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See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack
Can UTAH Make a CFP Breakthrough? | Mike MacDonald CFB Journey | NDSU's Big Leap
00:46:26
Can UTAH Make a CFP Breakthrough? | Mike MacDonald CFB Journey | NDSU's Big Leap 0:00 Utah Utes 2026 CFB Preview 11:23 Morgan Scalley Convo Preview 22:29 NDSU Football joins MWC: Numbers to Know 31:09 Mike MacDonald: From CFB to Super Bowl Champion Head Coach 38:14 Who won the Weekend?
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- [00:01]
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- [00:30]
Brent Rollins
And how about that Polack interception in the end zone? Well, it's David Pollack and I think people gonna learn what kind of ballplayer he is. He's got a heart of a line. I'm real proud of that kid.
- [00:39]
Will
This is C Ball Get Ball, college football's top show for football analysis, predictions and coach interviews. Now here's your host, three time All American, seven time Emmy award winner.
- [00:53]
Brent Rollins
What up dudes. Welcome everybody in February 9th. Man, how about that calendar? Moving along, we're going to continue here on C Ball Get Ball to me and Brett Rollins are going to go through. The teams that were kind of close are in playoff contention and can they break through. And the team we got tonight, we talked about, we've already talked about Notre Dame. We're going to talk with Morgan Scally. We're going to show you a little teaser about him. We'll go through numbers. We'll talk about Mike McDonald too, because he was, his story is absolutely unbelievable and obviously it has ties to college football. And then who won the weekend like we always do on Monday nights. But first, how does, first of all, what held Utah back from getting to College Football Playoff to be in that next team that could be in there from the Big 12 or that was playing, you know, Texas Tech. What held them back was the passing game, the explosive nature of the passing game and Morgan Scally is their new coach. And like I said, we're going to give you a little tease tonight about, you know, some of the conversation we have. Tomorrow we'll play the conversation. But he's a dude now. Like he, he's a dude. He, he's got some energy and, and I think that the, the thing that held them back was very, very clear to me how they went to the transfer portal. Like the deep passing game was non existent for Utah. They, they ran the rock, they punched you in the mouth and they made no, no bones about it. We talked about their left tackle and the right tackle in the preseason. Best one, two punch in all of college football. Like those two Guys are both going to be first round draft picks in the National Football League. So there was no bones about what Utah was. They were pound you. Dampier came over, new OC came over like everything pointed to ground and pounds smash. But they could not throw the football down the field and make plays in the passing game when they need it. So how do you fix that? You immediately go get weapons. I'm going to argue this is the best Utah receiving group that they've had in a long, long time. How do they do it? They went to Utah State, they got Braden Pagan, almost a thousand yard wide receiver, some explosiveness, he's probably going to be the top guy out wide. They got Kyrie Scholes from San Jose State who had almost 800 yards receiving. So two guys that had more than anybody that they had returning on their roster or anybody that they got last year that did anything last year. And then they got Ricky Johnson, wide receiver, redshirt freshman from Mississippi State. To me it's really, really cool. How do you go out and get talent? Like are you getting, we talked about Notre Dame, are you going to Ohio State and getting these high level guys that, you know, the upside is through the roof. Former five star guys didn't get a chance to play. It's not what Utah did. Like they use their coaching resources. Kevin McGivern, he's, he's their new OC from Utah State in his background. Not a surprise they got Utah State's number one wide receiver. How about Chad Bumpus, Michigan, Mississippi State wide receiver who now comes over to be the wide receiver coach at Utah. Not a surprise they got the speedy guy, Ricky Johnson from Mississippi State to reunite like ties with San Jose State on the roster. Not surprised they got San Jose State, one of their really good wide receivers, shoals. So they use their coaching resources, the guys that they had coached, recruited or had, you know, reliable recommendations with like that. That's how the, the coaching portal works now, man. Like who do I know? What am I seeking for players with skill that, that, that, that had great skill sets from other places with less resources. And, and that's what you see man with Pagan, that's what you see with shs. And then that's what you see. Kind of a guy with a special relationship, you know, Ricky Johnson with Chad Bump as their wide receiver coach. So Utah, that's the good news. The good news, I think they address their speed. They got their coach. Now they're also returning way Sean Parker, who was an animal. You watch him, tote rock, absolute stud Devin Dampier at the quarterback spot. Stud can tote the rock. Can the down the field passing game get better? Can he improve that? Is he the problem? Another thing to look at with this offense with with Utah is Bird Ficklin like their other QB who averaged over 8 yards a carry, rushed for over 500. He was dangerous, man. Like this is an offense that was the number one, number two rushing offense in the nation a year ago. So like they knew how to run it, they knew how to be physical. So I gave you the positive and the problem is I got to give you the other side of this coin to give you the full scope of, of Utah. And here's the problem. They lose all five offensive linemen up front, including the two guys that I told you about that are going to get drafted really high in the NFL. Left tackle, right tackle and their coach leaves. And so all American John Henry Daly on one side. He goes to Michigan. All Big 12 corner, Smith, Snowden. He goes to Michigan. Up and coming stud. Offensive playmaker who you saw. J.J. buchanan was their best playmaker on the outside, just a freshman. But you could see tight end, wide receiver, receiver like playmaker. He gone. He went to Michigan. Jonah leave the big defensive tackle, Brent Rollins. You got to be impressed with that by the way. I did, I did write it out phonetically but I was you, you nailed that. Snailed it. The big, the big fella on the inside gone. So. So Brent, like obviously we're going to look at these things and we're going to watch portals and Brett Rollins from on three obviously from pff. He's with us here every week, man, talking ball, breaking it down. So obviously I gave you the good Brent, but I also gave you the bad man. A lot of guys that left and went to Michigan with Kyle Whittingham when he took the job. So some give and take, some good, some bad probably that Utah is not used to having by the way.
