← The Ryen Russillo Show
The Ryen Russillo Show
Horrifying OKC & Ja Morant’s Trade Value w/ Frank Isola, Plus Predicting the CFB Coaching Carousel w/ Bruce Feldman
01:55:40
Loading summary
Transcript352 lines
- [00:00]
Ryan Rosillo
Hey barstool listeners. You can find every episode of the Ryan Rosillo show on Apple podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.
- [00:09]
Frank Isola
Hello, we're going to talk about Blue Chew.
- [00:12]
Ryan Rosillo
My favorite Blue Chew is an upgrade.
- [00:14]
Bruce Feldman
Button for sex for your sex life.
- [00:17]
Ryan Rosillo
Chewable tablets that deliver stronger, harder, longer lasted erections without the hoops. No waiting rooms, no pharmacy lines.
- [00:27]
Frank Isola
Just a quick online visit.
- [00:29]
Ryan Rosillo
And once approved by a licensed medical.
- [00:31]
Frank Isola
Provider, Bluechew sends the chew straight to your door.
- [00:36]
Ryan Rosillo
Made to work in your first month is free bluechew.com simple as that.
- [00:41]
Frank Isola
The best part?
- [00:42]
Ryan Rosillo
It's all done online.
- [00:43]
Frank Isola
Oh yeah, you can hide and do it.
- [00:45]
Ryan Rosillo
That means. That means no visits to the doctor's.
- [00:48]
Frank Isola
Office, no awkward conversations, no waiting in line at the pharmacy.
- [00:51]
Ryan Rosillo
Make life easier by getting harder and.
- [00:54]
Frank Isola
Discover your options@bluetooth.com and we got a special deal, listeners. Yes, we have a special deal.
- [01:01]
Ryan Rosillo
Try your first month of Bluetooth free when you use promo code Pat Bev.
- [01:06]
Frank Isola
Promo code PATBEV. Just pay $5 in shipping.
- [01:09]
Ryan Rosillo
That's promo code PATBEVA. Visit bluetooth.com for more details and important safety information.
- [01:14]
Frank Isola
And we thank Bluechew for sponsoring the podcast.
- [01:19]
Kyle
Foreign.
- [01:31]
Ryan Rosillo
The Ryan Rosilla show is presented by DraftKings. On today's show, we're gonna do some NBA with Frank Isola from this week, including Denver's chances with OKC, OKC's ridiculous roster. Golden State, they gear out and they pull us back in. Also the East. Hey Detroit, have you looked at their box scores lately? So a lot of stuff with Isola and some trades that didn't happen that were the best things that could have happened for those teams. College football coaching carousel. The best fits at all the openings and just the climate. Our college football coaches wanting to tap out and get to Sundays for the NFL experience. And we've got a really good long life advice for you NFL fans. What's your favorite touchdown? There's over a hundred years of touchdowns to pick from. I'll tell you what I didn't like were the Desmond Howard returns against Parcells and Bledsoe. I was in college and all the massholes were watching the game at my house and there was another designated masshole house and then non massholes threw cheese at our houses and the cheese froze because it was in the winter, it was in Vermont and it was like, you know, look, we were going up against the Packers Favre, packers homegrown, you know, Reggie White. Can you take it easy? Like we're the we're the plucky underdogs. This was before the arrogance, like we were doubting as much as everybody else. And then it's like now we have rotten price chopper cheese thrown at our house because of Desmond Howard. So that's not my favorite touchdown. But with DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL, every touchdown could bring you closer to cashing in. DraftKings Sportsbook delivers the unmatched intensity of the NFL right to your fingertips. From first touchdown score to any time, TD props or the thrill of live in game betting, every snap is loaded with opportunity. Here's the best part. New customers bet just $5, and if your bet wins, you get $300 in bonus bets. Instantly your team hitting pater pays out to you. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app. Use the code Ryan. That's Code Ryan. R, Y, E, N for new customers to turn five bucks into $300 in bonus bets. If your bet wins. In partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours.
- [03:46]
Bruce Feldman
Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York. Call 877-8-HOPENY or text hopeny467-369 in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boot Hill Casino, Kansas. Pass through of per wager tax may apply in Illinois 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Restrictions apply. Bet must win to receive bonus bets which expire in seven days.
- [04:13]
Ryan Rosillo
Minimum odds required.
- [04:14]
Bruce Feldman
For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG Co Audio limited time offer.
- [04:21]
Ryan Rosillo
Our next guest, I think he's one of the best talk radio hosts in the country. Any format, I don't care. I'm saying it now. I start my day with NBA Radio, the starting lineup, and it's Frank Isola who joins us right now on the podcast. His co host, Brian Scalabrini. I just love the show when I get a chance. I was driving down to Newport the other day. I had an early tee time, so it was like 6am, 7am I don't know that I love every caller. If I were maybe a program director, I'd go, well, can we get more? I just think you're great at it, your radio instincts, and it's kind of become something that I think a little lost with the podcast part of it. So I think you're great and I'm psyched to talk with you.
- [04:58]
Frank Isola
I appreciate it. We have a lot of fun doing it it helps too. I, you know, when you were doing it with Scott and you know, if you have a good chemistry. But the other thing is, you know, Brian being an ex player, he's got the right, he's at the perfect age. He's been retired from it long enough. He's obviously still involved with it with the Celtics and NBC. And you know, he, he has strong opinions, which is good. And he could laugh at himself, which you have to be able to do as well.
- [05:24]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, perfect combination. Like at some point you can't try to be the coolest person ever. I know I try to do that maybe when I was younger because you're maybe a little bit insecure about the job, you know, but they fucking with you and all this kind of stuff. And so it's like, no, at some point you have to like let yourself have it from time to time. But then, you know, the chemistry is there. So I really enjoy the show. So I think topic wise there's a bunch of stuff that I want to do and feel free to take it in any direction because you're also a host, not just the guest here today. There was no argument, there was zero argument on paper that OKC wasn't going to pull this off other than the complications of repeating. And you know, I picked Denver and I said I'm picking Denver solely to be different with this whole thing, but for OKC to be doing what they're doing to these teams. I was watching him the other night and it's like you have to every now and then remind yourself like wait, who's that guy? And is, is he also really good and would be like a top eight rotation guy on 20 of the 30 teams. I don't know what you've seen from him this year other than just the domination and then again against the Lakers this week. But they're horrifying and they don't even have a top 15 player playing for him right now.
- [06:28]
Frank Isola
No, it's, it's insane. And you know, they bring out like A.J. mitchell. It's like where do they find these guys? And I, you know, I've heard that Sam Presti, he's still going out and scouting all the time. So that's, you know, if, if, if you're going to be the guy that calls the shots, you got to get out there and obviously has really good people that work for him. How about the stat, you know, their first 13 games, shake of this. Alexander has sat out the fourth quarter of seven of them. That's how far out in Front they've been. And what I love about. And Boston did it last year, and I get it, they didn't win the championship. But I appreciate these great teams that come out and they just hit the floor running, and that's what Oklahoma City has done. And they haven't had Jalen Williams yet. So I agree with you. I think Denver. Cause Denver took him to seven last year, and Michael Porter Jr. Had a bad shoulder. Aaron Gordon injured his hamstring during that series. You know, both obviously played in Game 7. There's just something about Denver. I'm a big Cam Johnson fan. I thought he did really well with the Brooklyn Nets under dire circumstances. So I still think Denver because of Jokic. But, man, I mean, SGA and the Thunder, the way that they've started, it's. It. It's really, really impressive.
- [07:35]
Ryan Rosillo
It's funny that you mentioned that, that series, because that was probably part of my thinking. And then after watching Denver live and being in the building for the 50 spot from Jokic on Wednesday night, you know, they didn't have Cam because he was out after like eight minutes of that game. But just watching him this year, I mean, the numbers are the numbers. It's a negative bench unit for like, five years. You had to go back, I think, to like 20 or 21. The last time the Denver bench had a positive net rating to. Yeah, you know, this year, it's. There's clearly something there, like, balance. Eunice isn't my favorite backup center in the league, but I like him a lot better than whatever they've tried to roll out there in the past between DeAndre Jordan and Zeke Najee. So the Denver thing was a. OKC is the better team. I'm just wondering if a team can kind of get them. And there's also. This is wrong. So I'll say it. It is recency bias. But even okc, like, in the NBA Finals, you're like, why are. Why are you not putting away this Pacers team? Like, cool Pacer story. But, like, why are you not. And then it's a Game seven. And prior to the Halliburton injury, you're like, is this actually, like, doable? And it's like, look, it's game seven, like anything sort of on the table. So maybe the. The even better part for the Thunder that, hey, we screwed around a little bit. Whether it was Denver, whether it was the Minnesota game on the road, and then it was the NBA Finals, like, let's just buzz saw through everybody. But I also wonder if today's Players are a little bit more inclined in a playoff game, which seems shocking, to maybe just turn it off and be like, hey, we'll come back and get these guys in two days, three days, or if that's what's always happening, it's just easier to forget.
- [09:04]
Frank Isola
And if we go back to last year, think about the way Boston started and I, I feel like we were kind of saying the same things about them where you know what they're going to repeat as champion. And when you looked at it in the Eastern Conference, it was a much easier path for them to get back to a finals. And you figured, all right, if they're going to play Oklahoma City, their experience will somehow carry them through. Then what happens, you know, Jaylen Brown suddenly is bothered by a sore knee. Maybe Al Horford comes down a little bit, Drew Holiday. Then things change. Now, this is a much younger OKC team, OKC team. But you know, to your point, they did play two game sevens and against Indiana, they're down at halftime at home and Halliburton only played seven more minutes and he wasn't going to play anymore. So I think everybody, even at halftime thought that OKC would win it. But the one thing about Denver, and I think they're better. And it's funny, you know, the two teams, the two coaches that got criticized for not playing their bench, Michael Malone and Tom Thibodeau, both those guys are out and what did their teams do? They went out and improved their bench. And I think Denver has certainly done that. And Jokic is now at a point, and I was saying this on the show, like when you see his line in the box score, you almost become like a little disappointed that he didn't get a triple double. The game that you're talking about with the 55 points against the Clippers, I think he had six assists. And you're thinking, well, you know what, you're almost like, oh, you could, you probably could have gotten a triple double. That's the standard and what you expect out of him because he's so great. And even his minutes, you know, he didn't play a lot in the fourth quarter that game, you know, so if he's one of these greedy guys that's think, I'm going to stat pad, I'm going to stat pad A. He probably could have scored five more points. He probably could make sure he gets the 10 assists. He could have had a 60 point triple double. It's ridiculous how good he is. And on that night, you had him go off, you had Steph go off and yet SGA taking care of business in three quarters. So on a night when like a lot of stars missed and were sitting out or might have been injured, how about the performance of those three guys? Three former MVPs, three Finals MVPs, all putting on a big time performance.
- [11:02]
Ryan Rosillo
Performance. Yeah. In that game, Jokic gets 55 on 23 shots. So you know, he got to the line a little bit. But they had, they actually had to put an effort in that earlier game in the week against Sacramento in the fourth quarter. So it was like, okay, well they're coming off the back to back. So second quarter, like you're like, everybody's so excited being like, when's he coming back in? When's he coming back in? And because now people are paying attention to when he's being subbed in, you're like, how come it's taking so long? It's like, well, they're going to bring him in later in the second quarter because they, there were still like five minutes, I think off the, off the game clock in the second quarter. When they brought him back in, I was like, okay, well that's because of the back to back. Yeah, I was thrilled they even put him back in because in the fourth, like the score was getting. The point was like, they may not even put this guy back in there. You're hoping at least he likes 60, but he's not going to take enough shots. He was still passing up some looks there late where you're like, man, if you were just a little bit more selfish, like you could be in the building for a 70 point game. Which would have just been a cool thing to say to my grandkids, you know.
- [11:56]
Frank Isola
Yeah. You know, and, and I was, I was in the Garden for two 60 plus games. One was Kobe and one was Carmelo Anthony. It was pretty cool. But a 70 point game, that's different in a win. I know Booker had one against the Celtics a bunch of years back. That was before they were good or before Chris Paul and they, they ended up losing that game. But you know, I remember the game last year where Denver came into Brooklyn. I went to the game and Denver had played the night before in Toronto and the game went to overtime. So you're thinking the way it works now in the NBA, it's 50, 50, whether some of these guys are going to play in situations like that. So with overtime, with travel, you know, going through the customs in Toronto, getting to the hotel, whatever time. And of course he was out there the next night. And he put on a show. It was a nip and tuck game, and he just made every big play. And it's. That's why if you're a fan, there are certain guys you have to go pay to watch and go see. You have to go see Jokic play. Wembanyama is another one, just because of how freaky he is. But Jokic is so good, and you really get an appreciation for the talent. You know, if you love basketball, you love the passing part of the game, and to just see guys cutting in his head and he's holding the ball up where he learned how to play, you know, water polo, it's just. It's amazing to watch a guy that big, that skillful play such an unbelievable game.
- [13:15]
Ryan Rosillo
What is your take on the Warriors? Because like that San Antonio game where I had watched, you know, the previous game against okc, that they just swallowed him up defensively. Steph had a bad night. You watched the first half against San Antonio and, you know, you don't want to freak out, but you're like, what is wrong with this offense? And then you have the comeback. So I guess it adds a little bit of hope to it. But there are some issues with this team, I think, offensively that go beyond just like the non Steph minutes. Yeah.
- [13:45]
Frank Isola
And I also think too, you know, it's obviously happening with the Clippers. They decided to go all in with an older roster, and now Bradley Beal is going to be out for the year. Kawhi, of course, is banged up again, and Norman Powell was so important to what the Clippers did last year, and now he's in Miami. And I think the same thing's happening with the Warriors. It's hard to win. You need veteran players. There's no question about it. But look at what Kevin Durant has in Houston. He's the older player on the team and obviously still loves to play basketball, still has the ability to. But his second and third best teammates. Look at the age of those guys. With Shane Goon and with, of course, Amen Thompson, it's just kind of a better mixture. You know, the warriors best players are still Step and Jimmy Butler, and then Draymond's obviously going to play a lot, and he's still important to what they do on the defensive end and that, you know, they added Al Horford, you know, they need Kaminga to be better. Brzemski as well. And something's going on there because you had Draymond call them out after the blowout loss to the Thunder. And then the next night, Steve Kerr announces they're going to make drastic changes to the rotation. And then Jonathan Kaminga had been starting every game he comes off the bench. He played 12 minutes. He didn't play in the second half. They said it was a sore knee, but there's clearly something going on there and it's almost like they needed a virtuoso performance from Steph Curry. What do you have? 29 in the second half. I believe it was against the spurs to win it. I just don't think that's sustainable all year long. And I think at some point there'll be some kind of deal that they'll make. It'll probably involve Kaminga somehow. But something. I agree with you. I think something isn't right there and I'm not so sure it can get better anytime fast.
