Loading summary
Transcript88 lines
- [00:00]
A
Foreign. Welcome everyone to the Longhorn Republic, your source for Texas Longhorn news, sports and opinions with a bit of snark built. And we are members of the Dave Campbell's Texas Football Podcast Network and the College Football Huddle. And you can find more about both those great organizations in our social media bios. If you like what we do, please leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcast. The comment on Spotify helps as well. You can also connect with us on social media @longhornpod, on Twitter and Blue Sky, Facebook and Instagram the Longhorn Republic. Or shoot us an email longhornrepublicpod gmail.com My name is Gerald Goodridge. I'm a host this week like I am every week, and I'm joined by a man who's warming up the Clangas, Kyle Carpenter. Kyle, how are you?
- [00:57]
B
Indeed, Gerald, this is like the famous SNL sketch. More cowbell, more cowbell, more cowbell episode where we talk to a good friend about the Mississippi State Bulldogs. But really, Gerald, it's important to note before we talk football, which is not that far off in the future, which is wonderful thing to say. It is only two weeks until the 2627 sports season officially kicks off. There's exhibition games, obviously, and the interim before that, but the first official game of the calendar, as it is every year, the soccer team taking on Houston Christian to kick us off in two weeks. We are, we are dangerously close to real, actual sports.
- [01:35]
A
Yeah, I'm visiting my in laws this week and my nephew was like, yeah, we start, we start fall practice next week. And I was like, oh, buddy, it is, it is getting real. It's getting really real. It's exciting. It's good times. It is football season. It is upon us, the best short window of the year. It's wild that we spend most of our year thinking about football and not as much of our year actually enjoying the football. But we are here to continue our season preview series as we do this week, unlike. So last week we hit you with the infrastructure week, right? We had two previews. It may or may not have been because we had to, you know, work some scheduling out with our podcast previews. And, you know, we wanted to make sure we got landed in because Landon is one of our favorite guests. So we did a pair of previews last week. It worked out really well. Two of our favorite groups to talk about offensive and defensive line. We call it Different Infrastructure week this week. We're not gonna go with the title. We're just gonna go with two previous Two preview week. I was trying to come up with something on the fly. Didn't have one. So we're just gonna do it.
- [02:32]
B
Gator Dog week.
- [02:34]
A
Gator Dog week. That's like, that's like, that's like the MAD TV version of the Nickelodeon show Cat Dog from the 90s. Gator Dog. No, just. I got nothing as what I know. So we've got two previous Mississippi State today, and then we'll have our Florida preview later on in the week. We are somehow six weeks from college football kicking off in Austin. We are smack dab in the middle, honestly, closer to the front third than we are to the back third of our season previews. Last week we did infrastructure week, focusing on the offensive and defensive lines for 2026. This week, you are getting a double preview week of our SEC opponents. Thursday we'll have a Florida preview for you. But today we have returning guests and I'm going to go ahead and say friend of the show, Landon from the My Dogspod here to help us preview the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Man, Landon, thanks for joining us, man. How are you doing today?
- [03:28]
C
Well, I'm doing great. And at this point, you know, by the time we're recording this, we are a few days away from August. Right. So whatever is going on in your life, you can at least know you're almost to the point of the month that college football starts. And even if it's week zero, like, we're almost there. So if we just hang on a little bit longer. But it is, it's a great feeling and I'm glad to be back. I think this is the third time I've hung out with you guys. So we're going to have some fun talking today.
- [03:50]
B
It's, it's always a pleasure. And we've talked about it before all. Any Austin or Texas fan who's gone from Austin made the trip to Starkville and gone for baseball or football. I've always had everyone who comes back kind of universally has great things to say about your fan base and about the folks. And again, we don't have a ton of reference points outside of you, so we're banking it all on you. We have good relations right now. We've extended the olive branch. We have a, a nice relationship here between the Long One Republic and Landon, your podcast and with Mississippi State in general. So you are a fantastic ambassador. So thanks for coming back.
- [04:25]
C
Yeah, well, I'm glad to be here. And, you know, funny, you talk about Mississippi State and Starkville and that kind of thing. So Mississippi State travels to Austin again this year and Austin's a part of the country I've never visited before. And so as I'm kind of mapping out my, my overall kind of plans for which games, I'm trying to make sure I get credentialed for which games I'm going to travel for. I was talking to my wife about this one because what an opportunity to get to go to, to Austin, Texas. So I'm really, really thinking about it because you guys and your listeners know there's, there's more to do than just watch football in Austin. So I'm thinking about it.
- [04:59]
B
Man, it is a, is a good SEC trip. Nashville for, for Vandy is good. You know, there's but, but Austin has
- [05:05]
A
to be pretty close to the top barbecue alone. You can, you can have a full weekend going to Austin. But let's talk about what's happening on the white lines and not in the smokers. Year three of the Jeff Levy era It's an interesting case study to think about. Mississippi State under, we'd say maybe underachieved last year had some close calls that was, you know, a couple of plays away from, you know, having a winning record seven and 18 under Jeff Lebby, but had a big jump. It could have even had a bigger jump if they, you know, convert some short things or you don't, don't have some weird coaching decisions late. But like let's just, let's just look from a high level 30,000 foot view, like what are the expectations? What are the vibes? Is the seat getting warm for Levy in year three? Like how are folks feeling about it?
