PMS 2.0 1280 - LIVE from the CFP National Championship, Divisional Round Recap, Adam Schefter, Nick Saban, Shane Gillis

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to Atlanta, Georgia, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the BEST TEAM TO TAKE THE FIEL take the field this season the road to this game tonight has certainly been an awesome one i've been incredibly lucky to be a part of it every single saturday with college game day we went through texas we're up in oregon obviously across the north in the southeastern part of this beautiful country and tonight we crown one champion that'll get rings and banners and stories told about them forever. Will it be Captain Jack Sawyer, Will Howard, JTT, and that Ohio State Buckeye team? Or will it be Riley Leonard, Jeremiah Love, Xavier Watts, Marcus Freeman, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish? We got a heavyweight fight here in Atlanta, and we're incredibly lucky to be on the sideline for that game for our field pass on ESPN2.
I'm obviously not alone here, and there's a lot more than just a college football national championship happening on this particular Monday. Obviously, it's Martin Luther King Jr.
Day. Hope you take a moment to celebrate that and everything about what our world and our country can be and is hopefully heading towards.
It's I DAY UP THERE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. A NEW ERA IS BEGINNING IN OUR COUNTRY.
THERE'S A NATIONAL CHAMPION TONIGHT AND THE NFL'S DIVISIONAL ROUND IS COMING OFF A RECORD BREAKER WEEKEND. MAN, THERE'S SO MUCH HAPPENING.
WE'RE SO INCREDIBLY LUCKY TO BE A PART OF ALL OF IT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WATCHING AND ALLOWING US TO DO THIS FOR A LIVING.
IT'S NOT just me. The toxic tables here at Boston Corner and at Ty Schmidt.

One half of the hammer, done.

Cowboys AP Tone is here.

Obviously, the living legend, a man who, whenever he walks around these parts,

especially with the Ohio State and the National Championship,

he is revered as if some God is walking amongst mere mortals

for the Ohio State Buckeye fans.

A.J. Hawk, ladies and gentlemen.

Ohio State back at the top. It's going to feel good for you and everybody that is from that glorious state of Ohio.
Yeah, this stadium, obviously, we were here a couple years ago. We saw the Bucs lose to a great Georgia team.
So I think Ohio State people are hoping for some redemption tonight, hopefully. Yeah, there was a commissioner, potentially, that was reminding us, potentially, about all the horrors that have happened.
Not whores, horrors that have happened down here. H-O-R-R-O-R.
Two R's, yeah, and then one at the end and an H at the front. No dub, save the dub.
But the horrors of Ohio State in this particular building, a nine-year NFL vet, one of the smartest minds in all football, Darius J. Ballard.
D. Bunch, it's great to see you, and it is an honor to tell you that football is the greatest sport that has ever existed.
Divisional round weekend had record-breaking numbers. ESPN has just reported that the Chiefs-Texans game had 32.7 million viewers.
That is the most-watched NFL game on ESPN in the history of the network.

And the reason why people were tuned in is because the Chiefs are still the Chiefs.

Patrick Mahomes is still Patrick Mahomes.

Travis Kelsey is still Travis Kelsey.

Andy Reid, especially with a bye week, is still Andy Reid coming off a bye week,

let alone Spags and Tobe, the special teams coordinator.

But in a massive moment, Travis Kelsey and Patrick Mahomes are going to make plays. Travis Kelsey has cemented himself in postseason folklore.
He is now a leader in receiving yards. He's going to become a leader in everything if he continues to play after this season, which all signs are indicating he will.
He had his best game by far the season, up over 100 yards receiving. Obviously had a touchdown where Patrick Mahomes did something absolutely filthy.
Falling forward, diving, hitting Travis right in between the eight and the seven, which will be a massive part of the conversation today after the divisional round. And then with the fireworks going off behind Travis Kelsey, with his lady in attendance sitting next to Kaitlin Clark.
It was a magical day for the Kansas City Chiefs. But the conversation of this particular game, everywhere, everybody is seemingly saying that at the beginning of those games over there, when they sing the national anthem, what they should be saying is the home of the Chiefs.
They're calling them cheaters. They are.
They're saying the refs are working in Patrick Mahomes' favor. They're saying that all the bullcrap calls that we hate about football seemingly always go in the championship's favor.
How come Patrick Mahomes always getting these calls everybody else isn't getting? Omar Jackson, who we will certainly talk about later, he got hip-drop tackled on his sideline super late. No call at all.
This comes right after a game where Patrick Mahomes was seen flopping on the side which everybody say you can't do that if you're gonna be the face of football you can't be flopping around like that you can't be taking advantage of the situation that you are Patrick Mahomes Houston Texans hell of a season thank you for representing the AFC South but Houston Texans I think Joe Mixon and many others even coach D'Amico Ryan Ryan said, you know what it's going to be when you're playing Chiefs, okay?

You know what it's going to be.

Now, what does that mean?

We all just have come to understand that the refs are going to help the Kansas City Chiefs.

That is seemingly the narrative that everybody's bought into.

If you're a Chiefs fan, you say, hey, sorry, ball bounces our way.

If you're the rest of the NFL, you're certainly going to be finding reasons

to hate the team that's gone back-to-back as Super Bowl champs

and looking to do something, which is win three straight.

But it is God loud. And Troy Aikman was basically, I'm done with it.
Awesome. This is bullshit.
All of it. I don't like any of this stuff.
The calls are cropped. They're trash.
I don't like the way they're calling this game. I don't like the way Patrick Mahomes is trying to take advantage of it.
And I think as that continues to happen, maybe the refs will have a little better eye on it all. Maybe they'll be able to stay focused.
But this is what happens when you're at the top of the mountain. This is literally how it goes.
Now, the Chiefs obviously move into the AFC Championship. Congrats to them.
That is absolutely awesome. One half of the hammer.
Done. Cowboys.
Who are they going to be playing over there? Another dream matchup in the AFC Championship. Yeah, another dream matchup.
They were playing the Buffalo Bills, and everyone expects me to absolutely destroy the Baltimore Ravens. I am not going to do

that today. Really? No, because

if I were to do that, if I

were to blame Lamar Jackson

or if I were to blame

Mark Andrews, I would be

a loser, according to

Dan Orlovsky. I saw that.
Dan Orlovsky said

if you watch that game and you want to

blame Lamar Jackson for the loss respectfully, you're a loser. Oh, of course.
Respectfully. If you want to watch that game and you want to blame Mark Andrews, respectfully, you're a loser.
So, Tony, you don't want to be a loser in Dan Orlovsky's eyes, because if you're a loser in a loser's eye, I mean, that's... Bingo.
I think Orlovsky's a loser. I didn't mean that.
That came out wrong. But that is sports media world.
Somebody's going to get blamed. And that is kind of how it immediately works.
We knew this was going to happen with this Bills Ravens game. The loser was going to get some terrible things said about him, even though both of them have had an absolutely wonderful season.
The Buffalo Bills, though, I think I forgot, as somebody that picked the Baltimore Ravens, I forgot that all they need to do is just win this game. It's not about like, can they win every game? It's not like who's more dominant, who's more spectacular? Him dropping it off to the tight end in the middle of the field.
Okay, you got it. Shakir making some big catches.
Then they go empty backfield. Who's tackling the six foot six, 240 pound guy who's used to the snow? All they had to do is prepare for one team in one situation.
I think the snow helped them, even though Baltimore's no stranger to the cold weather. And in the third quarter, the Baltimore Ravens, they come out, they do AFC North football.
Pound, pond, pond, pond. And it works.
Yes, it did. First half, I think they had like 21 yards rushing with Derrick Henry.
Then in the third quarter, I think they had 70 yards in one drive alone. Derrick Henry, Patrick Ricard, the offensive line just ponded.
That Buffalo Bills team that only plays nickel. They're too small.
They're not going to be able to handle it. Then they have a two-point conversion.
What do they do? They throw it. They throw the ball.
And there's a couple different times where there's been five, I guess, two-point conversion attempts this season for the Baltimore Ravens. Derrick Henry's got the ball and none of them, not a single one of them as Derrick Henry got the rock.
Now, that is going to be judged. That is going to be picked apart.
But this Buffalo Bills team, wagon. And I think a lot of us forgot about that.
Yeah, the Bills team is a wagon. Obviously, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson was the battle of the MVPs.
The Guardian Cap boys were awesome last night. Taylor Rapp had an interception.
Then DeMar Hamlin, he was the one who got Lamar's leg on the fumble where Von Miller took it back. But no, this has kind of been like the story of the Ravens in the playoffs.
They haven't been able to get it done. If you go back to last year, Zay Flowers, you know, he fumbles on the goal line.
If he goes in there, the Ravens win that one. Then you start this year, the first game of the season, Isaiah Likely, toe out of bounds by half an inch to start the season.
Another game this year where it was 18-10. They score against the Steelers to make it 18-16.
They've got to go for two. They don't get the two-point conversion there.
And then, obviously, in this one, you know, Lamar leads an incredible drive down, gets a chance to get the two-point conversion. Doesn't work out.
You know, everyone is killing Mark Andrews for that situation. But it's just another situation where the Ravens didn't come up as they should have in a big spot.
Dee Butch, your thoughts on this game and your thoughts on how we should be viewing this? Obviously, Mark Andrews is going to feel terrible. He was on the sideline getting busted up.
He lives and works for this moment here. Now, granted, 1.33 left on the clock.
Buffalo Bills still have two timeouts. Nobody's seemingly saying, like, Josh Allen could potentially Chiefs, you know know what the Chiefs think to him in overtime when they had to change the rule to the Baltimore Ravens team.
All he has to do is get in field goal range. No offense.
I know it's just all you got to do, especially against a great Baltimore Ravens defense, wherever the case is. I tend to believe on this particular season, in this particular game, Josh Allen probably 133.
He might score too fast, AJ. Lamar might get a chance to come back and tie it again on the other side with the way he'd been playing.
What are your thoughts on how that game ended up, D-Bush? You know, it comes down to ball security. And you can point at Mark Andrews.
You can point at Lamar and AJ. We were kind of talking about it earlier before the show.
Like, you know, this is one of those games on good teams. At least everybody kind of looks at themselves and say, hey, what could I have done better? I think the Ravens defense, they play well, especially with all things considered, you know, giving those turnovers.
But you can't beat a good ball club like that in their house, turning the ball over like that. So the fumble, strip sack from DeMarla Hamlin, he'll get credited for that.
And then their interception that he threw late. And then obviously for Mark Andrews, it's going to be a long, long offseason.
That sucks. But it was two great quarterbacks, two great teams.
You can't point the finger and blame it on one guy, but Buffalo got it done. Chiefs, the Bills, yetEST, THE BEST, THE BEST, JADEN DANIELS AND THE COMMANDERS HAVE SCORED SEVEN TOUCHDOWNS.
ON FIVE OF THOSE TOUCHDOWNS, THEY HAVE EITHER GONE FOR IT ON FOURTH DOWN AND THAT WAS THE TOUCHDOWN OR DURING THE DRIVE THEY GONE FOR IT ON FOURTH DOWN. THIS IS DAN QUINN'S MO.
EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT MCDC going to say that. But a lot of people are talking about that, you know.
But this commander's team, AJ, there's a chance that they could shine. I'm a believer.
And you know this game, this national championship, I think a lot of people are like, does Notre Dame have enough talent to keep up with the whole state with what they've been able to do? I just saw the commanders beat the lions. I don't think anybody expected that in Detroit.
But this commander seems a real deal THING. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING.
I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING.
I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING.
I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING.
I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING. I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING.
I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING. I THINK THAT'S Here we go.
Within three on the road. Detroit has some momentum.
What does Jayden do? He leads him on a 15 play 75 yard drive to ends in a touchdown to Brian Robinson on one yard run. Like this guy just he's unflappable.
And we say that a lot about other quarterbacks I think. But Jayden's on like you said there's levels to this.
Like Jayden the way like unbelievable. THE BEST OF THE BEST OF THE but I think when a quarterback has that moxie when he has that cool calm demeanor that I've said it a million times on here it trickles down to everybody on the roster every player and every single team or every single coach I should say like Cliff Kingsbury has to feel so confident whenever he's calling into Jaden Daniels like he knows like this guy he's going to protect me he's going me, he's going to protect the team, and he's going to protect the ball.
And that's what they – That was a fadeaway, like, bad footwork. Not what you're supposed to do.
Right, dude. And then Zach Ertz, obviously, what he has become for this particular team, he and Cliff Kingsbury have a great relationship, but it was like buzzsaw, juggernaut.
The over, obviously, we all thought was going to happen, but I thought the Lions were going to be able to just joust with anybody because they've had to do that all year. But what this commander's defense.
Taking the ball. When they have to.
Now, obviously, Jared Goff throws for three interceptions. Jameson Williams throws one interception.
Then there's a fumble in there. Five turnovers by the Detroit Lions.
Abnormal game for them. People are saying this is Jared Goof football, Con, man.
I didn't like that at all. Yeah, well, guess what? Fairytale's over, Detroit.
You guys are a dump again. What? It stinks for you, but I hope you had fun these last two years because it's done.
MCCB, I mean, he's one of my favorite coaches. I love the emotion from him, but he is now the Motor City Crybaby.
Wow! Easy! That's what everyone's calling him. It stinks because, you you know if i were to be the head coach of jared goff i'd probably be crying too because that was embarrassing now for the record he did get uh concussed in the second quarter when they had their pick six because he got absolutely obliterated and if you have to bring in a high school coach to pay quarterback for a couple plays that's good.
Jamison Williams kind of with the sweet little return and then having sex with the ground only to turn around and throw a terrible interception is brutal. But I'll tell you what, it stinks.
I feel bad for MCCB. And, you know, they're losing both their coordinators.
Ben Johnson, he's out of there. He doesn't want to.
Allegedly. No, according to, in his words, Black Adam Schefter, Adam Pacman, Joe Ben Johnson is now the head coach of the Raiders.
His words, not mine, and I trust him. Kelly Moe heading to the Cowboys as well.
We'll see what happens there, though. But it stinks for Detroit.
I genuinely feel bad. It's hard to win Super Bowls.
And I told Foxy this morning, I said, hey, Foxy, story's over, brother. I hope you enjoyed these last two years.
You guys are going back to the dump. You're paying goof $215 million for the next four years.
I'm sorry, Fonty. Come on.
It ain't the NFC Championship. He's won games.
They've won games. Absolutely.
In his biggest game in the Super Bowl with the Rams, he scored three points. But that's not, again, we don't have to bring that up.
Who is that against? Against the Patriots in this building. That's Bill Belichick, brother.
That's what Sean McVay has so much respect for. Absolutely, and I do too.
And Sean McVay's won a Super Bowl without goof now. But again, look, it just sucks.
I feel bad for Detroit. I feel bad for the people of Detroit.
I feel bad for Eminem. People are saying LiAngelo Ball might have tweaked his way into a curse.
I saw Cameron talk about that. It's HOOK, OBVIOUSLY.
DECISIONS WERE MADE OUT THERE. OBVIOUSLY THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.
SO STAY IN THE NFC. THE COMMANDERS BEAT THE LINES.
AND FOXY, I DON'T THINK IT'S OVER. I THINK MCDC'S CULTURE IS CEMENTED IN THERE.
I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO WIN. NFC NORTH IS GOING TO BE TOUGH GOING FORWARD.
HAVING TO REBUILD AND RECLIMB AND REINVIGORATE, REIGNITE, REMOT remotivate, renegotiate. I mean, there's a lot that has re-sign offense and defense coordinator.
We'll find out here in a second. There's a lot that the Lions are going to have to do, but I think MCDC's got to figure it out, right? Or are you heartbroken? I'm heartbroken, but I trust MCDC.
But everything you just said is why I am so heartbroken. It's going to be so hard to have that season again.
It's going to be so hard to have this team go in and try to win a Super Bowl. Expectations have never been this high, and we played our worst ball at the most important time of the season.
Golf wasn't good. Coaches weren't great.
Defense got exposed. It was, I mean, as a fan of a team that has gone 0-16, that wasn't heartbreak.
That was just embarrassing. But this one was so heartbreaking.
Worse than the NFC Championship game last year. And to have to redo it all again, be the ones, it's just going to be so hard.
And I'm bummed out. You should be bummed out.
We're all bummed out for the entire city of Detroit. And, you know, didn't even win a playoff game.
You know, Foxy's big dream there for a long time was 9-7, win a playoff game. 10-6, win a playoff game.
That's what he wished for his entire life. Didn't even win a playoff game.
15-2, no playoff game. Had a home field advantage.
Could have. Throughout the entire millions.
10 millions. More dollars coming to the city for another game.
Instead, they lose. MCDC is going to motivate.
We don't need to take shots at the city. They're going through it.
MCDC is going to remotivate and get the crew to go. And then who are they going to be taking on in the NFC Championship? The Washington Commanders will be traveling to where? The nation's first capital debunk.
This Philadelphia Eagles team is an absolute wagon. In that weather yesterday.
It was obviously Matthew Stafford's Matthew Stafford. Yeah.
Mad respect. Big Oose Puka Nakula has an incredible catch.
Matthew Stafford has a couple of no lookers. The snow seemingly didn't affect them except for the turnover when he was going to go try to hand the ball off or whatever the case.
But that Philadelphia Eagles offense, that Philadelphia Eagles team and that snow, that weather feels like it was set up for them to go and say

