December 30, 2025 • 19 mins
Jake Herman is joined by InsideTexas' Evan Vieth to break down Sark's commentary on the problems in college football, Texas' Citrus Bowl outlook, and the week's upcoming CFP quarterfinals.
Which teams have the most to prove this week? Which young players are standing out at Texas' bowl practices?
Which teams have the most to prove this week? Which young players are standing out at Texas' bowl practices?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Our last show of twenty twenty five rolls along here
on Am thirteen hundred. The Zone always happy to have
Evan Veth with us from the hotel in Orlando. Good afternoon, Evan.
How's the week been down there?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Warm? Here? It's been nice for seventies most of the days.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Today is the only day I've actually to wear a
jacket out, but that was just to go to the
stadium and have some odd cheese it related snacks.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Okay, did you try the cheese it crusted turkey leg?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
God, don't get me started. That thing is one of
the worst things I've ever tried. I'm so sorry to say.
It is horrendous. It tastes like bad cheeto dust that
you can taste every bit of the dust on the
circuit leg. And then the turkey was cold and old.
Oh no, cold and old is not a good combo.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Craig would agree with you, I think on the cheese
at dust front. He was out as well on the
cheese it pina colada with the cheese at dust on
the rim. How about the loaded chili cheese it crunched
dog that the pictures didn't look bad.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
The dog wasn't bad. The thing is that was the
only one that didn't taste anything like cheese. It's it
just tasted like a chili dog, So like that's good.
The best one was the burger, which had like cheese
at Memento cheese. I actually quite like that one, But
the turkey leg was bad. Man.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I hate to say it.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Oh well, you know what, hopefully it doesn't shatter or
burst the bubble of any fans who might be down
in Orlando listening with us today.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
We're talking to Evan V from Inside Texas.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
You were at sarks press conference right this morning with
Biff Pogi, and like you described it for Inside Texas,
it was more of sark soapbox than anything else. We
heard him before the break talk about the difficulty in
dealing with agents or in his case, well a guy
that just gets to be an agent because there's no
rules on things like this in college football. Just wanted
(01:55):
to start there because you cover the portal quite a bit.
What do you make of the concerns that Sark is
raising here?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, I mean I think it's fair. There's no certification requirements.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
You're talking about agents who are taking commission that ten
fifteen times as much as you'd hear about NFL guys
doing it because there's no rules, which is the main
idea for a lot of what's going on in college football,
where these players are allowed to get represented as early
as fifteen years old, and it could be it used
to be your dad would help you out, but now
it's some guy you don't really know, or you know
(02:25):
him a little too well, and he's taking advantage of
you because of relationship. And that's what's getting a lot
of players into bad portal entrants because they're overvaluing themselves
or someone else is telling them that they're valued more
than what they actually are, and then they're up getting
put into bad spots elsewhere because of that, or they're taking.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Money in a weird way.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I mean not to say any names, but there was
a recruit that happened recently where you could tell that
the family was a little bit They had a different
idea what they wanted their son to do than what
he chose for his recruitment. And either way, he's if
he's a year out from actually hitting that signing day,
it doesn't really matter who he commits to.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
These days.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
All the things I'm saying right now are kind of
what Sark been for the last year. He's definitely been
talking about a lot, but really today he took today
as a chance to really talk about what's wrong with
the sport and that was a question that Kirk Bowles
put out that was about running backs to the transfer portal.
He didn't really care about the agent talk or anything
that That's where Sark took it. So he makes a
lot of great points. He's talked with the calendar at
(03:20):
nauseum before before this year, and now that we're kind
of at that point with the transfer portal, starting to
talk about what it's like to actually deal with it
as a coach. And I think between some of the
players that have left, which a lot of that probably
had to do with money. I'm nothing specific that I know,
but I know you're not gonna let go of starting
players unless there's there's a problem on that end of things,
and how he's gonna have to deal with getting guys
(03:40):
because not everyone who's got the seven million or seven
figure evaluation in the millions is gonna be worth it,
even though every single agent wants their player to get
that much. So we'll see how Longhorn spend It's gonna
be a lot of money they're going to put into
the Portal, but they're gonna have to spend the money
smartly instead of just throwing out blank checks.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Right there, There is a limit, and we'll hear him
talk about Wink Martindale's salary cap comments a little bit
later on in the show as well. But it's not
like you just have unlimited reserves like I think fans
think that most teams do.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yeah, I think there's this idea that Texas can just
kind of blank check teams and buy players, and I
know that it's felt like that with Oregon and Texas
Tech recently in the Portal. But you got also remember
that Texas Tech isn't recruiting the same way. I mean,
they're getting recruits nowadays, but it's two top tier guys
at positions they want, and then still kind of the
same old three star low four star local West Texas kids.