- [05:49]
C
Well, just a quick recap for the past two seasons in terms of record wise. So Jeff Lebby's first season is 2 and 10 in Starfle. I mean it's a new coaching staff, a lot of turnover program that was very behind in nil compared to other teams. And last season Mississippi State finished the season five and eight with a kind of a. They get got to go to a bowl game, but it's one of those kind of based on grades, you know, whatever. SEC gets one more bowl game kind of thing. But State does finish 5 and 8 and if you just were to look at the result of that record, I think you would go I just kind of Mississippi State. But I think Texas fans kind of know and understand that Mississippi State team was, was really chippy and a lot of it came back to Jeff Levy's play calling which again you Texas fans know very, very well. He's just a really Brilliant offensive mind. And Mississippi State was very, very aggressive in that game against Texas, against Tennessee and against Florida. All of those games they end up losing by one score that they were leading in the fourth quarter. And so I would say they're, they're going into this upcoming season. The kind of the difference in between those teams and this team is the quarterback position. It's the most important position. And it's Camario Taylor and the Roy. I describe him as this. For many people, you kind of watch your team on Saturdays, but there's some teams that you go out of your way or maybe they got away, but you kind of stop, you make sure you don't turn just because there's an interesting player you think about like Taylor Green for Arkansas. Even if you don't care anything about Arkansas, if he's in shotgun, he gets the ball. I want to see what, what's going to happen. He's just fun to watch. Kamario Taylor's like that for Mississippi State. And then you add in the element of Jeff Levy in third year and these players that are returning and then the defensive side of the ball. Former Mississippi State head coach Zach Garnett is now their defensive coordinator once again, kind of an odd sort of deal. But they, they hope that he can kind of bolster the defense because Jeff Levy had the offense kind of rolling. So in asking the question, is Jeff Levy's seat warm? Yes. Because if there's another, if there's a 4 and 8 or 5 and 7 season, I just don't know how you can look at his conference record and not be disappointed. However, I think there is reason for optimism for Mississippi State this season as a whole. But it all comes back to the quarterback, Camaria Taylor.
- [07:58]
B
Yeah. Yeah. And it was interesting. You're definitive because I wasn't sure if, you know, some of the transfers they got with AJ Swan and Jaden Rashado, who I know was a big time recruit back in his day and had some ink spilled on his recruitment, in fact, over the years. But it sounds like it is. It is. Locked and loaded. Camario, in his second year, I believe on campus will be the. The guy. Is that correct? Don't expect any competition. It's his to lose, barring injury, something like that.
- [08:22]
C
Yeah. It's just going to be him and he only started two games last season and in. But with everything he did last season, he had 13 total touchdowns, five touchdowns thrown, one interception, almost 500 yards of rushing. He's. He really did a lot of things which made a lot of Mississippi State fans go, hey, wait a minute, why was this guy not starting? However, he was a true freshman, so. And he does have some inaccuracy issues that you're kind of hoping get cleaned up in the off season. But really, really talented. It's just a question of can his athleticism kind of show out because if the offensive line is anything like it was last season, they need him to be able to be mobile honestly, just for him to survive and kind of get through the season.
- [09:02]
A
Let's talk about, we'll talk about the offensive line in a second. But you know, a quarterback's best friend, as they're trying to figure themselves out is a good running back. And you know, I, Kyle and I have have waxed poetic about Fluff Bothwell. We honestly were hoping that Texas did a little tampering with Fluff Bothwell as we knew they were gonna do some things in the portal. But, you know, he was splitting carriers with Devon Booth a year ago. Booth's, you know, gone on better things. Not better things, but different things. You know, Xavier Gaten got some carries last year, but, you know, didn't really. He was young, kind of growing into it. Do we see a similar kind of carry share situation? Are we really going to see like, you know, the, the Muscle Hamster, Fluff Bothwell, like really be RB1 and be the feature back in the offense?
- [09:45]
C
Man, Muscle Hamster is a great way to describe him. You'll, you'll see him mainly he did. He got injured in the Texas A and M game and really was never the same after that. And also on top of that, as I mentioned, the offensive line issues, there was a lot of times and a lot of SEC teams are facing this where because of the Portal, you don't get a lot of kind of cohesion and chemistry on the offensive line, which is so important. And again, many teams in the SEC is dealing with that. However, for Mississippi State, their main problem was he was almost getting hit in the backfield as he's getting the ball. In many instances, that's exactly what happened. Kind of waiting for him to get it just so he can get hit, get tackled. It was really, really rough. So they will be kind of relying on him to be the number one back this season as opposed to kind of being kind of 12 with Devon Booth, the other guy that you mentioned, Xavier Gaten. But there's another guy named Colin Wilson that Jeff Levy has talked about several times this off season as a guy to kind of look to. There's, there's Two true freshmen I think that a lot of people like but Fluff Bothwell will be getting the getting the main carries and I would expect Colin Wilson to be number two in that.
- [10:46]
B
So you you hinted a little bit about it but the offensive line obviously if you want to, yes, Jeff Levy can go with speed and can can scheme some things up but if you want your offense to really hum offensive line as Texas learned some last year, we'll set the the floor and it sometimes the ceiling as well. Two transfers in on the offensive line experience at the tackle and center I believe. Lieutenant players how do you feel overall about the offensive line right now where you sit a couple weeks out, months out before the season starts.