Saquon's sake gone. Yeah.
Anytime he gets the rockers and opportunity now it goes through Philly. So you talked about those elements who knows what the elements will be next week.
Obviously a familiar opponent with the commanders coming in there to be that third time facing off. But all the things that AJ talked about with Jaden as far as the confidence you have.
It's the same thing with 26 like Jalen Hurtsts, he comes out and throws for 130 yards. And you got a guy like this who you can hand the ball off to.
And you know as a defense, he went for over 250 against the Rams back in week 12. So as a defense, you're keying in on 26 all throughout the game.
First quarter, breaks a 62-yarder to get him out in front. And then in the fourth quarter, he breaks a 70-something yarder to make him go up two scores.
So you know 26 is going to get the ball. Outside those tackles, once he hits the gap, once he breaks the tackle in that second or third level, he is out the gate to take it home.
So when you have to deal with this run game on offense and then obviously Philly, what they have on defense, monsters all up and down that roster. I mean, Harry Roseman, he's done an incredible job putting this roster together.
But this Saquon Barkley offseason move may have been the best offseason move of the offseason. And Mara's watching it all.
And as Saquon is running down the field, hitting himself in the helmet, I think that's like him saying, like, we knew. Like, he knew.
You know, he always knew he was supposed to be in these moments and what he was going to be able to do. The Philadelphia Eagles offensive line, A.Q.
Shipley said you can't win. Yeah, he did.
Even though you have the greatest offensive line in football,

they showcase that you certainly can.

Here's some stats I got from Hembo as you read some others on the screen here.

Saquon Barkley in the fourth quarter this season, 108 rushes in the fourth quarter,

719 rush yards, which is an average of 6.7 yards per.

Seven rush touchdowns, which is an average of 43.7 yards each one. And in two games this postseason, Saquon has run it 20 times for 141 yards in the fourth quarter.
He's a closer versus also a dog. I'm excited to watch that Rams team.
But congrats to the Philadelphia Eagles and all the Johns over there. Maybe Sirianni isn't a big dumb dipshit, Ty.
Maybe. You know, maybe this guy just wins.
And again, we can pull up the graphic of him being the youngest, winningest coaches, quickest to whatever number since he's been in the league. There it is.
Most wins in the first four seasons. There's been a lot of pretty good head coaches in the NFL.
Listen, I know this guy sometimes puts his foot in his mouth in his press conferences. Okay.
Okay. It happens.
I know sometimes he gets to the game and he's got some jaw in the crowd calling him a big, dumb dipshit to his face. And he can't help himself't help himself he's a Philly guy at heart so you know he's going to turn around and say oh yeah watch this watch this and then boom Saquon's taking off for 70 yards so I mean obviously the Eagles are unbelievable can't wait for that game next week excited for our guy Coop as well because I know you know oh Coop oh Coop exactly tell me something.
He's real ball. Yeah, he should be as he should.
I mean, no birds real deal. AJ, you think they got a chance to go? What do you think? Hey, do you like the Eagles? That's what I do.
I love the Eagles. I love Saquon.
I think the commanders have a good chance of going there and get a win. Sorry, Coop.
Wow. No offense to Coop.
I love Coop. Everything that he has done.
Kick his ass, Coop. Unbelievable resume.
His IMDb page is pretty legit. But I think we're gonna be in for a barn burner.
Joining us now, I think championship games are gonna be awesome. Yeah.
And shout out to Jayden Daniels, just dropping himself right into the spotlight. There's gonna be four teams left at the end of the season.
We're gonna be one of them, Jayden, Cliff, Dan Quinn, new ownership. Congrats to Washington.
You guys should be incredibly pumped. Joining us now, senior NFL insider at ESPN, friend of the program, Michigan man.
Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Schefter. Hey, how you doing, pal? Hey, happy national championship Monday.
Obviously, Michigan was the reigning national champs until tonight when we crowned somebody new. So congrats to you.
This is it for you guys. And hopefully youBODY NEW.
SO, CONGRATS TO YOU. THIS IS IT FOR YOU GUYS.
HOPEFULLY YOU'RE BACK NEXT YEAR. NOW, LET'S TALK NFL A LITTLE BIT HERE, SHALL WE? WE CHITCHATED ABOUT THE DETROY LIONS AND FOXY SAID HE WAS BUMMED OUT.
FOXY SAID HE WAS BUMMED OUT. HERE'S A CLIP FROM TODAY'S PRESS CONFERENCE OF MOTOR CITY DANE CAMPBELL CHITCHATING ABOUT HIS OFFENSE COORDINATOR AND HIS DEFENSE COORDINATOR.
MCDC LOOKS INCREDIBLY STROPPED, INCREDIBLY JOCKED. HE'S IN A HOODY AND HE SAYS I'M PREPARING AS IF I'M LOSING BOTH OF MY COORDINATORS.
I'M PREPARING AS IF BOTH GUYS ARE GOING TO BE GONE. IT'S NOT 100% SURE, BUT HE'S PREPARING.
BEN JOHNSON, AARON GLENN, HOW QUICKLY SHOULD WE SEE A TEAM MAKE A MOVE IN HIRING THEM AS A HEAD COACH? OR IS THERE STILL A FULL PROCESS IN THIS THING, SHEFTY? THEYy? They're going to fly here because once the Lions were eliminated, it accelerated the hiring cycle that much more. So you're going to see Ben Johnson get a job.
You're going to see Aaron Glenn get a job. I would imagine that both those guys have jobs no later than the middle of this week, both of them.
And the Lions will lose both their coordinators. We've talked aboutEEK.
BOTH OF THEM. AND THE LIONS WILL LOSE BOTH THEIR COORDINATORS.
WE TALKED ABOUT THAT BEFORE. IT'S OBVIOUS RIGHT NOW.
THESE ARE THE TOP TWO GUYS OUT THERE RIGHT NOW. IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER.
BEN JOHNSON, AARON GLENN, AARON GLENN, BEN JOHNSON, THEY'RE GOING TO GET JOBS. THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE MULTIPLE OPPORTUNITIES.
IT'S JUST A QUESTION OF WHERE THEY WANT TO GO RIGHT NOW. SO THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE SIFTING THROUGH.
SO, Shefty, at the combine agents talk to general managers about players.

Have all the back channels already been chatted about for Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson.

Now it's just whether or not it's a good fit between those two and whatever team they're going to.

Have agents already kind of figured out what the pay would be, who's all interested,

who's meeting where, or does that literally start today because they're focused on ball up until a loss?

Well, Pat, as the coaches are involved in the games, let's just say last week,

Thank you. TODAY BECAUSE THEY'RE FOCUSED ON BALL UP UNTIL A LOSS.
WELL, PAT, AS THE COACHES ARE INVOLVED IN THE GAMES, LET'S JUST SAY LAST WEEK, BEN JOHNSON'S GETTING READY FOR THE COMMANDERS, AARON GLENN'S GETTING READY FOR THE COMMANDERS. THEY HAVE AGENTS.
AGENTS ARE ALLOWED TO TALK OVER AND OVER AND DO THEIR BUSINESS AND GATHER AS MUCH INTEL AND PUT TOGETHER THEIR BOARDS AND FIGURE OUT ALL THE ANSWERS TO THE EQUATIONS HERE. So that if if and when these guys are available which many people thought it would be after the super bowl they're ready now so essentially they're handed dossiers of information on organizations and where they would want to go and then they sit down and again the process is accelerated to where they have to just make the decision about where they want to go do they want to visit somewhere first do they want to close in the deal what's going on behind THE PROCESS IS ACCELERATED TO WHERE THEY HAVE TO JUST MAKE THE DECISION ABOUT WHERE THEY WANT TO GO.

DO THEY WANT TO VISIT SOMEWHERE

FIRST?

DO THEY WANT TO CLOSE THE DEAL?

WHAT'S GOING ON BEHIND YOU

THERE?

I THINK THEY'RE TESTING

SHOTS HERE.

I THINK THIS GUY HAS ALSO GOT A

GREAT BEARD.

A LOT OF GOOD BEARDS DOWN HERE

IN GEORGIA.

NOT 100% SURE.

BUT OKAY, SO THEY'RE GOING TO

READ THE PAMPHLETS, GET

INTRODUCED AND THEN OBVIOUSLY DO

SOME FACE-TO-FACE TIME, YOU

WOULD ASSUME.

TO YOUR POINT.

VISITS OR HOWEVER THEY WANT TO DO IT. HOWEVER THEY WANT TO DO IT.
BUT MY POINT IS I DON'T THINK THESE GUYS WILL BE ON THE MARKET MUCH LATER THAN THE MIDDLE OF THIS WEEK IF THAT. IT'S GOING TO MOVE.
IT'S GOING TO MOVE. EVERYTHING GOT ACCELERATED.
OKAY. AND IT'S A BUMMER FOR DETROIT THAT THAT IS THE CASE BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY WHAT THE OFFENSE AND DEFENSE HAS BEEN ABLE TO DO, DEFENSE WITH SO MANY INJURIES, able to do defense with so many injuries offense just being more creative than everybody they play.
We assume Ben and Aaron are going to be great head coaches in place. Good luck Detroit.
Good luck. You guys are going to find backups.
Don't worry. You guys are going to be able to find.
No it's not. It's over.
Thanks for a great regular season boys. Let's talk about a team.
Let's talk about a team that is still going but certainly something that should be monitored. Ty has a question for you, Shefty.
Yeah, Shefty, is there any kind of update on Jalen Hurts' knee? Obviously, yesterday when he got kind of twisted up there, he went into the medical tent. Kenny Pickett was warming up, but he came back in.
But it limited him quite a bit. There was the safety.
And then now just looking ahead, do we have any kind of update on what the Eagles can expect with Jalen Hurts going into the NFC championship well I think the first thing we operate under is he came back in and he finished the game so it's hard to imagine that he came back in finished the game and he wouldn't be out there this next week short of testing finding something that's which we haven't heard to be the case just yet so barring anything unexpected I expect that Jalen Hurts would be out there next week. Now, he's taken a beating here in the last month or so between the concussion, between that injury yesterday.
I don't know that he's going to be operating at full strength for Sunday's NFC championship game. But I think at this point, with the exception of more news coming in, it would be an upset if he's not out there.
Okay, so let's stay in the NFC, shall we?

Tone has a question for you.

Yeah, Shefty, I thought I saw a report

where Cliff Kingsbury, OC of the commander,

said he was not going to interview with teams

until after their run was over.

Does that have anything to do with,

I believe the Cardinals are paying him

his head coach salary through 2026.

Is that the full head coach salary?

And do you think he is actually going to interview for jobs or is that going to be passed, you know, their run is going to be too long to be considered for any of these jobs? Well, I think by the time the commander's ready to interview, most of the jobs may be filled. So that's number one.
Number two, I think Cliff Kingsbury is very happy in Washington. He's got an incredible quarterback, a transcendent quarterback.
And so, yeah, between making money in Arizona, having the head coaching experience that he did, he's not rushing to become a head coach again. Would he like to be one day? I'm sure.
But it's not something that he has to rush to go do. And if the right opportunity comes along at the right time, I'm sure he would be open and amenable to that.
But he's not going to force that. And I think he's more focused right now in the NFC championship game Sunday than anything else.

That moment between Dan Quinn and Cliff, I think last week after their win,

where he comes up and he says, like, stick around, kid, or like, we want you here.

We love you here, kid.

Such a cool moment.

Cliff not having to be a head coach, but still getting a head coach's salary

with Jaden Daniels, who's doing awesome things.

