PMS 2.0 1432 - NFL Week 7 Preview/Picks, TNF Recap, Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart, Nick Saban, Country Superstars Bailey Zimmerman, Luke Combs, & AJ Hawk

Feel good Friday, October 17th.

I'm AJ Hawk sitting in for Pat here at the Pat McAfee show.

We had a barn burner last night.

Bengal, Steelers, football.

Football.

We're doubling it up right there because football was so beautiful last night.

We saw the seven total touchdowns between the two quarterbacks last night.

Steelers battled the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati.

I was actually in person in the crowd watching that thing.

An electric, electric environment.

I know another electric environment this weekend Pat will be down in Athens Georgia Pat what's happening down there buddy where you at hey it's an honor to be here I'm at the Buttsmere Heritage Hall which obviously houses all the sports admins and behind us we have the track team currently practicing I think for their last season here as they have a new state-of-the-art track facility right down the road and we're going to see some real athletes running behind me and obviously this game's a top 10 matchup deep in the heart of Georgia here in Athens and SEC football cannot wait for that but let's go back to last night I did not know you were going to be in the jungle I did not know you were going to be in Andrew Whitworth's jungle for a night as the Pittsburgh Steelers came to town as five and a half point favorites.

Then it was four and a half point favorites in the middle of the show.

Then five and a half again.

And I'll tell you what, early in that game, it felt like the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to do what we thought they were going to do at the beginning of the show yesterday, which was absolutely run away with it.

But don't let Joe Flacco get hot.

Obviously, Aaron Rodgers in this Pittsburgh Steelers offense has been getting better and better as the year went on.

He's throwing dots all over the place.

DK Metcalf stepping over people, not getting personal fouls because they're saying that's not that big of a deal because of how smooth it was, how athletic it was, and how great of a play it was.

It was Thursday night football primetime, Aaron.

It looked like it was 20 years ago, Aaron Rodgers.

He's running all over the place.

Showing he still got in.

And

John U.

Smith, who had a penalty earlier on the drive, gets a massive touchdown.

Early, it was like, wait a minute, are the Pittsburgh Steelers going to make this look too easy?

Then let's go to before the half and second quarter.

Boom!

Jamar Chase, Joe Flacco.

Jamar would have 16 receptions on the evening and obviously even dropped one, which Joe Flacco lost his mind.

But if you got Jamar Chase on your team, you're going to throw him the ball aaron's gonna throw the ball to the other team aj what the hell's going on here yeah i don't know this is uh i think maybe got caught up in the moment maybe throw it up and get a dk give him a chance right maybe get some pi down the field i don't know but these guys are you i'm sure so like i said i was there in person watching them these guys both were slang it man like first off Joe Flacco, watching him in the pocket and watching his super quick release and how smooth he was blew my mind.

It really didn't.

And I played against Joe Ken, 12 years ago, 15 years ago, whatever it might be now.

I was blown away at the quarterback performance, I think, on both sides last night.

Absolutely.

The old men brought it.

And I like the show of respect afterwards.

A couple hits on the chest by both of them, a little pat on the head from Joe Flacco to Aaron Rodgers.

It was a nice, you know, interaction of respect because if you can play football at that position for this long, obviously there's a greatness that's in your brain and a greatness that is in your body.

And I think that greatness is exactly what Tomlin was talking about whenever he said, hey, Andrew Berry, what the hell are we doing?

And a little tap on the head, I think, is awesome.

You know, Joey Flacco just doing one of these.

You know, because he is Italian, so he might want to go in for a, you know, a little

smooch on bow.

You know, it could have been a Grazi Pudrego situation there.

We don't know, but obviously the respect between the two is fantastic.

But Joe Flacco, the respect that Mike Tomlin has for him, very real.

And I think Mike Tomlin, last night, you said you played against Joe Flacco 15 years ago.

Mike Tomlin did too.

And he was having flashbacks of whenever he was with the Baltimore Ravens.

And they were running wild.

And those Ravens Steelers games were insane, both in Pittsburgh and in Baltimore.

And Joey Flacco is liable to do absolutely anything.

And last night was a Joey Flacco masterpiece.

He said afterwards, he didn't even know some of the play calls.

I didn't even know what was going on there.

And he beat this Pittsburgh Steelers defense.

Let's go to one half of the hammer.

Cowboys, AP Tone.

Pittsburgh Steelers defense last night seemingly non-existent.

Joe Flacco didn't even know the play calls.

Tone.

Didn't even know what he was doing out there.

Yep.

Steelers got Flacco'd last night.

And when he got traded, the Bengals tie-in, I knew it was going to be one of us, whether it was going to be that first game on a sunday or that second game on that thursday night football um it got we got we got flat coed and uh you know tomlin knew that was going to happen and you know i hope tomlin listened to this show yesterday because we talked a lot about the emotional quotient which is you know basically your thoughts and your emotions seep into other people's thoughts and emotions He was talking about Joe like it was prime Tom Brady and it sept it seeped into the defense last night and they treated it like that.

They were afraid of him all night long.

They sat back.

They let him do whatever he wanted just an absolute master class from the defensive staff and the defensive um backfield as a whole just overall it looked like the week one and two of the defense um you know edelman came out last year and said we always knew what the steelers were going to do jamar chase came out last night and said it as well so you know maybe there's some things that needs to be changed on that side of the ball um also the the record on thursday night football maybe thursday night football is the problem i don't know but just overall an absolute disaster class and a very very frustrating night for the Steelers fans.

Yeah, I can imagine that being the case because the first few games, the defense didn't look great, and everybody in Pittsburgh was saying, this defense not good enough to win a Super Bowl.

I know we're winning games here, but this defense ain't it, especially with all the money that was being spent on that side.

Then you guys get some massive wins over Carson Wentz and Dylan Gabriel and everything starts looking good, Tone.

And all of a sudden, the Steelers defense is back.

I read those tweets were sent to Tone yesterday.

So that is just me talking shit to Tone and also all of Pittsburgh.

I guess you can kind of take that as a jab as well, because a a lot of people seemingly thought that this was possible with Joe Flacco and the offensive weapons that they have, which takes us to the toxic table at Boston Conner.

Hey, Tonman, now you knew that sweet feet.

footsteps, Joey Flacco, could pull a zone option for himself whenever he doesn't even know the play call.

And then he said he figured it out and it was too late to actually do a shift that would have helped him.

So he actually just kept Jamar there and ended up just picking up this first down, backed up at his own 10 in the fourth quarter with five minutes left in a 10-point game.

Okay.

So that's insane to think that Joe Flacco did that.

But you thought, you know, Mike Tomlin's going to do everything he can to get Jamar Chase out of the game.

I think that was a good thought.

They didn't.

He went crazy.

But you also said, T.

Higgins, let's look out for T.

Higgins.

What about the brainiac decision he made at the end of the game?

Yeah.

What about the obviously hitting it right up the gut in between?

I think it was the Tampa 2, not 100% sure.

T.

Higgins, superstar performance last night.

And you felt it coming from a mile away, Conman.

What did you?

you see from the Cincinnati Bengal.

Now, late in crunch time, obviously making that decision to be able to run the clock down for Money Money McPherson to come in and win that game.

What a night from him, by the way.

He's all the way back, seemingly, for the Cincinnati Bangles.

But T.

Higgins shows up.

Noah Fant shows up.

You kind of were on that early yesterday.

What did you expect?

And what did you see, Conman?

Yeah, those two, those two played great.

A couple things fell short.

Fant getting 50 receiving yards would have been nice.

He got 44, but no, I mean, Footsteps Flacco, man.

I should have known.

I should have known.

I woke up.

First thing I said to myself was in Gumpy's voice: week two, Flacco, pal.

And I knew I should have done it then after the program and gone with the Bengals.

But instead of, I, you know, put my faith in Mike Tomlin.

I put my faith in a defensive game plan that I assumed was going to be good.

Little did I know, Mitt McMahon drew up the defense for the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday.

I get it now.

I get why Steelers fans want Mike Tomlin fired all the time.

This was one of the stupidest things I've ever seen.

Darius Butler tweeted late in the game,

it was one of their gotta have it downs.

And they had two guys go to Drew Sample over Jamar Chase.

I don't know who came up with the plan.

Darius Slay.

I don't know if he was out for the game after he went out or if he came back because I was so disgusted watching the Steelers defense.

I tried not to.

I just decided to enjoy Joe Flacco.

But all of a sudden, now the Bengals are all the way back.

They win a game like this.

Now they're not going to, you would think, they're not going to sell, you know, a Trey Hendrickson.

They're not going to trade some of the pieces that they might have before this game because because now, you know, it's three wins.

You would hope Burrow gets back for the last eight of them.

You know, maybe the last seven of them.

Ten should get you in.

It just, it's shocking what the Bengals did.

It's more shocking what the Steelers did or tried to do or what they didn't do.

But, I mean, it was great football,

to be honest.

They just started running slants and outs last night.

Like, that was pretty cut-of-the-edge type of stuff.

Yeah, Jamar had

the defense gives you tone.

That's what you do.

AJ, how were the vibes in the building?

It felt amazing.

Did you guys know that Joe Flacco was, you felt like Joe Flacco was going to come back and do that?

Yeah, so I honestly, I was sitting in traffic going to the, we stayed in the hotel.

My kids and wife had already were there at the stadium.

I was sitting in traffic about, I don't know, 0.1 miles from the stadium, and I could see everybody.

I was there for an hour and a half trying to get my parking spot.

And the people, I was shocked, not shocked, but I guess.

pleasantly surprised how juiced the people were.

They were tailgating everywhere.

Everyone's wearing white.

And then in the stadium, it was so loud.

They did a good job of their game day atmosphere too man like the lights everything was on on point i feel like and those fans man like it was awesome to see those fans and how crazy rabid they were they never like got down on them i was used when i was a kid to go to bangos games at riverfront stadium you'd hear people yo yo we want an aquarium sell the team all those kind of things there was none of that last night just people from ohio coming together and so pumped for a big win it was it was a magical experience i got to thank brick the he's the director of operations now in cincinnati he was the equipment guy when I was there.

He hooked us up, was unbelievable, just an unbelievable person, Pat.

You know, like the people that make things go behind the scenes with football teams, they're special people and he really helped us out and got to see Pac-Man as too as well.

So Pac-Man underneath the stadium when I walked in.

He was awesome.

Pac-Man and Tish, Boom Heron, who I know you know as well.

It was a great night, man.

It was really, really fun.

I'm happy to hear that.

And obviously, Ohio people and Ohio football people behind the scenes at every football operation are going to be all in for the cause and people people, you definitely want to know.

I'm happy to hear that you got a chance to go experience that live.

What was your guys' thoughts when Broderick Jones just tackled Aaron Rodgers?

So the whole,

so Aaron Rodgers last night, dude.

I mean, Joe Flacco, obviously, as well.

I mean, let's not get it twisted.

Joe Flacco had a night that I hope everybody has respect for Joe Flacco going forward.

It may be Colts fans.

At some point, hopefully some of these Colts fans that were trying to kill me last year, a lot of those times.

And now I think they're kind of seeing it all.

I think they're starting to realize.

There was a a reason why i was excited about joe flacco being our quarterback it's like joe flacco is 40 years old still playing in the nfl is that because everybody with a football mind wants to pay a 40 year old quarterback no it's because the guy is really good at the football and he talks about how much he loves doing it it's like the way he talks he looks like he and wants to play for another 10 years now that love of the game the both these men obviously have to have to commit this much of their life to it but like joe flacco growing up in pittsburgh and understanding the pittsburgh steelers baltimore ravens kind of rivalry the way he handled that in the situation that he was and how he came through that and won a Super Bowl for Baltimore, it's like Joe Flacco is good with me forever.

So if he's 55 years old and he's potentially being allowed an opportunity to play for the Indianapolis Colts in a state that we were in years past, I'm probably still going to get excited about it strictly because I see him like Tomlin sees him, which is a guy.

I mean, I don't want to stress this too many times, but it's like crazy to think about at this stage, especially against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He said he didn't understand some of the play calls.

Zach Taylor would be sending a play call and he's like ah, fuck, I don't know, I don't know what that is.

And he's a quarterback, and it's like, and then he probably makes something happen out of it, and they win this game and they put up over 30, and then obviously all of Cleveland is losing her mind.

Oh, my God, just the thought of what the Cleveland Browns offense has been, and then what Joe Flacco has been on a team.

Now,

the Cincinnati Bengals are constructed to be a quarterback's friend.

If they can protect at all against anybody, they got weapons everywhere.

Like Joe Burrow is supposed to lead that team to the Super Bowl, and they got weapons for Joe Burrow.

That is what they decided to pay.

Now, the offensive line, I think they've tried their best.

They've never really been able to get it, but Joe Flacco had some pockets last night, and Joe Flacco was moving pretty good.

But the weapons they have, I assume, is not comparable other than Jerry Judy up there in Cleveland.

So I think it's a little different story.

But like them thinking, you let this guy out of the building, you just beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night.

You just went for 342.

And we got rid of this guy whenever we started the season with this guy.

So instead of starting a rookie and saying, hey, we're definitely in a new era here on offense, we start this guy, Joe Flacco.

Then we decide to get rid of him, trade him in a division.

You know, there's probably some Cleveland Browns fans that think it wasn't a best decision like Mike Toma did.

And then he goes crazy like this.

It's like, we had this, this guy was our opening day starter.

Now he's doing it.

And then what we got to do,

there's some people in Cleveland losing their mind, but there's also people in Pittsburgh saying this is exactly what Mike Tom was talking about.

And then there's people all around the league that are saying,

like Connor said, is Cincinnati going to survive this year like they've done in the past?

In the past, they've been dead out of it.

And then they've had to climb themselves out of it always.

Whether it's injuries or just starting slow, Cincinnati Bengals are always putting themselves behind the eight-ball.

And then there's been a couple times where they've been able to catch up and run the table.

So is there a thought that the Bengals aren't dead?

I guess comes out of last night.

It's certainly a real one.

And then for the Pittsburgh Steelers, what are they, Ton?

What are the Pittsburgh Steelers?

They still in it?

I mean,

Universe Ball told me yesterday to take the Bengals plus five and a half twice.

Told me that twice when I threw it in there in a Thunderdale.

So then, whenever I shoot the Universe Ball before the season, it's for the Pittsburgh Steelers to win a Super Bowl.

Splash.

Do you remember that?

Oh, yeah.

Splash.

It was a no-doubter.

So are the Steelers still on a run to potentially win a Super Bowl like you thought a week ago, or are you completely out on that, Tone?

I would say I'm mostly out on that.

You asked who they are.

And last night was the night that you can do something that the teams of the last five years, who are good teams, they're good football teams, but we know are probably not going to win the Super Bowl.

You had a chance to do something that they haven't done.

Go on the road, win the Thursday night division game, and actually look like a team that can put lower or lesser teams away.

And they did not do that.

They started great.

It was 10-0.

You know, everybody was feeling good.

And then they came down and scored.

And then Aaron was like,

he threw the fucking interception, which was fine.

He was feeling it.

He was kind of seeing what he wanted to do.

But then there was another interception.

And then somehow they were losing at half when they had

out-gained the Bengals by like 150 yards in the first quarter.

But no, like this is, is it just a team that's going to win there?

Wild pick right here.

Wild pick right here by DJ Trump.

We got to give him credit.

This got him three points before the half.

Huge, huge flip right there.

But what a pick.

I mean,

I had no idea he came down with this.

I mean, the fact that you're able to do this, especially with DK, is unbelievable.

Yeah, but like Rodgers was awesome.

Rodgers has been awesome for this team all season long.

He was awesome last night.

He's perfect for this offense.

The ball, he hucked at 70 yards last night for that Hamil Mary.

Like, that was awesome.

Rodgers has been great.

This was all on the defense last night.

They ran for, Jalen Warren ran for 100.

You would have told me yesterday that Jalen Warren runs for 140.

Rodgers throws four touchdowns.

We score 31 points.

I thought it would have been an absolute blowout.

It was not.

They did not do anything on the defensive side.

They've been doing the last three games.

Herbig barely played, which is insane.

We had a segment on Herbig this week.

Nope, just probably, you know, make the playoffs and then,

yeah, probably lose.

No,

come on, that's one game.

You want four four and two.

You're four and two.

You're still winning games.

And let's go back to that Hail Mary at the end.

I think there were some wide receivers there that thought he was going to throw it 79 yards.

You just do them back at the

back of the end zone.

If he would have been able to do that, that would have been absurd.

But he's 41 years old.

And I guess it's the longest pass or throw in an NFL game since something.

Obviously, Aaron can still spin it at his age.

And I think there were some people potentially questioning his arm strength last week whenever he under-threw somebody.

Here's the next-gen stats.

Aaron Rodgers' Hail Mary pass attempt that resulted in an incomplete travel at 69.8 yards in the air.

The longest recorded pass attempt since at least 2017.

So he's 41 years old.

On his guy in the league, he has the longest ball.

So his arm, obvious.

He's going to feel good about that this morning.

You see that yet?

Somewhere between 68 and 70 yards is what he's going to say, too.

Somewhere between 68 and 70 yards, which I think he's already done to us on our show.

So we would say 69, which is exactly what he just threw.

So that's a little bit of an interesting situation here that certainly just brewed in front of our face here in real time.

I should have thought about that earlier.

But that looked exactly like that beer can toss at Tahoe right there.

Legit.

When I watched that, I was asleep for this, obviously.

I am so sorry.

Yes, exactly.

Look like he just woke up, just went into the fridge.

Somebody called for it in the lake.

All right, boys, you got it.

Little tiny two-step.

Boom.

Just go ahead and huck that thing.

And

it's unbelievable that he can still do that.

It's unbelievable how much he's running.

It truly is.

It's cool to watch.

Ty, what's your big takeaway from last night, brother, as an independent viewer?

You know, the Flacco thing.

I'm kind of just, you know, reaffirming, reaffirming, like, hey, I wasn't an idiot to think that going into the Packers game.

Like, you can tell with the Bengals, like, that is kind of,

they've raised their ceiling.

Like, we all saw how things were going with Jake Browning.

Like, the season pretty much was over.

If they can protect Flacco, like, they can beat teams.

You know, they had some timely takeaways last night as well.

But the Rodgers stuff, I mean, it's just so fun watching.

him play and like being able to pick out plays and be like, man, that feels like 2014 in Green Bay.

That looks like 2016, you know, like when he was winning MVPs and stuff like

earlier in his career.

And I'm just, the big thing is I'm glad he didn't, I mean, you mentioned a little bit earlier, Pat.

I'm glad he didn't break his leg when Broderick Jones jumped on his back and he went

right here, went absolutely ballistic.

He starts with this.

He raged all them way too long.

He had flashbacks of his Achilles getting blown out.

You could tell.

I mean, he was not expecting that in any way, shape, or form.

But no, just, I mean, it's far and few between when we get that good of quarterback play on Thursday nights.

So what the fuck was going on?

Crazy.

Crazy.

Yes, he was actually pissed.

If people were on the internet, we're like, was he actually mad?

I don't know him.

It's like, yeah, he's

concussion.

Very, very pissed.

He'll move past it.

Obviously, he's appreciative of this guy.

But this falls into that.

I assume Aaron was like, yes, what are we doing?

And Jones, to Jones's defense, he's just super duper excited.

Yeah, he said it.

And then he tries to give him a concussion too after.

Rod loves to celebrate.

This is not the first time.

He loves to celebrate.

He doesn't know how big he is.

Like a small dog that barks and thinks that can take on he doesn't realize how big he is that like hey man i'm a monster

I think he's going to be changing the way he celebrates with the quarterback.

