Hour 3 – College Football Playoff Improvements, Stewart Mandel

Summary

The Dan Patrick Show – Hour 3 Summary: College Football Playoff Improvements & Bill Belichick’s UNC Appointment

Release Date: December 12, 2024
Guest: Stewart Mandel, Senior College Football Writer for The Athletic

---

Introduction

In the third hour of The Dan Patrick Show, host Dan Patrick delves deep into the recent upheavals in college football, particularly focusing on the controversial hiring of NFL legend Bill Belichick as the head coach for the University of North Carolina (UNC). Joining him is Stewart Mandel, a respected senior college football writer from The Athletic, who offers a critical analysis of this decision and explores potential improvements to the College Football Playoff (CFP) system.

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Bill Belichick’s Appointment at UNC

Stewart Mandel opens the discussion by expressing skepticism about Belichick’s suitability for the college football landscape:

"Congratulations, North Carolina, you managed to hire somebody completely unqualified to be your next head coach."
(25:10)

Mandel argues that Belichick's extensive NFL experience may not translate effectively to the collegiate environment, citing his lack of recruitment experience:

"Bill Belichick has never recruited a day in his life."
(28:50)

He further emphasizes the unique challenges of college coaching, such as motivating 18 to 22-year-old players and the critical role of recruiting—skills he believes Belichick may not possess.

Dan Patrick counters by acknowledging Belichick’s meticulous nature and willingness to "get into the weeds," suggesting that Belichick's dedication might bridge the experience gap:

"I never underestimate him, even in a situation like this."
(28:25)

However, Mandel remains unconvinced, questioning whether Belichick can effectively build a long-term program solely through strategies like leveraging the transfer portal and NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) commitments:

"Their NIL money will be at the top level. You shouldn't worry about it."
(30:05)

---

College Football Playoff (CFP) System Improvements

Shifting the conversation to the CFP structure, Mandel proposes a more streamlined and transparent playoff system reminiscent of the NCAA basketball tournament:

"The most practical solution for the 12 team playoff would be a true final rankings to determine the matchups so the four highest ranked teams will get a bye."
(25:22)

He criticizes the current system for its automatic bids based on conference championships, which he feels manipulates seedings and diminishes the competitive integrity:

"I don't think you should be manipulating the seedings so that teams like Arizona State are getting the number four seed."
(30:56)

Mandel advocates for a ranking-based approach where the top 12 teams are selected purely on merit, with the top four receiving first-round byes. This, he believes, would enhance the suspense and overall quality of the playoff matchups:

"Now you look at everybody else and now you get your brackets, now you get a better TV show for the mothership."
(31:09)

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Impact of Transfer Portal and NIL Rules

The discussion also touches upon the evolving dynamics introduced by the transfer portal and NIL regulations. Mandel points out that while these elements introduce financial incentives and player mobility, they do not replace the foundational aspects of recruitment and team building that are crucial in college football:

"Transfer portal and NIL is laughable. The opportunity here to build an entirely new model for a unique time in a business that is unstable as it's ever been."
(30:40)

He underscores the necessity for coaches to engage directly with high school recruits, a facet he deems essential for sustained program success—a skill set he doubts Belichick fully possesses.

---

Audience and Caller Insights

Throughout the hour, Dan Patrick engages with callers who express varying degrees of concern and skepticism regarding Belichick's appointment. Notable interactions include:

• Caller Ed from Massachusetts questions the financial ramifications of Belichick’s hiring and its impact on UNC’s scheduling:

  "How much money just with all TV coverage is North Carolina going to get next year?"
  (11:28)

• Caller Red from Georgia laments the show's perceived oversight in highlighting Belichick’s hiring, prompting a deeper dive into the motivations and strategic implications behind UNC's decision.

---

Conclusion

The hour culminates with a consensus that Bill Belichick’s foray into college football is fraught with challenges, primarily due to his lack of recruitment experience and the distinct demands of nurturing young athletes. Stewart Mandel remains steadfast in his belief that this move could spell disaster for UNC, while also advocating for a more merit-based College Football Playoff system to enhance competitiveness and viewer engagement.

Notable Quotes:

• "Bill Belichick has never recruited a day in his life." – Stewart Mandel
  (28:50)

• "The most practical solution for the 12 team playoff would be a true final rankings to determine the matchups so the four highest ranked teams will get a bye." – Stewart Mandel
  (25:22)

• "Transfer portal and NIL is laughable. The opportunity here to build an entirely new model for a unique time in a business that is unstable as it's ever been." – Stewart Mandel
  (30:40)

---

Final Thoughts

Listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of the complexities surrounding Bill Belichick’s transition to college football and the potential need for reform in the College Football Playoff system. Stewart Mandel’s expert insights provide a critical lens through which to evaluate these significant developments, making this episode a must-listen for college football enthusiasts and stakeholders alike.

