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Chip Patterson
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Chip Patterson
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- [01:08]
Danny Cannell
Welcome Back to the COVID 3 podcast
- [01:11]
Chip Patterson
with your hosts Chip Patterson, Tom Fernelli, Danny Cannell and Bud Elliott. It's your call for the best college football coverage from national signing day to the national championship and everything in between. CBS Sports presents the COVID 3 podcast.
- [01:30]
Tom Fornelli
And welcome back to the COVID 3 PO here on CBS Sports. That's Tom Finelli, that's Danny Cannell. I'm Chip Patterson coming to you live@YouTube.com cover3 and everywhere you 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 covered 3 tailgate or 9:21am Our friend BL 1632 said spring previews Real football talk. Let's go. That's right, because as you see here in the headline, we're just going to go ahead and open up that 2026 book. We're going to all of a sudden start writing in our initial opinions, give you our initial thoughts on what we are looking for out in spring practice as spring ball gets going around the country here in the month of March. Fired up to do so. Always a fun part. We'll be doing lots of ways to tackle spring practice, including once we get to spring games, a little bit more team focused. You know what we want to see going into a weekend now we're going to start a little bit abroad, cast a wide net. Lots of burning questions from across spring football. But first, just a quick transactional note where I'm Curious to see if this caught your attention. Curious to see if you had any reaction. So the University of Texas is bringing on Mark Stoops as a special defensive assistant to Steve Sarkeesian. This comes as the Texas coaching staff already has Will Muschamp in as the new defensive coordinator. Danny is. Do we, do we make anything of this? All rock and roll, all star. Like all these wins, all these years of experience. Is there, is there anything to be read from the former Kentucky coach joining Steve Sarkeesian staff in a special assistant role? Is he just cashing another check, you know, while the buyout money's still coming in? I would. Is this a beach house? A lake house? Right. What's, what's the angle here for Mark Stoops?
- [03:37]
Danny Cannell
You got two options of what you can do. You can go into TV or you can go on a staff and collect checks or even be an analyst. If those options aren't great, this is a really good option. Or you can, as one of those options, you can chase a national championship with one of the best rosters that are out there on a staff that is all star studded. Like you said. I think it's, there's a lot of egos involved in this too, but I think this is one where they know their roles. It'll be good. He's a great defensive mind. You know, I think he's a great add to the staff. Wonder exactly what the role is. You know, we have so many eyeballs on in just every coaching staff does. Like is it a difference maker?
- [04:21]
Tom Fornelli
No.
- [04:22]
Danny Cannell
You know, so I don't know if it's one. It's not changing my opinion on Texas one way or another. It's just kind of an interesting hire.
- [04:30]
Tom Fornelli
It's interesting though, right? I mean it was something they got, they go okay because of the, it is Alabama esque behavior from Steve Sarkeesian to be able to continue to welcome in all these minds. What'd you make of it tomorrow?
- [04:44]
Chip Patterson
I, I think it's Sark carrying on the tradition of his mentor Nick Saban and his wayward, his school for wayward coaches at Alabama for all those years. I, I think that it makes sense for Texas bringing him in because as Danny mentioned, pretty, pretty damn good coach, nice voice to have in the rooms, nice person to help out. But I also think it makes sense for Mark Stoops if he wants to continue coaching because the man knows plenty about defense. But he's been a head coach for a long time and odds are Mark Stoops, his next job will not be. Unless it's he wants like a G6 school, he's probably not going to be a head coach. Oh, he's probably going to have to get back in as a defensive coordinator. So for Mark Stoops, who hasn't really had to call plays like he's obviously he's involved in the game plan. He's involved in everything that goes on as a head coach in Kentucky, but he wasn't really the primary play caller on defense. It allows him to spend a year kind of getting back in that groove. So that way if he wants to go back in as a defensive coordinator somewhere next year, perhaps at Texas, who knows. It's just, he's getting, you know, he's getting reps and I think that's important because the game changes a lot every single year and the sport is different than the last time Mark Stoops was a play calling defensive coordinator.
- [05:54]
Danny Cannell
See, this is where I would disagree. If you're, if you're at whatever position and it's not an analyst, like let's say Texas does win a championship, I think the trickle down effect could be Stoops parlaying this into another good job, which I think he knows. Like they just when you win a national championship, all of a sudden the offers start coming and I think that's the closest you could get to getting the best job available.
- [06:19]
Chip Patterson
But like what, what P4 programs are hiring Mark Stoops as head coach.
- [06:24]
Tom Fornelli
Wait, hold on. I, I think that. No, no, no. This is a position very similar to the one in my eyes that Gary Patterson took at Texas a couple.
- [06:37]
Chip Patterson
Where's he?
- [06:38]
Tom Fornelli
And then he went to Baylor. Now he's a defensive coordinator at usc. So I, I could see it being also a decision for Mark Stoops. Would you rather be a defensive coordinator in the SEC or the Big Ten? Or would you rather be a head coach in the American? No strays in the American.
- [06:52]
Chip Patterson
But like even if Texas wins a national title, I don't think like a program that would be. If you were to tier power 4 programs or SEC and Big 10 programs. Is a school better than Kentucky hiring Mark Stoops to be its head coach?
- [07:04]
Tom Fornelli
No, not right now.
- [07:06]
Chip Patterson
So yeah, that's, that's why I feel like, you know, I don't know, maybe he just wants to be around ball and then kind of be semi retired. That could also be Mark Stoops his plan here.
- [07:14]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah. Again, to me, as I just imagined though, the way that these meetings are going to go, you've got new voice in the room with Will Muschamp. You're adding to some of that those new ideas that are coming into the game planning side of this. Steve Sarkeesian, you know, still Texas fans, we see you Texas fans, we hear you Texas fans. We work with many of you. The Tech, the Steve Sarkeesian, obviously extremely involved in the offense and the play calling and the game planning. So as many extra experienced eyes as possible helping you on the defensive side. I think Mark Stoop's impact does not happen on Saturdays. I think it happens Monday through Friday. I think it happens in the meeting rooms and that's just somebody else who's just adding to your experience. Will it be too many cooks in the kitchen? That is the responsibility of Will Muschamp and the rest of that staff to be able to figure out their roles and get that all figured out.
- [08:02]
Chip Patterson
Another possible layer to this is like if you look, let me see, like what, what defense did Texas struggle against last year and the year, well, not so much the year before, but what defense did they really struggle against last year?
- [08:16]
Danny Cannell
Kentucky.
- [08:17]
Chip Patterson
Yeah, they needed overtime to put up 16 points. Now you've got the guy behind that defense in the room. So like he's there to help the defense, but he's also there to help the offense.