If I had to guess, if I had to guess, but on that note, they had a game-winning drive.

Like, there's a game-winning drive in the Pittsburgh Steelers' mind.

This goes back to the Miami Dolphins just a couple, couple weeks back against the Chargers, where less than a minute left, they had a game, geez, they had a game-winning drive.

I mean, that's tough to watch every single time.

They had a less than a minute game-winning drive.

And then all of a sudden, no.

And then then you got two ago, and we got players.

And it just spirals into an entire thing.

Steelers had a game-winning drive.

They come back, they went in, and Mike McCarthy even called.

He's like, any Apes you know what football is going to be all close games?

And there's nobody you ride out of the ball and say, hey, Aaron Rodgers, if it's a close game.

He's had the most, if not,

he just started making up stats about Aaron in the end that he hadn't done actual research.

And it's like, whoa, here we go again.

Late in the fourth.

You need a touchdown.

Only can have a touchdown.

Aaron does that with the offense.

I'm not saying it's just Aaron, but you get it in this entirety.

And then Joe Flacco, you left too much time you left too much time for joey flacco and t higgins sliding there and then jamar chase after the game was asked about it would you slide and he said if you want to win the game you slide there it's like yo That's a great culture.

That's just

immediately.

Exactly.

I think that's very indicative of like the way Zach Taylor is delivering his message that you're two number ones, right?

You got two number one wide receivers there.

That a touchdown is certainly good for maybe incentives.

And there's, because they put into contracts, hey, if you score, we'll give you more money.

So that's my job, I guess, is to do that because this is what I'm getting incentivized to get paid more in my profession.

And then they say, Hey, why don't you be a good team player and not score?

And it's like, well, why'd you put in my contract to score a touchdown?

I get more money.

Well, the team went, shouldn't, don't you care more about the team?

Like, that is always a defense that players could have.

But we all, every player wants to see their teammate make the right decision in the moment.

You know, like there's a Super Bowl touchdown, I think.

Some, some, I think it might, I forget who it was.

Uh,

maybe it was a bradshaw i'm not 100 sure it might have been a mod bradshaw where he like i think he was running super bowl holy hell here we go and then he oh no oh no late and then he does the stop fall thing there and i think we all appreciated the fact that he remembered oh no i shouldn't do it but also like the fact that he got his touchdown you know so it's like a super bowl touchdown which is a huge deal for life and everything like that so t higgins doing this on a thursday night football in prime time when you want to pad stats and everything like that and he probably has incentives in there to make more money if you do it Like, dude.

And then Jamar Chase saying the same thing.

Maybe since he isn't there, look out for the jungle.

Yeah, in defense,

in defense of the Steelers' defense that could have got a stop on that last drive.

Jamar had only had 21 targets at that point.

So they had no, like, there's no way they could have known that they were going to go to him twice to start that drive and leave him wide open.

And he had 94 yards a yak, by the way.

So it wasn't as if he was just catching.

Yeah, look, he's wide open.

Like, that's the crazy part.

It's not like he had, you know, 16 catches for 100 yards and, you know, 10 yards of yak.

Like, the guy had 94 yards of yak.

He was catching the ball, and then he was just running around wild.

Like, genuinely, before I always thought, like, all right, fire Tomlin, whatever.

This is a game where it's like, okay, who the hell did this?

Because this is like just as egregious as a ref screwing up a game, I think.

Like, the best player in the league, the best wide receiver, top two, whatever in the league, and he's going to get 23 targets and catch 16 balls.

Like, did they even watch?

Do they know he's on the team?

Like, it makes no sense.

Yeah, I think there's a lot of Steelers fans asking the same questions you are.

It's early in the season.

They're 4-2, is what the Steelers will say and what the coaches will say.

And there's still a lot of room ahead and a lot of season left.

But there's certainly a lot of question marks on that defense after Joe Flacco does what he does.

Now, to your point about Jamar Chase's 23 targets, there's a little bit more context here from Hembo.

That's the most in a game since Antonio Brown's 23 targets in 2015, week nine.

Okay, let's go ahead and feed AB.

It's the most in a game versus Mike Tomlin-led Steelers.

It's the most in a game with Joe Flacco as quarterback.

Joe Flacco likes to get everybody a rock.

That's everybody happy.

Yeah, he does.

You know, so, but 23 times, it's the most in, it's the most here, it's the most here.

And he ate.

And T.

Higgins did too.

So congrats on the offensive Juggernaut.

Now, let's talk about something that hit the internet this morning.

Pablo Torrey, who is a sports Batman, I would say.

Yeah.

I think so.

Is that a weapon?

I think that, yeah, exactly.

This guy, now, I'm assuming the people that are on the other end of Pablo Torrey's investigations aren't going to say this, but we as somebody that's in the sports media world, who have a lot of questions about a lot of stuff happening around the world and the sports world,

we're like very impressed by the fact that Pablo Torre is just going all in like this.

It is on everything.

It's like he's uncovering stuff that I think has been around made for a long time.

I think he's only going to continue to do those things.

Like we are, I don't want to speak for everybody in the Thunderdome, but like this guy's courage.

Oh, yeah.

Wildly impressive.

Huge fan of Pablo Torrey now.

Yes.

And his, like, his courage and what he's doing right is

very impressive.

Now, this morning, he released a tape and he described it as a hot mic.

Now, I don't think it's a hot mic because it's a pre-recorded show.

So hot mics normally on live show.

You think you're in commercial.

You're not in commercial.

But this was certainly a recorded sit-down that was happening during a podcast that Bill Belichick was producing called Coach.

And it's a conversation between him and Jordan.

And the way they talk about kind of everything, you know, it's pretty enlightening, obviously, but I don't think Bill Belichick or Jordan thought that was ever getting out.

You know, this is a time that they definitely thought nobody was recording.

They certainly had to have known that they were mic'd up in this entire thing, which could worry you a little bit.

And you're doing this for people, but they were talking as if it was just a break in the show or breaking the action amongst themselves.

But obviously, they're mic'd up.

It's being recorded.

recorded it's an interesting thing i i don't know i think whenever we watched it i felt uncomfortable watching it because i knew that the people that were on camera didn't know they were potentially being recorded or we were watching it but nonetheless it was found and discovered and put out so certainly something that the world has now and i immediately thought to myself he was doing all his work at nfl films did nfl films leak this video to pablo tore to then add into his investigation about what's currently happening at unc with bill belichick and hiring and everything else that's going on behind the scenes.

So I reach out to NFL Films and I

will say this as somebody who has a,

what has it been, five years, four or five years?

What has it been?

Five years probably?

Yeah, five.

Yeah.

Five-year business relationship with NFL Films.

NFL Films operates as like the 33rd NFL team.

They've been with the NFL.

You obviously all remember Steve Sable talking about, you know, the frozen tundra in Green Bay.

We all grew up with NFL Films happening.

I think it's 50 plus years now.

They've been around.

They basically been the 33rd owner for the NFL.

They have been a part, a massive part of the growth and development of the NFL.

I think every league around the world hopes that they have a scorsese-like level of production, but also content creators and creativity that are able to showcase the game and its people while not just being a propaganda machine for the NFL.

And that's what I have experienced with NFL Films and our business relationship.

Now, have they messed up with our relationship?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Have I let them know that I didn't appreciate what happened?

Yeah, of course.

And they, to their credit, have taken full ownership every time whenever they mess up.

The NFL Films people feel obligated to be good to the NFL, its players, and its coaches, strictly because of how much they love the NFL, its players, and its coaches.

You're talking about some of the biggest ball fans out there.

So whenever this gets leaked, I immediately send it to the people that I know at NFL Films, who I've been giving millions of dollars to for five years now.

for rights for the show so that we can run plays and we can run highlights and we can do everything that you know studio shows on TV were able to do while we were just an internet business so I was actually the first person to negotiate digital rights with NFL and NFL films because we were a social media show a digital show before we got here on ESPN and I wanted to compete with the studio shows and I thought the difference that the studio shows had or ESPN had or Fox or CBS these people that have these rights is they were able to show actual footage so I wanted to do that so I approached the NFL I do an agreement with NFL films it ends up being a couple million dollars a year two and a half three million dollars a year to pay for rights that we can post and use and everything like that, which is now a big-time talking point, I guess, across the internet.

I'm staying out of all of that.

But me and NFL Films, what I'm saying, go, we're pretty, okay.

I've,

we know each other pretty well.

They've never lied to me.

So

they haven't, right?

I think that's true.

They've never lied to me.

Strong business relationship.

Yeah, the only time actually was when it was, I believe, Bengals Steelers on Thursday Night Football and we didn't use their graphics and we drew stuff.

We did the drawing graphics.

I actually

fighting for us there while it was another network was trying to

attack us at the time.

So it was like a one-day show where NFL Films actually to actually, that's a great example.

NFL Films had to fight for our relationship and said that we were not doing what these other people were saying with graphics and things like that.

So other networks didn't like that we had a digital deal with them.

So there was shows, maybe even this one, I'm not 100% sure ESPN was one of of them or not, but these people were trying to attack our deal because what CBS and Fox and ESPN were paying was like billions of dollars for NFL rights, but that was for games, live games.

So how much were five minutes of no audio tape in there?

So there was a lot of people sending like at us trying to take, once again, it's kind of the story of the thing, people trying to bury us, you know, and NFL Films has actually came out and was like, nah, this is what the wave of the future is.

And now they have inside the NFL on X, actually.

So they're moving in to the digital world, which we were certainly talking about with the Brian Branch thing.

So I asked them about the NFL films,

seemingly NFL films footage that was leaked for this Bill Belichick story that Pablo Torre is doing, because this is not what they do, AJ, right?

NFL Films feel is obligated to protect everybody.

Like they don't, that isn't their thing.

So here's a couple things in back-to-back days that I think the NFL films people not vary in.

And I think every player knows that about NFL Films too, whenever they go in there, right, AJ?

Is that a big part of it?

People, like, players are not...

You know, players are paranoid about a lot of different companies and places that are trying to get them.

They don't feel like NFL Films is out to get get them.

No.

Yeah, NFL Films always on their side, but also not a propaganda machine.

So it's a fine, you know, it's like a, it's a little bit of a balancing act for them.

So I asked them, like, hey, this Belichick video is pretty dirty here.

Like, this feels like pretty dirty.

It's coming out of your building.

They responded with, when this footage was captured, NFL Films did not produce coach with Bill Belichick.

NFL Films did not edit this show.

NFL Films did not shoot the show.

NFL Films did not and does not own the show.

As a matter of convenience to him, which once again, NFL Films obligation to like people and players and coaches in there, as a matter of convenience to him, NFL Films allowed Coach Belichick and the production team from Underdog to use our studio for his coach show because he was already here in his capacity, his talent on inside the NFL.

NFL Films has a long-standing relationship with Bill Belichick based on trust and mutual respect built over many years of working together.

We have absolutely no reason to believe that this footage leak came from NFL Films or from any employee of NFL Films.

So that's their statement on it.

That is, now that's like high level, okay, at NFL Films.

That is the leadership group that is saying that.

Now, I don't think they know for a matter of fact, and I don't think Pablatori is ever going to tell anybody what his sources are, who his sources are, but NFL Films wanted to make sure, and they, could I tell people, that that did not come from our people, from the research that we did, and that was not our show that was happening in our building.

Now, on that note, I assume they regret doing that at this point, as a convenience to Bill Billichick, especially because what gets out.

And then the Brian Branch film that came out, or video that came out

on Inside the NFL that was being read by Lewis Riddick, that made Brian Branch look awful.

Foxy, that was the big takeaway from that video, right, that hit the internet?

Yes,

Lions fans are pissed.

It felt like a hit piece.

It was just the weirdest thing ever, and everyone is really pissed about it today.

Okay, so I basically told the NFL films people that I was talking to, like, hey, you got this with Bill, and then you had the Brian Branch video.

Like, and they're like, this is not, this is, so this is the answer on the Brian Branch clip, okay?

We want all of our shows to have a distinct voice and point of view.

In the case of Turning Point, that voice and point of view is Lewis Riddicks.

He spends time every week with the show's producers, watching each segment and going over the script before narrating.

That particular sequence felt different to us as part of a nine-minute breakdown of the Lions Chiefs game than it did as a standalone excerpt on social media.

On X, it felt overly critical to Brian, so we took it down.

So they wanted to say like everybody was attacking them for taking it down.

They're like, you should.

We should have never put it up as it was to begin with.

So that is kind of their stance on it.

And I think they didn't say it there in the exact text to me, but in the conversation that I was having, I think they were trying to provide, provide more in their head.

I know that wasn't what the excerpt was from the nine-minute video.

In their head, they wanted to give context for Brian Branch on why this situation happened, but it obviously went a different direction.

They said they did.

So that's why they took it down, Agent.

They're They're like, that's not what we wanted in the whole thing.

So I don't want to be here, you know, just speaking for NFL Films, but it feels like somebody should in this world because NFL Films is an asset to us, not a bad thing to the entire football world, AJ Hawk.

Yeah, NFL Films, they're not the people to go after that try to do that stuff, I think, to make people look bad.

And it was like the low lights of Branch and that game and the voiceover.

Everything just didn't feel right.

You're trying to add context to it.

I guess it's like when, remember, Tua came out and Tua apologized and he said,

my teammates know my heart.

They know my intention, but it didn't come out that way when I spoke to the media.

It looked like he was taking shots at people.

I feel like maybe that's what happened here.

Like their intention was to give some context.

Hey, he feels like he got blocked in the back.

That's what got him upset.

That's what, you know, came before this.

He didn't just jump out of nowhere and attack Juju, but obviously that didn't work.

And now they took it down, but it doesn't matter.

We all saw it.

Yeah, we all saw it.

And everybody attacked him for taking it down.

And they're like, well,

we didn't like it.

That wasn't what we wanted either.

So what are we supposed to do?

And then the people that recorded like, nope, we already got it.

This is what you did.

They're like, okay, we know.

We're trying to, geez.

Yeah.

So I think they should view NFL Films people as like they've, they're away from the New York office.

They're not in the NFL office.

They're like their own operating team and they try their absolute best.

And they say, every once in a while, we get things wrong.

Okay.

And we are, we're going to own up to that, but we would like to, you know, continue to try to make our sport and our players and athletes continue to grow and build, you know, that, that whole thing.

And they're a talented group, but they've been in it here the last couple of days.

And Pablo Torrey, brother, he's a dog.

Dude, I'm getting that footage.

Dude, he is.

He's a...

He's a dog.

When did he get on this path where he started to like, what's he?

Is he called a whistleblower or what's he doing?

Investigative journals.

Investigative journals.

Yeah, I believe he got called out by a certain somebody whose show's now on Netflix, which is cool, about not being a real journalist.

And then

I think he was basically, is that right?

And then that's where the Clippers thing, you know, kind of started, because this isn't his first one i mean we all it kind of started with the clippers and ballmer paying kawaii how many people started cutting off how many people do you think are pretty scared and worried that he's gonna start digging in and sniffing around their program or what they're doing probably everybody yeah everybody should be if you've done something anybody can get it says i mean he's been he's been on this usc beat for a while too he was the first one way back when like when things started going bad that yeah

excuse me not usc uh he was the first one when things like kind of started going bad where it was like hey everyone needs to be aware of what's going on here And then it kind of cooled off for a little bit.

And then now it's just like, you know, he's back on it.

So, yeah, if you've got some shady dealings,

I'd be watching your steps very carefully.

Yeah, I don't know.

I think it's going to quiet down in that whole Pablo situation in North Carolina, right?

He's not going to talk about them anymore.

Probably.

We'll see.

We'll see.

What's going on, buddy?

Who you got there?

An absolute living legend, it feels like, with you right there.

That's right.

Six-time national champion, two-time as a head coach, ladies and gentlemen.

Kirby Smart.

What's up, fellas?

How are you, man?

Thanks for sharing.

so much for joining us.

Thank you for the hospitality here.

I'm at the Buttsmere Heritage Hall, right?

And it's a sports admin here, which is on the facility, though, of your football offices as well, right?

This whole area here is your guys' history.

It's an unbelievable view, man.

I can't get over the view this sky's got, man.

It's awesome.

And it's a beautiful day, too.

It is a beautiful day.

It's like a perfect day here in Athens.

It's normally hotter than this, I would assume.

It's hot last time you were here.

Brother, I want to let you know it changed my entire life.

So I got

third.

Yes, I'm very fair-skinned, as you see.

I got third, fourth-degree burns on my face and arms here last year.

Beautiful stadium.

And now on Fridays, I don't know if you know that.

Look up, brother.

We will always have coverage.

Always in the show.

We will always have coverage going forward.

So thank you to your school for that.

Now, thank you for your school for the hospitality to us here today.

And also game day coming for a top 10 matchup.

This feels like just normal for you.

What is the message to the boys?

And does it feel different this year versus last year?

And I don't want to bring it up, but you already have a loss on the record.

So has that changed anything that you say to the boys, or how do you treat this particular weekend?

It's another weekend in the SEC, buddy.

You better get ready because you know what?

There's another one waiting a week, a week later.

But for us, it's all about fast and free in this game.

I want our guys to play loose, enjoy it, and go out and compete.

But you know how these big games are.

They're a dime a dozen.

Lane's been texting me all week.

So I had to put him on, I had to put him on mute.

I had to put him on mute.

What's that?

He wants intel, you think?

He wants to talk shitty.

He just wants to soften you up a little bit.

What do you think, you guys?

What is he trying to do whenever he's big?

I think he's worried about my figure.

You know, I told him that's my wife's job, not his.

I heard that he talked about you not doing hot yoga.

He's looked at to judge a little bit.

He's a brand new lane, though, right?

Yeah, you know what?

I'm all about

self-deprecation.

I'm good with it.

I told you, my son got all upset when he said it.

And Lane texted me and said, hey, I was just cutting up.

I said, no, you're telling the truth.

But sometimes the truth hurts.

I think you look great, by the way.

Appreciate it.

That's why we're black.

Well,

you're not the only one, dude.

That is the move.

Lane, same guy on the field as he's always been, and then just off Lane, because there was even a documentary that came out about how he's changed his life.

Do you see a a difference from his team now versus what you maybe would have seen in the past with Lane Kiffen as the head coach over there?

Well, his team's always played just free and really well.

I think he's done a great job.

I think he's got better players and I think he knows who he is better now.

Like he's done a great job.

You watch him on the sideline.

His management of game, like they've had three or four games that came down to the last possession.

In every one of them, they just methodically move the ball, eat the clock, win the game in the fourth quarter.

He's really good at managing these games.

And we both have had extremely tight ball games.

So on that note, have you taught him how to clap with a timeout signal?

Absolutely not.

I told him, he texted me, I said, do you read my lips?

No human being ever calls a timeout where he's saying they're clapping, they're clapping, they're clapping.

And I'm repeatedly saying that with my lips.

And he's like, I don't care about your lips.

Nobody cares about that, by the way.

Nobody cares about that.

And until you just said that right there, I didn't know you were being 100% serious.

You're being 100% serious.

Read my lips.

Okay, so you're saying your body might be a living.

Read my lips.

They're clapping.

They're clapping.

They're clapping.

They're clapping.

And I've told Lane.

Lane loves Lane loves this joke.

You're being serious whenever you say that.

I thought this was all you like talking shit because you got one over on people.

You're saying, no, actually.

In my brain, when I'm saying they're clapping, read my lips.

Read my lips.

And I don't know any coach that ever has tried to call a timeout without saying the word timeout.

That wasn't the case there.

They're clapping, they're clapping, they're clapping.

But either way, I'm going to tell you this.

Lane has loved that.