(04:32):
Oregon's a bit of a unique scenario where they've just
kind of got a shadow donor who owns the.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Biggest sports brand in the world.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
But the Longhorns aren't made of money, and even if
they are one of the richest teams in the highest
spenders still are the teams that they're competing for these
top players. For a kid who's going against or a
kid who's going to either Texas or Georgia Ohio State,
those are also top tier spenders and also elite programs
that have the pull of hey, you can come and
win football games here, you can go and.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Get drafted out of here.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
So it's not like long ones can just pick and
choose who they want out of the portal and get
what they want. And that's why fans are gonna need
to be a little bit careful with how they're talking
about start going all in, which is one of my
boss and Eric Gonna Leans talks about this that just
because Texas doesn't get Jayden Ba, for example, or another
really good running back you went for the portal, doesn't
mean they're not trying to get these guys.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
It just means that sometimes it doesn't work.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Out, whether it be because the money is wrong or
because the players wants to go somewhere else. And I
think it's gonna be a little toxic during specifically this
portal period when you're gonna see some really high tier
guys talk about Cam Coleman not going to Texas and
fans are gonna be upset about that.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
So that's your kind of warning signal to Texas.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
You can't you can't get everybody, and just because you
don't sign somebody doesn't mean you weren't in making those
phone calls, is what you're saying.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, Yeah, And I think if you're if you ask
me to predict in a month's time, where the top
of the portal rankings look like last year, Texas wasn't
even close to it because they only took eight players
somewhere like that. I think they're gonna take closer to
fifteen this year, and they're gonna probably be in that
top ten and have a lot of these really elite guys.
It's just that if there's twenty five top twenty five players,
you can't expect Texas to get every single one of them,
(06:07):
and that means that they might not get the number
one guy, but all the positions that you can think
of needs into your O line, running back, linebacker. They're
asking about the top guys, but the relationship has to
be right. Working with the agent has to be correct,
as what Sark kind of alluded to today, and it
has to fit the scheme, So I'm looking forward to
what they actually do. But it's not as simple as
(06:27):
just we want this guy, we get this guy, and
I think the order of that should be flipped right.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
You should look at your evaluation and they're fit first,
and then the relationships and the age at second. Unfortunately,
like Sarcus kind of sounding the warning bells on, that's
not always realistic.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Yeah, and believe it or not, I mean, believe it
or not. I think we all kind of know it
deep down. But these agents are shopping their players before
they're in the portal. They're talking to coaches before their
players are ever saying they're going to enter, or right
now or the point we're almost at the point where
you can actually get into the transfer portal in two days,
three days, I guess it'll be at this point. So
stonent or later you're going to hear about guys very
(07:03):
close to the deadline, finally getting their name in who
have actually been talking to the top tier programs for
a while and then seeing.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
What their value is.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And that's where relationships do come in for some of
the top tier guys. Cam Coleman, his agent is a
Texas scrat who very well respected in the industry. So
he's going to be talking to every top coach in
the country and seeing where they value Coleman, and then
they'll take the chance from there to say, here's the
best fit for him to get into the NFL and
potentially compete for a national championship.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
But that's guy who's gonna cost a pretty penny.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
We're talking with Evan v the reporter for Inside Texas
and you can follow him on x at Evan Veeth.
We could talk about the transfer portal all afternoon, but
there is a bowl game to be played. You got
to see the Longhorns practice with this smaller roster. It
kind of means a closer look at some of the
young talent right who have been buried in the depth
chart looking for a bigger role. What kind of stood
(07:54):
at to you and what you got to see and hear?
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Yeah, I think I think people don't understand how big
Michael Terry is. This is the guy who can see
maybe being second or third on the team and carries
for this game coming in. I do think Christian Clark's
the number one and that part of that seniority, part
of that, I think they believe that he's better than
what's been shown on the field this season. Neither he
nor Simon really got a ton of carries when it
really mattered outside of those weeks two through four games.
So I'm looking forward to Michael Terry bo Barnes has
(08:19):
made a pretty good I guess thinning out. He's really
gotten to a more muscular build compared to what we
saw him in the spring, and he came in a
little bit overweight, I would say, and that's you know,
we're talking about elite athletes here. That's not saying he
wasn't a good player coming in, but I think you
can clearly see where he's at from start to finish
of the year. He's a little more prepared to go
and actually play and probably have to start at linebacker
(08:39):
for this game, which is a lot a lot of
concern for Texas fans for this game.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I think those are the two.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Young guys that really stand out, and I'm really looking
out for what archs and these receivers can do because
I think Texas is going to play in a close
game here Michigan. Michigan's got a good team and if
they want to really win this game, which I know
they do I think Sartowa is going to compete at
the highest No matter if you think the bowl game
matters or not. This is about Arch getting some touchdowns
with his legs or order through the air, because I'm
not so convinced this ground game, even with me feeling
(09:05):
good about Terry as a running back in his progression,
I'm not sure that's what's gonna win it all for Texas.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
And even with the starting offensive line largely intact for
this game.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yeah, and that's that's a nice thing to have, and
I think it's good for Hudson who's trying to get
in Campbell. We're trying to get drafted to show a
little bit more tape. Cole Hudson and said, like, of course,
I'm not going to opt out of this game, Like
I get a week for having followed my friends in Orlando,
and then it's actually showcased myself a little bit better
against really good opponents. This is a good defensive line,
especially on the interior. That's where they're not getting hit
(09:35):
with the opt outs from Michigan. So Texas has a
lot of their offense intact. It's really only your starting
slot receiver and the running back position. That's not there
for you. Opt outs are hitting the defense a little more,
but that's where you have a little bit more young
talent that's already improven. So look at guys like Grayson
Littleton and Kobe Black and Kate Phillips to play some
outside cornerback in replacement of Malik Muhammad, and that's gonna
be fun to look at.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
It is that back end of the defense.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
You know, I really enjoyed another article of yours, and
I don't want to throw you or whoever writes your
headlines under the bus here maybe the understatement of the
entire year twenty twenty five headline. There's not much in
common between twenty twenty four Michigan and this year's Wolf Verines.
