weekend, a quick getaway, or a family visit, hosting really does feel like a smart move. Seriously, your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much@airbnb.com host.
Tom Fornelli
Welcome Back to the COVID 3 podcast with your hosts, Chip Patterson, Tom Fernelli, Danny Cannell, and Bud Elliott. It's your call for the best college.
Danny Cannell
Football coverage from national signing day to the national championship.
Bud Elliott
And.
Danny Cannell
CBS Sports presents the COVID 3 Podcast.
Chip Patterson
And welcome back to the COVID 3 Podcast here on CBS Sports. That's Tom Fornelli. That's Danny Cannell. I'm Chip Patterson coming to you live@YouTube.com cover3 and everywhere. Get your podcast on demand. Thanks for hanging out. Smash that. Subscribe. Smash that like, and come and join us in the chat, aka the COVID 3 tailgate, where I sure do hope that every one of y', all, and I mean this, every one of y' all has signed up. Oh, what you got, Danny?
Bud Elliott
You know, just a little new piece of hardware. Celebrity shootout champion. You know where I was yesterday? That's why I missed the show yesterday. I was out in West Palm Beach. Did see beat out Urban Meyer. He was one of the celebrities competing. Nick. Sam Saban was in the house. Our buddy Brady Quinn. It was great. It was a great time. I did talk to Urban I. Saban bounced right after. He didn't exactly stick around.
Chip Patterson
Golf only.
Bud Elliott
Yeah, yeah. He might have had one of those trunk slam arounds where you get in, just slam the trunk and you're out. But it was great catching up with people. It was awesome. And to be able to take home the hardware. Steve Walsh was one of my partners. The old Miami quarterback was there, so he was one of my partners that helped us take it home. Oh, Garrett. Garrett, always taking shots. Why am I always catching strays from Garrett? It was not the senior tease, Garrett. We were playing from the tips, like.
Tom Fornelli
Pro from the senior teeth.
Chip Patterson
Hey, listen, those. Those aren't strays. Those. Those are targeted. And as Always. You know, if, if Danny does, all, all absences are excused. Absences when you return with a trophy. So anytime you're invited to play in a golf tournament, I think that that's the in house rules. If you return with the trophy like you did right there, then it's then totally excused right there. If you want to claim a little bit of your own championship, if you want to claim the bowl pick them championship for cover three. Well, then we need you to go and sign up because. That's right. Just like in the regular season where we were given out actual cash prizes with zero entry, we've got one coming for bowl season. So splash sports.com cover three. I'm G. Say it one more time. Splash sports.com cover three. Here's what we got going on because bowl season is here and we've teamed up with Splash Sports again for a bowl pick them contest. 0 entry fee, $5,000 in splash cash on the line. And honestly, the ultimate bragging rights. Let me walk you through it. Here's how it works. You pick all of the bowl games against the spread. So that means. Oh, QR code. Thank you, Mikey. That means you go through, you make all their pick. But here's the twist. You pick one best bet per slate. That's worth double points. So choose wisely. That best bet's going to be absolutely everything. It's pure strategy. Confidence meets risk, reward. And first place place takes home $1,500 in splash cash for a free entry. Are you kidding me? We're paying out the top 10 spots too, so you've got a legitimate shot to cash, even if you're not perfect. In total, we are talking $5,000 in prizes again for zero entry. All yours for the taking. Go to splash sports.com cover3. Free to enter, takes 2 minutes. Lock in your picks, rep the cover3 community. Let's find out who really knows ball. Now, if you are already in there, you are aware, but just to give you a heads up, it's split up with the holiday slate. It's got the New Year's Eve locks, it's got the New Year's bowls locks. But of course it starts with the College Football playoff first round. So lots to get in there. Playoff games will lock some soon. In terms of the spreads though, those things have been mostly staying put, right? I mean, have we seen a ton of line movement in any of the four first round games?
Tom Fornelli
Not like significant, no.
Chip Patterson
Yeah, a little bit of, you know, maybe a bump here or there, but all of those make sure. You get in again. Splash sports.com cover three to come and join us in our cover three bowl. Pick them. All right, we've got sort of a multi layered episode here. We're going to be going through some of the the players who have decided not to go to the NFL draft, the players who have decided to go to the NFL draft, the players who have decided to enter into the portal, what the portal might look like. Plus coaching carousel updates. And of course we will give you a look at some of the bowl games that are coming up over the course of the next two nights, mostly Wednesday night here as we've got a fun one there in Orlando with odu, South Florida and also Louisiana and Delaware. But we'll just go ahead and call it a little portal. So let's jump into the portal. So when we went live Monday at 11, we discussed DJ Lagway. That was sort of the, the news of the morning. But then as soon as we got off, we had Brendan Sorsby entering the portal and as soon as we got off we had more quarterbacks entering the portal. It was a very visit, very busy start to the week again, as Dabo Sweeney will tell you, Portal won't open till January 2nd. Then we'll check in with you maybe more on Dabo a little later. But Tom, as it was sort of a busy Monday Tuesday of the, the transfer portal news, you know, how, how did you sort of see this play out from, from your seat?
Tom Fornelli
It's, it's going to be very, very interesting and a very, very lucrative off season for a lot of different quarterbacks who are now entering the portal. I, I think that like the Raiola news was treated as like a big deal, but I think we all kind of have seen that coming for weeks. So nobody was all that surprised to see Raiola in the portal. I think so. Something of a surprise. I don't know how you guys felt about that one. Like, I, I know in his statement he said that it's going to be either the NF he's entering the portal, but he's also still exploring like the NFL. So I don't know how you guys felt about seeing that.
Chip Patterson
Wait, where's his girlfriend going?
Tom Fornelli
No, I understand that part. Yeah, like, yeah, it's, it's, it's funny because, baby, it's funny because like the Raiola enters the portal the same day and everybody starts making though he's going to Texas Tech jokes to be, you know, to follow the Mahomes legacy. But then everybody's like, well, Actually, if you believe in girlfriends, Brendan Sorsby's girlfriend who played volleyball at Cincinnati has now transferred to play volleyball at Texas Tech. So there's a lot of people who because of that feel like Sorsby is either going to be in the NFL or he's going to be Texas Tech's quarterback next year.