- [15:27]
Ryan Rosillo
Do you think Nico Harrison would have extended Anthony Davis if he still were the gm?
- [15:33]
Frank Isola
It sounded like he was all in on him. I mean, I, you, you were definitely down on the trade when it happened, right? Were you? I can't believe that you would. Thought it was a good trade. All right.
- [15:44]
Ryan Rosillo
Have you met anyone that thought it was a good trade?
- [15:46]
Frank Isola
I'm only. Come on because my radio, my radio partner, Brian Scalabrini, at first he liked, well, you need two bigs and you need this.
- [15:53]
Ryan Rosillo
I kept saying, Brian, come on, scowl.
- [15:56]
Frank Isola
All right. So like the Brooklyn nets. I do 50 of their games. The Brooklyn Nets have all these picks. They're probably going to. They could finish with the worst record. You know, their hope is to get a top four pick.
- [16:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Is it safe to say from this class that Joman is their go to guy? Out of this class? Yeah, exactly, exactly. They're awful, Frank.
- [16:14]
Frank Isola
Believe me, I'm, I'm. I'm at all the games. I know, I know better than anybody and I mean, I feel badly for Jordy Fernandez. He just doesn't have a team.
- [16:23]
Ryan Rosillo
It's not like anybody thought they were going to be good, but like it's, it's a tough hanging on top of everything else. I think Nick Claxton is playing tough though. When I, When I look at his possessions, I go, you know, there seems to be some early. This is an over effort from Nick, Nick Claxton that I appreciate. So that's.
- [16:38]
Frank Isola
Last year their starting lineup included Dennis Schroeder, Cam Johnson and Dorian. Vinnie Smith. Tough veteran players. Talented. This year they rolled out, you know, Michael Porter Jr. And Cam Thomas. It's hard. Like they're not, it's not that they're not talented, but you need, you know, better players and you need some experience. But anyway, my point is, a team like that is going to be in the lottery. Washington will be in the lottery. What are they all trying to get? They're all trying to land a player that's somewhere in the universe of Luka Doncic. It's so hard to get those guys. When you get that guy and you had been successful with him. He went to a conference finals twice. He went to an NBA finals. If you decide to trade him, knock yourself out. Are you going to get Anthony Davis back? I mean, I'm sorry, Anthony Edwards back for him? You're going to get Giannis back for him? Who's going to be the star? Jayson Tatum. All right, you're going to get Anthony Davis back. He's, what, six years older, has a history of injury problems. He's better as a number two, like he was with the Lakers with LeBron James. To me, I can't believe they actually sat there and thought we could see, like, you know, if everything works out perfectly, this is what could happen. How do you not look at the other side and say what could realistically happen? He can get hurt. He's hurt. Luka could play well with the Lakers, which he's doing. Luka's now in shape. It was, what a mess. If the season had started and Anthony Davis was tearing it up, right now, Kyrie's obviously out, and it was somebody else who's injured, Cooper Flag, then I think the fans could say, all right, well, I mean, he got the right guy. Anthony Davis is tearing it up. The fact that he had played in, what is it, 14 of the first 46 games, I think it is with Dallas. I mean, the fans were never going to let this go, and obviously, you know, Nico is going to take the fall. But I have to believe that a lot of people in that organization signed off on that, including the owner. Obviously had to. How else you're just going to let a guy trade a top pick like that without doing some intel in the deal? Never made any sense. Never made sense.
- [18:50]
Ryan Rosillo
Yep. I don't. I mean, I did a whole open on it. I talked about it when it happened that night. I mean, it's just. It's just unbelievable. Even if you hate Luca more than any other gm, you. You figure out a way. But, like, to your point, like, whether you're looking at this year's draft class or like, I think there's even the Cade Mobley argument, because I want to give the Pistons. Some love. I cannot believe the Pistons won that game a couple nights ago. Unbelievable. Chicago, unbelievable win.
- [19:14]
Frank Isola
Unbelievable.
- [19:16]
Ryan Rosillo
Go Johnny's. I mean there's like four. There's four missing and there's four guys. I guarantee you, like, if you're the most hardcore league pass guy, you would have a hard time keeping up with like, who were actually playing for the Pistons the other night. Coming off that back to back and the win against the Wizards.
- [19:29]
Frank Isola
And um. Go ahead and Ryan, Ryan, how about the game that Kate had against Washington? It was a Monday night. It was a peacock game. They're on the second night of a back to back and in that game, Ivy obviously wasn't available. Neither was Tobias Harris. Caris Lavert wasn't playing, as I is. Isaiah Stewart wasn't playing. Thompson wasn't playing. So five starters or rotational players not available. They're getting. They're losing in that game. They stage this unbelievable comeback. They tie the game up on a guy named Dennis Jenkins, hits a corner 3. The game goes into overtime. Cade shoots 45 times, misses 31, which is the most since the merger in 76, 77. But I watched that game. He was unbelievable in that game. They needed him to shoot all the time. But the point was everyone else is sitting out. And this guy took a nasty foul from Cam Whitmore, landed on his back, was obviously hurt, couldn't play last night, but stayed in the game though, you know, and this is the thing too. And Jeff Van Guy told me this a long time. Everybody talks about leadership, everybody thinks it's a rah rah speech. It's going out there on the court and doing it. And when your best player does that second night of a back to back, most of his teammates aren't playing. He's banged up, he's got to shoot the ball 45 times. Yet you know, he still had a. What was the 40 plus point triple double. That was an impressive. And they got the win. It wasn't like he said, let me get my triple double, I'll shoot as many times as I can. And I could say, well, I did everything I could. He wanted to win that game, that guy. He is so impressive. I really like Kate Cunningham.
- [21:01]
Ryan Rosillo
I'm with you. I have nothing else to add to that because I think it's just a classic. No, no, I. I think it's like kind of the classic. Like, oh, well, if Westbrook took this many shots, like Westbrook's usage rate in the triple double MVP season was 40 fucking 3. Okay? I don't want to hear it anymore. So that doesn't mean that every time that somebody else has a massive, massive output night like that, it's like, hey, man, I wasn't a super huge fan of, like, this historic usage rate, so let me make sure I shit on Cade Cunningham the next day just so I can keep it. Keep it. Keep it fair. Keep it fair with everybody out there so everybody knows that I'm on the up and up, and it's like, no, some of this stuff's different. I mean, Look, Cade's at 20, 22 shots a game. I don't know that he necessarily wants to do that. I'm totally with you. I feel like he has to do this. And so it. Like, I love Evan Mobley, right? I think we all love Evan Mobley. I think his. His instincts, his passing, his smarts on top of everything else, like, a super important thing with the Baske team is just, hey, are you kind of about the right things and not a pain in the ass? You know, like, that's kind of my thunder thing. When I explained it to some other people, like, hey, why are they so good? I'm like, imagine this. A young team that doesn't have, apparently, one guy that's a pain in the ass.
- [22:11]
Frank Isola
Yeah. No, you. And it all starts with the best player on the team. And that's why, you know, a couple of weeks back, Detroit was in Memphis, and Detroit, I believe, had been in Mexico City to play the Mavericks. They were still on the road. And think about those two teams. The star player on one. There's always something with him, off the court, on the court, injured, underperforming, not happy. And then you got Cade Cunningham, who's just steady, who, by the way, went through a year where he was injured, who went through a year where his team won, lost 28 straight games, and that didn't contaminate him. Instead, you watch him play, and I got to see him play last week in Brooklyn. I mean, everything about the guy, his demeanor, his poise, his toughness, his competitiveness. And then you combine him with that beast, Jalen Doran, who's only 21 years old. You know that the Pistons. And I get it, it's the Nets. So I understand that in the game against the nets, they had 80 points in the paint. 80. I did the quick math. That means they made 40 baskets in the paint. That's amazing that they did that.
- [23:16]
Ceruti
Yeah.
- [23:17]
Ryan Rosillo
So I like. I think we both love Mobley. I think most people do. But, like, there's a little bit of a Difference when it's like, okay, you know, is Mobley ever going to be having the ball at the top of the key going like, all right, big playoff spot. Like, Cade can get you into your stuff and he can finish and he can pass and he's that big and he has that handle and the shooting and because there's a. There was like a weird kind of inefficient statistical profile year for Cade where you're like, is this guy going to be kind of just this high usage, super efficient dude.
- [23:46]
Bruce Feldman
Yeah.
- [23:47]
Ryan Rosillo
Who can't get it done? And I mean, look, I don't think standings wise, I don't think the Pistons are going to be your 1 seed. But to put together like this kind of run, you know, they've won eight a row. They're 10 and two. They're in front of New York, they're in front of Cleveland. There's. Whether it's the Washington win or the Chicago win this week, like, I can't believe they won those games.
- [24:07]
Frank Isola
It's.
- [24:07]
Bruce Feldman
It.
- [24:08]
Frank Isola
It really. It really. The Chicago one was actually the more impressive one because then, then nobody played Doran and Kate Cunningham actually played against Washington. They were not available. I mean, you know, he had. Paul Reed had a big night. The kid Jenkins again set a career high.
- [24:22]
Ryan Rosillo
To lose Smith, it's familiar with his game.
- [24:25]
Frank Isola
It's insane. I give. Give the Pistons. You know, it's so cool to also have the Pistons be a relevant team. I love their uniforms. The crowd is. Oh, you know, it's a great sports town. There's always an edge to them. And, you know, they don't like Boston, they don't like New York. So it kind of feeds into all that stuff. It's great to have the Pistons back being a, you know, a competent franchise again.
- [24:50]
Ryan Rosillo
What's up with your Knicks?
- [24:53]
Frank Isola
Well, I mean, they're playing, you know, they were gifted. Seven straight home games right here. They're in the middle of it. And I think a lot of that probably had to do with taking that trip to where they go Abu Dhabi. I think it was for training camp. So, you know, they're owing three on the road, but they'll enter. They play Friday night against the Miami Heat. That will be their ninth home game. After their game on Wednesday, they had played eight and nobody else in the Eastern Conference had played more than six home games. So they've had a ton of home games. And then, you know, to me, it's the. It's the same team as last year, for the most part, except they Improved the bench. So the guys that they wanted Tom Thibodeau to play, you know, were Kolik and Daddier and Huckporte. Those guys aren't playing, you know, then, you know, campaign's not even the league anymore. Precious. Achua has bounced around a little bit. Now he's on Sacramento. Delon Wright's not in the league. So they were trying to get it done with guys that weren't ready yet. And at the start of last season, you remember Ryan, they didn't have Shamet had the shoulder issue and you know, he was out of the league in theory, but he was going to come rejoin the Knicks once he was healthy. Robinson only played in 17 games and when he came back, he was on a minutes restriction. Couldn't play back to back. So. And then Deuce McBride was hurt at the start of the season. So the thing that I understand and I don't know if you feel it out out where you are, you know, living the life of a king out there. It's tr. It's the weirdest thing how their season is treated like it was a failure. I get that it was disappointing that they didn't beat Indiana, but I don't think the Knick fan, probably the Knick organization, a lot of people had the respect for Indiana that they should be getting. Indiana destroyed Milwaukee in five games. They killed Cleveland in five games. So that's Giannis. That's a 64 win team in Cleveland that they beat. The Knicks, take them to six games and then they go seven games with Oklahoma City. So from January 1st on, the two best teams in the NBA were Oklahoma City and Indiana. They met in the Finals. People in New York who all they did was experience losing and dysfunction. They get to the first conference final in 25 years and it's treated like, oh, we should have done better. I get you're disappointed that you didn't, but come on now. I mean, I think it was a total overreaction. 48 hours after their season ended, they got rid of the coach. I don't understand that.
- [27:12]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I agree with you on that one. I mean, look, I'm going to talk to Bruce Sullivan later on. One of the points that I'm going to bring up with him is that I feel like the expectations slash anger of these fan bases, like it's been super cranked up the last 10 years and I don't know if that's because of the coach's salaries. There's probably a lot of people Twitter, you think it's just social Media.
- [27:29]
Frank Isola
I think a lot of people in the organization, I think family members of people in the organization read that stuff. I think the fans have a much bigger influence on organizations than they used to because the only way they had an influence in the past was attending the games and booing Fire Nico in Dallas, not going to games, which means there are empty seats. But I think social media has an impact. They definitely think it has an impact.
- [27:54]
Ryan Rosillo
But, like, why can't you just say, hey, this is like, collectively pretty stupid right now? Like, maybe, maybe the Knicks part of it is that you've. You're built around these two things, that it's probably kind of a scary ceiling. Like, hey, look how great Brunson is. Like, Brunson's one of the best stories in the NBA the last few seasons, right? I mean, the fact that he's taken this whole thing on when he's rolling and it's at msg, it's so much fun. I mean, I've never cared about the Knicks in my entire life. And I'll have these moments where I'm like, man, it's like Brunson going off at msg. Like, I love those games. But then you're like, okay, our point of attack is what, a really small point guard. That his footwork is phenomenal when he's on offense, but defensively, like, we're probably going to be giving up something there, so can we hide it enough? Okay, but now what's happening? Now we're attacking Cat. And if we want to use the Mitchell, I think the Mitchell Robinson minutes, like, I looked at him a certain way, Frank, and then in the playoffs last year, I went, you know what? He's better than you give him credit for. I'm like, you need. You need to acknowledge that this guy actually is way more of a difference maker. And impactfully, defensively, all this kind of shit, I was so impressed with him. But then you're like, so if our 1, 2 was Cat Brunson, I wonder.
- [29:01]
Kyle
I want.
- [29:01]
Ryan Rosillo
You know, it probably had way more to do with disrespecting the Pacers. It was like, hey, are they actually this good? And there was, to your point, like, if you cut the standings at a certain point go the January 1st rule, the Richard Jefferson rule, January 1st on. And really paying attention to a team is they kind of were that team, but felt like the Knicks is like, hey, this has been awesome for a couple years, but this are. Are our one and two, our two best players, like, fatally playoff flawed. And maybe that's where Some of the anger was, I don't know.
