Alabama CFP Encore? 2026 Outlook | Best Returning EDGE Rushers in CFB

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And how about that pull-up interception in the end zone?

Well, it's David Pollock and I think people are going to learn what kind of ball player he is.

He's got a heart of a line. I'm real proud of that kid.

This is Seaball Gitball.

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What up dudes, welcome on in the Seaball Gitball.

Man, it is that time of year already, already starting to get into some spring ball.

Seeing some peams that are in the mix that are starting to go ahead and do spring.

It seems like we just finished, but that's the beauty of the college football season going longer.

We're going to start today with a little on-core, so the Bama on-core.

Like, what do we expect now this year from Bama?

That'll be a fun topic. We'll go into edge russers, Brent will have all the numbers

with edge russers, who to look for.

I think the important too is who you need to know. There's a couple players.

I remember this time last year we were talking about David Bailey and we were talking about the

impact that he could have and how good that defensive line excuse me for Texas Tech was going

to be and it worked out really well and you saw those guys have a pretty big impact.

So, a lot of guys, you're going to need to know. If you don't know them now, you will by the

end of season. Who's the coach Calapari of college football?

Send that on on social media. We'll cover that. March Madness got to do a bracket.

Gotta throw some teams out there, some squads, and then winners. Like we always do, who won the

weekend? All right. So, let's get into it. Bama.

Caleb DeBore is 20 and eight in his tenure at Alabama and it feels like it really feels like

he's been there for a long time. Like, it feels like he's been there for a minute. It feels like

ever since he's been there, he's been talked about and it's 20 and eight is not great.

And if you go back to savings last five years, you'd have to go five seasons to find eight losses.

Now listen, college football has absolutely changed. Indiana just won a national title.

So, to expect, you know, Caleb DeBore to continue what Nick Sabin was doing,

keep in mind, the last three years Nick Sabin lost two games a year. Like, those were some of his

worst seasons in cumulative years, but it was the needle was going the other direction and I'm not

blossoming Alabama fans, but, but it was changing, right? Like the needle was going the other

direction. And that's part of the reason why Nick Sabin got out of this bit. It's a different

business than he got into. It's a different world. And as we've seen, there's been a bunch of

growing pains for everybody. So, to me, the encore, can they go back? Because two years ago,

on the cuff, on the French last year, limp in, right? Actually, yeah, they limped in because they

got beat badly. They got beat up going into the college football playoff because Georgia

nodded a hole in their head in the SEC championship game and it was ugly. It wasn't even pretty.

And so, they get in, but then they won a game this year. So, they took a step, they got into the

playoff, which is good. And then they won. So, that's back to back. That's improvement for,

if you're looking at Caleb DeBore and if you're looking for what he's accomplished so far.

You know, I think if you're going to start talking about Alabama, last year, this time,

we were like, they didn't go into the portal. They must have really liked what they saw in

Ty Simpson. I think he backed it up pretty well. Like Caleb DeBore hired Ryan Grub in the offseason.

I think the offense got a little bit better. Now this year, now what do you do? You go out and

get an offensive line coach because you didn't like your offensive line play. I like that because

I didn't like their offensive line play. I thought they had dudes up front that were plenty

capable of playing at a high level, but they couldn't do it. So now, when you coming into this

season, you believed in Ty Simpson a year ago, he's going to be the second quarterback draft in

the NFL. That's a good decision. Now, they didn't go into the portal. They let Austin Mac be their guy.

And now Austin Mac slash Keelan Russell, because there's another guy that is really talented. And

we saw Mac in the Rose Bowl. And I'll be honest, he looked the part. Like Ty Simpson looked like

he was frazzled all over the place. You know, Matt comes in. Look pretty solid. Look like you could

run the football. He's big. He's strong. Remember, he came from Washington with DeBore. So he's been

in school for I think four years now. He's kind of marinated, right? And he's begged in Keelan Russell.

Obviously, very young, very talented. But I don't think they're going to pull the trigger and go

with a young guy. Brent, there is so many other things to get into with Alabama. Ryan Williams,

last year, this time we were like, dude, Ryan Williams, Jeremiah Smith, are they the best two

receivers in the game? Period. And then now Ryan Williams had such a bad season. He had to change

his numbers this all season. Like he had to go from from two to one. And he's hopefully a different

guy. Hopefully he has less drops. Hopefully his numbers drop in half, too, because he had a lot of

drops. There was a lot of drama that came with it. But it's just interesting when you mentioned

Keelan DeBore, when you mentioned Alabama, it feels like it's been awful. But there's a lot of

teams in the country. They're like, yeah, sign me up for that last two year run that they had.

They run a playoff game. And then not a lot of people can say they've won a playoff game

in the last two years. And they were right on the edge the previous season. I mean, one

sort of debate. Well, bad loss. They had a bad loss that kept them out. If they didn't have

the bad loss, they would have been in the playoff the previous season, too. Yeah, the lost

and good. Yeah. So now it is the thing you brought up Williams. So not only did he change the

number. So it went from two to one, it's high school number, added the Coleman in front of

his last name. So it's Ryan Coleman Williams now. So I would I would do I would do all kinds of

things to watch. Yes, to find whatever it is he lost because he the dude, the dude was a now

listen, it didn't start. It didn't start this season, Brian. It started down the stretch last

season, right? Like he went bonkers and then it fell off and fell off and fell off and you're like,

wait a minute, okay, that'll fix itself. Like that was cubie play, right? Like that was Jalen

Milro and his lack of ability to throw the football. That's what we all said. So now that's going

to be a critical part like of this season, but can Alabama run the football? And that to me is why

offensive line that offensive line coach now. Can that be a big difference because they've got to have

that. It doesn't matter who plays quarterback. Now listen, Russell probably a little more athletic,

max on athletic also, but they have to get back to some assemblance of a ground game.

