October 16, 2025 • 45 mins
19:07 – 21:39 – TE Mo Alie-Cox picked his Colts starting 5, Indiana faces Michigan St, we play some sound from Curt Cignetti about his coaching staff, the changes, Colts announce Riley Leonard will be backup QB Sunday, how the backup QB market works, the Colts defensive-line has to show up Sunday
21:40 – 34:28 – Senior college football writer for the Athletic, Ralph Russo, joins the show to try to give Kevin confidence about his Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the craziness of actually talking about Indiana’s football team at this point in the season, looking at the Hoosiers remaining schedule, how comparable is Indiana’s and Penn State’s head coaching job
34:29 – 45:22 – Head coach of the Butler Bulldogs Thad Matta joins for the first of his weekly appearances on the show! What does it mean to have a good exhibition matchup against Notre Dame, what will Gordon Hayward’s role be as advisor with the team
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You were listening to the Best of the Fan morning
show on ninety three five and one oh seven five
the Fan, Good morning, And I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I always think of Thursday as a head start into
the weekend and has got NFL football later on tonight, and
then we've got all kinds of basketball already coming up
tomorrow night and great football games on Saturday. I am
here for all of it. I'm looking forward to it.
A moment ago, we had those worlds collide football and basketball,
because so many NFL players love playing basketball, and a
(00:29):
lot of them will tell you they're really really good
at basketball, and they probably are because they're great athletes. James,
But you were having a conversation with mo Ali Cox
about what yesterday.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
So we talked about this on our airwaves.
Speaker 4 (00:41):
We were saying, Hey, if you had to pick five
Colts players to be in your starting five for basketball,
who would you pick? And so we throw out our names,
and I believe it was Kevin who reminded, me, Hey,
you should ask some of the guys in the locker
room today.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
So I went over to Moli Cox, So who's got
in the locker room?
Speaker 4 (00:56):
As I'm waiting for Daniel Jones because that's you know,
obviously way more important than this. But I was like,
you know what, we got time to kill. Who is
your starting five from the former college basketball player himself
form VCU forward and Mary Cox chose himself, he chose
Daniel Jones, he chose Ashton Doolan, and then I believe
(01:17):
he chose Anthony Richardson and I'm missing one.
Speaker 5 (01:22):
That he chose.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
So I have to go back and look at you
say yes, j T Twey Mullowow, who, by the way,
he played his AU basketball with Polo bn Caro, who
is the number one pick down there in Orlando, So.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
That's his five.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
I was a little surprised that we didn't get some
Riley Leonard Love point forward.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
Daniel Jones is what he called Jon Jones, right.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Yes, but I told you he could hoop.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
I mean, I've talked to the guys about this, and
apparently they had a little powow at Butler months ago,
right around the time of like OTA's and Mini camp
and all that stuff, and they said that, well, I
use it for a story a while back, and Jaylen
Jones told me, hey, we were, you know, trying to
figure out a way to bond.
Speaker 6 (02:01):
You know.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
We were in the locker room arguing over who can
really hoop, who can really play? And he was like,
you know what, line it up, Let us go out
there and play.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
And so they said.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
They went over to Butler and Daniel Jones didn't have
any shoes to play basketball in. I guess you didn't
bring him with him, you know, from New York. And
so they had to find some shoes first, lace the
shoes up, and then he told me that this is
Jalen Jones. That is he said that Daniel Jones started
hitting them with some moves that were like some Dirt
Novinsky bleep bleep bleep and some Tim Duncan bleak bleep
(02:29):
bleep that I can't repeat. But he's a bad you
know what, according to his teammates, we.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Should get like nine of those guys and then Gordon
Hayward over there in Hincklefield House and Gordon can show
him what's what.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Well, yeah, I mean, everyone's look a great basketball player
until you see a pro.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I'll just say that.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
So it was a fun debate and I'm sure if
I ask anybody else in the locker room, they'll tell me, Oh,
how am I not in that top five?
Speaker 5 (02:53):
And Moe did say I feel like we're a little
too big. He was a little nervous Yoh not enough
guards to be fair, but yes again, and he thinks
Staniel Jones will point forward there.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Did you guys see the Celtics played a coaches versus
media basketball game? I did see this.
Speaker 7 (03:07):
Why don't we do a colts players versus colts media
basketball game?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
We get James Boy, we get Kevin Bowen Colts players. Yeah,
I like brother.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Just to be clear, you're proposing professional athletes going up
against media.
Speaker 6 (03:23):
Man.
Speaker 5 (03:23):
Celtics did it. I mean Celtics did their coaches, Yeah,
pro some older pros and they did. Absolutely. Joe Missoula,
from the sounds of it, wanted blood and this.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Game is hilarious.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
He's he's just going there with charges man Rick.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
Carlo when he joins us, there you go coming up.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
A very good former player himself.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
Oh absolutely, I mean he won a championship. So I
will say this though, to Calebs and Justin have you
ever seen football players play basketball? They look like football
players who play basketball.
Speaker 8 (03:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
I'm not taking a charge. I'm not about get hit
my chest. Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I'm predicting now that if there was Pacers coaching staff
against media, Jenny Bussik is probably the leading scorer.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Heys again former pro away from her general pargos on staff,
he is, oh, he'd give me forty he plays. I
think mathering these guys one on one, you know, after practice,
so uh yeah, I'm not checking any of those guys.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Uh for those keeping pace. Though, tomorrow night, we've got
basketball everywhere, Notre Dame at Butler, tomorrow night Heinkle Fieldhouse,
and then the Pacers at San Antonio. It's about to
be full on basketball. He's not quite there yet, but
we're getting close. It is college football season though. In
Indiana coming off the huge road win against Oregon, and
I was talking to an Indiana alum yesterday, good friend
(04:50):
of mine, Jeff Martin Della works at ESPN in their
affiliate relations department, and he grew up in Indiana. He
went to Indiana, he said, literally, he was nearly in
tears at the end of that football game on Saturday.
It's how much it means to folks who've been following
this program and have watched it for decades now, and
they go in as you said, Kevin a twenty seven
(05:12):
and a half point favorite against Michigan State on Saturday
down in Bloomington. And I was fascinated that Kurt Signette
spent some time with Joel Klatt from Fox Sports. Joel
does a podcast and he had Kurt Signetti on this
past week. And you know, Kurt kind of took a
bunch of players from his old school when he came
to Indiana, but he also took a bunch of the
(05:33):
coaching staff too. He kept as much intact as he
could and that's kind of how you start to build
and bring your culture over. I'll let him describe it himself.
Speaker 9 (05:43):
I've been very fortunate to have great consistency on my
coaching staff. You know, my offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator.
I hired a part time coaches at the D two
level for about eight thousand bucks, and those guys have
been with me, you know, eleven twelve years, and that
would be Brian Haynes and Mike Shannon and Grant came
my special teams coordinators, but with me about six seven years.
(06:04):
And you know, we're in the top five in the
country lately at the end of the year. You know,
in teams and we've been really, really good this season.
But a number of other people in the organization been
with me a long time, so they know how we
do things, they know how I am. The expectation level.
I try to keep those guys fresh, you know. I mean,
(06:25):
when we're in here, we're efficient, we're organized, we're working,
we don't waste time, and when we're done, I tell
them to go home. And I'm the same way with
the team and meetings and on a practice field, I
mean we're we're a really short practice operation. I mean
we'll have about a thirty five minute walkthrough on Mondays
and on Fridays we'll have about a twenty five minute walkthrough,
and Tuesday through Thursday, I mean we're on that field
(06:47):
about our thirty five hour, forty minutes and off. Because
I just believe in keeping people fresh and healthy, and
the better people feel physically, the better they're going to
be mentally too. So well, there's a lot that goes
into it, but it's it's done with people, and you know,
we have great people.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
And how about the fact that I love this, James,
that you have something that you know works, You trust
these guys you've always had, always had success with them,
then you bring a number of players over as well,
and while you're literally transplanting your culture through the people
and the personalities that make it go and make it
what it is. And now you set that example for
(07:29):
everybody else at Indiana, and there is this expectation that, no,
this is how it is from this coaching staff to
all the players we brought over, this is how you
do things. Is working for.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
Him absolutely, and I think when we talk about car
Signetti and the rebuild that he's had and how remarkable
it is, it just doesn't seem feasible realistically for anybody
else to do it. I mean, you know, you, if
you are a program that's kind of down and out,
you're thinking, Okay, we just got to find the right
guy and he'll fix everything. But man, this is something
out of a movie. This doesn't happen, you know, every
(08:02):
day or hardly ever. I mean, we'll talk to some
people later today, one of my colleagues, Ralph Russeau, who's
been around college football forever here in a few minutes,
and he'll give some more context to what we're actually seeing.
But yeah, it is inspiring to kind of see what
he's done, what he's built, and certainly the standard that
he has established at this point is what they're going
to be held to going forward. So I guess that's
(08:24):
like the good pressure, good challenge that you're embracing now
that you've you know, won some big games.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
I think staff retension is a really underrated element to
sustaining success collegiately. And you know, Brian Haynes, for example,
their defensive coordinator. He was highly sought after last offseason
by blue bloods. And you know when you talk about, hey,
you know, where's Indiana at from a financial sense in
college football? And you know, are they willing to pay
(08:51):
top dollars by all accounts that they did up the
ANNIE for that assistant coaching pool. And I do think
that is a huge deal because if you look at
just look at some of the final four teams from
last year. Notre Dame loses their defensive coordinator to the NFL.
You know, Penn State lost Tom Allen. Remember that Tom
Allen went to Clemson. Ohio State won the national title.
(09:11):
Their defensive coordinator left and went through Penn State of
all places. So you know, you're talking about, you know,
three of the top four teams last year, you know,
losing key coordinators and for Indiana to have the year
that they did. I get that. Tino Sensei, their co
offensive coordinator, left for UCLA. That didn't go great for him,
you know, for him to retain you know, two of
their guys after the year they had that, I think
(09:34):
it's pretty rare, especially in college sports. So you know,
even Purdue basketball you look at it, Matt Painters had
great staff retention over the years. I do think it's
a really under the radar aspect to it.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Well, they're doing it right at Indiana at this point
in time, they've risen all the way up to number
three and there. I was listening to a bunch of
the college football programs and podcast yesterday. Almost all of
them are like, Hey, Indiana is legit threat to win
the whole thing. Everybody talks about Ohio State, and you know,
you're going to have your your Georgia's and your Alabama's
(10:06):
and some of the SEC teams. But they really believe
looking up and down the roster, looking at the coaching staff,
look at the way they play, the way they do things,
the way they dominated on the line of scrimmage against Oregon,
that they are legit to go deep into the college
football Playoff.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Speaking of the college football Playoff, we probably shouldn't mention that.
I think we've done it yet, James. The one news
item that Shane Styken did reveal yesterday, it'll be Riley
Leonard one play away coming up on Sunday, not Brett Rippin.