- [11:14]
C
What you mentioned the transfers in I think as a total I want to say there's a total of seven new offensive linemen that came from other places. The good news is that there two years ago the transfer offensive linemen were coming in from places like North Texas and James Madison and just some different kind of pieces toward this season. It's at least SEC talent. So there's two offensive linemen from lsu, one from Arkansas, several different that are different pieces from other SEC schools or at least other schools that you would look to to go. Okay, well they that they know how to recruit an offensive line in some sort of way. But Jeff Lovey mentioned so we talked to him at SEC media days last week and he mentioned the one part that he believes has taken the biggest jump offensively for this team. It's not the quarterbacks, not wide receivers, but it's offensive line. I think he knows how important that is. He's a four brown offensive lineman himself. He looks like he gets, he could get ready and kind of, you know, do the shuffle if he needed to to make sure you don't get around him right now. You know, he's, he's ready to go and so he knows how important that is and it honestly is all riding on if the offensive line can hold such a special guy who's there taking snaps and shotgun in Camario Taylor. But it was a big issue last season and Texas fans got to see that and we're probably very excited about it.
- [12:27]
B
I did have one of their offensive questions because I think Gerald was going to hit defense. We know I had a conversation the other day with with a couple Texas folks that I feel like the biggest transfer out of Texas that we've had was Brennan Thompson. He obviously burned all his bridges by going to Oklahoma first, but he's had probably the most success of any Texas player who's left and gone to another place. He had an incredible season for you. But when we think about what Camario Taylor's going to do and what Jeff Levy's going to do, you're throwing the ball. Someone's got to catch it. Who is. Who's the name that Texas fans should be most familiar with, be. Be looking for? And when I looked at the depth chart, is it, please, for the love of God, San Francisco. McGee, which, if fluff wasn't on the team, automatically has the best name on the team. There's some great names on this roster. I'll just go ahead and say it.
- [13:11]
C
There are so, so saying. Yeah, so Sam Frisco. McGee is a guy that. When I was asked Camario Taylor, is there a particular kind of guy that you kind of go to in the locker room that you have good chemistry with? And he mentioned San Frisco, I think he just called him Frisco for sure. But San Frisco, so much more fun.
- [13:27]
A
1.
- [13:27]
C
One player I think some Texas fans will at least notice will be Zion Reagan's, who is an Oklahoma wide receiver last year, maybe, I'm gonna say for the past two years, red shirt and then got injured. But a very small guy, but he has a lot of speed, and which is what Jeff Levy obviously really, really likes. And so he's going to be a guy that several people will at least notice, kind of come from that. From that sort of area. Dre Bledsoe was an actual. Was a Texas defensive tackle from two years ago. Played. Played a little bit of the defensive line. And then I'm thinking, is it Darion? I think it's Darion Galette. Is that another Texas there? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Last season was his first season there, so several. Several different players from Texas that you'll be familiar with.
- [14:11]
A
So you. You teed it up because, you know, Jeray and Darion are both defensive guys. You mentioned new defensive coordinator, new old defensive coordinator. It's almost like. But when you buy a used car, it's like, it's new to us. Right? Like, you know, I bought my wife a 2020. It's like, it's new to us. But Zach Garnett's been around. He knows he probably still has some. Some friends in Starkville, comes back as a defensive coordinator, has a lot of returning talent, but also added, I think, like, 10 or 11 guys defensively in the portal. So, like, you know, Mississippi State, one of the issues we saw last year is the offense could put up some Numbers and the def. Like it was almost some basketball scores we saw out there that the. The Texas game comes immediately to mind. So like what do we expect from Arnett with a lot of good talent coming back and kind of this infusion of really elite guys.
- [15:00]
C
Yeah, that's a great question. You have to think that the defense is such an important part of it. We know Jeff Levy can score points. It's just what he does. He did that even in a 2 and 10 season with Mississippi State with not, not anywhere near where the the talent was. Now they were able to score but defense has been the issue. So they switch defensive coordinators and they go to a. A familiar face and not just familiar face as coordinator under Mike Leach and Zach Arnett. Former head coach Zachariah and it's an interesting kind of thing but Jeff Levy mentioned it was just kind of an out of the box and Dan Mullen mentioned this years and years ago after he left Mississippi State. He mentioned that if you're going to be a coach in Mississippi State sometimes you have to think outside of the box. And I love that Jeff Levy brought that up so many years later and he did as an out of the box higher. But it's a guy that knows the SEC and did really well as a coordinator at State. You have Isaac Smith who's it really has been a four year starter for Mississippi State. Kelly Jones who's picked second team all sec. He's a six foot four corner. You might have been familiar with him last season. Really, really talented. The linebacking core has been really solid. The question really is can they get any sort of pass rush which has been. I mean I was sitting here with talking to you guys last season mentioning how rough it was, the leading sat. I had like a crazy stat for you guys last year where it was like really.
- [16:15]
B
That was.
- [16:15]
C
That's terrible. I have another bad one. The leading sacker for Mississippi State, the guy who was leading them in sacks led them all the way through week eight of last season. He only played in two games. It was the first two. Mississippi State just could not rush the quarterback whatsoever. And so they've got to figure out a way to do that. And I mean Levy mentioned last week at media days that is a huge priority because it's thus far it has not been something they have done well.