Bud Elliott
So I was not surprised about Soares Banner. I think he was, you know, he was going to be a hot commodity and I think it cooled off somewhat. But I do think he's, he's been, you know, he's probably had contact with some schools. He probably has an inclination of where, you know, his top three spots are. So that's not too surprising. I, it's funny because of all these quarterbacks in years past, I felt like there's been a pretty clear cut like, oh, this feels really good. And maybe last year it was John Mateer who you could argue has not been as advertised out there. Cam Ward the year before, loved him. It worked out. Do it like of these quarterbacks, 20, like excite you as far as sure things, they're all, they all come with risk.
Tom Fornelli
No, I mean I don't, I think.
Bud Elliott
I know we're gonna go. What are you gonna say, Philo? Yeah, but like, because he knows Buster like he knows the system, but he still hasn't played very well.
Chip Patterson
The John Mattier thing, the question is, Wasn't John Matiere 4 million dollar quarterback? And you could make an argument that John Mattier, given the price tag may, maybe you could have a little bit of. He's helped you win some games especially, you know, you think about the Michigan game early where it was just kind of. And Tom, you mentioned he was the run game for a good portion of the season, but that would be the one that I'd excite me. But again I could be falling for the candy of oh, he looked good two years ago. Oh, he knows Buster Faulkner. Like I, I can see how this comes together, especially from the Florida standpoint. So of do I want the quarterback who's going to want to. Want to run the system and be ready to run the system at this price or the DJ Lagway, you know, see if we can fix something that's been a little bit broken over the last year. So Philo, to answer your question, Danny, that is the one and right now the only one that like truly excites me in terms of transfer portal quarterbacks.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah. To your question though, like I think we're seeing at the quarterback position as far as the portal is Concerned the same thing we're seeing in the portal overall. Whereas, like the best quarterbacks in the country aren't entering the transfer portal because they're being paid a significant amount of money to stay at their current school or they're going to the NFL. Like, those are their only real two options. So I think what happens is maybe you see like a G5 guy who was a late developer, who's moving up, who you can get excited about, which would be like the Cam Ward route, guys like that who kind of slipped through the cracks. Maybe that's Messamaker this year, whose story was crazy before he started playing at North Texas. But when it comes to guys like the Raiola's and the Lagways, kind of like Those post type 5 stars who haven't quite panned out yet, like, some of that I think is they're good players, but they're really not great players. And the fact that they're transferring probably says more about how teams, some teams are willing to overpay just based on what's available. And their other schools are like, we're not really comfortable matching that. Like, I, I know that Scott Satterfield said that they couldn't afford to keep source be like at this point. And we've seen other Cincinnati players who are kind of entering the portal. That makes you wonder about the financial situation for that program at the moment, because they seem to be losing a lot of their better players.
Chip Patterson
So Kelsey's, where you at?
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, I know you got that new heights. I mean, Travis, I know your, your future wife has money, buddy, you need to start pouring some of that into the Bearcats program. Come on, let's get, let's get our priorities.
Chip Patterson
I mean, we get song titles, replacing the jersey names on the back of Cincinnati jerseys. Now that's an nil deal that I think that we can get behind.
Tom Fornelli
If Larry Ellison's wife can convince him to spend 10 million on Underwood, you should be able to convince your wife to put 10 million at Sourcebee. But yeah, I don't think there's a sure thing. There is none of these quarterback. I like Sourceby, I like Sourcebee a lot while he was still in Indiana. So I'm a fan of his and I think he'll fit into what Texas Tech does. I think Mester Maker is going to fit. But it's like, when it comes to guys like Raiola or Lagway, I don't know. I think that there's a very good chance both will end up in better situations. As far as the talent around them. But, I mean, I. I know that some people are like, mentioning Oregon as a possible spot for Raiola. I heard the far more likely landing spot for Dylan Rayola is not going to be Oregon. It's going to be Louisville. That's what I've been hearing. So I don't know if that's. That feels more like a lateral move to me than it does like a.
Chip Patterson
Move up program wise, but not coaching wise, in my opinion.
Tom Fornelli
Correct. Better offense.
Chip Patterson
I think you get better coaching as a quarterback with it. With Jeff Braum, in my opinion.
Bud Elliott
He's been great at developing quarterbacks and maximizing what they can do. Yes, the DJ Lagway one. I did feel, you know, sometimes you don't want to be too critical, but, you know, when I was selling, DJ Lagway didn't love the inconsistencies, and I didn't love the injury history. And I thought that was something that was brought up from some raw. Was he even was more concerned about work ethic, which having, you know, no knowledge of that, I was like, oh, that might make some sense. And then the injuries that he brought up as well were concerns. And then all of a sudden, you see, DJ didn't, like, maybe that line of questioning or saying, hey, like, so I'm gonna go somewhere else. So in any case, it does like, that to me, is a big red flag if you start hearing those things and he's not willing to, like, fight through it and work through it. And maybe it's just. Maybe he just needs a fresh start, which can be good for everybody. Maybe that's more what has to do with. But I did think that was interesting that those concerns were brought up.
Chip Patterson
Do you think it was.
Tom Fornelli
This is.
Chip Patterson
This is going to sound. Maybe I should go. You know, Carrot and the stick. Have you ever heard Bear in the Hair? It's like, what makes a fox run at its top speed? Is it chasing the hare or being chased by a bear? It's the same idea as carrot and the stick. But since we're talking about college football players, I didn't want to bring that visual up. But, hey, you get it. Like, it was as if John Summerall wanted to give DJ Lagway hard coaching at the negotiating table. Right. See how you take it? And it's just like, that's the test case. If you can't take it, well, then, okay, we've got another option right there. Again, just me sort of reading into the tea leaves of some of the reporting there in terms of what's next Drew Mesta maker maybe not surefire thing at Oklahoma State.
Tom Fornelli
I mean I think that's the most likely spot. But honestly, if I'm a quarterback, I'm shopping myself around. Like if somebody else is, I mean especially if I'm a guy who I'm not. Like if you look at Mess Maker's history, it's not like he's a surefire NFL prospect. It's not to say he can't play in the NFL because if he continues to develop, but I think for some guys you probably need to prioritize my earning. My earning potential right now, not with my possible earning potential is in the future. Whereas other guys, I think you should probably be more concerned about the future. Which could get me off on another tangent about Raiola, but I've last time I did that I got in trouble.