He thought it was going to be a good distraction Sunday and Monday.

and then he did a great thing by coming out and just blowing me up for being a fat guy with

his language.

And he took all the attention off that.

So my kids got to see it.

My wife got to see it.

Well, I want to let your wife know and your kids know.

You look great in my eyes.

Thank you.

Okay.

You're a thick guy.

You know, we're not like Lane.

You know, Lane is a little more, you know, he's all about Prima Donna.

No,

he's a little cleaner.

It's a quarterback.

Quarterback.

He's a quarterback.

That is the exact thought.

He's a quarterback.

And also, if you're doing 6.30 a.m.

hot yoga, I mean, your body's going to look better than mine.

like that is just i did try it once i tried it a couple times with some guys here luckily i struggled i i couldn't do it but lane swears by it has changed his life i think it's put him in such a good mood and he's done uh a fabulous job i'm happy for him i'm happy for you guys too obviously you're both under the saban tree everybody's going to talk about that what do you think you gathered from the tree and what about this team is similar to past teams of yours and maybe different than past teams well speaking of the saban tree i just walked out of a meeting production meeting with him in there and i realized that he's still in control of all that does he boss you around like he bosses us around Yes, absolutely.

That is great.

Actually, there's a chance that we were on the phone with one of his former coaches as well during one of these meetings.

And that particular person does 6.30 a.m.

hot yoga.

And I was like, hold on, he's talking.

And he was like, oh, this is what me and Kirby used to do.

Me and Kirby used to whisper while he was talking on the side of the meeting.

It was like the good old.

Let's be clear.

He whispered.

I was sitting there quiet saying, hey, can I move my seat?

I sat next to Lane in the staff meeting for the couple years we were there.

And I was like, Lane, please don't talk to me during the staff meeting.

goes why are you so worried about talking during the staff meeting i was like it's disrespectful i don't want to talk while he's talking this guy didn't care he just

I told him all the time.

That's why he gets back at me now, Lane, because all those butt whoopings you used to get.

Okay, so let's talk about your team butt whoopings.

You got a team that's normally just physically imposing on everybody.

Do you feel that same intensity from this team and aura?

And what was the thing you do on Tuesdays?

What's the thing you do on Tuesday?

Bloody Tuesdays.

Yeah, we get after it.

We have a physical team.

Absolutely.

We've got a physical team.

But guess what?

So does everybody in the SEC.

So it's really about who can be physical in the moments that matter most.

And we got an extremely tough team.

We got a resilient team.

If you've watched our team this year, they're never going to quit.

They're going to keep fighting.

We need to play better at the start of games.

You've got a tough quarterback.

Yes, we do.

He is taking some shots, man.

The first time I've seen him.

The first time we all saw him, he was just getting helicoptered to concussion.

It's like, yes.

And his name's Gunner.

It's like this guy

is seemingly perfect for football.

Tell me why he's perfect for you and this team.

Because he kind of embodies this team's personality.

Like to see that guy get hit last week, zoom in and watch the hit he takes from the Auburn corner when he gets hit and how fast he pops up and runs back to the huddle.

It'll give you goosebumps.

It'll make you think, oh my God, did you see that guy just get hit?

And he's back up going to the huddle and the rest of the team's like, oh my gosh.

Motivates everybody.

Absolutely.

They play harder for him.

How is he as a leader in the, how do you feel about the team's chemistry?

I guess not just him, but how do you feel about the togetherness of the squad?

I love the togetherness of the squad.

I mean, there's no questioning anything at the points of our season when it's been tough.

Tough at Tennessee, tough tough at Auburn on the road.

They bounce back.

They don't let the scoreboard affect them, which I think is a really good quality to have.

There's other good qualities to have, but that's a good quality to have.

I wasn't there for the Auburn one.

The Tennessee game, 100 and whatever thousand.

You guys are just not supposed to win that game.

Keep shopping, man.

Brother,

that was cool.

I assume you enjoyed the hell out of that win and what you just mentioned it right there.

The resiliency that a coach has to see from his crew has to feel big.

AJ, back in the Thunderdome has a question for you, Coach.

Yeah, coach.

How you doing?

You mentioned you got to start fast.

You got to get out to a hot start.

Obviously, every team wants to do that, but what can you do schematically or with the schedule to do?

Are you going to dial up some buttons on D offense?

You want to try to get some explosives down the field?

How do you get a fast start?

I think having a plan that you stick to and that you trust.

You know, we really did that on offense at Tennessee.

We didn't necessarily do that on defense at Tennessee.

Everybody wants to start fast.

The media ask me every week, how are you going to start fast?

I think the prep of that, I think playing looser, I think our guy's not afraid to make a mistake allows them to play a little faster.

And that's the kind of the mantra we've took for this week is fast and free.

We want to start fast, but we want to play free of worry.

You talk about starting fast.

Your second halfs have been dominant, especially on the defensive side.

Tone has a question for you.

Yeah, Coach, starting fast, but those second halves, you've given up seven points in the second half over your last three games.

And there's a famous quote from Peyton Manning where he was talking, he's like, I've never even heard of a halftime adjustment.

That's not something that that's ever happens in football.

Now, do you guys like,

why have the second halfs on defense specifically been so good for you?

Is it a halftime adjustment thing or is it just adjusting to what the team's doing throughout the game?

I think it's settling down.

That's why I go back to the beginning.

Like, how do we play free of anxiety?

Because I kind of agree with Peyton, guys.

I mean, there's only so much you can do at the halftime.

It's short, it's quick.

You're not coming up with a new scheme or new players.

I agree with what he says.

Everybody's like, oh, man, y'all make great halftime adjustments.

No, we just play better in the second half.

We relax and go play.

Why can't we do that at the start?

Well, I think getting the anxiety down, though, is what halftime coaching is all about.

Now, let's talk about pregame coaching and maybe even halftime.

I don't know where all those videos come from.

We haven't seen them as of late.

Connor has a question for you.

Yeah, Coach, some of the best parts of college football are the pregame speeches that get leaked from your locker room.

And I'm sure that probably pisses you off.

But to be honest, it pisses me off that I haven't seen any this year or in recent memory.

Did you tighten up the locker room?

Did you tell everybody like, hey, if I find a recording, it'll be Bloody Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday?

Or what What happened there with the pregame speeches?

No, my son says they haven't been as good, so that's why they're not leaking.

He says you've become dull and boring in your old age.

So we've wandered everybody before they come in now.

And some people actually believe that, but it's not true.

It just hasn't leaked.

Yeah, your speeches are epic, though.

Still the same guy?

Still the same fire and passion.

Maybe it'll go a little lower and maybe we won't start with so much anxiety.

So maybe it'll be a chill mode.

Okay, so do you have it?

You have different gears in there?

Oh, you got to have different gears, man.

You got to have different gears.

I don't know which gear is needed needed because some players need some gears and some players don't.

Halftime, I've had to gear it up a couple times this year, and I think sometimes that helps, and sometimes you've got to gear it down.

How much are you changing how you coach different generations of players?

You've been around here now a long time.

Expectations are to be great.

We all just saw what happened in Penn State.

I mean, shit, college football is a different animal.

You created a lot of great times here, and I'm not saying anything would happen to you because you've won the national championship here, and you are cemented in the legacy forever.

But you do have to evolve and change, right, with every single group.

Is this different generation now than it was whenever you started?

And how do you adjust to that?

Yeah, it's very different.

It's completely different than it used to be.

And people say, well, it's not different.

You just treat them different.

And I'm like, well, it is different because the players are transient.

They can come and go.

They have money that they're not used to having.

And I'm so happy that they have those opportunities and they get a chance to make money.

But the hardest thing for me to change is on-the-field standard, like practice.

I cannot like just let it go, right?

So something irks me, something bothers me, a guy doesn't give effort, a guy doesn't thud, it's going to drive me nuts.

And I want to confront and demand.

And that can wear you down if it happens a lot.

So the biggest thing is don't change your standard, but change maybe the treatment, how we do things.

Maybe not as long as practices.

We've shortened those.

We want to have high energy, fast, get after it.

But at the same time, I'm not changing what the standard is in terms of how you practice.

Here's the definition: a transient.

Obviously, we knew

Mart was going to force us to have to do that.

It's an adjective.

Great.

Thank you for dropping that.

Look at that number one.

Read that for me real quick.

One: a person who is staying or working in a place for only a short time.

Yeah.

Hey, hit that word.

Tee it up.

Yeah, yeah,

you lefty.

I see.

You think so?

You think so?

More power from the left-handed side.

Switch.

I mean, I never

baseball growing up.

I didn't play Cricky.

It just looks better.

It feels because I did the Ken Griffey Jr.

Ken Griffey, man.

That was my rookie card.

I had so many of those.

Boom, it just was so crazy.

Pretty.

Yeah, it was pretty.

So I never played baseball, but if I was around the baseball people, I would always go, yeah, I'm lefty.

Yeah, just do the one of those.

But it turns out I got no power over there.

None.

None.

Yeah.

Everything comes from this side.

And I'll tell you what, I've got about 2 million less hacks on this side than I do on this side.

Yeah, so it's a bad spot.

Ty Schmidt is my baseball expert, actually.

Ty, this guy.

I love baseball.

I mean, it never gets...

You a baseball guy?

Hell yeah.

I love baseball, man.

I love the contact part of it.

You know, I can't deal with that, but I love the mind game.

I love watching all the series.

And I'm a Braves fan.

My son plays a lot of baseball.

So I get a lot of baseball in the summer around the house.

Dodgers are about to win again.

It looks like it.

They got more money than anybody.

I was anybody else supposed to say that.

That's college football, isn't it?

Right, right.

You're right, you're right.

We don't want to get into that full conversation.

No.

But you are,

brother.

I mean, I don't know how often you've said it.

I know we haven't said it enough.

You're a goat in college football, dude.

Appreciate it.

I don't know about that.

You are.

You actually are, though.

You're in real time and you don't get talked about.

Ty actually has a question for you, but that just hit me like, you're a goat, dude.

Holy shit.

Goat's in there doing the, doing the stuff.

He's the best that's ever done it.

I learned from him.

No, of course so, but you are a goat.

Whatever.

If it was to be over right now, you'd be considered one of the greatest of all time.

Congratulations on that.

That just hit me.

I don't know how often you've thought about it.

I should have thought about about this before you came on the show.

That'd be what a good host does.

Maybe then I can do some hot yoga.

That would be good for me.

Maybe you get better.

Yeah.

Maybe that's why you're the goat and he's not.

Could be.

Whoa.

Whoa.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Intrusive talks.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Goats do yoga, though.

I see it on the internet.

Ty has a question for you.

They do.

You're a certified GOAT coach.

You just mentioned, though, the SEC, how physical it is week to week and how good the conference is.

Obviously, everybody knows that.

There's kind of two schools of thought when it comes to it.

It's like, hey, either, you know, you're battle tested at the end of the season because you've played so many good teams, or, you know, if it doesn't go the way you want it to, well, you know, the league cannibalizes itself.

Yeah, exactly.

Do you lean towards, or coaches in general, I guess across the SEC, do they lean towards either one of those ways?

Like, does it sometimes it feel like that?

We're like, this year, you guys might get, you know, five or six teams into the playoffs, but then there will be that conversation if someone doesn't win a national championship.

Well, the league's too deep.

They just, they cannibalize themselves during the season.

Yeah, you know what?

I think it's the agenda that the coach personally has.

So if you end up not getting in, that's the case.

If you're in and you lose, that's the case.

I mean, everybody uses it how they want to, and that includes the SEC, and it includes the others.

I think the greatest debate right now in all of college football is what you're talking about.

The other conferences or saying, oh, well,

the SEC just has all these teams ranked, but they really don't deserve to be ranked.

And they play each other and they beat each other up.

I don't think we'll ever know the truth.

I always say, go poll the NFL scouts and get them to tell you where they're pulling from and where they're drafting from and those usually equal the best teams.

Who has the most team players drafted?

We did when we won the national championship.

Michigan did when they won the national championship.

Ohio State did when they won the national championship.

Just look at that and that'll tell you where the best players and teams are.

But we're not going to know until they start putting us all in there and they play a cross-conference like they do in basketball.

I'd love to do one of those with another conference.

Are you ever, so that's a good question.

Texas and Ohio State obviously kicked off this season.

SEC, Big Ten, Michigan, Oklahoma happened.

And refresh me if it has happened.

Do you guys, do you have any?

We had Clemson last year where we opened with them to start off.

And

you founded them.

Do you remember that?

Do you remember what they did to Clemson?

Well, it was a tight ballgame and a half, but you go back and you look.

Good speech.

You look across the board, and that's one of Lane's biggest complaints.

And Lane is very bright.

And Lane is biggest concern is we're losing opportunities to play other conferences when we schedule nine conference games.

So that's the best reward any conference can get.

There's less opportunities for me to play, for us to play other conferences.

And the only way to measure conference to conference is that.

Modern world 12-team playoff.

Everybody said we should be getting bigger matchups on a regular basis.

Obviously, we've had like a top 10 every single weekend.

There's been one that kind of had an interesting slate.

You keep going forward.

Do you like where we're at with college football right now?

Do you feel like, obviously, it's a transition era.

You've been around a long time.

You're one of the goats.

We talked about it.

But it does feel like we're in a transition era.

But in this transition era, ratings are higher than they've ever been for the sport.

The sport is hot right now.

Would they not be if it was 16 or 24 or 30 teams?

I think they still would be.

I think the ratings would still be higher.

I think you'd have unbelievable playoffs.

It's going to mimic the NFL when we get to having that many teams potentially in the playoffs.

So you get better matchups for longer.

Because these games at the end of the year are going to come down to essentially being play-in games.

You're either in or you're out.

I would love to see a bigger pool of teams make the playoff because that's what all our fan bases want is an opportunity to do that.

And also home field advantage, man.

A part of college football is the experience.

Atmospheres.

Yes.

So then.

We have two NFL analysts on our staff, okay?

And they've been in the NFL for a while.

They're with us now, and they're like, the difference in the crowd noise in day-to-day, it is night and day.

Now, NFL playoff games, not so much.

But NFL weekend games, it's not even close to what you're experiencing in these games.

But the tradition and the change and everything like that, that is what college football is.

That's what you are.

You're the one that brings it to life because you go to campus and you get all these crazies.

You got people taking shirts off and

running around.

Absolutely not.

That's Dan Owens.

So, I mean, mean, you didn't teach Dan that, Coach?

Come on.

Absolutely not.

I thought that was going to be.

Dan got that from Lane.

That's not me.

That's not me.

Who's that coming down the track, or what's that coming down the track?

You got it, man.

Who is it?

Is it who's or what?

You're supposed to know the answer to that.

I know the answer to that.

I grew up in Georgia.

That's your job.

Somebody is it who or what?

I don't know.

You tell me.

Well, I think it's a generational problem you guys have.

I do believe that.

Don't you guys me.

I'm good.

I'm in there.

I know.

AJ has the last question for you.

I do, Coach.

As a player, when I think of you, I think of a hybrid of Steve Atwater, John Lynch back there.

Just taking people's heads off.

Is that accurate?

Can you say accurate yes or no?

Absolutely not.

Wow.

So

as I remember you, I got to go work him out at Ohio State.

He came and I was at the Dolphins the year he came out.

So I went and they had a couple.

I think it's Dante Wittner.

They had some safeties.

I went to Ohio State and got to work him out.

It was the coolest thing in my life.

You get to go to pro days at USC, UCLA, and I'm a pro coach, and I get to go work these guys out.

But when you turn it back to me, I was not any of those guys.

I was the finesse guy that didn't make the Colts.

I did pick off Peyton several times in practice, but I couldn't make the team because I couldn't tackle one.

You had a spring and a training camp with the Colts?

I was just a training camp.

It was real short.

It was the cup of coffee theory, right?

So

it was Peyton's second year.

Transient.

Yeah, transient.

Not by my choice.

I was definitely transient.

Yeah, that was a long way transient.

Okay, as we look ahead, what does the rest of your day look like and morning look like before?

I think you're joining joining us on game day.

We appreciate that.

But what happens with your team now until tomorrow?

We lock in and focus and want to be able to play fast and free.

So to do that, we've got to do a walkthrough we do, a kind of routine we do to get some mental practice.

And then we break up and go enjoy the evening.

We've got a big volleyball game tonight.

Our volleyball team is going to break a state record for attendance.

We're going to bring some players over there because it's right next to us.

So we're going to go check out a volleyball game for a few minutes, then get out of here.

I love all sports.

I'm a sports enthusiast, so I want to go support our volleyball team.

Okay, so I want to watch the Penn State women's volleyball.

They're the reigning national champions right now.

They were playing against USC or UCLA.

I forget which one it was, one of the California teams.

They had a dome in there packed.

Packed.

Crazy.

We're trying to pack it out tonight.

It's unbelievable how athletic these women are now.

Talking about athletic jumping.

I mean, we could sign a couple of them to block some field goals.

Absolutely.

Who was the player's daughter that was at Penn State, AJ?

Kennedy Martin.

Yeah, Rue Martin's daughter.

Oh.

Do you know who that is?

No.

She transferred in from Texas.

What was our Florida?

Was he offensive lineman?

He was a receiver, actually.

Then he was actually an assistant coach for a little bit in Green Bay.

Not anymore.

Nonetheless, his daughter, 6'6, something like that, 6'7.

She's playing weak side.

She was on weak side, bang, went over to block power, and then ran around, hit another one over here.

She's 6'6 ⁇ , 6'6 ⁇ .

I love watching that.

I love seeing the athleticism.

Great sport.

Great sport.

Great sport.

You got a lot of them down here.

And congrats on the beautiful setup and everything.

And thank you for the hospitality, man.

Thank you, guys.

Appreciate what y'all do for college football.

You know, your fans tried to kick me out of a restaurant down here.

Yeah, Carson Beck.

20 people showed up on our show down here.

And Carson Beck spilled water.

Carson Beck's dad spilled some water on Connor.

Oh,

all the noise around this place towards me, you have been very kind to me.

Absolutely.

I'm very thankful for you.

Let's get who's that or what's that, right?

We'll be good.

That's unbelievable.

We appreciate you, man.

Thank you so much.

Back to you, boys.

I'll be over about a minute.

I love you.

Don't be you guys and me, right?

Yeah.

I grew up here.

I know what it is.

Tony, you got any big games this weekend?

A college game?

I know we do have a big card.

We got a got a hard out here coming in and out.

Correct,

yeah.

Do you have any big games?

Oh, I know there's some big games.

Obviously, this one's the one where game days.

USC Notre Dame.

I'm circling that one, Tony.

I don't want to cut you off.

I'm circling that one.

I would circle that too because, honestly, I think the loser is done.

Yeah, loser leaves town match.

Yes, obviously, Notre Dame, that's their third loss.

It's going to be tough when you, all three of your losses are the three best teams that you played.

And then SC, they've got one loss so far, but they still have a couple hard teams left on their schedules.

So there's probably another one coming.

I do think the loser that is out, winner has a really, really good chance to make the playoffs.

And then obviously the Tennessee-Alabama game, winner smoking cigars.

Yeah, how'd that start?

Do we know?

They all talk about that.

They have told that story 17 by the way.

They've told it a thousand times on game day, and I always forget.

But that's awesome.

And then obviously the Holy War, BYU, and YouTube.

Yeah.

It's a great weekend at college football.

Yeah.

Pat, do you know when they started smoking cigars when you win that Tennessee Alabama game?

I do not know the exacts, but I do know it's a gigantic ordeal.

I remember when we were there two years ago, I think Desmond Howard got a photo with Peyton Manning smoking a cigar afterwards in the game.

