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- [00:01]
Commercial Announcer
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- [00:32]
Paul Feinbaum
the pride, passion
- [00:34]
Cole Kubik
and pageantry of college football lives here.
- [00:40]
Paul Feinbaum
This is the Paul Feinbaum Show.
- [00:44]
Cole Kubik
Our two podcasts this might be college football. Welcome back into the Paul Find mom show. Cole Cubic's in it for Paul today. Last show before SEC media days. 855-242-7285 get you in but you to wait until we talk with Michael Casa Grande from AL.com he's with us now to talk Crimson Tide. Mike, where do you put the quarterback battle Competition for Kaylin DeBoer as we sit here today, I believe 43 days away from college football kickoff?
- [01:18]
Michael Casagrande
Hey Cole. Yeah, it should be an interesting situation. Keelan Russell, obviously probably the biggest name, the five star, one of the top recruits in his class last year is the name probably everyone is hoping to see. I had a pretty good performance on a day not there's, there's good competition out there but if, if I was the coach for everything I've seen I would, I would go with him.
- [01:48]
Cole Kubik
At this point, how close do you think it'll be and if it is tight, do you anticipate would you expect some sort of rotation? Do you expect it to just be a one, two, any type of situational quarterback run we could get from the guy who isn't necessarily the starter. What would your feel be there if both were sort of right on the brink?
- [02:11]
Michael Casagrande
Yeah, that's a good question. I mean Austin Mack, he was the guy who came in for the Rose bowl when Ty Simpson got hurt. Didn't look terrible. Wasn't really the moment where he was probably expecting to make his debut. But yeah, it's, that's something, that's something we need to look into. I mean I could have answered that question pretty, pretty easily in the days of covering Nick Saban and how he liked to handle things. But you got new coach coordinator. I mean Austin Mac is a guy who came in with the boar with Ryan Grubb originally at Washington with them. So there's some connection there that goes, goes deeper than with Keelan Russell So it's good questions. That's something that we need to probably answer before start getting to September.
- [02:57]
Cole Kubik
Michael Casagrande, he covers the Alabama crimson tide for AL.com he's with us now on the phones. There has been a reoccurring theme with multiple Alabama fans on the show this week. Mike in reference to the offensive line and I think it's a dangerous place to be mentally. I just want to kind of get your thoughts on it and then hear what you are hearing about that group. And it's well, it can't be worse. And I just keep thinking to myself I could actually go find you about 50 groups in college football that were worse last year. If you'd like to see them, we can put the film on and watch them. I just, I don't feel like that's where you want to be mentally and emotionally going into this season if you're really expecting that group to actually be much better than they were a season ago. What are you hearing?
- [03:38]
Michael Casagrande
Yeah, no, it's interesting because what you saw in the last two of the last three games, at least relatively for people around here, was as bad as it gets. Offensive line and you're the expert, you could probably explain it better than anybody else from what you could see technically, but just nowhere to go running the ball. Ty Simpson gets hurt as quarterback. It everything kind of seemed to go wrong and there was going the wrong direction. They fired the offensive line coach. You had a couple of guys, you had a first round draft pick coming out of that group. Another Brailsford was also maybe a second round, second day guy. So there seemed to be talent but couldn't put it together. Could not run the ball at all consistently throughout the whole season. So it was, it was frustrating I'm sure for Alabama fans who are so used to seeing the standard of what they did around here was at least the ability to run the ball to control the line of scrimmage that was over kind of like bedrock principles of the previous administration, so to speak. So yeah, I mean a lot of new guys, the transfer portal was active. It's kind of thing where it's, it's hard to really say until you start seeing them play games. You know, how does it all come together, a few pieces returning. Michael Carroll I believe. But a pretty new group that has a lot to prove and it's tough to say at this point exactly where they are because they haven't seen anybody any outside competition yet. So it's going to be one of those things. I think that for Me will be what I'll be watching the most in the preseason and don't think they should be off the hook for what happened last year and, and you know, how much they approve is going to be the biggest I think to me the biggest factor of what where this team goes this year.