- [08:27]
Tom Fornelli
Great call. Love that. There. One last quick item and then, then we'll hit a break and then get into the much more impactful discussions that include what's going to happen in spring practice. We're starting to hear more and more voices coming out to join a chorus led by Tom Fornelli in support of a team playoff. Tom Fornelli has been leading the charge. I know that Josh Hyple, he reached out to you. He's been joining the crusade as well. The reason I wanted to address this is there is a belief that the Big Ten is the only conference that is pushing or pursuing a 2014 College Football Playoff. And while the high level Big Ten and SEC can agree this is a cold war, this is a civil war, I don't really know if the in all of the important voices in the Southeastern Conference fall in line with that. So whether it's Kirby Smart, whether it's Josh Hyple. Tom, are you, are you surprised to see some of your fellow party mates in this debate really starting to go public with their support?
- [09:32]
Chip Patterson
Not at all. Not at all. First of all, it is preposterous that SEC fans ever thought that this was just going to be a Big Ten thing and didn't think that the SEC coaches and schools would want to be in it and want to be involved in it. When the SEC has proven time and time again that it cannot compete at the four team level or the 12 team level, it needs a 24 team playoff just to get some teams in there, to give a chance. Those early round games are the only ones the SEC is capable of winning. They can't get to the end. So of course they want a 24 team playoff. But also because like, what coach doesn't want more teams in the playoff? Every single one of these coaches who all share like three agents, all have the same bonuses put in their contract. If I make the playoffs, I get an extra 100, 150, 250 grand, whatever it is, for every single one. Of course they want more playoff spots, but it also comes with the other side. It's going to lead to more coaches getting fired for getting to the playoff and not winning once they get there. And we saw that with James Franklin, who had been there forever, suddenly the playoff expands. That's great news for James Franklin. Yeah, it was until he didn't get to it. And then it's like, wow, you can't even get to a 12 team. We got to get you the hell out the paint. So yeah, it's coming. I said it when it first started, even before I was, you know, leading the vanguard. Once they started proposing it, they don't float that stuff out there if it's not their intent in the long run. And it will come as this sport continues to evolve the same way that professional leagues have. The money goes to the postseason. Those are what the TV networks are most willing to pay for. Because you can slap the word playoff on it and that increases the AD rates, that increases the eyeballs on it, that increases the money for everybody. So you have to have more playoff games. And I mean, at the like, I, I know I'm doing it as a bit, or at least our listeners know it's a bit, I, I clearly am not for it philosophy. There we go. Words are tough. But the reality of the situation is that the way this sport has gone, this 2014 makes sense in the current landscape of what the sport is. And I do kind of laugh at everybody. Like a lot of our media brethren are like, this is the last straw. This is the stupidest thing ever. Like in the last few years we have seen Cal and STANFORD Join the ACC, the PAC 12, the Oregon, USC. These guys are in the Big Ten. But at 2014, playoff is the dumbest thing you've seen. That's the final straw. I mean, come on, the sport is not what it was 10 years ago. So let's stop pretending it was what it was 30 to 40 years ago when you were kids growing up watching it. It's a logical step. This is what happens in every single sport. Doesn't mean you have to like it. But let's stop pretending this is like the. This is. This is the final straw. I can't deal with this anymore.
- [12:15]
Danny Cannell
We. I think you nailed most of it. I think probably the thing that resonates with me more than getting the playoffs and losing is just getting to the playoffs makes you feel better, gets you a little bit off the hot seat. Like it does. Add to that pressure, specifically, that's on SEC coaches. You are judged against, you know, did you make the playoff? And I think then you worry about that later. I mean, we see this in college basketball. We're going, we're expanding from 68 to how many more? 76. So we're going, what's the number? I know at 92.
- [12:47]
Tom Fornelli
76. 76 will be the next step there. But even.
- [12:52]
Danny Cannell
We're taking it. But even coaches will be like, yeah, that's great. You know, we want more teams, more access. It's great.
- [12:59]
Tom Fornelli
Like, and that clearly is auburn. Golly.
- [13:04]
Chip Patterson
Yeah. 17 and 15. I won more than half my games. I deserve a shot to prove I'm the best. Ignore all those 30 point losses on my resume. Those, those don't count.
- [13:14]
Tom Fornelli
The floated format. Again, the, the reason why I think I was. I was glad that those two, you know, the, the hypo and the smart and everything kind of got tied together. I think Cody wrote the story for the site. I'll pull it up real quick so I can reference it. But I liked it because it reminded you that if we had the 2014 playoff that is being proposed, the thing would have dagum nine SEC teams in it. You talk about like winning half your games and making the NCAA tournament and an SEC team in a 2014 playoff is basically a proposition of finishing the top half of the conference. And you get a chip and a chair and you get to see if you can go out there and compete against some of the best teams in the country. I do not see why an SEC coach would not want that as a potential opportunity for your team. Especially when we are living in this era where your rosters have so much turnover every year it might take you a few games to be able to figure out exactly what you have and what it's going to look like when they all get out There.
- [14:15]
Chip Patterson
So also I am, I've heard. Sources have told me I can't name them, but sources have told me that the Big 12 will definitely start being more in line with the 122014 playoff if the College Football Playoff agrees to have an led field that changes colors during the game. Another aspect of this too, like the argument has always been, you know, it cheapens the regular season, which, I mean, yeah, it does, but that was like my problem with the 12 team and all that kind of stuff. But the regular season is kind of done already especially, and I, I think conference realignment has cheapened the regular season to where now, like you look at the sec, a lot of the premier blue chip programs of our lives are all in the same conference. Same now with the Big Ten, now that it's added USC and you got Oregon in there. So, like teams are going to lose in the regular season simply because they're all having to play each other now. So it used to be, you know, it's like, well, being able to go undefeated and, you know, prove you could beat everybody. Yeah, that was great. I loved it. That was clearly my favorite part of it. But now it's like two or three losses doesn't necessarily mean you suck. So it's becoming much more like the NFL where you see teams winning the super bowl who lose some games during the regular season, where you're like, what the hell? How did that happen? But then they go on and win it all anyway. So it's just with the way that the sport is aligning, with all these super conferences that are coming, a larger playoff makes more sense than it used to, and it sucks. But it's just the reality of the situation.
- [15:45]
Danny Cannell
The,
- [15:47]
Tom Fornelli
the expanded conferences. I'm excited about the SEC going to nine games because now we also won't have the conference balance issue. You know, like we've, we saw, we've seen some teams be able to really capitalize. We've seen some teams be really hammered by not having that balanced schedule when they, you know, when they just had like 12 teams and you would go out there and play everybody in your division and then across division and then a rotator, you know, you didn't get to see everybody from the other division, but you'd get a better sense of the round robin nature that you had Now. Now I'm excited about a ninth game so that you can have a little bit more balance to what that final schedule and what that final record in the regular season ends up looking like. Because when you said that, Tom, I was thinking expanded conferences have cheapened the regular season because records don't mean the same anymore.
