College GameDay’s Next Big Thing is Ed Orgeron

Arky Shea talks with Demetri Ravanos about his latest piece for Barrett Sports Media in which he says Ed Orgeron should take Lee Corso’s spot on College Gameday.

Episode Transcript

(00:11):
Welcome back into the arch experience.I'm out of my car because I'm not
recording or doing things for this thingI was gonna do. Ar gate.
That's that's an arch. I feellike I've been waiting for you to call
on me for a long time.Am I the only one hearing this?
Our gate? There's something wrong withthe mic? Right, there's some gate?

(00:34):
Is that my son? As helooked talking already, Hey dad,
yes that is Hey, Yeah,it's it's Demitric Ravin making his comeback.
Dmitri is a good friend of mine, if you're not aware from our previous
podcast adventures um with Barrett Sports Media. He is financially gainfully employed and writes

(00:57):
really good things. In fact,the reason I'm having him on sport Piece
he just rope. But first,Dmitri, Hello, friend, it's the
first time of the first time we'verecorded something in a little while. I
literally went out west and never cameback. We stopped recording because I went
on this vacation out the out ofthe Rocky mountains that in the desert everything

(01:17):
out there, and I think youtexted me while I was out there,
like, hey, when do youthink you want to come back? And
I just texted you back, Idon't think I do. Yeah, this
is in the summer. Yeah,so it's like, yeah, all right,
what do you think we should bringthis to like three or four times
a week, maybe every day?And you're like, I don't. I
don't think ever. Yeah, Imean, look, I still love college
football. It just sort of dawnedto me, like I think I've said
all I feel like saying about collegefootball for a while. Oh and then

(01:41):
your story happened. We're gonna talkabout that, and yeah, one more
second. But you're also getting tattoosand stuff are being put on your body.
I am is this a video oris this just video for you?
This is just audio? Okay?All right? So yeah, so in
the middle of doing a like ahalf leave to look like you know those
old steamer trunks that used to havestickers of where you've traveled to on them.

(02:05):
Yeah, yeah, so that's whatthis is eventually going to look like.
The first one was just the Hawaiisticker, So I just had Hawaii
on my bicep for a while,and I used to, depending on who
I was talking to, when theywould ask what's the deal with the dad
do? I would either tell them, depending on how well I knew them
and knew their fandom. Either Iwould say I'm the world's biggest um excuse

(02:27):
me, I am the world's biggestcult McCoy fan, or I'm sorry,
the world's biggest cult Brendan fan.Or I would say that I have a
very very specific fetish. It's superspecific. In fact, you needed dig
even deeper to know all that's asuper specific fetish about cult McCoy. That's
that's right, that's right. Ilove looking back at his family vacation photos

(02:49):
from the one time they went toHawaii. He really loves it, like
Nitri, Really, guy, don'tyou'll understand he really likes it. M
Anyway, so let's get to theshow itself. You wrote an interesting piece
and I find it and I hadnot consider this, but I think it's
fascinating. On the recent dismissal ofthat ozeron, and if people listen to

(03:12):
the podcast ahead on Monday, yourealize, I'm I wasn't happy, not
with the fact that he was fired, but the way this is all going
down, it's very bizarre to howI think is happening. But you had
an idea for him and I thinkthis is a really smart idea to consider
for both sides. So I setit up that way so you can slam

(03:37):
dunked this thing home, all right? If all right, so then if
you are Chris Paul throw in thealley, I am going to be DeAndre
Ayton. I'm going to be DeAndreAyton. But first, rather than just
throw down the oop, I'm goingto tip it up to really show off
for the people. That's right.It is like it would be foolish to

(04:00):
think this dude is ever getting acollege football head coaching job. Probably again,
like I think that his head coachingdays are done. I also think
he's demonstrated he's probably not the personalitytype that is going to go quietly back
to being a head coach now orI'm sorry, a coordinator now that he
has a championship to his name,right, I think that's I think that's

(04:23):
completely fair, especially since for atleast next year he can be a hit
coach, right, And I meanhe's getting seventeen million dollars to go away,
And I mean, look, thisis the same with a lot of
people, Like we went through thistalking about Gus Malson, Like there's offset
language in all of these contracts,right, So why would you not make
the group that just fired you giveyou every penny they owe you. Why

(04:44):
would you even try going to geta new coaching job at this point?
Like I think, I never thoughtrow it was trying to do right now,
which is like, hey, rememberyou should be paying me to let
me go away and you're not.Yeah, listen, I never once thought
Jeane Chiswick was a stupid guy.All of a sudden he popped up as
UNC's defensive coordinator. It's like,what are you doing? Make Aubrid just
pay you to sit home? Youdon't want to be at Chapel Hill.