- [29:29]
Frank Isola
No, I, I, I, I, I agree with that. I also, I also wonder, can you win a championship if your two best players aren't big time athletes? Now you can maybe make the case for Denver, right? I mean, Jamal Murray, Nicole Yokich, they, they may not be big time athletes. I think that, and you have to be two way players as well. You gotta be at least one of them has to play both ends of the court. Brunson's been terrific for them. And I think last year, especially against Indiana, if you go back to Game 1, and that's where everything changed in the series, you know, down the stretch, O.J. anoby missed a big free throw. Towns missed a big free throw. I think that was all in like the last 20 seconds. Then of course, Halliburton hit the shot of the playoffs, you know, off the back iron, straight up and down. Because in that series, Indiana outscored the Knicks by an average. It was, I think it was average of 116 to 115. So the series was really close. And Indiana, with the style that they play a lot of teams just couldn't handle. They were relentless and they just, they come at you in waves. And I think Rick Carlisle did a really good job there. But Indiana is also a different kind of organization. They're going to be patient with their head coach and they know what they're getting into when they have Rick, because they had him there once before. Like Rick went, I think his last 10 years in Dallas without getting out of the first round. They either weren't getting out of the first round or a couple years they spent in the lottery. But they weren't looking at it like our coaches cleared the problem. You know who else doesn't look at it like that? Pat Riley. When the team's struggling, it's not, he's thinking, I know I got the right coach. I probably have to find the right combination of players here and think about, let's, if you, if you play it out, I know this is all what about. But if the Knicks had gone to the finals and the same thing happened to the Knicks, which happened in Indiana, where, God forbid, Brunson had played game six with a sore calf, blew at his achilles in Game 7, done for the year. And the injuries are mounting for the Knicks the way they are for Indiana. And the other night you get, you give up 155 points in Utah and lose. You think the coach is still here today? I think the coach would have probably been gone this week. I just think the Knicks, the way that they do it there once things they don't handle prosperity well when they're losing at the guard and dysfunction, that's more in their wheelhouse, kind of spinning it this way and shutting out this person. They have experience with that when they're winning and they're successful. To me, they overreact. And that's something. I mean, they hadn't won in 25 years, so look what they did when they finally won. It didn't make any sense the way they reacted to it, in my opinion.
- [31:59]
Ryan Rosillo
Before the season started. I say the Miami Heat are the most boring franchise in the NBA. I know exactly what I'm going to get, and I love SPO to death. There's even a couple players that I like. I've got some Jovic stock that I'm going to be hanging on to for a while. Even though it may seem like certain nights they like pal Larson better, you know, so you run through it and then you go, wait, they're going to be good. I mean, just battle with Cleveland where they had the back to back matchups there. So even at 7 and 5. And I think the thing that's. It's cool to see Hawkeye's look way more like the guy we saw his rookie year than whatever that lost version was of him his sophomore year. But the pace, they're still number one in pace. And I went through the numbers the other day. The last time I found them not in the bottom third in pace in the NBA, we're talking like 28, 27, 24. I think they were 16th or 14th in the last year that LeBron was there. So you had to go over and I'll double check this in case you want. I'll text it to you this week if you're. If this comes up at a dinner or something. But you had to go like 10 years for them not to be 20 or worse in pace. And for whatever reason this is, this is working out with a team that is still limited. And, you know, I think there's also. We could expand this out. Hero becomes one of those like, man, this guy's incredibly dynamic and the shot making and the stuff that we all really prioritize and you're like, are they actually perhaps better though, because he's not out there defensively? I don't know that. I don't know if that's, that's totally fair to him. But they're doing it with pace and they're doing it with you. Know, just smart acquisitions where it feels like, hey, maybe we're going to be competitive. But then again, you know, if they're in the plan, I'm not going to be going, hey, look out for the Heat like we had to a few years ago.
- [33:36]
Frank Isola
Yeah. And I do think the addition of Norman Powell is huge. Norman Powell is probably one of the more underrated players in the league. He should have been an all Star last year. He was right on the verge of doing then. Remember, remember LeBron announced like, you know, was it the day before the all star game that he wasn't going to play. If he just done that a couple of days earlier, they could have installed Norman Powell as an injury replacement. I thought he deserved it. So I think he makes a big difference. My big question to you would be, you know, whenever you start looking at certain players in the league and Pat Raleigh's always big game hunting, and I understand it's Miami. Would you ever consider John Morant if you were the, if you were the Miami Heat, if you had a chance to get him? And obviously I think t hero would likely be involved in a deal like that. Would you consider something like that if you're Miami? Or do you think right now, jaws so contaminated, you're thinking, I, I don't know if, I don't know if we could do that.
- [34:26]
Ryan Rosillo
I would not want to get into the job business. But I think he's always going to be an injury concern. He's, he's, he can't make shots right now. I mean, it can't, it can't be this bad. But I think it's pretty safe to say, like, he's almost to a level of ineptitude from the three point line where it's like, hey, can you keep taking these shots? But again, Memphis is giving him the keys. I saw a note too about like having to worry about a lease on a new building in a couple of years. And if jaw is still popular, then you might just say, hey, we're going to, we're going to keep this guy around. I'll, I'll kind of throw it back to you. Frank, you've talked to these guys that have run these teams now for decades. If there is like one default setting, it is you always trade for the guy that has the ceiling talent. Like, it just. These guys will do it all of the time. You'll be like, what about fit? I will worry about it later. It's about talent. So I think most teams, there's probably a bigger market for jaw than we Realize. I agree, but knowing Riley and knowing SPO and all the Miami stuff, it's like, is this really the guy you want to give the keys to? It'd be one thing if he was hitting 33% of his threes. It'd be one thing if he was dunking on everybody. Cause, like, when he was at his best, it was so exciting. But I personally wouldn't want to do it. But I don't have to worry about having the job anytime soon. I just feel like history tells us time and time again that the GMs cannot help themselves when the opportunity presents it to grab somebody that at one point was considered a top 10 player.
- [35:50]
Frank Isola
Yeah. And again, it goes back to. It's so hard to get those guys. And, I mean, I think Pat Riley would think long and hard about it. I tend to agree with you. I just wouldn't touch him at this point. A lot of it has to do, really, with the injuries. More than anything. He just can't stand.
- [36:02]
Ryan Rosillo
I also think he's delusional. Too frank, you know, like, he's immature. I referenced this a few times, but when Ben Simmons went on with JJ Redick and Tommy Alter, when JJ was doing podcasts, he wasn't the coach of the Lakers. Like, look, I'm friends with Tommy. I have somewhat, you know, a minor relationship with JJ just because of working in media and everything like that. But I was looking forward to that because it was like, hey, they had the relationship because JJ had played with Ben Simmons. So I was like, this is probably going to be a lot of fun. Ben Simmons. After I got done listening to it, I'm like, this is even worse than I thought it was. Okay. And I texted both the guys. I was like, hey, good get. Great. Sit down. I couldn't be more out on this guy just based on his answers and the way he talked about his own status and all these different things. And so when I watched the John Morant, Jalen Rowe sit down, which was very coordinated, you know, and it wasn't my favorite interview ever. And then Jalen got pissed about the criticism of the interview, because then he was like, you're just jealous that I got John Moran. It's like, all right, whatever. Like, I don't want to get into that. I've always liked Jalen, but watching Ja in that interview, I'm like, oh, none of this. Like, none of this is kicking in that, like, you're at kind of a crossroads here a little bit, and you still think that anybody that messes with you Is the moron.
- [37:18]
Bruce Feldman
Yeah.
- [37:19]
Frank Isola
And I think, yeah, from that, it felt like the, you know, not that Jalen had it scripted, but it felt like, you know, John Morant was, you know, prepped before. It felt like he said, you know, hey, how you doing? He's like, I know I made a mistake. It'll never happen. I'll try to be a good person. It was like, well, we just asked you how you're doing. So that. That part of it, you could tell that it was rehearsed at John Morant's part of it. I also think, you know, John Morant, like you said, being somewhat delusional. So you have all these issues off the court now. I get it in the city of Memphis. He's beloved there, so maybe he doesn't look at it from that standpoint, but you're having all these problems off the court, on the court, you've been injured and underperforming. Your team's losing so early in the season, you're publicly going to complain about your coach. You're not even going to do go maybe behind the scenes and watch what you say to the media. He doesn't care. He clearly doesn't care what his image is. Now, if you look at a lot of the media people in Memphis and a lot of the fans, especially on social media, they're going after the coach in this case, and it's like the coach isn't getting the benefit of the doubt. The guy that's always a pain in the neck is getting the benefit of the doubt. So that part bothers me a little bit. He just seems to be really immature. I hope he's a spectacular player. I went to a game, it was either last year or two years ago. I forget now because he doesn't play that much. He had backed. He had a play in the first half where he went to the basket. Challenged at the rim by Nick Claxton, does a 360 in the air, lays it in. And then he said, oh, you people at the other end didn't see me. He did the same thing in the second half at the other basket. So, you know, when he was fearless in going to the basket, you're always keeping your fingers crossed he doesn't get hurt, but he's not even doing that much anymore. You know, it's been, something's going to happen there. I mean, it's either going to be the coach or it's going to be the player. I tend to think it'll probably be the coach at this point because they still seem to be firmly behind John Moran. But the other team to look out for could be the team that you watched last night. I mean, don't you think the Clippers have to do something? And is it. Would they, would they be willing to roll the dice on somebody like John Moran?
- [39:21]
Ryan Rosillo
Well, I don't know how much longer they'd want to be in the Kawhi business. You know, I'd say the Kawhi thing, even though you get it in 2019, like every single team would want him, but he's a terrible partner. You know, he shows up when he wants to show up, plays when he wants to play. There's no transparency whatsoever. On top of everything else going with the controversy of the allegations of what it took to get him in there. You know, I always kind of think back to that 2019 off season with Kawhi a little. And I'm like, couldn't even just told Lawrence Frank like, hey, I want to come here. So try to find a way to get Paul George.
- [39:55]
Frank Isola
Yeah.
- [39:56]
Ryan Rosillo
Because then could Lawrence go to Sam Presti and be like, hey, I know I'm getting Kawhi. I want to add Paul George. And if you want to get me a huge sticker price, like, go ahead, but I'm not going to trade you everything in sga. Like, couldn't Kawhi have worked with the team a little bit more instead of like, hey, if you get Paul George, then maybe, then maybe I'll come here and who knows, maybe he Learned it from LeBron. But you'd like to think there, you know, go back and I again, I have no idea what's true or what isn't true on all the other stuff, but it just feels like he's an incredible bad partner for a franchise on top of the fact that he's never healthy, you know.
- [40:33]
Frank Isola
Yeah. And that's why Messiah Jiri, it's got to go down as one of the greatest trades in the history of the sport just because he was a one year rental when Toronto got him. They traded good players away, but they didn't trade Chae Go this Alexander away to get him. You had him for one year, you won the championship. You know, you're an expansion team not that long ago. What year was that? 95 when they're expansion team. Now you're winning the championship, he leaves to go to la. And you know, part of is probably a little devastated. Think, oh man, we just won. The guy leaves the Clippers with him on the team. They made it to a conference final. But he was hurt in the playoffs. He wasn't there with them in the conference final. So the spurs got two titles out of him, a Finals mvp. The Toronto Raptors got a title out of them. And the Clippers got just a lot of grief after they made that. And it's like it's not going away. And then you add on to it the trade for Paul George and Chegelis Alexander. I think, you know, they have the okc has the Clippers pick this year. I don't think it's lottery protected. The, the OKC could end up if the Clippers continue down this road. I mean, if Dallas got the number one pick, why couldn't the Clippers pick turn into the number number one overall pick? Can you imagine OKC going back to back and getting the number one pick? Possible.
- [41:53]
Ryan Rosillo
That would be, that would be gross depressing in this draft class. I'm double checking because I was messing around with it solely looking at Atlanta. So yeah, I remember all of that stuff was essentially unprotected, right? Yeah. And by the way, I just ran a lottery and the Clippers got the number one pick with a 7.5 chance. And you're right, it goes to OKC.
- [42:14]
Frank Isola
Come on, come on, Ryan. I mean Sam is going to sit back and say, here I am in little old Oklahoma City. I got all these draft picks. I just want. Now we're assuming they win the back to back titles and I got the number one pick. Come on, he's not king of the world if he does that.
- [42:33]
Ryan Rosillo
How about that? I just ran the sim to double check and you knew it. So I didn't have to check your math or anything. And then the Clippers ironically ended up winning the whole thing. I want to close on, but you know, honestly I could do this all day with you. But like you think the Clippers all the credit in the world for not giving Paul George the fourth year. So it wasn't like they had zero interest in Paul George because they were going to do the three years. But they did the rare thing of like we're not going to give you the fourth year and they kind of couldn't believe it. They call the bluff and it ends up being something that imagine how much worse it could be if Paul George was still there and they're not playing. And then to your heat point, that whole summer, especially all the bullshit coming out from the Miami media in the pursuit of the Damian Lillard trade because they were the ones that were just collectively wrong, like the whole time while they accused everybody else of being wrong. Lillard, if he ended up in Miami, that's delaying whatever the next step is. So that ended up being one of the best things ever, is them not getting him. And again, Miami kind of felt like it was sort of personal as opposed to the deal that ended up sending him to Milwaukee, which would have been terrible for Miami. Just so many of these times, so many of these players that everybody's freaking out about all the time. It's like, careful what you wish for.
- [43:43]
Frank Isola
And what do you think about Paul George now in Philadelphia? Because Philadelphia's played really well. You know, Embiid's in and out of the lineup and Paul George hasn't played yet. But you know, Maxi is an absolute stud. I mean the effort that he gives on both ends of the court is phenomenal. Kelly Uber's played really well. I was at a game last week, he scored 20 points in the first quarter against the Brooklyn Nets. And then he had that put back winner the other day against the Boston Celtics. So he's played well. And then you have VJ Edgecomb, who they drafted the kid, Jared McCain. You know, if you could look past the silly TikTok videos, that guy competes. So if Paul George could come back and play it out. And I know this is the big if because it's hard to trust guys that are always hurt, but what if indeed were healthy during the playoffs and there's no back to backs and maybe he could play 25 minutes a game and maybe try to score a little closer to the basket as opposed to just shooting mid range jumpers. I mean, it's not the craziest thing. You know, tanking did not help.
- [44:41]
Ryan Rosillo
Craziest thing? What, like, what are you saying?
- [44:45]
Frank Isola
Could they get, could they win two rounds? Could they get to a conference final?
- [44:48]
Ryan Rosillo
I just don't trust it. I mean, maybe I'd be.
