July 16, 2025 • 52 mins
RJ unpacks the first two days of SEC Media Days in this jam-packed episode:
0:00 Texas feels like the best contender to unseat Georgia
11:11 Josh Heupel insists on having a QB Derby at Tennessee
21:30 Jackson Arnold might have found his happy place at Auburn
35:00 Kirby Smart 'offered' Nick Saban
42:44 Kalen DeBoer can't afford to miss the CFP again
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
If Texas is not loaded up to play for and win the national
championship in 2025, somebody forgot to tell Texas and Texas
fans that, as that looks like what Steve Sarkeesian is
selling. What's up to folks, it's RJ
(00:24):
Young. I am not on a step mill.
If this is your first time watching adapt and respond.
Thank you for joining us here. We talk college football year
round. That is something you're into.
Go ahead and hit that subscribe button like this video and
answer the question in the comments below.
Is Texas going to win the national championship?
I've asked this question before and I and I won't continue to
ask this question, but you need to answer it.
I also wonder is Arch Manning worth the hype?
(00:47):
Right. I have been very much on the
Arch Manning train. A lot of folks that watch this
show in the comments and out in the wild when I get to meet
people. Yo dawg, why you so high on Arch
Manning? He ain't played nobody dog.
He got two starts and he played against UTSA, Mississippi State,
you know, LA Monroe, like that ain't nobody.
(01:08):
We don't care. That ain't nobody. 68%
completion, I mean, that's fine.939 passing yards.
OK, You know, can we talk about the two picks he threw?
We just gonna talk about the 19.Easy through.
Yeah. I think all those things are
valid, but you still would rather have Arch Manning than
not. There might be, and I'm.
(01:28):
I'm not joking, there might be two quarterbacks on the face of
the earth that are eligible to play college football that you
would rather want playing quarterback for you.
I think Oklahoma's got one of them and the other, well, it is
going to be really, really difficult for someone to
(01:51):
convince me that Julian saying is just not going to be that
good outside of that. Carson Beck.
I mean, they got, they got a nice quarterback in Georgia.
DJ Lagway, maybe, maybe SO3, 3DJLagway gets in there.
Maybe you want him more than youwant Arch Manning, but if you
take DJ Lagway, I'm taking Arch Manning.
(02:13):
And that's kind of the point. Even if you took DJ Lagway first
or John Mateer or Julian Sand, the next guy off the board
probably is Arch Manning for a number of reasons, not the least
of which is pedigree, right? But we talk about 6 foot four
and can move 6 foot four and canmove 6 foot four.
And it's like, I don't think hisarm is elite.
(02:35):
Yeah, right, dog. And he's going to have guys
around him like we're going to continue to point out, yeah,
they're losing 4 starters on that offensive line.
That's not insignificant by any stretch.
One of those guys is not just Kelvin Banks, but Jake Majors,
who had 50 plus starts on that line.
But Texas pride itself on developing them and having them
(02:56):
ready to go just as soon as the the guys age out because that is
what happens in our sport. He's going to have DeAndre more
back in the slots, going to haveRyan Wingo.
He's added Jack Andreess, who's 1000 yard receiver or tight end.
They're going to be good. They're what nobody loves Trey
Wisner more than Steve Sarkisiangoes out of his way twice to be
(03:17):
like. Do you guys realize that we have
the SE CS returning leader at rusher?
Yeah, dawg, we, we, we know. We also know CJ Baxter's back
there, but it's also him saying basically to CJ, hey, I got a
dude that I can trust who was 1000 yard back for me.
You're going to have to show me that you can do that.
We're also talking about Sark here.
(03:37):
Sark, who hasn't missed on a quarterback in quite some time.
Like, I would argue that LincolnRiley missed on Miller Moss
because he ended up having to bench him to go get Jay Maiaba.
You could also say that about Spencer Radler, Caleb Williams.
But Sark has been on kind of a tear here since becoming office
coordinator at Alabama inherits Mac Jones turns out to be great
right ends up going to Texas where in short order gets when
(04:02):
you was back in fray and they start winning.
And an important an important note here, Arch and Anthony Hill
are in a group of players that only know about playing for
conference championships and playing in the College Football
Playoff. That's not insignificant either
because the expectation is that you continue to do what you had
(04:24):
been doing. If you are going from five wins
to eight wins, it's not as easy to say we're going to be a
playoff team. But when you've been there and
you know what it feels like, it's easier to get back there.
This for me is like chasing lap time.
I get set a fast lap and it's fast for me and it's fast for
anybody else. But once you get to your limit,
trying to find a 10th, trying tofind half a 10th, these things
(04:48):
become harder and harder to do. And that is what they're trying
to do to win the national championship.
They are fast. They're fast by anybody's
imagination. It is getting to the end here.
And once again, I'm talking about another program that ran
up against the wall. That was Ohio State, right?
Tennessee first, Oregon second, Texas third, Notre Dame and Nash
(05:10):
championship game. We're also talking about a
program that didn't have to be outstanding at anyone thing.
They just need to be good last year.
Like I think one of the underrated statistics when we
talk about SEC and Texas is theywere ranked 4th in points per
game and total yards per game. Just 33 points per game in SCC
play in 438 yards. They got Big Boyd by Georgia in
(05:34):
both of their losses in SEC, right?
One at DKR where Sark went out of his way to say, hey, we got 8
million people that watch us on television on average.
We got 102,000 people show up toDKR on average.
And Georgia showed up and ran through you in such a way that
you fans show it out and embarrassed you, embarrassed
(05:54):
you. You had to walk out into the
corner of DKR and tell children to calm down.
That's what y'all be doing down there at Austin.
You would never find nothing like that at Oklahoma.
We not, we not going to be throwing stuff on the field like
that. Gonna boot a quarterback,
quarterback game plan. I'm not not excited about that
neither like when there, there are things about OU fans that we
could, we could fix like that West Virginia game.
(06:15):
I'm, I'm still pissed about that.
Spencer didn't deserve that. Didn't, did not deserve that.
Not, not, not one minute. But the moment we start throwing
stuff at people, Nah, man, arrest people.
Now they get, get that out of here 'cause then you're ruining
not just the atmosphere, but theopportunity for any of us to
have this experience. And the fan experience is what
(06:36):
makes college football the best sport in the world if you can
create that week in and week outand give yourself an advantage.
I gave the statistic earlier, but Tennessee's 20 and one at
kneeling. Their fan base has everything to
do with that, right? Same thing I think is true at
Texas where a lot of people thatwere already switched on or even
more switched on, people that were not switched on are now.
Cuz Starks probably right? Texas has never been more
(06:58):
popular than it is right now. Just wait until they get back to
a national championship game. By the way, they ain't done that
since 2009. They'll be the first to tell you
that. I also think that he made some
upgrades that people aren't really paying attention to, like
Michael Taft coming back is huge, right?
Matter of fact, the two best players or two of the best
players, and I won't say the twobest players, two of the best
(07:20):
players at Texas. We're 16.
Both are basically local high school legends, one being arch
man and the other one being Michael Taft, who was a really
great high school player who decided to walk on and ends up
an all American. That's pretty cool.
I I don't know, that's just cool.
You also went to go get a kicker.
(07:42):
Like I'm fascinated by this because I think that one of the
things that we get missed on is just how important it is to have
a kicker. Like the one that Texas went to
go recruit because Burt Auburn saw the writing on the wall and
went into the transfer portal inthe April window knowing damn
well, hey, you can't be out heremissing kicks in critical
situations. We can't have it.
(08:02):
We get like it's one thing for Texas not be good in the low red
zone inside 10 yard line where they just kept getting stymied.
It's another for your kicker just not to be money and
especially in games where you got to have it and you got
you're having a conversation with your coach as the place
kicker that I don't never want to do that.
Leave me alone. I'm I'm not here in my own world
more than that. Burt Auburn scored more points
than anybody else in Texas history and I'm sure they can't
(08:23):
wait for somebody to take that over.
But you bring in a Texas State quick kicker in Mason Shipley,
who has the Sunbelt record for longest field goal at 60 yards.
Also been pretty damn consistent.
You upgraded a position. One of the things that he
mentioned in his press that alsothink is worth mentioning, it's
that you've got seniors at everyone of his critical special
teams positions. Place kicker, kickoff holder,
(08:46):
They're all punter, they're all seniors, they're all
upperclassmen. They're all guys that know how
to play football, played a bunchof football.
As we continue to talk about Texas and what it is that Arch
is or isn't, I wish we would have some level of excitement
around this dude. Man, like I the number of people
(09:08):
that have showed up to just tellme or other people that had the
audacity to think that Arch Manning could be really, really
fun is ridiculous. I, I do you hate football?
Do you hate watching good football?
Now again, I'm from Oklahoma. When the undergraduate universe
told us I got a master degree from the University of Oklahoma,
Lived in Norman covering this team for six years.
(09:32):
Cut my teeth at a Rivals team site, The Oklahoman as an
intern, went to cover high school football, stringing in
most of the counties in this state.
When I say I'm from here, from here north of the Red River
means something. I love football and I love
watching good football. And as much as these high
(09:53):
stakes, high energy games give me a heart attack or I feel like
I'm gonna, I'm not stroking out.Am I having a stroke?
I remember. I remember Alex Grinch's defense
plant and Sam Elliger 9 sacks. I remember Dylan Gabriel saying
I got it. I'm putting us on our on you.
I'm put put everybody on my back.
(10:14):
I'm gonna go 3 bills. I'm gonna go rusher 100.
Nick Anderson gonna be standing there right there in the end
zone. I'm gonna throw in the football.
We go win the game. I'm debilitated.
I am inconsolable when Oklahoma loses 40. 9 to not a zip. 0
Nothing and. I choose to look out and see a
(10:38):
player and see a guy that has everything you want to
quarterback and as a dude that loves quarterback, is a
quarterback finds quarterback play to be some of the coolest.
Pre snap, post snap, can you make that throw?
Do you have the physical abilities and can you keep a
(10:58):
cool head in a hot situation? I think Arch Manning can do it.
I refuse to not be excited aboutthat.
Let's talk about Tennessee and why Josh Hypel is adamant that
(11:20):
the QB Derby is on. Also, that little game they lost
against Ohio State. What's up kinfolk, it's RJ
Young. I am not on a step mill.
If this is your first time watching adapt and respond,
(11:42):
thank you for joining us here. We talk college football year
round. That is something you're into.
Go ahead and hit that subscribe button like this video and
answer the question in the comments below.
Do you think Tennessee will get back to the College Football
Playoff in 2025, given the chainnot just at quarterback, but
more importantly, at running back?
As Volunteer fans, be the first to tell you, it wasn't Nico that
was stern to drink, it was DylanSampson.
(12:04):
And that is in keeping with the kind of program that Josh Hyper
has built at the University of Tennessee.
Like, I, I don't mind saying it.I think last year was the best
coaching season I've ever seen from Josh Hypo.
And I have been fortunate enoughto watch Josh Hypo's career
since he played quarterback in Oklahoma, LED OU to a national
(12:24):
championship all the way through.
Offensive coordinator, tight, well, tight ends coach at
Arizona. Offensive coordinator at
Oklahoma, quarterback coach running his own program at
Central Florida. Central Florida.
Brief stop there in Missouri andthen taking over Tennessee with
Danny White and they got that thing humming like I I it's been
really interesting. They go 10 and three last year,
(12:46):
10 win season for the second time in three years.