Chip Patterson
I think that Drew Messer Maker is extremely attractive because of the eligibility that he has left. If you can throw, if you can put out one of those Darien Mensa type, go ahead and like let's, let's do a two year deal with a pretty good price based on this year's market. If I trust my own development, we can take the raw talent that he's shown, good size, good skills and put him, put him in front of a better offensive line, put him with some, you know, better skill players around him. If I'm Drew Messemaker 100, you go and test the market right there. Though I'm sure Oklahoma State fans were hoping that when you hired Eric Morris this was going to be a package deal. So it could still end up there. I don't have a read from an insider perspective, but I think it's very interesting for Mester Maker because of his youth and because of the long Runway that you could get out of him could be a really interesting one to see.
Bud Elliott
There's also, I think we've seen this trend of quarterbacks going with their coaches or offensive coordinators, which is great. Like, I get why it happens. There will be somebody who's like, no, I. This kid was really good for this level. And I'm not saying that's Messamaker. I think Messamaker goes with Eric Morris if it makes sense. But there will be one of those. Like that's where I think if you're a Florida fan, you've got to feel like, hey, Buster Faulkner have seen Philo for a couple years. Every day in practice. He knows his makeup and he feels confident basically betting his future on the quarterback coming with him. I think you have to feel pretty good about that. But I don't think it means all of these are just going to automatically happen. You know what I mean?
Tom Fornelli
Oh, yeah, 100%.
Bud Elliott
The other name that I think is intriguing is Kenny Minchi at Notre Dame. You know, I don't think it's the worst case. There's only one ball. You lost out to CJ Carr in a quarterback competition. You know, you look at how, how good he's been. That explains a lot. You, that that could be somebody that, you know, could be a fine, similar to, you know, a Dante Moore. It didn't work out at 1. Now, Dante Moore played a lot, but, you know, there's only one ball. You're in a deep depth chart finding somewhere else to play. He could be somebody that could flash.
Tom Fornelli
Talk like, like a Moneyball efficiency approach, like. Or finding the market inefficiency. You think of how a lot of these quarterback transfers have gone out. It's like, obviously Miami paid Cam Ward a ton of money, got every single dollar's worth of more out of it. But you also see like, some of these, you know, one and done types who are, see big payday, don't really live up to the paycheck that they end up getting. And a lot of times you see that the more valuable guys that you end up getting in the portal are the guys who maybe were highly rated players who did not win starting jobs at other schools and left to seek jobs elsewhere with multiple years of eligibility left. And that's like a guy like, like a Minchi, like a, you know, like a Kindles. Like, I think of Luke Altmire at Illinois. He lost the quarterback battle to Jackson Dart at Ole Miss, comes to Illinois for three years, and I don't think Illinois is regretting any single dollar they gave that kid to play there. So I think you see that a lot.
Chip Patterson
I think Kenny Minchi could be the next Joe Burrow. Kenny Minchie. Joe Burrow. Kenny Minchie Joe Burrow. But yeah, I mean, to your point, that's always where my mind goes. Joe Burrow couldn't get on the field at Ohio state, goes to LSU, has a couple years. The 18 year is okay, pretty solid. And then of course, 19, everything explodes for him in that magical run for the Tigers.
Tom Fornelli
Dante Moore at Oregon right now.
Chip Patterson
Dante Moore at Oregon. That's another one.
Tom Fornelli
Yep.
Chip Patterson
Any other names that, that are pop? I think those are the, the biggest headline ones that have popped again January 2nd, when this thing actually opens. But, you know, thanks to our deeply sourced team over. Over at CBS Sports, we've got a. We've got a good crowd who's able to sort of paint the picture for us. Chris Ummer, Matt Zenitz, Cooper Patagna and the like. So it's been very interesting to follow. But again, we won't get the finalized pieces falling into place until after the new year. Any other names you got your eye on.
Tom Fornelli
As far as that haven't come out yet.
Chip Patterson
Yeah. Or just sort of like the. Because you mentioned tying. I did not know the Dylan Raiola potential sort of angling that could have him wind up at Louisville. I knew that Louisville is on the list of looking for a quarterback, but.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, I don't know any names that haven't emerged yet that are about to know. But I yeah, that was one of the bigger things that I heard yesterday was just a Louisville with Rayola connection that I did not see coming but actually makes a lot of sense to me.
Chip Patterson
One of the headline when as somebody who appreciates a good SEO trick or at least like some good headline writing got an email news alert blast yesterday. Arch Manning skipping the NFL draft.
Tom Fornelli
What?
Chip Patterson
That is a hell of a way to announce college football player is going to continue playing college football. I was like, what?
Bud Elliott
Genius. It's genius.
Chip Patterson
We got Arch Manning. Arch Manning, Arch Manning NFL draft, NFL draft and skipping. Which makes it seem like he's turning.
Bud Elliott
His nose up at it after missing out on playoffs. There's just throwing playoffs.
Chip Patterson
Danny needs to sit in some of these big meetings. He needs to tell some of y' all SEO experts how to run this.
Bud Elliott
I think that's great. I think that's awesome. I think it's great for college football. It's great for us. I told you guys before I might. I think I was selling Texas coming into the season. I think next year's either buy I did see C.J. baxter, a couple other players portaling for the Longhorns. I thought that was interesting. You know, maybe they're testing the waters. They can pretty much retain anybody they want to. So you kind of just kind of have to trust them. But as far as Arts coming back, I thought you saw a quarterback really come into his own where I think he's going to come into next season with a ton of confidence chip on their shoulder about what getting left out this year rank Texas is going to be legit.
Tom Fornelli
This was another one where it was like the Raiola is entering the portal or it's treated like breaking news. It's like they. They said for months that he wasn't going to enter the NFL draft. So I mean, yeah, okay, that would have come out.
Bud Elliott
He would have been a top 10. Do you think you are top five pick?
Tom Fornelli
I know that some people are still very, very high on him. I think that he could have been. I think that it's hard to really predict what the NFL is going to do once they get those guys through like the combine and scouting like Thresher, how they feel about him. But I do think that, yeah, based on his talent and his potential, I do think he probably would have been a first round pick. I don't know if he'd have been like the first, second or third quarterback taken, but I know some people think he would be the number one pick. Right.