- [44:51]
Frank Isola
Maxi's the real deal though. Maxi's their best player. They all acknowledge it. I have no idea if Joel Embiid acknowledges it, but everyone else acknowledges that and I think that that's important. I mean the guy's averaging 40 minutes a game. He plays all the time and he plays for joy. He's such an easy player to root for.
- [45:09]
Ryan Rosillo
And vj, you can tell right away you're like, okay, like this guy is going to play for a really long time at a high level. I just love, I love his demeanor and everybody loved him in the pre draft process. And I feel like you can almost see that where it's like this guy feels kind of like this infectious dude. And then. And Beat will come in and play in the games that he's played in. I'd say, look, it's looked better physically than it did at the very beginning of the season, which isn't terrible. I just don't know that he. I think the foul hunting for him has completely fucked him up as a basketball player.
- [45:39]
Frank Isola
Yeah, I think there's a lot of truth to that. But you, Brian and I were always saying, if he's only going to play 25 minutes. And in the fourth quarter, I think it was the game against Boston, not sure if it was the opener or the second game of the season where he didn't play. He was like 1 for 10 in the second half. It was like something crazy. If he's only going to play like 25 minutes, why even play him in the first half? Then play him in the second half, Play him like eight minutes, rest him, put him back in the fourth quarter. If he's playing well, keep him in. I don't know, what's the point? He's only going to play 25 minutes. Why is he playing so much at the front of the game? Well, you could probably use him at the end where he could draw fouls and maybe be more of an impact player. But Philadelphia, they're an interesting team, a lot more interesting than they were last year.
- [46:25]
Ryan Rosillo
And let's.
- [46:25]
Frank Isola
Let's remember they tanked. They tanked and got rewarded for it. Utah lost, the Nets lost, Washington lost. They didn't get rewarded for it. Philadelphia was the one team that definitely got rewarded for pulling all their guys and getting Vijay Edgecombe.
- [46:40]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah.
- [46:41]
Ceruti
Yeah.
- [46:41]
Ryan Rosillo
I don't know. The. Utah has had, like, just the worst luck with this stuff.
- [46:46]
Frank Isola
Yeah.
- [46:47]
Ryan Rosillo
You know, so. But whatever. I mean, people wanted to flatten the odds. Remember, we had 25 chance, the number one pick for the worst record. Then everybody said that that incentivizes tanking. And look, I think the plan and some of these things have. I think it has worked actually, a little bit here. But then it just feels incredibly unfair. And again, this is one of those things. It's like the no good government thing. It's like no matter what system that you put in place, and everybody's going to find a reason why it's not fair for certain people. Let me leave you with this. You and Scal have this segment on the show called oh My Pod where you share with the audience, a national audience. Remember, you share with us some of the highlights from some of the X Player podcast. I'm really excited about the Jerry Seasting pod that just dropped two weeks ago. I don't know if you've got that one, but do you miss? Because Draymond was going to. Going at dudes last night. Like, there's. There's a lot of this stuff. I mean, Pat Bev's, you know, got a high hit rate of going at dudes. Do you miss when players hated your guts privately?
- [47:49]
Frank Isola
Yeah, a little bit.
- [47:51]
Ryan Rosillo
Who hated you the most? Who. Who.
- [47:53]
Frank Isola
Because I had. I had a good relationship with him when he was a kid. Was. It's probably Stefan Marbury. I knew him. I knew him when he was really young. I mean, he used to call my house, and he would. You know, we. We had a relationship when he was on Minnesota.
- [48:07]
Kyle
We.
- [48:07]
Frank Isola
We talked a lot. Then I had to cover him on the Knicks. I had to tell the truth. And I think there was. I think that was tough for him at that time because he was coming home to New York. There's a lot of pressure there. The Knicks were losing, so I was kind of a. An easy target. You know, he's definitely changed a little bit. I'm happy for him. I hope. I hope that he's happy. But he was the guy that. Yeah, that had absolutely no use for me, which was fine, because, you know, like, covering Patrick Ewing, you know, we were really critical of Patrick. I look back at it now, it's like, I always want to apologize to him. It's like, man, we held you to this crazy standard, and, you know, most of the times you met it, and you could not have been more professional. So the biggest star on the team was always really cool with the meet. It's when the Knicks were losing and the players. And I think that had something to do with the culture over there at the Garden, which changed. It was more like, yeah, yeah, kill the messenger. That's who we should be killing. We shouldn't be focused on us. We should be focused on. They keep writing. They keep printing in the newspaper the standings. If they would stop doing that, no one would really know how bad we are. We could just maybe spin it that we're actually doing pretty well. But he was kind of the one guy. But the player podcast, I mean, they had. Is it Jason Williams, White Chalk? It was on with Patrick Beverly, and they were both coming to an agreement that White Chocolate was a better player than John Stockton. Okay, if you say so. And I do like the Draymond Green one, because he's.
- [49:26]
Ryan Rosillo
Wait, was that true? That's what happened.
- [49:29]
Frank Isola
You got to go Find that. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a. That's. That's a fun one. But Draymond, I like his because he's an active player, and he really talks about, like, he'll react almost in live time to something that happened. So. And, you know, he's. He's a little bit more analytical about stuff. It's not just like, you know, we were talking about off air. I remember the night where Steph scored 60 points in 10 minutes, and everyone else is sitting back saying, you know, we can check that. That's not really what happened. So he's not embellishing stuff, I think. Remember the night he came on after the NBA Finals where he had the technical foul, probably should have gotten another one. And he went on his podcast after the game. He said, they were never going to give me a second technical foul. He was basically daring the referees and calling them out during the finals. Bob Myers and Steve Kerr must have gone nuts after they heard that.
- [50:21]
Ryan Rosillo
Wasn't he in the hotel room, too? Like, he was ready to go, just crack open.
- [50:26]
Frank Isola
That was an unbelievable podcast for an active player to have during the NBA Finals, basically saying, they were never going to give me that second technical foul. That was pretty remarkable.
- [50:36]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, that's good stuff. Thank you. Let's do this again, hopefully a few times this season. Say hi to the crew. And I've always felt bad because I do love the show so much that years back, you and I were talking and you were like, you'll come on. And I was like, of course I would come on. And then you were like, at seven. I was like, what? What do you think I'm doing over here? I was like, of course I'll come on at seven. And then you were talking seven. And then I woke up. I don't know. 5:36. I'm like, what are all these Ms. New York numbers? At 4:00am and it was really stupid of me not to, like, put it together, because I know you guys are back in the East Coast. And then I think I even heard the replay, and there was just this disgust in the staff's voice of, like, yeah, we called him, like, twice. You guys were like, well, who knows? And then I'm like, you guys really think. I was like, still out on a Tuesday night? Like, come on, folks.
- [51:22]
Frank Isola
Well, when you leave your beach house and you come east, tell us. And we definitely have to have you on. We'll make it more convenient for you.
- [51:28]
Ryan Rosillo
What's the latest? Is it. Is it 6am My time?
- [51:33]
Frank Isola
9. 9:30 9:30 our time, which would be 6:30 your time or 6:40 your time?
- [51:38]
Ryan Rosillo
I don't know. I may even set a 5:45 alarm and come on to my favorite radio show.
- [51:42]
Frank Isola
So maybe we appreciate it.
- [51:43]
Ryan Rosillo
But yeah, the 4:00am one, it was like they couldn't have possibly thought I was like up at 4am so anyway, check it out. Starting lineup. NBA Radio Isola is one of the best. Thanks, man.
- [51:53]
Frank Isola
Thanks, Ryan. When cool creamy ranch meets tangy bold buffalo, the hole is greater than the sum of its size. Sauce. Say howdy, partner. To new buffalo ranch sauce only at McDonald's for a limited time at participating McDonald's.
- [52:12]
Ryan Rosillo
Bruce Feldman of the Athletic and Fox Sports on Big noon kickoff covering the biggest games in studio. So he's our guy. There's a lot to get through here. Bruce. I guess we can start Baton Rouge with lsu not just on Brian Kelly being out, but now it appears that LSU's like, is there any way we can get creative with whether or not this was for cause or not? Then there's this story where it's like, well, you didn't actually fire me because this guy couldn't fire me. What are, what's going. Is LSU just being like, we want to fire you and we don't like you, so we're going to try to fuck with you and try to keep as much of this money as we can. Like what's going on?
- [52:48]
Bruce Feldman
Yeah, I think that it's a desperate move by some really shaky leadership that is just it, it feels like it's a soap opera there because the governor's involved and when the governor speaks out, everybody's like, is that really the governor? He sounds like, it just seems like something out of a, not even out of a good college athletic show of like a really bad one. And then they sort of clean house now they really didn't because the ad Scott Woodward, who was on the hook for making that horrible bet on Brian Kelly, who I think anybody who was paying attention would be like, yeah, this is going to be a really awful fit. And they went that way anyway. And yet Scott Woodward's right hand guy, Virgil, now he's the ad. Even if the, even if they kind of butchered the messaging of it, he's the acting ad. No, he's the interim. No, he's real though. He's really the ad. So I don't know. It's still a really good job because you have a lot to work with. But you also have unique pressure there. Like different than they have at Florida, different than they have at Penn State. And that is because before Brian Kelly, everybody who coached there won a national title. And then Brian Kelly came in there, he couldn't even get him in the top 10. But I think that's also a piece of, hey, the bottom of the SEC like the rest of college major college football has gotten more formidable because of NIL and the Portal. And it's just the days of the Superpower aren't as common as they were five years ago.
- [54:22]
Ryan Rosillo
So now that you know lsu, I guess there's like a bigger thing maybe that I'll get into with Kelly, but I'll connect with some of the other things. Like is this still the best job of all the jobs that are available?
- [54:35]
Bruce Feldman
I think it is because all these jobs that are open, you know, Auburn's open, they all have some BS factor, just to a large degree. Right. Penn State hasn't won a national title in 40 years. You know, you're still in a conference where Ohio State has a sizable gap over you. And they're operating at a much more efficient level than Penn State is. Florida, since Urban left, they have not. They've tried everything. They've tried the hot assistant, Will Muschamp, the guy who was the former Urban guy who'd been in the SEC, Dan Mullen. They fired the group of five guys, whether it was McElwain or Billy Napier who had done well and then they didn't do well there. So I think at LSU what you have to keep in mind is, as you know, there is a great talent base there and almost all those kids grow up wanting to be LSU Tigers. Right? You have the best home field atmosphere and that definitely counts for something. And you have largely unlimited resources when it comes to getting stuff done. Whether it's hiring staff or a bloated staff or all those things. The challenges are the pressure one. And also you get these, you know, if you look back in the cycle that Brian Kelly and Lincoln Riley were Both hired in 2021, if you look back at how those hires worked out, the hires that seem to have gone the best were the ones that were like the first time hires. Not the, hey, big name splash guy. That was Brian Kelly, that was Lincoln Riley. Those have been kind of meh or disastrous. Then there's the ones who are like the step up guys. And those have been okay, but it's really been the first time. Whether it's the Marcus Freemans or there's been the majority of them, not, not at Virginia Tech certainly, but have gone really well. It's just. You don't think lsu, the way they're structured, they want splash, they want a big, established name, and a lot of times those don't fit. And a lot of times you end up being leveraged a lot. So I'm curious to see who LSU ends up landing on.
- [56:41]
Ryan Rosillo
Do you think if Kelly were just nicer and they had the same results, he'd still be the head coach, but.
- [56:46]
Bruce Feldman
Then he wouldn't be Ryan Kelly, you know, like, you know, like how many times? Even before, when he was at Notre Dame, I think there was. There was. He was largely dealing with a different kind of kid, mostly on the team. Not all of them, but some of them. And then he. When he went down there, I think it was like he couldn't relate and. And didn't want to recruit. That's the other big part of this. Like, you know, when I worked on Ogeron's book, when they. After 2019, when they won the national title, I distinctly remember, like, every five minutes there would be a different staffer coming up to him with an iPhone and a recruit on the other side basically saying, hey, can you talk to so and so? And he would know all about what they did in the previous game and all this, and he could. He could BS with them. When, when that happened with Brian Kelly, he would say, make an appointment to the assistant coaches. You don't do that. He was like, the guy would put the kid on the hold and be like, wait, I got him on the phone right now. I can't wait till Thursday. You know, you don't know how that looks. And, and so there's that part of it. I mean, when Ralph Russo and I did a big, deep dive into why Kelly really bombed at lsu, one of the players, it was a starting center for him for two years, was like, I had no relationship with him. He didn't even try to get to know me, you know, And I think those things matter, you know, and so there was. That. There was just so many different layers of it. I think also you talk to people, they thought he was kind of. He cashed out there, that he was. Would spend a lot more time golfing than he did really around the building and doing all those things. And you're in the. You know what, like, you're at lsu. Yeah, your resources are higher and the expectations are higher, but you're playing a lot tougher teams. You're in the deep end of the pool now. You're not. You're not playing Purdue and, and. And all the academies and And Boston College, it's a much tougher, like, you better have your A game or else you're going to get your head kicked in.
- [58:42]
Ryan Rosillo
I want to stay on this, though, because it's not even about Kelly, but like, if I were an AD and I'm looking at recent stuff and like, I don't know that you can even put Belichick in a, in a category. You know, the Bella check thing is, is different. And maybe I need to come up with more examples of this. Like, clearly you could talk about like Jimbo, which is another Woodward thing at A and M. If I'm an ad, I'd be cautious of like giving someone their lottery ticket. That's the huge name. That's a little bit older because it feels like if I have to convince you to take the job and I have to convince you with money, then immediately, like, we're already done. You know, it's, it's. I need more examples of this. But I don't, I don't think I would let somebody come in and use the program as like, hey, this is my retirement, like going up a tier, whether this works or doesn't. And I, and I know the name brand thing, it's like a cycle. It's like, obviously LSU will probably go non name brand now and somebody younger and hungry and all those things. And that doesn't exactly guarantee success at all. But there seems to be a bit of a, a trend of like the guys that, that just hit that lottery ticket on that last deal leaving some other place. Like, I just don't know if there's motivated. And certainly it was the case with Kelly.