Transcript

[Savannah Guthrie]

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[Unknown]

This is a funny tweet from Nicole auerbach. She said 12 months from now, Bill Belichick will be covered in mayonnaise.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Or eating a pop chart.

[Unknown]

That's so much in almost every circumstance except for college football. That would make no sense. But it makes perfect sense in college football. Gosh, is that funny? So let's see. We have up there right now, Bill Belichick's tenure in North Carolina will be widely successful or a complete disaster. That's holding strong at about 64% that it'll be a complete disaster. Not sure how I feel about that. Also, is it widely successful, wildly successful or either? Right now, wildly successful has about 70% of that vote.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Great. Yeah, great. Glad we thought we got that cleared up.

[Unknown]

These are important things, okay? These are very, very important.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Final Hour poll question is going to.

[Unknown]

Be what I think we're going to put up there. Todd has one here about the prestigious NBA Cup. He's got a real problem with the NBA Cup. I'm not really sure why.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Todd, I'll let you deliver your poll question, okay?

[Unknown]

Who wins the prestigious NBA Cup? Bucks, Hawks, Rockets, Thunder? Doesn't matter to me. I just love it. It's the Cup.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Too snarky. I think you're mocking the Cup.

[Unknown]

Well, I started with who wins the prestigious NBA. Hey, it is the cup, though it may not be the cup. We're thinking.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I think you're being sarcastic.

[Unknown]

Well, you got the Stanley cup and right behind that the NBA Cup. Isn't it almost neck and neck if you think about it?

[Savannah Guthrie]

8773 DP Show Email address DP danpatrick.com Twitter handle @dpshow by the way, the NCAA President Charlie Baker, he was with us a couple of weeks ago and I kind of pushed him on March Madness expansion. And I said, you know, where are we going? You had some coaches, former coaches, Jim Boeheim said, oh, we're going to go to 96. I said, we're not going to 96, not anytime soon. And Charlie Baker says there's room to expand to 76 teams. And he doubled down on that yesterday, brought that up. But he told that to us. That was November 13, where he said they are going to expand or get ready for the room to expand to 76 schools. Here's also something my college football source who's been awesome this morning with background information on Belichick in North Carolina, says the following SEC and Big Ten realizing that they're going to get slots without guarantees because they might have language where the SEC and Big Ten are guaranteed two spots, but they already know they're probably going to get two spots anyway. So you don't want to be arguing for that. Here is what my source says that this is next season as early as next season. The most practical solution for the 12 team playoff would be a true final rankings to determine the matchups so the four highest ranked teams will get a buy. This isn't about conference championships. Conference championships get you in. That doesn't mean you get a first round by this is what I've been saying. I think it makes the most sense. Plus everybody's going to be excited about the rankings. So when the reveal happens, you already know that Boise State is in an Arizona State. You already know kind of who's in. The only team we didn't know was is Alabama in or smu. So there's no real drama there. But if you say, here are the final rankings, so you know, the first four got buys, now you look at everybody else and now you get your brackets, now you get a better TV show for the mothership. And of course, that's what it's about, a great TV show. That's probably what's going to happen. I think that makes more sense if you win your conference. Also, if you go back when they first started this, this is when the PAC12 was still in existence. So they were saying, you're going to have schools from the SEC, Big 10, ACC, PAC 12 get in, guaranteed there would be at least all conferences were going to be represented. Well, USC, UCLA were going to the Big Ten, but they were still going to keep the Pac12 in the playoffs. Pac12 dissolves. Now all of a sudden you've said if you win your conference. So now Boise State is in, they win their conference. Arizona State, they get a first round by as well. That's why this is going to change and probably change as early as next year. All right, let's see some phone calls in here as well. See anything else that I need to mention? This first hour, final hour of the program. I'm knee deep and Bill Belichick and people are like, what do you. Why do you. This love fest for Bill Belichick? I, I don't even know him. I think I'm just being respectful is all I am. I got it. I. My only interaction with him was he was kind of asking me to get out of the way so he could say hello to Tony Dungy. I don't think that makes us friends, but I don't bet against him. That's all. I, I think he's going into this with eyes wide open, wallet wide open. As far as the NIL transfer portal, all of those things. And I'll go back to what my source said earlier. The thing to keep an eye on is the financial commitment. And my source said in addition to staffing, it will become clear that the school is increasing its NIL commitment more than 500%. Also, Belichick was pursued by the chair of the board of trustees, so he was pursued by North Carolina. My source goes on to say, overall, North Carolina is comfortable taking these steps as part of a broader strategy to build slash, retrofit itself to be ready as a prospective SEC or Big Ten Member. So there's a bigger play here, but, you know, that's just some of the information that I got. My source goes on to say, saying that Belichick not familiar with the transfer portal and NIL is laughable. The opportunity here to build an entirely new model for a unique time in a business that is unstable as it's ever been. And their NIL money will be at the top level. You shouldn't worry about it. So that's according to my source this morning. Ed in Massachusetts. Hi, Ed. What's on your mind today?

