uh well let me ask you on the other side of the ball because uh against Florida State you saw a team that really wanted to run the ball against you uh Louisville figures to be a little bit more balanced between the two and we've seen Lincoln keen holds after a really rough start against Ole Miss in the first half look really good over the last six quarters of football what have you seen out of him and overall the Louisville offense that you're going to face

Man, they're explosive, they're balanced.

I mean, when you think of Louisville, you think about those two running backs.

And now the way Lincoln can run the football in design runs, which they'll do plenty.

But then a lot like Kevin, when things break down, things are off schedule, he can really create plays with his feet and with his arm once he breaks the pocket.

And that's what makes it really hard on defenses.

I mean, that creates a lot of pressure because defenses can be right, and still be wrong.

How, how, how close do you think you are to new blood being accepted as a, on the same tier as the blue bloods in college football?

Right, right, right.

He didn't have the turnover sprees at all last year.

He got banged up in game two.

Couldn't really run like he had hoped all year.

I mean, he just kept playing, kept leading.

What he did against Miami and Clemson and others to win some of those games for us.

So I'm just excited to see him hopefully be healthy and have a really good supporting cast.

How do you handle that type of stuff in the offseason?

I don't know if they consult the coaches when they make these statements, but where are you on the playoff right now?

Yeah, they do.

Most conferences consult the coaches behind closed doors.

Ours did.

Ours was unanimous.

Now, then people leave and may say whatever they say.

But I think sometimes it's real easy when you see a snippet or so-and-so supports this to think that it's that clean, right? It's not.

Coach, I think I understand what you're saying as we talked to Coach Lashley, but let's go back to equitable access because pundits like me, we have raged a lot about too many, but can you give us from the inside looking out what that really means to a program like yours?

So how are you doing? You got an off week, getting ready? How's everything at SMU?

Hey, Coach.

Always good to be with you.

I'm doing good.

As you know, there's really no off weeks.

These bye weeks, we're trying to rest and recharge.

We needed it physically, but as a head coach, man, when someone thinks you have an off week, they try to load your schedule up.

So you how do you think is there some you think expansion is going to make a difference? Would that make a difference? Or do you think as far as more people having a chance or do you think it would just add numbers for those other two conferences?

So how are you doing? You got an off week, getting ready? How's everything at SMU?

Hey, Coach.

Always good to be with you.

I'm doing good.

As you know, there's really no off weeks.

These bye weeks, we're trying to rest and recharge.

We needed it physically.

So you how do you think is there some you think expansion is going to make a difference? Would that make a difference? Or do you think as far as more people having a chance? Or do you think it would just add numbers for those other two conferences?

I guess, what's the message for your team to try to finish out strong and get back to that championship game?

game?Yeah, we've proven this year we can beat anybody and we can lose to anybody.

So, (laughs) uh, you know, we're gonna have to play really well to win up in Boston this weekend.

If we can, uh, find a way to do that, we stay in the hunt.

You know, we're playing meaningful games in November for the third straight year, and that's a big deal.

Um, that's our goal every year.

Uh, then we'd get an off week, and then, I mean, we got a top 15 team in Louisville that would be coming into Ford Stadium.

(laughs)

Is there just a whole new approach, a whole new way to coach, a whole new way to bring people together? How do you approach it and approach this new normal?

normal?Yeah, I mean, every year you're just building a brand new team, you know.

And we were fortunate going into last year, we had a lot of guys returning off the American Conference Championship game.

So kind of the culture and the identity of the team was set.

It was just whether or not we could compete at that...

the new level in the ACC.

Uh, this year, um, you know, like I said, 42 of our 85 scholarship players were brand new.

So how significant is that to what you are building there? And then specifically, what pleased you the most about that win?