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[00:00]
Interviewer
Okay, we're here with Matt Hayes. One of us is here down here to speak with Matt.
[00:08]
Matt Hayes
Lazy bastard, man. Where is he? Seriously?
[00:11]
Interviewer
His ass is in bed.
[00:12]
Matt Hayes
I think that lazy so and so. I'm gonna get him. He comes down here, I'm getting. First off, why do I feel like I'm five foot two in this chair? It kind of. It's kind of like apropro with the rest of this event this week. It's been very odd here, has it not?
[00:30]
Interviewer
Yeah.
[00:31]
Matt Hayes
Doesn't feel. It doesn't feel like your typical SEC media days. Like a per example, today is Alabama day. And in previous years, my God, Alabama day is like a celebration. Especially if the event's being held in out in Birmingham or Atlanta. It's like, you know, crazy town. And Caleb DeBoer just walked in like it was nothing. Like he was just any other dude. Any other dude walking in, no one wants his autograph, no fans in the lobby, Nothing. Nothing. Just another dude who lost eight games in the last two years.
[01:01]
Interviewer
Four lost a bore is what I call them. I think the. Correct me if I'm wrong. The biggest story has been a fight bomb caller getting kicked out. Have you heard about that legend, right? Yeah. Yeah, he got escorted out by security. He was trying to interview coaches. He's not credentialed.
[01:21]
Matt Hayes
All right, well, at least there's some kind of reality to this whole situation.
[01:24]
Interviewer
Yeah.
[01:25]
Matt Hayes
Because other than that, it's very. It's very corporate and very doing it by the book. And it doesn't feel good. It feels very antiseptic right now.
[01:36]
Interviewer
Yeah, well, I've been asked a lot, you know, like, who's on the hot seat? And it's kind of easy to say Beamer and Jeff Levy. Those are maybe the only two candidates because we done fired everybody that was on the hot seat last year. Is there anybody else that you think maybe not on a hot seat, but I don't necessarily think Brian Kelly was on a hot seat.
[01:56]
Matt Hayes
I was just going to say everybody's on a hot seat.
[01:58]
Interviewer
Okay? Everybody. Yeah.
[01:59]
Matt Hayes
In this league, with the money they're paying these guys to coach, I don't care who you are, you are one bad season away from. Okay. He's got problems and I think they all know that. They all know. That's why they're all up in arms about the nine game schedule and the fact that the playoff didn't move to 16 teams like they were told was going to happen. Look, that's the business they're in. And they know. They know they're being paid a lot of money. They know they're being paid a lot of money to win in the most competitive conference in college football. May not be the best anymore. Right after the Big Tens reeled off three straight national champions, by the way. Three different national champions. Let's not forget that, too. So, look, you're in a conference that you know is going to be very hard to win games week after week after week, and you're gonna get paid a lot of money to do it. You're gonna get everything you possibly could want as far as facilities, financial support. I don't think there's a. There's a program in this league right now that doesn't do everything possible to win. So, look, it's where you are, man. I think every single coach is on the hot seat every single year. I really do.
[03:05]
Interviewer
No, I think that's fair, because again, it comes for them quick, doesn't it?
[03:08]
Co-host
Oh, yeah.
[03:09]
Interviewer
You gotta win. And if you're not winning, there's six new coaches.
[03:11]
Matt Hayes
If any of those six coaches go four and eight, are you kidding me? I mean, those fan bases will be great. What are we paying him? How much are we paying this guy to win four games? Something that will happen. 100% will happen.
[03:25]
Interviewer
So we're talking here early on Wednesday. It's Florida day, right? Obviously, there was pursuit by the Gators to get Lane Kiffin, right? But they ended up with John Sumrall. Could you see a world where Florida ended on the right side and got a. Got the right coach for them, as opposed to Lane Kiffin?
[03:45]
Matt Hayes
I mean, honestly, I could see world where Florida lands on the right side, where LSU lands on the right side, where they're both really good. I don't think they're both going to flame out, but I could see where they're both really good. Look, the whole Florida situation is each year they've tried to fix something from the previous guy, right? Muschamp came in there, Urban Meyer left him just a disastrous locker room. It took him a while to clean it up. I mean, you remember the corner, Janoris Jenkins, saying, if Urban Meyer was here, I'd still be on the team. I mean, if you got guys like that in the locker room, you got a problem in that locker room. So it took Will Muschamp a year and a half, two years to clean the thing up. And then he couldn't figure out the quarterback. You know, then you go hire another guy, and he says his dog could play quarterback. And as it ends up, he runs off the best quarterback he had in Will Greer, he can't, he doesn't have a quarterback. And then you get a guy who actually can coach quarterbacks in damn well, you have a little success and he can't recruit and he starts doing dumb things. Starts dressing up as Darth Vader on Halloween and screaming, screaming about filling the swamp in the middle of a pandemic. You can't do things like that, man. I like Dan too. Just then he goes and then Billy Napier comes and he's overmatched and he's got everything he could possibly want and he says, everything's here for us and we've got the facility and we've got everything we need. He can't win. He can't even get the right team on the field. He's got a special teams field running on while the offense is on the field in a, in a two minute drill. It's just, I mean, it's just one comedy of errors after the other there. I think the one thing, if I was a Florida fan right now and John Sarmala comes in, I'd say I don't really know what it's going to be like as far as, like, will they win enough games to make you happy? I will say this. They will be organized. They will have the right guys in the field. They won't have a guy with the same numbers on the field. Two guys with the same numbers on the field. They will have a situation where at the very least they will be operationally sound and functional. Whereas the previous four years, like what that hell is going on? So I think, I don't know where it is there with him. I just know at the very least you're going to say, all right, that looks like a football team. That looks like a football team out there. Now, as far as Lane, I mean, I've said this over and over and I think it needs to be repeated over and over. He's never won a conference championship at the power level. Never. Even last year when they went 11 1, they didn't even get to the championship game. So, you know, I think to expect him to go into LSU and win immediately and win big immediately, you might want to temper those expectations a little bit. You know, get it to like nine wins in year one, see what happens in year two, see what happens with the NCAA structurally, because again, if we hit that five for five and this stuff gets passed through Congress and players get one free transfer and that's it. Michael, the way you build a roster immediately goes to how it used to be. It's high school and it's organic. Okay. So then you would think, all right, Lane's got an advantage there. He's at lsu. You can recruit there. Right? So then it's like, let's see what happens. Like, he made his success, but he
[07:09]
Interviewer
would need time at Ole Miss.
[07:11]
Matt Hayes
Yes, he made a success at Ole Miss because he was the king of the portal. He got guys there, each place at LSU gave him all kind of money, and boom, there you go. So I think it's gonna depend on what happens structurally within the sea as well. Not only for Lane, but for all these guys. Because if we go back to the situation where you've got to do it high school and you got to do it organically, I'm betting on Kirby Smart.
[07:31]
Interviewer
Yeah. We had Coach Sumrall on during the off season and Shane asked him if they were going to have a special teams mat. And John Sumrall was like, what in the hell are you talking. He did not get.
[07:42]
Matt Hayes
He didn't know. He didn't know about the game changer. What would it call? Game changer? Is that what the special teams guys were called?
[07:48]
Interviewer
I just remember they had the mat where they all had to stand on the dots to make sure they had the right.
[07:52]
Matt Hayes
Well, I mean, well, everybody does that. But. But he, like, it didn't have. The first two years he had something called a game changer. So. Okay, the three most important assistant coach positions on any team are oc, DC and special teams coordinator. Okay. Okay. It's critical. He was his OC, his DC was Chris Farley, like a 29 year old, overmatched. I don't know what the hell that was. Okay. Austin Armstrong, right? I don't know what that was, man. Okay. And then he finally got a guy that actually knew what he was doing the last couple years. But again, overmatched. Okay. And then the first couple years he had something called a game changer where he had multiple guys dealing with the special teams. And that's how you get. There's 20 seconds ago you're trying to kick a field goal at home to beat Arkansas. Your offense is trying to get up to the line of scrimmage to snap the ball and your flip and kick team runs on the field. So I mean, you can make fun of like the mat out there, but a lot of teams do that because you know what, there's a lot going on on the sideline and you're like, all right, special teams, get ready and they're there. Everybody knows they're there. There's 11 guys, and you get out there and there's 11 guys. You don't get out there and there's 10 guys, and you're missing a guy. Like happened multiple times in Florida under Billy Napier. So I don't mind the fact that he finally said, all right, let's do it how everyone else is doing it. Because if you're not doing it how anyone is doing it, that's a bigger problem.
[09:18]
Interviewer
Do you think it's a mistake for college programs that don't have a dedicated gm?
[09:24]
Matt Hayes
Oh, yeah. In this day and age? Yeah, absolutely.
[09:27]
Interviewer
Because a lot of them don't. Kirby, Josh, Hyple, I think even Signetti, I don't think he has a true gm. I think he's kind of the gm, but.
[09:34]
Matt Hayes
Well, I think they have guys that do the work of a gm. They just don't have the title gm. You know what I mean?