So Riley Leonard will be quarterback number two. I think
Shane did say for Sunday, Yeah, just for now to
anything past that. The ripping thing a little odd. He didn't.
(10:42):
I guess he had some travel issues. He didn't get
to Indy until after Wednesday's practice, so he technically did
not practice with the team yesterday. Were you surprised that
it is Riley? Do you think the ripping not being
able to get to town quick enough had something to
do with that? Or you don't care?
Speaker 3 (11:00):
I think I do care, because, again, the backup quarterback
is important.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
If Daniel Jones goes down, that guy's in there and
he is suddenly thrust into a position of leading the
number one seed in the AFC. So yeah, I definitely care.
But I expected Riley to be QB two regardless of
who they signed, mainly because of just the timeline of
things that are happened. You know, if he wasn't with
(11:23):
the team on Monday, he just got there yesterday.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Got to get acclimated, you know.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
And I think even if you have been like bur
Ripon has in a ton of different offenses throughout the years,
you still want to give him a little bit more
time in a couple of days to say, hey, Okay,
you're going to be the guy we rely on if
this guy goes down. I think you trust Ry Leonard
what he's done in the classroom from studying and being
ready to go, and then you get through the weekend
and then you figure it out from there, like, Okay,
(11:51):
how do we assess it now that we have everyone
where they're supposed to be, like physically in the same area, city, state,
and then we go from there. So yeah, excited Ryan Leonard.
He sounded excited about the opportunity, but he also said
he only hopes to get in if it's a blowout,
Like I don't want to go in, you know. If
if I'm going in, that means Daniel Jones is had
an injury, and that's obviously what nobody wants. So yeah,
(12:14):
I did tell him though, if you get in and
it's a blowout. You got to ask Shane and give
you a go ball. I'm not with all that. I'm
not with all that. Get in there and it's like,
you know, when I go to these high school games
and like get the teams are getting blown out. They
put their bench in and they tell the guys, hey,
just run our offense. No, coach, I'm not going to
the league. My parents probably not gonna see me play
(12:34):
varsity basketball very often.
Speaker 7 (12:36):
I'm getting me shot. No, we're not running. Talk to
that cheerleader over there. I'm yeah, I'm trying. You know,
I gotta get some highlights even if I missed the shot. Yeah,
at any of these days, you can cut that. You
can cut the miss out and talk to huddle.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Highlights.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
Don't love themselves there. You know you're gonna have to
have some yourself. One thing to note quarterback wise, you know, hey,
who should the cult sign is back up. We have
this debate a little bit in the media room because
Brett Rippens's resume is rather non a script. There's really
not a lot on there. He does have four career starts,
but really he's only been a true backup. That's a
(13:11):
maybe one year in Denver for Russell Wilson. A lot
of people have been asked, Hey, why not Taylor Heineke.
You know that if you look at the list of backups,
or I should say the list of free agent quarterbacks,
Heinike probably has the most decorated resume of anybody on
that list. This is me assuming things. If I'm Taylor Heineke,
(13:32):
and I know this might sound a little crazy, but
Taylor Heineke could probably be a little greedy if he
would like. And by that I mean this. We have
seen the Joe Burrow injury already this season. We're probably
due for one more quarterback to have a Joe Burrow
injury prominent quarterback. That is so, if I'm Taylor Heineke
and I'm sitting on my couch, I'm thinking it's week seven,
(13:54):
It's October sixteenth. I could probably wait another month and
let's see if insert your playoff teams loses their starting
quarterback for X amount of time. Could I then become
Nick Foles in Philadelphia, Joe Flacco and Cleveland from a
few years ago. Could I walk into more of a
(14:14):
playoff situation and be the starter here in Indie Daniel
Jones hasn't missed a meaningful snap all year. If you
sign here, then you're probably landlocked here for the rest
of the season. So again that's me assuming things with heinikeh.
But you know, I think some people are kind of like, wait,
really just Brett Rippin well, well, good point in desperate
(14:36):
desperate mode, and Heinike isn't yet, I would think in
desperate desperate mode.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Yeah, I say your point.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
The trade deadline, I think is also a factor that
could help him in a sense where if you get
past the trade deadline, like you said, he you've wait
a month.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
Then November fourth the deadline, Yeah, exactly, and then the
Joe Flacco acquisition for the Bengals isn't an option anymore.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
You can't trade for anybody. So you're telling somebody, vita backup?
Ye at your boy.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
I think you're both onto something there too. I think
on the other side of that too, if you're just
looking for a backup right now, Tyler, you know, Taylor
honekey is probably gonna cost a little bit more than
a guy like Brett Rippon at this point in time.
So from the team's perspective, not only you're saving money
for somebody you hope doesn't even have to play. But
I think you're one hundred percent right Kevin on the
henineke perspective, wait for a better opportunity to come along,
(15:23):
and the trade deadline also falls into all that, so
I think it's kind of a swirl of all those
things where it wasn't really gonna work out.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
How much do you think you would really cost? Though,
I'm like, you know, I'm looking at Taylor Honekey, like
how much you asking for?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
You're gonna cost a lot more than Brett Rippon, I
would think, yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
But it's also pro rated too, so it's like you
ain't played, so you can't come with too many demands here.
I don't want to act like the the backup quarterback
going to break down.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I think the majority of it is Kevin is right, though,
is where it most of it comes from.
Speaker 5 (15:50):
I think Kevin's always right to note for Sunday and
I again, it's not it's something I kind of look
at each week just to see if there is any
past history here. Justin Herbert has facially in a room
twice and the charge of it have had a ton
of success in those games. Thirty four points scored offensively
in both of those games. Now, again it's Cincinnati, it's
different personnel, but you know Herbert has seen lou En
(16:12):
Rumo's defenses. Last year they scored thirty four. Herbert actually
wasn't greatly efficient in that game, but they still were
able to put up a lot of points. So certainly
there are some questions with the health of the offensive
tackles in LA. That is a massive win for the Colts.
They have to take advantage of that because depth at
wide out versus lack of depth at cornerback I think
(16:35):
is advantage Chargers in this matchup here.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
So five your pass rush to show up.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
They certainly need that, and they have not yet addressed
adding anybody. And I don't know they're going to unless
you know.
Speaker 5 (16:46):
It's a shame you even have to mention that. Like
you say, it's a they haven't added anybody. Let's think
about this defensive line room. You have three first round picks,
two second round picks I believe, two third round picks,
and a fourth and a fifth. So in the nine
defensive linemen you've drafted, all of them have been drafted
(17:08):
in the top five rounds and three first round picks
a third of the room and then added in the
second round picks over half the room, or first and
second round picks. You shouldn't need to go out there
and think about adding anyone. It's probably the most highly
invested defensive line room in the entire NFL. And yet
and again, your thought, Jeff is not wrong. I understand
(17:30):
why you bring up, hey, should they add here? But
like they shouldn't. This group should be getting it done.
And Sunday, Sunday should be a banner day. You talk
about adding highlights. These guys should be having. These guys
should be just ravaging justin Herbert on Sunday with the
health of the Chargers tackles.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
How many sucks do the Colts have so far this
year as a team?
Speaker 6 (17:52):
Do you know?
Speaker 5 (17:53):
I don't know, number wise, pressure rate I think has
been kind of like right around twenty ish in the
two twenties. And I feel like this, And I was
talking with Rick Vanterry a little bit after the game
the other day, I feel like when I see sacks
for the Colts, they're like stunting sacks or maybe even
a little bit coverage induced. Like I don't feel like
(18:15):
they have a lot of just our guy whips your
guy sacks and again Sunday, you gotta have that because
the Chargers. The Chargers injury report wasn't great yesterday either.
They maybe will get Khalil Mack back he's missed about
a month, but offensive tackle wise, I think they're still
gonna be down their top three guys.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
I only bring that up because I'm looking at the
at stats and I like, see right now real quickly
are the individual stats and there are two Broncos that
have between the two of them twelve and a half sacks.
I don't think the Colts have twelve and a half
sacks as a team.
Speaker 5 (18:48):
Dude, they mean the Broncos had one.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
We have sixteen as a team, the bronxix sas against the.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
D I apologize, Yeah, they had a bunch. Nick Benino
has eight already. But my point is is we haven't
seen a ton of pressure. Gotten a little bit better,
but we haven't seen a ton of pressure on quarterbacks
so far this year.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Yeah, the Broncos are leading the league with thirty sacks.
The Calls actually are seventh in the NFL with sixteen sacks.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Why does that surprise me? It just doesn't feel like that.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
Yeah, when you look closer to some of these sacks,
like it's impact plays. It's like the final drive against
the Raiders when it's forty to six. You know, that's
like the critical third down. I mean, think of those
long downs and distances that the Cardinals converted on Sunday.
Those are the moments where you're pinning your ears back
and you can't get home there. So again, just a huge,
(19:36):
huge factor when it comes to, you know, trying to
limit the Chargers on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Based on what I'm looking at right now, ranked number
thirty in the league, Taekwon Lewis has three sacks. Quity
Pay also has three sacks. That's what I've got for
individual guys right now. So there's six between those two.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Guys, and I'll get again Lao Two's that's still one
or his first six games of the year. That's just
not enough for a guy who was drafted as the
first defensive player taken a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
And yet they're five and one. So there is that.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
Yeah, you're actually getting into a store I'll have going
up tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Is this sustainable on defense?
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Because they're like fourth in scoring defense, this year, So
they're not giving up a ton of points every game,
But when you look at their third down conversion rate,
they're thirtieth in the league.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
That is not just from last week.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
I got a chance to ask Sayah Franklin about that,
and he kind of alluded to some of the success
that the Cardinals had and maybe that could askew the numbers.
But I mean, at what point do we look at
a sample size and say this is who you are.
You're a third of the way through the season at
this point. This isn't like we're talking about two or
three games here. So are you a bad third down
(20:54):
conversion team on defense? And if that is the case,
is it sustainable for you to keep winning in this manner?
The takeaways certainly helped you. Can't you know, apologize for that.
I think if if any other stat determines winning and
losing an NFL, it's can you get takeaways?
Speaker 3 (21:08):
And can you give us short fields?
Speaker 4 (21:09):
And so they've done that, but it's still as concerning
that they haven't been at least moderately better when it
comes to third down. And I think a lot of
it has to do with the fact that you know,
if you target the middle of the field for the
culture right now, it's money all right.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Coming up at a moment, we turn our attention to
college football. Indiana rank number three Notre Dame with a
big game against USC and the senior college Sports rider
for the athletic Ralph Russo stops by next on the
Fan Morning show ninety three to five and one oh
seven to five to the Fan. We've been talking about
it all morning long. College football right smack in the
middle of everything, and games that are played between now
(21:45):
and the end of the year, like all of them,
determine who goes to the college football playoff, and we
might have two again from the state of Indiana. This
show up in the college football playoffs just like last year,
Indiana and Notre Dame. So it's worth talking about. And
of course number three ranking right now for Indiana Notre Dame.
