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Episode 4: Aggie Liberation Front
310 Plays2 years ago
Are you talking about oil?
Other schools have joined the search party and how does that affect us? 2/3 of the guys are talk A&M, UCLA, and our search. We go over names, news, and some media analysis. We then leave off with a note of hope knowing that things are going to heat up really quick.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Co-Host Change
00:00:00
Speaker
All right, everybody.
00:00:01
Speaker
It's another episode of The Search.
00:00:05
Speaker
This is your host, Ali, joined today by Zanjo.
00:00:11
Speaker
Ryan is out for the night.
00:00:13
Speaker
Apparently, he's on a date.
00:00:15
Speaker
Apparently, podcasters can have sex now.
00:00:18
Speaker
So that's news to me.
00:00:21
Speaker
That's news to him too.
00:00:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:00:26
Speaker
For the lucky lady that took Ryan away for us, good luck.
00:00:31
Speaker
And hopefully he's not like looking at his phone or keeping up to date on coaching news.
00:00:36
Speaker
But anyways, how's it going, Zanjo?
The Chaotic Coaching Search World
00:00:39
Speaker
It's good.
00:00:39
Speaker
How about you?
00:00:41
Speaker
I mean, I'm going to quote Lennon and I'm going to quote, I'm going to fuck up this quote pretty badly, but like there are years where only weeks happen and there are weeks where, where years happen.
00:00:55
Speaker
I feel like the past week, week and a half in terms of the coaching search, not just here with us, but at other schools is one of those weeks where there are years happening.
Satire on Texas A&M's Financial Moves
00:01:07
Speaker
So, because, um,
00:01:10
Speaker
What's it called?
00:01:11
Speaker
We're not the only people looking for a coach now.
00:01:14
Speaker
No, we're not.
00:01:15
Speaker
No.
00:01:16
Speaker
So breaking news.
00:01:20
Speaker
A group known as Y'all Kaida based out of Texas has attacked several oil fields in the Midwest, in the Middle East.
00:01:29
Speaker
In their statement taking responsibility, they said they are doing this so that they could get Jimbo Fisher's buyout paid.
00:01:39
Speaker
I can't believe I'm going to pay more in gas money just because of Texas A&M boosters.
00:01:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:45
Speaker
For those that didn't get that, that was sarcasm.
00:01:52
Speaker
Was it sarcasm?
00:01:53
Speaker
Are we sure?
00:01:55
Speaker
Well...
00:01:58
Speaker
Yes, it was.
00:01:59
Speaker
That was satire, everybody.
00:02:01
Speaker
And I understand things are a little tense.
00:02:04
Speaker
I know firsthand, but I'm not going to get into that regarding the Middle East.
00:02:10
Speaker
But yeah, no.
00:02:12
Speaker
I think we kind of hinted at Texas A&M boosters trying to figure out ways of making the oil price go up so they can pay for Jimbo's buyout.
00:02:22
Speaker
That's exactly what happened.
00:02:24
Speaker
I found out the price of oil, like a barrel of oil is like $90 now.
00:02:29
Speaker
Uh, yeah.
00:02:29
Speaker
I'm gonna quit.
00:02:30
Speaker
– CNN is keeping me in charge of geopolitical issues.
00:02:34
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going to look at the crude oil price over the past year.
00:02:39
Speaker
And since July 23rd, the price of oil has gone up from $70 to $90 a barrel.
The Extravagant Buyout Culture
00:02:44
Speaker
It is actually, no, you are wrong.
00:02:46
Speaker
The price of oil has dipped from the $90 peak in October to about $72.91 right now.
00:03:01
Speaker
But if we zoom in, if we zoom in, the price of oil has gone up in the past five days.
00:03:12
Speaker
So those Texas A&M boosters are hard at work limiting oil supply, causing pain at the pump just so they can...
00:03:24
Speaker
afford the buyout.
00:03:25
Speaker
For those of you that are not in the know, and I'm assuming all five of you that listen to this podcast are definitely in the know, Texas A&M has announced that they're firing Jimbo Fisher.
00:03:35
Speaker
And because Jimbo Fisher can keep his dick in his pants, he's getting his whole buyout, which is in the order of 70 million or something.
Big Spenders and Limited Returns
00:03:44
Speaker
75, I think.
00:03:45
Speaker
But I don't know if you saw, but during Jimbo Fisher's last game, they brought a giant checkout with like the full buyout.
00:03:53
Speaker
It was like a hundred million dollar check.
00:03:54
Speaker
They just did.
00:03:57
Speaker
They just did like the whole, like you just won the lottery thing.
00:03:59
Speaker
Uh, not going to door.
00:04:02
Speaker
Hey Jimbo, look, it's a big check.
00:04:03
Speaker
Now get the fuck out of Texas.
00:04:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:05
Speaker
It's like one of those.
00:04:06
Speaker
Um, you know, like how, when you get like a donation, they have a big ass check that, um, bring the boosters out.
00:04:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:11
Speaker
It was the same deal.
00:04:12
Speaker
A hundred million dollars.