Sounds like a good life.

We'll be excited to see what Cliff does.

He's made quite a name for himself. Let's go over to the AFC side now.

Baltimore obviously loses to the Bills.

There's no conversation about Harbaugh or anything like that, right?

Ever? I mean, he's been there a long time.

Long, long time.

Listen, again, in this league, Pat, I never want to rule out anything

because anything's always, but I have not heard any of that. Like, he's one of the great coaches in the game.
He's one of the great coaches in the game. Not going anywhere in my mind, but, you know, that's up to them.
Yeah, interesting. I didn't know because everybody was talking about how hot it would get for Lamar and Josh Allen.
It's like, what about – I mean, anytime you lose, everything gets readjusted and re-sorted. I think of John Harbaugh when I think of Baltimore Ravens, but also they haven't won a long time.
They got the MVP. He by far has not played his best.
Their team has not played best in the biggest moments. Certainly worthy of a combo.
I love what Lamar said after that game. I love the way he operated.
I would love if Lamar was my quarterback, but, man, it has to be a heartbreaking loss after heartbreaking loss after heartbreaking loss for the Ravens. I don't know how they deal with it.
Now, let's talk about some of the coaching searches, shall we? D-Bot has a question for you. Yeah, Shefty, we heard earlier this week from the black Adam Schefter, Adam Pacman Jones, he said Keller Moore would obviously be the next coach in Dallas.
But I saw a tweet from Florio saying that Brian Schottenheimer, Schottenheimer, I'm sorry, was now the favorite in Dallas. What the hell is going on in Dallas with their head coach research?

And who is the favorite in your opinion?

I think the one guy who knows is Jerry Jones.

And Jerry Jones is certainly apt to change his mind from day to day.

And, again, I think the candidates have been out there so far.

I think Brian Schottenheimer is the favorite in Las Vegas here.

Now, that doesn't mean that Brian Schottenheimer isn't going to be the head coach at some point in time.

Again, we never rule out anything.

But to the best of my knowledge, he hadn't even interviewed for the job,

and Dallas hadn't approached him about being the head coach.

I think the Cowboys absolutely love and respect Brian Schottenheimer, and they want him there.

But I don't know that that's as the head coach right now. Now, process will unfold and we'll see what twists and turns it takes and maybe it leads them back to Brian Schottenheimer as a head coaching candidate at one point in time Brian Schottenheimer was like the hot guy out there roughly I don't know what was it a decade ago a decade plus ago when he was the offensive coordinator of the Jets turned down some jobs.
And I think there's a lesson there in that when you're a coordinator and these jobs come along, you're a GM candidate and these jobs come along, you can't wait too long. You have to strike when you have the opportunity.
And it would be great if Brian Schottenheimer were to get another opportunity. I haven't heard that that's happening yet.

Maybe it does happen down the line.

But to my knowledge right now, that's not the case.

Okay, Shotti obviously comes from football family, been around a long time.

We'll be interested to see what Jerry Jones decides to do.

We have two quick ones for you, Shefty, on this glorious day.

AJ has a question for you.

Shefty, any update on Mike McCarthy and what he may be doing if he doesn't get a head coaching gig.

Do you see him coaching somewhere else this year? Like what's the deal with McCarthy? Well, you know, I haven't gotten that far down the line to know what he would do if he doesn't get one of these jobs. I think he's in play in New Orleans.
I think he's been in play in Chicago. I think he's a legitimate candidate in both places.
So I don't know that he's gotten there yet that he's thinking, OK, I didn't get either one of these.

And now what do I do? That's two steps ahead of me right now. I think people are more interested to see if he finds a way to get one of these head coaching jobs, which I think is possible right now.
Okay. Excited for Big Mike.
Obviously, he got into the coaching cycle a little bit late. Last question here for you, Schefter.
We appreciate you. Go ahead, Con Man.
Yeah, Schefter, he's sticking with Chicago. Eddie George, he's interviewing there.
Is that a real opportunity? And then also, you reported that the Bears reached out to the Steelers for a possible trade for Mike Tomlin with other teams. What were the other teams involved? And what was kind of that conversation like? Well, it was a pretty short conversation because they reached out to the Steelers and the Steelers have no interest in moving on from Mike Tomlin.
And Mike Tomlin's got a no trade clause in his contract. And as he himself said last week, to any teams that would approach the Steelers about a potential trade, exploring a trade, he said, and I use his words, save your time.
But again, I think it's smart for teams to at least make the call. If it's a five-minute call and they say, no, thank you, fine.
But who knows if they ever would have any indecision there or second thoughts, and maybe they would beAD A LEGENDARY CAREER. SO JACKED.
OH, YEAH. GREAT CHARACTER.
SO YOU'RE BRINGING EVERYBODY. you're bringing everybody.
Like, you want to hear what everybody has to say. Sounds like the 33rd team's doing some consulting for a lot of teams.
We'll interview IT IS WITH BEN JOHNSON AND AARON GLENN. AGAIN, LIKE I SAville, Chicago, all want them.
With Aaron Glenn, the Jets, the Saints, Jaguars, Raiders, all interested in Aaron Glenn.

So where's Ben Johnson going?

Oh, he's going there?

Okay.

Where's Aaron Glenn going?

And then who does that leave behind as the other three openings?

And I put Dallas in its own little category.

So I think everybody's waiting to get answers here from Ben Johnson

and Aaron Glenn before the rest of the coaching board falls.

But I think, again, once they go, which I think will be relatively quick, then the rest of the coaching board falls. But I think, again, once they go,

which I think will be relatively quick,

then the rest of the board then falls into place.

All right, we appreciate the hell out of you, Shefter, your man.

Ladies and gentlemen, Adam Shefter. Hey, Shefter.

All right, we go from one legend to a college football Hall of Famer.

Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest coach of all time,

a man who has won how many of these?

Seven?

Seven?

Seven of these things? I only remember the three we lost. Okay.
Could have won ten. Ladies and gentlemen, Nick Saban.
Coach, how you doing, boss? Doing great, man. How are you? So you said you lost three.
So you've won seven, lost three. You've been at ten of these.
I talked to Marcus Freeman and Ryan Day yesterday, I believe. Was that yesterday morning? Yes.
Yeah. Both very comfortable.
Felt like they were both very, very comfortable, both very loose. What do you think they're trying to kind of say to their teams at this moment? Is it, hey, everything's the same? Or how do you think the coaches are kind of feeling in this moment here, just hours away from the Natty? Well, I think one of the things that I always try to do was, how do you get the team to manage the disruptions of a game like this?

Because players get exposed to things they are not used to being exposed to, more press conference, more media, more attention. Peter Herbstreit, turn around.
And then the second thing is, is both teams just came off of big wins. So how do you sustain that and not have the players feel a little relief syndrome like I'm entitled to having a little time off here, let's take it easy, because you've got to restart it and you've got to get ready to play the next game.
And I always told the players, look, when you play in a national championship game, you've got to assume when you start preparation that you're playing against the best player you ever played against, and that's how you you got to get ready to prepare for this game so you can play your best to dominate your box. And it's still keeping it simple, you know, keeping it simple.
I have these coaches calling me and say, how'd you get your team ready to play a national championship game? Well, you just played a big game last week. How'd you get your team ready to play that game? Because if there was a better way to do it, you'd have done it last week.
We should be doing this all season, not just one game. You know, players like routine.
You know, you guys played. I mean, you like routine.
You'd like to know when you come in on Monday, this is what's going to happen. When you come in on Wednesday, this is what's going to happen.
So if you change that routine, you're just acting and making the players think that they don't have confidence in the way they did it before. Yeah.
And I believe that was a big report yesterday. I don't know if it was Molly or Holly.
I saw on SportsCenter that basically said there's only one voice talking to the Notre Dame fighting Irish team and it's Marcus Freeman because a lot of people maybe assume outside like, hey, let's bring in somebody to come speak to the team. It's a big game.
freeman to your point is like this is just hey how do you feel about this particular year and how it's gone you got to win four big games to win the national championship you just talked about it the ohio state team are cotton bowl champs rose bowl champs and it beat the hell out of the sec they're civil war champs that's just in this one playoff and then marcus freeman has won more bowl games at notre dame than brian kelly Kelly did in his entire career at Notre Dame just this year. You talk about the massive games.
Are we going to inevitably get the right team because these teams have to show up in these massive games time after time? This is a lot to ask a team, I think. Show up four straight times against the best in the country.
Yeah, well, I think it's a lot like the NFL playoffs. You know, the best team doesn't always win the'T ALWAYS WIN THE GAME.
YOU GOT CIRCUMSTANCES AROUND IT. YOU GOT TURNOVERS.
YOU GOT PEOPLE GETTING HURT. LIKE NOTRE DAME IS PROBABLY NOT AT FULL STRENGTH FOR THIS GAME.
YOU KNOW, THE LOWER DOWN, BEAT UP, GOT SOME GUYS OUT. SO IT'S NOT ALWAYS GOING TO TURN OUT THAT WAY.
BUT THAT'S WHY YOU PLAY A TOURNAMENT. YOU GOT TO WIN THE TOURNAMENT.
IT'S NOT ABOUT JUST THE BEST TEAM WINNING. YOU GOT TO WIN THE TOURNAMENT.
SO WHO HAS THE MOST RESILIENCY TO DO tournament. So who has the most resiliency to do that? I had resiliency there because I just dumped water all over myself.
That was a very embarrassing moment. You covered it up nicely.
Thank you. Thank you.
I appreciate that. I think people saw me probably just drool all over myself.
But yeah, you've got to show up. You've got to get your team ready to go.
AJ has a question for you, Coach. Coach, you mentioned you, I don't want to bring up any bad memories, but you said you lost three of these national championship games.
When you went and you self-scouted those losses, were you able to pinpoint anything that you would have changed going back if you could do that or, say, the next year if you got back that you realized, okay, this is a speed bump that we don't need to – we've got to figure out to not do that again? Well, I think each of them were different. I think only one of those games did we really get beat in.
You know, when we played out in San Jose against Clemson, we just got beat. But we had bad circumstances in the game.
You know, we had to play Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. We had an eight-day turnaround to get to California.
A lot of travel, a lot of disruption in practice. And, you know, we got out there.
It was raining. There was no place to practice indoors.
And we didn't handle those disruptions. How pissed for you? No indoor facility? No.
That's why I think these games should always be played at bowl sites. Because bowl sites have the facilities because they're used to accommodating teams.
We played in San Jose. They weren't used to accommodating a team.
No disrespect to Indianapolis. When we played Georgia in Indianapolis, they weren't used to accommodating.
Pretty disrespectful. Yeah.
Pretty disrespectful. It was cold as shit.
It was cold as hell. And we had to go practice in your Indianapolis Colts facility, which may be, I don't know what it's like now, but it wasn't really very nice.
I'm sorry, we like gritty football. No, but to answer your question, AJ, yeah, there were always things that we didn't do well in the game.
And in some of the games, I mean, like we lost to Clemson on the last play of the game, I think in 2015 or 16. I mean, it was two great teams.
I mean, we covered them and they caught it anyway and they scored. I mean, it was just a great game and we played a really good game.
We just lost. That happens in football.
Could potentially happen tonight. I think tonight's game could go anyway.
Do you agree with that? I think there could be a buzzsaw. I think it could come down to the last second.
I think there could be a massive upset. I have no clue how tonight's going to go strictly because these teams have had to show up in massive games already three times.
And they've both proven it. What is your kind of judge on how tonight goes? I think who can play their game? Which team allows the other team to play their game? If Notre Dame's going to win the game, they're going to have to play ugly.
You know, they can't get in a three-point shootout if it's a basketball game, you know, with Ohio State to make explosive plays to win the game because Ohio State has too many weapons. But if they can make the game ugly, kind of like Michigan did, you know, they ran the ball, they kept it away from Ohio State.
They made the plays they needed made.

They got, you know, get some turnovers,

play good defense. Don't let them get explosive plays.
I think

anybody can win the game, but I think

the team that's going to win is going

to be able to play

their game. Their identity.
Their identity.

Which has been proven here already.

Both of their identities have been proven. You think about

Ohio State, you talk about explosives.

That has become like the stat of this football season,

both in college and in the NFL.

Who can stop explosives and who can make explosives.

This Ohio State team makes explosives on offense and on defense,

and they stop them.

And then Notre Dame has been able to keep everybody in a phone booth.

I'm very, very pumped.

I asked Marcus Freeman yesterday.

I said, for you guys to win, what needs to happen? And he just immediately said, we need to run the ball. We need to stop the run.
I mean, that is what we need to do. Was not scared to say it at all.
That is who we are. That is how we're going to win.
And I think Ryan Day knew exactly who they were, too. Two teams that know who they are coming in here.
Very excited about it. D-Bud has a question for you, Coach.
Yeah, Coach, you've been in so many of these huge games, and I'm sure most people would assume you don't have nerves coming into it. What were your nerves like coming into these huge games? And I know as a player, like that first hit or first coverage rep may be a target, then it kind of settles down and turns into just football.
How were your nerves coming into big games like this, and what settled you once the game kind of got going? Yeah, well, I think I had nerves going into every game. And sometimes I was more nervous about the games that we were supposed to win.
You know, like when you're a big favorite, but you're playing a pretty good team and you know your team's probably not looking at the game like you need to. But I think to ignore anxiety, I think all players and all coaches have anxiety when you go into games like this.
And I always thought as a coach, the most important thing I needed to do WHAT I WANT TO DO. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WANT TO

DO.

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Thank you. I'm not going to be able to get the ball out of the game.
I'm not going to believe in them. Everybody knows and can feel even your assistant coaches can't be nervous either.
Because then they think we don't have enough. We can't get job done.
You listen to music before the game. What you do? Do you listen to music? I never listen to music.
I kind of just thought things through. I did a little stretching.
Oh really? Yoga? You're a yoga guy? Stretch it out. No.
I try to keep busy. But I always had, like, I made notes, like, of what I was going to say to the team relative to what I'd said to them the day before, what I was going to say to them in halftime.
I always had notes on what do I say if we win, what do I say if we lose. I mean, I was anticipating what was going to happen so that we didn't have to respond in spur of the moment type things.
You ever break any headsets at national championship games? It feels like a perfect setting to go ahead and put one of those through the ground. Well, you know, I broke so many, I can't remember the specifics of when they happened.
Had to. Tone has a question for you.
Coach, nobody runs more man-to-man than this Notre Dame defense, and Al Golden's been asked a ton about it this week, if they are going to continue to do that against these, you know, Ohio State wide receivers that are very, very good. Would you, in that situation, like, would you do, would you go out doing what you do the whole season, do what you do best? Or would you play more zone because of how these wide receivers are gifted athletically and just who they are? Well, I think that, yeah, you want to be who you are, but you also want to look at what the other team does technically,

you know, what their strengths and weaknesses are,

and what can we do to take that away.

