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Cover 3 College Football
National Signing Day Outlook: Key Decisions, Jared Curtis, Chris Henry Jr. | Cover 3 Recruiting Show
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- [00:00]
A
It's the home stretch of the college football season. We're headed out of town. Rivalry weekend. Oh, college football playoff games. The whole experience. While I'm off soaking in the excitement, I realized my home could actually be doing something for me while I'm 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 I started thinking about it. A few nights of hosting could help cover part of the trip or even fund tickets for my next game. It's easy and it doesn't take over your life. Just make your space available and then let others enjoy it while you're out having fun. And maybe it's not even a big game. We could do it when we're out for holiday travel as well. You come home to a little extra cash in your pocket and no hassle at all. So if you've got an upcoming trip with 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 this episode is brought to you by PNC Bank. A lot of people think podcasts about in depth analysis on college football are boring sometimes, sure. But doing the research and understanding every game gives you the knowledge that you need to to make small talk with any sports fan anywhere. It's like banking with PNC Bank. It might seem boring to save, plan and make calculated decisions with your bank, but keeping your money boring. It's what helps you live a more happily fulfilled life. PNC bank, Brilliantly boring since 1865 Brilliantly boring since 1865 is a service mark of the PNC Financial Services Group Inc. PNC Bank National Association Member FDIC what's going on, y'?
- [01:56]
B
All? Bud Elliott here, that's Andrew Ivins. This is the COVID 3 College Ball Recruiting Podcast. The recruiting hour of the COVID 3 Podcast. Whatever this is. We are talking recruiting. We are on the COVID 3 channel. Ivan, what's going on, man?
- [02:07]
C
Not much, bud. Depending on when you're listening to this, we are probably less than a week till signing day. Feels feels a little weird right? Earlier than ever. And I feel like I've said this for four or five weeks consecutively. But hey, buckle up, right? Yeah, you might be adjusting the belt line following your Thanksgiving festivities, but man, just with the coaching carousel, we're getting closer and closer to pen, meat, paper or docu sign where these Guys are going, but more and more surfacing about potential moves, I think with some of these top recruits. So it's gonna be fun, Bud, and I'm excited.
- [02:54]
B
All right, so let's just kind of run down our notes as we work towards show prep for our live show there on CBS HQ and our various YouTube channels on national signing day. That's next Wednesday. We'll be live 10 to 2. I think it is so very excited about that. You'll see some graphics coming out and a lot of our voices also featured on the. The Paramount plus documentary five Star, which comes out the day before that. So a lot of recruiting kind of content coming out of the CBS family of networks. But one of our big storylines that we'll be tracking here, Ivans, is who's gonna finish number one and what does it mean? So, like, who do we think's got the inside track? Who's maybe coming down the rail? Like, how do they get there if they do? Lay it on me.
- [03:40]
C
Well, Bud, I feel like we could turn this into a lock segment here if we wanted to kind of handicap who. Who's has a chance to finish number one. It's looking like usc and we've been gushing, I think for this entire cycle about the Trojans and new GM Chad Bowden. You know, they are in the driver's seat coming down the stretch, right? They're in the fourth quarter. They are trying to bleed out some, some game clock here. Usc, I mean, we're talking about a class that's, that's over 35 guys. So it could be the first time they finished number one in the, in the 24, 7 sports era. I think the other, you know, big picture thought with USC potentially taking home the recruiting crown is it's a Big ten school, right? It's not an SEC program. And I think that kind of plays into the ever changing landscape, the distribution of, of all of the talent in the sport. With that being said, as, again, as we've inched closer and closer, there is a chance some other people could surpass them. And, and the one or I think the two recruitments to keep your eyes on are the Mataday wide receivers. And we've discussed them here on the COVID three recruiting hour. I'm talking about Chris Henry Jr. Five star wide receiver, and then Kaden Dixon. Wyatt, you know, right behind him, top 64 player. I think he's Carnell Tate, you know, Chris Henry. They're two completely different guys. They've been committed to Zone six and, and Brian Hartline in Ohio State for the longest time. But Oregon is a team that has been mentioned USC as well. But this entire kind of recruiting cycle it's been Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks, really with both of these individuals. And if Oregon, which pound for pound has one of the strongest recruiting classes out there, right. They don't have 35 guys, they're sitting around 20. You know, they got a lot of blue chip. Last year, Oregon signed, every player they signed was a four or five star recruit. That's not going to be the case here in 2026, but, but it's much of the same for Dan Lanning. If Oregon can get those two guys, they could jump USC if they can flip them and pry them away from Ohio State. So that's one team that has a chance. The other team is Texas A and M. And Mike Elko and general manager Derek Miller obviously very involved in the College Football Playoff conversation. Really strong recruiting class for them. About five guys that are in play. They would need to go five for five. So again, if we were handicapping this, you know, major, major loss, yeah, serious parlay, you know, maybe a moneyline sprinkle out there, I, I don't think it's going to happen because, you know, it would start with lamar Brown, the five star, 280 pound athlete who's committed to LSU. They would need him. And then they would need to get some other things to happen. Wide receiver Booby Feaster, who's committed to usc. Wide receiver Jace Matthews who's committed to Auburn. So, you know, mathematically they can do it. I think Oregon's got maybe the best chance to unseat usc. And I'll, I'll close here on the race for number one. You can go to 24 7sports.com you can get into the class calculator, you can add your recruits and do the math yourself, come up with some crazy scenarios. All right. It's like a, like a trade, you know, trade, trade, trade tool of sorts.