[09:42]
Interviewer
But don't you think, like, Oklahoma has turned the corner in large part to hiring Jim Nagy?
[09:47]
Matt Hayes
I think it's Oklahoma turned the corner in large part because they found a quarterback that's number one. And I will say that about. And I'm not minimizing Jim, because I think Jim does a great job. I think if you don't have a quarterback right now in college football or the NFL, you are way behind, and I think that's a lot of it. If you got a quarterback that can protect the ball and make plays, you can win games in this league. You can win big games in this league. I'm not minimizing what Jim did. I think Jim's done a great job and I think Brent does a great. Brent's a terrific recruiter. That's a start. That's where begins and ends as well, whether it's high school recruiting or portal recruiting.
[10:23]
Interviewer
I think he's the best defensive coordinator, too.
[10:26]
Matt Hayes
Right. Obviously a very good X as an O's guy as well. Yeah.
[10:31]
Interviewer
Who do you think is the best quarterback in the conference? Is it Trinidad or Orange or someone else?
[10:37]
Matt Hayes
I mean, there's a lot of guys that I think could hold on to that mantle. I actually like Gunner Stockton, man. I really do. I really do. I think he's a guy that's been very overlooked. You look at what he did last year. I was doing some. See, I wrote a story on him just today in USA Today, and I did a little research. So in the fourth quarter last year, he completed 83% of his passes, seven touchdowns, no picks. That's insane. Okay. When he was. When they were down by five to 14 points, which happened five times last year, which is odd for Georgia. He completed 72% of his passes, didn't throw a pick, and I think it was nine touchdowns. Okay. When they were in the red zone. So these are all critical areas on the field right now. Okay. It's fourth quarter, it's trailing, it's red zone play. Okay. In all of those areas, did not have an interception. You ready for these numbers? In the red zone. In the red zone. Last year completed 66% of his. No, no, no, no, I'm wrong.
[11:50]
Interviewer
Wait.
[11:51]
Matt Hayes
Was way up. It was like in the 70s percent of his passes, 17 touchdowns, no interceptions. In the red zone. Bro. That's elite. That's elite. Elite.
[12:00]
Interviewer
And that's what the NFL looks at too, is red zone.
[12:03]
Matt Hayes
Yeah, it's. By any measure, if you look at what he did last year, you look at the numbers he put up, you look at the. Speaking of elite, you look at the toughness. Speaking of elite, you look at the toughness he showed in the run game. Not only a willing runner, but a tough, dangerous runner. I love Gunnar Stockton. I love him and I love the way he plays. I love the way those guys rally around him. Man. You look in those guys faces yesterday when you asked them about Gunner Stockton and their face just lights up and they smile and kind of like I smile when I see Shane stumble in when he promised me he'd be here for the start of the interview.
[12:46]
Interviewer
What do you think is holding this show back? More the fact that we're not with a big time ESPN on 3. With the fact we got a guy that can't show up on time.
[12:56]
Co-host
8:30. And. And for the audience it's 8:23, I'm seven years old.
[13:00]
Matt Hayes
I do believe we said 8 o', clock, did we not?
[13:02]
Interviewer
No, no, we said 8:30. We did, but he wanted to get a jumpsuit. It's Florida. It's a big day for him.
[13:08]
Co-host
Yeah, they don't, they don't call him Premature Matt for nothing, right?
[13:11]
Matt Hayes
You know, I'm taking strays. I'm taking strays from this guy. Seriously. Oh man.
[13:19]
Co-host
Hey, well, I appreciate you coming. I always like to ask who's getting fired first this year.
[13:26]
Matt Hayes
I just told Michael everybody's on the hot this league. Are you kidding me? It's the SEC, man. You're getting 10 mil a year. Everyone.
[13:35]
Interviewer
Are you buying into Texas? I mean everybody's like Texas going win Texas, Texas. And that's why I point to Sark again. Is he on a hot seat? I think that's crazy to say.
[13:43]
Matt Hayes
You know, what's interesting is Sark was very vocal in this. This offseason. Not just in the story that I wrote that blew up. And everybody was like, the basket weaving and. Which, by the way, wasn't really the whole. The focus of that article. What everyone probably should have focused on was the fact that he was exactly right about the playoff. You go to 24 teams, you're asking those guys to watch 40, 50 games a weekend. Not just highlight. You got to watch the games. Like, if you're literally going to be a guy who you can trust, who's going to decide who's in a playoff, you got to watch games. And he was like, look, I'm a junkie. When we don't play. I watch ball all the time. There's no chance I'm watching 40 or 50 games a weekend. And he's right. Like, he's right. Like a typical guy who wakes up at 8 in the morning to watch Game day or Big Noon kickoff, whichever show you watch all the way until the west coast games are done at 1:30. You know, the crazies like us that do that. That's how many games we watch. Maybe four or five a day. Maybe complete games. Come on, 40 or 50. That was the best part about that. The whole story was interesting, but. And everybody took the basket weaving as the thing. But that was the thing that I think jumped out more than anything for me was that. Now Sark, do I. No, I don't think he's on the hot seat. I think he's.
[15:04]
Interviewer
What if they don't make the playoff?
[15:05]
Matt Hayes
Bring him back. I think he knows he's got a really good team. That's what I think.
[15:09]
Interviewer
Right. I think he's capable of blowing it.
[15:13]
Matt Hayes
I think he knows he's got a really good team. And. And I also think that. Let's. Let's not forget that he's been the semifinals twice. Okay?
[15:20]
Interviewer
Yeah, but once he's not in the.
[15:21]
Matt Hayes
He's one. It doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. He's what? He's One playoff game, too.
[15:26]
Interviewer
The other one, he had to beat Arizona State. Oh, wow, What a tough opponent.
[15:30]
Co-host
He barely.
[15:30]
Interviewer
He almost lost that at home.
[15:32]
Matt Hayes
Got a little help from the officials, too.
[15:33]
Interviewer
Yeah.
[15:34]
Matt Hayes
And from Kenny Dillingham blitzing on 4th and. What was it? 4th and 13.
[15:37]
Interviewer
Yeah. So.
[15:39]
Matt Hayes
Yeah, I mean, that look. And beating a, you know, an average Clemson team, too, so. Still, you won. He won those games. Man, you got to Give him credit for that. And you got to give him credit for the year before win.
[15:51]
Interviewer
So beating Saban was big. Yeah, that was his best win.
[15:54]
Matt Hayes
Yeah, I mean I think he's going to have a big year. I think Cam Coleman was in. Have we ever figured out what the hell Hugh Freeze was doing the last two years? Seriously, what was he doing? Seriously?
[16:08]
Interviewer
I don't know if anyone trusted that.
[16:09]
Matt Hayes
How do you have Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton and you can't throw the ball? Seriously, how does that even happen? So. And. And they were pretty good on the offensive line too. And they had a good run, a couple good running backs. What the hell was he doing? That's. It's weird. It's just strange to me.
[16:29]
Co-host
I mean it was a. It was a great day.
[16:31]
Matt Hayes
He had a really good defense too.
[16:33]
Co-host
I do ask myself like if. If Coach A would have been a coach of the Auburn Tigers here, like how. How well would they enjoyed the playoffs?
[16:41]
Matt Hayes
I got news for you. If Alex Gold was the quarter was the coach at Auburn last year, imagine what that offense would have done. Seriously. So I feel bad for Alex Gold. He gets there. Those two guys out, they want no part of that anymore. Anyway, long story short, I think Cam Coleman's gonna have a big year with Arch Manning. Yeah, I go off on tangents, man.
[17:01]
Interviewer
I think. I think a lot of people would agree with that. What do you think about Tennessee? I'm picking them as a playoff team. Is that crazy?
[17:06]
Matt Hayes
Are you really?
[17:07]
Interviewer
Yeah. 10 and 2.
[17:09]
Matt Hayes
Really? The schedule is a little favorable. There's no doubt about that, right?
[17:13]
Interviewer
The biggest games, Texas Bama, lsu, all at home.
[17:16]
Matt Hayes
Who's playing quarterback?
[17:17]
Interviewer
Doesn't matter. It's going to be phase on.
[17:21]
Matt Hayes
I would expect big man to say that. I would not expect you to say that.
[17:26]
Interviewer
I think the talent around him is. Wow.
[17:28]
Matt Hayes
It doesn't matter.
[17:29]
Interviewer
Everybody just looks at the quarterback and I understand it's the most important position but we overlook everything around them. I think the offensive line is outstanding. DeSean Bishop's really good. Yeah, they got a couple of really good receivers. The tight end room is as talented as it's ever been under Hypo.
[17:46]
Matt Hayes
I believe in what Josh does there as far as offense and developing quarterbacks. But dude, you're asking a first time starter, Whoever it is, okay.
[17:55]
Interviewer
It's what he does every year.
[17:56]
Matt Hayes
Whoever it is. I know whoever it is, okay, you're asking about. Well, to be fair, Hen and Hooker played a lot of ball. Okay. Nico at least played good ball until
[18:07]
Interviewer
he got with Hypo.
[18:08]
Matt Hayes
True, but he, but he, he had been in college football and played ball, been under center, been in road environments, right?
[18:15]
Interviewer
Yeah, that's.
[18:16]
Matt Hayes
Been in third and nine on the road. He'd done it. Okay. He didn't play that badly either. He didn't play that badly at Virginia Tech. So Nico at least played a little, Played a little near the end of the season playing the bowl game, at least knew what it was going to be like, right? Plus Nico, to be honest, uber talented. Uber talented. Okay, so Joe Milton, also a guy who played a little bit at Michigan, at least knew what was going on. You got two guys now. Never played. Literally never played.
[18:47]
Interviewer
But the road games, Georgia Tech.
[18:49]
Matt Hayes
No, I get it, I get it.
[18:51]
Interviewer
Carolina could be good.
[18:53]
Matt Hayes
Hey, don't just throw Vanderbilt like that, man. Do not disrespect Vanderbilt like that.
[18:57]
Interviewer
We don't lose to Vanderbilt.
[19:00]
Matt Hayes
They got absolutely pantsed in that game last year in the second half. I.
[19:06]
Co-host
We don't lose two years in a row.
[19:08]
Matt Hayes