- [06:52]
Will
Well, the biggest thing is it's a line of scrimmage game. They were really good on the line of scrimmage and it's basically gone. And the like, yes, Spencer Fano, Caleb, that were the first round tackles that you talked about. But think of guard, center guard for them were fifth and sixth year guys that all played over that. All three of them played over 800 snaps. Like that's just, that's so hard replace and they went to the portal and they got, you know, bodies a lot of guys. A lot. They got some guys but you don't, you just don't know until you, until you see it. And they now I will say they played so much. They played more six man O line formationally and personnel wise than any team in college football.
- [07:34]
Brent Rollins
So not, not doing the joke but like they literally would put seven on the field.
- [07:39]
Will
So they got two guys in Olson and then the other name that I'm not that I'm going to butcher, Soliteo Solitoa is is the first name of the other guy. Those guys played a lot of snaps at least because of how they did formationally. But the key is offensively for me and I know Wes is kind of. I'd sent west something earlier give you a little trivia question from a QB perspective but Dampier and what this offense looks like because McGiven at San Jose State always had for the most part balanced offense where it wasn't heavy pass, heavy run, things like that. But you know the part that you mentioned there. All right, so let's look at this QB comparison. QBA Little 83 Overall PFF grade and look at this numbers. Yardage, total touchdowns and interceptions. Basically the same. So I'm going to tell you that A is is Devin Dampier from Utah. That's returning.
- [08:40]
Brent Rollins
I like.
- [08:40]
Will
Who do you think B is?
- [08:41]
Brent Rollins
I like how you do total TDs by the way. Who do I think B is?
- [08:47]
Will
Let's see top 10 in the Heisman voting.
- [08:53]
Brent Rollins
Definitely not Pavia.
- [08:55]
Will
Seventh. That's returning. He was seventh in the Heisman voting.
- [09:00]
Brent Rollins
Who is it?
- [09:02]
Will
That would be Gunner Stockton. Ah like they and this was. I was looking when we look through sort of the numbers and previewing all.
- [09:12]
Brent Rollins
This numbers, they both had what he does.
- [09:15]
Will
They both had 24 touchdowns, five picks and 10 rushing touchdowns. Both of them all the yardage almost equal.
- [09:20]
Brent Rollins
But you know who's a better passer.
- [09:24]
Will
Gunner had more passing yards. Dampier had more big time throws, more down the field stuff. Average depth of target was 3 yards difference. Like he pushed the ball down the field more. But like you when you think about returning QBs in college football and you see lists, you're likely going to see Gunner. I even saw one today. Gunner Stockton up in the top five for some month. You don't talk about Devin Dampier but the part you mentioned with Fickland, that's the one where it's like I was shocked that both of them, they kept.
- [09:50]
Brent Rollins
Both that that boy is nuclear when he comes in the game at Wildcat. Like there was no doubt about he was getting it speed, the spin move like he's got some serious he's got some, he's got some burner in there like he can you that you saw him way Sean Parker going one way, him going in the middle and it was, listen, I think it's built. Here's the good news. So let's boil this down and land the plane. The good news for Utah is because of their running quarterback, because of their running quarterbacks, because of their running back, they can absolutely do, they can get the plus one, they can get the advantage in the run game because they've got a dude that you have to respect. Respect in every run, in every throw. To me it's how much better does the bout down the field speedster plays become because they didn't have a lot of guys separating. Now I also, I don't think they were good at taking shots down the field either. Like I didn't, I was not impressed with what I saw when they took shots down the field. I thought Dampier was okay. I did not think he was elite by any stretch. But, but when you guys, when you got guys that can beat people, it makes it a lot easier for you.
- [11:01]
Will
So very unique system like their system very unique.
- [11:05]
Brent Rollins
Now listen, their OC's gone too. So he, he, he left and he went with, with coach Whittingham. So.
- [11:11]
Will
And Dampier had come with him. Correct.
- [11:14]
Brent Rollins
So that, that's another component of this. But, but if we're talking about Utah taking the necessary steps, to me, too many unknowns to say they're a playoff team. Too many unknowns to pencil them in to what they've been over the years. But I will say we'll give you a little tease with Morgan Scally. Just we're going to play the full conversation tomorrow. But you, you guys can listen to this dude right here and kind of see this is the, this is the Whittingham replacement. This was the coach in waiting for a reason.
- [11:46]
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- [12:50]
Brent Rollins
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- [14:10]
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- [14:38]
Brent Rollins
So here's here's Morgan Scally, Coach Morgan Scally from the University of Utah. How does that sound? Coach? Crazy.
- [14:47]
Morgan Scally
A lot more normal now than it did maybe a month ago when the whole thing was going down. But kind of a surreal moment. Not often do you, do you get to do that in your profession. And so it's, it's pretty amazing. You and I, I think graduated the same year.
- [15:07]
Brent Rollins
Yes sir.
- [15:09]
Morgan Scally
And I remember watching you and at Georgia and I one of my favorite quotes of yours, just listening to you, I think it was after your bowl game something you said, you know I'm. I'm not gonna cry because it's over. I'm gonna smile because it happened. I love that. I love that.
