Transfer Portal vs the CFP, SMU Head Coach Rhett Lashlee Joins, Expectations for Bill Belichick & Playoff Picks

Summary

The Triple Option Podcast Episode Summary
Title: Transfer Portal vs the CFP, SMU Head Coach Rhett Lashlee Joins, Expectations for Bill Belichick & Playoff Picks
Release Date: December 18, 2024
Hosts: Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, Rob Stone

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1. Introduction to the Episode's Main Topics

In this episode of The Triple Option, hosts Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, and Rob Stone delve into the tumultuous landscape of college football, focusing on the burgeoning impact of the transfer portal juxtaposed against the College Football Playoff (CFP) system. Additionally, the episode features an insightful conversation with SMU Head Coach Rhett Lashlee, examines expectations for legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick's venture into college football, and provides playoff game predictions.

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2. The Transfer Portal Impact: The Penn State Case

Timestamp: [00:58] - [05:59]

The discussion kicks off with a heated analysis of Penn State's current predicament as their second quarterback, Bo Prabula, enters the transfer portal amid the team's first-ever home college football playoff game against SMU. Mark Ingram expresses frustration over Penn State's situation, highlighting how Prabula's departure threatens the team's depth and playoff aspirations.

Notable Quotes:

• Mark Ingram [00:00]: "I hope Penn State just dog walks SMU for them not winning the ACC."
• Mark Ingram [02:47]: "Bo Prabula is a highly ranked talent...it's insane."

Urban Meyer empathizes with the heartbreak of losing a talented player at a crucial time, stressing the emotional and strategic ramifications for Penn State.

Urban Meyer [03:14]: "I almost fell out when I saw that. This kid's a hell of a player, man."

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3. Broader Implications of the Transfer Portal on College Football

Timestamp: [05:52] - [14:31]

The hosts expand the conversation to the systemic issues posed by the transfer portal, critiquing its timing and the lack of control it exerts over both players and coaches. They argue that the current window disrupts team cohesion during the most pivotal moments of the season, forcing players like Prabula to make career-altering decisions under duress.

Notable Quotes:

• Mark Ingram [05:52]: "It's in the middle of the playoffs."
• Rob Stone [10:07]: "Extremely frustrating...every year you have to rebuild that."

Urban Meyer laments the erosion of traditional program building, emphasizing the loss of culture, character, and accountability in favor of transient team compositions.

Urban Meyer [11:02]: "When you are consistently transitioning players, you simply try to put the best group of players you can out there."

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4. Interview with SMU Head Coach Rhett Lashlee

Timestamp: [27:20] - [37:32]

SMU Head Coach Rhett Lashlee joins the discussion to provide a firsthand account of his team's journey to the playoffs. Lashlee outlines SMU's strategic focus on defensive strength and physical play, which have been pivotal in their remarkable season. He shares insights on maintaining team morale and motivation following a loss in the ACC Championship, emphasizing routine and resilience as key factors in preparing for their upcoming playoff game against Penn State.

Notable Quotes:

• Rhett Lashlee [30:31]: "We went about it one week at a time."
• Rhett Lashlee [34:25]: "Our guys have already done that to some degree...That's awesome for our program."

Lashlee also discusses the challenges of sustaining momentum post-playoffs and the importance of recruiting and donor support in fostering SMU's growth on the national stage.

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5. Heisman Weekend and Coach/Player Insights

Timestamp: [19:26] - [24:16]

The hosts reminisce about the Heisman Trophy ceremony, sharing personal anecdotes and highlighting notable performances. Mark Ingram recounts his participation and interactions with past Heisman winners, underscoring the sense of fraternity and achievement within the college football community.

Notable Quotes:

• Mark Ingram [19:50]: "Travis Hunter is deserving... as a shutdown corner on defense, his ball skills... he's the best player in college football."
• Urban Meyer [21:25]: "You have to keep remembering this is about players and the collegiate experience."

Urban Meyer advocates for greater inclusion of top players in award ceremonies, emphasizing the importance of recognizing athletic excellence and camaraderie.

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6. Defining Moments: Coaching Contracts and Extensions

Timestamp: [37:02] - [42:27]

The conversation shifts to the significance of coaching stability, spotlighting Marcus Freeman's four-year extension with Notre Dame as a defining moment. The hosts discuss the broader trend of early contract extensions in college football, debating their benefits and potential pitfalls.

Notable Quotes:

• Urban Meyer [39:40]: "I got a lot of respect for Coach Freeman, and well done, man."
• Mark Ingram [41:21]: "If you have a guy that you believe in and you're the AD, you have to give him his reward."

The hosts express concern over coaches being locked into hefty contracts based on single-season performances, which can lead to financial strain and program instability if subsequent seasons falter.

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7. Playoff Game Predictions

Timestamp: [48:40] - [61:52]

As the episode progresses, the hosts engage in lively debate over upcoming playoff matchups. They analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each team, considering factors like player performance, coaching strategies, and environmental conditions.

Notable Quotes:

• Mark Ingram [49:19]: "I think Indiana wins, but I think it's a tight game."
• Urban Meyer [50:10]: "I think Ohio State's got the best defense in the country."

The trio makes predictions for four key playoff games:

1. Notre Dame vs. Indiana:

   • Mark Ingram: Prefers Notre Dame but anticipates a tight contest.
   • Rob Stone: Predicts Indiana could upset Notre Dame.

2. Penn State vs. SMU:

   • Mark Ingram: Strongly favors Penn State, citing their superior quarterback depth and defensive prowess.
   • Urban Meyer: Confident Penn State will cover the spread with defensive dominance.

3. Texas vs. Clemson:

   • Urban Meyer: Expects Texas to cover and win by a substantial margin.
   • Mark Ingram: Agrees with Texas's potential, highlighting their defense and quarterback health.

4. Ohio State vs. Tennessee:

   • Mark Ingram: Supports Ohio State but notes Tennessee's defensive strength.
   • Urban Meyer: Predicts a low-scoring game with Ohio State's superior defense leading to a narrow victory.

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8. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Wrapping up the episode, the hosts reflect on the evolving state of college football. They acknowledge the challenges posed by the transfer portal and NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) policies but remain optimistic about the sport's future. Emphasizing the importance of maintaining tradition and program integrity, they advocate for reforms to better balance player mobility with team stability.

Final Remarks:

• Rob Stone: "College football has made college football better as a whole...we still have some warts we need to figure out."
• Mark Ingram: "If you have a guy that you believe in and you trust in, then you should give him his reward."

The episode concludes with encouragement for listeners to stay engaged with the playoffs and support their favorite teams, underscoring the enduring passion and community spirit that defines college football.

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Key Takeaways:

• The transfer portal presents significant challenges to team stability and program building, exemplified by Penn State's quarterback situation.
• SMU's strategic focus on defense and physical play has propelled them into the playoffs, showcasing resilience and effective coaching.
• Coaching contracts and extensions play a critical role in maintaining program continuity but require careful consideration to avoid financial and operational pitfalls.
• Playoff predictions highlight the complexity and competitiveness of current college football, with varying opinions on game outcomes based on team dynamics and external factors.

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For more insights and updates, follow The Triple Option on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook at @3XOptionShow. New episodes drop every Wednesday on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other major platforms.

Transcript

[Mark Ingram]

I hope Penn State just dog walks SMU for them not winning the acc. If they just would have won the ACC championship, we all would have been happy. But now I'm pissed.

[Rob Stone]

Did you say dog walk them?

[Mark Ingram]

Dog walk. Foot and arse.

[Rob Stone]

Bump, bump, dun, dun, dun. Welcome to the triple option presented by Wendy's. Try Wendy's new saucy Nuggets. Today, SMU head coach Rhett Lashley is going to join us. We talk Heisman, we talk playoffs, we talk Bill Belichick and so much more. Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram, Rob Stone, back here with you. Thanks for joining us. Remember to rate subscribe over at Apple Podcasts, Spotify wherever you find your podcast and you can find us on social media 3x option show new episodes coming your way every Wednesday. Here we are, it's December, right? And we should be talking Nothing but the first edition of the 12 team college football playoffs. But.