- [16:44]
B
I love the fact I hadn't thought about it until you said it's a battle of prodigal sons return with Will Muschamp as the Texas defensive coordinator and Zach Garnett as The defensive coordinator in Starkville. So I, that that had eluded me before. You said that I think defense obviously to, you know, anyone from the outside will be what you're watching to see where the improvement is. But to you, Landon, if you, you know, you're sitting here in February and you're looking back on the season, try not to get too stoked for baseball yet, but looking back on the football season and you think about what a successful year looks like, what, what are you picturing to say that was a successful year that we had? What does that look like to you?
- [17:17]
C
That's a great question. I mentioned last year. I was sitting on an episode right before we started and someone asked me that same question. And as sad as it sounded, I said, I think if Mississippi State finds a way to go five and seven with their schedule, I think we can say it's a successful year because you had the Texas and the Florida's and which at that point Florida looked a little bit better than we thought they'd be, a little better than they were. And of course Ole Miss and Georgia and so many really high Tennessee, so many high caliber teams. And I said 5 and 7 in regular season that that's what happened with this team. I would say to be successful, it's still a very, very difficult schedule. Just like everybody else deals with the, in the SEC. I think it's somewhere around 7 and 5. I know that that is kind of a sad thing to say, but if you go 7 and 5, that means you won several games that you weren't expected to win. And give you a very short example of this, there's four game, a four game stretch where Mississippi State plays Alabama at lsu, Oklahoma at home and then at Texas. I know just a four game stretch in the middle part of the season that doesn't include Ole Miss later in the year, doesn't include Missouri and South Carolina. Like it's just, it's really difficult so to say State could get to seven and five and then, then have a chance for an eighth win. To me I think that's the best case scenario.
- [18:28]
A
And I mean that, that shows progress over the years, right? Go two wins, five wins, seven, eight wins. Like that's progress and the arrows pointing in the right direction. So if, you know, you get a fan base that doesn't get too ravenous at that generally that's a good side. So let's, let's put a pin in the actual like the classy football questions and we're gonna hit you with our silly stuff. The shoot from the hip section. Section of this. We've been calling it that now for. I think this is the longest that segment name has had one name. Yeah, we used to change it every year. And then we like shooting from the hip. They all sucked before that. Let's just be real. But let's start here. This is. This is a question that we like to, you know, pick on. Would you sacrifice the cowbells if you would guarantee that you would win a national championship? That you're no cowbells anymore, but you're winning an addie this year?
- [19:18]
C
Yeah, that's a. That's a great question. Absolutely. Yeah. Because then if you win a national title, that means you can. You could find some other neat tradition. And even if you didn't, you could be like, hey, what? We have a natty. And so many other teams do not. But it is one of the things that makes Mississippi State special. And if you go to Starkville, the cowbells can. Can be annoying, but for a lot of people, it's just a kind of a thing that makes college football special is that this team in the middle of nowhere in Mississippi, they all ring these cowbells whenever their team does well or doesn't do well, whatever the case may be. And it kind of makes you just appreciate and love the sport that we spend so much time talking about that. If you think about it, it's only really played for a few months out of the year. So I do. I love the cowbells. But, yeah, I would give it up, I think, if. If it meant stay got a national title.
- [20:07]
B
Oh, it's fine. I'm just banging my replica national championship trophy instead.
- [20:11]
A
I've turned a tight.
- [20:12]
C
Oh, yeah, you'll find something.
- [20:13]
A
A tiny brass cup. I put some sort of beans in, and now it shakes.
- [20:19]
B
All right, this is, I think, a really interesting thought exercise. Which Mississippi State alum, Football alum would you add to this year's team? Let's assume in their. Their collegiate prime, at the least, to make the biggest difference. Dak Prescott, Fletcher Cox, Kevin Dockery, or Eric Molt. Which of those do you think you could take in this time machine scenario? Plop them into this team and they would make the biggest difference. That.
- [20:45]
C
Yeah, that would be great.
- [20:46]
B
It.
- [20:46]
C
It's Fletcher Cox all day long. I mean, obviously you got Dak is Dak, and that's wonderful, but you feel like the offense is going to be. You feel like there's going to be fine just because of Jeff Lebby. It's the defense that's a problem if you put Fletcher Cox down there. I mean, that's several other stops that you would otherwise not be getting. So that. Yeah, that's a, that's a really, really great question. Wide receiver, again, I think they'll be missing. Will be fine. Jeff Levy's done a great job of evaluating talent and them doing really well in his offense. The secondary, I think, is fairly strong, having Kelly Jones and Isaac Smith back there, but it's the defensive line that is a real problem.
- [21:22]
A
I tried to, I tried to give you options, a couple of different levels of the field, but I think we knew where that one was going. Okay.
- [21:29]
B
So we, yeah, that was good.
- [21:30]
A
I'm glad. We, we've been doing this silly thing throughout the year. We kind of find a famous alum of the university who's in the arts and using some of their, some of their famous works maybe to get a vibe for the season. My mom was a huge John Grisham fan. John Grisham, Mississippi State Alum so we've picked some John Grisham titles and we want you to pick one that's going to describe either your hopes or your expectations for the 2026 season. So John Grisham titles. A Time to Kill, the Whistler, the Rainmaker, the Firm, or A Time for Mercy, which is a sequel to A Time to Kill.