00:04:13
Speaker
Next day Jimbo's fired.
00:04:15
Speaker
That is like the most Texas car dealership way of doing things, which is on brand for Texas A&M.
00:04:23
Speaker
Unfortunately, while they have to pay the buyout, they are, as we have alluded to,
00:04:32
Speaker
a very oil rich booster base.
00:04:35
Speaker
Like these folks have a lot of money and they will pay the buyout and then they will drop the dollars on another coach who will inevitably lead them to eight wins in the
Coaching Candidate Competition
00:04:47
Speaker
SEC.
00:04:47
Speaker
And you will pay for it.
00:04:50
Speaker
Who's we in this case?
00:04:52
Speaker
Oh, we will.
00:04:53
Speaker
We will.
00:04:54
Speaker
We're going to pay for it at the pump.
00:04:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:58
Speaker
So anytime you're complaining about the gas prices going up, just know that that is because Jimbo Fisher has good agents.
00:05:07
Speaker
Dude, they need to make one of those like Joe Biden, I did that stickers, but Jimbo Fisher instead.
00:05:14
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, jokes about geopolitics aside, how does this actually affect us?
00:05:23
Speaker
So now we have a big baller in the ring competing, looking at coaching candidates at the same time we are.
00:05:32
Speaker
So the nice thing about their list is it seems like the only overlap we have with them is Elko.
00:05:37
Speaker
The not so nice thing about that list is the fact we have an overlap with Elko.
Media Influence in Coaching Hires
00:05:43
Speaker
Exactly.
00:05:43
Speaker
I think like of, of the, of the real coaches that are probably actually looking at that, looking to move or could move to different jobs.
00:05:53
Speaker
Alco tops the list out.
00:05:55
Speaker
And I think like, and here's, and we can get into it when we talk about the, in the candidate tracker, but like, since the A&M job opened up, I've seen a lot more puff pieces about alcohol, like talking about how he's like a great game manager.
00:06:09
Speaker
Everyone in the program knows what they're doing.
00:06:11
Speaker
Like,
00:06:12
Speaker
All right, where was the shit when we had a job opening?
00:06:14
Speaker
And it's like, and I think you're going to get into it, Zanjo, later in media narratives where we talk about how the A&M list has all these big studs on it and the MSU list that always comes out from anybody is just a bunch of scrubs.
00:06:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:32
Speaker
So the other rumor with the Elko thing is that apparently the rumor is that A&M is going to think that he's not a big enough hire for them.
00:06:42
Speaker
But for anyone who doesn't know, he did coach.
00:06:45
Speaker
He was defensive coordinator there for a couple of years.
00:06:47
Speaker
The one good Jimbo here was with his defense.
00:06:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:53
Speaker
I think that's when A&M hubris is going to get in the way again.
00:06:59
Speaker
And they're probably going to go and hire Lane Kiffin.
00:07:03
Speaker
Would they get Lane Kiffin?
00:07:04
Speaker
Because Lane Kiffin seems to have a random beef with them.
00:07:06
Speaker
Hmm.
00:07:10
Speaker
Yeah, he was like throwing shade at them when they played.
00:07:15
Speaker
He throws shade at everyone.
00:07:16
Speaker
He throws shade at everyone.
00:07:18
Speaker
That's true.
00:07:19
Speaker
I mean, you give him a big enough check, he's not going to throw shade at you anymore.
Rumors of Coaching Changes
00:07:24
Speaker
But yeah, so that's one thing that is going to probably affect our search just a little bit.
00:07:30
Speaker
It might make us more nervous about...
00:07:32
Speaker
It'll probably make us more nervous about not being able to pick up Elko.
00:07:35
Speaker
And also probably if we really wanted Mike Elko, it would raise – this is going to raise the price on him for sure.
00:07:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:45
Speaker
But that being said – I just want to say that the Duke, MSU, Texas A&M bidding war would be the funniest fucking thing because you'd have the mortgage giants versus the oil giants versus the trust fund giants and you'll just go –
00:08:02
Speaker
Do tobacco people still have money?
00:08:05
Speaker
I don't know.
00:08:06
Speaker
It's going to be MSU versus A&M bidding on Elko, and then Duke Boosters are going to come in and ask if we know who their fathers are.
00:08:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:17
Speaker
Yeah, I wonder if any of the Philip Morris fail sons have any money.
00:08:22
Speaker
But, yeah, it's going to be like –
00:08:26
Speaker
The competition between the worst billionaires on the planet single-handedly – and this is where I go on my soapbox.
00:08:32
Speaker
The worst billionaires on the planet single-handedly – All of them?
00:08:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:37
Speaker
Well, the ones that are most responsible for the lack of a future
Impacts of Big Ten Changes
00:08:43
Speaker
for anybody that's a millennial or younger, those that make money off of oil and those that make money off of mortgages and debt, just –
00:08:52
Speaker
Fighting for each other over a coach.
00:08:54
Speaker
And I mean, I guess like, don't forget Duke, man.
00:08:57
Speaker
Don't forget Duke.