I don't know if they get that win over US
see a twentieth rank team. Do they based on teams
(22:07):
in front of them? Obviously? Are they flirting with top
ten pretty quickly here?
Speaker 5 (22:11):
I don't know necessarily about that. I know this, they
lose their seasons over they win.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
You're the most negative guy I know.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
No that is a fact.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
It is a fact.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
But you always go to the losing for Notre Dame first, Well,
they are just gonna win out come on, Well, they
have business to take care of after that, you know,
Notre Dame is no margin for air.
Speaker 5 (22:29):
So they lose, they're done. They win. I think they
continue to be in a position to be in the
playoff if they do run at the table.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
I'm just giving you a bad time. I know no
how it goes. So Ralph Russo knows a lot about
college football more than we do. Probably that's why we're
having them on the show now ninety three five and
one of something five to the fan on the pay
Less Liquors Hotline. He is the senior college football writer
at The Athletic. Good morning, Ralph, Thanks for getting up
early in being with us today. We appreciate it.
Speaker 8 (22:54):
Oh, you're very welcome.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
And there's certainly a lot of people who would argue
that I know more than that college football, considering some
of the messages I get in Twitter after I vote
in the poll on Sundays.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Obviously, we're gonna talk about Indiana a bunch here in
a minute, but pump my boy up here over here,
my Notre Dame guy, I know there's no margin for air,
but make the case for him why this team is
going to run the table and be fine.
Speaker 8 (23:21):
Oh, I mean, they have one of the best offenses
in the country. I think there.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
I think if they eat USC, it looks really good
for them to do just that.
Speaker 8 (23:31):
I mean, if you the way they've.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Just demolished everybody since A and M and Miami, and
the fact that you play what essentially are toss up
games against A and M and Miami, who right now
are two of the top five six teams in the
I mean, depending on your perspective, to me, they're two
of the top five teams in the country. Maybe they're
two of the top six, you know, depending on again,
(23:54):
depending on where you have them in your your personal rankings. Yeah,
I think there's a there's a damn good chance that
they run the table.
Speaker 6 (24:01):
Here.
Speaker 8 (24:01):
I would also say this.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
There's a pretty good chance we're going to have a
nine and three playoff team there. I'm not saying it's
going to be Notre Dame, but like if you just
sort of look at the projections that come to the
projection systems, I don't know if there's gonna be enough
ten win teams to fill this field. So I'm just
preparing everyone because it's gonna feel a little shocking that
(24:27):
a nine and three team, probably from the SEC because
they have the hardest schedules, very well might end up
in this playoff.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
Ralph, you have covered college football for how many years?
Speaker 1 (24:41):
I'm very old, so yes, it's been a very long time,
probably you know, twenty thirty years.
Speaker 8 (24:46):
Yeah, it's a long long time.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
And we're very appreciative of your time here at eight
am on this Thursday morning. Have you ever received a
text in your life that said, hey, man, could you
come on our radio show to talk about Indiana University's
football team?
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Well, yes, this is a new world we are living in,
as I got to see up close when I went
to Eugene on Saturday, and yeah, I'm watching the Hoosiers.
Speaker 8 (25:13):
You know, pretty convincingly.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Not just beat Oregon, because you know, there was a time,
a long time ago when Indiana went to Oregon and
won with about eighty eight yards of total offense because
they got five.
Speaker 8 (25:27):
Turnovers from Oregon's team back in the early two thousands.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
So but to see them go there too in a
top you know, ten matchup and truly handle one of
the most talented rosters in the country was you know,
a little stunning.
Speaker 8 (25:44):
And what was also stunning.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Afterwards is to sort of see to sort of be
around the signetti experience, right, the signetti of it all.
This sixty four year old Yinzer who has become just
a rock star itching in college coaching, you know, to
beat the thirty eight year old Dan Lanning who's sort
of the up and coming and everybody kind of thinks
(26:07):
of him as the hot guy. And now again this
sixty four year old dude whose career has gone from
like Alabama to Elon is now the star in college football.
With his you know, sort of smirk for a smile
is remarkable.
Speaker 8 (26:24):
It was remarkable. You know, the what that field, what
that scene.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Was like after the game as well, just you know,
Indiana fans refusing to leave Austin until he left the
field too.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
Ralph Russo joining us here on the Palo Circus hot line,
my colleague at the Athletic Ralph, you're talking to James boy.
Thanks for getting back to me with my text. He
texted back immediately and told me he had Hey, I
can't do winsay can do. Thursday, I got a story
I got to write, and I was like, you know what,
I've been in that same world, my friend.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
You know, hopefully got the story done and I'm sure
I'll check it out.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
But you know, like you said, yeah, you alluded to
what I you showed and just looking ahead at their schedule,
you know, we talked about Notre Dame possibly running the
table end of the year, and it feels like the
big test for I you have kind of come and gone.
But as look at the rest of their slate, that
UCLA game in a couple of weeks, I'm like, man,
is that one I should be nervous about? So are
(27:20):
there a couple opponents because costlewall is weird where you're
looking like that's a game that you needs to make
sure they don't, you know, stink up or something like that.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Yeah, I would say, I'm still interested to see what
Penn State has left in the tank. The fact that
and you have to go to Happy Valley. The fact
of the matter is like there's still talent on that team,
you know. In fact, that literally was the story I
was working on is sort of an autopsy on what
went wrong there. Over the last three weeks and hopefully, yeah,
(27:51):
we'll be published in a couple hours. It was up
a little late last night in fact, getting the face,
so hopefully, so hopefully we got that across the finish line,
you know, so that one again just going to Happy Valley.
Speaker 8 (28:06):
The interim coach.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
There is a Penn State lifer, Terry Smith I who
is sort of the guy who he is very much
the point person.
Speaker 8 (28:15):
On a lot of the recruiting stuff.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
He was one of the original guys that Franklin brought
in there because he's so he's such a good recruiter,
such a good coach, and such a like a Penn Stater.
So I would wonder what that team looks like after
it sort of shakes off whatever was going on there
after they lost the Oregon that threw them into such
(28:38):
a bad funk. That's the most talented team probably left
on i U's schedule. I'm trying to think of, like
who else might be there. I don't have it pulled
up in front of me.
Speaker 8 (28:49):
You're right.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
UCLA is tricky. They have found they have sort of
unlocked and Eco and made them their offense a lot
tougher to guard now that now that Jerry Newheidel is
calling the place.
Speaker 8 (29:03):
But the thing is again and as you guys noted.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Indiana probably has at least one, if not two losses
to play with here. So even if something weird pops
up and you get sniped by a team in the
middle of the pack in the Big Ten, you still
have some leeway here, especially with that win at Oregon
in the bank.
Speaker 5 (29:24):
That's the voice of Ralph Russo again covers college football
for the Athletic And indeed was that SYU Oregon over
the weekend in the year twenty twenty five. I think
the question probably sounds a little different than maybe it
would have five ten years ago. Ralph, is the Indiana
job like somewhat comparable to the Penn State job? Or
is that still a ludicrous thought?
Speaker 1 (29:46):
No, you know, I think it's a I think it
is a fair to ask question because essentially, if your
school is now this has always been the case to
a certain degree, but I think it's it's probably framed
a little differently now. Well, if your school is willing
to invest with players being paid now, you know, the
(30:06):
big stadium and and and IU has good stuff, right,
They've invested in more than just the football coach. But
I think some of the brand value that has been
that has always been, you know, the major factor in
brand value in tradition, which has always been a major
factor in recruiting, that gets chipped away when it's just about,
(30:31):
hey man, how much can you pay me?
Speaker 8 (30:34):
Right, because that's why you know, that's that's that's one of.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
The things that levels the playing field in pro sports, right,
only so many people can only one person give me
the highest paid player on every team. So at some
point that's going to you know, disperse the talent around
a little more evenly. I do think, and I'll still
align from my colleague on our podcast, The Audible Stuart Mandel.
(30:59):
The schools with one hundred seat stadiums, and I talked
to coaches about this, there still is some brand value
out there. There are kids who will take one hundred
thousand less because you know what, Georgia, I can go
there and I can play for championships and they got
nice things, and that's sort of like that's that's just.
Speaker 8 (31:17):
Sort of the factory, right.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
So I do think the Ohio States, the Georgia's to
a certain degree, the Penn States, Michigans have a little
brand value head start on some of the rest. But man, again,
the playing field definitely seems to be leveled. And if
IU is truly invested in being a football school, and
all by all indications they are, yeah, it changes the
(31:40):
conversation on whether, if you know, to just get straight
to the point, whether do you stay at IU or
do you go to a Penn State?
Speaker 8 (31:48):
Do you stay at IU or do.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
You go to a Florida Right that that is a
very different question now than it was a few years ago.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
Ralph, the last one from me, and again thanks for
your time. And it's not really a question, just a statement.
I heard you say early in this call that college
football fans are passionate about the rankings. Just put you
at number one and you'll be the you know, a
big man on campus around here.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
The problem is, and I can't believe, like this is
a great way actually to the sort of another really
great way to describe like where we are in the
college football.
Speaker 8 (32:21):
Universe with Indiana.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
So I ranked Indiana number five this week, and you
would have thought, I like killed.
Speaker 8 (32:31):
A puppy when it comes.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
For IU fans like and startlingly, that is the lowest
they were ranked among any voters, which I saw and
was completely shocked, completely shocked. So the idea that someone
could have Indiana as the fifth best team in the
country and Indiana fans would get furious at me is
(32:57):
I can't, like bizarro?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Are we living in see you?
Speaker 4 (33:02):
You were loved there for all those minutes on this
call in the last little you know, hiccup there at
the end. Man, I don't know these people wanted to
cut you off the.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Air right there.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
Who did you have about are you? Ralph?
Speaker 8 (33:14):
I'm a truth teller. Yeah, this is just you guys
are just gonna like get me crushed. Now get another
wave of it.
Speaker 5 (33:20):
So I had Ralph Russo on Twitter, by the way, all.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Well yeah it's again, like it's gonna come again. I
got Ohio state number one, Miami number two A, and
m number three, and this is the one that set
everybody off. I have Alabama number four and Indiana number five.
But again, we live in a world where if I
rank Alabama above Indiana, people think I'm an idiot.
Speaker 8 (33:45):
That like just it's like.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Where are we like, what are we even doing here?
It's just and that speaks to the amazing job that
Signetti has done.
Speaker 8 (33:54):
And what a great story Indiana is.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
I mean, they just they have been awesome and you
could have made a very legitimate case to rank them
as high as number one.
Speaker 8 (34:03):
I think that they were.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
You know, sort of in that three group of who
is going to be three through five for me, and
it was real close and I landed there. And again,
send all your complaints to Ralph d russo on X
well what.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
I want a stand up guy.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
We appreciate you, Ralph and we will catch up with
you next time. My friend, thanks so much for joining
us this morning on the show.