Okay, I'm with you. I'm with you. With Josh Eiffel, totally. Okay.
[19:11]
Interviewer
I think the defense will take a step.
[19:13]
Matt Hayes
I just don't know that whether it's McIntyre or Fazon, it's third N on the road in the league in third quarter and you need to play if that happens. I don't know. I don't know. I'll believe it when I see it. If they go 10 and 2 and they get in the playoff, I will sing your praises, man. Because I kind of see it as like a 7 and 5, maybe 8 and 4, you know, just a year where you're dealing with a new quarterback, slept in. That doesn't mean, like you're running the guy off. It means he's dealing with a new quarterback.
[19:43]
Co-host
Well, is there a take? I mean, coming into media days, is there a team that's maybe kind of changed a little bit?
[19:48]
Matt Hayes
Well, hang on real quick.
[19:49]
Co-host
Yeah.
[19:49]
Matt Hayes
If, if somehow Joey Aguilar got the right judge, which, I don't know. How did he not get the right judge? Everybody else seems to get the right judge. He didn't get the right judge. Yeah. Then I would say, okay, I could see 10 and 2 because he, by the end of last year, he was really throwing the ball well. And I think he was, he was. You could tell he had embraced that offense and he was very comfortable in it. So, yeah, I, if he were coming back. Yes. I would say that's not a. That's not too far out of the question. I don't know if I want to answer a question, I'm trying to be optimistic.
[20:18]
Co-host
It's Wednesday. I'm trying to figure out, is there a team.
[20:21]
Matt Hayes
By the way, when Caleb Dewar came in, you guys hang out, you walk with him?
[20:24]
Interviewer
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
[20:25]
Co-host
Well, we worked out. We did stairs this morning. You know, is there a team that when you came in here, you're a little low on lower than the balls. And now you're. You're. You may be singing a different tune.
[20:38]
Matt Hayes
I don't know about singing a different tune, but I'm still. I see Alabama, I ain't seen it.
[20:43]
Interviewer
I'm just.
[20:43]
Matt Hayes
I'm not seeing it, man. I don't know what every. I keep hearing, oh, yeah, they're going to go 10, 2, 11, 1. They're going to be in the playoff.
[20:50]
Co-host
Why?
[20:52]
Matt Hayes
It's the same situation as Tennessee. You got a quarterback who you're just like going to automatically just have faith in the fact that whether it's a redshirt freshman or a guy who transferred from Washington who didn't play at Washington, you're just automatically going to think everything's going to be okay and the quarterback's going to play well in this league.
[21:10]
Interviewer
Now, see, I'll disagree with you there. It's different than Tennessee because Alabama only returns one starter on offense. And he was so bad last year, he changed his name. He didn't want to be associated with his performance last year. That's completely different than Tennessee bringing back offensive line, running back, one. One starter, one returning starter, Ryan Williams, one.
[21:31]
Matt Hayes
Why am I alone in saying I'm not seeing it? I don't understand that.
[21:34]
Interviewer
That's why I call him four loss. Deborah. He's losing four games again.
[21:38]
Co-host
I think it's muscle memory, right? You're so used to voting Alabama at the top.
[21:43]
Matt Hayes
But it's weird. It's like every show I watch on tv, everything I read is like, alabama, Alabama. And I'm like, why? Why? Why?
[21:52]
Interviewer
Bama Bump that people give. Bama bump's gone. Saban's long gone.
[21:57]
Matt Hayes
I'm glad. I'm glad. The very least. My boys here, like, I also. I'm a little nervous because you guys obviously have the Tennessee bent, so you hate Alabama, and I get that, but I just. I don't see it, man. I don't. I absolutely do not see it. I'm going to write about it today, too. The whole. The whole Alabama thing. And, you know, it's just blind. It's just blind belief at this point. And I just. To me, you can have blind Belief. You know what I'm going to look at? 8 losses. That's what I'm going to look at. I'm going to look at what has happened the first two years. So I go by track record. And that's the only thing I think at this point. If you're looking at assessing teams, you got to go by track record. What has happened in the past. And when he got there, I was. Track record. He was like 100. What was it? 102 and 12 or something like that. Just ridiculous. And I was like, all right, this is a guy that can go in there and just win, because he's clearly done it before. And then the first year looked a little over, overmatched. You know, he's dealing with transition. I understand all that. The next year, right out of the gate, a Florida State team that beat West Texas State, Wake Forest. Who else did they beat? Was it Cal? They beat like three other bad teams in Alabama and beat the dog out of Alabama. So I don't. I guess. What's it going to take? Is it going to take efficiency to go in there and into Tuscaloosa and win that game, too? Before we all start saying, okay, they might have a problem right now, do
[23:23]
Interviewer
you have any thoughts on A and M heading into year three?
[23:25]
Matt Hayes
Love it. Love what Mike Elko's done. Love it. Absolutely love it. And I love the fact that he constantly reminds people, stop saying it's what it used to be or it's the old days or what we used to say. Texas 8 and 5, that's not them anymore. He's completely changed that mindset there. Love Marcel Reed. Think he's a wildly underrated quarterback. You were talking about the best quarterbacks in the league. He's got, man. He's got an. He's got an arm. He can throw that ball. Velocity. Really dangerous with his legs. I just love what they're doing. New oc, so we're going to see. That'll be a little adjustment because I think they were in kind of a groove there with Colin Klein. But yeah, that's. I love what they do.
[24:08]
Interviewer
Love it.
[24:08]
Matt Hayes
Impressive what he's done.
[24:09]
Interviewer
Actually, got a final question for Matt. Okay. So all our coverage at SEC media days.
[24:18]
Co-host
Not since he said all that mean stuff about my team.
[24:20]
Interviewer
Tennessee legend. Tennessee legends paying for our trip down here. So we're asking everybody for their Tennessee legend Boldest take heading into the SEC season.
[24:28]
Matt Hayes
Who is my Tennessee legend?
[24:30]
Interviewer
Well, that's our sponsor. Boldest take.
[24:32]
Matt Hayes
Well, let me give you my Tennessee legend. My favorite Tennessee player of all time.
[24:35]
Interviewer
Yeah,
[24:37]
Matt Hayes
there's a few. There's a few. I don't know if he was a legend. I love Derek Westmoreland. Love the way he played, man. I love the way he played. Pierce Price was fun as hell. I'd probably go. Probably Jamallo's
[25:03]
Co-host
local boy, too.
[25:04]
Matt Hayes
Bad man.
[25:04]
Interviewer
Yeah, Morristown boy.
[25:05]
Matt Hayes
Bad man.
[25:06]
Interviewer
He's from.
[25:07]
Co-host
Oh, Little Man Stewart, I'm thinking of.
[25:08]
Matt Hayes
Yeah, Jamal's from Georgia. Yeah, just a bad man. That's a. That's back when Fulmer owned the state of Georgia in recruiting, the state of South Carolina in recruiting.
[25:17]
Interviewer
I had family that got whoever you wanted attended Tennessee. When he was there, they said you saw him walking down the street. You crossed the street just because he. Nothing bad happened, but just he looks into. Like, you don't want to cross paths with that guy. You know what I mean?
[25:30]
Matt Hayes
He did fumble the ball against Florida, which I'm sure you guys are still upset about. What now? What was the other question? What's my Tennessee take?
[25:38]
Interviewer
Your boldest take in the SEC heading into the year.
[25:41]
Matt Hayes
Wow.
[25:41]
Interviewer
Boldest take last year, I believe you said Oklahoma's winning.
[25:45]
Matt Hayes
I said Oklahoma would win the conference. It was close. They got the playoff, and everybody was saying he was going to get fired. I'll go with Alabama. Doesn't make a playoff.
[25:56]
Interviewer
I don't know if that's bold, though. I mean, it's four loss deboer for you and us.
[25:59]
Matt Hayes
It's not for everyone else in this country, in this area, it's like blasphemy. Are you kidding me?
[26:03]
Co-host
Apparently, this room does have a little more buzz today, doesn't it?
[26:07]
Matt Hayes
I don't know. I was just saying. I was just.
[26:09]
Co-host
Of course, they may be fine. Bomb.
[26:11]
Matt Hayes
We just don't know it. Well, I was saying with Mike, like, had you been here on time, I was saying with Mike, we could have talked about this. It doesn't. Like, it's not. He walked in deboer. No one. No one's down there waiting for him. No one's asked for autographs. The Alabama ring hat guy's not there. He's just any old coach walking in. He walks in, he goes down, does some radio down there, has a little coffee, like it's nothing. I mean, like, if it was Nick. God almighty. I mean, or any. Or I shouldn't say that. Like, if they were. Like, if they made a run in the playoff last year or his first year, then you're like, all right, he's going to get this thing going. But I think even Alabama fans are like, I don't know about this, man. Apparently, the only person who's dead set we are winning with this cat is Greg Byrne. I don't know if he has to. He doesn't really have to be. I, I think it's. I, I think, look, whether Michigan was coming after him or not, and, and my guess is they sure they were. If I'm the AD there, I'm looking. All right, we lost eight games. I mean, if you want to go, you can go. You're gonna get me out of a contract where I owe you 60 million if I have to fire you now. So to me, that makes me think Greg Byrne is. No, this is the guy. And that's his prerogative, of course, but that's what makes me think Greg Byrne is all in on him. I don't think it was, oh, I gotta keep him, because the Michigan's gonna. I think he really thinks this is the guy that's gonna win, that he might be right. A year from now, I might be sitting there saying what an idiot I am for saying that. But, yeah, I mean, that's. I just go with what I've seen, and it doesn't. Yeah, this doesn't look that good.
[27:52]
Co-host
We don't have to wait a full year, man. We're already there.
[27:56]
Interviewer
All right, before you go, tell our audience, hey, you're not the first person
[27:58]
Matt Hayes
to call me, believe me.
[28:00]
Interviewer
Tell our audience how to follow you and find your work.
[28:02]
Matt Hayes
Usatoday.com and then also, if you want to listen, you can listen daily 12 to 2, 1010 XL in Jacksonville. All right, boys, good to see. You.