- [05:26]
Cole Kubik
Is there a new player out of the portal that we should be paying closer attention to for Alabama? Michael Castagrande of ale.com with us on the phones of the Paul Fine Bomb Show. A guy that maybe you kind of you've heard about, you've watched, you've seen and you're just thinking to yourself I think he's going to help his team. Yet no one seems to be talking about him.
- [05:45]
Michael Casagrande
That's a great question. I wish I was a beat writer still and I was on the ground hearing all these things. I should defer to Nick Kelly
- [05:54]
Caller Steve
to
- [05:54]
Michael Casagrande
not stall in some of these true day to day things. I feel bad not giving you a great answer because I haven't been, I've been working on bigger picture things that aren't the day to day. Who's the transfer guy? Who's the freshman guy? Who's the, who's the one you know the day to day X's and O's depth chart stuff. So I could give you, I could make up something right now but I'm gonna, I'll defer to some of the other guys who are more the experts instead of trying to, to gaslight you
- [06:20]
Cole Kubik
guys and so you've written about Alabama's sort of cold war style rival and its complex history. This is up now@al.com I'm interested in kind of what drove this, what brought this on for you?
- [06:37]
Michael Casagrande
Yeah, I'm just thinking about different things, working on bigger picture things looking at the schedule, looking at the ACC media days last week and just started putting things together, connecting some dots and kind of what makes an interesting it's hard even called a rivalry because it's, it's they don't play each other that often on the field but they seem to have a lot of connective tissue and connecting some dots between you know going back to you can go as far back to Bobby Bowden almost coming to be Alabama's coach twice in the 80s and then in 1990 and how different the whole all those programs would have been. But even after that, I mean just the Kalyn DeBoer hire here Mike Norvell clearly was, was a, was a candidate before they hired Kalyn. That was just weeks after the Alabama got put into the playoff over Florida State after the injury. There's there's so much connective tissue between these two for teams that don't aren't in the same conference, don't see each other that often. But just was one of those mid July things where it's let's talk about something that you'll see coming up in September.
- [07:50]
Cole Kubik
Michael Castagrande of ale.com with us staying Big Picture how do you view Kalen DeBoer's tenure right now? It surprises me, Mike, when I read off the list of former Alabama great coaches and how it took them till year three to get their championships, be it national or conference. We're heading into year three now. Yet I would say the majority, bare minimum half of the callers we've had on the show this week have not been satisfied with Kaylin DeBoer yet. They're in the playoffs last year, won a playoff game on the road last year. You've seen coaches come and go in this conference. You've now covered coaching hires and coaching new hires in Alabama. How do you view it where he sort of is today?
- [08:35]
Michael Casagrande
Yeah, it's very interesting and complex and something that when he was hired, I remember thinking this is going to be an interesting ride to see how you know, you know what is good, what is going to be good enough for him. Following a Nick Saban is truly one of the most difficult situations you could be thrown into where there is success, where you win big games. You beat Georgia on the road, you beat Georgia two years in a row in the in the regular season. But then you lose some games that you weren't supposed to. That Florida State game last year was distressing, I'm sure, for a lot of people that then got wiped away. But you have big wins. Then you had the losses like the losses to Georgia that it lost. You know, it was a way they lost those games. I think that in the SEC Championship game, the Rose bowl, that leave people with that that dirty taste that they kind of got humiliated by two teams, one that they were used to beating and had pride and always beating a team that was the national elite and then an Indiana team that people I'm sure around here are still trying to figure out how Indiana rose from obscurity to be such a great team. So I could see it running the spectrum and I can see a lot of what both sides are saying that he did win a playoff game, he's on the right path and generally speaking, but there was never, it's never going to be good enough. It was never going to be good enough. When you follow Nick Saban and the consistency of the excellence that they had around here for so long, it was never going to live up to that. And so there was always going to be this natural backlash. So I guess maintaining where he is, taking a step up from where they were a year ago would, would be a lot would quiet some of the people. I don't know if you'll ever quiet everyone at that point.