- [60:01]
Bruce Feldman
Yeah, I think some of that, Ryan, is arrogance, you know, where it's like, oh, I, I know better. They. A lot of coaches, and I've definitely had conversations over the years with guys, they look at somebody like, that guy's an idiot and he won there. You know what? That guy's probably a lot smarter than you realize. But you, but you're actually the idiot because you, you can't even see it. You just assume, oh, this is how he sounds at a press conference. So he doesn't know what he's doing. Right. And I've definitely seen that with a lot of guys who come out really entitled and they think they've figured it out. I mean, one of the best things I, I think anybody would say about Nick Saban was he kept on evolving and he kept on trying to get better. These guys who are doing largely what you're saying, whether they're 65 or 57. I think it's because they feel like they figured it out. This is the way I do things. They're going to adjust to me. And, you know, it's. It's a lot harder, I think, in this day and age where now players are making more money than some of your assistant coaches. Right. And you constantly have to recruit. Re. Recruit your players for retention. And you better be a good evaluator because you're going to do a lot more evaluation now. Right. I mean, I will say this. The guy Kelly followed was obsessed with recruiting, and he's a really good evaluator. And that matters because, you know, who else wanted Joe Burrow when, you know, he wasn't going to start it at Ohio State? Cincinnati did, but that was it, you know, and I think it's like, you better have a good eye for talent. And I also think if you are in this role, and I think it's something that happens with older coaches is they struggle to, like, the staffs are bigger. There's just so many more things now that. That can trip you up. And I. I look at, like, it's not just Brian Kelly. Brian Kelly is like the best example of it, but there are definitely pieces of it. I mean, look, look, Lane Kiffin got fired when he was out here at usc. The guy who's coaching Ole Miss is a much more evolved version than. There's still Lane in there. But I think, you know, credit to him because he's not the same guy who Nick Saban wanted to punt on in the playoffs because he was, you know, ready to go to FAU before the season was over. Right. And I think those guys who evolve are the ones who are thriving. The ones who just feel like they know better. Those are the ones who. Who cash out and end up, you know, getting, you know, Jimbo, when he was at A and M, he didn't evolve. And I think that caught him when he got to A and M. It started to catch him when he was a Florida State, but he got out of there before the thing imploded.
- [62:45]
Ryan Rosillo
I was shocked to learn this week that Jimbo's 60. He's only 60. I don't know why.
- [62:54]
Bruce Feldman
And putting peanuts in those. In those Cokes. And I guess maybe that, maybe that, you know, like, being a football coach is not a. Especially a college football coach, I think, is not a healthy lifestyle. Right. I mean, good on Marcus Freeman that he looks this way at this age, but if he does for another 10 years, he's probably going to Start looking, you know, maybe not like. Like he's 60, but I just think that very few of those guys come out. You know, if you go to the NFL, different story. I. Ryan, like, multiple coaches a week I hear from, not every day, but more than one. More than one a week will call and be like, I gotta get to the NFL.
- [63:38]
Ceruti
I.
- [63:38]
Bruce Feldman
You know, like, this sucks, you know, and it's bad for being a parent and everything else. And if they can go, they go to the NFL because there's at least a little more of a sense, a semblance of a real calendar. And you're not just kind of like constantly feeling like you're chasing your tail.
- [63:57]
Ryan Rosillo
That also means that Jimbo Fisher, I think, is 49. Then when he won the national championship.
- [64:03]
Bruce Feldman
I don't feel like that sounds about right. 49, 48, I guess. Yeah.
- [64:06]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. I feel like I haven't done anything with my life. And so when I read stuff like that, I'm like, oh, man, Jimbo's not in play at lsu. Safe to say I've read that somewhere. I imagine that doesn't make a ton of sense.
- [64:19]
Bruce Feldman
I don't think so. I think even at Auburn, that would feel like a reach. You never know in college, you know, like, here's the problem these schools run into. They talk themselves out of. Out of quality group of five head coaching candidates who might be good fits because they're like, just, we can't hire them here. The boosters just, they. It's like they look down their nose, you know, can. Can LSU boosters get past. We're gonna. We might hire the Tulane guy, you know, I don't think Auburn would have that problem to hire John Sumrall. But I do think there's some of them who, like, we can't do that. Or also, they'll go like, look how it worked out with the Louisiana Lafayette guy. He didn't do well at Florida. So I think they, you know, I think it's hard for them as ads and for schools to get past it. I just think Jimbo. I don't know where Jimbo lands, you know, I think because he's been out of it for a little while, you wonder how hungry is to really get back in. You know, this isn't like Rich Rod who went to Jacksonville State and killed it. And like, oh, I could see this guy's just obsessed with coaching and doing it, doing, you know, doing it that way. And. And it's going to probably work, you know, where he goes to a certain point. I Don't know if people look at it the same way with Jimbo.
- [65:39]
Ryan Rosillo
I'm going to do this segment at some point. But like when you looked at the early 2000s through kind of like Saban messing up the math. But you could make a case because I remember Andy Staples went through and did this and it was really interesting. It was like basically by the third year on the job, if you looked at this run of national championships, it was always like when the new coach won it, like the new coach got there and you know, you're incredibly motivated. You're at one of these absolute blue blood programs and you're probably trying your hardest in those first three to four years. Especially if you're like turning things around, you've got the momentum, you hit it on two recruiting classes, you're obviously not dealing with the portal and all the nil stuff back then. So it's a slightly different landscape. But it was pretty clear that for a while there until again Saban messes it up because he just kept winning and winning and winning, that these coaches were doing it early on. So you look at Signetti, this team has a chance, I think to win a national championship again. I don't know that I'd pick him against Ohio State, but that I'm even saying that about Indiana. It's just and how much better I feel about him this year than I did last year. And I've seen it written like, hey, Signetti's like messing up the expectations everywhere else. Well, this has already kind of happened with people winning national championships and who knows if Signetti is going to be able to pull that off with his playoff team. But is there a sense that you get that he, that ATS and boosters are going, well, look at what Indiana is doing. Like how, how can we not that everybody gets to be Indiana but that it may really mess with the lesser educated college football person that's somehow influential in this decision.
- [67:10]
Bruce Feldman
Absolutely. Excuses are out the window because look what they did at Indiana. They were three a three win team the year before he showed up. Right. You hired a guy in his early 60s who almost nobody outside of like die hard football fans people in Pennsylvania had ever heard of. And he went in there, he talked big and he backed it up. Now I, everything you said I agree with. It would not shock me if they won the national title. Like they're really good now. A couple of things have, have helped him in the system. He brought a bunch of dudes from JMU who he knew really well with him like in the old model, you can't do that. And, and I think that's what changes like what you were saying, you know, 20 years ago, you get one or two really good recruiting class and then you establish it. Like look at our buddy's team at in College park, right? Like Locksley has a very good freshman class. He got really good edge rushers, a really talented freshman quarterback. These guys may be gone three months from now because, you know, and he's, it's not like he's a second year coach, he's been there a long time. But I'm just saying you have a, this is probably the best recruiting class he's ever had there. And you, you can't wait too long for them to blossom if you don't surround them with a lot of other guys who are ready to go. And I think because Signetti hit it so fast, I think anybody looks at it and goes, oh well, you know, you, you know, I'm sure you've heard this where some coach goes in there and is like, well this is year zero. You know, like that really didn't count. You know, it's like, oh yeah, it definitely counted. They paid you for it and they're going to expect before.
- [68:52]
Ryan Rosillo
I love, by the way, I just love like the built in excuse of year zero. And for some cases it's like true. But all I've noticed it was, it was back to like the Florida thing where like Muschamp got in. I think it was must champ where he was like, you have no idea how bad it was here, right? So then it makes Muschamp look good. And then I forget if it was Muschamp on the way out. I think it was, but it was like, don't let the next coach tell you that there's not a bunch of great players. You're just like, you were trying to get it on both ends. And honestly like looking at Florida success here, they would love to have the must Champ era back. Would love to have it. Even though he was such a huge, huge name coach in waiting, which isn't a thing anymore. Like getting him down in Gainesville, like was felt like it was this massive win. I just love the whole year zero thing because that's, that's just not going to fly anymore. It's not going to work unless it's like a, like Indiana probably could have gotten away with it and if they'd had like a 7 and 5 season the next year, that would be right. Yeah, they'd be like, hey, this guy's Pretty good. We might lose him, but keep going because I obviously have another Signetti future follow up.
- [70:00]
Bruce Feldman
Yeah, no, I just. I just think that you look around enough. Like, Mike Elko went to Duke. He got it going pretty fast, and he bounced and he got. He's gotten it going really fast at Texas A and M, you know, and that's. That was a smart hire by them and it's worked. And I think, look, you know, Barry Odom took over the other school in the state of Indiana in the Big Ten. That's a. That is a tough lift. That is a bad program right now. But he didn't waste time to get UNLV going. Like, I. I give him a lot of credit because he did a decent job at Mizzou. He took over a tough situation with Gary Pinkle, you know, stepping down, and they were okay. They weren't great. They weren't. It wasn't a disaster. He learned and really figured out a bunch of stuff from being around Kirby Smart and other guys he worked with. And then when he got to unlv, he made some really smart hires and he killed it there. And then he ended up getting the Purdue job, which is probably unfortunate for him because last year cycle, there were very few jobs open, and this year's cycle, there's a lot of jobs open. So I think it's also timing factors into it as well.
- [71:07]
Ryan Rosillo
Signetti is good then, right? Like, they're not going to figure out. I know they just did the new.
- [71:11]
Bruce Feldman
Deal, but no, I think, I mean, you know, if I was a Penn State fan, I'd be like, man, we should have thrown everything we could have to. I mean, a Pittsburgh guy, he's right in the same conference. I just don't think after what they did that he's movable.
- [71:26]
Ryan Rosillo
Right.
- [71:27]
Bruce Feldman
And it doesn't sound like he wants to be movable. And if you're him a little bit like Lane, I bet you he sits and goes, you know what? I could probably win a national title. I beat Oregon, at Oregon, I can beat anybody, you know, And I think he has so much confidence in his ability to evaluate. And not just evaluate players, but also I think evaluate assistance. He's got two really good young coordinators that I don't think anybody. Bryant Haynes on defense and Mike Shanahan, not the. Mike Shanahan is on offense. And those guys are really good. I mean, he's got good assistance. Like, I don't think we talk enough about, you know, as college football media, about guys who can identify really good coaches. And put it together. He did. He's done that like for all the bluster. And I think, you know, you and I were probably on the same page last year when there was a playoff was kicking around and it was like. I want to say he went on like a pregame show.
- [72:19]
Ryan Rosillo
He did.
- [72:20]
Bruce Feldman
And it was just like I forgot what you'll remember it. I bet what the game was. It was like an FCS game or something that he was like, yeah, they were ranked. And it was just like it was.
- [72:31]
Ryan Rosillo
It was, it was like we be ranked teams and it was like it was. Even the guys on the set weren't really feeling it all that much.
- [72:39]
Bruce Feldman
No. But now, I mean, you know, after you go to Austin and you, you give Dante more hell, you know, you can talk all the stuff you want to talk. You've back, you know, you've earned it. And he has. And so I don't think he's movable at this point, you know. You know, and it's like if you're an AD right now, good luck to you to find, find a good option because you have also a cycle of coaches who are probably attractive in this window who are also at their alma maters, whether it's Jeff Braum or Brent Key or Kenny Dillingham or Clark Lee. You know, I think Jeff Braum would, would be a really interesting hire at a lot of places. And I'm sure he'll probably end up doubling his salary wherever he. Whether he stays or goes because they're going to probably have to do that.
- [73:23]
Frank Isola
Yeah.
- [73:23]
Ryan Rosillo
He was basically talking about the Coastal Carolina game when he was at James Madison. He says we don't just be top 20.
- [73:28]
Bruce Feldman
Grayson McCall.
- [73:29]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, we beat the shit out of him. And Grayson was like banged up. Didn't he get knocked out? I mean it was. I remember doing a segment on it because I got super mad about it and everything I said last year is totally justified now. Everything I've given them as far as praise wants the Oregon win. And look, I thought that Penn State game was really tough. I thought it was a talented Penn State team at home trying to show some pride and being fired up. And even with Alar out, you know, like I just thought that was a really tough win. So I don't even knock them for having to score a game winning touchdown against a team of a losing record like that because I just thought Penn State was a tough out that day. I guess I can want to stand the signetti thing here a little bit because I am fascinated by him now. He joined Saban's staff in 07 in Bama. So that's probably something that should have been like on everybody's radar. It's like. Like one of the first people that Saban's bringing in is this guy when they turned Bama around. Do you remember him throughout those early, like, amazing years? Like, anybody saying anything about him or just, hey, keep this guy on your radar because you've always been kind of good with some of the younger guys at the time.
- [74:32]
Bruce Feldman
Yeah. The only thing I really remembered about him was before I did Meat Market, the recruiting book I did around Ole Miss, like when I was at ESPN magazine, we tried to do some version of that. Not as a book, but as a story. And one of the first schools I approached it was remember Chuck Amato? There's like a great. I don't know if it lives on the Internet still. Yeah, the legend, Chucky Red Shoes. And there was like a classic, like cartoon somebody did of him, you know, Florida State assistant goes to. Goes to NC State. And I had some. Some guys I knew pretty good on that staff. I mean, a phenomenal group of characters that Chuck Amato collected there. But anyway, Signetti was on that staff. And so at some point, the three guys I knew, or two of them, and I think Signetti, who I didn't know very well, two of the guys were like, oh yeah, Chuck will go for this. And Chuck wasn't going to go for this. So that was a non starter. But I remember back then, then I also remembered, I forgot I had talked to him for this, but years ago, like, maybe this is maybe like eight years ago, six years ago, NFL Network, I think they did their top 100 players and the top four guys were. None of them were big recruits out of high school. It was Aaron Donald, it was Lamar, Russell Wilson. I forgot who the other guy was. They all had really interesting recruiting stories. And so Signetti was on for Russell Wilson. I think that was the connection. I'm trying to remember when I had. Who I had spoke to him about and it was interesting to hear him talk his way through, you know, kind of his recruiting, you know, his. I don't say his sales pitch, but just like there is something there where it feels like it is very well thought out. And there's other parts like, no, that's really him under there. You know, I know I had one of the guys on his staff I know really well. And he's like, no, that's. That's him. But he knows the effect it's having you know, like, I mean, Mark Ingram, who I work with on Big Noon, you know, Mark remembers being recruited by Signetti at Alabama, you know, and he's an interesting character. There's still like a, you know, a lot of salesmen. I'd be curious as to. It seems like he's one of those guys that worked, would work better in college than in the NFL. And I think a big part of that is because one of his, you know, superpowers is he's got a really good sense of evaluation. But I, I think he's the most fascinating guy right now in college football, you know, and it's because he's got some of the saving tree and he's got different roots. He's a coach's kid. His brother's a coach. You know, he goes back with. There's a lot of people who have different perspectives on him, and even I don't want to see who this person is. But I was once in a conversation with somebody who knows, has known Signetti for a long time, and at some point it came up and it was like, you know, there's a little bit of Jim Harbaugh in him too, and it's authentic. Sometimes you think he's crazy, but it is real. And players respond to that. And that's a big deal in these, you know, especially in this day and age.