If they want to go stock up and have an encore performance this season brought in six transfer

guys. Yep. From variety of places, Ole Miss, Texas, Nick Brooks from Texas, I think of the

fields kid from Ole Miss, but you know, you got one returning starter mainly and that's the

carol who played a lot as a freshman sort of started towards the lighter part of the season.

But that was actually question number one for me is outside of cubie and what do you get out of

a quarterback position? Are you going to be disappointing again from an offensive line perspective,

run game perspective? We talked at nausea meant last year about how historically bad for that

program their running game was. But the quarterback thing you mentioned Mac and then

Keel and Russell, we saw half of max attempts last year were in the Rose Bowl. So that's not like

we saw a lot of them. We only saw the end. But if you look at the 10 playoff teams from a season

ago, excluding J. M. U. and Tuley, so the 10 sort of power four teams that were in the playoff.

Ole Miss, Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and A&M, their quarterback is returning.

Indiana, Miami, Texas, Tech, they have a new quarterback, but they got that new quarterback via

the portal. Alabama's the only team out of those 10 that has a new QB that they didn't get via

the portal that it's an in-house guy. And we actually saw a lot of that last year like archmaning

taking over Gunner from previous playoff teams, CJ Carr taking over. But this is their any unique

situation where they're like, hey, we believe in one of these two guys. And Mac is, he's a specimen.

Like a big boy. I remember being on the field before the SC Championship game. And he may tie

Simpson, look like a toy soldier, like just a little tiny dude compared to Stan. Because Mac was

that big, like he's six six, two thirty five, two forty, and can spin it. So, and this is when you

think about, you mentioned DeBoer in 28, this team right here this year is really truly to me his

team more than any other. Yeah. Because of what's gone now. Because Milro, he obviously inherited,

then you know, Proctor and some of the guys that that were sort of holds mainstays from the early

Sabin or from Sabin. So, this is really his group. And it's when you think about his group and his

and him in the past. But where is the strength of this team? It's in the secondary. They're going to

have one of the best secondaries in the country. So, well, and I think when you look at this team,

the interesting part to me is they've lost, they lost a lot of guys in the portal. And you're like,

okay, who did you go get? I would argue they lost probably more stars, more highly recruited

guys. And they brought in guys that more necessarily the, the what we're used to seeing from Alabama.

We're used to seeing five stars. We're used to seeing four stars. So, this is all on debor. This

is all on him going out talent evaluating. He's he's a football coach like he's been very,

very successful. So, you're absolutely right. You also made these staff changes because you know,

you needed to the defense last year. It was it was it was up and down. The trench play wasn't elite

like we've seen in the past and getting to the quarterback and getting sacked. Now, they did get

better down the season, but you're right. The secondary will have to have to pull some weight,

but needless to say, a big year for Alabama. Huge year for Alabama. So, we get the game we play

in the off season or sometimes in the season, the what's more likely game. I'm going to give you two

scenarios. What's more likely that they're back in the playoff this year or that Caleb and the

board is looking for work. Oh, that's so that's so bad. You're such a jack leg for putting it

that because I tried to pick two extremes. Well, but here's the thing. Put your but if he's if he's

not in the playoff, he's gone. I think that's I think that's factual. So I can I have a I don't

I don't know what's going on with Alabama. If you're asking me to bet on I can't bet that they're

going to the playoff. I can't like. If you look at last year's team and I went through the team,

the 12 team playoff and obviously two Lane and JMU great seasons get out not talking about you

making the playoffs. If I look at the other guys, almost all of the other guys except for Ole Miss

and A&M. I'm writing back in Penn and A&M Ole Miss, Alabama and Miami. Those two those teams I

am not writing in Penn. Those are four teams. I got a lot of other ones in Penn where I think they're

going to be back. There's a lot of reasons why I think they'll be back. Obviously Georgia was

so freaking young. They're going to be back. No problem saying that I think they're going to be back.

Oregon instead of a bunch of guys going to the NFL, they chose to stay. I think they're going to

be back. Do I have some questions with OC and DC? New guys that are promoted? Yes, I have some

questions. Indiana. What the heck, bro? Like system over top. They're in. Got to replace Mendoza.

Ohio State. Their quarterback is back. Chris Henry Jr. is going to be the next freak. Jeremiah Smith

is still there. Obviously, playmaking is still there. So Texas Tech, to me, returning 14 starters,

got better at a lot of spots. I'm going to put them in that conversation. To me, the others are

old Miss A&M, Bama, Miami. The maps app that came with your phone? It's fine. If you enjoy waiting

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And how do we feel about them with other teams kind of nipping at their heels? But I can't put Bama

in. I can't say that. So under those circumstances, it's more likely that Caleb DeBore would be

gone than making the college football playoff next season. Yeah, that's and that was where I lean

to. And it's mainly just when you look at talent because now could the young talent, some of the

freshmen like the Crowell kid that's five star running back, Big Time Recruit, can he be immediately

have a presence? And also can the secondary be that sort of just that good that it carries you

defensively? And we've talked about the schedule and the nine game conference schedule that adds an

element to it in the SEC for state again, but you don't have to necessarily it's not as big of a

thing this year as his potential was last year. But yes. And and Williams too. And like with him,

his first year, he was primarily out wide last year. He was kind of half in the slot, half out wide.

Where is he? Where do you get the best? He's better out wide. He's better out wide. He's more productive.

He's big makes bigger plays out wide, but he's played about half of slides, snaps in the slot

of season ago. So how they sort of work that we'll see. Pass or Dave, 2525. I'm with you, bro.