- [10:27]
Cole Kubik
Where's the athletic department in comparison to maybe others in the SEC or others that we view as on their level fiscally, financially, as far as what's coming in, what they're, what they can spend? How do they compare to some of the teams at the top of the SEC or top of college football right now?
- [10:45]
Michael Casagrande
Yeah, I wouldn't put them near the, you know, in the, in terms of the revenue generation, the, the potential for nil. It's, it's not, he wouldn't be among the elites and that's kind of
- [11:00]
Caller Steve
the
- [11:00]
Michael Casagrande
changing era of college football. And Nick Saban getting out when he did was, was a good time. This was going to be an issue whether Nick Saban was here or Kaylin DeBoer or anybody else was here, that they were going to have that same sort of shortfall of the prominent alums who have the big money, the big checks. There's no Cody Campbell's out there, no Jimmy Reigns, no none marquee guys who can bring in, who can change a department, a team with their bank account alone. So it's more of a challenge. They're looking for more of the small, like the small donors in the political sense to make up some of that money. But it's a different era and it's a challenging one for Alabama because it doesn't have the same economic advantages in this, this model as it had in the past when it was more the traditional, the revenue that they always lived on with the facilities and everything, that that's no longer as big of a part of the pie as it used to be.
- [12:07]
Cole Kubik
Absolutely. Mike, great stuff, man. Thanks for hopping on with us Today Article up now@al.com Alabama's Cold War style rival has a complex history. Thanks for discussing it and look forward to catching up with you again soon.
- [12:21]
Michael Casagrande
All right, thanks, Cole.
- [12:22]
Cole Kubik
Michael Castagrande, AL.com, joining us on the phones. Cole Kubik filling in for Paul Feinbaum, 855-242-7285. If you would like to be a part of the show, Henry in Nashville Wants to chime in. Welcome in Henry.
- [12:36]
Michael Casagrande
I'm doing good. How are you doing?
- [12:38]
Cole Kubik
Great, thanks.
- [12:41]
Michael Casagrande
So my question for you is how do you think Auburn is going to be able to perform this year seeing as they have a new coach, a bunch of new players coming in and whole new offensive system?
- [12:50]
Cole Kubik
Well, I think the advantage that you have is one, your new coach is a good coach and a lot of the players that are coming in that are new, they're not new to the system or the scheme which also you referenced as new. So some of that continuity that is very difficult to find in today's college football chemistry, wherewithal, situational awareness, know how Alberto has some advantages with that of guys that are going to take the field, that know where to line up, how to line up, what the verbiage is going to be the expectation of how to go fast, where to give the football, what official to give the football to. All of those things are going to be known which allows you to teach further and coach further down the line. That should give them some advantages. Guy for guy, dude for dude, talent for talent. Are they going to be better than the majority of the teams on their schedule? Probably not. But I think you have an offense that is going to be run by a quarterback that's confident in it, have a coach calling it that's confident with the quarterback that's going to be running it, and a defensive coordinator that you can say what you want about it. But the majority of their wins are going to come via scheme. Xavier Atkins is great, Keltrick Falk's a good football player, but Keltrick Falk wasn't dominant last year by any stretch of the imagination. I mean you can make the argument that Bobby Travis Jameson was a more valuable asset to the team than Keldrick Falk was last year and now they're both gone. So that hurts. But DJ Durkin is going to dial it up and as long as he gets the effort and the know how he's going to be able to make things happen with how he calls the defense as opposed to just needing five star talent to go make those plays for him. So I think they have a good opportunity. I think the Florida game is massive. It's a fork in the road game sort of for both programs. If you can find a way to get the first few and then get that one, then I think they can exceed expectations. If not, maybe they're scratching and calling the rest of the way through. But the one thing that I have said is that it will be more competent. It will be a more enjoyable watch and it will be more competitive on a more consistent basis regardless of what the record is. I don't think a lot of Auburn fans are going to watch Auburn football this year and be anywhere near as disgusted as they were a year ago, regardless of win or loss. So that's kind of my, I guess, thousand foot view on Auburn football and what it's going to be this upcoming season. 855-242-7285. More of your calls next, right here on the Paul Feinbaum Show.
