PMS 2.0 1256 - TNF Recap, NFL Week 14 Preview/Picks, Conference Championship Previews, Nick Saban, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, Dion Dawkins, & AJ Hawk

Summary

Summary of The Pat McAfee Show – Episode PMS 2.0 1256

Release Date: December 6, 2024

Introduction and SEC Championship Preview

The episode begins with AJ Hawk and Pat McAfee introducing the upcoming SEC Championship game between Georgia and Texas, highlighting the unique passion and cultural significance of college football within the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

SEC Championship and Football Culture

Nick Saban, renowned head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, joins the conversation from Atlanta. At [00:21], Saban humorously comments on AJ Hawk's cranium, setting a lighthearted tone before delving into deeper discussions about SEC football. He emphasizes the cerebral and cultural aspects that contribute to the dominance of SEC teams:

“We are talking about thump. Cannot wait for that. So we talked about your head, obviously, and many other people's heads...” ([00:46])

Saban underscores the deep-rooted tradition of college football in the South, attributing it to the historical absence of professional sports in the region until the latter part of the 20th century:

“...everyone in the Southeast grew up being a college football fan... These schools are the center of the community for everybody.” ([05:27])

Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers Analysis

The discussion transitions to the recent NFL clash between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. Saban praises the Lions’ resilience and coach Dan Campbell's leadership, particularly their aggressive strategies on fourth downs despite a roster riddled with injuries:

“The Detroit Lions win football games and it feels like they knew this is how they were going to have to win this one.” ([09:03])

Dion Dawkins, defensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills, adds his perspective, commending Campbell’s trust in his players and their effective execution:

“I always felt like if you can win the game on offense, do it... The Lions are just really good. They're just a really good team.” ([12:11])

Coaching Philosophies and Decision-Making

Saban and Dawkins delve into coaching strategies, emphasizing the balance between analytics and instinct-driven decisions. They discuss how Campbell’s decisions on critical downs exemplify effective leadership under pressure:

“I think fundamental execution is important. And I love Jared Goff, but his footwork coming out from under the center there...” ([19:39])

The conversation highlights the importance of adaptability and creative play-calling in achieving success, especially in high-stakes situations.

College Football Playoff Implications and Strength of Schedule

Greg Sankey, SEC Commissioner, joins the panel to discuss the College Football Playoff (CFP) system, focusing on the SEC's strength of schedule and its impact on playoff selections. At [71:25], Sankey asserts:

“14 of our 16 have stronger schedules than the next CFP team... When you use that metric.” ([71:25])

Sankey argues that the SEC's rigorous competition levels justify its frequent representation in the CFP, advocating for national standards to ensure fairness across conferences.

Transfer Portal, NIL, and Conference Realignment

The discussion shifts to the evolving landscape of college football, addressing the transfer portal and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies. Sankey notes the rapid changes:

“We've gone through what normally would have been decades of change through the process in a matter of years...” ([82:30])

He emphasizes the necessity for national standards to manage these changes effectively, ensuring competitive balance and integrity within the sport.

Walter Payton Man of the Year and Player Community Involvement

Dion Dawkins is honored as the Walter Payton Man of the Year, recognizing his outstanding contributions both on the field and within the community. Saban lauds Dawkins’ character and community service:

“It's one of my biggest honors because it can't be bought, it can't be faked...” ([157:18])

Dawkins reflects on the accolade, stressing the importance of leadership and genuine community involvement.

Offensive Line Attributes and Athleticism

Nick Saban engages Dawkins in a discussion about the essential attributes for offensive linemen, focusing on balance, athleticism, and adaptability. Saban states:

“It's balance that makes a great offensive lineman. Awareness of your body and being able to adjust on the fly is crucial.” ([144:43])

Dawkins shares insights from his experience, highlighting how his diverse athletic background enhances his performance:

“It's about having the capacity to adjust and handle multiple responsibilities without screwing it up.” ([24:04])

Closing Remarks and Upcoming Games

As the episode nears its end, Pat McAfee and the hosts discuss upcoming NFL games, playoff implications, and share lighthearted banter with Nick Saban. They reaffirm the importance of maintaining strong team cultures and express gratitude towards guests like Greg Sankey and Dion Dawkins for their invaluable insights.

Notable Quotes

• Nick Saban on SEC Fan Passion:

  “Everyone in the Southeast grew up being a college football fan... These schools are the center of the community for everybody.” ([05:27])

• Dion Dawkins on Leadership and Community:

  “It's one of my biggest honors because it can't be bought, it can't be faked.” ([157:18])

• Greg Sankey on SEC Strength of Schedule:

  “14 of our 16 have stronger schedules than the next CFP team.” ([71:25])

• Nick Saban on Offensive Line Balance:

  “It's balance that makes a great offensive lineman. Awareness of your body and being able to adjust on the fly is crucial.” ([144:43])

Conclusion

This episode of The Pat McAfee Show offers an in-depth exploration of the current state of college football, enriched by expert insights from Nick Saban, Dion Dawkins, and Greg Sankey. From the cultural dominance of SEC football and strategic coaching philosophies to the intricacies of playoff selections and evolving collegiate policies, the discussions provide valuable perspectives for fans and stakeholders alike. The recognition of Dion Dawkins as the Walter Payton Man of the Year adds a heartfelt dimension, celebrating the profound impact athletes can have both on and off the field.

Transcript

[AJ Hawk]

Mcafee show. I'm AJ Hawk sitting in at Pat's.

[Pat McAfee]

Desk with the boys at the thunderdome.

[AJ Hawk]

Pat, he's down in Atlanta for the SEC championship game. Georgia, Texas football, It's what's happening. Pat's down in Atlanta already. I don't know if the PA Announcer is still going on in the background, Pat, but you're looking good. How is Atlanta doing? And how's the. How's the vibes for that game tomorrow?

[Nick Saban]

AJ thank you so much for driving out to Indianapolis and hosting from that particular chair. You do a fantastic job every time you have to do it. I'll have you know that we were talking about the size and shoe shape of your cranium this morning in the game day production meeting, and obviously it was nothing but positive things. Have you guys seen the shape of Scattaboo, the running back from Arizona State's head? Have you guys seen this thing?

[Dion Dawkins]

Huge.

[Ty Schmidt]

Never seen it without a helmet.

[Nick Saban]

No, no, buddy. Find it. We. We got a thumper. This guy we're talking. Hey, this thing is a.

[AJ Hawk]

He's. He is a. Like the. What's it called again? Guardian.

[Nick Saban]

He's.

[AJ Hawk]

I got a natural guardian cap to him.

[Nick Saban]

He is built for damage, love. He is a. I could see why he's so impossible to tackle, Literally. I saw a photo of him, and I don't give anything away, but there's something coming tomorrow about him, and I think it's. I think it's, like, gonna be a piece that, like, really identifies who this dude is. All I had to do was look at one photo. Look, he has a. He has a. He. He has a buzz cut in the photo I saw. So you actually see the hair is kind of, I think, covering this thing up. It is a. We are talking about thump. Cannot wait for that. So we talked about your head, obviously, and many other people's heads. And then Matt Garrett, who is. I don't even know what level he's up there for game day. They have all these titles. Everybody has these titles. Everybody. And I respect all of them, okay? I respect all of them, and I. And I'm thankful for all of them. But Matt Garrett runs program, I think. But then somebody else would say, this person runs program. And then, you know, there's. There's one of those. He has a massive dome as well, you see, so. But his head, the shape of it is like, for an executive, you know, it's like the forehead as wide, but the brain very big. Very, very, very. So it's like he has a Big executive head, if that makes sense. You Coon? John Coon, sure. Scattaboo. Many other. Cam Hayward, you know, basically all start. I assume you could just probably go through all the, all the big thumpers. There is a certain dimensional frame of, of, of the head. And if I was ever a general manager, I would add that into, you know, the whole who do we want on our team? Who do we not want on our team? Just. That is a compliment, not a disservice to anybody there. Now, with that being said, it is awesome down here. Okay. I don't love that the back seats are red, that this is red, and then my face is in between them because it is, you know, it's going. It's going to get tomatoey on my face, it looks like today. But the buzz in any of these SEC championships, and I've been very lucky to be down here for a few of. And you talk to all the people in the sec, winning the sec, you know, and SEC SPN bias aside. And there's going to be a conversation from Coach Saban tomorrow about why these people love their college football so much more than maybe everywhere else in the. Not everywhere, but, you know, they love it. It's because there wasn't any professional sports down here. Coach Saban was talking about this morning. And these people treated as a, as an actual religion because it's been traditions that have been passed down from, like family to family to family to family. So whenever you talk, these two teams representing, especially Texas coming in for the first year, Georgia winning the SEC means it is very, very important in discussion around livelihoods down here, professions, careers, you name it. It's like being the best in the SEC means something more feels like to more people down here. You know, cheapest ticket, I think in seatgeek has the stats. Cheapest ticket to get into this sec, I think it's like 100 and some bucks, like 140 bucks for way up in the top somewhere. You know, there is. Yeah, that's. That's the hottest. I believe that's the average or whatever the case is. But like the cheapest one is like 140 bucks or something like that. There's 20 tickets right now for Big Ten championship, $35 tickets, championship. And that's not just because it's Texas, Georgia. That's because, like, this game is very meaningful to these people. Like, very, very. And everybody that talks about it treats it as such. You know, like Saban, obviously, the way he talked about this particular game versus even like national championships in like other games in the buzz, there's just like a palpable, they say, because it means so much. So it's like getting dropped into the middle of. That is a guy who's from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Every single year is obviously awesome because all the big time sponsors throughout the entire year of the SEC are here too, you know, so like all the businesses that have been involved with college ball this year kind of come in here. So it has a heightened super bowl type feeling, business wise. But then all the fans that buy the actual tickets, like these are the act. They'll fill this place. This place will be 50, 50. And it'll be. It'll be like a. You know, it'll be like an college football environment. It won't be like a bowl game played at another place. So I think you add all that in. I feel incredibly grateful to be here. And they got the Dr. Pepper practice happening back here. I don't know if we're allowed to show it. I think we showed it last year. I don't remember the give and take about it.

[AJ Hawk]

Wait, they let those guys practice.

[Boston Connor]

Have to.

[Nick Saban]

I think there's like a rehearsal. I think there's like a walk through on how we do this. How the clock is where you're going to enter the field. You know how you're going to. And. And I think there's some. I think there's some Dr. Pepper bigwigs. Oh, wow.

[Ty Schmidt]

Head docs, 23 flavors.

[Nick Saban]

I just want. What's his little pep? Baby pep. Tiny pep. What was that little pepper? The little Dr. Pepper guy that sang in the commercials. What was that? Do you remember?

[Pat McAfee]

Long hair, 50s.

[AJ Hawk]

I've never. I don't remember.

[Boston Connor]

No.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, it's the sweet one.

[Boston Connor]

The little guy.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, that little guy. A little guy that sings Dr. Pepper. What are you talking about?

[Gumpy]

A little sweet.

[Nick Saban]

Little sweet. What are you talking about? What do you mean you don't know?

[AJ Hawk]

I am unaware.

[Nick Saban]

Are you right?

[Ty Schmidt]

And the voice was Justin Guarini, I believe of American.

[Pat McAfee]

Don't you rape pipes.

[Greg Sankey]

What?

[Nick Saban]

That's not his. That wasn't his. That wasn't low sweets, boys.

[AJ Hawk]

What's wrong with him?

[Nick Saban]

Oh, okay.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, this guy.

[Nick Saban]

Okay.

[AJ Hawk]

I think like an animated situation.

[Pat McAfee]

Nick Kroll.

[Nick Saban]

What is your problem, aj? You didn't know who Lil Sweet was? I didn't. I know that was.

[AJ Hawk]

Who that is, was Little Sweet. I thought you were talking about some animated character or something. I apologize.

[Nick Saban]

There's a chance. I do not know for sure because I haven't talked to these people. I literally just walked out and looked. There is a chance that the person that hired an advertising agency to come up a little suite for them is out here on this field right here. And that is. That's a big deal. Hey, shout out Dr. Pepper.

[Boston Connor]

My three flavors.

[Nick Saban]

A little sweet. I did forget that we're in Dr. Pepper throw season, though, you know, not so much. We don't. Once again, I don't think we should show it. I think there is potential Dr. Pepper suit competitions happening right now.

[AJ Hawk]

Okay, well, team building, you think in the executive rights.

[Pat McAfee]

Are you sure we can't show it?

[Nick Saban]

Quick, quick, quick, quick. A little. Quick little zoom.

[AJ Hawk]

Quick zoom.

[Nick Saban]

Oh, quick. See suits. It's balls.

[AJ Hawk]

Pictures.

[Nick Saban]

Is that a little sweet?

[Pat McAfee]

No, that might be big sweet.

[Ty Schmidt]

Is Papa Papa sweet?

[Nick Saban]

Anyway, we would like to say thank you to Dr. Pepper for being such a big part of college. College ball.

[Ty Schmidt]

Are they chest passes?

[Nick Saban]

So that's the big convo. So I remember there was a story about the chest pass that I Learned from a Dr. Pepper person at this exact game maybe one year ago. There's some story behind it that's like very. Like, why the chess pass started. Who started it, how it.

[AJ Hawk]

Because you don't know how to throw a football.

[Nick Saban]

Is that why you're gonna see. I'm not even gonna tell the story now.

[AJ Hawk]

I assume that's if I can't throw, I'll. I'm gonna throw a chest pass.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, but, like, I think there was a chance somebody couldn't maybe. And like, yeah, shoulder rehab or something. Yeah, maybe. Maybe something like that. Yeah. But. But nonetheless, there's a story behind it because it was the first thing I brought up, what you said there. First thing I go. They go, hi, blah, blah, blah, from Dr. Pepper. I go, sweet. Hey, we gotta back that up a little bit, don't we? Trespassers don't. Can only, you know. And then they told me the whole story, and I was like, okay, of course, of course, of course. Yeah, yeah. Exactly what I just did. What happened with the actual people? So obviously an. But it's an honor to be here. Great game last night, A.J. hawk. And listen, you, me, Coach Pagano, get a push now. One half of the Hammer, Cowboys, AP tone. We all took three, okay? Because that is what ESPN BET had it. What was the line on that game last night at kickoff? Because, A.J. i think you're. You're sensing what I'm trying to do here. I think we should steal a win. Me, you, and Chuck last night.

[AJ Hawk]

Last thing I saw was three and A half.

[Ty Schmidt]

Let me see what it was. A kickoff. Yeah. When you.

[AJ Hawk]

Maybe four.

[Ty Schmidt]

When you guys made your picks. ESPN BET was three. Every other book was at three and a half. Let me see if it. If it moved before kickoff at ESPN bet.

[Pat McAfee]

I thought it.

[Nick Saban]

Okay, we should steal that. We'll take that. So we got a win. That was good. And. And congrats to the Lions pickers for them getting a push, too, you know, so we win, they get a push. Life is good. But if I'm a Lions fan, I have to think to myself, damn, it is awesome to be a Detroit Lions fan. Just the way they go about winning, the way they understand their situation. Whenever you hear mcdc talk after the game about the defense, man, and how he knew what the offense was going to have to do, but he understood the situation and the reality of the injuries on the defensive side, the way Aaron Glenn cooked up pressure on Jordan. Love the way they just went about winning that game and going forward on fourth down, obviously, big topic of conversation. That pass right there should be the big topic of conversation. To be clear, they did that like seven times, right? The same play seemingly right there to the Green Bay packers defense. And I don't know if that's just a Lion specialty, but that felt like that was happening all night long during the big plays. But speaking of big plays, big old gutsack, okay, that's with a G on mcdc doing what he did. He goes forward on fourth down, obviously gives up a touchdown because he's deep in his own end. Everybody thinks this guy's a dipshit. He's not going to be able to do it. Then when the game is tied, let's win this thing. 30 some seconds left, fourth and a half a yard, and they call timeout. Let the clock run all the way down, called timeout. Jared Goff runs over the sideline, and he literally asked for a ball to throw it. So I'm like, wait, is he selling that they're still going for this? Is he trying to. No way they are going to go for this. Why would you even risk a bobbled snap? Why would you even risk your quarterback getting tripped on? Why would you even do any of that? And I think it's 100% because MCDC told the boys, hey, our defense can't stop Jordan Love. We kick a field goal right here, they're going to kick a field goal. We're going into overtime. If we get half a damn yard, this game is over. And the celebration by the Lions and the offensive linemen after they pick it up and the strain from Jared Goff to get the handoff, the boys knew. The boys knew we just won the game. Offensive linemen started jumping up and down, doing this one right here. It's like MCDC's got them all going in the same exact direction. They all believe in every decision that he makes. And although I don't know if they're going to be able to win all the games that they have to playing the way they did last night, especially against a Packers team that could have beat them a couple different times, I assume is what packers fans are going to say. I'll wait to hear from your end on that whole thing. But it's like the Detroit Lions win football games and it feels like they knew this is how they were going to have to win this one. And skip puking all over the place in the locker room afterwards. Mcdc giving shout outs everywhere. It's like, life is good. As a Lions fan, I don't know if you're able to go with all the injuries still. Like all but the fact that they win that game, it's like, well coached, great culture, buy in intelligence, like everything that you need for a good team, let alone grit. AJ so that's my big takeaway. Like, what a win by the line. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, people love to argue and I guess give their opinion on what the fourth going forward on fourth down and what you should do, what you shouldn't do. What the analytics tell you. I like, I feel like Dan Campbell.

[Nick Saban]

I don't.

[AJ Hawk]

You guys can let me know if I'm wrong here. I sense like he kind of takes all the analytics into the question, but he also takes in the moment. He trusts his instincts and even said after the game a little bit, first off, I got a sidebar. Jared Goff, unbelievable play here. He gets his footsteps.

[Nick Saban]

Unbelievable.

[AJ Hawk]

Still able to do this and not fumble the ball. Because imagine if he does fumble that ball and the ball goes bounced off. Yeah. Something like that happens. What does Dan Campbell look like then? Like, then people have a completely different situation.

[Nick Saban]

If that hits buddy's elbow. Knuckles. If that hits knuckles elbow and goes down Scoop and Score. 11 and 2 or whatever. They would be calling for McDc's head. I mean, it would be, this guy's the dumbest. This guy. We know that they've won and everything. Everybody would be saying it. But instead his players showed up for him, which is exactly why he does what he does. And he can certainly go the other way. But for some reason, when mcdc Is leading the way. It always seems to go their way. Now, speaking of not going their way, let's go to the toxic table, obviously at Austin corner. Good to see you pal. You look fantastic.

[Pat McAfee]

Good to see you too.

[Nick Saban]

Great jacket there, Sco Docs. Thank you. Yeah, neutral site. Game didn't get any swag, so. Ah, yeah. Didn't pack good either. Yeah, sure. Boy. Yeah. This, the. The body. If I would have taken this and had to think the redness, I would have. My whole body will blend in with seats.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So part of them. Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

So it's a little bit of an issue. Yeah, a little bit of an issue there. But Ty at. Ty Schmidt right there next to Conman. I heard the refs were the reason why what happened here. There was a lot of comments on our Instagram posts from the game last night. My post this morning, whenever, you know, we get to see mcdc, talk about Skip puking all over the place. The refs were the reason, I heard. Is that real? And what did I miss? There was a push off, I guess. And what was.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, I mean there's a lot of that going around right now, which is bullshit. I hate that. Anytime that's the first thing you lean to like, you just. You can't do that. Can't be doing that in an NFL game. Obviously the refs aren't perfect. You're going to miss calls. But yeah, there was the, the Saint Brown catch that we just showed there that brought up the fourth down before the field goal. A lot of people saying he pushed off there, but then cherry picking and going back to, oh, Jordan Love, you know, getting hit in the head or the, the touchdown that the packers scored late that they took off the board for the pick by Christian Watson. A lot of people saying, hey, the Lions ran the same play earlier. Sam laporta, you know, does a pick for Jimmy. I came across Jameer Gibbs or David Montgomery on a screen pass, but he gets loose and he gets a first down. So a lot of that kind of stuff. But like I told you, I mean it. The Lions were four or five on fourth down.

[Pat McAfee]

It's.

[Boston Connor]

It's as simple as that. Like they tried to. I don't want to say they tried to give the game away, but the packers had ample opportunities and I think last night just kind of proved to me that packers are good. I'm not, I'm not worried about them in any stretch of the imagination. They're going to make the playoffs. I still feel very confident that they're going to win a Playoff game. But I think they are still just kind of a class right below the Lions and the Eagles. A lot of people forget that this is the. The old or the youngest offense in the NFL. They have a young defense, too. So I think a couple years from now, we'll really see this packers team, you know, more mature and see what they really can be. But every single time the Lions need to rise to the occasion, they do. Especially against the packers this year, they've scored six touchdowns. Four of those touchdowns have been on fourth down. So, you know, it's one of those things where you can blame the refs, you can point at the decision making. Early on, the packers kind of slept. Walked through the first two quarters of this game, which you can't do against a team like the Lions. So really, all they can kind of blame is themselves. Because when the Lions need a play, when they. They need a big moment, they have risen to the occasion every single time. And even early on, that's all we talked about yesterday. They're so banged up, their front seven, first play of the game, they sack Jordan Love and kind of throw everything off. Malafleur is so good with his, you know, first 15, his scripted play, like, the Lions are up 10, nothing in a blink of an eye. And that kind of changes everything because then they don't get Josh Jacobs involved as much. Jordan Love has to throw. He was awful in the first half. So it's one of those things where I think you mentioned it, like the culture, the toughness, the coaching. The Lions are just really good. They're just a really good team. They're arguably the best team in the NFL. And the pa. The Packers, I have a feeling, you know, they're going to circle this one for a long time and kind of rue all the mistakes they made. But again, they're 9 and 4. They're probably going to the playoffs. So I think you take that more so than, hey, we kind of blew this game in Detroit when we probably should have won it.

[Nick Saban]

Ty, I think that's a wonderful way to view it. And I'm joined now, ladies and gentlemen, by the Goat.

[AJ Hawk]

All right, Goat. Next day.