(05:09):
So I think that what makes alot of sense is if you are at
Orseron, you go to ESPN andsay, look, we both know how
old le Corso is. We bothknow that he has had two significant strokes.
We know that there were there wassome real debate about whether or not
you wanted him back out on theroad this year before you finally made that

(05:31):
decision. Don't make the decision tomorrow, but let's go ahead and start building
ed Orgeron into being the guy thattakes over for lead Corso as the fun
loving coach character on college game day. To me, since Steve Spurrier,
nobody has made more sense to sortof build up in that model than at

(05:53):
Orgeron. And I know, likeI've gotten a lot of messages on Twitter
today everybody thinking they're the first oneto make the joke of oh, they're
gonna have the subtitles on Well,that's why you spend two years or a
year even giving him media coaching likethe stuff that you cannot teach. He
has the stuff he does not haveyou can teach. He has charisma,

(06:15):
absolutely, he has energy. Hehas an infectious enthusiasm for whatever he seems
to be doing, which has beenfootball for the last thirty years. He
is someone that I would listen to. And I've talked to you about this
before. At Oseron's great for collegefootball. He is a great personality for
college football. I liked him inthe Southeastern Conference. I just I like

(06:39):
him as a figure in the sportthat oftentimes is too mercenary sort of with
their coaches and with their assistance,where it's all just guys who were groomed
to be coaches at some point.I like the guy like an at Oseron
who gives me a little bit ofa throwback to old school football. But
it's super charismatic, super fun tobe around it. Yeah, maybe I

(07:00):
shouldn't be a pregnant wife of aboard member, but I'm not. But
I'm not gonna be that on TVat least, right. So that's the
other thing, dude, Like Ithought about this a lot, Like he's
damaged goods right now. He absolutelyis, but you know he's been damaged
goods before and that's a part ofhis appeal, right is there's the redemption

(07:25):
story. I mean the first goround he just and I don't mean his
first go round as a head coach. I mean like going back to his
days as an assistant at Syracuse andMiami and you know, way back in
the late eighties early nineties, thisis a guy that fucked it all up
because he couldn't get his drinking undercontrol. Uh, And then you know
he does. He marries this womanthat he's with for twenty three years,

(07:46):
who he gives a lot of creditto helping him sort of refocus and turn
his life around, and he getsthat job at all miss that includes him
ripping off his shirt and threatening tofight people that were loyal to the previous
coach, goes down in flames,gets another redemption at USC and even though
I think now we know he neverhad a real chance of landing that job

(08:07):
full time, was a model interimcoach. After they fired Lane, Kiffin
eventually goes to the Saints, doesn'tlike the lack of recruiting involved in the
NFL, then goes to LSU andall of a sudden finds himself as the
head coach and granted Joe Leevi,the athletic director who hired him, just

(08:28):
did an awful job. I mean, like, there was no reason that
ed Orseron should have been who theysettled on, but they did. And
because they did, I think collegefootball fans got this nice little three to
four year window that in such ashort amount of time of experiencing any sort
of success, Like the dude,like you say, he's good for the

(08:50):
SEC's good for college football, Like, yeah, he reached icon status.
I mean, can you name anybodyelse in college football that if I owed
someone who doesn't watch the sport ofpicture, they would say, I don't
know who that is. But ifI played a recording of his voice,
they would at least go Oh,that's the LSU guy. Yeah, and
who doesn't have a coacho impression?Impression? Agree right right, Like it's

(09:13):
so for me, it's it's aslam dunk because it makes all the boxes
that we would need to get checksfor a replacement for lead course, so
easily checks. Right, he's gotgo ahead. I was gonna say,
I, you know, I thinkabout this a lot because this is my
job is to think about media fitsand stuff like that. And by the