I think Kalen DeBoys are really good coach. I do. I think the circumstances in college football has

changed. The game has changed. He's replacing the goat and expectations are not going to change

in Tuscaloosa. Just because the game changed doesn't mean that Tuscaloosa is going to change.

They're used to winning championships. They've had some of the great coaches of all time. They've had

some of the most winning teams of all time. They're not going to change that. So I get you. I'm

much a pastor. All right. Let's get to the next one though. All right. We're turning guys. Best

returning edge players. You do the numbers, Brent. It's interesting to me because I kind of put

these guys in two categories. I put them in guys that you're going to know. Like you're going to

know them. And guys, if you don't already know, you're probably not a college football fan.

Like that's kind of how I went with mine. So how did you categorize yours?

Well, the big thing, the reason I wanted to talk about this was because of on the heels of

the draft talk and T-rex with Rubin Bay and his issues and David Bailey and potentially

those guys being top five, top 10 picks and what the impact of Bay and Mesador for Miami and

Bayley and Height were for Texas Tech a year ago. Because if you look, Bay and Mesador,

150 quarterback pressures and 25 sacks a year ago, Bayley and Height, 143 quarterback pressures,

24 sacks. I looked at Georgia because people, a lot of folks are upset about how few sacks

George against Georgia had 195 quarterback pressures and 19 sacks as a team. Like so team versus

the other two had just two guys getting a lot more sacks and almost the pressures. So when you

look at who's best returning and where that sort of, and we've talked about this before, but

how the transfer portal, you become, hey, if I'm a QB, I go here. If I'm a receiver, I go here.

If you're an edge guy, where do you go? Go to Miami or Texas Tech and Damon Wilson now comes

from Mizzou. Well, I would love to, I would love to support that narrative. I'm with you. Like I

think that narrative will continue to build on itself, just like Ohio State, a wide receiver,

right? Like that's a, that's a narrative that becomes real, but that's also checkbooks.

Like let's be honest, like that, that Miami got that because of what they pay Damon Wilson.

Texas Tech paid a duo of kids that you will know next year, just like we talked about,

like you're literally going to be like, dang, where did trick and white come from? Or trick and

trade. I like TNT better, actually, but yeah, like, not white trick. Yeah, or white trick,

whatever. I'm going to do with that. Kray White, San Diego State, out of trick from Miami,

Ohio, but it's the next 16 sex. And it's the next in line because they pay, they have the ability

to pay those guys. They pay them, they pay them big money to come in. Wilson got big money to come

in. Like those are, those are big time schools that it's not going to change. It's as long as

this system is this system, Miami is okay with that. Texas Tech is okay with that. And guess

what? That should be that that's, Indiana's going to go get a QB with their money. They're going

to go buy one of the best QBs they can buy. Like that's the way it works. Now, some teams can also buy

that QB like Texas Tech, which is amazing. And Miami, they can also go buy the guys that are playing

quarterback and the guys that are rushing the quarterback. But it's not a, they're not in the hard

not life. That's for sure. So I had sort of a list of names. I had to me four that were

kind of head and shoulders to me. Impact guys that looking at as top returning edge defenders.

And one is actually one was not necessarily the most productive. Okay. Was Dylan Stewart. Like

it impacts huge, but in terms of just his own general production, not as much a year ago,

had 37 quarterback pressures and five sacks. But why wasn't he as good a year ago? Because no,

what was the other? Can art? Yes. No, no, no, can art on the other dude. It matters, man. Like when

you're the, when you're the focal point, but when you watch games, you, you saw Stewart and he

popped and he flashed and he made plays, but you don't make as many plays when you don't have

defensive tackles pushing the pocket and you don't have another end that's helping you make plays.

Like that's why Texas Tech guys, there's three guys that are in the top 50 on that D line in the

draft, but they all made each other that much better because they, they, they worked with each other

as well. So, you know, that definitely obviously helps. The other three names. I got some clever

lubin from Louisville. We got 11 sacks season ago. 64 quarterback pressures. Colin Simmons.

That's Texas right up there in terms of pressures. Also double digit sacks and then Mateo Uli

Ungolui. Nice. You know, again. Yep. From we had 52 quarterback pressures and six sacks.

Now, when I watch Uli Ungolui, I, I, I don't think that's the Damon Wilson category. I don't

think it's Dylan Stewart and I don't think it's Colin Simmons. Like I don't think it's the same.

It's not the same. Level of twitchyness and variety of pass rust maybe athleticism. He's a,

he's a bull. No, he's a bull. Don't get it twisted. He's a, he's a gang. He's a grown Irish man.

Like that's a man. That's a man. But, but like, Colin Simmons is a pass rusher, a fluid pat,

like Uli Ungolui is the only one that probably can't hoop. He can't play hoops. Like he's not

really a basketball player. The other guy is Colin Simmons. You go to Stewart. You go to those

guys, Damon Wilson. Like you go on a hoops court. They're going to cross you up, take you the bucket

and yam in your head. Like, but that he is not in that elk. John Henry daily should be in that

conversation. Like, and I don't know where you had him, but like he's a guy. I think is the next

previous group because I, because he went with his coach as a transfer impact guy to go with this

coach. But yes, he's on that list. Yeah. And so like, here's what's interesting to me about all this

stuff. I love, I absolutely love watching pass rushers. And I love the different varieties and

styles because we did our final, you know, Elite eight. We were looking at teams and stuff. And I

went to the SEC tournament this past week with my son and my wife. And it was awesome. And we

washed all the games and we just sat there and had fun and kicked it. But like, I look at it as

different point guards. I look at it as different players. They can do different things with the ball.

Like, you, you watch Acuff who we'll talk about from Arkansas. Like he's just, he's got the

variety and he can do all of those things. But so like, I mean, you know what I'm saying? Like,

you have the different speed rushers. Chaz Coleman is a guy that Tennessee fans. You are going to love.