- [15:13]
Paul Feinbaum
You're listening to the Paul Feinbaum Show Podcast.
- [15:19]
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- [16:16]
Cole Kubik
in Paul Feinbaum show. 855-242-728-5855, 2427285. You want to get in? Now's the time to do it. Cole Kubrick sitting in for Paul Finebaum. John Talty going to join the show in nine minutes. We'll discuss his new book coming out soon, biography of Lane Kiffin, which in and of itself should be intriguing. Don't think any of us would doubt that. We did have a caller earlier in the show that brought up the Tennessee Volunteers and that he foresaw. I think it was Robert that called in said he doesn't see them winning a lot of games this year because they're going to have a lot of games with quarterbacks that are better than theirs. Do we know that would be the first question that I would ask. I don't know if the do Mendoza is going to be better than what Tennessee fields and Tennessee's got a quarterback competition we'll see this. Faison, Brandon, take that thing. We don't know. Kennesaw State. Furman, we're going to pass on on that comp. I'll give you Arch Manning. Byron Brown at Auburn, probably. But it's still a big jump in competition and there's a lot of new around him. Arkansas, I don't think you can definitively say that they'll be better at quarterback than Tennessee. Alabama's uncertain. You can't just say definitively they will. What if they don't get good quarterback play this year? South Carolina is a yes. Kentucky probably a yes right now, but still I don't think we can make that definitive right now. Texas A and M, yes. LSU probably. Vanderbilt most likely going to have a true freshman, which he wouldn't be on Saturday, November 28th. But still that's that's not the majority of the teams that are definitively going to be better at quarterback. Texas, South Carolina, A and M probably. LSU would be four. And then you have a couple that you could throw in there as maybes. But we don't know definitively if all those quarterbacks outside the four we named are definitively going to be better than what Tennessee puts on the field at qb. I also think Tennessee may have the second third best offensive line in the sec. Desean Bishop, really good running back. He got a really good tight end, some talented wide receivers. So your defense, although it's a new scheme, should be a little more responsible and be able to create some more havoc. And you got some players on that side of the ball too. So I'm not with Robert throwing in the towel on Tennessee this year. Not me, not going to do that. I do think the Georgia Tech game is massive because if you can be three and oh going into Texas, bring the other Orange team in the league to Neyland Stadium. That's going to be unbelievable. Probably be a shame that it's an early kick. Nonetheless, you get Auburn, Arkansas after that, which even if you drop the Texas game, if you could pile up two more wins, you'd be sitting there at 5 and 1 and you get Alabama at home. Could be a really good spot. You get a week off on Halloween at Texas A and M. LSU at Vandy to close the season after you get Kentucky at home. That you don't hate the way the schedule is laid out for the Vols. 855-242-7285. Dan in Georgia wants to chime in. Welcome in, Dan.
- [19:39]
Caller Dan
Hey Cole, I've really enjoyed you this work. You are you're my number one sub for Paul.
- [19:45]
Cole Kubik
Thank you.
- [19:47]
Caller Dan
And I was gonna. What I was gonna say is, I'm an Ole Miss guy married to an Alabama girl, and there's. There's something that nobody ever talks about during the week, and this is the organization. And make sure everybody's singing from the same page of the hymnal at Ole Miss. When Kiffin got there, we had a chancellor in place that was all in on athletics. The previous chancellor was not. And it started at the top and went all the way down. And we jumped on board early on on the Nil Portal deal. Kiffin had a lot to do with it, but it was all a very strong team effort that nobody ever talks about. And I noticed, particularly with Alabama and some other schools, they just. Nobody's singing from the same page of the hymnal. I. I mean, I'm not seeing that. That so much at Alabama, and I, you know, other schools that can be named, but, I mean, I listen to my wife complain. She says, oh, I hate the Portal. I hate the Nil. They shouldn't do this. Well, unfortunately, you lost the legend Coach left. You know, he might have stayed another year or two, but I think he was having all the fun he could stand. And with the change in the way things were, he said, I'm out of here.