And it was like, he has that up in his house, I think.

So it's a, I don't know the exact start time, but I do know that it is very real.

And obviously, LSU Vandi being a real thing is crazy.

Vandi continues to be awesome.

Texas Tech spent a bunch of money and it paid off.

Them is seven and a half point favorites in Arizona State.

Who's playing quarterback there?

Sam Levitt, I believe, because it went from 11 and a half down to seven and a half.

So, I think they're expecting Sam to play.

And then, obviously, we saw Matt Leinert do the shove.

Uh,

push, push, push, push,

20-year reverse,

right?

Yeah, yeah, crazy, absolutely crazy.

That's huge.

We got a lot of big games, and then top 10 down here in Athens.

Come on, top 10 down here in Athens.

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Hey, fans!

welcome back to fansville's cheers

and tears oh

okay so like everybody deals with losing right to a rival on a last second field goal whatever it's fine i'm totally fine but i cope with losing with an ice cold dr pepper

those 23 flavors are like so delicious they totally wash away the pain of your college football team taking a big fat l

college football it's a pepper thing

Football.

Kirby was great, Pat.

I don't know what you think, but I love what he said.

Don't be you guys and me.

What are you doing?

What are you talking about?

It is a generational thing for what's that coming down the track or who's that coming down the track.

I will say, I just want to let the Georgia people know that they need to figure it out.

Where are the oldest?

What?

And then the young say who?

Who's.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure like the older generation,

the ones who would say they I don't know I don't want to say anything because there's young dogs that believe that they've been dogs since birth as well So I don't want to question but but the older dogs I believe what's that coming down the track and I believe there was a some sort of generational that said yeah, but we're people though So who's that coming down the track?

So I think there is a little bit of a so each time I do it which is this is the best call in sports This is the best call in sport.

This what they do here, the call of the dogs, by far, I mean, it's just so long.

Drunk is mentioned in there.

you know like there's just for it to be their thing it is the coolest i think so it is a lot of fun to do it and uh every time as i'm doing it i'm like all right who we pissing off here oh what's that come and

the youngs you know it's uh I'm lucky to do it.

It's cool.

This place has obviously a lot of deep history and tradition whenever it comes to football.

You can go all the way back to the greats that played of the past and then of the recent history dominance that they have certainly had.

And now hosting another top 10 game, which is going to happen seemingly anytime another team is a top 10 team with Kirby Smart as the head coach.

And to your point about liking what he was saying, I liked everything about what he just did here.

I thought he was awesome.

Was that not it?

That was maybe one of the best ones we've had with somebody just

got ahead to him.

Yeah, without a doubt.

Literally the first thing we kind of all said after we is like, man, he is unbelievable.

It's impossible not to like that guy and not to root for that guy.

And the amount of times he said, that's a Lane Kiffin thing.

And they both get it, by the way.

They both are very tight.

It's like these football minds, these football people are special.

We'll have Coach Sabin joining us here in a matter of moments.

And then we have Luke Combs and Bailey Zimmerman

coming and joining us.

They're both performing during game day tomorrow.

I believe that that was, I mean, we'll ask them, but I believe that was agreed to like ahead of time because schedules with everybody's life, especially fall music, there's touring that's happening.

Getting people to every single city every single week is pretty difficult.

So the fact that these two locked in this weekend for game day to come put on a show for us, and I mean,

of course, the students that come out and kick ass every single week are the greatest.

Like, we are so thankful for them.

But, me just getting a chance to watch his Luke Combs and Bailey Zimmerman concert tomorrow morning.

I'm pretty pumped up about it.

Yeah, I am.

Uh, I take it in.

I turn my chair around.

I kick the feet up.

I mean, I am, I'm like, we're at a concert right now.

And Luke Combs obviously is a guy that sells out arenas and is huge.

People are even talking about him maybe being a Super Bowl halftime because everybody seemingly knows his stuff and he has a range of doing it and then bailey zimmer's zimmerman's like 24 years old he has like 10 hits already so it's like these two dudes giving up their time to come do a show here i'm very very thankful for so we'll chit-chat with them in the third hour um i know they're not from georgia so that is a little difficult because i got friends that are georgia musicians as well and it's like

there's like a thousand of them there's like a thousand of them but i don't i i don't think like the scheduling is as easy as everybody just, you know what I mean?

Sure.

Like, I don't know.

I don't know if everybody takes that all in, me included, because I'll send tech.

I got no say in anything.

I'll send tech.

Like, this is the dumbest decision of all time.

Why are we, how, are we trying to make a good show?

Like, what are we, are we trying to make the people like us or what do we, what's the goal here?

And then I obviously get a full breakdown.

Well, you know, like people have this and then this and to get to this, the closest airport is this.

And it's just like a full, there's always something.

with everything.

And on that note, we got Luke Combs and Bailey Zimmerman doing a concert tomorrow.

And then Jellyroll, Roll, who is one of the best speaking musicians.

I think every time he speaks, there's always an entertaining thing.

I think that's another scheduling thing that potentially happens.

Now, I'm not saying that a Georgia musician, and I'm one of Jelly Roll's, I'm maybe Jelly Roll's biggest fan.

I mean, as soon as I do Big Night Out back in Pittsburgh, my first call is to Jelly Roll.

Jelly Roll has impacted and made my life a lot better as a friend.

And Jelly Roll, I think, on the flip side, would say, like, hey, Pat's a pretty cool guy.

Like, I think Jelly Roll would say we're friends.

I do believe that, like, somebody from Georgia would be a good guest picker for a Georgia game.

But if it's not like Jelly Roll is the perfect human.

This guy is the greatest.

Like Jelly Roll's story, his music, everything about him, how he gives back to everybody, like he's special.

So I'm excited for tomorrow just in general.

We got a lot of really cool and talented people a part of a program.

James Franklin's going to be here.

Crazy.

Really?

Is this the first announcement of that?

Or I know you kind of, I feel like you teased it earlier in the week, maybe.

No, no, it was.

I don't know if we teased it or gave it away, but they announced that James Franklin's going to be there.

It's like, good show coming tomorrow.

I think good, good show tomorrow.

Now, the Georgia students for Game Day, I think, you know, have had a lot of game days.

I think they've had a lot of game days.

I think we all, as people that are relatively new to game day, understand that.

And how you go to like a James Madison and in the entire...

Everybody that's ever gone to school there shows up.

It's like 30,000 people and they're like so pumped.

It's like some of these places, obviously, game days been to a lot.

So it's not as,

you know, maybe.

But I think they're going to show up.

From what I've been told, crowd's going to be awesome tomorrow morning.

I don't know if they're good kickers or not.

I don't know how expensive it's going to be.

Last time we were here, Belle Sessions and Henry Silver were a special moment.

And I got a handwritten letter this morning from Belle.

Oh, handwritten.

It was one of the nicest cards I've ever read in my life.

That girl right there, Belle.

Belle Sessions.

And then Henry Silver, the kicker from Indiana who went to school down here.

This is, I believe this is last year when we were down here.

Yes, last year.

And I had just gotten surgery to take out my, what was the thing in the back of your mouth?

Wisdom tooth.

Yeah, you remember that?

I had a wisdom tooth that was cracked in the back of my mouth for like five weeks.

It hurt so bad.

I couldn't make it anymore.

Had to get surgery to get that thing removed.

Was on all types of painkillers.

Come down here to Georgia for game day and all of a sudden we're giving away $800,000.

So, I mean,

it was a magical moment.

And Belle wrote me a letter, and it was one of the nicest things I've ever read.

So it's been great down here.

I think tomorrow's going to be spectacular.

But to Tone's point from the last hour, the college football slate's amazing, as is the NFL slate.

And last night's game, AJ, I think was a good starter for NFL week seven.

Anytime you got two teams scoring 30-plus points, the average viewer is going to enjoy that.

That's going to be a, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

We got a lot going on.

Not a lot of good defense, though.

You know, last night the Box scored 54 plays for the Steelers, 72 plays for the Cincinnati Bengals.

So you talk about Chase Brown.

He, I mean, out of Illinois, I think he was at Western Michigan, maybe before that, transfer in there.

We did a little research on him as we were watching him just dominate last night.

He's special, dude.

This guy's fun to watch.

And everybody talks about that offensive line not being great.

If you can run the ball well, that helps out the offensive line for everything.

Now, you have to have an offensive line to be able to run the ball well.

And they were able to do that against the Pittsburgh Steelers defense that we thought was going to be able to be good against it.

So I think there was a lot of positive shown last night from an offensive side.

Defensive side, Without Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals are able to get a win.

Congrats to them.

And I guess the Steelers fans are worried their defense stinks.

And if you're the Bengals, it's like, holy hell, we stole one, AJ.

Feels like we might have stole one here with Joe Flacco as our quarterback without Trey Hendrickson on the defensive side, AJ.

Yeah, I know, with Joey Burrow on the sideline cheering his team on in the boot.

Do we know when exactly, like, or estimated time of return for Joe Burrow?

Anyone, did they say last night in the broadcast?

I haven't figured it out.

No, okay.

If you look, yeah,

he's grown his hair out a little bit, letting letting it hang.

Yeah, I'm not sure exactly when it is.

The emo hair was cool, and then once they were winning, he put a hat on to cover it up, which was awesome.

But I'm not sure exactly when he's coming back.

I think the timeline was, what, three months when it initially happened.

So people were kind of speculating end of November, maybe mid-November, depending on how it all goes.

But I mean, just seeing him on the sidelines, seeing him in a boot, seeing him walking around, moving around, it makes me think like, okay, well, Burrow is a tough son of a bitch.

Like, if he can get back early, he's going to.

He's He's at least going to try.

So that's why, like, one win, even, you know, you look at it, okay, they're three and four.

But, you know, if they win one more game without Joe Burrow and then Joe Burrow comes back with time to, you know, get it done, I have complete faith that Joe Burrow is going to, you know, run the table and get the Bengals in the playoffs.

He damn near did it last year.

I like the fact that Joe Burrow said, I'm going through this rehab.

I'm not cutting my hair.

Okay.

I'm just going to grow this thing out.

All I'm worried about is getting healthy and coming back.

He's an Ohio guy.

Obviously, we think he's tough we appreciate that he was out there last night i saw somebody tweet and call him my chemical joe burr romance oh that's great

Did you see that?

That's a great tweet.

I laughed very hard.

Yeah, I agreed with it.

I did appreciate the hair in front of the eyes.

I appreciate he's got a long swag.

Maybe he goes with some braids.

You know,

maybe cornrow that thing back and see what he's looking like whenever he comes back.

Maybe the Moxie level will be put so high that Cincinnati Bengals can't help but win.

I don't think we watch the Cincinnati Bengals if we think they can win a Super Bowl right now, but

I do think we think that the Cincinnati Bengals can have a season that isn't ass, right?

That is kind of where we're at, AJ?

Yeah, I feel like last, so I was in the stadium and I heard multiple fans say a couple times, hey, we need this.

This would be so big for us.

A win here would be so good for our like morale, for what we're doing.

It would keep us alive.

And that's exactly what it did, Ty, when you look at it, I guess when you're watching the Bengals offense, all right, we saw two defenses that I guess could not really get a stop when they needed it.

That's a straight touchdown.

Can you figure figure it out?

Do you think these defenses, can the Bengals defense figure it out to, I don't know, maybe make a somewhat of a push in the playoffs or get to the playoffs?

I mean, I don't know.

I think, you know, we're kind of high on Joe Flacco throwing for almost 350 yards and three touchdowns.

I don't know if we can expect their defense all of a sudden to be holding teams to 10 points.

I don't think that's going to happen.

I think they played pretty well.

But in my mind, I was big on, hey, get this Bengals team off primetime.

This needs to be done.

Now, you look ahead at that Thanksgiving game, the script is flipped.

Now everything's on the Ravens.

Hey, we got to see what the Ravens are like after the bye week.

I want to watch Joe Flacco on Thanksgiving night.

Exactly.

And I think that's what every, you know, didn't want to watch Jake Browning on Thanksgiving night.

I'm all in for watching Joe Flacco on Thanksgiving.

My buddy told me, he texted me, he felt like Joe Flacco was on beta blockers.

He was so calm and so in the moment.

It looked like Joe never even, never, was never flustered, never even sweat.

He just was out there just doing his thing.

I don't know.

Pat, I think you have another, you have the goat actually with you on campus right now, right?

Yeah, I have a man that could obviously go into a Thursday night football game and win it right now if you were to put a whistle around his neck, just like Joe Flacco was able to do when getting traded in Cincinnati.

The greatest of all time, ladies and gentlemen, Nick Saber.

Coach, I see the families here.

I love that.

I see a good crew of Jimmy Sexton's over there, which we need to keep his ass away from the field goal kick.

Every time he shows up at the field goal kick, they make it.

And if you watch that Georgia one, Henry and Bell, guess who's dead center right behind the kick jimmy sexton there costing a lot of money to go out of the pocket and then we tell him not to do it hey don't do it okay then penn state you go ahead and watch that film guess whose head's creeping into the penn state jimmy sexton back there so this man is synonymous with people getting paid and in my experience it's been all the kickers so great to see you jimmy you're the man great to see you jimmy it's almost jimmy sexton season by the way it is almost jimmy sexton season let's talk about this season we're talking about last night aaron rodgers 41 years old joe flacco 40 years old joe flacco got traded to that team like 10 days ago aaron rodgers first year there they're both leading their teams to incredible outcomes now the bengals win last night the steelers doing well what are your thoughts on older quarterbacks at that position having that much knowledge or i guess experience has to be a benefit how do you view these two guys playing well at this age well these two guys have played well their entire career.

I don't think that if you put them in the right teams with the right kind of guys around them, they're going to be able to continue to play well because they're decision-making.

They're not going to make bad plays for their team

and they're going to put themselves in winning position.

I mean, Joe Flacco has done it for years.

I mean, and wherever he's been, I mean, he helped Cleveland play halfway decent when he was there.

He made the playoffs off the couch.

Yeah, I mean, and now he goes to Cincinnati who couldn't win a game before, and they go out and beat the Steelers, who is who are a really good football team.

So

I I think older quarterbacks can play in the NFL providing they have the right kind of people around them.

And also still the physical capabilities.

Joe Flacco can spin it.

Aaron Rodgers threw it 69.8 yards last night, which is the longest recorded pass thrown in the NFL since 2017.

Unbelievable.

He's 41 years old.

Threw that thing 70 yards.

Unbelievable.

That's insane.

That is wild.

It is.

That is crazy.

That's crazy.

Yeah, I saw him throw a beer, though, coach.

We talked about it in the first hour plenty times before.

We were at Lake Tahoe at that golf tournament you need to go and win.

You know what I'm talking about out there?

At the American Century.

And he rents a house.

It's a big house.

And he woke up.

There was somebody in the lake.

I don't know, 200 yards away.

How far?

It was at least genuinely 150 yards from an elevated position, too.

But elevated position, though, you know, so like houseway up here, lake out here from kitchen.

Throws this thing, hits the dude's tube that he's sitting on in the lake.

And we all, I was rather high, coach.

You understand that.

It's California.

The rules.

And we all started taking it in.

We're like, did that guy just throw a beer can 100 yards?

And then we asked him about it.

He's like, I feel like I'll always be able to spin it.

But if you listen to Drew Brees talk at the end of his career, he's basically like, I'm trying to hang on physically because my brain is at a level that obviously is an advantage over everybody else.

So physically, if we can just hang on, I'll be able to get the most out of it.

Aaron, obviously, doing that.

Joe Flacco, obviously doing that.

Other NFL stories that I'd like your take on.

It involves your former quarterback, Tua.

Okay, Tua, I think, made one of the most

accountable statements that I've seen in a long time from a player when he was correcting something that he did after a game where he basically called out some teammates unnamed and then threw teammates under the bus.

And then a couple days later, he immediately went out and was like, I shouldn't have done that.

I added more noise to the outside, owned it.

It was beautiful.

Whenever you see something like that happening with a former player, especially when you care about like Tua, do you reach out and send him an advice?

Do you say like, hey, I'm proud of the way you handled that?

Like, how does that kind of go with you?

Well, I am proud of the way he handled it.

But one of the things that I always try to tell our players is, you know, you never criticize another player.

And in my entire coaching career, you never ever saw me criticize one of our players.

You know, I think everybody's got to take responsibility for what they can control.

And if you start worrying about things that you can't control, that's going to start affecting things that you can control.

But if everybody takes responsibility for their own self-determination and do what they can do to make the team better, so I was really shocked that Tua did what he did when he threw some guys under the bus.

And, you know, maybe they're not playing the way they should play.

I'm not taking up for the guys, but you don't say that about your teammate.

But I really was proud of the way he came back and sort of took accountability for making a mistake.

Gumpy was really riding a wave, as you could tell, I would assume, as that was happening.

Well said, Coach.

Well said.

Yeah.

Coach Sabin understands how big of a Dolphins fan Gumpy is.

And obviously, Coach Sabin, former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, former head coach of Alabama.

And obviously, your coaching tree is huge.

This weekend, it's been well documented about Lane Kiffin and Kirby.

We just had Kirby on.

He was awesome.

He was absolutely incredible.

Talking about how different he was from Lane, though.

And obviously, Lane vastly different than Kirby.

And I think Lane's saying the same thing.

What do you see from these two head coaches and the teams that they represent?

And

I know it's a weird thing to continue to ask you if you're proud, but whenever you see the way they are doing, that obviously feels good for you.

And everybody just talks about coaching trees.

They never talk about how the tree feels, if that makes sense.

No, I feel great about it.

I love it that guys that have been involved in our program and contributed to a large degree to the success that we had.

I mean, those guys were, you know, Kirby was a big part of being a great coordinator for a long time who really contributed to the success of our program.

To see them knowing that they want to go out and have the opportunity to be head coaches and to see them be able to go out and do it successfully is, you know, something I'm really proud of because we helped them do what they want to do.

They helped us do what we wanted to do.

So it's kind of a give and take.

And Lane and Kirby are very different,

but it shows you that there's more than one way to skin a cat.

But both these guys fundamentally are not that far apart in terms of the football part of it and what you get across with

discipline and execution and good game planning.

And even though they systematically might be a little different, they still know what it takes to win.

And both of them, in their own way, do a really good job of executing it with the players they have.

Your coaching tree is pretty average.

Last week, we were out in Oregon, Dan Lanning and Kurt Signetti.

Kurt Signetti now $93 million.

Congrats to him.

Good.

Yeah, congrats to him.

We're all happy for you, Kurt.

Congrats to that.

And Indiana, by the way, saying...

We're the real deal.

And Kurt Signetti announced on our show yesterday, and I guess IU tweeted it out before, they have the largest alumni base living alumni base in America and I don't know if that means signed up to be an active alumni or whatever but it's like 805,000 people they obviously have 93 million dollars to give Signetti after they redid his deal last year just to kind of make a statement like hey we're in this thing for the long haul but last week and congrats to him and them life-changing money he's earned it good for him and him betting on himself to go do this all cool but last week Dan Landing Kurt Signetti now it's Kirby and it's Lane and it's like four different ways of doing ball though isn't it kind of four different ways of doing ball do you think think that?

And why was your system able to take in all these different personalities and still seemingly have the same Alabama team throughout?

Well, I think that the key to our success was always the culture that we created.

And I think that every one of these guys that you're talking about have created a culture with their players to be able to have success.

You know, this is what you have to do to create value for yourself and for the team.

They all do it in a different way, but they all create a culture in their organization that gives them the players the best opportunity to have success and their teams the best opportunity to win.

So, and they're all the same in that.