[Unknown]

Hey, Dan. Definitely all into the cup this year. Two question and a hot take possibly question is, how much money just with all TV coverage is North Carolina going to get next year? And somehow they need to get a game against Colorado. That would be good watching tv.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Probably too late for that. I think that the. The schedules as far as out of conference, those are already secured, but unless they create something, start the season. But I don't know if Dion goes. Yeah, I'll do it. Or Bill Belichick's going to. I mean, if I'm Belichick. You're opening up with tcu. You want to make sure you're opening up with a win. But yeah, those schedules done in advance, certainly out of conference. Yes, Paulie.

[Unknown]

As of right now, like you said, Dan, all contracts could be broken in college football. But right now, UNC places tcu, Charlotte, Richmond, ucf. The first big ones again. They have Clemson on the schedule, but they don't have a lot of toughies. They got Duke, Stanford, Virginia, Cal, NC State, Syracuse, Wake Forest. Not a lot of hammers there. Some good teams, but not Hammers.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And they're already bowl eligible this year going to the Fenway Bowl. So the over under six and a half, they're expecting Carolina to be a bowl eligible next year. A couple of phone calls in here, Red, in Georgia. Hey, Red. What's on your mind?

[Unknown]

How's it going, dad? It's a pleasure to talk to you again. It's been like what, maybe three years?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Welcome back, Danny.

[Unknown]

I'm surprised today nobody reported to you. Good as calls that you have throughout the country how shelter stole your chapel Bill thing. And that's big to me. Good as y'all is the shelter. Y'all always give him credit and y'all always pay them all. Give him all the praises in the world on. On the Dan Patrick Show. So why haven't no one gave you that information yet?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, Red, I did see it that chefty had his tweet that Said Chapel Bill and then said Belichick is taking the Carolina jump. You know, maybe Shefty was told that, thought it was cute, then put it on his tweet. It's okay. People have borrowed things from this show for decades now. Why stop now? Yes, Marvin. Have they given it back, though? No, they don't. Oh, they just stole it. I mean, we gave Tom Brady Tampa Bay. He never gave it back. Even after he left. Tried to sue us, send a damn cease and desist letter. Nah, I'm not a litigious person. If Shefty needs it, dress it up a little bit. You know, being an insider, kind of boring, you know, don't get to show your personality. So if this helps. Shifty, a little personality there. Good for him. Yes, Todd, I hate to say it.

[Unknown]

But it is within the realm of possibility that he did not hear it or it wasn't told to him that we said it and he thought of it and he said, wow, look what I just came up with.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So you're defending Shefty.

[Unknown]

I think it's possible that it wasn't stolen and he came up with it too.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And what side are you? Which team are you on? Team Shefty or Team Dan?

[Unknown]

I am on Team Dan and I was the one that came up with Chapel Bill, so I'd like to think that it was stolen. So that's all the more reason why you think I would be on our team. But it is possible that he thought he came up with it and had never heard it before.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Awesome. Really?

[Unknown]

Just trying to be fair.

[Savannah Guthrie]

This is a well listened to show, Tom.

[Unknown]

It's very well listened to.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Thank you.

[Unknown]

And you would think the odds would be that someone told him that we said it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I think somebody said, hey, you know, what about Chapel Bill? And Shefty goes, yeah, and then tweeted it out. I mean, it's.

[Unknown]

God, I would have never thought.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's not the most creative thing.

[Unknown]

I would have never thought of taking the H and making it a B. So it's. I would have never thought of that.

Groundbreaking stuff.

A million years would have thought.

[Savannah Guthrie]

We didn't hear it until we said it. Let's get the I team on it.

[Unknown]

Pauline, the origin of Chapel Bill.

[Savannah Guthrie]

If somebody brought up Chapel Bill, I want to shout them out and give them credit.

[Unknown]

30 for 30. I have one little tidbit on UNC's schedule for next year. They do not, as a caller said, have to play Miami, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Louisville, or SMU. They dodge a lot of bullets. There. However, UNC plays at Boston College in 20.

[Savannah Guthrie]

20 oh, 2028. Nobody cares. All right, Todd, you have something else to add to this? No.

[Unknown]

I'm wondering if we come up with, like, Blue Belichick, is that going to be stolen, too? Because the whole light blue thing with North Carolina, is that something that others would rol with or it's not.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I'll let them steal that one.

[Unknown]

Blue Belichick?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. I'll let them steal Bill.

[Unknown]

Blue. A chick?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. Chapel. Chapel Bill is nice. Yeah.

[Unknown]

Come to think of it, it probably was stolen. Come on, Chef. You're better than that.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Just say we asked Shefty to. Come on. We just want to ask him this question, Nothing else.