And if you go watch his tape, man, I remember like, who's the freak is 19? Like, first of all,

he looks like he's 200 pounds. I looked at the program and I watched him this season. I'm like,

that dude is literally needs a cheeseburger or four or five. Like, he needs to eat. But you watch

the long strides and you watch the dip and then you watch him move him inside against Ohio state

and him hit a spin move. It's so dirty and leave the guys jockstrap right on the, right on the floor.

Again, not an insane amount of production. Like, not a lot of people know who Chaz Coleman is.

If you and if you don't, he came from Penn State, which by the way, if you're going to trust

someone and evaluating past rushers, Penn State's pretty dang high on that list. Like they find

guys and it's not always the most highly recruited guys. But it seems like they have and they've

had a knack for that over the years. Chaz Coleman's the next like that guy is the next that you

watch him and you go, okay, he's got the speed. He's got the hesitation. Because again, if you're

going to guard somebody in basketball, I can guard you if you're a speed guy. But if you're a speed

guy with change of direction, now I'm screwed, right? And that's the difference between the lie you

hesitate. First up a little bit there. In terms of other names. So while getting back there,

other names that I got on this. All right, back in business. Other names that I've got sort of

as returning guys. So can you out of Jackson from a high estate? So to me, the combo of trailer

and Bryce Young at Notre Dame, not necessarily as productive, but traits and NFL type physical

capabilities there. Well, I think they're going to step up in production. Yes, they'll go way up

in production. Pastor Dave, we were going to get to this. I didn't mention it when we talked

about BAM, but because we were going to talk about ed rushers, but Yon's AP air, like big time you

could see early on in the season. Okay, this guy's got to play more. This guy's got to play more

and then he started playing more like all the time. Prince Will, Umand Mielin, who's now at LSU,

with this. Speed. Speed. Pam Franklin that stay at Ole Miss. And then we'll help from Clemson

and then Taylor, Taylor Ween from Oklahoma. I think it's Ween or wine. I can't remember. I don't

remember. It's it's Ween. I think I think it's Ween. I kept I kept writing it last year. He was

the guy member of when even when armace and Thomas was out. You're like, yes. Who the freak is

that white voice? So, but those guys like will held at Clemson had a big time season for them

as a transfer. He was their best guy. Yes. He was better than yes. He was better than and I went

to Clemson a couple of weeks ago and they were having spring ball and you watch that dude. He's a

dude now. Like he's every bit is six seven. I mean, he's a tall, long him and Jacob's Brandon

and Jacob's son had some good reps. Absolutely going. Brandon Jacobs is going to be, you know, he'll

be a name you know about. But Brandon Jacobs, remember the running back from Auburn who played for

the Giants and won a Super Bowl. Did we play against the youth football? Yes, we did. He wasn't that

big, by the way, because now he's every bit of 360. Like that's a big, big sucker. And he really

looks the part man as far as athletically. So they had some they had some throw downs. They were

going at it in practice. It was fun to watch. What are some are there are there any others for you

that are kind of, hey, sleeper guys that you didn't really hear a lot about outside of Coleman.

Are there any others for you? Yeah, I got a bunch. Brandon Mack from Houston. I think he's

going to be really, really good again. He's a hybrid type a little bit smaller, but he can

he's hyperactive. I'm surprised he's still at Houston, by the way, very surprised. Quincy

Rhodes from Arkansas. Like that's a big sucker. He was all SEC man. Like that dude's like six six

two seventy five started on special teams a couple of years ago. And then you start saying

who's that big sucker? Oh, he looks good. That's a big looking body and then starts putting it

together. Arkansas got him to stay. He had eight sacks a year ago, 15 and a half tackles for a

loss. Another dude. You know, and then you got A&M. A&M found Cassius Howl. A&M is going to be a team

two that I think is going to find guys. And oh, a, a, a, a, on toe, a, on toe, Saka. Saka,

a, on toe, Saka, a, on toe, Saka's a guy. Yes, he's from Northwestern. Um, six four two sixty.

He was on Feldman's Freak list, by the way, for almost a 37 inch vertical, 10 four broad at two

sixty. Um, and again, what system do you play in Miami? I want to play in A&M. I want to play

in, bro, Oklahoma. I want to play in like I want to play in systems that know how to get me matched

up with one on one. It's like you're going to win. Like that is a win. And then I also talked about

white white and trick, trick white. It's going to be, it's going to be on like donkeys. They got

their next, they got their next duo, but they got the next best duo. Yeah. One of the things that I've

always liked sort of said in terms of past rush is these elite guys, they need to have

freedom of movement. They, they need to be sort of unchained in a way to, to me, maximize the

impact plays that they can make in a game. So like you said, those systems that you named,

those were guys have, for the most part, a lot of freedom of movement just to go make plays and be

well. And here's what Brent's, Brent means by that. So when I got in the NFL, I'll never forget,

man, like, um, you know, rush up field, come inside and I missed the sack and, and I come to the

sidelines and the coach, coach, breast and the hands are DC. He's like, dude, you can't lose

contain like your job is contained as a past rusher. And I'm like, okay, well, I do the same move

and I spend inside later, but I get a sack. Why didn't lose contain? Like, do you get, do, do you,

do you as a player get the freedom to mess up and the freedom to pin your ears back and go get

the quarterback? Because a lot of people are like, listen, don't lose outside contain. Don't lose

outside contain. You go inside. You better win. And there's a lot of guys like me that are like,

yeah, I don't give a crap. Like, I'm going to go make a play. And like, sometimes that means I'll

miss. And I was more concerned about reading the guy in front of me. Like, if you overset me,

I'm going to beat you inside, you know, like what, what are the ways that you can beat them? But,

but that is a real thing, man. At different spots, you are allowed freedom. At different spots,

you're allowed to get the nine technique, right? And just come off the edge humming. There are some

spots that is like, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Let's make sure it's not a run. And here's where I

tell my kids at North Oconi High School, like, what's the probability of a run? Because I got a

bunch of smart nerds at North Oconi. I'm like, will coach tell me they're like, will coach told me

I have to contain and make sure it's a pass. I'm like, okay, let's do some numbers here. What's

the probability of a run on third down in seven, homie? Like, it's third and seven. I don't know,

coach. I'm like, it's like 98% pass, my man. Like, it's really small. So let's do this. Let's play

the pass and react to the run. How about we do that? They're like, okay, I feel like I might get

yelled. I'm like, shut up, please. Like, go get the quarterback. And so it does matter where you play.