[Mark Ingram]

But instead we're talking about Coach's 20th background.

[Rob Stone]

No, we're not talking about his Christmas tree over there. He is in a very festive. It's like Festivus over there.

[Urban Meyer]

It took me a long time to put that together.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mark Ingram]

Got the Dolphins helmet right there. Look at you, coach, a Dolphins fan. Look at him. Wendy's.

[Rob Stone]

Somebody snuck that in on you, man. Where in the world is coach this week? We'll get to that one later. So we should be talking playoffs and we are going to be talking playoffs. But instead the crazy conversation dominating college football this week, nil. And the transfer portal hijacking college football right now. And I think there's so many angles to it. But let's start with setting the stage with what's going on at Penn State right now, right? On Saturday, the six seed Nittany Lions first ever home college football playoff game. They host smu. Their head coach Rhett Lashley is going to join us momentarily. But instead Penn State is now doesn't have their number two quarterback and their number two quarterback's a guy who really contributes with the team. Bo Prabula entered the transfer portal. He will not participate in the college football playoff game. He's fourth on the team with nine total touchdowns behind Drew Aller, Tyler Warren, Nick Singleton, he didn't want to do it. He had to do it because the transfer portal is open right now. Oh, by the way, the current starter Drew Aller announced on Monday that he is going to return to Penn State for another season. So Beau Praboula is a highly ranked talent. Says I clearly am not going to be probably the starter next year. So I got to enter the transfer portal and now I got to sign off because the portal is open while my team coach is sitting and preparing for a college football playoff game, chance to be a national champ, and Bo Peer Bula is leaving the program right at this moment. It's insane.

[Urban Meyer]

I almost fell out when I saw that. This kid's a hell of a player, man.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes, he's a real deal.

[Urban Meyer]

And from every. I don't know him, but I heard Coach Franklin talk about him. We covered their games. They say he's always wanted to be a Nittany Lion. I mean, this guy's a good player. And this broke my heart. What I can't imagine. Mark, you're a player and I'm a coach, obviously. What your heart. You imagine if Drew Aller goes down? Bingo.

[Rob Stone]

Bingo. Now you're on your third string quarterback.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, that and a number two guy.

[Urban Meyer]

Who was for real. And people want to throw him under the bus. I'm not doing that at all. I don't know the whole. I know the, the, the. The portal opens. I think this is important. On December 9th it opened and on December 28th it closes. Right, Rob?

[Rob Stone]

That's the first. Another one in April.

[Urban Meyer]

Right, Right. So that means that this player has got to start looking into other schools. If Penn State. I wish he would have waited one more game. You know, once again, I don't. I don't understand all this, but if.

[Rob Stone]

He waits another game, maybe that opportunity for another program no longer exists because people are snapping up quarterbacks.

[Urban Meyer]

I'm sick because to see a player walk out and to leave a team as they're ready to do something possibly historic. Penn State's got the best path to make a run at this thing. They play smu, they play Boise. They'll be favored in both games, obviously. And God forbid Drew Aller grabs an ankle and you look and you. I don't know. Their third string quarterback is. I don't know. Maybe they got a Cardell Jones like we had hanging around back there. Probably not. So I'm heartbroken. There, there. Of all the good things going on this year about the playoff, about the. Just the quality of product on the field, actually some parody, all this and then all of a sudden that. I don't know. Mark.

[Mark Ingram]

Coach, this right here is an outlier because most of the players are leaving because they don't want to be a part of it. They want to leave. Coach Franklin said, we got problems in college football. I can give you my word. Bo Peula did not want to leave our program. He did not want to leave our program until the end of the season. Both should not be put in his position. And that is a failure for just the. The scheduling. Right. Like this kid, obviously he has the right to want to do what's best for his future. And he's in a position right now where his team is going on to possibly play for a national championship, they're in a college football playoff, but he's thinking about his future at the same time. So I'm not mad at him for considering his future, but with this schedule, he has to decide right now if he's going to leave or not. Because like you said Stoner, if he waits another week and waits another two weeks, the position that was probably for him might not be there because somebody else might go there. So it's just, this whole thing is. Just needs to be like, re evaluated and redone because the window is during the most important time of the college football season, which is the playoffs. And then it closes and then it reopens. It's just crazy right now. Like the, you know, the rules. Yeah. The timing.

[Rob Stone]

The timing is absolutely awful. And I think you'd have to be.

[Mark Ingram]

It's in the middle of the playoffs.

[Rob Stone]

Recognize it.

[Mark Ingram]

It's in the middle of the play.

[Rob Stone]

These young student athletes have to make this decision right now. And why, Coach, is because education, which. Oh, by the way, is why most people go to colleges.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah. And I grew up in a family and I also worked at Ohio State under Woody Hayes and Earl. Not Underwood Hayes, but Earl Bruce. But where education is everything. You never hear a word about that anymore. It's all about how much is the. What's the number? And so I think for the viewer and listener, is that the big reason why this window is everybody would say, just move it back. You can't because you're starting classes. Most people start class in the, you know, the 8th to the 15th of January. Yep. And I mean, when you're starting class, you have to be admitted, you have to be in and you got to be going. And maybe it's all players taking online classes. And once again, this is a world that. It wasn't that way when I was there. But, you know, it's. It's a mess. It's a. And mar. How about. Marshall is out.

[Mark Ingram]

They don't have enough players. They don't have enough players to play in their bowl game. Your coach takes the head coaching job at. At Southern Miss. He's probably bringing half the program. The Other half of the program is leaving. They withdraw out of their bowl game after a successful season where they won their division, and now they. They can't play because they don't have enough players to field a team in the bowl game.

[Rob Stone]

Like an army. An army sitting there. They should be rewarded as well. And now it's Louisiana Tech. God bless Louisiana Tech. Right. Being a local team, you know, close enough to the Shreveport area and stepping in and rallying the. Like, they're doing the right thing.

[Urban Meyer]

Right.

[Rob Stone]

Like, that's what college football is about. You need. You need me to play a game. When and where? We'll figure it out. Our season was done. Now it's back together. I think that's awesome. They need to readdress this schedule. I think we all realize that. And I really hope and pray that the people, the decision makers in college football understand that and respect it. Even if they can move it back a couple weeks to at least let teams get through this first round. Right. At least.

[Mark Ingram]

Right. We're talking about the players. But now a coach as well. You're trying to rebuild you.

[Rhett Lashley]

You.

[Mark Ingram]

You're in the most important time of the season right now in college football, CEO. But you can't even evaluate players in the portal or recruit like, you know what I mean? Because you're focusing on trying to win a game here on Saturday with the biggest game of the season.

[Rob Stone]

Current team.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes.

[Rob Stone]

Let.

[Mark Ingram]

Ed.

[Urban Meyer]

I can't. I can't wait to see how many coaches leave the profession when they move the recruiting window to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Because that's all you got. That's all you got.

[Mark Ingram]

Coach Bo Prula is leaving.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah. I love that player, man.

[Mark Ingram]

He's a great player.

[Urban Meyer]

I love that player.

[Mark Ingram]

I mean, he has a package. Even when Drew Aller was healthy.

[Rob Stone]

You know what's interesting? There's a couple things that interest me on this one, Mark. And. And we do hear stories about guys jumping in the transfer portal or maybe accepting another place and they stay with their program.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

And I'm like, oh, that's better. Right? That's more palatable for me at least. But guess what if you get injured in that game now, now, what are. What is your value and your worth to your quote unquote, new portal?

[Mark Ingram]

And then.

[Rob Stone]

And then here's another thing. What if Drew Aller, who again we mentioned on Monday, says, I'm coming back to Penn State. What if Drew Aller, who's got the. He's got the prototype, right. He's got the measurables that The NFL is looking at and he's improved every single year. What if Drew Aller absolutely balls in December and January and his NFL stock starts going up like this? No one's saying that. He can't say, you know what, I'm going to the draft, I'm declaring, I'm declaring, I'm going. And now all of a sudden James Franklin and his staff are saying, whoa.