[Unknown]

He's busy. He's got phones in both ears and dangling from.

[Savannah Guthrie]

He can't talk.

[Unknown]

Dangling.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I don't know if phones dangle anymore. DOD they probably don't. The cord, the. Anybody have a house phone? You got a house phone number? I'm not surprised.

[Unknown]

Thinking about getting rid of it. But we still do have the home phone number.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Seaton.

[Unknown]

I have a house phone, but it's over the Internet. I don't know if that still counts, but I do have a number.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I have a house phone, but it's not hooked up. I mean, it's not connected, but it's there on the wall, like an antique. Yeah, yeah. It's orange house phone. And I said to my wife, I said, why don't we take that off? She goes, well, no, then you got to repair the whole wall. So we have a house phone. Yes.

[Unknown]

We only keep the number. And actually, now that I think about this, it's kind of crazy that we actually pay monthly just to keep it for this reason. But it used to be the writer Arthur Miller. He was married to Marilyn Monroe. He's wrote what he. Like, Death of a Salesman, I think.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

Anyway, he was very famous. It was his old phone number. And we occasionally get phone calls from family members who don't realize that they're calling the wrong number. And so we'll get interesting voicemails.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And Arthur Miller's been dead for a long, long time.

[Unknown]

He's been dead for a very long time. But they're calling what they think is his house in Connecticut, looking for other family members. And it'll be like, Julia.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Julia.

[Unknown]

Is this Julia? I'm trying to reach you about the holidays, but no one is getting back to me. Julia. And Julia is, like, Arthur Miller's, like, granddaughter or something, and she's married to Daniel Day Lewis. Right. So it's like, oh, man, this is like an interesting story. We might as well keep this.

[Savannah Guthrie]

What?

[Unknown]

Todd and I think Arthur Miller went to Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, New York, which is where I went. Because I.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You think or.

[Unknown]

I'm quite sure I think he's on the list of a lot of luminaries that went to Lincoln High School.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And you brought that up because.

[Unknown]

Because I just wanted to be part of the conversation. Had nothing to do with anything. Okay, Mentioned Arthur Miller. I'm like, I got a little Arthur Miller nugget for you.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yes, Paul.

[Unknown]

Death of a phone number. No, he was. Arthur Miller died in 2005 and passed away 19 years ago. He was married to Marilyn Monroe for six years.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Overrated.

[Unknown]

How?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Too soon.

[Unknown]

Hold up.

Marilyn or Arthur?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Marilyn.

[Unknown]

Okay, hold on.

What if you look at Arthur Miller and he was wildly successful and famous, but looks wise.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Marilyn Monroe was married to Joe DiMaggio. He wasn't good looking.

[Unknown]

Well, but you're Joe DiMaggio. You don't have to be.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, Arthur Miller was famous as a playwright.

[Unknown]

A playwright? Famous in Yankee.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, but she was an actress. The playwright put me in a play.

[Unknown]

But that's like a CBS sitcom. Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, like, looks wise.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. All right. Have we exhausted all of this? Okay, Julia. I think Larry King went to Abraham Lincoln High School. Also, did Sandy Koufax go to Abraham Lincoln High School?

[Unknown]

Nice Jewish boy, but I think he went somewhere else.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Are you sure that Koufax didn't go to Lincoln High School?

[Unknown]

I'm not sure. I'd have to look, but I don't think so.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You can look. I can right now. Koufax went to Lincoln High School. I thought he and Larry King went to the same high school. Didn't Larry King say they went to the same high school?

[Unknown]

Todd.

Sandy Korfax went to Lafayette High School.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Okay, where did Larry King go?

[Unknown]

Stand by.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Okay, how about I take a break?

[Unknown]

Neil diamond went to Abraham Lincoln High School.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Cracklin.

[Unknown]

I got a scholarship from the Neil Diamond Foundation.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Caroline.

[Unknown]

Larry King, International High School at Lafayette. I don't know if that's the same.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That would be Lafayette.

[Unknown]

Is that the same thing as Lafayette High School in Brooklyn International?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Did Marv Albert go to Lafayette High School? Yes. Did he go to Lincoln High School?

[Unknown]

Yes, he did.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Okay.

[Unknown]

And he went to nyu. He went to my high school and my college. Oh, my gosh. How exciting is that? How about he went to Syracuse and my son went.

[Savannah Guthrie]

How about we have him on so you can interrupt him again?

[Unknown]

Okay.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Take a break.

[Unknown]

That was terrible.

[Savannah Guthrie]

When we come back, Stuart Mandel from the Athletic. He says, congratulations, North Carolina. You managed to hire someone completely unqualified to be your next head coach. His column doesn't get any nicer after that. He'll join us coming up right after this. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our [e-mail] and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live game on.