And I think it's worth pointing out that they hadn't had two ten
win seasons, you know, since theearly aughts, or I want to say
like 98909798, but I know this for certain.
There were zero ten win seasons between 2008 and 2021, dark
(13:07):
period for Tennessee fans. And they have come out of it and
come out of it firing. It's really about just getting
that last little bit for Tennessee.
And this is the tough part, likegetting the ten wins is
difficult. Getting to 11/12, then you're
getting into the deep water because you're only playing the
class, the best of the best of our sport class competition.
(13:29):
But each of the last two years, three years, two years, they
have led the SEC in rushing, 2500 yards rushing.
And every one of the four years that Josh Apple's been there in,
this is the third best start that any coaches had in a four
season stretch, 37 wins in four years.
They've been right there, right?That's just it, right where they
(13:50):
were when they played Ohio Statein that opening round.
They get to figure out just how far away they are from winning
the national championship as they watched Ohio State not just
run through them, but run through Oregon and Texas and
Notre Dame. That in and of itself is
remarkable. Like you think about that run
and what it took for the Buckeyes to get that national
championship. They didn't do this over Boise
(14:12):
State. They didn't do this over
Southern Methodist. Again, they did this over
Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame.
Not too shabby. Also going to take this
opportunity to remind you that we have an audio podcast on
Apple and Spotify. And if you are kind enough to
leave us a five star review on Apple, Spotify, I'm going to
send you this sticker in the mail along with a thank you
(14:33):
note. Just hit the form in the
description below. For the folks that are listening
on the audio, go to a YouTube video, basically anyone that we
have made in the last two monthsand go to the bottom of the
description. You'll see the link in the form
where you can fill this out. I need to do a live stream here
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bunch of you notes and they're coming.
(14:55):
I'm going to get these done before my birthday.
I turn 38 this year. What a wild year to turn 38,
man. I've spent, I spent 20 years.
No, I started when I was 18. Damn.
I've spent more time covering college football on this earth
than anything else. Thinking about it, I got started
when I was 18 years old to 20 years I've been covering college
(15:18):
football. Wild.
Really, really wild. I also think that it's important
to point out that Tennessee has been nails at Kneeland.
Like Oklahoma got to come to Kneeland this year is one of the
reasons I'm pointing it out. How's that 2015 taste in your
mouth, by the way? I'm excited about that game.
(15:39):
I I'm, I'm, I'm figuring it out because that is an atmosphere 1
where OU comes in going, hey, wewas here the last time and Butch
Jones tried to tell Eric Strikeroff and we wasn't trying to feel
none of that, hearing none of that, we don't care.
You know what I'm saying, Baker Mayfield said.
What's good kneeling, what's good General coming in at
(16:00):
Knoxville, They don't care nothing about none of that.
But they've been 20 and one uniteful dog.
I did 21 games. They lost one game.
And kneeling. It's tough place to play it.
It's got to be a fortress this year if they're trying to get
back to the College Football Playoff.
You can't afford to drop games at that stadium.
And you got one tough schedule to start.
Like Syracuse is coming. Like that's a good football
(16:21):
team. That ought to be a really great
non conference matchup between the ACC and the SEC.
And I really enjoy that. Deshawn Bishop going to get an
opportunity to announce himself.There's a lot of folks that
don't believe in Deshawn, like Ibelieve in Deshawn, some of them
volunteers, some of y'all over here trying to tell me like,
hey, Deshawn don't get no snaps last year, right man All right,
cool. We'll we'll see.
We'll we'll, we'll see. But that's going to be what it
(16:42):
is, right? They want to run the football.
They want to run the football well, they want to get off to
fast starts. They want to get 3 touchdowns
first quarter, then sit on your chest.
That's what they're gonna try todo.
Now, I also think it's interesting that a lot of this
is just going to be testing the quarterback.
If you are the defense that's facing Tennessee for the first
half the season, you want to seewhat that dude's made-up because
you know that the dude that was there ain't it, right?
(17:03):
Niko Iyemaliaba is for balls fans.
Addition by subtraction, OK? We got out what we think is a
cancerous cell and we caught it right in time before it could
really do us some damage and some harm.
And they responded like you would expect an SEC program to
respond. Which is to say, nobody's bigger
than the program. Nobody's ever been bigger than
the program. We have shoved off more
(17:26):
important coaches than you. We have lived through Lane
Kiffin and Derrick Dooley and his friggin stool.
You don't, we're not. You don't get to do this to us.
Especially after they paid him 350 upfront in high school and
then loaded this contract, more than two million a year over
three years. Remarkable money that they were
(17:48):
paying Nikko and Maliaba and he played not great in 2024 and
demanded more money in a holdoutand they said, sayonara, don't
let the door hit you where the good Lord split you, you know.
And then they went and got Joey Aguilar.
No disrespect Joey Aguilar, none, none at all.
But he was not as highly touted as Nyuko Miyagi Malliaba and he
(18:13):
played Appalachian State. Wasn't great last year was just
OK, but the year before that it's pretty damn good.
Now think about what it is in 2025.
I'm interested to see what he's got on the outside because they
got some dudes they can throw the rock to.
It'll be OK, it'll be just fine.But Josh Hypo has also said it's
(18:35):
quarterback dirty. Everyone of his guys is going to
get an opportunity to go out andwin the job from McIntyre to
Mecklinger to yes, Aguilar. But I don't think you bring in a
guy like Joey Aguilar if you do not expect Joey Aguilar to win
the job. And you know, I don't think
anybody would want it any other way.
Like the last thing that you want to do as a head coach is
(18:56):
assure somebody's got a job anywhere, anytime.
You always want competition throughout and this is an
important year for everybody with revenue share.
And as you have guys that are grandfathered into your rosters,
you're going to quickly get to 105, which means that everybody
you bring in has to be able to play right away, and that starts
(19:17):
this season. Young guys don't have an
opportunity to be young anymore.They got to contribute, which
means that everybody's going to start trying to look and do it
the way that George has done it,which is to play a lot of people
a few snaps, right? You got to rotate the entire
roster through, find out who canmake plays for you, find out who
needs to be on the field in critical situations, but also
have enough depth behind them that it matters like This is why
(19:39):
it like a guy like Star Thomas lying to Shawn Bishop, I think
is going to be a big deal. I also think that you need you
need to have McIntyre Magner believing that you believe in
them in case something happens to Aguilar because those guys
going into the game could be fortuitous.
It could be detrimental. I'm thinking about what happens
(20:00):
when DJ Lagway goes down. You got to go to third string
quarterback. It's not great.
DJ Lagway was also the difference between winning and
losing at Florida. Like when he was on the field,
they were unbeatable, full stop.You need to have that in your
guy. I think they can get that in
their guys. I really do.
I think that Tennessee come backwith a outstanding defense.
(20:23):
They're going to make life that much simpler on their offense
and one of the reasons I believethey've really committed to
running the football. Last year's, A, Nico couldn't do
what Hendon Hooker could do, which is what we thought B, they
were really stout upfront. Now they're going to replace a
lot upfront. But they were able to play
complimentary football because anytime you can run the football
well, you give your defense opportunities.
(20:44):
Do not take breathers. That's what people say.
It's really about snap count. How many snaps are you on the
field, right? Like it's it's can we get off
the field on three and out? We get off field 3 and out.
And then we know that the offense is going to run the
football. We don't actually have to go out
there and defend as often as many.
Like, This is why Michigan's defense 2023 was so good.
(21:06):
You just don't have to worry about it by you don't have to
worry about whether or not they were going to run the football.
You didn't have worry about whether or not they were going
to take an appropriate time off the clock.
And you didn't worry about whether or not they're going to
change. They were going to move the
change. It was going to work for them.
If Tennessee can be that team again, yeah, I make the playoff.
(21:33):
Hugh Freeze said a lot of thingsthat have led me to believe he
might have fixed Jackson Arnold and the Auburn Tigers might be
on their way. What's up kinfolk?
(21:55):
It's RJ Gung. I am not on a step mill.
If this is your first time watching adapt and respond.
Thank you for joining us here. We talk college football year
round. If that is something you're
into, go ahead and hit that subscribe button like this video
and answer the question in the comments below.
Do you believe that Jackson Arnold is due to have?
(22:15):
One of the. Best seasons by a Hugh Freeze
quarterback that we have ever seen And what is a pivotal year
for Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers.
Also going to take this opportunity to remind you we got
an audio podcast on Apple and Spotify.
You guys have been great about this and I frankly expected
(22:36):
nothing more given just how strong this community has been,
but continue to go to Apple, Spotify, leave a five star
review. If you do that and you can hit
the form in the description below on YouTube.
Go ahead and send me that address address and tell me
where to send this sticker and athank you numb because means
(22:56):
that much to me. I'm with you freeze.
Not something I say normally because every now and again that
man says something that kind of gets under my skin or has done
something in the past kind of gets under my skin or frankly is
not doing enough with what he has.
OK, I pit him against every other SEC coach and I put him in
(23:20):
the Eli Rinkwitz tier, which is to say, there's a lot of
talking, there's some winning, but there are no championships
to show for all of this. There's some folks that, as
Kirby Smart said earlier at his availability, the day's lead
from the front. And there are other folks that
are very comfortable being in the SECI, See this in my
(23:42):
business often. I got a lot of.
People in my business that stop hustling, that stop working,
there is a money threshold that gets hit, a comfort threshold
that gets hit and these folks don't know how to hunt or they
forget how to hunt or they don'twant to hunt anymore.
They get fat, old and lazy in the in their psychological
(24:03):
efforts. There's no fire underneath them
because they don't need one. People are complacent.
Think about Missouri not winninga championship in the SEC.
Think about A&M not win a championship since 98.
Fan base. It's not you, it's a guy in
charge. Why we turn that dude out and
we're willing to pay him to go away if we don't like the
results? Because that's our family that
(24:26):
you're coaching. That's my name across your
chest. In many cases, that's my name
across your back. And don't.
Don't lose this opportunity not with a 5 star quarterback like
Jackson Arnold and I don't thinkthat Hugh Freeze is gonna.
But the reason I say I'm with you Freeze is he has really
taken some stock about his quarterback and invested in him
(24:49):
in a way that I expect that whatoffense play caller to invest.
Now before we get to all the good things that I think you
Freeze is done, I'm going to remind you that this man is not
at A10 win season in the SEC or anywhere else since 2015 and
he's never won more than 10 games in a season.
That 2015 team, the Ole Miss team that was once ranked in the
(25:12):
top three of the AP, yeah, it finished ten and three losses
were Memphis, Arkansas in there.Come on now.
One ranked upon a beat in Florida.
They had it there. Chad can lose a 4000 yard pass
or 500 yard rusher. You're going to need that and
then some out of Jackson Arnold.But it is a guy that very much
(25:34):
fits the scheme he wants to run and that is putting points on
the board as quickly as possible.
And there are some things that happened when he got to Auburn
that I feel have really helped him with the rehab from
Oklahoma. And I think this is the part
where Oklahoma fans get to know and see what I think and how I
feel about this. The way that it started for
(25:56):
Jackson Arnold to Alamo Bowl wasthe way it was supposed to
happen last season. He was unafraid, he was
fearless. He threw a couple pics where I
said, son, what are you looking at?
And I said this to to close friends going I don't know about
it. He keeps slinging like this.