- [15:31]
Brent Rollins
Yeah, that's. God, we're old. We're not young, are we, coach? That was a while ago, but, no, I think that was always the dude. We got to. We got to enjoy it. So. So it sounds great. Like, where were you? Like, when you figured out that you were going to be the coach, where were you? And then who was the first call? Who's the first person Morgan called to let them know that I'm the head coach at the University of Utah?
- [15:58]
Morgan Scally
I was at home, and fortunately, I didn't have to make a call because she was in the kitchen. My wife saw me crying, and it was pretty special. You know, I'd been the head coach in waiting for a few years and, you know, extremely loyal to Kyle and every opportunity that he's given me and, you know, cannot wait to see what he does at Michigan. But when I got. When I got the call, just elated and excited for the. For the opportunity. And so my family was the first to know for sure. And then in terms of a phone call, I have no idea.
- [16:41]
Brent Rollins
Don't even know.
- [16:42]
Morgan Scally
No, I can't even remember what's the.
- [16:45]
Brent Rollins
First thing, man, that you like. Everybody, like Kyle obviously did his thing for a long time. It was very successful. But. But I know as a coach, too, just you sit back and you go, all right, there's things that I would do differently, and there's nothing wrong with that. Like, what's the first thing that you want to. What's the first stamp you're going to put on this program to. To make it a little bit different or to make it yours? Well, I. The.
- [17:08]
Morgan Scally
Our culture, you know, on the defensive side of the ball, the culture has been. You ask any one of our players, what's your culture? They say, rsmb. Relentless, smart, nasty ball hawks. And that's a culture that is going to be team wide. And I believe, you know, I'm a big Tim Kite fan. Everything I do, like, culture wise, is I don't know if you've come across Tim Kite or heard of Tim Kite ever. He worked with Urban Meyer at Ohio State. He has since passed away. His son, Brian Kite, kind of has taken over the. The business. But culture is such a huge deal, and I think people will talk about it. Such a catchphrase, but I don't know how many really understand how to implement it. And culture is all about behavior producing results. I can have An A plus scheme, C minus behavior. And my results are going to reflect C minus. Doesn't matter what my scheme is. If guys can't tackle the right way, they can't play with inside hands, vertical leverage. It's all about behavior. And so you're trying to teach winning behavior. What does that look like on and off the field? So culture was the number one thing for me. And that. Just different things throughout a program, how you interact with the players, your strength and conditioning program. I'm, you know, everything we do in the, in the weight room, to me, has to be making us better football players, not better weightlifters. And so the way you strength train, the way you condition, to me, are we making our guys better at the behaviors we're asking them to do on game day? So just different things here and there, that. But ultimately the toughness, the physicality, the family environment, all that that Kyle emphasized is alive and well.
- [19:05]
Brent Rollins
How did you set your sights on who you wanted to hire for. For your assistant for your oc, for your. For your dc? How did you do that?
- [19:13]
Morgan Scally
I think you just. I'm a. I'm a student of the game. I love football. I love watching different schemes. And so every year you come, you. Whether or not you face an opponent where you're like, that was some good stuff, or you're watching, you know, people that you respect, just studying football. Any chance or opportunity I had where people thought, okay, Scally may be the guy, people had always texted me certain names, right? And so I just. I would keep an Excel spreadsheet of certain people that I respected, people that I had gone against. And then Kevin McGiver was a name that had always popped up.
- [20:04]
Brent Rollins
His new oc, his new OC From Utah State. Again, experience with. I think it's. It's great to get Morgan's perspective again. We'll listen to it all tomorrow. We're going to release it. But. But it's interesting. The interesting. Most interesting thing about it, honestly, is the. The way it ended, right, with Kyle Whittingham and Morgan Scally was the coach in waiting. So he's the guy that, like, he was tabbed. And. And when I say that, there's a reason he grew. He was born and raised in Salt Lake City, played there. His dad. His dad was a running back at Utah. Like, he. He had all these ties, but every year people started to come after him because his defenses were so great. And so they made him this coach in waiting. And then Kyle Whittingham has a really bad year like last year, they thought that might be his last season. No, not this past year, but the year before that. Had a bad season. Didn't want to go out like that. Has a good season again this year. And then obviously there, There's. There's a little bit of discrepancy, discretion. Now, that's not. That's not a word, is it? Just something there. There's a little bit of indecision from Kyle Whittingham would be the way to put it. And I think it was. I don't know if he knew he was done yet, but I think when you. When you have the coach in waiting. Because we had heard about Kyle Whittingham, you know, this being close to his last year. And we heard about it last year and we heard it this year, and I think. I think Utah had to make a decision. And I think Kyle Whittingham kind of felt like it was his time to step aside. And the program was in great hands with Morgan Scally, who's been there for so 15 plus years. Like, this is. This is a Utah guy. That makes a ton of sense. You didn't know how long Kyle was going to do it, but just energetic. You can tell. Ready for this. A guy that's been sitting in the. In the moment waiting for it. So we do this every week, too. You're muted, Brent. I see. I see you talking, but I did not hear.
- [21:55]
Will
All right, there we go. What do you want to see from him the most? And as the guy this season? Because, like, they were third to Big 12 a year ago.