And I think one of the things that, like, the thing that we played a lot,

and people think as soon as you say man-to-man,

that means you've got a middle of the field safety and everybody's kind of locked up outside. But we actually played a lot of split safety man-to-man, which is what Texas did last week in the game.
Mataf or whatever his name was. Yeah, where you've got two deep safeties, but they're not playing half field coverage.
They're still involved in a run to some degree. But you can take and say, all right, we're going to double number four.

All right, we're going to double the guy on the slot.

But you've still got too high.

You're not always playing middle-of-the-field coverage.

I think when you play middle-of-the-field coverage

and you've got great wide outs out here,

your cats better be better than their cats because you're going to give up.

That's the toughest thing in ball for the defensive back

to be able to play all those balls and play man-to-man short and deep and not give up explosive plays, which is exactly what we've been talking about. But, you know, to that point, people always think about turnovers.
And we did a thing last week on turnovers and the number one statistic and outcomes of games. But the second most compelling statistic and outcomes of games is your turnover ratio and your turnover margin not when it comes to turnovers but your ratio and explosive plays.
How many did you make and how many did you give up? It's the stat of the year. Yes.
Especially with Al. College ball and the NFL was it's like cyclical.
Came back to like power football. If you were able to open a team up you were going to win the game.
Last question about what's happening tonight before Connor pivots away and into the NFL conversation. Jeremiah Smith, this guy's special, man.
Didn't get the rock a lot in the semifinal against Texas because I think of what you were talking about with the shade. And then they just basically said, all right, we'll take Tate, Ibuka, Henderson, Judkins, also G.
Scott Jr. and great name tight end from Ohio State.
Kazmerick.

Kazmerick, great name.

He said, we'll just use all the –

Chip was like, cool.

You want to take him out, we'll play 11 or 10 on 9, basically,

is what we'll do because of what you're doing.

In the modern world that we're in, he's going to have to get the ball right.

I was thinking about this because, Jeremiah, I know who your cousin is,

Geno Smith, West Virginia legend.

Sure.

They don't want to get you the ball there?

Okay.

What's that? What are you doing? You're lobbying? I see where you're going. No, no, no.
Come on, Gino. Let's not even say West Virginia, but let's just say the amount of people in college ball that immediately afterwards will be like, they don't want to give you the ball there.
That's the world we're in right now. And Jeremiah's best football player in the country.
I mean, that is by far. And he still has to play two more years of college ball.
It's like, is that something that plays into Chip Kelly's mindset? Like, we got to feed this guy just to keep him happy? Or how do you feel that gets treated? And is Jeremiah Smith going to get his plays anyways, regardless? Well, I don't think there's any question if you're the offensive coordinator, and I think Chip Kelly's one of the best play callers. But you're going to have plays designed, especially early in the game, to get the ball in his hands, whether they've got to motion him over to the slot, throw him a screen pass, a slider boot, whatever it is, to get the ball in his hands.
It doesn't have to be something that has to be down the field because if it's down the field and the defense has two guys, one short, one deep over the top, that read's not there for him. So the quarterback's going to throw the ball someplace else.
So you can design ways for guys to get the ball, which this guy needs to get the ball because he's a great player. But the defense can also determine where the quarterback throws the ball by how they're playing.
So you've got to take both those things into consideration. And the quarterback can't force it there because then you're subject to turnovers and bad plays.

He dropped that one early that we saw

where he normally goes up and gets it.

And that was basically all we saw.

One for three, Archer.

Will Howard did a good job of not actually forcing the ball

to Jeremiah Smith, I feel like.

He took what the defense was giving him.

And what I'm saying right now, I like what they did.

They played nowhere near their A game,

mostly because Jeremiah Smith didn't go crazy. But the modern college world we're in.
It is what it is. What is Michigan? Michigan has Larry Ellison right in their back pocket.
That's right. He's worth how many? 200 billion? Yeah, about that.
Probably more actually today. That would be a heartbreaker.
I'm not going to say it's going to happen. He ain't goingEN.
HE'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. THAT'S WHY I RECEIVE YOU.
WE KNOW BRIAN HARTLINE. I AGREE.
THIS IS THE MODERN WORLD WE'RE IN. OHIO STATE HAS TO THINK ABOUT THAT.
THAT'S THE REAL DEAL. JEREMIA SMITH, WHAT HE HAS BEEN you seen from Will thus far? Obviously, at Kansas State, he was great.
I think he was the Big 12 Player of the Year last year. Texas was the champion of the Big 12.
They make it to the Cotton Bowl this year in the SEC. It's like, Will Howard's a player.
So is Riley, though. Riley's like a hooper.
It looks like he's like a hooper quarterback. And his throwing has been getting better.
How do you feel about the quarterbacks in this game? And how big of a role do you think they have in the outcome of it all? Yeah, well, I think Will Howard has done a good job of taking what the defense gives. They've got a lot of weapons now.
They've got two really good runners. They've got three really good receivers.
They've got a good tight end. So he's just got to take what the defense gives, and they're going to be able to do a good job.
I think Riley Leonard, on the other hand, you know, it's more about him being able to be a runner, having more diversity as a quarterback, which he's done a really good job of. He's a really good athlete.
He's a great competitor. And his throwing has gotten better, especially the short throws where they can keep, you know, the sticks moving.
They haven't made a lot of explosive plays, but that's okay if you're playing keep away. Yeah, they've stayed on schedule, they say.
All right, let's get to the NFL now. Connor has a question for you.
Yeah, Coach, Jalen Hurts. Obviously, there's a lot of conversation about him.
He kind of gets killed on the Internet for his passing, but he had a 44-yard touchdown yesterday running the ball. People kind of ignore that when it comes to him being a quarterback.
What do you think about his performance so far, and how do you kind of think he gets better almost as they head to the NFC Championship next week? Yeah, well, I think he's doing the things they need to do to win. I mean, they're a running football team.
I mean, that's what the Philadelphia Eagles are. They've got Saquon Barkley.
They run it. Jalen can run it, which he had a big play last night as a runner.
So you've got to make people defend that, and then you've got to throw the ball effectively enough and play action game. And I think Jalen is a good enough passer to do all those things.
I think the one thing, and this is any athletic quarterback, and every one of them, and when Jalen was with us, we would have team and seven-on-seven. And I would say, you cannot run.
You cannot scramble. You have to throw the ball on time.
And because these guys are so athletic, they see the rush coming and they think they can scramble and get out of it. And a couple of those sacks that he took last night, he took them because in normal circumstances, no snow, no bad knee, all that, he probably would have been able to escape and get away and make a play.
And he's done that so much in his career, it's hard to tell a guy, hey, don't do that. But I was trying to train him to become a better on-time passer, you know, by not allowing him to do it in practice.
And I think he improved in that regard, but he's still a great athlete, and those guys are going to make plays, and you can't take that away from him. Let's talk about a great athlete who has done something that not a lot of rookie quarterbacks have done.
Jaden Danos, obviously, when he's at LSU, you have to play against him. He transfers in there from Arizona State.
Everything that happened over there at the end of his run, those dudes got to feel like the dumbest of all time in that locker room. He goes to LSU.
You have to play against him a few times. Kirk Herbstreet sat on this particular program when we were at Army-Navy last year.
and he said, you know, throughout all these draft classes, this is a good draft class for quarterbacks, and it has been. I mean, Drake May seemingly going to be a guy.
Penix, we think, is going to be able to be a guy. We think Caleb has an opportunity.
Who knows in Chicago if they get it right. Bo Nix is a guy.
Kirk kind of laid out all those answers, and then he said, Jaden Daniels is the guy, though. Whenever people meet him, when they talk to him, whenever they understand his football knowledge, but also just his sense of calm that he has.
And then the moxie and confidence in which he plays with. Kirk was like, he's the guy.
This was last year, Army, Navy coming out. I don't think he was the only one.
But what do you know from him when watching him at LSU? Obviously very closely, and could you have ever expected this from him coming into the NFL? Since Joe Burrow, which whatever year that was when they beat us, this was the most dominating player that we played against at Alabama for four or five years. And I said it last year in the draft, you know, all these pro people call and ask your opinion on people you played against.
I said, this guy is the best player we played against for five years. And I know disrespect to anybody else.
You guys got to look at all the quarterbacks. But I think this guy is a great passer.
He's fast as hell and he can scramble and run and make plays. He's smart.
He makes good decisions. I don't see how you can go wrong with this guy.
I actually thought he was the best guy in the draft last year because of the production that he had in college and he did it for two years. Yeah, but what do you know? I don't know.
You're right about that. Yeah, what do you know? You don't know ball on this entire thing.
What's that? There's so much confidence in him, like all the going forward on fourth downs. And as a defensive-minded coach, how much does that change, I guess, game plan-wise playing against a team like Philly or a team like Buffett? It seems like the NFL is just kind of like fourth down revolution as a whole.
How do you feel that changes out for defensive game planning? Well, that's analytics. And I think one of the big things you have to do as a defensive coach, which we started to do a couple of years ago because Ole Miss would go for it on fourth down lane and go for it on fourth down all the time, is defensive players automatically think, all right, we stopped them on third and five, we're off the field.
We're out of here. We're out of here.
Fourth down, fourth down. And they're going for it, and your mindset changed.
Yeah. I mean, you have another third down to play.
So we actually started scripting in practice. All right, it's third and five, incomplete.
It's fourth and five. You got to play.
You got to go play. You got to go play.
In one game, you know, we actually went five for five on making stops on fourth down, which typically was not the case because you never practiced it. And even the defensive coordinators over there got marbles in his mouth, doesn't know what to call because he thinks the punt team's going out there or the punt return team.
All right, so all these things kind of work against you because it's not your mindset. But analytics changed all this.
You know, these analytic guys say if you go for it on fourth and three on your own 40 yard line you got a 56 chance to make it well my question was when my coaches used to bring all that stuff to me was i'd say well what happens the 46 percent of the time they never ask about that they never answer that part yeah the analytics i like how you do this with the. Feels like we can make a stat out of anything is what you just did there with the analytics.
Going for it on fourth down has been fun. And I don't think we've ever seen a graphic, maybe once, that has said, don't go.
The ESPN stats, the NBC stats, the Amazon Prime stats, we say go for it. Does that mean it's more than 51%? Because that's a lot.
Out of 100 times, 42 times not getting it, even though 58 sounds good. That is a lot of not getting it on fourth down.
You talked about stopping it five times in one game. I assume you won that game.
Yeah, we did. Yeah, that feels like a lot of turnovers there.
All right, Coach, I can't wait for college game day starting at 5 o'clock, I do believe, Eastern. We'll be right here.
Then the national championship this evening. You've been awesome to watch on TV this year.
Hell, hell of a debut into a television career that you had this year. You need to know that.
Well, it's because of you. You have made and taught me how to be able to operate without having anxiety.
Because I had anxiety in the beginning. Why? You're Nick Saban.
But not based on doing this. Yeah, you are.
No. Can I say one thing? We got 30 seconds.
You better say it quick if you're going to be a TV guy. But you brought this up about Jeremiah Smith going to Michigan or West Virginia or whatever.
No, no, no. You created that.
No. He did.
You're right. But all I'm saying, the people out there need to know this model is unsustainable.
It's not good for players. I mean, people in Congress, I don't care who has to get off their butt and do something.
Players need to get compensated, no doubt. But it has to be done in a way where we, you know, some kind of way have competitive balance.
You know, that every school has the same thing.

One school can't spend $30 million for players while another school is spending $3 million.

Agreed. You're the one that's going to have to fix it.

Hour one wrapping up here from the National Championship.

We're live. time and it's now or never.
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Football! It is wonderful. We're so lucky to be here.
We are just joined by the great Coach Saban, who's won seven of these, but he has lost three of these, which he says are the only ones he thinks about. That's a shame.
I hope he has a little bit of happiness. He's been fantastic on TV.
We told him as such, because whenever you have something like that, you need to let those people know. And speaking of people that I need to let something know about, Toxitable, you guys have had a great year at Boston Corner, at Ty Schmitt.
Con, man, another national championship. We shouldn't be here.
What a moment. Yeah, it's incredible.
And what a matchup for it. A seven versus an eight in the first 12