Speaker 10 (34:24):
Yeah, guys, anytime there you go.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
You gotta be a basketball season. We've already had three
preseason games for the Indiana Pacers and we'll start seeing
some college basketball at the legendary Hinkle Fieldhouse tomorrow night.
Butler Bulldogs will be hosting a Notre Dame there and Kevin,
this is gonna be you know, Indiana's got a whole
new coach and a whole new roster teams like, but
Butler's pretty much got a whole new roster coming in
(35:03):
with that Mata too.
Speaker 5 (35:04):
Yeah, a lot of new guys. Finley Bizjack one of
the few returnees there Michael Jai from Gonzaga Pepperdine I
think originally, and then Gonzaga that is a grown man
that has a lot of skill, So I'll be curious
to see how he does in the big He's big
year certainly for Thad Mada year four and tomorrow night.
And I like how college teams are doing this. You know,
(35:24):
Purdue's got Kentucky next week in the exhibition game. I
you's got married tomorrow. Then they'll have Baylor. I believe
that's next weekend as well. I like how it's turned
into this of like some Marquie opponents, and of course
Notre name a lot of former Butler ties, Michael Shrewsbury,
Brady Stevens, the son of Brad on their roster. So
I like how college basketball's kind of evolved to this
as we get some of these Marquee exhibition games and
(35:45):
they're not those like secret scrimmages behind closed doors.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Well let's find out more about this team coming up
in twenty five twenty six. The head coach of the
Butler Bulldogs on the line with us on the pay
List Lookers Hotline. That would be Thad Mada coach. Good morning,
welcome into the fan. Morning shit, how you doing doing well?
Speaker 6 (36:02):
Good morning guys.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Uh, boy, you have been under construction. You've had a
lot of work to do over the last several months.
Tell us a little bit about what's been exciting about
it for you and what you're looking forward to.
Speaker 6 (36:12):
Yeah, you know, it has been a lot of construction.
I will say that we had eleven new players and
and you know, of the last year's team, Finley, uh,
you know, played a lot of minutes. Evan didn't play
a ton, Jamie Kaiju was out, and Ethan McCombe, you know,
spurringly played a little bit. So it's it's been a
it's been a long process. But uh, you know, I'm
(36:33):
pretty pleased with what we've done. I think the eleven
guys that we've added, number one, I think we brought
in really good kids and they've got a tremendous work ethic. So, uh,
it's been a it's been a fun summer and and
uh into the fall here of I'm just trying to
put everything together and and you know, quite honestly, I think,
like a lot of teams in college basketball, we're still
learning our team. I think, you know, tomorrow night game
(36:54):
will let us know a little bit more about them
and uh, just sort of you know who we are,
what we got to get better at.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
Coach, When you look at this opportunity you have tomorrow night,
how big is that, like you just alluded to just
to I guess, set the standard or set a barometer
for where you are right now and versus where you
want to be, because you know in Notre Dame, yeah,
it's an exhibition game.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
They're not coming here to lose.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
So what do you think that experience will be like
as you try to get this group more integrated with
each other?
Speaker 6 (37:21):
Well, yeah, I think the big thing for us because
this is really an early game, and I think for
both us and them, this is gonna be a good
experience to sort of gauge. I know for us because
you get to this stage of practice and you're saying,
what are we missing? What do we get better at?
And when you're going against the same guys every day,
(37:43):
it's probably puts a little bit of blinders on you.
And you know, I know for us, and I think
Notre Dame is going to do the same thing. I mean,
they gave me a minute sheet the other day. The
coach is presented to me one of our guys did
when he was with the Bucks for an exhibition game,
and it looked like it was Chinese to me, with
with all the substitutions and stuff we're going to make
(38:04):
because we got to play guys, right, it was it
was it was mine. But I'm just like, all right,
just sent theim in when they're supposed to go in.
I can't look at this sheet, but I think for us,
we've we've got to get everybody we want. We want
to get our freshman in the game. We want to
look at some some different combinations. Uh, you know, Jalen
Jackson just started going full court this week, so he's
on a minute restriction tomorrow night, and and uh you know, yeah,
(38:28):
like I said, we want to win the game, but
I'm I'm more focused on trying to get this team
better and seeing sort of what we've got. Uh, as
we you know, build for November fifth, I think it
is our home opener bad.
Speaker 5 (38:40):
Do you like how college basketball has gotten to this
state with the exhibition games of the old secret scrimmages
now seem to be more in the public eye against
you know, quality opponents.
Speaker 6 (38:52):
Yeah, I do. But you know the one thing about
the secret scrimmage is that you know, we played Illinois
last year and it was great because you know, Brad
and I could op at any given time, and you know,
I know we ran something one time He's like, stops,
I'll run that again for us. And you know, I
mean you you were teaching more because we had asked
if we'd have like a no foul out rule and
(39:14):
they won't let us do that. And I'd mentioned it's
a notre dame. Can we have as many thirty second
time outs as we won? And I guess we can't
do that, so I guess it's like a real game.
But no, I you know, my biggest focus on we
we had to continue to get this team better. And
and you know you're gonna have film after the game
(39:36):
against different opponents, and I think note dames of the
team this show really do so, uh, it'll be fun
for guys. I know they're excited to bang heads against
somebody else besides ourselves.
Speaker 5 (39:46):
Definitely a new look to this Butler team here coming
up here for the second stint if you will with
THATDMANA And you can obviously hear Butler games on our
airwaves and our sister stations coming up this season. We
saw the announcement earlier this week coach of Gordon Hayward
gonna help you guys out in some capacity here. I
think we've seen some of these, you know NBA players
wanting to do this with their respective colleges here over
(40:09):
the last few years.
Speaker 6 (40:10):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
What exactly will Gordon's role look like in retirement?
Speaker 6 (40:15):
Well, number one, I mean, what a what a great
thing for our program to have him involved. And I
mean you you think about Butler basketball and he's definitely
the poster child. And I think, you know, anytime you
can get a guy like that around your program, around
our players, I think it's gonna be great for us.
(40:37):
I mean him him, He's coming in data practice and
you know, just getting to know our guys and and
know our staff and and that sort of thing. You know,
in terms of the recruiting, I think that you know,
having somebody like that that can can talk to a
family say look, here's here's what Butler University did for me.
And I think it would be hard pressed for somebody
(40:57):
to say, well, I think I take that route to
twelve years in the Star two max contracts Uh, it was.
It was a great situation.
Speaker 8 (41:05):
So you know, we're we're very, very.
Speaker 6 (41:07):
Excited to have him around and and uh, you know,
the extent of how much, I'm not exactly sure, but
you know, he spoke to the team last year in
New York and uh, like I said, I'm just I'm
elated to have him, you know, involved with us and
and looking forward to building a great relationship with him.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
He's got to be in these scrimmages, right, He's got
to be. He cannot be this close removed from playing
professionally and come out there and like slides. So whatever
you do, coach to please make sure Gordon, Hey, we're
just you know, reminds me young, is that? Hey, back
in the day, I used.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
To do this for real.
Speaker 6 (41:41):
No, there's no doubt about that. And I think he
only played two years and now it's crazy is they
may give him two more years. Who knows.
Speaker 3 (41:48):
There you go, the world has changed a little bit.
Speaker 6 (41:51):
You know, they're just handing guys years. Maybe we can
get him back. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
There you go, Hey, front court depth a little bit
of a problem last year. Where are you at right
now as you look at this kind of newly constructed team.
How are you feeling about that?
Speaker 8 (42:07):
You know, I like our depth.
Speaker 6 (42:09):
We're really athletic at the five spot. And you know,
we added Kevin m Z a couple of weeks ago,
and he's a little bit banged up right now. You
got hit the other day in practice. I don't think
he'll go tomorrow night. But with Johann and Drayton, it's
a different look. I mean, they got signs, they got athleticism,
(42:30):
and both guys played extremely hard. It's kind of refreshing
to see out there.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
Well, it's always good to talk to you, coach. We
look forward to our weekly visits with you as the
season rolls along. Excited to have you back on the
radio station, and excited to get out of Hinkle again
and watch some college basketball, which is never a bad thing.
Speaker 6 (42:47):
Yeah, absolutely, I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
All Right, we'll talk to you soon. Thanks so much.
Speaker 6 (42:51):
All right, guys, have a great day, you bet.
Speaker 2 (42:53):
Also, people are planning on going out there tomorrow. They're
going to debut the brand new video board fourteen feet tall,
uh over mid court, so that'll be kind of fun
to watch too. Ashinkle continues to get upgraded and updated
a little bit.
Speaker 5 (43:06):
Always enjoy a went well, I guess a fall knight
in this case, but a winter night inside of that place.
One of the Saint John's game last year, that was
a rocking environment there and the Big East. You know what,
two teams right in the top five. I think in
the preseason poll, I think it goes yukon of Saint
John's back to back if I'm not mistaken in that
poll there. So big year for Butler. Need to get
back in the tournament and we'll see how a roster
(43:29):
that I think has got a lot more lanth, lot
more depth to it and in recent years should be
better to hold up defensively than they have in years past.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
Yeah, I think they played in the n T two
years ago and then the brand new Tournament last year,
the brand new College Basketball Tournament they had last year.
Speaker 5 (43:44):
Yeah, there's a new staying in those postseason tournaments. They'd
hand those out like Oprah.
Speaker 2 (43:48):
Yeah, well, I want to get back to the NAM
this year. You get one, you get one, you get one.
Speaker 5 (43:54):
I mean, hell, they hand out int tournament bid. It's
like it's Oprah.
Speaker 3 (43:57):
They're trying to expand it.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
So Yeah, a long time ago, I was I was
dating a girl. She we went to a Chicago for
a weekend and she drug me to an OPRAH taping.
Speaker 5 (44:06):
Well there you.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
Go, so there you go that it says like, check
that one off the list.
Speaker 5 (44:09):
Therefore you anniversary, don't play this part of the show.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
Hey, clearly Christine was the one, because twenty one years later,
here we are.
Speaker 5 (44:18):
You can dig yourself out of that one, which was.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
Way before I even met her, way before.
Speaker 5 (44:22):
I even if you want to transition to colts or
something there by all means.
Speaker 2 (44:26):
Always trying to get me in trouble, Kevin.
Speaker 6 (44:27):
What.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
A long time ago? Yeah, nobody else even exists before that,
nothing ever happens exactly.
Speaker 5 (44:38):
That's how you got to treat the wedding anniversary.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
It's probably best because what happens is eventually you meet
the one, you know she's the one, and nothing. That's it.
Speaker 5 (44:49):
You said, we have a break, Caleb, the head is
ever we do? I said, Jeff stepped on a rake.