[Nick Saban]

Coach. Coach, we were just talking about the Lions game last. First of all, welcome home the SEC championship, you know what I'm saying? All right, so. But anyways, before we get to that, we're here wrapping up this conversation. I don't know if you got to see the entire game last night. Motor City. Dan Campbell, the head coach of the Lions, he goes for it on fourth down. All the time. It's like his thing, but his team normally gets it. Last night there was a situation. He goes for it on fourth. He gives the ball to Jordan Love in, like, field goal range, definitely scoring position, for sure. Then he goes. At the very end of the game, he is in field goal range. Scores tied. Less than a minute left. Okay, less than a minute left. Right here. Fourth and inches in field goal range. They got a great kicker. He has made these kicks in this situation. 43 seconds left. Packers out of timeouts. He decides to go for it on 4th and inches, and his team picks it up for him. And that's obviously, like, I think, a calling card for his team. How did you go about making the decisions? Is it a lot in the moment? Is it. Do you have a preconceived idea of what you want to do in these situations? How do you make those types of decisions?

[Dion Dawkins]

Well, I always thought if we had one yard or less and I believed in our players, and I think Dan Campbell was showing that he believes in his players, that they're going to make a half a yard, a yard, whatever, in that situation. And I do agree with the analysis that if they kick a field goal with 43 seconds left, that Green Bay goes down the field and maybe they kick a field goal, score a touchdown. So you give them an opportunity to win the game. You know, I always felt like if you can win the game on offense, do it. If you can win the game on offense, you know, third and five and you got to throw it at the end of the game to make a first down, to keep the ball so the other team doesn't get it back.

[Nick Saban]

Yep.

[Dion Dawkins]

Because most of the games that I played conservative in when I first became a head coach, we always lost giving the other team a chance. All right. Because we were conservative. We're going to give them the ball and stop them on defense.

[Nick Saban]

Make the right decision, though. We're going to run the ball up the middle for 2 yards. They're going to use their timeout. We're going to do this, and then we're going to punt and we're going to give them a minute 10 with no timeouts left. That's by a book. You can cover your ass and say that's the right decision. We wasted their timeouts. We did that whole thing. But if your team can end the game ended. If you get a first down, and a lot of people don't know this, obviously this was different. But if you get a first down with the other team with no Timeouts, two minute warning or lower. Game over. That is. That is kneel out, game time. So a lot of those decisions made around then are obviously.

[Dion Dawkins]

But I think fundamental execution is important. And I love Jared Goff, but his footwork coming out from under the center there. I mean, everybody says he made a great play, but with better footwork.

[Nick Saban]

Jared Goff has been unbelievable. I love the guy, and I like that he put himself maybe in a situation strain a little bit. Let's do. Let's make it a little bit more exciting for the people. Have you. Speaking of exciting for the people, do you know their head coach at all, Dan Campbell?

[Dion Dawkins]

I don't, but we have, what, four or five players on that team that. So I watch that team a lot because I really try to pay attention to our guys in the NFL. People always ask me, what team you like. I like the team that our guys play on and see how they're doing.

[Nick Saban]

Arnold, big dog for them up there, too. I mean, what an absolute beast. Quickly for them, the way he goes about getting his team to follow a message. He's like 275, 282. Absolutely yoked and jacked, but you can tell he's like a teacher. I think that's like a big quality. It doesn't matter how you deliver the message, but if you want to teach and lead, I think it gets home with players. Being who you are matters more, I think, than anything else. And he got murdered for it. Early in his opening press conference, he said he was going to gnaw kneecaps. Then he wore. Like he cried during the first win. Like he showed emotion. And every metaphor he gave was just like one that looks like or sounds like it's from a guy who smokes. How many boys you think two packs a day, Two, four, three, maybe three packs a day. Murdered by a lot of. Yeah, the heavy ones.

[Boston Connor]

That's right.

[Nick Saban]

And he's got America's best, too. I think he's got America's best. Oh, yeah, he's got, you know, that old school America's best back in the day. He does all that. So he got murdered, but his team's kind of stuck with him. Do you think coaches. Obviously they can. Why do you think coaches can come in all different forms?

[Dion Dawkins]

Well, but I like the way Dan Campbell comes across. You know, first of all, he's tough. Builds toughness in his team, which I think is very important in terms of your culture. But you mentioned something, and he's a teacher. And, you know, there's. There's three different things that I always talked about in teaching. You can teach a guy what to do. Can you teach him how to do it with good teaching progression. And then if the guy can understand why it's important to do it that way, he's going to have a much better buy in to doing it the way you want him to do it. And I think good teachers do that. And I think there's a lot of coaches out there that just tell guys they think their job is tell them what to do. They don't really tell them how to do it or they don't even tell them why it's important to do it that way. But when you can tell a guy this footwork will help you play better in guarding a guy or covering a guy or whatever it is. And if you offhand jam him, that'll help you play better. If you use this footwork as an offensive lineman, you're going to have a better chance of being successful, you know, on the zone play. I think that's what the Detroit Lions do very, very well. They got good players, but they do a really good job of coaching them.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, great coaching, especially on that defensive side. AJ how about Aaron Glenn, Kelvin Shepard and the boys? Did you hear the the report coming out of halftime? I think for Kaylee Hartsung said that Kelvin Shepard, former teammate of My dog, by the way, beloved. You're talking about an energy guy. Beloved. Happy he's in coaching. I guess he was chewing out the linebackers on the field. I don't want to see one more missed assignment. Not one more more. And it's like, obviously they give up a bunch of points on the other side, but they're coaching their asses off up there in Detroit to get these wins.

[AJ Hawk]

AJ yeah, that's all I would want to ask, Coach, that how do you find like a balance, say you're a defensive coach, defensive coordinator, like the fine balance to where, yes, we have enough in this game plan where we can come after and we can blitz and we have enough coverages. But also, I don't want to overload my guys. I want them to play free, play fast because we know the best defenses are always running fast and kind of playing on instincts.

[Nick Saban]

And also a couple guys just signed this week on their defensive side. Like they just signed like three days ago, four days ago.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah, well, we had that once when I was in Cleveland with Bill Belichick at the Browns. We have no, we're going to play the Houston Oilers and they're running a run and Shoot with Warren Moon at quarterback and we have to pick up two corners off the street. So we had like three or four defensive calls, you know, two coverages, one pressure, one blitz. That was it. Now, we went and executed well enough to have a chance to win the game, but I think it's all relative to what your players can handle. But my theory as a coach was I was always a hole. Part hole coach. In other words, I wanted to throw as much shit on the wall as I could throw on and see what stuck, then what didn't stick, put it back in the bucket and throw it up there again until it all stuck. So I really wanted our players to have a capacity. A capacity.

[Nick Saban]

Whole part. Oh, you think that's it?

[Dion Dawkins]

Whole.

[Nick Saban]

That's right.

[Dion Dawkins]

The whole bucket of shit's got to end up on the wall.

[Nick Saban]

Learn it. This is what we're doing.

[Dion Dawkins]

But I think what that does, A.J. to your point, is your players have capacity to a adjust. And they also have a better capacity to handle more multiples of things without screwing it up, if that makes sense.

[Nick Saban]

Absolutely.

[Dion Dawkins]

When you teach simplicity, then people become simple minded and then they can't adjust and they can't do multiple things without making mistakes. And I always. I used to. We used to put so much stuff in, like in fall camp, and guys looking at me like, why are we putting this in? Well, we're putting it in and see if you can learn it. All right. We might not use it till the ninth game of the season, but we're gonna put it in today anyway, so. But I wanted to develop that in the play. And I think that's probably what, you know, Aaron Glenn's trying to get across to his guys now. When you pick up some guys off the street and they got to be out there playing, they didn't have the opportunity to go through that. You better simplify it for them.

[Nick Saban]

What was that? And it seemed like they weren't. They were bringing pressure. They were. They were sending it. Hey, Aaron Glenn was sending it last night. Obviously, that stat that NFL plus Premium NFL Pro gave yesterday was the Lions, how much they were blitzing and adding a person to pressure and then how Jordan Love has done against it against them in the past. Jordan Love was not good against pressure in the past. I felt like they brought a lot last night. But that could be because they were on fourth, fifth stringers. Who was that D tackle, 95. Was that his number? 95. Who was that foxy? I don't even know. I actually don't even know. I Didn't know half the people on that defense. 95 might have been the started with an N Ty, the guy we were taught talking about. But that's why it was just so unbelievable last night. There were some players there making plays. I'm like, holy hell. And how about Tim Patrick? Congrats. Unreal.

[AJ Hawk]

Awesome.

[Ty Schmidt]

95 is listed as Pat O'Connor for the Lions roster.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, there it is. Good beard. Good beard. Anyways, it was.

[Dion Dawkins]

But the thing that allows them to do that. First of all, the Lions play a lot of man to man, all right? So if you're playing man to man and your guys can cover their guys, you can pressure more. Because I've always. You always heard me say this. The corners put the limitations on your defense, so they play a lot of man to man. So they might as well pressure and take up some of the slack for some of the personnel they're missing up front in the front seven because they're playing man to man anyway, even when they rush four guys. So I think that's the key to their success, that the back end can hold up and they can pressure people.

[Nick Saban]

Aaron Glenn, great ball coach. He's. He's. They're both gone, huh? Foxy? They're both gone. Yeah, they're both gone. I mean, you could argue that Aaron Glenn's the best defensive coordinator league, you could argue that Ben Johnson's the best offensive coordinator league, and you could argue that mcdc is the best head coach in the league. Hold on. Zito Gumpy told me in the plane this morning that Chicago fans are already saying maybe nah to Ben Johnson. Is that true? Yesterday, I believe he saw with Albert Breer when he was saying that there's a lot of, like a lot of things that the Bears has to do.

[AJ Hawk]

Stipulations.

[Nick Saban]

Yes. Yeah. And Bears fans did not like that. What did he say? He said directly to the Bears it was what Albert Breer was reporting. I don't know exactly who Dumpy is. Your mic work. What did you say? Dumpy?

[Gumpy]

Yeah.

[AQ Shipley]

It was just the report that Albert Breer said basically Ben Johnson wants this and that where he's going to be a head coach because he's already turned down places before.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, he said he's not Chicago Bears took that personally. What was he saying?

[Pat McAfee]

Well, that's Chicago. Chicago, they're fickle when it comes to football, rightfully so, based on their past. But they just said more so like Ben Johnson, if he's interviewing somewhere, he's taking that job, which, I mean, obviously it would Be the case in any interview. But that's why Bears ends like, oh, you think that we're gonna just interview you and automatically you get the job. That's not how this works.

[Nick Saban]

Okay? Respect. Respect. It is a good job. Chicago is a beautiful city. That fan base would go absolutely bonkrews if they were great. But what's happening up in Detroit is a thing of beauty, and we'll continue that. Speaking of a thing of beauty. Hey, SEC championship. Now, I should have done this research, so this is on me. I won't let you know that.

[Dion Dawkins]

Can I say something before we get into this? Sure. So, having interviewed for a few NFL head coaching jobs in the past.

[Nick Saban]

Okay.

[Dion Dawkins]

And I know you guys think that Chicago's a beautiful city and all that, but if you take a job where you don't have roster, you gotta look at the roster, you gotta look at the salary cap, you gotta look at the quarterback situation, which the Bears have a good one. But I'm saying you have to take all those things into consideration, because if you don't, you can end up in a no win situation. Like, I took the Miami Dolphins job. We were $17 million over the cap, which was a lot back in those days. This is 20 years ago. We had the oldest team in the league. They're 4 and 12. We got no quarterback. And I'm thinking, I'm going to make it right. Well, you know, we had a winning season the first year, but we couldn't get it turned around. But there were so many obstacles and no draft picks because they gave them all away for Ricky Williams. So if you don't do your research and taking an NFL job is my point.

[Nick Saban]

I understand.

[Dion Dawkins]

Regardless of how pretty the city, did.

[Nick Saban]

You know that going in, Coach, Miami is beautiful.

[AQ Shipley]

Still love you in Miami.

[Dion Dawkins]

Great weather.

[Greg Sankey]

Great.

[Dion Dawkins]

It was fantastic.

[Nick Saban]

What'd you say, aj? I'm sorry.

[AJ Hawk]

How much of that did you, I guess, know going into that job? Because you're right, like, everything has to be in place if you want a chance to be successful as a head coach.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah, I knew it. I just had a bad case of the dumbass, that's all.

[Nick Saban]

We all get a case of that often. Too many times. Some of us.

[Dion Dawkins]

No, Wayne Huizenga was a great owner, and I thought this was a really good organization, and I thought we could get it fixed and we got it moving in the right direction, but not being able to overcome the quarterback thing was the issue.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. And then obviously you go back to college, Alabama, and you just do your thing. Now, granted that's for coaches who have options, like Ben Johnson is going to have options. So there's other coaches that are like, I'm getting a job, I'm in, you know, and there's obviously a different structure to how those deals go versus how Ben Johnson can get at this point. That's any negotiation for anything ever. Now, with that being said, you go back to Alabama, go back to college, come to Alabama, and obviously the rest is history. Greatest of all time, you walked on this field here, it looked like you were hovering. Felt like you obviously knew this place well. Everybody that's around here is associated with either Georgia, Texas, or the SEC and their advertisers. As soon as you walked in here, literally every person's neck snapped to watch you do this. You are obviously viewed as a icon in all of college football, but certainly in the sec. Why is the SEC championship so important? Because you talked about that this morning. And do you have any memories whenever you walk into this environment that, like, pop up front of mind?

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah, I have lots of memories. I think we played here, I don't know, 11 or 12 times in SEC Championship games, but, you know, we played Florida, they were one, where we were two. The next year we played them, we were one, they were two. So those eight and nine, 2008, 2009 games, they were all great. But I think the SEC Championship game is one of the most outstanding competitive venues in the country. And I think it's because the passion that people in the Southeast have for football, and I think that comes from the fact that there were no pro sports in the south until the 1970s, you know, when Atlanta came in, Miami Dolphins came in. Then later in the 80s, the Saints come in. All right, so everybody in the Southeast grew up being a college football fan. That's not necessarily true. Up north, you know, there are some places.

[Nick Saban]

Yes, of course, but not everywhere.

[Dion Dawkins]

Not everywhere here.

[Nick Saban]

It's everywhere, Simon.

[Dion Dawkins]

Everywhere. And I think that that's what makes the Southeast. People have so much passion for the game, and I think that's what makes the conference what it is. And those outstanding stadiums and those outstanding fan bases and that great passion makes people want to play in this league, which makes this game a great game. And this is. There's always great competition in this game. Just like there's going to be between Georgia and Texas. And, you know, we had some great games, and sometimes the games here are actually harder than the national championship game.

[Nick Saban]

Why is that? Yeah, why is that? You said that. I think you mentioned that earlier.

[Dion Dawkins]

Well, we Played Georgia, I think we were one and they were three and a year. We played Notre Dame in the national championship, which I think was 12. And I mean, it's the last play of the game. They got the ball on the seven yard line, we tackle the guy and the clock runs out and it's 28, 24 or something like that. And then, you know, we go play Notre Dame is 28 nothing. Halftime. I mean, so it was always a tough game. It was a playoff game here.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. You know, the environment creates it. Obviously, the pressure of the towns in which your teams represent having the history and the tradition that they have in Ty. It's like a lot of these places, obviously, 100 some thousand. And they build them, get bigger. They have like the season ticket waiting list for like, like the Green Bay packers have. And, you know, it's like families trying to get more members of family into stadium to do more traditions. And I think that is why it is different down here, because it's. They're all in. That professional football thing is very real. So any football person in the south, which is damn near every person in the south, just had to pledge their allegiance basically to the school they went or the school that is closest to them. And boy, it has created some phenomenal traditions, like down there at lsu, you know which one I'm talking about. And then here, you know, here, obviously, Texas has great passion, tradition, brand new to the SEC. How would you feel if a Big 12 team comes into the SEC and wins the SEC championship in its first year? Would there be some thoughts from SEC people about that? Or is that just showcasing that Sankey brought a powerhouse into the SEC when conference realignment happened?

[Dion Dawkins]

Well, but I think Texas, because of sarc, was really built like an secular SEC team. You know, they're a big physical team, they play good defense, he's a great coach, offensively, great play caller. But their team was built like an SEC team. You know, SEC teams have, you know, great size and are physical, and playing physical in this league means something. And Georgia's got a physical team as well. And it showed up in the first game. That's why they were able to win the game, I think, is they were the more physical team. So, you know, the other thing that I would like to point out that's a little bit off the subject here is, of course, great high school football in Texas, great high school football in the Southeast, because, you know, when I grew up, and I don't know how it was for you in Pittsburgh, but the last guy in Town turned the lights out when we had a game on Friday night. Everybody went to the game. So the school was the center of the community for everybody. So it was important to play. And, you know, that's kind of transcended all over the Southeast for many, many years. And there's a lot of these schools that the community still supports, you know, the school and the program. And there's great passion for high school football, which enhances the number of guys you have to recruit, and that enhances the league.

[Nick Saban]

And a lot of these guys that have been recruited down in the south want to represent for the school that they grew up around or grew up in the same state as. That's a big deal down here for these guys. And 12 months of warm weather, AJ that helps with. That helps with a lot. That helps a lot. Not everybody, obviously. There's cold weather in some of those states that are a little bit more north, but there's certainly more warm days in the south than there is in Pittsburgh or West Virginia or Ohio. That emphasis on high school football is a good one. I didn't even think about because those Texas stories about those stadiums down there in Texas. And then obviously we watch all the movies, Varsity Blues, Friday Night Lights and all that stuff. It is. Football is a beautiful sport. Let's talk about this game that's happening here. You said the first game you think was potentially more who alphysled who outcome. Georgia did that to Texas. In Texas, it was a big smear on Texas's campaign because their only good team they played, they lost to at home. Is this Georgia Bulldogs.

[Dion Dawkins]

Right.

[Nick Saban]

Then Georgia would lose a game. And then now the conversation is, can Georgia still beat this Texas? Fresh off of what Texas just did to Texas A and M, what are your thoughts on these two teams? Are they different than when they were the last time and how do you see it going?

[Dion Dawkins]

Well, I think actually Texas just watching them progress through the year. First of all, when they played Georgia the first time, quarterbacks coming off an injury hadn't played for a couple weeks, got rattled in the game early because of Georgia's defense and their pressures, especially on third down, five sacks, I think. Right. And. And Georgia has played a little better, but struggled against Georgia Tech defensively, but totally different kind of offense. You know, Kirby is always going to do just like I was the same way kind of NFL coach. So when you play an NFL type quarterback, we had lots of pressures, lots of things to mess them up, lots of disguises. When you play a running quarterback, a lot of that stuff's out the window and that's what they're going to play when they play Texas because of yours. But I do think the one thing that's important in this game is first and second down. Everybody's going to talk about third down, but your ability to run the ball and control the line of scrimmage and stay out of bad third down situations where they can do all these pressures which you see right here, which is the first third down of the game, which is a corner blitz. Playing two trap and sack fumble puts Georgia ahead in the game right off the bat. So who can help their quarterback play better by staying in better down a distance situations where you don't put a lot of pressure on schedule, on schedule because at the end of the day it'll come down to which one of these guys plays the best in the game. In my opinion, the quarterback offensive line.

[Nick Saban]

For Georgia has gotten better throughout the year.

[Dion Dawkins]

Right.

[Nick Saban]

I think there's going to be some film on that tomorrow. I'm excited for that. Frazier coming in as the running back. And although ETN great, Frazier has been able, you know, he had a couple massive scores for him last week against Georgia Tech and the whole thing. And then Carson Beck. What are your thoughts on Carson Beck? He was at one point what QB he was. What were they saying before the season about him?

[Ty Schmidt]

One or two?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

Top. Yeah, him and Quinn. Right. Were like these two, which makes sense, I guess here. Yeah.

[Dion Dawkins]

Well, I think Carson Beck is a really good quarterback. You've heard me say this a hundred times before. The players around, you have to play well. He's had a lot of drops. He forced some balls. Probably receivers don't separate quite as well as they did a year ago when he had some better guys, mismatched guys. So he's had a little more to overcome. But I think he's had an opportunity also to prove that he can do it if he doesn't have better players around him so that maybe he didn't do as well as he could. But I do think when he hasn't turned the ball over, you know, George has lost four times. Every time they've lost in the last however many years, they lost four games. They've lost a turnover battle. And this year, how many turnovers they have against Alabama, how many have against Ole Miss? I mean, it's the same thing. So taking care of the ball is really important. So if you can win first and second down, you don't put as much pressure on the quarterback on third down to Take care of the ball.

[Nick Saban]

Okay, so the name of the game is turnovers, says Nick Saban, which is so often the case. But in this one, even more specifically, I love tomorrow's game. This is a good matchup.

[Dion Dawkins]

It's a good matchup. And I tell you, I always thought it was hard to beat a good team two times in the season. So psychologically, you know, revenge should not be a factor. But it is.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. You felt it before.

[Dion Dawkins]

I mean, everybody has.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. When you're Georgia, you felt the, or when you're Texas, you felt the loss to Georgia in your home.

[Dion Dawkins]

Right.

[Nick Saban]

And you've heard about it all year.

[Dion Dawkins]

And then the psychological component of Georgia. How do they get up to win the rematch?

[Nick Saban]

What's your message?

[Dion Dawkins]

We showed old Muhammad Ali, they, everybody said he couldn't win the rematch in one of his fights. I can't even remember which fight it was, but I was always looking for examples.

[Nick Saban]

Something that's like Dan Lanning. Have you seen Dan Lanning stuff? Oh, yeah. They put those videos out on social media. I'll be excited to see what this week's mantra is. But he'll run some video up on the screen and then that'll be the team's mantra for the week. Normally these teams have these mantras for like entire seasons, Right. Like the gladiator thumbs down thing. That would be like a whole season for some teams. Like, hey, this year we're gladiators. It's thumbs down. Every single, like every workout, they probably have shirts. Thumbs down, Kill, Kill.

[Dion Dawkins]

Right.

[Nick Saban]

That was one week. And then the next one was Inglorious Bastards. It's like we're hammering heads. It's like, okay. And then I can't wait. See, it's like every week he's motivated. How that you were that style, Were you that style of guy, pop culture, that type of things.

[Dion Dawkins]

I, I, I really wanted to have a message for the season. Okay. What we were doing for the season and keep going back to that, but every week trying to have a new spin, you know, so it's kind of a combination of the two things that you're describing.

[Nick Saban]

So we.

[Dion Dawkins]

Which was really challenging.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, I could. For how many years did you coach?

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah, 50.