[Unknown]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

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[Unknown]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

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[Unknown]

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[Unknown]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

Only at Del Taco Troy Aikman tells us his favorite player of all time. He's still playing his favorite player of all time. Have that for you coming up. Stat of the Day brought to you by Panini America, the official trading cards of the Dan Patrick Show. I just saw this quote. The West Virginia president he used to be at Ohio State, Gordon gee back in 2009 had the following quote. I'll say it again, over my dead body. Mark that down. We will not have a playoff in this era. Period. He's still alive, isn't he?

[Unknown]

Just.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Just want to make sure it said over his dead body. Not going to have a playoff. Web modifications to this year's playoff probably coming up next year. Stuart Mandel, Senior college football writer for the Athletic co host of the Audible Podcast your your column was on fire. In fact, I'm picking it up. It's a little warm here. Stewart, from what you had to say about Bill Belichick, you start out by saying, congratulations, North Carolina, you managed to hire somebody completely unqualified to be your next football coach. You did that thing so many schools do when they try to win the press conference instead of win football games. It rarely works. All right. Fill in the details of how you came to this conclusion.

[Hoda Kotb]

Well, Dan, I've been covering college football for 25 years. I have seen time and again NFL coaches come into college pledging to kind of reinvent the wheel, run an NFL program at the college level, it's never worked. The only guy that I've seen and he was wildly successful was Pete Carroll. That was not because of anything he had done in the NFL. He was a maniacal recruiter who surrounded himself with other maniacal recruiters. Bill Belichick has never recruited a day in his life. So I think that he's right. I think he said college is more like the NFL than it ever has been. And he's right about that. In terms of the portal and nil. And these teams are hiring salary cap experts now, but recruiting is still the lifeblood of the sport. And then I think another key element, the two things Nick Saban was so good at, recruiting and motivation. And you know, in the NFL, that's not really a part of it. Their motivation is their, is their livelihood. You're talking about 18 to 22 year old kids who, if you, you know, you've seen it all this season, right? Guys who just don't show up for a game sometimes. And you know, I, I think those are skills that are very unique to college. I don't know that, you know, for all the great things he's done as a football coach, he hasn't had to do those things before.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But isn't free agency transfer portal?

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, free agency is the transfer portal, but we've yet to see a program build itself entirely off the transfer portal. You can do it. You know, Dion did it to basically purge the roster for a year and, but now even he is, you know, building it with high school kids for the long term. So I, I don't doubt he could come come in. There's gonna be a lot of buzz. There's gonna be guys who absolutely want to come play for the six time super bowl champion. And that can work for a year. But how do you build a long term program? I just don't think you can build a long term program solely off. We're going to do the salary cap, we're going to get the best free agents. At the end of the day, you still have to ask a college coach what they spend a lot of time doing. It's dming high school kids with little smiley face emojis come check out our campus. That's a big part of it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, but a lot of these coaches will pass that on to their assistant coaches. So if you have your offensive coordinator, your quarterback's coach, they're going to be dming the quarterback, Bill Belichick can get on a zoom call, talk to the kid and his family. I, I think we're underestimating Belichick's desire to prove that he can do this, that he is as researched as any coach in the history of sports has ever. He just doesn't walk into something and go, oh my gosh, wait a minute, I've got to do this or the collective is going to have money there. I think he's going to defer. Lombardi is going to, you know, be his gm. He'll bring in some of his other assistant coaches. It just feels like this is, you know, Belichick loves getting into the weeds and doing this stuff. Or at least that's the feeling I get. I never underestimate him, even in a situation like this.

[Hoda Kotb]

I definitely got the sense he is. He has spent the year preparing for this. We've heard about this 300 page Bible that he sends his Pat McAfee interview. He was came off very prepared. There's no question about it. And I'll be curious to see who he, who he hires. I mean, you mentioned Lombardi, also not a college guy. If he brings in some really good, you know, experienced college recruiters, that will definitely help. But if the idea is we're going to just move the New England NFL franchise to Chapel Hill. Yeah, I don't, I don't know that. You definitely need to have some guys who have a lot of experience at the college level.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, this is what Deion needed to do. I said Deion's not a great coach. Deion is a great CEO. He's a great brand. He brought in in a pretty impressive staff. And I think that was important because, and this may be, you know, Belichick is going to just coach. He goes into every game having an advantage of being a better coach than the guy across from the field. The question is, what kind of talent level can you bring in? And that will be the big challenge. I mean, the over under six and a half wins next season.

[Hoda Kotb]

And that doesn't look like Deion's biggest thing. Well, not his biggest thing, but one of the biggest things is he got to bring in his son.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yes.

[Hoda Kotb]

Who might be the first quarterback drafted and Travis Hunter, who might be the number one pick.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, if I gave you Belichick with Shador Sanders and Travis Hunter, that would.

[Hoda Kotb]

Be a great start.