- [16:39]
Danny Cannell
Correct.
- [16:40]
Tom Fornelli
So any anything that they can do to, you know, expand and try to balance it as much as possible. All right, enough about that playoff talk. Coming up on the other side, some of our burning questions to get the conversation started as we head into spring practice for 2026 and more next when it comes to money, it helps to look for tools that help you learn, stay organized, and actually see progress without making things complicated. And that's where Telus comes in. Telus began as a property management app, helping owners and managers collect rent, communicate with tenants and stay organized. But Telus now goes further, helping everyone grow their money. Telus is reimagining how everyday people can grow by offering a High Yield Savings Wallet powered by Real Estate. Inside the app is a digital wallet designed to help your money go to work for for you in a way that feels approachable and clear. You can move funds in and out easily, track your daily growth, and access your money whenever you need it. There are no processing fees, no locked up funds, and no fees to open or use Telus. Plus, you can earn better rates by engaging in positive financial behaviors like learning through Telus daily trivia or setting goals for yourself. Learn more@telusapp.com or search TELUS T E L L U S in the Apple Store or Android Store. Telus earn more daily. Telus is not a bank. Telus is not FDIC insured. You know, mental health can feel like this huge complicated thing because if you hurt your arm, you see a doctor, no problem. But finding the right therapist says suddenly it's confusing, expensive and takes forever. That's why Rula is so great. They make therapy simple, fast and affordable. They accept most major insurance plans and the average session copay is just $15 15 bucks. That's basically lunch money. But instead of a sandwich, you're investing in your mental well being. And here's the best part. Rula isn't just about matching you with someone. Every therapist is licensed, vetted and picked for their expertise. They actually follow up to make sure you're making progress. You answer a few questions about what matters to you. Pick a time and you could be talking to a therapist as soon as the next day. No waiting, no guessing, no stress. Thousands of guys have already used Rula to finally get the care they needed. Don't keep putting it off. Go to rula.comcover and get started today. That's R U L A dot com cover. Take the first step get connected and take control of your mental health.
- [19:39]
Chip Patterson
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- [20:17]
Tom Fornelli
back here on the COVID 3 podcast and yeah, maybe we need to get Matt Norlander from the Island College Basketball Podcast to we need to get him and Bud on the same show just for a second right? At some point, at some point before somebody reached out on Twitter was like, is Matt going to jump in again? Because you remember last year Matt joined for the start of a show and just kind of answered Bud's questions, you know, like reminded him that Roy Hibbert's not in college basketball anymore. He's actually on the CBS Sports. He's, he's a CBS Sports media member. No covering the game, a great analyst for CBS Sports Network in studio. But I'll reach out to Matt and we'll see if we can get him to to help Bud figure out what to do with March Madness. Okay, so I have scattered together just sort of a list of questions from all across the country. I don't want to be the only one to drive this conversation, so we might kick this around a little bit. But I do think that when it comes to premier programs, when it comes to the most important position on the field, one of the biggest topics and not one that I think will get an answer in spring practice is going to be the competition to replace ty Simpson as QB1 in Kalyn DeBoer's offense in Tuscaloosa. Now the good news for Alabama fans that they know and that everyone else will soon learn, both options seem pretty good. Austin Mack, who followed Caleb DeBoer from Washington, has always been viewed as a very talented prospect and he was the next man up whenever Simpson did end up getting a little dinged up or not able to play. But Keelan Russell, who was a freshman last year, first year player, is a really a real gem from the recruiting cycle. As you Danny, look at this, look at this battle. Do you think that we will see a winner come out of Spring practice. And what are you excited to hear? Because I will say Alabama is one of those schools where we get scrimmage reports, you know, where we get practice reports, where we get a lot a good feel for how this thing is going, even if it is just through smoke signals and 247 sports message boards.
- [22:26]
Danny Cannell
I think they feel good about this quarterback race because if they didn't, I think they could have brought Ty Simpson back. You know, that was one thing we talked a lot about was Ty Simpson, you know, where is he going to transfer to? And he didn't want to harm his legacy, didn't want to play anywhere else besides Alabama. Was Bama not an option? You know, and there's a lot of speculation maybe he doesn't get drafted in the first round. Maybe he does and he doesn't worry about it. But I thought it was interesting that he didn't really mention Alabama as an option to return to which to me says Alabama might have said, hey, we'll give you a million, two million bucks we like, but we're not going to pay you the going rate of 5 or 6 million which these schools and Ty Simpson was on the record say we're offering him. So I do think Alabama feels pretty good about it. I also, Austin Mack is a dude. Like physically he's tall, he's lanky, he can run. He did follow Kaylin DeBoer to Washington and just like Ty Simpson had to wait for his job. It feels like Austin Mack is the next guy, but you've got this incredible talent who's young. I think this is going to be a really interesting quarterback battle that takes place because also if Austin Mack felt like he wasn't going to win the job, guess what he could have done? He could hit the portal and gone somewhere else. So I think this one is a really good quarterback battle that's taken place. I kind of lean toward Austin Mack just being the guy that's more familiar with the system, having sort more experience. But wouldn't surprise me, all of Gilan Russell's the guy when it's all said and done. So I think it's open. But I would definitely give the lean towards Austin Mack.
- [24:01]
Chip Patterson
Getting nostalgic here. I. I feel like for the first time in a long time at like a quote unquote blue blood program in the spring, which we all know how. I love spring football. It's the most important time of the year. But. But like I feel like we have a genuine quarterback battle and that's really not often the case anymore. With the way that the transfer portal works, like last year, I know Ohio State had one and Oregon had one, but I don't think anybody really felt like it was going to end up any other way besides Julian Saying and Dante Moore, although Ohio State maintained that Lincoln Keenholtz was very much in the running the entire time. But I do feel like this is one of those situations where I don't think it'll be over by spring. I think this is a genuine competition. I think these are two very talented players who both have a legitimate shot to win this starting job. I'm with you, Danny. If I had to pick one right now, I would pick Mack, just because he's been in that system longer, and I feel like he's got somewhat of an advantage there. But, I mean, Keon Russell, I've heard really good things about him, so it wouldn't shock me if he ends up winning the gig. This is. It's interesting. It's one of those spring storylines where we talk about him every year and we just kind of discuss it, and I sit there not really caring. This is one where I will actually be following because this one, I feel like will have a very large impact on the 2026 season.
- [25:17]
Tom Fornelli
Eric. And the tailgate references that we did have, one with C.J. carr and Kenny Minchi last year, and
- [25:23]
Danny Cannell
that one, it looks, you know, like you never know exactly how much they are. But, I mean, I had talked to Jerome Bettis and he was telling me, man, this thing is close. Kenny Minchi is really turning some eyeballs. And then C.J. carr goes out there and has this unbelievable season, which maybe it was that close. That is a great sign for minty.