[Nick Saban]

So dog. So many times he had to speak and say, we need to be tough, smart and win, basically. But how you get that message out, you gotta find. That's like. Did you see Hard Knocks? Shark Knocks at all?

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

You see Mike Tom this week? It was on Tuesday.

[Dion Dawkins]

I didn't see it. Not this week.

[Nick Saban]

It is I mean, I wish they would have done that to you have. Do we have any uncut footage of like your team meetings and stuff?

[Dion Dawkins]

I think they did a hard knocks way back, you know, maybe way back in 2009 or 2010 on us.

[Pat McAfee]

They're like a 60 Minutes.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, but did you cut them off? Did you say you can't put that out there? Do we get the real stuff?

[Dion Dawkins]

I think you got some of the real stuff.

[Nick Saban]

Okay. Okay, I'm gonna go find that Tone has a question for you back.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, I do.

[Nick Saban]

Coach.

[Ty Schmidt]

Obviously, you know, Penn State is a good team. James Franklin is a good coach. But we all know the numbers. They have struggled against top 10 and top 5 teams. I think it's like 1 and 13 versus top 5 or in 3 and 18 versus top 10 or whatever those numbers are. They're not good. Why do you think that is? Because, you know, obviously they have the talent, they have the guys, they have the coaching, but they just can't seem to get over the hump in these big games.

[Dion Dawkins]

So they are a physical team and I'll give them that. And in the old days, when I say old days, I'm talking about 20, 25 years ago, there was a, you know, whoever could run the ball for the most yards in a game usually won. It's not true anymore.

[Nick Saban]

No, no.

[Dion Dawkins]

You know, because the game has, is not wide ball anymore. It's spread. And now it becomes more about speed kills. So if you look at Oregon, the speed that they have, what they're able to do with it, in terms of the wide receivers, they have the good quarterback that they have. And even though Penn State's a really good football team and they can run the ball and they've got two really good running backs other than the tight end, they don't really have a lot of guys that can make explosive plays. And explosive plays have become the second indicator of winning and losing. How many explosive play what? You know, turnover ratio is number one, but explosive play ratio is number two. So teams like Oregon just make a lot of explosive plays and that is hard to overcome.

[Nick Saban]

You know what we have found out and I'm going to talk about this tomorrow, this or you talk about physical. And to win football games you have to be physical. We have a ram truck. Did you hear that? We just dropped an ad right into a microphone right there. Ram truck. We have a ram truck segment where we highlight big time hits in college football. Have to be legal though. We're not promoting dirty shots, but just good. Oregon is nominated Every week we've done it two times. I think this is D3 ball all the way through. D1. Football. Football. We have a lot of people sending in big time hits from all over the place Oregon is in every single week. There's at least one or two like this one right here. This was this week's the duck truck 2.0. And it was a running back hitting somebody. Then Uiangulile on the defensive side will hit somebody. They are like a violent football team. That is what I learned. Hey, Tone, is that what you've learned from this Ram truck segment too, with going through all the people that are nominated? It's like every week it was Oregon, Tone. Every.

[Ty Schmidt]

Every single week it was. It was Whittington at running back. It was the running back we saw this week. And then you said Ouyang Ole. And then the DN who was out with the injury. I can't remember his name off the top of my head. He was in there a few times. They would have safety in there. Oregon. Yeah. They fly around and they hit.

[Nick Saban]

They hit.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah. They are a physical team. I think that's what Dan has brought to them. They used to just be a skill. Fast flash. Now they have the skill in the fast flash, but they also are physical. Two defensive ends, they got a really good. I tell you what. James Kidd, the running back, number 20.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah.

[Dion Dawkins]

I mean, he runs behind his pads. He gets positive yards after contact. I like Oregon, but, you know, I would say Oregon's team is more like my Ferrari than your Ram Truck.

[Nick Saban]

No, no, they got Teflon on the front of that. They're running people over. They. Their mentalities have been amazing. How many Ferraris you have?

[Dion Dawkins]

Just one at the present time.

[Nick Saban]

No, no, that's not true.

[Dion Dawkins]

I used to have two, but I only have one.

[Nick Saban]

No, no, no. Don't you sell them?

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah, well, we have a dealership. Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

So are all of those cars is yours? We don't think that.

[Dion Dawkins]

No, I don't think that way unless I buy one.

[Nick Saban]

That's very nice of you to give back to your business. Coach.

[Ty Schmidt]

Coach, if you want us to promote that, we'll drive them around up here for little bit.

[Nick Saban]

If you want your dealer, we need. We need that tire insurance, that wheel insurance, big time bumpers too.

[Dion Dawkins]

You need insurance for everything on those.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, we'll market for it though. A lot of people that. We'll be able to hit the Ferrari market too. You know, we'll be able to get the people that are buying. Oh, yeah, yeah. That is Our, that is our demo. That Big Ten championship is going to be a good one, brother. We're going to be there. I can't wait to get in there. Ticket. You get in there. We talked about this a little differently earlier. You know what you said about down here. Yeah, I think it's like 25 bucks to get in or something like that. Yeah, 140 or something like that to get up there for the sec. We're not happy about an Indy. We're not. We. We don't, we don't like that that's happening. We just want to let everybody know that Lucas Oil Stadium is gonna be a loud house for that Big Ten game. That place is gonna go bonkers. And it's gonna be a great football game just like this one is. Speaking of great, the great Boston Conner has a question for you, Coach.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, coach. Also speaking of great, Bill Belichick has interviewed for the UNC job. Obviously you guys are good personal friends and Bill has never coached in college. Do you have any conversations with him about this type of possibility? And do you think that he really will, you know, maybe take the leap to back to college to do this just because of how the game in college has become a little bit more like the pros with everyone being paid and everything?

[Dion Dawkins]

First of all, you know, Bill, an outstanding coach. He's very well organized. He's a good teacher. I think he relates well with the players. So I think he would do a great job in college. The only thing that would be different is recruiting. But as you say, relationship building is not as important. Not that Bill wouldn't be good at that. It's not as important now that you pay players. I think it becomes a little bit more about, you know, the money and the deal that you make with them. So it is a little bit more like pro football. So. And I think Bill knows how to manage that and would do a good job. So it doesn't surprise me when you have a coach of his caliber, quality, consistency and success for a lot of years that it wouldn't be somebody that people would consider.

[Nick Saban]

Do you think he could two step like you in a recruiting visit or no?

[Dion Dawkins]

I can't answer that. I've never. I can't give you a scouting report on his two steps.

[Nick Saban]

You can do stuff, though. I've seen it. I've been in the room where it happens too, boys. I've been up there in the recruiting room where it happens.

[Pat McAfee]

Fantastic.

[Nick Saban]

He's doing his. Yeah. Where he's doing the entire. Yeah. Him. Ms. Terry saw it on the Blind side. Yeah, we saw it when he sat down in the living room. Yeah, exactly. Got a little bit of this, a little bit of this. Hey, how about this one?

[Gumpy]

Whoa.

[Nick Saban]

And we'll take it back.

[Dion Dawkins]

But when I grew up in West Virginia, you know, we had one movie theater, one movie a month, all right? You had the river you could go to, and they took the fire trucks out of the volunteer fire department every other Saturday night, all right? So if you couldn't dance, you could not get a date. All right? It was. It was imperative that you learn how to dance, or you. You. You had no chance.

[Nick Saban]

I'll tell you what, Ms. Terry saw those moves. She was like, I tell you what, look at that. 1, 2, 2, 1, 2. I saw you working up there. That was awesome. When those videos hit the Internet, because obviously nobody thinks that Nick Saban is a dancer. He's got rhythm. Dude's got rhythm out here. It is a phenomenal thing. AJ you think Ryan Day's dancing? How do you think. How do you think Ryan Day?

[AJ Hawk]

I do not. I'd like to ask coach about that. Yeah. Ohio State, Buckeyes, obviously, tough loss at home. I was there in the stadium. Disappointed, frustrating loss for them. But what do you. What do you do if you're Ryan Day? What do you say to your team? Like, everything is still out in front of them. They can still have a chance, hopefully, to go win a national championship. It's kind of a unique situation that hasn't come up before, really. But, like, what do you tell your team?

[Dion Dawkins]

Well, I think it's imperative to challenge them to respond. I mean, they obviously lost a tough game. No doubt about it. A game that means a lot to a lot of people. But I would say, look, guys, let's learn from the mistakes that we made in this game because we have a really good football team and we got a chance to win a national championship here. So let's go start doing the things we need to do on a consistent basis to be able to do that. You know, I thought Ohio State played really free and easy against Indiana. I thought not so much against Michigan. And I don't know exactly why that is.

[Nick Saban]

Free and easy. Confidence.

[Dion Dawkins]

You mean confidence?

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, I think so.

[Dion Dawkins]

You gotta have conviction in whatever you're trying to do, but you also got to be confident in doing it. And then you got to trust and believe in it that you're going to go out there and be able to execute it. No matter who you play, it's about what you do. It's not about what the other team does. And as long as you can stay focused on that, I think you can go play without a bunch of anxiety because you're confident in being able to do what you're supposed to do. It's like this guy misses two field goals. I mean, he wouldn't miss those two field goals normally, so. But hey, I think they got a good team. I think they got a good opportunity. I think they got to get off the negative BS that they're probably getting criticized for, for losing this game and use that as a. As a stepping stone to be able to improve so that they have a chance to win in the championship.

[Nick Saban]

That Jack Sawyer fellow, I hope he wins a national championship. I does. I do. It is all in front of him. This happened a few years back, whenever Michigan won the Big Ten championship. Then Ohio State got in as the fourth team. And they had Georgia here. Right here. They had Georgia right here. AJ Remember your van got the windows bashed in? You remember that?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, we had a few cars. Multiple cars surrounding me in that same parking lot got bashed in as well.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

Okay, so a targeted attack on your windows and everybody else's while we were down here. That's one of the memorable things from that week. The other one was that Ohio state missed a 51 yarder. I think it was. They beat Georgia that year, and then they would have won on and it would have been a rematch. It's like. And then if they don't win the national championship, like Ryan Day's life, which is a crazy thing to think about, but I guess that's what college football coaches sign up for. That's just what you sign up for. Like, how do you feel about Coach DeBoer? He's in College Football Playoff right now. 12 team. People are pissed that, you know, other teams are left out. This team's put in yada, yada, yada. Big conversation around that. Big conversation. ACC conversation. Also big conversation around the sec. Alabama gets the spot over insert team here, four of them. Now. Clemson beats SMU in the ACC Championship. Alabama still has a chance to not be in the College Football Playoff if SMU was to take their spot. And Clemson gets the ACC championship first round by. What are your thoughts on the entire situation? Have you talked to anybody at Alabama about your thoughts? And how would you play it out if you were Kailyn DeBoer?

[Dion Dawkins]

Well, I think, first of all, whether you're ryan Day, Caitlin DeBoer, whoever you are, and even when, you know, I was involved in coaching in these games. And hey, we lost some games that, you know, we got criticized for and rightfully so. But I was always our best critic. In other words, I wasn't worried about what everybody else said or what everybody thought or what was in the press about how we played or what we should have done or shouldn't have done. I put more pressure on myself to do a good job and to put pressure on the other team by what we did. And I was not ever focused on what everybody said, thought or what was on the Internet or what Paul Feinbaum thought. I never concerned about any of those things and I never took any of it personal because it does affect your focus and your judgment and your decision making when you get involved in all that stuff. So that would be my first coaching point to both those guys. And secondly, I do think that strength of schedule and what teams did you beat? How many good teams did you beat? I think that speaks volumes about what kind of team you're capable of being. And I think there's a lot of ups and downs in college football. Probably the system has created that to some degree. So it's more difficult to be consistent.

[Nick Saban]

Yep.

[Dion Dawkins]

But I don't think we want to do anything in this playoff situation that's going to enhance people not to play a tough schedule. I think we want people to play tough schedule good games because you want good games, people want to see good games. You know, they're awesome.

[Nick Saban]

There's top five games, however, all players.

[Dion Dawkins]

Well, you want people to play in those games and you want them to schedule some tough non conference games. You know, so I think, I don't, I don't think we want to enhance people that won 10 or 11 games and didn't play one top 25 team or didn't beat one top 25 team.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, but you're biased. You know, your bias, SEC biases. You know, nobody will listen to what you said.

[Dion Dawkins]

I am. I don't.

[Nick Saban]

Nobody will listen to what you said though, about like we would like teams to schedule difficult games because that's good for fans and good for college football.

[Dion Dawkins]

Exactly.

[Nick Saban]

If you're punishing them at the end of the year, ads are smart. They're not going to. Because the college football playoffs better. Yeah, it's just, it's a fascinating time and obviously this year sets precedent for next year and how the first round ends up being and how the tournament goes will certainly be a big part of the conversation. The only conversation I know that happens around these parts is that Nick Saban, you're the goat brother. Thank you so much for stopping by, Coach.

[Dion Dawkins]

Thank you, Pat.

[Nick Saban]

First hour stuck around a long time. Thank you for doing that. I feel like we interrupted something in your schedule for sure.

[Dion Dawkins]

Not really. I'd rather be here with you than any place else. You know that.

[Nick Saban]

Oh hey, that's that recruiting. You hear that two step just happened.

[Pat McAfee]

Incredible.

[Nick Saban]

All right, ladies and gentlemen, Coach Saban.

[Dion Dawkins]

Thank you, Coach.

[Gumpy]

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[Nick Saban]

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[Gumpy]

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[Nick Saban]

Football. Football. Hell, yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

It's on everybody's mind. I see you got coach out of there, Pat. How. What does he do from now? I assume he goes around and he's still recruiting even though he doesn't have a team. That's why I feel.

[Nick Saban]

No, not recruiting. Not recruiting. Thank God for that. Way. Great to see you, sir. There's a lot of people. I just met a CEO of Dr. Pepper, Tim Kofer. Good guy.

[Ty Schmidt]

Tell him to make good decisions.

[Nick Saban]

Good. So I guess last year there was a situation. He just reminded me of this. I forgot all about this. There was a situation where there was a miscount and the wrong person was awarded the win. And then immediately after finding out, remember, Dr. Pepper gave the $100,000 or whatever the check was to both people immediately. Like, they. Like in the moment, as a. I couldn't even imagine how bureaucratic that company is with how big it is. It's obviously publicly traded and been purchased and everything. So for them just in the moment to be like, no award. Both people. I think he reminded me of that situation. And I guess we talked good about that. I just.

[Gumpy]

We did.

[Nick Saban]

We did. I remember that moment. Yeah. And you. That's exactly what you said, is in the moment. They knew to give both those people money.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a cool move.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. Big companies don't operate like that. Like, people need to know that. Like, giving away money. Like, people don't usually. You get cancer canceled, and then you have to come back and be like, oh, yeah, we're gonna make this right. About a couple days later, bingo. Full on. So trying. Because there's always people that have to ask. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Like, hey, I think we should do this. Somebody has a good idea in one of these companies. And I don't know how Dr. Pepper is. I guess I shouldn't judge him. I'm just gonna say every other business that is seemingly aligned and structured the way theirs is, this is just outside looking in. Somebody has a good idea, then they send it up. This person likes the idea. Yeah. Let me add my thoughts. Thoughts. Likes it. And then it gets to some person, they're like, I'll be the bad guy. No, we're not giving away a hundred thousand dollars. How about that? And that's, like, how it kind of normally works out. That's why the field goal kicking contest, like, from the very beginning, it's like, has to be my money because like would like kicker to feel pressure, actual pressure. So in the moment, like looking in the guy's eyes and being like, you know what? Actually 400,000 bucks just to see if they react. No business is going to sign on for that. None ever. That is never going to be the case. So them doing that, I do remember having massive respect for that Dr. Pepper shout out. And I told him also, a little sweet. Hey, a little sweet. Pretty sweet. You know, I mean, a little, pretty sweet. Maybe we had in a tag team partner. No, he said, you weren't. You want Little Sweet back? And I said. And then I say, I also found out little sweet doesn't do the singing. He goes, well. And I said, can't have that much moxie and be able to say, I get it, I get it. So. So we'll see if little sweet kind of comes back from all this. I hope so. Nick Saban's got to go film. Film room, I think also because both these guys are his coaches, I assume there's some sort of, hey, how you doing? Nice connection. He has good connection with all these people. So he has a busy day for sure. And we just kept them for 40 minutes or so. No big deal. I assume there's so many business opportunities here for Nick Saban if he wanted them. All these companies being here, all the big sponsors of the secular, when he walked in here, they all just stopped and were like, holy fuck, it's real. That's really.

[AJ Hawk]

He's a Godfather of the Sec.

[Nick Saban]

12, he said, Connor, is that what he said?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, 12 or 13. That is nuts to think about how long and how great you have to be. And it does make sense going back to what we've talked about with him where it's like, yeah, we win the national championship, we win an SEC championship, you enjoy it for a cup of coffee and then you're back out on the road getting the next team ready to go win an SEC championship.

[Nick Saban]

I also like the fact that he wins a national championship and somebody at the grocery store who's a big Alabama fan says, need the SEC next year. All right. Need to win.

[Pat McAfee]

Didn't win everything.

[Nick Saban]

Southeast. Yeah. Did you win the Southeastern Conference, though? That's what we are kind of wondering about, Ty, obviously. Conversation of the day is that the Green Bay packers are one year away. Is that what your big takeaway is from last night?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, I think so. I think so. I mean, again, I Wouldn't be surprised if they actually went and, like, beat the Lions in the playoffs if they were to play them again. Because I think it's hard to beat a team three times in one year. But, yeah, just, you know, too many mistakes, too many young guys. One more year, I think. And because they do. I mean, if they actually play a complete game, I think they're going to be tough. They're going to be a tough out for anybody. But, like, they played two good quarters last night. Too often they just kind of, for whatever reason, are prepared to play. And you could tell last night, like, the Lions were ready to go from the jump. So until they get to that point, because Jordan Love has kind of looked a little bit better. But again, in the first half last night, he was atrocious. And in the second half, it was like, okay, yeah, this is the guy that we're paying $55 million a year for.

[AJ Hawk]

You like Ty. You like Matt LaFleur going at the. One of the guys holding the flag pregame?

[Boston Connor]

I mean, yeah, if the guy's talking to him, I like him bumping his gums back.

[AJ Hawk]

Why not checking his guys? He said the guy was talking to his players again.

[Boston Connor]

Can't have it.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, they are.

[Pat McAfee]

It's bullshit.

[Nick Saban]

I thought it was packers by a million there. Yeah. Whenever I saw this happening, I was like, and the players getting up and ready to fight for him as well. And I like that the rivalries are having a little bit of sauce. Even if you go back to last week.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes.

[Nick Saban]

Feels like football is getting a little bit of a hard edge back. We need to make sure we're doing it smart. But I do appreciate that the Lions fans let the packers know that this is a real rivalry and it's our time. And I like that. The handsome lafleur. So get this guy to hell off the field. What are we talking about? He was gonna fight this guy. He was gonna fight this guy. And that's why we love it. Speaking of things that we love, ladies and gentlemen, friend of the program has joined us, the commissioner of the sec, Greg Sankey.

[Greg Sankey]

I want to go back to the flag planting issue from last weekend.

[Nick Saban]

Okay. Please.

[Greg Sankey]

I saw that on social media. I'm like, that's a new twist on flag planting. So because he's down there to hold the flag, like, we've invented new ways to cause me problems.

[Nick Saban]

It is interesting. The flag in general is starting to become something. Okay, we'll start there. That was a massive talking point. Now I'd like to argue from A player's perspective, and I'm sure you've heard this, the conversation around this modern era of college football is that because of transfer portal and because of the money, kids don't care anymore. Kids aren't invested. They don't have as much passion or loyalty to teams. So I appreciate the fact that there were some teams that saw their field getting disrespected and said, we got to do something about it. Now with that being said, it can't be every game. It's not great for anybody to have those pictures be what people who don't watch college football see of college football and think that these meatheads can't control themselves. They do this entire thing. I think there is a silver lining in it, but I don't think it can become common occurrence. What is your kind of rules on it down here in the SEC and how often does it take place?

[Greg Sankey]

We had not had that for probably since 17, 18. So we have a few intense rivalries that last week. We have rivalries every week.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, yeah.

[Greg Sankey]

In the Egg bowl, we had a couple of circumstances that repeated themselves. Sat down with the athletics directors and we actually removed the flags just because we didn't want that problem to continue to manifest. Because the intensity I get. There'll be moments when teams kind of come together and have a little bit of a verbal jousting. I understand that you want. That's part of the intensity. You don't want that every week, but that's part of the intensity. It'll happen after play. We had a couple of blocks, like into the bench over the weekend too. I think that shows the intensity. But the flag planting. My quote to Ross Dellinger was, hey, if you want to plant a flag, join the military, play, capture the flag, fly to the moon. Those are good flag planning places in my.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, the moon is the moon.

[Dion Dawkins]

To compete, man.

[Greg Sankey]

Use the energy to compete.

[Nick Saban]

Hey, that's a great quote. You felt good about that whenever.

[Greg Sankey]

Yeah, when I gave it, I did. It was Sunday afternoon. Yeah, Sunday afternoon. You know, he. He texted me and said, hey, I want to talk about the fight in FSU in Florida. I'm like, hey, we have stuff happened and we've had what I consider to be fights that was just like, I don't appreciate you putting the flag down with probably some other colorful words, pushing. And, you know, Billy, you know, Mike obviously pointed it to Billy and I'm not going to evaluate everything. Billy got in there and started to be part of the solution. There are a lot of guys in that that were part of the solution and that's, that's what you want. You want the competitive fire, but not after the game. The competitive fire in the game is the reality. We see age.

[Nick Saban]

Obviously Ohio State was a part of the big one with Michigan there. That really set the entire day off. I think. I love that Jack Sawyer went to fight guys that play in the flag on his field. I think from a player's perspective, and I know obviously you have massive brain. You're like, we've looked at it. We think you're the second most powerful person in sports. So good for you. That's awesome. I think we've come to the decision. Just the no flag thing is probably the right move. That is probably the right move.

[AJ Hawk]

It's not going to end well. Like, I just don't see any way that it ends well if it continues to happen. Also, we're playing on field turf now, boys. Like, it doesn't have the same oomph when you can't stick it in the ground. Like, I don't know.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, but when Baker did that to you guys at Horseshoe, it stayed up for a little bit. It was like a prince angel.