[Savannah Guthrie]

He would have. That would be 10 wins or it'd be a disappointment. Is Deon staying at Colorado no matter what happened? If Shador is the number one pick, the Raiders have the number one pick. Is Deon going to stay at Colorado?

[Hoda Kotb]

I get the sense he's committed to stay Colorado next year. He loves it there. He feels like he's building something. But college football now is year to year. You know, is he. Nobody could predict. Is he going to be there for five years? I think he'll be their coach in 20, 25 and we'll see beyond that.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You look at this format here, Stuart, and it's 12 teams now. I didn't like where Arizona State and Boise State were automatically placed in with these first round buys. What is your solution? If you think there should be a solution to the 12 team playoff next year?

[Hoda Kotb]

I think it's a good format in general and I'm, and I'm fine with rewarding conference champions with an automatic berth. But to your point, I don't think you should be manipulating the seedings so that the Arizona State's the number 12 team in the country and they're getting the number four seed and Texas is the number three team in the country and they're got the five seed. I mean, I think just, you know, Arizona State would not have gotten in without winning its conference championship. To me, that's reward enough now. Well, I don't think anything will change for next season, but the year after that is a tirely new contract where the Big Ten and SEC can basically dictate the terms. And I'm sure we will see, at the very least, the end of the buys for everybody.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I would love to see the rankings are going to determine that. It's just like March Madness. You, you get in. That doesn't mean you get a first round buy. So this would be the top 12 teams. You get in, you win your conference, you're in. Now we look at the top 12 with rankings and imagine that reveal show on the mothership that we're looking at the rankings. We're, you know, it's not, hey, that team's in, but where is Boise State playing or Arizona State playing? The first four teams get, you know, first round buys. Then it could be a lot more interesting here and more of a TV show. So I think that's where we're headed. I don't know if it'll be next year, maybe, you know, a year after that if Ryan Day loses to Tennessee. Finish that sentence.

[Hoda Kotb]

He might, he might not make it back to his house that night. I mean, that, that's the one scenario everybody. Oh, they're going to fire him. Not only the only time, the only way that becomes into play in my mind is if he loses that first round game, because think about that. His last two games, home games, will have been an inexcusable loss to Michigan. Any first round loss with a team that was expected to at least play for the national championship, that's, you know, that's going to be a very, if that's the case, a very miserable off season. I don't, you know, whether they fire him or not, I just can't imagine Ryan Day would want to come back into that environment.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Before I let you go, we just had a member of the audience ask about Pete Carroll. Has anybody reached out to Pete Carroll? If they're reaching out to Bill Belichick, is Pete, does he have any interest in coaching?

[Hoda Kotb]

Again, they should reach out to him because he was an amazing college football coach. Right. And frankly, I don't think gets enough appreciation for the fact that he's really the only guy I've seen to win at a high level in both, at both college and the NFL. Is he interested in coming back to college? I've not heard anything to indicate that. There's also not really jobs open right now that I would think would interest him. We're going to see probably next cycle, next year, a bunch of SEC jobs open, possibly Big Ten. You know, it's amazing to me that Belichick's going to, of all places, North Carolina. You know, you would think it would have had to be one of the blue bloods that would get him. And that's really what I think intrigues everybody so much about this, that of all places, unc, UNC football.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Good to talk to you again. Thank you, Stuart.

[Hoda Kotb]

Thanks, Dan.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Stuart Mandel Senior college football writer for the Athletic co host of Audible podcast what people didn't think, like, Tom Brady's going to go to Tampa? Well, he went to Tampa because he knew that they were kind of a sleeping giant. We've heard North Carolina football is a sleeping giant for decades. And maybe he looks at this and says, hey, you know, this is the place. What are the expectation level if you're Ohio State now, this is crazy. If you're Ohio State and you knew Bill Belichick was going to go, would want to coach in college, if you had any doubts about Ryan Day, would you have reached out to Bill Belichick to see if he would be interested? I know that it's, it's wild to think that way, but I'm, I'm just wondering, these other colleges, is anybody, any athletic director or chancellor or president going, why didn't we reach out to him? I don't know, just something that came up. Jim in Omaha. Hi, Jim. What's on your mind today, Dan?

[Unknown]

First time caller 6, 1, 2, 10.

I just got a, got a good name for Bill.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Bill on the Hill. Bill on the Hill. Well, I still like Fritzie's Chapel. Chapel Bill. Mark in Indiana. Hi, Mark. What's on your mind today?