I don't feel good about it. And they said, RJ, look at all
the good things he did. All right, He threw those two
TDs. He threw for 363.
(26:17):
He was good when the play broke down and extending it.
If they put in together an RPO offense for him, it ought to
work. And I said, OK, we'll go with
this. And then what?
Doesn't get spoken about enough And Hugh Freese did his homework
on this scout. Like OK, I saw a two in the
Alamo Bowl and we all saw it when he's national Gatorade
player of the year. What the hell happened in
(26:38):
Oklahoma? Injuries happen and I've been
loud about this. I don't have a problem with
Brent Venables. Y'all know this, Many of you do.
I don't have a problem with BillBeanbo.
Offensive line was green as helllast year.
Many of you do. I don't have a problem in the
Jones wide receivers were non existent.
Many of you do. I don't have a problem with
(26:59):
DeMarco Murray, Tatum Taylor putting the ball on the carpet.
I can't have that. No, I, I, I, I cannot have you
fumbling the football. That ain't going to work.
Jackson are throwing to the other team on 1st down.
Can't add that. No, but what precipitated all of
those things? Injuries, pre season injuries,
(27:22):
camp injuries. That's on the strength
conditioning coordinator. That is on Jerry Schmidt.
I was going to the University ofTulsan undergraduate to become
Jerry Schmidt. I mean this still got the CSCSI
was a much bigger dude. I walked around at 5 foot 5 and
about $1.80. You know, I just got done
winning the only national championship I ever won, power
(27:44):
powerlifting, powersports. So that was bench curl and
deadlift. So in the 165 category, I was
pulling 600 from the ground, I was pushing 315 off my chest and
I was curling 125. I think it was my mother's got
the number somewhere. Mighty Mouse.
(28:05):
That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to go and make guys
bigger, fashion stronger at places like Oklahoma.
But I was quickly led to believeit's like anything else, right?
The job is it what you think it is as a kid, the job is what
they show you it is. And the job restrictive
condition coordinator. Yeah, you're going to make them
bigger, faster, stronger, but that's going to be there.
(28:25):
Like they've come to you as a very well built car.
There's nothing for you really fix as much as there are things
for you to tweak. But your job is to make sure the
car runs and is in the best possible shape when it gets time
to run that Grand Prix. That means you don't break them.
That means you make sure they hold up for the entire season.
So when you see things like ACL tears all across the board, or
(28:47):
Achilles tears all across the board, or pectoral injuries,
bicep injuries all across the board, that's about the training
regiment. That's the periodization, That's
the science. What did you push?
How did you push it? When did you push it?
How much running did we do? There is a fine line between
pushing someone to be better andinjuring them.
I think Oklahoma went over the line last year.
(29:08):
Jerry Schmidt is minted in my profession, in the profession I
want to go in. So last year feels like the
anomaly that it was because you didn't in the hierarchy, right?
Schmidt, Tommy Moffett, Mick Murati, like I keep going.
These are superstars of of what I wanted to do.
So I was disappointed last year with all the injuries that
happened and how little the athletic training staff can gain
(29:30):
trust from many of the players that opted to transfer out Gavin
Sawcheck to Florida State, Nick Anderson, LSU yacht.
So Hugh Freeze takes that into account, the injury rate, and he
says, OK, I think I got it now because what I see is a dude who
won. It's got the arm talent to make
any throw I want, is comfortablewith sticking a ball in a belly
(29:52):
and pulling it out. Can extend to play with his legs
and has hips quick enough to getout of that mesh into an RPO
slant and make it go, or even the deep out or deep go right.
Some of us make this our preferred offense in EA Sports
College Football 26 because we've gotten so good at it
'cause it is a particular skill set.
It's a different way to pitch. So they rebuilt his confidence
(30:14):
by having just throw and throw and throw 2 receivers, Cam
Coleman, Eric Singleton down theline.
And then Hugh did something I thought was impressive.
He did a psychological profile on himself and all of his
quarterbacks so that he could best reach a guy like Jackson
quickly. He said, I look, I learned I'm a
little bit too old school with how I might coach him.
(30:35):
He needs to hear this from me. He needs to hear that from me.
And I think when I heard that I'm a quarterback, I say, oh, I
got a guy who's going to yell atme every time I make a mistake,
not knowing that I'm yelling at myself, inside me, myself, every
time I make a mistake. I hate being wrong about things,
that I'm wrong about things because I'm trying, I'm
(30:56):
reaching, I'm, I'm pushing, I'm doing what other folks in my
profession don't want to do. And I've always admired an
editor, a producer who sees thatin me and can coach it out.
So when you see like Lincoln Riley on the sideline, not
yelling at a quarterback or you see an arm around a quarterback
going, all right, tell me what you saw.
Tell me why we see it. You're probably going to get his
(31:19):
best play because if you're coaching him up for the next
play and having a short term memory, I'm going to go out
there. I'm I'm, I'm going to hunt for
you. I'm, I'm going to slave for you.
There is no dragon that I am unwilling to go at because I
know my coach has got me Brent Venables.
Not really that kind of coach. Not really that kind of coach.
OK. And offense coordinator is, you
(31:40):
know, had that buddy buddy relationships at the trail
people talk about it's got to work.
So let's let's be clear about that.
But when the head coach is called the plays, he also gets
to tell everybody to calm the hell down.
Whereas Brent Venables might be in stuff you're going what the
hell is your quarterback doing? That gets translated in emotion,
in volume, in vibe to your quarterback.
I'm tell you again, you need, you need the quarterback to
(32:03):
trust you, whatever that means. I realized that there are lots
of folks that believe that we'realready doing it in a way that
we shouldn't and we're coddling them.
No, nobody coddles me. I go hard.
I got, I got editors, they got to pull me back.
I give you an example. Yesterday we did the show, make
(32:25):
the show. And then I'm thinking about
mistakes I make. I'm in the comments, as you guys
know, and I was so pissed at myself for a thing that I did
incorrectly. I got on my bike and I rode 20
miles in just over an hour. Get on your bike and try it.
That's how wired I was. And the results are like on the
(32:49):
IG and whatnot. But those are those are those
are symptoms. Those are not the consequence.
Consequences. I get to go wear myself out
because I was pissed, but I get another opportunity to do it
right today. And this is an example of that.
Show me that guy behind a microphone.
If you can show me that guy behind a microphone, I'm going
to show you somebody you should be listening to, somebody you
(33:11):
should trust. Rasilo goes hard, Pate goes
hard. I keep going.
There are dudes. There are dudes in my
profession. I'll be damned if every one of
us ain't out here going now. I got more to prove.
I got more to show. Just like Jackson Arlen, you
freeze. Kirby Smart was very impressive
(33:43):
at the days at SEC Media Day 2, but I do want to talk a little
bit about what he had to say about Nick Saban.
We'll do another segment where we talk about just what all is
going on in Georgia, but this one fell timely.
(34:07):
What's up, Ken folk, it's RJ Young.
I am not on a step. Mel, if this is your first time
watching, adapt and respond. Thank you for joining us here.
We talk college football year round.
If that is something you're into, go ahead and hit that
subscribe button like this videoand answer the question in the
comments below. How just dastardly would it be
if Kirby Smart, head coach of Georgia and Nick Saban was
(34:31):
defensive coordinator? Yo, it came up right among many
things that Kirby Smart was asked about, including his
feelings on walk ONS. I think he's right about that.
What the 105 is going to do, thekind of guys that he still wants
to recruit to Georgia, what he had to say about who leaves from
(34:54):
the front and who's just happy to be in the SEC, All of that
plays. Kirby Smart is far and away one
of the best coaches in our sportever.
Period. He makes my top ten.
He he just does. It's not just what he has done
at Georgia, but what he did in nine years at Alabama.
He waited for the right job, theonly job that he wanted as head
(35:17):
coach. He took it and in short order he
turned it into not one time, buta two time national champion
back-to-back years. And he did it the way that they
had done it at Alabama. He built an outstanding defense
that plays a lot of guys and an offense that just want to run
through your face. That's all they want to do.
(35:41):
And they've been able to do thatyear in and year out with guys
like Jake Fromm, Stetson Bennett, probably the most
talented quarterback that we've seen Georgia play in the Kirby
Smart era. Like, actually play, like, start
more than one game. Carson Beck, who's so talented
(36:01):
that he needed another year at Miami to prove value because,
well, they don't really need a Heisman Trophy quarterback.
I mean, Stetson Bennett was the finalist.
But that's more about what Georgia was, not about what said
to Bennett was not shade. Just what it is, right?
They know what time it is. Like my favorite story about
going to a game at Sanford. I got to see Notre Dame, Georgia
(36:25):
at night 2019. Really, really fun stuff.
Love that stadium, love the people.
Got to walk around campus for some time with my guy, my guy
DA. OK, so there's a hat that they
were selling that just says run the damn ball and it's BAWL.
(36:46):
I'm like, oh Lord, I'm home. I'm back home.
Your boy was born on Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, but
your man's was raised in the South.
Hattiesburg, Ms. stand up. Panama City, FL stand up.
My daddy grew up in Campbellton,FL, which wasn't even on the map
to the 21st century. Dothan was where you went to go
(37:08):
get the grocery. Athens, GA might as well been
Laurel, Ms. to me dawg. Like yeah anyway, I saw that and
I see us. We got we, we got we got folks
walking around 6 packs in the hands.
We got Waffle House near, we gotChick-fil-A near.
We got gas costing 279 a gallon.Hell, I could be in Tulsa, OK
(37:33):
too. They got that's, that's just
what it is. Sanford was that much cooler
playing Notre Dame, so you have that right.
But I thought about just how close that relationship must be
between Kirby Smart and Nick Saban.
Probably one of the close relationships that Nick Saban
has among coaches, the other being Bill Belichick at North
Carolina. But when you work as closely as
(37:55):
you do with a guy like Kirby Smart or Nick Saban, you get to
know things about the other people don't.
So he was in a unique position to answer about the rumor that
Nick Saban would return to coachJohn Sideline.
Greg McElroy, for his part, has said, look, I told you what
somebody I really trust and knowbelieves.
It's not what I believe. I think he's done coaching at 74
(38:17):
years old, To which, you know, Kirby said, look, I heard the
rumor and I called him and I'll from Will Muschamp's job.
And I'm like, you know, he's a no.
But, you know, when it comes down to it, that man's very much
involved in football. He still knows ball.
He's still watching film. He still talks with me and about
(38:37):
defensive philosophy and things we should be doing in and on the
football field. And, and he loves the game.
That's evident. He's been great for the game.
He's very much involved in the game, not just in television.
But, you know, Trump dragged himin.
I don't think he wanted to go and trying to fix college
football. I don't think it needs fixing.
There's just changes that have been happening that we need to
adjust to. And we're making some of those
changes even now with the College Sports Commission
(38:59):
revenue share and so forth. But when it comes to ball, Nick
Saban got a lot out of taking your fancy offense, my fancy
offense, and saying you're goingto do nothing.
I'm going to bend this game backto my will.
And when the game got out of hand with the you know, the way
in which air raid principles andspread principles became way
(39:22):
offenses want to attack and they're using the the rule book
to their advantage, going fast, not being able to sub or
allowing the defense to sub NickSaban goes, if this is what we
want the game to be a hell, I'llgo get me a Johnny Manziel.