00:08:58
Speaker
Those who were born in third base and think they hit a triple.
00:09:01
Speaker
That's true.
00:09:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:02
Speaker
Can't forget Duke, but yeah, just the worst people in the world fighting over a football coach.
00:09:09
Speaker
That's the most American fucking thing I've ever heard in my life.
00:09:11
Speaker
Exactly.
00:09:13
Speaker
I mean, maybe I'll get like, maybe I'll get another Rose Bowl out of it.
00:09:17
Speaker
Who knows?
00:09:18
Speaker
But yeah.
00:09:20
Speaker
The other thing that's speaking of, um, um, I honestly, I don't know.
00:09:24
Speaker
Um,
00:09:26
Speaker
This school, I'm not sure, is a fail-sung school.
00:09:28
Speaker
I think their rival is, but this one isn't.
00:09:31
Speaker
But a rumor has it UCLA is likely going to fire Chip
Speculation on James Franklin's Future
00:09:35
Speaker
Kelly.
00:09:35
Speaker
So Mike Valeni's favorite candidate is going to be looking for a job soon.
00:09:43
Speaker
Yeah, I'm glad you said it.
00:09:45
Speaker
They're a fail-sung school.
00:09:47
Speaker
I mean, you don't get – they're in Los Angeles.
00:09:51
Speaker
They play in the Rose Bowl, and they can't get out of their own way and win more than nine games.
00:09:56
Speaker
Like, if that's not a fail-son school, I don't know what is.
00:10:00
Speaker
Well, I was going to say USC is a fail-son school, but... They're both fail-son schools.
00:10:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's true.
00:10:05
Speaker
I mean, yeah, I think... One's the guy who just developed a coke habit, and the other one's the guy who can't stop sniffing glue.
00:10:17
Speaker
Just take your pick which one's which.
00:10:20
Speaker
Yeah, I guess I feel like, yeah, if you move from the Midwest to... I feel people that move into sunnier climates in America just tend to get dumber.
00:10:30
Speaker
Ask Tom Gores about that.
00:10:34
Speaker
Yeah, I might have to delete that.
00:10:36
Speaker
I don't know if we have any Southern California listeners on the pod, but whatever.
00:10:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:43
Speaker
Yeah, so Chip Kelly is going to be free.
00:10:46
Speaker
So I guess that argument I got into with that one guy about Chip Kelly raising the ceiling of a program is all moot now because Chip Kelly will likely be fired from UCLA.
MSU's Coaching Candidate Tracker
00:11:01
Speaker
The last time Chip Kelly was a good coach, we hadn't even made a Rose Bowl yet.
00:11:05
Speaker
So the last time Chip Kelly was a good coach –
00:11:11
Speaker
Twitter was like three years old.
00:11:14
Speaker
I never understood the Chip Kelly thing with our fan base.
00:11:20
Speaker
I understand that he runs the power spread, and I understand he was really good at Oregon, but all the advantages that he had there aren't true at UCLA.
00:11:28
Speaker
He doesn't like recruiting.
00:11:30
Speaker
The only guy he's gotten that's a big-time recruit out there is Dante Moore.
00:11:35
Speaker
If you wanted to hire him for the 10% chance you get more out of the transfer portal, that's kind of fucking stupid.
00:11:40
Speaker
Yeah, you're paying somebody like $10 million over two to three years to get one guy.
00:11:49
Speaker
You could probably just give that money to that one guy via NIL to get a company.
00:11:54
Speaker
And now you can just get him to come here because the coach that brought him over there is fucking gone.
00:11:58
Speaker
He doesn't have a job.
00:12:00
Speaker
It's basically repeating.
00:12:01
Speaker
It's basically saying you didn't learn anything from the Mellitaka extension.
00:12:05
Speaker
Like one guy does not make a coach.
00:12:08
Speaker
You need to get a coach.
00:12:09
Speaker
You get multiple guys.
00:12:11
Speaker
The one, I think by the one overlap we have with UCLA is probably Jonathan Smith.
00:12:16
Speaker
He's from Pasadena.
00:12:19
Speaker
He hasn't really leveled up the West coast.
00:12:21
Speaker
So if they're interested in him and we're interested in him, I would assume he probably goes there unless we could just money whip UCLA.
00:12:28
Speaker
But I guess the other thing I wanted to maybe bring up is,
00:12:35
Speaker
I don't think James Franklin might last.
00:12:37
Speaker
I don't think he'll last a year.
00:12:40
Speaker
They should fire him, honestly.
00:12:42
Speaker
I don't think they will because his buyout is like $80 million.
00:12:46
Speaker
So he might last one more year.
00:12:49
Speaker
He fired the offensive coordinator, which probably buys him a year.
00:12:53
Speaker
But this is like the second or third offensive coordinator he's fired.
00:12:57
Speaker
Is
Complexities of the Coaching Market
00:12:58
Speaker
next year the first year of the 12-team playoff?
00:13:00
Speaker
Yes.
00:13:01
Speaker
Or is it the year after?
00:13:01
Speaker
Next year?