- [22:06]
Brent Rollins
Yeah. Well. And on the fringe. And people said, you know, that they should have gotten more love. Right. People talked about them like it's going to be interesting. Because the thing that disappointed me the most was really their defense and stopping the run. Remember that Kansas State game where. Yes. They rushed for 6,000, 666 yards in that game. Like, it was very demoralizing. I just think, like, how do the. How does OC DC come together? Obviously, Scally will have his fingerprints over the defense, but I think this is. This is unchartered territory. Right. Like, this is a new. A new day. And it was effortless when it was from Urban Meyer to. To Kyle Whittingham. They had their guy. Right. They promoted within house and they're doing it again. So I think it's. I think. I think it's going to go well. I think he's made of the right stuff and I think he loves that play. So I have some new Things to navigate, but I don't think Utah is going to be a playoff team next year, but I think they'll be a really good team.
- [23:00]
Will
Are they more likely in the top half of the Big 12 or the bottom half? Like do you, I see them in that, hey, I'm in the 8, 9 win, maybe things break right way, I'm back to double digits or is it more I'm fighting to stay 500 bowl eligible type world?
- [23:20]
Brent Rollins
I would say they're more right in the middle. Like I think when you've got your qb, I think you've got a starting spot at least when you've got a system that I know, you know, you can trust with their defense and a culture. Because here's the thing, they've got a great culture and everybody who was there understands the culture. But now it's about mixing all the new guys and, and you know, incurring all the losses. I think they're snap dab in the middle. Probably not what they want, but you know, a step in the new direction that they're going to have to take.
- [23:49]
Will
It's, I mean it's tough because you're taking over for a guy who is like one of the most successful coaches and if not the most successful coach in school's history and you're somebody who's been there the entirety of your life basically.
- [24:00]
Brent Rollins
And he just pillaged your roster.
- [24:02]
Will
Yeah, he just took your best players.
- [24:03]
Brent Rollins
He took all your best players like and that's, that's the frustrating part because you know, Michigan's got the checkbook and they're like, how much?
- [24:12]
Will
Well, and also he's still coaching is the thing. It wasn't like retired, you know, hey, Frank Beamer steps down and now everybody moves on and I'm still, I'm just kind of off to the side guy. No, he's coaching.
- [24:24]
Brent Rollins
Yep. Yeah. It'll be interesting too to watch him recruiting because what you, what you always see too with people is people have recruiting ties to different areas and you know, all those Polynesian kids all the time, you know, going to Utah, going to Utah in that Utah area that, you know, Mormon, just knowing the area well, he's comfortable, Kyle Whittingham with that area. So he's still going to recruit that area but they're going to Michigan. So that even recruiting battles, not just the roster, there's a lot of familiarity there and high school coaches and all that stuff that this ain't the last battle. They're going to fight between Michigan and Utah. I can Promise you that.
- [25:01]
Will
I agree.
- [25:02]
Brent Rollins
All right, let's get this.
- [25:03]
Will
They'd already stole one group.
- [25:04]
Brent Rollins
We already. We do this every week. Numbers never lie. Brent works for pff. You got any subscription deals right now or is that during the season?
- [25:13]
Will
I think the code's still on the thing. I don't know if. I don't know if the code actually still works. I need to check and see if the code still works.
- [25:20]
Brent Rollins
Attaboy. We're selling it to you, baby. Let's go.
- [25:22]
Will
But I do know there's always deals. If you go to pff.com there's always deals. Especially around draft time because the draft simulator for any and all nerd out. Who's a football nerd. You can do mock drafts for the entire first round. You can do seven round drafts. You can do your own team, whatever.
- [25:38]
Brent Rollins
Can we say it out loud? If you do a seven round draft, you're probably. You have problems.
- [25:45]
Will
A mock draft. Yes.
- [25:46]
Brent Rollins
Not just do a seven round mock draft like you probably.
- [25:50]
Will
It's not content. It's just for your own personal enjoyment. Yes, I agree.
- [25:53]
Brent Rollins
You need to seek help. Even though where would Pierce be in that draft from a year ago? Who the Falcons took and now he's, you know, running.
- [26:01]
Will
That's a whole other issue. That was probably in terms of the weekend. That was one of those. Yes. And has the phrase character concerns now been like, changed forever?
- [26:16]
Brent Rollins
And the character concerns were the off the field with the misses. And guess what got him in trouble off the field with the misses.
- [26:24]
Will
So that's not. It doesn't look good. I'll say that. You got numbers.
- [26:27]
Plexaderm Advertiser
Actually.
- [26:30]
Will
I, I only. I don't necessarily have PFF specific numbers just because this is an interesting topic because now the North Dakota State. It's Bison. Right. And he's.
- [26:39]
Brent Rollins
Yes. Like Bison.
- [26:40]
Will
It's not just. Yeah. Are joining the Mountain west this year. FBS. They are now an FBS program who have won 10 of the last 15 FCS Pro Championships. They $12 million to. To join 5 million to the NCA too. They are now in the Mountain West. And I. My.
- [27:01]
Wesley Vaughn
What's.
- [27:02]
Will
I thought about this initially and then I forgot because like when I saw this initially I thought they're going to be a college football playoff contender in year one. Definitively, I thought. But then I realized, oh, it's. You know, there's a rule. The NCAA actually has a rule where you gotta wait and you're not eligible for a bowl or a playoff spot for two years, which I think is a very dumb rule.
- [27:23]
Brent Rollins
Stupid rule.
- [27:25]
Will
Because it's not like they are at some disadvantage or like. No, it's.