But I do commend Indiana for making the commitment because, you know, Kirk Signetti would have been the first guy on everybody's list to hire for every job based on what he's done at Indiana and what he's done at other programs that he's been at and the success that he's had his entire career.

So for them to step up at this point in time and lock him down is really smart on their part if they want to continue to have success as a football program.

Okay, so I think we just heard what you would be thinking if you were Penn State there before yesterday's announcement of the extension.

You said any job anywhere.

A lot of people are thinking Penn State's going to be the bell of the ball, obviously, because of all the resources.

You think even at his age, Pat Kraft up there in Penn State would have been like, if Sig can do what he did in Indiana.

Now, once again, I would like to say, I think a lot of people don't know how much money Indiana has.

Like,

I think Mark Cuban obviously doesn't have an NBA team anymore.

He's a very proud Hoosier graduate.

He actually made his money and became a billionaire the first time because he was trying to listen to Hoosier basketball games.

So whenever you talk about like alumni being sport people and being wealthy, Indiana has some of that.

But whenever you think about Penn State or any of these other jobs, I think it happened at Indiana whenever he got hired.

You don't think age is an issue?

Because he feels like he's, what, 45 years older when he's out there coaching?

Is that something they should think about?

And who do you think Penn State ends up being?

Well, what is he?

62?

Yeah.

Yeah, I think so.

Yeah, well, we went to the playoffs when I was 72, so I think he's got some years left.

Oh, that was awesome.

Good for you, dude.

You're a little fucking different, though, as you understand, but so is Signetti.

So is Signetti.

No, he is different.

He is, in a good way.

I think so.

He's great for Indiana.

They're great for Indiana.

He came on our show the other day, and I think Ty asked him the question about how, hey, you're seemingly not...

creating as many like gifts or like quotes.

And he said in the first eight hours that he was on campus, he had to change everybody's thoughts on everything so he said he went back to like whenever he was 40 years old and started talking his shit he said he doesn't feel like he has to do anymore now he's still that same person but he feels like for the good of the program he doesn't really have to let everybody know that they're here because it feels like maybe more respect is for them if that makes sense i think that's smart and i think it's smart on his part um because you do want want to create an image that's a positive image that people want to be a part of and i think he's doing a good job of that i like that you said last year though at notre dam what i What I didn't teach you is all that shit you've been talking.

And

I wish Shake would have went to you in the moment and be like, I have to.

I just want to Indiana.

They didn't even have a weight room, bro.

I had to do this whole thing.

Him calling his shot crazy.

AJ has a question for you, Coach.

Yeah, Coach, obviously Penn State moves on from James Franklin.

I'm just wondering, whenever they do bring in the new coach, whoever that might be,

what's their first message?

What's their first, like, what's their agenda?

What do they need to do that first week to really ensure success moving forward?

Well, you know, obviously they got to hire somebody that has a history of having some success, who knows how to develop a program and continue to win and to deal with success.

You know, one of the things that people talk about with James Franklin is couldn't win the big game.

Well, but how many people beat those teams?

You know, like people used to get on them about not beating us, but

many people beat you.

Beat very much.

Yeah, we get it.

So I mean, there's some give and take in all that in terms of, and you actually put me and James Franklin put them in a position to do that because they weren't in a position to do it before and he created an expectation that

really was difficult for him to live up to but he created it.

So the next person is going to have to do the same thing but then learn how to deal with success and get the program over the hump.

So it's going to have to be somebody who can win over the people who support the program as well as win over the people that you need to get in the program, whether it's coaches and players, to be able to get you to that level.

We talked about you said people in the program, people that right now, what you were alluding to there, as I think, the donors, the boosters, because over there they have a lot of resources, they have a lot of money.

And I would assume that that money gets a little bit more free-flowing if they have full belief in what's happening.

So winning them over is a massive piece of the job, right?

Isn't that kind of a piece of it all?

No question.

There's also, you know, a little bit of a downside that goes with that because when those people do give to the program, make a commitment to the program, they also think they have a bit of a voice in the program.

Yeah, I see.

Which can get you hired, but it can also get your ass fired.

Yes, it certainly can.

And there's a lot of money being handed over, and there's not a lot of ROI on that.

You know, they're not getting any money back.

That money is a donation for players and for things you need.

And if we're not winning, I don't even get a chance to enjoy it with my family.

I do this entirely.

It's a crazy time right now.

Crazy time right now.

And I think the players should get paid.

I think they should have name, image, and likeness.

But I think this is a system

that's not really good for college football to be in this position.

For players, coaches, and I want to see the players do well.

I want to see them get rewarded.

But the system of how the money flows is not the best way to do it for college athletics.

You know how they say in everything, follow the money.

Literally, everything.

It's like follow the money.

And then you start saying like college football everybody's like follow the money follow the money follow the money every once in in a while, you're going to get a Kurt Signetti to come through and build a program up out of the ashes.

Right.

Literally, the ashes.

That wasn't even a football program.

I said this to him yesterday, and I know the people at Indiana probably understand this as well.

When Kurt Kirbstreet said they were one in 71 in those games at the beginning of game day last week, and I tried to get in, like, they didn't have a football team until last year.

Right.

This dude literally built them a fucking football program.

That's exactly right.

But now other people are going to think it's possible.

That's right.

And that's what that creates an expectation.

It does.

And that's not great news.

Tone has a question for you, Coach.

Yeah, Coach, when I think of your defenses, when I think of Kirby's defense and those national titles, I always think of sacks and chaos, tackles for loss, stuff like that, pressures.

And when I was looking at Georgia this week, they have eight sacks in six games, which just mind-boggled me.

Like, I have no idea.

That's not Georgia.

So why do you think that is?

Because I know, I mean, I know Kirby's still recruiting five stars up front on the D-line.

And is that a sustained, like, do you need to have sacks and TFLs and stuff like that to win a national championship?

I think affecting a quarterback is really, really important to winning.

I don't think there's any statistical data that would say how many sacks you get contributes to winning.

But affecting the quarterback does, and sacks are a part of that.

Tackles for a loss are a part of creating positive down a distance where you can do things to confuse the quarterback.

So I agree with all that.

But, you know, the difference in your team is you always have a lot of good players.

But how many real difference makers do you have?

So to have a difference maker that's a pass rusher, just like a big difference in Penn State's defense, not to beat a dead horse here, but the guy that was the first guy picked in the draft last year made a huge difference in pass rush and how he affected a quarterback and how they got off the field on third down.

So just taking that one guy away that is a disruptive player.

and a difference maker can make a huge

difference in how you play defense and how you how well you do on third down.

When you play the system that we played and play the system that Kirby plays, 3-4, you need bigger guys.

You need a big nose guard.

You need two pretty big four eyes.

So you got to have a couple outside backers.

Well, the outside backers have got to become the pass rushers because those big guys are not going to be the pass rushers.

So that's one of the downsides of playing a 3-4 defense is you need bigger people to play those inside positions that don't convert well to third down.

So you've got to make sure you recruit enough outside backers like Will Anderson and people like that who can rush on third down and become the defensive ends for you that can create pressure.

What's the upside?

You're able to stop the run?

Stop the run.

Yeah, I think.

And multiples that you can create on defense with four linebackers instead of three.

Here's a stat from Hembo about what we were just talking about there with impacting the quarterback.

Georgia's opponents have a QBR of 73.7 this season, 131st in the country.

They're just not impacting the QB, says Hembo.

Eight sacks on 209 drop backs.

But what you're saying is they're not potentially built to be able to get pressure on the quarterback every single time.

They have other positives.

QBR 73.7, not great news for anybody.

But when they were really good, they had people who could affect the quarterback.

Yes.

They actually had those people.

They're on the NFL.

But I think one of the issues

for Georgia has been getting off the field on third down.

A part of that is how do you affect the quarterback?

So those two things go hand in hand.

Oh, my God.

You talk about the 3-4 with the big bodies, and you say like the middle guy is supposed to eat, not necessarily get to the quarterback.

They had Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, right, at the same time.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And Nolan Smith.

And Coach's big boy.

And the Philadelphia Eagles.

They had a Philadelphia Eagles defense, right?

That was the first one they had.

They had.

Oh, my gosh.

Yep.

And those guys were, you know, to me, people talk about defensive linemen.

There's only one thing that makes you a good defensive lineman.

Your ass is hard to block.

And those two guys were hard to block.

Amen.

Amen.

Toxic Table Ty Schmidt has a question for you, Code.

Yeah, Coach.

One of the other marquee matchups this weekend, USC going to South Bend.

A lot of people think it's pretty much like a title eliminator, kind of.

I'm just curious with Lincoln Riley, like a couple years ago, he was the bell of the ball.

You know, people were talking about him maybe even, you know, getting the Cowboys head coaching job.

And he's had a couple, you know, things go okay for him at USC with Caleb being the number one overall pick.

But when they moved to the Big Ten, it was kind of just early on like, oh, they're just getting out-physicaled by everybody.

If a team is more physical, which a lot of teams in the Big Ten are, they're not going to win.

They've started to look a little bit better this year, being able to run the football and kind of standing up against some of those other teams.

Do you think Lincoln Riley's got USC kind of moving back in the right direction?

Or

what do you think about this USC team?

Yeah, I do.

I think they're definitely moving in the right direction.

I said, first of all, I think they're the only team in the Big Ten that scored 30-plus points in every game.

So they're still doing a good job on offense.

The issue to me with Lincoln Rally's team was how physical can we play on defense?

Can we stop the run?

Can we create positive, you know, down and distance situations?

And they're doing a better job of that.

You know, they are.

They are doing a better job of playing defense.

They're creating a lot of negative plays.

They're one of the top teams in the country in sacks and affecting the quarterback.

And you can't do that unless you can stop the run because you've got to create positive down and distance situations for your defense so that you can give some looks that confuse the quarterback and you can pressure the quarterback.

And I think last week against Michigan, you know, they stopped the run and they did a good job.

Now, can they continue to do that in terms of their ability to play?

So for Notre Dame, to me, the number one thing they need to do is they need to be able to control the line of scrimmage and run the ball so that they don't let Southern Cal get into into kind of situations where you know they can affect you know their quarterback because I think USC is going to score some points no matter who they play so it's going to be how can we keep from getting beat on the other side of the ball yeah keep them off the field is a good idea keep the offense off field run the rock Notre Dame should be able to do that they are a good running team and once again Notre Dame two losses are to Texas A ⁇ M and Miami who might be the two best teams in the country at this point.

We have no idea.

So if they're able to get a win over USC, I think that helps out their college football playoff conversation at the end of the year mightily.

And then USC, if they get a win here over Notre Dame and then still go on to win the Big Ten, I mean, they got obviously an incredible season.

There's some stats here from Hembo that aren't great about Lincoln Riley traveling.

And we've heard Lincoln Riley talk about this.

Whenever he has to do a thousand miles plus of travel, okay, that's so far, by the way.

One and six win loss, 0-7 against the spread, 5-6 losses by one score.

The other is 28-point loss in Notre Dame in 2023.

They've been talking about this travel a lot.

Lincoln has.

And I think his teams teams have not done well.

What is that?

Why?

Because you hear, obviously, Oregon, Dan Lanning will never talk about it, the travel.

You know, and we heard Kirby Smart say, yeah, people use excuses whenever they have the opportunity to do it.

And the travel certainly is one.

What do you think it is about a team that maybe can't handle the travel?

Is it nutrition?

Is it health?

Is it mindset?

What would you do if your team had to travel like that?

I think it's mindset.

You know, I used to tell our guys, I don't care if we play in a parking lot on a gravel field,

as long as they make it 53 yards wide and 100 yards deep, you got to be ready to go play.

So, you know, none of that shit, none of that outside noise matters about traveling, time of the game, night game, day game.

None of it matters.

You have to prepare yourself to go out there and execute no matter what the circumstances are.

But I think every time that you sort of create this fragile mentality, I'm going to call it,

about something, whether it's playing on the road, whether it's playing against noise, whether it's traveling across the country.

You're just telling everybody in your organization, we got to build on an excuse here, rather than making it an opportunity to do something special by overcoming adversity, which is really what you need to be selling as a leader.

You know, how are we going to frame this up so we got a chance to overcome these obstacles?

That's how you want your competitors to think.

Yeah, you don't want your team thinking we have an excuse already and even our coach is saying it.

You want them to think, hey, we do have an opportunity to do something special Other teams might benefit or lack in the travel.

We are actually stronger than the travel.

Right, which, and if we can do that, we're creating an advantage for ourselves knowing that most people can't do it.

Yeah, we get to flex our shit a little bit.

That's it.

I always want to flex our shit.

You're good at that.

Yeah, I'll get it.

Got to.

Got to.

We had a good press release this week, Coach.

We had a good press release this week.

We learned of a stat or a, I don't even know what the hell it is.

Emotional quotient.

I assume you know what that is, but Connor has a question about EQ for you.

Yeah, coach, Big Mike McCarthy blew our minds on Wednesday when he dropped this topic that he wanted to talk about when it came to, you know, NFL QB's emotional quotient.

And before these last few days, NFL Films actually had an awesome week because they posted a cool puka video of him mic'd up.

There was an awesome video of Danny Dimes mic'd up.

And then Bryce Young was the other one.

It was incredible.

Just him kind of telling the team, you know, stick with me.

They were down early.

Hey, we always finish well and kind of just motivating the team.

And then, of course, they end up do, you know, coming back and beating the Cowboys.

But when it comes to Bryce Young, why do you think right now a lot of people, myself included, are kind of just surprised by how well, you know, he has bounced back both this season and last season after he got benched?

And what is it about Bryce Young that you know we or myself have kind of learned over these mic'd ups about what a leader leader is and how positive he is and what kind of leader he is that you probably have always known about that we didn't really know.

Can you just speak on that, especially when it comes to just his emotional kind of awareness when he's talking to his team and leading these comebacks and things of that nature?

Yeah, well, first of all, you know, Bryce has the right psychological disposition to be successful.

But I think one of the things that probably impacted Bryce a little bit in the beginning of his career is, you know, Bryce is a point guard playing quarterback, and he can make all the throws and all the plays.

He's athletic, but he's got to have some decent players around him.

And I think when he first went to Carolina, they didn't have a very good supporting cast around them, which I think was a bit of a problem.

I think now they've gotten some better weapons on offense, he can take advantage of those things.

But, you know, to Mike McCarthy's deal is, you know, I always talked to players about being emotional

versus playing with emotion.

Playing with emotion is important from a competitive standpoint, and I think Bryce Young does that very, very well.

But once you get emotional, you lose your ability to think and make good choices and decisions about what you do, whether it's getting a penalty, forcing a ball, making a bad throw, or whatever.

And Bryce Young, to that point, he doesn't do that.

You know, he can stay where he needs to stay no matter what happens in the game.

He never got frustrated when things didn't go well.

He never got way up here when we were having a lot of success.

And he always prepared the same way for every game.

And I think that's what he's doing now.

I think it's starting to pay off for their team.

Yeah, I like what the Panthers are doing.

I like Bryce Young's leadership.

That mic duck for me was a huge deal.

I honestly, they called Bryce Young the Steph Curry of basketball or Steph Curry of the draft whenever he was coming out.

That was like a big thing.

And I think what they meant was he is a point guard.

That is how he plays.

He has a good sense of feel and he can change the game and he's athletic and he can make moves.

But then as we see the Carolina Panthers thing kind of unfold, we we just think, well, this guy's career is going to go into the dumps.

They've turned that entire place around.

And

I think Bryce's legacy could become one of this guy being, you know, Cam Newton obviously did his thing down there at Carolina and he was beloved.

But if he's able to win there, he'll be beloved in Carolina forever, Coach, forever down there.

Yeah, and I'm very, very hopeful.

Like, you know, I always root for our players.

Obviously, you want to see them do well, just like the coaches that we talked about.

But in Bryce's case, you know, he did such a fantastic job for us.

To To see him do well, I think, especially after a little bit of a rocky start, is something that I'd love to see happen.

Good resiliency.

Resiliency.

Which is what Coach Smart was talking about with his team.

He was talking about Tennessee.

He was talking about Auburn, how they were down and out, and they showed good resiliency.

In the second half, they've been playing great, so they've been able to bounce back, haven't started out the best, which he acknowledged like 14 times.

But resiliency is a big trait, man.

And we're worried, I think all of us are worried that it's going to go out the door with all this easy exit stuff that's happening with NIL and Transport.

Well, I think that's the challenge.

I I think, you know, for a team to show resiliency, that's why I like George's team, because you either have that or you don't.

And you see more and more teams that don't have that.

So the ability to overcome adversity makes you a great competitor.

And they've shown time and time again that they can do that.

You know, a lot of teams, you know, don't have the capacity, whatever you want to call it.

to have that.

So when you have resiliency, and that's what I told Kirby after the Tennessee game, I said, I know you're going to look at the film and think there's a lot of things we can correct, but the one thing your team showed in that game was resiliency to keep coming back in the game.

And that's probably more important at this point in the season because you can fix a lot of the rest of the stuff.

Yeah, Kirby was awesome on our show.

Told you, you'd been proud of his performance.

Maybe,

legitimately,

I don't want to talk out of pocket here.

Kirby was incredible in that first round.

He was great.

Yeah, he seemed way too comfortable with us.

Didn't he?

He seems very confident.

Well, that's a good thing.

Oh, I know.

Certainly.

I mean,

if the players don't think that you're confident and that you can win and that if they believe that if they go out and execute and do their job, they're going to be successful, controlling what they can control.

But, you know,

the one thing to me that Georgia has

created a huge advantage for themselves is the competitive disposition that they've been able to play with this season so far to overcome adversity.

They do bloody Tuesdays still.

They're still grinding pounds out there with Kirby Smart.

Last question here for you, Coach, comes from AJ Hawk in the Thunderdome.

Yeah, Coach Kirby was on here earlier and he was awesome.

And it sounds like he and Lane have a very good relationship, kind of taking jabs back and forth at each other through the media.

Now, Kirby said Lane would sit next to him in your staff meetings at times and be whispering in Kirby's ear, trying to talk maybe while you were presenting or someone else.

Do you remember any of those staff meetings?

Did you ever have to separate them like you were a teacher, like in a fifth grade class?

Come on.

All right.

So they did sit next to each other.

All right.

Lane was like, you know, a first grader who could not not talk during class.

And Kirby was always sitting there saying like,

I would never talk in class.

You know, I mean, that's how different they were.

But they were really good friends and liked each other.

And I know they text a lot and kid each other a lot about a lot of things right now and have a tremendous amount of respect for each other as well in terms of what kind of coaches they are and the challenge it is to play you know each other and that was one of the fun things that we had

I think you know

when our guys started becoming head coaches other places and we had to play all these guys that used to be assistants.

You know, it was kind of fun to have to compete against somebody you had a tremendous amount of respect for, but they were also your really good friends.

But the point I was going to make earlier, you know, both of these guys have created tremendous expectations for their fan base.

You know, Lane's done it at Ole Miss, Kirby's done it here at Georgia.

And what you don't want to happen when that happens, which happened to us, I felt like in our last two or three years at Alabama, is the players start playing

not to mess up a lot of anxiety.

That and I think this may be one of the issues that Georgia gets a slow start.

You know, their players are so anxious and wanting to do well so bad, badly, they're not cutting it loose and just playing early on.

So then whenever it's second half, we got nothing to lose.

That's right.

And then they play like they're capable of playing.

And I think that's created by expectations.

And, you know, I mean, I remember the game we lost to Tennessee, you know, on the last second field goal when we missed a field goal to win the game.

You know, our players used to always do this chant when we come out, you know, like in the locker room.

And we're getting ready to come out of Tennessee, and it's totally quiet.