00:13:02
Speaker
I think next year is the first year of the 12th team.
00:13:04
Speaker
So he'll make it through next year, I think.
00:13:06
Speaker
And when they fail to make it or when they lose in the first round because that's who they are, I think that's when you'll see him get fired.
00:13:18
Speaker
Yeah, next year is – yep, next season.
00:13:22
Speaker
Yeah, well, it'll be funny.
00:13:24
Speaker
Picture this.
00:13:26
Speaker
Mike Alco, coaching Michigan State University.
00:13:30
Speaker
We got the offensive coordinator from UW as our OC.
00:13:37
Speaker
Jim Leonard as DC.
00:13:39
Speaker
Jim Leonard as DC.
00:13:40
Speaker
We beat Penn State in our last game of the year next year.
00:13:43
Speaker
Actually, do we play them next year?
00:13:44
Speaker
No, we don't.
00:13:45
Speaker
I think we'll play them in.
00:13:45
Speaker
Oh, we don't play them in Happy Valley next year?
00:13:47
Speaker
I don't.
00:13:48
Speaker
2024 Big Ten schedule.
00:13:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:54
Speaker
Michigan State.
00:13:55
Speaker
We don't play them next year.
00:13:57
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:13:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:59
Speaker
All right.
00:14:00
Speaker
Well, we beat – oh, we play Rutgers in the last game of the season.
00:14:05
Speaker
We beat Rutgers.
00:14:06
Speaker
We beat Rutgers in the last game of the season so that we end up ranked 12th in the college football playoff.
00:14:13
Speaker
Penn State –
00:14:14
Speaker
ends up 13th, we go to the college football playoff.
00:14:17
Speaker
They don't.
00:14:17
Speaker
James Franklin fired.
00:14:20
Speaker
Because, like, here's the thing.
00:14:21
Speaker
When MSU is good, we beat Penn State.
00:14:23
Speaker
When MSU is good, we beat Penn State and Michigan.
00:14:26
Speaker
And we basically go 50-50 with Ohio State.
00:14:28
Speaker
It's pretty wild how other teams can't beat our best teams.
00:14:33
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
00:14:34
Speaker
Because I think, like, the only good Michigan D'Antonio –
00:14:43
Speaker
The only good D'Antonio teams that didn't beat Ohio State.
00:14:45
Speaker
2014.
00:14:45
Speaker
2014,
Pitfalls of Hiring from Smaller Programs
00:14:46
Speaker
2017.
00:14:46
Speaker
I think 2017 was a good team.
00:14:47
Speaker
Fair.
00:14:48
Speaker
I'll give you 17.
00:14:48
Speaker
And then 10, we didn't play them.
00:14:56
Speaker
10, we didn't play them.
00:14:58
Speaker
11, we played them.
00:14:58
Speaker
We beat them.
00:15:00
Speaker
Would you say 08 was a good D'Antonio team?
00:15:03
Speaker
Oh, but we got blown out by Penn State and Ohio State.
00:15:09
Speaker
And we lost to Cal.
00:15:10
Speaker
Yeah, we lost to Cal.
00:15:12
Speaker
It was a decent – I'd say that's like a decent MSU team.
00:15:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:16
Speaker
I mean, if we didn't have that Cal game, we probably would have been a 10-2.
00:15:20
Speaker
That's true, yeah.
00:15:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:22
Speaker
That's –
00:15:23
Speaker
10-2 in year two for a nobody, by the way.
00:15:27
Speaker
No one really – like he was the defensive coordinator at Ohio State.
00:15:30
Speaker
He was some dude from Cincinnati and could have probably – he went 9-3, could have gone 10-2 his second year at Michigan State.
00:15:36
Speaker
That's the wild thing is all these people that are going out there saying, we need a name, we need a name, we need a name.
00:15:41
Speaker
No, we need a fucking coach.
00:15:42
Speaker
Like we don't need – You need a winner.
00:15:44
Speaker
It's not just a name.
00:15:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:46
Speaker
I don't need Chip Kelly, man.
00:15:47
Speaker
Give me a coach that's good.
00:15:50
Speaker
Yeah, give me somebody that wins at any level that they're at, except for maybe the Mac.
00:15:55
Speaker
I think because the Mac hasn't seemed to translate well to the Big Ten.
00:15:59
Speaker
But, like, it's also, like, really hard to – like, if you are somebody in, like, the Sun Belt that most, like, wins 11 games, you're a winner.
00:16:08
Speaker
If you're someone at the American or, you know, say the Pac-12 or Conference USA or just – or even FCS –
00:16:17
Speaker
But even the last dude, I think, that went 11-1 in the MAC and made it to the Big Ten, he's not doing shit.
00:16:28
Speaker
That's fucking row the boat.
00:16:30
Speaker
PJ Fleck isn't doing shit.
00:16:31
Speaker
I don't think you should hire someone from the MAC and bring them to the Big Ten.
00:16:35
Speaker
I don't think that's worked at all recently.
00:16:40
Speaker
I would tend to agree with that unless they have a middle ground stop.