- [07:06]
B
I mean, that thing is fun to play with, dude. It's almost like the NBA trade deadline calculator. Like you can see who goes where. What does it affect? You're like, wait, how does adding this guy just make this much sense? And it's obviously like, you know, each successive recruit matters a various amount, you know, based on the rating and the, the number of kids in the class, obviously. But you, yeah, that, that is a fun tool to play with. I mean, like, I think the fact that it's likely USC or Oregon is a good thing for the Big Ten Right. I don't think people really care if it's like, hey, you know, the SEC, the SEC has nine and the Big Ten has six. But if it's like the SEC has nine and the Big 10 has three like that, that, that's enough of disparity where people start really making like copper strength arguments, you know, so making sure the Big Ten has like a strong 4, 5, 6. And we talked about Washington's class last week.
- [07:52]
C
Yeah. And is.
- [07:53]
B
Is pretty important and, but I've kind.
- [07:55]
C
Of marinated on that. Right. Like, okay, we obviously know Michigan's gonna recruit well. We obviously know Ohio State's gonna recruit well. But you know, what do the rest of the Big Ten and Washington, I, I continue to gush about them and, and Jed Fish and Matt Doherty there. What they've been able to do. They could have a heck of a finish here. They are in it for a lot of of Florida flip targets. You know, Iowa, we've mentioned them. You know, Iowa always recruits well on the defensive side of the ball. Kind of dug into their class. And you're like, yep, this is a future NFL guy. Yep, this is a future NFL guy. But bud, you know, we're, we're seeing an influx of talent. I think it's on offense and obviously trade in messenger. The quarterback they flip from Boise State sitting inside the top two, four, seven. But they got some skill perimeter players at wide receiver. A kid I know you like here in Florida, Xavier Stinson, you can kind of go up and down the list. And then the other one Sig in Indiana, I, I think they got another Mikel Karma committed and, and Kavonte Huggin, another kid out of Florida. They, I think have used what they did last season, what they're doing this season to, I don't know, get involved with a higher caliber prospect. And I think that's notable because Indiana's roster has been built on, on, on the under the radar guys. Right. The, the guys where Sig have, have been able to find some market value. So what does this look like if they can get, you know, that, that player, that has a higher ceiling. So Indiana, Iowa, Washington, some other. Other teams in the Big Ten where monitor the situation.
- [09:33]
B
Monitoring for sure. All right, let's go ahead and hit this here. About a month ago, we engaged in what Georgia fans told us was clickbait nonsense. Oh, you guys trying to make Cover 3 a thing. All this other stuff talk about how Vanderbilt was a legitimate threat to flip Jared Curtis. We were told that was just a courtesy visit. Right and it was cool to, you know, get mentioned on game day. Well, seems like there may be something to that. And maybe this ain't no hobby for you, huh? To quote Kisner. Yeah.
- [10:07]
C
Tom Lloyd, national recruiting Insider for 247 sports on Saturday put out a insider piece basically saying he's calling his shot. He thinks Jared Curtis, the five star quarterback, number three player in the class is going to sign with, with Vanderbilt. And I've talked with Tom a bunch since then. I think he is pretty well sourced on this. I don't think it's just one single entity. I, I think this was a collection of him gathering information from a ton of different sides to this. Tom still feels, what, six, seven days out that Vander Bell is, is likely going to be the landing spot for Jared Curtis. And, but let's revisit that, that conversation we had a month ago when you know, we were recklessly speculating about, you know, a, a difference maker ending up in Nashville. Jared Curtis, from what we've heard, wants to play early. I, I, I think the path to playing time in Athens doesn't look as easy as it once did right with, with Gunner Stockton. And he's become an assassin for the Bulldogs who down the stretch here. I think you guys said it on Cover 3 earlier in the week like that's a team you don't want to face. And I think Gunner Stockton is a big reason why. The flip side, you look at Vanderbilt, Diego Pavia, I mean maybe, you know, but you got a law degree, you tell me maybe he finds another season of eligibility but know someone else is going to have to take over their under center. And Barton Simmons, Clark Lee, they've done an excellent job of building a contender there. But I do think that that quarterback room, it's a big question mark. And I go back to a conversation I had with Barton, you know, in August at the player personnel symposium where me and him were discussing, you know, how player rankings impact the nil contracts and dictate the money flow. Barton was telling me he's like, I don't really know how much a high profile quarterback goes because we've never been in market. So if you think about Vanderbilt, which has broke through, had college game day, they want to stay in the national spotlight, you know, they need kind of a, a poster child and why not Jared Curtis, a local kid, a kid that we think is probably the most ready to play quarterback out of all these guys in, in 2026. And you know, I, I've said it, I think multiple places, I mean If Jared Curtis ends up at, at Vanderbilt, go ahead and put him on the Mount Rushmore of Commodore quarterbacks, right? Be Pavia, it's gonna be Jay Cutler and then it's gonna be Jared Curtis and you know, Jay Cutler was four year starter there at Vanderbilt and it didn't, it was, was certainly Rocky early on and, and I think there would certainly be some, some lumps like we see with all these, you know, high profile quarterbacks in any quarterback but Jared Curtis, I, I think he fits Tim Beck. I think it makes a ton of sense for both parties. So I think this is something we near seriously need to consider being a, a reality here in the lead up to, to next Wednesday.