And what you're unable to do that, that does, that does, and that is a real thing.

Couple of the transfers real quick. One that, uh, Toby, and I'm going to butcher his name,

us and saw me from the kid from Kansas state that's now at Indiana. Like, Indiana's going to,

they've shown that they're going to, you're going to get production of that guy. But the other

interesting one, Mark has, Mark was white, who's at SMU now. He was in the class of 2019.

He was like, he had the dark, he was at Dartmouth to start. And like, COVID canceled one season.

So nothing there. Injury, another season, then went to McNeese state. And then last year,

UMass and had a 92.3 pass rush grade and six sacks at UMass a year ago. Yeah. Can you guess

anybody that was in the class of 2019 recruiting class? Oh, jeez. Including a number one

player. Parsons. Uh, no. Uh, let's see. A quarterback who played at Oklahoma and South Carolina.

Uh, let's see. Trayvon Walker was in the class of 2019. Wow. Derek Stingley was in the class

of 2019. Spencer Rattler, some names for you. Yeah. So this guy's still playing college. Well,

he's going to be big for SMU. But my sleeper speaking of systems and the, the, having the other guy

is Marquis Lightfoot Miami. To me, he's next up five star recruit. Five star recruit. He had

30 quarterback pressures in 166 naps, a pass rush and that's a year ago. I think he's going to be,

they're going to let him play all the time. And he's going to go put up crazy numbers.

Isn't it? And let me tell you something. After talking to Rubin Bane at the end of the,

or Mesa door at the end of the season last year, I had to wait to do that interview for him.

And I waited like an hour and the SID kept texting me like, did he still working his hands?

Him and Rubin are still working his hands. You also see what that looks like. And you understand

what that looks like. Once you start seeing that, you start going, okay, that's what it looks

like. That's what it takes. And so it helps. All right. I sent this tweet out this weekend

or yesterday, I think. So it was this weekend. Who is the John Calipari of college football?

And it got a lot of responses. I think there were 500,000. And so I don't even know if it's

called a tweet anymore. But I thought it would be an interesting topic for us to talk about on here.

And I think it's interesting to how you view John Calipari. Like John, John Calipari is a coach

that to me, master recruiter, like master recruiter. When I think of John Calipari, I think of

Derek Rose, John Wall, Carl Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, like if you're watching them now,

Deris Acuff, which who's killing it, like unbelievable high level recruiting, getting the best dudes,

high profile, a great personality, like really good personality that's willing to address

the hard, unconventional topics or conversations. For example, what did Calipari talk about a lot?

One and done, bringing on. Love it. Hey, guys, come with me. I'll go get you paid. You go to the NBA.

Everybody else was talking about, hey, no, no, no, we don't do one in dunes, right? Like coach K

very slow to get to the one and done. Calipari is like, no, no, screw that. I'm going with this. So

when I say this and we sent out this tweet, the instant instant and Brent jumping here, you can

jump in here with me. Like the instant feedback was two names. There was two names that consistently

came up. And I don't know if you even saw it because I know you meet me a lot of times just like

everybody else. But like, I look, I just looked Lane Kiffin and Urban Meyer, like by far, number one,

number one, a those two guys came up four million times in the responses. And I understand it.

I get why. Well, I mean, go ahead. I was just saying the heart, the heart part is how many titles

has Cal one now? Is it just, is it just one one? Yeah, right? With, uh, was that with Anthony Davis?

Is that the one that? Yes. Yep. That's the one they got. So like, there's an element of that.

And I see a lot of also Ryan Day getting mentioned for some reason. Like, well, it's like, okay,

one title and tons of great elite recruiting classes, tons of high profile guys, high scoring.

So I, I kind of understood the Ryan Day. I appreciated that. I didn't think that was bad.

I thought Lane, the way Lane's been outspoken, um,

voice, different, left some spots. And listen, you, Cal apart, he's left some spots now. He's been

all over the place. Like, that's where Ryan Day, I disagree. Ryan Day's been a coach at one spot.

Yeah. Like that, that, that's where that didn't go. Urban Meyer, I, urban Meyer, I get it.

Like bowling green, very successful. Go to Florida, but urban Meyer one championship. Oh, yeah,

Utah. Sorry, Utah. I'm saying, he started you, very successful. Utah went to Florida, went to Ohio

state. Like two different stops to multiple national titles. So that's a differentiator between

the two. Like, obviously, there's nothing that's, but, but here's, here's, here's where my brain goes.

You know, me, I like to think, but creatively, who's some people that fit that personality, though,

the big personality, going, doing different, being, being outgoing, being willing to have

uncomfortable conversations, being able to come in and say things differently, get away with it.

The winning is not here, but the personality, Deon Sanders. Oh, he's got some Deon Sanders.

Like, yeah, I'm not, I'm not saying that the track record in the winning, the winning with Deon

has. I thought you were going to say Dan landing. No, no, I wouldn't say Dan. Okay, Dan,

I have to think about the Dan one, like the way you put it in plus that was mentioned a few times.