Regional Dynamics in Recruiting
00:16:44
Speaker
Or Meyer, Utah, for example.
00:16:46
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:16:46
Speaker
Yeah, they have to go somewhere else.
00:16:48
Speaker
Right.
00:16:49
Speaker
I don't know.
00:16:50
Speaker
PJ's kind of weird, though, because he had a really good start at Minnesota.
00:16:53
Speaker
They had that 11-win season.
00:16:54
Speaker
He's kind of just gotten plateaued after that.
00:16:57
Speaker
Because he's just weird.
00:16:58
Speaker
Weird, yeah.
00:16:59
Speaker
He's a strange guy.
00:17:01
Speaker
Yeah, I mean –
00:17:04
Speaker
Yeah, but anyway, so I guess that kind of sums up what the current state of things are right now.
00:17:11
Speaker
We kind of went on a Penn State tangent.
00:17:15
Speaker
Honestly, if they fired James Franklin at the end of the season, I wouldn't be surprised because you're like, Drew Aller had a lot of potential, a lot of hype, and he looked like a bum.
00:17:26
Speaker
He looks like a bum.
00:17:29
Speaker
If Penn State fires Franklin, there's, I think, two ways they could go.
00:17:32
Speaker
They could either promote Diaz or they're going to go really big game hunting.
Strategic Moves in Hiring Process
00:17:39
Speaker
Oh, my God.
00:17:40
Speaker
Imagine beating Manny Diaz again.
00:17:43
Speaker
Like, just fuck it.
00:17:43
Speaker
And then just seeing his dumb look again in like – but this time in like blue instead of like Miami colors.
00:17:50
Speaker
Dude, he was so bad there.
00:17:53
Speaker
It's hilarious.
00:17:54
Speaker
It's like he got his dream.
00:17:55
Speaker
He's he Harlan Barnett in it because like Miami was this like dream job because his dad used to be the mayor.
00:18:02
Speaker
So it's like he's like he's Harlanning it.
00:18:04
Speaker
He Harlaned it.
00:18:05
Speaker
I wouldn't say it went that bad.
00:18:07
Speaker
But yeah, it wasn't it was not good.
00:18:09
Speaker
Yeah, he made like Mel Tucker look like a genius.
00:18:12
Speaker
Yeah, dude.
00:18:13
Speaker
That's how we took this fucking sleep bank seriously because of that shit.
00:18:18
Speaker
Yeah, no, it was just like we just beat a bad team.
00:18:22
Speaker
But yeah, anyways, I think like, I mean, I don't think UCLA and A&M are the only ones that are going to be coachless soon.
00:18:34
Speaker
Mississippi State is actually out of coach.
Media Narratives and Public Perception
00:18:38
Speaker
I don't know if you're interested in Jamie Chadwell, but he's probably going there.
00:18:41
Speaker
No, I don't really, I'm weirded out by the whole, I coach at Liberty and I'm super into God vibes.
00:18:46
Speaker
Like he's a godless school.
00:18:49
Speaker
I think like the most religious guy that we can get is probably, I think Catholicism will work in East Lansing, but like evangelical Protestantism will not.
00:18:59
Speaker
Like you either are a devout Catholic or you just don't wear it on your shoulder.
00:19:05
Speaker
And that's what works here in the Midwest.
00:19:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:08
Speaker
Yeah, I have no strong religious stakes here.
00:19:11
Speaker
Yeah, D'Antonio was a strong Catholic and it worked because like most of Michigan is like Catholic and shit.
00:19:20
Speaker
So it's like it didn't seem out of place.
00:19:22
Speaker
But if you have like a born again Christian evangelical, that shit I don't think would fly as well here at MSU.
Potential Michigan Coaching Vacancy
00:19:31
Speaker
It's like, think of like all the people and also like, like when Harbaugh was doing all those like anti-abortion commercials, like that also weirded out parts of his fan base too.
00:19:41
Speaker
Yeah, but they're a cult.
00:19:42
Speaker
So they'll look the other way.
00:19:44
Speaker
That's true.
00:19:47
Speaker
Oh, speaking of coaching competition or coach search competition, based on our travel through the multiverse last time around, do you think Michigan will actually have an opening next year?
00:20:01
Speaker
No, I think Sharon Morse got the job.
00:20:03
Speaker
All right.
Fan Expectations and Coaching Myths
00:20:05
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:20:07
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think we'll compete for the same people either.
00:20:10
Speaker
So, Sharon Moore will probably be the guy.
00:20:11
Speaker
They're going to give you a coach, but they won't compete.
00:20:14
Speaker
I actually agree with Lenny on this.
00:20:17
Speaker
I think the NCAA just wants Harbaugh.
00:20:19
Speaker
They don't really give a crap about punishing the entire Michigan program.
00:20:22
Speaker
They just kind of want Harbaugh's head on a stake, and they'll leave after that.
00:20:28
Speaker
So, 49-0 is not going to get vacated?
00:20:32
Speaker
It'll get vacated because Harbaugh was there.