[Mark Ingram]

We don't have a quarterback.

[Rob Stone]

We just lost one and two. Yeah, one and neither one we were really prepared to lose.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, well, you got to go win one with a third string quarterback, man.

[Rob Stone]

Well, I. Not many years.

[Mark Ingram]

That would be next year.

[Rob Stone]

So. So we got this mess with the transfer portal, right. We all realize it, we all recognize it. Nil. Nil is certainly lurking out there. Tim Beck. Tim Beck, the head coach at Coastal Carolina gave us, gave us a doozy of a soundbite.

[Tim Beck]

Extremely frustrating. One of the things that's changing in the landscape of college football, you're not building a program anymore. This isn't a program. Each year you just build a team. You try to find the best team that you can put out there every year and you know the team's going to get hit by, quote, free agency, right. The portal and transfers and things. So the best, you know, you try to go out there and find the guys that you can get and bring and bring them and be a part of your football team and try to maintain as much culture as you can. When every year you have to rebuild that. You've got to identify and evaluate their strengths, their weaknesses. You have to teach them a new scheme on offense and defense per se every year because there's new guys coming in and, and we have to learn them every year. How do they perform in pressure situations. You know, all of that.

[Urban Meyer]

You know, he's from Youngstown, Ohio and he, I hired him on my staff, was the offense coordinator, Nebraska. I hired him at Ohio State and he's all about the right stuff. I, I love this guy. Great coach. And I actually texted him after I saw that, what he said. And I won't repeat. I'm looking at it right now. I won't repeat what he said. It wasn't, you know, as you can imagine, he said, you know, I won't say what he said, but that's a shame. I mean, that's that. But I. It's a reality. When you are consistently transitioning players, you simply try to put the best group of players you can out there. Understand, they're probably gone. It is what it is. And I'm not a fan of it.

[Mark Ingram]

You know, because essentially you're not building a program anymore. Like you said, you know that you're putting the best possible product you could put out for a football season, four or five months. And then, you know your program is going to get hit by free agency, which is crazy, because in college, there was no free agency. Now free agency is open. Your team can leave, they can put, like, your players can leave. You can get players from other places. So. And building a program was so important to me because that's culture, right? That's like, kind of what helps you grow as a man. It builds character. It's accountability. It's all these things, you know, family, like, going to work with your people. And, like, you lose all of that when you don't have a program. It's just all about me and what do I need to do.

[Urban Meyer]

And I think, Mark, this is really interesting, is that everybody talks about the Alabama, the Ohio State, then there are transfers and all that. However, let's not Forget the other 100 or, you know, about 100, other 90 schools in the country that, like Coach Beck, that you develop a player, he leaves, he's gone. He leaves, he's gone. And I've talked to many colleagues, and they just understand that I know the coach at Bowling Green. I know all a lot of these coaches, and the reality is they developed this player, and they know in their mind he's gone. And so that's just. I don't. I don't know what the answer is, but I know what the answer is going to continue as is that that genie's out of the bottle. That's not changing.

[Rob Stone]

College football has become a temp agency, right? It's. You come to the agency with your resume, and I'm looking for work, and college football is going to try to place you somewhere. And it may be.

[Urban Meyer]

Throw that number out there, Rob.

[Rob Stone]

It may be for two months. Oh, the number of people in the portal is absolutely insane. The first week of the portal being Open right now, 1500 FBS scholarship players and almost 2000 total players. That's like 500 dudes who aren't even on scholarship are in the Portal. That's since December 9th. A little context. The total number of FBS players who transferred in the 2018-19 season in the first era, the first year of the portal era. So a whole year was 1561. So one week, we're getting almost 2000. Compared to one year, it was 1500. That's your saucy nug of the week.

[Urban Meyer]

Saucy nug.

[Rob Stone]

Try some at your nearest Wendy's. We love saucy nugs. I'm not a big fan of some of those stats. Man, that is a tough one. Tough pill. Let's hope in the off 2000 players it gets attacked and it's counting. And coach, GMs and head coaches out there are. Are dealing with. Are kind of dealing with one set of questions right now that are coming their way and how they have to handle their communication with their players. Right now is a brave new world, and it's an awful world.

[Mark Ingram]

What that check looking like.

[Urban Meyer]

How about this, Mark?

[Mark Ingram]

I spoke to coach.

[Urban Meyer]

I spoke to a GM at one of the top top schools in the country. They had to put out a memo and a text and say, quit coming to my office, agents, players, third uncles and asking for money. We have a game coming up. We have a game coming up. Put this on hold. Let's try to. We have a really good team. We're going to play. Let's try to block, tackle, learn the scheme, go in the game, and then we'll have conversations about. Because it was in. He was inundated for 10, 12 hours a day of nothing else other than that.

[Rob Stone]

Not just a game. A playoff game. A chance to win the national title. And this is what people are having to deal with behind the scenes. College football created it. Let's see if college football can clean it up, light it. All right. It wouldn't be the triple option without a saucy nug. Guys, you've had saucy nugs from Wendy's dipped in sauce. But have you had them covered in sauce? Yes, and yes. And we know your daughter multiple times. We know your daughter and grandkids. Yeah, yeah. They've been sucking those down. Wendy's new Saucy Nugs takes the crispy and spicy nugs you love. They turn them up to 11, which is higher than 10. As Mark pointed out to me earlier, you can choose between flavors, like buffalo, honey barbecue, garlic palm, or if you're a real heat seeker, spicy ghost pepper.

[Mark Ingram]

Spicy ghost pepper.

[Rob Stone]

Spicy ghost pepper.

[Mark Ingram]

They could keep that one.

[Urban Meyer]

You're going to water your eyes like last time.

[Mark Ingram]

I'm going. I'm going. Honey barbecue, ghost garlic parm.

[Rob Stone]

Buffalo.

[Mark Ingram]

Buffalo.

[Rob Stone]

Yep.

[Mark Ingram]

With a large fry and a small frosty.

[Rob Stone]

So if you're the heat seeker. Again, the spicy ghost pepper, only on Wendy's signature spicy nugs. I dare you. I dare you. I dare you. Maybe today. That's seven delicious ways to try the nugs that you already love. Pick a flavor, grab some extra napkins and prepare to nug like you've never nugged before. Before. For a whole new way to nug, it's gotta be Wendy's at participating Us Wendy's. Well, gu, it is finally here. The day we've all been waiting for. Army Navy Game presented by our good friends, our partner at USAA. And this year marks we talked about the 125th meeting of army and Navy and both will be battling for the win and a chance to sing second. I'm still. I'm still incorporated.

[Urban Meyer]

Oh, you're gonna CEO wants me to take a picture.

[Rob Stone]

Oh, he wants a picture. Go ahead, take your picture.

[Urban Meyer]

Hey, our boss wants me to take a. Chris, you're not the boss right now.

[Rob Stone]

We have so many bosses, so many bosses here. As the proud presenter, US AA knows this game is so much more than football. It's a time for the country, as we mentioned, to come together and recognize the commitment, the teamwork and the sacrifice our service members make for our country. And they do it on a daily basis. So founded by a group of military members over 100 years ago, USA remains dedicated to serving the military community and their families with a wide range of financial products and services. Because they know you can't always guess the next play, but you can be ready for it. So whether you're rooting for the Army Black Knights who Mark thinks is the favorite, or the Navy midshipman who Urban says don't go sleeping on USAA is proud to join you in honoring and celebrating one of the greatest rivalries in all of College Football. Visit USA.com to learn more. Drinking and Driving by the way, an amazing coach, drinking and driving is a decision that will change your whole world. Things will never be the same once you get a DUI because legal fees and time in court are just the beginning. Getting into a crash is another way your world could be irrevocably and irreversibly changed. After drinking and driving, your vehicle may not be the only thing that gets damaged in that crash. You could face a life altering injury or even death. But you're not the only one who could face those consequences. Your decision to drink and drive could permanently change someone else's world, whether you injure them or leave their loved ones grieving. So the next time you're out drinking, please call a ride, share a taxi, a sober friend, or a designated sober driver. The only decision that will change your world for the better is the decision to call for a Sober. Ride, drive sober or get pulled over. So important during this holiday season, paid for by nhtsa. College football still gets a ton of things right. Right. It's still our favorite sport. We love and adore this sport and everything that it has. And one of its greatest moments takes place on a certain Saturday in December in New York City. The Heisman Trophy handed out on Saturday. You were there, Mark. I had my camera phone when I was at work. I was like, where's my Mark Ingram? Where is it? What did you do when that camera found you?

