I'm

glad you got invited.

You could have crashed it.

I asked one question and I asked him about the tight end position because over his career that position has been pretty integral.

Obviously Gronk and then the guy we're not supposed to mention who was also very good for him.

Aaron Hernandez.

Very good football player.

Boy, I don't know if Carolina's defense has that in them.

Mm-hmm.

Um, uh, for my work at Tar Heel 24/7.

So yeah, um, I think they're a good football team.

Uh, I think C.J. Connor is a top three, top four quarterback in the country.

Uh, up there with, with Mitsuh at Miami and, and, you know, you s- where, where you put St. and, and, and, um, Arch, you know, that remains to be seen.

But I think that he, C.J. Connor belongs up there.

The most interesting part about Notre Dame for me is Notre Dame found out who their running back is.

Mm.

Do you think Belichick might be making a move at the quarterback spot if Billy Edwards struggles again early on?

I don't expect a move, but obviously we know that, um, Miles is g- Miles O'Neal is gonna be available.

Um, we know that, um, um ...

Good grief, why can't I c- think, come up with his name right now? Um, the- Bur- Burgess.

Burgess is gonna be available.

We know they're available, but I think we're gonna, they're gonna run with Billy Edwards 'cause it makes Bel- Bill Belichick feel comfortable.

And the big thing for me is Notre Dame has dudes across the board on defense.

the matchup? Is that the game within the game here, if he can have some success early on against this Notre Dame front five?

That's a program.

Utah fits into that same vein.

They don't operate at the same level as Georgia sometimes, but they have an identity and they know who they are.

And that was one of the most interesting things with me with respect to Whittingham going to Michigan is, like, you can't create the Utah identity.

And I equated it to Chris Peterson going to Washington.

At Utah, that's a team that's not like Georgia, but it's like Georgia, where they know who they are.

And that's why I think there was a rough go.

How long is it supposed to take for a team to find what their identity is supposed to be?

That's a program.

Utah fits into that same vein.

They don't operate at the same level as Georgia sometimes, but they have an identity and they know who they are.

And that was one of the most interesting things with me with respect to Whittingham going to Michigan is, like, You can't create the Utah identity, and I equated it to Chris Peterson going to Washington.

At Utah, that's a team that's not like Georgia, but it's like Georgia, where they know who they are.

And that's why I think there was a rough go.

Everybody knew what they were supposed to do.

How long is it supposed to take for a team to find what their identity is supposed to be?

what? I said a good get-right game is go play Oklahoma State.

Yeah, that's, yeah.

Boise State was, they looked really good.

I was very impressed by them.

Coming out of that as well, I thought the way that Houston kind of galvanized themselves, oh, JMU, I had a friend who was, I have a friend who's a JMU alum who was convinced that Liberty was going to beat them, and game one, Billy Napier, we've all seen him, right? We've seen him as an offensive coordinator, we've seen him as a head coach, we've seen him go to get one of the Apex jobs, and then He's at JMU, and we all expected him to, or at least a lot of us expected him to lose that game, and they were able to get that one out.

So that was good.

Virginia Tech.

To me, this doesn't sound like college sports, does it?

Say what? I said a good get-right game is go play Oklahoma State.

Yeah, that's, yeah.

Boise State was, they looked really good.

I was very impressed by them.

Coming out of that as well, I thought the way that Houston kind of galvanized themselves, oh, JMU, I had a friend who's, I have a friend who's a JMU alum who was convinced that Liberty was going to beat them, and game one, Billy Napier, we've all seen him, right? We've seen him as an offensive coordinator, we've seen him as a head coach, we've seen him go to get one of the Apex jobs, and then He's a JMU, and we all expected him to, or at least a lot of us expected him to lose that game, and they were able to get that one out.

So that was good.

Virginia Tech.

And it just – to me – This doesn't sound like college sports, does it?

Where do you think we land, and how soon do you think it happens?

I, I think the, the timeliness is the mo- more interesting than, uh, the, the number of teams.

We don't, we, we haven't given the sport time to breathe at all.

Uh, once we got rid of the BCS, they immediately were looking to go...

Uh, once we got rid of the BCS, they went to four.

And then after four, immediately they were like, "You know, we gotta do more, we gotta do more," and then it was, "We gotta do more, we gotta do more." And you throw that in, mix it in with the 105 scholarship number.

Then you throw that in with the transfer portal, and then rescinding the second transfer portal.

Well, how-

Where do you think we land, and how soon do you think it happens?

I, I think the, the timeliness is the mo- more interesting than, uh, the, the number of teams.

We don't...

We, we haven't given the sport time to breathe at all.

Uh, once we got rid of the BCS, they immediately were looking to go...

Uh, once we got rid of the BCS, they went to four, and then after four, immediately they were like, "We gotta do more.

We gotta do more.

Well-

I mean, if you're the NCAA, doesn't this feel like the one thing in the last 15 or so years you've tried to do in which you actually have some semblance of some support?

Yeah, it does.

I think it does feel that way.

I also look at it as...

We've been behind buses when we had to go to real court.

And that's something I don't think we talk about nearly enough.

But they get their behinds whooped in court.

And would that help?

[laughs] I'm with you.

I've, I had, I had one of my good friends who works for the agency network, um, and pardon my language, not gonna use, like, big, hard profanity.