- [13:10]
B
I agree, man. All right, so do you think we could see more quarterback movement? I mean like there are some high profile like teams out there who have not done a great job recruiting QB in recent cycles who still don't have a QB for this cycle. Like are they really going to wait for 27 or do you think they try to make a move, you know, this year?
- [13:28]
C
Yeah, but I, I think again working the phones and that I'm certainly not the scoop guy but I do think we're going to see some, some quarterback movement here as soon as some of these high profile jobs get filled. And what's unique about this 2026 quarterback class, but it's like so many of these guys are hurt like ACLs, you know, Faison, Brandon obviously who's headed to Tennessee, you know, he has returned to action. But I think if you looked at the 20 quarterbacks that were at the Elite 11 finals back in July, I think 10 of them are injured. I've never seen anything like crazy, you know, yeah, injuries happen, but just this volume has made it, I don't know, it feels unique and I think for a lot of schools that in the past would try to make a run out of kid, you know, every injury is different but I think it gives a little bit of hesitation. Okay, this guy's not playing a senior season or okay, this guy know he might need to get medically cleaned up there. Now with that being said, I, I think schools are slowly realizing that hey, like we should take a high school kid every single year given all the movement, but sometimes it's, it's a cheaper option than another guy out in, in the transfer portal. And I think it gets difficult to bring in multiple transfer portal arms. So I do think there's going to be some, some quarterbacks, you know, that potentially, you know, again, as we get closer and Closer maybe there's some more, you know, message board posts and in the days before the, the early signing period where hey this kid's considering this or hey this kid's considering that. I also think there's some teams out there that are potentially looking to upgrade the guy that's been their guy throughout this entire cycle. And I, I, I do think we're going to see something. The other thing, like I keep throwing this fact at people, hey, the past three years we have seen a five star quarterback at the last minute choose a different school, right? It was Dante Moore, longtime Oregon commit, ends up signing with ucla. Now obviously he's back with the Ducks, but, but he's won. Dylan Riola. It was Georgia, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia up. Now he's at Nebraska and he quickly became know the day one starter. He was the face of that program. And then last year it was Bryce Underwood. Lsu, lsu, lsu. And now he's at Michigan starting as a true freshman. The one to me that I have my eye on. And I think whoever takes over there at LSU is going to have to go into the transfer portal. But man, like what is the short term, what is the long term here? Playing at quarterback, like there's a lot of questions because they didn't take one last year and they don't have one committed this year.
- [16:16]
B
I mean it's going to be really interesting to see like what happens with this. I agree with the idea of taking one. Like a lot of these schools are getting these kids on multi year contracts now. So like the more, more guys you have in that format, like you get the two years to evaluate them, you know, and it's just like that's a position. Oftentimes you just really don't know what you have until they get on campus. Man. Like it, it's not that like evaluating quarterbacks is a total like crapshoot. I think it's a little more precise than that. But it's, it's hard because there's a lot of things that the college game requires you just don't get the opportunity to see like to the good or to the bad in high school. Right. Like even the guys we think are the best QV evaluators, they miss all the time, you know, so.
- [16:57]
C
But I, I think the other element which I don't think anyone has really been able to figure out is, I mean you're taking a guy 17, 18 years old and, and you're putting him on a college campus now they have all this, you know, extra money in a Lot of cases. Like what does that look like? Because I go back to when I was 17 or 18, you know, hey, you got to go to class. Hey, you got to show up for that 5am workout. I, I makes sense if you have the roster numbers. And let's not forget you can carry 105 down, 105 players to, to volume shoot at that quarterback position. So.