- [25:40]
Tom Fornelli
I think C.J. was better because of Kenny.
- [25:43]
Danny Cannell
Right.
- [25:45]
Tom Fornelli
That is reckless for me to say from Raleigh, North Carolina, and not South Bend, Indiana. But the sense that I get is that the excellence that we saw from CJ Carr during his first year as a starter had to have been helped on some level by a player who is good enough that Nebraska and Kentucky are fighting over his services for the 2026 season.
- [26:06]
Danny Cannell
So there is no way you can simulate the pressure of being the starting quarterback at Alabama or Notre dame. And there's 80,000 people, and you're going against Miami or you're going against Georgia. The closest thing you can do to simulate the pressure, and it's a different type of pressure, is you have to earn your job. Like, you have to compete. You have to realize if you don't play well at practice today, you could get benched. And lose your job. So coaches use these competitions to find out who is ready to handle the magnitude, the moment and sometimes you can get fooled. Like you see guys that are awesome in practice even though it's full go and you know you can see you can get fooled but the most time the reason these quarterback competitions play out is you're trying to see who can handle the pressure.
- [26:50]
Tom Fornelli
If Keelan Russell does not win the starting job, I will not be alarmed because Texas has a quarterback who sat for two years after coming on campus as a five star. You know like I just, I think, I think that we went so we in some programs we go so fast to rush that blue chip 5 star QB to up to QB1 that there have been a couple of examples and they are only at some of the most talent rich programs in the country because those are the only places that can afford that because anybody else it's like oh shoot, you got a player that good, you got to put them out there. But I am not going to panic if Keelan Russell is not going to end up winning this job. It's very possible that much like Arch Manning in Austin, he's there, he's in the program, he's going to continue to work and when his number is called, he'll be ready to go. We'll see.
- [27:42]
Chip Patterson
I want to put a pin in this conversation for reminder later in the off season that Chip you better be 10 toes down and taking the season total over for Kentucky when we lock them up later. Because if Kenny Minchi was so good that he made CJ Carr better then Kentucky's going to be a really good football team this year. Kentucky's good. You might. You know what, they're 400 to 1 right now to win the national title. You better put in a future. I mean they're that good.
- [28:07]
Tom Fornelli
Listen, I chips takes on futures can can come at another time. But I mean, yeah, that money ain't doing no good. Ain't getting no interest on that. All right, so I, I will stand 10 toes down that Kenny Minchi is a good enough player that Will Stein wants him and scooped him up from Nebraska and that's that. That is a value above replacement player according to the market. That is what I'll stand ten toes down on. All right. What about Tom? Do you want to, you want to take us somewhere else? I've got a couple others that we can do. You can grab one Burning questions for spring practice.
- [28:49]
Chip Patterson
Bryce Underwood, the new Michigan offense, how is that going to look? I mean obviously this is A team that won a national title two years ago had a quite tumultuous end to their season last year with Sharon Moore and everything that went down there. And now kind of out of nowhere, like Kyle Whittingham is the new coach in Michigan. Imagine if like 12 months ago we're sitting here in March doing spring training or spring football and I'm telling you, a year from now Kyle Whittingham is going to be coaching the Wolverines. So Jason Beck's offense, we saw what it's been able to do for the Utes. Will it be a good fit for Underwood? And also like you think of how Bryce had last season and I did my, my Big Ten quarterback rankings this week published on CBSSports.com you can go read them there. I, I wrote about this, or at least this like Bryce Underwood was a freshman last year, very talented freshman, had lots of ups and downs like you would typically expect. Is this another freshman season for Bryce Underwood? Because now he's got to learn a brand new offense with a, you know, something very, that'll be very different than what they were running last year. So this is a very important spring for Bryce Underwood. It's a very important spring for that offense as a whole. Can they get the most out of him? Can they help get him prepared? I think what's working on his side is that now he's been there for a year so he knows what to expect both from the off season program and how that's going to work and also just the weekly routine of playing in the season so he better prepared for that. But it is still a new offense that a young quarterback has to learn. How is that going to impact him? How's that going to impact Michigan going forward? So I think this is some very important spring for the Wolverines as far as installing everything and helping him get a head start.
- [30:23]
Tom Fornelli
Y' all remember Garrett Schrader, the old Syracuse quarterback?
- [30:27]
Danny Cannell
Yep.
- [30:28]
Tom Fornelli
I was, I was doing a little Jason Beck sort of like go peel all the way back because I. The Bryce and Garrett Schrader doesn't have the same skill set as Bryce Underwood either. But it's just I'm trying to put all these different pieces together to look for what I'm going to expect. Now Kyle Whittingham says it seems to indicate that he wants to be able to spread the field but still be able to run the football. Danny, what, what do you think it's going to look like as we try to take all these different pieces of what we've seen from Utah, what we've seen from Jason Beck, what we know for, for Bryce Underwood in terms of his talent. I don't know what we're going to see in the, in the spring game necessarily from Underwood, but what do you think would be the install. What do you, what do you think would be the best way to give Michigan's offense the best chance to be successful?
- [31:17]
Danny Cannell
I think giving him a better supporting cast around him, you know, having a better run game, having a better offense, receivers. We've talked a lot about the issues they've had at receiver. The best coaches play to their players strengths. Right. You don't force what you do and say you have to learn it. I've been with coaches that are like that. That is the worst. But you play to your, your player strengths. Bryce Underwood is still a very raw like piece of clay that still needs to be molded, you know, into what he's going to be. So the best way to do that is to give him better sporting cast, you know, help him get him better talent around him, get him better opportunities. I know, remember last year we were watching the first few games, we're like, where are Bryce Underwood's legs? And everyone was like, well, I haven't really used them that much. And he really was not that electric of a runner all season long. He was adequate. He was able to, you know, run the football some. So I don't think you would expect that to change much. You know, I think you're going to use his mobility, but I think the best thing that they can do is, is give him better support, you know, give him a more consistency around him.
- [32:23]
Chip Patterson
Yeah, like Bryce Underwood's not a running quarterback as much as he's a quarterback who can run.
- [32:28]
Danny Cannell
Right.
- [32:29]
Chip Patterson
So it's like you should probably use him a little more in designed runs just. But you also don't want him taking hits. So it's. I do expect based on what we saw at Utah, you're going to see Underwood utilized a lot more as a runner than you did last year. And it's not like he never ran last year. He did finish with nearly 400 yards, but it was mostly in like certain situations. I think you're going to see it just as a regular feature of the offense going forward.