And he does. He gets a Jalen Hurts, he gets a
Blake Sims, he gets A to a TongaVeloa to some degree.
He gets a Jalen Millroad. He gets a guy that can move
around back there. And so let's Lane Kiffin of all
(39:44):
people had to play play sheet. And then has Steve Sarkeesian
having to play sheet, Tommy Reeves having to play sheet.
You know, it keeps going. But I love that he enjoys
looking at your offense and saying, yeah, all right, that's
cute. Watch this.
(40:06):
And Kirby Smart loves doing thattoo.
One of the ways that they chooseto attack it was by playing a
lot of guys like you'll. You'll look at this like.
Folks, you generally say that. Why are Georgia football players
being drafted so high with statsthat just aren't as good as
others? Like, we play a lot of guys.
We get a lot of reps Dudes play a lot of football for us.
They don't have a lot of stats, but they play a lot of football.
(40:26):
They play early, they play often.
But we're not leaving guys out there for, you know, 1012 plays
at a time. We're rotating that every
position because we can. That's what you do when you
bring in all these five stars. It's not stash them, it's to
play them right and you develop them as they go.
And by the time they're third year players, you got a national
championship caliber team. They're going to be very young
this year, 54% of their of theirtheir rosters underclassmen.
(40:49):
But it would be diabolical for Nick Saban come out of
retirement to be defensive coordinator at Georgia.
My favorite saying about Nick Saban having Kirby as a defense
coordinator, especially toward the end, it's like, look, Kirby
knows more about this defense than I do at this point, and I
know everything about this defense.
So I just try to be a good GA when I'm around Kirby.
(41:11):
You know, he lets me coach my defense backs and I leave
everything else up to him. Also, the only man that was
comfortable really knowing the mood swings and how to get
around Nick. Like, there's a famous story
about how folks were afraid of of just what would happen if
Nick called a meeting or called that meeting because famously,
(41:31):
after winning the national championship, he called a
meeting the very next day, 7:30 in the morning.
Rather than go celebrate. Kirby Smart's gonna find a way
to go play around the golf. He's gonna find a way to have a
good time, you know, and he's also going to get his work done.
So why? I know that he's a great leader
and he believes in what he's doing because he has the
confidence to go have fun while also being the best defense
coordinator in the sport. For the time that he was at
(41:53):
Alabama, I grew, I gained more respect.
Hearing Kirby talk about the values that he has then what
he's sticking to. Not so.
Not because I believe in them and there are many that I do.
It's because of how he has comported himself.
A lot of respect for coach to goout of their way to be honest,
forthright. Walk it like they talk it.
(42:15):
Herb Smarts, one of those. We'll talk a bunch about his
football teams, we'll talk a bunch about.
The receivers, we'll talk a bunch about what we expect from
a guy like Dale and Everett versus a guy like KJ Bolden,
first guy like Gunner Stockton. But I know what kind of coach
I'm going to get from the dude wearing the visor on the
sideline. And hell, it's their league
(42:37):
until somebody takes it from. What happens if Alabama misses
the College Football Playoff in 2025?
Start with It would be unprecedented.
(43:06):
What's up folks, it's RJ Young. I am not on Step mill.
If this is your first time watching, adapt and respond.
Thank you for joining us here. We talk college football year
round. If that is something you're
into, go ahead and hit that subscribe button.
Like this video and answer the question in the comments below.
Do you think Alabama will make the College Football Playoff in
2025? Also going to remind you, we
have an audio podcast on Apple and Spotify.
(43:28):
And if you are kind enough to leave us a five star review at
both, I'm going to send you one of these stickers.
All you got to do is hit the link in the description below,
fill out the form, tell me whereto address my thank you note.
So Alabama enters year two of the Kaitlyn Deborah experience.
And now that he's got a full year of not just games, but
offseason recruiting and development underneath them,
(43:49):
there is a really good question as to is this team going to make
the College Football Playoff because it is more talented than
it was last year, even with the change quarterback from Jalen
Millroad to what we think is going to be Ty Simpson.
If not Ty Simpson, then Austin Mack.
Richard Young is going to be in that backfield with Jam Miller,
Jeremy Bernard, Ryan Williams, Isaiah Horton, Cole Adams on one
(44:10):
side. On the other side, right, got
Koi Russell. We got Damonte Jackson.
We got dudes, We got hitters, right?
Deonte Lawson. But that's really not what we're
talking about when we talk aboutBama.
What we talk about with Bama is in unparalleled excellence.
Put it another way, since the College Football Playoff was
first created in Play 2014, no team has made more appearances
(44:34):
in it than Alabama, right? So goes like this.
Alabama has made eight playoff appearances and won nine games
in the playoff. So we're three wins away from
them having, you know, a full season or in in college
football. And we're actually on the cusp
(44:54):
of four more times they make it in there have a full season of
College Football Playoff. So how many championships have
they won? One of the most of anybody, 33
College Football Playoff national championships of the
seven that Nick Saban won. And my goodness, dude.
Talking also because of this, the SEC leads with the most
appearances of 10, 14 wins from SEC and six championships.
(45:18):
So you can understand why we continue to say things like the
SEC has been the most dominant college Football League in
America for the last 20 years. Now it feels like that might be
coming to an end because with Bama missing the playoffs last
year, we also got back-to-back Big 10 champions for the first
time, first time ever. Michigan, then Ohio State, Ohio
(45:39):
State being the defending champ now Texas and Oklahoma ought to
help, right? More Texas right now than
Oklahoma, but you get my point here.
It's not whether or not Alabama's going to be good, it's
more like they weren't good enough.
When you are having to argue with SMU over the final spot in
the College Football Playoff, you are not meeting the standard
(45:59):
at Alabama. Now, losing Oklahoma probably
did it to you, right? Losing a Vanderbilt also did it
to you. Losing Tennessee, people could
stomach that. That's going to be OK, right?
Losing in Michigan is just kind of salt in the wound because
it's done at that point. But I tend to look at it from
the standpoint of every other year Alabama has made the
(46:21):
playoff, right? So in a year where they didn't
like 2019, right? Guess what?
They end up right where you expect them to be, back in the
playoff the next year, 2020, with what I think is one of the
five best college football teamsof all time.
Nick Saban's last year, they gotin over an undefeated Florida
State in large part because we know Nick Saban and we don't
(46:43):
know what Florida State is without Jordan Travis.
All these things play. Caitlin Devore had entered
Alabama as a guy who had flippedWashington into not just a
contender, but in the national title, runner up in short order.
All you need to give him was a quarterback, some wide receivers
and a defense that didn't absolutely suck.
And they were able to do what they needed to do in the PAC 12
(47:04):
and eventually in the playoff. I'm curious to find out if
Caitlin de Boer and Alabama missed the playoff this year,
what happens to de Boer? Because I don't know that he
would get fired. I think it's about how did you
miss the playoff, right? Nine wins is nine wins.
But Bama, you're used to 11 or nothing, right?
(47:25):
Even in the season where you won11 again in the Citrus Bowl,
right. 2020, Yeah. 2019, right? You're not you're not happy
about that. Even though that Michigan team
turned out to be a monster lateron down the line, so did that
Bama team the very next year, OK, It's more like look at the
schedule that Bama is facing now.
(47:45):
Florida State, we don't know what they're going to be mean
that they were two and 10 last year.
It's been a wholesale change. Might as well be Indiana for all
we know, right? The good or bad, depending on
how you want to look at it. Wisconsin will be better, but
you ought to be able to beat them.
But then your schedule is still your schedule.
Like, you got to find any totem Romo's in there, but you still
got to play LSU, still got to play Oklahoma, still got to play
(48:07):
Tennessee. Vanderbilt's not a pushover.
South Carolina's good. Auburn ought to be better.
Missouri is going to be decent. Like, there aren't any easy wins
on the schedule in FBS competition for Alabama this
year. It's just not there.
So everything they get, they're going to have to earn their have
to have to do it with a guy who is figuring out how to be the
starter for the first time and frankly, better be throwing the
(48:29):
ball to Ryan Williams just as often as they can, right?
I realize you want to run the football, but Ryan Williams
averaged 18 yards per catch. He got 48 catches last year.
That man needs to get closer to 100 catches this year.
Feed him the rock and you're going to let Jeremy Bernard run
wide open, Cole Adams run wide open, Isaiah Horton run wide
open because of what he's going to be able to facilitate for
(48:50):
you. You can't afford to drop games
to Vanderbilt. You can't afford to drop games
to Oklahoma, can't afford to drop games to Auburn, can't
afford to drop games to programsthat we don't expect to be in
the College Football Playoff. Now, Oklahoma could be there,
every SEC team could be there, but there are those that we're
willing to bet on. There's those that we aren't,
(49:11):
right? Georgia, Texas, people are
willing to bet on. After that, you may be Florida,
right? Because think about it this way.
When DJ Lagway played a full game for Florida, they're six
and O, it mattered. It does matter.
We don't have that data point for Alabama so far this year,
and we're still looking for it. But we do have the data points
for what excellence has looked like in the playoff era, and it
(49:32):
all screams Nick Saban's Alabama.
It's almost as if when we created this format, we created
a way to make sure that his teammakes the playoff period.
And sometimes it meant playing against another SEC team in the
national championship. That's when you know you're
good. That's when you know you're
dominant, when your league creates the two best teams in
(49:53):
the sport, right? When your team is going to play
a game that would regularly play.
I mean, George is on the schedule in the regular season
again for Alabama, when when that's a regular season game
becomes a national championship game.
There's nothing anybody gets to tell you about anything.
And that's where they've been working from.
But now it's kind of getting tight for the SEC because
(50:13):
back-to-back years of not playing in the national
championship game, it's going toit's going to hurt.
And if they get a third straightyear and you see the Big 10
continue to do with the Big 10 does maybe Clemson is Clemson,
right? You could be looking at perhaps
a plucky Big 12 team that goes undefeated, maybe stealing a
spot from you and make it harderfor you to get to the national
(50:35):
championship game again, to say nothing of what would happen to
an Alabama that wins 10 games. Now, we tend to believe that if
you win 10 games in the SEC, you're going to make the
playoff. So let's say your losses are
Georgia, right? And then pick one on the
schedule, Pick one. I think you can do that.
So they get to 10 wins. Alabama's gonna be there, right?
That that's just what it is. But it is worth considering what
(50:57):
it might look like if they don't, how long we can expect
Caitlin to board to survive if they don't.
These are, I mean, wild times. But that's what he's up against.
They given him the roster. They put together the NIL
collective. They have gone through every
change they possibly could, evenkeeping Nick Saban in and around
(51:20):
and in the building to try to facilitate better recruiting,
better players. I'm still very much a part of
this program. I feel very much care about what
happens here. He will still go do in homes
from time to time, right, Depending on what you need,
because he's still got it in hisveins.
But it's all on Caitlin Devore. He's the head coach.
That's what it is. And Alabama is not a place where
(51:40):
you can go back-to-back nine winseasons anymore.
It's not that it. They don't want to take a step
back. They want to take a step
forward. They want to be leading the
conversation. So everything Ohio State did
last year, something they believe they should be able to
do this year, to say nothing of what George was doing in
2021-2022. I mean, remember, Georgia beat
that Alabama team and then stopped a mud hole in Texas.
(52:00):
Christian walked it dry, right? If Alabama's in that Texas
Christian spot, do they beat Michigan?
Maybe, but they just weren't good enough, right?