And I turn around and say, what the hell's wrong with you guys?

And they were nervous.

I can't even do it.

I mean, it's a crazy chant.

But it was like traditional for them to, this is what we do before we go out and play.

Now, all of a sudden, we're not doing that because we're so worried about winning the game and there's so much on the line and there's so much anxiety.

And then we just went out and played like, I mean, terrible, you know, in the first half of that game.

So So I see that happening more and more to teams because there's so much social media, there's so much expectation created, there's so much talk about getting into playoffs.

A lot of money.

Money.

A lot about the money, about how much, you know, I taught you that.

Anyway.

I mean, the money adds the expectations, though.

Obviously, you got a 19-year-old kid getting paid $2 million.

And then you also got expectations.

He's supposed to win the Heisman.

And then also, you're supposed to win every game.

You can see how potential anxiety starts to creep in and the the pressure of it all starts to weigh on you a little bit, especially in front of 100 and some thousand people that these games are.

No question, but just think of all the people who didn't pay Indiana's quarterback $2 million.

They wish that it paid him four.

Yes, they, yes, they sir.

There's no, hey, it's not about the money.

It's about how much.

How about?

Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest of all time, a guy whose coaching tree is literally just kind of what we're following around on College Game Day for the biggest games of every single weekend.

That's Coach Nick Saban.

Yeah,

appreciate it, man.

Thank you, Coach.

Yeah, he always, I like he says, I like, you guys are football guys.

You ask football questions, you think?

Can you imagine seeing him up there speaking and seeing Lane Kiffen and Kirby Smart and Kirby's just, I've actually been that guy.

I got a friend, Bobby Carpenter, who kind of was like that.

And I would sit there and

Luke Ficko's our linebacker coach, and Bobby would be, you know, drawing spaceships on my papers and trying to

say hey, I'm paying attention.

I'm paying attention up here.

No, it's just, there's a time and place for it, obviously.

I mean, every single time that we've ever been on a desk together at a remote location, you're driving spaceships on my paper.

Just trying to keep a mood loose, you know?

Sure,

sure.

Yeah, I suppose.

I mean, you are that guy, though.

You can act like, you know, when you were playing, like, oh, you know, I was laser focused, walking into what Coach Fickle was saying.

You are that jackass in every other, you know, realm of life, pretty much.

Yeah.

Okay, I'm not going to deny that.

I won't deny it.

Yeah, I guess it just depends on the crowd that you're around and

what you may be doing.

But you need that self-touch.

Yeah, who do you guys have this weekend on Hawai State?

Wisconsin.

Ooh.

Coach Fickle.

I know.

What are you feeling?

Revenge.

It's tough for him.

I mean, I feel for him because Coach Fickle is one of the good guys, great coach, awesome human being.

I just don't know if you can win there right now.

Yeah, people want Fickle up in New England.

I'm being dead serious.

He and Vrabo are best friends, so it would make sense if he did.

But yeah, I feel bad for Luke in Wisconsin.

I don't know.

I don't know what the future holds for him.

But Pat, Coach Sabin was awesome.

I thought he was great.

He was loose.

Seemed to have fun.

Unbelievable vibes here in in Athens, I'm going to say.

This has been very spectacular.

I love where we're set up at, too.

It's like we got sports happening around us.

I think the track, field, and cross-country team kind of hubbed here until they move into their new facility.

What I was told here at the Butz Mirr Heritage Hall, they used to house, obviously, the tracking field.

They're building a brand new facility down the road because current athletic director, big fan of track.

So I guess like it kind of athletic director loves what they're doing.

They're trying to build a Eugene South here.

Oh, wow.

That's what they're saying.

About tracks.

They're the best people in Georgia.

I get it.

I understand.

Lean into that, no question.

Women's team national champions last year.

So I guess like they are very much.

So I'm watching these guys work out here during a break.

We got some very explosive individuals on this track back here.

A couple Olympians.

We were going down the hall here as I went to the bathroom.

Gold medal winners, Olympians everywhere through the track.

I mean, it is, it's nice to learn about the history as opposed to just standing in the stadiums getting sunburns.

Now,

let's talk about the games this weekend, the NFL slate.

Obviously, a big storyline of the year, especially when it comes to picking games, is when the public is on something, just know that it's probably problematic, especially if it's over 60%.

That ranged true yet again last night, right, Tone?

I mean, isn't this another situation of that with everybody riding the Pittsburgh Steelers last night or no?

No, so actually, last night

it closed the Bengals 57%.

It didn't get over the 60% to impact that number, but the Bengals closed 57%.

So the public and you guys who were on the Bengals last night won.

I love everything about that.

And AJ, maybe we're seeing the board better than ever.

This is what we need to look at.

82% are on the.

Oh, no.

All right.

All right.

Traveling all the way out there.

That's a great number.

Got a great one for that game, actually, too.

If the Colts lose to the Chargers.

And the Patriots win, the Patriots are the ones heating the AFC.

That is a cool one.

That is a cool one.

The Patriots, 76%, though.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Don't get too crazy.

Yeah, the Bucs, 78%.

Dolphins, 75%.

77% on Dart and Scataboo at plus seven and a half against this Denver Broncos defense, which might be problematic for a couple of rookies, but hey, they've obviously been awesome.

And then the Falcons, 75%.

Wow, Cowboys getting 72% at home with the Washington Commanders coming to town.

Cliff Kingsbury returning to Texas.

64% on the Carolina Panthers.

What have you done for me lately?

We love the Panthers and the Jets are ass in London.

And then 61% on Seattle.

Congrats to them.

The Saints getting 60% of the action, getting 4.5%.

Congrats to New Orleans.

I don't think they've ever had that much success this season thus far.

And then the Eagles getting 60% against a Minnesota Vikings team.

All right, let's go ahead and make our picks here, AJ, as we wrap up hour two here in glorious ESBN.

We were both on the Bengals.

Congrats to us.

We win.

Now let's go to London Town.

Los Angeles is taking...

taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Obviously, the Jaguars, a lot of London games over the past, they were maybe going to become the team of London.

Now down in Duval, they're obviously building something special.

Los Angeles spent the week in Baltimore, and they were playing at Camden Yards.

Camden students.

Camden Yards, yep.

Camden Yards, which is where the Baltimore Orioles are.

Matthew Stafford with cleats on just goes right on to the mind, obviously.

It says Clayton Kershaw's last year.

Well, let me go ahead and give it a go for the high school buddy as well.

Throws a strike.

An absolute strike.

And we should know that Matt Stafford's going to do that.

The sign that's right in front of him there says, do not go on here with Cleats.

Okay, just don't do it.

He clearly has cleats on and he's doing his thing, but obviously the Orioles opened up their building for the Los Angeles Rams to stay on the East Coast for this week before heading to London.

They're heading out to London on Saturday, just as if it's a normal game.

This is the latest anybody has traveled to a London game in the history.

We'll see how it goes against Jacksonville.

For them, I would assume, AJ, with some of their games, they're traveling five, six hours via plane every single week.

That's probably how they're viewing it, AJ, if you had to guess.

Yeah, I would imagine, yeah.

They're treating it like any other week.

Let's just, boys, let's not make a big deal of it.

Let's get in town, win, and go home.

We're flying from Baltimore.

It's going to be a six-hour flight to London.

If we were playing in New England or if we were playing any of these other games, it would be four or five hours, whatever it is.

We'll be flying over like it's a regular game.

Everybody acts cool.

The time zone's obviously different.

Let's figure that out and keep it moving.

We don't want to spend forever over there.

We'll rather spend it here in a baseball.

With that being said, give me the Jacksonville Jaguars plus three and a half in London against the Los Angeles Rams.

AJ, who do you got?

Okay, with that being said, I tell you what, give me the Rams.

I like this Rams defense, that D-line especially, and Matthew Stafford too much, so I'm taking the Rams, minus three and a half.

You could take the minus three.

The Ram.

What can I get?

You can get a minus three.

And also, just so everybody knows, Puka is out.

Oh.

Yeah, Puka has been ruled out.

Schaefer put a tweet out on that earlier.

And Liam Cohen, formerly of the Rams.

You would think that maybe there's a little inside information to keep it close.

Not saying the Rams don't win.

They might, but I like the Jags plus three and a half.

Raiders, Chiefs, old school rivalry game.

The Chiefs, minus 12 and a half.

They're currently the favorite to win the Super Bowl.

Patrick Mahomes, favorite to win the MVP.

Obviously, Max Crosby's an absolute dog.

Geno Smith has been a little bit turnover-worthy.

Pete Carroll said he always wins.

They haven't.

What do you think happens here, AJ?

This one, I mean, 12.5 seems like so much, but if you don't pick the Chiefs and they go on and win by 20, you're thinking, oh, what's going on?

But I'm taking the, you know what?

Give me the Raiders.

I like Max Crosby.

That dude just can't be blocked.

Okay, here's some updates about the Raiders from Ryan McFadden.

For the second straight day, wide receiver Jacoby Myers, Nito, and Brock Byers did not practice.

Las Vegas could be without its two top pass catchers, and I didn't tell you that until after you made your pick.

I will take the cheat.

Okay, the Raiders move.

You can get 11.5.

I'll take that.

Give me the absolute.

Thank you.

Yeah.

That's right, AJ.

Let's not be getting too crazy.

Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Eagles favored by two and a half, even though it feels like the world is collapsing out there.

And the Minnesota Vikings, it's Carson Wentz or J.J.

McCarthy, boys?

I believe it's Wentz.

Yeah.

For a second straight day, post-buy, the Vikings quarterback J.J.

McCarthy was listed as a limited participant in practice, says Adam Schefter.

Carson Wentz listed as full participant.

So maybe we're about a week or two out from J.J.

McCarthy coming back.

Carson Wentz got to go.

Who do you like, A.J.?

Give me the Philadelphia Eagles here, Pat.

It's too good to get money.

Me as well.

Minus one and a half.

Me as well.

Let's do it.

I like that.

I didn't like that Quasi didn't know who Justin Jefferson was with a camera, but I did appreciate the way that whole thing went.

I guess whenever he shook his hands and his hand just engulfed him, they shit.

These are some big hands for a photographer.

Oh, wait.

This is Justin Jefferson.

Great acting out of JJ.

I've seen him act in a Super Bowl commercial, and obviously, everywhere he is is electrifying.

What a great superstar for the league and for the Vikings.

I'm happy they did all that.

On that note, there's been a lot of negative stuff said in Sirianni can pull all those kibbles and bits for the boys.

Ain't that right, Ty?

Yeah, absolutely.

And, you know, a lot of people are even throwing more gas on this and saying, hey, guess what?

If the Eagles, if the Eagles do lose this week, then maybe A.J.

Brown's headed out out of town.

Maybe a handful of these other guys.

So Siriani's going to have the boys ready to go.

And at the end of the day, O-line D-line.

Howie, you know that.

The Patriots, Boston Connors hoping for A.J.

Brown and anybody that's potentially available at the trade deadline, let's go on a run.

They might be the number one seed if the Colts lose.

I got the Eagles minus two and a half.

Saints, Bears, who do you like, AJ?

60% on the Saints, remember?

I will take the Bears at home here.

Four and a half.

I would take the Bears as well.

Patriots, Titans, is there any different lines we need to know about, Tony?

Patriots, titans there is uh six and a half or seven

uh okay so i will take the patriots minus six and a half in vrabo's revenge game aj who do you like yep give me vrabes give me the patriots okay miami dolphins taking on the browns any different lines we need there two and a half across the board okay i will take the cleveland browns minus two and a half against the dolphins sorry about it gumpy is that a good pick or a bad pick It's going to be wet and rainy and muddy in Cleveland, so just Dylan Gabriel and Tua slinging it in the rain.

Or running is what we're thinking is going to happen.

I think they're saying like 50 mile-an-hour wind, Gus, potentially on that lake there.

I like the Browns in that situation, AJ, you as well.

Yep, give me the Browns.

Carolina Panthers, obviously everybody's high on them because what they were able to accomplish last week at the end of the game.

Down 17, they come back and win.

Bryce Young looks like a bona fide superstar.

And I think they have weapons outside.

Jets were ass, but they were taking on Denver Broncos' defense.

That was incredible.

What do you like, AJ?

And is there any other lines we can get, Tony?

One and a half across the board.

Okay.

Give me the Panthers at one and a half here, Pat.

I will do the same.

Colts have 82% of the money on them, getting a point and a half as they head over to Los Angeles to take on this Chargers team.

Jim Harbaugh has been fantastic on the microphone this week, talking about Jim Ursay and Justin Herbert.

Stephen Holder's reporting that Colts coach Shane Steichen says quarterback Kenny Moore will return on Sunday.

Hell yeah.

Great to have you back.

Josh Downs, Charvarius Ward still out alongside Ashton Doolan, wide receiver.

That's a lot of wide receiver weapons, Don.

And obviously Mooney's still out from from the pregame hit from last week.

I like the Chargers, or the Colts getting a point and a half against the Chargers.

Don't love 82% of the money on them.

Go ahead, Adrian.

Two, Pat.

Two?

Okay, yeah.

I will get.

Give us both the Colts at two points here.

I've learned my lesson.

I can't pick against the Colts right now.

82% is a big number.

Giants at the Broncos.

I like the Giants getting seven and a half.

Can we get any more points?

No, but you could get less if you want the Broncos at seven, H.

Give me the Broncos at seven here, then.

Even though I do love what the Giants are doing, give me Broncos.

I actually will take the Broncos at seven as well.

Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Cowboys favored by one and a half at home.

This is a sunlight game.

Mike McCarthy wanted to talk about.

We didn't get to it.

Going to be weird shadows in Jerry World.

Will that affect the Washington Commanders who aren't ready for it, AJ?

Yeah, I think it will.

Give me the Cowboys.

You're going to get them at Cowboys at minus one.

Ooh.

Got it.

I'll take the Commanders at what?

One and a half.

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Trayvon Diggs had an accident in his home last night.

He has a concussion now.

He won't play Sunday.

Probably hit something while he's walking through the house.

What a nightmare situation that is.

So I will take the Washington Commanders.

And how many points can I get?

One and a half.

Okay, I'll do that.

And then we got Packers cards.

Ty, what are your thoughts on Gannon maybe having a big-time game two weeks removed from slapping a guy?

Yeah, it is certainly possible.

Matt LaFleur basically said, hey, listen, I know these guys are two and four.

Don't you dare underestimate them.

We know what they can do.

The Packers have had like 800 different guys play offensive line this year.

So hopefully, you know, they'll be a little bit of continuity.

Six and a half on the road.

I don't know.

After a piss-poor performance last week, I kind of like the Packers to bounce back.

Okay, you like the Packers to bounce back, AJ, do you?

Yep, Packers, my six and a half.

I'll take that as well.

And then Sunday night football.

Falcons, Niners.

This Falcons team has become the bell of the ball.

Bajon Robinson, potential MVP candidate that isn't a quarterback.

And the Niners, they're still hurt.

Who do you like?

How do you like it, AJ?

I like Falcons, defense, and Bajon.

Give me falcons

i'll take the falcons as well getting two and a half on sunday night football feels like we agreed on a lot feels like we probably uh agreed with the public on a lot probably means we're gonna have an ass score but i know it's gonna be a great time have an incredible weekend everybody we can't thank you enough for allowing us to do this for a living it's a great weekend of ball enjoy every single moment with your friends your family and then on overreaction monday we're gonna bring the hammer

Goodbye.

Yeah, hey, way to adjust air boys.

You got it.

Way to adjust air boys.

Bring that thing at the end.

It's never at the end.

And I don't know why we went there, but I appreciate the fact that we did.

Gumpy was yelling over here.

Gumpy was absolutely yelling over here.

He was going crazy, which I'm very grateful for.

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That's having your back.

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Fellas, it's time to step up your grooming game.

All right.

I do this show three times a week.

Every single time.

I have to take grooming very, very seriously.

Look back in the archives, guys.

back and see the awful mustache i was trying to trot out last spring i hate it the other day i recirculated an interview with drake may i wanted to cgi it i wanted to cgi the mustache out i wanted to ai it i couldn't the mustache was there and now i've got a nice little stubble perfect length gonna have this for the rest of my life okay Very, very, very important.

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It's what all the fuss is about, Pat.

Who do you have with you at that beautiful stadium?

It looks like some country music superstars, I think.

Yeah, we got legends that are shown out Notre Dame and Wembley a couple times and Luke Homes and then a man who's about to take take over the entire globe a 25 year old who has banger after banger after banger at such a young career and has no idea okay that he's 25 years old and he's living a different life than everybody else right now bailey zimmerman and luke combs

Obviously, we're incredibly thankful that you stopped by, but also thank you so much for committing to do College Game Day.

I know with schedules and everybody's tours.

We're very, very thankful you're here.

Let's talk about it.

You just announced a show tonight here.

Yeah.

You got Georgia's theater tonight.

he just announced it this morning sold out

you got a world tour going on right now my kind of saturday night where you'll be at wembley and also anywhere else that uh

uh yeah we'll be at the at the valle stadium in knoxville doing ames iowa state oh doing

so we're doing uh yeah two nights at wembley two nights at sling castle in dublin uh Murrayfield and Glasgow, all over the place, man.

There it is.

There it is.

We're all kind of Saturday night.

I want to let you know, I did ask him beforehand about what information I should have, and he goes, I'm a dad, dude.

You should ask somebody else.

Shout out to Cappy right there on cue to have all the answers.

Obviously, an entire operation making magic happen.

And Bailey, we'll certainly dive into the world that you're in right now.

But Luke seemingly was at your time not that long ago, brother.

It feels like you've had a meteoric rise quickly.

I think, obviously, at App State, whenever you came to College Game Day, whenever we were up there, you were doing arenas at that point.

And then you've kind of just continued to grow.

How has it been on this rocket ship?

And how much do you still love what you do at this stage versus maybe at the beginning?

It's been crazy.

When I was his age, I mean, I was in, I'd just been in Nashville, hadn't signed my record deal yet.

And the last time I played Georgia Theater was at 26.

So that would have been a year, a year from now.

This guy was my last time I played Georgia Theater.

900 C Theater, then now you're selling out Wembley like you're the fucking Beatles.

Good for you, brother.

Honestly, it's been fun to watch because you're a sports guy.

So we appreciate sports people making it in there.

Yeah, they don't suck.

We'll dive into that.

Bailey, let's talk about you now.

Obviously, I met you whenever you were opening for Morgan.

Yeah.

Then you just did an amphitheater tour.

You're on your way to be able to do a ring.

You're in the middle of it.

And I think the way we talked to him last time about how the music industry has changed so much with what the writers make and how the business is, you're kind of growing up in this era of the digital era.

How has it been, and how much have you enjoyed the career thus far?

Oh man, it's it's um I really have social media and digital to thank for my career, I feel like, because without that,

I tell everybody four years ago in like 2020, 21, I was living in my mom's trailer and I had never sang in my life.

And I just tried to sing one day.

Music is awesome.

And I put it on social media, dude, and it just blew up overnight and I quit my job.

And then all of a sudden, I just, with Luke Combs, and we just had a number one in four different countries and we're here on you know game day and so it's like it's it's honestly been everything to me yeah I will say I enjoy the hell out of your brand new freshness and feel and appreciation of the entirety how many moments has there been like opening for Morgan I assume oh look in the mirror and say what the hell is this you crushed it though brother oh thanks dude I tell everybody that is one of my like the biggest pinch me moment was when I got the call that I was going on tour with Morgan and it was just like man, this is just like this really doesn't feel like real life.

It felt like just I was living in a dream and it's felt like that since it's true.

True, you've nailed it though, and you need to know that.