- [27:29]
Brent Rollins
No, they are. You're actually right. They are at a disadvantage. They're jumping into a pool that they haven't jumped into with people with deeper pockets, better resources, familiarity. But. But no, let's punish them. That makes a shoot ton of sense.
- [27:41]
Will
But I do think the. The future nature of this move, like they needed to be much like to me close to home me with Marshall. When Marshall made the jump to FBs from the one double or one A to the. From one double A. They were ready like they had just gone 150 and dominated the entirety of one double A. That was Randy Moss's one year and one double A. He made everybody look like he was playing his JV guys, they were ready to go up and this is where North Dakota State is and it's also one where do you think in the next five years we see a power four and group of six, however you want to term it split. Do you think that's happens in the near future?
- [28:25]
Brent Rollins
It should. Five years.
- [28:29]
Plexaderm Advertiser
Yeah.
- [28:30]
Brent Rollins
Yeah, I think within five years like once we have the. The chaos that calms down with all of the transfer portals being done down to one now nil being starting to being hopefully being legislated more and more then the power like listen, the Big ten in the SEC that just you know, can't get it straight. Can't get. Can't get together, can't agree on jack crap which sucks. Like hey, let's do a playoff extension. Let's expand this which would be great. You know, I want to go to 24. I would like to go to 16. Well, I want to go to 24. Well, I want to go To 16. How about a compromise you humpies like how about we get somewhere in the middle here? Like whatever it takes, man. I don't. I don't get that it's a peeing competition between the Big Ten and the SEC and who's got the bigger. Yeah, but I think that, I think that in the five years, yes, we'll have this settled out, but I just, I don't understand why we haven't made some of the changes. And listen, at some point we'll, we'll. I don't even think that that's the end goal brand. I think at some point it might be, you know, where there's so and so playing big boy football and there's a finite number and I don't think it's going to be over 30. Something like I just don't think that's going to happen. And then everyone else is going to be in a different pool.
- [29:47]
Will
Like my number was always 48. Like when I wrote the article a few years back in terms of splitting it, I looked at that number as like just where you could have six divisions of eight teams in each division, your schedule would be a lot easier to handle in that regard. And you could play.
- [30:02]
Brent Rollins
I would say less. I would say, I would say less than that would be ideal.
- [30:07]
Will
So just since you brought, since you brought that up, let's. Two things. One, do you think they could have or would have competed potentially for a playoff spot this year if they were, if they're able, given their history. Given. Now granted they lost.
- [30:22]
Brent Rollins
This wasn't their best year.
- [30:24]
Will
I mean they were the number one seed and they just got upset early by Illinois State, but they were undefeated, I think in the regular season.
- [30:30]
Brent Rollins
They got upset early, like by a, by a seven seed, I want to say.
- [30:34]
Will
Like it was lower than that. I think it was an, it was a run by one of the lowest seeds ever.
- [30:41]
Brent Rollins
Illinois State should have won too, by the way.
- [30:44]
Will
Yeah, they should have won that game.
- [30:45]
Brent Rollins
They're kicking games, single handedly screwed them. Cow. And they played zero coverage late. I don't think they should have done either, but no, not this year. They probably wouldn't have done it, but.
- [30:57]
Will
All right, so Mountain west, which the other interesting part of this to me is the Mountain West.
- [31:05]
Brent Rollins
In the Mountain West.
- [31:06]
Will
I was going to ask you, can.
- [31:07]
Brent Rollins
You tell us, educate us? Yeah, I got Google.
- [31:11]
Will
North Dakota State is now there. Utep, Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, unlv, still there. Wyoming, San Jose State and Northern Illinois. And the interesting part of that, which this is, what is frustrating to me is these other conferences like this, Northern Illinois and then North Dakota State, they are football only members. So you're meaning that you're, you're saying that you can exist in another conference, but football is kind of this carved out thing. It's like, hey, why couldn't that exist everywhere? Where football is its own unique entity.
- [31:49]
Brent Rollins
And it probably should be Will. But it's pretty smart, by the way, because that's really smart to be able to find partners to jump in with with the most lucrative sport. Like that's, guess what, what is the killer for budgets paying for your basketball team to go across the country in the acc, from Cal to flipping Miami, like that's murdering your budget. You're spending so many millions of dollars. No, you're not. Like you cut all that out more money for you. Like, it's. It's. It's. It's a brilliant play. It's probably what we'll see more and more. And, you know, I think it's. It's smart business. It's very smart business. Instead of trying to kill your budget on other sports, that, you know, just makes it. It makes it harder. Makes. It makes it really, really hard because there's so many other sports, and obviously those sports don't generate income, so you get to keep them where you're at, which is. Which is awesome.
- [32:41]
Will
Did you ever go to a game in the dome there?
- [32:44]
Brent Rollins
Yes, absolutely. Yeah. You know what the name of the. Can you name the. The bison mascot?
- [32:52]
Will
Oh, the. The character of the mascot?
- [32:55]
Brent Rollins
No, the buffalo. Was it Bison? It's not a buffalo. They'll tell you. It's called Corso because we went there for. For college game day and they named it after Coach shut down the whole town. One of the coolest, absolute coolest college game days in the history of the world. Like, it was. The whole town shut down. We set up right in the middle of town, like right in the middle of the streets, and everything stopped. And I've never been thanked so much. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you so much for coming. Like, it was. It was incredible. It was. It was absolutely incredible to go to North Dakota State. Fargo was. Was amazing. It was really, really.
