BUZZ: Desmond Howard & Rece Davis Talk LSU-Clemson Game | Will Lane Kiffin Start 1-0 at LSU?

0:00This is the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. Hi, this is Isaac Shade, host of Lockdown College basketball and Lockdown Tar Heels. Today's episode is brought to you by ADT. Imagine you're watching the game at a buddy's house when you get a call that someone tried to break into yours. In a second, everything can change. That's why there's ADT. ADT security systems help keep your home safe 24-7 with the most company operated monitoring centers in the industry. The ADT Plus app keeps you in control the whole time. Don't leave your home wide open during an emergency. When every second counts, count on ADT. Visit ADT.com or call 1-800-ADT-ASAP. From the campus of LSU, court cases aside, we've actually got a football game here at Mar-Night. It's LSU versus Clemson. We're going to catch up with Desmond Howard, Restavis, get their thoughts and more on Lockdown SEC.

1:04You are Lockdown SEC, your daily podcast on the southeastern conference. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up everybody? Welcome into a bonus edition of Lockdown SEC coming to you from the campus of LSU ahead of LSU versus Clemson on Saturday night. We were able to catch up a little bit with some of the college game day guys. Got some minutes in a media scrum with Restavis and Desmond Howard. They gave their thoughts on the, obviously, what is a pro player? What is this whole ordeal with LSU trying to get these two players in Day Quant of Right and Xavier and Harris to play and all that kind of stuff. Also got some thoughts from them on being back on campus in Bat Rouge and what all that means being here for LSU for College Game Day. And then a little bit later in the show we're going to talk with Andre Champagne from Go247, actually talk a little bit about this match up. So we got a ton planned for you here on this bonus edition of Lockdown SEC. But without further ado, here was some of our conversations catching up with Desmond Howard

2:06of College Game Day. As you've been here a bunch, what's the light being back here on LSU campus for a big college game day and a big Saturday night game in Death Valley? It's great to be back. I love coming to Louisiana and New Orleans and Bat Rouge in general because I like the cuisine. I have five memories of Super Bowl 31 in New Orleans. And so it's a special place. But Bat Rouge, I mean, it's a great college town. Obviously everyone's excited for Week 1 and kicking off with a game of this magnitude. It's just, to me, it's the way Week 1 should be kicked off. Everyone's excited. Everyone's happy. And football is back. What have you had a chance to eat so far? Do you have any favorite restaurants here or anything like that? Yeah, so I was in New Orleans with my wife and we went to this place called Shaya. It's a really, really good place. We had a great meal there. And yesterday we went to Cecilius.

3:06Yeah, went to Cecilius and that was pretty good too. Yeah, so so far. So good. Yeah, 500th episode of College Game. Just talking about what that monster is. Man, it just blows your mind, right? Like 500th is crazy. But we go it all to the fans. They keep us going. They motivate us. There it was. They're really their energy drives the show, especially when we go on the West Coast. And it's like a 6 a.m. start. So it's like dark 30 when we start the show. But we just so appreciative and grateful for the fans that support that we always get in the way they come out. We don't take it for granted whatsoever. And we got something special tomorrow, actually, for some fans. They showed a lot of clips throughout the years. Your hair has changed a lot over the years. I noticed you had the fade. It's changed a little bit. Yeah, well, I mean, at my age, I'm just glad to have hair. A lot of gentlemen at my age, they don't have this option.

4:09So yeah, I'm just very fortunate that I can do things like this with my hair. And we didn't see it tomorrow on the show. Nice. Yeah. When's everything going on with this game? Storylines, lanes, debut. What does the anticipation feel like to you guys getting as a compare to any past games that you remember through the years? Well, because of everything that's going on, I guess with, like you say, with lane and the courts and the TROs and the injunctions, we just want to get down to some football. I mean, I don't have a law degree. I didn't think that was going to be a prerequisite for this job. And so we just want to get down to the Xs and those and watch these guys take the field and battle. You know, we got two really good coaches and Davos Swinney and obviously Lane Kiffin with two, we think, really good teams. And we're just excited to see those guys go on the field and settle it on the gridiron. You know, especially in Death Valley at night, one of the best atmospheres in all of