- [21:19]
Cole Kubik
Fair enough.
- [21:19]
Caller Dan
Hello.
- [21:20]
Cole Kubik
Yes, sir.
- [21:21]
Caller Steve
What do you. What do you.
- [21:22]
Cole Kubik
What's your question on. On the topic, Dan?
- [21:29]
Caller Dan
I was just really more talking about Ole Miss. Now. What is the topic? I missed the topic.
- [21:36]
Cole Kubik
Do you think. You think that Ole Miss and Alabama are aligned differently? I would say Ole Miss a little bit more ahead of the game because Keith Carter's done an amazing job.
- [21:47]
Caller Dan
I think Ole Miss is way ahead of the game from what I've seen.
- [21:51]
Cole Kubik
Yeah. I don't know about.
- [21:54]
Caller Dan
Scouting is different, and everything is. Else is different. They seem to be hitting on the Portal, and we don't know what Pete Golding is going to do, but so far he is. He's passed the test with flying colors. You know,
- [22:10]
Cole Kubik
I'm with you. Listen, Dan, I'm with you. I. I think the people who have gotten involved, some of that includes the fans at Ole Miss has been able to make life a little bit easier based on who you've been able to go get. I think Keith Carter's had a lot to do with that. He's been aggressive, he's been open, he's been flexible. And the coaching staff that you've had there has also helped. Lane was a little bit ahead of the curve on the Portal. Let's be real, he was he I wouldn't say that Alabama hasn't hit on the portal. Parker Brailsford was one of the best centers in college football last year. Jeremy Bernard was amazing last year. They've had players come in and be really good in the portal. They're going to need some out of the portal this year to hit Josh Cuevas, a tight end, really good player when he was healthy for them a season ago. But you lost some at the same time and going to need some that are coming in to replace those and be able to help you out. So I would agree with a lot of it. I I think it's difficult for anybody to be on a completely different planet when you're in the power five right now, Power four. I mean that's yes, I think probably Texas and some of the bottom tier of the SEC are very different. Maybe Texas A and M, but the majority of the teams I think with revenue share are pretty close. There are some teams a little more creative to be able to generate things in different ways and have more to do it with. But I don't think it's night and day. I think your administrative has got to be forward thinking. They've got to be creative and they've got to find different ways to do it to help your coaches. Go get players. 855-242-7285. You want to be a part of the Paul Finebaum Show? You can do it right after this.
- [23:44]
Commercial Announcer
You're listening to the Paul Feinbaum show podcast.
- [23:49]
Cole Kubik
Welcome back in Paul Feinbaum Show. Cole Kubrick sitting in for Paul today. 855-242-7285. Right back to the phones we go. Steve in South Carolina, welcome into the show.
- [24:01]
Caller Steve
Yes sir.
- [24:02]
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- [24:33]
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- [25:02]
Caller Steve
I was hoping to hear talk to he's coming on later but that's okay. I heard earlier your fellow talking about LSU and Kiffin that he may lose four games. I think that'd be beautiful if he lost four games. And I know that they're heavily favored over Clemson, but that'd be something else too if Clemson were to upset him in the first game. So all the worst for LSU this year. I don't hate Kiffin, but it's just part of the big mess. I do think he might have been wrong about the Manning. Arch Manning. I want to see Arch do well. Those guys are taller. I mentioned this before then. Then yeah, but it was just. I wasn't thinking about it. But it's. It's a phenomenal story. A demanding story and I was heart and now they're already talking about Peyton's son. The kid doesn't look like he's more than 8 years old that he's going to be a wonder kid. So it says something about genetics for sure. Did you go to Homewood High School or Mountain Brook?
- [26:04]
Cole Kubik
I went to Homewood High School.