[Mark Ingram]

Hit the pose. You hit it. It's only right.

[Rob Stone]

And you have a vote. I have a vote. Coach somehow does not have a vote for the Heisman truck.

[Mark Ingram]

That's crazy.

[Rob Stone]

We got some of the people that.

[Mark Ingram]

Do have votes for coach. Not to have one is insanity.

[Rob Stone]

Insanity. Did you voted for Travis number one, did you?

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, man, I did. I voted the winner.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, yeah, I voted the winner, man. And I had Genti at number two.

[Mark Ingram]

Listen, Genty was. Is worthy of that award.

[Rob Stone]

Correct?

[Mark Ingram]

And he wins that award. If there isn't a. If there isn't a Travis Hunter. Travis Hunter. You talk about the meaningful snaps that he has played on both sides of football. They say, oh, popularity contest. No go watch this kid play football. His instincts as the shutdown corner on defense, his ball skills, high point the ball, acrobatic catches route, running on offense. Like, he's easily a top corner. He's. He's the. He's the top corner in college football right now. And easily he's a Belindikov winner too. So he's the top wide receiver in college football as well. Like, how do you not give this man the trophy? He's the best player in college football. And testament to Ashton Jensey because this was the closest race in Heisman history other than my race when I won about 28 votes. So it tells you Ashton Genti is worthy and is. Is worthy and deserving of this award. And if there wasn't a Travis Hunter, Ashton Genti would have won. Ran away with this thing with flying colors. But shout out to Travis Hunter, man. He's deserving. All the thing he's been through, the adversity he's been over to overcome, and it's just a beginning for him. I hope he goes out and he has an amazing future in the NFL. And same with Genti and same with everyone else that was up there at the Heisman presentation, man, it was a great evening and I'm, I'm so, so proud and blessed to Be a part of that fraternity.

[Urban Meyer]

One thing I wish they do and I. Back when I was coaching, I said this, no one listened, obviously. But they should invite the top eight players and make it a nice weekend for, you know, you got Scatter.

[Rob Stone]

Boo.

[Urban Meyer]

You had the quarterback at Army. Those guys should have, you know. You know, they should have been there and shadow. This, this. This is. And Shador.

[Mark Ingram]

Shador Sanders.

[Urban Meyer]

We got to keep. Remember. We got to keep remembering. This is about players.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Urban Meyer]

And the. In the collegiate experience. So. I get so pissed off sometimes and I. Well, we got this budget. No, no. You got a chance to go to the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Something will change your life. Invite more players. Yeah, I get so pissed off because I've had a few players should have been there and they weren't. And I don't get it.

[Mark Ingram]

Sometimes they do three, sometimes they do four, sometimes they do five.

[Urban Meyer]

No, they invite the top eight players, man. I mean, suck it up and you'll get a sponsor.

[Mark Ingram]

Sometimes the bottom. Sometimes the bottom three don't need to go, though. You know, they ain't going to have a chance.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, let him get a trip to New York City. Let him. Let him hang out, enjoy the sights during the holiday season.

[Mark Ingram]

Messing with my family's budget now, right?

[Rob Stone]

Hey, give me. Mark, give me one quick story from the Heisman weekend in New York this weekend. Yes. Your. Your. Yes, this Saturday, man.

[Mark Ingram]

It's just so much fun, man. I, we was all together, Army, Navy. I took the train up to New York. I land, I get in the cab, I go to the Marriott Marquis, man, and I'm in the suite, man, and I'm hanging out with Eddie George, I'm hanging out with Troy Smith. I'm hanging out with Archie Griffin. Like, I'm hanging out with George Rogers, man. And just the stories, man, the laughter, like the, the knowledge, the wisdom that gets passed on from guys to guys, man. It's just truly a blessing, man. And you, Then you go, you see Doug Flutie, you're seeing Tim tebow. I'm with RG3, I'm with Cam Newton. Like, we're just all having a great time, man. It's just a blessing, man, just to be around good people and people that have accomplished special. Something special. And like, there's only a small amount of us, so we all can relate and just bounce ideas and thoughts and just check on each other, meet each other's families. It's just a, It's a blessing, man. The whole, the whole weekend. It's. It's a Big weekend. I was only able to be there for maybe 12 hours, maybe because I had to leave and come to my daughter's soccer tournament. But, man, I love it. Every time I get to go up there, they do something Friday, they do the ceremony Saturday, they do brunch on Sunday. So I missed a lot of that stuff because I was with y'all, the Army, Navy. Then I left early to come to my. My daughter's soccer tournament. But just an amazing group of guys, man. I'm blessed to be a part of it.

[Rob Stone]

What a cool fraternity to be a part of. And. And I said it last week. I'm gonna say it again. I get. I get so happy and so proud of you. Every time I look at this shot right now and I see what's hanging out over your shoulder. And there is Mr. Heisman. Not. Not in the. Not in the closet, like at the Leinert household.

[Mark Ingram]

Right, right.

[Rob Stone]

It's front.

[Mark Ingram]

Mom Dukes had it. She took care of it, man. She took care of it, man.

[Rob Stone]

Polish that sucker.

[Mark Ingram]

They told me, they said that every Heisman is one of a kind. Like there's little small differences in it.

[Rob Stone]

I'm like, I love it, man.

[Mark Ingram]

They all look the same to me, but.

[Rob Stone]

Well, congratulations, Travis Hunter, well deserved on winning the Heisman Trophy. Coming up next, we're going to continue talking about college football and the playoffs, which kick off this week. We're joined by SMU head coach Rhett Lashley on the triple option. Next, presented by Wendy's. Well, as you all know by now, we have teamed up with our great friends at BetMGM this season, and we're going to be using BETMGM lines to make all of our picks. We'll also have special offers for our listeners each week. Mark, you're listening, right? You're listening to this.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, I'm listening.

[Rob Stone]

Pay attention. Pay attention. All right, so if you haven't signed up for BETMGM yet, we urge you to use the bonus code option or go to betmgm.com option and you will get up to $1500. First bet offer. Mark on your first wager with BetMGM. We're talking 1500 bucks, Mark.

[Mark Ingram]

1500. But here's how it works. Download the BetMGM app and sign up using bonus code option. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. You'll receive up to $1,500 in bonus bets if your bet loses. Just make sure you use bonus code option when you sign up or go to betmgm.com backslash option it's all about the option Mark. It's all about the option, especially the triple option.

[Rob Stone]

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[Austin James]

This episode is brought to you by aws. Amazon Q Business is the new Generative AI Assistant from aws. Many tasks can make business slow, like wading through mud.

[Urban Meyer]

Help.

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[Rob Stone]

Triple Option presented by Wendy's Rob Urban. Mark back here with you now, joined by ACC Coach of the year SMU's Rhett Lashley, who has a rather large game looming this Saturday in Happy Valley. Coach, I know you're super busy this week, so thanks for taking the time to join the Triple Option. Appreciate it.

[Rhett Lashley]

Absolutely appreciate you having me.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, Coach, I followed your career and congrats, man. And I'm just, I remember watching as SMU came so close to winning that game and then you have to play that damn waiting game and the thoughts that go through your mind. I've been there. I mean, did you have a plan B or were you so convinced you guys were in there? How'd you Handle that waiting game.