[AJ Hawk]

Bake's a bit of a magician. He did make that thing stand for three or four seconds. You're right.

[Nick Saban]

It's like whenever somebody gets like a four legged chair to stand up on one of its legs, it's like a balancing act. Like, Baker did that with the flag in real time. And Ambosa, remember whenever he played against some with the Niners, he did the thing after a sec. It's like the flag. Planting your flag, saying this is mine is a big deal. I appreciate the fact that you're gonna have to handle that. Speaking handling that, two teams are gonna battle tomorrow to handle who's the champion of the Southeastern Conference. We talked to coach Saban earlier. He told us a story about no pro teams. You know, since the 1970s, people have just been growing up with these schools. Georgia, obviously in the middle of a potential dynastic run. They win a national championship. You're talking three out of four years. You're talking about being something very, very special. They've had a hard road to get here. Texas, brand new to your conference. Is that good thing, bad thing? And how do you view the game that's taking place tomorrow?

[Greg Sankey]

I haven't viewed like good bad. I view it as reality. And remember, Texas was announced along with Oklahoma back in 21. So they've had three years to prepare. They knew the destination.

[Nick Saban]

Saban Said that as well. Yeah.

[Greg Sankey]

And six weeks after we announced the invitation, they were in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Arkansas beat them that night. I think that's one of those lessons a lot the way Steve had been with Nick a couple of times. He'd obviously been on the Falcon staff here. But Steve had lived the SEC life as an offensive coordinator. In fact, one of my, like forever remembering phone calls is Thanksgiving at 20 when Nick test positive for Covid. And I'm talking to him about, you know, Steve has to coach the Iron bowl, he has to make those decisions, and I think all of that.

[Nick Saban]

But then he cured What. That was 26 hours, wasn't it? If I recall, Coach Saban had the.

[Greg Sankey]

No, that was the first time there was a. Then he had it for real for the iron box.

[Nick Saban]

Okay, okay.

[Greg Sankey]

Steve's coaching in the iron. My point being is there's been a lot of preparation, so I don't view it as good or bad or bad. I view it as the competitive reality. And you saw a great game, great game plans by both teams. Georgia had the edge and we'll see what happens tomorrow. I was at the A and M Texas game. The defense is probably another level as they've grown during the season. You watch Carson and man, that second half against Alabama, tough first half, but that is a resilient competitor. And even the Georgia Tech game to go eight overtimes and come back the way they did is a tribute to what can happen on the field when you have these competitive opportunities, which I think is what high level players seek. They cherish this. So all the noise about conference championship game misses. This is what the people on the field cherish.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, absolutely. Hang a banner, brother, get a ring. I mean, that's. Anytime you get a chance to celebrate beating opponents, you're certainly going to do that. They've talked. Coach Saban talked about it. Herb street has talked about it before. There's just a palpable buzz in the air at these SEC championships. So congratulations on having a conference that is always invested and always cares. How hands on are you with like scheduling of the sec? Because Texas got a light SEC schedule, allegedly. You know, and then obviously Georgia had a very strong sec. How does that get figured out? Is that you got. Who does that?

[Greg Sankey]

It comes from the conference office. And we spent years and what we did, we had to look back trying to narrow the competitive disparity and all you can do is look at history. So we went back post expansion in the SEC to figure out the dynamics of wins and loss percentage. Like if you could have a perfect schedule, everybody's total set of opponents would have a 500 record. They'd win what they lost. In our divisions, that disparity was from like 46% up to 64. So a huge disparity going into this season, that disparity was narrowed greatly, like 48 to 54. So we were close to having 500 records and opponents. But that's backward looking for 12 years. Now here's the problem. Oklahoma and Texas weren't in the league. So how do you accommodate for that in the analytics and then the transfer portal, let's be honest, has really changed things. Like teams change.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah.

[Greg Sankey]

You look at playing Vanderbilt and I think people have underappreciated the competitive effectiveness, the line play. At Vanderbilt, obviously I have a quarterback. That's been a great story, Diego, but those have been hard games. You look at Georgia going to Kentucky, that's a one point game after South Carolina went to Kentucky and had a great game. All of those things are part of the realities of scheduling in this new environment.

[Nick Saban]

But what if it's going to get punished though? So like that's the.

[Greg Sankey]

Well, that just, that's where I was headed next. There has to be recognition. Like I could pull out my email and show you our 16 teams, right? Strength of schedule. And this is not my rating. This is Massey, FPI and Sagarin combined.

[Nick Saban]

When you take Massey and Saggerate, they don't mess around. Yeah, Massey. Yeah, we know.

[Greg Sankey]

So you combine all of those 14 of our teams, strength of schedule is greater than the first of the other top 25 CFP teams. In other words, 14 of our 16 have stronger schedules than the next CFP team and then the next two follow and then everybody else in the CFP top 25 rankings has a lesser schedule schedule than our 16 teams. When you use that metric.

[Nick Saban]

No.

[Greg Sankey]

And again, you don't want to meet those guys on a flag plant because they're serious about stuff.

[Nick Saban]

I, I appreciate how much the SEC folks care about the sec and I think that's why you are such a perfect commissioner for them. Because it's not just football, it's every sport. You feel this way. You truly do represent it. Then one of those Saturdays happen and you talk about the parody, the 14 teams that have a hard schedule schedule that Saturday happens where, you know, three, your top teams all get knocked off by lesser teams. You're almost like beating up on each other. And if this college, how much are you paying attention obviously to the College Football Playoff and how they're going to be putting in here a little bit because there was a chance. What was it last week? There's a chance. Only one SEC team. Was that. Was I hearing that right? Maybe. No, no. Yeah. Yeah. Just a champion getting in there. No, but that was a conversation. Is it going to be three? Is going to be four. It's current. Certainly four right now in the playoffs. And obviously people talk about three losses. Three losses. Georgia might have three losses, you know, after this whole thing, are they going to get. It's. How do you view it all? And who are you talking is like, are you a part of any of these conversations?

[Greg Sankey]

No, I'm not. In the selection process, we have policies on communication. So we have two members of the selection committee that visit with our staff on a regular basis as the season comes to conclusion about injuries, we talk about strength of schedule, we talk about favorable data points. Like if you look at our record against every other power for conference, you know, we're unchallenged in our level of success. That's just reality.

[Nick Saban]

Unchallenged in our level.

[Greg Sankey]

And that's just in football. Not to mention we won 14 of 16 men's basketball games in the SEC, ACC, men's basketball challenges. But that's just a throw in.

[Nick Saban]

Just wait. Don't be scheduled in West Virginia. Don't.

[Greg Sankey]

We'll take that. We'll do that.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, you want that?

[Greg Sankey]

Fill it up. So I look and, but, but let's think last year when you and I had this conversation, it's hey, if Georgia loses, Alabama wins, you might not get anybody in, right?

[Nick Saban]

Yes.

[Greg Sankey]

Now we're having conversations about teams 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. We've brought more people into the conversation.

[Nick Saban]

Agreed.

[Greg Sankey]

I think that's good for football. My view is just like last year, if we were at a 14 playoff, we'd have a team in. We'd be talking about new year six. We talking about who goes to the other bowl games. The chance to even have a debate about more of our teams being engaged in this national championship opportunity because of the high level play, I think is great. Now we entrust the committee. Do I have different perspectives at times? Do I think strength of schedule is distinct in this conference compared to others? Absolutely. Do I have different thoughts? Sure. But we have to let the committee reign and here's what's going to happen. Just like in men's basket, going to immediately be into the. Well, there should be more teams in the college football club.

[Nick Saban]

Yes. They're already planning that, aren't they?

[Greg Sankey]

Yeah, well, no, it's talked about. It's part of the rhetoric. But, you know, football is not a tournament game. It's a playoff game. And we have to be sensitive to the demands of the regular season and the demands of the postseason as well, and have to find a bounce, especially in the Southeastern Conference.

[Pat McAfee]

Amen.

[Nick Saban]

And West Virginia and the Big 12.

[Greg Sankey]

You don't want anything on special teams, for sure.

[Nick Saban]

All right.

[Pat McAfee]

That's true.

[Nick Saban]

Hey, ask. Hey, ask him if he's cold right now, because that leads to. Do you want to ask him? Connor, do you want to ask.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that actually is what I was going to ask. It does look like you're a little bit chilly. I'm assuming you might have a scarf back there somewhere, just in case. It is very cold. But that is the conversation right now. If the College Football Playoff were to stay how it is. Tennessee is going to Ohio State. And as we all know, those Southeastern Conference teams, Alabama, the South Bend, Bingo, coming up to Indiana. And it is Brick in Indiana right now, let me tell you. But that is kind of the convo. Those Southeastern teams, they're great, but, you know, when it gets a little chilly, they might kind of quiver back into their holes a little bit. Is that something that.

[Nick Saban]

We're not saying that. We're not saying that.

[Pat McAfee]

That's just the narrative that's being said.

[Nick Saban]

No, no, no, no. This is journalism. Observe and report.

[Greg Sankey]

I watch the show. I just. You gotta tell me when the journalism.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, yeah. Once. All the time. He's got an Oregon hat on. Don't you worry about it. So it's not them, though. They have seen their friends. So let's.

[Greg Sankey]

Let's go back to last week, like at the end of that eight over times. It was in the 20s. I asked at Athens, our teams performed. I was at the Egg Bowl. It was cold at the Egg Bowl. We had a great football game. It was a little warm in College Station. It was in the. In the 50s, so that was pleasant. We had snow in Missouri for Arkansas. Missouri. So it's happened in this league. I thought Josh Hypel went to the podium. He said, hey, any place, anytime. And if you don't feel that way, you're just here for the cup of coffee. So our guys are going to be ready. You know, we have heated benches. We have. Oh, yeah, hot hands. We have gloves. A long time ago, I was commissioner of the Southland Conference. You take Southern teams up to Montana. Now, that's cold in Montana. Missoula, Montana. That's cold.

[Nick Saban]

Very cold. Yeah, it was like negative 20.

[Greg Sankey]

I think when we, our guys will be ready. You know, some global warming might help around these.

[Nick Saban]

Aren't you happy too, with the addition event? It's cold. We're up there. They're in the global warming ain't doing nothing.

[Greg Sankey]

We got a couple weeks for it to sort, Sort itself out.

[Nick Saban]

No, no, it was, what was it, 60 mile an hour winds the other night? Yeah, 60 mile an hour winds out of nowhere.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Wednesday night was scary.

[Boston Connor]

20 below.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, it was an arctic. It was an arctic tornado. It felt like. I was very worried. I was very worried. But if one of your teams has to walk, walk into one of these arctic tornadoes.

[Greg Sankey]

Oh, those guys on the line of scrimmage are gonna line up with no sleeves and they're gonna. It's gonna be a line of script scrimmage game. I'd take a windy game. I'd take the line of scrimmage game and I'd, oh, look forward.

[Nick Saban]

Oh, he's talking there. He was giving. He was giving an answer like, yeah, we're okay with a run game if that's how this is going to go. If you went out physical, us. AJ Hawk has a question for you. Commission.

[AJ Hawk]

You mentioned earlier, you said there's like communication rules on how you can talk to teams and everything. You said there was two people from Alabama that you guys speak to or whatever. Is that common with other teams? And does every team kind of have.

[Nick Saban]

From the committee.

[Greg Sankey]

No, from the committee. I'm sorry.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm sorry about that.

[Greg Sankey]

Yeah, there's a range of people in my conference who talk to me. Yeah. So, like there's a lot of people have my phone number in this league that can go any place. I was talking about the process for communication with the selection committee, which we've all agreed to is we'll have scheduled calls with two representatives of the selection committee. We share team information on. And it's not necessarily a weekly basis. It accelerates at this time of year, but that's the point of communication. Like Pat, you were asking about, hey, do I talk to people about selection? And we follow the process.

[AJ Hawk]

Every conference does the same thing. Every conference?

[Greg Sankey]

Yeah. It's a standard process. You're assigned two reps, a primary and a secondary. Same thing happens with the NCAA basketball committee on the men's and women's side during.

[Nick Saban]

Are you doing pitch decks there or just conversation?

[Greg Sankey]

We provide then team sheet so schedule any key injuries, somebody may have missed a game. We talk about some, I'll call them brag points. You know, things that We've achieved that might be unique to us on a regular basis. And then they have a lot more information and probably have what we provide. But it's a touch point. And if they have any questions of us, like hey was so and so receiver in this game back in September, outside the game, just to clarify, I think that the kind of healthy conversation that's appropriate for all of the conferences.

[Nick Saban]

Amen. I think it's a good idea too to get more information, all the information that they can get, so they make the right decision even though they're never going to be able to get it right in everybody's eyes. Thank God it's them, not us. That is how I feel about it all. Tone Diggs has a question for you back in Indianapolis.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Commissioner, we are, we are big proponents on this show that we love the first round being those home games, but we also think the conference champions, whether it stays like that or not, but the teams that are getting these buys into the quarterfinals should also have home games as well. Now, I know there's a lot of big corporate money because those are going to be bowl games that have been bowl games for, for years and years and years. But what are your thoughts on potentially going to home games as well in the quarterfinals so that you know, those teams that got won their conference champions also get that opportunity.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah.

[Greg Sankey]

So I don't want to be like the attack dolt in a Charlie Brown commercial or come on, that goes to like blah, blah, blah. I'll just.

[Nick Saban]

You're gonna blah, blah, blah.

[Greg Sankey]

No, no, I'm not gonna blah, blah, SEC championship.

[Nick Saban]

I can't take blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[Greg Sankey]

These two years. We have existing agreements with bowl games and so bowl games have to be a part of it to expand early. That's clear. We're also going to talk to those bowl games because football has a tradition still. We are experiencing something with those first round games and I think it's a fairly question how will those be received? How will those be conducted? It'll be different. Like you just asked me about playing in cold weather. Hey, we're going to be ready to play wherever. We do think there is a lot to the tradition of bowl games and we're going to see something on December, what is it, 20 and 21 that we've never seen before, which is postseason football games played in on campus facilities between two teams. That's going to be pretty cool to watch.

[Nick Saban]

We as people that have been just dropped into the college football world and maybe I'm from Pittsburgh so is Tone. And obviously AJ Is an Ohio State guy through and through. Connor was born up near Boston.

[Pat McAfee]

Paul Marriott.

[Greg Sankey]

I grew up outside Syracuse, New York.

[Nick Saban]

Okay, so not Syracuse.

[Greg Sankey]

Let's go, Buffalo.

[Nick Saban]

Anyways, I didn't grow up in college football worlds. With game day now, we've all got to experience what it is. Why college football is special. The people that haven't seen a college football game this year that are going to watch a home field advantage college football playoff game. Yeah, I think it's going to make a lot of fans. I think it's going to make a lot of people that are ball fans kind of learn. Like, hey, we got like the hooligans experience in Europe. You know, I don't think people that don't watch college ball fully understand what the environments like the chance, the buy in, the passion, the loyalty, the grandness of some of these stadiums, it's like, I think it's a good thing. That's why Tone and I, and I think all of us would like another week of that, because I think that is a part of what college ball.

[Greg Sankey]

Yeah. I'm going to walk away from the hooligan part of that experience, but I think your other descriptions about the passion, the positive passion, that's what we want.

[Nick Saban]

Hooligan's a compliment, right? To the hooligans over there.

[AJ Hawk]

I hope so.

[AQ Shipley]

Hooligans.

[Greg Sankey]

I didn't know that. Sometimes the sounds down when I do watch the show, I miss the definitional use there.

[Nick Saban]

Okay. All right, all right.

[Greg Sankey]

We appreciate conference.

[Nick Saban]

You need to stop watching the program. Last time you were on the program, we didn't know what transfer portal nil was going to be like. There was like a, you know, we'll see how it goes. We'll see how it goes. You talked about the turnover and the consistency. I think in one of your answers about it. What are your thoughts on how the Southeastern Conference and how college ball has handled all of this? Transfer portal nil, Team Turner, everything. How do you feel?

[Greg Sankey]

We've gone through what normally would have been decades of change through the process in a matter of years. And we're about to go through more change in a matter of weeks and months trying to resolve a settlement.

[Nick Saban]

We need April 8th, right?

[Greg Sankey]

Yeah. We need national standards to be returned. Like when I visit with players from teams, whether it's football or basketball or baseball, they just want to know that the people across the line of scrimmage have the same standards that they have in place. And right now it's on a state by state basis. That's not healthy. We need national standards. We need to return some oversight to the name, image and likeness. Activity like fair market value, real business purpose. I think the transfer portal, the transfer opportunities have allowed kind of this migration quickly and that can be beneficial. I think there are some long term impacts that have to be understood. So we got to continue to pay attention. I don't think we're at a destination, but we need some involvement from others, whether it's resolving litigation, perhaps some congressional help as Congress comes together in January. I think that's important for us to have.

[Nick Saban]

What do you mean?

[Greg Sankey]

National Center.

[Nick Saban]

They got to pass something. Yes. I thought that judge was passing something.

[Greg Sankey]

Well, we don't get. It's like college football. We don't get to just play on one field here. There's courts we have to deal with. There's litigation, there's states, there's legislation. I just went to the Charlie Brown moment.

[Nick Saban]

Huh? Yeah. No, what you did is you broke some. New to me that is like pretty devastating because I just assumed we get an answer.

[Greg Sankey]

Okay, April, so there's an answer. That's a framework that I think is important.

[Nick Saban]

Framework.

[Greg Sankey]

Yeah. And I think that can resolve a lot of issues. But to have those national expectations reestablished, I do think, in fact, I'm not alone. There has to be some congressional involvement to set those common expectations. Otherwise, what's happening now is every state's passing a law. The net of that is we're going to have college championships that are like state high school championships because we're not competing under the same standards. That's the issue that's front and center for the conversation.

[Boston Connor]

Got it.

[Nick Saban]

Got it. And that revenue share should be able to help if you can get to the revenue marker, which SEC probably never has a problem with, but other conferences might. So will there be. I mean, it's a. It's a wild time. We're thankful that your brain's helping guide it, though. Aren't we, boy?

[Dion Dawkins]

Oh, yeah, Come in, boy.

[Nick Saban]

Speaking of, Ty has a question for you. He's the Iowa A guy.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Commish. Just curious. When you see, you know, like, Lane Kiffin trading barbs with people or some of these other coaches in your conferences and then some of the other conferences, ads are getting involved kind of, you know, squabbling and bickering over all. We should be in you guys, you know, strength of schedule stinks or whatever. Is it ever tough for you not to just be like, you know what, Whether it's a burner account Or I'm just going to, you know, have my own account. I'm going to hop in here and kind of just drop a nuke and end this whole situation and let these guys know in the Big 12 or the ACC. Listen, you don't deserve to be in the playoff. Okay. We deserve to get a fourth team or a fifth team in. How difficult is it? Kind of toe in that line.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah.

[Greg Sankey]

Some Twitter fingers I have. So I have a Twitter account at Greg Sankey. Very simple to find. I do not have a burner account. I have adult supervision. So before I tweet things, somebody else has to read it and approve it. So two weeks ago.

[Nick Saban]

Who. Who. Who's that person?

[Greg Sankey]

Herb Vincent. So you talked to her? He's on the bench sometimes. My wife, who may be watching right now.

[Nick Saban]

Smart, smart.

[Greg Sankey]

I consult with her always.

[Nick Saban]

Every tweet is with her.

[Greg Sankey]

So two weeks ago, I tweeted innocently. Just innocently. A comparison about strength of schedules in college football. Just a couple of weeks ago. Just innocently. The amount of feedback and views and commentary was magnificent.

[Nick Saban]

Can we pull that up?

[Greg Sankey]

I mean, just innocently. I wanted to inform the public. That was about Bob Holt, who was the Arkansas Democrat writer. We just lost.

[Nick Saban]

Rest in peace. It was probably another tweet that you put out.

[Greg Sankey]

You got to go back. It's a couple of weeks.

[Nick Saban]

Okay. How often are you tweeting?

[Greg Sankey]

Never tweet on game days. Really? Because it's a tough. It's a tough venue on Saturday.

[Nick Saban]

You should think about just doing selfies at all the games.

[Greg Sankey]

I have a lot of filters on.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, smart. Me, too. That's how we operate.

[Greg Sankey]

I tweet about what I read, but, you know, innocently again. I just want to inform America about the distinctions and our strength of schedule versus others. And that provoked a bit of a reaction. So are there times I'd like to do more? Absolutely. But those who care about me and my life stop me from doing so.

[Nick Saban]

Herb, let him let more fly. Come on, Herb.

[Greg Sankey]

I was on a call one time commenting on something, and I was about to say something very direct, which I said. Herb was trying to hit the mute button. This is like eight years ago. And I realized I should have let him hit the mute button.

[Nick Saban]

No, no, no, no. Let it all fly, brother. Let it all fly. Interesting to read. Analysis from others.

[Greg Sankey]

You say again, I'm just providing information to America.

[Nick Saban]

These are things I heard from Massey and. What was the other one?

[Greg Sankey]

Sagarin. Sagarin, right there.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, right there. That's Sagarin right There. Oh, right there.

[Greg Sankey]

And obviously these have changed. And we just took the top 15 now. They didn't build in all of our 16 team strength of schedule.

[Nick Saban]

Man, this is a really interesting graphic I just happened upon, says the commissioner.

[Greg Sankey]

Yeah, I mean, this is about the care for the American people to share information and an information consuming society.

[Nick Saban]

All right, last question from the Thunderdome. AJ has one for you. Commission.

[Greg Sankey]

I have no idea what my Twitter account looks like right now from a comment standpoint.

[Nick Saban]

No, no, it's. That's everybody. The bots will get you anyway, so don't, don't even worry about it.

[AJ Hawk]

Commish, do you think. Yeah, don't worry. Yeah, you'll be fine either way. Don't. You don't need to read them. But of all these championship games going on, do you. Do these championship games, do they still matter as much as they used to? And do you think going forward we're going to continue to, you know, they're, they're going to be a huge deal.

[Greg Sankey]

For these teams in our league. It just means more is our mantra. I think so. Let's go back to the start. 33 years ago. 92, the first one of these. Florida and Alabama, just discussions about, wow, if Florida wins, the SEC is not going to be in the national championship hunt. That conversation has taken place. When you come to the Southeastern Conference, you come to challenge yourself among the best. And earning that conference championship has deep meaning. In fact, the fans that will show up here want to be a part of something special everyone else has followed with a conference championship game. And what I said to you earlier was the reality is high level competitors want to be on this field of play, challenging themselves against the best. That's part of the process. And I don't think any of us should apologize or become like shrinking violets and pull back to say, well, we don't want to do that because, because, you know, maybe that has an implication down the road. No, we competitors want to play in these venues and in these games.