- [22:02]
C
Okay, so first off, I didn't know A Time to Kill had a sequel. That's crazy.
- [22:07]
A
Came out a couple years ago, several years late. Sequel.
- [22:10]
C
I didn't realize. Okay, can. Can you name them again?
- [22:13]
A
Yeah. So A Time to Kill, the Whistler, the Rainmaker, the Firm, A Time for Mercy. I could pull up the Wikipedia and give you some more options, but those. I thought those five were a good starting point.
- [22:23]
C
Like I'm going to say, well, first off, John Grisham is kind of one of those things that Mississippi State fans like. They like John Grisham, but John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
- [22:35]
B
Yeah.
- [22:35]
C
Yeah, he did both of them. So it's kind of like, hey, man, what in the world? Like some people, I'm just, just letting, just so you know that some people kind of feel like, what are you doing? Kind of thing. But I would say A Time to Kill. It's time to go one way or the other for Jeff Levy. And this season is going to be it in terms of. All right, can you build around this thing? Is this guy going to go to 4 and year 5 or do we. We kind of know what it is? Like, you get Three years into a relationship, you know, sometimes you look at the other person, you go, no, this is. We're probably. No, okay. And it's okay. You. You at least know, or you go, no, this is it. This. This is a good fit. You have enough time. And we're about to figure out which one that is from Mississippi State.
- [23:16]
B
So one question that we ask every single person who come. Great answer, by the way. One person, one question we ask everybody. Person who has the misfortune of coming on this podcast to close it out. We know who your biggest rival is. Sometimes we clarify if there's two or three. We have a pretty good idea who Mississippi State's biggest rival is. Can you say one nice thing about the University of Mississippi?
- [23:39]
C
I can, yeah. Well, I'll say this. I'll say it about their football team. They have a. They have a really good alignment of where their football program is. They were kind of ahead of the game when it came to nil, at least in this kind of part of the country.
- [23:52]
A
And early adopters, some might say.
- [23:54]
C
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. Right. And because of that, you kind of see where their program is now. So there's no way, like, there's no way to look anywhere but impressed from what Ole Miss has done. And so now, really, the question everybody's going to kind of wondering is, like, what is it going to look like under Trinidad and Kwan? Lacey and I mentioned to you guys before the show started September 19, no matter what anybody has that day, that night, all of us are going to find a way to be in front of a TV just to watch what in the world happens. I mean, it's so fascinating to see when Mississippi State and, pardon me, when LSU and an Ole Miss face off.
- [24:29]
B
Yeah, there's gonna be some sparks for that one, for sure.
- [24:31]
C
Yeah. And that's hopefully not gunfire, but at least sparks.
- [24:34]
B
Sure.
- [24:35]
A
I mean, you know, it is. It's the South. You gotta deal with it, I think.
- [24:41]
C
And there's so much. I mean, you guys know how it is, like, on message boards, and everyone just. I want you to fire everyone. And everyone's freaking out, and it's just so crazy how high the emotion is with all of us. Right. With our own individual teams, and. But this is a little bit different because this is just a little more personal, man. Like, there. Everybody is just feeling that way. And you know what? At the end of the day, Lane Kiffin had his moment at SEC media days, and it goes along with. With John Grisham's book, and he mentioned he said we're all gonna die. And no one saw that, that speech taking that kind of. Kind of realm. But hopefully no one will. On September 19th, it's.
- [25:20]
A
That's my birthday weekend. I might try to hook something up for that. Just a little thing at the house. But, man, Landon, thank you so much. Always an incredible time having you on the pod, brother. Man, if folks want more of what you got to offer, where can they find you on the Internet?
- [25:32]
C
Yeah, Our show, My Dog's Pod, is on NPW Digital in Mississippi, and we're credential to cover Mississippi State, so we'll be be talking in state all year long. But you can follow us on Twitter just at my dogspod. We also are on Twitter or, pardon me, on TikTok, which is at my dogspod. And we talk all college football there. Just love to. Love to talk ball, whether it's. It's about Mississippi State or not. It's just so much fun to hear different people and their perspective on their team and if their team sucks or their team's going all the way or, you know, whatever the case may be, it's a whole lot of fun. But for all the listeners of the show, you guys have two great co hosts. They're always very well prepared and make it fun and make it a whole lot different, which you guys already know because you're listening to us. So thank you guys very much for having me.
- [26:11]
B
Landon, it's always a treat. And you are, as I said at the start, a terrific ambassador for Mississippi State.
- [26:18]
C
Thanks, fellas.
- [26:19]
A
Yeah, it was great talking to Landon. Great stuff from him as well. Also, just an insanely pleasant guy to talk to. Really, really love having him on the pod. Let's now switch it to the part of the show where we whip around the rest of campus and we down the 40 and we'll start on the national stage. Really, honestly, not just on campus, but three Texas players, three Texas athletes, I guess we call them, competed at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships this last weekend. Braylee Miner finished 14th at the women's 400. Junior Giovanni Meeks finished eighth. Hammer throw. And Kendrick Smallwood won bronze in his. Also, some Texas alums did their thing as well.