- [26:07]
Caller Steve
Yeah. A lot of Mountain Brook kids went to Furman and I guess you had some teammates. Did you have any teammates who went to Furman?
- [26:18]
Cole Kubik
I don't think I had a teammate go to Furman. No. I'm trying to think back. Had a couple go to Sanford. Had a couple at Auburn.
- [26:27]
Caller Steve
Right.
- [26:27]
Cole Kubik
I don't think I know Jacksonville State. Not. Not Furman. No.
- [26:30]
Caller Steve
Right. Yeah. Well, apologies. You were. I know you're a big deal but you were an offensive lineman worker. You tell me.
- [26:38]
Cole Kubik
Defensive lineman in high school did not play a snap of offense, but yeah. Offensive lineman at Auburn.
- [26:43]
Caller Steve
Correct, at Auburn. So are you going to the ACC media days or just to Tampa?
- [26:49]
Cole Kubik
Just Tampa.
- [26:51]
Caller Steve
Yeah. Well, I was gonna say if you were in Charlotte. Paul knows the worth it 40. 40 minute trip down to Shelby's. Just some great barbecue. But if he in Tampa, say hello to my friend Rahul. He's got a Super bowl ring. He was a consultant to Tampa when they won the super bowl with Brady that last year. So they gave him a ring. So he may be around. He's a great guy. And Shelby.
- [27:20]
Cole Kubik
Shelby. Steve. That's where Kenny Powers is from, right?
- [27:24]
Caller Steve
I'm not sure. I just know the barbecue place. I live down in Gaffney which had one of the best high school football traditions in the state. They're getting co Opted by or by Dutch Fork now, but, you know, Shelby was only 20 minutes away. And from 1962 to the present. Well, I left Gaffney in 78. I didn't play football myself. I played trombone. You know, less head injuries, but. But yeah, that barbecue place. Yeah, you can look it up. It's. It's got a reputation as good or bigger than Saul's. And of course, you know, Saul's there in Homewood, I'm sure is good stuff, you know, great rich.
- [28:06]
Cole Kubik
We got great barbecue in the state of Alabama.
- [28:08]
Caller Steve
Oh, yeah. It's the only place.
- [28:11]
Cole Kubik
Yep.
- [28:12]
Caller Steve
Yeah. Yeah. Dreamland. Yeah. Yeah, it's all right. Take care.
- [28:17]
Cole Kubik
Thanks, Steve. Kenny Powers. Get that waverunner out there at Shelby, man, he's tough to manage. John Talty joining us now on the phones here on the Paul Finebaum show with cbs. New book coming out, huh? Tell us about it, John.
- [28:33]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah, so, like, the caller you just had was talking a little bit about the. The focus of it. But, yeah, coming out this fall in September, a new book on LSU head coach Lane kissing, which is, I think he's the. The most fascinating guy in college sports, period. But certainly college football at this point. Cole, I'm sure you've gotten around him some. I think he's just an interesting guy, obviously very polarizing. I think there was some study somebody emailed me the other day, most hated coach in college football right now. Other people, of course, love him. And so I think he's just someone who's probably warranted a book like this for a long time to do kind of an in depth look at his entire journey he's had and also try to understand kind of why he does the things he does, which I think has been a source of intrigue for a long time for people.
- [29:27]
Cole Kubik
Is this book going to make as many people mad as your previous books have?
- [29:33]
Paul Feinbaum
I can't control that, Cole. Right. But I would say there's definitely a strong possibility that that is the case. I just try to write books that are interesting and that are truthful and real. And that's what I've tried to do with this one. And so I just think there's no doubt there'll be some reaction to it. And, you know, again, just to kind of go back to what I was saying a second ago, like, Lane Kiffin's a polarizing guy. And I think there are people who love him, who hate him. And so there'll be things in this book that I'm sure people will love.
- [30:05]
Michael Casagrande
There will be things in this book
- [30:06]
Paul Feinbaum
that I'm sure people will hate just depending on where they fall and how they view Lane. But I have no doubt, just as Lane Kiffin does, that this book will evoke a reaction out of people.