(09:35):
way, his artist is his pieceson Barrett Sportsmedia dot Com. Yeah,
I think it's called ed Or Huron'sfuture in college football is an ESPN or
something like that I titled it.And I have no idea what if you
search at ozuron, you probably aren'tgoing to find a ton of artists.
As I say, it might beone of like three that pop up on
that site with him. But um, you know, I mean, like
I think about and look at theseguys all the time and think about who

(09:58):
is a ready made star, whoat least has the pieces in place.
And that's where I put ad orsonhe's got the pieces in place. He
wouldn't be a star if you walkedon to a set tomorrow. You know,
you and I have debated, likeI think Cam Newton, like I,
why are you trying to come backin the NFL. You could be
a superstar on television. You couldbe you know, you could put Tony
Romo in the dust in terms ofbeing like that, that real likable character,

(10:24):
whether it's an NFL or college football. He's not that. Ed Orgeron
is not that not ready to walkinto a booth tomorrow. But it is
so important, And I don't thinkpeople that have worked in this industry realize,
like there are things you just cannotteach, that there is a certain
jen saqua if you will, thatyou just kind of need in order to

(10:46):
have the foundation of being a greatbroadcaster. And whether it is because of
ed Orgeron personally, whether and thislike you can't dismiss this, Whether it's
because of the environment he grew upin, which is a big celebratory sort
of culture that Louisiana cage and culture. Like he's got it. He's got
it, and it would be ashame to let that, you know,

(11:07):
fall by the wayside because he's damagedgoods as a coach. It doesn't mean
he's he's not good to the sportelsewhere. So have you considered also he
being like the next tim Ernaldi typejust telling story like he's constantly going who
is the Alabama kicker that they keptdoing the story about his family in Poland

(11:28):
on oh oh family Poland Belovas JosephBelovas, No, no, no,
it was the I don't know wherehe's from him. I can't remember the
kid's name, but anytime he wouldmiss a kick, I would text my
two old college roommates back to backto Poland. Um. Yeah, I
mean I really do love the ideaof him doing those sort of emotional pieces.
Uh, Derek Henry was friends witha little ball with Cancel. But

(11:52):
but that's what the pieces are now, they are just four line ed ors
Rod does not have time for thebullshit. He wants to cut to the
chase and someone's dying. So Ithink that this makes so much just because
we are also looking at as muchas you want to sort of talk about

(12:13):
college game Day and I don't reallywatch it anymore. At Osram might get
me back, like that type ofpersonality might get me back, because let's
face a college game Day is theshow, right, it has become the
show has become the destination and theattraction. I will tell you I had
a lot of reaction on Twitter ofpeople going, oh, yeah, they
got to do that now to keepup with Big Nude Kickoff. And it's

(12:35):
like, have you ever even lookedat the ratings, Like, like,
Big New Kickoff is nowhere in CollegeGame Day's neighborhood. Yeah, it's um,
it's a mainstay. It's a TVmainstay. Yeah, in ESPN's lineup.
So I understand you need to bekind of careful with what you put
there. But Lee Corso, inall due respect to that guy, the

(12:56):
best thing about Lee Corso is likethe night before Morning of videos that Kirk
Hurbstry puts that on Twitter where he'sjust like hiding somewhere or stealing cokes from
a machine or something like that.Like that's the best part. And I
love that part, Like I wouldpay money for that feed, Like it
said, it's the only thing Igot. So listen, I want to
make this perfectly clear. I amnot saying kirkhurb Street is not a genuine

(13:20):
person. I'm not saying that hisrelationship with Lee Corso is not really like
the real, true love that itis portrayed. I believe it is genuine.
However, what I will say isKirk curb Street is a pro on
TV. He can have chemistry,maybe not that chemistry he kem Hath chemistry
with anybody. Kirk curb Street reverescollege football coaches right like. You cannot

(13:45):
tell me that he would not bea really great or maybe I should say
you cannot tell me Ed Orgeron wouldnot continue to bring out the best of
Kirk curb Street on that. Ithink you would, because I think the
number one thing that you need froma coach type is the willingness to sort
of be able to accept and takeaudible punishment and give it back and have

(14:11):
a rat at tat with somebody andhave a back and forth to where it's
not just you ask me question,I give you answer kind of thing,
which is again why we talk aboutgiving him this year or so to train
again. I'm not I don't knowif you want to kick Corso out after
that, but he's at least replacedDavid Pollock on the temporary like crew like.