- [26:59]
B
Yeah, it was nice to see in a different event. Since we're talking track. Yeah, Tara Goodall won the gold in the long jump and then later was found to have a questionable scratch that disqualified or I think she ended up finishing third because they scratched that jump. But it was her last jump that should have won her the the gold. So hated that for her. Especially when I saw the video and I saw Marquis Goodwin comment on it and he's like, bring back the clay where if you actually touched it, it would be on your, your spike. You know, the, the clay from the line. But it didn't look, she hovered, I guess a little bit over it. But yeah, anyways, I'll just say that.
- [27:41]
A
Get rid of video reviews.
- [27:43]
B
Yeah, agreed with that. Especially after the fact. Don't take someone's championship away. That's the worst. And whoever lodged the, the complaint that led to that, you're, you're a, you're a wimpy person. I'll just leave it that in my nicest way in case any of your kids like mine happen to hear this in the background. A wimpy person. Yeah. So that's, that's it. But congrats to Kendrick Smallwood. The guy closes out his Texas career as an absolute legend, owns the record book, had a national championship recently at the NCAAs, but then goes and just does his thing at the US TF Outdoor Championships. I don't know how many of those acronym letters they actually use, but big, big time in New York for him. And Again, condolences to Mrs. Woodhall. I am positive you will win more silverware or gold wear as it were in your, your career.
- [28:36]
A
The celebration after deserved a gold in and of itself. But that's again another conversation for another day. Talking season for us has concluded and a part of a Texas pick to finish second in the SEC behind Georgia. Really tired of them being the final boss But Texas put 11 players on the all SEC selection coming out of media days as well for five first teamers. Some names you're familiar with on offense, some new names and maybe one that you're gonna Kyle and I have already been banging the drum on for a few weeks on the defense.
- [29:08]
B
Yeah. First team Cam Coleman and Trevor Goosby. I don't think you can argue much with either of them. Arch Manning, I like him landing on the second team give a little motivation. I think it's, it's fair. Third team Ryan Wingo, Brandon Baker, both guys with the upside to be first team level players but with some question marks with third team I guess makes sense there. We'll see if both of those players are at least third team SEC good then I think we're going to have a pretty great offense on the defensive side. 1 no one is surprised by Colin Simmons second consecutive time making preseason first team Rasheed Biles, who we may or may not have talked extensively about but haven't done our linebacker previews. Those will be coming but we've I guess tipped our hand here a bit. We are big fans both made first team. Jelani McDonald making third team there and then Gerald just just big news here. Ryan Niblett first team when it comes to return specialist second team all purpose yardage on the special teams and the one we've all been waiting for literally saved the best for last. Trade a buke, trade a buck. I actually Dubuque I believe is how we say this is a transfer and immediately immediately slots in second team long snapper. He was job should have been first team should be first team All American. I just assume assume Texas always has the best long snappers. I assume that's the case.
- [30:21]
A
I I mean the problem with Niblett is that nobody's going to kick to him this year so like it's going to be hard for him to actually get the first team returner because nobody's going to be stupid enough to kick the ball to him. But if they do yeah again miss doing this. This feels mean doing it during the Mississippi State like preview again Landon sorry if you're listening to this brother we really do love you. That Ryan Niblett play. I watched Brandon Walker's reaction to that maybe once every other week just to like make myself feel good.
- [30:54]
B
Yeah it is a smart thing to not kick to him. I love the idea that I've heard Bishop the the unbelievable freshman talent who we've talked about has been getting a lot of run at punt return because he's that good and they're even heard whispers can't keep him off the field in non conference games. He might be doing some punt returning to just vet him in for the future. Also relique Brown getting some kick return reps so maybe by putting a couple other dangerous players there it forces the ball into Niblet's hands a few times. But yes, a true true game changer. One of the best in the country.
- [31:29]
A
Great segue Kyle, mentioning Jermaine Bishop because one of the big conversations the offseason is where is Jermaine Bishop going to see play because he's going to be gone after three years. Folks were wondering if he was an emergency cornerback, but John Meredith iii after getting a ridicul ineligible ineligibility decision from the uil which I'm still pretty salty about, has reclassified. Folks wondered if he was going to go the the IMG Academy route. Folks didn't know but he officially reclassified to 2026 and is going to be heading to campus in a matter of days.
- [32:03]
B
We've seen this trend and we actually will talk in just a moment about some other sports where this is happening as well. But we've seen a trend where if you're good enough as a junior in high school, why wait to get your, your, your money. And we saw it in basketball, we've seen it in football, we're going to talk about volleyball. But there are, this is a trend that's an interesting trend to watch for basketball where players are one and done. You know, it can give you two years where they're on campus which is a pretty huge win. For instance with the latest spears to come to Texas. But with Meredith, you know, it'll be interesting what a true like 17 year old looks like at the cornerback position. I don't, I don't think the coverage skills will be in question. Sometimes the physicality in the run game of the defense where you want a little bit more time and a collegiate strength and conditioning coach, even though you don't ask corners to just go and throw their bodies on the line, there are times when your best corners are setting the edge and are coming up and run and really good defenses have that. So that's the only thing I'll watch with him. He's a very good, well rounded cornerback who can do that. But again at the high school level versus SEC level are slightly different. So we'll see how quickly he makes an impact. But that talent is unbelievable and immense and he will, he will find his way on the field in games this year. Like he will get him out there
- [33:19]
A
on special teams, just get him out there at special teams, let him be a gunner, do all those sorts of things. Speaking of guys who are getting weird legal cases, Cole Hudson is one of many players that have sued the NCAA to get an extra year of eligibility based upon the fact that this off season they have decided they're basically giving you five to five with no red shirt or any games played situation. So he sued the NCAA and was granted a temporary injunction around that. So a lot to still left to be said about it. But Cole Hudson may be coming back around in Austin.