[Rhett Lashley]

Yeah, it wasn't fun. You know, we. We decided just knowing that going into the game, that if we won, we were in and if we lost, that we would be in that situation. We were. We were never going to have any kind of watch party if we didn't win. And so when we didn't win, I mean, shoot, it was, what, midnight by the time the game ended. So we only had about 11 or 12 hours to. To wait. We flew home that night and we had a team meeting set for 3:00 that afternoon. So that way, either way it went, we wouldn't have TVs in our guy's face if it didn't go the way we wanted it to go.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, Coach. I was one of those guys who just wanted you guys to win because if you win, we would all been in. But instead.

[Rhett Lashley]

I know, man. Sorry we didn't get it done for you.

[Mark Ingram]

It's okay. It's okay.

[Rhett Lashley]

I wanted us to win, too, so if that makes you feel any better.

[Mark Ingram]

I was rooting for you guys, you know? No, but I'm sad now, but it's okay.

[Rhett Lashley]

We had a bad first quarter. Made it hard on ourselves.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, no, it's all good. Y'all deserved it, though. But how do you have. How have you guys. How have you rallied the troops, man, get these guys to lock back in after the loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship game, knowing you have a huge game on the road against Penn State, what have you done? What's your message been to the guys to get them back locked in, ready to roll?

[Rhett Lashley]

Yeah. You know, I think we've just tried to stay on the routine we've had all year. You know, once we found out we were in Sunday, it was, you know, two weeks from playing. It almost was like a bye week and then game week. And so we've kind of treated it like we treated our bye weeks this year. We got to work.

[Rob Stone]

We.

[Rhett Lashley]

We got plenty done, but we wanted to get them back physically on the. The first week. And now as we head into this week, it's game week. We'll have our normal routine. You know, the guys, we had a really good year. We hadn't lost since about September 6th until we did the other night. And so, you know, they played with a lot of confidence. They know that we, we hurt ourselves in the first quarter of that game, giving them the ball four times on our side of the field in the first quarter. And so I didn't have to say much. They were really fired up. We had that team meeting at 3 to know when they were in and they've been great ever since. And so we're going to approach this week like we did every other week. That helped us get 11 wins.

[Rob Stone]

Coach, how the hell did you do it, right? I mean, nobody was talking SMU coming into this season, first year in the acc. And you guys, between the resources and getting the players and getting the wins over, you know, quote unquote, bigger programs. Give me, I guess, the one page blueprint of how SMU was able to get to the level that they got this season.

[Rhett Lashley]

You know, I don't know. We never told them they weren't supposed to do it. You know, last year we won 11 games, won our conference and we had a decent group returning from that. We had to go out into the portal and really bulk up our own D line. That was the goal. You know, we needed. We. Not only do we need to make sure we had the best starting OND line, but we needed depth, particularly on the D line. If we were going to hang in there on a 10 game in a row, which ended up being 11 games straight power four schedule, something that, you know, our program hadn't been doing lately, we were going to have to have depth there. And we did that. And you know, we just, we. We just went about it one week at a time. The way our season broke down, it broke up into four quarters perfectly because we played week zero. So we played three games, we were off. We played three, we were off three. We were off. And so, you know, we told him beginning of the year what our goal was. The same as the year before was to get to Charlotte and to get ourself into November, being in contention for that. And so in order to do that, we knew we'd have to stay present and we knew it'd be hard and there'd be unexpected things. So we were going to try to win all four quarters of our season. So we just broke it down into four quarters. And then the other thing we did, you know, we went to fall camp, you know, in fall camp and coach knows this and Mark you. You practice, you walk through, you practice your walk through a lot of those things. Our O and D walkthrough shirt said defending champs on them because that's what we were. We weren't defending champs in the ACC, but I think there was only 10 teams that could go into this year saying they were defending champs. And we wanted them to have that mindset that we belong. We've done this before and credit them with Doing it.

[Urban Meyer]

You know, I. Looking at your career here, and other than 2017, you've been in the south primarily. Yeah. Now you get to roll up. I've been to State College many times. Never in December. Are you worried or you just. Yeah. Or you just say, the heck with it. We're going to go play. And when I was younger, I was a maniac about trying to get him in the. You know, in those kind of conditions. But is it just go get him or, you know, have you talked about it? Is there a plan to try to get them acclimated?

[Rhett Lashley]

Yeah, you know, we pretty much are doing similar what we did last week. You know, the game in Charlotte was cold. It wasn't probably as cold as this one's going to be, but it was around 40 at kickoff and in the mid-30s, you know, in that second half. And we were fortunate here. The week before the championship game, it was cold, especially in the mornings. We practiced in the morning, so it was 30s and 40s, and we just went outside and practiced in it. And we did address it early in the week that it's going to be cold. Let's embrace it. And our guys did. I didn't think we didn't win the game because it was cold.

[Urban Meyer]

Right.

[Rhett Lashley]

This is a little different. It's a little different cold, to your point, going up there. And unfortunately, this week's a little warmer than I want it to be. But, you know, we addressed it like I told him last Monday and I told him again today. You know how it is, Coach. All these guys want to play in the NFL, and right now, if you play in the NFL and you get to December and January, you got to go through Arrowhead in Kansas City, you got to go through Buffalo, you got to go through Lambeau. You're either on those teams or you're playing those games. And so this is championship weather. This is playoff football weather. You're going to be able to see your breath freeze in midair. And that is what it is. And we have to embrace it. Just like we have to embrace the fact that, you know, we're going on the road and there's 106,000 fans. Like, if you're a competitor, you have to get up for this, and if you don't, then it's going to show. And so we addressed it on the front end of the week, then we really don't talk about it anymore because we don't want to make any bigger deal about it than it is. So that's kind of how we've handled it.

[Rob Stone]

How are you guys capitalizing on this moment? I mean, I know you have a massive game going on. The transfer portal is open, but behind the scenes, you have some alumni and donor energy that you may never see again, and you need to absolutely nail it in this window. So how are you guys trying to make the most of this moment so SMU football can continue to grow?

[Rhett Lashley]

Yeah, I mean, our guys have already done that to some degree. You know, being top 10 and going undefeated in the regular season, our conference, and playing for a championship and making the College Football Playoff. I mean, that's. That's awesome for our program with where we are and what we've been able to do to prove we belong. And now, hopefully, that momentum will take us through recruiting the off season and allow us to sustain it. That's the hardest thing, but that's a problem for after the playoffs are over. You know, I think we'll find out. You know, I know our guys are excited to play. It's a special group. It's a group that has won 22 games in the last two years, and they go into every game just thinking they're supposed to win, and they really don't look at it any differently. Even the other night, like I said, we got behind, didn't play well. The way they came out in the second half, I think showed a lot about our competitive character. We got to stop. We went down and scored, and then we had some other things not go our way, and we find ourselves going in the fourth quarter down 17, and we just kept playing. The next thing you know, it's 31 all with 16 seconds to go. So I know this team's going to show up, they're going to be physical, they're going to play hard, they're going to respond. And if we do that, we have a chance to shock some people and win, which will obviously aid kind of this moment. That's a big moment in our program to try to get back on the national stage and prove we belong at this level.

[Rob Stone]

What is the SMU fit right now?

[Rhett Lashley]

You know, I think it's. I think it's guys that want to win. I think it's guys that want to show that this is a tough program. I think it's. You know, for a long time, smu, obviously we had our issues, but when we came back, you know, we. We were known as an offensive school that couldn't stop anybody, and we were kind of a finesse program, and so that's what we wanted to change. Three years Ago. And our first year we went seven and five and we did some things well. We finished in the month of November. We went 3 and 1 and that's good. But we, we didn't, we didn't play championship level defense. We hadn't done that in four decades since Eric Dickerson played here. And so we went out in the last two years in the portal, whether it's D line and linebackers and on offense too. And we just realized that, like, for us to win and play championship football, not only where we were, but now where we are in the power four level, you know, we've got to play championship defense and we got to be physical. And so we, we have three goals every game. We want to win the run game. That's offense and defense. We want to win the run game. We want to win the turnover battle and win the explosives. And we control how hard we play. We control how physical we play. And we want to make sure every time we go out there that nobody can say when they leave the field that we weren't the most physical team on the field.

[Urban Meyer]

Thanks for joining us. I know you're busy, man. And Tyler Warren's a hell of a player. You stop him, man.