[Unknown]

Hey, Dan, Long time. First time 6 to 195. When I heard about the whole Mark Gaston situation, I was reminded a little bit of a, an article I read in Sports Illustrated a few years back. It was an article about retired lineman from the Pittsburgh Steelers and obviously back in his playing date. He was a monster of a man. 285. And the reason he was in Sports Illustrated 10 years later was that he dropped 100 pounds. He had just completed his first New York City Marathon. And I was just struck, you know, the guy had a new, a new challenge, a new body. He had moved on. And that's the Mark Gaffino thing. It's just sad to me that Gaffino hasn't moved on.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, you know, I can't blame him. This is, this is who he is. This is his identity. And we don't know how important these moments are to these players. Players want to move on from something bad. He had the sack record for the single season and all of a sudden he watches this right in front of him. Favre takes a dive and Michael Strahan gets his record. Now, we don't know at the time, he certainly didn't act or react that way, that he was bothered by it. He hugged Michael Strahan on the sideline. And then we find out 22 years later, it still hurts. Not gonna leave. He probably watches the NFL. Maybe he doesn't even watch anymore where he'll see T.J. watt get 22 and a half sacks. Hey, you're playing in more games. Hey, there's more passive times, more opportunity, whatever it is. This is Mark Gastono's identity. Yeah. Mark, was that record a big deal before Strahan started approaching it?

[Unknown]

Like, did most people know that Mark.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Gastineau was a single season sack record holder? Yeah.

[Unknown]

Okay.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And he held it for a long time. And then all of a sudden there was the, hey, is he going to get close to Gaston? Those rack. Oh, he can break Gastonau's record. He breaks Gastonau's record. I don't know if it was that big a deal. When T.J. watt got to tying Michael Strahan's record. Yeah.

[Unknown]

Paulie, people always find it easy for other people to move on from things. Why the heck can't he or she just move on from things? But when it's you who's been slighted or screwed over, it's a little tougher.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. Yeah. Like my wife said for a decade, move on from espn. I'm like, no. Move on. No. I'm going to hold a grudge. Arms folded, they don't care. I don't care. I care. Then I think one day I go, you know, I'm going to move on from this ESPN grudge. I'm good. She goes, you won. I said, I know, but I want them to admit they lost. And she goes, oh, my God. I said, yeah, I know, I know. Just a little competitive there, that's all. Let's take a break here. We'll come back. Last call for phone calls. What we learn what's in store tomorrow after this. Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan Patrick show, weekdays at.

[Unknown]

9Am Eastern, 6am Pacific on Fox Sports.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Radio and the I Heart Radio app Game On.

[Unknown]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

See terms and conditions 18 + Here's a weird stat. I don't know why I'm bringing this up other than they are playing tonight. The rams have scored 40 or more points in 81 games in NFL history. Only two teams have scored more had more games where they scored 40 or more points. Both scored 40 or more points 82 times in their franchise history. The Rams have scored 40 or more points 81 times.

[Unknown]

Yes, Todd the Cowboys and the Steelers.

[Savannah Guthrie]

No. Seed no.

[Unknown]

Connor it's not the Cowboys.

[Savannah Guthrie]

No Marvin 49ers and the Raiders. No Paul Chiefs Raiders Chiefs Packers Chiefs Packers. Stat of the Day Stat of the Day Stat of the day. Here comes Here comes that what? Stat of the day Oregon quarterback Dylan Gabriel on the program tomorrow. Troy Aikman was on the fan in Dallas and He had this to say about his favorite player of all time. I've not seen many quarterbacks play better than him when they've. When they've gone undefeated. I mean, this guy, he, without question, is my favorite quarterback in the NFL. Maybe my favorite favorite player of all time, for that matter. I just, I love everything about him, especially in today's NFL where you just don't see these types of players. Okay, stop it right there. Troy Aikman is speaking about who? Todd, Josh Allen Seaton.

[Unknown]

Jane Daniels, Marvin Patrick Mahomes.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Paul.

[Unknown]

Josh Allen, Joe Burrow. Man crush.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Joe Burrow. His favorite player of all time. All time. All time. T. Roy Aikman. Wow. With a man crush there on call for Troy Aikman.

[Unknown]

Yes. Let's do that.

[Savannah Guthrie]

All right. Thank you, Todd. Thank you. Kevin in Oregon, by the way, just giving you guys a head. Heads up. Dan Edge. We're going to write tomorrow's headline today for the Thursday night game. Just. Yes. You know, this is happening. You hate doing this. Kevin in Oregon. Hi, Kevin.

[Unknown]

How we doing, guys?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Great.

[Unknown]

First time, long time. 6, 4, 2, 40.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You know, I was just a little disappointed that nobody knew it was Estelle.

[Unknown]

Costanza who says, oh, my God, that was her iconic line.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And you guys put it in the.

[Unknown]

Play of the day.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And I was very disappointed.

[Unknown]

So I just had to call.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Oh, well, thank you. Yes. Eaton.

[Unknown]

Well, that's an interesting take from Kevin because I text Bob, the guy who made it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

And he said it's some random caller from the Phil Hendry show that I always found very funny. It has nothing to do with.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, Bob put it together.

[Unknown]

So Bob is the person who made it. Yeah, he is. And he was just like, ah, no, it's just some random thing that I thought was really funny. Oh, it's definitely not Susan Waldman.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Or Estelle Getty.

