And just before we get to some other issues, Lacey, without him this year, can you take us through how that has affected Ole Miss?

Yeah, I think that particularly in the games where he started and then left, I think it's been really hard for Ole Miss to, like I said, manufacture the run game.

But when they've known that he's not going to play, and I believe this is the third game They will have been without him.

They didn't have him.

I believe it was at Florida as well.

They've usually, they've had a pretty good plan.

Part of that involves getting Trinidad Chambliss involved in the run game a little bit more.

so uh everybody will be asking us when we get there what do you think uh i mean the line is very narrow uh you seem like you you see a path for for victory for the rebels

know

you you you hear the urban legends and then you get into a press conference and he's sitting there and you're like man this guy He's good.

I mean, he can he could talk to anybody and they would be laughing.

I mean, he's he's charismatic.

He's thoughtful.

He looks you right in the eyes when he's talking.

He was you know, it was pretty clear that this was emotional for him in a good way.

Especially the interior.

But how has the trials and tribulations of Lane Kiffin played at the Square?

Yeah, I think that I'd be lying if I said there weren't some excited faces probably around town a couple weeks ago when they fell at Kentucky.

I just think that obviously the way that whole thing went down, I think it's left a sour taste in people's mouths.

And obviously they...

You know, they got past the first head to head matchup between Lane and Ole Miss.

That one's out of the way.

And you would like to think that maybe it's the end of that saga.

And I don't know about you, but five weeks ago, I mean, we were at DEFCON 1, and it just doesn't, I don't know, I hate to hurt Lane Kiffin's feelings, but it just doesn't feel that important anymore, does it?

But this is in no way a bad thing, especially for the, quote, "mid-tier programs" that now have the access and a realistic chance to get there as opposed to waiting 60 years to do it.

I knew we had kinda jumped the shark on, uh, on conference championships last year when, when, when Alabama was legitimately like...

The conversation was, "Does Alabama even wanna play in this game?" Because it would give them a third loss if they lose, and if they had three losses, would it even be humanly possible for them to get in? Because apparently three is the, the ooh, scary number.

Uh, or has been, uh, as of late.

So I, i- I'm, I, I'm, I'm okay with the conference championships.

I guess I kinda, like, you know, I'm, I, I grew up in, like...

And I know college football has changed so much, um, but like, you know, I'm old enough to remember when Darren Sproles ran for, like, eight trillion yards against Oklahoma when Oklahoma was number one.

No

But describe this next few weeks for the Rebels and what's at stake.

Yeah, I mean, it's about to get really interesting.

You know, Missouri is, you know, not just for the fact that they're ranked 13.

You know, they've got a couple of former Ole Miss stars in Austin Simmons at quarterback and Caden Lee at receiver.

There's going to be a lot of emotion there.

Kiwan Lacey at Ole Miss began his career at Missouri.

So there's a lot underneath the surface of what is already going to be A really good game.

Michael, I hate to go back four weeks, but that game, and you alluded to the running game part of it, but do you think that was a lot of hangover from LSU that created just almost an impossible outcome to explain?

[laughs]

... um, so I, I think I have to see it to believe it.

But I, I, I think that if they can stop the run, I, I think that they're, I think that they match up pretty well outside, uh, corner-wise on, on the receivers.

You know, obviously Junior, uh, Sherrill's been really, really good.

Um, but outside of him it's, it's kind of they haven't really had another guy break out consistently.

Um, now obviously missed tackles all over the defense, uh, but particularly, you know, in the secondary there have been some safeties who have missed a lot of tackles, uh, and has led to some pretty big plays down the field.

Uh, you know, again, big ifs, but if they clean that up, I, I, I don't see a world where, and I have a l- I have a lot of respect for Clark Lea and that program, but I, it's hard for me to see a world where they are able to score enough to be able to beat Ole Miss because as, again, as this talented as, or as, as, as talented and, and well-coached as Vanderbilt is, and I think they really are, I don't see a world where Ole Miss isn't at least able to do s- enough, uh, offensively.

What do you have going on at the Daily Journal, buddy?

What do you think here in terms of a score, a pace? Is this a shootout like everyone expects?

This feels like a [laughs] game in the 30s, uh, for both.

Um, yeah, I know that that LSU defense is, is, is some great athletes and some incredible numbers so far, but, uh, let's be honest, they haven't played, uh, an offense quite like Ole Miss yet.