But yes, break as well.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
Before we get to the break though, Uh text mew
the wor it's thad Mada thad Mada, and we'll hook
you up with some tickets to tomorrow night's game. Notre
Dame taking on Butler a pair of tickets to go
see that one tomorrow night at Hinklefield House. Bad Mada
at two three nine ten seventy will continue the show
after Kevin tries to get me in trouble even further on,
(45:18):
ninety comes out there
You were listening to the Best of the Fan morning
show on ninety three five and one oh seven five
the Fan, Good morning, And I don't know.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I always think of Thursday as a head start into
the weekend and has got NFL football later on tonight, and
then we've got all kinds of basketball already coming up
tomorrow night and great football games on Saturday. I am
here for all of it. I'm looking forward to it.
A moment ago, we had those worlds collide football and basketball,
because so many NFL players love playing basketball, and a
(00:29):
lot of them will tell you they're really really good
at basketball, and they probably are because they're great athletes. James,
But you were having a conversation with mo Ali Cox
about what yesterday.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
So we talked about this on our airwaves.
Speaker 4 (00:41):
We were saying, Hey, if you had to pick five
Colts players to be in your starting five for basketball,
who would you pick? And so we throw out our names,
and I believe it was Kevin who reminded, me, Hey,
you should ask some of the guys in the locker
room today.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
So I went over to Moli Cox, So who's got
in the locker room?
Speaker 4 (00:56):
As I'm waiting for Daniel Jones because that's you know,
obviously way more important than this. But I was like,
you know what, we got time to kill. Who is
your starting five from the former college basketball player himself
form VCU forward and Mary Cox chose himself, he chose
Daniel Jones, he chose Ashton Doolan, and then I believe
(01:17):
he chose Anthony Richardson and I'm missing one.
Speaker 5 (01:22):
That he chose.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
So I have to go back and look at you
say yes, j T Twey Mullowow, who, by the way,
he played his AU basketball with Polo bn Caro, who
is the number one pick down there in Orlando, So.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
That's his five.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
I was a little surprised that we didn't get some
Riley Leonard Love point forward.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
Daniel Jones is what he called Jon Jones, right.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Yes, but I told you he could hoop.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
I mean, I've talked to the guys about this, and
apparently they had a little powow at Butler months ago,
right around the time of like OTA's and Mini camp
and all that stuff, and they said that, well, I
use it for a story a while back, and Jaylen
Jones told me, hey, we were, you know, trying to
figure out a way to bond.
Speaker 6 (02:01):
You know.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
We were in the locker room arguing over who can
really hoop, who can really play? And he was like,
you know what, line it up, Let us go out
there and play.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
And so they said.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
They went over to Butler and Daniel Jones didn't have
any shoes to play basketball in. I guess you didn't
bring him with him, you know, from New York. And
so they had to find some shoes first, lace the
shoes up, and then he told me that this is
Jalen Jones. That is he said that Daniel Jones started
hitting them with some moves that were like some Dirt
Novinsky bleep bleep bleep and some Tim Duncan bleak bleep
(02:29):
bleep that I can't repeat. But he's a bad you
know what, according to his teammates, we.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Should get like nine of those guys and then Gordon
Hayward over there in Hincklefield House and Gordon can show
him what's what.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Well, yeah, I mean, everyone's look a great basketball player
until you see a pro.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I'll just say that.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
So it was a fun debate and I'm sure if
I ask anybody else in the locker room, they'll tell me, Oh,
how am I not in that top five?
Speaker 5 (02:53):
And Moe did say I feel like we're a little
too big. He was a little nervous Yoh not enough
guards to be fair, but yes again, and he thinks
Staniel Jones will point forward there.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Did you guys see the Celtics played a coaches versus
media basketball game? I did see this.
Speaker 7 (03:07):
Why don't we do a colts players versus colts media
basketball game?
Speaker 3 (03:12):
We get James Boy, we get Kevin Bowen Colts players. Yeah,
I like brother.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Just to be clear, you're proposing professional athletes going up
against media.
Speaker 6 (03:23):
Man.
Speaker 5 (03:23):
Celtics did it. I mean Celtics did their coaches, Yeah,
pro some older pros and they did. Absolutely. Joe Missoula,
from the sounds of it, wanted blood and this.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Game is hilarious.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
He's he's just going there with charges man Rick.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
Carlo when he joins us, there you go coming up.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
A very good former player himself.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
Oh absolutely, I mean he won a championship. So I
will say this though, to Calebs and Justin have you
ever seen football players play basketball? They look like football
players who play basketball.
Speaker 8 (03:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
I'm not taking a charge. I'm not about get hit
my chest. Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I'm predicting now that if there was Pacers coaching staff
against media, Jenny Bussik is probably the leading scorer.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Heys again former pro away from her general pargos on staff,
he is, oh, he'd give me forty he plays. I
think mathering these guys one on one, you know, after practice,
so uh yeah, I'm not checking any of those guys.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Uh for those keeping pace. Though, tomorrow night, we've got
basketball everywhere, Notre Dame at Butler, tomorrow night Heinkle Fieldhouse,
and then the Pacers at San Antonio. It's about to
be full on basketball. He's not quite there yet, but
we're getting close. It is college football season though. In
Indiana coming off the huge road win against Oregon, and
I was talking to an Indiana alum yesterday, good friend
(04:50):
of mine, Jeff Martin Della works at ESPN in their
affiliate relations department, and he grew up in Indiana. He
went to Indiana, he said, literally, he was nearly in
tears at the end of that football game on Saturday.
It's how much it means to folks who've been following
this program and have watched it for decades now, and
they go in as you said, Kevin a twenty seven
(05:12):
and a half point favorite against Michigan State on Saturday
down in Bloomington. And I was fascinated that Kurt Signette
spent some time with Joel Klatt from Fox Sports. Joel
does a podcast and he had Kurt Signetti on this
past week. And you know, Kurt kind of took a
bunch of players from his old school when he came
to Indiana, but he also took a bunch of the
(05:33):
coaching staff too. He kept as much intact as he
could and that's kind of how you start to build
and bring your culture over. I'll let him describe it himself.
Speaker 9 (05:43):
I've been very fortunate to have great consistency on my
coaching staff. You know, my offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator.
I hired a part time coaches at the D two
level for about eight thousand bucks, and those guys have
been with me, you know, eleven twelve years, and that
would be Brian Haynes and Mike Shannon and Grant came
my special teams coordinators, but with me about six seven years.
(06:04):
And you know, we're in the top five in the
country lately at the end of the year. You know,
in teams and we've been really, really good this season.
But a number of other people in the organization been
with me a long time, so they know how we
do things, they know how I am. The expectation level.
I try to keep those guys fresh, you know. I mean,
(06:25):
when we're in here, we're efficient, we're organized, we're working,
we don't waste time, and when we're done, I tell
them to go home. And I'm the same way with
the team and meetings and on a practice field, I
mean we're we're a really short practice operation. I mean
we'll have about a thirty five minute walkthrough on Mondays
and on Fridays we'll have about a twenty five minute walkthrough,
and Tuesday through Thursday, I mean we're on that field
(06:47):
about our thirty five hour, forty minutes and off. Because
I just believe in keeping people fresh and healthy, and
the better people feel physically, the better they're going to
be mentally too. So well, there's a lot that goes
into it, but it's it's done with people, and you know,
we have great people.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
And how about the fact that I love this, James,
that you have something that you know works, You trust
these guys you've always had, always had success with them,
then you bring a number of players over as well,
and while you're literally transplanting your culture through the people
and the personalities that make it go and make it
what it is. And now you set that example for
(07:29):
everybody else at Indiana, and there is this expectation that, no,
this is how it is from this coaching staff to
all the players we brought over, this is how you
do things. Is working for.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
Him absolutely, and I think when we talk about car
Signetti and the rebuild that he's had and how remarkable
it is, it just doesn't seem feasible realistically for anybody
else to do it. I mean, you know, you, if
you are a program that's kind of down and out,
you're thinking, Okay, we just got to find the right
guy and he'll fix everything. But man, this is something
out of a movie. This doesn't happen, you know, every
(08:02):
day or hardly ever. I mean, we'll talk to some
people later today, one of my colleagues, Ralph Russeau, who's
been around college football forever here in a few minutes,
and he'll give some more context to what we're actually seeing.
But yeah, it is inspiring to kind of see what
he's done, what he's built, and certainly the standard that
he has established at this point is what they're going
to be held to going forward. So I guess that's
(08:24):
like the good pressure, good challenge that you're embracing now
that you've you know, won some big games.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
I think staff retension is a really underrated element to
sustaining success collegiately. And you know, Brian Haynes, for example,
their defensive coordinator. He was highly sought after last offseason
by blue bloods. And you know when you talk about, hey,
you know, where's Indiana at from a financial sense in
college football? And you know, are they willing to pay
(08:51):
top dollars by all accounts that they did up the
ANNIE for that assistant coaching pool. And I do think
that is a huge deal because if you look at
just look at some of the final four teams from
last year. Notre Dame loses their defensive coordinator to the NFL.
You know, Penn State lost Tom Allen. Remember that Tom
Allen went to Clemson. Ohio State won the national title.
(09:11):
Their defensive coordinator left and went through Penn State of
all places. So you know, you're talking about, you know,
three of the top four teams last year, you know,
losing key coordinators and for Indiana to have the year
that they did. I get that. Tino Sensei, their co
offensive coordinator, left for UCLA. That didn't go great for him,
you know, for him to retain you know, two of
their guys after the year they had that, I think
(09:34):
it's pretty rare, especially in college sports. So you know,
even Purdue basketball you look at it, Matt Painters had
great staff retention over the years. I do think it's
a really under the radar aspect to it.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Well, they're doing it right at Indiana at this point
in time, they've risen all the way up to number
three and there. I was listening to a bunch of
the college football programs and podcast yesterday. Almost all of
them are like, Hey, Indiana is legit threat to win
the whole thing. Everybody talks about Ohio State, and you know,
you're going to have your your Georgia's and your Alabama's
(10:06):
and some of the SEC teams. But they really believe
looking up and down the roster, looking at the coaching staff,
look at the way they play, the way they do things,
the way they dominated on the line of scrimmage against Oregon,
that they are legit to go deep into the college
football Playoff.
Speaker 5 (10:20):
Speaking of the college football Playoff, we probably shouldn't mention that.
I think we've done it yet, James. The one news
item that Shane Styken did reveal yesterday, it'll be Riley
Leonard one play away coming up on Sunday, not Brett Rippin.
So Riley Leonard will be quarterback number two. I think
Shane did say for Sunday, Yeah, just for now to
anything past that. The ripping thing a little odd. He didn't.
(10:42):
I guess he had some travel issues. He didn't get
to Indy until after Wednesday's practice, so he technically did
not practice with the team yesterday. Were you surprised that
it is Riley? Do you think the ripping not being
able to get to town quick enough had something to
do with that? Or you don't care?