- [33:56]
B
Yeah, I mean it's interesting we talked about in our offensive line preview that left guard, while our weakest position last year is the position that we're watching closest. There's two transfers vying for that position. Maybe Hudson comes in to throw his hat in the ring. I really think probably he comes back just to Van Wilder it a bit and enjoy an extra year and give us some depth. Right now they feel pretty comfortable at like seven guys deep. I don't mind making that number eight. Right. And there's some young players who injury bugs can happen, may be asked to step up pretty quickly if one or two guys go down. So this just gives you another experience body and I'm never upset with that. With the expanded roster size. Sure. I have no problem with that. I don't know that. Again, he's immediately coming back and starting. I don't know that that is a good thing for us. So, you know, we'll see what happens. We'll watch this one as it goes. A yeah, an interesting ruling that does not change anything about the trajectory of our season except give us a little bit more depth. That is obviously why it's a slightly different situation than certain other Texas injunction decisions.
- [35:02]
A
Another player that's looking at reclassifying, getting some eligibility weirdness happening. Austin heist Camille Presley confirmed to jump from the 2027 class to the 2026 class for going her senior year and joining the Longhorns to play volleyball. The six three middle blocker and sister of former basketball player Malik Presley.
- [35:22]
B
Yeah, this is a position where it's actually really interesting to think about what your pipeline looks like in. You know, I'm now the general manager of an online dynasty college football program, so I understand these things very, very well. I joke only half heartedly, but when you think about, okay, I'm either going to hit the transfer portal, I'm either going to move someone to a different position or I'm gonna. This is what my recruiting class looks like. Like you have all your options of filling a spot again. As I said, this trend of it's happened in football and in basketball, it's happened in volleyball. Like this trend of you can just reclassify one of your top recruits from a year before, get them in and this is truly a position of need. Middle blocker with eight names making her way to Creighton, which I think she needed a fresh start. You know, the number one recruitment in the nation who didn't quite live up to that towards the end of the season. Some things I think it's good for her from, I think from Nebraska originally. So. But there was the who does Texas go out and get? And everyone kind of thought, okay, who are the hottest middle blocker prospects? Jared Elliott's gonna go grab one. And that didn't happen. So then, okay, what happened? So the season's coming pretty close down the pipeline and you had basically Two starters, Taylor Harvey and Nia Button, I believe a junior sophomore there. Some, some experience. We know what they are. Plus an outside hitter who's cross trained at the middle and who has tremendous upside in Adi Guido. But that was really your only backup. So I think Presley kind of slots in pretty immediately as a piece who shores up a rotation and it's like, oh, I know she's not ranked very high. She's the number 11 ranked player in the 27 class. But she joins the top outside hitter, Henley Anderson, who's from Dripping Springs, also from Texas. The top setter in the nation, Genevieve Harris out of North Carolina, second rank libero out of Ohio, Emma Cogino. So the players she's joining are truly otherworldly. Good. So number 11 is like, that's pretty good. I guess. She's very good. She's a local kid. She has Texas connections already, as you mentioned, with her brother. It makes a lot of sense. I hate it for that. The Maroons who made it to the state championship game last year and then so their two best players, one go to USC and another who they thought they would get back, leave for this year's team. So I don't know what that means for Austin high's team in 2027, but it is a good thing for the Longhorns.
- [37:39]
A
It's going to be interesting to see how it works out for them. Speaking of that, volleyball, we are less than a month away from them getting a start and possibly seeing Camille Presley on the court. But they open their season Aug. 22 against Arizona State at the AVCA First Serve event in Milwaukee. I heard Wisconsin's nicest time of year.
- [38:00]
B
It is, it is. I actually have a colleague who's moving his son up to Madison to start school and I was a little bit jealous. I was a little bit jealous. Good place to get to. Good place to catch volleyball, football. Good, good college town, Madison. Great, underrated town.
- [38:15]
A
That brings us to the part of the show where we honor one of the best traditions in all of college athletics. Big Bertha. And we bang the drum. Brought to you by Joe. So, Kyle, what are you banging the drum on this week?