[Nick Saban]

I wanted a slow zoom in on your face there. I tried to get. Because you were just cutting a impassioned promo for the Southeastern Conference and its history and everything that you cherish. It's a perfect reason why you're, you're a great commissioner of this conference.

[Greg Sankey]

I appreciate that.

[Nick Saban]

We appreciate your husband.

[Greg Sankey]

My enduring vision of the, of the season is you standing next of that cannon when it didn't work, and then when it did work. Thank you. That was a jump.

[Nick Saban]

I'm happy.

[Greg Sankey]

Yeah, that does it to Me too.

[Nick Saban]

It's a powerful cannon. You know that guy carried a real live round in his hands. Put in the bucket whenever it didn't go off.

[Greg Sankey]

Oh seriously?

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. You almost saw. We almost saw a cadet get no hand cadet it. Yeah. I mean at what cost did that cannon almost go off? We almost lost a hand and arm out there.

[Greg Sankey]

We're good. There's safety, safety regulations.

[Nick Saban]

Safety, regulation doing. Why? They had a plan. They had a bucket. They were obviously in there. Any sec school would be prepared to operate with a cannon. And Mike Elko did tell me. Yeah, that's what Aggies do. We adapt. We overcome.

[Greg Sankey]

That's right.

[Nick Saban]

We face adversity now. That's where the live round just went into a bucket of water. Smart. Put the fire out. Put the fire out. And then all of a sudden guess what we have again. Greg saying another cannon ready to go. And that blows a hole in my eardrum. So it is different down here.

[Greg Sankey]

It is. Adapt to the circumstance. It's awesome.

[Nick Saban]

Where will you watch the game? You got to walk, hit all these people. How many partners with Beaver?

[Greg Sankey]

All kinds. My favorite thing to do is to be on the field for kickoff. Watch a couple series. That's my happy moment. Like going to early games on a Saturday to Saturday basis where nothing else has happened during the day. Be it the first game for kickoff and watch your first 10 minutes is actually at the top of my fun list on a weekly basis. After that it's worth. Things happen, people complain. You never know. But to be on a field you generally in the end zone to watch the line play from the backside to see what happens.

[Nick Saban]

Yes.

[Dion Dawkins]

Is pretty cool.

[Greg Sankey]

Like I was right there New Year's Eve a couple years ago when that field goal missed and Georgia advanced the national championship ring right there by.

[Nick Saban]

So you were right next to us. I think we were standing there as well. I caught a field goal in that game, remember?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Greg Sankey]

I miss our on field conversations in game we used to do they're coming.

[Nick Saban]

It's coming.

[Greg Sankey]

Okay.

[Nick Saban]

We got. We got them coming. It's. It's becoming simulcast season. It's awesome. It's about to happen. Won't be happening here but it will be happening.

[Greg Sankey]

If I see you, I'd love to have a conversation.

[Nick Saban]

You know what? Every time we see you we have a great conversation. You know what I would like to see Bevo on this sidelines.

[Dion Dawkins]

Amen.

[Greg Sankey]

That's the problem. It's. We looked at alternatives and we have a limited space reality here.

[Nick Saban]

What if you just kind of blocked off that whole entire, like, what would that be called there? That. The deck? Yeah, like that deck there. Just block that whole thing. Put them in a field.

[Greg Sankey]

Alternatives. But we're going to go forward with the football game as is.

[Pat McAfee]

You're going to have to.

[Greg Sankey]

You're going to have to like.

[Nick Saban]

We've provided some alternatives, but we are getting to the point now. We are going to focus on football.

[Greg Sankey]

We're going to play football.

[Pat McAfee]

Going to have to take OGA into custody then, because that's an unfair advantage. If OG is on there and Beaver Bevo's not. Lock him up.

[Greg Sankey]

I guess that's one way to look at it.

[Nick Saban]

Okay, well, he's over that. Uga's a dog. Bevo pooped right over our shoulder at the Cotton bowl last year. He's a. He's a massive animal. It is a shame he won't be here. But the magic will be in the air as the SEC champion is crowned tomorrow. Shout out to Dr. Pepper. We love Dr. Pepper down here, huh?

[Dion Dawkins]

Absolutely.

[Nick Saban]

Are they your biggest partner?

[Greg Sankey]

They were first. They. They from day one with our championship name. Dr. Pepper's been a part of it.

[Nick Saban]

All your other partners are here though, too, huh?

[Greg Sankey]

Oh, yeah.

[Nick Saban]

It's like a Super bowl type thing.

[Greg Sankey]

So I, I go up and visit and they do a lot of activation. T Mobile has a concert tomorrow around game day. Dan and Shay. Yeah, we've got fire. I mean, we've got fire happening right now. Pyro doesn't happen in other conferences on Friday.

[Nick Saban]

You're the best. Ladies and gentlemen, the commissioner of the sec, Greg Sankey. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Thank you. Thank you, Con man. Have you ever seen anybody be. I guess he's a soldier for the cause is what I would say. When people are all in for what they're supporting, for what they're running. Right? He's. He's all in the sec.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he is all in on the sec. That stat about the strength of schedule is crazy. Going through that, going through that little graphic that he met from Sagrand. Yeah, all that shit. But it's also much easier to be like that when, like, he's right. I feel like there's no argument really against what he's saying when you do look at how tough all the schedules are, how good all the teams are. Like, he mentioned Vandy in there. Vandy has been one of the stories of the entire season, and that's not even a top half SEC team, so. And you know, Ty brought up South Carolina. Like, South Carolina. They closed the season better than Anybody did. And they're not really getting any consideration of, like, hey, should this team really be in when it comes to Miami and Ole Miss right now? So it is. It is true. Like, he's a soldier for the cause, but pretty easy to be a soldier for the cause when you have, you know, the greatest army, if you will, in all of the conferences.

[Nick Saban]

He is trying to find those stats too, you know. Yeah, yeah. Interesting thing I just saw here pieced together.

[AJ Hawk]

Have you ever heard of Sagrin and whatever the other Massey?

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Sagin Mass.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, we have. Just like you have. They judge good. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

What else do they judge?

[Nick Saban]

If that's it.

[Greg Sankey]

Movies, college football.

[AJ Hawk]

It's kind of what kind of a narrow focus for TV shows.

[Nick Saban]

I think they did do movies, remember? They were like thumbs up, thumbs down. Wasn't that Sagin Mass?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Cisco and Ebert's half brothers.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. They saw each other at the holidays.

[Nick Saban]

Sac, Cisco, I do you know what is not great for the entire narrative is that it was sag, Mass and espn, you know. Yeah, those three average those out. ESPN was the first one. The. It gets loud, obviously, because our show is licensed through ESPN and I'm on college game day, which is on ESPN. People really do get pissed off about the SEC ESPN thing. Of course ESPN wants the SEC to survive. It's like ESPN also owns the ACC network and I think they would like I think everybody to succeed. But there is a full narrative out there that ESPN wants SEC to do great. And it's like just as a human that was an outsider and got dropped into this world. Luckily, first of all, it's warm down here, so people are much more likely to be active on a more regular basis. Now, granted, there's a little chill in this stadium. People are acting like it's much colder than it actually is, though. So that's kind of making me upset. But nonetheless, it is. It is warmer. And they've been just, these people live this shit down here everywhere. And I know in Ohio it's like that. And I know up there in Happy Valley it's like that. And I know at Michigan they obviously have that massive stadium they fill up. It's like that. But it's like down here, these people, there's, I think, more people are living and dying with everything that's happening, which is why having a guy like Greg Sankey be the commissioner of it is the right move. He is. He is down for the cause to your point in it all. But, you know, college ball is going to be fantastic. Conference Championships taking place big time buy in College Football playoff on the line for four programs and then maybe a Group of Five team would be ranked higher than the Big 12 champion that comes in and maybe they get an opportunity to get a first round by. But there's some championship games today. Age. And look at that Western Kentucky, Jacksonville State game right at the top right there. Big implications.

[AJ Hawk]

Rich, Rod, are you guys out there in Jacksonville State?

[Nick Saban]

It is, it is. Hosting the Conference USA championship. Just a couple years into his tenure down there, Jacksonville State had to turn over the team, got a new quarterback. Yeah, he's. He's hosting a championship game, you know, and that's what, that's what Rich Rodriguez does. The lights have just come on down here at the Mercedes Benz Stadium is obviously a little bit brighter, a little bit lighter, a little bit nicer and then there's some shadows in different places, I'm realizing. But championship weekend is phenomenal. Age. These games matter in. Ohio State's on a part of it. Sorry about it. Sad. But this is a huge weekend with massive implications all across the country. Age.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean it really is. Think of the Penn State team. I know we talk to AQ every Wednesday. He's here in studio. But Penn State being a number three team playing against Oregon in the Big ten championship, like I feel like they've kind of flown under the radar with their success this season, haven't they?

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, well, mostly because every big game they've had, they've lost. But this is a big one that they could win if they beat Oregon. Oregon falls to the number five seed, which is obviously home playoff game and then lowest ranked champion in the second round. And I don't think Dan Lanning has that in him. But worst case scenario for Oregon coming out of the weekend is they have a home playoff game. Penn State, they can thrust themselves into a first round buy or find themselves having to travel for a first round playoff game instead of having a home game like has been chatted about basically all season for them. And then you think about that Clemson SMU game. I mean that's the one that can really cause some real chaos, real chaos there. SMU has been leading the ACC all year, but they haven't been the highest ranked ACC team in a college football playoff at all except for like the last week or two. So if Clemson was to go in there and beat smu, which Dabo Sweeney certainly has cause to do, he said we're the first 15 and O national champion. We could be the first three loss national champion as well, but this SMU team is good. Jennings right there able to spin it. Their team has changed. And Klubnik, I think he had a big touchdown run against Pitt to win the game. He's really tried to take over on the ground. They're a different team than the team that played Georgia in the first week, although they did lose the Louisville about a month ago. So you're talking about a great football game here with huge implications because ACC is a P4 program. P4 program. So if your highest ranked team is a top 10 team, they lose to Clemson, they're automatically just out of the College Football Playoff even though they've been leading the ACC all year. And then Alabama is in over smu. And then if SMU knocks out Alabama, holy hell, now we got another Greg Sankey tweet coming right down the pipe. It's like a, it never. It's a, it's huge implications this weekend. I'm lucky, I'm lucky that we're a part of a tiny bit of it. It should be a absolute blast.

[Pat McAfee]

AJ It'll just be cool to see like the standard they set for the conference championship games because like, if SMU does lose, like, are you really going to say, like, okay, hey, even though you had a great season and this is the first college football playoff and we want to keep these conference championship games to mean something, we're going to kick you out, like as someone who actually was going for the conference championship. And then it's the same with Oregon and even Penn State. Like Penn State, if they were to, you know, lose in a close game to Oregon, are you really going to now drop them below a Notre Dame who didn't play any game because of the fact that they made it to their conference championship? Like the Ward manual said, you know, there's no more data points for the teams that aren't playing this weekend, which is kind of the 10 or 6 through 10 there because at 11 they're still playing or Bama's not playing. But those teams from 6 to 11, excuse me, like, it will be cool to see. And then Georgia is kind of the same type of situation. Like if Georgia wins, of course they do get a buy. But if they were to lose, are you really going to drop them further away where they might not even have a playoff game? Like, it's fascinating to see what happens and it really does. I feel like all depend on the scores. It's not just like a win lose situation. It's like, hey, these games, how competitive they are matters more Almost than any of the matchups themselves.

[Ty Schmidt]

My thing is like, like you just said, like you have to keep the conference. You can't penalize these teams for making like you brought up Georgia and smu. Like no one's talking about Georgia dropping out of the playoff even though you know they could if they're not going to like I don't. I don't think you could drop Georgia or SMU out with a loss. It just. You can't punish teams for making it their conference championship.

[Nick Saban]

Could you fathom at the Big 12 champion doesn't get a first round by and is the fifth highest champion. That would say pretty embarrassing.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean they could technically. Could that happen as of right now?

[Ty Schmidt]

That's going to happen. I mean that is the situation as of. Right.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

I mean is there any like you. If you look at it as it stands right now, it's hard to imagine that there is any way they do get a first round by regardless of who wins.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. Just think about like the way if you're in a P4 conference, you know, Power 4. Yeah. It used to be Power 5 knots. Power 4. We're in it and all of a sudden it's like actually Mountain west actually better than your particular conference. So now they're going to get a first round game, some more exposure on tv, you know, which is good for any program and anything like that. But it's like that five hole is a good spot to be. I think Oregon's the only team that can really get there. Should be a blast. Hey, did you hear about the NFLPA and the NFL? No, I hear about this edge.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, they do.

[Nick Saban]

So obviously a lot of things happening. I think there's something taking place with the testing of THC going forward too. So shout out to everybody doing that. That's obviously a cool thing. I. I don't fully understand it. But hey, listen. Seems like they're gonna get rid of it. I was in the program, the substance abuse program. It is a nightmare. It is. Is no fun. It is eight random drug tests a month for 27 months. Okay. And obviously get dropped in there for any alcohol or drug related charge. I had a public intoxication with an alleged story club. A trip I make it true. But nonetheless I was in there. The conversation I'm talking about is surrounding the things that they're testing for. No more posting pictures of you getting drug tested. Okay. Here's frequently asked questions says the NFL PA to all of their constituents. Can I post a photo or video of the white slip Notifying me of a drug test? No. Can I post screenshots of text messages with my drug test to tell me I have four hours to complete the test or it'll be considered. Considered a fail? No. Can I post a photo, video or audio from inside the drug testing room during the collection? Now, there's good chance he's gonna see my cheeks or maybe my belly button because shirts got to go to nipples, pants got to go to ankles. And there's a dude in there. So I don't, I don't know if you. Anybody's thinking about posting any photos or audio from in there. I will say one of my 200 some tests from the 27 months that I was in the program. I had four hours. Complete the test or it's a fail. You know, they called me one time, they called me at 3:30am because they didn't believe that I was going bigfoot hunting down here in Georgia. I was. And I was up. So I passed that test. But if I would have slept till about eight, that could have been considered a fail, you know, so there was this one time I took a test. It was at the facility during the off season. And I had a four hour window. I was three and a half hours into it. Was able to utilize the rest room. Okay, so I go to the testing room. I say, hey, I believe I can piss. Let's go in there, let's do the entire deep. I do it. I get enough because there's a certain amount you have to get it gets tested. Drug test guy, new guy. They had not seen this guy.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, no.

[Nick Saban]

Shake, come on. Spilling it spills piss all over the desk. Now we don't have enough piss. Now we don't have enough. Pissed off the thing. I got 30 minutes. You gotta generate a new one. He says, no, me, I did Pedialyte dome. Pedialyte dome. We're talking this whole thing. I am not gonna fail. Fail is like an extension of us of being in the program. There was no way I was gonna do any of that. So, yeah, I. I housed like three Pedialytes. So that would have been something I would like take a video of, say, like, hey, excuse me. This is. This is. This is not on Manuson. Was it previously against the rules to publicly post such content? Yeah, it was. They said, however, there was no defined disciplinary framework. So was it?

[AJ Hawk]

No. So that means it was not.

[Nick Saban]

Which meant the league had the discretion to impose fines that could have exceeded $15,000, which is what they're saying now. I Do think I am an absolute doofus, but I think I'm actually the person that started this entire thing legitimately. This was after I made the tackle on Trendon Holiday and I got drug tests. A lot of people said that I made this up and it was fake. No, this is the actual thing that was put on my locker. And I thought it was hysterical because at that point, I don't even think I was taking pre workout or drinking coffee. It was just. It was pizza. And every once in a while you, you know, throw back a beer, have to do the entirety of it all. But, yeah, I think I posted. Posted that. And people really got a kick out of it. Really got a kick.

[AJ Hawk]

Must be my bod. You said at the end of the tweet, that's perfect.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. And that was back whenever I looked like a child. Upper body, you know, I wasn't doing much upper body workouts. A little bit of a gut, which I still do because the way my body is built, like a spark plug, not a. Not a gazelle. But, yeah, I think this is one of the. I don't know if it was the first. I think it was the first one. I'm not so sure. But because of the success it had, I was like, like, oh, this is funny. But you're only posting if you know you're not gonna fail. Yeah, you're not gonna be posting if you think you're gonna fail. So I was like, very confident I was not gonna fail. So then I saw other people start posting. I'm like, okay, this is a funny thing, but I was waiting on somebody to be like, what, you're gonna test me and then fail? And then it's like, then it's a big scene, a big situation, but they're banning it. Aj I don't like it one bit. So be able to talk about being drunk. I know.

[AJ Hawk]

So now the punishment is a $15,000 fine. If you would post that picture now, today.

[Nick Saban]

Did it say exceeded? The hell.

[Pat McAfee]

The hell was that?

[Nick Saban]

Could have exceeded 15,000. Okay, so I think they're saying more than 15,000, but they didn't give an actual number. So that is certainly something we'll see.

[AJ Hawk]

The first person to do it, you know someone's going to do it.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, those are all steroid tests, not substance of abuse. Yeah. You know, those are all steroid tests. So there's people, you know, that always say, I took Adderall over the weekend. I took this supplement that I didn't have listed. There was a real wild, wild West Times there where I think people legitimately didn't know what was in their supplements in failing tests. Then I think there was a lot of people that are failing tests who knew exactly what they were doing and had an easy out. Just saying the supplements that didn't tell me and then boom, this guy was on horse steroids and disabled to kind of pass it off because the NFL never says anything. Which is kind of a one good one sided argument if you really want to get into it. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

It's up to the player, right, to say if they want to tell you people what they tested positive for. Which I feel like players don't really ever unless they say, yeah, oh, it's a tainted supplement. You know, these, these pills are brought in a gas station.

[Nick Saban]

You remember, guys, and I'm, I don't know how loud I'm talking. I assume it's pretty loud, but there's a lot of people around me, so I don't want to be too loud. You remember those guys are failing for extends or a bit. You remember I had a teammate that said he failed for extents. Is that real? He said he took it. Yeah. And he failed a test and he said that was the reason why. And I'd never heard that before. I never heard anybody actually openly say that he said it. So I was like, must be telling the truth. Why would you tell anybody that? Yeah, can't be lying. I thought it was the gas station.

[AJ Hawk]

Like, you know, hard on pills that did it.

[Nick Saban]

That's the horny goat weed, whatever they call it.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, those are the ones, I guess that people claim that they got popped for as well.

[Nick Saban]

Now see, I think extends was a different animal. I'm not 100% sure. Is that a prescription based? I think you get it over.

[AJ Hawk]

Does it make it longer or wider?

[Nick Saban]

Both. Yeah, I think both. I think it does both. If you're a soup can, you become an actual weapon. Donner looking for a pickup truck to get just about anything done, look no further. The Chevy Silverado EV isn't just the most powerful Silverado ever with next level towing capability and technology. It also offers game changing versatility with the available multiflex midgate and tailgate. Which means. Silverado EV helps you carry large, bulky and oddly shaped items up to nearly 11ft in length. Chevrolet together. Let's drive. Visit Chevrolet.com to learn more. So you want to be a marketer?

[Gumpy]

It's easy.

[Nick Saban]

You just have to score a ton.

[AJ Hawk]

Of leads and figure out a way.

[Nick Saban]

To turn them all into customers. Plus manage a Dozen channels, write a.

[AJ Hawk]

Million blogs, and launch a hundred campaigns all at once.

[Gumpy]

When that's done, simply make your socials.

[Nick Saban]

Go viral and bring in record profits. No sweat. Okay, fine, it's a lot of sweat. But with HubSpot's AI powered marketing tools.

[Pat McAfee]

Launching benchmark breaking campaigns is easier than ever.

[Nick Saban]

Get [e-mail] marketers.

[AJ Hawk]

Craig sank with Nick Saban, Dion Dawkins coming.

[Nick Saban]

Football.

[Greg Sankey]

Football.

[Nick Saban]

Oh, it's.

[AJ Hawk]

What's happening, Pat, how you doing? A lot of activity, it feels like during the break. Behind you. A lot of stuff going on, of course, trying to get.

[Nick Saban]

Of course there's a lot of activity, bud. The SEC championships here tomorrow. Okay. They were gonna do a sound check during our break there. They actually blew it off. They said, we don't want to interfere anything. We'll do it afterwards. So every minute that we talk into these microphones, we are certainly delaying some rehearsal somewhere else. But we want to let everybody know. We thank you for the hospitality. How about Sankey coming in?

[Pat McAfee]

Dog legend.

[Nick Saban]

How about Sankey coming in? Then Coach Saban, obviously. I mean, he's a guy who has become one of the great voices of college ball this entire season. You know, I saw Sports Illustrated talked about Woj being the biggest media story of the year. Him retiring and then going to Saint Bonaventure to be the general manager. And I think they're very good right now, too, right?

[Pat McAfee]

Spread.

[Greg Sankey]

Yes, they are.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. And there's more information coming out about, like, how he was making 7 million. Now he's making like 75,000 bucks. And I think he has a form of prostate cancers. I mean, it's like, hey, Walt pulling for you, Bob. That's your commitment to sport for as long as you did it all. And I agree, that's a massive story of media. It certainly is because it involves a lot of thing, you know, GMs for a college team, massive insider, you know, business. Every. It is big deal. And obviously cancer diagnosis and the outcry and. Or not outcry, but the outcrying support. Yeah, I guess outcrying support of his whenever he retired. But like Nick Saban just dropping into college game day and becoming like one of the greatest analysts on television out of nowhere is a awesome media story from this year. I. Every time he comes on here, I feel like I get smarter. I laugh, I learn some new saying and like, how comfortable he is and knowing who he is whenever he said, they need to know what to do, they need to know how to do it, and they need to know why they need to do it. It's like he does that with TV as well. And it's like, he has been awesome. So I'm thankful he stops by every single week with us, AJ and this is fun, man. We're already at the championship weekend. This is flown by.

