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October 16, 2025 • 17 mins

Rick Neuheisel, former UW coach now with CBS Sports, joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the Mariners in the ALCS and Game 4 tonight, Demond Williams having a big game for the Dawgs, the Michigan game ahead, plus some coaching news.

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Your home for college football Saturdays is Live with CBS
Sports analyst Rick new Heiseel, powered by Taco Time. Hungry
at Taco Time. It's easy to create exactly what you're craving,
and we wouldn't have it any other way. How do
you Taco Time customize your kneeling order ahead on the

(00:21):
Taco Time Northwest Taco Time Time for something different? Now
with Rick new Heidel, here's Softy and Dick.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
All right, we are back at Jimmy's getting ready for
a Game four of the ALCS. And I was just
thinking about this. At the last time the Mariners were
in the American League Championship Series, the Huskies had a
guy who had a connection to UCLA. Now the M's
are back in the ALCS and the Huskies have a
guy who's got a connection to UCLA and Jed Fish.
Maybe that's all this takes. He's just hiring a guy
with a connection to UCLA. Rick new Heidel joins us

(00:51):
right now, Curtisy at Taco Time, How are you man?

Speaker 3 (00:54):
I am well, And I just want to ask Dick there,
what level of anxiety do we have with a good friend.

Speaker 4 (01:01):
Rick, You don't even you can't even fathom. It's it's beyond,
it's off. Whatever the chart was, it broke.

Speaker 5 (01:10):
Listen, there's a good softy.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
I want you to relax. You guys are going to
this series A yeah, you're going to the Fall Classic.
Just relax.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
There's two reasons why I would bring an extra pair
of underwear with me for the game today. The game
and the fact that I'm an old man now at
fifty two years old. Double whammy, it is. It's a
double whammy. Well, Rick, before we get your thoughts on
everything happening on the college football world, man, give us
a take on this, man. I mean, we talked to
Mike Holgrin about this from just a coach's perspective, a

(01:41):
teacher's perspective, and again probably different in football because you
have the week off. But flushing that turn of a
game last night and just moving the hell on, how
did these guys do that and forget about it?

Speaker 3 (01:52):
Well, he wasn't going to be as easy as it
felt in Toronto. I mean, so now you're back to
playing playoff baseball where you've got to scratch out runs
and find ways to win. But you've got a rock
as crowd behind you, and let's entertain him. You've got
a number of hot bats in that lineup, and I
think that, Well, who you got the rock tonight, Caestillo? Ye,

(02:14):
come on, man, let's go.

Speaker 5 (02:15):
Let's get up three one, let's go.

Speaker 4 (02:17):
Well, Rick, Friday night, we had split screens, right we
were watching the Mariners win over Detroit in deciding game,
and we were also watching Demon Williams put up Husky history.
And I'm wondering if there's a quarterback in college football
that has a better combination of legs and arm than
the one we have here in Seattle.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
No, I don't think so. And I told you, guys,
I knew he could run, but when I went to
practice and saw that gifted throwing arm, I was like,
this guy's special. You know, Ohio State had a nice
plan and I'm sure Michigan will try to emulate it
to keep him in the pocket and such. But that
guy's really, really a good player, and Jed's got to

(03:03):
be having a blast calling plays with him.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Yeah, well, let's just keep on that theme with this
game with Michigan, because I mean, guys, I gotta be
honest with you. I would take Demon Williams over Bryce
Underwood right now. Ten times out of nine, not even close.
I mean, Underwood may eventually, who knows, be the better star,
but I think Demon is way ahead of him. And
then number two, I see rick a big ten team
in Michigan who's third in the conference against the run

(03:26):
on defense. But then I see a team that gave
up one hundred and sixty yards to a walk on
on Saturday at USC So what happened?

Speaker 3 (03:33):
That's exactly right. Listen, you know Jed and I met
each other when we were both on the Raven staff
and the defensive coordinator with the Rex Ryan Well Dwink Martindale,
the coordinator for Michigan, is a huge Rex Ryan guy.
He's like the third brother with Rob and Rex and such.
So you saw that they were able to run the

(03:55):
ball well over two hundred yards. As you mentioned the
backup running back having one hundred of him. This won't
shock me at all that Jed will have a plan
to run the ball against Michigan.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
And again, as you mentioned, Bryce Underwood is a very
talented guy. The only advantage he has over Demon is
that he's bigger, But Demon is gifted as a is
way more gifted in terms of the amounts of types
of throws that he has command over. Bryce is a
fastball pitcher, demon has every pitch in the book.