team playoff. You know, we started with 12.
We're counting

down to one. It felt like, you know,

it was always meant to be here, but

I'm just happy that it's here. And

it's a bummer because, of course, it's the last

college football game for a little while

here, so it is kind of almost nostalgic

looking back at the season. It feels like Iowa

Hawkeyes haven't played football in like

two years, but we're wrapping up a

season here and, you know, new schools

get a shot to shine. It's Ohio State and Notre Dame.
Notre Dame's back. I know you're a Catholic school boy.
Obviously grew up watching a fight in Irish. Big night tonight potentially for that team up there in South Bend, Indiana.
Yeah, without a doubt. More teams getting a shot to shine, or, you know, we'll get two of the five winningest programs of all time.
Getting another shot to shine who haven't had a shot to shine in quite some time. Bar.
So, I mean, it's one of those things where at the end of the day, yeah, am I broken up inside because the Hawks stopped playing what seems like three months ago? Sure. But at the same time, it's a Big Ten country, baby.
Okay. Notre Dame, yes, they're independent, but they are a de facto Big Ten team.
Everybody knows that. They play basketball in the ACC.
That's bullshit. That doesn't matter.
I was about to say, I think everybody's de facto ACC team is what they say. They're not, though.
They're right in the middle of the country, not too far from us. So they're a Big Ten team as well.
And, you know, next time we do a conference realignment, might have to throw, you know, 500 million at them to get him out of that NBC deal. You're talking about Petiti over there at the Big Ten? Tony Petiti is an absolute dog.
Everybody knows that. We may have talked to Tony Petiti a little bit this morning.
Let's just say he's happy there's a chance that the national championships coming back home where it belongs in the Big Ten. This would be back-to-back Big OHIO STATE WAS TO WIN WHICH HASN'T HAPPENED SINCE 1965 OR 1966 WHEN MICHIGAN STATE WON BACK TO BACK.
SO THE BIG TEN COULD POTENTIALLY BE NATIONAL CHAMPS FOR TWO STRAIGHT YEARS FOR THE FIRST TIME, LONG TIME, ESPECIALLY IN THIS NEW TIME WHERE THERE'S A LOT OF WONDERING OF WHO RUNS THIS HOUSE. PETITI IS WALKING AROUND, CALK OF THE W's here as well.
It's like you're crazy. It's great to see him.
One half of the hammer. Done.
Cowboys AP tone. This weekend, I saw that I went one and three, and I picked all the favorites.
So, obviously, it was good for the dogs this weekend. Yeah, it was.
So, you went one and three because the Chiefs line moved a bit there. But closing line, because the Chiefs were nine and a half, I believe, closing line, all the dogs went four and O0 on closing lines this weekend.
Obviously, a lot of people weren't happy with the Chiefs one because of the safety late. But, no, it was a great weekend for the dogs.
And, no, not normally a good weekend for the public when all the dogs covered. Big lines, we thought, going in there.
How about tonight? What's the spread this evening? Has the line moved at all? What are we learning from what the sportsbooks are saying? It's 8.5. There's been some between eight eight and a half nine something there was a nine and a half for a second uh out there this in this last 10 days or whatever whatever it's been but no it's it's kind of hung around there uh money's a bit on ohio state it's like 55 56 percent so not not what i thought it would have been i thought it'd been a lot more ohio state a lot of people think it's gonna be a a lot closer.
Yeah, but the Catholics, thou hath bet on games. Bingo.
They hath bet on games. They hath bet on games, which we appreciate.
So, you know, the Irish potentially showing up. They understand their team's got a lot of fight.
Let's go to an Ohio State legend, A.J. Hawk here.
The baby auger. A.J., you like being favored by more than a touchdown, more than a touchdown on a two-point conversion in the national championship, or how do you think Ryan Day handles this? See, as a fan, I do not like it.
As a fan, I feel like Nick Saban when he said, like, it was tough to get your team ready when you are such a favorite because it's easy to kind of relax a little bit. But as a player, I don't think you care.
I know it's a different time now, but as a player, as coaches, you don't care. Like, you just see the enemy across the lines and who you've been studying on film.
So, but as a fan, yeah, I do not like that. As a fan, when I don't have any control of the game, I don't like being the favorite.
I like being the underdog, chip-on-your-shoulder kind of guy. I've seen a lot of different maps about who each state is pulling for.
Nobody's really pulling for a high state in this thing. Thank you, Marcus Freeman.
Marcus Freeman has made Notre Dame even more of a – we know it's been an institution. The people who love Notre Dame love Notre Dame.
But usually it's like you're Notre Dame or you're not. Now it's like everybody loves Notre Dame.
And I think if you talk about the likability of the Notre Dame team, they do say Marcus Freeman. And obviously there's a lot of Catholics out there.
We know that is true. A lot of things being said about Brian Kelly.
Yeah, people might not like him. Just kind of passively and actually People don't love LSU right now either.
Yeah, and Jaden Daniels, what he's able to do. Like the Tiger back on the sideline.
Yeah, that's Governor Gifleandry. And I don't know how Gifleandry is doing right now.
There's a lot, obviously. But Brian Kelly's taking a lot of shots with this successful Notre Dame team because he said Notre Dame can't win a national championship up there.
And here's Marcus Freeman. Now, he mentioned he's about our age Ohio State legend what do you like about him I like that he goes at the refs I do I like that he goes he's always himself it feels like and he's always professional always cool the boys love him D-Bot I like how he connects with his team and you saw it from the moment he was introduced as the head coach in that weight room and it's just materializing gotten better and better year after.
And for him to be at this point, you know, after obviously Brian Kelly leaving, but we see like Notre Dame is putting out these clips, these videos of kind of behind the scenes, maybe some of these halftime talks. And even that game, we were at Orange Bowl with Penn State.
Like everything was going away from them. The calls, they didn't get any calls, and it was just so what, now what? His team responds.
We always talk about teams taking on the identity of a head coach, and I think that's what we're seeing right now with the Fighting Irish and Marcus Friedman. Excited for tonight.
The Ohio State Buckeyes have a lot of talent, so is Notre Dame. Yeah.
The Ohio State Buckeyes spent a lot of money on their roster, so Notre Dame. Yeah.
The Ohio State Buckeyes have won a lot of massive games here in the college football playoff front, so is Notre Dame. It's awesome.
Tonight is, I think, divisional round, obviously still a lot of hype. Lamar Josh.
Yeah. The commander's beating the Lions.
Everybody's going crazy. Taylor Swift, Kaitlin Clark at the Chiefs-Texans game.
They got a single shot on both of them. And obviously, I have not done the research, so somebody's probably going to correct me, which always seemingly happens.
Are those the two biggest needle movers in the history of women? Taylor Swift. Maybe Mother Teresa.
Caitlin Clark. I doubt it.
Mother Nature. Technology.
Mother Nature watches the Weather Channel, I guess. These are the two biggest needle movers in the history of women, I think.
Yeah, people will only argue Rihanna and Beyonce. Madonna.
They'd probably throw her in as well. Okay, so then those people would all be competing against Taylor.

And I think Taylor would be, I think the Swifties.

Taylor's won.

I think Swifties would be very comfortable going to bat against Beyonce, Rihanna, Madonna, the whole thing.

No doubt.

I think they'd be very comfortable.

So then you think about Caitlin Clark, she's the biggest needle mover in the history of Serena?

Serena.

Serena, maybe? Sydney Sweeney. Yeah, she's not in sports.
But I understand what she's the biggest needle mover in the history of Serena? Serena. Serena, maybe?

Sydney Sweeney.

Yeah, she's not in sports.

She's a needle mover.

She's doing some commercials.

Yeah, Dr. Squatch.

Great commercials.

I saw that.

She's a genie.

I saw the whole thing.

So, I mean.

They're popular.

You got Taylor and Kaitlin sitting next to each other.

Then you got, what, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey on the field. And then you got a Texans team that was balling.
I mean, they had not played well, you know, at the end of the year. Then they kind of found something, got rolling in there.
And then obviously the refs. Are those videos of the refs and Mahomes and Andy, are those real? There's photos.
I saw some on the internet. I think they're AI.
I don't know if Andy Reid fell like that. They were saying he fell on the field right there, too.
It seems like a weird spot to be. I don't know if he prays like that.
I thought he was praying on the field right in front of the refs. I saw a smooching.
Yeah, are those real? I don't think those were real. I do appreciate the fact that we're at the point where technology is so easy to kind of utilize.
I think there is a little bit of a drawback

where you can just go down into one of these,

either Grok or anybody else, and just say,

I want to see Patrick Mahomes sucking face with Ed Harkily.

And then Grok says, let me get 22 seconds real quick.

Oh, so that was AI.

We ran that through an AI checker back here.

There was no AI detective.

What about the Andy Reid one?

The Andy Reid one had to be fake.

That's what we were talking about. Yeah, that one cleared.
No way, because I did not see him fall in front of the refs. The internet certainly got, I guess, a screen grab.
Yeah. The one of my homes and the refs can't be real.
Smooching? Yeah. Arm around each other? Mm-hmm.
A little tongue in there? That wasn't even the worst one I saw on the internet yesterday. That's going to make the internet difficult.
That's going to make the internet difficult Internet difficult. You can't believe anything.
You either believe everything or you believe nothing. You sent me one that was crazy.
I don't think that was. Which one are you talking about? It was an absurd one.
I never even thought that it could do something like that. Oh, yeah.
It's crazy how they could work like that. People that aren't good editors can really do some damage right now.
You put that power in the hands of

a very clever internet person,

which we have done now. It's going to be

tough to kind of say, I don't

remember Andy Reid falling to his knees.

But you look at

that screen grab a couple times, he's like, well, who would have

hold on? It could be Grok or Mr.

GPT or Mr. GPT.
Yeah.

I do apologize. Stepped in a hole.
Too much

access. 32.7 million viewers in that Chiefs-Texans game.
That's huge numbers. I was watching that game with my wife.
She was hoping Travis would score, so, you know. Yeah.
So Taylor's doing. Of course.
Then Caitlin Clark pops up, and it's like, there it is. I think Brooke Shields was in this back row, too.
Great actor in her time. Really? Brooke Shields was in there? Yeah, of course.
Wow. That's what I'm saying.
Brooke Shields taking a backseat to all of them. That's how big they are.
So many stars. So many.
I think a couple more, actually. Can't believe you didn't mention her when they were talking about the biggest of all time.
You're talking about Brooke Shields? Yeah. Yeah, legit.
I mean, the game, though, was awesome. If you can get past the ref stuff, which a lot of people aren't going to be able to, and guess what? Next game, you're going to be able to find something that the refs do for the Kansas City Chiefs that you're going to say that the refs are on their side.
This is what the New England Patriots had to deal with for a long time. I don't like Patrick Mahomes flopping around on the sideline.
But let's also remember, Patrick Mahomes just had a newborn. Okay? The guy's probably not sleeping.
He's making decisions he wouldn't normally make. Patrick Mahomes understands he's a dog, understands he's a face of football, understands he can do plays like that on a team that's about to do something that's rather historic, and he can't be flopping around on the sideline.
He's that newborn. Yeah.
He can't be doing that. Can't be looking like you're an NBA guy.
That was tough. Can't have it.
Obviously, Troy Aikman wasn't happy, but Patrick Mahomes running along about 35 minutes of sleep. What do you think this guy's doing? That's why a little bit early, he was a little bit off his game.
Missed a couple, missed a couple. He was like, oh, I'm playing football again.
He snapped right back into it. People were saying the refs were helping him snap back into it, though, weren't they, Connor? Yeah, big time.
And some of the calls, you could argue, for sure. I mean, the Will Anderson one to start was egregious, especially because it was a third down, and they ended up going on to score on that drive.
And then there was another one later on where it was a 15-yard penalty. I think that is the biggest thing.
But that was the only game, too. People were bitching about the Bills Keon Coleman pass interference for the Ravens yesterday because Keon Coleman in the corner were hand fighting.
It actually looked like Keon Coleman pushed the corner. Tony Romo said, you know, that looks like a good call to me.
And Gene Serritor immediately came in and said, no, Tony, that was a terrible call. But, again, that happens in every game.
It's just the Chiefs. It gets ample.
Well, the consistency, too, is the thing. Like, that game, that's all getting called.
Then we watch Bill's Ravens. There's nothing getting called.
Literally nothing getting called. There was, like, four late hits, very clear late hits.
And refs were like, up, up, up, up, up. We go, boys boys, we're gonna keep it rolling.
Speaking of keeping it rolling, I don't know if you've been watching football this weekend, Under Armour launched a banger of a commercial involving Jesus Christ in a comedian that wasn't allowed on Saturday Night Live. Hey God, it's me Shane.
I haven't been here in a while, but I have a pretty big prayer for you. No names in the national championship on Monday.
I know you know, because you've been with us the whole time. A couple weeks ago, that field goal.
I know you got a lot going on, so that was pretty chill. You took time to help us with that.
I should also say I half not bet on any of these games. Alright, I have.
I half bet, but going forward, if Notre Dame wins, thou will not bet on games for a month. Couple weeks.
We'll probably bet on something. Come on, God, I know you can help us.
Trucking dudes. Pick sixes everywhere.
We have a couple of fumble rooskies. Just please let Notre Dame win a national championship.
Hell, hey, what are you praying for? Pray for Notre Dame, what are you praying for? Say, Notre Dame? All right, cool. Shh, shh.
Yeah. Hell.
What? Did you go to Notre Dame? Yeah, I went to Notre Dame. Oh.
I'm sorry, that was a lie ago. No, I didn't go to Notre Dame.
Did you? No, my uncle did. Oh, that's awesome.
Yeah. All right.
Shh. Shh.
Shh. Go Irish.
Go Irish. Ladies and gentlemen, the man who knows the Bible inside and out, Shane Gillis.
Hey, hey. Hey, thank you for joining us, man.
I love that the whole world has just accepted you as a Notre Dame mouthpiece at this point. Commercial was awesome.
How much of the Bible knowledge played into work there? Because when you dropped the half, it sounded good. Vow also sounded good.
It's just Bible talk, man. Yeah? It's just good Catholic Bible talk.
You think Jesus was listening up there? I think so. I hope so.
Was that guy Italian that you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not sure what you're doing.
I'm not sure what you're doing. I'm not you know, scary.
I thought, I don't know. I was hoping to be a little sharper today, but last night, last night got away from me.
Oh, runaway? Yeah, we thought, I was like, all right, we're going to get in. We're going to take it easy Sunday night.
What? Didn't happen. You shut down Atlanta last night? A little rusty.
Magic City? No Magic City. Damn.
Really? I got my girlfriend's here. No, no.
Lemon Peppers wings. Lemon Peppers wings.
Yeah conversation is they're favored by eight and a half, depending upon some sportsbooks. They think they have too much talent, too much skill, too much power.
What do you think? It feels like you are actually a part of this Notre Dame team, in the locker room, in the commercials. How do you feel about the boys? I mean, I love the team.
I feel weird that that's, you know, it's uncomfortable. Why? You're a part of the team, dude.
You've earned it. No, it's just I didn't.
Yes, you did. I didn't earn it at all.
Yes, you did. If you're some nobody, they're not just going to let you talk for Notre Dame, brother.
You've earned it. I feel good.
I feel good about the game. It'll be, you know, they've been apparently the other team has had more talent every week.
And they keep winning.

So we'll see.

You and I talked at the beginning of the season about Riley Leonard.

Yeah, because you didn't put Notre Dame in the playoffs.

Yeah, I couldn't.

Just because at the time, the only Riley Leonard I had known was a guy who can't throw.

Like at Duke, I don't know if it was potentially the weapons he had,

didn't have weapons or the offense they were running.