[AJ Hawk]

Everything goes fast, man. It's true. I think the older you get to, the faster things go. Maybe just because you actually pay attention for once. For me at least, that's how I. I guess sometimes I actually pay attention and look around like, okay, yeah, this is pretty sweet. We better slow it down.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. Bingo. That's what I'm saying. We're already at the SEC championship. It's like, this is just.

[AJ Hawk]

Remember we were complaining about no football early in the. Like, whenever there's no football, even like preseason. And you think about, man, when is football ever going to get here? And then, boom, you look up and.

[Nick Saban]

It'S December 6th, week 14, brother. There's 18 weeks in the NFL season.

[Pat McAfee]

Remember when the Celtics won the championship, thinking like, man, we need football. And then football for New England was over, like, October 10th.

[Nick Saban]

Well, no, no. But the future is still very much in play, which is good news.

[Pat McAfee]

Then we got to see Drake May. And it did bring a whole different revival this season.

[Nick Saban]

I'd like to say thank you to football. Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Love you, football.

[Nick Saban]

Football, we do love you, football. That's the toxic table at Boston. Conor net Ty Schmidt, one half of the Hammer. So when I said that, was it on time with you guys or off time?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, on time.

[Nick Saban]

Spot.

[Pat McAfee]

Timing it. Yeah, perfect.

[Nick Saban]

That's 10 digs right there. AP Ton and the boys in the back. Fantastic work today, everybody. And shout out to the ESPN crew that set up this on site thing here at the SEC championship. Right on the sidelines. Starting to become a little bit of an annual tradition. Speaking. Speaking of annual, think about how fucking dumb our show is speaking of annual traditions every single week. Except for last week, AJ and I picked the entire board of the NFL slate and we are going to do that once again. AJ Got a big win last week, baby.

[Pat McAfee]

Hawker.

[AJ Hawk]

Kind of a Covid championship win last night, though.

[Nick Saban]

Bingo. Plus three and a half. We both, we all were on the Packers. So congrats to Chuck, Congrats to you, congrats to me. We're all on winning side, starting it now. Let's go to Carolina Panthers traveling to Philadelphia to take on the Philadelphia Eagles, who I think a lot of people would say they are the team right now that people think could win A Super bowl if it was next week. Detroit Lions a little bit too banged up on defensive side. Philadelphia Eagles on the flip side. Have all their stars playing. They are a wagon. Are they a big enough wagon to win by two scores against a surging Bryce Young in Carolina Panthers. Is there any information we need to know about this one, boys?

[Pat McAfee]

Nah, I think they're good to go. Not sure if Devontae Smith's going and I think Goddard is week to week. I don't think he's supposed to play this week.

[Ty Schmidt]

I remember.

[Nick Saban]

Okay.

[Ty Schmidt]

I remember Shefty at the beginning of the week or maybe it was last week saying Devonta almost went last week so he should go this week.

[Gumpy]

Correct.

[Nick Saban]

Okay, so that's a big piece of information. Saquon Barkley is having an MVP like season. The offensive line phenomenal. AJ are they good enough to win by 14?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, they. They absolutely are, but I don't know if they will on this day. Give me. You know what, Give me The Carolina Panthers plus 13 here.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow.

[Nick Saban]

Carolina Panthers have been playing great ball.

[AJ Hawk]

There's a lot of hope in Carolina, I feel like. So I feel like they're going to find a way at least maybe if they're down, down by a little bit at the end, maybe not a garbage touchdown, but they're going to always. They're going to continue to fight. Yeah, a little backdoor cover.

[Nick Saban]

Give me the Eagles. I love what. I love Tepper and the team. I love Tepper and the team down there. How they've been operating the last few weeks. Good luck to them in the future. Give me Nick Sirianni in the Philadelphia East. What are they saying about Sirianni this morning? He was taking some shots, wasn't he?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, kind of the same deal. Just, you know, basically the reason everyone gives him on TV is because facts are facts. We just don't like this guy as much as we like Dan Campbell. So maybe that.

[Nick Saban]

Who said that? Ryan. RC Said that, Right? Correct. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

And it wasn't like he was saying him personally, but he was saying as a whole. Like we just. Yeah, you know, there's just something about Sirianni that's inherently unlikable and that's why, that's why we don't give him the.

[Ty Schmidt]

Benefit of the doubt like we do Dan versus mcdc.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. And Ryan's. Ryan's just doing the same thing we do, observe and report. Plus his own personal opinion. So. And he's obviously phenomenal on tv. He's won an Emmy for most outstanding personality over everybody else in sports media. So he is just, you know, talking from his perspective. I, I like both those guys. Yeah, I like about. And if I think Philadelphia is starting to like Sirianni too, again, I think they are remembering why they like them. And I think you blow out this Carolina Panthers team at home, boy, there's going to be some Sirianni stuff afterwards. And I'm here for it, man. I am here for it. Falcons, this is their home right here. Nice home. Good place. Place, you know, Great place. Beautiful. The roof kind of opens up like a. Like a sphincter.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, just like that.

[Pat McAfee]

It's a butthole stadium.

[Nick Saban]

Like a balloon knot, you know, kind of the way. Kind of opens up kind of the way it twists around. It is a beautiful stadium though. Obviously Arthur Blank has a lot of money and the fine people of Georgia contributed greatly. And who knows if it was the final price that they thought it was going to be to build this place. But it is glorious down here. The Falcons call it home. They're getting five and a half points traveling to the beautiful U.S. bank Stadium up there in Minnesota. I have boots on the ground in Minnesota. Michael Cole. It is cold. Okay, it is cold. Does not matter because it's an indoor game, but does it? A.J. when you wake up in the morning in a cold town, do the bones feel a little bit differently? Is this Minnesota Vikings team ready to beat down this Falcon squad? Fresh off of Kirk Cousins 4 interception game? AJ who do you like? How do you like it so in.

[AJ Hawk]

This one, man, I like where the Vikings are at right now. I like where they are, like where they're. They're trending in the right direction in my eye. So I give me the Vikings minus five and a half. Now, Kirk either Kirk has, I think, a big bounce back game and they go out and they dominate and they win this thing or they continue and Kirk maybe has a few more turnovers and the team does not rally around him.

[Nick Saban]

Revenge game for Kirk Cousins. Yeah, revenge game.

[AJ Hawk]

Price towers his house, right? Well, he had a good fire in the back.

[Boston Connor]

I believe he sold it.

[Nick Saban]

Ah, did he really? How could you say good fire pit it was. And then that locker room downstairs room he had.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, a little secret door deal.

[Nick Saban]

Who's buying it? It has to be another player. I guess he just goes to whoever gets drafted and said, I got it. I got. I got the house for you. The fire pit in the back. I got a locker room in the basement. Yeah, maybe J.J. mcCarthy buys it, flips that thing right over to the Michigan Wolverines locker room and you know, remember Kirk Cousins? What's he doing with that head brain scan thing? Remember that thing?

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah. To stay locked in, stay focused. I believe he's still doing that. I wonder. Especially him being back in Minnesota. Maybe he goes and sees those two olds who work on his body. Maybe he gets a fresh body. Fresher than ever. His old routine. Maybe you're right.

[Nick Saban]

Oh yeah. You're talking about the older folks that worked on him. Yeah. In hard knocks and then also were specialists in the basement. I thought that was very charming and a lot. Give me the Kevin O'Connell. Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

It's a lot of points. Kirk is a bounce back qb.

[Nick Saban]

I'm gonna take Falcons plus five and a half. I'll take the Falcons plus bit of a whopping who you like in this game.

[AQ Shipley]

I like revenge Kirk. He's probably got those doctors working on his body now. He's back in Minnesota too.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. Dump couldn't hear what we were doing. He was clipping over there. He. He's thinking the same thing we're thinking though. Give me the Falcons plus five and a half.

[Ty Schmidt]

Good angle, good angles.

[Nick Saban]

I think Vikings wing though. Yeah. If we're all feeling the same way.

[Pat McAfee]

He's a bounce guy.

[Nick Saban]

He is. Once you get those. Those fingers that know your muscles.

[Ty Schmidt]

Bingo.

[Nick Saban]

You know, it's like a muscle memory thing. Once those four older hands start, you know, kind of re working their way through Kirk and they say we're getting to work on Kirk again. And then there's a whole song that is sung. Kirk's gonna feel those good vibes, those good energies, those good fingertips. Maybe. Maybe don't have as smooth as nails as they once had. You know, maybe there's like a little sharp nail on one of them. Maybe like a right ring finger. Right ring finger of the guy doesn't have a completely smooth nail. So at one point while he's doing that thing, Kirk gets scratched in the back. But that's just grit. We heard it on that quarterback Netflix series. Kirk didn't mind getting his ass kicked and getting right back up. And that's what happened last week. He got his ass kicked. Now he's going to get back up. Just like he's going to be able to get off that bed when that right ring finger scratches the shit out of his hamstring because the nail wasn't completely smooth. Kirk Cousins. Yeah, I like it. Plus five and a half. I think the Vikings win, but five and a half feels like it's a good spread. Jacksonville Jaguars getting Three and a half. Traveling up to beautiful Nashville, Tennessee to take on the Titans. Tell you what, seems like it's your big nothing burger in the relevance conversation, boys. Anything to think about. Whenever we're making this pick, I think.

[Pat McAfee]

You think about leaving it off the tv. Mac Jones. Will Levis is the Poop bowl of all poop bowls.

[Ty Schmidt]

Calvin Ridley, Revenge, maybe.

[Dion Dawkins]

Potentially.

[Nick Saban]

Oh, yeah. But who's getting him the ball?

[AQ Shipley]

That's good.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, Will Levis, I mean, he's one of the. One of the brightest young stars in our league.

[Pat McAfee]

This is a cut. This is a big. Hey, who going to have the number one overall pick this year Bowl. So I don't know if one team wants to lose more than the other team as well.

[Nick Saban]

Doug Peterson wants to lose that one. Give me. Give me. His future is good, right? He's good down there, allegedly.

[Pat McAfee]

His.

[Boston Connor]

His future is good until the end of the season, and then they will fire his ass.

[Nick Saban]

So that's the current, right? That would not be.

[AQ Shipley]

I mean, unless he doesn't look like he's enjoying himself. It might be an Eber flu situation, like. I'm about done here.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. You think his moxie's been drained from down here.

[AQ Shipley]

He's not the Dougie P I remember from the Philly. Philly, yeah.

[Nick Saban]

But Dougie P goes down to Jack's beach two or three times and says, you know what? It's beautiful down here. And he says, we'll reload this thing for next year. Maybe Dougie P isn't always completely checked out.

[AQ Shipley]

It is nice down there.

[Nick Saban]

It is. It's not bad.

[AQ Shipley]

Few Peanut Coladas in the summertime, if.

[Nick Saban]

You like Peanut Coladas.

[AQ Shipley]

And the best roster in the game.

[Nick Saban]

We overpaid a quarterback. Some people say that he's lame, doo, doo, doo, but he's got a bright future. This kid's been known for so long. And you look at that hair, it's growing, growing gone. Give me the Tennessee Titans.

[Dion Dawkins]

Okay.

[Nick Saban]

Nice.

[AJ Hawk]

Wasn't sure which way you were leaning on that one. I'll take the Titans as well. Mine is three.

[Nick Saban]

Okay. All right. Shout out to the Titans. Give me the Jets. Dolphins, five and a half point favorites at home. Gumpy. Favored by five and a half at home against an Aaron Rodgers who says, hey, it's about pride, boys. It's about the name on the back of our jerseys and the emblem on the side of our helmets. We signed up to play 17 games. We go down to Miami. We don't go to Tootsies. We don't go to the second floor and get shoulder rubs. We focus on a football game. Dolphins 5 1/2 at home. Gumpsh, how do you feel?

[AQ Shipley]

Anthony Walker back and Kendall Fuller back. Big for our defense. I think we bounce back, win this thing.

[Nick Saban]

Are you guys still in the hunt?

[AQ Shipley]

Oh, we're still in the hunt. Just gotta win out, you know, pretty easy schedule. Yeah, Just got to go on the road to Houston, Cleveland and New York. You got to win the cold at some point.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. They haven't been able to, obviously. That's a big storyline. Give me the Jets. Give me the jets plus five and a half down there in Miami. I think Aaron's gonna feel like he's 22 down there in that humidity and that heat. He's gonna be running all over the place. They need to have a good one at some point. Five and a half feels like a good number.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I think this bit of a trap game maybe for the Dolphins. So give me the Jets. As you said, they're going to get down there and feel pretty good in that. That heat and Gumpy unfortunately might not be that happy after this one.

[Nick Saban]

A Hard Knocks game Cleveland Browns traveling to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Hard Knocks AFC north was fantastic on Tuesday night at 9pm Eastern on mocks. Used to be HBO, then it became HBO Max because it used to be Cinemax with some people used to get the lotion out and call Skinimax came down to just Max. Then it was HBO Max, then Max wins. It's just Max. So worth a watch. This is going to be a pivotal part of this particular episode coming up. This is an old school rivalry towns not like in other towns and I think NFL Films is going to be able to showcase that broadcast that classic, classic AFC north battle here. Browns get a win just a few weeks back over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now Steelers favored by six and a half at home. Tone Diggs, do you like being favored by six and a half at home? Do you like the sportsbook saying you should win by about a touchdown or do you hate this spot knowing that Myles Garrett heard what TJ's lack of happiness and J's lack of happiness did to him and now they're six and a half point dogs after just getting a win. Miles is going to use that as a chip to stack on his big ass shoulders and he might wreck the game. What are your thoughts, Tone?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, if you remember that Thursday, us Dealers fans did not have a good feeling about that one Thursday night prime time long game. Everyone's Eyes on it. On the road in the division against the Browns. That one didn't feel good. This one at home back at the shore. Six and a half point favorites one o'clock game should take care of it. Feel good about this one.

[Nick Saban]

Okay. Six and a half. A.J. do you feel good about the Cleveland Browns covering or do you think the Steelers have a you know what we're to Pittsburgh Steelers type of game?

[AJ Hawk]

See, I think the pit. I think the Pittsburgh Steelers are great. I don't know why Tone's claiming he didn't feel good going on. You don't think you can go on the road and win a primetime game? You're the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[Nick Saban]

No, no.

[Ty Schmidt]

I just did. That day just didn't feel right.

[AJ Hawk]

I'll take the Cleveland Browns here plus six and a half.

[Nick Saban]

I'll take the Pittsburgh Steelers minus six and a half at home. And I can't wait. Watch on Hard Knocks how it all came together.

[AQ Shipley]

Cleveland has lost the last 20 regular season games in Pittsburgh.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, they can still lose this.

[Greg Sankey]

I don't know why to throw that by six.

[Nick Saban]

I like that little felt relevant curse.

[AQ Shipley]

Throw in James to throw. Well, it's must bad at this point.

[Nick Saban]

I mean. Yeah. He's going to give the ball to the Pittsburgh Steelers once.

[Ty Schmidt]

No, he. I think he talked to.

[Pat McAfee]

That was just for pick sixes.

[Nick Saban]

Big sixes.

[Pat McAfee]

He knows that the Lord can't deliver them from picks.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, guys will get tackled, they won't be able to score. That's asking a lot. So deliver us from pick sixes. Arise from the ashes. Amen. Saints. New York Giants. Giants getting four at home against a gritty Saints team without Taysom Hill. Let's go to Bruce Brown in the back. Bruce, is there any reason we should pick the New York Football Giants?

[Boston Connor]

No.

[Nick Saban]

The only reason is that it's our.

[AJ Hawk]

Last chance to win this season. That's the only upside. Neighbors not practicing Sexy Dex. He's done for the year. Nice upstart rookie tight end Theo Johnson. He's done for the year. I'm excited about a undrafted linebacker that.

[Greg Sankey]

We got coming back off the ir. I'm excited to watch him play but.

[Nick Saban]

But no.

[Pat McAfee]

No real reason.

[Nick Saban]

You know what I'm excited about over there? We took the roof off at the MetLife. Darren Rizzi's going to blow out the bottom of that place before that game starts with a big old dump. We know that he's a routine guy and I think he has his team ready to go into MetLife. Give me the saints minus four and a half I. Minus four.

[AJ Hawk]

Not half minus four.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Okay. Yeah. Saints minus four. I am with you for sure. I don't. I can't pick against Rizzi and I don't know what the New York Giants like, what do the Giants look like next year?

[Nick Saban]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Absolute poop. All good.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. They might have Bill Belichick as their head coach though, right? Head coach.

[Pat McAfee]

G. I mean, hopefully Joe Shane, John Meyer said like, hey, I don't expect to make changes. So there. I think there's a chance he's just lying, but he said that. So I don't know, maybe that they, they roll, run it back with him.

[Nick Saban]

He also said like, I don't want to get rid of that guy. And then they get rid of that guy. So, you know, Mara, how much weight is he, you know, is that guy able to make a decision at this point? That's a whole another take from the hard knocks that I don't even want to dive into. Like Mara, the owner of the team, clearly, very clearly and evidently did not want to move on from sake one. Now, I respect and appreciate him saying, hey, I hired a general manager. You do your job. But with how it's working out now, you got to wonder like, hey, why didn't Morris pound the table for his guy as an owner? But then if he's too hands on now he's Jerry Jones. That's a tough spot to be in over there. And they suck. Give it a say. I like the Saints. Let's go. Raiders, Buccaneers, Raiders getting six and a half. Tough game last week for that Raiders team. You know, tough, tough game. Antonio Pierce said, let's call it like it is. We're the worst team or the best team. Let's change the narrative. How it goes. Buccaneers, hot team. Okay, Tampa Bay. What Baker Mayfield's been able to do down there. Mike Evans had that bananas catch last week. Just absolutely bananas. He's going to have a touchdown that seemingly happened. Happens every single week. I like this Tampa Bay Buccaneers where they're headed. Give me them favored by six and a half at home.

[AJ Hawk]

All right, I'm gonna ride with you here. Tampa Bay at home minus six and a half. Yeah, I feel like they win by hopefully 10, 14 points. Raiders, I'm not sure. Same another team. Hey, what do they look like next year as well? Future? Who knows? I don't know if it looks bright or not.

[Nick Saban]

Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at a Bird game. Oh, Seahawks taking on color cards. Wow. And I do find some real solace that in a Bird heavy Team, league. The greatest bird in the league right now is the American bald eagle in the Philadelphia Eagles. Amen. I have a family of these things living outside my house. They're big. These things are big.

[AJ Hawk]

Really.

[Nick Saban]

And when they take off, it's like one of those small planes that you like the fly on age taking off. It's like the Wright brothers are taking off from the front yard. It is insane. And they are a savage animal. I mean they will pick a duck up, bash it off of ice and eat it right in front of you. So I like you know that the Eagles are the strongest bird of a bunch of bird mascots in the NFL. Now these two birds. Seahawks, Cardinals. Wow. Both very much in the conversation. Cardinal. Holy hell. This team is going to be leading the NFC west at some point in this particular season. Oh yeah. Kyler Murray is going to have his best season as a leader and as a quarterback. For the quarterback. Oh yeah. Well, how about the Seahawks? They just kicked Pete Carroll out of the building. Brought in defense coordinator from Baltimore Ravens. They don't have figured out, do they? Genoese too old. They finally wrote back. Now they're both very much in it for that NFC West. And don't look now, the Rams also playing good football. I will take the Seattle Seahawks plus two and a half in Arizona. AJ who do you like?

[AJ Hawk]

So I know that I know head coach just had a kid, his first child this week, correct?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he had a baby boy.

[Nick Saban]

Baby boy.

[Pat McAfee]

Sweet baby boy.

[AJ Hawk]

That can a lot of times can give you that extra oomph you need. But I will take the Cardinals at home minus two and a half.

[Nick Saban]

Okay. Little Baby McDonald. Baby McDonald had a name. It was when the first game out. W I end the game. W I end the game. W I end the game. And Baby McDonald won it. That's what I think he's gonna be in first game.

[AJ Hawk]

A front facing baby Bjorn. I heard.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

Call him plays.

[Gumpy]

Yep.

[AJ Hawk]

Little baby headset. Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

Buffalo Bills. Los Angeles Rams. And the Buffalo Bills are awesome to watch. Fun, fun team to watch play football. Their jubilance is something that radiates through the screen whenever you see them. From the offense to the defense, special teams even. It's like that Bill's team. And we talk about the Detroit Lions being America's team, you know, because everything and the story and how Dan Campbell goes about operating how they play and how tough they are and it's like easy to fall in love with the lines. It certainly is. And Foxy, I love that your team's doing that for you, I do, Foxy. But this Beals team, you watch them play, it's easy to fall in love with them too. Especially with their history as a team. Especially with their recent history and long term history of the Buffalo Bills with their fan base. This team feels different. So I think Bills Mafia invades Los Angeles for this one. Completely. This is going to be a Bills Mafia game. This is a home game for Josh Allen. And I think the Bills win in a big way. Even though I like where the Rams are and where the Rams are headed.

[AJ Hawk]

At the moment, I think you hit it right on the head. You said the. The Buffalo fans, they invade la. Absolutely. Can you imagine the great weekend? They're probably flying out this morning, getting there, having a beautiful weekend, la, seeing the sights, seeing everything, and then go, hopefully win a game on Sunday. So, yeah, Bills minus three and a half in la.

[Nick Saban]

There was a group of dudes that are very important that just walked around here in the back. And the guy in that. I don't think we should show. I think they are a very important crew there. The guy in the back might have the greatest helmet in the history.

[AQ Shipley]

I might grow my hair out like that.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, that looks phenomenal. Can we please.

[AQ Shipley]

Unbelievable flow on the side.

[Nick Saban]

I mean, thank you, sir. Thank you, sir, for existing. That was blowing in the wind. I mean, this thing was. This thing was Hulkster, you know, but real. But all the way. It was. It was awesome. No bandana though, either. That was real. That was. He wanted to showcase his whole head, you know, showcase all shout out to that guy. He was a nice man too. It was a very good way. If you have a. You have a helmet like that, I assume you're a good guy. Okay, let's go to the Bears 49ers Z. You think you guys got this one or what? Very close the last few weeks. Very close. It doesn't help. DJ Moore and DeAndre Swift both have quad injury. They haven't practiced yet. I can imagine DJ Moore will play, but. Oh, this is like a Pittsburgh Steelers offense traveling to Cincinnati game potentially in the way Tone Diggs described it. I don't think we have a travel out. Yeah. Okay, so give me the Niners. Niners need one too.

[Ty Schmidt]

There is an interim bump. Yeah, there is.