So that was, I thought for you were going. Okay. So, so I thought that if Deon Sanders had one

a little bit, I think that would be a really, really good one. Um, here's the old school one,

great old school one, Bobby Boudon. But he was there. He was at Florida State for one forever.

So that forever, forever, but also Bobby Boudon wasn't flashy or controversial. Bobby Boudon was

very cool subdued calm. So I don't see that one either. Uh, Steve Spurrier though.

Flamboyant couple of different places. He, remember, he finished at South Carolina one,

but always talked, got recruits. Remember, he got Alshon, uh, uh, Alshon Jeffries. He got, um,

Latamore running back. Like, yeah, he got some big time dudes. Like, I think Spurrier is a good one.

Like, he fits in that, in that realm, pretty good. Um, started thinking about another guy outside

the box a little bit too, without the title, but God rest his soul. Mike Leach. Mike Leach was

willing to ruffle feathers. Mike Leach was kind of a, a savant, an offensive savant. Now Mike

Leach never recruited it a highly. Never got big time guys like that. Hey, but Lincoln Riley did.

Yeah. Lincoln Riley's a good one. Like very, very high level quarterback play. Hey,

what has Lincoln Riley done? He's got to the dance a lot. That's right. Like he got there.

And now he hasn't been in a multitude of spots, right? Cause he went from Oklahoma to USC,

but we're just drawing parallels, you know, between several guys. Cause there's,

there's a lot of guys. It got a lot of awesome feedback. I love it. And one of,

so one issue one was Mac Brown. Yeah, except for Mac was at Texas for a long time,

and then just at North Carolina, right? He wasn't, he wasn't at enough spots. So I,

that's the only, I understand what they're saying from the getting elite guys, but

and winning one title probably is what they're comparing it to. But I can't remember when we first

got to know John Calipari. First, my first recognition is Memphis. You got to go further back.

Well, I'm just saying Marcus can be and you mass. Oh, you mass. Oh, God. I forgot about that.

Can be was an animal. That dude owned the floor. But that, and it's just another like wherever he

went and he found him. You know, who else belongs in this conversation? Lou Holtz. I don't know how

much people remember about Arkansas, Notre Dame, South Carolina. Like he had a lot of stops. He did a

lot of winning. Like Lou Holtz did a lot of winning. I think he only has one championship.

So Lou Holtz did a lot of prodding. And Lou Holtz, Lou Holtz was good at that. So Lou Holtz is a good

one. Like, remember, people don't remember back at that far in the game with football, but guys

that are a little bit older. I think these are fantastic. Like these are, remember who they beat.

They beat Major Harris. What's Virginia?

Major Harris. I got Mike. Mike Gundie. Never. I don't think Mike Gundie ever got the players.

Like Mike Gundie. I've got the elite level players. He's got a unique personality though. And

what's, and that's actually when you think about this tournament and maybe that's sort of segue

to talking about. Yeah, that's what's bad. This is the coaches that are like even just in the East

region. I mean, you've got Iso. I think it's Patino in that region too. Yes, I heard

it. Shire Duke. Hey, Hurley with Yukon is in that division. Like all in that one region, you've

got all these national championship winning coaches that are there. Like that's what's I actually

think this is going to be one of the best March madness tournaments. We've seen in a long time

because you've got and they're all these guys that are proud of me and you and me and you

are these losers too though. Like I speak to Brent. I can speak for Brent. Brent not only is a

works at PFF and on three. He's also my neighbor. He's also my coaching partner. We coached

together all growing up in all sports. And if it was baseball, it was definitely all him.

But like we're nerds. Like we like to fill out brackets. Like I remember going on spring break

every year. And first thing I like everybody went to beach and I'm watching games. I'm like,

no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm watching all of these games. Like these are fantastic. Like these

are so good. And this year's tournament, like it's I think it's going to be great. And it starts

to me with the region with Duke and St. John's. Like the fact that you got Shire and Patino. That's

fantastic. And like you just talked about in that region, you got Iso and Hurley still too. Like

to make it to the final four, to me, it's two of those four teams. Like it's two of those

four teams that that that have to win to get to that point. And I love Michigan State in this

tournament. I don't love Yukon. I don't like how inconsistent they've been. I don't their league

wasn't that great either. So I got Michigan State and Duke. That's those are those are the two on

that side that I have. So for like for the elite eight purposes. Yeah. So I'm going to give you

let me give you my elite eight. Duke Michigan State. And how about this? Houston and Vandy.

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I think Florida, the one seat in that region is going down. I watched I watched Vandy take a part

Florida. And here's the thing. I see the size for Florida. But the best two players on the floor

were the guards of Vanderbilt. Like and and and and Florida is not good at the guard spot. Like

they're enormous. They're big. They're they're perimeter shootings. Not great. And I don't think

they're great defending. They're not great defending the ball. Now they're big behind them. But like

that's that's a problem. And if you're going to try to get past Vandy in Houston. I don't think

they're getting out of that that side. Like I don't I don't see it. So. Okay. So you had Duke and you said

Michigan State. Okay. Yep. And Houston and Vandy. Okay. So who you got Duke, Michigan State? Who's

going to file for you? Oh, I'm going to Michigan State. Who? My wife's going to kill me because

after surgery at Duke, like literally she walks every time a Duke games on she does this now.

She just stands there like this. She was like, I never cheer against Duke. And I'm like, babe,

I've always hated on Duke. Like I've always cheered against them. She was like,

yes, you're a Duke fan now. And she wears a Duke sweatshirt. I mean, I I'm team Lindsay.

So I because I picked Duke. And she was like, and she said it's not a bad pick. Anyway,

she was like, they're always good regardless. And I'm like, you're not wrong. I love Duke.