- [32:51]
Tom Fornelli
Six touchdowns on the season as well. I mean I just, I, I think that it is that your, your classic third down red zone, you know, just, just to be able to coach that into him of hey, and on this play if you might get this and if you get this, that's going to be your. Your free, free money to be able to go and take it, keep the drive alive. Then, you know, maybe things start to change. Maybe he becomes a little bit more of a runner, especially as we see here in this playoff era. If you've got an athletic quarterback and you're getting deep into the season and you're playing the best defenses in the country, always becomes a little bit of an X factor as we start to get a little bit closer to the postseason. Danny, your. What do you remember from your freshman. That first freshman season at Florida State?
- [33:42]
Danny Cannell
I mean, I was terrified I was gonna have to play. I was like, I'm not ready for this. I got thrust into action early. But I will say this, the first thing I remember from my spring. So it was really my first spring football practice. Mark Richt used to taunt me as quilling pretty much equivalent to bullying because
- [34:01]
Tom Fornelli
the moment I got on campus, football
- [34:03]
Danny Cannell
just, no, he was mean. He was so mean to me. I still have ptsd. He would. So when I got there, we were very thin at quarterback. We were supposed to be deep. Kenny Felder went to play baseball. Jeff McCrone had tendonitis in his elbow. And then it was like me and two walk ons. So they basically could not risk getting me hurt. So every scrimmage we had, I had a green jersey, which meant you were protected, you were off limits. So throughout the season, he's like, wait till the spring. He's like, you're not getting that green jersey. He's like, you got to get ready.
- [34:33]
Tom Fornelli
You're going to.
- [34:34]
Danny Cannell
You've never been hit like this. He's like, this isn't Westminster Academy playing against single A guys. So I just remember in the spring where you weren't live every time, but we had probably three scrimmages leading into our spring game and just remembering, okay, I'm about to get blasted. And I did get blasted, and I needed to. You do need to learn. And they needed to see if I could handle it. So I definitely remember that. But I also, like, the spring is such a valuable teacher because you do get those reps and you do get those live scrimmages. Not just the spring game, but, you know, two or three of them. A lot of times you get those spring reps. So I remember how much I learned about the speed of the game getting hit. You know, just that experience I thought was really valuable because, you know, during the season you have practice, you know, it's a backup. You'll get five or Six reps on, you know, Tuesday and Wednesday and then it kind of curtails so you don't have as much time. I just remember it being such a valuable learning experience.
- [35:28]
Tom Fornelli
So as I think one of the biggest stars in terms of places where there are intrigue is freshman quarterback Jared Curtis at Vanderbilt. I mean, I did, I, I had
- [35:44]
Danny Cannell
a different mindset than kids now. Like kids.
- [35:46]
Tom Fornelli
Oh yeah, I know. I was gonna say like it was
- [35:48]
Danny Cannell
normal to Red shirt. Yeah. But I, I think he's probably, he's probably already there. Right. Which is something we didn't see, you know, at all. He's probably already been there through January getting off season workouts, probably already did bowl practices. So he's in a much different scenario. And kids are more ready to play now. Like the systems, they run the amount of seven on seven. They do, they're more ready to step in. And that's what Jared Curtis is trying to do, is get up to speed as fast as possible.
- [36:13]
Tom Fornelli
But I mean, isn't he, I mean he's a Nashville kid or like. And then I think he might be like went to school out in the burbs, but it's just, man, that is. And again, all politics are local. Maybe Jared Curtis at Vanderbilt ain't registering with an Oregon Ducks fan who listens or watches this podcast, but no, when we think about Clark Lee, when we think about the development of that program, a lot of it's going to come down to Diego Pavia's successor, who very way may well be the five star quarterback that they were able to flip from Georgia. Jared, it just, it's, it's kind of got a little bit of that rock star intrigue to it where we're going to be very curious. I don't know what I'm going to learn, Tom, but I do think that Curtis at Vanderbilt is definitely one of those spots here this spring where I'm circling it and I'm very curious to see if he can assimilate himself to the point where we can start to think about him being a impact true freshman at the quarterback position, something that's very difficult to do in the sec.
- [37:15]
Chip Patterson
It's going to be tough. Like, I don't think if you're, I don't think you should expect Vanderbilt to have the same kind of season it had last year, no matter how good Curtis is. Because you look at the sport and in recent years, like veteran quarterbacks are what winter and college football now, you don't really see a whole lot of freshman phenom Quarterbacks step in and have immediate giant impacts. Like CJ Carr was an exception last year. He had a very good season for Notre Dame, but even then it wasn't like he was a true freshman. He had a year as a red shirt. Julian Saying had a year as a red shirt. Dante Moore had, you know, transferred and been multiple years and then red shirted a year at Oregon before he took over. So you just don't see the. And we just talked about Bryce Underwood, five star who steps right in. Michigan had plenty of struggles. Michigan had plenty of ups and downs. They were not great. And it's not like Jared Curtis is stepping into a Vanderbilt team that is an elite roster compared to what they're facing around the sec. So I expect it's going to be difficult and it's going to be like a development season more than anything. Like you've gone from the 30 year old Diego Pavia to the 18 year old Jared Curtis. It's, it's going to be a lot different, but it will be interesting to see and follow this spring just what he looks like because he does have to learn how to be a college football quarterback. Like Danny was talking about his freshman year at Florida State. It's, it's a whole new world and it's a huge adjustment going from wherever the hell he was playing in high school to a fricking SEC program. It's, it's a different universe.
- [38:39]
Danny Cannell
I have heard though that his frontal lobe is more developed than most 18. He's closer to the 25 age that Diego Pavia referenced.
- [38:46]
Chip Patterson
Yeah, really farther advanced.
- [38:48]
Tom Fornelli
Hold on. What?
- [38:49]
Danny Cannell
Did you not see that?
- [38:51]
Chip Patterson
So kind of no Diego Pavia.
- [38:55]
Danny Cannell
At the combine they were asking about, you know, his maturity, some of the mistakes that he's made. And he said that Clark Lee told him that your frontal lobe is not fully developed until you're 25. And he said I'm 24. He said, so I'm not there yet, but I'm almost there. Like sort of implying that you could trust him more now because he's closer to 25.
- [39:15]
Chip Patterson
Here's the problem though. In that very same press conference, Diego talked about how he's been taking advice from Johnny Manziel. Which I mean if, when you consider what NFL teams concerns are, not just the size wise, but with Diego Pavia, all the potential concerns that teams have, saying, yeah, I've been talking to Johnny Manziel and he's been giving me some good advice. Not going to alleviate those concerns, son. It's just going to raise more I
- [39:42]
Danny Cannell
should have said Theo Vaughn is also advising him. You know, Theo Vaughn's also another mentor.
- [39:48]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, yeah. Another Nashville guy right there. But I tell you what, we're going, we're doing a big jump up from, from what, 5, 9 and 3 quarters to 6, 4, 2, 25. Yeah, you got a different, different size quarterback out there, but yeah, Jerry Curtis at Vanderbilt. Another one of my burning questions to see how he settles in. Coming up on the other side, more of our burning questions, including what, what does, what are things looking like in Baton Rouge? You had, you had all of our attention for weeks on weeks on weeks on weeks. What's going to happen when Lane Kiffin's Tigers hit the field and more nukes?