Chip Patterson
Yeah. I was gonna say the drool from the interview process would just be too much. You know, it would be out of control. To your point, Danny, 11 total touchdowns to just one interception across the final four games. And it wasn't like they were playing against the Citadel or Eastern Illinois. That was, that included a run of Vanderbilt, Georgia and Texas A and M. You know, three ranked opponents in the final four games. He was playing some of his best football there at the end of the season. Little bit rocky to start, a little bit rocky in the middle of the year. And if his name wasn't Arch Manning and if he hadn't been on campus since January of 23, then if that was just a regular freshman season for a player, we would be like, all right, okay, that was a good, good job. All right, now we're, now we're excited for next season and I think I'm using that to reset again. That is probably, that is probably kid gloves. You know, I'm maybe grading it on a curve here because I do think it's fair to criticize. Why was he not better after spending that much time with Steve Sarkeesian and that much time in the college program? But he finished the job well against quality competition. The season as a whole gets a pretty positive grade for Arch Manning. So I'm, I'm with you, Danny. I think that he'll come back. I think he's going to be good next season. I think Texas will be good next season, but ultimately he's going to be judged by the tippy top games against the best teams in the SEC and whether or not the Longhorns make it to the playoff.
Tom Fornelli
Do you think we're. Now that I thought about it, we're going to miss out on this. Some real, real great talk because, you know, we've already started to see the Is Fernando Mendoza too big of a dork to succeed in the NFL talk. So we had an opportunity to have Mendoza is too big of a dork. That's why I would rather have the dude in the Warby Parker glasses commercial.
Chip Patterson
Xander in the tailgate. Relative to the hype, he underperformed. Yes, that's what I'm saying. If you strip the hype away and you just give a 12 game analysis of how he performed against the schedule he played compared to the other quarterbacks in that conference, he was a he's an above average SEC quarterback and it was in his first season as a starter. So lots to build on, lots of excitement obviously with with him coming back to to likely lead the Longhorns offense in 2026. We mentioned on Monday's show or do you think we're going to see more of these announcements about re signing the way that USC had been doing? Yeah, we said yes, absolutely. And one of the big ones we get is Jaden Maeva has resigned for USC for 2026. Now the Trojan schedule is tough next season and at the same time I think with Jaden Maeve a back in a 9 and 3 campaign this year, the expectation is that USC should be a fringe playoff team. They'll start the year ranked in the preseason top 25. They'll what? Why are you shaking your head already?
Tom Fornelli
You're already doing it.
Chip Patterson
Yes.
Tom Fornelli
You're already buying in on. You're already selling USC as a playoff team.
Bud Elliott
He loves it every single year with you. It's like a drug.
Chip Patterson
Yes.
Bud Elliott
You can't quit 100. I might be right there with you though.
Chip Patterson
Spot the lie a fringe playoff team.
Tom Fornelli
They will start also losing like Makai Lemon and Jacoby Lane.
Chip Patterson
Top three pass catchers. Throw McCree in there too. Yeah, they're losing their top tight end. Yes, I've done this for I have gone through to the bottom of oh no. Jaden Maeve is coming back to an offense that's losing everybody but then circled back up to well, the player development has improved and we know that the recruiting's been good and we know that the financials are in an improved situation. So maybe you get a couple portal pieces. Yeah, I he listen, Jaden Maeve is 12 and 4 as USC starting quarterback he had some flaws but after having, after having what, like eight interceptions in six games last season, he cleaned it up a little bit. Still still had a little bit of the the turnover bug at times during the year and this was not and he was not good away from home. Sixteen touchdowns to two interceptions at home. You flip that on the other side. Was it like 6 and 5 when. When he goes on the road? So there are market places for improvement. But then Lincoln Riley even, you know, addressed it. He was like, yeah, I mean, this is. We. We want players to be excited about resigning with usc. We want our fans to be excited about them jumping on board. So what. What are your expectations for Jaden Maiva?
Tom Fornelli
He's going to be good. He was good this year. He'll be good next year. He'll be a Heisman candidate. He's going to lead USC to a national title. USA is back.
Chip Patterson
Do you think that he. Do you think he's a Makai lemon merchant, or do you think that he's got the ability to raise the. The raise the overall caliber of the passing game?
Tom Fornelli
No, I. I think that he has a chance to keep him. I think he improved this year, and I think he has a chance to continue improving. I do think that it will be important for USC to make sure that they have good players for him to throw the ball to, but I think that's important for anybody who's trying to compete at the top level of the sport. I think the more interesting thing here, going back to our previous discussion, is my Ava's return. What does that mean for Houston Longstreet?
Chip Patterson
I was thinking that they might be able to keep him.
Tom Fornelli
So do I, but I just. I wonder if that's another name we could see float out there to the portal.
Chip Patterson
That'd be big. I. I looked at this, I was talking about it yesterday, and I looked at it as the quarterback position seems secure for 26 and 27 in a really good way. Because I know people around USC liked what they saw when Longstreet got there, got on campus, and. And they think that he could be really good eventually. Nice not to have to rush him. A luxury to not have to rush him into action in 26. In 28 too, I suppose. Let's see any other. Any other NFL draft watch that. You got your eyes on.
Bud Elliott
I mean, yeah, but we're not going to know until after the playoffs. Dante Moore.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah.
Chip Patterson
That's great ball.
Bud Elliott
Yeah.
Chip Patterson
Because that impacts the Portal and sort of like all the other pieces here.
Bud Elliott
Yeah. I hope he comes back. I'd love to see him again. That was my play with Dante Moore coming back, Arch Manning coming back, those two playing for a national title. But I do think he's going to get a really, really strong draft grade if he Wants to come out and I've heard a lot of people say he could be the number one pick taken, you know, or the number one quarterback taken. I don't know if I'd go that far, but I do know he would go pretty high. But I think he could be potentially one of one next year if he comes back and has another solid season.
Tom Fornelli
I mean, again, it's hard to predict how the NFL draft machine will go, but I do feel like there's a very good shot that Moore would be one of the first two quarterbacks taken this year.
Chip Patterson
This year?
Tom Fornelli
Yeah. My suspicion is he won't be back.
Chip Patterson
What. What about Ty Simpson? Great one from the tailgate?
Tom Fornelli
I don't know. I mean, we. What's his health status? I think he has a chance to come back for another year, but I just. It's like the rumors about his back injury. If that's real and depending on what the injury is, does he want to go like declare for the draft and then have like back surgery? You know what I mean? Like, that's not going to be very good for his evaluation process. So I don't know.