Summary6 min read

That SEC Football Podcast: "Matt Hayes: Every SEC Coach Bad Year Away From Hot Seat"

Date: August 5, 2026
Host: Michael Bratton (SEC Mike) and Cousin Shane
Guest: Matt Hayes

Episode Overview

This engaging episode brings college football analyst Matt Hayes to discuss the state of the SEC going into 2026: pervasive hot seat culture, evolving coaching expectations, team prospects, and how changes in structure and culture affect programs and coaches. The hosts and Hayes dive into specific programs, particularly the recent transitions at Alabama, Florida, Texas, Texas A&M, and Tennessee, providing sharp opinions and statistics.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The SEC Media Days: Atmosphere & Changing Culture

Lackluster Environment: Unlike years past, the excitement and spectacle—especially on “Alabama Day”—were missing. Caleb DeBoer, Alabama’s coach, arrived with little fanfare.
- Quote [00:30, Matt Hayes]:
  “Caleb DeBoer just walked in like it was nothing. Like he was just any other dude... Just another dude who lost eight games in the last two years.”
Shift to Corporate Feel: The event felt sterile and by-the-book, signaling a changing dynamic in SEC culture.

2. Every Coach on the Hot Seat

Universal Pressure: Hayes argues that all SEC coaches are perpetually on the hot seat due to massive salaries, relentless expectations, and the conference’s unforgiving nature.
- Quote [01:57, Matt Hayes]:
  “In this league, with the money they're paying these guys... I don't care who you are, you are one bad season away from 'OK, he's got problems.'”
Even established coaches like Brian Kelly aren't immune; longevity and goodwill have dissipated.

3. Florida and LSU: New Coaches, New Hopes

Florida’s Coaching Carousel:
- Chronicled the “comedy of errors” since Urban Meyer left, including locker room issues and special teams fiascos under Billy Napier.
- Praised new coach John Sumrall for likely bringing organization and operational soundness.
- Quote [06:01, Matt Hayes]:
  “They will be organized... you will have a situation where at the very least they will be operationally sound and functional. Whereas the previous four years, like what the hell is going on?”
Lane Kiffin at LSU: Skeptical of instant success. Kiffin has never won a Power 5 conference title; he excelled mainly in the portal era, which may change if NCAA recruiting rules tighten.

4. The Importance of a Dedicated GM in Modern College Football

Not all programs have officially titled GMs, but increasingly, the complexity of running a roster, especially amid transfer rules, demands such a role.
- Quote [09:23, Hayes]:
  “Oh, yeah. In this day and age? Yeah, absolutely.”
Quarterback quality remains paramount for success.

5. Best Quarterback in the Conference Debate

Gunner Stockton (Georgia) Praised:
- Elite fourth-quarter and red-zone stats in 2025.
- Quote [11:50, Hayes]:
  “In the red zone last year, completed... in the 70s percent of his passes, 17 touchdowns, no interceptions. In the red zone. Bro. That's elite.”
- Leadership attributes—his teammates rally around him.

6. Texas: Playoff Prospects & Sarkisian’s Future

Not on the Hot Seat: Despite playoff pressure, Hayes expects Steve Sarkisian to remain, citing prior playoff success and the strength of the current roster.
- Quote [15:05, Hayes]:
  “No, I don’t think he’s on the hot seat. I think he knows he’s got a really good team.”
Media & Fan Perception: The infamous “basket weaving” story distracted from real substance—how unwieldy a 24-team playoff selection would be.

7. Underachieving Programs: Auburn & Hugh Freeze

Questioned how Auburn failed offensively with top talent like Cam Coleman.
- Quote [16:09, Hayes]:
  “How do you have Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton and you can’t throw the ball? Seriously, how does that even happen?”