- [40:29]
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- [42:10]
Tom Fornelli
the COVID 3 podcast. Danny what what are you what are you most burning about when it comes to your questions for the LSU Tigers? In terms of what we have coming up in 2026 with year one Lane Kiffin,
- [42:25]
Danny Cannell
I mean, this will be probably the most talked about team coming into the season. What are you going to get? Lane Kiffin's track record, you know, going after this portal class with so much money spent. I will say I'm probably most curious. Sam Levitt, his development, you know, as a QB in his system. I had talked to some coaches on the Arizona State staff following their playoff appearance that year, and they were. And you know, he had played a little bit, played pretty good. It was kind of coming up and I was like, hey, what's he. What's he like? And they were like, he's a dog, man. Players love him. Great work ethic, great kid. Everybody loves him. Which kind of goes against some of the red flags that I was seeing late in the end of last year, you know, and I know we've kind of joked about him not showing up and, you know, how he left Arizona State and gets injured. You know, it's kind of a, a little bit of a muddy exit, but very curious to see. I mean, and if there's somebody you trust with quarterbacks, it's been Lane Kiffin. But also to see kind of how this, you know, super team comes together and how they handle these expectations.
- [43:30]
Chip Patterson
I mean, the expectations are high. You better not waste time.
- [43:36]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, here's what I love about this. You know, the, the same media crew that got chastised by Brian Kelly, remember, for a group of professionals, they, they know who's who and what's what. Like, Lane Kiffin is not going to be able to shield their eyes. But so much like, that's one of the things that I love about some of the, some of the programs at the very top of the sport is that their, their reporters, their fans, you know, even when they've got a juggernaut, they've got criticisms and they've got concerns, and they'll be able to tell you because there is a lot of Flash to the LSU 2026 team, starting at the head coach in the Portal class. And, and I, I want to hear, and this is truly a burning question, I want to hear from the grounded LSU fans. I want to hear from the ones that are really starting to dig in and be like, yeah, this is great and all, but how are we going to run the football? Or like, this is great and all, but are we positive that we've got everybody that we need to go and make a playoff run here. Does the substance match the style? Is there something beneath the flag flash? I don't know right now, but when we're talking about spring practice, burning question stuff that I am keeping an Eye on. I trust that the. The LSU football community is not gonna let Lane tick tock his way past any kind of concerns. I mean, this is the real show now. This is the. We don't care if you just won a national championship. We, like, if. If we think that you can't cut it, we're gonna run you out of town. So a lot of money, a lot of attention. I am. My burning question is going to be answered only by those who are close to that LSU program. Where are the real concerns here? Because it is easy to say Lane Kiffin, top portal class. Sam Levitt, College Football Playoff. I mean, come on. So give me the rest of it. That's what I'm looking for. I'm excited to find out the meat, and I'm. I'm counting on LSU to the community to be able to help fill me in there.
- [45:50]
Danny Cannell
But you know what's gonna. I mean, this is Lane Kiffin we're talking about who's posting pictures and reposting pictures from Mardi Gras, you know, and Fat Tuesday. And like, it's gonna be until we get the substance of the regular season. We're gonna have so much content and fluff that he's gonna provide because that's who he is.
- [46:11]
Chip Patterson
Oh.
- [46:11]
Tom Fornelli
So I will not.
- [46:12]
Danny Cannell
I will anxiously be awaiting, you know, exactly what we're gonna get. I mean, SEC media days, that's going to be an absolute circus, which it is every year, but my goodness, the social media.
- [46:26]
Chip Patterson
Social media families will be fed by Lane Kiffin and LSU if.
- [46:32]
Tom Fornelli
If the SEC wants to go full wwe. You put Ole Miss and LSU on the same day. Oh, you just. You just back to back. You just.
- [46:45]
Chip Patterson
First conference game that they're playing, right?
- [46:47]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah. September. Yeah. You just create the possibility that Pete Golding and Lane Kiffin pass each other in the hallway and your SEC network cameras can catch it and they can fabricate. Hey, like I said, Tom, we're going WWE here. You know, it ain't gonna be real coach Beef, but, you know, we can if you want to drum up.
- [47:07]
Chip Patterson
Nobody tells Pete anything, and Lane just hits him over the head with a chair. Like, I mean.
- [47:12]
Tom Fornelli
I mean, our colleagues at SEC media days last year said it was boring. Remember when we caught up with them at Big Ten and they were like, man, ain't nothing happened there.
- [47:21]
Chip Patterson
Yep.
- [47:21]
Tom Fornelli
It's gonna be real different when. When you get Lane Kiffin in the house. Danny, where are your eyes going as you. As you scan the country and you start to think about what. Where your burning questions are what you want to learn from spring practice.
- [47:34]
Danny Cannell
Two jumped out to me. One's probably, you know, unrelated to what you're going to get on the field. But Demond Williams of Washington, I saw that in the rundown. That kind of jumped out. Jed Fish, like, that relationship, like, they need to be back together, you know, on a field, working hard together to kind of gain some of that trust. But the other one that I saw that jumped out to me was the Whoopsie days of King. Like, this is a massive year for Matt Rule, and yet he's not under pressure because he just got this massive extension because the Penn State rumor. So it's like. It's not, like, true pressure, but he needs to have a big year. And I actually think that Anthony Calander is somebody. Florida State brought him in. I think there were several schools interested in him where. I mean, he played really good for Dan Mullen. He is somebody who can utilize his legs way more than Dylan Raiola could, because Dylan Raiola was a pure pocket passer who got exposed when their offensive line could struggle to protect. I'm kind of curious to see what Dana Holgerson does with Anthony Calandria and how he kind of utilizes that athleticism and how he can develop him because it is easier to coach up a quarterback who can run the football as much as Calandra can.
- [48:45]
Chip Patterson
We all know I love Jet Fish.
- [48:46]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, I was gonna say. Oh, I thought you're gonna say Anthony Calandria, too. A lot of love. A lot of love for both of those.
- [48:51]
Chip Patterson
Chad's been good to us. He was on. He had a quote last week that amused me a lot because he was on another podcast, not gonna name him, hosted by two dorks whose names begin with A. But he was talking. He was asked about, like, the whole situation with Demod, and he said, everything's been good. It's been one of those, you know, it was a. It was a crazy time for a couple days, to be honest. So it was one in which I think we're going to see more and more. And as I looked at it and as I've talked to him, I've talked to our team, I talked to our community, our donors. Like, most of these top quarterbacks switch schools. Ours didn't. Which is true.
- [49:26]
Tom Fornelli
100 true.