- [33:31]
National Debt Relief Advertiser
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- [33:32]
Will
I mean, that I've seen videos of. You know what that place looks like when the. When it's. Because it's a crazy place and it'll.
- [33:38]
Brent Rollins
Crazy great to see it. Maybe.
- [33:39]
Will
Like, just think if you got a. You know, they get a Power 4 team comes to them soon, that'll be fun to watch. I'll be dialed in. I'm glad. I'm glad they made this move. I think it was time.
- [33:51]
National Debt Relief Advertiser
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- [33:51]
Will
Good for them.
- [33:52]
Brent Rollins
Absolutely.
- [33:53]
Will
There was a game this weekend. Did you watch the. There was an actual football game this weekend. Did you happen to watch it? Because there was a certain team that won a trophy that's really important.
- [34:03]
Brent Rollins
Yeah. The Super Bowl.
- [34:06]
Will
Yes. Did you. Did you. Were you like. I was sitting there thinking, hey, Sam, can we throw the ball to the Patriots and let them score just to make this game a little interesting?
- [34:17]
Brent Rollins
Hey, listen, I'm a defensive guy, though. I was kind of impressed. And it's. It's interesting to watch a world where the defenses have caught up with the offenses so much like that is crazy to me that. I mean, I remember the day you couldn't fool quarterbacks and now like and you know what's interesting? Seattle, Seattle is the spot that that won a Super bowl should have won multiple that single handedly changed defense for the worst like the legion of boom. Everybody thought they could sit in cover three and beat quarterbacks and it was the dumbest thing in the history of the world because when you have a hall of Fame corner that can shut down people on the outside and Cam Chancellor roaming the middle like Thomas, like.
- [35:01]
Will
Great free safety, not necessarily Thomas, you.
- [35:03]
Brent Rollins
Know, at the free State like that doesn't happen like so everybody thought that was the way you play. And now it's completely different, man.
- [35:11]
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- [36:01]
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- [36:30]
Brent Rollins
Like Mike McDonald is the story. Like this dude, man, and it's so cool. If you think about Mike McDonald, he roomed with my buddy, my trainer who went with me to Ohio from Georgia, Rex Bradbury. First of all, if you watch Mike McDonald, he reeks of humility. Like absolutely reeks of humility, reeks of class. Like this dude's just different. Look at him in that G right there. Look at that G. That's where he got his start at the University of Georgia. And he was, he was, he ran out of years to ga. Like he's by the Way he still looks like he's 12 there too. And he looks like he's 12 now. He was looking for a job. So he was in the finance. Finance accounting world. And it was his career, had kind of run its course, didn't really get anything. And then all of a sudden he gets an opportunity to have an unpaid internship at 26 years old for the Baltimore Ravens, which is one of the gold standards in coaching slash scouting. Like they just, they do it right. And you think about Mike McDonald, who, who is a class stud, humility, all that stuff. A self proclaimed introvert, not much of a talker. Becomes a Ravens assistant, becomes the Michigan, you know, D.C. when they win the Big 12, becomes the Ravens D.C. youngest coach in the NFL in Seattle history. And then he just won a Super bowl. And it's the third youngest Super bowl winning head coach at 38. Can you name the other two guys, by the way? You should be able to name one very.
- [38:03]
Will
And the other was Tomlin, I think, right?
- [38:05]
Brent Rollins
Yes. McVeigh and Tomlin were the other two.
- [38:08]
Will
And Big Ten. You said Big 12 earlier because we. Big 12 is on your mind. I get you.
- [38:11]
Brent Rollins
But. But the first defensive play caller to win a Super Bowl. I didn't know that. I had no clue that that was the case. I've heard a lot about his defense and he's one of the few. Man, he makes multiple defensive calls at one time, kind of like offenses do. And so you have multiple options specifically to kill certain type of personnel groupings. Like there's always a check for like understanding where the quarterback is in the. In the home spot, like under center versus shotgun. Like he very, very innovative. But man, it's hard not to love his story of how he came up basically on his last chance. Probably, probably didn't see a reason to continue, but gets an opportunity, does it? I love what he said to his team a year ago. He was like, guys, I got to get better with the media. I'm not very good. He was like, I need to do a better job. And he said it to his whole team because he said he wanted accountability, said I need to be a better public speaker. So he modeled accountability. And I mean it's. It just shows you what kind of leader he is. He doesn't speak much. Super quiet. But it shows you that all types of leaders can be very effective, man. Like, you don't have to be an offensive leader or an offensive play caller. You don't have to be a certain type of personality, outgoing, this, that and the other. You don't have to mother blank people like you can be you. And you know, I think that I love what he said, man. He said, I believe God called me to be a coach. And I listened to him and I thank him. Like powerful story, man. Like we need more Mike McDonald's like guys that, you know, follow their calling even when it's not easy, follow their calling when it's not linear. Right. And sometimes when you got to go down to, to come back up, Follow your calling when nobody wants you at 26 years old. Follow your calling when you're an assistant trying to make your way up. You know, I just pretty dad on.
- [40:10]
Will
The podium with a fellow high school graduate, Maria Taylor, announcing and giving you the. And you get the trophy from all that. That was actually pretty cool to see that at those two because they both, I think they were at Georgia at the same time as well. So that, that was same high school, same college.