5:12college football. You're a guy who played the pros. When you talk about them, there's guys who went to minicamp, but they're okay. There's guys who went to training camp for two weeks, but they're considered pros. What's the definition of a pro player in your mod? That's the million dollar question. I'm glad you asked that because I was talking to my wife. I'm like, why are they using that term so loosely? Like I mean, if I'm on set, I'm like looking at Mac a field, like, okay, bro, we're former NFL players. I don't think these guys qualify, you know, lightweight offended the way they lose, use the term so loosely. So, and that's the thing. What is the definition of an NFL player or a pro? Is it because you just signed a piece of paper, not your pro? You know, did you have to solve? And I think because of that, which is an actually question, a lot of our audience, they kind of get confused because all they hear is you got these NFL players coming back to play college football and they don't know the distinction or the difference.

6:15And I think that's, you know, I think that's pretty dangerous as far as like giving them important and valuable information so they can really understand the dynamics of this whole situation. And we're only talking about the guys that were four year players that just got cheated out of the 50s. That's all they're talking like this isn't going to be years to come like one more Jackson trying to go back to college, right? That there is a Pete Dammel question. But from my understanding, I think you're correct, but don't quote me. And when there is stuff like this going on where you guys are trying to, you know, separate all of that legal stuff from the game stuff and the excitement, how does that change maybe how you personally and the rest of the crew prepare us for a college game day of this magnitude? That's a really good question. And for me personally, I just use it as background noise because I mean, you know, at the end of the day, whoever lines up Saturday night, that's what we talk about. What the courts do and all that stuff, I have no control of.

7:16And again, I just let, you know, the reporters handle that aspect of it. And I just focus on what I can do and what I'm supposed to do. What are your impressions of Sam Levin? I'm going to say he's fully healthy now running around. They go, oh, I'm like, so what he can do with Arizona State, two years ago, took him to the playoff. What are your thoughts on him? So Sam Levin, actually, I'm going to do a tape with him tomorrow. I think a very athletic quarterback likes to go big game hunting sometimes to just benefit, sometimes to his detriment. I'm curious to see how, you know, he operates his office under Lane Kiffin because at the end of the day, I mean, Lane Kiffin is one of the best offensive-minded coaches in all of college football. No one would dispute that, I don't think. And now he has his hands on a guy like Sam Levin, who, you know, he's not really big quarterback. Before his size, he has a really good arm. Obviously, very athletic. He can create on his own. And just curious to see how Lane calls this game with him at the quarterback position.

8:20No one lane through the years. People here are still getting a chance to know him as their coach, as opposed to the guy at Old Men's. What stands out about him to you just personality while I was having any chance to spend some behind the scenes time with him? Yeah. Lane is a very unique personality. If there is one guy who's, I think, uniquely qualified to handle this situation, it's probably Lane Kiffin because he cares up to a point, then he doesn't care at all. And so I think he's qualified to handle this and still get this team ready for a big game. And so, but, like I said, as far as X's and Nose, he's absolutely one of the best in the game when it comes to offense. And, you know, his track record speaks for itself. Curious to see what happens tomorrow night, because Pro Clemson, ain't nobody talking about the Tigers. And he's just going just like, I guess, get on that bus and, get on that plane, get on the bus and come on up here, try play a game tomorrow night, you know.

9:23What more, how close is McAfee coming to falling off the chair when he stands up on it? I don't know how you would judge that. He seems, I mean, listen, McAfee is a great athlete. So he has superior balance, you know what I mean? And he knows what he's doing when he's up there. Plus, he has a support system. I believe that Nick Sabin and Reese Davis are both like on the sides, like either balancing him by the chair or something else like that to help McAfee out. So I think he'd be okay. You have a favorite song on Pat's album? Click clad. Click clad. Yeah, how about you? I did not have that. Oh, I just heard it. Damn, you can't be asked to be questioned like that. You ain't got one, bro. I've seen you put up some footage. Yeah, yeah, sir. Tell me about just how excited you're already get back at the jump of things in this college football season. Oh, man, overly excited. I can't wait. I think it's going to be a magnificent season, you know, first three weeks. Obviously, we've already put that out. So you guys know what we're going to be and to just kick off the season here.