And Ole Miss has shown some holes in its defense.

Though granted, they have played a very good Louisville team and, and obviously they won that game, but it was not, uh, for the faint of heart.

Um, so I, you know, I think LSU's gonna be able to put up some points too.

Um, I, I think kind of the saving grace for Ole Miss is that LSU's turned the ball over, uh, a good amount.

Are the people down in Oxford kind of doubting Louisville now because they're playing SMU and maybe having a tough time there? Did that Louisville game scare people off of Ole Miss, do you think?

who do we,

what do we need to look for? And I said, you got to look out for that defensive line because that unit is going to be really, really good.

They have a first round pick there, assuming all goes well with him this year, Will Echols.

Cam Franklin's going to be making a lot of money at some point too.

They brought in a bunch of guys who can play.

They've got a ton of depth.

That defensive line, I know that it's been brought up a few times this offseason.

I mean, tell me about what that was like.

So on the football side, what, what is something else that I'm not thinking about that just kind of caught your eye?

[smacks lips] Um, I, I, I think that, I think one of the biggest at least, like, questions for me, uh, has not been something that they seem concerned about.

Uh, and obviously I know coaches say what coaches say and players say what coach, uh, what players say.

Um, but you know, I, I, I was sort of wondering, like, who's gonna step up as, like, the pass rusher, right? Uh, after you lose Prince Will and his nine sacks and all that kind of stuff, and, uh...

But a group effort has been the, the term that's been brought up, sort of this collective rush, whether it's getting pressure from three, what, you know, whatever it is.

You know, in a perfect world, Pete says, like, he doesn't want to have to blitz.

Like, he would love it if he's just able to get pressure with- You know, th- the, whatever the normal alignment is for what they're doing.

What's your take on it, man?

Great, great interview

... oh, man, sitting down with him for, like, uh, like 10 minutes the other day was just electric.

He is, like, he is, he's got a lot of charisma.

Yeah, he, he's not afraid to say what's on his mind.

He is awesome.

Um, and then obviously there's a lot of talent there.

You don't just become a five-star, uh, prospect out of Texas, uh, unless you're really talented.

But being behind Kiwan and being the person that kind of helps him out with carries and stuff like that could be a pretty valuable piece when this, all this gets said and done.

How much pressure do you think that Trinidad is feeling going into this season? Because accolades are really starting to pile up on this guy.

I, I think for most people in that situation it probably would, but he's just, has always struck me as a guy who's never gonna get too high or get too low or let any sort of situation get to him, whether it's on the field, whether it's, you know, the court hearing stuff that was looming over him.

He always kind of seems to be the same guy day in, day out.

He was probably, he was the same guy at Ferris State.

I assume he was the same guy when he was the number two quarterback.

He's the same guy as the face of college football, just in terms of the, the personality and, and those sorts of things.

And I also think, too, what, right or wrong, is probably helping is that while I, I firmly believe he is the best quarterback in college football, uh, when you are looking at the combination of obviously the skill set and things like that, but also the things that you can't necessarily put a finger on that you want in a guy.

Yellow and green.

So tell us about Pete Golden's first trip to the

big room.

Yeah, I think for us who have gotten to know him a little bit over the last few years and really few months as head coach, we weren't surprised by this.

Pete is really, really good at working a room.

It's part of why he's an elite recruiter.

He just walks in a room and kind of owns it, and he did that today.

He says some things he probably shouldn't say.

Tamar could change that, but I will ask you, what do you expect from Lane Kiffin tomorrow?

Mm-hmm

...

I've s- I've seen it.

I've seen it for 15 games last year.

Uh, you know, obviously not all of them Trinidad, but the majority of them.

[clears throat] I saw Keyuan Lacy set all of these records in his first year, uh, as a starting running back, uh, in the SEC.

I saw Trinidad Chambless accomplish incredible things, uh, when he didn't even have spring football.

All right, what do you have going on over at the Daily Journal this week, man?

What did you hear today from them?

I think the biggest thing, I mean, the players we talked to, it was Tristan Becetta, Hayden Federico, and J.P. Robertson.

I think the thing hearing from Hayden Federico was he will be the first to admit he got a bad read on that ball that he ended up snowcoating in making one of the catches.

One of the great catches is probably Ole Miss history, given the context of it.

But, you know, I think one of the big things, and Mike brought this up, they did the same thing in 2022 when they went.

It wasn't just like, they weren't happy just to be there.