I mean, I think there might not be a team
right that's more different right now than they were at
(10:18):
the start of this year.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Yeah, and you're talking about a team that's had three
different left guards playing. If you want to count Nettomi Azulu,
who was the left guard all of spring, a little
bit of summer and then lost it there at the end,
that's four different guys in the calendar year of twenty
twenty five who were playing a position for Texas on
the offensive line. As Kyle Flood said, he's just Hu
was just searching for consistency this year, and I do
think part of that comes from him not putting the
(10:42):
right pieces in place to do so. I think if
you knew that Cole Hudson was your best left guard
from the start, or if you knew that Zulu was
not gonna be ready, it should have just been Hudson
at left guards.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
But Hudson did get injured this year. You didn't know
what you had in Connor.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Robertson until he played and was solid, and so at
least they did get the right group out eventually. I
know for Texas fans it fell a little bit too little,
too late. Even with the right group. Georgia still had
the better interior and the better front in that game.
But I tweeted out stat that they were noticeably better,
I mean, giving up about four pressures less a game,
two sacks less pre game, running the ball better in
(11:15):
those last four games of SEC play compared to the
first four.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
So I actually do think they'll be fine this game.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
It's just about like, hey, Kyle Flood, you have to
realize that the portal is the only option for this
unit going forward. Because even if you like what you
got from Kibble and Cruise, and maybe you get Robertson returning,
we'll see about his future. That's not enough just to
blindly go into a season like he did last year
and it clearly didn't work on That's part of the
main reasons that the Longhards are in the cheese At
Bowl and not in the Collegewall playoffs.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Michigan certainly had higher goals than this cheese At Citrus
Bowl as well. They hired Kyle Whittingham to what they
hope take them back into playoff contention. This higher, I
feel like, has drawn pretty universal praise. Right with Kyle
Whittingham's proven track record, the proven physical brand of football
that his teams play. Can you make a good case
(12:03):
for and against this hire if you're Michigan.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Yeah, I think the four is really easy.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
You're talking about a disastrous and to the last coach
that you had there, who wasn't even in for that
long and outside of beating your rivals a lot strowanmore
wasn't a top top tier coach or anything. Even the
guys before they haven't had an offensive coordinator stability in
quite some time.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
There's been problems in the programmer in the twenty twenties.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
It's kind of funny, it's been their most successful a
decade of most of our lives, but they had a
lot of a lot of controversy. So you're getting a
guy who is the opposite of controversy, has been doing
this for a long time, brings that identity that you
like of hard nosed football, getting these under recruited guys
in there and winning, And most importantly, you have to
maximize a two year window from here on out.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
With Bryce Underwood.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
This is the best quarterback you're going to get out
of the recruitment probably for the rest of the twenty
twenties and into the twenty thirties. So all that matters
right now is Underwood getting two years out of him,
keeping him in town and competing for a national championship
probably in twenty twenties. And I think with winning Ham
of course, is this is the guy that was kind
of getting slowly pushed out by his team in the
(13:06):
last year. Scally, who's been kind of the guy to
take his next job. For the last eight seasons, it's
felt like finally got put in place. The ceiling is
a little limited with a higher like this. You know
what he is at Utah. You know that he's been
a good coach. You know he hasn't been a guy
who's going to build a national championship contender.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
But this is the best resources he's ever going to have.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
And if he's got two years in him, maybe four
years in him, Michigan might have a chance to really
get back to the top of the sport.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
So I do unanimously.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Hear heard from their reporters who have gotten a chance
to talk to a little bit more that they like
the higher and this was the right way to go
given all the circumstances. So I'm brought voted the team
to the organization in the program, but they do have
some institutional problems that need to be solved very quickly.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
I'll take the under on combined sleep over the last
month for that group of Michigan reporters you've been hanging
with down there, Yeah, some of.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
The guys from all three on the site that I
work with have have had all the breaking stuff and
talking to some people behind the scenes about where the
search is going.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
You're talking about Jed Fish and then there's Jeff Brohm.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Of course, there was the KDB rumors for a while
and just some NonStop phone calls.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
And reports and all of that.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
So glad that I'm just not having a look at
their coaching search during this time.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
I'll put you on the spot for this though.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Your prediction for the Citrus Bowl before we move on
to the playoff for a few minutes.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Yeah, I think it's going to be fairly low scoring
on I'm not expecting a thirty five point win or
anything for the longruns, but I.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Do think they're going to take this one home.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
I think they're the better team, even with the problems
at linebacker and running back. I think at a twenty
four to seventeen score scenms about right for what Texas
can do in this game and hopefully get some young
players in during that time.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
You think we'll see kJ Lacey. I don't think so.