Luke, do you talk to any of the young guys?

You're OG now, dude.

You got kids now?

Yeah, dude.

Yeah, it's crazy to think about.

Whenever you guys make Backup Plan, which is the song you were talking about, being number one in four different countries or whatever, do you give game?

What is the advice to kind of younger guys?

Yeah, I mean, I told Bailey, you know, when we met, I try to be because I feel like there was kind of in our business a little bit of a lack of like artist to artist conversations that were real open.

So I always try to be like hey man it's seriously dude like if you call me I'll pick the phone up.

It doesn't matter what time it is.

I've been there.

I've been there and like if you if you need me like I needed somebody and there were times when there was nobody there for me.

So I appreciate being able to be that person for somebody else because I know how lonely it can feel.

I know how strange it can feel.

I know how unordinary and unnormal it is to be in the position that we're in, especially when you're 25 years old or 22 years old.

Yeah, and the creative mind is always something that's different than everybody else.

Blessing and everybody else.

Yeah,

it really is something that like...

Not everybody really understands it.

So to like have him as like just somebody that I can talk to just about the certain things that others wouldn't understand.

It's like, yeah, it's cool to have somebody in my corner, you know, and really wants to like actually help me when I go through the ups and downs of this whole like being famous or whatever.

Hey, that's TF.

That's good.

TF.

That's crazy.

Yeah, sports guy.

He's a baseball guy.

We talked to him.

He's a baseball guy.

Baseball guy.

Not the biggest football guy.

Getting into football as of late.

He said, where are you from?

Didn't really get into football.

Got into baseball.

And then obviously he did the college game day at JMU with the Joe Boys.

There's 30,000 people there.

You're a moxie.

You heard Tone right there.

You just heard the OYA right there.

Yep.

That guy became a fan of you that night or that morning.

Your Moxie, brother.

Your absolute Moxie was.

Thanks.

Thanks.

So you need to know that.

And before we send it back to the boys for questions for you, I need to ask you: one of the last times you were on the show, the Carolina Panthers were like the worst ever.

Like, literally,

they were down bad.

Yeah, they were bad.

They were down bad.

Yeah, they were bad.

The owner was throwing ice on people.

Local buildings and stores were writing signs to the owner.

I mean, it got bad.

And you said, hey, I'd like to be proud to be a fan one time in my life.

How about now, bro?

You guys are all the way back.

How do you feel?

So, full circle, dude.

The last time I was on,

I was pretty critical of the team.

As a fan would be, I'm no different than anyone else.

So, as you know, the devastation that Hurricane Helene brought to the area of the country where I'm from, I put together, me and Eric Church put together a charity show, which Bailey actually came and performed.

Which way I met Luke, actually.

Yeah, first time we met,

so I got his phone number and everything.

Yeah, yeah, oh, we did it at Bank of America Stadium,

home of the Carolina Panthers.

So,

who did I run into?

David Tepper.

Tepper.

Yes.

We had a great conversation.

We talked for an hour, chummed it up.

We chummed it up.

We got along great.

And at the end, he was like, just don't go, you know, I saw it.

You know.

I was like, God, I was like, God, we didn't see.

You know, I was just like,

he saw it.

He saw it.

But you know what?

We had a great conversation about it.

We're in good graces, man.

And you were speaking the truth.

And I was speaking the truth.

And again, dude, I'm no different than anyone else, man.

I'm a fan.

Okay, I was literally in Charlotte yesterday.

I got inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall.

Let's go.

Thank you, God.

Congratulations.

Well earned.

Well earned.

So I'm there.

I'm at the hotel.

The kids are at the science center playing around.

Everybody's getting ready.

So I call up, you know,

Dave Nelson at the team.

I'm like, hey, I'm in the hotel.

I'm bored.

Can I pop over to practice?

What's going down?

He's like, pop over to practice.

So they're telling me when, you know, in the couple years previous when they were, when things were not looking up at all in any direction, he was like, we have a phone line that fans will just call and just be like, you guys stink.

He's like, but those are like the best fans.

Yes.

Because they're the people that actually care.

I'm one of those fans.

I just didn't know there was a phone number.

Now I do.

Yeah, you know there's no one our show instead of the phone number.

Instead of the phone number.

Yeah.

But I don't have to now, dude, because we're up big time.

And Tepper, I think he has changed the way he has appeared publicly.

Dude, they were so incredible for that whole charity show that we did there.

They donated it all, right?

Oh, dude, they donated the work, donated the building, they footed the tax bill, everything.

Man, we raised $24.5 million that night.

A lot of that was because of them.

It's dope.

A lot of that was because of them because guys like this showed up for us.

That's dope.

But yeah, huge, huge.

Yeah, that is huge.

And you know what?

Maybe the football god said, hey, you know what?

Maybe this guy isn't the biggest rootest owner of all time.

Dude, he's been great, man.

He's been seriously so great.

You've been great too.

And you know what else has been always good?

Last

cold

beard

broke my heart.

Oh, it never gets old.

We still sing.

Obviously, you have to sing that every night.

I do.

I'd sing it every night.

I love it.

You still punt the.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I'll do a punt tonight.

Big punt tonight.

I feel like you got pretty good extensions.

I'm going to try to hit the see.

I'm a limber cat, you know?

And that wasn't it.

Prove it.

You know, I mean, that wasn't it, but that was it.

You know,

dude, you know what I mean?

Get up there.

Okay.

You know, you're khaki's core boys.

You punting any cups on stage?

What is your stage presence like, you think?

Because Luke is a showman.

If you have not been, this guy right here is going to give you everything he has on the stage.

I'm at least going to

be very sweaty.

I'm going to be very sweaty at the same time.

Yeah, he goes.

Oh, at least.

Oh, yeah.

And then there's symbols that he's hitting the shit out of that don't need to be hit the way that he's hit, Jay.

And he's doing it, right?

Full showman.

How about you, Bailey?

What do you think your stage presence would be described as?

He's got way more energy than me, by the way.

He's like, it's like 10x me.

He's 25, dude.

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying.

Yeah, I would say standing still.

He's comfortable on stage now.

So standing still has always made me super nervous because I think too much.

So that's why I always

bounce around and I'm just like running and singing and dancing and trying to just like not be nervous.

And that's the way I do it.

I just run around and yeah, crazy.

The energy out.

I jumped in on a rope swing

last year for tour.

That is awesome.

It was sick.

Yeah, it is just

ignored that.

AJ's back in the the Thunderdome has a question for you, boys.

Yeah, this is for both of you.

Luke, maybe you go first, but from when you started, I guess, your stage presence, your performing, it's all about reps, I would imagine.

How much better are you now, I guess, than

when you first started performing live on stage for people?

I think you have to think about it a lot less now, right?

It becomes like muscle memory, like anything, right?

Like you just, you know what to do, you know when to do it, you know how to do it.

And then there even becomes, you know, as when you do a tour, you know, the set is generally somewhat built in.

I mean, there are spots where things can move around.

You know, I'm not sure exactly how Bailey does it, but that's kind of the way we have like a fixed, some points that we want to kind of hit and we can move things around in the middle.

And so for me, it's even sometimes the talking points can be like, okay, when we get here, I know that after this song, I'm going to talk.

And for the next two songs, I'm not going to talk in between.

But then all that stuff becomes kind of pre-programmed and it allows you to just go.

And I think the craziest thing, I don't know if Bailey feels this way, but for me, like the fans bring the signs, you know, it's like game day.

Not as many as game day, but they bring the signs and they're like, Bailey, you're cute, you know, whatever it is.

Bailey, you're cool, you know, all that stuff.

And I want, I see the signs, and people, sometimes people are real hyped about the signs.

I'm in the middle of singing Fast Car, and it's like there's already a million words.

I'm trying to like, I'm not ever remembering them, right?

Like, I'm not in my mind going, what's the next word?

What's the next word?

It's like when you start like a cassette tape and it's it's going.

And if, but if I look at a sign and start to read it,

and I'm like, I don't even know where I'm at in the song, what song I'm in,

what, where are we even?

If I start reading the sign during a song, I'm cooked, dude.

I'm done.

Do you like no sign going forward, guy?

No, I love the signs.

I just gotta read them.

You love it versus I love it.

But I just can't read them until a song's like in between songs.

I can read them, but during a song, I'm like, oh man, if I start reading that.

i got it sign time is in between in between songs yeah sign time for the luke shows is in between songs ideal because if you do it during a song you're potentially ruining the concert for everybody

so let's just let's make sure and i want to let you know i have the same problem I'll be talking and the brain is just kind of doing its thing.

And then if I see something, like something will pop up on this screen, for instance, and I'll see it.

And all of a sudden, that is now just in the sentence.

And it's like, that doesn't make any sense at all.

Bailey, are you reading signs while you're out there?

I would say my thing that

I've had is I'm singing a song and everybody's singing and then somebody's trying to like tell me where they met me and their story about why they love this song I'm singing and they're like trying to tell me that and I'm singing the song

and then I'm like it's like during the songs.

Where are you here?

You can hear me walking around.

Like because I'm watching, I'm like, you know, I'm like, you know, singing to them.

And then

they're like saying something like you.

My cousin loved you and I love this song and my name is.

And I'm like, dude, I can't have a conversation right now.

But you're not going to be able to do that.

Sure.

Or you've got the in ears like Pat's rocking the in ears and they don't know you've got the in ears.

Yeah.

So they're like, oh, well, he can just hear me because like I can't see that he has something in his ears.

Yeah.

And they're like, this guy's rude and he's not saying anything.

I know he can hear me.

I feel rude.

I feel so rude.

I have no conviction about it.

I'll feel like I need to go back over and be like, hey, I'm so sorry.

I just can't hear what you're saying because I'm trying to

play the the show.

There's gonna be a lot of those moments where you're gonna feel like an asshole and people are gonna be able to portray you as an asshole.

And then you just gotta remember deep down, if the full context was given, you're not an asshole.

I have these.

We're all good dudes.

I mean, I hope so.

I try to be, but I have these for game day, you know?

Yeah.

So we go through a lot of crowds in game day.

Same exact thing you're talking about.

Yep.

Somebody comes up, wants to tell me a very good story.

I know it's just by the sign of the way their face.

Yeah.

And I'll stop and tell them thank you.

They're talking right to my face.

We're this far away.

and you're like, oh man,

that was awesome.

That was awesome.

There's three people talking in my ear at that time that are in a truck somewhere, and I can't see, but we feel like assholes.

But we got to do it, we got a job to do, too.

Yeah, people need to understand that, you know, for you, full-time, how long have you been doing music now?

Full-time,

gosh, probably

13 years.

Good for you.

Damn.

I did want to say, man, dude, I grew up.

I think everybody did, but I was like 16, got my license.

First song I played, Luke Combs.

Long night.

Long night, guys.

Really, truly.

Hey, maybe you should cover that.

It feels like that's right in your.

Go for us.

Go.

Hey, Fast Party.

That's what I was.

I was singing around campfires when somebody told me, hey, you can sing.

And I'm like, really?

And I was singing Luke Combs, man.

Hell yeah.

Yeah.

I'm not going to be here for this.

No.

It's a pretty cool deal.

It's a pretty cool deal.

I'm trying to fangirl, but it's pretty cool.

I'm shot.

I'm talking about this guy.

They're using his name for Super Bowl halftime show shit.

This guy.

Think about that.

Yeah.

Like, how many musicians could do a Super Bowl halftime show is what people say.

And then your name got dropped into that.

Do you know?

How old are you?

35.

That's awesome, bro.

In my prime, guys.

Here we go.

Here we go.

Still got it.

Fucking prime, guys.

Look at Flacco, guys.

Look at Flacco.

Thank God.

Well, look at A-Ron.

The Icy Hot Bowl, dude.

It was the Icy Howl.

The IC hot bowl, dude.

Let's go.

It showed out, didn't it?

It was great.

Yeah.

He threw about 69.8 miles yards in his last throw.

Speaking of miles,

$30 off tickets right now with code Pat McAfee you can buy Luke Hombs and Bailey Zimmerman concert tickets and everything doesn't matter if you're a new or repeat purchaser $30 off with code Pat McAfee at our friends at Seeking they're gonna thank that I owe them about 20 reads

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I did that tie there.

It is right there.

Boom.

P-A-T-I-C-A fee $30 off for the boys.

Now, there are some restrictions apply, which I think are if they're less than 30 bucks.

And then you guys need to figure out your fees.

Shit.

I think you're all trying to figure it out.

I just work here, man.

I literally just work here.

I literally just worked here.

Ty has a question for you back in Indy.

Yeah, for both of you guys, for what you're going to do tomorrow for game day, like the performance, how much like will your prep differ for when you would like do a concert?

Like, will you just kind of go up there and just fucking rip that on the run, or will you still have to like kind of prepare like you would going into like a full set

oh dude i'll let you take this one rip it i would i would answer with rip it yeah i'm just gonna wing it that's where honestly i've gotten to this point right here right now by winging it so i'm just gonna keep doing that it's like that's like i don't know it's like this would steph curry need to warm up to shoot a three-point right at the house like yeah

not professional does that shoot more professional at the house you know

people say i got a marcus can be jump shot oh you mask curry back

Not that it's good.

It's just kind of a weird.

It's kind of a strange.

Can you go elbow out there?

I kind of go elbow out a little bit.

Yeah.

Do you make it, though?

No.

No.

Not at all.

No.

Dunk.

Occasionally.

I can't.

For sure, dude.

Yeah, you guys can dunk.

You play Baylor.

I can't.

I can't.

Bro, he's got the gold-plated Air Forces on right now.

I don't know if those are the easiest to jump.

Yeah, I mean, he's honestly.

I feel pretty good at this.

He's been watching track practice, dude.

I think he's like, he's ready to roll.

I think you should think of it.

Hold on, Bailey, we're getting down all

sweet.

Look at the

I don't know if that's blurry or not, but that is

looking good, though.

Hey, look at the watch, the necklace.

He's looking fine.

That's what we first bonded over.

You and me?

Was our presidential bands.

Hell yeah, bro.

I appreciate it.

We really made it, man.

Yes, we did.

We made it.

Look at us.

We're standing in this building right here right now.

I mean, you made it a lot more than me for sure.

And I'm going to try to get me back to center here.

Certainly a little bit.

I'm working off.

I like it.

This is nice, man.

It's like the production truck, man.

It feels good.

There it is.

There it is.

There it is.

If you need anybody for your shows, I can certainly fill.

You need to tell you, Wembley.

Get me on the sticks over there.

Connor has a question for you boys back in Indianapolis.

Yeah, boys.

First of all, Luke, you know, go App State.

Hopefully they're doing well.

Absolutely.

It is good to see the Panthers are back, even though the patriots beat them 42 to 6 a couple weeks ago great game great game for us both but uh thank you one of our guys in here is a massive country music fan and he said hey you don't ask this question i'm gonna be real pissed both of you guys were with uh big x the plug and he wanted to know what that was like and also i wanted to know did big x the plug cut his teeth in nashville to kind of get in with you guys and country music because that's a big deal uh for some of these country music guys like hey did these people even get to Nashville to learn about country music?

And but what really was it like working with Big X to plug?

He was, I feel like I'm like offhandedly, Mike, very limitedly responsible for the part of this thing.

Not in any, in any official capacity.

So the post Malone album, the F1 Trillions getting made.

I wrote six songs on that records.

We're there one night.

And, you know, a lot of his guys have produced all kinds of different stuff.

Hip-hop stuff, they're producing this record.

And it's like late nights.

You know, we'd write two, three, four songs in a night kind of thing from eight o'clock till I'd be leaving at like two in the morning.

Like, guys, I got to go.

I got kids.

Like, we're starting another one.

I'm like, I'm out.

Like, I'm not, like, my kids are waking up at seven, whether or not we write another song right now or not.

So, I got to go.

But so I'm sitting there, we're talking hip-hop.

And I'm like, got to hear this guy, Big X, the plug.

Texas, dude.

Got to play it.

So they play it.

They're all getting the phones out.

Who is this guy?

We got to look him up.

Got Got to look him up.

Next thing I know, they're hitting me up.

Hey, reached out to that guy.

He wants to do something together.

And I'm like, okay, great.

So we try to link up with him.

He comes to my show in Houston a few years ago.

Great guy.

Awesome.

Awesome.

Awesome.

Rocks the big guy look.

Yes.

Which I'm a big fan of.

Man.

Maybe you need to get a grill, too.

You think I should go shirt off?

And grill.

Yeah.

Shirt off, grill.

I've been trying to have that shirt off thing for a while.

I've been trying to tell you that, but you just won't listen to me.

Just have, just go full off.

Just let it ride.

Yep.

They would love it.

I I think you get the tap.

I would love it.

You know, maybe like a half the body, that black tap, you know, just a full, yeah, just a full ink tap.

Basically, like this on the entire side, I'll do the quarter, like the quarter sleeve, too.

Yeah, I think it'd be a good idea.

Like the half short sleeve look.

But no, he's great.

All the stuff I did with him was done, it was done in town.

He's been in Nashville a lot doing that.

I'm not sure what Bailey's experience was like, but he can tell you for sure.

Yeah, I feel like since he's from Dallas, Texas, he's like already

really country and like

is from that like background already.

And then I had already loved his music and I was thinking, man, I saw this interview where he was like, I'm going to do a country project.

And I thought, man, how cool would that be if I did a song with him?

Yeah, that'd be freaking awesome.

And then like three months later, he sends me this song.

And then like...

Five minutes later, we had it done.

Tell me how the process goes when he sends you the song.

Do you

write or it already says like, hey, this would be the part that you would be on?

Yeah, so they had sent me a song that was already written and it had been written for like two or three years, I think.

And I just cut the hook and it was already done.

I think we messed with it a little bit throughout the thing, but like when he sent me the song on my phone, I had my vocal cut in like six minutes.

I was like in the studio.

I was like, dude, I am not letting this.

I love this song.

Like, I've wanted to do this big X the Plug thing for like a long time.

So yeah, I just like jumped in.

And then I think that actually ended up being like the final thing thing we did.

Okay, so let's talk about you knowing it.

You just listened to his music and you liked it.

Yeah, I was just a fan, really, to be honest.

And so then when we're in that post thing, I bring it up, everybody's looking it up, and then those guys reached out to him.

And they're all, you know, they're all legit in that production hip-hop world.

So when they reached out,

and just said, hey, we would love to do something together if you're ever around town.

That's a cool community you guys are in.

Yeah.

It feels like your business is a good community.

I'm sure there's assholes in it.

I'm sure there's people that you ever hate.

It's like anything.

Yeah, I'm sure there's people that everybody hates.

But from my understanding and the people that I've met, obviously in your guys's world through game day and through college football, basically being the connection, it feels like you guys have a great community.

Country music's great.

Like it feels like you guys take the festival serious.

Like whenever like CMA will have a fest or something or there'll be some country music something.

I mean Morgan Wallins

Sand in My Boots Fest, whatever.

It feels like you guys show up for each other in country.

Do you feel that's oh, I agree.

Yeah, I would agree for sure.

It's awesome.

It's like the best part of country music is that, that.

All of that.

No, I think it's, no, I think it's always been like that.

I think it's, you know, if you go see a country show at Bridgestone Arena, you don't know who's going to be there.

Because it's like I've done, I've probably played there six times just from people going, hey, I'm playing Bridgestone tonight.

Pop in and sing a song with me.

And it's all of a sudden out of nowhere.

Yeah, I'm like, okay.

All right.

Holy shit.

They're screaming, dude.

Yeah.

They're screaming.

Tone has the last question for you boys back in Indy.