Chip Patterson
Just four appearances as a freshman in 22, if he was able to claim that red shirt there, that would say that he should have one left if he wanted to be a fifth year senior.
Bud Elliott
So it might come down to, I mean, if they, if they are healthy and they can win a couple games and he plays as good as he did in the first eight games, maybe that's him taking the moment to come out. Maybe that's what it comes down to. So I think there might be a lot at stake for Ty Simpson here because I do not think you'd want to put out that film unless there was a back injury. And then like, to Tom's point, like, is that really what you want to go into this valuation when they start poking and prodding you every which way? I don't know if he has the upside. I've always think he's more of a second round pick. And if that's the case, like either come back to Bama or somebody else will pay you 4 million bucks. Try to see if you can play your well way back into the first round or, you know, or you're a second rounder again next year, but you got four more million, $4 million in your bank account.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah.
Chip Patterson
Keelan Russell, for those who don't remember, is the very, very talented freshman who everybody's excited about, what he could be. So Alabama, even if Ty Simpson does not go to the NFL draft if he pursues the portal, Alabama has it already. The succession plan set up there in Tuscaloosa. I'm really gonna lean on y' all for this one. Jeremiah Love, where what's the NFL draft outlook for Notre Dame? Yeah.
Tom Fornelli
First round pick, probably top 10 maybe. Yeah.
Bud Elliott
Depends on how he tests.
Tom Fornelli
But yeah, I mean, I, yeah, I've long said he's, I thought he was better than Genti and Genti was what? He went fifth, sixth, seventh.
Chip Patterson
So I've got it. Here's what we've got from running backs. We got Genti went sixth, Saquon went second, Fournette fourth, Ezekiel Elliott fourth. Josh Jacobs was 24. Naji Harris was 24.
Tom Fornelli
So I mean, if you look, hold on, let's. What's, what's this? What's the Tankathon. Let me see what the actual projected NFL draft order is right now. I mean, I don't know how many of those teams that are gonna be picking earlier in need of like a running back. So he could fall because of that, but I, I think he's going to be a first round pick at, at a minimum.
Chip Patterson
Yeah, that was, that was the, I think that's the biggest certainty declared for the NFL draft that's jumped out recently. Am I missing ones?
Tom Fornelli
Not that I can remember.
Chip Patterson
Well, we mentioned Keelan Russell. What about, what about his head coach? What about Biff? What about the Michigan coaching search? We'll get into all that and more next.
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Tom Fornelli
Hey, Dan.
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Chip Patterson
Back here on the COVID 3 podcast as we continue with the carousel that never ends. So let's jump on that coaching carousel. Foreign. So our own Richard Johnson. Nice article on CBSSports.com yesterday where he continued to shine a light on a potential of something that we obviously did a little bit more research than we did just talking to each other. But we're so smart, we're coming up with the same ideas. What if Biff just runs this thing that with so much uncertainty around this athletic department. And while there is an indication that Ward Manual will still be the athletic director again, check out his story, some of the reporting there. There's not a Ward's going to get fired next week. Unlike that day when it seemed like Ward was going to get fired. Was it on Thursday? Then all of a sudden another statement saying, no, he's not fired. So Ward Manual, you know where he will be in terms of the Michigan athletic department? I think that this is a Michigan school, a university that is going to let all of the proper processes play out, in which case Biff Poggy could end up doing it. Biff Poggy, it appears, would like to, you know, all by all indications, would like to be able to step up to the opportunity.
Tom Fornelli
I would like to be the head coach at Michigan if they're willing.
Chip Patterson
You know what? I'm, I'm good if y' all want to come back and talk to me in like four years. It's Just much like a lot of candidates and if I was advising them, it's like, you know, let's give, let's give Ann Arbor a little while to, you know, cleanse themselves of, of what's been going on these last couple years. So Danny, how do you see the latest twists and turns and scuttlebutt in the, in the Michigan coaching search?
Bud Elliott
I think there's a lot of play here, obviously, and I do think this is kind of a display of confused leadership. Who's making this decision? What's happening with board manual, I think that's very, very much up in the air. So I think they're trying to see who's out there. Right. And I think Biff Poji is probably a good fallback plan. And if it does, I think your cell, if you're Biff Pojic, I definitely think he wants to do this and some school is going to figure this out. Maybe it's Michigan. Say, you know what, just elevate me to, you know, interim head coach for a year. You know, kind of like Stanford did with Frank Reich or you know, call me head coach, but I know it's a shorter term deal. Pay me 2 or 3 million bucks and the rest that you were going to pay for a $9 million coach or however much you were going to pay top dollar for a Caitlin DeBoer, whoever it was from some other school, put that into the players and they'll have a better roster and a coach who's just going to be a figurehead anyway. You know, you try to find good coordinators, you pay them and you see if it can work. I, I, because I don't know what's going to be out there for Michigan. You know, I know it's a top tier job, but there are so many guys that are locked up and secured. Do you really want to pay those buyouts? And maybe they do, and that wouldn't surprise me either. But I do think they've got kind of Biff Poggy sitting in the back pocket just in case.
Tom Fornelli
I mean, I think that the timing on all of this is terrible for Michigan. Yeah, like the, there's just so many things working against him in this search. Like the open ended investigation that you mentioned, you know, into the athletic department, like that has no end. It's like if you are a coach who's being considered for this job or you are considering this job, you're stepping into a situation where you don't know what this open ended investigation is going to find and what kind of fallout There could be from that. And it's like, so you're kind of stepping into a tricky spot and it's just, I don't know, man, it feels like a mess. It just. See, I don't know who's really running things. They don't. I don't think they have a president right now.
Chip Patterson
Oh yeah, that's true. It's not a full time university president either. And so the coaching search, the way that the reporting from Richard and Brandon, Brandon Marcelo also I believe worked on the story code byline there. The turnkey ZRG again, our enemy in the coaching search industry, we would gladly undercut them. We'll do it for much, much cheaper. But we will provide you none of the liability coverage that turnkey does where you're able to blame it all. No, we want you to assume all the responsibility. We just want the money and the ability to do the answers. So yes, they have. Michigan has turned this thing over in terms of the coaching search. They have taken their hands off the wheel. They are giving it to the search firm. And that's why it's leaky, that's why it's buzzy. That's why there's a lot of back channeling and talking and, and questions and overreactions and white smoke emojis. Because there's a lot of stuff that happens when the search firm gets their hands on a process. And so that's, that's where we're at. I do not think that while, while it can be reported that, you know, Ward Manual is still the athletic director, I think that the school is very intentionally going third party on this one and that can, that could work out. Search firms do a lot of big name splashy hires might also not work out because they could say, hey, who's running that thing? If I'm gonna get, if I'm gonna sign up for this kind of job and leave where I'm at and I need a little bit more confidence in the overall health of the operation.