I am gonna say the A word.

He said, "UNC's gonna be ass." And I was like, "Mm.

Why did you have to say that to me?" [laughs] I'm trying to...

Like, I work for Tar Heel 24/7.

I'm trying to get, like, I'm trying to get people excited for the season, and my man, who I know does a lot of work, he was like, "Y'all," they're like, "Y'all are gonna be true garbage this year." And I was like, "But they're gonna be better than last year." He's like, "Yeah, but what does that mean?" And I'm like, "Better than last year is better than last year.

In fact, probably the thing at the top of the mind for a lot of folks in the ACC is, are we gonna be able to still keep this league together as we've cobbled it together?

I'm with you.

I had, I had one of my good friends who works for the ACC network.

And part of my language, not going to use like big heart profanity.

I am going to say the A word.

He said, UNC is going to be ass.

And I was like, why did you have to say that to me? I'm trying to, like, I work for Tar Heel 24 seven.

I'm trying to get like, I'm trying to get people excited for the season.

Probably the thing at the top of the mind for a lot of folks in the ACC is, are we going to be able to still keep this league together as we've cobbled it together?

So here's what I'm

going to say.

Let's start with the top two.

The girlfriend situation.

should have never been a story.

And I say that it's not from a, he shouldn't be dating someone that age.

What I'm saying is from someone who, I live in South Charlotte.

yeah

Like, that was the first thing that happened, and that was a thing that really got under Arkansan's skin in the last few years was that it felt like they weren't even trying to recruit Arkansas kids.

Yeah, and that's – like I said, going through that and – Belichick still is very bad at it.

I'm going to be quite honest with you.

Um, if I get a chance to ask him about it, uh, in two weeks at media days, I absolutely will.

And so what I like, I'm watching what you guys did and like, obviously going out and getting the, some of the better players in your state is important.

And that's, that matters and not letting them leave and making them want to go to Arkansas.

That's why it was what I mean when I say in great shape.

A lot of schools are trying to figure that out, and we've been talking a lot about Louisville and them working at a deficit here for some time.

Like, that was the first thing that happened, and... that was a thing that really got under our kids and skin in the last few years was that it felt like they weren't even trying to recruit Arkansas kids.

Yeah, that's, and that's like, like I said, going through, going through that and Belichick still is very bad at it.

I'm going to be quite honest with you.

If I get a chance to ask him about it in two weeks at media days, I absolutely will.

And so what I think, I'm watching what you guys did.

Obviously, going out and getting some of the better players in your state is important.

That matters.

A lot of schools are trying to figure that out, and we've been talking a lot about Louisville and them working at a deficit here for some time.

And the school president.

I 100% agree with that, and I think that At some point, what we're seeing is that the NCAA essentially is toothless.

And when you're toothless, there's nothing – like, what are you going to do, eat jello? So it's one of those things where I think that because those conference partners went to the conference and said, no, we're not okay with this, we won't play.

And the conference was like, oh, goodness, if we don't have these games, we won't have the money.

And I think that's what it boils down to.

And part of the enforcement probably needs, and I hate to say this, because I care about these players.

I care about their well-being and making sure they're not, whether it's drugs, gambling, alcohol, any of that stuff.

It doesn't work.

Right.

Like we've never seen how this isn't going down, you know, to like the corner store or going, you know, making a phone call to a friend of a friend and, to place a bet and, you know, get your points and the whole deal.

And then he takes his big and all that.

Like, I, look, I understand how it works or used to work.

This is an app on your phone.

They, they had it.

They ran a commercial.

It doesn't work.

Yeah.

And I'm looking through, like, the quarterback, like, the quarterbacks that he's had success with.

So I au- auto-- First of all, I automatically took Lamar Jackson off the table.

We don't have that.

But I also took Ryan Mallett and Jalen Green off the ta- off the table.

So now I'm looking at Stephen Lefors and Brian Brohm.

And if, what is it, Billy Edwards and Myles O'Neal, if they can be Stephen Lefors and Brian Brohm, if they can do that, then this team has a chance to have a quarterback that can understand the system, find guys like you mentioned, Jordan Shipp, and be a run forward program, run forward team that uses play action.

It does.

But you know what? Who knows what's going to happen in D.C.? I certainly do not.

So here's – I'm going to start from – from the base level, right? Brass packs, if you will.

These guys don't know anything about college football, college sports in general, but specifically college football.

They don't, they don't know.

And I don't trust them to know.

And I don't think that they have like an informed staff for them to know.

They are looking at it as a way to say, see, we did a good job.

And I think that this might get in the way of that business relationship.

Let's start there.

They don't.

They don't know, and I don't trust them to know, and I don't think that they have, like, an informed staff for them to know.

They are looking at it as a way to say, "See? We did a good job." I understand it's a bipartisan bill.

Uh, but at the end of the day, what we're looking at is people who really don't know that much about this, this sport and these sports trying to make a decision for players and a decision for programs that they don't really have that much in, in terms of affiliation with.

And it's really, it's frustrating to see where-They just draw these lines and they're like, "Well, this is what we're gonna do." And obviously I've, I've tried to read the bill.

I'm not gonna lie, I have not read the whole bill.

Sure.