I love Jay Bellas. What do you think about Booser, by the way, as a pro? What do you think he's

going to be as a pro? Is he? See, I love these debates with you because again, I know good and

well, you're not going to be the guy that just watches or that just sees the highlights and go,

he's going to be great. Here's what I think about him. I think he's got a, first of all, love his

game inside outside. Love it. Like he can shoot the three legit and a good clip. He's good. But I

also know that when you're really, really good Christian Laitner was really, really good. He had

good size. Christian Laitner didn't have discernible traits. His athleticism, like he doesn't have that

elite athletic ability. So how are you going to kill that next level? Now listen, we're getting some

proof with Luca and we're getting some proof with Yokech. But like, to me, that's the feel of the

game and he has that assist ability and, but I just don't, I'm not betting on that when I watch

Acuff. Like that guy can get where he wants to get like that on the floor, whatever whenever he wants.

His, you know who you're, you know who reminds me of Campbell's or that is. A guy that's going to get

like 18 and eight, 18 and nine for a decade, 16 and nine for a decade. Which will be a really good

career, but not as the number one pick because you know who had that career is that? Like, yep.

He reminds me so much of that where there's just that limitation where you watch him and it's like,

all right, that next level ability, you don't necessarily. All right. So he said, you're going

Vandy Houston. Yes. In the South region. So who you got final four there? I picked

Houston. I got Houston. I've, I've not watched a lot of games. I don't watch a ton of college

basketball. This is a complete guesswork a lot of times from me, but I've watched Kingston

Fleming's a lot baller. Well, like that, like that. But, but if you don't like the temperament of

Samson's teams, you don't like sports. Like Samson is one of the best coaches in all of college

basketball and all of the sport. And he just holds people accountable. Those dudes are grimy,

man. Like there's, there's a couple of reasons you eat off of the floor. Okay. In life,

there's only a couple of reasons. One is the floor is so freaking clean. Like it's spotless.

So I'll eat off the floor. The second reason is I'm a freaking dog and I don't give a rat's ace.

Like I'll eat whatever's on the floor, which is me. I'll eat was on the floor. It doesn't bother me.

Like even if it's a waffle house and you've, yes. I did that. I did that with Brent's,

Brent's wife on purpose because she's a little OCD and clean freak and I wipe my waffle and she

does tell us nice. But anyways, I just think they got a bunch of dudes that that's how they can

eat. Like they, they're, they're, they're good, they're dogs. I could be a potential natural

championship rematch there in the, in the final in Florida. All right. So then we go to the West

region, which has as the high seas, Arizona, Arkansas, Gonzaga, who I haven't watched any of and

Purdue. He got, he got your lead eight there. For, well, I, Arizona is easy. That's very easy.

But they do have to beat Arkansas and Arkansas has to beat Wisconsin, who's been Baldwin and

shooting threes like it's going out of style, which I love. But like, which is totally different

for them, what you're used to seeing. I've, I've got Arizona though. They're freaking good.

They're freaking good. Arizona is really, really good. And I don't want to bore people with this,

by the way, too, because I know some people don't give a rat's ace about basketball, but you should.

Fill out your bracket. I got, I got Arizona and I got Purdue in that region. I got one two. That's,

I didn't have one two in the other regions, by the way. I went Arizona. I think it's gonna be them in

Gonzaga. Or actually, I'd like to see, I just hope I get to see the bonds of play, Gonzaga.

I want to, you haven't played, you haven't played, you haven't seen Gonzaga that much this year.

I can tell because they're there. They're not, they're not usually, like, they're enormous.

They're, they're not Gonzaga. They're not that good, honestly. They're, I don't, I don't see them.

Maybe we get to see them get the bonds to play. The bonds is fantastic. Tracy McGrady.

Okay. So he looks like, all right. So then that midwest region, which includes Georgia and Michigan,

Alabama, Virginia is the three season in Iowa state. That's an easy one too for me. Michigan,

it's been the best team all year. Like, they've been so good. And then Iowa state has been really,

really good. Like Iowa state's good. And when they hit that three ball, they're, they're really good.

They're not good at free throws. That's the only thing they're not good at. But I'll take Iowa

state and Michigan. And then who's your final 14 there? Arizona in Michigan going with the ones

so you went, so you got Arizona, you went Houston, Michigan state, Michigan, and Arizona.

Correct. So that's a three versus a two and a one versus a one. So I don't know. I will stay

in the other one. So I was staying in the final four. Yeah, it was all four one seeds last year.

No way we're getting that again. No way. No. All right. And I will say, there's way more,

way smarter people who look at all the, like I saw some guy on Twitter built some sort of AI

model that put in all these Ken Palm rankings and all these other things. But you loved it.

But you loved it. I mean, I watched the 30 second clip or something. I know you watched it.

But I'm not picking because I have no clue. I have a lot of this stuff. It's more just show me

good games because I think they're going to be great games. That's the thing. And upsets, I think

you're also going to be like, I saw the points bread, like, you know, but the like the favorites,

the higher seeds are so much more favorites than any other tournament in a long time.

And so we might not see the upsets we used to see. Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely different.

Different game. Different game. It's all good. Still a great game. Still fun to watch.

All right. Who on the weekend? We do this every single weekend. I see yours

and Brent. And I really, really like this. And I enjoy this that you put. I'm going to,

I'm going to let you go next. Okay. But I figured you would just be very happy.

Team UGA baseball or team USA baseball. Like, baseball, I'm going to give the baseball

the weekend. Like unbelievable job. Several times probably holding your breath. Like,

no way this is going to happen. No way this is going to work. But beat the Dominicans. Like,

they're, they're usually the best baseball players on the planet. Like, apparently, that's Italy.