Not if it's a close game. Texas going to try
to win.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
I think coach Starks seemed to echo that, and we'll
hear some of those sound bites again a little later
on in the show. We've got some CFP quarterfinals also
starting tomorrow night, Ohio State, Miami up first, then to
think you got Texas Tech at Oregon at eleven AM Bybama, Indiana,
and finally all Miss Georgia. Who do you think has
the most to prove out of the eight teams that
(15:06):
are left in action this weekend.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Oh, that's a good question. I think Indiana is the
one that I look towards as the team that's gotta
show there a little more than just a program on
a fun run and that hey, us winning the Big
Ten and being the number one overall seed. It's not
like what Oregon did last year where they just kind
of get embarrassed by a bit of superior program.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
They're trying to go win a national title.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
I think they've got the goods to do it, and
I don't think they have the hardest matchup of the group,
So I think they're gonna win that game. But I
think they're one of those teams that could really really
benefit from just winning this one even if they don't
win the one.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
After we talked about this with Craig and with Cameron
Parker a little earlier. I think it's Texas Tech, right
They're looking for that big signature win against what, you know,
a power to I hate to use that term, right,
because there's football being played in the Big Twelve that's
better than some of the football in those conferences, but
(15:57):
it's not on a week to week basis right, same
amount of a gauntlet schedule. Wise, can they pick up
right that signature win over Oregon?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
I do think they can.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
I mean, I think Oregon's probably slightly favored in my
book that the skill is very high on the Oregon
offense and they're getting healthier, which is a big deal.
But the way that Texas Tech portals is the smart way.
It's it's defensive line and it's it's making sure they're
good on the offense line. Even when they had a
running back injury before the year, they still were able
to run the ball. Well. I think that defense is
going to make this a close game. I still favor
(16:29):
Oregon a little bit, but I think you guys are right,
like this is this is the time to prove. Hey,
what we're doing in West Texas is important for the
sport and don't just think of us as a Big
twelve team. We are the team to beat out and
out in this area. And with A and M and
Texas not on the playoff anymore Texas never in the playoff.
Texas Tech is a chance to really cement themselves as
a top, top tier part of the part of the
(16:50):
sport now and maybe not program overall.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
But they're here to stay. I think.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
All right, So, if we're looking for an upset, where's
the most likely place will find one?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Well, I wouldn't count Tech over Oregon Upstate. I just don't.
I don't think the ole Miss one is there. I
do think it is Miami. I mean, I don't think
they're gonna be Ohio State, but you see where it
comes from. You're talking about an elite front defensive ends
that get to the quarterback at a great clip. The
run game was really working. I don't think Mario Christoval
(17:20):
has the legs to win four straight games. I do
think he can win two and be maybe not the
favorite in either of them and still win. Malachai Toni
is a great player. I think Carson Beck has the
experience to get them through an ugly win. I don't
think they're going to go and dominate or anything. But
if you're saying we have one game where I just
don't think Ole Miss is gonna do it. In one
game where there's not really an upset factor. I think
(17:42):
Miami is more likely to win an Alabama in my eyes. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Interesting, I kind of disagree with you there because I
think the ceiling of Alabama having gone into Athens, right,
it's gonna be probably eighty eighty five percent Indiana fans
at the Rose Bowl. I kind of like their ceiling
going on the road against Indiana.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
But I'm with you.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
I think Indiana is a better team than Ohio State. Yeah,
I think the difference mostly just on the field. How
I feel about these programs with Miami, I think is
better than Alabama, and I think maybe Ohio State's better
than Indiana, but they lost had to head on a
neutral field, so I do think they're both true underdogs
in these games.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
But I can just see it as a defensive game.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Miami gets ahead early and then Carson Beck can kind
of steer the ship the right way, run the ball well,
get the ball in Tony's hands, and you're talking about
seventeen fourteen winning and the Ohio State's like, how did
this happen?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
But it happens all.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Right, last one for you, and then we've got to
get to a break. If you're Texas Football. Besides just
just getting back to the playoff, what's the top of
the new year's resolution list for twenty twenty six?
Speaker 3 (18:45):
To find the line to get you to the spot
you need for next year and find it quickly. Get
those top tier guys in the portal, especially on the
in tier. Also, Trevor Goosby is not locked up for
twenty twenty six, so retain Goosby, makes sure Baker's set,
and probably get three new starters in the portal. That's
got to be the top of everyone's list before you
start talking about Bond Coleman and all these top tier
(19:06):
skill position.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Players right the quote unquote luxury position so to speak,
that everyone wants under their Christmas tree, but fill it.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
You gotta fill up your stockings.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
First, definitely, And I think running back more importantly than
getting a star is getting two guys. And we'll see
how it goes on this game and how will they
run the ball. But I'd rather them get two good
than one elite and stop there.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
He's Evan V for Inside Texas. Evan, thanks as always.