- [17:34]
B
I agree, man. All right, Flip watch. We got a bunch here on flip watch, man. So LSU's big guys, Lamar Brown, Richard Anderson, Martinez, you're talking like three premium blue chip guys along the line of scrimmage. Is there anybody here that LSU should actually feel good about and does it matter the timeline of them hiring a head coach?
- [18:00]
C
I mean I, I think we're gonna discuss all three of these players and like I think there's a good chance all three could end up at, at lsu and I think that's what makes LSU that job so attractive to Elaine Kiffin or whoever they end up with. The best in the boot are going to stay in the boot. And you know, since Brian Kelly was dismissed and let go, LSU's only suffered 1D commitment. That was the Anthony Lafayette edge rusher out of Orlando. He ends up flipping to Miami. Everyone else is, has remained committed and to me it feels like lsu but, and I, I don't know if you would agree. It's one of those schools where like the in state kids just, just go to LSU because they know they're going to hire a good coach. They know that they're gonna have a chance to go to the NFL. They know that they're going to play in all these big games. I mean the era that Lamar Brown and Richard Anderson grew up in, like that was the Joe Burrow years. Like that is like burned into them at 12 years old. So you know, I think there's a good chance these three do stick with, with lsu, but others are going to continue to chip away. We've discussed Lamar Brown, right? He could be DL1 IOL one kid that goes to school right there. You know, Texas A and M is certainly the one to, to monitor here and Mike Elko and his staff, you know, they, they sunk their teeth in pretty early now. You know, will that relationship pay off? We'll see Richard Anderson, newly minted five star defensive lineman. He's at Edna car in, in New Orleans. He took an official visit to Texas over the weekend. You know, as much as we gush about Lamar Brown, Richard Anderson is one of my favorite players in, in this entire class. I mean he is, he's the def A war daddy. Remember Ed? Oregon, Oregon would be like yeah, war daddy. Like that is Richard Anderson. We would put him in the, in the 247 sports CBS Sports Dictionary of war daddy. Let's just put a photo of Richard Anderson like he is 6:3, he is £350 but he is wide and he is explosive. Like I, I think this is a guy that's going to have a chance to come in make an impact right away because he can give you valuable minutes from the jump. And it has been that case at Edna cars one of those kids where you're trying to study someone else on, on his team or they're facing and your eyes just go to Richard Anderson because this guy shouldn't be doing that. You know, Texas, they are, are a program that has invested a ton at the point of attack and more specifically so in the middle on the defensive line. I mean think about all the transfers they brought in at D tackle nose last year. So that's the one to keep an eye on. And then this Bryson Martinez kid, he's fun bud. He is an offensive tackle projection. He is playing quarterback here as a senior, another in state kid, you know, 280 pound offensive tackle. I believe he's been playing QB out of necessity. He's a freak athlete, probably going to be, you know, a longer burn in terms of. I don't think you need to view him as a tackle that's going to be thrown into the fire year one. But he is a guy that has legitimate NFL upside and he too took an official visit to Texas and you know what has been the issue for Texas this season? You can point to I think a lot of different things. I would start with the offensive line and I think offensive line recruiting over the past few years it's left a lot to be desired.
- [21:35]
B
Dude, I mean that would be wild to watch this kid make the transition. Obviously he's going to try but like, like to go for playing quarterback. But we have seen this before, right?
- [21:44]
C
I mean he has played offensive tackle. I, I believe there's an injury there at his high school and they're like all right, hey yeah, let's let this guy do it.
- [21:53]
B
Who is the, there was, who was the right tackle for the Eagles. Played for, played for Oklahoma. He was a high school quarterback in Texas and a kind of a decent one. Went to JUCO as a tight end, got to OU as a tight end. They moved him off tackle and I was like I'm a Hall of Famer for the Eagles. It does happen once in a while now. I can't forget the guy's name. Whoever plays, is it Johnson?
- [22:17]
C
Maybe you're putting me on the spot here.
- [22:19]
B
Yeah. This is going to require Google Eagles tackle Johnson. Lane Johnson. Yep.
- [22:28]
C
Johnson.
- [22:29]
B
There you go.
- [22:30]
C
I didn't know he was a quarterback. That's.
- [22:31]
B
Yeah, he was quarterback and went to JUCO as a tight end.
- [22:36]
C
And then can I give you another fun fact I, I learned here over the past week?
- [22:42]
B
Yeah.
- [22:43]
C
My comp for Jared Curtis is, is Jay Cutler. And look at that. I think a lot of people will be like, well, Jake Hutler. Jake Cutler ran the football a lot when he was a senior in high school. State title game. Two way players started at safety, 17 tackles in the state title game while starting at quarterback, Jay Cutler. Wow, look at that. Yeah, that was a eye opener for me.
- [23:08]
B
Another QB to tackle transition was Titus Howard. The guy plays on the Houston Texans came out of Alabama State.