(14:33):
I like, he's at least thatYeah, I mean, listen,
I have said for a couple ofyears now. I mean like last season
to me was perfect. I thoughtit was clearly Corso was more comfortable at
his home rather than traveling. Nowthat being said, he loves to travel,
he loves to be a part ofthe show. And if you could
figure out a version of lead Corsobeing on the show where he is there,

(14:54):
he does the headgear segment, hemaybe does you know, one more
segment throughout the course of the show. But at Orgeron is the coaching presence
or whoever is the coaching presence onthat show more full time? I think
that's perfect. You know, whetheror not that's ever going to happen,
I don't know. But what Iwould say is that I think one thing

(15:15):
that whoever ends up taking over thatcoach spot on that show is going to
have to understand. And this iswhy I think a year of training would
be very necessary, is pay attention. Watch it this weekend. It's a
lot of jocularity and everybody talk itover each other until Kirk speaks. When
Kirk speaks, it's very clear thisis the star of the show. This

(15:39):
is the guy that this is allbuilt around. And I think that when
you are a coach, particularly acollege football coach wither Is. You know,
I think we're learning this with UrbanMeyer right now down in Jacksonville,
Like there are guys that just cannotlet go of that deference you're assumed your
players are always going to give you. I think that's going to be the
biggest hurdle for anybody to come Orgeronin particular, because Orgeron is used to

(16:03):
be in the life of the part. Yeah, And I think a fascinating
part to be for me to payattention to is that if you think about
sort of the panel as it is, Rhees Davis sort of as as the
host, and Desmond Howard and coachand Kirk curb Street, if you're going
to have to replace one, whicheverone would be. Obviously we're talking about

(16:26):
Lee Corso at this point. Theycould use an influx of new fresh energy
and enthusiastic and personality. Absolutely,I mean definitely change the levels of the
personalities on that panel, and Ithink it makes it a ton more watchable.
Yeah, I mean, listen,I think that obviously, given the

(16:47):
Rachel Nichols story, when people thinkabout Maria Taylor leaving ESPN, they tend
to associate it with the NBA becausebecause of you know, the Rachel Nichols
comments. To me, I thinkthe biggest thing that ESPN lost in that
was they lost their future of GameDay because I think I've even told you
this, like I think they shouldreplace Rhees Davis or thought they should have

(17:08):
replaced Rhees Davis with Maria Taylor likeyesterday, right, like I mean I
thought that she We just had alittle bit more of a natural rapport um
with the younger guys on the panel, and that was because because Deston Howard's
a younger guy that's turned on thatpin or rather David Pollock sort of being
a younger guy, like David Pollock'sonly like two years older than me,

(17:30):
I think. And so like there'sthe old guy, there's then there's the
lead. Course there's the in betweenwith like Kirk Herb Street. But but
even still like Herb Street has beenon the show only like five years less
than courso so even he feels likean old guy, right. And and
this isn't to say you want tomove everybody out. It's just like if

(17:52):
you look at Game Day and youlook at Big noon kickoff and to be
like they're not even in the samestratosphere in terms of quality, like Big
Moon Kickoff is a bunch of bignames that constantly look like they are afraid
to be on camera. Um,but I think what you have with Big
newon Kickoff is a cord that isgoing to grow together. There's not really
a future right now for game dayin terms of like you can't see the

(18:17):
pieces put together yet. I likethat. I like that sort of thought
that you know, like even thoughyou sort of quietly got out, uh,
what's his name, Chris Fowler,and he sort of quietly had try
to move a piece or there,You're right, I don't think that there
is like a I think some peoplesort of look at like a David Pollock

(18:40):
as a guy that could ascend toa better spot. But like on the
panel, who's he gonna replace DesmondHoward? Desmond Howard's fine, yeah,
leek Corso the no, if youreplace Kirk Curve Street, No, is
he gonna host it like Reece Davisor Marie Taylor. I agree with you
that like Marie Taylor would have beengreat for that. No, so he's
gonna be stuck down there doing sortof the more quote on the feet on