That's what we're talking about.It's those sorts of
conversations I'm fascinated by this season because there are a
lot of men that have a lot to prove, and Caitlin de Boer is
absolutely one of them.
If Texas is not loaded up to play for and win the national
championship in 2025, somebody forgot to tell Texas and Texas
fans that, as that looks like what Steve Sarkeesian is
selling. What's up to folks, it's RJ
(00:24):
Young. I am not on a step mill.
If this is your first time watching adapt and respond.
Thank you for joining us here. We talk college football year
round. That is something you're into.
Go ahead and hit that subscribe button like this video and
answer the question in the comments below.
Is Texas going to win the national championship?
I've asked this question before and I and I won't continue to
ask this question, but you need to answer it.
I also wonder is Arch Manning worth the hype?
(00:47):
Right. I have been very much on the
Arch Manning train. A lot of folks that watch this
show in the comments and out in the wild when I get to meet
people. Yo dawg, why you so high on Arch
Manning? He ain't played nobody dog.
He got two starts and he played against UTSA, Mississippi State,
you know, LA Monroe, like that ain't nobody.
(01:08):
We don't care. That ain't nobody. 68%
completion, I mean, that's fine.939 passing yards.
OK, You know, can we talk about the two picks he threw?
We just gonna talk about the 19.Easy through.
Yeah. I think all those things are
valid, but you still would rather have Arch Manning than
not. There might be, and I'm.
(01:28):
I'm not joking, there might be two quarterbacks on the face of
the earth that are eligible to play college football that you
would rather want playing quarterback for you.
I think Oklahoma's got one of them and the other, well, it is
going to be really, really difficult for someone to
(01:51):
convince me that Julian saying is just not going to be that
good outside of that. Carson Beck.
I mean, they got, they got a nice quarterback in Georgia.
DJ Lagway, maybe, maybe SO3, 3DJLagway gets in there.
Maybe you want him more than youwant Arch Manning, but if you
take DJ Lagway, I'm taking Arch Manning.
(02:13):
And that's kind of the point. Even if you took DJ Lagway first
or John Mateer or Julian Sand, the next guy off the board
probably is Arch Manning for a number of reasons, not the least
of which is pedigree, right? But we talk about 6 foot four
and can move 6 foot four and canmove 6 foot four.
And it's like, I don't think hisarm is elite.
(02:35):
Yeah, right, dog. And he's going to have guys
around him like we're going to continue to point out, yeah,
they're losing 4 starters on that offensive line.
That's not insignificant by any stretch.
One of those guys is not just Kelvin Banks, but Jake Majors,
who had 50 plus starts on that line.
But Texas pride itself on developing them and having them
(02:56):
ready to go just as soon as the the guys age out because that is
what happens in our sport. He's going to have DeAndre more
back in the slots, going to haveRyan Wingo.
He's added Jack Andreess, who's 1000 yard receiver or tight end.
They're going to be good. They're what nobody loves Trey
Wisner more than Steve Sarkisiangoes out of his way twice to be
(03:17):
like. Do you guys realize that we have
the SE CS returning leader at rusher?
Yeah, dawg, we, we, we know. We also know CJ Baxter's back
there, but it's also him saying basically to CJ, hey, I got a
dude that I can trust who was 1000 yard back for me.
You're going to have to show me that you can do that.
We're also talking about Sark here.
(03:37):
Sark, who hasn't missed on a quarterback in quite some time.
Like, I would argue that LincolnRiley missed on Miller Moss
because he ended up having to bench him to go get Jay Maiaba.
You could also say that about Spencer Radler, Caleb Williams.
But Sark has been on kind of a tear here since becoming office
coordinator at Alabama inherits Mac Jones turns out to be great
right ends up going to Texas where in short order gets when
(04:02):
you was back in fray and they start winning.
And an important an important note here, Arch and Anthony Hill
are in a group of players that only know about playing for
conference championships and playing in the College Football
Playoff. That's not insignificant either
because the expectation is that you continue to do what you had
(04:24):
been doing. If you are going from five wins
to eight wins, it's not as easy to say we're going to be a
playoff team. But when you've been there and
you know what it feels like, it's easier to get back there.
This for me is like chasing lap time.
I get set a fast lap and it's fast for me and it's fast for
anybody else. But once you get to your limit,
trying to find a 10th, trying tofind half a 10th, these things
(04:48):
become harder and harder to do. And that is what they're trying
to do to win the national championship.
They are fast. They're fast by anybody's
imagination. It is getting to the end here.
And once again, I'm talking about another program that ran
up against the wall. That was Ohio State, right?
Tennessee first, Oregon second, Texas third, Notre Dame and Nash
(05:10):
championship game. We're also talking about a
program that didn't have to be outstanding at anyone thing.
They just need to be good last year.
Like I think one of the underrated statistics when we
talk about SEC and Texas is theywere ranked 4th in points per
game and total yards per game. Just 33 points per game in SCC
play in 438 yards. They got Big Boyd by Georgia in
(05:34):
both of their losses in SEC, right?
One at DKR where Sark went out of his way to say, hey, we got 8
million people that watch us on television on average.
We got 102,000 people show up toDKR on average.
And Georgia showed up and ran through you in such a way that
you fans show it out and embarrassed you, embarrassed
(05:54):
you. You had to walk out into the
corner of DKR and tell children to calm down.
That's what y'all be doing down there at Austin.
You would never find nothing like that at Oklahoma.
We not, we not going to be throwing stuff on the field like
that. Gonna boot a quarterback,
quarterback game plan. I'm not not excited about that
neither like when there, there are things about OU fans that we
could, we could fix like that West Virginia game.
(06:15):
I'm, I'm still pissed about that.
Spencer didn't deserve that. Didn't, did not deserve that.
Not, not, not one minute. But the moment we start throwing
stuff at people, Nah, man, arrest people.
Now they get, get that out of here 'cause then you're ruining
not just the atmosphere, but theopportunity for any of us to
have this experience. And the fan experience is what
(06:36):
makes college football the best sport in the world if you can
create that week in and week outand give yourself an advantage.
I gave the statistic earlier, but Tennessee's 20 and one at
kneeling. Their fan base has everything to
do with that, right? Same thing I think is true at
Texas where a lot of people thatwere already switched on or even
more switched on, people that were not switched on are now.
Cuz Starks probably right? Texas has never been more
(06:58):
popular than it is right now. Just wait until they get back to
a national championship game. By the way, they ain't done that
since 2009. They'll be the first to tell you
that. I also think that he made some
upgrades that people aren't really paying attention to, like
Michael Taft coming back is huge, right?
Matter of fact, the two best players or two of the best
players, and I won't say the twobest players, two of the best
(07:20):
players at Texas. We're 16.
Both are basically local high school legends, one being arch
man and the other one being Michael Taft, who was a really
great high school player who decided to walk on and ends up
an all American. That's pretty cool.
I I don't know, that's just cool.
You also went to go get a kicker.
(07:42):
Like I'm fascinated by this because I think that one of the
things that we get missed on is just how important it is to have
a kicker. Like the one that Texas went to
go recruit because Burt Auburn saw the writing on the wall and
went into the transfer portal inthe April window knowing damn
well, hey, you can't be out heremissing kicks in critical
situations. We can't have it.
(08:02):
We get like it's one thing for Texas not be good in the low red
zone inside 10 yard line where they just kept getting stymied.
It's another for your kicker just not to be money and
especially in games where you got to have it and you got
you're having a conversation with your coach as the place
kicker that I don't never want to do that.
Leave me alone. I'm I'm not here in my own world
more than that. Burt Auburn scored more points
than anybody else in Texas history and I'm sure they can't
(08:23):
wait for somebody to take that over.
But you bring in a Texas State quick kicker in Mason Shipley,
who has the Sunbelt record for longest field goal at 60 yards.
Also been pretty damn consistent.
You upgraded a position. One of the things that he
mentioned in his press that alsothink is worth mentioning, it's
that you've got seniors at everyone of his critical special
teams positions. Place kicker, kickoff holder,
(08:46):
They're all punter, they're all seniors, they're all
upperclassmen. They're all guys that know how
to play football, played a bunchof football.
As we continue to talk about Texas and what it is that Arch
is or isn't, I wish we would have some level of excitement
around this dude. Man, like I the number of people
(09:08):
that have showed up to just tellme or other people that had the
audacity to think that Arch Manning could be really, really
fun is ridiculous. I, I do you hate football?
Do you hate watching good football?
Now again, I'm from Oklahoma. When the undergraduate universe
told us I got a master degree from the University of Oklahoma,
Lived in Norman covering this team for six years.
(09:32):
Cut my teeth at a Rivals team site, The Oklahoman as an
intern, went to cover high school football, stringing in
most of the counties in this state.
When I say I'm from here, from here north of the Red River
means something. I love football and I love
watching good football. And as much as these high
(09:53):
stakes, high energy games give me a heart attack or I feel like
I'm gonna, I'm not stroking out.Am I having a stroke?
I remember. I remember Alex Grinch's defense
plant and Sam Elliger 9 sacks. I remember Dylan Gabriel saying
I got it. I'm putting us on our on you.
I'm put put everybody on my back.
(10:14):
I'm gonna go 3 bills. I'm gonna go rusher 100.
Nick Anderson gonna be standing there right there in the end
zone. I'm gonna throw in the football.
We go win the game. I'm debilitated.
I am inconsolable when Oklahoma loses 40. 9 to not a zip. 0
Nothing and. I choose to look out and see a
(10:38):
player and see a guy that has everything you want to
quarterback and as a dude that loves quarterback, is a
quarterback finds quarterback play to be some of the coolest.
Pre snap, post snap, can you make that throw?
Do you have the physical abilities and can you keep a
(10:58):
cool head in a hot situation? I think Arch Manning can do it.
I refuse to not be excited aboutthat.
Let's talk about Tennessee and why Josh Hypel is adamant that
(11:20):
the QB Derby is on. Also, that little game they lost
against Ohio State. What's up kinfolk, it's RJ
Young. I am not on a step mill.
If this is your first time watching adapt and respond,
(11:42):
thank you for joining us here. We talk college football year
round. That is something you're into.
Go ahead and hit that subscribe button like this video and
answer the question in the comments below.
Do you think Tennessee will get back to the College Football
Playoff in 2025, given the chainnot just at quarterback, but
more importantly, at running back?
As Volunteer fans, be the first to tell you, it wasn't Nico that
was stern to drink, it was DylanSampson.
(12:04):
And that is in keeping with the kind of program that Josh Hyper
has built at the University of Tennessee.
Like, I, I don't mind saying it.I think last year was the best
coaching season I've ever seen from Josh Hypo.
And I have been fortunate enoughto watch Josh Hypo's career
since he played quarterback in Oklahoma, LED OU to a national
(12:24):
championship all the way through.
Offensive coordinator, tight, well, tight ends coach at
Arizona. Offensive coordinator at
Oklahoma, quarterback coach running his own program at
Central Florida. Central Florida.
Brief stop there in Missouri andthen taking over Tennessee with
Danny White and they got that thing humming like I I it's been
really interesting. They go 10 and three last year,
(12:46):
10 win season for the second time in three years.
And I think it's worth pointing out that they hadn't had two ten
win seasons, you know, since theearly aughts, or I want to say
like 98909798, but I know this for certain.