- [30:18]
Cole Kubik
I look at it in John. The first question that I would have is, where do you even start? Because of how he came up in football, obviously, whose dad was the coaching roller coaster, Ups, downs, USC tarmac, Tennessee Ole Miss departure. Where do you even begin to tell the story of Lane Kiffin?
- [30:44]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah, it's a great question. And it was something that I spent a lot of time thinking about and kind of went back and forth a few different times about kind of where you start, where you end, all those different things. And so I think the way it starts, people will be, I think, very interested and kind of it starts in more of a modern place. And I think when people read it, they'll understand what I mean and be like, oh, that's an interesting way to start the book. But there is a good bit in the book about Monty Kiffin, who obviously a legendary defensive mind, Tampa 2 defense winning a Super bowl of Tampa Bay Bucks. And, you know, had significant impact, you know, not only on Wayne, obviously, as, you know, football mentor, but also, of course, as a parent. And I think there's still some stuff about, you know, about Monty that people, you know, don't know, or maybe just because it was a little bit of an older generation, maybe that modern fan doesn't know as much about him and the impact he had. So I think fans will be very interested in that. But I also just, honestly, Cole just didn't really know much about Lane's childhood and high school years, college years, all those years that are so formative as a human being. I didn't really know any of that stuff before I started working on this book. So I found some of that stuff really interesting. It helped me understand Lane in a way that maybe I didn't before I started the book. And I think when fans read it, it'll put him into perspective, maybe better than just some of the headlines and stories they've seen about him in the past.
- [32:17]
Cole Kubik
What were some of the bigger takeaways of those younger years? High school, College? Lane Kiffin?
- [32:23]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah, I just think that, you know, one, obviously, and he's talked about some of this stuff publicly, but I think, you know, moving around and the impact that has on you, personality wise, how you build relationships, you know, I think that informed a lot of kind of what we see today. But I. I didn't know, like, there's kind of a famous story now about how Lane Kiffin gets into coaching, right where he's out of practice one day at Fresno State and he's upset about David Carr getting more reps than him. He kind of quits. He becomes a coach. And like it's a funny story and there's is a lot of truth to it, but I didn't know anything about him in college before then. And you know, I think there's some really interesting stuff of those college years of the transition from, you know, being kind of the, the big dog at his high school. He was the starting quarterback his senior year in high school out in, you know, Minnesota, moving to California, Fresno, no longer being the big fish. And that transition and the challenges and the awkwardness that came with that. Like I thought some of the stories from his teammates and coaches were really illuminating and informative to understand, you know, just again, kind of how his personality has been shaped over the years. And so I think people will get a greater understanding of Wayne just, you know, from some of that stuff. And then of course, you know, his career takes off not long after there gets hooked up with Pete Carroll at USC and kind of has been on a rocket ship ever since.
- [33:59]
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- [34:58]
Cole Kubik
What will people get, see, learn that maybe isn't out there? And I'm not asking you to get rid of the details, but how much will the departure from Ole Miss be discovered be covered in maybe a different way than what we saw, what we're able to take from all the news outlets that covered it when he made that final decision to be the head coach at lsu?
- [35:22]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah, I think there's just a greater depth and that's, you know, not knocking any previous reporting as I think, you know, Cole, like I did a Lot of reporting around that situation and feel, you know, very proud and confident of the work that, that I, you know, did during that timeframe. But I think a book gives you a little bit more of a Runway, not only to talk to people, but also to explain things in greater depth. And so I think that just naturally helps you be able to explain more of kind of how we got to this point, what went on behind the scenes and how we got to the end result that we did. And so when you read the book, and especially the chapters that focus on Ole Miss, how we got to that end result of him leaving ole Ms. For LSU, the strong reaction of fans in Oxford. I was at the tarmac the day that he left and was kind of saw that wild scene. I think it all makes more sense when you just kind of experience how he was able to win over that fan base and how people felt pretty hurt by his ultimate decision. So I think there's a lot of new ground still to cover there that this book will uncover. Certainly there's been other great reporting and not every single thing in the book is going to be the first time you've ever seen it, but I think quite a bit of it is. And again, I think there's just a greater depth to understanding. Like, all right, what exactly happened in those final meetings? What happened in the aftermath of him leaving and the kind of the fight to keep certain players and coaches and all that? Like, I think some of that's been alluded to and written about a little bit, but I think this will go into even deeper. All that kind of behind the scenes drama that happened.