[Unknown]

Or Estelle Getty.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Still getting Susan Wallet Holdman. Oh, my God, John.

[Unknown]

Oh, my God, John. Roger Clemens and George Steinbrennen's box announcing.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That he is back.

[Unknown]

That was wild.

[Savannah Guthrie]

This day in sports history. And then we will write Tomorrow's headline today.

[Unknown]

1976, Joe Namath played his last game with the New York Jets. 1981, Wayne Gretzky got to 50 goals in a season after only 39 games. It's kind of nuts.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Oh.

[Unknown]

Former cowboy Nate Newton and two others were arrested with charges of carrying at least blank pounds of marijuana in a van. Guess how many pounds of marijuana.

What is 110?

Higher. Literally higher. No pun.

[Savannah Guthrie]

250.

[Unknown]

Lower.

God.

110 felt good.

[Savannah Guthrie]

200.

[Unknown]

150, 125.

A buck 75.

All right.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And it's always Nate Newton and two others. They never mention the two others. They're just Nate Newton and two others. How about this one?

[Unknown]

It's a lot of weed.

[Savannah Guthrie]

LeBron James made his ESPN debut in 2002 high school game. They beat Oak Hill. He had 31, 13 and six for St. Vincent. St. Mary's selfish. Let's write tomorrow's headline today. Todd, I'll start with you.

[Unknown]

I'm going to go with his cup runneth over. Cooper helps knock off Niners.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. Okay. Seem to go cup a couple of times here, right?

[Unknown]

Did I go. Did I use that?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I think you've gone cup a couple of times. This cup.

[Unknown]

Run it over.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, I got it. Seton tomorrow's headline.

[Unknown]

That's actually why I love this bit so much. Is essentially the same jokes for the last 17 years. We just package it in a new way.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

How about with playoffs on the line, Rams win.

That's funny.

Get right to the point. Why not? Doesn't have to be cute.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Marvin. Tomorrow's headline today. That's my ball punk. Debo bullies the Rams. Like Debo in the movie.

[Unknown]

Friday he said that's my bike punk.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Now I feel like Fritzie. It's a good. It's solid.

[Unknown]

Wrong. Wrong room.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Maybe it's a good Paul. Tomorrow's headlines.

[Unknown]

I hate to say this because I like this guy. Puka Nakua.

Okay.

Rams wide receiver drops game winning touchdown.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Oh, no.

[Unknown]

That's very specific. That's not nice.

I love that guy. Why would I do that?

Dan, Puka, do you have a headline?

[Savannah Guthrie]

No, I don't do it. Oh, see you.

[Unknown]

Oh, no, I'm the host.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Okay. No, no, no. I'm the host.

[Unknown]

That's very weak.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Thank you, Todd.

[Unknown]

Cup checked. Cooper can't.

Never heard that one before.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, that's new. Jerry in Texas. Hi, Jerry. What's on your mind?

[Unknown]

Hi, Dan. Yeah, about this Bill Belichick in unc who's the biggest booster of UNC sports. I'll throw that out to the floor.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, I would think it would be Michael Jordan.

[Unknown]

Oh, how many five star recruits to Bill Belichick gonna sign? Pulling up to a house in stretch limo with Michael Jordan in tow.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, I don't know if Mike's going to take that much time to be pulling up in a limo. I don't think coaches do that anymore. I don't think Belichick's going to anyone's houses either. Excuse me.

[Unknown]

It's not a limo. It's a stretch limo.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, yeah. I don't, I don't think we do limos anymore.

[Unknown]

And I don't know that Bill Belichick and Michael Jordan are getting in a car to go anywhere together.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I don't think so.

[Unknown]

Certainly not a recruits house. I don't care how many stars you put.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, Mike might help out, but I don't think he's going to go door to door. There's a, there's a Tommy. There's a gentleman here who says his name is Mike and a guy named Bill.

[Unknown]

I think Mike is going to look and say, you know how I helped out. You see that logo on the front of all your jerseys? That's what I did. That's how I helped.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You're welcome. Let's go around the room. What we learned on the program. Todd, you learn anything today?

[Unknown]

I did. Seaton rightfully points out Bill Belichick is a lot more chatty and comfortable speaking with other football guys, not some reporter with a notebook.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It is true that he does, you know, talk down to reporters, but if there's Peyton Manning, eli Manning, Pat McAfee, he'll speak to them. It's a great point.

[Unknown]

All right, Seaton, Stuart Mandel's throwing fire in his.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, yeah. He didn't back off Bill Belichick. Not going to be successful. Not good. Marvin the legend Rich Rod is coming home. Yeah. To West Virginia, class of 1996. Really happy about that.

[Unknown]

We get Dana involved and just make it like.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

Have them form like Voltron together.

[Savannah Guthrie]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

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[Unknown]

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[Hoda Kotb]

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