There were zero ten win seasons between 2008 and 2021, dark
(13:07):
period for Tennessee fans. And they have come out of it and
come out of it firing. It's really about just getting
that last little bit for Tennessee.
And this is the tough part, likegetting the ten wins is
difficult. Getting to 11/12, then you're
getting into the deep water because you're only playing the
class, the best of the best of our sport class competition.
(13:29):
But each of the last two years, three years, two years, they
have led the SEC in rushing, 2500 yards rushing.
And every one of the four years that Josh Apple's been there in,
this is the third best start that any coaches had in a four
season stretch, 37 wins in four years.
They've been right there, right?That's just it, right where they
(13:50):
were when they played Ohio Statein that opening round.
They get to figure out just how far away they are from winning
the national championship as they watched Ohio State not just
run through them, but run through Oregon and Texas and
Notre Dame. That in and of itself is
remarkable. Like you think about that run
and what it took for the Buckeyes to get that national
championship. They didn't do this over Boise
(14:12):
State. They didn't do this over
Southern Methodist. Again, they did this over
Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame.
Not too shabby. Also going to take this
opportunity to remind you that we have an audio podcast on
Apple and Spotify. And if you are kind enough to
leave us a five star review on Apple, Spotify, I'm going to
send you this sticker in the mail along with a thank you
(14:33):
note. Just hit the form in the
description below. For the folks that are listening
on the audio, go to a YouTube video, basically anyone that we
have made in the last two monthsand go to the bottom of the
description. You'll see the link in the form
where you can fill this out. I need to do a live stream here
fairly soon where I fill out a bunch of these because I owe a
bunch of you notes and they're coming.
(14:55):
I'm going to get these done before my birthday.
I turn 38 this year. What a wild year to turn 38,
man. I've spent, I spent 20 years.
No, I started when I was 18. Damn.
I've spent more time covering college football on this earth
than anything else. Thinking about it, I got started
when I was 18 years old to 20 years I've been covering college
(15:18):
football. Wild.
Really, really wild. I also think that it's important
to point out that Tennessee has been nails at Kneeland.
Like Oklahoma got to come to Kneeland this year is one of the
reasons I'm pointing it out. How's that 2015 taste in your
mouth, by the way? I'm excited about that game.
(15:39):
I I'm, I'm, I'm figuring it out because that is an atmosphere 1
where OU comes in going, hey, wewas here the last time and Butch
Jones tried to tell Eric Strikeroff and we wasn't trying to feel
none of that, hearing none of that, we don't care.
You know what I'm saying, Baker Mayfield said.
What's good kneeling, what's good General coming in at
(16:00):
Knoxville, They don't care nothing about none of that.
But they've been 20 and one uniteful dog.
I did 21 games. They lost one game.
And kneeling. It's tough place to play it.
It's got to be a fortress this year if they're trying to get
back to the College Football Playoff.
You can't afford to drop games at that stadium.
And you got one tough schedule to start.
Like Syracuse is coming. Like that's a good football
(16:21):
team. That ought to be a really great
non conference matchup between the ACC and the SEC.
And I really enjoy that. Deshawn Bishop going to get an
opportunity to announce himself.There's a lot of folks that
don't believe in Deshawn, like Ibelieve in Deshawn, some of them
volunteers, some of y'all over here trying to tell me like,
hey, Deshawn don't get no snaps last year, right man All right,
cool. We'll we'll see.
We'll we'll, we'll see. But that's going to be what it
(16:42):
is, right? They want to run the football.
They want to run the football well, they want to get off to
fast starts. They want to get 3 touchdowns
first quarter, then sit on your chest.
That's what they're gonna try todo.
Now, I also think it's interesting that a lot of this
is just going to be testing the quarterback.
If you are the defense that's facing Tennessee for the first
half the season, you want to seewhat that dude's made-up because
you know that the dude that was there ain't it, right?
(17:03):
Niko Iyemaliaba is for balls fans.
Addition by subtraction, OK? We got out what we think is a
cancerous cell and we caught it right in time before it could
really do us some damage and some harm.
And they responded like you would expect an SEC program to
respond. Which is to say, nobody's bigger
than the program. Nobody's ever been bigger than
the program. We have shoved off more
(17:26):
important coaches than you. We have lived through Lane
Kiffin and Derrick Dooley and his friggin stool.
You don't, we're not. You don't get to do this to us.
Especially after they paid him 350 upfront in high school and
then loaded this contract, more than two million a year over
three years. Remarkable money that they were
(17:48):
paying Nikko and Maliaba and he played not great in 2024 and
demanded more money in a holdoutand they said, sayonara, don't
let the door hit you where the good Lord split you, you know.
And then they went and got Joey Aguilar.
No disrespect Joey Aguilar, none, none at all.
But he was not as highly touted as Nyuko Miyagi Malliaba and he
(18:13):
played Appalachian State. Wasn't great last year was just
OK, but the year before that it's pretty damn good.
Now think about what it is in 2025.
I'm interested to see what he's got on the outside because they
got some dudes they can throw the rock to.
It'll be OK, it'll be just fine.But Josh Hypo has also said it's
(18:35):
quarterback dirty. Everyone of his guys is going to
get an opportunity to go out andwin the job from McIntyre to
Mecklinger to yes, Aguilar. But I don't think you bring in a
guy like Joey Aguilar if you do not expect Joey Aguilar to win
the job. And you know, I don't think
anybody would want it any other way.
Like the last thing that you want to do as a head coach is
(18:56):
assure somebody's got a job anywhere, anytime.
You always want competition throughout and this is an
important year for everybody with revenue share.
And as you have guys that are grandfathered into your rosters,
you're going to quickly get to 105, which means that everybody
you bring in has to be able to play right away, and that starts
(19:17):
this season. Young guys don't have an
opportunity to be young anymore.They got to contribute, which
means that everybody's going to start trying to look and do it
the way that George has done it,which is to play a lot of people
a few snaps, right? You got to rotate the entire
roster through, find out who canmake plays for you, find out who
needs to be on the field in critical situations, but also
have enough depth behind them that it matters like This is why
(19:39):
it like a guy like Star Thomas lying to Shawn Bishop, I think
is going to be a big deal. I also think that you need you
need to have McIntyre Magner believing that you believe in
them in case something happens to Aguilar because those guys
going into the game could be fortuitous.
It could be detrimental. I'm thinking about what happens
(20:00):
when DJ Lagway goes down. You got to go to third string
quarterback. It's not great.
DJ Lagway was also the difference between winning and
losing at Florida. Like when he was on the field,
they were unbeatable, full stop.You need to have that in your
guy. I think they can get that in
their guys. I really do.
I think that Tennessee come backwith a outstanding defense.
(20:23):
They're going to make life that much simpler on their offense
and one of the reasons I believethey've really committed to
running the football. Last year's, A, Nico couldn't do
what Hendon Hooker could do, which is what we thought B, they
were really stout upfront. Now they're going to replace a
lot upfront. But they were able to play
complimentary football because anytime you can run the football
well, you give your defense opportunities.
(20:44):
Do not take breathers. That's what people say.
It's really about snap count. How many snaps are you on the
field, right? Like it's it's can we get off
the field on three and out? We get off field 3 and out.
And then we know that the offense is going to run the
football. We don't actually have to go out
there and defend as often as many.
Like, This is why Michigan's defense 2023 was so good.
(21:06):
You just don't have to worry about it by you don't have to
worry about whether or not they were going to run the football.
You didn't have worry about whether or not they were going
to take an appropriate time off the clock.
And you didn't worry about whether or not they're going to
change. They were going to move the
change. It was going to work for them.
If Tennessee can be that team again, yeah, I make the playoff.
(21:33):
Hugh Freeze said a lot of thingsthat have led me to believe he
might have fixed Jackson Arnold and the Auburn Tigers might be
on their way. What's up kinfolk?
(21:55):
It's RJ Gung. I am not on a step mill.
If this is your first time watching adapt and respond.
Thank you for joining us here. We talk college football year
round. If that is something you're
into, go ahead and hit that subscribe button like this video
and answer the question in the comments below.
Do you believe that Jackson Arnold is due to have?
(22:15):
One of the. Best seasons by a Hugh Freeze
quarterback that we have ever seen And what is a pivotal year
for Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers.
Also going to take this opportunity to remind you we got
an audio podcast on Apple and Spotify.
You guys have been great about this and I frankly expected
(22:36):
nothing more given just how strong this community has been,
but continue to go to Apple, Spotify, leave a five star
review. If you do that and you can hit
the form in the description below on YouTube.
Go ahead and send me that address address and tell me
where to send this sticker and athank you numb because means
(22:56):
that much to me. I'm with you freeze.
Not something I say normally because every now and again that
man says something that kind of gets under my skin or has done
something in the past kind of gets under my skin or frankly is
not doing enough with what he has.
OK, I pit him against every other SEC coach and I put him in
(23:20):
the Eli Rinkwitz tier, which is to say, there's a lot of
talking, there's some winning, but there are no championships
to show for all of this. There's some folks that, as
Kirby Smart said earlier at his availability, the day's lead
from the front. And there are other folks that
are very comfortable being in the SECI, See this in my
(23:42):
business often. I got a lot of.
People in my business that stop hustling, that stop working,
there is a money threshold that gets hit, a comfort threshold
that gets hit and these folks don't know how to hunt or they
forget how to hunt or they don'twant to hunt anymore.
They get fat, old and lazy in the in their psychological
(24:03):
efforts. There's no fire underneath them
because they don't need one. People are complacent.
Think about Missouri not winninga championship in the SEC.
Think about A&M not win a championship since 98.
Fan base. It's not you, it's a guy in
charge. Why we turn that dude out and
we're willing to pay him to go away if we don't like the
results? Because that's our family that
(24:26):
you're coaching. That's my name across your
chest. In many cases, that's my name
across your back. And don't.
Don't lose this opportunity not with a 5 star quarterback like
Jackson Arnold and I don't thinkthat Hugh Freeze is gonna.
But the reason I say I'm with you Freeze is he has really
taken some stock about his quarterback and invested in him
(24:49):
in a way that I expect that whatoffense play caller to invest.
Now before we get to all the good things that I think you
Freeze is done, I'm going to remind you that this man is not
at A10 win season in the SEC or anywhere else since 2015 and
he's never won more than 10 games in a season.
That 2015 team, the Ole Miss team that was once ranked in the
(25:12):
top three of the AP, yeah, it finished ten and three losses
were Memphis, Arkansas in there.Come on now.
One ranked upon a beat in Florida.
They had it there. Chad can lose a 4000 yard pass
or 500 yard rusher. You're going to need that and
then some out of Jackson Arnold.But it is a guy that very much
(25:34):
fits the scheme he wants to run and that is putting points on
the board as quickly as possible.
And there are some things that happened when he got to Auburn
that I feel have really helped him with the rehab from
Oklahoma. And I think this is the part
where Oklahoma fans get to know and see what I think and how I
feel about this. The way that it started for
(25:56):
Jackson Arnold to Alamo Bowl wasthe way it was supposed to
happen last season. He was unafraid, he was
fearless. He threw a couple pics where I
said, son, what are you looking at?
And I said this to to close friends going I don't know about
it. He keeps slinging like this.
I don't feel good about it. And they said, RJ, look at all
the good things he did. All right, He threw those two
TDs. He threw for 363.
(26:17):
He was good when the play broke down and extending it.