Tom Fornelli
And like, I don't know. And like the idea of keeping poggy on has like a. What would you call them?
Chip Patterson
Like a, A caretaker.
Tom Fornelli
A caretaker bridge option.
Chip Patterson
Yeah.
Tom Fornelli
So then are you punting on a year of Bryce Underwood? I mean like if, if I am, if I am Bryce Underwood, I signed with Michigan to play for one coach. That coach gets fired, I've got three years and now they're going to keep another coach on as a bridge option. And you know what? Maybe Bryce Underwood is a huge biff guy. Maybe Bryce is like I believe in him, I want to play for him and all that kind of stuff and it works out great. But I also just wonder like, you get this kid for three years, you're spending a lot of money on him. He has a very, very high ceiling. It would kind of feel like you're punting on a season and I just don't know if optically that would be the best thing. So I don't know. It's. It's a messed up situation and it's mostly your own Moore's fault.
Bud Elliott
I don't know though, because you still have Chip Lindsay, you still have your coordinators, you know, so maybe excited that we still have.
Tom Fornelli
Are we excited about that?
Bud Elliott
Like, are you going to blame that though on. On Bryce Underwood's lack of development? Are you going to blame him? Like we've talked about the lack of receivers. Maybe they can go spend and get him some receivers, you know. So, yeah, it's gonna feel like they put on the season, but I don't know if it's the worst case scenario unless you lose Bryce Underwood, you know, where he's probably watching this closely too and wouldn't be surprised if his name pops up in the portal.
Tom Fornelli
That's like as far as the actual coaching search. Like, DeBoer came out and said, I'm staying at Alabama or I don't know what the. How we. But they asked, he had to, yeah, are you going to be Alabama's coach next year? And he's like, yes, like, which is pretty much as definitive an answer as you can get when you get asked those questions. There's no, there was no speaking around it. There was no like, well, I love it here and blah, blah, blah and yada, yada, yada. You just said yes. But there are still. And it reminds me a lot of the Penn State situation where there were a lot of people at Penn State who were convinced they could get deboer. There are still a lot of people at Michigan who think that they can get Kaylin DeBoer if Alabama loses. And I just don't know if that's realistic considering he came out. No, it wouldn't be the first time a coach straight up lied to the case when he asked a question. But you typically don't see guys like a lot you've seen, they've learned lessons from doing that and they just dodge the question. Typically when guys are coming out being straightforward with it these days, they mean it. So I don't know if that's realistic. The fact every day that Dillingham doesn't have a contract extension at Arizona State. Just makes you wonder a little bit more like Jet Fish is apparently not in the running for the gig anymore. So I don't know, it's just, it is, it is a very, very difficult situation to figure out. But as you mentioned, Chip, it's, it's a combination of the uncertainty in that athletic department mixed with a search firm that has more leaks in it than typically does. If you're just doing it with like an ad and somebody below them and it just, it's, it's going crazy out there.
Bud Elliott
And also you don't want to make a 50 million dollar mistake.
Tom Fornelli
No.
Bud Elliott
You know, like you've got to get these right.
Chip Patterson
Well, you're talking about the school.
Bud Elliott
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm talking like if you, let's say you just like you want to get rid of Biff Pod, you want to go in a new direction and you just, you feel like you have to make a change because you lost somebody. Like you can't afford to miss on these. It can be a very, very expensive mistake as we've seen from everybody else that's thought they had a home run higher.
Chip Patterson
Yeah, we'll see. Any, any other assistant moves of note that have, that have jumped out recently. I've got one. Go Frank Wilson to Ole Miss.
Tom Fornelli
Oh yeah, that's the, the player to be named later in the lane given.
Chip Patterson
Trades shout out to Wilson Alexander of the Advocate. Now granted this is gonna be. I'm gonna give you the stats. It's going to, it's going to make it seem a little less chaotic, but there have been 17 staffers swapped between Ole Miss and LSU in total. Now granted it's 14 from Ole missed LSU and just three from LSU to Ole Miss. But still awfully incestual there in, in that neck of the SEC with, with everybody just sort of trading cousins swapping back and forth around there. I mean including Charlie, like including at future LSU coaches serving as active Ole Miss coaches here for this college football playoff game coming up on Saturday.
Tom Fornelli
Do you think Frank still has like bonuses in his Ole Miss contract based on how LSU does next year?
Chip Patterson
No. What I think it happens and this is where I'm definitely just like trying to just speculate or just talking very clear. Chip Patterson is just talking not. I think that we're going to see players go from one team to the other.
Bud Elliott
Oh yeah, for sure, without a doubt. I mean, have you heard, did you hear Trinidad Chambliss? He was doing some pre playoff media with The College Football Playoff logo backdrop. And they were asking him, and it was like a coach speak where he did not say, I'm not leaving. It was very much, when the season's over, I have to evaluate everything, see where everything stands. And it was very much up in the air where I think he's gone if he gets the year.
Tom Fornelli
Have you seen the commercial where Trinidad's in the transfer portal? But it's.
Bud Elliott
Yes, yes. Maybe he gets the trolling from Lane. He's. I mean, he's taught him in more ways.
Tom Fornelli
I saw that the other day, and I was like, really?
Chip Patterson
Yeah. That Frank Wilson, who was the interim coach, he was a huge part of the recruiting operation at LSU and has been for, like, a long time in different tenures. I mean, this. This. I was like, okay, so some LSU players will probably follow Frank to Ole Miss. And obviously, I think some Ole Miss players are going to follow Lane and everybody else down to lsu. That's a messy. That's a messy corner of the universe.
Bud Elliott
What one Steve asked in there, would he enter the transfer portal when his team is in the semi final? And that could be any player. That'll be tricky. It would not surprise me, but I hope it doesn't happen. But it absolutely could.
Tom Fornelli
Now, there's a window to when you have to enter the portal. Correct?
Bud Elliott
Right. But it doesn't close till the 17. Is it 15 days?