00:20:35
Speaker
Oh, all right.
00:20:37
Speaker
All right.
00:20:38
Speaker
As long as I can always – if somebody ever brings it up to me, I'll just be like, what game are you talking about?
00:20:42
Speaker
I don't remember losing to you guys 49-0.
00:20:44
Speaker
I just remember not winning.
00:20:47
Speaker
It's going to go really well with Vacated University's Final Four banners from 1991 and 1992.
00:20:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:53
Speaker
All right.
00:20:54
Speaker
Well, let's move on to the next segment where we're going to track some candidates.
00:20:59
Speaker
So I'm going to give this one to you.
00:21:02
Speaker
How do you feel about raising the flag, Zanjo?
00:21:06
Speaker
I enjoyed it as much as everyone else did.
00:21:08
Speaker
That shit's not happening, man.
00:21:09
Speaker
It's over.
00:21:11
Speaker
Everyone, every insider in the program is saying it's over.
00:21:14
Speaker
Even the ones that are pimping it, like it's gone.
00:21:16
Speaker
It's done.
00:21:17
Speaker
It was fun while it lasted.
00:21:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:21
Speaker
I mean, I think there's just like some diehards that are just lingering on Twitter and it's really getting kind of annoying now.
00:21:27
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, there were moments, I'm not going to lie, there were moments where I was like, huh, if this happens, this could be fun.
00:21:37
Speaker
And I think that was like right around the time we lost
Media's Role in Coaching Carousel
00:21:41
Speaker
to Minnesota.
00:21:41
Speaker
I'm like, all right, like get us –
00:21:44
Speaker
Just make this – I'll be okay with this.
00:21:47
Speaker
But then I came back to my senses of like this is a stupid idea.
00:21:52
Speaker
I don't think it would work.
00:21:55
Speaker
And I think if anything, he would just be Chip Kelly.
00:22:00
Speaker
I think it would work.
00:22:02
Speaker
I don't know if he'd win a national championship here, but he would definitely get a couple like top four finishes I think.
00:22:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:09
Speaker
But, I mean, I don't know.
00:22:11
Speaker
I guess let those people have their fun.
00:22:13
Speaker
I get it.
00:22:14
Speaker
It's fun.
00:22:15
Speaker
I wanted to believe it, too.
00:22:16
Speaker
Is he on the Texas A&M list?
00:22:20
Speaker
Of course he's on the Texas A&M list.
00:22:23
Speaker
Oh, you mean the one the media put out?
00:22:24
Speaker
Yeah, he's on that list, too.
00:22:26
Speaker
Oh, okay, cool.
00:22:27
Speaker
Well, I wonder, what's their fucking version of the RCMB that's even more... Tex-Ags.
00:22:34
Speaker
Tex-Ags.
00:22:35
Speaker
What have they been saying about Urban Meyer?
00:22:37
Speaker
Have they been saying anything about him?
00:22:38
Speaker
I actually haven't gone through and read that, but I've heard that there are people there that don't... It's very like our fan base, where there's a really, really sizable portion of it that's never urban, and there's a really, really sizable portion that's like, get urban.
00:22:54
Speaker
And then there's a middle ground where it's like, get someone good.
00:22:57
Speaker
Holy shit, their forums are sponsored.
00:22:59
Speaker
Dude, they have like U.S. senators that post there.
Parallels with NFL Coaching Prospects
00:23:05
Speaker
Their football forum is sponsored by Capital Farm Credit.
00:23:08
Speaker
Their basketball forum is sponsored by Double Dave's Pizza Works.
00:23:15
Speaker
Yeah, all right.
00:23:16
Speaker
Let's see.
00:23:17
Speaker
A voice in support of Lane Kiffin.
00:23:19
Speaker
Urban Meyer names his top candidates to be Texas A&M head coach.
00:23:24
Speaker
Ryan Grubber, Eli Drinkwitz.
00:23:27
Speaker
I think like, yeah, Dan Campbell.
00:23:32
Speaker
What the fuck?
00:23:36
Speaker
I saw that one too.
00:23:36
Speaker
That was just, that one came out of nowhere.
00:23:39
Speaker
Ryan Tannehill.
00:23:42
Speaker
I saw Aaron Glenn's name getting mentioned too.
00:23:46
Speaker
Good.
00:23:49
Speaker
Yeah, that one.
00:23:49
Speaker
We can have him.
00:23:51
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, yeah.
00:23:53
Speaker
We don't know.
00:23:54
Speaker
Somebody else can run the defense.
00:23:57
Speaker
I'm glad the Lions won on Sunday.
00:24:00
Speaker
I was not glad that it was just like 42-38.
00:24:04
Speaker
I'll take
Realistic Expectations for MSU
00:24:05
Speaker
all the wins.
00:24:05
Speaker
They're really good.
00:24:07
Speaker
I want to go to a playoff game.
00:24:09
Speaker
Oh, yeah, that'll be fun.
00:24:10
Speaker
I'm jealous.
00:24:12
Speaker
Think of the bullshit, though, like if we win the division.