Yeah, Bailey, Pat mentioned earlier, when you were with Joe Bros at JMU, I was like, that guy has way more pizzazz.

I need to start listening to him.

So I just wanted to give you a shout out on that.

And then Luke.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, Showman.

It was awesome.

Thanks.

And then, Luke, I just got tickets to Notre Dame, so I'm pumped for that.

But I wanted to ask you about Lala Palooza.

My daughter listens to

that and the Alex Warren

cover that you guys did together.

It was awesome.

Did you know that it was going to go as viral as it did?

I didn't.

Honestly, I didn't.

I think that my team was really great about setting that up.

You know, obviously, I had heard the song, was familiar with it.

I mean, it's such a massive song of the summer, right?

I mean, it was just such a huge tune.

And his first single and everything, and Alex is such a great kid.

That was the first time I had met him was that day.

And he was kind of closing out the other stage across the way before we went on.

And so, slipped over, come in the green room, you know, played my bands in there.

We worked worked it up with steel guitar and so it's kind of a different version than the version that he's playing you know didn't want it to be like the same Yeah, you don't rip it exactly thing right so we come out and I get home the next day and my team's like have you seen the videos of the song and it's like just like millions of likes on

views and I'm like I just did not expect

like not that it's not great but I'm just I feel like I'm not the like I'm not the guy that gets social media going.

You know what I mean?

Like it's like

you see me on there.

What do you mean?

Fast car, you brought the entire.

This guy's literally Luke Combs.

It's like literally Luke Combs.

You're not a Wembley, bro.

What?

Yeah, you get the people going, bro.

You get the people going.

Oh, yeah.

On that note, maybe cover Baby Shark.

Oh, yeah.

You're talking serious cash, dude.

Kids, kids, songs.

Yeah, you're talking big boss.

Whooping my finger.

I don't even know what that is.

Well, I know what Baby Shark is.

Okay, you're 25.

Not because I have kids, though.

Because he was a child when that came out.

Yeah, right.

I was born in 2000.

This child that's taking over the industry and this old-ass man right here are both going to be on College Game Day tomorrow.

He has a show tonight at Georgia Theater.

He announced this morning it sold out 900 tickets.

Should be something special.

Obviously, our guy Bailey here has got an album tour coming out.

He just dropped an album.

Check that out.

The dude is awesome.

He's 25 years old.

He is.

That game is awesome.

He's awesome.

His dogs are immaculate he has no idea about the world i don't think that's great that's good i i think that is a great i think that's a good thing i like it that way i like it that way i'll go psa for bailey zimmerman right now if you're a fan out there thinking about buying a ticket you can know that if you buy this guy's ticket he's gonna appreciate it and on that note

he should feel good about buying a ticket to a bailey zimmerman concert yeah he'll put on a show and so will you brother and uh we thank the hell out of you guys for that and i can't wait to see you guys tomorrow morning yes let's go maybe tonight yeah maybe tonight

might need a shotgun guest nine o'clock you know might need a guest to come out nine o'clock shotgun start maybe start with

start shotgun start shotgun start nine o'clock shotgunning on a friday once again i would join i know you would yeah we know i know you would we know you would we know you would be 25 maybe we get kirby out in the visor he can rip a shotgun down with us wait a minute if he's call him up something special call him up hammer old miss if you want this is how how it starts.

The one thing is how it starts.

This is exactly how it starts.

This is how all great ideas are.

There's a chance both these guys, and he just went into North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.

There's a chance both these guys are in every music hall of fame, whenever their careers are said and done.

We appreciate the hell out of your time.

Good luck tomorrow.

Early morning, obviously.

I'm sure tonight, if you're doing a shotgun start at 9 p.m., you're going to be well rested.

Okay.

Oh, absolutely.

Oh, yeah.

We'll shout it off there.

Yeah.

Yeah, let me do.

We'll just come out and shotgun a beer at the end of the show.

Okay.

Ladies and gentlemen, Luke

Are they on tour together right now?

Do we know no

well I mean not together, but is Bailey gonna play or open for Luke tonight?

Probably a chance.

Yeah, I would you could imagine make that assumption that probably might play their number one song together potentially.

Hey, I know Bailey played I didn't ask him, but he played at Ohio Stadium, Ohio State.

Oh, really?

I think when he was open for Morgan a couple years ago.

Was that the biggest OH of all time?

I've heard there's another person that said they got the biggest OH of all time.

Yeah, I'm not sure.

I don't know the person.

Bobby Garbinger.

I bet probably probably has, but I don't know the person that actually really claims that.

I don't know who that person is.

You do die.

No, I don't either.

I don't know what you're talking about.

No, Luke.

Bobby makes sense.

Luke's tour is doing, he's going to, I believe, Ohio Stadium, and he's doing Notre Dame and he's doing Oklahoma.

He's doing all the big college football stations.

Wow.

I mean, he's going to Jack Trice.

I don't know.

Yeah, he's going to Iowa State.

Yeah, why are we going to Kinnick?

He could wave at the kids.

I could before the intermission.

It's a lot bigger, too.

But, you know, hey, I get it.

I get it.

Iowa State fans love Luke Combs just like everybody does.

Do they?

Yeah.

Who doesn't?

Iowa State.

Well, of course.

I like when you booed him the second he mentions Iowa State.

Had to.

He probably thought you were booing him for a minute.

Maybe, but it's an instinct.

I wasn't booing him.

I love Luke Combs.

Who's Iowa play this week?

Sorry.

Yes.

Penn State.

Oh, my gosh.

I did know that.

Yeah, at home.

Interim coach bump, you think, for Penn State?

Yeah, I mean, I'm a little worried about it.

They've looked so bad, you know, that it's like at some point they have a lot of good players still, so you would think it would maybe go the other way.

But, I mean, shit, we we heard Signetti say it yesterday.

Hey, I was a tough place to play now.

That was a tough place at night.

And they have a quarterback making his first start, which I think definitely bodes well for Iowa.

Grunkamar.

Grunkamr.

There's no N, but no.

Grunkama.

Grunkamar.

He's from right around Dublin, Owen Tangie, right by me, about 10 minutes away from Owen Tangie?

He's a stud.

Yeah.

Is that a river?

Yeah, there is the Owen Tangie River.

I don't think it's a Hoochie Coochie.

I mean, that's...

Yeah,

too, but there is an Owen Tangie River.

Yes.

There's an Owen Tangie Tangier River Road right close to where I'm at.

But, yeah, I don't know.

Who's penstaking a hire, though, for real?

Terry Smith.

He's your interim.

I mean, he could.

He has every opportunity to win it.

That's the first step.

What if he does win out?

What if he wins out and then they have to hire him?

I don't know, but he is a very $19 million a year.

That's a very important hire because

you can't fire a coach who's winning 10, 11 games a year.

And win seven?

Yeah.

Yeah.

You can't even fire a coach.

There can't be any drop-off.

A coach has to cut.

No, absolutely zero drop-off.

drop-off they have to come in and if he wins 10 games that's a failure for them you got to get to the well you got to get to the playoffs to make a run yeah i but james franklin last year was a couple plays away from being a national championship correct like that's wild the names that the names that obviously are getting thrown out are rule uh at nebraska matt campbell iowa state um and then you know like there's a lot of people saying like hey you you got to you got to at least call saban you got to at least call urban you got to at least call marcus freeman now he's definitely not leaving there but you got got to at least call him you got to at least call lane like you gotta yeah you gotta at least put out feelers too because when you fire someone who's winning 10 11 games a year you have to make a splash yeah hey pat tomorrow on game day live on set you should ask saving like hey man if penn state calls are you gonna entertain that are you gonna at least answer the call

So Miss Terry's here this weekend, actually.

So everybody always tells me like, hey, that question would be directed towards Miss Terry first.

And then

so I did.

I literally, she was in the back of the room as I turned around.

I'm like, Miss Terry, 20 million a year, 30 million a year, you get back into coaching.

And she laughed and said something about a credit card debt and said, That's going to have to keep going.

And I laughed so hard, I was like, that's the greatest answer I've ever heard.

So I don't, like, I don't know the reality of that.

And I think Coach Sabin is loving his life being retired.

He's still in ball because of game day, but I think he golfs a couple times a week.

You know, I think he doesn't have the pressure of having to wake up and know if his team's going to show up.

I don't think he has to renegotiate with players every single day.

There's a lot of things that he has kind of mentioned.

He's 7 what, three now?

73 years old.

So like I

think he enjoys retirement.

I think he is enjoying retirement.

And I think he does a couple speaking gigs a week around the country.

I mean, he is

car dealerships.

He's living.

He's doing his life right now.

That's why whenever his name was mentioned that he was going to run the college commission or whatever, I was like,

that's a lot of work.

That's a lot of work for a guy that just gave up a lot of work for the first time in his life.

You know, he was committed to ball for the last, what, 40, 50 years of his life.

So I don't know if Sabin's possible, but I mean, maybe Pat Kraft gives Miss Terry a call and says, we'll give you an open check and we'll take care of every credit card for the rest of your life.

Maybe.

But then you start thinking about like Kurt Signetti, right?

Like Kurt Signetti's situation.

Everybody thought he was going to get hired.

And then Indiana goes, nope, I don't think that's the case.

I assume there's a couple coaches over the next few days that are going to be.

signing new deals.

Yeah.

I think.

And it's only going to be able to happen at the schools that have real backing and have like a real chance, you know?

And I think that's what's so big about the Indiana deal for Kurt Signetti.

It's like, that's $93 million to a coach.

Okay.

So what else do they have for players and for facilities and everything?

They're like, we're very committed.

They are very committed to everything.

The president, Pam Witten, Wooten.

Miss Pam, the president, okay,

she is somebody I met whenever we were down there.

Witten.

Miss Pam Witten.

I apologize for getting that wrong.

I got a chance to meet her whenever a game day was down there.

And after I picked Indiana, I got a text from her, you know, that was like, hey, Pat, thank you for the belief in what we're doing here.

We're very thankful, obviously, that you're in the same state as us and like a very positive thing.

And she's like, we are very all in down here, both academically and athletically.

And we think the athletics can fuel the other.

And just thank you for believing in us, basically, is what she said, because I have since watching this entire thing.

And this is just another way to publicly prove that they're all in.

And Indiana's for real.

And it's like, this isn't just a, you you know a flash in the pan here in two years they didn't get lucky here it's like they are all in they understand how special signetti is and the evaluation process and getting the right guys and they got the boosters to be able to stick in there so good for indiana up into the right but there's gonna be some places that are gonna get exposed for not going all in and that's when you're gonna see these coaches go to other jobs

you know that's when you're gonna see penn state become very very open for people if they're at a place that maybe isn't as all in which sucks but it's just a reality of the business at this point agent yeah and you can't you truly can't compete at the highest level if your team is, your school is not all in.

That's why we see like what Va Tech, they come out publicly committing what, 10 years, 200 some million dollars.

And Sig even said it yesterday on the show.

They also have money, like whatever the pool is to pay your assistance.

That's a huge deal as well, because I need a bunch of cash to bring in the best coaches they're going to call, be my O and D coordinators, the guys that are going to eventually be groomed to be the next head coaches at big places all over the country.

There's some programs that send us, you know, like full bag.

We're very lucky that these schools give us stuff.

I would like to let that be known.

I would just like to let that be known.

I'm very thankful for the swag bags that schools give to send to the Thunderdome or give to us the game day whenever we come to town and everything like that.

And when people send stuff to us, there's normally like a presentation from some schools.

Like, hey, here's a box with a light, with a story, like a whole thing, you know?

Or like, hey, here's a suitcase that is like very expensive with our shit in it.

Or like, hey, here's a Jordan bag with all this stuff in it.

And then there's some places that are just cardboard boxes and they send like a bunch of stuff.

And you can tell that the thought is like we're not spending money on banks okay we're spending the money on players and we're spending the money on coaches here okay so and then there's other places that are like hey here's a three-piece suitcase luggage and here's this it's like oh they got

these people have extra money just laying around to send to the thunderdome in indianapolis indiana hoping we see it in the mail not guaranteeing just hoping that we see it and it's like uh it's a wild time in college ball right now indiana's for real though aj feels like the big 10's got a real one down there in bloomington and and Signetti's a beast.

He knew when he was on with us yesterday, right?

He knew?

Oh, yeah.

He had, yeah.

Oh, 100%.

I appreciate that.

They texted me like four minutes before it got announced publicly, thanking me for having Sig on.

And then, oh, yeah, also, we're about to announce an extension.

And then I go, can I?

tweet that?

They're like, absolutely.

We're about to announce it, though.

So it was a race of me versus them.

And

I got mine out.

I think they got it out with a lot more information quicker.

So I kind of missed the breaking news because I was maybe pooping at the time, but I am very thankful that the Indiana team is as good as they are, as welcoming as they are.

And the way they play ball is cool to cheer for, you know?

Yeah.

And

if you don't have a college, if you don't have a team, college football team, first of all, I think you should get into college ball.

It's great Saturdays every single fall, every single weekend of the fall.

Obviously, the sport of football is great.

The environments are insane, but this Indiana team is a cool team to become a fan of if you're just picking up a school.

I mean, the underdog, consummate underdog.

Now, they're number three team in the country.

They're not going to be surprising anybody at this point, but just like coming out of nowhere, becoming a team, the way they've been built.

Kurt Signetti's story about being a consummate assistant coach and then in his 40s or 50s, I think his 50s says, I'm going for it.

Drops down to like IUP, James Madison, to become a head coach.

And then his work at James Madison leads to his

head coaching job at Indiana.

First time D1 head coach at the age of 60 or whatever.

Like his run has been inspiring.

It is a movie.

and they're a fun school to be a fan of if you're not just living in Indianapolis like we are.

Just in general, that's a fun place to kind of get behind.

And there's not a lot of people that have jumped on an Indiana football wagon in a long, long time.

Western Pennsylvania guy, West Virginia guy, I love everything about him, man.

So I'm thankful to be in Indianapolis, but I'm also thankful for this entire college football.

Run that we've been on here for the last few years.

Just getting baptized into all these places.

So cool.

Tonight, two big games.

Two big college homes.

Might have a national champion playing on a Friday night.

This is abnormal.

Now, you might have a couple national champions playing on Friday night, but nonetheless, number two team in America is playing on a Friday night.

This is awesome.

This is not normal.

This is great.

Louisville versus Miami.

Miami at home, obviously down there at the Orange Hard Rock.

They said it's a crazy, crazy atmosphere, especially when they're going.

Let's assume Michael Irvin's going to be down there doing awesome things tonight on the sideline.

Nebraska and Minnesota, obviously we talked to to Coach Rule just yesterday about, you know, what Minnesota is, what they could be, and that problem they could have with them.

But all these teams obviously have a chance going forward, but the number two team in the country playing on a Friday is special.

Gumpy, I know you're all horned up for tonight.

Yeah, offensive line for Louisville stinks.

So Bain and the boys should be able to run wild, as they say, at the asylum, Cristobal calls it.

We're playing in the asylum tonight.

A lot of confidence on ESPN there by national pundit Kyle Cathpart.

That might motivate the Louisville Louisville offensive line.

And

on that note, let's get the hell out of here.

AJ, thank you for traveling to Indianapolis, brother.

We appreciate you.

Of course.

Easy drive.

It was a beautiful couple of days for me going to that Bengals game and then just making the trip over here.

It was perfect.

Oh, you stayed the night in Cincinnati last night?

Yeah, we did.

It was awesome, for real.

Kids have like a fall break thing, no Friday or Monday school.

So it, yeah, it worked out beautifully.

It was a magical experience, honestly,

in that stadium last night with the kids.

It was really cool.

We appreciate you making the effort, brother.

We're happy you had a good time.

And congrats to the bangles get a huge one you were gonna pick the bangles regardless because they were giving you tickets okay now no we didn't get tickets we didn't reach we didn't talk to them until later but they hooked us up afterwards once once they knew we were coming but uh who gave you tickets them or eight uh whatever seat geek we we paid good money for them yeah trust me

we paid good money 30 off though 30 yeah we did i used the code pat mcfee i used that's all the kids they all the kids had aaron rodgers jerseys though they did yeah they did they had bangles they were on the field pregame in bangles sweatshirts and then they took them off and had their Aaron Rodgers eight jerseys that people were yelling and screaming at him as we were walking back to our

hotel.

Hooday!

Looking right at my kids yelling and screaming.

We're kind of on both sides here, pal.

I'm all right with it.

Yeah.

Yeah, but we like that.

We like that that was happening to your kids, obviously.

I like

that.

Bingo.

There's some parents that would get upset about that.

You watching Hawker get chewed out in the middle of the street.

They're going to remember that forever.

They're going to remember it forever.

AJ's not really finishing the story because he ended up curb stomping three people after that happened.

Nah.

Okay, we do care.

We do care.

I appreciate the fact, though, that Aaron played the way he played.

I like the way Flacco played.

And it feels like it's a good omen going into a great football weekend if that's how it's going to go.

Boys, great work in the back this week.

You guys have done a phenomenal job.

Way to go.

Toxic table.

Way to go, boys.

Way to go, boys.

You too.

You too, bro.

Good luck, Jamal.

Yeah.

Hey, another sport starting next week, boys.

Let's not forget it.

You know, that trophy that's right there in front of Connor is about to kick off.

One half of the hammer,

Don.

Don.

Cowboys, AP10, great work this week.

Thank you, brother.

Really good, Patty.

You

graphic design, boys.

The think tank boys, we appreciate all your effort this week.

Incredible work on all parties and all things, including Rushmore on X, which had another incredible episode drop on Tuesday, which was bands.

Look for this upcoming episode on Tuesday.

Dunkers.

Oh, hell yeah.

Very good.

Comedy Wilkins.

I hope they talk about.

Yeah.

Yeah, he does get talked about.

There is an obvious omission from this episode.

And I hope Ari and Ben and Shaq and Reggie hear about it.

I do.

I hope they do.

They will.

But

they will.

It's a great episode.

It is a great episode.

It's coming out on Tuesday.

Shaquille O'Neal, Reggie Miller, Ben Persky, Ari Emmanuel, Rushmore on X.

Full episode available only on X, unless a Tom Brady fan club rips it and puts the whole thing on YouTube.

The full episode is only available on X clips or everywhere else.

It's a great show and I'm very proud of everybody that pieced that thing together.

And on that note, let's have the greatest weekend of all time.

Gumpy, why don't you come join me over here, buddy?

Come on, Go.

Where is he?

There he is.

What are these shoes here?

What a

shoe bones?

They are kind of fire.

They are pretty fire.

They look super European, but that's kind of like your thing, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I like them.

Can't wait to to get the Coopers.

They're different.

Dude.

The Lawmore ones?

Yeah, no caps.

Steph Curry ones.

No, that's what Coopers look like, too.

Really?

Yeah, they're tough.

That's kind of new balance.

This is the thing right now.

Maybe we call them the Zero Turn ones.

Oh, no, I like that.

So sick.

Give me a pair.

The Z turn ones out there?

Hell yeah.

All right.

Let's get the hell out of here.

Boys, we're so lucky we get to do this.

We're so thankful we get to do this.

Let's try to enjoy every single moment, shall we?

Hell yeah,

absolutely.

Bullrush, thanks for the Overwatch, brother.

Love you, Bull Rush.

Bull Rush.

That baby's Bull Rush.

If you think you're going to show up somewhere and shoot me, just know that there is a man who's got the binos out everywhere we go.

Okay?

His name's Bullrush, and we're thankful for that.

All right, have a great weekend.

Be a friend, tell a friend something nice.

It might change their life.

We're in this thing together.

Team on me.

Team on three.

One, two, three.

Team.

Goodbye.

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