[Mark Ingram]

Him and two backs. Him and those two backs.

[Rhett Lashley]

Yeah, let's not, let's not start talking about their defensive ends who are in the backfield before the ball snaps. So their team speed is special. So we got our hand. Hands cut out for us, our work.

[Urban Meyer]

All the best, man. Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

Big test Saturday.

[Mark Ingram]

Appreciate you, coach.

[Rob Stone]

At Beaver Stadium. SMU taking on Penn State 11 vs 6 seed SMU head coach Rhett Lashley kind enough to join us this week on the triple option. Coach, congrats and enjoy your trip up to Happy Valley and continued success.

[Rhett Lashley]

Thanks, guys.

[Rob Stone]

Welcome back to the triple option presented by the Wendy's. Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram, Rob Stone, back here with you. Time now for defining moments brought to you by nhtsa. Drunk driving changes your world. Drive sober or get pulled over. Paid for by nhtsa. And in order to define your legacy at a school, at a program, coach, you need to get that first. That first extension. Right? And that's what Marcus Freeman got over the weekend at Notre Dame. Sounds like it's a four year extension. Secures him for six more years in South Bend.

[Mark Ingram]

Good for him.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, he had two more years remaining on the current deal. Course, he got Notre Dame to the college football playoffs. They'll host Indiana coming up on Saturday or on Friday, I should say. We'll talk more about that one in A second coach. Remember your first extension? Was it at. Was it at bg? No. You weren't there long enough, were you?

[Urban Meyer]

No. Just two years? No.

[Rob Stone]

Utah. Did you get an extension at Utah?

[Urban Meyer]

No.

[Mark Ingram]

Florida?

[Urban Meyer]

I had an offer.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, but did you get any extensions? Did you get an extension?

[Urban Meyer]

Florida and Ohio State.

[Rob Stone]

There we go. Bam.

[Urban Meyer]

So, hey, how about this, Mark? I went to University of Notre Dame for $55,000. Shelly Shelley had to work to just for survival money. And then I got my first head coaching job at Bowling Green for the grand sum of $100,000. We couldn't sell our house in South Bend, and we were playing two house payments, and Shelly came up to me. She goes, how are we going to make this work? She's, like, looking at the numbers and we couldn't make it work. She goes, you're, you know, like, when's this head coach money start rolling in? And then we went to Utah, and then we had a nice payday at.

[Mark Ingram]

She's living in the crib now. She's living in a good.

[Urban Meyer]

She's doing. So kudos to Notre Dame. I got my first extension, I remember, at Florida, and that's a big. It's not only for you, but it's for the entire support staff. Staff. It's stability. And usually when the head coach gets an extension, so does everybody involved. So that. Well done, Notre Dame. It's the right thing. I got a lot of respect for Coach Freeman, and well done, man.

[Mark Ingram]

He's very deserving. I mean, he had. We had him on the podcast. Just very sharp, very smart. I mean, he's 30 and 9 in his four years. Right. Right now at Notre Dame has him in the playoffs with a home field victory. So, man, when you do good things, you get rewarded for it. So shout out to Coach Freeman, man, he's doing a great job out there at Notre Dame.

[Rob Stone]

Let me tell you, there were a lot of Notre Dame alums who were not on board for an extension after that home loss to Northern Illinois.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah.

[Rob Stone]

But he's been able to sort around.

[Mark Ingram]

Re. Give out the survey. Stoner.

[Rob Stone]

Right.

[Mark Ingram]

Rehand out the survey.

[Rob Stone]

Right, right. But it does bring up that talking point about, you know, do schools sometimes go in too early with an extension or wait too long? And that's a tricky game. Like, if you think you got the guy, you want to. You want to tie him up as long as you can, or if you know somebody's going to come after him, let's. Let's tie him up and increase that. That buyout. But Sometimes I feel like if you have just one good season coach, a lot of, A lot of programs, a lot of presidents and ads are almost handcuffed to, to throw out the extension whether it's. It's worthy or not. They're just forced to base it on one season sometimes.

[Urban Meyer]

Well, that's, that's that agent world that's out there. And I, you know, I. That's exactly when I see that happen. And I kind of know behind the scenes and I hear stories and these ads are putting some really precarious situations, you know, and all, you know, a hot item out there and they're being shopped around and, and once again, I'm not a big fan of that either. And I, I mean, I, I was part of it, so obviously benefited from all that, but that's a tough situation for an ad. And then all of a sudden the coach gets locked in and the program starts to slip a little bit.

[Mark Ingram]

Now you got.

[Urban Meyer]

And as a result, yeah, you get, you get paralyzed as a program because, you know, there's a lot of money in the sports, but some of these buyouts, we saw one at A and M. Yeah. You know, that can bankrupt the program.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah. And the thing is, if you have a guy that you believe in and you're the ad, you have a guy that you believe in, a guy that has continuously been consistent, then. Then reward him for that. But you can't just go off of success of one year and then pay this guy $80 million and then the next two years, it's not what you thought it was going to be. Now you have to buy out for 50, 60 million, and he's getting paid for three, four, five more years on your account. So it's got to be a thing where it's just, it's got to be from top down. Everyone has to be on a single accord. The best organizations I've been a part of in the NFL, even in college, everyone was on the same page from top to bottom. So as long as you have that kind of. If you, as long as you have that in your program, that top to bottom, everyone on the same page, which is hard to do now in this nil and transfer portal day, but I think if you have a guy that you believe in and you trust in, then you should give him his reward, which Marvin Freeman got.

[Urban Meyer]

Well, what happens, Rob, is this too, is that. And I talked to an ad several years ago, and we're sitting there talking. He says, can you believe this nonsense? The guy has one good year and I'm getting call from his agent, said either you up him or he's leaving. And he's like, you know, it's just this, the world, I don't know.

[Rob Stone]

Yep, I'm with you, coach.

[Urban Meyer]

I don't get it.

[Rob Stone]

I, I hear you loud and clear. The big coaching hire took place last week. Bill Belichick into Chapel Bill, North Carolina, right. So the Tar Heels nil budget expected to go up from 4 million to 20 million.

[Urban Meyer]

How's Mack Brown feel about that?

[Rob Stone]

Right.

[Mark Ingram]

5.

[Rob Stone]

Where was that? Where was, where was the 20m when I was there, the, the talent he could have brought in. Right.

[Mark Ingram]

5X.

[Rob Stone]

Bill Belichick making immediate moves internally, guys, and I love this. The transfer portal, right? He had to jump right into it. It was already open when he got hired. He kept his standout linebacker, Mari Campbell, his starting center, Austin Blaskey. They both pulled their names out of the transfer portal. That's two big wins, right? Like huge, huge wins. And you know, the amount of time that Belichick and his GM Michael Lombardi had to evaluate the guys that are already in Chapel Hill than the guys they might want to try to bring in. I mean this is a tough situation. So those are two big wins. Also their big quarterback recruit, a four star kid from North Carolina, decided to commit and, and stay with unc. So Bill Belichick guys getting some big wins early on. The coordinators still up in the air. We're hearing Las Vegas Raiders OC Scott Turner 1 of their top targets. Coach, there had been that mention that Bill's son Steve Belich, the current Washington defensive coordinator, is expected to join the staff in some way, shape or form in a, in the not too near distant future. But your, your early thoughts on how Coach Belichick's working so far in college football and at North Carolina.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, I know him very well and he'll figure it out. I mean when I first saw it, like most reaction, I thought first of all, he's 72, you know, you know, I'm 60 and I. You out of your mind. I won't do that. But he's 72 and he's like at some point, coach, go enjoy your life. But he enjoys it. He'll figure it out. He'll surround him with good people. I guess the question I asked last time too is when everyone anyone asked me, how do you think he'll do? My response back to him is, what's your expectation? Is North Carolina expected, Is there a chance they can win a national championship? I don't Think he'll do that? Is it to go compete for a playoff and, and win the acc? Yeah. The conference is very average right now. You get a couple really good players in there, you can go win that conference and be in the playoff. If that's. And you're paying a guy 10 million a year, you just want 20 million Ohio State type level nil money. You're damn right. You better be in the playoff. That's what they're saying, I guess 5x.