Speaker 3 (11:00):
I think I do care, because, again, the backup quarterback
is important.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
If Daniel Jones goes down, that guy's in there and
he is suddenly thrust into a position of leading the
number one seed in the AFC. So yeah, I definitely care.
But I expected Riley to be QB two regardless of
who they signed, mainly because of just the timeline of
things that are happened. You know, if he wasn't with
(11:23):
the team on Monday, he just got there yesterday.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Got to get acclimated, you know.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
And I think even if you have been like bur
Ripon has in a ton of different offenses throughout the years,
you still want to give him a little bit more
time in a couple of days to say, hey, Okay,
you're going to be the guy we rely on if
this guy goes down. I think you trust Ry Leonard
what he's done in the classroom from studying and being
ready to go, and then you get through the weekend
and then you figure it out from there, like, Okay,
(11:51):
how do we assess it now that we have everyone
where they're supposed to be, like physically in the same area, city, state,
and then we go from there. So yeah, excited Ryan Leonard.
He sounded excited about the opportunity, but he also said
he only hopes to get in if it's a blowout,
Like I don't want to go in, you know. If
if I'm going in, that means Daniel Jones is had
an injury, and that's obviously what nobody wants. So yeah,
(12:14):
I did tell him though, if you get in and
it's a blowout. You got to ask Shane and give
you a go ball. I'm not with all that. I'm
not with all that. Get in there and it's like,
you know, when I go to these high school games
and like get the teams are getting blown out. They
put their bench in and they tell the guys, hey,
just run our offense. No, coach, I'm not going to
the league. My parents probably not gonna see me play
(12:34):
varsity basketball very often.
Speaker 7 (12:36):
I'm getting me shot. No, we're not running. Talk to
that cheerleader over there. I'm yeah, I'm trying. You know,
I gotta get some highlights even if I missed the shot. Yeah,
at any of these days, you can cut that. You
can cut the miss out and talk to huddle.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Highlights.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
Don't love themselves there. You know you're gonna have to
have some yourself. One thing to note quarterback wise, you know, hey,
who should the cult sign is back up. We have
this debate a little bit in the media room because
Brett Rippens's resume is rather non a script. There's really
not a lot on there. He does have four career starts,
but really he's only been a true backup. That's a
(13:11):
maybe one year in Denver for Russell Wilson. A lot
of people have been asked, Hey, why not Taylor Heineke.
You know that if you look at the list of backups,
or I should say the list of free agent quarterbacks,
Heinike probably has the most decorated resume of anybody on
that list. This is me assuming things. If I'm Taylor Heineke,
(13:32):
and I know this might sound a little crazy, but
Taylor Heineke could probably be a little greedy if he
would like. And by that I mean this. We have
seen the Joe Burrow injury already this season. We're probably
due for one more quarterback to have a Joe Burrow
injury prominent quarterback. That is so, if I'm Taylor Heineke
and I'm sitting on my couch, I'm thinking it's week seven,
(13:54):
It's October sixteenth. I could probably wait another month and
let's see if insert your playoff teams loses their starting
quarterback for X amount of time. Could I then become
Nick Foles in Philadelphia, Joe Flacco and Cleveland from a
few years ago. Could I walk into more of a
(14:14):
playoff situation and be the starter here in Indie Daniel
Jones hasn't missed a meaningful snap all year. If you
sign here, then you're probably landlocked here for the rest
of the season. So again that's me assuming things with heinikeh.
But you know, I think some people are kind of like, wait,
really just Brett Rippin well, well, good point in desperate
(14:36):
desperate mode, and Heinike isn't yet, I would think in
desperate desperate mode.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Yeah, I say your point.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
The trade deadline, I think is also a factor that
could help him in a sense where if you get
past the trade deadline, like you said, he you've wait
a month.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
Then November fourth the deadline, Yeah, exactly, and then the
Joe Flacco acquisition for the Bengals isn't an option anymore.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
You can't trade for anybody. So you're telling somebody, vita backup?
Ye at your boy.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
I think you're both onto something there too. I think
on the other side of that too, if you're just
looking for a backup right now, Tyler, you know, Taylor
honekey is probably gonna cost a little bit more than
a guy like Brett Rippon at this point in time.
So from the team's perspective, not only you're saving money
for somebody you hope doesn't even have to play. But
I think you're one hundred percent right Kevin on the
henineke perspective, wait for a better opportunity to come along,
(15:23):
and the trade deadline also falls into all that, so
I think it's kind of a swirl of all those
things where it wasn't really gonna work out.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
How much do you think you would really cost? Though,
I'm like, you know, I'm looking at Taylor Honekey, like
how much you asking for?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
You're gonna cost a lot more than Brett Rippon, I
would think, yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
But it's also pro rated too, so it's like you
ain't played, so you can't come with too many demands here.
I don't want to act like the the backup quarterback
going to break down.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I think the majority of it is Kevin is right, though,
is where it most of it comes from.
Speaker 5 (15:50):
I think Kevin's always right to note for Sunday and
I again, it's not it's something I kind of look
at each week just to see if there is any
past history here. Justin Herbert has facially in a room
twice and the charge of it have had a ton
of success in those games. Thirty four points scored offensively
in both of those games. Now, again it's Cincinnati, it's
different personnel, but you know Herbert has seen lou En
(16:12):
Rumo's defenses. Last year they scored thirty four. Herbert actually
wasn't greatly efficient in that game, but they still were
able to put up a lot of points. So certainly
there are some questions with the health of the offensive
tackles in LA. That is a massive win for the Colts.
They have to take advantage of that because depth at
wide out versus lack of depth at cornerback I think
(16:35):
is advantage Chargers in this matchup here.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
So five your pass rush to show up.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
They certainly need that, and they have not yet addressed
adding anybody. And I don't know they're going to unless
you know.
Speaker 5 (16:46):
It's a shame you even have to mention that. Like
you say, it's a they haven't added anybody. Let's think
about this defensive line room. You have three first round picks,
two second round picks I believe, two third round picks,
and a fourth and a fifth. So in the nine
defensive linemen you've drafted, all of them have been drafted
(17:08):
in the top five rounds and three first round picks
a third of the room and then added in the
second round picks over half the room, or first and
second round picks. You shouldn't need to go out there
and think about adding anyone. It's probably the most highly
invested defensive line room in the entire NFL. And yet
and again, your thought, Jeff is not wrong. I understand
(17:30):
why you bring up, hey, should they add here? But
like they shouldn't. This group should be getting it done.
And Sunday, Sunday should be a banner day. You talk
about adding highlights. These guys should be having. These guys
should be just ravaging justin Herbert on Sunday with the
health of the Chargers tackles.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
How many sucks do the Colts have so far this
year as a team?
Speaker 6 (17:52):
Do you know?
Speaker 5 (17:53):
I don't know, number wise, pressure rate I think has
been kind of like right around twenty ish in the
two twenties. And I feel like this, And I was
talking with Rick Vanterry a little bit after the game
the other day, I feel like when I see sacks
for the Colts, they're like stunting sacks or maybe even
a little bit coverage induced. Like I don't feel like
(18:15):
they have a lot of just our guy whips your
guy sacks and again Sunday, you gotta have that because
the Chargers. The Chargers injury report wasn't great yesterday either.
They maybe will get Khalil Mack back he's missed about
a month, but offensive tackle wise, I think they're still
gonna be down their top three guys.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
I only bring that up because I'm looking at the
at stats and I like, see right now real quickly
are the individual stats and there are two Broncos that
have between the two of them twelve and a half sacks.
I don't think the Colts have twelve and a half
sacks as a team.
Speaker 5 (18:48):
Dude, they mean the Broncos had one.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
We have sixteen as a team, the bronxix sas against the.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
D I apologize, Yeah, they had a bunch. Nick Benino
has eight already. But my point is is we haven't
seen a ton of pressure. Gotten a little bit better,
but we haven't seen a ton of pressure on quarterbacks
so far this year.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Yeah, the Broncos are leading the league with thirty sacks.
The Calls actually are seventh in the NFL with sixteen sacks.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Why does that surprise me? It just doesn't feel like that.
Speaker 5 (19:15):
Yeah, when you look closer to some of these sacks,
like it's impact plays. It's like the final drive against
the Raiders when it's forty to six. You know, that's
like the critical third down. I mean, think of those
long downs and distances that the Cardinals converted on Sunday.
Those are the moments where you're pinning your ears back
and you can't get home there. So again, just a huge,
(19:36):
huge factor when it comes to, you know, trying to
limit the Chargers on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Based on what I'm looking at right now, ranked number
thirty in the league, Taekwon Lewis has three sacks. Quity
Pay also has three sacks. That's what I've got for
individual guys right now. So there's six between those two.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Guys, and I'll get again Lao Two's that's still one
or his first six games of the year. That's just
not enough for a guy who was drafted as the
first defensive player taken a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
And yet they're five and one. So there is that.
Speaker 4 (20:12):
Yeah, you're actually getting into a store I'll have going
up tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Is this sustainable on defense?
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Because they're like fourth in scoring defense, this year, So
they're not giving up a ton of points every game,
But when you look at their third down conversion rate,
they're thirtieth in the league.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
That is not just from last week.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
I got a chance to ask Sayah Franklin about that,
and he kind of alluded to some of the success
that the Cardinals had and maybe that could askew the numbers.
But I mean, at what point do we look at
a sample size and say this is who you are.
You're a third of the way through the season at
this point. This isn't like we're talking about two or
three games here. So are you a bad third down
(20:54):
conversion team on defense? And if that is the case,
is it sustainable for you to keep winning in this manner?
The takeaways certainly helped you. Can't you know, apologize for that.
I think if if any other stat determines winning and
losing an NFL, it's can you get takeaways?
Speaker 3 (21:08):
And can you give us short fields?
Speaker 4 (21:09):
And so they've done that, but it's still as concerning
that they haven't been at least moderately better when it
comes to third down. And I think a lot of
it has to do with the fact that you know,
if you target the middle of the field for the
culture right now, it's money all right.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Coming up at a moment, we turn our attention to
college football. Indiana rank number three Notre Dame with a
big game against USC and the senior college Sports rider
for the athletic Ralph Russo stops by next on the
Fan Morning show ninety three to five and one oh
seven to five to the Fan. We've been talking about
it all morning long. College football right smack in the
middle of everything, and games that are played between now
(21:45):
and the end of the year, like all of them,
determine who goes to the college football playoff, and we
might have two again from the state of Indiana. This
show up in the college football playoffs just like last year,
Indiana and Notre Dame. So it's worth talking about. And
of course number three ranking right now for Indiana Notre Dame.
I don't know if they get that win over US
see a twentieth rank team. Do they based on teams
(22:07):
in front of them? Obviously? Are they flirting with top
ten pretty quickly here?