Speaker 4 (04:27):
How would you evaluate the job Searan Moore has done
at Michigan has head coach so far.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
I give him a C plus. I mean he got handed.
You know, a national championship team there have been, and
obviously the victory over Ohio State last year was is
the feather in his cap and then they cap that
off with a win over Alabama. But this is this
is a different This is a different animal, and I

(04:53):
still don't see enough development in the offense to call
it anything higher than C plus.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Right, Well, Rick, I'm not sure if you're watching this
or not at all, but Jacob Monu, who's a linebacker
for you dub is suing the ncuble A because he
wants another year. He's part of that five for five
lawsuit right against the NCUBLEA and right now he doesn't
have it yet, So that means he's only got two
more games left to play in the regular season before

(05:21):
he burns the red shirt. So Jed's got to figure
out which two games to play him in until he
hears back from the nc double A is this Michigan
game one of those games that you would pick.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
Yeah, I think so. I mean, just given the fact
that this is a leg up in the conference standings,
gives Washington a real chance to make a stretch run.
I know we say the games they remember played in November,
but when you win in the big House, it's an
incredible shot in the arm for the rest of your season.

Speaker 4 (05:50):
What do you make of what you saw at Augsin
with Indiana on Saturday.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
It wasn't an accident. It wasn't an accident, and neither
was an accident that he got twelve million in a
year today. That was a phenomenal job by coach Signetty.
He's done, you know, a miracle there at Indiana, and
I'm happy as I can be for him. But yeah,
they kept their edges on defense, they were stout offensively,

(06:15):
and Mendoza has an NFL arm.

Speaker 5 (06:18):
I'm happy he's staying in Indiana.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
I mean, I don't give two licks right Indiana football,
but I am thrilled because I'm getting tired Rick all
the coaches moving around from team to team, and I'm
glad he's staying there.

Speaker 5 (06:30):
Do you think I am right? Would this start? Maybe
a trend.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
You think of coaches saying, look if that guy can
stay at Indie freaking Anna, I can stay where I'm at.

Speaker 3 (06:39):
Well, I think the trend's going to be for athletic
directors to wrap up coaches that are successful. I think
Candice story riat Vanderbilt's going to try to do the
same thing with Clark Lee. Eli Drinkwitz is going to
get a big offer from Missouri to stay right there.
And that's great for the for the entirety of the
program and the longevity of success for the program. You know, Signette,

(07:00):
he took a program that had one win in its
history over a top five team, and that was back
in nineteen sixty seven at home. They get this win
on the road. That's just remarkable stuff. He's well deserving.

Speaker 5 (07:12):
Well, I only care what it means for Washington.

Speaker 4 (07:14):
So is this good for Washington that Indiana's relevant or
is it better for Washington had Signetti just gone and
to a great program already in Penn State and then
Indiana just floats away.

Speaker 3 (07:28):
No. I think it's you know, the Big ten needs
four teams that are you know, in the top twenty
right now, with Penn States kind of just falling off
the cliff. There's some question about the depth of the
Big ten, and you know, Washington and isn't getting nearly
enough credit. Again, they didn't have a real stout non

(07:48):
conference schedule. But that's why this game is so important.
They've got a chance to stop stamp themselves as authentic
with a victory in ann Arbor.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
Why aren't they getting more credit? You think at five
and one they.

Speaker 3 (08:02):
Just they just didn't have the big win in the
non con and when that kind of slows down the progress.
They weren't part of the original top twenty five. Another
flaw on the system that we have these predeterminations as
to who's going to be good. So I think this
is a real chance for Washington get what they deserve,

(08:22):
which is to be considered amongst the best teams in
the country.

Speaker 2 (08:25):
Well, i'll tell you what, man, there's a report out
of Gainesville, and I think we've all seen this coming,
that Billy Napier might be kind of getting close to
the end. Here USA Today reporting that Scott Strickland, who's
the eighty at Florida, met with multiple boosters on Tuesday
and then on three came out and said no, it's
just they're big, they're big gun. They're one big booster
down there, and that the vetting process of candidates to

(08:45):
replace him has already begun. I got to assume if
jet Fish beats Michigan, he's six and.

Speaker 5 (08:50):
One after what he inherited. Is he gonna be on
Florida's radar.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
Oh, He'll definitely be on Florida's radar, but pat Shun
will be Pish radar. They'll find a way to have
a conversation and hopefully for all of us, Jed will say, hey,
let's let's stay here for as long as we can.