00:24:16
Speaker
All right, off track, off topic.
00:24:20
Speaker
The Lions win the division, right?
00:24:24
Speaker
We get a home playoff game, right?
00:24:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:28
Speaker
Because of the expanded playoff, right?
00:24:30
Speaker
No, every division winner gets a home playoff game.
00:24:34
Speaker
Okay, okay.
00:24:36
Speaker
We'd probably just get the two seed based on how the schedule is lining up.
00:24:40
Speaker
Yeah, I think the remaining teams we're playing aren't that great.
00:24:43
Speaker
We still have the Vikings, the Bears, and Green Bay in Ford Field.
00:24:49
Speaker
I think the toughest game left is the Saints or the Cowboys.
00:24:53
Speaker
Jesus Christ, dude.
00:24:54
Speaker
What is this world?
00:24:55
Speaker
Dude, no.
00:24:56
Speaker
We're going to win 12, 13 games this year.
00:24:58
Speaker
Get a top two seed.
00:24:59
Speaker
It's going to be great.
In-depth on MSU's Search Process
00:25:01
Speaker
I'm going to get so goddamn drunk at Ford Field.
00:25:04
Speaker
I'm jealous.
00:25:07
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:25:07
Speaker
All right.
00:25:08
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:25:08
Speaker
I mean, A&M's got some – I'm going to look at their board a little bit.
00:25:15
Speaker
But, yeah, it looks like they want Urban.
00:25:17
Speaker
I haven't seen on their forum at all.
00:25:19
Speaker
Yeah, I'm just going to say that anyone who thinks we're delusional for wanting Urban should just think about the fact that A&M wanted Dan Campbell and thought they could get him.
00:25:28
Speaker
That's one of the more – Brian Kelly.
00:25:30
Speaker
Brian Kelly.
00:25:32
Speaker
They honestly might get them.
00:25:34
Speaker
DeBoer.
00:25:34
Speaker
Yeah, DeBoer's a name I'm going to see a lot.
00:25:38
Speaker
You're going to see Dan Lanning a few times too.
00:25:40
Speaker
That was one of the names the media is basically the big the media basically just mentioned all the names that we were mentioning in the podcast is MSU Dream Hires.
00:25:48
Speaker
Except they mentioned it in a realistic way.
00:25:50
Speaker
Like I saw Mike Norvell get mentioned too.
00:25:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:56
Speaker
Bill Belichick.
00:25:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:57
Speaker
I mean, go for it.
00:25:59
Speaker
I don't see anyone mentioning Elko.
00:26:01
Speaker
Elko was pretty down on their list.
00:26:04
Speaker
And then someone mentioned like Jeff Traylor or someone, the UTSA coach.
00:26:09
Speaker
I think like Elko coming here would probably be like a unifying hurry, which brings me to Elko on the list.
00:26:14
Speaker
So we're basically just going to say Urban Meyer chances at 0%.
00:26:19
Speaker
MSU Twitter, Johnny Spartan will probably be upset that he won't be able to raise his flag.
00:26:27
Speaker
But...
00:26:30
Speaker
it's not happening, buddy.
Media Bias in Program Comparisons
00:26:32
Speaker
I think you need to just move on.
00:26:34
Speaker
Just move on.
00:26:35
Speaker
Yeah, so let's go to Alco.
00:26:38
Speaker
He's 6-4 right now.
00:26:40
Speaker
He's lost a couple tough games, but as a result of the...
00:26:44
Speaker
A&M job opening up.
00:26:46
Speaker
He's gotten a lot of positive puff pieces going around there.
00:26:50
Speaker
I think the A&M Boosters are not only do they have their hands in oil and stuff, they have their hands in the media.
00:27:00
Speaker
And they're trying to make media narratives.
00:27:03
Speaker
You know what's crazy is MSU is one of the best communication schools in the country.
00:27:08
Speaker
And we can't fucking control the media anywhere near as well as these guys can.
00:27:12
Speaker
It's wild.
00:27:14
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, money talks.
00:27:16
Speaker
That's fair.
00:27:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:18
Speaker
And then, like, all of our journalists end up becoming Michigan fans or Michigan beat writers.
00:27:24
Speaker
They all go do real stuff with their journalism degrees instead of fucking trying to start media drama.
Financial Implications of Coaching Decisions
00:27:31
Speaker
Listen, man, even, like, I love reading Chris Vanini, but, like, even him, like, he doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't,
00:27:43
Speaker
he doesn't, he's not a slappy like all the fucking Michigan guys are.
00:27:47
Speaker
Like, he's like, he's, he, because I guess because like MSU is a good journalism school, like it teaches you like, yeah, you should report on things objectively.
00:27:56
Speaker
And he reports on us objectively.
00:27:57
Speaker
Like he gives us more interest than others, but like he's objective, which sucks.
00:28:01
Speaker
I'm like, I need you to slop.
00:28:03
Speaker
I need you to, I need you to like fucking polish us, like polish this turd for us.
00:28:08
Speaker
Be a propagandist.