- [23:15]
C
So there's, there's, there's a few more. I mean if you, if you really dig into the offensive tackles, you know, selected day three of the NFL draft, the backgrounds on these guys are, are very, very unique.
- [23:30]
B
Yeah, exactly right. Like that they, many of them seem to be like just. They were always really good athlete. They just kept growing. Yeah. You know, in, in some, some shape or form. All right, here's an interesting one for you. The modern day receiver duo. We're looking at Chris Henry Jr. And then Dixon Wyatt as well. We think these guys are, are potential to stick. And who do you like better?
- [23:54]
C
Yeah, but I mean kind of touched on them a little bit earlier when we were discussing the race for number one. I mean long time Ohio State commits and, and Oregon was very involved very early on I would guess like these guys end up at, at Ohio State. But what, what happens if Brian Hartline, you know, starts getting linked?
- [24:19]
B
You might get a job.
- [24:21]
C
You know, that's a name that I'm certainly not as engulfed in it as, as you, but hasn't really been out there. To me like the big picture storyline here. State has, has really kind of just drafted at the wide receiver position. And I think Brian Hartline is the best at fine tuning these wide outs. Right. Yeah. He gets the guys that have the biggest upside, have the highest floor, but he's, he squeezes the most out of them. Right. I mean we can point to example after example. I mean just turn on, turn on red zone on Sunday there's gonna be a former Buckeye, you know, crossing into the end zone. So you Know, is it much of the same for Ohio State or you know, is there, is there a little chink in the armor here? Just with the distribution of, of funding and, and a changing landscape with Dan Lanning there at Oregon. I, I think that's what you got to keep your eye, your eyes on. And you know, one other thing I was thinking about with the Chris Henry with the Kaden Dixon white. Do you remember when Jeremiah Smith ended up signing with Ohio State? Like Ryan Day's reaction during the press conference like that, that should have been our, our sign about what was, what was to come. And obviously, I mean we had Jeremiah number one, but you know, do we see something similar from Ryan Day? If, if there is, you know, some wonky stuff in, in, you know, Ohio State's waiting around for the matter Day duo to, I don't know, officially get the paperwork in?
- [26:00]
B
I think there was also a bit of like, that was the first year where like Big Nil was involved in high school, if I recall. And so I think part of that was like, all right, we don't really know how this process is going to work out. Was our approach enough? Was it the right approach? Like obviously, like in the old school times we'd have this one easy right get given Heartline, their track record, like, would that plus our approach to the new school be enough? And kind of a. Because obviously I knew how good the player was. But also like a sigh of relief like, okay, all right, like our approach is not totally off on what we're doing here. So. All right, other top 247 talent we should probably discuss here who maybe have a chance to flip. I know like some guys are getting some continued interest. UCLA commit Carter Goodwin or sorry, not good. Gooden, Wisconsin commit Jaden Petit, Florida commit CJ Brana. Penn State commit Matt Sieg, Penn State commit Terry Wiggins and of course Bader commit Jordan Clay. Any of those guys we think are on serious flip watch?
- [27:05]
C
Yeah, I think all of them.
- [27:07]
B
Okay. Yeah.
- [27:09]
C
Carter. Carter Gooden. I love this kid, bud. He's originally from Canada. He's a four sport athlete. He's doing, you know, the prep thing, school thing up there in the United States. This is a kid where, I mean, we were super high on him from the jump and I think a lot of colleges did the thing where, you know, is he an edge? Is he an interior guy? It's, it's like, guys, it doesn't really matter. Like he's going to give you some versatility he can get after the quarterback. He's a big, athletic, big body and it's just been fun to see the adjustment. He's a long time UCLA commit. There's another coaching search where, hey, you know who, who's going to be the guy there. But he just took an official visit to Vanderbilt. He's going to get to Tennessee this weekend for an official visit. He's a guy that is slated to play in the Navy All American Bowl. He reminds me of Keem Mesador at, at Miami. I mean we always talk about Reuben Bane, but his counterpart on the other side, Akeem Messador, same thing. You know, is he an inside guy, is he an outside guy? Guys he rushes, he crushes, he closes, he gets to the quarterback. So I think Carter Gooden's one. There's been a few other schools involved there. But hey, how about a vandy Tennessee recruiting battle come down the stretch. So Yeah, I I1 to certainly keep an eye on, especially if you reside in the Volunteer State. Jaden Petit, wide receiver out of your neck of the woods there. Former neck of the words, Bud. It's on the west coast of Florida. I, I think this kid has had as good of a senior season as anyone in America. Like over 24 touchdown catches through 11 games. Might surpass 30 depending on what happens in the state playoffs. He is a long time Wisconsin commit and when I studied him I'm