Speaker 5 (09:11):
Is Kaylen de Boor's ship righted?

Speaker 4 (09:12):
He's got another test this week, at least it's at
home against Tennessee.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
I think the ship is absolutely right, and he's proving
what's he's proven at every place he's ever been, that
he's got demand of an offense when he has a
quarter but he can trust and he certainly has one
in this kid, Ty Simpson. You know, Ty's dad is
the head coach at Tennessee, Martin the Skyhawks, and so
this kid grew up around it. I expect for Kaylin

(09:39):
to finish the season and get to the college football
playoff and Alabama to say this is exactly what we
thought we were getting.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
Rick, I don't think we've spoken since James Franklin got
fired because it was a low haven. Was it Northwestern
last week that they lost too? Is that correct? And
then it was it was Jerry. Jerry drove him to
one foot to the grave and then Northwestern finished him off.
Did they make the right call by firing James Franklin?

Speaker 5 (10:06):
I hate, I hate.

Speaker 3 (10:07):
It, but when you're taking money from boosters to augment
your program, you also have to take their opinions, and
that basically I think that figot of cash was about
ready to get turned off if Pat Kraft didn't.

Speaker 5 (10:22):
Make the deal.

Speaker 3 (10:23):
So you know, I listen. I was on a Rose
Bowl team back in nineteen eighty three that was O
three and one and ended up eating Illinois in the
Rose Bowl, so I know you can turn things around.
I would have liked for James Franklin. I think James
Franklin deserved the chance to turn it around.

Speaker 5 (10:39):
Who fits there?

Speaker 4 (10:41):
It was not going to be Signetty.

Speaker 5 (10:42):
Is it Matt rule or who is it?

Speaker 4 (10:45):
Well?

Speaker 3 (10:45):
Matt rule. I think if Pat Kraft had his brothers,
they work together at Temple, that would be the guy
that he'd like to have. But they are going to
be people that will push back because rules as good
as he's been at, you know, doing reclamation projects at
places like Ampull and Baylor, he has yet to really
you know, show championship medal and that might be more

(11:07):
boosters saying that's exactly what we just had and let
go of. So uh, let's find a championship guy. But again,
if this trend continues where everybody who's got that kind
of DNA at least on their resume, if they keep
getting better deals, you're gonna get stuck having to take
somebody that you just believe and get there.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
Well, Rick Newhuzzle's with us, and guys, just let's just
go back a second, because we all know who the
hottest name in college football coaching is right now.

Speaker 5 (11:33):
Jerry fing Newheizel. I mean, dude, are you kidding me?

Speaker 3 (11:37):
Like I'm available for the Penn State job. I'll just
say that right.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
Now, available, I mean does he I want you to
answer this question like it's the three of us talking
at the five twenty bar and grill having a drink.

Speaker 5 (11:49):
Does he have a shot.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
That's always how I answer, Okay.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
Does he have a shot again that you see all
a job full time, either staying on his coordinator or
getting the getting the big job.

Speaker 3 (11:59):
I don't so I would love it, and I know
he could do it. And uh, I just think they're
desperate because of hiring Deshaun without experience, that they're going
to be forced to hire somebody with experience. The guy
who's going to be chief on that search firm is
a search committee is a guy the named Casey Wasserman.

(12:19):
And I think Casey's going to be looking somebody that's
got a little uh more gray hair than Jerry Dead.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
Casey Wasserman is also Jedfish's agent. By the way, Doug
Hendrickson works for him.

Speaker 3 (12:30):
Just so you know, yeah, there you go. I'll just
feed off of that and have anybody else on the
search and everybody else on the search committee at UCLA
is a k Cy Wasserman client.

Speaker 5 (12:41):
How about that. I'll just you know, I'll just bounce
off that.

Speaker 4 (12:45):
Then, I mean, I don't see any reason why somebody
would go from Washington to UCLA, especially with the financial
situation ucl in is. But am I wrong? I mean,
is that is that a place that Jedfish would do
you think would investigate?

Speaker 3 (12:59):
Well, they'd have to make some real overtures and promises
about resources. You know, I've coached it both of them,
and it was night and day in terms of the
kind of help and support I got from the from
the administration at Washington as compared to the administration at UCLA.

Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, all right, let's do this before you go. Uh
talk with Time pick of the week? You got back
on the bus. You've won two in a row with
wake Forest.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
Once again, You guys did not start this program by
announcing my victory last week. Once again, you're only announcing
it at the beginning when I failed. You're right just
bringing that up.

Speaker 5 (13:35):
And I have an excuse.

Speaker 2 (13:36):
I'm completely off my game with the Mariners right now
and my focus is and a toilet, So I apologize.

Speaker 3 (13:41):
To worry about the MS. I'm telling you the fall classic.
Oh Geezcko Time Burritos. That's right's happening.

Speaker 5 (13:49):
That's a good comedy. You one with wake Forest. Who
do you like this week? All right?

Speaker 3 (13:55):
I got three that I like, but I'm gonna go
with Casey Keeler. Now, you guys may not be familiar
with that name. He was the coach of Sam Houston
won the National Championship when the FCS played in the spring.
He's now the coach at uh Temple. They got beat
by one point by Navy last week. They're down in Charlotte.

(14:16):
They're an eleven and a half point favorite. They're three
and three. They're gonna make a pole. They're gonna wipe
the floor with the forty nine ers.

Speaker 5 (14:22):
I love it Temple.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
The Bill Cosby's minus eleven and a half against Charlotte.
I love it, all right, Rick, go get him good
stuff and we'll.

Speaker 5 (14:29):
Talk about Rick.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
Alright, see you guys, all.

Speaker 2 (14:32):
Right, man, Rick new Heiseel with us on the radio show.
We got a couple minutes. Julio Rodriguez, by the way,
met with the media today. He was asked by a
reporter what it would mean to see this team in
the World Series this season?

Speaker 1 (14:43):
Loud lesions over the years, but they've never finched a
little series. You committed long term to the team, and
you're two wins away from taking the team where it's
never been. What would that mean to you personally?

Speaker 6 (14:53):
I mind the war, you know, like like I kind
of told to Tyler like that was the reason why,
you know, like I signed he because I know I
got to learn, I got to know the fan base
and like the hunger that this city had for like
a championship. But I feel like that really motivated me.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
You know.

Speaker 6 (15:08):
I feel like that's that was being a big challenge.
I don't shy away from challenges, and I feel like
that's something that like really motivated me to be here
and just kind of saw seeing how everybody was like
really into it and like kind of motivated to like
bringing a championship and a War Series appearance and things
like that, and like once you're in it, you know,
you gotta you gotta go for everything. And I feel
like we're in a really good position to get to

(15:30):
that spot right now.

Speaker 2 (15:31):
I'll tell you what we talked earlier about guys like
Suarez and a Rose Arena in the playoffs.

Speaker 5 (15:35):
So Huio Rodriguez has been fine.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
Eight eighty eight ops, three home runs, including a big
bomb yesterday that put these guys up to nothing.

Speaker 5 (15:43):
So he is living up to the moment, no question
about it.

Speaker 4 (15:46):
Yes, but he wasn't great last series, So I mean
it is really just that's why we talked about the
sample size you know, the a guy can have one
great game and all of a sudden his playoff stats
look good. So I'm still holding out hope on guys
like Randy or Roseraina and Victor Roeblason, guys that just
haven't come around yet.

Speaker 5 (16:06):
They give me that.

Speaker 4 (16:07):
Three for four day with a home run and all
of a sudden, your numbers look okay for the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
Well, I just I don't know if the Mariners offense
can unload on anybody at this part because their numbers
are so different. But what they can do is get
phenomenal pitching. And like we said earlier, man you're gonna
lose a game, you may as well lose a game
and rest everybody. And that's exactly what happened last night.
Turd Ferguson Vargas, Luke Jackson, Brash Spire, Muno's all the
big guns, the Mop who's now the man, we're all

(16:32):
out for tonight. So they're all available for this game
this evening against Toronto. Simply put, got to get this done.
Do not go back to Toronto. Do not give these
guys the chance to tie this thing up and say
that you gotta win it in Toronto if you're gonna
win it, wrap it up tonight, go up three games
to one, and let's see what happens tomorrow.

Speaker 5 (16:49):
We're gonna break.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
We got cracking hockey Ottawa and a boys pregame coming
up with Everett al and Mike Benton coming up in
a matter of minutes here and then face off at
four o'clock and then tomorrow back on the air three
right before game number four.

Speaker 5 (17:03):
Of the Alcs Game five.

Speaker 2 (17:05):
Sorry, and don't forget chucking buck out the postgame show
to follow after tonight's game on KJR CYA
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