Speaker 5 (22:11):
I don't know necessarily about that. I know this, they
lose their seasons over they win.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
You're the most negative guy I know.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
No that is a fact.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
It is a fact.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
But you always go to the losing for Notre Dame first, Well,
they are just gonna win out come on, Well, they
have business to take care of after that, you know,
Notre Dame is no margin for air.
Speaker 5 (22:29):
So they lose, they're done. They win. I think they
continue to be in a position to be in the
playoff if they do run at the table.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
I'm just giving you a bad time. I know no
how it goes. So Ralph Russo knows a lot about
college football more than we do. Probably that's why we're
having them on the show now ninety three five and
one of something five to the fan on the pay
Less Liquors Hotline. He is the senior college football writer
at The Athletic. Good morning, Ralph, Thanks for getting up
early in being with us today. We appreciate it.
Speaker 8 (22:54):
Oh, you're very welcome.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
And there's certainly a lot of people who would argue
that I know more than that college football, considering some
of the messages I get in Twitter after I vote
in the poll on Sundays.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Obviously, we're gonna talk about Indiana a bunch here in
a minute, but pump my boy up here over here,
my Notre Dame guy, I know there's no margin for air,
but make the case for him why this team is
going to run the table and be fine.
Speaker 8 (23:21):
Oh, I mean, they have one of the best offenses
in the country. I think there.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
I think if they eat USC, it looks really good
for them to do just that.
Speaker 8 (23:31):
I mean, if you the way they've.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Just demolished everybody since A and M and Miami, and
the fact that you play what essentially are toss up
games against A and M and Miami, who right now
are two of the top five six teams in the
I mean, depending on your perspective, to me, they're two
of the top five teams in the country. Maybe they're
two of the top six, you know, depending on again,
(23:54):
depending on where you have them in your your personal rankings. Yeah,
I think there's a there's a damn good chance that
they run the table.
Speaker 6 (24:01):
Here.
Speaker 8 (24:01):
I would also say this.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
There's a pretty good chance we're going to have a
nine and three playoff team there. I'm not saying it's
going to be Notre Dame, but like if you just
sort of look at the projections that come to the
projection systems, I don't know if there's gonna be enough
ten win teams to fill this field. So I'm just
preparing everyone because it's gonna feel a little shocking that
(24:27):
a nine and three team, probably from the SEC because
they have the hardest schedules, very well might end up
in this playoff.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
Ralph, you have covered college football for how many years?
Speaker 1 (24:41):
I'm very old, so yes, it's been a very long time,
probably you know, twenty thirty years.
Speaker 8 (24:46):
Yeah, it's a long long time.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
And we're very appreciative of your time here at eight
am on this Thursday morning. Have you ever received a
text in your life that said, hey, man, could you
come on our radio show to talk about Indiana University's
football team?
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Well, yes, this is a new world we are living in,
as I got to see up close when I went
to Eugene on Saturday, and yeah, I'm watching the Hoosiers.
Speaker 8 (25:13):
You know, pretty convincingly.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Not just beat Oregon, because you know, there was a time,
a long time ago when Indiana went to Oregon and
won with about eighty eight yards of total offense because
they got five.
Speaker 8 (25:27):
Turnovers from Oregon's team back in the early two thousands.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
So but to see them go there too in a
top you know, ten matchup and truly handle one of
the most talented rosters in the country was you know,
a little stunning.
Speaker 8 (25:44):
And what was also stunning.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Afterwards is to sort of see to sort of be
around the signetti experience, right, the signetti of it all.
This sixty four year old Yinzer who has become just
a rock star itching in college coaching, you know, to
beat the thirty eight year old Dan Lanning who's sort
of the up and coming and everybody kind of thinks
(26:07):
of him as the hot guy. And now again this
sixty four year old dude whose career has gone from
like Alabama to Elon is now the star in college football.
With his you know, sort of smirk for a smile
is remarkable.
Speaker 8 (26:24):
It was remarkable. You know, the what that field, what
that scene.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Was like after the game as well, just you know,
Indiana fans refusing to leave Austin until he left the
field too.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
Ralph Russo joining us here on the Palo Circus hot line,
my colleague at the Athletic Ralph, you're talking to James boy.
Thanks for getting back to me with my text. He
texted back immediately and told me he had Hey, I
can't do winsay can do. Thursday, I got a story
I got to write, and I was like, you know what,
I've been in that same world, my friend.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
You know, hopefully got the story done and I'm sure
I'll check it out.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
But you know, like you said, yeah, you alluded to
what I you showed and just looking ahead at their schedule,
you know, we talked about Notre Dame possibly running the
table end of the year, and it feels like the
big test for I you have kind of come and gone.
But as look at the rest of their slate, that
UCLA game in a couple of weeks, I'm like, man,
is that one I should be nervous about? So are
(27:20):
there a couple opponents because costlewall is weird where you're
looking like that's a game that you needs to make
sure they don't, you know, stink up or something like that.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Yeah, I would say, I'm still interested to see what
Penn State has left in the tank. The fact that
and you have to go to Happy Valley. The fact
of the matter is like there's still talent on that team,
you know. In fact, that literally was the story I
was working on is sort of an autopsy on what
went wrong there. Over the last three weeks and hopefully, yeah,
(27:51):
we'll be published in a couple hours. It was up
a little late last night in fact, getting the face,
so hopefully, so hopefully we got that across the finish line,
you know, so that one again just going to Happy Valley.
Speaker 8 (28:06):
The interim coach.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
There is a Penn State lifer, Terry Smith I who
is sort of the guy who he is very much
the point person.
Speaker 8 (28:15):
On a lot of the recruiting stuff.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
He was one of the original guys that Franklin brought
in there because he's so he's such a good recruiter,
such a good coach, and such a like a Penn Stater.
So I would wonder what that team looks like after
it sort of shakes off whatever was going on there
after they lost the Oregon that threw them into such
(28:38):
a bad funk. That's the most talented team probably left
on i U's schedule. I'm trying to think of, like
who else might be there. I don't have it pulled
up in front of me.
Speaker 8 (28:49):
You're right.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
UCLA is tricky. They have found they have sort of
unlocked and Eco and made them their offense a lot
tougher to guard now that now that Jerry Newheidel is
calling the place.
Speaker 8 (29:03):
But the thing is again and as you guys noted.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Indiana probably has at least one, if not two losses
to play with here. So even if something weird pops
up and you get sniped by a team in the
middle of the pack in the Big Ten, you still
have some leeway here, especially with that win at Oregon
in the bank.
Speaker 5 (29:24):
That's the voice of Ralph Russo again covers college football
for the Athletic And indeed was that SYU Oregon over
the weekend in the year twenty twenty five. I think
the question probably sounds a little different than maybe it
would have five ten years ago. Ralph, is the Indiana
job like somewhat comparable to the Penn State job? Or
is that still a ludicrous thought?
Speaker 1 (29:46):
No, you know, I think it's a I think it
is a fair to ask question because essentially, if your
school is now this has always been the case to
a certain degree, but I think it's it's probably framed
a little differently now. Well, if your school is willing
to invest with players being paid now, you know, the
(30:06):
big stadium and and and IU has good stuff, right,
They've invested in more than just the football coach. But
I think some of the brand value that has been
that has always been, you know, the major factor in
brand value in tradition, which has always been a major
factor in recruiting, that gets chipped away when it's just about,
(30:31):
hey man, how much can you pay me?
Speaker 8 (30:34):
Right, because that's why you know, that's that's that's one of.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
The things that levels the playing field in pro sports, right,
only so many people can only one person give me
the highest paid player on every team. So at some
point that's going to you know, disperse the talent around
a little more evenly. I do think, and I'll still
align from my colleague on our podcast, The Audible Stuart Mandel.
(30:59):
The schools with one hundred seat stadiums, and I talked
to coaches about this, there still is some brand value
out there. There are kids who will take one hundred
thousand less because you know what, Georgia, I can go
there and I can play for championships and they got
nice things, and that's sort of like that's that's just.
Speaker 8 (31:17):
Sort of the factory, right.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
So I do think the Ohio States, the Georgia's to
a certain degree, the Penn States, Michigans have a little
brand value head start on some of the rest. But man, again,
the playing field definitely seems to be leveled. And if
IU is truly invested in being a football school, and
all by all indications they are, yeah, it changes the
(31:40):
conversation on whether, if you know, to just get straight
to the point, whether do you stay at IU or
do you go to a Penn State?
Speaker 8 (31:48):
Do you stay at IU or do.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
You go to a Florida Right that that is a
very different question now than it was a few years ago.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
Ralph, the last one from me, and again thanks for
your time. And it's not really a question, just a statement.
I heard you say early in this call that college
football fans are passionate about the rankings. Just put you
at number one and you'll be the you know, a
big man on campus around here.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
The problem is, and I can't believe, like this is
a great way actually to the sort of another really
great way to describe like where we are in the
college football.
Speaker 8 (32:21):
Universe with Indiana.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
So I ranked Indiana number five this week, and you
would have thought, I like killed.
Speaker 8 (32:31):
A puppy when it comes.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
For IU fans like and startlingly, that is the lowest
they were ranked among any voters, which I saw and
was completely shocked, completely shocked. So the idea that someone
could have Indiana as the fifth best team in the
country and Indiana fans would get furious at me is
(32:57):
I can't, like bizarro?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Are we living in see you?
Speaker 4 (33:02):
You were loved there for all those minutes on this
call in the last little you know, hiccup there at
the end. Man, I don't know these people wanted to
cut you off the.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Air right there.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
Who did you have about are you? Ralph?
Speaker 8 (33:14):
I'm a truth teller. Yeah, this is just you guys
are just gonna like get me crushed. Now get another
wave of it.
Speaker 5 (33:20):
So I had Ralph Russo on Twitter, by the way, all.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Well yeah it's again, like it's gonna come again. I
got Ohio state number one, Miami number two A, and
m number three, and this is the one that set
everybody off. I have Alabama number four and Indiana number five.
But again, we live in a world where if I
rank Alabama above Indiana, people think I'm an idiot.
Speaker 8 (33:45):
That like just it's like.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Where are we like, what are we even doing here?
It's just and that speaks to the amazing job that
Signetti has done.
Speaker 8 (33:54):
And what a great story Indiana is.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
I mean, they just they have been awesome and you
could have made a very legitimate case to rank them
as high as number one.
Speaker 8 (34:03):
I think that they were.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
You know, sort of in that three group of who
is going to be three through five for me, and
it was real close and I landed there. And again,
send all your complaints to Ralph d russo on X
well what.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
I want a stand up guy.
Speaker 4 (34:18):
We appreciate you, Ralph and we will catch up with
you next time. My friend, thanks so much for joining
us this morning on the show.
Speaker 10 (34:24):
Yeah, guys, anytime there you go.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
You gotta be a basketball season. We've already had three
preseason games for the Indiana Pacers and we'll start seeing
some college basketball at the legendary Hinkle Fieldhouse tomorrow night.