10:26It's tremendous. I'm so excited about this. Can't wait for tomorrow morning and then obviously tomorrow night. Support for today's episode comes from Square, the system powering so many of the places we already know and love whether you're running a packed game day spot, a local restaurant or a growing business square give sellers the tools to run their business without making things more complicated square brings payments inventory payroll invoices customer insights and more together in one connected system. So whether you're a one location business or growing into multiple locations, square gives you the tools to sell, manage and grow without needing an IT team to figure it all out. And there's something I really appreciate about a lot of those local spots nearby that can handle a huge game day crowd without everything feeling chaotic, quick checkout, easy payments, everything moving smoothly. That's where a platform like Square can make a real difference behind the scenes. So if you're starting a business or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage and grow without slowing down. And right now you can get up to $200 off square hardware at square.com slash go slash college

11:32that's squar e.com slash geo slash college. Run your business smarter with square and get started today. We're along here a bonus episode from the campus of LSU ahead of LSU versus Clemson. And you heard from Desmond Howard, now we'll hear from the host of college game day, Reese Davis. We're able to catch up with him ahead of what's going to be a historic episode of college game day. But also obviously all the big storylines playing out here at Bat Rouge ahead of this one. Here was Reese Davis from ESPN. Reese you've been here a bunch. The pageantry being in Bat Rouge for college game day and Saturday night match up in Death Valley. What's this all like? You know, I think this is the, this is my favorite place to come on Saturday night in terms of atmosphere inside the stadium. I mean, there are as great as a stadium is, there are places that have maybe more bells and whistles in terms of amenities around the stadium. There's a feeling, a smell, a sense that just oozes college football.

12:35And I think at a time when a lot of that is being threatened, that sort of getting back to the core of what we love about this is really important and there's no place better to do it than here. Stephanie, favorite Louisiana food when you come down here? I'm going to tell you something. I ate last night at the supper club and I'm here to tell you. I love food as you can tell. I don't know that in terms of high end elite level quality plus variety of things I got to try that I've ever had a better meal in my life. And then I also like just the basics. I didn't have any last night, but I love that buffet. Man, I mean, I love everything about it. When I was in high school, we played in a basketball tournament in Lafayette and had a crawfish at buffet for the first time, Ben Hook never sets. So great, great cuisine here. Love coming here for that. What's the bus just been like? I mean, you're walking around campus and you're pulling a town. How's it stack up to just use the past?

13:38Think the anticipation for this is greater than anything I remember here. Now, we've been here for a lot of games against Alabama, which were highly anticipated and a couple of Florida games that were big and people were excited about it. But I think just because of what's happened the last couple of years, not meeting expectations. And then all of the off-season drama with Lane making the move here and then all the stuff going on at your courthouse there and your judges and rabbits getting guns and all of that stuff that your lawyers are talking about like they're an episode of Matlock or something. I mean, it's like, you know, it's really, I think it's just sort of push the anticipation off the charge for this game and it'll be fine. Your court is very upset with me for bringing up the rabbit with the gun right now. Okay, 500th episode of College Game. It just told you about it means it reached that milestone. I mean, 500 shows on the road.

14:38And now this was before my time. In fact, a year and a half or so before I even came to work at ESPN, I joined there in 1995. But I've heard a lot of people talk about how in 93 when they pushed to go on the road for that Notre Dame Florida State game. That there was some talk. Is this show really worth it? Is it going to make it? And they were not the people on the set. They knew. But some of the people in charge were surprised by the reaction. And from that point forward, for it to take off, it's been an amazing thing to watch in television. I think the secret to the show over the years is that it stayed true to its DNA. It was constantly evolving. That's a really easy thing to say. It sounds like one of those slogans you get in some business lecture, but it's really hard to do. And this show has been able to do it through the contributions of a number of people. And the biggest contribution as anyone has been the fans. The fans who viewed this show as being worthy of their participation, worthy of being