8. Tennessee: Playoff Expectations – Realistic or Not?

Hosts pick Tennessee as a playoff dark horse due to a manageable schedule and strong supporting cast.
QB Inexperience: Hayes cautions against banking on a first-time starter, drawing comparisons to previous QBs who had at least some experience.
- Quote [17:45, Hayes]:
  “You’re asking a first-time starter—whoever it is—who’s never played. Literally never played.”
Defense may take a step forward—room for optimism.

9. Alabama: Skepticism Over the DeBoer Era

Doubts About Success: Hayes and hosts are outliers in not seeing Alabama as a sure contender, especially with roster turnover and lack of proven talent.
- Quote [20:42, Hayes]:
  “I ain’t seen it… you’re just automatically going to think everything’s going to be OK and the quarterback’s going to play well in this league?”
DeBoer’s 8 losses in 2 years and underwhelming introduction at media days feed skepticism.

10. Texas A&M: Quiet Confidence in Elko

Hayes highly approves of Mike Elko’s turnaround, emphasizing a shift in mindset, underrated QB Marcel Reed, and strong culture.
- Quote [23:25, Hayes]:
  “Love what Mike Elko’s done. Love it. Absolutely love it… That’s not them anymore. He’s completely changed that mindset there. Love Marcel Reed.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|-------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:30 | Matt Hayes | "Caleb DeBoer just walked in like it was nothing...Just another dude who lost eight games in the last two years."| | 01:57 | Matt Hayes | "In this league...you are one bad season away from 'OK, he's got problems.'" | | 06:01 | Matt Hayes | "They will be organized...operationally sound and functional." | | 11:50 | Matt Hayes | "In the red zone...17 touchdowns, no interceptions. In the red zone. Bro. That's elite." | | 15:05 | Matt Hayes | "No, I don’t think he’s on the hot seat. I think he knows he’s got a really good team." | | 16:09 | Matt Hayes | "How do you have Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton and you can’t throw the ball?..." | | 17:45 | Matt Hayes | "You’re asking a first-time starter—whoever it is—who’s never played. Literally never played." | | 20:42 | Matt Hayes | "I ain’t seen it…I just don't see it, man. I absolutely do not see it." | | 23:25 | Matt Hayes | "Love what Mike Elko’s done. Love it. Absolutely love it." |

Important Timestamps & Segments

SEC Media Days Atmosphere: 00:07–01:00
Every Coach on the Hot Seat: 01:55–03:11
Florida’s Coaching History & John Sumrall: 03:44–07:09
Coaching Staff Structural Critique: 07:10–09:17
Importance of GMs and Quarterbacks: 09:17–10:30
Best QB in Conference – Gunner Stockton: 10:30–12:02
Texas & Sarkisian’s Playoff Prospects: 13:34–15:50
Auburn’s Offensive Issues: 15:53–16:33
Tennessee’s Playoff Hopes & QB Discussion: 17:00–19:42
Alabama Skepticism & DeBoer Era Reality: 20:38–22:52
Texas A&M’s Culture Change under Elko: 23:22–24:17
Matt Hayes’ Boldest Take: 25:40–26:10

Final Thoughts & Tennessee Legend Segment

Favorite Tennessee Player: Jamal Lewis, with shoutouts to Derrick Westmoreland and Peerless Price.
Matt Hayes’ Boldest SEC Take for 2026:
- Quote [25:44]: “I’ll go with Alabama doesn’t make a playoff.”
- The hosts note this isn’t that bold locally, but in the national/SEC context, it’s “blasphemy.”

Conclusion

Matt Hayes delivers pointed, candid analysis on the state of the SEC, with the recurring theme that “every coach is a bad year away from the hot seat.” He doesn’t pull punches on underperformance at traditional powers (Alabama, Auburn), is cautiously optimistic about others (Texas A&M, Florida), and provides both stats and stories to bolster his takes—making this essential listening for any SEC fan wanting insight beyond the headlines.

[Follow Matt Hayes at USAToday.com and listen to 1010 XL (12–2pm) for more analysis.]