But like when we watched a film for Duke UNC, we went and did game day down there. It was like, oh, this guy, he's a great athlete.
Hooper, like actual hooper, but he can't throw. I think he's been making those throws.
It feels like Riley's only gotten better and his arm has gotten better, which I think is a big deal. He's gotten a lot better.
If you watch like, I mean, week two, Northern Illinois, it was like, he's got to go. And then he just kept getting better.
I mean's, you know, I mean, he got us to the title. Do you, after the Northern Illinois game, I think all of us, just like after Michigan for Ohio State, needed that loss for this team to get to where they are.
Absolutely. You said Riley Leonard got to go.
He wrote that basically in his Players' Tribune and was like, I felt like I let down all of Notre Dame. What week did you know this team could go? Was there a time? No.
After Northern Illinois, I had lost faith. Admittedly.
My dad had a heart attack from that. Oh, no.
No, he's back. He's worked his way back to health.
He's here. He made it all the way back to Atlanta.
No shit. He had an actual heart attack after Northern Illinois? Yeah.
Because of the game? Yeah, he's back. Wow.
Holy shit. Yeah, he's back.
Jeez. How come that was God? I don't know if you're up there.
Did Marcus pump his chest? I feel like Marcus could have pumped his chest and helped him. Like Marcus is that good of a guy.
Yeah, Marcus revived him. What do you think about Marcus? What do you think about Marcus? Marcus is the man.
He's awesome. He's the nicest, coolest guy.
Yeah. Brian Kelly said he couldn't win national championship there.
Yeah. No, he went to LSU, and he's going to ruin that program.
Connor has a question for you. So, when it comes to the actual game tonight, how do you see it playing out? Do you think they can kind of go down the field, score 30 points, hanging with Ohio State? Or are you thinking, like, hey, let's make this thing gritty? Let's make this thing stop.
I mean, you've got to hope it's gritty. You've got to hope it's Michigan and Ohio State again.
It can't be Oregon and Ohio State. Hopefully that Rose Bowl team doesn't show up.
They can't against anybody. They played their bad game against Texas, too, so now the conversation is like, will they get back to being who they are? But you guys make everybody play worse than what they're supposed to be, which is I've picked against them every single time.
Yeah, you're going to pick against again. I know.
You're one of the guys. Good.
A lot of Notre Dame people telling me. Don't even consider.
If you do it now. Yeah, it happened with Michigan last year.
So it might be an homage, me thinking I'm that important, also awesome. You know, that's a little bit of a ridiculous thing.
But I think a lot of people, Tone said there was only 55%IDICULOUS THING. I THINK IT'S LIKE AN HOMAGE.
ME THINKING I'M THAT IMPORTANT ALSO AWESOME. THAT'S A LITTLE BIT OF A RIDICULOUS THING.
I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE, TONE SAID ONLY 55% OF THE MONEY WAS ON OHIO STATE. I THINK WE ALL THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT MORE.
BUT THOU HATH BET ON THESE GAMES IF YOU'RE AN IRISH CATHOLIC. I DIDN'T BET ON THIS.
I LOST ALL MY MONEY ON GEORGIA. I PUT ALL MY MONEY ON GEORGIA VERSUS NETERNAME.
SPwin. I like it.
I have no more money. Let's talk about the Eagles.
Go Birds. How about that? How about it? God damn.
Saquon's a mutant. He's a real guy.
Yeah, that's awesome. Detroit loses too, so you have home field now for the NFC Championship with the Commanders coming in, NFC East rival.
How do you feel about Sirianni? How do you feel about the Eagles? I mean, I'm not giving you guys good stuff, but I like them. No, that's good enough.
I like them. They're great.
Did you hate Sirianni ever? No. No, he's the man.
Ty, go ahead. In terms of tonight, obviously, you know, big underdogs, if you want to call them big underdogs.
Lou Holtz comes out and serves the pot again, starts talking shit to Marcus – or not Marcus, Ryan Day. We thought it was over.
It's not over. It's still living.
How do you feel about that whole situation? Are you worried old Coach Lou's giving a little more bulletin board material? No, I like – Lou's fired up from the inauguration. Oh, yeah.
He's bumping. Is he there? Is he sitting in the front row up there, I do wonder? I don't know.
He put out a tweet this morning. If you know, you know.
It was about a motivational speech that he gave to the boys way back, and he basically won after. I mean, it was a pretty big shot across the battle.
They replaced him. It was against Miami, and he basically said something along the lines of Jimmy Johnson.
Oh, save Jimmy Johnson's ass for me? We'll beat their ass in the parking lot, and you can save Jimmy Johnson's ass for me. And they just replaced Jimmy Johnson with Ryan Day.
That's awesome. Lou Holtz is awesome.
Holtz is the man. Feels like all the Notre Dame people have come back full.
And that's good for college ball to have Notre Dame good. Do you agree? Absolutely.
I mean, he started a war with Saban by saying, you know, now everybody can do it. The North is going to rise.
The North is back, dude. But it does feel like that.
Big Ten could go back-to-back national champs. Notre Dame has won, what, three bowl games already pretty much this season.
And you guys have massive support. This isn't ending after this season, Marcus.
No, it's not. It's just the beginning.
But, yeah, I saw Saban up here. I was back there hiding.
I was like, oh, shit. I was trying to figure out whether or not we should link you guys.
No, no, I don't think he would. I don't know.
I don't know. You guys have to link.
Has to happen, yeah. Yeah, I would.
I thought we were joking. Yeah, me too.
Yeah, you tricked me. No, no, no.
You did that on purpose. I did not.
I was on like, what, 80 milligrams? I thought everything was good with the fucking college football playoff. Yeah,off.
I think Saban's pissed, dude. And I'm like, I don't think.
What? You're like, no, he's not mad. I was like, I know he's mad.
He's pissed. At this point, you should just chokeslam him, or you guys should get in the ring.
No. Not in the Hall of Fame.
There's no reason to chokeslam him. You've got to go one way or the other.
It feels like it's not getting settled. You two would get along.
You two would get along. I would love to.
I'd love to get along. But until then, let's win national championship race.
Let's get a title today. Yeah.
D-Bot has a question for you. I want to ask you about obviously you had a bit of a runaway last night.
Do you have two plans tonight or is it win or lose you booze or you win the Natty you're out in the town or what's the plans post game tonight? I mean I'm just yeah I mean yeah it's going to be win or lose you booze. Okay.
It'll be a sad loss. That'll be a rough drunk.
How do you feel about the booze intake? Do you feel like you're doing a good job? I've got it under control. Is this an Adderall day? No, no, no.
No, no Adderall. We got to focus today.
We got to stay. That's what helps.
No, Adderall would just, I'd be drinking. I'd be off.
Okay, so know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.

and we're like we have an idea and then mckeever who writes and directs everything i do he he came up with that idea and yeah yeah he was like he i was just sitting there knees killed i had to that

was a long shoot oh yeah yeah and then he was yeah john was just like all right do this yell this

say this and i was like I don't know how this is going to cut together. It was amazing.
And it ended up great, yeah. Yeah, it was great.
Very rarely do you see the internet just be like. Yeah, it's a good one.
Yeah, it's a good one. Filmed it in Pittsburgh.
And then. We knew it.
John edited the entire thing on the turnpike on the drive back because they needed it the next day. Okay, so you're at the point now where you've produced enough great stuff like tires and like other things where companies come to you, they have an idea, you say, hey, we're going to do this, we'll get it to you, and they trust it? Yeah.
No, they were awesome. They let us do kind of whatever we wanted.
Still on tour too as well right now? Still on tour, yeah. I don't know where I'm at next.
Whatever. You're at Atlanta, bro, the national championship.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is all I was thinking about.
Pittsburgh. In the moment.
Did the arena in Pittsburgh. What was that, two nights ago? That was Friday.
What are we doing? Are we working on a new set? Are we ready for a new hour? New hour, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just got to do it for another year.
Your next show's in Vancouver going to Canada. Vancouver, hell yeah.
Yeah, you're going to do great. Can't wait, I love it.
Going to be a national champion potentially. Yeah.
We We'll see. What do you guys think? I'm hoping.
I'm praying for you. I hope it's just a great game.
It's just sometimes it's hard to get myself there. I like the Irish.
I like the Irish. You like it? I do.
Damn, that's nice. Went to a Catholic school.
That's good. Worried about that left tackle? No, don't be.
Good to start. JTT.
Jack Sorter on the other side. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw him, yeah.
Have you watched film on the Ohio State team? What scares you? He's pretty scary. Wide out, Smith.
Yeah, they're scary. They got a lot of weapons.
Hopefully their O-line shits the bed tonight. There's a chance.
Yeah. AJ has great faith in the Ohio State Buckeyes.
I do. I see some pundits saying that Notre Dame is probably going to go for it.
Like, once they cross the 50, they're going to be in four-down territory. You think that's going to happen? And do you want Marcus to be, like, do you want him to take chances? We know special teams-wise he's going to do some things to give him an advantage, but you think they're going to take some chances? Yeah, I think they have to.
Yeah. He'll take chances.
Absolutely, yeah. Are you on the sideline with the headset tonight? Are you leading them out? No, no, no.

I'm going to be up here.

You know postgame you'll be in the locker room.

Could you do a trophy?

If they win, I'm coming down.

If they win, I'm going to cry and hug my dad.

My dad's going to go.

We're going to cry.

I did hear you say that.

It's going to be very embarrassing.

That's not embarrassing.

I'm going to cry a lot.

Don't be embarrassed.

You're crying because you're happy.

You're going to cry because you're happy.

Don't cry because you're sad.

Yeah, MCDC. If they lost and I cried, that would be the saddest.
That would be the most pathetic. Yeah, yeah.
No, no, no. Very emotional.
Yes, man. Connor Stallions.
Your dad being Jesus Christ with his Notre Dame football team, dying. He died.
He rose again. Then fucking opens the rock, comes out of the tunnel, win a national championship.
It's probably being Marcus's pregame speech is probably going to mention Shane's dad. You know Shane Gillis.
Yeah know Shane. My cousin's here too and we were talking, because my whole family is obsessed with Notre Dame and they're getting old.
And if Notre Dame wins this, I think like three of my uncles will just let go. They'll go, hey, we did it.
They've been hanging on? Yeah, they're hanging on, they're waiting. 1988's last time Notre Dame has won a national championship.
Well, 93. They've got to count that.
Why? What happened in the same record as Florida State? Head-to-head Notre Dame beat them, and they gave it to Florida State. Okay.
I will make sure that that is added this evening during the conversation. Yeah.
I will certainly make sure you guys. 93.
I hate the way the Catholics have been kind of doubted and. Prosecuted.
Left out and prosecuted for this entire thing. That's unbelievable.
What's that?

Some of the things they've done.

Are you worried that

if Notre Dame loses

it's because you went AWOL and left your post

at Army?

What's this guy's deal?

One of the guys was just asking me. He was like,

do you know this guy? He was at West Point with you.

I was like, dude, I talked to like 10 people

and left. I was there for five minutes.
Yeah, but we're all very thankful you took the path that you did we're very lucky uh i cannot wait to see your next stand-up special i cannot wait to watch the next four years with you you know yeah should be pretty good together you and me having a nice time well are you how often are you gonna like i know they kicked you off the show because they found something that you said.

Oh, SNL?

Yeah.

Are they?

You're the best Trump.

You're by far the best Trump.

Oh, yeah, I got four more years of that.

That's what I'm saying.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So how does that work?

Are you playing?

Is there any of that type of conversation?

No, I have no idea.

They're pretty, SNL's pretty, like, last second with their hosts,

who they picked to host there.

Chappelle just did, what, an 18-minute?

18-minute to start. It was great.
It was great. Damn.
Yeah.. Yeah.
Chalamet is next week, and he's the musical guest as well. Timmy? Yeah, double duty.
He's going to do a little Bob Dylan up there. Hey.
It was unbelievable. He's good at college ball, too.
I mean, his picks on college game day were outstanding. Yeah, he was good.
Did he get any of them right? Got that Mac one right. I don't think he got any of them right yeah but it sounded good yeah he was way more prepared than me every time no no you got you got it right not a name by a million after you took a shot at alabama jones did your entire thing shane enjoy the hell out of the day we can't thank you enough for stopping by um are you are you free are we tailgating for this thing you guys yeah whenever you want we? I think we should at least do something.
I mean, last night we weren't able to link up with you. It was tough to find a bar.
But then you did it sounds like. We found a bar, yeah.
They stayed open. Yeah.
What'd you do, you shut a place down last night? You and- Yeah, we just went back to the hotel and drank there. That's good.
It was a nice time. That is, that's what this is all about.
Enjoy the entire experience. We appreciate the hell out of here.
You guys are awesome. Hey.
Seriously, thank you. Young Jamie, you and him.
Yeah, Jamie's down there too. Yeah, where's Jamie? We're in a Buckeye jacket.
Oh, okay. That is Jamie.
Yeah. It's a good jacket.
Hey, I thought you two were really going to get into it on Rogan there. I'll deniably.
Did he give you points? Yeah. You guys were dancing.
I heard you guys argue. Yeah.
You guys were dancing with some real shit there. Oh, yeah.
Yeah, that was a mistake. I keep running my mouth on these shows, and I wake up the next day like, oh, shit.
I was watching that young Jamie be like, do we want to talk about that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, let's go.
We can do it. As the clip was starting, I was like, oh, shit.
Here we go. Are these two about to dial it? Yeah.
But that's college ball, baby. That's what it's all about.
And Shane will be watching that. Were you going to join us on the field pass thing? I would love to.
Okay, we'll figure that out. Yeah, let me know.
You're Shane Gillis, they got to let you get down. We'll see.
That'll be no problem. You're the man, tell your dad we're happy he's alive.
Yeah. Hey, we're happy you're alive, man.
Good job, Phil. I'm an EMT nearby tonight.
Him and Brady Quinn, right, almost got into a brawl with people? Yeah, in Ireland, yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, Phil was ready to fight. I was the one going, let's not.
Phil's a legend, as are you. Ladies and gentlemen, Shane Gillis.
Thank you. Thank you, Shane.
Good luck tonight. Go get him.
Hey, good luck tonight. Yeah, thank you.
Hey, we'll see you on the sid. Sorry about the low energy.
No, you brought it. We're still live.
We're still live, Shane. Shane, we are still live.
Still live. My bad.
No, no, not bad. Don't worry about it, Shane.
Don't worry about it. The energy was fantastic.
Let's get a couple. Hey, we'll see you tomorrow, or tonight.
93, you gotta give us that. Yeah.
That's the first time I've heard that. Me too.
I feel like I should do my research a little bit more. Yeah, I forgot they split them back then sometimes.
Jamie's hair looks amazing. I love that jacket.
Voted on, voted on. What's that? Yeah, Florida State obviously got voted in.
They deem a game the national championship, right? And I assume Florida State won that game. Notre Dame was not in game.
So I assume that is how it kind of all came to be. Shane, that dude's in the middle of...
All-time run. Yeah.
How about Under Armour just being like, here's the idea. That's awesome.
Yeah, that's really cool. Editing it on the way to the airport? Yeah, airplane, whatever.
Bingo. So cool.
Quick turnaround.