- [49:27]
Chip Patterson
But you're leaving a lot of context out of there, Jed. You're leaving a lot of. So, yeah, it will be interesting. I think in Washington, at Nebraska, I, again, I released my quarterback rankings. Like, I don't think he's more talented than Dylan Rayola is. But there's a part of me, yeah, there's a part of me that wonders if he's a better fit for what Dana Holgerson typically likes to do. Because, like, my. I'm not going to bury Raul anymore. I've said plenty about my thoughts on him, but one of the problems he has is he is so immobile. Like, one of the reasons he takes so many sacks is he just doesn't move very much. He's very Ben Roethlisberger, like, where he just stands in the pocket. He's easy to find, he's easy to get to. And you're not buying a great offensive line. It doesn't work. Clandria brings a mobility that they just did not have last year, which they could use in the run game, which will help him extend plays and keep things going. So I don't know that he's a better quarterback. I think he might be a better fit, and I think Nebraska could be better off because of it. That said, Dylan also has turnover problems. The kids, the Whoopsie Daisy King for a reason. It's not like those went away. They were better last year at UNLV. But now that he's coming back to a Power 4 conference, do we see a reemergence of those issues for Nebraska?
- [50:42]
Tom Fornelli
Because what was the different. Danny, you were field level in Lincoln, and it was like one of your very first messages on the group chat. I mean, what. What was one of the things. Yeah, that.
- [50:52]
Danny Cannell
Like just offensive and defensive line. Yeah, yeah. It was just. It was pretty glaring and it was Michigan. So that's a big program, historically, is bigger than a lot of programs, but it was definitely an area that Matt Rule needs to address.
- [51:05]
Tom Fornelli
And if it's a deficiency, you can't have an immobile quarterback.
- [51:09]
Danny Cannell
Right. Exactly.
- [51:11]
Tom Fornelli
Hey, like, because Nebraska, you know, you say it's Michigan, but Nebraska wants to be getting off the bus looking like Michigan. I mean, that's. This is why you're here. Is this why you have all the sellouts and why you want to be able to chase that stature that you had, keeping it in the Big Ten, and especially coming off a combine where Sonny Styles, you know, got everyone's attention, where Arvel Reese obviously is a name that a lot of people are looking at when it comes to the NFL draft. I am just, you know, an overwhelming collection of riches. I'm just excited to learn the next crop of playmakers for the Buckeyes, because there are two traditions when it comes to Ohio State Spring Practice, we've got. We figure out who some of the next guys up on defense are. You know, this year it was an Arvell Reese, a Kaden Curry, you know, kind of figuring out those names. And we also have a superstar wide receiver, and we've got Chris Henry Jr. This year. Do you all remember Marvin Harrison Jr. His spring game, he had like.
- [52:11]
Chip Patterson
He had like.
- [52:12]
Tom Fornelli
We had like three touchdown receptions. And we'd all come into that game looking for Jackson Smith in Jigba, I think. And then all of a sudden, it's like, what in the world do we have here? Jeremiah Smith is one of the biggest stars in football at any level. But I. I'm going to go ahead and throw down a. I'm a throw down a prediction that if Ohio State spring game does end up getting televised, that it will include some wow plays by Chris Henry Jr. Because that dude's so, unsurprisingly, extremely gifted at the position.
- [52:46]
Danny Cannell
Also curious to see what Arthur Smith does. You know, do you see. I mean, I don't think you're gonna be able to tell definitely not in a spring game. And it probably doesn't even show up until, you know, they play somebody where there's point spreads within a touchdown because they might not even face many with that Texas early like that.
- [53:01]
Tom Fornelli
You will.
- [53:01]
Danny Cannell
So I guess you will see it early, but we won't learn until that game. But I'm kind of curious to see, you know, what sprinkles he brings, what identity the offense has. Does it change that much? I don't expect to see too much different, but I do think that's something to keep an eye on.
- [53:15]
Tom Fornelli
Yeah, we'll actually get to learn the playbook that Ohio State's going to use in about eight of its games. It's in the spring game they use the spring game playbook for.
- [53:23]
Danny Cannell
Not all, but, like, show them anything.
- [53:28]
Tom Fornelli
All right, dk, I know you gotta run. We'll be catching up with you tomorrow for. For our mailbag Thursday. Tom, anything to add there or another burning question you'll point our attention to?
- [53:38]
Advertisement/Announcer
I've got.
- [53:39]
Chip Patterson
I've got two more burning questions.
- [53:40]
Tom Fornelli
All right.
- [53:40]
Chip Patterson
One is not as related to spring, although it's the time to ask these questions. First, I'll start with Indiana. Like, how does Josh Hoover look? How do all these new faces look? Because they lose a lot. Like, they lost plenty off of the team two years ago, but they still also had a lot returning. But now, if you look back to the depth chart of the last two years, most of Those guys, most of the major contributors, have now moved on. Now you get Hoover coming in, you get Marsh at receiver, so you're bringing in more talent again to replace them. But we get our first look at the defending champs and see how this is going to look going forward. You have a lot of continuity on the sideline still. You're able to retain all your coordinators. So there's plenty of reason to think they're still going to be pretty good. But, I mean, they didn't lose a game last year and they won the freaking national title. What are we going to see with a new quarterback and a whole lot of new faces and then we're not going to find out this spring. But I'm kind of just starting it now. I'm gonna go 10 toes down, much like Chip will not do about the Kentucky Wildcats.
- [54:38]
Tom Fornelli
You are, you are correct, sir.
- [54:40]
Chip Patterson
Clemson is dead. It's dead. It's not coming back. There's no, like, there will be. As the off season goes on, you will start seeing people, you know, like saying, maybe, oh, Clemson, Clemson, maybe this is the year. Nope. That, like we're gonna see in the draft. There's gonna be three Clemson players that go like in the first round, maybe. You know, there's going to be a lot of Clemson players. You look at like there's a site that tracks like consensus big boards for the NFL draft. And if you've looked the last few years, like we've talked about it, I talked about we were going mocks last week. All these Clemson players have been going early in the draft and the team has not lived up to the talent level on the field in recent years. I was looking at the big board for the 27 season, the consensus big board, which granted, long way away, still somewhat, you know, a lot of movement. There are only two Clemson players in the top 100. The talent is gone. They don't have the same kind of players that they have had all these years. Miami's resurgent. You're seeing in the portal all these, like, Virginia Tech is now going to basically be another version of what Penn State was, which might not have been good enough to win the Big Ten, but guess what? Penn State was good enough to win the acc. So if you bring that to Virginia Tech, you bring that to Blacksburg. That's a team that's very good. Florida State, we know is punting on this season. They're thinking more long term, but they're probably not going to go anywhere. I think Clemson's time as a premier program in college football is officially done. Their last big game was their playoff loss to Texas and it's going to be a long time before we see another one unless we go to 24. Once we go to 24, maybe Clemson starts getting back in that at large consideration. But I bet you it's a different coach in charge by then.