- [37:08]
Cole Kubik
What's your process when you write a book like this? Does it have to be in, like, large clumps? Do you have to sit down and knock out three, four days at a time? Can you be. Can you pick and choose, sit down, write for 30 minutes, write for an hour. How often do you stop and maybe think you need new or more information on, on a certain topic, chapter, part of what you're writing? Just give us, peel back the curtain, a little bit of how this all comes together, if you don't mind.
- [37:36]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah, of course.
- [37:36]
Michael Casagrande
I think.
- [37:37]
Paul Feinbaum
I mean, I kind of liken it to trying to build the plane and fly it at the same time. Because you're trying to write things, but also you're trying to interview people and acquire new information. And so, you know, you might think you have a pretty good outline of what a certain chapter or the book in general might look like. And then you talk to someone who Completely changes your perspective on a situation. You're like, all right, now I got to go back and rewrite that. So it's a lot of kind of evolving and adapting two different perspectives that you get. And, you know, there's. When you start it, it's very daunting. And then at a certain point, it kind of just feels like a snowball rolling downhill where you start feeling like you're getting momentum and it's getting easier, and you're kind of figuring out how you feel and how you're going to frame things. And that, you know, that starts to get pretty exciting, honestly. But for me, like, I had a certain quota in my head that I had to try to hit every day. And it was like, all right, one way or another, I got to figure out how to do this. And for me, I tended to work best mornings and nights. I think it's like I'm one of those people that has to really lock in and try not to be too distracted. And as, you know, like, whether it's kids or friends or work, whatever, like, the bulk of the day, there's a lot of things happening. And so if it was getting up at 6am or staying up until 2am like, that seems to be those quiet hours where you're not. Your phone's not blowing up with people. That seems to be when I got my best work done. But really, it was just like, I gotta do it one way or another every day. And the more you do it, the more you get stuff on the page. Gets a little easier to edit it or change it than just staring at a blank page for a while.
- [39:23]
Cole Kubik
Finally, tell us when, where we're gonna be able to get this book.
- [39:28]
Paul Feinbaum
Yeah, you'll be able to buy it anywhere that you buy books. Amazon, Barnes Noble Books, a million, of course, the local bookstores that you hit up. And it's coming out in the fall. It comes out the week that ole miss plays LSU. So it'll come out September 15th. That games, of course, that following Saturday. So I think a lot of people will be talking about that game, that situation in general. And so the books coming out right at that time frame. And I think, you know, whether you're an ole Ms. Fan, LSU fan, Tennessee fan, you know, I think if you're in any way interested in who Lane Kiffin really is and what moves him and motivates him and all those different things, I think you'll find a lot of interesting things in this book and so excited for people to get their hands on it here.
- [40:14]
Cole Kubik
Pretty soon going to be interesting. Get that thing in. Little professor in Homewood. We'll go pick up a copy. There you go. John taught CBS Sports new book on Lane Kiffin coming out this fall. Thank you for taking the time, sir.
- [40:25]
Paul Feinbaum
Appreciate it.
- [40:26]
Caller Steve
All right.
- [40:26]
Cole Kubik
John Talty joining us there. Great conversation on Lane Kiffin, his process putting the book together. You'll be able to get it this fall. How about the week of the Ole Miss LSU games? Just what we need, more things to talk about around that game when it actually takes place. That is going to be a monumental week, maybe just in the history of college football. 855-242-7285 more of your calls next on the Paul Finebaum Show.
- [40:50]
Paul Feinbaum
You're listening to the Paul Feinbaum SHOW podcast.