Chip Patterson
It's two. Yeah. It's about two weeks.
Bud Elliott
Yeah.
Chip Patterson
So.
Bud Elliott
So if you made the final.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah. He could wait. Yeah.
Chip Patterson
And there.
Bud Elliott
Is there. There has to be some clause. Then there's something. There's got to be.
Chip Patterson
For the title participants.
Bud Elliott
You've got to have extra time, right? Yeah, but it's still. I mean, even as much as we've talked about it and we've seen Beau Pribula, we saw Malik Murphy players, you know, that were on teams like the Portal. We've already seen the players announced. Now we might have playoff players that just announced, I'm going to hit the portal before January 2nd.
Chip Patterson
Mm.
Tom Fornelli
You know.
Chip Patterson
We got a real tree falls in the woods situation, something that I'm sure that the administrators at this university did not imagine. But Bill Belichick fired his offensive coordinator and his special teams coordinator, and I don't know if anybody cared.
Bud Elliott
What was that? That was like, Monday, wasn't it? Or last week?
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, I'm sure you threw a party.
Chip Patterson
It was all it was. I truthfully, anytime that, you know, I've been on like a. Like a radio hit or sort of put in the position because you know, our friends in the media industry, they. They especially love the like, all right, come on, like Rod. Roddy Jones does a big deal because, you know, he's Georgia Tech, we're about the the same age or so. He's like, all right, Chip, come on. As an alum, you know, they always like, like front loaded with. As an alum. And I was like, well, Roddy, as an alum, I think that it was very, very poor performance. And I would like accountability for the poor performance that if you went into next season with everybody the same and everything good and you just acted like it was just a couple bad breaks that kept you all from being a bowl team, that that would be extremely disappointing. And add to the list of failures of leadership top to bottom, that introducing literally any accountability, the bar could not be lower. But at least I was like, okay, at least there's that. And then I imagine that Bobby Petrino could be the offensive coordinator and it just all ends up. All ends up spiraling off into a different world.
Tom Fornelli
So also, that would be a very interesting dynamic. Oh, Bill Belichick and Bobby Petrino.
Bud Elliott
Search.
Chip Patterson
What?
Bud Elliott
Who's running this search for the next coordinator?
Chip Patterson
I also think it's funny that the headlines of a couple of things were like Bill Belichick cleans house. And it's like, wait, hold on. So the only coaches who kept their jobs are all the Belichicks and the Lombardis. So we got rid of everybody that's not a Belichick or a Lombardi. Are there any more Belichicks or Lombardi's that I am unaware of? Is that how we're going to backfill the non family members with more family members, who knows?
Tom Fornelli
There could be a new one on the way.
Chip Patterson
It's like in the old. The old like Hebrew times, like in the B.C. era is like so and so was named King of Judah at the age of 8 and he reigned for 21 years. He did not follow in the Lord's ways the way that his king, his fathers did.
Bud Elliott
Who is gonna want the job? I mean, that's Trino. Makes sense.
Chip Patterson
Yeah, an old crony. Like an old like chum buddy we.
Bud Elliott
Call plays, you do whatever you want.
Tom Fornelli
Mike McDaniel, once he gets fired by the Dolphins, is going to be the North Carolina offensive coordinator.
Chip Patterson
Goodness gracious. All right, coming up on the other side, bonanza storylines to watch for Wednesday's bowl action. Plus a new schedule for the Atlantic Coast Conference. It's confusing and more next.
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Danny Cannell
Today.
Chip Patterson
Back here on the COVID 3 podcast. Yes, we do have a couple bowl games coming up here here on Wednesday night, old Dominion, South Florida playing in the Cure Bowl, Louisiana and Delaware playing in the 68 Ventures Bowl. And they're about to come fast and furious here over the course of the next couple of weeks. So we've got clearly South Florida. You're going to be out Alex Gollish. I believe we'll have Byron Brown as a coach.
Tom Fornelli
Coaching debut coach.
Bud Elliott
I thought you were going to say have him under center. I was like, nope. This is the backup QB bowl, baby.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, both of them.
Chip Patterson
There's what are we watching, what we got our eyes on.
Tom Fornelli
There's a reason the Twitter tip is that first half under two backup quarterbacks making first career starts. One of them's coaches, Brian Brown's first game is play caller. I'm assuming that's what he's doing. I don't know. It'll be this one could be like a special bowl performance on by both teams. Could be pretty sloppy in a fun way.
Chip Patterson
What's our first half? 27 and a half.
Tom Fornelli
I got it at 26 and a half, you know.
Chip Patterson
Oh God, it's dropping. Missed, missed my chance.
Tom Fornelli
27 and a half. The juice was very, very high.
Chip Patterson
Okay, got it. And then Louisiana, Delaware don't have a good feel for this. Delaware is going to have some sort of bigger picture like oh my God, we're in a bowl. But you know, is that going to give you a boost or not? Danny? I don't really have a good read on that one, do you?
Bud Elliott
No idea.
Chip Patterson
Okay.
Tom Fornelli
I my personal philosophy this year is that unless it's Jacksonville State or Kennesaw State, we kind of fade that league.
Chip Patterson
Conference usa.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah. So I would go with the Cajuns here and it played that way last night. The big win saluting the veterans and.
Chip Patterson
If I remember correctly, the pretty decent job by the Cajuns of stabilizing what was a bad start to the year. Yeah, like strong finish. Am I right about that? Like just maybe four out of the last five, something like that.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah. They didn't they like, let me see, they started. They went five and three in conference like that. Yeah. They won their last four games.
Chip Patterson
Yeah.
Tom Fornelli
Road wins at South Alabama and Arkansas State. They beat Texas State and then they finished with the rival win over Ulm.
Chip Patterson
Yeah, so.
Tom Fornelli
So they lost to the top of the Sun Belt and beat everybody else.
Chip Patterson
Goodman does a line team for. For the Sun Belt right there. Again, those are going to be your two games there. In terms of just some overall housekeeping on Thursday, we will be giving you our College Football Playoff locks. So make sure you come and hang out at 11am Eastern time. And then saved it for last because it's so. Dag. I'm confusing. Dk, what are we doing with this ACC schedule?
Bud Elliott
I have no idea. Can you give me a little. A little? Teach me, like a kindergartner how to explain this?
Chip Patterson
Well, yeah, maybe Tom can.