If they put in together an RPO offense for him, it ought to
work. And I said, OK, we'll go with
this. And then what?
Doesn't get spoken about enough And Hugh Freese did his homework
on this scout. Like OK, I saw a two in the
Alamo Bowl and we all saw it when he's national Gatorade
player of the year. What the hell happened in
(26:38):
Oklahoma? Injuries happen and I've been
loud about this. I don't have a problem with
Brent Venables. Y'all know this, Many of you do.
I don't have a problem with BillBeanbo.
Offensive line was green as helllast year.
Many of you do. I don't have a problem in the
Jones wide receivers were non existent.
Many of you do. I don't have a problem with
(26:59):
DeMarco Murray, Tatum Taylor putting the ball on the carpet.
I can't have that. No, I, I, I, I cannot have you
fumbling the football. That ain't going to work.
Jackson are throwing to the other team on 1st down.
Can't add that. No, but what precipitated all of
those things? Injuries, pre season injuries,
(27:22):
camp injuries. That's on the strength
conditioning coordinator. That is on Jerry Schmidt.
I was going to the University ofTulsan undergraduate to become
Jerry Schmidt. I mean this still got the CSCSI
was a much bigger dude. I walked around at 5 foot 5 and
about $1.80. You know, I just got done
winning the only national championship I ever won, power
(27:44):
powerlifting, powersports. So that was bench curl and
deadlift. So in the 165 category, I was
pulling 600 from the ground, I was pushing 315 off my chest and
I was curling 125. I think it was my mother's got
the number somewhere. Mighty Mouse.
(28:05):
That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to go and make guys
bigger, fashion stronger at places like Oklahoma.
But I was quickly led to believeit's like anything else, right?
The job is it what you think it is as a kid, the job is what
they show you it is. And the job restrictive
condition coordinator. Yeah, you're going to make them
bigger, faster, stronger, but that's going to be there.
(28:25):
Like they've come to you as a very well built car.
There's nothing for you really fix as much as there are things
for you to tweak. But your job is to make sure the
car runs and is in the best possible shape when it gets time
to run that Grand Prix. That means you don't break them.
That means you make sure they hold up for the entire season.
So when you see things like ACL tears all across the board, or
(28:47):
Achilles tears all across the board, or pectoral injuries,
bicep injuries all across the board, that's about the training
regiment. That's the periodization, That's
the science. What did you push?
How did you push it? When did you push it?
How much running did we do? There is a fine line between
pushing someone to be better andinjuring them.
I think Oklahoma went over the line last year.
(29:08):
Jerry Schmidt is minted in my profession, in the profession I
want to go in. So last year feels like the
anomaly that it was because you didn't in the hierarchy, right?
Schmidt, Tommy Moffett, Mick Murati, like I keep going.
These are superstars of of what I wanted to do.
So I was disappointed last year with all the injuries that
happened and how little the athletic training staff can gain
(29:30):
trust from many of the players that opted to transfer out Gavin
Sawcheck to Florida State, Nick Anderson, LSU yacht.
So Hugh Freeze takes that into account, the injury rate, and he
says, OK, I think I got it now because what I see is a dude who
won. It's got the arm talent to make
any throw I want, is comfortablewith sticking a ball in a belly
(29:52):
and pulling it out. Can extend to play with his legs
and has hips quick enough to getout of that mesh into an RPO
slant and make it go, or even the deep out or deep go right.
Some of us make this our preferred offense in EA Sports
College Football 26 because we've gotten so good at it
'cause it is a particular skill set.
It's a different way to pitch. So they rebuilt his confidence
(30:14):
by having just throw and throw and throw 2 receivers, Cam
Coleman, Eric Singleton down theline.
And then Hugh did something I thought was impressive.
He did a psychological profile on himself and all of his
quarterbacks so that he could best reach a guy like Jackson
quickly. He said, I look, I learned I'm a
little bit too old school with how I might coach him.
(30:35):
He needs to hear this from me. He needs to hear that from me.
And I think when I heard that I'm a quarterback, I say, oh, I
got a guy who's going to yell atme every time I make a mistake,
not knowing that I'm yelling at myself, inside me, myself, every
time I make a mistake. I hate being wrong about things,
that I'm wrong about things because I'm trying, I'm
(30:56):
reaching, I'm, I'm pushing, I'm doing what other folks in my
profession don't want to do. And I've always admired an
editor, a producer who sees thatin me and can coach it out.
So when you see like Lincoln Riley on the sideline, not
yelling at a quarterback or you see an arm around a quarterback
going, all right, tell me what you saw.
Tell me why we see it. You're probably going to get his
(31:19):
best play because if you're coaching him up for the next
play and having a short term memory, I'm going to go out
there. I'm I'm, I'm going to hunt for
you. I'm, I'm going to slave for you.
There is no dragon that I am unwilling to go at because I
know my coach has got me Brent Venables.
Not really that kind of coach. Not really that kind of coach.
OK. And offense coordinator is, you
(31:40):
know, had that buddy buddy relationships at the trail
people talk about it's got to work.
So let's let's be clear about that.
But when the head coach is called the plays, he also gets
to tell everybody to calm the hell down.
Whereas Brent Venables might be in stuff you're going what the
hell is your quarterback doing? That gets translated in emotion,
in volume, in vibe to your quarterback.
I'm tell you again, you need, you need the quarterback to
(32:03):
trust you, whatever that means. I realized that there are lots
of folks that believe that we'realready doing it in a way that
we shouldn't and we're coddling them.
No, nobody coddles me. I go hard.
I got, I got editors, they got to pull me back.
I give you an example. Yesterday we did the show, make
(32:25):
the show. And then I'm thinking about
mistakes I make. I'm in the comments, as you guys
know, and I was so pissed at myself for a thing that I did
incorrectly. I got on my bike and I rode 20
miles in just over an hour. Get on your bike and try it.
That's how wired I was. And the results are like on the
(32:49):
IG and whatnot. But those are those are those
are symptoms. Those are not the consequence.
Consequences. I get to go wear myself out
because I was pissed, but I get another opportunity to do it
right today. And this is an example of that.
Show me that guy behind a microphone.
If you can show me that guy behind a microphone, I'm going
to show you somebody you should be listening to, somebody you
(33:11):
should trust. Rasilo goes hard, Pate goes
hard. I keep going.
There are dudes. There are dudes in my
profession. I'll be damned if every one of
us ain't out here going now. I got more to prove.
I got more to show. Just like Jackson Arlen, you
freeze. Kirby Smart was very impressive
(33:43):
at the days at SEC Media Day 2, but I do want to talk a little
bit about what he had to say about Nick Saban.
We'll do another segment where we talk about just what all is
going on in Georgia, but this one fell timely.
(34:07):
What's up, Ken folk, it's RJ Young.
I am not on a step. Mel, if this is your first time
watching, adapt and respond. Thank you for joining us here.
We talk college football year round.
If that is something you're into, go ahead and hit that
subscribe button like this videoand answer the question in the
comments below. How just dastardly would it be
if Kirby Smart, head coach of Georgia and Nick Saban was
(34:31):
defensive coordinator? Yo, it came up right among many
things that Kirby Smart was asked about, including his
feelings on walk ONS. I think he's right about that.
What the 105 is going to do, thekind of guys that he still wants
to recruit to Georgia, what he had to say about who leaves from
(34:54):
the front and who's just happy to be in the SEC, All of that
plays. Kirby Smart is far and away one
of the best coaches in our sportever.
Period. He makes my top ten.
He he just does. It's not just what he has done
at Georgia, but what he did in nine years at Alabama.
He waited for the right job, theonly job that he wanted as head
(35:17):
coach. He took it and in short order he
turned it into not one time, buta two time national champion
back-to-back years. And he did it the way that they
had done it at Alabama. He built an outstanding defense
that plays a lot of guys and an offense that just want to run
through your face. That's all they want to do.
(35:41):
And they've been able to do thatyear in and year out with guys
like Jake Fromm, Stetson Bennett, probably the most
talented quarterback that we've seen Georgia play in the Kirby
Smart era. Like, actually play, like, start
more than one game. Carson Beck, who's so talented
(36:01):
that he needed another year at Miami to prove value because,
well, they don't really need a Heisman Trophy quarterback.
I mean, Stetson Bennett was the finalist.
But that's more about what Georgia was, not about what said
to Bennett was not shade. Just what it is, right?
They know what time it is. Like my favorite story about
going to a game at Sanford. I got to see Notre Dame, Georgia
(36:25):
at night 2019. Really, really fun stuff.
Love that stadium, love the people.
Got to walk around campus for some time with my guy, my guy
DA. OK, so there's a hat that they
were selling that just says run the damn ball and it's BAWL.
(36:46):
I'm like, oh Lord, I'm home. I'm back home.
Your boy was born on Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, but
your man's was raised in the South.
Hattiesburg, Ms. stand up. Panama City, FL stand up.
My daddy grew up in Campbellton,FL, which wasn't even on the map
to the 21st century. Dothan was where you went to go
(37:08):
get the grocery. Athens, GA might as well been
Laurel, Ms. to me dawg. Like yeah anyway, I saw that and
I see us. We got we, we got we got folks
walking around 6 packs in the hands.
We got Waffle House near, we gotChick-fil-A near.
We got gas costing 279 a gallon.Hell, I could be in Tulsa, OK
(37:33):
too. They got that's, that's just
what it is. Sanford was that much cooler
playing Notre Dame, so you have that right.
But I thought about just how close that relationship must be
between Kirby Smart and Nick Saban.
Probably one of the close relationships that Nick Saban
has among coaches, the other being Bill Belichick at North
Carolina. But when you work as closely as
(37:55):
you do with a guy like Kirby Smart or Nick Saban, you get to
know things about the other people don't.
So he was in a unique position to answer about the rumor that
Nick Saban would return to coachJohn Sideline.
Greg McElroy, for his part, has said, look, I told you what
somebody I really trust and knowbelieves.
It's not what I believe. I think he's done coaching at 74
(38:17):
years old, To which, you know, Kirby said, look, I heard the
rumor and I called him and I'll from Will Muschamp's job.
And I'm like, you know, he's a no.
But, you know, when it comes down to it, that man's very much
involved in football. He still knows ball.
He's still watching film. He still talks with me and about
(38:37):
defensive philosophy and things we should be doing in and on the
football field. And, and he loves the game.
That's evident. He's been great for the game.
He's very much involved in the game, not just in television.
But, you know, Trump dragged himin.
I don't think he wanted to go and trying to fix college
football. I don't think it needs fixing.
There's just changes that have been happening that we need to
adjust to. And we're making some of those
changes even now with the College Sports Commission
(38:59):
revenue share and so forth. But when it comes to ball, Nick
Saban got a lot out of taking your fancy offense, my fancy
offense, and saying you're goingto do nothing.
I'm going to bend this game backto my will.
And when the game got out of hand with the you know, the way
in which air raid principles andspread principles became way
(39:22):
offenses want to attack and they're using the the rule book
to their advantage, going fast, not being able to sub or
allowing the defense to sub NickSaban goes, if this is what we
want the game to be a hell, I'llgo get me a Johnny Manziel.
And he does. He gets a Jalen Hurts, he gets a
Blake Sims, he gets A to a TongaVeloa to some degree.