- [38:25]
B
Gerald? I'm choosing to leave the Hudson Soaresbee connection that I teased earlier on the cutting room floor. And I'm going to talk a little bit about SEC media days and in particular Coach Sarkeesian's discussion about roster management that I believe. I'm not certain of this, but I believe the pearl industry is not centered in the United States or specifically the state of Texas or the greater Southeast. But you wouldn't know that judging by the online reactions from Norman, Oklahoma, College Station and everywhere else. China is where 80% of the global volume of pearls comes from. In case anyone was wondering, pearls were clutched. Gerald When Steve Sarkeesian had the audacity to state what everyone knows, what everyone has said, no one has hidden, but he just happened to say it out loud, that there were players at Texas who were effectively processed. There were players who were told, hey, we think you can probably go get a lot of money to play college football elsewhere. You know, we're going to look to upgrade this position. You had your chance and it didn't work out for whatever reason. And he was very honest and he named some of the guys by name and not all of them loved that and I can understand that. But you know, there were players like DeAndre Moore he'd like to have. But you also, where would he fit on this team? Like I, I don't know that he unseats any of the three starters that we have that we did in our wide receiver preview. Go back and listen to it. You know, the players that he named and some that he didn't. You know, people are saying, oh, this is going to kill recruiting. Is it? If you think you're the best player, which every high school kid in America and every guy in the portal in America does, you say, yeah, that's me. It's the same way people who make, you know, $40,000, you know, want things that improve billionaires lives because they're going to be a billionaire one day, right? Like everyone thinks the best is destined for them. I think it has nothing to do with recruiting except to say this guy wants the best for his program and this guy's going to be honest and transparent in a way that other coaches won't. I don't have any issue with it. I think it's perfectly fine. And I think again, the overreaction cycle of it was pretty, pretty fascinating. But you know, Sark said the thing, the thing is players are paid now that's able to say out loud some payers players are offered their max that we think they should get and if they want more than that, go elsewhere and get it. Like that's how this is going to work for the next few years. Good on you Sark, for being honest.
- [40:57]
A
I mean, I think so much of it is also Sark kind of was on a villain mode this offseason. It was really so folks are looking for a lot of things to lean in on that. And again, Texas is always a convenient villain. And that's fine, you know, you. And I've been on record to say lean into it. Like, if people are going to assume the worst about you, then, you know, what if. If you're winning and you're winning in ways that, you know, maybe folks find distasteful but are still within the rules. And I mean, again, it's hard to. Hard to say otherwise. I'm taking the drum this week on something that is a rare situation for me, and I'm taking the side of an Aggie. So. Another comment that came out of media days was Mike Elko talking about motivating his team. And he's like, you know, I don't have to motivate these guys. It's kind of show them the trophy case and show them that it's empty in that, you know, folks were dunking on Texas A and M. But like, I honestly, like, I think that that is an incredible way to go about it. It's a. It's. Everybody knows the reality that tech of what Texas A and M is right now. They are, you know, a lot of. A lot of hat and not a lot of catt point. They are, you know, all buckle, no rodeo at this point. They. They've had a lot to. To say and not a lot of winning. And I think leaning into that almost takes away some of the teeth from folks like us who like to throw that back at them.
- [42:22]
B
Right.
- [42:23]
A
And so ultimately, you know, Elko, I. I respect the heck out of my elk. Mike Elko is a football coach. Ass football coach. Like, he is a. Just. That guy looks like he, at the drop of a hat at his. At his niece's wedding, will break down a 3, 3, 5 alignment and tell you all that he about it. Like, I love Mike Elko for that. And it's very much like that. You know, for so long, Texas A M was a lot of flash and no substance. We got a lot under someone with the swag copter and all of that. And obviously the massive recruiting classes under Jimbo that turned out to have, you know, three guys that lasted and most of them transferred or got kicked off the team. So, like, this to me, of all of the things that, like, you can dunk on A and M for, like, that one, to me is honestly something that I really respect about them. Now I don't respect A M at all. So, like, saying I respect anything about them is. Is the first time and probably the last time. But, you know, ultimately, like, Volks trying to dunk on them for that. Like, I, I don't get it and
- [43:25]
B
I, and I don't think it's fair just because, you know, no one who's alive today has seen the Texas A M national championship in football. I don't think that's fair. I, I mean, I also don't think it's fair as Texas and everything school, we, we keep an eye and are apprised to all of the sports. I don't think it's fair to diminish the accomplishments of women's tennis and volleyball who have three national championships in the 2000s. A M's only three national championships in this decade. I believe Texas is somewhere around 2025. But, but yeah, it is a big deal that they have three of those in women's tennis and volleyball in, you know, this millennium. But yes, Mike Elko is, is correct and he is taking the teeth out. But like, let's, let's, let's boost the other sports. Mike Elko, can we be a little bit, I'm only half joking. I'm trying to find a dig here. But I also don't hate Mike Elko. I wish I hated him more. He seems like a genuinely okay guy who loves football and like, okay, I hope he's bad at game day decisions and can never win more than eight games or nine games, that'd be fine. But he seems like a genuinely good dude and I hate that.
- [44:30]
A
I would love for him to be the A and M Bill Snyder. Like, get him to nine wins. Get him, get him a couple of 10 win seasons every now and again. Don't bother me though. Like that's, that's where I'm really, that's all we've got for you this week. And Kyle, where can the good folks find you on the Internet?
- [44:44]
B
You can follow me on Twitter and Blue Skyle Corbin. You can also follow the Texas Pregamer at Texas Pregamer.
- [44:50]
A
Follow me on Twitter on blueskyh Goodrich.
- [44:52]
B
Follow.
- [44:52]
A
Show them both those spots at Longhorn Pod, Facebook and Instagram. The Longhorn Republic shooters. An email longhorn republic pod gmail.com we'll be back on Thursday with a Florida preview. Again. It's our two preview week. We're excited to have it. Thanks so much for tuning in. And until next time, hook them.
- [45:08]
B
Hook them. We don't hate. It.