like how is Luke Fickle getting this this wide receiver that can be a game wrecker on the outside. You know, he's big, he can, he's coordinated, he's got some build speed, acrobatic catches. Washington has been involved here, Oklahoma's been involved here. You know Jim Nagy, Brent Venables, they are doing some things here. So you want to talk about an SEC team that is set to make some noise. They just flipped top 247. Running back Jonathan Hatton from Texas A and M. That happened on Monday. Oklahoma, you know Jim Nagy, once he came, when he came in, it took him some time to find his bearings. But I think he's really hitting his stride here. And it's not just him. I mean that entire department, he has built out the alignment from the top to the bottom. They are certainly parlaying what they have done on the field. So Oklahoma is a team to watch CJ Brona, Florida commit. But I've had to jump on HQ like multiple times and talk about the Gators class and hey, what's going on here? What's going on there? You know, he's the one guy where I, I Think Florida could lose him. And he is a height, weight, speed corner, you know, Back to back 100 meter dash champ in the Sunshine State. Did it in one of the lower classifications but hey, you put him in 50, 49 other states, he's going to probably win a state title as well. Maybe, maybe not in Texas. Ohio State is involved there. He's a former Nebraska commit. You know, can the Buckeyes continue to add to a really, really good recruiting class, you know, one to keep an eye on and then I think whoever takes over at Florida, C.J. bronaz, one of your, one of your first calls. So those three there and, and then Matt Sieg, safety, long time Penn State commit. He's an OKG for the 247 sports scouting department. Our kind of guy. I mean he is playing there in Pittsburgh. He has broken multiple records set by Tyler Boyd. He's a, he's a starting quarterback. He does it as a safety on defense. He was committed to James Franklin. Obviously James Franklin's now at Virginia Tech. Indiana's been involved. Notre Dame's been involved. West Virginia has been involved. Everyone is trying to get this kid because you know he is a hard nosed football player, instinctive individual. Reminds me of Dan Jackson who was at, at Georgia. You know, former walk on. He was a high school quarterback. He's, he's now playing in the league on Sundays. You know I, I just think these guys are so valuable, you know with these cover two shells and, and their ability to read and diagnose. It sounds like Matt see likely going to announce on signing day and hey, maybe Penn State has a coach in place by then. I mean certainly he has not backed off that commitment to the Nittany lines. I, I would consider it soft but you know, I think he's won on Wednesday, December 3rd where you know, when we start talking about winners and losers, whoever hands Matt Siegfried that's going to help their case for, for the winner category when it comes to what happens on day one of the signing period 100 man.
- [32:06]
B
I'm interested to see like where he ends up going on the Oklahoma piece. Like you know when, when they got there there was a lot of like not necessarily just from Jim but just like you know, folks around there like hey you know these three stars are amazing and you know kind of like the, the messaging was sort of like the, at least how I read it, like the implied was like hey we're, we're fine. Like we can out scout everybody and like get all these three stars. I was like that, that Just seems so unlikely because yes, I know you all came from the NFL, but like it's not like the scouts for these college departments currently suck, right? Like they, you know, they've been watching this a long time, they understand some of the translations and you know, some of, some of the things there that, that, that matter that maybe you wouldn't pick up, you know, like, like I think Carolina's department didn't at first, right? Like, hey, height, weight, speed, we've unlocked the secret. Like, oh yeah, highway speed, that's a good idea. And like, wish everybody else wouldn't have thought of that. But like, I am curious. I mean they're, what are they, 12, four stars, 10, three stars on the compositor or something. You know, something like that. A little bit less on 24, 7. Like are they, do you think they're trying to go like in fantasy football you'd call it Stars and Scrubs, right? Where you pay up for like a couple studs and then you kind of just like pepper the board with cheap options and hope your studs stay healthy. And then I guess the implication here is like maybe just attack the transfer portal and see like which of your underrated kids hit. Like what do you think about their strategy here? Because they're not really like they have what, one top hunt. Like I guess Hatton's now number one hundreds. They have two top hundred kids, you know, four kids in the top two, four, seven. It's not like, you know, SEC standards, just not like a real impressive looking class.
- [33:45]
C
And I think, I think 2027 is going to be the cycle for them. I don't have that class pulled up, but it's certainly in the top 10. They, they've done some really good work there early. You know, bud, I think having limited interactions with Jim Nagy, I mean certainly it's, it's always really good dude.
- [34:03]
B
To me, like, yeah, he's one of.