(19:04):
that field kind of stuff. Andlook, I mean the thing is that,
And I don't know how you feelabout Pollock. Like to me,
Pollock feels like yeah, like Ilook at Pollock is like, oh,
like Marty Smith does the same stuffand he's actually trained to so just get
out of the fucking way, youknow. I mean, that's that's the
Polock exactly as much David Pollock isfor me completely uninteresting to listen to,

(19:29):
Like like I feel like he seesa set of notes that ESPN sends out
with stats and he says, I'mgonna pick a handful and I'm gonna repeat
him to you. See, Idon't I don't even dislike Pollock. I
think on College Football Live, likethat's the kind of show he's built for.
I just don't think he is particularlyLike I just look at Pollock,
Ago, that's the one you picked, Like that's the fifth panelist of Game

(19:52):
Day? Was he the only applicantsyou somebody? And that's the thing too,
Like now, right, Like Ilook that panel and go like or
look at the landscape of who allthey have and like, I mean,
Mike Golick Junior would be fantastic onthat show. I even think Jesse Palmer
would be better on that show.I'm not a big Mike Golick junior guy,

(20:15):
mainly because it's hard for me toseparate him and his dad. Like
I know that they're talking about thirtainthings, but they like they see because
all white people look the same toyou, That's how I see it.
I see all white people look thesame. In fact, you look a
lot like my Golik junior. Behonest with you, Like, you look
the same to me, and alsoyou look the same as uh, you
know, um, um Joseph barBiden. Um. I don't even know

(20:38):
if that's his middle note, Archie. I gotta be honest with you.
It took me a second to thinkabout who that was. Yeah, Like
I was trying to think of anotherwhite guy that was prominent that people would
know. Um, you'd already tookJesse Palmer, so it's my second bast
I mean that is that is thenumber one white guy, Um fantasi Palmers
holding the Bachelor or something to say, doesn't that sort of feel like you
ascend to the top of the whitepeople amid if you are hosting the bachework

(21:02):
kind of is right, Like youyou were on the batch. Very white,
sir, very white people forget itwasn't that long ago that he and
um Bret Musburger were opening up SouthCarolina, Texas A and M. Yeah.
I was just having this conversation withsomeone today because they said, because

(21:22):
someone asked me like, oh,would SEC Network be where or is your
on goes instead of ESPN, Andit's like, dude, look at the
history of SEC Network, if youwent there, it's pretty clear he's going
to end up at ESPN. Yeah, there's some dudes there, like Jordan
Rodgers is gonna end up somewhere.Yeah. I mean, but but even
think about like day one talent atSEC Network, Marcus Spears, Greg McElroy,

(21:44):
Maria Taylor, Laura Rutledge, likethey're all doing okay, Laura roullad
has been like seven straight days coveringevery sport like like this this last week,
like superstars can be built from there, and agreed, you know,
they already got pros like Tom Hart, who was one of the best play
by play guys out there right nowcalled Q Books, a great analyst who

(22:06):
needs to be back in sort ofa booth. M. Jordan Rodgers is
going to end up, dude,I don't know like he sounds. He
sounds more he's grown m he soundsmore of the part. He seems like
he's more interactive with the game itself. Like he's gonna end up somewhere like
that. That team shouldn't be onSEC network, even though SEC networks pretty
like that's still a pretty good tobe in overall life, right, but

(22:30):
like, but like, at somepoint, let them call something other than
Arkansas Western Carolina. I was gonnasay, like that crew, I wouldn't
have minded listening to um do theAuburn Penn State game or hell, I
don't know beginning of the games thatChris Fowler's doing with karkurp Street. There
is only one day one SEC Networkhigher that was a dud. There's only

(22:53):
one who Tim Tebow yoc catag issomething. He's terrible. He's genuinely the
worst like big name broadcaster I've everseen. And we all sat through Pete
Rose on Fox in baseball, Yeahwe did. We watched um what was

(23:14):
it? We watched? Um?Oh re justis filment on Fox Sports one?
Oh sure sure? By the way, do you remember do you remember
who his partner was on Fox Sportsone. Oh yeah, you're gonna have
to trigger my name, Katie Nolan. Yes, I just read something like
that two weeks ago. It's likewhat I mean, like she was one
of many, but like he wasthe only one that was she was the