We'll talk to you next year.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Yeah, thank you, Jake, We'll see that.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Enjoy the game and up next, we will enjoy some
of the most fun, memorable for the wrong reasons sports
gaffes of twenty twenty five, with our last inconceivable of
the year right here on the Greig Ways Show Sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred Zone
Our last show of twenty twenty five rolls along here
on Am thirteen hundred. The Zone always happy to have
Evan Veth with us from the hotel in Orlando. Good afternoon, Evan.
How's the week been down there?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Warm? Here? It's been nice for seventies most of the days.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Today is the only day I've actually to wear a
jacket out, but that was just to go to the
stadium and have some odd cheese it related snacks.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Okay, did you try the cheese it crusted turkey leg?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
God, don't get me started. That thing is one of
the worst things I've ever tried. I'm so sorry to say.
It is horrendous. It tastes like bad cheeto dust that
you can taste every bit of the dust on the
circuit leg. And then the turkey was cold and old.
Oh no, cold and old is not a good combo.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Craig would agree with you, I think on the cheese
at dust front. He was out as well on the
cheese it pina colada with the cheese at dust on
the rim. How about the loaded chili cheese it crunched
dog that the pictures didn't look bad.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
The dog wasn't bad. The thing is that was the
only one that didn't taste anything like cheese. It's it
just tasted like a chili dog, So like that's good.
The best one was the burger, which had like cheese
at Memento cheese. I actually quite like that one, But
the turkey leg was bad. Man.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I hate to say it.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Oh well, you know what, hopefully it doesn't shatter or
burst the bubble of any fans who might be down
in Orlando listening with us today.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
We're talking to Evan V from Inside Texas.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
You were at sarks press conference right this morning with
Biff Pogi, and like you described it for Inside Texas,
it was more of sark soapbox than anything else. We
heard him before the break talk about the difficulty in
dealing with agents or in his case, well a guy
that just gets to be an agent because there's no
rules on things like this in college football. Just wanted
(01:55):
to start there because you cover the portal quite a bit.
What do you make of the concerns that Sark is
raising here?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, I mean I think it's fair. There's no certification requirements.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
You're talking about agents who are taking commission that ten
fifteen times as much as you'd hear about NFL guys
doing it because there's no rules, which is the main
idea for a lot of what's going on in college football,
where these players are allowed to get represented as early
as fifteen years old, and it could be it used
to be your dad would help you out, but now
it's some guy you don't really know, or you know
(02:25):
him a little too well, and he's taking advantage of
you because of relationship. And that's what's getting a lot
of players into bad portal entrants because they're overvaluing themselves
or someone else is telling them that they're valued more
than what they actually are, and then they're up getting
put into bad spots elsewhere because of that, or they're taking.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Money in a weird way.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I mean not to say any names, but there was
a recruit that happened recently where you could tell that
the family was a little bit They had a different
idea what they wanted their son to do than what
he chose for his recruitment. And either way, he's if
he's a year out from actually hitting that signing day,
it doesn't really matter who he commits to.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
These days.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
All the things I'm saying right now are kind of
what Sark been for the last year. He's definitely been
talking about a lot, but really today he took today
as a chance to really talk about what's wrong with
the sport and that was a question that Kirk Bowles
put out that was about running backs to the transfer portal.
He didn't really care about the agent talk or anything
that That's where Sark took it. So he makes a
lot of great points. He's talked with the calendar at
(03:20):
nauseum before before this year, and now that we're kind
of at that point with the transfer portal, starting to
talk about what it's like to actually deal with it
as a coach. And I think between some of the
players that have left, which a lot of that probably
had to do with money. I'm nothing specific that I know,
but I know you're not gonna let go of starting
players unless there's there's a problem on that end of things,
and how he's gonna have to deal with getting guys
(03:40):
because not everyone who's got the seven million or seven
figure evaluation in the millions is gonna be worth it,
even though every single agent wants their player to get
that much. So we'll see how Longhorn spend It's gonna
be a lot of money they're going to put into
the Portal, but they're gonna have to spend the money
smartly instead of just throwing out blank checks.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Right there, There is a limit, and we'll hear him
talk about Wink Martindale's salary cap comments a little bit
later on in the show as well. But it's not
like you just have unlimited reserves like I think fans
think that most teams do.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yeah, I think there's this idea that Texas can just
kind of blank check teams and buy players, and I
know that it's felt like that with Oregon and Texas
Tech recently in the Portal. But you got also remember
that Texas Tech isn't recruiting the same way. I mean,
they're getting recruits nowadays, but it's two top tier guys
at positions they want, and then still kind of the
same old three star low four star local West Texas kids.