Loading summary

Transcript156 lines

[00:00]
Interviewer
Okay, we're here with Matt Hayes. One of us is here down here to speak with Matt.
[00:08]
Matt Hayes
Lazy bastard, man. Where is he? Seriously?
[00:11]
Interviewer
His ass is in bed.
[00:12]
Matt Hayes
I think that lazy so and so. I'm gonna get him. He comes down here, I'm getting. First off, why do I feel like I'm five foot two in this chair? It kind of. It's kind of like apropro with the rest of this event this week. It's been very odd here, has it not?
[00:30]
Interviewer
Yeah.
[00:31]
Matt Hayes
Doesn't feel. It doesn't feel like your typical SEC media days. Like a per example, today is Alabama day. And in previous years, my God, Alabama day is like a celebration. Especially if the event's being held in out in Birmingham or Atlanta. It's like, you know, crazy town. And Caleb DeBoer just walked in like it was nothing. Like he was just any other dude. Any other dude walking in, no one wants his autograph, no fans in the lobby, Nothing. Nothing. Just another dude who lost eight games in the last two years.
[01:01]
Interviewer
Four lost a bore is what I call them. I think the. Correct me if I'm wrong. The biggest story has been a fight bomb caller getting kicked out. Have you heard about that legend, right? Yeah. Yeah, he got escorted out by security. He was trying to interview coaches. He's not credentialed.
[01:21]
Matt Hayes
All right, well, at least there's some kind of reality to this whole situation.
[01:24]
Interviewer
Yeah.
[01:25]
Matt Hayes
Because other than that, it's very. It's very corporate and very doing it by the book. And it doesn't feel good. It feels very antiseptic right now.
[01:36]
Interviewer
Yeah, well, I've been asked a lot, you know, like, who's on the hot seat? And it's kind of easy to say Beamer and Jeff Levy. Those are maybe the only two candidates because we done fired everybody that was on the hot seat last year. Is there anybody else that you think maybe not on a hot seat, but I don't necessarily think Brian Kelly was on a hot seat.
[01:56]
Matt Hayes
I was just going to say everybody's on a hot seat.
[01:58]
Interviewer
Okay? Everybody. Yeah.
[01:59]
Matt Hayes
In this league, with the money they're paying these guys to coach, I don't care who you are, you are one bad season away from. Okay. He's got problems and I think they all know that. They all know. That's why they're all up in arms about the nine game schedule and the fact that the playoff didn't move to 16 teams like they were told was going to happen. Look, that's the business they're in. And they know. They know they're being paid a lot of money. They know they're being paid a lot of money to win in the most competitive conference in college football. May not be the best anymore. Right after the Big Tens reeled off three straight national champions, by the way. Three different national champions. Let's not forget that, too. So, look, you're in a conference that you know is going to be very hard to win games week after week after week, and you're gonna get paid a lot of money to do it. You're gonna get everything you possibly could want as far as facilities, financial support. I don't think there's a. There's a program in this league right now that doesn't do everything possible to win. So, look, it's where you are, man. I think every single coach is on the hot seat every single year. I really do.
[03:05]
Interviewer
No, I think that's fair, because again, it comes for them quick, doesn't it?
[03:08]
Co-host
Oh, yeah.
[03:09]
Interviewer
You gotta win. And if you're not winning, there's six new coaches.
[03:11]
Matt Hayes
If any of those six coaches go four and eight, are you kidding me? I mean, those fan bases will be great. What are we paying him? How much are we paying this guy to win four games? Something that will happen. 100% will happen.
[03:25]
Interviewer
So we're talking here early on Wednesday. It's Florida day, right? Obviously, there was pursuit by the Gators to get Lane Kiffin, right? But they ended up with John Sumrall. Could you see a world where Florida ended on the right side and got a. Got the right coach for them, as opposed to Lane Kiffin?
[03:45]
Matt Hayes
I mean, honestly, I could see world where Florida lands on the right side, where LSU lands on the right side, where they're both really good. I don't think they're both going to flame out, but I could see where they're both really good. Look, the whole Florida situation is each year they've tried to fix something from the previous guy, right? Muschamp came in there, Urban Meyer left him just a disastrous locker room. It took him a while to clean it up. I mean, you remember the corner, Janoris Jenkins, saying, if Urban Meyer was here, I'd still be on the team. I mean, if you got guys like that in the locker room, you got a problem in that locker room. So it took Will Muschamp a year and a half, two years to clean the thing up. And then he couldn't figure out the quarterback. You know, then you go hire another guy, and he says his dog could play quarterback. And as it ends up, he runs off the best quarterback he had in Will Greer, he can't, he doesn't have a quarterback. And then you get a guy who actually can coach quarterbacks in damn well, you have a little success and he can't recruit and he starts doing dumb things. Starts dressing up as Darth Vader on Halloween and screaming, screaming about filling the swamp in the middle of a pandemic. You can't do things like that, man. I like Dan too. Just then he goes and then Billy Napier comes and he's overmatched and he's got everything he could possibly want and he says, everything's here for us and we've got the facility and we've got everything we need. He can't win. He can't even get the right team on the field. He's got a special teams field running on while the offense is on the field in a, in a two minute drill. It's just, I mean, it's just one comedy of errors after the other there. I think the one thing, if I was a Florida fan right now and John Sarmala comes in, I'd say I don't really know what it's going to be like as far as, like, will they win enough games to make you happy? I will say this. They will be organized. They will have the right guys in the field. They won't have a guy with the same numbers on the field. Two guys with the same numbers on the field. They will have a situation where at the very least they will be operationally sound and functional. Whereas the previous four years, like what that hell is going on? So I think, I don't know where it is there with him. I just know at the very least you're going to say, all right, that looks like a football team. That looks like a football team out there. Now, as far as Lane, I mean, I've said this over and over and I think it needs to be repeated over and over. He's never won a conference championship at the power level. Never. Even last year when they went 11 1, they didn't even get to the championship game. So, you know, I think to expect him to go into LSU and win immediately and win big immediately, you might want to temper those expectations a little bit. You know, get it to like nine wins in year one, see what happens in year two, see what happens with the NCAA structurally, because again, if we hit that five for five and this stuff gets passed through Congress and players get one free transfer and that's it. Michael, the way you build a roster immediately goes to how it used to be. It's high school and it's organic. Okay. So then you would think, all right, Lane's got an advantage there. He's at lsu. You can recruit there. Right? So then it's like, let's see what happens. Like, he made his success, but he
[07:09]
Interviewer
would need time at Ole Miss.
[07:11]
Matt Hayes
Yes, he made a success at Ole Miss because he was the king of the portal. He got guys there, each place at LSU gave him all kind of money, and boom, there you go. So I think it's gonna depend on what happens structurally within the sea as well. Not only for Lane, but for all these guys. Because if we go back to the situation where you've got to do it high school and you got to do it organically, I'm betting on Kirby Smart.
[07:31]
Interviewer
Yeah. We had Coach Sumrall on during the off season and Shane asked him if they were going to have a special teams mat. And John Sumrall was like, what in the hell are you talking. He did not get.
[07:42]
Matt Hayes
He didn't know. He didn't know about the game changer. What would it call? Game changer? Is that what the special teams guys were called?
[07:48]
Interviewer
I just remember they had the mat where they all had to stand on the dots to make sure they had the right.
[07:52]
Matt Hayes
Well, I mean, well, everybody does that. But. But he, like, it didn't have. The first two years he had something called a game changer. So. Okay, the three most important assistant coach positions on any team are oc, DC and special teams coordinator. Okay. Okay. It's critical. He was his OC, his DC was Chris Farley, like a 29 year old, overmatched. I don't know what the hell that was. Okay. Austin Armstrong, right? I don't know what that was, man. Okay. And then he finally got a guy that actually knew what he was doing the last couple years. But again, overmatched. Okay. And then the first couple years he had something called a game changer where he had multiple guys dealing with the special teams. And that's how you get. There's 20 seconds ago you're trying to kick a field goal at home to beat Arkansas. Your offense is trying to get up to the line of scrimmage to snap the ball and your flip and kick team runs on the field. So I mean, you can make fun of like the mat out there, but a lot of teams do that because you know what, there's a lot going on on the sideline and you're like, all right, special teams, get ready and they're there. Everybody knows they're there. There's 11 guys, and you get out there and there's 11 guys. You don't get out there and there's 10 guys, and you're missing a guy. Like happened multiple times in Florida under Billy Napier. So I don't mind the fact that he finally said, all right, let's do it how everyone else is doing it. Because if you're not doing it how anyone is doing it, that's a bigger problem.
[09:18]
Interviewer
Do you think it's a mistake for college programs that don't have a dedicated gm?
[09:24]
Matt Hayes
Oh, yeah. In this day and age? Yeah, absolutely.
[09:27]
Interviewer
Because a lot of them don't. Kirby, Josh, Hyple, I think even Signetti, I don't think he has a true gm. I think he's kind of the gm, but.
[09:34]
Matt Hayes
Well, I think they have guys that do the work of a gm. They just don't have the title gm. You know what I mean?