15:46the platform they want to use to showcase their fandom, their passion, their love for their school, their love for the sport, to show why their place is different and why their place is the best place in college football no matter where we are. I think that in being able to capture that and connect with that has what's allowed this show to endure the way it has and reach this milestone of 500 road shows. The cold. It's a little bit about just getting back to college football. What we all love about college football, but when you think about all the extracurriculars that are going on, that but also coupled with the excitement that is week one, how do you guys separate those two things when you're preparing for this 500 show to go on air tomorrow? We're very eager to talk football, but that doesn't mean we'll ignore the proverbial elephant in the road. I mean, it is a big deal in college football. It's going to shape the future of the sport. It's going to shape this season because of other things that are going to come down and fight from other courtrooms and other bodies of governing bodies that are going to

16:51make their positions point. All those things are going to have to be addressed, and we're not shy about that. Nobody on this show is a shy, retiring, wallflower type that's afraid to share their opinion about these things. We don't want it to dominate because I think the fans are ready for ball. And we're going to give that to them, but at the same time, we're not going to ignore the other things because nobody's better situated in my judgment than we are to be able to talk about these things and offer opinions. Now, we may not have the legal expertise of Tom Barr's or my friend, Jake Billis or Rodney Gilmore, somebody like that who's worked for us who are actual attorneys and started this up deeply. They may have some legal perspective, but in terms of the game, what it means to the game, the best path forward for the game, I think the guys that I sit up there with are perfectly situated to be able to offer opinions and impactful ones on what the direction should be.

17:51What is your opinion and perspective on everything and just what to make of it right now? You're really, I thank you. I appreciate you letting me go there because I'm going to. Nobody needs to be saying that they went pro. They can't come back. That is a ridiculous assertion to make when guys are making seven figures. When you've got offensive linemen that very few people know making six figures, you know what they are? They're professionals. They may be great students. They may be, but they're not being paid for their expertise in differential equations. They're being paid because they can throw, catch, move people or penetrate the A gap. That's why they're here. They can also get an education, and I hope they do, and I hope they're great students, but they are here because they're football players and they're professionals. What the enterprise needs to do is decide who's going to play at this level? What are the roster qualifications and stipulations? What are those?

18:52We need to get to a place where every time someone doesn't like the roster qualifications, we don't wind up in court. If we can get there, that will be a, we'll go a long way toward solving this. I look at it like this. My son is a professional baseball player in the independent minor leagues. They're not affiliated directly with the major league organizations, major league partner leagues. I've used this example a lot, and I realize the vast difference in money and scale, but there are some things that you can learn from this. If you've been in the big leagues, you can still play in that league. You can. They have roster limitations on how many veterans you can have on a roster. What level of veteran you can have and how many of those? How many rookies you have to carry? They have all of these things. I realize the difference in scale and scope, as I said. But in terms of parameters, that's the path. What is it? Is it going to be you signed any type of contract with the NFL or NBA? Therefore, we don't want you in our professional league anymore. Okay.

19:52Fine. But that's where we need to draw these lines there. I scoff at the people who say, there is a bright line. There's been drawn when a professional comes back to college. There is no line. They're making more money than they do on the practice squad. And good for them, by the way. They've had players of that value for a long time. And I'm glad that they're exercising their power and the marketplace and getting what they can negotiate. That's fantastic. But this idea that we are somehow offended by it, I came to this conclusion because of this. I don't really like the idea of guys coming back from NFL training camps and playing. I don't. I don't like it. But when I step back, I go, why do you not like it? It's a little bit harder thing to put a pin on. Exactly. Why are you against it? And it kind of comes down to, it doesn't feel like we've always thought it would feel. And we want it to feel that way because it's important. And I think the most honest path forward is to find a way to negotiate and come to a conclusion on roster stipulations and roster parameters and enforceable contracts and all of these