- [40:27]
Brent Rollins
And they're not, they're not going anywhere. They're not. They're a young team and he's got it and he didn't do this with a bunch of superstars like Jackson, Smith and Jigba is a superstar. Kenneth Walker turned into a star in the postseason like Charbonnet Featherspoon's a superstar and they got him locked up. I think he's a second year guy at Illinois, right. I think he was in the draft two years ago. So they got him for somewhere around there. Third they got him. They got him for a while. They got a lot of. They just got a lot of young guys and built it together with culture and cool fits.
- [40:59]
Will
Well the point you make about defense I think is the most salient point because think about all these teams in the final four of both college and the NFL. They all got after the quarterback for the most part. Like if you, if you didn't have. If you can't pressure the quarterback in this world, they will eventually get to you. But like some of the stuff you're talking about, the scheme wise where they're bringing blitzes in in a no huddle situation because they have those checks, they have their plan, all those things with that sometimes. And it also just puts the emphasis on coaching. How much coaching matters now in this game when you see the, you know, athletes have gotten to the point where there's so much, I think across the board very similar coaching matters so much in this sport. But at the, at even the highest levels.
- [41:56]
Brent Rollins
Yeah, it's.
- [41:57]
Will
Did you. So do you watch, do you get like get into the commercials at all like is that it's fine.
- [42:04]
Brent Rollins
I used to really, really love them. I don't get into them as much, but like, I can tell that a lot of them were generated or aimed towards us old people. Like Backstreet Boys. I want it that way. I'm like, yeah, I remember multiple Backstreet Boys commercials. All the. Multiple.
- [42:18]
Will
The Duncan commercials with the night. All the 90s characters.
- [42:21]
Brent Rollins
That was fantastic. That was probably my favorite. Especially when Brady came in at the end with Jennifer Aniston.
- [42:27]
Will
Yeah, that was how you like them. Whatever she said. I forget what she said.
- [42:30]
Brent Rollins
I like them nuts. That's what she said. Donuts. It was fantastic. I was so 1 1. I was walking. I was walking on the. On the treadmill, by the way, on an incline at 13 and 3 miles an hour, sweating gravy. So if I'm gonna watch things at night, I have to make my fat self get on the treadmill.
- [42:46]
National Debt Relief Advertiser
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- [42:46]
Brent Rollins
That's my. That's my new rule.
- [42:48]
Will
So speaking of watch things, I. The conspiracy theorist in me very much. I saw the ring commercial. I'm like, hey, this is awesome. Did you see the ring commercial?
- [43:00]
Brent Rollins
Yes.
- [43:00]
Will
Where now you can find the dogs and then like the. Whatever the function is on the ring you can find the dogs and it goes.
- [43:05]
Brent Rollins
I thought that was pretty cool. The facial.
- [43:07]
Will
That's great. But then I think of like Enemy of the State, Jason Bourne movie. Like, I think of all these movies where like you're always being watched, which you're always being listened to now anyway. But that, that kind of. I was like, oh, that's a little. That's a little interesting.
- [43:21]
Brent Rollins
You can tell with your phones, you're always being listened to, how many times you've mentioned something and then all of a sudden, hey, look what pops up in my. In my social media here. But all right.
- [43:31]
Will
Had the game been more interesting.
- [43:33]
Brent Rollins
Yeah, it would have been.
- [43:34]
Will
That's all I care about in those games. Give me an interesting back and forth game.
- [43:37]
Brent Rollins
But tip of the cap to the Patriots being so young. Vrabel's first year, Drake May. Second year, Drake May. Did not play his best. And it's proof, man, when you. When you hit somebody early and often, like, it speeds them up and they become very human. And Seattle hit him early and often. And Drake did not play his best ball, but he still had great numbers and was. Was. He's in the running for league mvp. So that was pretty good. Matthew Stafford won it, which was another good video with his daughters. Fantastic. If you didn't see that, I Agree. Breaking the news. All right, who won the weekend? All right, Brent Rollins, I'll give you first stab. I got an. I got an idea because it's in the rundown that it's very similar to the Super Bowl.
- [44:14]
Will
So yours is a segue into my winner because it's Sam Darnold. Because you think about what was Sam Darnold, especially early in his career knowing known for it was the whole seeing ghost thing because he made that comment. I think it was on a. They somehow miked up or something like that and he said I'm seeing ghosts. And now he wins the super bowl after being one cast off in a way in multiple different places. Yeah, he goes and he's a Super bowl winner in the game where the quarterback opposite him completely and utterly saw ghosts. The irony of that, that how bad Drake May was and what he didn't see in that game and what he was and wasn't seeing. But Sam, I actually think him and what he did with his feet was the reason it wasn't a like six to nothing game in the third quarter.
- [44:59]
Brent Rollins
It wasn't a rock fight because he.
- [45:01]
Will
He made plays with his feet and got the ball out and didn't get sacked, didn't turn the ball over. Now he could have a couple times, but he at least didn't turn the ball over. A lot of strip sacks I thought could have happened.
- [45:13]
Brent Rollins
But he wants USC quarterback to play in a Super Bowl.
- [45:17]
Will
I was shocked. I was, I was shocked when I heard that.