[Nick Saban]

Does that outweigh the.

[Ty Schmidt]

But there's also. Niners must win for the eighth straight week in the row.

[AJ Hawk]

Give me the Niners here as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Brando's the starting running back now who's kind of.

[Greg Sankey]

Hold on.

[Nick Saban]

What did. I didn't just Happen earlier in the year where I said there's no way the interim bump isn't going to work.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Saints.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

And then what I say, I say I'm never listening to that again. I have to do the interim bump. Didn't I say that? All right, I'll take the Bears plus, let's go.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean the vibe. The vibes in San Fran are super.

[Nick Saban]

Good right now, though.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm hearing.

[Pat McAfee]

Excuse me.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know if I'm hearing the same thing. Diggs.

[Nick Saban]

What are you guys hearing? I want to hear what you guys are hearing. I like to be a part of that.

[Ty Schmidt]

No, there was a chance I was being sarcastic.

[Nick Saban]

Oh, age. Well, age was here and stuff. For real. Age. What are you.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know. I was hoping they were keeping a positive outlook. I know things happen.

[AQ Shipley]

Touchdowns anymore.

[Nick Saban]

What are you talking about?

[AQ Shipley]

They're not celebrating touchdowns anymore anymore.

[Nick Saban]

We got win games, celebrate.

[AQ Shipley]

Somebody said something about use check fumbling that ball on the goal line.

[Nick Saban]

Oh, right. I didn't say it.

[AQ Shipley]

Somebody. They were saying it on the Internet. He wasn't worried about ball. I didn't say it.

[Nick Saban]

Give me the Bears plus three and a half. I hate it, but let's do it.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Pat McAfee]

That's tough.

[Nick Saban]

That's myself.

[Pat McAfee]

It's tough bump, though. I don't know if the interim bump was factored in with starting wide receiver.

[AJ Hawk]

And running back out.

[Nick Saban]

I don't know.

[Boston Connor]

I don't know if that changes it.

[Pat McAfee]

I think it does.

[Nick Saban]

Hey, how are you? Hey, team. Hey, team. You're a handsome man. What's up, brother? There's some very impressive people walking through here, I want to let you know. Very powerful looking people. Good quads, a lot of good bases on these people. You know, I start to wonder if things are going to happen. Like, do you attack and you go from the bottom and just kind of like, you know, if you have to take him down, good base on a lot of these guys walking around there.

[Ty Schmidt]

A lot of Texas corduroy.

[AQ Shipley]

Is that corduroy on the coat on the elbow pads?

[AJ Hawk]

That's Georgia patches.

[Boston Connor]

That's right. Can't be beat.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, we, we got cowboy.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, elbow patches. Normally a Georgia thing.

[Nick Saban]

I assume there's going to be some really powerful people that have a lot of security with them at this game tomorrow. I'm going to assume. Dj, I, I, I, maybe I, I don't know. Last year, right?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, last year I thought, no.

[Nick Saban]

This feels like one, right? Doesn't it? But if that's the case, there would have to be like. Which might be what's going on right now. Yeah, he's going to army maybe.

[Ty Schmidt]

I know that.

[Nick Saban]

What's that? Next weekend, right? Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm Philly.

[Nick Saban]

They. Have you ever heard about what they have to do to the building to get or to the stadium?

[AJ Hawk]

No.

[Nick Saban]

So obviously you got to put like they put bulletproof glass in the suites, but the suites already have glass, so they have to replace the glass with the bulletproof glass. And then they actually obviously have to have the entire area secure. And then they gotta have people in a bunch of different spots. And some of these lookout spots already have a bunch of people that are a part of it. Well, we need to add more people in there because these guys actually are the. The senior operating guys that are in this thing. So it is a full on. It's kind of fun to watch them like, map it out. It's like, oh, this is. This is. This is. Yeah. Can't be having president get shot at a SEC championship game. But first of all, how'd they get the gun in here? Speaking of, that sidewalk thing in New York City, it showed up in my dreams last night too. Connor.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's. It's real. Like, if you're thinking about it, you watch enough. I. I said yesterday I had a dream I got shot yesterday after watching the.

[AJ Hawk]

By the same person?

[Nick Saban]

No, no, just that situation. Yeah, right. Is that what you're talking about?

[Pat McAfee]

Just walking through a park parking lot. Here's someone behind you, and you just walk a little faster and then poof. And then you wake up.

[Boston Connor]

Holy.

[Pat McAfee]

But you're still alive.

[Nick Saban]

That didn't happen to me. Guy missed. Shout out to me. Shout out to me. Yeah, because I was walking with a lot of anxiety and I don't remember if it was a sidewalk or a parking lot. It's weird how your dreams have the ability to do that. Just like, yeah, you're at your house, but it's not like your house at all. Like, you put your dream break, you know, like that whole thing. I'm walking, I hear turn, peak, you know, quick peek, boom. Didn't crocodile walk or whatever it was. Didn't alligate zigzag. Didn't do the zigzag walk, but did bail. And then I got into a chase and then I woke up like, obviously sweating. I mean, it was a. It was a full thing. That video being re. That. That the way that just happened is crazy to think about. And then you see the Internet said that he was Smitten with some girl. And he was like, hey. He wanted to flash a smile.

[Pat McAfee]

Saw that also.

[Nick Saban]

Who knows if that's real.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. People also saying, clearly not the same person. So there has been some debate over that too. As well.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. Because jackets, different colors. But is it the lighting and the place? I mean there's that. That happening in real world has messed me up. Just won't let everybody know. And I'm gonna get better from it. I'm gonna get tougher from it. We got one last game to pick. Chargers. Chiefs. Is the Chief still the Chiefs to the tune of a four point favoritism at home against AFC west rival Los Angeles Chargers. Age. Who do you like? How do you like it?

[AJ Hawk]

So I'm taking the Chiefs because I take the Chiefs every week and I think I get beat every single time. I'm taking the Chiefs at minus four and they probably win by a field goal at the end. So yeah, there we go.

[Nick Saban]

Okay, I will take the Chargers because I like you normally take the Chiefs and then we inevitably heartbreak. I think Chiefs still win game because the Chiefs are still the Chiefs. And that's what the Chiefs do. Four points is a lot. Congrats to the Chargers. In my eyes, that's a good slate, A.J. you did a great job. Ladies and gentlemen, Ladies and gentlemen, we are at a part of the season where awards are being given out to NFL players. You know, there's the Offensive Rookie of the Year, there's a Defensive Rookie of the Year, the Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year. There's a Salute to service award winner who across the NFL who has helped out or given back to the military more than anybody else, there's obviously the mvp. There's so many things. But the one that is held in the highest of regards by most players and buildings is the Walter Payton man of the Year. Ladies and gentlemen, it is an absolute honor to get a chance to chat with a few of these guys who have been selected by their teams for what they do in the communities in which they live. From the Buffalo Bills, ladies and gentlemen, Absolute Dog Dion Dawkins. How you doing, man?

[Gumpy]

What up, man? I appreciate y'all. I'll be seeing that. And as you guys take and take a lot of indignity and watching the right film, man, because you know, the trenches is where it gets real treacherous.

[Nick Saban]

Okay, so AQ Shipley actually broke down some film because they were trying to punish you for a move that you were aq, I think said the greatest of all time at which is to swat down on a bull rush. And these refs weren't keeping an eye on it. So then all of a sudden they think it's a holding. It's like, ah, I just utilize that leverage with my athleticism and beat them. So I, I, I appreciate you seeing that. That was all AQ Shipley. He said you were getting robbed out there.

[Gumpy]

Deal on, yo, I'mma, I'mma tell you the truth. It is, it's an art. It's an art. It's a, it's a, it's a dangerous move because if you don't do it the right way, you could end up in the quarterback's lap. But when it comes down to it, it's a, it's finally a chance where, you know, you could kind of be the attacker and not be attacked because, like, you know, like this offensive line thing, it's a, it's a different, different world now where, you know, like these quarterbacks, they're dropping back and passing. So your left tackle, your right tackle, your inside interior, like you, you got to really keep the guys away from the quarterback. So we have to figure out ways to, you know, change it up. Because like, realistically, if you're doing something 50 plays against Chris Jones or 50 plays against Miles Garrett, like, like it's unrealistic for them to keep doing the same thing over and over and over and them not, not win. Like, one, they're usually the better athlete. And two, you have to have a change up. Like, like a curveball. In baseball, like if a pitcher throws a speed ball every, every pitch, it's a home run. Like these guys are pros, but yeah, it's a change up. I call it the ice pick. But you know, that, that and that chop move is something that I'm taking very, very serious and I enjoy doing it because the defensive ends hate it and they hate snow for it.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, ice pick, giving him a face full of it, especially up there in Buffalo, is a beautiful move. And all the defensive end and pass rushers talk about having a game plan and having multiple tools and multiple clubs in their bag. I think you're the first offensive lineman that I've heard they're like, yeah, I need multiple tools as well. Let's talk about you guys cheating though. Offensive lineman jumping off sides every single play. You want the opposite way. I feel like you want the opposite way. The whole conversation was, these tacklers are getting off the ball, they're in the backfield, their heads gotta break the ass, and then you like, first week, whenever that was a conversation, you were, like, in front of the center. Actually, you were. You like, I don't want to hear it. Yeah, exactly. So that was on purpose, obviously, Pat.

[Gumpy]

Yeah, bro. I be playing games, bro. I enjoy to push the button, and I definitely made it a point to line up extreme close to the line of scrimmage where I could have been offsides my way, and I was kind of in front of the centers, like the ball, and, you know, I just took it to a greater point to say, hey, look, I'm a lineup way, way, way ahead, and I'm still going to beat you into your spot because, like, you know, one. I'm kind of like, at the point where I just want to demand the right and respect, and I'm just pressing that button.

[Nick Saban]

Hey, you mentioned love. I love that. I. We want to let you know we love your game, brother. We love your game. Go ahead.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, sorry for stepping on there, Pat.

[Nick Saban]

I.

[AJ Hawk]

So you're the. The. The swipe. The. The ice pick, as you call it. You said if you. If you don't execute it right, you end up in the quarterback slap. So what is the risk reward for you there? Because every time you lose, use it. It looks like it works to us. It. Thing is, it's a thing of beauty how violent it is, too. So, like, Pat's taking. He's taking a drop there. If you go to swipe and you don't get it, what happens? They bowl you right into the quarterback. They.

[Gumpy]

They could bully you right in the quarterback because, you know, like, when you chop down, like, you. You kind of lose all of your base. And, you know, coaches teach you to have your base in your lower half and the. And to be well, well grounded. But, you know, like, when you go to attempt to chop down, you have to kind of retreat. You have to retreat to get the hand off you. Or sometimes you have to kind of move your body and in a different way just to get their hands in a different feeling so you can swipe them down. But, you know, with the wrestling that I'm doing, I was talking to Gable, and, yeah, he's. And he's having a ball, but, like, you know, I used it to my advantage, you know, like, Gable, the Olympic wrestler, was here. So I'm trying to ask him, like, bro, what could I do? What do you feel when you snatch down? What are you doing when you shoot and your takedown and techniques? And I'm. And I'm just picking and choosing, and then I train, like, fighting in the off season. So I have a good feeling of when people's pushing here to try to bait you, and I just use it against them. But, yes, when your base comes from underneath you, it is a vulnerable position, but you got to be confident. Like, you have to be confident in what. And you're doing.

[Nick Saban]

Hey, they're saying that offensive line numbers are dwindling, you know, and I think there's been numerous people that have come out and said, like, hey, if you're a big person, there's opportunity in football at the offensive line position, like, younger kids, like, hey, there's opportunity to get in there. Do you think wrestling off of what you just said, what do you think is, like, the best indicator that somebody could be a good offensive lineman? Is it, like, agility? Is it athletic? What do you think is, like, the. Why do you think you've had so much success? Do you think it is the wrestling in the balance or what is it?

[Gumpy]

It's. It's balance, bro. It is. It is definitely balance. You have to be aware of your body, right, because we're all bigger guys, but you have to be aware of what you can and cannot do. Like. Like, I am an extreme sportist. Like, I really am. I push it to the limit. Like, from snowboarding to longboarding to scootering to rollerblades to ice skating to even doing gymnastics.

[Nick Saban]

Classic.

[Gumpy]

And with the kids, like, everything I take into consideration. And I put it into one ball so I could throw my snowball effect.

[Nick Saban]

So you're doing a back flip out there. You got a backflip out there. Round off. Backflip.

[Gumpy]

You know, I actually do. I actually do. And there's pictures of it. And I do those beat. And before practice on Fridays, and they, like.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah.

[Gumpy]

And they. And they put the. We call it the cut bag. Like. Like, when you run and you cut and when you. You lay out flat so you don't hit the ground. I. Yes, I do backflips on those on usually Fridays or Thursday afternoons.

[Nick Saban]

But how. What are your dims. What are height and weight here? What are we, huh? What is your height and weight?

[Gumpy]

You know, Pat, I, like. I think it could be. I'm six, four, six, five on a great day. And on a good day, you know, I'm probably about 340, 342, 338, depending on what I.

[Nick Saban]

6, 5, 3, 48. Okay. Doing a backflip. Yeah. Everybody's crazy.

[Gumpy]

Trying my best, man.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. Let's find those guys. Those kids. Yeah, a lot of those kids Exist. Forget everything I just asked.

[Gumpy]

Freak app brother.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. AP Tone has a question for you. Dion.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Dion. We talk about getting healthy at the right time and staying healthy for the playoff run. You guys are getting Matt Milano back, who is just awesome, and he hasn't. He hasn't played in a long time. What's it like going to be getting Matt back on the. On the field, bruh?

[Gumpy]

First of all, nice freaking hat.

[Ty Schmidt]

Thank you.

[Gumpy]

When I see this hat, bro, I'm.

[Nick Saban]

Like, lock them doors and turn them lights.

[Gumpy]

Hey, yo, but. Hey, yo. But. But having Milano back, it's a. It's a good feeling. Like, but, you know, everything is energy, everything is confidence. And when you get one of your. One of your guardians back and one of your Knights, like, it's a. It's a. It's a. It's a positive feeling, like when you're going out to practice or when he's on the football field. And I don't play in defense, so I don't know what it is like when he's actually on the football field, but I know of his presence when. When he's around and suited up. And it's a confident thing because it's. It's just like having, like, all of your hitters, all your hitters are here and we're healthy and we're there. You know, it can only put you in the right spirit. And Milano is definitely one of those guys. He's been here and with me, we got drafted together for eight years. And having him around, it just brings up that confidence of, you know what? We have our best punch for whatever we're about to go out and do on Sunday, Thursday or Monday night.

[Nick Saban]

Let's talk about you guys on Sunday, Monday, Thursday in America, Europe. I think Australia's coming. You know, whenever you guys. This team is a new iteration of this Buffalo Bills team. Do you feel that way? And what are the vibes like with this team versus maybe previous teams of Buffalo Bills?

[Gumpy]

Yeah, we are definitely our best version of ourself. This is the best football team that I've been on and previous years, we. And we've had great players too. Like, and, you know, everybody wants to compare it to, how is it now not not having dicks? How is it now not having some of those. Some of those big names. But with the team that we have now, it's more guys that don't really have that overall golden star. So, you know, it seems like everybody is not fighting for that royalty. But, you know, everybody has a giant Chip on their shoulder because they haven't crossed that threshold. And you've been on teams, and when guys are at that point of tipping over and knocking those Jenga chips down, like, it's like. It's literally at that point now where it's like, we have a bunch of guys that are, like, right at that verge. Like, all right, he could get paid. All right. He could be the highest paid. Okay. He could be a leader in this. And, you know, everybody is kind of fighting, and at that point, everybody's at that level of jumping off of that cliff onto the other side. And when you have a team full of those guys and not just, you know, 1, 2, or 3, it's a different vibe because everybody's hungry. Everybody's chewing at that bone. There's only one piece, and people are eating.

[Nick Saban]

That's what I was trying to say. A hungry, talented team is obviously the most dangerous. But you guys have a culture, too. It feels like. Feels like there's a culture already very much in play. You bring Micah back, I think, just, like, within the last couple days, back into the building. Is there?

[Gumpy]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

Micah. What?

[Gumpy]

Micah just walked out of the. Of the cafeteria. What up, bro? Yeah.

[Dion Dawkins]

Hey.

[Nick Saban]

What up, bro? Hey. Good to see you, bro. Good to see you. Sorry, Micah. Coming. Coming back, though. The culture. Easy. You guys already have the culture in place of what a Buffalo Bill is and what that building is like, or. No.

[Gumpy]

Yeah, it's. It's forming, Pat. It's. It's. It's definitely forming. I think the. The formula and the. And the aura of what it is now, we're depending on the big guys. The big guys have to be right. The big guys have to play right. When you get late into the season, November, December, January, February, you have to be very, very good up front on both sides of the football. We have to keep Josh clean. You know, everybody's bodies are getting achy. You're getting through the last pinch of the season, and it's more of. I want to say run, but I don't really think so. So I don't know, like, now even thinking about it, I don't. I don't really know because, you know, Joshua.

[Nick Saban]

Josh is.

[Gumpy]

Josh is throwing it. Guys are catching it. But, you know, every day and every week, the mindset is we have to lean up on the big guys to win a football game. So the pressure is on football, isn't it, Dion?

[Nick Saban]

Isn't it always going to be football? That's why the in the Trenches segment happens with aq, because it's like the teams that are having a good offensive line are going to be the teams that are around in the end. That's always been football.

[Gumpy]

That's always that. Yep, yep. And that's the real deal because it's a one on one game and you're five like, like up front have to be at their best to have a chance, just a chance. Because you're running back has to take the pressure off the QB and the QB has to be able to stand back and back there and pass. But you are correct.

[Nick Saban]

James and Ray. James and Ray are insane. Let alone Josh Allen being able to run whenever he wants. It's like you guys have so many weapons and so many powerful positions.

[Gumpy]

Feels like no for sure. Yeah. Ray, Ray had. Came on board, young guy, physical. I was, I was very, I, I was very, very shocked. I was very, very shocked of how physical he is. And you know, Cook, Cook just consistently gets better every year. And the beautiful thing is that he has a brother that played and has done it. So now he's, you know, he always like has that chip of I want to be better. And that's what we see week in and week out.

[Nick Saban]

Connor has a question for you. Dion? Yeah, Dion.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm a Patriots fan, so talking to you really sucks because all the Bills fans are cool. Bills players are cool as. So it really does blow. One of the coolest Bills players that we've seen on social media is Mac Hollins. Can you just explain kind of what Matt Collins is all about? We saw him walk into the game and he had no shoes on and he was wearing a mad scientist costume. Then we've heard he also doesn't use utensils. So are you walking into the building and he's eating like his hands and. Or like what. What is this most interesting guy ever, bro.

[Gumpy]

He is, he is, he is a. He is a unique type of dude, bro. Like, like, I'm telling you, he will. He would literally not wear shoes anywhere, right? You're talking about the bathroom. It's like about the shower. You're talking about walking to practice. You're talking about walking into a game and it's just like, dog, like you're taking it too far. But if that's you, we accept. And then two. With the, with the mad scientist thing, it's just like, it's just like dude bro, you are, you are. Split it out. Like, come on, dog. You are just a different type of dude. Like, look at this guy. I love him to death because we accept them. But I have never met somebody like Mac. You know, he just continues to just be himself. And that's the beautiful part about Buffalo, is we accept people for their true form. But you want to talk about a unique, unique, unique guy that you'll never understand? Mac. Doc Hollins is one of those guys that you will never figure out where he can come in here and eat a brownie and put, like, peanut butter on it and then walk downstairs with his shoes off and drip some on his feet and take it and lick it and eat it like, come on.

[Greg Sankey]

Doc, what you doing?

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, it's your answer when he said, sometimes we think he takes it a little bit too far, but it's cool. We accept you. The amount of. Really? Okay. Yeah. All right. We love it. We love it. We love what you're doing.

[Gumpy]

This, like, come on. I got a science guy.

[Nick Saban]

I think my. I like the grounding theory. You know, I've never done it myself, but just on frozen cement. I don't know if he's getting the proper grounding results, but, hey, hey, he played great ball. He played great football, the guy.

[Gumpy]

Yeah, it's. It's not even the cold ground. It's the salt, bro. It's the salt. This salt. Is his feet alive?

[Dion Dawkins]

Oh, my God.

[Gumpy]

It's probably cutting them up and making them. Yeah, but, yeah, man, it's a. It's a different vibe.

[Nick Saban]

He's good at fixing garages, though. AJ sent me a video from his Instagram. He put some garage D40, not WD40, garage D40, on one of the tracks on the garage, and he said, this is how you fix it. And when I got done, I was like. He literally just did a how to video on how to fix a. A garage. I love it. Is he just a handyman, too? He's fixing a building. What? He's just everything. He's everything.

[Gumpy]

So he.

[Nick Saban]

He's just. He's.

[Gumpy]

He's a helper, like, but, like, he's, like, a helper, man. So, like, look at him.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep.

[Gumpy]

Like, I love it. Jeff, bro. He is. He is Bob the Builder, bro. Put some WD40 on it and keep it going.

[Nick Saban]

Hey, Dion, before. Before we let you go, we have to talk about why we wanted to have you on. Congrats on Walter Payton, man of the Year. Okay. That's a big deal, obviously. Massive respect, especially in that Buffalo community and how much that Bills team is synonymous with the town waltz. Payton, man of the Year. I don't know how many times you've been nominated from the Buffalo Bills. Is this first time? Third time. You're a dog. Thank you for representing the NFL in a beautiful fashion. We would like to say that. And what does this mean? Every time you kind of win this award? What do you. How do you view it at this point?

[Gumpy]

It's. It's a. It's a. It's a beautiful thing. First of all, it's one of my biggest honors. It's one of the biggest honors that I could ever receive because it can't be bought, it can't be faked, and it comes from pure heart and pure love. Right. Like every year you have a different football team, right? So I have different. Different teammates. I have different people. And, you know, Walter Payton, man of the Year, is voted. Is voted by your peers. It's voted by the building. It's. It's voted by the management and the community. And for what I take the most of it is every year, my teammates come in, some that don't know me, some that just see of what they see of me. And it takes a season for them to really, like, understand who you truly are. And for them to put my name down on a piece of paper and say, you know, Deion is doing right in his community, I'm going to put his name down. That is a big honor that I'm accepted and loved by my peers and I'm leading in the right way for the community and for this Buffalo Bills organization because it's an honor to be in the league, and it's an honor to be in a position to lead. And I'm truly blessed in that. In that fourth. And I'm thankful every day. And you know, Pat, with, like, with being a lineman, right? And with being a lineman, we don't really get what the quarterback or the running back or the receivers or what I call of the skinnies get, you know? And this is something that I am thankful for, and I'm thankful to lead in the right way.