20:55things. Enforcible contracts, by the way, with buyout causes, if you can negotiate them, if you want to move. And all of these things, because whether we want to pretend it's not or whether we accept it, it's a professional enterprise with professional athletes. They may be young ones, may not be fully mature ones. But the other absurd thing that happened was whoever the guy was in court yesterday said these children, they're not children, they're men. They're grown men. Stop that. You know, that's just trying to play on people's sympathies in their attachment to the old ways. You know, no, they're not their grown men. Let's treat everybody as such. Other than that, I have no opinion on this. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Support for today's episode comes from ultra pouches. Football season means long days, early mornings, late nights, plenty of time spent trying to stay focused and energized. Whether you're heading to work, get a workout in, settling in for a full day of football,

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23:00That's takeultra.com, 15% off with code Lockdown College Football. After you purchase, they will ask you what you heard from them about them. Please support our show. Tell them you heard about ultra pouches right there. Tell me you heard about it right here at Lockdown SEC. We're going along here from the campus of LSU ahead of LSU in Clemson. And look, we've had enough talking about court cases and the two players that may or may not play. We got a football game to play regardless and catch it up now with our guy, Andre Champagne from 24-7 Sports. Go 24-7, covering the LSU Tigers. And Andre when we talk about just the excitement of Lane Kiffin being here coaching his first game as an LSU Tiger. What's been the buzz, at least just from that aspect of things? Yeah, I mean, people have had, you know, they've had their tailgates planned for months now. Ever since Lane Kiffin got harder than, you know, they knew this game was coming up and that college game they was coming here. They've made the plans, right? Like, I know so many people that are going to be on campus on Saturday.

24:01I think there's going to be a record amount of credential media, celebrities. I think over 115 visitors in terms of recruiting, that's insane. I mean, the buzz is, you know, as much as I've ever seen in Baton Rouge and that's considering, you know, the success that they've had over the years. You know, all the Alabama LSU games, right? Like all the huge matchups and this one just feels different. And that's kind of a term that's been thrown around, right? But it's true, like just to hype around everything with Lane Kiffin coming to LSU, right? Like the high expectations that they're going to have and just with the court cases going on, right? So, but yeah, I mean, I expect this to be, this environment is going to be special on Saturday night and I think the guys are ready. You know, things, you know, the vibe around the building from what we've heard sources are saying is that they're using all of this, you know, they're distracted.

25:01They're using that as fuel, right? And they're ready to go. And we saw last year when Lane was facing all the distractions of, is he staying, is he going all that? Almost kept winning games. I mean, everything kept performing well. So I don't know if that will necessarily, any of this will distract them on the field. But I got to get to a couple of practices. You're at the majority of them. What do you make of this team? Because there's so much new. I mean, the wild receiver room is completely new. Some new running backs, new quarterback at Sam Levit. I mean, we look at him, we said we think they're good, but I guess we won't really know until we see it. Yeah, and it's weird because like, obviously, you want to point out the things that you have questions about, but let's start with the things that we do know, the defense, right? Blake Baker and that continuity there, that's going to be huge for this team, moving forward and they really, they're deep everywhere on defense, I would say, except for maybe defense attack in the sense of experience, right? Like experience, they don't have as many bodies that have proven that they're the go-to guy, but they have a guy in Prince William on the island, right?

26:02That's a star edge rusher. You have a star player in wood weeks in the middle, right? You have a two-store cornerback start for you. A guy in Thai benefit that people have not been able to stop raving about, right? And then, you know, just so many, you have returners, right? Like, a guy like, you know, De Shon Spears, who was really solid for this team, and so I think this defense is going to be special, especially now that Blake feels that he has the kind of missing pieces. They didn't really have that one edge rusher last year that could change it. They thought they had it in Jack Paiburn, but they didn't really have that interior pressure that could help those two guys out on the edge, and now it feels like they have that, you know, with Stiff Island Green and, you know, the two true freshmen and Richard Anderson and Deuce Gerald's. So I feel very confident with the defense. As far as the offense, Chris, I would say that they're going to start off a little slower. And I think that's going to come with any team full of transfers, right? You look at an offense full of transfers. Look what happened with Ole Miss last year.