Like they want to win this whole thing and they think they can win this whole thing.

Oh, no.

One out away or one more second

... yeah, yeah, to the USC-Ole Miss match-up that I was promised in football that was taken from us.

Uh, you...

They're that home and home.

Uh, we were so close.

Uh, but yeah, no, it's, uh, I mean, North Carolina, again, they were down, what, 3 to 1 yesterday and came back to win 4 to 3.

Uh, you know, you can say USC blew that, uh, and that's fair.

Mm-hmm

Mm-hmm

... deals to come back.

Uh, that's just the nature of this game.

And so I think that like if you're going to, out of all the programs you could go after, if you're gonna go after Ole Miss, there's probably no one more upset about having their roster consistently tampered with through the off-season, uh, than Ole Miss.

And so if you're gonna, if you're gonna try to go after them for, you know, the Farrelli thing, you know, I guess that's your prerogative and, and you can feel like, you know, well, you know, they did what they did.

But uh, that doesn't mean Ole Miss is gonna be like, "Hey, okay, you can go after us, but like here's all of the people that went after our guys and, and here are things that we can tell you happened." And then you're gonna force the NCAA to open another investigation and it's, it's, it's gonna be interesting to see how far the NCAA wants to go into this.

I don't think they want to go that deep into this because if they start going after two teams, and they have to go after a third, and they have to go after a fourth, and I, I don't think they wanna take that many Ls.

Mm-hmm.

It's kind of a psychological crashout that he had.

[laughs] And the Vanity Fair, I, I actually hadn't read the whole thing.

Uh, when I got, like, I got a screenshot of the, the paragraph.

Uh, and I think all your listeners probably know which one I'm referencing.

Uh, the one that brought up, uh, some unsavory things about Mississippi's history and, and whatnot and, uh, I read that and I just said, "Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. We're doing this." [laughs] Uh, [laughs] and then I read the whole thing, and it, it kind of went like I expected.

Um, this is all, I guess, a couple...

I guess he did a lot of interview.

I think everybody will watch it, but it is a proxy war between ESPN and Fox.

Yeah

...

so it was always like, how do, how do you generate buzz? How do you, how do you draw people in? How do you elevate the, the conversation? And, um, you know, this, this opportunity crossed my path probably, um, probably, like, midsummer last summer, and I started to get really excited about it and then, uh, negotiated my exit from the company that acquired us, uh, late last year and just started building.

And so, um, from November to end of March, you know, us, you know, just my-myself, my brother, we have one other co-founder, a guy named Sam Mueller, and a few engineers, a, a couple designers, and, um, somebody who runs Go-To-Market with me.

We just went heads down and started to lay the foundation and launched publicly in the App Store, uh, at the beginning of April, and gearing up-

Yeah

... you open a digital pack, and you get a random card.

So let's say it's a $100 pack of, of basketball cards.

Tell me, what did you pull out of spring practice? Pete Golding's first full spring practice as the head coach.

I mean, I learned a lot about punt coverage.

That's probably the biggest takeaway.

Because for those who may not know, that is what we watched during practice was adding some quarterbacks warming up.

So I can tell you that Trinidad's arm looks fresh.

Deuce Knight is really, really big.

And A.J. Maddox throws a mean football.

The question is, as a Heisman voter, Michael, what do you need to see from Trinidad Chambliss to get on your ballot?

you think they're going to look the most different on the field?

You know, I think the easy one to say is offense.

But I don't think that is going to look that different because you brought in – John David Baker, who is, uh, you know, he was at Ole Miss before, uh, he, and he was at East Carolina in these last couple of years, um, did a really nice job running that same high tempo offense that, that levy has run that Charlie Weiss ran.

Uh, I think that's all going to look similar.

I think the, the, where it might look different and we saw it a little bit, um, in the playoff is some of those high leverage situations.

Um, Lane was the gambler on the fourth downs, and live by the sword, die by the sword.

Sometimes it worked great, and sometimes you thought to yourself, man, maybe take the points.

Where we

Mm-hmm.

Obviously, he got hurt, and Trinidad ran with the opportunity and, and had this incredible season.

Um, I, I do think that there is more for Trinidad to unlock.

Um, you know, one, it's, it's his team.

There's, there's no question about that now.

Uh, people gravitate toward him, and I, I do think that matters.

Um, I, I think that, you know, the numbers, you know, obviously they were really good last year.

[laughs]