[09:42]
Interviewer
But don't you think, like, Oklahoma has turned the corner in large part to hiring Jim Nagy?
[09:47]
Matt Hayes
I think it's Oklahoma turned the corner in large part because they found a quarterback that's number one. And I will say that about. And I'm not minimizing Jim, because I think Jim does a great job. I think if you don't have a quarterback right now in college football or the NFL, you are way behind, and I think that's a lot of it. If you got a quarterback that can protect the ball and make plays, you can win games in this league. You can win big games in this league. I'm not minimizing what Jim did. I think Jim's done a great job and I think Brent does a great. Brent's a terrific recruiter. That's a start. That's where begins and ends as well, whether it's high school recruiting or portal recruiting.
[10:23]
Interviewer
I think he's the best defensive coordinator, too.
[10:26]
Matt Hayes
Right. Obviously a very good X as an O's guy as well. Yeah.
[10:31]
Interviewer
Who do you think is the best quarterback in the conference? Is it Trinidad or Orange or someone else?
[10:37]
Matt Hayes
I mean, there's a lot of guys that I think could hold on to that mantle. I actually like Gunner Stockton, man. I really do. I really do. I think he's a guy that's been very overlooked. You look at what he did last year. I was doing some. See, I wrote a story on him just today in USA Today, and I did a little research. So in the fourth quarter last year, he completed 83% of his passes, seven touchdowns, no picks. That's insane. Okay. When he was. When they were down by five to 14 points, which happened five times last year, which is odd for Georgia. He completed 72% of his passes, didn't throw a pick, and I think it was nine touchdowns. Okay. When they were in the red zone. So these are all critical areas on the field right now. Okay. It's fourth quarter, it's trailing, it's red zone play. Okay. In all of those areas, did not have an interception. You ready for these numbers? In the red zone. In the red zone. Last year completed 66% of his. No, no, no, no, I'm wrong.
[11:50]
Interviewer
Wait.
[11:51]
Matt Hayes
Was way up. It was like in the 70s percent of his passes, 17 touchdowns, no interceptions. In the red zone. Bro. That's elite. That's elite. Elite.
[12:00]
Interviewer
And that's what the NFL looks at too, is red zone.
[12:03]
Matt Hayes
Yeah, it's. By any measure, if you look at what he did last year, you look at the numbers he put up, you look at the. Speaking of elite, you look at the toughness. Speaking of elite, you look at the toughness he showed in the run game. Not only a willing runner, but a tough, dangerous runner. I love Gunnar Stockton. I love him and I love the way he plays. I love the way those guys rally around him. Man. You look in those guys faces yesterday when you asked them about Gunner Stockton and their face just lights up and they smile and kind of like I smile when I see Shane stumble in when he promised me he'd be here for the start of the interview.
[12:46]
Interviewer
What do you think is holding this show back? More the fact that we're not with a big time ESPN on 3. With the fact we got a guy that can't show up on time.
[12:56]
Co-host
8:30. And. And for the audience it's 8:23, I'm seven years old.
[13:00]
Matt Hayes
I do believe we said 8 o', clock, did we not?
[13:02]
Interviewer
No, no, we said 8:30. We did, but he wanted to get a jumpsuit. It's Florida. It's a big day for him.
[13:08]
Co-host
Yeah, they don't, they don't call him Premature Matt for nothing, right?
[13:11]
Matt Hayes
You know, I'm taking strays. I'm taking strays from this guy. Seriously. Oh man.
[13:19]
Co-host
Hey, well, I appreciate you coming. I always like to ask who's getting fired first this year.
[13:26]
Matt Hayes
I just told Michael everybody's on the hot this league. Are you kidding me? It's the SEC, man. You're getting 10 mil a year. Everyone.
[13:35]
Interviewer
Are you buying into Texas? I mean everybody's like Texas going win Texas, Texas. And that's why I point to Sark again. Is he on a hot seat? I think that's crazy to say.
[13:43]
Matt Hayes
You know, what's interesting is Sark was very vocal in this. This offseason. Not just in the story that I wrote that blew up. And everybody was like, the basket weaving and. Which, by the way, wasn't really the whole. The focus of that article. What everyone probably should have focused on was the fact that he was exactly right about the playoff. You go to 24 teams, you're asking those guys to watch 40, 50 games a weekend. Not just highlight. You got to watch the games. Like, if you're literally going to be a guy who you can trust, who's going to decide who's in a playoff, you got to watch games. And he was like, look, I'm a junkie. When we don't play. I watch ball all the time. There's no chance I'm watching 40 or 50 games a weekend. And he's right. Like, he's right. Like a typical guy who wakes up at 8 in the morning to watch Game day or Big Noon kickoff, whichever show you watch all the way until the west coast games are done at 1:30. You know, the crazies like us that do that. That's how many games we watch. Maybe four or five a day. Maybe complete games. Come on, 40 or 50. That was the best part about that. The whole story was interesting, but. And everybody took the basket weaving as the thing. But that was the thing that I think jumped out more than anything for me was that. Now Sark, do I. No, I don't think he's on the hot seat. I think he's.
[15:04]
Interviewer
What if they don't make the playoff?
[15:05]
Matt Hayes
Bring him back. I think he knows he's got a really good team. That's what I think.
[15:09]
Interviewer
Right. I think he's capable of blowing it.
[15:13]
Matt Hayes
I think he knows he's got a really good team. And. And I also think that. Let's. Let's not forget that he's been the semifinals twice. Okay?
[15:20]
Interviewer
Yeah, but once he's not in the.
[15:21]
Matt Hayes
He's one. It doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. He's what? He's One playoff game, too.
[15:26]
Interviewer
The other one, he had to beat Arizona State. Oh, wow, What a tough opponent.
[15:30]
Co-host
He barely.
[15:30]
Interviewer
He almost lost that at home.
[15:32]
Matt Hayes
Got a little help from the officials, too.
[15:33]
Interviewer
Yeah.
[15:34]
Matt Hayes
And from Kenny Dillingham blitzing on 4th and. What was it? 4th and 13.
[15:37]
Interviewer
Yeah. So.
[15:39]
Matt Hayes
Yeah, I mean, that look. And beating a, you know, an average Clemson team, too, so. Still, you won. He won those games. Man, you got to Give him credit for that. And you got to give him credit for the year before win.
[15:51]
Interviewer
So beating Saban was big. Yeah, that was his best win.
[15:54]
Matt Hayes
Yeah, I mean I think he's going to have a big year. I think Cam Coleman was in. Have we ever figured out what the hell Hugh Freeze was doing the last two years? Seriously, what was he doing? Seriously?
[16:08]
Interviewer
I don't know if anyone trusted that.
[16:09]
Matt Hayes
How do you have Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton and you can't throw the ball? Seriously, how does that even happen? So. And. And they were pretty good on the offensive line too. And they had a good run, a couple good running backs. What the hell was he doing? That's. It's weird. It's just strange to me.
[16:29]
Co-host
I mean it was a. It was a great day.
[16:31]
Matt Hayes
He had a really good defense too.
[16:33]
Co-host
I do ask myself like if. If Coach A would have been a coach of the Auburn Tigers here, like how. How well would they enjoyed the playoffs?
[16:41]
Matt Hayes
I got news for you. If Alex Gold was the quarter was the coach at Auburn last year, imagine what that offense would have done. Seriously. So I feel bad for Alex Gold. He gets there. Those two guys out, they want no part of that anymore. Anyway, long story short, I think Cam Coleman's gonna have a big year with Arch Manning. Yeah, I go off on tangents, man.
[17:01]
Interviewer
I think. I think a lot of people would agree with that. What do you think about Tennessee? I'm picking them as a playoff team. Is that crazy?
[17:06]
Matt Hayes
Are you really?
[17:07]
Interviewer
Yeah. 10 and 2.
[17:09]
Matt Hayes
Really? The schedule is a little favorable. There's no doubt about that, right?
[17:13]
Interviewer
The biggest games, Texas Bama, lsu, all at home.
[17:16]
Matt Hayes
Who's playing quarterback?
[17:17]
Interviewer
Doesn't matter. It's going to be phase on.
[17:21]
Matt Hayes
I would expect big man to say that. I would not expect you to say that.
[17:26]
Interviewer
I think the talent around him is. Wow.
[17:28]
Matt Hayes
It doesn't matter.
[17:29]
Interviewer
Everybody just looks at the quarterback and I understand it's the most important position but we overlook everything around them. I think the offensive line is outstanding. DeSean Bishop's really good. Yeah, they got a couple of really good receivers. The tight end room is as talented as it's ever been under Hypo.
[17:46]
Matt Hayes
I believe in what Josh does there as far as offense and developing quarterbacks. But dude, you're asking a first time starter, Whoever it is, okay.
[17:55]
Interviewer
It's what he does every year.
[17:56]
Matt Hayes
Whoever it is. I know whoever it is, okay, you're asking about. Well, to be fair, Hen and Hooker played a lot of ball. Okay. Nico at least played good ball until
[18:07]
Interviewer
he got with Hypo.
[18:08]
Matt Hayes
True, but he, but he, he had been in college football and played ball, been under center, been in road environments, right?
[18:15]
Interviewer
Yeah, that's.
[18:16]
Matt Hayes
Been in third and nine on the road. He'd done it. Okay. He didn't play that badly either. He didn't play that badly at Virginia Tech. So Nico at least played a little, Played a little near the end of the season playing the bowl game, at least knew what it was going to be like, right? Plus Nico, to be honest, uber talented. Uber talented. Okay, so Joe Milton, also a guy who played a little bit at Michigan, at least knew what was going on. You got two guys now. Never played. Literally never played.
[18:47]
Interviewer
But the road games, Georgia Tech.
[18:49]
Matt Hayes
No, I get it, I get it.
[18:51]
Interviewer
Carolina could be good.
[18:53]
Matt Hayes
Hey, don't just throw Vanderbilt like that, man. Do not disrespect Vanderbilt like that.
[18:57]
Interviewer
We don't lose to Vanderbilt.
[19:00]
Matt Hayes
They got absolutely pantsed in that game last year in the second half. I.
[19:06]
Co-host
We don't lose two years in a row.
[19:08]
Matt Hayes