[Mark Ingram]

Coach, you got anywhere where I could put my money and we can get.

[Urban Meyer]

5X back but I'll tell you, the timing is right. The conference, the conference is, is not 5x.

[Mark Ingram]

That's me.

[Rob Stone]

Hey, by the way, the conference has two programs in the playoffs, Clemson and SMU. So boom. I understand your point. I understand your point, you know.

[Mark Ingram]

No, but listen Chapel, Bill is doing what you're supposed to do. What do you do when you go take over program? You keep your best players there. He's done that. You win your in state talent, he's done that. You said a four star quarterback from North Carolina commits to North Carolina. That's how you start a program being going in the right direction, keeping your best talent at home, keeping your best players on the roster and then going to dressing. When you have your best players on the roster, those guys can go to bat for you. When you have a big recruit coming into town, when you have a player in the portals coming into town, they that's who you send. You send the players who are on the field and that's what Bill has done and I think that's huge. He's keeping his best players there. So good start for coach.

[Urban Meyer]

I do, I do think he, he would have really struggled in the old model. How about this? In the month of December, coaches aren't allowed, allowed to go recruit. Now I'm telling you, Rob and Mark, I think I told you this in the, in the day after the Big ten championship game or SEC championship game, you grabbed your film and you went on the road and you would go from 7am you go to three high schools, you'd meet with the players, you'd meet with the families, you go to basketball practice or a basketball game, a couple home visits, you crawl in bed at 10 o'clock and you're doing it again. You're doing that for three weeks, two or three weeks. And then on the weekends you fly home and you have official visit weekends and you start practicing for the bowl game. Do I think Coach Belichick was made to go on, you know, three home visits a night flying around the country. I don't know if he would have done that. And I think it's become more of an NFL model now where it's what's the number? The kids are now visiting campuses, by the way. They're visiting campuses.

[Rob Stone]

That's the thing. Out he is, he is recruiting, right? Maybe not on the road, but he is, he is busy bringing those talents in into Chapel Hill, you know, that transfer portal wide open and introducing himself to the players he has in front of him just waiting there in the Carolina blue already and keeping them. So I think it's been a good.

[Urban Meyer]

So how about this real quick? So this is really cool. So we're competing for a national title. Mark, think about this. And all our coaches got recruiting and this is back in the DVD era. And I'd go on the plane, dvd, DVD era. And Dan Mullen, Steve Adasio and Greg Madison and Charlie Straw, my coaches would all go out and we come back in and script practices from what we did on airplanes. Think about that because you were gone the entire time and you're playing Oklahoma for the national title.

[Rob Stone]

And by the way, a lot of those coaches are probably doing some interviews because they're getting some sniffs and people want to talk about them and moving them up from wide receiver coach to oc, OC to HC and whatever's going on with that. So. All right, so we think Bill Belichick, we feel like he won the press conference and he continues to get some wins in Chapel Hill. But there's four games coming our way this week and it's time for pick six, brought to you by mgm. Place your money line prop parlay and same game parlay bets at bet. Mgm. Download the app today. Please gamble responsibly.

[Mark Ingram]

Please gamble Response.

[Rob Stone]

Here we go. It's, it's not quite the, the pick six because there's only four games that we're going to talk about right now. So instead of that number, we're going to give you guys a quick shot at the four playoff games. All right, Mark, you're going to go first. All right, you can clean up. You're going first. We're going to start in the great state of Indiana. Number seven, Notre Dame, a seven and a half point favorite over 10th ranked Indiana. All four teams that are home and hosting games this weekend are favored and favored by at least a touchdown. Notre Dame a seven and a half point favorite over the Hoosiers.

[Mark Ingram]

The Hoosiers in the playoffs, Notre Dame in the playoffs. They both are Indiana. They both play outside. So this is just going to be, it's going to be nice. I like it, I like it, I like it. But hey, Jeremiah Love is the difference for Notre Dame. Jeremiah Love, he's a baller, one of the best backs in the country. They play strong on defense. Now, I like Indiana. Co had him ready. So I, I, I think Notre Dame wins this in South Bend, but I like Indiana to cover. I think it's going to be a tight game, coach.

[Urban Meyer]

I agree, Mark. I'm looking at these four games and of the four, three of them I think are right on the point spread. I'd pick as well. There's one that's not, but this one, I think seven and a half is right there. We covered Indiana a bunch. I've watched Notre Dame a bunch on, on film. I think Notre Dame wins, but I think it's a score game. I think they got the right thing.

[Rob Stone]

If I had to pick one upset of the four going down this weekend. If I had to pick one. Oh, Indiana over Notre Dame.

[Mark Ingram]

But are you picking them?

[Rob Stone]

I'm saying if I had to, if.

[Mark Ingram]

I had, you know what? You had to. Because if I had to, I'd do it. I'd do it if I had.

[Urban Meyer]

Hoosiers.

[Rob Stone]

Who's your daddy?

[Urban Meyer]

Who?

[Rhett Lashley]

Who?

[Rob Stone]

Who's your daddy? Indiana upsets Notre Dame. I just called it all right, the other game and it's going to be a whiteout. Number six, Penn State hosting number 11, SMU.

[Mark Ingram]

We just spoke with Whiteout at noon. Hey, Penn State.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, how about that?

[Mark Ingram]

Hey, Penn State.

[Rob Stone]

Enjoy your new games. Penn State.

[Mark Ingram]

I hope I can see a wide out at noon.

[Rob Stone]

Lions favored by eight and a half. Mark, you get first ups again, Penn State. Then coach is going to go up first the next two.

[Mark Ingram]

I hope Penn State just dog walks SMU for them not winning the acc. And if they just would have won the ACC championship, we all would have been happy. But now I'm pissed.

[Rob Stone]

Did you say dog walk them? Dog walk them?

[Mark Ingram]

Foot and arse. Foot and arse. SMU is going up to Dallas. I mean, they're going up to Happy Valley. It's going to be freezing. They face off. They coming from Dallas. Penn State, I got pinned. State winning this one, man. Tyler Warren, Nick Singleton, K Tron Allen. Defense playing with their hair on fire. James Franklin has to hold it down in Happy Valley. I got Penn State in this one. Especially with the weather. SMU ain't going to be ready for that cold.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, I started watching SMU earlier in the year when they started catching fire and I got a lot of respect for them, but that's. This one's a different animal. I think Penn State's a really good team. They'll control the line of scrimmage and Tyler Warren and those two backs, I think will have a good day against him. And. And like coach told us, the two defensive. That, you know, the defensive line at Penn State will dominate that game. So that's the one point spread that I see Penn State winning, beating that spread.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, it feels like the stage might be just a little too big, a little too early for smu. You know, congratulations on everything that they've done and maybe it does continue, but it does feel like that's going to.

[Urban Meyer]

Be big, cold stage, man.

[Mark Ingram]

With all due respect to smu, respectfully. SMU respectfully.

[Rob Stone]

Correct, Correct. We're all kind of saying the same thing in different ways. So we all see Penn State moving on and covering that 8 1/2 points.

[Mark Ingram]

Mine's more personal.

[Rob Stone]

Yes, I know. Here's what respect dog walk. All right, coach, you're up first on this one and this one. The next two are kind of like the sexy matchups, if you will, with programs that are universally respected across our nation. Number five, Texas in Austin. Big one here. This is the biggest spread of the four. An eleven and a half point favorite over twelve seed Clemson.