Tires 2 is going to be great.

I'm very excited for that.

Because I guess the first one was just kind of put together.

Like, hey, do we got something or not?

Yep.

This one, like, full on, prepare.

We need him and Saban to shake hands.

Or just fight.

That'd be a great beef just to have going forward.

Nick Saban and Shane Gillis? Yeah, it's like the two bowler opposite people. I don't think we need any of that.
Alright, let's talk about a hiring that took place in the NFL. Tennessee Titans have hired Barganzi Paisano from the Kansas City Chiefs as their general manager, so that's one of the jobs that has been filled.
NAME ON THIS GUY. YOU KNOW, JUST LIKE A LOT OF THESE GMS, WE DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT HIM.
NO. WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIM.
ASSISTANT GM, SO HE'S WITH VEACH OVER THERE, THE CHIEFS. HE'S BEEN IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS.
HE KNOWS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR. CHRIS BALLARD ALSO COMES FROM THAT PARTICULAR BUILDING.
THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT COME FROM all time. He could be.
We have no idea. But he's Italian, so he won't be.
We assume he's going to be great. We assume he's going to do a fantastic job.
Now Tennessee is now in a situation where the head coach was hired at a different time than general manager. Are they going to force them together like they have done the last couple times? And how does that end up working out? Tennessee Titans job has been filled.
Defense coordinator job for the Atlanta Falcons has been filled as well. Yeah, Jeff Holbrook.
Coach Brick out of the running for the Jets. Oh, yeah, Brick.
Now defense coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons with Rahim Morris as the Atlanta Falcons try to do their thing. A lot of jobs still open.
Age, which one wouldING ON IF YOU WERE ONE OF THESE POTENTIAL CANDIDATES? WHAT IS THE BEST JOB IN YOUR EYES OUT THERE THAT IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE? THE BEST JOB, AN INTERESTING JOB IS THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARES JOB. I FORGOTTEN THAT JOB WAS EVEN AVAILABLE.
I ASSUME THEY FILLED THAT ROLE YET. THAT ONE I'M CURIOUS TO SEE WHO GOES THERE.
THAT RAIDERS GIG,iders, we all know Cowboys is always going to get some pub. But that Raiders job, I want to know what's going to happen there.
The best job is San Francisco 49ers, D.C. I mean, you step in.
That's like they swapped it out with five years in a row now? Yeah, but if Bob goes back there, Salah, Coach Salah, Robert, sorry. He's interviewing.
Me and him go by Bob. He still has years left on his contract, so he's going to be getting a head coaching salary guaranteed, much like Cliff Kingsbury is currently with the commanders.
But everybody assumed that Coach Sala would be heading right back to San Francisco after a year with the Green Bay Packers finishing it up. You say you don't like that job because the turnover is so awesome.
Yeah, I mean, they get guys out of there really, really quick. They do have good players on that side of the ball, so that always helps.
But if I'm looking at that list, I still think it's the Chicago Bears right now because you have – I'm still hopeful. I'm still optimistic with Caleb Williams.
Obviously, you have to build and keep some more stuff going, but I think he's still a talented quarterback. You've got talented guys on the outside.
So, I think that Bears job is probably the best of these right now. Is Caleb Williams addicted to football working? I think so, right? That was the big thing everybody was saying.
After we got to know him, this guy loves ball. All the noise that we heard surrounding him was more so his team.
It wasn't necessarily him. This guy loves football.
He loves this because this offseason is a massive one for him. And obviously physically it's a big deal.
But learning NFL football is to be a big combo every quarterback in Shane Waldron is gone another offense coordinator is gone so you're going to have more anonymous sources that have worked alongside Caleb and Zito what happened to this guy's wrist do we know what happened to his wrist I believe it was assist and they removed it it was a healthy process throwing hands still good okay that could have been a part of the entire issue you got a hit you got a scro in your wrist while you're throwing it around. But like obviously physically he's going to have to continue to develop and become in shape and everything like that.
But you listen to, you know, the sources that are talking to the quarterback gurus that are on TV. They're like, this guy doesn't have a clue.
This guy has basically got to play whatever football he's wanted to play at USC and at Oklahoma.

And that was the Caleb shit that we liked, extending the plays, running, doing crazy stuff, throwing strikes, which is like backyard football. Basically, hey, wide receivers, he's outside of the pocket.
Pocket now get open. Like in the NFL, you're going to have to be able to understand what the defense is in.
You're going to have to know what your first read is, your second read is. You're going to have to play on time.
It's like I think if you listen to any of the people that might have a relationship with any of the offense coordinators in the NFL that Caleb has had yet, that's their biggest gripe. It's like, hey, gotta learn ball.
But he has an entire offseason to do that. Number one overall pick, there's gonna be a lot of pressure for you to do that.
If he can develop the game IQ alongside the football and also get some consistency maybe at the offensive line and offense coordinator job, maybe we shouldn't just throw in the towel on old Caleb. Yeah, you hear a lot of these things you got to take for me at least who you're hearing it from, when are you hearing it from them and then the sources or whatever but once again I still believe in the talent I see the talent.
Now it is a big big learning curve when you come into the National Football League and it just understanding where to go with the. We hear it all the time, playing on time, playing from the pocket, allowing your playmakers to be their best and allowing you to be their best as well.
And they're kind of waiting for those moments to take over the game and make special, special plays. But if you look at his whole rookie season, it wasn't terrible.
You have Jaden Daniels who played phenomenal. You have Bo Nix who played great as well.
But if you look at Caleb, he didn't turn the ball over a ton, and he had some moments where he flashed. So I think it's still hope for him.
Okay, so. Drake, man.
I'm sorry, Drake. Yeah, just leaving out Drake.
I mean, they played full seasons, went to the playoffs. Those guys were, you know, head and shoulders.
13 games. I do appreciate everybody coming out and saying, I said it.
Jaden's the best guy in this draft. Yeah, that's really nice.
I said it. Coach Saban, I probably did actually.
For sure. That take he had about Jaden Daniels, I remember him saying at the draft, whenever we had the, that was his first college game day experience up in Detroit.
A lot of people were saying it. I think, especially this rookie year, they felt like Jaden would be the better player this year now and the full career we'll still see.
But yeah, Nick Saban said he was the best player, the most dominating player since Joe Burrell that he's seen that saying a lot been in that SEC every year but a lot of people saw what he exactly what he's doing the NFL stage he did it last year in college and won the Heisman so you know it's not a crazy statement but people are definitely taking their victory laps right now. Congratulations to the commanders making it to the NFC championship in their first year with a new head coach, new ownership, new quarterback, new building, new everything.
That's a quick turnaround. That's just like the Houston Texans who, once again, lost to the Kansas City Chiefs but won another playoff game.
It feels like some places are on the right trajectory. It feels like the commanders are obviously going to become a blueprint.
Let's talk about a little college coaching news. Steve Sarkeesian, after his name was floated for a couple NFL jobs, hey, this guy, people want him.
He's an offensive guru. HE'S NOT A GOOD THING.
HE'S NOT A GOOD THING. HE'S NOT A GOOD THING.

HE'S NOT A GOOD THING.

LET'S TALK ABOUT COLLEGE

COACHING NEWS.

STEVE SARKESIAN AFTER HIS NAME

WAS FLOATED FOR A COUPLE OF

NFL JOBS.

PEOPLE WANT HIM.

HE'S AN OFFENSIVE GURU.

HE KNOWS HOW TO COACH QUARTERBACKS.

HE KNOWS HOW TO LEAD A PROGRAM.

HE KNOWS HOW TO LEAD A TEAM. LOOK OUT FOR MAYBE THE COWBOYS OR THE BEARS TO MAYBE LOOK INTO Was that floated out for real? Was that ever a possibility? Or was it being utilized as a negotiating chip? And maybe it was.
Sarkeesian just signed a brand new deal with the Texas law. Congratulations, Sarke.
Steve Sarkeesian agrees to a contract extension with Texas after declining interviews with two NFL teams. Okay.
Have any of the NFL teams come out and said which ones they were? That's not a bad play. I like it.
I understand that he's a great coach, and maybe NFL teams are doing that. But it feels like more often than not, when college coaches' names kind of get thrown into the head coaching cycle or carousel in the NFL, it's a potential – Huh? You know what you're – We could leave.
Huh? What do you think? Marcus Freeman, brand new deal with Notre Dame. Yeah, sweeten this a little bit.
Steve Sarkeet, brand new deal with Texas. It's like, if you've got a winner, you hold on to that that though, AJ.
A lot of people think the grass is greener on the other side. Not always the case.
Texas obviously back to back years, college football playoffs, obviously with Arch Manning coming into us, they're thinking that's only going to continue. Smart play down in Texas.
Yeah, smart play. If you find your guy, you got to keep him.
Do whatever it takes. Like we know how much money is flowing around college football and the NFL.
Like if you find your dude, find a way to keep him there. And if you're a coach, absolutely try to get some interviews with the NFL teams and have your agent let them know as well because you want to know, hey, there's some competition.
You can't just sit back and expect me to be here if you don't want to re-up me and pay me what I'm worth. Options always good during contract negotiations.
Yeah, hey, Dan Lanning, you need to get on the horn right now and say, the Bears are calling me.

The Jets are calling me.

And to be honest, I might go to the NFL.

Because if any school could do it, if any coach could do it,

like Dan Lanning is number one, I feel like, at that position.

Yeah, I love it for these guys.

It's so cool.

Get all the money you can get.

College coaching life is not easy.

We'll talk to Bill Belichick tomorrow in a weekly check-in all the way through the playoffs.

I can't wait to hear his takes on this Detroit Lions team.

Hey, Foxy, we're about an hour and 39 minutes into the program now.

Any change in your thought?

You said you were bummed out earlier.

Are all Lions fans feeling like that?

And is there any, like, silver lining in this?

Like, we're much better than we were and have been for a long time?

Or is it all shite right now? we eating shite up in detroit again certainly bummed out pat but from a grand perspective of my 30 year life we just had the best regular season in detroit line football history but and every single week we didn't just win victory we kicked ass we won that's right now, Foxy? It was awesome. Hang the banners.
But toONS DEFENSE. after setting the first hour, they're going Amen.
It's a lot different animal. Let's talk about Jaden Daniels, though, against his Lions defense.
Aaron Glenn interviewing with the New York Jets today.

I believe it's being reported.

So Schefter said in the first hour they're going to move quick on those guys.

Jaden Daniels versus the Lions.

Jaden Daniels, rookie quarterback at LSU for the Washington Commanders.

Zero interceptions.

Zero fumbles.

Zero sacks taken.

Nine total incompletions after 31 attempts. and he accounted for 350 yards in total offense, let alone all the fourth downs that they went for.
You know, the Lions had to watch literally themselves beat them. Yeah.
You know, and that's tough. And you guys were down two scores, and it was like a must-have.
Yeah. This one was over.
You know, you guys got back into it, but it felt like, I don't know how much time you guys are going to have or find, but congrats to the commanders being able to beat this very dominating Detroit Lions team that we've been a massive fan of throughout the entirety. Baltimore Ravens obviously lose to the Buffalo Beals.
Shout out to Razul Douglas. Yeah, that was easy.
Getting the onside kick at the end. One ofa-toy.
Because if they lose that game there. It's on him.
You know, if Lamar goes down. They can't blame anybody.
And let's say they, you know, they don't get that two-point conversion. But they do recover the onside kick.
And they go down, kick a field goal. Justin Tucker hits that thing.
They win. It's like the Josh Allen narrative bananas.
Okay, the Josh Allen narrative would be absolutely crazy. But he gets his ball frozen.
Him being there, too, being a corner and being a designated guy. Look at him.
Nobody's around him, but multiple Ravens right there. He knows if he bobbles that even an inch.
McDermott said, we need it. We got to have it.
Who we put in there? West Virginia guy. Brazil Douglas.
And then I believe afterwards he even talked about it because some people said he was probably shitting bricks out there. Yeah, some guy tweeted at him and was like, I know you were so scared on this.
And he said, fuck that. I've been playing shortstop since I was six years old.
That was a routine ground ball. Was not worried about it for a second.
And it showed. Justin Tucker gave his team an opportunity.
In that cold-ass weather with a cold-ass ball, not going to be able to hit a high hop. Yeah.
You know, ball's not going to be able to do that. Ground's probably not going to let you be able to do that.
So it'll have to be one where he has to make a play. He did.
And congrats to Razul Douglas. That's a huge deal.
1.33 left. Huge.
There's a lot of time still. And Lamar just walked right down the field.
That's a game. That's huge.
I was that guy in college. Had a high hop, got flipped, landed on my neck, and I said I'll never do it again.
Actually, Coach Midge came and had me as I was supposed to be that guy in one game. I just told him, Coach, look, we're putting the team in a bad spot if I'm back there.
That's another note, too, for parents out there. Have your kids play multiple sports.
always play multiple sports, right? South to start growing up,

you play multiple sports. Play multiple

sports. I don't care when you go pro and play

multiple sports. They all kind of fit in and give

you different superpowers in different

areas. What a different tale today would

be if Russell Douglas

isn't perfect with that.

Josh Allen,

the defense, the Bills defense, yet again,

13 seconds against the Chiefs.

Now they give up nine points in a minute to let the Baltimore Ravens come back,

cement an MVP for Lamar Jackson, win a game.

Instead, casual, give me that, we win the game.

Philadelphia Eagles thought they were going to trick that one off.

Thought that was legit.

Thought that was going to be a problem at the end. I assumed there was a lot of Johns, too.
They were like, of course, now we got in Jalen Hurts' hand. Now we got to kind of end this game.
We're not able to do it. And then they go down and score, and now it's a six-point game.
It's like, are they about to – are the Eagles about to go ahead and ruin everything here for everything they've accomplished? Have a guy rush for whatever, 200 yards? Have two 60-plus touchdowns in a playoff game, become a record breaker. Are you going to ruin this day and give this game up? They were close.
The Los Angeles Rams could have won this game very easily, and I think that's good news for the Eagles' grit. But Big Oos having a catch like that, 125 left downs, I mean, this would have been a nightmare for Philadelphia and for Sirianni.
Without a doubt. He made a couple

big kicks in the snow, but if you're an Eagles

fan, you're worried about Jake

Elliott moving forward because

missing those two extra points. At the

time, after Saquon's long run,

it's like, okay, ultimately it's not going to matter.