(04:32):
Oregon's a bit of a unique scenario where they've just
kind of got a shadow donor who owns the.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Biggest sports brand in the world.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
But the Longhorns aren't made of money, and even if
they are one of the richest teams in the highest
spenders still are the teams that they're competing for these
top players. For a kid who's going against or a
kid who's going to either Texas or Georgia Ohio State,
those are also top tier spenders and also elite programs
that have the pull of hey, you can come and
win football games here, you can go and.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Get drafted out of here.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
So it's not like long ones can just pick and
choose who they want out of the portal and get
what they want. And that's why fans are gonna need
to be a little bit careful with how they're talking
about start going all in, which is one of my
boss and Eric Gonna Leans talks about this that just
because Texas doesn't get Jayden Ba, for example, or another
really good running back you went for the portal, doesn't
mean they're not trying to get these guys.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
It just means that sometimes it doesn't work.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Out, whether it be because the money is wrong or
because the players wants to go somewhere else. And I
think it's gonna be a little toxic during specifically this
portal period when you're gonna see some really high tier
guys talk about Cam Coleman not going to Texas and
fans are gonna be upset about that.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
So that's your kind of warning signal to Texas.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
You can't you can't get everybody, and just because you
don't sign somebody doesn't mean you weren't in making those
phone calls, is what you're saying.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, Yeah, And I think if you're if you ask
me to predict in a month's time, where the top
of the portal rankings look like last year, Texas wasn't
even close to it because they only took eight players
somewhere like that. I think they're gonna take closer to
fifteen this year, and they're gonna probably be in that
top ten and have a lot of these really elite guys.
It's just that if there's twenty five top twenty five players,
you can't expect Texas to get every single one of them,
(06:07):
and that means that they might not get the number
one guy, but all the positions that you can think
of needs into your O line, running back, linebacker. They're
asking about the top guys, but the relationship has to
be right. Working with the agent has to be correct,
as what Sark kind of alluded to today, and it
has to fit the scheme, So I'm looking forward to
what they actually do. But it's not as simple as
(06:27):
just we want this guy, we get this guy, and
I think the order of that should be flipped right.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
You should look at your evaluation and they're fit first,
and then the relationships and the age at second. Unfortunately,
like Sarcus kind of sounding the warning bells on, that's
not always realistic.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Yeah, and believe it or not, I mean, believe it
or not. I think we all kind of know it
deep down. But these agents are shopping their players before
they're in the portal. They're talking to coaches before their
players are ever saying they're going to enter, or right
now or the point we're almost at the point where
you can actually get into the transfer portal in two days,
three days, I guess it'll be at this point. So
stonent or later you're going to hear about guys very
(07:03):
close to the deadline, finally getting their name in who
have actually been talking to the top tier programs for
a while and then seeing.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
What their value is.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And that's where relationships do come in for some of
the top tier guys. Cam Coleman, his agent is a
Texas scrat who very well respected in the industry. So
he's going to be talking to every top coach in
the country and seeing where they value Coleman, and then
they'll take the chance from there to say, here's the
best fit for him to get into the NFL and
potentially compete for a national championship.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
But that's guy who's gonna cost a pretty penny.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
We're talking with Evan v the reporter for Inside Texas
and you can follow him on x at Evan Veeth.
We could talk about the transfer portal all afternoon, but
there is a bowl game to be played. You got
to see the Longhorns practice with this smaller roster. It
kind of means a closer look at some of the
young talent right who have been buried in the depth
chart looking for a bigger role. What kind of stood
(07:54):
at to you and what you got to see and hear?
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Yeah, I think I think people don't understand how big
Michael Terry is. This is the guy who can see
maybe being second or third on the team and carries
for this game coming in. I do think Christian Clark's
the number one and that part of that seniority, part
of that, I think they believe that he's better than
what's been shown on the field this season. Neither he
nor Simon really got a ton of carries when it
really mattered outside of those weeks two through four games.
So I'm looking forward to Michael Terry bo Barnes has
(08:19):
made a pretty good I guess thinning out. He's really
gotten to a more muscular build compared to what we
saw him in the spring, and he came in a
little bit overweight, I would say, and that's you know,
we're talking about elite athletes here. That's not saying he
wasn't a good player coming in, but I think you
can clearly see where he's at from start to finish
of the year. He's a little more prepared to go
and actually play and probably have to start at linebacker
(08:39):
for this game, which is a lot a lot of
concern for Texas fans for this game.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I think those are the two.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Young guys that really stand out, and I'm really looking
out for what archs and these receivers can do because
I think Texas is going to play in a close
game here Michigan. Michigan's got a good team and if
they want to really win this game, which I know
they do I think Sartowa is going to compete at
the highest No matter if you think the bowl game
matters or not. This is about Arch getting some touchdowns
with his legs or order through the air, because I'm
not so convinced this ground game, even with me feeling
(09:05):
good about Terry as a running back in his progression,
I'm not sure that's what's gonna win it all for Texas.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
And even with the starting offensive line largely intact for
this game.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yeah, and that's that's a nice thing to have, and
I think it's good for Hudson who's trying to get
in Campbell. We're trying to get drafted to show a
little bit more tape. Cole Hudson and said, like, of course,
I'm not going to opt out of this game, Like
I get a week for having followed my friends in Orlando,
and then it's actually showcased myself a little bit better
against really good opponents. This is a good defensive line,
especially on the interior. That's where they're not getting hit
(09:35):
with the opt outs from Michigan. So Texas has a
lot of their offense intact. It's really only your starting
slot receiver and the running back position. That's not there
for you. Opt outs are hitting the defense a little more,
but that's where you have a little bit more young
talent that's already improven. So look at guys like Grayson
Littleton and Kobe Black and Kate Phillips to play some
outside cornerback in replacement of Malik Muhammad, and that's gonna
be fun to look at.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
It is that back end of the defense.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
You know, I really enjoyed another article of yours, and
I don't want to throw you or whoever writes your
headlines under the bus here maybe the understatement of the
entire year twenty twenty five headline. There's not much in
common between twenty twenty four Michigan and this year's Wolf Verines.