[Urban Meyer]

A lot like the Notre Dame and coming up with the Ohio State, Tennessee. This point spread to me is right on. Texas is one of the top three rosters in college football. I think it's going to be right at, you know, but score and a half. It's going to be a 12 point, 10 point game. So I think it's right there. I'm going to go Texas covering. I just think again, I've. I've been on the Texas bandwagon now for two years. Don't let me down. Texas, let's go, man. Cover your spread.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, coach, I agree with you. I mean, Clemson has had a good run. I think Clemson, Listen, Clemson is battle tested. They played two SEC teams this year. They played Georgia and got dog walked. There you go, stoner. They played South Carolina in a close game loss. They lost to somebody else too. I forgot they have three losses, but I think they're battle test. I think they're going to be ready for this. But I do like Texas to win this game. I like Texas to win kind of by like 10 points. So I got Clemson covering the spread, but I think the Longhorns roll to Victory. We'll see how healthy, Quinn, yours could be. We know this defense is dominant. We know they run the football with Trey Wisner. We know they have athletes on the outside. So can the quarterback be healthy and play like. We know that he's capable of playing. We've seen him play big and big games before, and I think he will. He's had a week to get healthy. No, he didn't. He didn't. Yes, he did have a week.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, he did that.

[Mark Ingram]

Yes, he did. He did have a week to get healthy. So healthy Quinn, yours, I think, is going to be the difference in this game.

[Rob Stone]

Did you say earlier, Mark, you thought Penn State had kind of the easiest pathway?

[Mark Ingram]

Yes, they have. They have smu, then they have Boise.

[Rob Stone]

Boise State.

[Mark Ingram]

So I think if you're looking for favorable matchups for Penn State, I think you would take those two over any other two.

[Rob Stone]

So I would. I would argue that Texas might have the most palatable pathway because I'm going to take it all the way to the semis. We all like Texas over Clemson, right? Yes, I know. So the next matchup is Arizona State. And as much as we love Cam Scatter. Boo. If you. If you look at the two lowest quote unquote seeded teams, it was the Arizona State and Clemson. And those are the two teams that Texas has to go through. And guess what? Texas wins those two games. You know where they go for the semifinals? Texas Cotton Ball.

[Mark Ingram]

Wow.

[Rob Stone]

So they would be playing the semifinals in Arlington, you know, and again, that could be against a Tennessee and Ohio State, a Georgia. And, you know, how about another meeting with Georgia, by the way, in the Cotton Bowl? So I just love Texas's path right now. As long as they don't get ahead of themselves, I don't see that happening at all. I think Clemson, we all feel, is very fortunate to be in the playoffs. And I like Texas as well. And I think I like Texas to cover. I think they're going to win it by 14, coach. Tennessee, number nine at the Ohio State, the eight seed. The spread is seven and a half for the Buckeyes in Columbus on Saturday night.

[Urban Meyer]

Yeah, I'm going to say that. I'm going to say a player's name, Seth McLaughlin. And that when that bomb went off and they lost their center, that changed the whole world. Dagger. They played their best offensive line play in two years at Penn State and it did not look good in the last game against Wolverine. So I think the point spreads right. I'm going to go with the Buckeyes with a Low scoring game. I think the strength of Tennessee is their defense especially. I watched them yesterday because I wanted to see the SEC SCC D line. Guess what mark they got?

[Rob Stone]

They are big vein dead cats, coach.

[Urban Meyer]

Big thick cats that get their feet across their line of scrimmage. And that's not good for Ohio State. So they got to get the ball out. It's going to be cold, it's going to be 20 degrees. I don't know the wind and I don't think there's any snow or anything like that, but I think it's going to be low scoring game. I do think Ohio State's got the best defense in the country. So it'll be a, you know, 16 to 10 type game. I really believe that.

[Rob Stone]

1610 type.

[Urban Meyer]

I got Ohio State winning, but you got Tennessee covering.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, listen, man, Ohio State in trouble right now. This not a good draw for them. This not a good draw for them, man. You got, you talked about that defensive line.

[Urban Meyer]

Go with it. They're one of it.

[Mark Ingram]

They're one of the toughest defenses in the country, coach.

[Urban Meyer]

Go with it.

[Mark Ingram]

Getting pressure, stopping the run. Dylan Sampson on offense, running the football. Listen, go with him. Can Nico Iamaliaba weather the storm in the cold? Can he toss that thing around, not make mistakes, not turn the football over? Can he? I think he can. I think he can.

[Urban Meyer]

A dub or a cover. A dub or cover. Oh, man.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah, I got Ohio State, but I got Tennessee covering, though. All right, I got the Bucs. I got the Bucs. I got the Bucs. I got the Bucks, but I got Tennessee covering. I think they in trouble, though. You say there's one game that you might pick for an upset. I have it as this one. If there's.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah.

[Mark Ingram]

For an upset, I have it as this one.

[Rob Stone]

And I can see it because we don't know what Ohio State is after that humbling loss to Michigan. My taking and Coach, you know this better, but my take is they needed a whole week off to, to lick their wounds and, and to kind of come back to their senses, to take that, that smelling salt. And then I think this week has been the, the rise up again. Like, hey guys, this is what we do. They got to build Will Howard up. They got to get his confidence up and early. Whether it's quick little slants to Smith or whatever it is Igbuka, get him going. They have to get the running game going. Right. That two headed monster was held in check against Michigan. We've been saying it all year that Ohio State has The talent. But they haven't really had that, that breakthrough moment. You know, a resilient win at Penn State. They certainly took care of an Indiana team. I don't know. It's in. Coach, we've been saying this all season. Is it team A or is it Team B? Are we going to see, are we going to see that Buckeyes 18 that we've been waiting for since the preseason or this, this version that's been kind of lurking around all season? It's a true gut I got. I have Ohio State winning. I think it's going to be a winning field goal.

[Mark Ingram]

If it wasn't at Buckeye Stadium, I'd choose Tennessee. I'd tell you.

[Rob Stone]

I think so too.

[Urban Meyer]

Mark. It's Ohio Stadium.

[Mark Ingram]

Yeah. Okay. I don't, I didn't play there, so I'm sorry. No, respectfully.

[Rob Stone]

Respectfully, Respectfully.

[Mark Ingram]

Respectfully.

[Rob Stone]

A quick question for you guys. Of the four home venues, right? Austin, Texas, Columbus, Ohio, Happy Valley, Pennsylvania and South Bend, Indiana. Of those four, coach, I'll start with you. Which one do you think is the toughest environment on a Friday slash Saturday in December in a one off college football playoff game? Toughest environment.

[Urban Meyer]

I think the whiteout's the toughest environment in college football. However, not this time. They're playing, all due respect, smu, you know, I think Ohio Stadium at night with the Tennessee rolling in there. I think there's some pent up frustrations. But I also heard that Tennessee somehow got some tickets.

[Rob Stone]

Yeah, I think they have orange in those stands.

[Urban Meyer]

So we're going to find out. I think there are three. I think there's going to be some great environments, but I'm going with the Buckeyes puppets.

[Rob Stone]

And what do you think, Mark?

[Mark Ingram]

I'm going with Happy Valley, the all White. It's going to be cold. They had no playoff game. They haven't been in the playoff. Them people going to be ready. They going to be ready to roll that cold, that white out for smu. They going to swarm them and it's going to be foot in ours.

[Rob Stone]

Three cold weather venues. And we all know Austin, Texas can get chilly when it wants to as well. But playoffs in December in Columbus. Right. State College, it feels right. Like I'm happy it's in those type of places. And obviously what Austin, Texas is, you know, four great environments for college football. And again, it just goes to one of the things we've been saying all season long. College football playoffs has made college football better as a whole. Despite all the nil and all the transfer portal issues and all that other stuff. College football, it's got some got some warts we need to figure out. We got to get some compound w on some of those warts. But everything else is looking really good. We remind you Follow subscribe rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts, as well as across social media. 3x option show next week, a little bit of a change. You're going to be getting an episode on Monday the 23rd and then another that week. Friday the 27th. Bonus playoff episode for our triple option family out there. We appreciate you guys listening, we appreciate you watching and we appreciate our sponsors, Wendy's BedMGM, NHTSA and USAA. Enjoy the college football playoffs. Yes, the college football playoffs.

[Mark Ingram]

Coach can't take them headphones off fast enough.

[Rob Stone]

He's done. Enjoy the four games.

[Mark Ingram]

He did this four times already.

[Rob Stone]

Quit talking Stone. I gotta go somewhere. Sat.