27:03They kind of started off a little slower in conference play when it came to, you know, scoring. And I think it'll be the same way this year. I think Sam Levitts, he's going to be the real deal. I think he'll be the real deal. I think it's going to take some time with him and his receivers. Yeah, and you hate to put it all in the quarterback, but we look at this team a year ago. We all thought, LSU was stacked. And then a not healthy Garrett and Usmire kind of took a nose dive. This whole team took a nose dive. And so you hate to put it all in the quarterback, but this team, as simple as saying, is good as Sam Levitt is, so goes this team? Yes, I mean, this team can go as far as Sam Levitt can take it. I mean, it's true. But here's the thing, Chris, last year you had a, you know, I'm not going to knock on these guys too much, but I mean, the offense of system last year, it's not proven like playing Kiffin and Charlie Weiss is, you know, one, two punchies, right? Like this is going to be something, it's easy for quarterbacks to pick up. What Trinidad was able to do in just almost three months of an off-season, right? Like that's amazing.

28:03And not knocking on Trinidad. He's a great, great quarterback. And obviously he's going to be a heistman, you know, candidate this year. But I think with the ability that Sam Levitt has, I was able to talk with his high school coach a lot, he can process things way differently than any other quarterback. And so I think he's able to learn the offense, and that's allowed them to kind of install more than they really thought they would be able to. Yeah. So I think I'm really high on Sam Levitt this year. And I think he's going to take this team pretty far. I think that'll be a reason where you see huge improvement in the offense. A quick thought on Clemson. I mean, just looking on pay. I was a little surprised they weren't pretty seasoned top 25. They tend to wake up and fall out of bed in the ranked preseason. But when you look at this team, a new quarterback, a lot of new pieces, that was a good coach. But I mean, it might be easy to say this might be one of his worst teams to start a season in recent history. It is. They return, I believe, 53% of their production. That's not a lot in terms of Clemson, too, because you know he's not heavy on the transfer

29:05portal. And so that's definitely a concern. And the biggest part is you lose K-Club. That was your field general. That was your guy that started for three years. And now you go into a guy that's only had one true start. And yeah, he played well, but it was against an SMU defense. I couldn't really defend the pass too well last year. And so I think, I mean, he's got great receivers. And the first or a bazine is he's going to have great receivers, but that's a tall ass, Chris. You know, asking a guy to go start on the road for the first time in a sold out crowd. That's kind of chomping at the bit to give a team their worst, if that makes sense. Last thing, prediction. How do you see this one playing out? I think LSU starts off pretty quick because of their defense. I think they get a take away or two early. And I think they're often starts a little quicker. I'll say, and I just kind of contradict myself there. I'll say they come out kind of booming because of the defense. I think they're going to win this one 30, 17. That's what I have right now, penciled in. But I think Clemson kind of tries to get back in that one late, but it won't be as close

30:09as it maybe looks. I just think with, I'm here and those guys are locked in. And I'm going to buy into the hype. But I think Lane's always got his team ready to go. And I think this week will be no different. He is Andre Champagne, go 24-7 sports. I appreciate the time, man. And we'll see if this game pays off. Let's do it. All right, that's going to do it for this edition of Locked On SEC Special Bonus episode coming to you from the campus of LSU ahead of LSU versus Clemson. And we'll be back coming to you after all the games this weekend. We'll have full reaction on Monday from everything that happens. And then certainly from Ole Miss on Sunday night. See what Auburn does against Baylor, LSU versus Clemson. Those are the three biggies. I'm going to roll out the all three SEC teams to win all three of those. And make it a perfect 16-0 weekend for the SEC. We'll see if they can pull it off. But remember to like and subscribe. If you have not already locked on SEC wherever you're at your podcasts. And of course, right here on YouTube. And for now, we say to the first ever 24-7, locked on sports channel, streaming 24-7.

31:11And then on audio, we'll send you to locked on college football. Check that out with Spencer McLaughlin. But from the campus of LSU and Baton Rouge, I'm Chris Gordy. This has been Locked On SEC.