Butler Bulldogs will be hosting a Notre Dame there and Kevin,
this is gonna be you know, Indiana's got a whole
new coach and a whole new roster teams like, but
Butler's pretty much got a whole new roster coming in
(35:03):
with that Mata too.
Speaker 5 (35:04):
Yeah, a lot of new guys. Finley Bizjack one of
the few returnees there Michael Jai from Gonzaga Pepperdine I
think originally, and then Gonzaga that is a grown man
that has a lot of skill, So I'll be curious
to see how he does in the big He's big
year certainly for Thad Mada year four and tomorrow night.
And I like how college teams are doing this. You know,
(35:24):
Purdue's got Kentucky next week in the exhibition game. I
you's got married tomorrow. Then they'll have Baylor. I believe
that's next weekend as well. I like how it's turned
into this of like some Marquie opponents, and of course
Notre name a lot of former Butler ties, Michael Shrewsbury,
Brady Stevens, the son of Brad on their roster. So
I like how college basketball's kind of evolved to this
as we get some of these Marquee exhibition games and
(35:45):
they're not those like secret scrimmages behind closed doors.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Well let's find out more about this team coming up
in twenty five twenty six. The head coach of the
Butler Bulldogs on the line with us on the pay
List Lookers Hotline. That would be Thad Mada coach. Good morning,
welcome into the fan. Morning shit, how you doing doing well?
Speaker 6 (36:02):
Good morning guys.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Uh, boy, you have been under construction. You've had a
lot of work to do over the last several months.
Tell us a little bit about what's been exciting about
it for you and what you're looking forward to.
Speaker 6 (36:12):
Yeah, you know, it has been a lot of construction.
I will say that we had eleven new players and
and you know, of the last year's team, Finley, uh,
you know, played a lot of minutes. Evan didn't play
a ton, Jamie Kaiju was out, and Ethan McCombe, you know,
spurringly played a little bit. So it's it's been a
it's been a long process. But uh, you know, I'm
(36:33):
pretty pleased with what we've done. I think the eleven
guys that we've added, number one, I think we brought
in really good kids and they've got a tremendous work ethic. So, uh,
it's been a it's been a fun summer and and
uh into the fall here of I'm just trying to
put everything together and and you know, quite honestly, I think,
like a lot of teams in college basketball, we're still
learning our team. I think, you know, tomorrow night game
(36:54):
will let us know a little bit more about them
and uh, just sort of you know who we are,
what we got to get better at.
Speaker 4 (37:00):
Coach, When you look at this opportunity you have tomorrow night,
how big is that, like you just alluded to just
to I guess, set the standard or set a barometer
for where you are right now and versus where you
want to be, because you know in Notre Dame, yeah,
it's an exhibition game.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
They're not coming here to lose.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
So what do you think that experience will be like
as you try to get this group more integrated with
each other?
Speaker 6 (37:21):
Well, yeah, I think the big thing for us because
this is really an early game, and I think for
both us and them, this is gonna be a good
experience to sort of gauge. I know for us because
you get to this stage of practice and you're saying,
what are we missing? What do we get better at?
And when you're going against the same guys every day,
(37:43):
it's probably puts a little bit of blinders on you.
And you know, I know for us, and I think
Notre Dame is going to do the same thing. I mean,
they gave me a minute sheet the other day. The
coach is presented to me one of our guys did
when he was with the Bucks for an exhibition game,
and it looked like it was Chinese to me, with
with all the substitutions and stuff we're going to make
(38:04):
because we got to play guys, right, it was it
was it was mine. But I'm just like, all right,
just sent theim in when they're supposed to go in.
I can't look at this sheet, but I think for us,
we've we've got to get everybody we want. We want
to get our freshman in the game. We want to
look at some some different combinations. Uh, you know, Jalen
Jackson just started going full court this week, so he's
on a minute restriction tomorrow night, and and uh you know, yeah,
(38:28):
like I said, we want to win the game, but
I'm I'm more focused on trying to get this team
better and seeing sort of what we've got. Uh, as
we you know, build for November fifth, I think it
is our home opener bad.
Speaker 5 (38:40):
Do you like how college basketball has gotten to this
state with the exhibition games of the old secret scrimmages
now seem to be more in the public eye against
you know, quality opponents.
Speaker 6 (38:52):
Yeah, I do. But you know the one thing about
the secret scrimmage is that you know, we played Illinois
last year and it was great because you know, Brad
and I could op at any given time, and you know,
I know we ran something one time He's like, stops,
I'll run that again for us. And you know, I
mean you you were teaching more because we had asked
if we'd have like a no foul out rule and
(39:14):
they won't let us do that. And I'd mentioned it's
a notre dame. Can we have as many thirty second
time outs as we won? And I guess we can't
do that, so I guess it's like a real game.
But no, I you know, my biggest focus on we
we had to continue to get this team better. And
and you know you're gonna have film after the game
(39:36):
against different opponents, and I think note dames of the
team this show really do so, uh, it'll be fun
for guys. I know they're excited to bang heads against
somebody else besides ourselves.
Speaker 5 (39:46):
Definitely a new look to this Butler team here coming
up here for the second stint if you will with
THATDMANA And you can obviously hear Butler games on our
airwaves and our sister stations coming up this season. We
saw the announcement earlier this week coach of Gordon Hayward
gonna help you guys out in some capacity here. I
think we've seen some of these, you know NBA players
wanting to do this with their respective colleges here over
(40:09):
the last few years.
Speaker 6 (40:10):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
What exactly will Gordon's role look like in retirement?
Speaker 6 (40:15):
Well, number one, I mean, what a what a great
thing for our program to have him involved. And I
mean you you think about Butler basketball and he's definitely
the poster child. And I think, you know, anytime you
can get a guy like that around your program, around
our players, I think it's gonna be great for us.
(40:37):
I mean him him, He's coming in data practice and
you know, just getting to know our guys and and
know our staff and and that sort of thing. You know,
in terms of the recruiting, I think that you know,
having somebody like that that can can talk to a
family say look, here's here's what Butler University did for me.
And I think it would be hard pressed for somebody
(40:57):
to say, well, I think I take that route to
twelve years in the Star two max contracts Uh, it was.
It was a great situation.
Speaker 8 (41:05):
So you know, we're we're very, very.
Speaker 6 (41:07):
Excited to have him around and and uh, you know,
the extent of how much, I'm not exactly sure, but
you know, he spoke to the team last year in
New York and uh, like I said, I'm just I'm
elated to have him, you know, involved with us and
and looking forward to building a great relationship with him.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
He's got to be in these scrimmages, right, He's got
to be. He cannot be this close removed from playing
professionally and come out there and like slides. So whatever
you do, coach to please make sure Gordon, Hey, we're
just you know, reminds me young, is that? Hey, back
in the day, I used.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
To do this for real.
Speaker 6 (41:41):
No, there's no doubt about that. And I think he
only played two years and now it's crazy is they
may give him two more years. Who knows.
Speaker 3 (41:48):
There you go, the world has changed a little bit.
Speaker 6 (41:51):
You know, they're just handing guys years. Maybe we can
get him back. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
There you go, Hey, front court depth a little bit
of a problem last year. Where are you at right
now as you look at this kind of newly constructed team.
How are you feeling about that?
Speaker 8 (42:07):
You know, I like our depth.
Speaker 6 (42:09):
We're really athletic at the five spot. And you know,
we added Kevin m Z a couple of weeks ago,
and he's a little bit banged up right now. You
got hit the other day in practice. I don't think
he'll go tomorrow night. But with Johann and Drayton, it's
a different look. I mean, they got signs, they got athleticism,
(42:30):
and both guys played extremely hard. It's kind of refreshing
to see out there.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
Well, it's always good to talk to you, coach. We
look forward to our weekly visits with you as the
season rolls along. Excited to have you back on the
radio station, and excited to get out of Hinkle again
and watch some college basketball, which is never a bad thing.
Speaker 6 (42:47):
Yeah, absolutely, I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
All Right, we'll talk to you soon. Thanks so much.
Speaker 6 (42:51):
All right, guys, have a great day, you bet.
Speaker 2 (42:53):
Also, people are planning on going out there tomorrow. They're
going to debut the brand new video board fourteen feet tall,
uh over mid court, so that'll be kind of fun
to watch too. Ashinkle continues to get upgraded and updated
a little bit.
Speaker 5 (43:06):
Always enjoy a went well, I guess a fall knight
in this case, but a winter night inside of that place.
One of the Saint John's game last year, that was
a rocking environment there and the Big East. You know what,
two teams right in the top five. I think in
the preseason poll, I think it goes yukon of Saint
John's back to back if I'm not mistaken in that
poll there. So big year for Butler. Need to get
back in the tournament and we'll see how a roster
(43:29):
that I think has got a lot more lanth, lot
more depth to it and in recent years should be
better to hold up defensively than they have in years past.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
Yeah, I think they played in the n T two
years ago and then the brand new Tournament last year,
the brand new College Basketball Tournament they had last year.
Speaker 5 (43:44):
Yeah, there's a new staying in those postseason tournaments. They'd
hand those out like Oprah.
Speaker 2 (43:48):
Yeah, well, I want to get back to the NAM
this year. You get one, you get one, you get one.
Speaker 5 (43:54):
I mean, hell, they hand out int tournament bid. It's
like it's Oprah.
Speaker 3 (43:57):
They're trying to expand it.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
So Yeah, a long time ago, I was I was
dating a girl. She we went to a Chicago for
a weekend and she drug me to an OPRAH taping.
Speaker 5 (44:06):
Well there you.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
Go, so there you go that it says like, check
that one off the list.
Speaker 5 (44:09):
Therefore you anniversary, don't play this part of the show.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
Hey, clearly Christine was the one, because twenty one years later,
here we are.
Speaker 5 (44:18):
You can dig yourself out of that one, which was.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
Way before I even met her, way before.
Speaker 5 (44:22):
I even if you want to transition to colts or
something there by all means.
Speaker 2 (44:26):
Always trying to get me in trouble, Kevin.
Speaker 6 (44:27):
What.
Speaker 2 (44:31):
A long time ago? Yeah, nobody else even exists before that,
nothing ever happens exactly.
Speaker 5 (44:38):
That's how you got to treat the wedding anniversary.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
It's probably best because what happens is eventually you meet
the one, you know she's the one, and nothing. That's it.
Speaker 5 (44:49):
You said, we have a break, Caleb, the head is
ever we do? I said, Jeff stepped on a rake.
But yes, break as well.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
Before we get to the break though, Uh text mew
the wor it's thad Mada thad Mada, and we'll hook
you up with some tickets to tomorrow night's game. Notre
Dame taking on Butler a pair of tickets to go
see that one tomorrow night at Hinklefield House. Bad Mada
at two three nine ten seventy will continue the show
after Kevin tries to get me in trouble even further on,
(45:18):
ninety comes out there
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