- [77:43]
Ryan Rosillo
And Penn State's now not going to get him. I do love Chuck Amato. He looked like he was already ready, just at any given moment, ready to shag some fly balls and leave with your girlfriend. So, Mr. Steal, Mr. Steal your girl, Coach Amato.
- [77:58]
Bruce Feldman
I'm not going back to college to be your friend.
- [78:00]
Ryan Rosillo
I'm going so I can get Uber One for students. It saves you on Uber and UberEats. I'm there for zero dollar delivery fee on cheeseburgers, up to 10% off smoothies and 6% Uber credits back on rides.
- [78:12]
Bruce Feldman
Just to be clear, I'm there for.
- [78:14]
Ryan Rosillo
Savings, not whatever you think college is for. Get Uber one for students a membership to save on Uber. And Uber eats with deals this good. Everyone wants to be a student.
- [78:23]
Bruce Feldman
Join for just 4.99amonth. Savings may vary eligibility and member terms apply.
- [78:28]
Ryan Rosillo
Let's kind of go a little quicker on some of the vacancies then. So, like, do you have a favorite at LSU now if you had to?
- [78:36]
Bruce Feldman
I don't.
- [78:37]
Ryan Rosillo
That's okay.
- [78:38]
Bruce Feldman
You know, I wouldn't be shocked if they made a, made a move at Trinquids because he's been in the S.E.C. but I don't, you know, I don't know if that's a. Because that's one they're going to be like, eh, I don't know if this is going to be any better of a fit than what they just had.
- [78:53]
Ryan Rosillo
I would like to drink wits higher, to be honest with you, because he's fitting the profile of like the younger, hungrier guy. You know, Mizzou is a good team.
- [79:02]
Bruce Feldman
You know, he's done a really good job there. Yeah, they're on the third string quarterback. I mean, credit to him, you know, beat Ohio State, had depleted Ohio State in a bowl game. But, but you know, he's, he's a good coach.
- [79:12]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, I don't, you know, some of these fan bases, man, it's like how long's the list of people you're going to be excited about? 1 and a half. Like, it's just like, hey, well we don't want that guy. All right. Good old Auburn. Good old Auburn.
- [79:25]
Bruce Feldman
I think that's John Sumrall. John Sumrall did really well at Troy in the state. He's, he was a former SEC player. He is a former SEC assistant at Ole Miss in Kentucky. He's done a good job at, at Tulane. And I think anybody who talks to them was like, oh yeah, that's a dude. Like, I mean, if you talk to him, he's. There's a handful of coaches I could, I could say right now or head coaches. I'll be like, oh yeah, if you're around them, you'd be a believer. And John Sumrall is at the top of that list.
- [79:57]
Ryan Rosillo
What happens in Florida?
- [80:00]
Bruce Feldman
You know, I could see them dancing around with Lane for a little bit and then thinking, oh, we got Eli in the pocket. This is the one search that overlaps with lsu. The other one that's a wild card in this for me is Jed Fish. I know he said he doesn't want to be, you know, you know, talked about on these lists. That's his alma mater. I know he has, you know, special place in his heart. He broke into the business because he was leaving. He left like 400 notes on like a Hun, like 400 days in a row. Left a note on Steve Spurrier's car as a regular student there and finally got in as a student assistant and worked his way up. Now he likes the state of Florida. I think Jed Fish would be a good hire for them. You know, he is a, he did an amazing job at Arizona. He's off to a pretty good start at Washington. I know he loves his quarterback, but honestly, guys move his quarterback followed him to Arizona, from Arizona to U Dub. I think if they came at him and said, hey, you know, we, we want you, not Eli or whatever, I think he would have a hard time saying no.
- [81:07]
Ryan Rosillo
What about Penn State?
- [81:10]
Bruce Feldman
And I don't know where they go on this one because the two, the one I thought they should go after, Signetti got locked up quick. The one I thought they would go after because it's, you know, Pat Kraft, the AD is so tight with Matt Rule, Matt Rule staying at Nebraska and good for Nebraska on that. But I don't know, I mean, do they, do they talk themselves into trying to get Clark Lee out of Vanderbilt? Do they, do they look and say, do they go after the do? What kind of Indiana didn't take this? Take the James Madison coach who has ties in the area, Bob Chesney, he's a sharp young coach and I think not that young, but I think that would make sense. I don't know if they go after Matt Campbell, they could go in any direction at this point. Like, I, I, what I would be surprised at is that they went big name hunting. Like, I just think there aren't big names that are, that are probably in play for them.
- [82:09]
Ryan Rosillo
It was funny back in the day, there was always the rumor that James Franklin was going to end up at sc. I think there were people that just maybe hadn't even reported it before, convinced that it was going to happen. And then obviously that doesn't happen. Is Franklin, Virginia Tech thing done, by the way, or what's going on?
- [82:23]
Bruce Feldman
I don't think it's done. I think he's the guy they want and I think from what I had heard, he's got an eye going. Man, if Florida State opens up, I would like to be at Florida State. I don't know if that's going to happen. I don't know if Florida State's going to open, but I didn't think Florida State would be this bad, to be honest. So I could see them. I just don't know. If you're Florida State, do you fire a Mike Norvell without a plan and going, okay, we're good with, we're good with, with James Franklin. I mean, James Franklin won a ton of games at Penn State and I don't know if it just got stale there and he needed to shake up the staff a little more, I think that'd be a good landing spot for him. I also think Virginia Tech would make a lot of Sense, just geographically, he's recruited in that same footprint. I think he knows the ins and outs of that program because his old right hand guy was also a right hand guy for Brent Pry. So he knows everything there is to know about Virginia Tech. A lot more intel on it than anybody. But I would say those are the two that are, you know, it's either if Florida State doesn't open up, then he's there. The other thing to keep in mind is the, the agent who reps Mike Norvell also represents James Franklin. So he probably would have a decent lay of the land on that.
- [83:44]
Ryan Rosillo
It is interesting to think of Franklin, whether or not that's the kind of introduction that a fan base is excited about, you know, which seems totally ridiculous because he has won a ton of games. And I wouldn't always say he's my favorite. I think it was pretty evident that a lot of people really respected his program building and his recruiting. They didn't necessarily think like, hey, this is the guy that you want. Game planning. I mean, that's just been out there for years. I think there was even some polls too, like where it was other coaches or just like, oh, he's one of the most overrated coaches. Maybe it becomes a personality thing. But I understand the frustration of Penn State's fan base and certainly the boosters, but there must have been something where they were just sort of sick of him because that's a lot of games to win. To be fired. As disappointing as this year was, I was, I was like. And he wasn't my favorite. But even I thought that's a kind of a ridiculous move.
- [84:32]
Bruce Feldman
It's a long time to be anywhere without winning a national title. You know, I don't. Unless you're at like Iowa, I just don't. I think people get tired of you and, you know, they did get tired.
- [84:45]
Ryan Rosillo
Of them, but, you know, go. I mean, look, he wasn't there all 40 years.
- [84:51]
Bruce Feldman
No, he was not. He absolutely was not. And he, he, he brought the program up from where it was. You know, I think o' Brien started that, but I, I think he really elevated it. He got kids wanting to go there. I think the biggest thing that hurt him was the quarterback evaluation wasn't great. You know, he, the first one he brought in was the best one and that was Trace McSorley who was going to go play quarterback or safety for him at, at Vandy. And then he came with him and he was a really good college quarterback. And I also think it helped that he had Joe morehead who was his best offensive coordinator, and that fit. And, you know, at that time, they, you know, they were. They were a kind of a fun team to watch. They, you know, they had dynamic receivers. They obviously had Saquon, who was. Who was Phenomen. And they started. What they were really good at was they would develop these freaky athletes. You know, Micah Parsons, probably the best one, but there was a bunch of other ones. You know, whether it's now Abdul Carter, but there was a bunch of other ones, and I think he had a good eye for that. It was just when it came to the quarterback piece, they were good enough and talented enough to win 10 games. They, you know, they came up against Ohio State. You know, Ohio State was just always probably a little more talented than them and probably a lot more comfortable in the big games than they were.
- [86:06]
Ryan Rosillo
As we finish this out, just a bigger picture thing, we could talk about the money, the money to the players, the coaches salaries that just keep skyrocketing, the buyouts that are paid by these boosters that I don't understand, even though, you know, the arguments, like, well, the school doesn't actually do that, but it's like, okay, but if you're asking boosters to pass the hat and put together millions to do the buyout, like, that's going to limit the pool of, like, how willing those same guys are. Like, hey, the next thing we need over here is like this. It's like, well, I just gave you all this money to move on to get the next new coach. So, like, there's a limit even with these people. Like, there's probably a limit on how much you can ask. And I. I'd argue, like, look, you can even look at Ohio State last year with Ryan Day. That fan base felt justified in being that pissed off about that game against Michigan. And then they go on and win, obviously a national championship, right? So they've lost to Michigan four times in a row. There's an angry, an angriness, right? And it's not just Columbus, but I think there's an entitlement, there's an anger, there's an absurd expectation. It just feels like it's even different than just 10 years ago in this sport. And I don't think it has anything to do with just, oh, well, the pay, the payment to the players has escalated. All this stuff. Are you feeling that? Are you seeing the same thing when you're talking to coaches, you're talking to ads, and you even hinted out a little bit where guys are just like, hey, how do I get to the NFL? But I'm just wondering, like, it seems like the temperature's just been incredibly dialed up in the sport where expectations are almost like, just outrageous. At almost any program with any kind.
- [87:42]
Bruce Feldman
Of history, they are. I think it's 100% true. And I think some of the factors you alluded to are definitely a part of it. Right. The Portal is an interesting piece of it because on one hand, you can flip your roster in a hurry. On the other hand, you're bringing in a completely different locker room. And so how does that, you know, Florida State is a good window into this. They went from being a team that probably should have made it to a playoff to a team that was 2 and 10 because they lost. You know, Jared Verse, he came from, you know, what, what, what the Albany's Great Danes are, you know, like, that's where he was playing. They, they, they, they got him and he turned out and he's a, he's a beast in the NFL. Right. That was a great addition. But he left, you know, Fisk, Braden Fisk was a really good player they got from the Mac. He left, you know, when he. After he was done, then all of a sudden they made bad evaluations. You brought DJ Ew in. Nice guy, but just was not going to be the answer at quarterback. And I think so those things add to it. And then it's like. It's like the teams that can evaluate and figure the Portal are the teams that really have a chance. The teams that don't, they are going to shrivel up. And what's happened, though, is you've already irked the fans, because I think there's a portion of the fans who can't get past. These guys are getting paid. I would do this for nothing. Okay, well, nobody would come pay $2 to watch you play rec basketball. Why are we going to pay to watch you put on shoulder pads? But that's how a big chunk of the fan base, not a big, but a sizable chunk, feels. And then there's another part of it where the coaching salaries have gotten so much bigger and they are public. Unless it's like, you know, largely public. You know, maybe we don't know what Lincoln Riley exactly makes, but we know what everybody else makes. And you're. So you're seeing coordinators who are making, you know, two and $3 million. And, you know, it's, it's just kind of fascinating. You mentioned Belichick earlier. I think one of the more fascinating things about all this is they went in there and it's him and his GM went in and thought, oh, we know what it looks like to be an NFL player. Great. That ain't what you're going to be playing with on Saturdays. And so until you figure that out and realize that, it's a different animal. And I think that's why. I don't know if that's exactly the reason why most college coaches as head coaches end up if they haven't been in the NFL, other than maybe Harbaugh and Pete Carroll. And Pete Carroll had been in the NFL before he went back. They bomb because they don't know what they don't know. I mean, Urban bombs spectacularly with the Jaguars. He knows what he's. He surrounds himself with really savvy people in college. But in the NFL, it was a different world. And I think right now the college world has changed dramatically from where it was in 2015. Right. So you look. And part of why I think you and I both think Indiana has a chance to win the national title is because the team that beat TCU like four years ago, 65 to 7, that Georgia team ain't. Ain't around anymore. Right. You know, and so a lot of those things just. You can't stockpile players that way anymore. You just can't. Like, one of the best edge rushers in the SEC used to be at Georgia. He's probably got more sacks than the whole Georgia team, and now he's at Missouri, you know, so it's just like that's. That's kind of like created this, this weird dynamic where you're just not able to, you know, people's expectations are way higher and the reality is way lower.
- [91:31]
Ryan Rosillo
But right as we finish up, though, because, like, it does feel like this. And other people have argued with me being like, hey, it is different. It is different. It's like, yeah, it's so different that we just had Michigan and Ohio State to, you know, spunky little upstarts when back to back national champions. So, like, if Indiana were to win it this year, then it becomes, hey, this whole thing is different. And I would agree with you, like, when I've gone back and looked at like the SEC stuff, like they used to just destroy teams, embarrass teams in those, like, week one matchups, you know, where you were just like, oh, my God, like, this is a completely different level and those scores haven't really been there. I mean, the SEC had a really good out of conference against the P4 stuff, for the most part, better than any of the other conferences. But Indiana winning a title would mean that like it's all on the table. So in a weird way, the pressure that felt like it was only at the select few programs, that pressure would now be expanded. Like Purdue would make a coaching change and be like, why not us? Because of Indiana. So who knows, it could actually get even worse. Thank you, Bruce. I appreciate it. Love watching you on Saturday. So check him out on Fox and of course read him every single week on the Athletic. That's Bruce Feldman. Thanks. Thanks, Ryan. Golf season is in full swing and getting out there to work on your game is bound to make any day even better. And if you're looking to improve your.
- [92:57]
Bruce Feldman
Drive, Chevy Equinox EV is the smartest.
- [93:00]
Ryan Rosillo
Choice you can make. Bold athletic styling, a commanding presence, award winning tech and impressive range, all with an affordable msrp. Chevy Equinox EV will put a smile.
- [93:11]
Ceruti
On your face no matter how your scorecard shakes out.
- [93:15]
Ryan Rosillo
You want details?
- [93:16]
Frank Isola
Bye. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the south fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible.
- [93:33]
Ceruti
Let me tell you what's required.
- [93:34]
Ryan Rosillo
Our email address is life advice rrmail.com hit us up with some emails and we'll get to it. And please subscribe to the Ryan Rossello show on Barstool on Apple or Spotify or our YouTube page. Okay Kyle, Steve, we have guys representing today a little bit here. What do we got, Kyle? That's the Drake May, right? That's the 10.