I mean, I think there might not be a team
right that's more different right now than they were at
(10:18):
the start of this year.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Yeah, and you're talking about a team that's had three
different left guards playing. If you want to count Nettomi Azulu,
who was the left guard all of spring, a little
bit of summer and then lost it there at the end,
that's four different guys in the calendar year of twenty
twenty five who were playing a position for Texas on
the offensive line. As Kyle Flood said, he's just Hu
was just searching for consistency this year, and I do
think part of that comes from him not putting the
(10:42):
right pieces in place to do so. I think if
you knew that Cole Hudson was your best left guard
from the start, or if you knew that Zulu was
not gonna be ready, it should have just been Hudson
at left guards.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
But Hudson did get injured this year. You didn't know
what you had in Connor.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Robertson until he played and was solid, and so at
least they did get the right group out eventually. I
know for Texas fans it fell a little bit too little,
too late. Even with the right group. Georgia still had
the better interior and the better front in that game.
But I tweeted out stat that they were noticeably better,
I mean, giving up about four pressures less a game,
two sacks less pre game, running the ball better in
(11:15):
those last four games of SEC play compared to the
first four.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
So I actually do think they'll be fine this game.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
It's just about like, hey, Kyle Flood, you have to
realize that the portal is the only option for this
unit going forward. Because even if you like what you
got from Kibble and Cruise, and maybe you get Robertson returning,
we'll see about his future. That's not enough just to
blindly go into a season like he did last year
and it clearly didn't work on That's part of the
main reasons that the Longhards are in the cheese At
Bowl and not in the Collegewall playoffs.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Michigan certainly had higher goals than this cheese At Citrus
Bowl as well. They hired Kyle Whittingham to what they
hope take them back into playoff contention. This higher, I
feel like, has drawn pretty universal praise. Right with Kyle
Whittingham's proven track record, the proven physical brand of football
that his teams play. Can you make a good case
(12:03):
for and against this hire if you're Michigan.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Yeah, I think the four is really easy.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
You're talking about a disastrous and to the last coach
that you had there, who wasn't even in for that
long and outside of beating your rivals a lot strowanmore
wasn't a top top tier coach or anything. Even the
guys before they haven't had an offensive coordinator stability in
quite some time.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
There's been problems in the programmer in the twenty twenties.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
It's kind of funny, it's been their most successful a
decade of most of our lives, but they had a
lot of a lot of controversy. So you're getting a
guy who is the opposite of controversy, has been doing
this for a long time, brings that identity that you
like of hard nosed football, getting these under recruited guys
in there and winning, And most importantly, you have to
maximize a two year window from here on out.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
With Bryce Underwood.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
This is the best quarterback you're going to get out
of the recruitment probably for the rest of the twenty
twenties and into the twenty thirties. So all that matters
right now is Underwood getting two years out of him,
keeping him in town and competing for a national championship
probably in twenty twenties. And I think with winning Ham
of course, is this is the guy that was kind
of getting slowly pushed out by his team in the
(13:06):
last year. Scally, who's been kind of the guy to
take his next job. For the last eight seasons, it's
felt like finally got put in place. The ceiling is
a little limited with a higher like this. You know
what he is at Utah. You know that he's been
a good coach. You know he hasn't been a guy
who's going to build a national championship contender.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
But this is the best resources he's ever going to have.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
And if he's got two years in him, maybe four
years in him, Michigan might have a chance to really
get back to the top of the sport.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
So I do unanimously.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Hear heard from their reporters who have gotten a chance
to talk to a little bit more that they like
the higher and this was the right way to go
given all the circumstances. So I'm brought voted the team
to the organization in the program, but they do have
some institutional problems that need to be solved very quickly.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
I'll take the under on combined sleep over the last
month for that group of Michigan reporters you've been hanging
with down there, Yeah, some of.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
The guys from all three on the site that I
work with have have had all the breaking stuff and
talking to some people behind the scenes about where the
search is going.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
You're talking about Jed Fish and then there's Jeff Brohm.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Of course, there was the KDB rumors for a while
and just some NonStop phone calls.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
And reports and all of that.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
So glad that I'm just not having a look at
their coaching search during this time.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
I'll put you on the spot for this though.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Your prediction for the Citrus Bowl before we move on
to the playoff for a few minutes.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Yeah, I think it's going to be fairly low scoring
on I'm not expecting a thirty five point win or
anything for the longruns, but I.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Do think they're going to take this one home.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
I think they're the better team, even with the problems
at linebacker and running back. I think at a twenty
four to seventeen score scenms about right for what Texas
can do in this game and hopefully get some young
players in during that time.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
You think we'll see kJ Lacey. I don't think so.