You watch any of it. That's the good, that's the question. I watched a few of the highlights.

I watched our pitcher. I did watch some of it because I watched just getting a jam. Like in the

second, I think bases loaded. And I'm like, ah, here we go. We're going to get mopped. And then

we got out of it. But basically three home runs. That's the, that's the overview. But team USA,

listen, I'm still feeling patriotic. Like, I will also go the Paralympics hockey too.

Win in the gold. Like those, those are the two. I'm still, I'm still all about it.

Hey, nothing wrong with, with USA. Like, I saw what was it? Was it kind of interesting? Did the,

it wasn't the Superman thing. He was like, hey, USA because it was across his chest there.

Uh, my winner of the weekend is actually what you started what you said in the first place.

You said team UGA baseball. But mainly I'm going with a local product that we know.

And that's Cole Johnson, who is from a young guy. I've known since the kid was six years old. His

mom is my primary care physician. And is a phenomenal kid who is playing as a freshman for Georgia.

And they're playing Tennessee this weekend. And if you haven't seen it, create bad job by you.

But Tennessee, dude, Stone Lawless was his name. Cranks one in the ninth. Celebrates. Hold on,

hold on. You set the scene down. Down. Down. Down. One with a runner on. And the dude hits it

and bat flips. Like, didn't bat flip. Like, stab the bat into the ground. Yes. Like, and, and

beats his chest. And then you're like, hold us. What? Rob's the home run jumps up and says, hold

my beer. It was, it was phenomenal. Great job, Cole. It was awesome. Sports Intertop.

It was number one on Sports Intertop 10. I saw, I saw McAfee talking about him today just,

and mainly because of what the Tennessee guy did with, yes, spiking the bat. And then he's like

pumping his chest and pointing to the dugout. And then all of a sudden, he was like, crunk.

But like a UGA, less than or feel that UGA is a, it's a, you got to really hit it to get it

out because it's 350 down the line. So like, yeah, it was awesome. Like, if you haven't seen it,

go check it out. And, and it makes it like the whole moment of it with the fact that the guy did

that on the other side, the Tennessee guy doing that just made, made it that much better. Great

calls. Great Jeff dancer on the radio. It was awesome. He's a great moment. Yeah, it was fantastic.

Fan, fantastic. All right, Wesley, what you got me calling the weekend for you?

Without, without looking, can you answer this trivia question?

Who's the only program to have a team in the college football playoff and,

in the NCAA tournament the last two seasons?

Well, I mean, I think George is, yeah, George has got boat race by guns and aga last year.

And then it doesn't matter what happened. Who made it?

George is the one that comes to mind, obviously, because Gonzaga and St. Louis back to back years,

which, yeah, I got a hat tip, Benjamin Walt, my guy who writes for 24 seven sports,

covers UGA does a great job. He pointed that out. So Georgia went in the weekend.

I got to say Notre Dame fans are losing the start of the week because your tweet to kind of

lead into the show, which CFP teams will improve next season. You got a lot of Notre Dame fans

in the replies. And Notre Dame didn't make the CFP. So just a little bit of programming,

note and, hey, the down, the, you know, stock down is the number of times you said like in the show.

I know you're working on it. It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a thing. We're trying, we're trying to

get rid of it. I appreciate that. Let's keep, let's keep the accountability because Lord knows

I need it. Well, you know, it's crazy, Wes. If you think about it, it's crazy that Indiana

didn't make the tournament though. Like, how does Indiana basketball not make the tournament?

Like, that's all we used to associate with now Indiana football is great. And their basketball

can have an opinion on that. Yeah, they spent all their money on football.

No, they actually spent a ton on basketball. It's, it's because of karma. That's why.

Because last year, their coach was at West Virginia. Look at, look at great, like taking on

his numbers hat with, with this, yeah, I'm, I'm going true fan here. His son was a baller. And

then all of a sudden, gay mate, up shoulder injury. And then he, I like this side of Brent.

I like Kent Tanker. That's, that happened. Hey, where did Aaron Taylor go to school?

Nebraska, right? See, Nebraska. I thought, I thought Aaron Taylor went to Notre Dame.

You don't know the, you don't know the answer he did. Okay, Aaron Taylor, we're going to have it

this week. Yeah, I think I was pretty sure he went to Notre Dame. I was using the Notre Dame

way that West used. We're going to have him on Wednesday. Um, he put out, he put out a cool video.

He's got a lot to do with the, the Joe Moorehead every year with offensive line play. Joe

Moore, yeah, more head was a coach. That's right. Um, the Joe Moore award, he has a lot to do with

that. Well, he, he put out a video on offensive line and, and kind of, um, talked about me what,

what I said, which he didn't necessarily disagree with. But we're going to have him on Wednesday,

which will be cool. Um, just talk offensive line play and how he's evaluating and stuff too

versus defensive line versus systems and stuff. I think it'll be a fun debate. Aaron's a

stud muffin. So I, and I love how that conversation leads to what's taught. Because all these guys,

they do what they're taught to do. So that that's kind of, there's an element of that that has to come

into play too. Well, and we'll talk about what they're not getting taught and why. I think the

why of that is a big deal. But we appreciate y'all. Thank you for joining. Listen, spring ball is

here, man. You know what else is here? Hope, hope is in the air. Every team can make the playoffs

right now. Everybody feels good. Like, everybody's good, man. Like, you should be so, like,

you should feel good. Like, we're a championship squad. Like, we're going to get better, man. Like,

all we got to do is worry about this, this, and this, and I think the excitement. We win this game,

then. Yeah. Like, this one's a win. This one's maybe not a win. If this guy gets better,

we're going to be good. And so we appreciate you, dudes, joining us. Um, that's it for me and

Brent. And we will see you with Aaron Taylor on Wednesday. Peace.

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