(23:36):
only one that was actually in studiowith him. No, look, there
there's been a lot of like whatwould you call I mean, not swings
and missus, but like, oh, okay, you're there because of your
name, right, Like it didn'tI see, isn't isn't ESPN bringing Magic
Johnson back? Like has anyone everlistened to Magic Johnson speak about basketball and
say, ah, interesting, mno, good good point Madge And that's

(24:00):
what they call him for short man? Of course it is nice would Madge?
Anyway? That's a classic match?Classic match? Um okay, I
think that's where we're gonna wrap itup. I think it's a very good
idea to sort of play with thatpersonality because I don't think a Nick Saban
type sort of make the most likehe's got the gravitized clearly, but I

(24:22):
don't think the back and forth rapportwould sort of be there and almost kind
of honestly, Nick Saban's too big, right, Like I think four game
day and that crew to sort ofto where it wouldn't be the Knicks or
like, wouldn't be tempted to belike let's only listen to save it because
clearly there's so much victory behind him. See to me, I think of
Dabo more in that way than Sabanbecause Dabbo is just a bigger personality,

(24:47):
like he's he's been one of thedominant coaches of this i'n't necessarily mean personality.
I see what you're saying. Ijust see like the gravity of who
he is. Yeah, I mean, like I could definitely see it.
And you see this when he's onthe panel, you know, in those
like what two years he hasn't beenplaying in the National Championship game. Is
like they do defer to him,like they do want to hear what he
has to say. But I dokind of agree with you, like the

(25:08):
mystique and r goes away if he'sthere every single Saturday, Oh my god,
can you imagine the first time helike he slips up and you know,
or like instead of like he picksup a helmet and he thinks,
ah fuck it? What okay?Okay? I kind of get that though,
although to be fair, we haveseen Lee Corso say that very thing.
That's what I was referencing. Doyou think that's the when when when

(25:30):
he's finally retired? Is that thegreatest Lead Corso moment ever? It's pretty
good? I mean, like itis. It is certainly the most memorable.
I think if you are talking aboutcelebrity interaction the celebrity guest picker,
it's gonna be tough to top KatiePerry, but just the fucking is it's
pretty wonderful. Kenny Perry Troup isthe best celebrity picker. Although Jeff Foxworthy,

(25:52):
who played Who Went to Georgia Tech? I think was marcessary. I'm
not ashamed to say this. Ithink I've told you before. I stuff
like Jeff Foxword. He's pretty damnfunny. Well you might be a fan
get next to her. I mean, I still sometimes think about if you
walk your child to school because you'rein the same grade. Giggle. I

(26:15):
was real quick, and then I'llwrap it up. I was watching just
before Jeff Foxworthy came up last week, and I rarely watched this show,
but they did, like the scoreboardof Who's Like the guest pickers right right
before, and like I knew oneof the names. I think maybe I
made this joke on Twitter, andI couldn't believe how many people were like,
yeah, me too. It's like, if you are a white dude

(26:37):
that does not like country music anddoes not like golf, if the celebrity
guest pickers a white guy that's youngerthan you, fuck it, you're gonna
have no idea who that person is. Yeah. I just sat there was
like all right, So, Imean I know Foxworthy right like he's coming
up. And the leader was somedude I've never heard of who was like
nine and two, and I'm supposedto be like great, do I buy
his picks now? Or like whatam I supposed What do I do with

(26:59):
this back? Big boy from Outcasthe brought a pet owl when he was
the guest picker. Now, now, if you're gonna have a celebrity picker,
you gotta go big. I thoughtFox Sports one, Big New,
Big New Saturday had a big efrom Wya. But he played at Iowa
and he was wearing like the blackand gold overalls and like that that that

(27:23):
the mascot wears and um that wasfun and interesting, entertaining it different.
I would not, but like,I don't just show up in like a
like a Georgia shirt and be like, here's my pick for U. Tep
utsa. Yeah I can't remember.Give me an owl, Give me an
owl? Yeah? Um yeah.By the way, can I end with

(27:44):
a Jeff Foxworthy fact for you?Oh sure? I was hoping you need
this West trying to get to youright. Yeah. Of course. Only
man to be a national spokesperson forboth Shownies and Golden Rule