This will be just a little footnote. Who cares?

But then after Nakua

has that massive catch, it's like, oh, okay,

we're talking touchdown, extra

point wins this thing.

Obviously, it didn't kill him touchdown, extra point wins this thing.

So, you know, obviously it didn't kill him yesterday,

but that's the kind of thing where it seems like against the commanders who

didn't make any mistakes last week,

like that's the kind of thing that can show up if it happens again.

Okay.

So this game, great.

Yeah.

Yep.

Ravens game, Bills game, great.

Oh, yeah.

Commanders, Lions, storybook. And then Chiefs, Texans.
Chiefs is still a Chief. It was a good game.
It was a great division. What's that? Refs is still the refs is what people are actually saying.
What? That's just a word on the street. Eight sacks did the refs get.
Yeah, Chris Jones going bananas out there. Look, I'm a Patriots fan, so you know where I stand on this.
Good teams win. Good teams get lucky.
Good teams get the calls, okay? That's where I stand. I'm just telling you.
Yeah, he can't be flopping, though. Patrick knows.
He's a new dad. The flop was egregious.
Coach Reed on his knees, too. We didn't see that.
That wasn't real. That was AI.
I'm just saying. That was AI.
I'm just saying. And all eight of those sacks came after the missed calls.
Is that true? Wow, that seems like a made-up stat. It was a great division around weekend.
We assume it's going to be a great game this evening, too. And I believe we have some gifts here from what appears to be chefs.
Yeah, like very sharp-dressed lads just came in here. This is Big Matt.
Matt, how you doing, Matt? I'm Pat. You can set that down right here if you want.
Matt, what are these? Are you guys all, oh, shit. Oh, no.
Oh, no. Oh, shit.
We lost the popcorn. It's okay.
It made it better. Mike's not gonna be happy.
That's a better presentation. Ruhlman's gonna be able to make that happen.
It actually looks better. It does.
Popcorn on. Popcorn on the dog.
Yeah, it looks better. Okay, so Matt, Chef Matt.
Yeah, yes sir. Okay, so what do we have here? And we thank you for bringing us some grub here in the middle of the program.
Absolutely. So this we created just for this game.
So this is our barbecue box of champions. Oh, yes.
And we got some barbecue. So this is something we did just for this game.
So we have brisket, some chicken quarters look at that we have two different kinds of barbecue sauces representing both teams baked beans peach cobbler coleslaw so really cool item comes in a nice box there's a lid right there who's buying this anybody or these in the suites these are we're doing 200 of them so once they're out they're out and get it at Molly B's concession stand. Shout out to Molly B's.
I saw somebody yesterday, we were driving in a car. They said, house music is the greatest and then peace, love.
And I said, this car loves Molly in front of us. This is not that Molly.
This is Molly B's right here at the Gallagher Club. How much is this thing right here? So this is $40.
So this is... That's it? You could it.
You can charge $100. Cornbread in there.
At least. Well, I forgot that piece.
So, yeah, this could feed three, four people. We've got a couple of them for you guys.
So definitely dig in. And just to give you some facts on quantity.
So for today's game, we did about 3,000 pounds of brisket, 3,500 pounds of chicken. What? 2,000 pounds of mac and cheese.
What? So it is a lot. How many chefs? How many people? Obviously,

we just saw five guys come up here. I have a team of 10 full-time chefs and then 300 cooks to open

up this building. We have a lot of people that got ready for this.
We've been planning it for

about six months. We have an amazing team here.
Does an amazing job. We're excited.
We're ready

for today. It sounds like you guys have done a great job.
We were just talking about the pizza.

How much is the pizza? Yeah, like a full-sized 18-inch pizza is like $22 or something.

Thank you. We're ready for today.
Well, it sounds like it. It smells like you guys have done a great job.
We were just talking about the pizza. How much is the pizza? Yeah, like a full-sized, what, 18-inch pizza is like $22 or something.
Affordable. You guys want to make it affordable? Absolutely.
So that's the name of the game right here. So that board, if you get a close-up of that, everything on there is $20.
This whole thing is $20? You have the nachos. That's crazy.
You have the pretzel. You have the hot dog.
Chicken fingers. Slice of pizza.
Chicken tenders and fries. $20 for that entire board.
Who's making that decision? Who's making that decision? That's Arthur 100%. So this is something that we started when the building opened.
Fan-friendly pricing. $2 hot dogs.
That price has never changed for any game, including national championship. What's the company that you guys run? So we are Levy Restaurants.
Levy Restaurants? Yes, sir. Thank you so much, Chef Matt.
We can't wait to enjoy this. Thank HAVE A FAMILY RESTAURANT CHAMPIONSHIP.
WHAT'S THE COMPANY THAT YOU GUYS RUN? LEVY RESTAURANTS. LEVY RESTAURANTS? THANK YOU SO MUCH, CHEF.
WE CAN'T WAIT TO ENJOY THIS. THANK YOU FOR TAKING CARE OF THE SPORTS FAMILY.
LEGIT. MOST PEOPLE PRAY ON THEM.
LEGIT. THANK YOU, CHEF.
THERE'S NOWHERE ELSE YOU CAN GET FOOD. SO YOU GOT TO BUY THE STADIUM.
WELL, HERE'S A $10 WATER, BOTTLE OF WATER. INSTEAD, I THINK THE HAWKS ALSO DO IT, THE BASKETBALL TEAM DOWN HERE.
I BELIEVE THE COONANS ARE THAT AND ARTH Blake, the same thing. Like, I want people to be able to take their family to a game.
You're already paying enough for the ticket. The ticket price was crazy.
That entire board being $20 is crazy. This thing being $40 is insane.
There's a half rack of ribs right here. So much food.
And then there's a full chicken right here. And then there's pulled pork.
And then there's five pieces of cornbread, two soups in this entire thing. Forty bucks.

That's a family.

I cannot wait to dig in on this bread chicken.

It is so good.

I'm going to wait.

I'm going to wait because I'm going to eat this how it's supposed to be.

You remember down in Miami, I kind of dove in a little early.

Look at this thing.

When it roamed.

You kidding me?

It really is.

Size of my face.

It's almost negligent how cheap it is.

It's incredible. Snap that thing off.
But, like, they could. They could sell this for $150.
This is delightful. People wouldn't blink twice.
People would have to buy it. It's just like the merch.
They got these popped up all around the stadium. It's like they can charge whatever they want for these because they got people here.
Yeah. It's your only option.
Also, it is cold as shit in Atlanta. It is chilly cold.
It is the whole country's cold. Yeah, I don't know.
I don't know if you know, but when we get back to Indianapolis, it's going to be about negative 20, 30 degrees colder than it is right here. It might be cold outside.
Cora might still be blowing her cold ass winds on the entire country, including places where it's supposed to be warm. But what we know that we happen on this field here tonight is hot action.
High and spicy. It is going to be high heat.
Super hot. Super duper fuego action with a team that is built with so many weapons that you would say maybe this is a future NFL starting 11 on the Ohio State offense.
And then a team from Notre Dame that has come together and had to fight for everything that they've got all season long. They were counted out.
But now here they are. We started with 12.
And we're counting down to one. Tonight we find out who is the one.
Who is Neo? Who are the national champions for this college football season,

which has been the biggest and best season of all time?

Ratings up and to the right.

Top five games up and to the right.

Interest in sport up and to the right.

Tonight is going to be electrified.

Obviously, it's Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

I hope you take a look around and say, hey, we can be more unified than ever before. It would be our choosing to do so.
It's Inauguration Day up there in D.C. Obviously, a lot of storylines developing from that particular world, which is very serious.
And then tonight, to cap it all off, the entire country and world are going to watch two teams from cold weather climates from the north try to win a national championship. It's a wonderful Monday here in the United States of America, Tone Diggs.
It really is. And I don't know if you guys saw the tweet.
It came out, I think, earlier this week, end of last week. The last year before NIL started, 130 underclassmen came out for the NFL draft.
130. This year, only 70 are coming out for the NFL draft.
The NIL has done a huge part for keeping these kids in school, whether they go out, they get the grade, they come back, or they think they can make more money in college. But that's 70 more underclassmen than before NIL that are playing in college football this year that would have been in the NFL.
And I think it's raising the game of college football a ton. Most definitely.
Now, the numbers that are being paid to these guys that are sticking around and going in the transfer portal, I don't know how long that's going to last. Coach Saban said, all right.
Yeah, this is not sustainable. I got to say this.
How much time? I got 30 seconds. This needs to be said.
We're at the national championship.

I love what we're doing.

I love college football. This is not sustainable.
He said, you just mentioned Jeremiah Smith maybe going to Michigan because this can't be how this goes, going into the national championship. I think everybody with a rational mindset sees it that way.
So I think it's a big offseason for college football. We're not there yet.
Obviously, we're one game away from that. But where we were being set up in our production meeting in the hotel,

it was right next to the college football playoff committee.

What the? college football. We're not there yet.
Obviously, we're one game away from that. But where we were being set up in our production meeting in the hotel, it was right next to the college football playoff committee with a lot of meetings happening with all the commissioners of college ball.
And it feels like everybody understands. We got something special here.
We can't throw it away. We can't ruin it.
We got to continue to make it more special. We got to continue to introduce it to more people.
We need to give more people a shot to shine. And we need to make sure we take care of the student human athletes in a manner that is respectable for the grandness that is college football at this point.

I feel like there is nothing but blue skies in the horizon.

And tonight is going to be a majestic game that's going to make us say, wow, that was the greatest college football season of all time.

As we wrap up here on, I don't know if we're on ESPN or not.

We're going to make us say, wow, that was the greatest college football season of all time. As we wrap up here on, I don't know if we're on ESPN or not.
We didn't start on ESPN. Okay, we are on ESPN.
I don't know how that happens. But all the people that helped set this up, this is the game day set, and did a little extra work all season long for me, for this show, I can't thank you enough.
Okay, I appreciate the hell out of you. College game day, 5 o'clock.
Then the national championship from the sideline. We'll see you there.
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I think we hit it. I like it.
Okay, so we're still live here. Okay.

What we need to do is we need to take a little bit of a break. Actually, let's just pick the games.
There is a PA announcement test that is going to happen in here. And they have delayed it already an hour for us.
Wow. Okay, obviously, there are people that are not thrilled.
Okay. We can pick the games now.
Naturally. Yeah, we should do that now.
Take a 10-minute break. How pissed would they be? Got a long night.
Foss had the Foss presented the information, and I said, so just let them do it while we're live. That would be great because we'll just talk about it.
They're like, they do not want to do that. Okay.
Okay, so they have bobbed and weaved with us. So we should certainly do that as well.
I'm hearing that we have a sick B-roll shot of a plane that this is a live shot from the sky. They're testing their camera and they're off.
Okay. That was sweet for a second.
Was that Goodyear? That was probably the Goodyear blimp. I would assume so.
Let me see if I can see it. A little sneak peek.
Still never going up in that thing. Ladies and gentlemen you're looking live as they test their cameras and all their shots.
Let's get a good white balance here on Mercedes-Benz Stadium. We have a little insider information that maybe this particular stadium costs a little bit more than projected.
Sure. Whenever they want to build it.
I can see. It's beautiful.
It was worth it. It is glorious.
It is gorgeous. You are looking at the home of tonight's national championship as Ohio State takes on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from gorgeous Atlanta, Georgia.
All right, we'll clip that. Yeah.
Boom. I just want to use that for something.
All right, let's make these picks before this PA announcement. And I think whoever's doing the actual PA announcement is watching the show go in.

Okay.

There it was.

Yeah.

That was them answering you right there.

I mean, I don't know if you could ever work something out to be that timed up.

That was awesome.

Funny.

But that is kind of what the conversation that I was hearing was.

Let's go around the table here.

Tonight's national championship.

Con man, Notre Dame or Ohio State? Ohio State wins. Notre Dame covers.
Notre Dame plus eight and a half. That's the number we're going off right now.
Ty. I'm a big 10 guy, but I'm also a Catholic guy.
So I'm going to go with the motherfucking Irish tonight, baby. Okay.
Okay DOWN HERE. TELLING DIGGS, YEAH, YOU SEE YOU.
YEAH, AS YOU KNOW, I WAS ONCE THE MAYOR OF SOUTH BENT, SO THAT'S WHERE MY HEART LIES. BUT MY BRAIN SAYS MY FAVORITE BET IS NOTRE DAME TEAM TOTAL UNDER 18.
SO THAT WOULD MAKE ME TAKE PROBABLY THE OHIO STATE BUCCEYS. OKAY.
SEEMS LIKE YOU KIND OF DID NOT GIVE AN ANSWER. BECAUSE YOU GOT A LOT OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
OHIO STATE BUCCEYS. OKAY.
YOU GOT THE BUCCEYS. You got Notre Dame covering or just Notre Dame.
I don't think so. Geez.
Good luck going back to South Bend. Geez.
We're going to have your ass. Yeah.
Maybe. AJ.
Your pick for the game tonight. I'd like Ohio State to win and I like Ohio State to cover but I think it may be a cagey affair early on.
I think it could happen.

Notre Dame, obviously, is a great team.

Marcus will have these guys ready.

Might try to steal possession or two, but, yeah,

I think Ohio State wins and covers.

Dee Butch?

I'm right there with A.J.

Ohio State wins.

Ohio State covers.

It will be a great game for Notre Dame.

You know, they do have, you know, kind of no pressure,

almost playing with house money, but I just feel like too many weapons.

We saw them not play their best game last week against Texas.

I think they're firing on all cylinders. Ohio State cover.
cover Ohio State cover Notre Dame wins straight up and Notre Dame covers Ohio State wins boom all right that'll help me

make my pick on game day yeah well can't wait to see you guys out there all right from all of us

to all of you thank you for allowing us to do this for a living we are read the music but he can sure hear that's travis parker all right we got the national championship tonight live from this building it's going to be electrifying from all of us especially the guys back in the truck. All right.
We got the national championship tonight live from this building. It's going to be electrifying from all of us, especially the guys back in the truck.
Good work back in the truck, boys. The Praxen, the Pyro, the Flames, the PA.
Tonight is going to be a spectacle as we crown the next college football national champion. Be a friend.
Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life.
We're in this thing together. Team on me.
Hey, thanks for the food. Leave me, restaurant.
Team on me. Team on three.
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