- [93:56]
Ceruti
That's the Drake May. Got a little car. I bought a couple Carhartt long sleeves yesterday. I really settling into this northeast thing so just threw that guy on under here. Yeah. Looking at some thicker options down the road but right now it's still, still early fall.
- [94:09]
Frank Isola
Ish.
- [94:09]
Ryan Rosillo
So yeah.
- [94:11]
Ceruti
Excited with how the closet's looking these days.
- [94:13]
Kyle
You got a winter coat?
- [94:15]
Ceruti
Yeah, got myself a big puffy north face. Nice feathers are already coming out of it.
- [94:19]
Ryan Rosillo
Welcome home. Super excited. Are you going to stand outside of the barbershop and yell at kids? Have you found a place that you can go and just yell at kids and smoke cigarettes?
- [94:29]
Ceruti
It's all on the table. I think I'm zeroing in on one place. It's like a German sort of dive thing with good food called schatzis. I'm circling that. I think I'll be there.
- [94:39]
Kyle
Shotzis.
- [94:40]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. Right. But that would be the German spelling Yeah, yeah, right. Not like Z. Party time.
- [94:48]
Ceruti
Oh, I just realized how that sounds. Yeah, I just realized.
- [94:52]
Ryan Rosillo
No, no, S, C, H, A T.
- [94:54]
Ceruti
S. There is a Z in there though.
- [94:56]
Bruce Feldman
I don't know.
- [94:57]
Ceruti
Anyway.
- [94:58]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, but I, I think there was a spelling maybe, you know, again, some other people. All right, so you get the straight thing going. I bought a Carhartt zip up at Murdoch's Ranch Supply while I was in Montana and I was pumped about it. I couldn't believe. I was like, you know, you get these fancy Montclair as you get the Canada Goose, but honestly, like Carhartt insulated sleeves, can you do worse than that? You know car heart's weird though, right?
- [95:21]
Kyle
Because like I. It's also worn by like you know, the influencer wannabe people that look tough. So I don't buy. I stay away from Carhartt. Not because I don't like their stuff. I just feel like I don't belong in Carhartt, you know, that's not me.
- [95:33]
Ryan Rosillo
I feel like I'm grandfathered in forever because I actually had to wear it forever real for a time. And I wore that same outfit every day for months and months and months.
- [95:42]
Ceruti
Yeah, just walking around, you know, the, the sort of blue collar parts of towns. Like those guys aren't worried about, you know, Todd in LA wearing his beanie. They're like, no, I wear Carhartts and I get one every three years and then I wear the shit out of it. That's just what, that's how it is.
- [95:58]
Kyle
I do think it is funny. I saw this thing that like people are like buying like these vintage Carhartt, you know, like whatever, jackets for hundreds of dollars. And I was like, imagine like one, you know, got Bob who's been like.
- [96:08]
Ceruti
You know, in Pleasant Valley is like, oh my God, can I sell these?
- [96:10]
Kyle
Yeah.
- [96:11]
Bruce Feldman
He's like, is it better if there.
- [96:12]
Ceruti
Are burn holes in them?
- [96:12]
Ryan Rosillo
Hell yeah.
- [96:13]
Kyle
Yes. Actually, probably the guys like tougher and some like random guy in LA is.
- [96:17]
Ryan Rosillo
Just wearing this warning. Carhartt?
- [96:19]
Ceruti
Yeah, they're in Nordstrom, dude. You go in Nordstrom, they have a whole Carhartt section. Like they did a deal with them and it's just like this is different, man.
- [96:25]
Ryan Rosillo
I don't know. Those guys aren't using any of the scent boosters on those, on those overalls. My guy, welding stains are real. Yeah. My guide in Montana had the Carhartt seat covers and I gotta tell you.
- [96:41]
Kyle
Nice.
- [96:42]
Ryan Rosillo
I was jealous, bro.
- [96:43]
Ceruti
I was in the department store in town today, they got Carhartt like That, like, the outside jacket material. Brown stockings. If you're serious about it, has it gone too far?
- [96:56]
Ryan Rosillo
Maybe just like, flying out of here? Christmas stockings. Are we talking.
- [97:00]
Ceruti
Yeah, Christmas stockings. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Christmas stockings, but with, like, the. With that, like, brown canvas jacket material. She's like, they're flying out of here if you want to get. I'm like, no, I just think it's interesting.
- [97:10]
Ryan Rosillo
I was like.
- [97:10]
Ceruti
She's like, okay.
- [97:13]
Ryan Rosillo
We get a lot of T shirt ideas sent in, so.
- [97:15]
Frank Isola
Oh, good.
- [97:21]
Ryan Rosillo
The one you retweeted was funny. Yeah. I mean, honestly, some of you guys are incredible. Really creative, so hats off to you. All right, look. Hotel room for friend, sister. Do I need to buy a hotel room for my best friend's sister? 6 foot, 185, D3, all conference defensive back, some background. My best buddy. What's that?
- [97:45]
Kyle
No, I said, okay.
- [97:46]
Ryan Rosillo
Nice. Yeah, I mean, sir, you probably take the lead on.
- [97:48]
Ceruti
I was gonna make a coverage joke.
- [97:49]
Ryan Rosillo
That's good.
- [97:50]
Kyle
Shout out to D3. You know, background.
- [97:53]
Ryan Rosillo
My best buddy. Let's call him. Ben and I are very close. Both senior captains on the football team live together this summer. Families are close, et cetera. And sure, I'd do anything for him. His sister, we'll call her Liz, visits a few times a year. Her and I get along really well, and to be honest, she's a smoke show D1 athlete. Fast forward to this past weekend. Liz and the rest of her family are visiting for our senior day. And that night, the three of us headed off to the bars. As the night progressed, Ben noticed that Liz was getting pretty handsy with me, and I wasn't completely shot away. He pulled me aside, but as I began to apologize, he tells me he's fine with whatever's going on and that he trusts me. Later on in the night, Liz kissed me on the dance floor, but I made sure nothing else happened. Eventually, I made sure she got a ride back to her hotel, and then I went back to my place. Since then, Liz and I have been texting often, and she let me know she's coming to our game again this weekend, but without the rest of her family, coincidentally. Oh, shit. Ben and I's fraternity has a formal this weekend after our game. So after asking. There's a lot of details in this, buddy, so I'm just. No, this isn't some fucking local pod. But yeah, Purdue Weekly. So after asking Ben and I getting his full approval, I asked Liz to the dance. She, of course, said yes. I know I'm the man. But now my Question is, do I have to buy her a hotel room? Should I assume, assume Ben and her will figure it out, or do I have to have that awkward conversation with Ben about where his sister is going to sleep Saturday night? Thanks and love the show. Well, it sounds like you guys have. All right, look, you guys, we all have. We all have sisters, right? Yeah.
- [99:31]
Kyle
Yep.
- [99:33]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah. All right, who wants to go first?
- [99:37]
Ceruti
I was going to originally say when he, when he initially said that, like, you know, well, I'm okay with whatever's happening here. I was, I was gonna ask, like, what hour into happy hour were we, like, how far along did this? Cause some guys will say shit like, you know, you just made a whole business plan and like, you know, you're supposed to have a meeting at 10 o' clock the next day and no one remembers any of it. So I was initially asked, like, how.
- [100:00]
Ryan Rosillo
A lot of startups were, like a lot of startups that have not followed through. There's a certain time I remember the.
- [100:06]
Ceruti
First time I set up a bacon, egg and cheese truck in la. I'm like, dude, there's not one anywhere. And we never, never moved forward.
- [100:12]
Kyle
A lot of podcasts were starting.
- [100:13]
Ceruti
Now I'm not even there anymore.
- [100:14]
Ryan Rosillo
So left over, think about just the mental hours of preparation that once you have that truck and the ingredients and you're ready to go, how far ahead you are. Yeah, you've already done the work.
- [100:23]
Ceruti
I should have a folder somewhere by now. But then he said that he asked.
- [100:27]
Ryan Rosillo
My bacon, egg and cheese folder, did we lose this in the move?
- [100:32]
Ceruti
Right. Would it be. Would it be hard to adjust the prices from 2022 to 2026? I don't even know know.
- [100:38]
Ryan Rosillo
But then he said, you know, there's probably a food supply guy that can run some calculations for you.
- [100:42]
Ceruti
Yeah, sure. AI, all things are possible. But then he said that he asked his buddy if his sister could come to the formal, and then he knows that the family isn't involved. It sounds like this guy's already like, at least you're not a jerk. Or at least it's not like a random guy. I don't. I mean that I think there's certain kind of guys that have that ability to be like, well, could be worse. And some guys are just like, never ever, you know, friendship has to end over this. It sounds like you got a guy that's going to make this kind of easy on you. I don't know, what's your hotel funds like? Check on hotel tonight, see if there's any promo Codes. Maybe just get one for 150 bucks. But, you know, sounds like you guys are going to do what you're going to do. The hotel's almost like cover. Sounds like you guys are texting and there will, you know, there will be plans no matter what.
- [101:29]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah.
- [101:29]
Kyle
You know, I think the hotel is like the classy thing to do. Right. You know, keep it. Keep the.
- [101:34]
Ryan Rosillo
Keep your.
- [101:35]
Kyle
Your image, I guess, up there. Even though everyone knows you're not gonna. Mom and dad right now.
- [101:39]
Ceruti
Definitely.
- [101:40]
Kyle
I know, but I, you know, if you could swing it, I do think it is a nice gesture. I will say I'm with Kyle, like, if it's a. If it's a nice guy. And I. Again, you guys are buddies. So, like this. This is.
- [101:50]
Ryan Rosillo
This is.
- [101:51]
Kyle
This could be awesome for him. He's like, hey, man, I could potentially get, like, we can get a brother in law situation going here and then we could hang out for the rest of our lives. Maybe that's going through his mind. That'd be cool.
- [102:00]
Ryan Rosillo
At 21, but.
- [102:01]
Kyle
And it reminds me of, like, the Stefan. Well, you know, I don't know. Well, I will say a lot of people meet, like, their spouse later in college.
- [102:08]
Ceruti
Other things, smoke shows, you know, especially sisters. Usually they end up. They end up dating higher. He might have already been through some whole rigmarole with like a dude that's older than him hanging around the house or whatever. Mom's like, could you please talk to her? Like, it could have been a whole thing if she really is a D1 smoke show. And this is like, like, you know, he might have been through the gamut already a couple times. And he's like, dude, I'll take this. We could stop this ride right now. Like, maybe. Maybe that's.
- [102:31]
Ryan Rosillo
I don't know.
- [102:31]
Ceruti
Probably not. They're at different schools, but either way.
- [102:33]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah.
- [102:33]
Kyle
And honestly, like, it reminds me of like the, you know, the Stefan Diggs thing where like the famous video. If they're all asking him, like, who would you least want your, you know, all your teammates? And it's like no one thought about it second.
- [102:43]
Ceruti
Yes.
- [102:44]
Kyle
Which is hysterical because what is he at? He's, you know, he's. I think he's, you know, he's tied up right now with a lot of kids situation. One of them is Cardi B. This seems like the opposite of that. Like, I think you're. You got the approval from your. From your boy, which is like the most important thing. I mean, still be respectful. That's why I think you should still maybe if you could swing it, do the hotel room thing. Even though everybody kind of knows it's not real. But I think I kind of feel like you're in a great spot here. I wouldn't, I would, I would do all the classy routes, be kind and whatever. But I think you got an in here. You're good.
- [103:14]
Ryan Rosillo
Growing up having two younger sisters, like, I just thought immediately like you had to punch everyone in the face.
- [103:20]
Bruce Feldman
Yeah, I know.
- [103:21]
Ceruti
I had that embarrass her so many times.
- [103:23]
Kyle
My current brother in law, I didn't talk to for like years just because I thought I was. My dad's like too nice. So I was like, I got to be the hardo guy.
- [103:28]
Ceruti
You're bad cop, get around for 15 years. You lost three good years with your.
- [103:34]
Ryan Rosillo
Because your stupid friend.
- [103:36]
Bruce Feldman
Yeah.
- [103:36]
Ryan Rosillo
And I don't really understand why. I just think, you know, again you can realize like how I was thinking about this the other day, like if you're in an office and how, how it's weird if someone's old and impressionable. Right? If you're young and impressionable, like that makes sense. But like the older guy's seen so many people that are so full of shit and you're just like how this guy just doesn't even want. Like that guy's closing out on things that actually might be interesting and may make sense. But he's so determined to not be impressionable after all the things that he's heard his entire life. So for whatever reason, for me as being a little kid, like being impressionable, I thought like, oh, I have to be impressed. Older brother. And like if a guy likes my sister, not that I was like, I was fucking skin and bones. So it wasn't like anybody was going to be scared of me, but I just thought like, hey, this is what you're supposed to do. And then I remember, I think later on in high school, a friend of mine, his sister was dating this guy that was a bit of a stretch. It was like, why? What is she doing? She dating that guy? Like he's older, you know, I don't know. I think he had his license really early, but then didn't get through high school. Kind of one of those guys. And I was like, are you pissed? Like, are you and your brothers mad? And they were like, no. They're like, she wants to date somebody that we don't like. Like, she can date somebody. If I date someone that has a brother, my brother dates a girl that also had like, if we just went through life where Every brother was sitting there screaming at anybody that was ever dating her sister. Like, it doesn't make a lot of sense. So why would you sit there and get. And it was like, oh, wow, this is this epiphany. Like, it's on, folks. It's on. Where are the sisters? The other thing I've learned is that sisters are going to do whatever they want. She doesn't care about Ben at all. So, you know, you can do the hotel thing and pretend like this whole thing's not going to happen. I'd also offer up, like, at 21, 22, like, I don't know what your financial situation is, but for me to spend money on a hotel room that likely isn't going to be used to drop 200 bucks. I'm like, this is awful.
- [105:33]
Ceruti
Can have a nice dinner. Come on.
- [105:35]
Ryan Rosillo
Yeah, we already know what's going to happen here, so I don't know. You. You might be right, Kyle. Some brothers are wired this way very early on. Like, yeah, it's cool. Like, you want to hang out with my sister. You just want to hook up. Like, I don't care. Like, I don't care.
- [105:48]
Ceruti
Don't ever talk to me about it.
- [105:49]
Ryan Rosillo
Right. How about that full metal jacket? Remember that?
- [105:51]
Kyle
I don't know that I'd ever be that cool with it. Be like, yeah, do whatever you want.