Not if it's a close game. Texas going to try
to win.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
I think coach Starks seemed to echo that, and we'll
hear some of those sound bites again a little later
on in the show. We've got some CFP quarterfinals also
starting tomorrow night, Ohio State, Miami up first, then to
think you got Texas Tech at Oregon at eleven AM Bybama, Indiana,
and finally all Miss Georgia. Who do you think has
the most to prove out of the eight teams that
(15:06):
are left in action this weekend.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Oh, that's a good question. I think Indiana is the
one that I look towards as the team that's gotta
show there a little more than just a program on
a fun run and that hey, us winning the Big
Ten and being the number one overall seed. It's not
like what Oregon did last year where they just kind
of get embarrassed by a bit of superior program.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
They're trying to go win a national title.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
I think they've got the goods to do it, and
I don't think they have the hardest matchup of the group,
So I think they're gonna win that game. But I
think they're one of those teams that could really really
benefit from just winning this one even if they don't
win the one.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
After we talked about this with Craig and with Cameron
Parker a little earlier. I think it's Texas Tech, right
They're looking for that big signature win against what, you know,
a power to I hate to use that term, right,
because there's football being played in the Big Twelve that's
better than some of the football in those conferences, but
(15:57):
it's not on a week to week basis right, same
amount of a gauntlet schedule. Wise, can they pick up
right that signature win over Oregon?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
I do think they can.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
I mean, I think Oregon's probably slightly favored in my
book that the skill is very high on the Oregon
offense and they're getting healthier, which is a big deal.
But the way that Texas Tech portals is the smart way.
It's it's defensive line and it's it's making sure they're
good on the offense line. Even when they had a
running back injury before the year, they still were able
to run the ball. Well. I think that defense is
going to make this a close game. I still favor
(16:29):
Oregon a little bit, but I think you guys are right,
like this is this is the time to prove. Hey,
what we're doing in West Texas is important for the
sport and don't just think of us as a Big
twelve team. We are the team to beat out and
out in this area. And with A and M and
Texas not on the playoff anymore Texas never in the playoff.
Texas Tech is a chance to really cement themselves as
a top, top tier part of the part of the
(16:50):
sport now and maybe not program overall.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
But they're here to stay. I think.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
All right, So, if we're looking for an upset, where's
the most likely place will find one?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Well, I wouldn't count Tech over Oregon Upstate. I just don't.
I don't think the ole Miss one is there. I
do think it is Miami. I mean, I don't think
they're gonna be Ohio State, but you see where it
comes from. You're talking about an elite front defensive ends
that get to the quarterback at a great clip. The
run game was really working. I don't think Mario Christoval
(17:20):
has the legs to win four straight games. I do
think he can win two and be maybe not the
favorite in either of them and still win. Malachai Toni
is a great player. I think Carson Beck has the
experience to get them through an ugly win. I don't
think they're going to go and dominate or anything. But
if you're saying we have one game where I just
don't think Ole Miss is gonna do it. In one
game where there's not really an upset factor. I think
(17:42):
Miami is more likely to win an Alabama in my eyes. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Interesting, I kind of disagree with you there because I
think the ceiling of Alabama having gone into Athens, right,
it's gonna be probably eighty eighty five percent Indiana fans
at the Rose Bowl. I kind of like their ceiling
going on the road against Indiana.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
But I'm with you.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
I think Indiana is a better team than Ohio State. Yeah,
I think the difference mostly just on the field. How
I feel about these programs with Miami, I think is
better than Alabama, and I think maybe Ohio State's better
than Indiana, but they lost had to head on a
neutral field, so I do think they're both true underdogs
in these games.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
But I can just see it as a defensive game.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Miami gets ahead early and then Carson Beck can kind
of steer the ship the right way, run the ball well,
get the ball in Tony's hands, and you're talking about
seventeen fourteen winning and the Ohio State's like, how did
this happen?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
But it happens all.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Right, last one for you, and then we've got to
get to a break. If you're Texas Football. Besides just
just getting back to the playoff, what's the top of
the new year's resolution list for twenty twenty six?
Speaker 3 (18:45):
To find the line to get you to the spot
you need for next year and find it quickly. Get
those top tier guys in the portal, especially on the
in tier. Also, Trevor Goosby is not locked up for
twenty twenty six, so retain Goosby, makes sure Baker's set,
and probably get three new starters in the portal. That's
got to be the top of everyone's list before you
start talking about Bond Coleman and all these top tier
(19:06):
skill position.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Players right the quote unquote luxury position so to speak,
that everyone wants under their Christmas tree, but fill it.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
You gotta fill up your stockings.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
First, definitely, And I think running back more importantly than
getting a star is getting two guys. And we'll see
how it goes on this game and how will they
run the ball. But I'd rather them get two good
than one elite and stop there.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
He's Evan V for Inside Texas. Evan, thanks as always.
We'll talk to you next year.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Yeah, thank you, Jake, We'll see that.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Enjoy the game and up next, we will enjoy some
of the most fun, memorable for the wrong reasons sports
gaffes of twenty twenty five, with our last inconceivable of
the year right here on the Greig Ways Show Sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred Zone
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