Tom Fornelli
When a man and a woman fall in love, just make a sloppy mess and. Yeah, like, honestly, honest question for you, too. Are you not ashamed of this leak? Are you not ashamed to be associated with it?
Chip Patterson
I. Shame? Really?
Bud Elliott
Wrong word.
Chip Patterson
Yeah. No, no, no. Shame just went out the door when I was in. When I was attending an ACC school. So I think that the absence of shame is kind of always going to be tied to my experience at it with the acc. For those who are not aware of what we're talking about, five teams are going to play eight ACC games, while the other 12 teams will play nine ACC games. I will say in the press release, we did get something that is maybe a little bit more attractive for an ACC football fan.
Tom Fornelli
The tiebreaker.
Chip Patterson
Yeah. They didn't tell us what the new tiebreakers are going to be, but they did vow to adjust the tiebreaker situation.
Tom Fornelli
If you're 8 and 1 and the other team is 7 and 1, does the tiebreaker go to the 8 and 1 team?
Chip Patterson
Yes.
Tom Fornelli
Then it's not fair that the other team only got to play eight games.
Chip Patterson
It's always been by winning percentage. They always have.
Tom Fornelli
That's my point. Yeah, that's not fair. This is a stupid league doing stupid things. Who then has to do other things to make them feel better about the stupid decisions that they've made? Maybe the Notre Dame game should count as conference games. Would that fix it? Am I. Is that an idea? That did not come up in that room. And if it didn't come up in that room, am I calling them stupid? I think so.
Chip Patterson
I'm just glad they're gonna fix it.
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, they'll fix it. All right.
Chip Patterson
Yeah, I Don't.
Tom Fornelli
It'll be fixed it.
Chip Patterson
Danny. One of our friends, Adam Gold, has, has advocated for no future schedules. Just come up with a new schedule every single year that is entirely just based on whatever would be good for your best teams.
Bud Elliott
Right.
Chip Patterson
You know?
Bud Elliott
Yes.
Chip Patterson
Like let all them.
Bud Elliott
The best chance.
Chip Patterson
Yeah, like, like let all of, like just every single year you show like you don't even know the schedule till you show up to football kickoff. And then we are just going to orchid. We're going to build the schedule right there based on whatever's going to be better for the best teams.
Bud Elliott
Is that why Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and North Carolina are part of the eight team, eight game ACC schedule?
Chip Patterson
Yeah, because if you fill them up with a conference game, it makes their schedule worse.
Tom Fornelli
What, what if you just like quietly don't invite like either Syracuse or Boston College to the, to the meetings next year? Just like, oops, we're only a 16 team league now.
Chip Patterson
Well, the, the problem is can't say that about Cal and Stanford because I'm ready to run through a wall for those teams.
Tom Fornelli
I'm not saying Cal, Stanford. I'm saying Syracuse or bc. I mean you can't, you got it. You can't get rid of Wake Forest. That would upset North Carolina and Duke. So you can't get rid of either Cal or Stanford. You don't want to get rid of smu. Like if you just kicked BC out of the league, who's really crying?
Chip Patterson
I don't know. Matt Ryan maybe?
Tom Fornelli
Or just invite Yukon. Bring them in. Gorbach. Yeah.
Chip Patterson
Yeah.
Bud Elliott
Do you trust the process enough to where for the tiebreaker you just use the highest ranked team or does that get conspiratorial?
Chip Patterson
Like I, I like the Mountain Wests. I don't care. Like if, if we're really talking about the best team, then yeah, use a little power ratings average because more often than not it's going to spit out a good, especially in the acc. It's going to spit out the team that's going to give you the best chance to have a decent showing in the playoff.
Tom Fornelli
Right.
Chip Patterson
So it's like if you can't get, if it's, if it's done on the field and you're Virginia and you don't have a power ring as good as Miami. Guess what? Virginia's in. But if it's having to choose between Miami and Duke, the power rating is going to spit out Miami.
Tom Fornelli
Right.
Chip Patterson
Then you'll get Virginia, Miami a top 20 matchup in the ACC championship game. Yeah.
Tom Fornelli
I think that's the logical thing in this current format. Yeah.
Chip Patterson
We will be back on Thursday, 11am Eastern Time to get you set for the College Football Football Playoff. What?
Tom Fornelli
I just like Jerry's idea. The ACC could do a weekly show where the ads of the league rank the teams.
Bud Elliott
They will take after. They'll take off their hats, though, at the door.
Chip Patterson
So, so, and, and this week we've got a mystery committee member. Who could it be?
Tom Fornelli
It's Jordan.
Chip Patterson
We'll be back 11am on Thursday to give you our best bets for the College Football Playoff first round and more. So make sure hang out. And you can follow him on Twitter Tom Fradel. You can follow him at Danny Cadell. You can follow me at Chip Patterson. Gentlemen, thank you very much.
Tom Fornelli
Go acc.
Chip Patterson
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Episode Title: Latest on Coaching Carousel, NFL Draft & Transfer Portal, Bowl Game Previews & More!
Date: December 17, 2025
Hosts: Chip Patterson, Tom Fornelli, Danny Kanell, Bud Elliott
Podcast: Cover 3, CBS Sports
This episode delivers a spirited roundtable on the major storylines of the 2025 college football offseason. The hosts dive deep into the latest transfer portal activity, early NFL draft decisions, the ever-turbulent coaching carousel (with a focus on Michigan), and preview the upcoming winter bowl games. The show is full of inside nuggets, playful ribbing, and practical wisdom for college football die-hards looking to stay ahead of breaking developments.
The portal is bustling with quarterbacks and high-profile talent, even before its official reopening date (Jan 2).
Notable quarterback entries:
Industry realities:
Memorable moment:
Chip Patterson (20:26): “I think Kenny Minchey could be the next Joe Burrow. Kenny Minchey, Joe Burrow. Kenny Minchey, Joe Burrow.”
Cure Bowl: Old Dominion vs. South Florida – both teams with backup QBs and South Florida’s Byron Brown making coaching debut.
68 Ventures Bowl: Louisiana vs. Delaware – little feel for the FCS-to-FBS transition. Hosts side with the more stable Louisiana program.
Handicapping note:
Tom Fornelli (53:03): “There’s a reason the Twitter tip is that first half under—two backup quarterbacks making first career starts. One of them’s coaching.”
Next episode: College Football Playoff first round locks and more — Thursday, 11am ET.