- [105:54]
Ryan Rosillo
I wouldn't either. I wouldn't either. But those people do exist. But I know the sisters don't. Don't ever care about whatever the rules are. The sisters are going to do whatever they want. And I think you're kidding yourself. If you've already been texting, you've already invited her to this thing, like, you already know what you're going to do. So what, are you willing. What kind of tax are you willing to pay on this kind of transaction? Because you know what's not going to happen? The booze and the pheromones and the hotel room booked ahead of time. You're not going to be saying bond nuit, my lady. You know, text me when you get home. Yeah, you're not going to be doing that.
- [106:33]
Kyle
Could you use the hotel room together? You both go back to the hotel room. Is that a possibility?
- [106:37]
Ceruti
Yeah, that's what it comes back to, how the funds are. If the funds are low and we're scraping together money for wings, then maybe you're not gonna doing that.
- [106:46]
Ryan Rosillo
I thought he might mean, like, the hotel for you guys. Interpreted as that way. He's not bringing her back to the house that her brother Also lives in. I thought it meant like a safety valve of like, we'll go to the dance and this is nice, but you can go your separate way. And I'm telling you, there's no 22 year old. I don't. Even if I met that guy.
- [107:05]
Ceruti
Crazy.
- [107:06]
Ryan Rosillo
And he said that in his interview. I get a test there for some sort of psychological.
- [107:12]
Ceruti
Do you think it's better or worse?
- [107:14]
Ryan Rosillo
Can you tell me about a time in your life where you felt like you made a great decision and they'd run through this and I'd be like, we're done here.
- [107:20]
Ceruti
Yeah, we'll call you. Do you think it's. I think it's better. But do you think it's better or worse that she's blowing into town and then blowing out of town? If this was like a weekly thing and he, like, it's missing hangouts to go hang out with this guy's sister, that's way worse. It's probably better that she's just blown into town for a weekend and, you know, maybe everyone could forget about it if the brother needs to think about something else.
- [107:39]
Ryan Rosillo
Well, maybe he does want to date. But, like, you're right.
- [107:41]
Kyle
Sounds like he's all right.
- [107:42]
Ceruti
Yeah, it sounds, it does sound like he's all right.
- [107:45]
Kyle
So I, I, I can't, I think, as long as you're respectful. And I think the respectful thing to do is to give her that out. And then again, they're roommates.
- [107:51]
Ceruti
Thin walls. You know, those campus. Off campus.
- [107:54]
Kyle
Use the hotel room.
- [107:55]
Ceruti
Yeah. Usually aren't rock solid. So maybe. Yeah, maybe use the hotel room. Let's do a different one. I'm now becoming uncomfortable.
- [108:05]
Ryan Rosillo
Hello, friends. Maybe this is Jim Nance.
- [108:07]
Kyle
I was gonna say.
- [108:08]
Ryan Rosillo
Well, congrats on the new show. Hope all y' all are doing well. This could be Jim Nance. 27 years old. It's not Jim Nance. 5' 11, 181. Don't bench, so can't name stats, but I dropped from 240.
- [108:21]
Bruce Feldman
Wow.
- [108:21]
Ryan Rosillo
This guy dropped 60 pounds to where I am now. I've also gotten off a serious cocaine addiction. Oh, good for you. Yikes. All right. But good for you. We'll struggle with alcohol, though. This one's pretty serious. I didn't know that. I proofread this one, so let's see how this goes. I just. Again, some of the more serious ones, I, I think it's pretty clear the three of us are. Not necessarily.
- [108:42]
Ceruti
I could wrap my head around this one. Some of these I can't I can't wrap my head around.
- [108:45]
Ryan Rosillo
So yeah, why don't you keep going? All right, well give this one a shot here. Currently working as a forklift operator in a warehouse. All right. I get paid okay. Pro tip to the young men out there. If you're good at your job and you want to raise, threatening to quit usually does the job. I've made more of my life as a bartender and set deck designer, but I've had to take this job because I moved to Canada to help my music career. My French is not good enough to be a bartender here yet I'm an above amateur musician, great at live performance, have sold out 700 people venues, twice as a headliner in my hometown in B.C. but I lack the Spotify numbers is still figuring out how to work the studio. Well that part sounds really good.
- [109:24]
Ceruti
Just missed you.
- [109:25]
Ryan Rosillo
Sorry. My question to you is do you think it's a smarter move to continue the path I'm on right now or five days a week play music two make content, Lord help me and constantly work on the dream while not saving lots of money because all of my free time goes to the dream? Or should I go back home, study a trade and get more into a serious career, still work on the dream with all my heart and passion but not stress so much financially hopefully. I think an important thing to say here too is I've made serious money as a headlining musician before so it is a possible career for me. When I was doing music full time back home, I did the math and basically made about $30 an hour at a 9 to 5. Nothing to write home about but I didn't want to blow my brains out. Should I go full dream while semi crippling myself financially till 30 or should I go half dream finances and move back home? Go Nicks Too long. No good email. I mean, you know, it wasn't too long. He was worried about it being a little too long there.
- [110:19]
Kyle
I mean look, I thought it wasn't that serious either. Like I thought this was going to.
- [110:22]
Ryan Rosillo
Be like, I don't know, it ended up being pretty straightforward. But there was the added hey, good email. Not afraid there's a time.
- [110:32]
Ceruti
Yeah, full dream I think involves a lot of cocaine offers. I don't know how strong you are in the saying no business. If it was sort of like got to get my I don't know how you got off everything that you were on, but if you're struggling with alcohol and you used to be a cokehead.
- [110:48]
Kyle
I'm just going on tour. That's probably not.
- [110:51]
Ryan Rosillo
It.
- [110:51]
Ceruti
I'm just wondering how tough those guardrails are that you put up recently. Recently. How recent you put him up? He's 27. I mean, I don't know. I'd say he was probably at least 24 before he tried to make a change.
- [111:02]
Ryan Rosillo
Right. I think he understands all those things, though, I would imagine. Right? You know, I think so, too. That goes. That goes on saying, look, I'm a big, follow your dreams guy, but you have to. You kind of have to, like, take stock of what bothers you more. Like, for the longest time, not having money sucked, but I was like, I don't care.
- [111:21]
Kyle
Care.
- [111:22]
Ryan Rosillo
I just don't care. I don't care about any of these things. I only care about this thing. And I'm not even saying, like, that's the blueprint or that's what everybody else should do, because I don't even know that it was necessarily that happy. I wasn't that happy. I don't know that it was that healthy. It was fairly obsessive, but whatever. But there's a certain age where not having money, it starts to go like, hey, this is starting to suck now.
- [111:48]
Ceruti
Do you want to?
- [111:49]
Ryan Rosillo
Right? Do you want. Do you want to what? Like, you basically have to ask yourself, do I care so much more about feeling like I give the dream the full chance where I know if it doesn't work, at least I'll feel like I gave it that shot, you know, Because I think there's a lot of people that probably walk around going, you know, I never really gave it, like, the full commitment. And that's for a million different reasons. And the things around you that change in life, that impact what kind of decisions you're going to make, but it's. Is it going to bum you out more if you feel like you don't give it everything? Or is it going to bum you out more as you start to get closer to 30 without seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and feeling like, hey, I'm juggling all these jobs and I'm broke all the time. My support system around me isn't necessarily that great. Like, that. I can't answer for you. But that would be the thing that, like, some people are just okay. Like, hey, I don't care that my place sucks. I don't care that I'm not making any money. Like, at least there's a point of all of this. And if you can be okay with that, then none of those material things will matter. But as you age your priorities are going to start to change and you're starting looking around going, hey, you know, I want to be able to do some nice things for myself in the next five years. And it's kind of sucks that I've never been able to do it the last 10.
- [112:58]
Ceruti
Yeah. You know what? My brother just graduated college recently. My youngest brother.
- [113:02]
Ryan Rosillo
Congratulations.
- [113:03]
Ceruti
Yeah.
- [113:03]
Ryan Rosillo
Awesome.
- [113:04]
Ceruti
And he's been a little like that. Well, but watch the Pat's game with him tonight, actually. So he's, he's back home and he's been like a little reluctant to like take a job with that. You know, he thinks is like, you know, pretty low paying for a guy fresh out. And I'm like, man, you know, like, it's not giving up. Like, you could still like try to take over the world at night. You know, you could like, you could still. If you have a grand master plan. Yeah. You know, it's, it's fucking nine to five. I mean, you don't, if you're, if you don't even sleep like this kid. I'm like, man, you could just, you've got a whole another 12 hours if you, if you really want, like, I.
- [113:36]
Ryan Rosillo
Don'T know what's the sleep schedule right now?
- [113:38]
Ceruti
It's really terrible. It's really terrible.
- [113:39]
Ryan Rosillo
I'm gonna give, give us a sample.
- [113:41]
Ceruti
I mean, it's, sometimes he's up late sometimes, you know, sometimes he's, it's all day sleep. I don't know. He's got nowhere to be. So I, I, I guess I can't really fault him.
- [113:51]
Ryan Rosillo
Has he, has he started his day after 2 o'? Clock?
- [113:54]
Ceruti
I don't know. The light's always off in the room, even though sometimes he's there. I'm not really sure what his deal is, is, so. But I did, I got him out last Sunday and then we're gonna go watch the Pats tonight.
- [114:04]
Ryan Rosillo
Just a, a quick interjection on that. Can you imagine now that I realize like as. Can you imagine how horrifying it is to an adult when like the guy comes back from college and you sleep until 2 or 3, you're like, what happened to this human that we raised? And you're like starting your day going.
- [114:23]
Ceruti
Depending on the level of help they. I gave in college too. Yeah.
- [114:27]
Ryan Rosillo
You figure out like, what are you doing? I just need a bit of a downtime, sort of mental reset. So, you know, you guys just gonna like, just put the laundry over there. I'll get in when I get in. I'll use the back entrance like this is who I'm gonna be for a couple months. All right, So I. Serie. I feel like you've been left out on this one.
- [114:47]
Kyle
No, no, I. My. My thing was yours. Ryan was like, you kind of can't half ass these things, right? Especially, like, is his goal, like, his goal was to like pop on Spotify and then like, become. That's gonna be his whole thing.
- [115:02]
Frank Isola
Can you do.
- [115:03]
Ceruti
Wonder what the forklift buddies would be like if he's like. To be honest, I wonder how those dudes down at the. At the warehouse would respond if they're like, dude, have you followed Scott on Instagram?
- [115:13]
Kyle
Do you see all this he's doing?
- [115:15]
Ceruti
That would probably be tough to go balls to the wall while working with warehouse dudes.
- [115:19]
Kyle
I know. What kind of music is it? I wonder what would be that. Like, if it's, you know, he's doing like some sort of like weird Euro pop thing, it's probably like, what's this guy doing? But, you know, if he's. Maybe he's got a metal situation. That'd be cool. Maybe it's a little different.
- [115:29]
Ryan Rosillo
I don't know.
- [115:31]
Ceruti
Or an acoustic.
- [115:32]
Ryan Rosillo
Just, you know. Yeah. Do we need a sample? Like, do we need. Yeah, I'd love to go.
- [115:37]
Bruce Feldman
Actually.
- [115:38]
Ryan Rosillo
That's a good idea.
- [115:39]
Kyle
We should be.
- [115:39]
Ceruti
This would have been your chance.
- [115:41]
Kyle
Do you actually have a shot or should you just retire to the forklift now?
- [115:44]
Ryan Rosillo
But British Columbia idol, just three Americans, thumbs up, thumbs down, turns a table. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, just. I'm so sick of English people judging us. Although this is British Columbia. And so he's in another part. Why don't you send it? You know, Come on, send us a.
- [116:05]
Kyle
Maybe.
- [116:05]
Ryan Rosillo
Maybe we can get. How about we could do this? How about we could do this?
- [116:08]
Kyle
This.
- [116:09]
Ryan Rosillo
Send us the link to your music. We'll share.
- [116:13]
Kyle
Look at this. Let's play it on the pod and react to it.
- [116:15]
Ryan Rosillo
Well, we can't do that because then you can sue us.
- [116:18]
Kyle
Well, no, we get his.
- [116:19]
Ryan Rosillo
Don't worry about it. Do it. Yeah, but then there's like paperwork and stuff. Like when my brother was trying to do some of the music stuff at espn, this one manager, who again, is one of the most annoying human beings of all time, he just couldn't help, like, hey, you didn't do your paperwork yet for your brother. I was like, hey, it's my brother. He's not going to sue. Sue Disney. Like, he's not going to sue Disney. It's going to be all right. It was like, no, we can't keep running it. Whatever. I was like, do you have nothing to do?
- [116:42]
Kyle
Yeah, it's.
- [116:43]
Ryan Rosillo
You have nothing to do this week, do you? So anyway, all right, rant over. Why don't you send us a link to some of the music, and then we'll post it maybe on threads. Maybe we'll post it on threads because Twitter's pretty chill about a lot of different things. Or maybe we'll listen to it, follow the show. Yeah, yeah, there you go. So just send us just email back. Like, respond to this email here. Let us listen to it. I mean, what I don't want to do is if we don't like it, be like, hey, man, like, see if you can be head of forklifts. I don't think I ever said. I'd never say that to anybody.
- [117:17]
Ceruti
What Steve said, it's like, just retired of the forklift.
- [117:21]
Ryan Rosillo
I would never say that to anybody. I mean, look. I mean, it would have to be. It'd have to be like that kid that sort of talks that somehow ended up on tiny desks. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, that one's a tough watch, but.
- [117:32]
Ceruti
I watch it every time it pops.
- [117:34]
Ryan Rosillo
I watch it every time. I hate it so much. I'm fascinated by his confidence to actually do live concerts.
- [117:40]
Ceruti
Those four guys with it were, like.
- [117:41]
Ryan Rosillo
Gassing them up, too, so Covid was a tough time. People were making some decisions back then, like, what the. Anyway, all right, that'll do it for the show. I think we made the point. Surudy, you seem bummed out.
- [117:56]
Kyle
No, I don't know who this talk tiny desk guy is. I'm Googling this right now.
- [118:00]
Ceruti
I'll send it to you. It'll be funny.
- [118:02]
Ryan Rosillo
It'll be real funny. It's the worst piece of art in 20 years. Looking forward to it. But again, that guy looks in the mirror and sees something. So who are we to tell him he doesn't see anything? That part I admire. Once he's doing the thing, not as excited. All right, that'll do for the show. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Ceruti. Please subscribe. Get the word out. The Ryan Rossillo show on Apple and on Spotify, part of the barstool network. SA.