- [34:07]
C
The brightest minds I, I think in the sport I, I from my perch and how I see this, you know, they're certainly going to go after their first rounders at some point. Those would be the five stars, those would be the guys at the top of the board. But where they really seem to be trying to, to hit and find the value is, is in day three and, and then in that UDFA range. So. All right, let's call day three. Anyone in the top two, four, seven after 100 and then we'll call the UDFAs. You know, any of those three star prospects, I mean there isn't A guy that they have taken with three stars next to their name, where I'm like, I don't, I don't really see this. And they're, and they're in the hunt for this kid Dane Bathurst out of, out of Indiana. You know, off ball, linebacker, could play some on ball. Dad was a former Navy seal. Like, he's been like a Blue Star personal darling for us. And I think, you know, Oklahoma fans are like, well, hey, why isn't he a four star prospect? Can't make everyone four stars. But to me, like, this guy makes sense. This guy's got developmental upside. So, you know, is it like the money ball approach? Yeah, that would be like a lazy term for it, but I think it's more of a. Okay, I'm coming from the NFL, I got an NFL background. What is working in the NFL? Who are the teams that are playing for the Super Bowl? Right? It's the teams that are really hitting in that day three UDF range. And yes, they go out and they get the free agents in the transfer portal. Yes, they, they, they hit it out of the park with their, their first rounders and their second rounders. But really the spine, the backbone of that roster, it is, is where they're getting the value. And I, I think that's what they're, they're getting to that sweet spot here. And you know, again, I think like Oklahoma winning is, is really helping because as much as recruiting has changed and it's compensation and all that, like, you still got to give kids a reason to go there. You still got to build the relationships and you still got to get them on campus. Like, you can't just do that with a, with a written or verbal offer.
- [36:15]
B
No doubt. Yeah, I, I like the idea that like, if they execute it, hey, we, we take a lot of shots. Some guys that are, it'll probably be an extremely high bust rate, but also like, maybe we'll get some good starters out of it and those starters are, are cost controlled in some ways, maybe for two years and you know, we'll, we'll see kind of, kind of what pops out of there. All right, let me. Anybody else on this top 247 list, we let, we read off. If not, we can talk some of these uncommitted guys that people want to be watching down the stretch.
- [36:42]
C
Yeah, I mean, there's only again, like, you start building out these lists of, okay, like best available, who's in play, and it's, it's just changing because, bud, all it's, you know, what if Lane Kiffin stays at Ole Miss? Okay, right. If he stays and, and I, I said this on HQ this, this morning. It's like Lane is going to want to stretch this thing all he can right now. Ole Miss's recruiting class is 20th. Okay? But over the last four years, so four consecutive years, Ole Miss has signed a top five transfer portal class. So, you know, yes, Lane is, is an excellent play caller. Right? Like, Lane has, has certainly built some fun and competitive rosters there at Ole Miss, but he has done it through the transfer portal. To him, he's just got to be where he wants to be by the time that that window opens up in, in January, like, they have supplemented a little bit here and there with the high school recruiting. I think they've gotten better, notably on the defensive side of the ball. You look at their, you know, front seven, a lot of those guys were from the high school ranks. The Will Echols, the Cam Franklin, obviously, Terry Perkins, like, but they've been so transfer portal heavy. So I bring up Lane and all that because, okay, what if LSU in Florida have to pivot elsewhere? You know, Florida, I think drink at Missouri's been mentioned. Fish at Washington's been mentioned. I know Lincoln Riley has shut everything down, but I was in Gainesville over the weekend, bud, and you know, embedded myself in, in Gator Nation. That was the name that came up after, after Lane was Lincoln Riley and then lsu. I mean, what direction do they go? I think it's a similar group of candidates. And again, why I'm bringing that up is, okay, if one of these guys leaves that job, you know, Washington has a number 15 class. You don't think these guys are going to look around? USC has the number one class. You don't think that these guys are going to look around. It's just kind of hard to figure out, like, really, who is available, because a lot of it is, is up in the air. It's, it's on shifting sands here.
- [38:52]
B
And then, you know, some of these guys are like, already on some interesting nil contracts that basically, like, don't allow them to visit elsewhere. If they visit elsewhere, they have to pay some of this money back. I'm not really sure, like, how legal or not legal, like, some of this stuff actually is. But of course, if it doesn't get reported, like, it's not a big deal anyway. So, like.
- [39:12]
C
But would you subscribe to the theory that, like, you know, we got a lot of agents out there, like, how would you allow your client to sign a contract where there's not some out if there's a coaching change like that just seems, well, I mean like we.
- [39:27]
B
It depends on how much money is being offered, right? Like, like, like, you know, it, it's, it's terms and price. So if they're willing to just knock you out of the park on price, then, and, and the kid says he really wants to go there, like, you know, you can advise them. Hey, I. Stuff happens in college football. If the school's dangling like 1.8 over two years for you, right, and you're like a mid level four star, I mean you can turn that down, especially if they're giving you some of that up front. Like it, you know, the agent can only really present the offer, can advise on the offer, but he can't like jump in front of the offer and say like, you're not allowed to sign this really. I'm sure some do actually, but like, you know, ultimately that kind of is what it is. But like in some cases the kids still, they'll still flip and the school who wants them will just pay the buyout on it. Right? But I don't like that. That's. I do wonder how many these guys truly flip. And if we see a lot of them don't flip from like one school, that might be an indication that the rumors that like, hey, like that school's got some like kind of unofficial side nil deals that really have their teeth in them like that, that might be a good indication that those deals are real.