[Nick Saban]

I'll tell you what, you fats are good people, too, bub. You fats are good people. Yo. You're one of the kind, bro.

[Gumpy]

This guy.

[Nick Saban]

We appreciate you, dude. We appreciate. We appreciate you being a good human, though, man, because. Yeah. Because the negativity hogs publicity, okay? So whenever there's good, I feel like we need to put a spotlight on it. And you're certainly that. We appreciate the hell out of you, man.

[Gumpy]

Thank you, brother. For real. Real deal, man. It's an honor. It truly is.

[Nick Saban]

You can come on anytime you want to come on anytime you Want. So, literally, because, you know, we have three hours to fill every day, so anytime you just want to come on in, you have an open, open invitation, brother.

[Gumpy]

Let's do this. I'm with it, bro. I. I appreciate that.

[Nick Saban]

You're at that slap fest. You're at that slap fest that we were at when that. That one lady knocked out that other lady. And Travis Scott was there. Remember, Travis did his stand up. Yeah. That is one of the most insane things I've ever. Have you been to numerous ones of those?

[Gumpy]

Yes, man. They are one of a kind. You know, I am a Dana fan, and I, you know, still kind of can't believe that people just stand up there and slap each other, but. Yeah, but it's entertaining. It's entertaining. And, you know, this.

[Nick Saban]

This.

[Gumpy]

This is an entertainment world, but the fact that people could stand there and take a hit like that and stand there and just throw another one, it's a. It's a tip my. I had. Because I know I ain't standing there and getting slapped. You know, I'm right there in the stands. Eat a burger, have a drink, and vibe out.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. And also, if you do get smacked in the mouth, you're gonna chop those hands down. And I'm chopping them down right before.

[Gumpy]

They get to my face, you know, saying. And fall on them.

[Nick Saban]

All right. We appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen, Elon Dawkins. You're the man. He's awesome. The best. He's so good at. So good at football. Yeah. So athletic. Does backflips. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

That's the thing. That's not fair. Like, say you're a young kid, you want to play. You want to be a lineman in the NFL. And you see this guy. Okay, cool. The guy can do backflips.

[Nick Saban]

He.

[AJ Hawk]

He said he can. He skateboard, snowboard, long board, ice skate. He just can do it all. He. He has great feet, obviously. That's another huge thing for offensive linemen. All the great linemen have really, really good feet. How he played basketball, everything.

[Nick Saban]

Is he still on or is he gone? He's gone. Yeah. Let's call him back. Zito reminded me. So Bone. You know Bone in our office? Yeah, Debone, incredible graphics maker. Phenomenal. This guy, football guy. D3, left tackle. Okay. National champion. Congrats to him. He. He has thin feet. He has thin feet. He's a left tackle. He has very thin feet. And I asked, I genuinely asked, was that the big separator, you think, between debone and, like, making him debone pretty athletic? He's got a good jumper. Great jumper. Feels like he's got good feet. He feels like he's nimble, but he's got thin feet. I feel like that's a disadvantage. Yeah. I've never met somebody with thin feet. First of all, that's the first person I met with thin feet. Then the fact that he was an offensive lineman. I was very. I did not. I was like mind blowing. I just assume you want to have fat ass feet. You would like to more. More land, you know, you'd like to be grounded a little bit more. I never met somebody. He's first one. He's got these nice new boots. Nice new boots.

[Boston Connor]

Great boots.

[Nick Saban]

These things. These things look like a canoe. Canoe, though. I mean, it is. It is a thing of beauty. Joining us, ladies and gentlemen, three time pro bowler Dion Dawkins. Quick question, I apologize. Do you have fat feet or thin feet? Do you know?

[Gumpy]

I got thinner. Medium. I say medium. I'm right in the middle, man. You see?

[Nick Saban]

Okay. Okay.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

But those are kind of stretching a little bit out there, you know, I've seen. I have those pair of shoes. Your toes. It's the.

[Gumpy]

It's the snow. It's the. It's the snow. It's the hot and cold, you know. Contrast. Yeah, it doesn't.

[Nick Saban]

Okay, got it. Yeah. Don't do backflips out there. Don't do back. No, no, no.

[Gumpy]

I'm off that super bowl. I'm flipping.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. Yeah. Amen, Joe. Good luck out there, Dion. We appreciate you, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, Dion. Beautiful facility there. Did you see that? That looks like inside of a mall. Oh, sweet. All these facilities got medium sized feet. His feet look fatter than D bones. But I guess that was a false theory.

[AJ Hawk]

They did. That was a false perspective thing from the camera.

[Nick Saban]

Shout out to doordash, by the way. Shout.

[Ty Schmidt]

Thank you, door dash.

[Boston Connor]

Thank you, door dash.

[Pat McAfee]

Love you, door dash.

[Nick Saban]

I think doordash is down here. I think I saw a big door dash thing in the convention. Cuz, you know, tomorrow's game days down here in the convention center and at the beginning of game day, it's not as packed. I don't think as many people get in. But then as the day rolls on, as game day rolls on like that, it's a fun. What is it? Is that a super fun zone? What is it?

[AQ Shipley]

Yeah, that place.

[Nick Saban]

It's like a super fun baseball game college experience. Yeah, it's like.

[AJ Hawk]

I think football hall of fame is there. Is it close to that or.

[Nick Saban]

No, it's I. I don't know how close that. I think it's in the area here, but this convention center. Yeah. Cuz I think it's connected. You can walk through it. There's a thing. But the room that we're in in the convention center, they have this, they have like, looks like they have like one of the pitching machine. It's like a full on experience that's happening there. And then Game day is rated like the point of it. So as that fills up, which it does to it, you get some electrifying. You get some electrifying and experience in there tomorrow should be good. Timothee Chalamet. Okay, so I didn't know who he was. This guy's a big deal. I think people are real jacked up about him being on college game day. I think a lot of people who didn't know who he was were very confused on how he's the guy. I guess he, he's a big fan of college game day. Like he's a big college football, big college game day fan dog. Where would I know him from? Con Man?

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, Lisa Gaib is from Dune. He's a big Dune guy. But he's been in a bunch of stuff recently. He did the Younger Willy Wonka. I don't know if you saw that at all. But the Dune movies I would say are his bigger projects as of recently. You probably know too. What else has he been in?

[Boston Connor]

No, yeah, I don't think he's probably been in anything you've seen. He's gonna be Bob Dylan in a movie coming out that's getting a lot of steam. People saying he might, you know, win an Oscar for that. But yeah, Dune, hey, that was good.

[Nick Saban]

He did good for that, right? Like, aren't they saying he did like a good job of being Bob Dylan?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, a lot of people telling him like, hey, you can't do that. Like his voice is too distinct. Like it just. This could be really, really bad. And then they heard him like playing the guitar and singing because he, he did all the songs himself and they're like, holy. Like that's incredible.

[Nick Saban]

So that, so is Timothy. Is Timothy on a, on a rocket ship right now?

[Boston Connor]

Yes.

[Nick Saban]

Oh yeah. Yep. Yeah. What an honor. I can't wait to meet him tomorrow. He. I, I think he's going to be part of the kicking event. I think he's gonna be part of the kicking seg.

[AJ Hawk]

He's gonna kick?

[Nick Saban]

I think so. I don't think he's kicking, but I think he just kind of Wanted to hang out. He's like, can I come out?

[AJ Hawk]

Sorry. If you get fam on the batting cage, just hit me. If you have a batting cage, put a helmet on.

[Nick Saban]

What?

[AJ Hawk]

Fam will take a few cuts.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. Well, I'm okay with it. We're in Pete Thamel season right now. Yep. We are in Pete Thamel season right now. With coaching openings and then fines happening last week and then, you know, who's in, who's out, championship games, playoff implications, future of it. We are currently. Welcome to it. Pete D season. We are in it. So there is. Yes, I agree. I, I love Pete Thamel. I love the way his brain operates. I love the way he distributes information. And we're in the middle of it and I'm excited for him to maybe, you know, tip off who's going to be the West Virginia coach. Maybe.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, when do you think we find that out?

[Nick Saban]

I'm not sure. Tonight? Sure. Maybe tonight.

[AJ Hawk]

Richard plays tonight.

[Nick Saban]

Right.

[AJ Hawk]

So he can't accept it yet.

[Pat McAfee]

And he's got bowl game.

[Nick Saban]

Hey, I don't know. So I've, I've stayed out of it. I've tried my best to stay out of it completely, even though, you know, certainly would like to know what's going on. And a lot of people who want the job have reached out to me to say, like, hey, if I get job, will you support me? Pretty much. And that's a weird thing to receive. I. To let that be known. I do not think I deserve that type of access or question from a lot of people. That's why whenever I say, like, hey, a lot of people want this job, it's like, I think with the way jobs are working out right now, like, there's not a lot of jobs up right now. And with the way people are watching this college Football playoff, a lot of the people from our generation or around our generation, they've seen West Virginia be like number one the country, number two in the country. They've seen like, ratings be bananas for West Virginia football. They played NCAA 2K with Pat White and Steve, so they know the brand of West Virginia. So there's a lot of coaches that I think are being sought after by a lot of big time jobs or will be when the next big time job opens up. Don't break the desk. There is a lot of that happen. Those people all, like, I think the West Virginia job is very, very, very desirable and even against everybody else, that's kind of up. And Bill Belichick didn't interview for the West Virginia Job. But he said to me the other day, I'll talk to you about that. Whenever I said, you want to coach in West Virginia, I should have followed up. I guess I should have. I should have followed up. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

If you interviewed for North Carolina, he would definitely interview for West Virginia.

[Nick Saban]

Well, there's people, though, out there that are like, the UNC job is better than a West Virginia job. And it's like, can you win your conference?

[AJ Hawk]

You can win the conference if you're.

[Nick Saban]

At West Virginia and you can get in the College Football Playoff and you have a fan base that is a football fan base, even though there is good basketball, which shout out to Ren Baker getting that hiring. Right. Okay. So it's like, I think both these jobs, obviously good places, unc, desirable spot, beautiful colors. In North Carolina, you can do that whole thing. But it's like, everybody that I've heard from that wants a job is like, this is where we will turn down other job opportunities to coach at West Virginia. It's like, that's great to hear. Now, I can't publicly promote anybody now because I got, you know, so many conversations that are happening, but I've been out of it. I'm just letting Ren know, hey, this person reached out to me. I don't know if you know. Obviously you do. Okay, Sweet. Good luck out there. He's casting a wide net. I think he's making some decisions. He knows that this is going to be it for him. You know, this is. This is a big deal for him because he could have done the easy thing and hired an independent counsel to do it so then he could point blame at them. But instead he's like, this is me. I know. This is me. 46 years old. I mean, you're talking about getting every other hiring, right? I trust him. I appreciate him. And I know there's a lot of very, very, very good football coaches that want that job. So I'm pumped about it. So good luck to the Iowa State and Arizona State, folks. Okay. Yeah, Good luck.

[Pat McAfee]

Enjoy while you.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. Because. Yeah, guess who's coming back. It's a flying wv, baby, and I can't wait for it.

[AJ Hawk]

I got. I got people.

[Nick Saban]

Thank you so much, Pat.

[AJ Hawk]

You know, I got people reaching out to me to get to you that want the job.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, you. You did act as a liaison there. So I appreciate you doing that. Thank you for doing that.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, the General is going to be an unbelievable coach.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Bob, Bob. Bob will throw his hat in. It was not Bob who. Bob hasn't reached out yet. But Bob, you'll throw his hat in the ring.

[Pat McAfee]

Bobby trying to play.

[Nick Saban]

There's been numerous people that I thought there's been. There's been a lot of people that have reached out to me that I thought would be like, like, no, wouldn't want the West Virginia job. You're not going to save and wait for like Ben Johnson, you know, like Ben Johnson. Everything he said about a job that I take is going to have to have these stipulations, I guess, because Ben Johnson's got options, you know, and Ben has turned things down. He's proven to be a good coach and we all assume he's going to be a great head coach when he has to run it. But it's like a lot of people that I think have turned down a lot of other opportunities are like, nah, we will for West Virginia. We got a chance. And it's because of. To your point, you win the Big 12, you're in the playoff. Once you get in the playoff, anything, you just need to win three games. You win a Big 12, you need to win three games. You need to have a team show up. It's like you could do a lot of. With the opportunity in the road that's currently there with the 12 team playoff. And I'm excited for Ren to do his thing, but I think next week sometime probably get an answer. Probably.

[AJ Hawk]

Okay.

[Nick Saban]

From what I told.

[AJ Hawk]

Love that design, terrible job. It's a good thing.

[Nick Saban]

They're.

[AJ Hawk]

It's a good issue for them.

[Nick Saban]

Great. Now it sucks for rent, you know? You know, sucks for rent because he's got to go through all of it and I couldn't even imagine the amount of this.

[AJ Hawk]

What would suck worse though, is if you're reaching out and people like, nah, I'm good. People just won't take your calls. Like, what if you're trying to interview people and they won't even take your call?

[Nick Saban]

Agreed. That is. That would be much, much worse. And I assume that's happening in some places. You know, shout out to Purdue.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

You know, like, that is. Purdue's gonna have to get it right. And I don't know how many people are going to want that job. And I think Purdue can get it right. Shout out to Purdue. Got nothing but respect for Purdue. But with what's going on in Indiana University. Yeah. You know, at this exact time, it's going to be tough to pull from the same recruiting pool. Not to Purdue and IU are the same, but you get it pretty much. And that's going to be a tough one to get. I think that's going to be a tough one to turn around, but somebody might be able to do it. Who knows? Hopefully, West Virginia is able to find somebody that gets us back into national contention, national conversation, and I'm lucky to be a small part of it all. Aj, thank you for making the trip. Gumpy, come on over here, brother. Boys, great work this week up there.

[Ty Schmidt]

Hell, yeah, brother.

[Nick Saban]

It was an honor to settle up next to you guys. It always.

[Ty Schmidt]

And a privilege.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes. Hey, Gump.

[Nick Saban]

You see Gumpy down here? You see Gumpy down here?

[AJ Hawk]

Hell, yeah. Good.

[AQ Shipley]

Good to see you boys.

[AJ Hawk]

Good music on the way there today.

[AQ Shipley]

Yeah, I did, actually. Hawk House Bangers is undefeated. I hate to say it, aj. It is good.

[AJ Hawk]

I've come around. I've come around. You used to only play, like, the underground stuff. That was terrible. Now you actually play some hits, so. Thank you.

[AQ Shipley]

Yeah, I'm trying. I'm trying to keep everybody happy here.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. He's. He's gone the complete opposite direction instead of the brand new crop.

[AQ Shipley]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

And, like, he's just rolling the dice trying to sell us on it. He's going old school. He's going back into the catalog, and he's. He kind of has, like, each generation represented in there, but it's only bangers, and it's a lot of bangers. And there's songs that pop up there you haven't heard 10, 15 years. And it's like, Gumpy, I will remove any.

[AQ Shipley]

Any qualms. I will remove. Connor had a qualm yesterday. It's out of the playlist.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Red, I think that's the name.

[AQ Shipley]

He didn't like it.

[Nick Saban]

It's called Red.

[AQ Shipley]

Pat didn't like a song the other day. It's out. You let me know you don't like it. It can be removed.

[Nick Saban]

There was crop the other day. It was crop when I walked in.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Trial and error.

[AQ Shipley]

Yeah, you'll swing a miss sometimes.

[Nick Saban]

You've been swinging a hot bat. You've been swinging a hot back. He had a double. Double from Timmy's. Got a feeling a little wiry. Got a feeling all wired.

[AQ Shipley]

Tried to warn you guys about the double. Double.

[Nick Saban]

What was that Canadian rapper's name that I just learned of yesterday?

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, man, I looked at it.

[Dion Dawkins]

Routine Drake.

[Nick Saban]

He's awesome. No, it's not Drake. He actually takes a shot at Drake in one of his songs. So he is on a trip to get to 1 million followers, and he's been Canadianizing American songs. And I'LL tell you what it is. What do you say? Big hoser with a beat. Bud.

[Pat McAfee]

With a dream in a hockey bag.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah, cross checked, but the refs weren't watching. Hey, this is Guy, Big hoser. Not to be, bud. Dark too soon. Outside getting no sun. Put a shot high off the crossbar post run. Can't win them all. So I'm heading on a Tim. This guy, awesome dude. Full hoser out there.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

Sending it. I'd say he's a rig. A unit.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

A weapon.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

He needs to be. More people need to listen to his songs. Especially people that say they're from Canada and don't understand the references in there.

[AQ Shipley]

East coast, different. I told you, different world. East coast, west coast, Canada. Completely different.

[Nick Saban]

Big hoser on the beat, boy.

[AQ Shipley]

Yeah, that's East Coast.

[Nick Saban]

Okay. That's how Purple Graphic design crew. Good work this week, boys. Skinny feet, debone dirty mitt. Go work, boys.

[AJ Hawk]

What's up, boys?

[Nick Saban]

Big talk. Great work. Talk.

[Ty Schmidt]

Work.

[AQ Shipley]

Pretty good talk.

[Pat McAfee]

The Coffee Bandit.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah. Hey, Talk. Stop smelling coffee all over the place, pal. Hey, somebody else will pick it up for sure. But you could. I saw him cleaning up.

[AJ Hawk]

I saw him wiping it down.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Today. Today, with the past few days, there's been some spills and we're like, what is this? And then Yesterday around like 6:30, we. Or 6:00, we like licked it up, kind of smelt it, and it was like, okay, it's coffee. And then we saw Talk today spill all that coffee right where the previous spills have been.

[Ty Schmidt]

He is a walking spill.

[Nick Saban]

We thought it was. We thought it was BRC Bill.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo.

[Ty Schmidt]

No, he doesn't waste. He doesn't waste.

[AQ Shipley]

Barista Bill's not wasting anything.

[Nick Saban]

Was being super weird today. Who? Bill?

[Ty Schmidt]

No, no, no. Talk.

[Nick Saban]

Well, that's because Talk knows that he's been spilling coffee and people been almost getting a banana on the ground like it's Super Mario and falling all over the place. He'll get right. That's what Talk does. Talk gets right.

[Ty Schmidt]

He does.

[Nick Saban]

That's all he's ever done. All right, boys, it's an honor to be here. Thank you to everybody that set this thing up here. Thank you. The hospitality from the sec. I gotta go learn some stuff for the program tomorrow. And what an honor it is to be a part. All this, boys, are the best. It's already December 6th.

[Boston Connor]

Crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

Paul Revere's midnight ride tomorrow.

[Ty Schmidt]

One month. No, AJ's birthday.

[Nick Saban]

You're right on. No. Is it on the.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that December or is it I forgot to.

[AQ Shipley]

Happy little Santa, boys.

[Nick Saban]

Happy little Santa Santa.

[AQ Shipley]

I hope you left your plates out.

[Nick Saban]

We did, yeah. Big hoser on the beat, bud. Happy little Santa.

[Ty Schmidt]

Happy little Santa.

[Nick Saban]

What does this mean? What does this mean?

[AQ Shipley]

You just get like a little present before Christmas? It's Little Santa.

[Nick Saban]

An appetizer.

[AQ Shipley]

Yeah. You're just trying to be gracious with the people you love.

[Nick Saban]

Like a yo yo would be a little.

[AQ Shipley]

A T shirt, some socks, something you get in a stocking.

[Nick Saban]

Like. Like gloves, maybe.

[AQ Shipley]

Yeah, for sure.

[Nick Saban]

Little Santa's got a big bag. Yeah.

[AQ Shipley]

Like those ones Wiley was wearing. Like it was minus 20 degrees Celsius.

[Nick Saban]

That was a shot across the bow. And a guy named John Wiley, he. He was trying to offer up gloves to us when we walked in today. And we're like, are they pumping cold.

[AJ Hawk]

Air in there or something? Like what? What do you mean?

[AQ Shipley]

They are.

[Nick Saban]

Right now, I think they're opening up a tunnel that goes outside and it just blows. Right. Remember, this whole city is like underground, connected, you know, like there's all those underground things and it's. I think it's one of those. But we gotta get the hell out of here. They gotta do those tests. Aj, Great work today. Thank you for traveling, boys. Can't wait to see it tomorrow night. Can't wait to see tomorrow night.

[Pat McAfee]

Not Paul. Pearl Harbors tomorrow.

[AJ Hawk]

Sorry.

[Pat McAfee]

That anniversary.

[Nick Saban]

Yes. That's a new something that started something different coast that then inspired us all to know that even when the worst things imaginable could happen, there are heroes that walk amongst us. And we learned of the greatest generation. And for that we will forever be thankful. Even though we'll never forget those five people out.

[Boston Connor]

Well said.

[Nick Saban]

Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. Never ever forget that we're in this thing together. Team on me. Game day, 9 00am Eastern Time. From the SEC Championship, I believe we got commissioners from multiple conferences coming on. Multiple coaches may be joining us at the same damn time. Hell yeah. Timothy. Timothy Chalamet. Shalom. Join us, Jimmy.

[AQ Shipley]

Shall.

[Nick Saban]

Yes, we shall.

[Dion Dawkins]

Yeah.

[Nick Saban]

Enjoy it all. Team on me. Team on three. I love you, boys.

[Pat McAfee]

Love two.

[Nick Saban]

One, two, three. Goodbye.

[Timothy Chalamet]

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[AJ Hawk]

Season from ESPN Podcast and Omaha Productions.

[Nick Saban]

Ready? Here we go. Coach is a new, groundbreaking educational football.

[AJ Hawk]

Podcast hosted by NFL legends Bill Belichick, Matt Patricia and Michael Lombardi. In each episode, the coaches break down game changing situations and front office management.

[Nick Saban]

Tactics, sharing insights from decades of coaching.

[AJ Hawk]

Experience and opening up the Bill Belichick.

[Gumpy]

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[AJ Hawk]

Legends for football fans. New episodes of Coach Drop Weekly.

[Gumpy]

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.