Okay, I'm with you. I'm with you. With Josh Eiffel, totally. Okay.
[19:11]
Interviewer
I think the defense will take a step.
[19:13]
Matt Hayes
I just don't know that whether it's McIntyre or Fazon, it's third N on the road in the league in third quarter and you need to play if that happens. I don't know. I don't know. I'll believe it when I see it. If they go 10 and 2 and they get in the playoff, I will sing your praises, man. Because I kind of see it as like a 7 and 5, maybe 8 and 4, you know, just a year where you're dealing with a new quarterback, slept in. That doesn't mean, like you're running the guy off. It means he's dealing with a new quarterback.
[19:43]
Co-host
Well, is there a take? I mean, coming into media days, is there a team that's maybe kind of changed a little bit?
[19:48]
Matt Hayes
Well, hang on real quick.
[19:49]
Co-host
Yeah.
[19:49]
Matt Hayes
If, if somehow Joey Aguilar got the right judge, which, I don't know. How did he not get the right judge? Everybody else seems to get the right judge. He didn't get the right judge. Yeah. Then I would say, okay, I could see 10 and 2 because he, by the end of last year, he was really throwing the ball well. And I think he was, he was. You could tell he had embraced that offense and he was very comfortable in it. So, yeah, I, if he were coming back. Yes. I would say that's not a. That's not too far out of the question. I don't know if I want to answer a question, I'm trying to be optimistic.
[20:18]
Co-host
It's Wednesday. I'm trying to figure out, is there a team.
[20:21]
Matt Hayes
By the way, when Caleb Dewar came in, you guys hang out, you walk with him?
[20:24]
Interviewer
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
[20:25]
Co-host
Well, we worked out. We did stairs this morning. You know, is there a team that when you came in here, you're a little low on lower than the balls. And now you're. You're. You may be singing a different tune.
[20:38]
Matt Hayes
I don't know about singing a different tune, but I'm still. I see Alabama, I ain't seen it.
[20:43]
Interviewer
I'm just.
[20:43]
Matt Hayes
I'm not seeing it, man. I don't know what every. I keep hearing, oh, yeah, they're going to go 10, 2, 11, 1. They're going to be in the playoff.
[20:50]
Co-host
Why?
[20:52]
Matt Hayes
It's the same situation as Tennessee. You got a quarterback who you're just like going to automatically just have faith in the fact that whether it's a redshirt freshman or a guy who transferred from Washington who didn't play at Washington, you're just automatically going to think everything's going to be okay and the quarterback's going to play well in this league.
[21:10]
Interviewer
Now, see, I'll disagree with you there. It's different than Tennessee because Alabama only returns one starter on offense. And he was so bad last year, he changed his name. He didn't want to be associated with his performance last year. That's completely different than Tennessee bringing back offensive line, running back, one. One starter, one returning starter, Ryan Williams, one.
[21:31]
Matt Hayes
Why am I alone in saying I'm not seeing it? I don't understand that.
[21:34]
Interviewer
That's why I call him four loss. Deborah. He's losing four games again.
[21:38]
Co-host
I think it's muscle memory, right? You're so used to voting Alabama at the top.
[21:43]
Matt Hayes
But it's weird. It's like every show I watch on tv, everything I read is like, alabama, Alabama. And I'm like, why? Why? Why?
[21:52]
Interviewer
Bama Bump that people give. Bama bump's gone. Saban's long gone.
[21:57]
Matt Hayes
I'm glad. I'm glad. The very least. My boys here, like, I also. I'm a little nervous because you guys obviously have the Tennessee bent, so you hate Alabama, and I get that, but I just. I don't see it, man. I don't. I absolutely do not see it. I'm going to write about it today, too. The whole. The whole Alabama thing. And, you know, it's just blind. It's just blind belief at this point. And I just. To me, you can have blind Belief. You know what I'm going to look at? 8 losses. That's what I'm going to look at. I'm going to look at what has happened the first two years. So I go by track record. And that's the only thing I think at this point. If you're looking at assessing teams, you got to go by track record. What has happened in the past. And when he got there, I was. Track record. He was like 100. What was it? 102 and 12 or something like that. Just ridiculous. And I was like, all right, this is a guy that can go in there and just win, because he's clearly done it before. And then the first year looked a little over, overmatched. You know, he's dealing with transition. I understand all that. The next year, right out of the gate, a Florida State team that beat West Texas State, Wake Forest. Who else did they beat? Was it Cal? They beat like three other bad teams in Alabama and beat the dog out of Alabama. So I don't. I guess. What's it going to take? Is it going to take efficiency to go in there and into Tuscaloosa and win that game, too? Before we all start saying, okay, they might have a problem right now, do
[23:23]
Interviewer
you have any thoughts on A and M heading into year three?
[23:25]
Matt Hayes
Love it. Love what Mike Elko's done. Love it. Absolutely love it. And I love the fact that he constantly reminds people, stop saying it's what it used to be or it's the old days or what we used to say. Texas 8 and 5, that's not them anymore. He's completely changed that mindset there. Love Marcel Reed. Think he's a wildly underrated quarterback. You were talking about the best quarterbacks in the league. He's got, man. He's got an. He's got an arm. He can throw that ball. Velocity. Really dangerous with his legs. I just love what they're doing. New oc, so we're going to see. That'll be a little adjustment because I think they were in kind of a groove there with Colin Klein. But yeah, that's. I love what they do.
[24:08]
Interviewer
Love it.
[24:08]
Matt Hayes
Impressive what he's done.
[24:09]
Interviewer
Actually, got a final question for Matt. Okay. So all our coverage at SEC media days.
[24:18]
Co-host
Not since he said all that mean stuff about my team.
[24:20]
Interviewer
Tennessee legend. Tennessee legends paying for our trip down here. So we're asking everybody for their Tennessee legend Boldest take heading into the SEC season.
[24:28]
Matt Hayes
Who is my Tennessee legend?
[24:30]
Interviewer
Well, that's our sponsor. Boldest take.
[24:32]
Matt Hayes
Well, let me give you my Tennessee legend. My favorite Tennessee player of all time.
[24:35]
Interviewer
Yeah,
[24:37]
Matt Hayes
there's a few. There's a few. I don't know if he was a legend. I love Derek Westmoreland. Love the way he played, man. I love the way he played. Pierce Price was fun as hell. I'd probably go. Probably Jamallo's
[25:03]
Co-host
local boy, too.
[25:04]
Matt Hayes
Bad man.
[25:04]
Interviewer
Yeah, Morristown boy.
[25:05]
Matt Hayes
Bad man.
[25:06]
Interviewer
He's from.
[25:07]
Co-host
Oh, Little Man Stewart, I'm thinking of.
[25:08]
Matt Hayes
Yeah, Jamal's from Georgia. Yeah, just a bad man. That's a. That's back when Fulmer owned the state of Georgia in recruiting, the state of South Carolina in recruiting.
[25:17]
Interviewer
I had family that got whoever you wanted attended Tennessee. When he was there, they said you saw him walking down the street. You crossed the street just because he. Nothing bad happened, but just he looks into. Like, you don't want to cross paths with that guy. You know what I mean?
[25:30]
Matt Hayes
He did fumble the ball against Florida, which I'm sure you guys are still upset about. What now? What was the other question? What's my Tennessee take?
[25:38]
Interviewer
Your boldest take in the SEC heading into the year.
[25:41]
Matt Hayes
Wow.
[25:41]
Interviewer
Boldest take last year, I believe you said Oklahoma's winning.
[25:45]
Matt Hayes
I said Oklahoma would win the conference. It was close. They got the playoff, and everybody was saying he was going to get fired. I'll go with Alabama. Doesn't make a playoff.
[25:56]
Interviewer
I don't know if that's bold, though. I mean, it's four loss deboer for you and us.
[25:59]
Matt Hayes
It's not for everyone else in this country, in this area, it's like blasphemy. Are you kidding me?
[26:03]
Co-host
Apparently, this room does have a little more buzz today, doesn't it?
[26:07]
Matt Hayes
I don't know. I was just saying. I was just.
[26:09]
Co-host
Of course, they may be fine. Bomb.
[26:11]
Matt Hayes
We just don't know it. Well, I was saying with Mike, like, had you been here on time, I was saying with Mike, we could have talked about this. It doesn't. Like, it's not. He walked in deboer. No one. No one's down there waiting for him. No one's asked for autographs. The Alabama ring hat guy's not there. He's just any old coach walking in. He walks in, he goes down, does some radio down there, has a little coffee, like it's nothing. I mean, like, if it was Nick. God almighty. I mean, or any. Or I shouldn't say that. Like, if they were. Like, if they made a run in the playoff last year or his first year, then you're like, all right, he's going to get this thing going. But I think even Alabama fans are like, I don't know about this, man. Apparently, the only person who's dead set we are winning with this cat is Greg Byrne. I don't know if he has to. He doesn't really have to be. I, I think it's. I, I think, look, whether Michigan was coming after him or not, and, and my guess is they sure they were. If I'm the AD there, I'm looking. All right, we lost eight games. I mean, if you want to go, you can go. You're gonna get me out of a contract where I owe you 60 million if I have to fire you now. So to me, that makes me think Greg Byrne is. No, this is the guy. And that's his prerogative, of course, but that's what makes me think Greg Byrne is all in on him. I don't think it was, oh, I gotta keep him, because the Michigan's gonna. I think he really thinks this is the guy that's gonna win, that he might be right. A year from now, I might be sitting there saying what an idiot I am for saying that. But, yeah, I mean, that's. I just go with what I've seen, and it doesn't. Yeah, this doesn't look that good.
[27:52]
Co-host
We don't have to wait a full year, man. We're already there.
[27:56]
Interviewer
All right, before you go, tell our audience, hey, you're not the first person
[27:58]
Matt Hayes
to call me, believe me.
[28:00]
Interviewer
Tell our audience how to follow you and find your work.
[28:02]
Matt Hayes
Usatoday.com and then also, if you want to listen, you can listen daily 12 to 2, 1010 XL in Jacksonville. All right, boys, good to see. You.