- [40:34]
C
One other thing, and I think if you asked me like six months ago, I'd have been like, okay, February's traditional signing day. I mean it has slowly lost, lost, lost momentum. I think last year, you know, we did the signing day show, the traditional one in February, and all we did was, was talk about the transfer portal and pretty upcoming season because there was, there was no one available. I think there's a chance we're going to see some guys maybe, maybe hold out, right? Like, think about it, bud. If you are at a premium position, if you're an offensive tackle, if you're a quarterback, you know, you're a defensive lineman. If you decide not to sign early and you're like, I'm going to wait till February, your value is going to be the highest it has ever been. I had a college staffer tell me this, there's going to be schools that are sitting there, hey, we need depth at defensive tackle. Do you want to take this guy from the group of five program where there ain't no Ceiling or should we go get this high school guy and if we get to it in a pinch, like he could provide some depth. It will be interesting to see if guys do kind of hold out and what that group looks like, like what is that best available list look like after. Yeah, yeah. As we get after Christmas. Because I, I, if, if I was advising I'd be like, hey man, like actually you do control this right now and that has never been the case.
- [42:07]
B
I, I agree man. It's gonna be really interesting to see. I, I would like depending on positions, especially if you're not a kid who is enrolling early. Like it's, if you're really that good, the money's still going to be there. It's not going to dry up, you know.
- [42:21]
C
So hey, there might be more money coming off the books, right?
- [42:26]
B
Absolutely. The one thing I could, that could shake this up is we don't know what's going to happen with the 5 for 5 injunction which is going to be heard in mid December. So if that gets like, if that gets granted, you're going to have a pretty good number of guys who are in the class of 2022 who would otherwise be out of eligibility, who all of a sudden get to play as like a 23 year old fifth year senior, you know, like, and not like there's probably what like 80 to 100 guys who actually matter with that designation. Who, who like you would like as a like upper half power five team you would be interested in acquiring, keeping. Like that's going to shake up the transfer market a lot if that happens. Because none of those guys are on multi year deals because like schools were not writing the deal to you know, cover like a year that it wasn't supposed to exist. Yeah. So all those, all those dudes are like instantly free agents. So that would be the only thing that might put a little bit of a, of a kink in that plan. Right. Is if all of a sudden you get a bunch of 23 year olds who are eligible, hey, you can go.
- [43:34]
C
To, you could go to juco. Juco recruiting's back as well, baby.
- [43:38]
B
It is, man.
- [43:38]
C
It is, yeah. For those not familiar, Juco recruiting just with the transfer portal window, just the one window now talking with some different personnel people and the commit lists reflect this. Schools are ensuring that they got some depth. Right. And they're looking for guys in junior college because let's not forget there's been an influx of talent headed to juco. Just given how you can cut players and, and so much Focus has been on, on adding transfers over high schoolers. Well now jucos are stocked with talent and you can get those guys with multi years and you're not overpaying for depth in the transfer portal because hey, you got this junior college player and guess what? He's here. Week one class one of our. Of our spring semester.
- [44:31]
B
Exactly right. Awesome, man. Well, hey, this has been fantastic. About 48 minutes now. So Wednesday 10am signing day show. Four hours for the coverage. We will completely nerd out and stuff. It's gonna be awesome. Can't wait to see everybody in Lauderdale. Look at that. Got the graphic going too.
- [44:50]
C
Yeah, I think we're Gonna have some GMs on, bud. I think we're gonna have some announcements. It's gonna be.
- [44:56]
B
Look at that.
- [44:56]
C
You go Tom Loy recapping. Which should be a fun day here. I mean here's the reality, bud. We cannot foresee over the next again depending on everyone's listening to this, you know, four, five, six days, whatever it is. But there's gonna be, there's gonna be some things that I think the biggest thing is teams are going to get better. Right? Like get better. They are going to put themselves in position to, to be in that college football playoff conversation on at the same time, I think there's gonna be some schools and programs we're wondering if you know what direction this whole thing's headed.
- [45:35]
B
Do you completely agree? Excited to do it with you on Wednesday. And this has been the COVID three recruiting hour.
- [45:43]
D
Thursday we gather together for an NFL on CBS Thanksgiving feast. Two of football's hottest teams take their seat at the table when Mahomes and the Chief the Chiefs head to Dallas to pay a visit to Dak and the Cowboys. Our family on the NFL today serves up the pre game storylines beginning at 4 Eastern. Happy Thanksgiving from the NFL on CBS and streaming on Paramount.
- [46:12]
B
Plus.