He gets a Jalen Millroad. He gets a guy that can move
around back there. And so let's Lane Kiffin of all
(39:44):
people had to play play sheet. And then has Steve Sarkeesian
having to play sheet, Tommy Reeves having to play sheet.
You know, it keeps going. But I love that he enjoys
looking at your offense and saying, yeah, all right, that's
cute. Watch this.
(40:06):
And Kirby Smart loves doing thattoo.
One of the ways that they chooseto attack it was by playing a
lot of guys like you'll. You'll look at this like.
Folks, you generally say that. Why are Georgia football players
being drafted so high with statsthat just aren't as good as
others? Like, we play a lot of guys.
We get a lot of reps Dudes play a lot of football for us.
They don't have a lot of stats, but they play a lot of football.
(40:26):
They play early, they play often.
But we're not leaving guys out there for, you know, 1012 plays
at a time. We're rotating that every
position because we can. That's what you do when you
bring in all these five stars. It's not stash them, it's to
play them right and you develop them as they go.
And by the time they're third year players, you got a national
championship caliber team. They're going to be very young
this year, 54% of their of theirtheir rosters underclassmen.
(40:49):
But it would be diabolical for Nick Saban come out of
retirement to be defensive coordinator at Georgia.
My favorite saying about Nick Saban having Kirby as a defense
coordinator, especially toward the end, it's like, look, Kirby
knows more about this defense than I do at this point, and I
know everything about this defense.
So I just try to be a good GA when I'm around Kirby.
(41:11):
You know, he lets me coach my defense backs and I leave
everything else up to him. Also, the only man that was
comfortable really knowing the mood swings and how to get
around Nick. Like, there's a famous story
about how folks were afraid of of just what would happen if
Nick called a meeting or called that meeting because famously,
(41:31):
after winning the national championship, he called a
meeting the very next day, 7:30 in the morning.
Rather than go celebrate. Kirby Smart's gonna find a way
to go play around the golf. He's gonna find a way to have a
good time, you know, and he's also going to get his work done.
So why? I know that he's a great leader
and he believes in what he's doing because he has the
confidence to go have fun while also being the best defense
coordinator in the sport. For the time that he was at
(41:53):
Alabama, I grew, I gained more respect.
Hearing Kirby talk about the values that he has then what
he's sticking to. Not so.
Not because I believe in them and there are many that I do.
It's because of how he has comported himself.
A lot of respect for coach to goout of their way to be honest,
forthright. Walk it like they talk it.
(42:15):
Herb Smarts, one of those. We'll talk a bunch about his
football teams, we'll talk a bunch about.
The receivers, we'll talk a bunch about what we expect from
a guy like Dale and Everett versus a guy like KJ Bolden,
first guy like Gunner Stockton. But I know what kind of coach
I'm going to get from the dude wearing the visor on the
sideline. And hell, it's their league
(42:37):
until somebody takes it from. What happens if Alabama misses
the College Football Playoff in 2025?
Start with It would be unprecedented.
(43:06):
What's up folks, it's RJ Young. I am not on Step mill.
If this is your first time watching, adapt and respond.
Thank you for joining us here. We talk college football year
round. If that is something you're
into, go ahead and hit that subscribe button.
Like this video and answer the question in the comments below.
Do you think Alabama will make the College Football Playoff in
2025? Also going to remind you, we
have an audio podcast on Apple and Spotify.
(43:28):
And if you are kind enough to leave us a five star review at
both, I'm going to send you one of these stickers.
All you got to do is hit the link in the description below,
fill out the form, tell me whereto address my thank you note.
So Alabama enters year two of the Kaitlyn Deborah experience.
And now that he's got a full year of not just games, but
offseason recruiting and development underneath them,
(43:49):
there is a really good question as to is this team going to make
the College Football Playoff because it is more talented than
it was last year, even with the change quarterback from Jalen
Millroad to what we think is going to be Ty Simpson.
If not Ty Simpson, then Austin Mack.
Richard Young is going to be in that backfield with Jam Miller,
Jeremy Bernard, Ryan Williams, Isaiah Horton, Cole Adams on one
(44:10):
side. On the other side, right, got
Koi Russell. We got Damonte Jackson.
We got dudes, We got hitters, right?
Deonte Lawson. But that's really not what we're
talking about when we talk aboutBama.
What we talk about with Bama is in unparalleled excellence.
Put it another way, since the College Football Playoff was
first created in Play 2014, no team has made more appearances
(44:34):
in it than Alabama, right? So goes like this.
Alabama has made eight playoff appearances and won nine games
in the playoff. So we're three wins away from
them having, you know, a full season or in in college
football. And we're actually on the cusp
(44:54):
of four more times they make it in there have a full season of
College Football Playoff. So how many championships have
they won? One of the most of anybody, 33
College Football Playoff national championships of the
seven that Nick Saban won. And my goodness, dude.
Talking also because of this, the SEC leads with the most
appearances of 10, 14 wins from SEC and six championships.
(45:18):
So you can understand why we continue to say things like the
SEC has been the most dominant college Football League in
America for the last 20 years. Now it feels like that might be
coming to an end because with Bama missing the playoffs last
year, we also got back-to-back Big 10 champions for the first
time, first time ever. Michigan, then Ohio State, Ohio
(45:39):
State being the defending champ now Texas and Oklahoma ought to
help, right? More Texas right now than
Oklahoma, but you get my point here.
It's not whether or not Alabama's going to be good, it's
more like they weren't good enough.
When you are having to argue with SMU over the final spot in
the College Football Playoff, you are not meeting the standard
(45:59):
at Alabama. Now, losing Oklahoma probably
did it to you, right? Losing a Vanderbilt also did it
to you. Losing Tennessee, people could
stomach that. That's going to be OK, right?
Losing in Michigan is just kind of salt in the wound because
it's done at that point. But I tend to look at it from
the standpoint of every other year Alabama has made the
(46:21):
playoff, right? So in a year where they didn't
like 2019, right? Guess what?
They end up right where you expect them to be, back in the
playoff the next year, 2020, with what I think is one of the
five best college football teamsof all time.
Nick Saban's last year, they gotin over an undefeated Florida
State in large part because we know Nick Saban and we don't
(46:43):
know what Florida State is without Jordan Travis.
All these things play. Caitlin Devore had entered
Alabama as a guy who had flippedWashington into not just a
contender, but in the national title, runner up in short order.
All you need to give him was a quarterback, some wide receivers
and a defense that didn't absolutely suck.
And they were able to do what they needed to do in the PAC 12
(47:04):
and eventually in the playoff. I'm curious to find out if
Caitlin de Boer and Alabama missed the playoff this year,
what happens to de Boer? Because I don't know that he
would get fired. I think it's about how did you
miss the playoff, right? Nine wins is nine wins.
But Bama, you're used to 11 or nothing, right?
(47:25):
Even in the season where you won11 again in the Citrus Bowl,
right. 2020, Yeah. 2019, right? You're not you're not happy
about that. Even though that Michigan team
turned out to be a monster lateron down the line, so did that
Bama team the very next year, OK, It's more like look at the
schedule that Bama is facing now.
(47:45):
Florida State, we don't know what they're going to be mean
that they were two and 10 last year.
It's been a wholesale change. Might as well be Indiana for all
we know, right? The good or bad, depending on
how you want to look at it. Wisconsin will be better, but
you ought to be able to beat them.
But then your schedule is still your schedule.
Like, you got to find any totem Romo's in there, but you still
got to play LSU, still got to play Oklahoma, still got to play
(48:07):
Tennessee. Vanderbilt's not a pushover.
South Carolina's good. Auburn ought to be better.
Missouri is going to be decent. Like, there aren't any easy wins
on the schedule in FBS competition for Alabama this
year. It's just not there.
So everything they get, they're going to have to earn their have
to have to do it with a guy who is figuring out how to be the
starter for the first time and frankly, better be throwing the
(48:29):
ball to Ryan Williams just as often as they can, right?
I realize you want to run the football, but Ryan Williams
averaged 18 yards per catch. He got 48 catches last year.
That man needs to get closer to 100 catches this year.
Feed him the rock and you're going to let Jeremy Bernard run
wide open, Cole Adams run wide open, Isaiah Horton run wide
open because of what he's going to be able to facilitate for
(48:50):
you. You can't afford to drop games
to Vanderbilt. You can't afford to drop games
to Oklahoma, can't afford to drop games to Auburn, can't
afford to drop games to programsthat we don't expect to be in
the College Football Playoff. Now, Oklahoma could be there,
every SEC team could be there, but there are those that we're
willing to bet on. There's those that we aren't,
(49:11):
right? Georgia, Texas, people are
willing to bet on. After that, you may be Florida,
right? Because think about it this way.
When DJ Lagway played a full game for Florida, they're six
and O, it mattered. It does matter.
We don't have that data point for Alabama so far this year,
and we're still looking for it. But we do have the data points
for what excellence has looked like in the playoff era, and it
(49:32):
all screams Nick Saban's Alabama.
It's almost as if when we created this format, we created
a way to make sure that his teammakes the playoff period.
And sometimes it meant playing against another SEC team in the
national championship. That's when you know you're
good. That's when you know you're
dominant, when your league creates the two best teams in
(49:53):
the sport, right? When your team is going to play
a game that would regularly play.
I mean, George is on the schedule in the regular season
again for Alabama, when when that's a regular season game
becomes a national championship game.
There's nothing anybody gets to tell you about anything.
And that's where they've been working from.
But now it's kind of getting tight for the SEC because
(50:13):
back-to-back years of not playing in the national
championship game, it's going toit's going to hurt.
And if they get a third straightyear and you see the Big 10
continue to do with the Big 10 does maybe Clemson is Clemson,
right? You could be looking at perhaps
a plucky Big 12 team that goes undefeated, maybe stealing a
spot from you and make it harderfor you to get to the national
(50:35):
championship game again, to say nothing of what would happen to
an Alabama that wins 10 games. Now, we tend to believe that if
you win 10 games in the SEC, you're going to make the
playoff. So let's say your losses are
Georgia, right? And then pick one on the
schedule, Pick one. I think you can do that.
So they get to 10 wins. Alabama's gonna be there, right?
That that's just what it is. But it is worth considering what
(50:57):
it might look like if they don't, how long we can expect
Caitlin to board to survive if they don't.
These are, I mean, wild times. But that's what he's up against.
They given him the roster. They put together the NIL
collective. They have gone through every
change they possibly could, evenkeeping Nick Saban in and around
(51:20):
and in the building to try to facilitate better recruiting,
better players. I'm still very much a part of
this program. I feel very much care about what
happens here. He will still go do in homes
from time to time, right, Depending on what you need,
because he's still got it in hisveins.
But it's all on Caitlin Devore. He's the head coach.
That's what it is. And Alabama is not a place where
(51:40):
you can go back-to-back nine winseasons anymore.
It's not that it. They don't want to take a step
back. They want to take a step
forward. They want to be leading the
conversation. So everything Ohio State did
last year, something they believe they should be able to
do this year, to say nothing of what George was doing in
2021-2022. I mean, remember, Georgia beat
that Alabama team and then stopped a mud hole in Texas.
(52:00):
Christian walked it dry, right? If Alabama's in that Texas
Christian spot, do they beat Michigan?
Maybe, but they just weren't good enough, right?
That's what we're talking about.It's those sorts of
conversations I'm fascinated by this season because there are a
lot of men that have a lot to prove, and Caitlin de Boer is
absolutely one of them.
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