- [56:16]
Tom Fornelli
I think that I've got them slated seventh in the acc.
- [56:24]
Chip Patterson
You know, they're done.
- [56:26]
Tom Fornelli
It's. I just don't see it. I see a noticeable gap certainly with the Miami Hurricanes, but even with just some of that like B plus, A minus level consistency that you're getting from SMU and Louisville, you know. Yeah, Ryan's on a heater right now. He's. I knew another doubting Thomas. So he is saying right now, Yeah, it's. I, I do not think there is an easy path for Clemson to get back to anything close to the control it had over the acc. And I think that unfortunately for Clemson fans who so desire that, I'm not sure their coach is going to pursue an easy path. I think he told us the, his most honest thoughts when he said, well, Maybe we go 6 and 6 this year. Right? And sure enough, they ended up in the Pinstripe Bowl. I think that when he was celebrating a winning streak to close out a disappointing season to win the Gator bowl and he was talking about we need to still cherish stuff like this. We're not going to win everything forever. I, I think he really believes that. I don't think he's going to take any shortcuts. I don't think he's going to do anything crazy to change his ways. I think he's going to continue along the same path as long as he's at Clemson. Now, is Clemson happy with that? That's a, that's a tough existential question for Clemson to be able to answer. But to your point about the future mock drafts, they're going to have to do something that Clemson was not doing when it won six straight ACC championships and went to six straight college football playoffs, played in the national championship game four times and won two of them. They're going to have to win with less talent because the roster that they have is not at the top of the ACC in terms of talent. And that's, that's going to be a little bit different. You know, it's. You had when you had desean Watson and Trevor Lawrence and first start, first round wide receiver after first round wide receiver and you add Travis etn, the all purpose, all, everything and you had defensive linemen up and down that are, that are still playing, you know, in the NFL that things. Everything looked easier, you know, for the Clemson Tigers and they just barreled through the conference. But right now the talent gap is not there. I don't, I don't think you were crazy calling your shot and just going to go ahead and throw that on record. And the extra piece of that that I liked is you being able to signal the Texas game because the Texas game made Clemson fans feel something like, remember, it was a double digit win but in the game, Clemson did not look.
- [59:36]
Chip Patterson
No.
- [59:36]
Tom Fornelli
Like they did not belong. So to win the ACC in that crazy, you know, Syracuse had to beat Miami, overcoming a 21 point deficit. And then Hoser makes a 61 yard field goal in Charlotte. I mean, Clemson fans for a split second were like, maybe the sun can still shine on us. And even in the Texas loss, you know, there were glimmers there. But this team, which started up in the top four and finished in the Pinstripe bowl and does not have robust future NFL talent moving forward, it's, it is going to have to be, it is going to have to require great coaching and it's going to have to require great player development because this is not a team that rides all around the stadium and gets off the bus and is, is ready to just beat you by lacing them up.
- [60:30]
Chip Patterson
Well, an impromptu burning question because any Clemson fan that was listening to us for these last few minutes is probably feeling great about life right now. So we have to give them, we have to throw him a bone. My final burning question is, how many more offensive tackles will South Carolina lose before spring is even over? Oh, they've lost both their starting tackles already this year, guys.
- [60:52]
Tom Fornelli
Where's Bud? This is the kind of thing Bud would have been all over. He would have led the damn show with offensive tackle depth question for South Carolina. But he's not wrong.
- [61:02]
Chip Patterson
No. The Norris Sellers put them legs to work this year, buddy. You will not be a drop back pastor in 2026. No sir.
- [61:11]
Tom Fornelli
Hey Lenores, I think you need to get with Shane and try to make it to the Masters this year because it's going to be the only clean green grass that you're going to see because as soon as you get out of there, that's going to be a muddy ass pocket. Oh, man.
- [61:28]
Chip Patterson
I mean, I feel bad for Gamecocks fans because it's, it's March 4th and you kind of feel like you're toast already because like you can't afford to lose your starting tackles in the sec? Not unless you are like, you know, a team that has incredible depth which nobody has on the offensive line anymore
- [61:48]
Tom Fornelli
and not there, you know, so one, one last one. And I guess. Do you think Luke Fickle has the pieces in place to be able to have what would be considered a successful season?
- [62:08]
Chip Patterson
I think the best thing going for Wisconsin this year is that their schedule eases up considerably. Like they have Notre Dame and non conference. So that's probably going to be a loss. I don't think they've done nearly enough to close that gap in one off season. But their, their Big Ten schedule provides a whole hell of a lot more winnable games. And you saw at the end of last year when their schedule eased up, they were winning games. They were. They looked better. Now obviously it's going to be a very different looking team. I think Wisconsin spent a lot in the portal.
- [62:43]
Tom Fornelli
That's kind of where I'm at. It's like it looks as though there is a. They're not leaving Luke Fickle out to dry. They are giving Fickle tools to be able to have a bounce back season.
- [62:53]
Chip Patterson
They are not. I just, I'm not convinced that what they got in the portal greatly increases the talent level of that roster. Like I, maybe they'll be better than last year, but I don't think they're going to be considerably better. I think any improvement on that team is probably going to be more schedule related than team related. I like Colton Joseph, the quarterback they got from Old Dominion, but that is a kid that turns the ball over a lot and he puts the ball in bad situations and he was doing that at Old Dominion. So now that he's coming to the Big Ten, I have a hard time thinking that that's going to be eliminated, like playing against tougher defenses. So I don't know. It's. I think they'll get to a bowl game, which is not really the standard that they were setting when they hired Luke Fickle. And I don't know that it saves Luke Fickle, but I just, I don't. They're probably. They're going to get. My prediction is as the offseason goes along, they're going to get touted as like a dark horse in the Big Ten. I will not be buying into it.
- [63:51]
Tom Fornelli
I mean a dark horse to exceed expectations to win more games than they did last year. But I'll agree with you there. It is fascinating. Wisconsin, because Wisconsin has its history and because Wisconsin has so much passion behind the program and because it does look like they are not hanging him out to dry, I think that it's fair to have some, some questions about whether or not they're going to be able to put it all to work. So it should be a lot of fun. All right. We will grab a couple of the questions from the tailgate today. We will add it so the big old bag of mail and we will tackle it on Thursday, 11am Eastern Time. Come and hang out. If you jump in the tailgate and listen, the tailgate can tell you you jump in the tailgate before a Thursday show. Get in a good question. We will most likely be getting to it in the first early portions of the show. Love being interactive with y'. All. So come and get in there. And you can follow him on Twitter tomfinelli. You follow Meet chippatterson Tom thank you very much.
- [65:01]
Chip Patterson
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