- [45:20]
Brent Rollins
I was absolutely blown away by that. But I think Darnold's trajectory being left for dead. Darnold's got strong faith. He's a cool dude, man. He's a very cool, good dude. Down to earth dude. I love what he said about his parents. Like my parents continued to believe in me. Like I know everybody doubted me. But like he also remember he went to the jets. Like that's where you go to die as a quarterback. So like his career was not the best place known to man to start. So most people are going to fail in that situation. But good to see him rebound. Go to the Vikings. But then they win 14 games and he stunk it up in the playoffs and they stunk it up. So that wasn't good. But to go through the whole playoff run and not turn the football over one time zero turnovers in. In a, in a world where the competition is closing in on each other, that's the difference, man. That, that's why they won a Super Bowl. His experience, his low points, his Ability to protect the football, his ability to shrug people off. I mean, listen, the Patriots had him in his sights a lot, and they couldn't get him on the ground. Like, they just, they couldn't get him on the ground. So I am with you. Sam Donald is a great one. I got two before we get to Wesley. Lindsey Vaughn, like, putting it on the line for America. Like, I got to give her credit, and I know she broke her leg and it wasn't good, but, like, the fact that she tore her ACL a couple days before the Olympics and she's still out there flying down the downhills and putting it on the line for her country. Like, tip of the cap, ma'.
- [46:56]
National Debt Relief Advertiser
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- [46:56]
Brent Rollins
Like, thank you so much for, for your effort. And obviously no one forget that. And then Turning Point usa, the halftime show. Loved it. You know why I love Options? Like, I don't care where you stand on the whole thing of, of who you want to watch, whether it's Bad Bunny or whatever, Bugs Bunny, whoever it is. I don't know what the, what the name of it is, but I think it's Bad Bunny. Not my cup of tea. If you want to watch it, so be it. I just loved having options. I love having something in my household where my kids can watch and I ain't got to worry about it, man. Like, so I was, I was definitely excited about Turning Point usa. Kid Rock was, was very interesting. The way he started and the way he finished was. Was pretty cool. Wesley always joining us on the keys, I think. Wesley, who won the weekend for you?
- [47:41]
Wesley Vaughn
Homeboy, Y' all got me.
- [47:44]
Brent Rollins
I got you, brother.
- [47:46]
Wesley Vaughn
I was gonna say Centennial High School, but Brent, Brent jumped the gun on me with Maria Taylor and Mike McDonald, the fellow Knights. Gwinnett County. Gwinnett is great. Congrats to them. I got a late addition that wasn't on the. The rundown.
- [48:03]
Brent Rollins
Okay.
- [48:03]
Wesley Vaughn
Steve Spurrier quoted telling reporters he's about to be inducted into the South Carolina Sports hall of Fame. And he said, somebody's got to tell Dabo.
- [48:14]
Will
There's.
- [48:14]
Wesley Vaughn
There's no rules anymore. So the head ball coach just always bringing haymakers. So anytime Spurrier's got a quote like that, I gotta.
- [48:25]
Brent Rollins
Wesley, I've got a great Spurrier story for you. You want it?
- [48:30]
Will
Of course.
- [48:31]
Brent Rollins
Jesse Palmer told me this. Jesse said they're doing two minute drill at Florida. And he said they're stinking it up both guys, him and who he was competing with. And Spurriers bludging them like, bludgeoning them, like, just calling them X calling them, how can't you do this? And he goes, just give me the helmet, give me the helmet. Puts on Palmer's helmet and runs the two minute drill. He said he throws the first one, throws a screen, throw the, throws the next one, throws another screen like checks to a run in the two minute and then he threw it and the safety picks it off, takes off, pick six back the other way. He said he turns and he looks at him and the other Cuban, he's like, yeah, slipsies, Slipsies slipped out of. Slipsies slipped out of my hand.
- [49:15]
Wesley Vaughn
Like, I think Palmer told that story on this show, by the way. Yeah, but it is always worth repeating and this is a great time of year. We need to like bring the old, some of those old conversations back up and pin them in the off season right now. Because, you know, look, Adam Rooks is roasting us in the chat tonight saying, why are we talking about Utah? Look, we're talking about teams that were knocking on the door of the CFP and maybe we'll get to Auburn next off season.
- [49:42]
Brent Rollins
We'll talk about them in that, in.
- [49:45]
Wesley Vaughn
That category next year.
- [49:46]
Plexaderm Advertiser
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- [49:47]
Wesley Vaughn
No but this is what we're doing. We're talking about individual teams on Mondays and then we're breaking down whatever else happened in the sport. So Wednesday plan is to have Matt Miller back on to talk more about the upcoming NFL draft, the combine, all that good stuff. So we'll be back on Wednesday. And don't forget Utah fans. And really, I think any college football.
- [50:07]
Brent Rollins
Fan, get to know your guys. Like, we're going to talk with every new coach that takes a job. Our goal is to talk to every new coach.
- [50:14]
Wesley Vaughn
We're calling our shot. No, we're. I normally don't like when you do this, but I think it's good. Let's call our shot. Let's tell people that's what we're going to do. Every new coach, we're going to get.
- [50:25]
Brent Rollins
To talk about what makes him tick, man. Like, what makes him tick. Who was the first call? Like, you know, really get to know, like, you'll get to know Morgan Scali on a different level than you've ever known him. And I think that's our whole goal for, for getting all the guys across the country is just to give you guys an inside track into how they think, how they want to build their team, how they lead, who their influences were, the whole nine.
- [50:46]
Wesley Vaughn
Yeah, it's just awesome when you get that time and the coach isn't annoyed to give us the time and I'm fired. I'm fired up about that. So appreciate y' all joining us. Be back Wednesday and be back tomorrow with that full Morgan Scally convo. Peace out. Peace.