00:28:10
Speaker
The slop from U of M actually doesn't come from their alumni.
00:28:12
Speaker
It comes from,
00:28:13
Speaker
They're fucking weird ass like beat writers who are basically bought and owned by Jim Harbaugh.
00:28:19
Speaker
Like, I don't know if you're able to Sam Webb man's basically having his rent.
00:28:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:23
Speaker
Sam Webb is basically his mortgage paid by the Michigan athletic department.
Future of Big Ten Expansion
00:28:26
Speaker
Nice.
00:28:27
Speaker
I'm good for him.
00:28:28
Speaker
It's like, yeah, yeah.
00:28:29
Speaker
I mean, I mean, you got to pay the mortgage somehow, right?
00:28:32
Speaker
Like I might as well do your dream while doing it.
00:28:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:37
Speaker
But yeah, anyways, so, I mean, we just went through the board.
00:28:44
Speaker
We just went through like Texags and they're not mentioning Elko.
00:28:46
Speaker
So I don't know, man.
00:28:47
Speaker
I'm not that worried about Texas A&M actually making a good decision and hiring Elko.
00:28:54
Speaker
I think money talks really loudly over there.
00:28:57
Speaker
I think their boosters have a lot of influence and I think they're just going to do the dumbest thing possible again.
00:29:03
Speaker
They're going to do something ridiculous.
00:29:05
Speaker
They're going to try and shoot their shot at, I don't know, who's a failing coach?
00:29:11
Speaker
Lincoln Riley.
00:29:12
Speaker
They're going to try and shoot their shot for Lincoln Riley or something.
00:29:14
Speaker
It's going to blow up in their face.
00:29:18
Speaker
It would be funny.
00:29:19
Speaker
He leaves Oklahoma because Oklahoma is going to SEC to go to USC, which is now joining the Big Ten.
00:29:27
Speaker
Maybe the West Coast isn't that great for me.
00:29:30
Speaker
Maybe I had to go back to someplace where I can improve my brisket cooking skills.
00:29:36
Speaker
Sorry, go ahead.
MSU's Position in Coaching Market
00:29:39
Speaker
Improve my brisket cooking skills and then go back to the South or Southwest or, I don't know, Texas, whatever.
00:29:48
Speaker
Is USC going to win eight games next year?
00:29:50
Speaker
That's a question.
00:29:53
Speaker
Dude, I don't think they're going to be good.
00:29:54
Speaker
And here's the thing.
00:29:56
Speaker
This expansion...
00:29:59
Speaker
All of the four teams that are joining next year, right?
00:30:02
Speaker
All right.
00:30:02
Speaker
Let's talk about – let's go through that.
00:30:04
Speaker
And we're getting off on a little tangy here.
00:30:06
Speaker
But this is related to you're hiring a new coach into an expanded Big Ten.
00:30:12
Speaker
Their first year is going to be tough or whatever.
00:30:15
Speaker
All right.
00:30:15
Speaker
So, let's start.
00:30:16
Speaker
So, take Oregon out of it because Oregon is going to be loaded.
00:30:18
Speaker
But they won't have Bo Nix.
00:30:20
Speaker
That's true.
00:30:21
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:30:22
Speaker
I was going to say, they won't have Bo Nix, right?
00:30:25
Speaker
All right.
00:30:26
Speaker
UW won't have Penix.
00:30:28
Speaker
Their defense sucks.
00:30:30
Speaker
Their defense is not great.
00:30:31
Speaker
The board is not recruiting well out there either.
00:30:34
Speaker
Yeah, so... And they may not have dropped a coordinator either.
00:30:38
Speaker
Exactly.
00:30:39
Speaker
So if their defense sucks and their offense is not putting up points
Texas A&M's Hiring Decisions
00:30:43
Speaker
to keep up with whatever the defense is getting up, I don't know if they're going to be as vaunted as we thought.
00:30:51
Speaker
UCLA is going to be bringing in a new coach.
00:30:54
Speaker
UCLA is going to be a train wreck.
00:30:56
Speaker
They're going to be a train wreck.
00:30:57
Speaker
Like they've been a train wreck for the last 20 years.
00:30:59
Speaker
Like I don't –
00:31:01
Speaker
I'm not worried about them.
00:31:02
Speaker
And then USC is trending down.
00:31:04
Speaker
And then Caleb Williams is going to be gone.
00:31:06
Speaker
And so defense is ass and their defense is booty.
00:31:09
Speaker
Like they're going to like, so people are like this new expanded big 10.
00:31:13
Speaker
These people are going to be, these new teams are going to be tough, but I'm like, guys, I don't know.
00:31:18
Speaker
Like these teams are going to be traveling to,
00:31:21
Speaker
thousands of miles they're all either losing they're three of them three out of the four of them are losing their starting fucking heisman candidate quarterbacks and um three of the four have bad defenses bad teams already yeah oregon's i think oregon's gonna be fine just because oregon's the most complete oregon is probably the most complete and will be the most complete next year but like
00:31:48
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I don't know.
00:31:49
Speaker
Like, I don't think it's as worrisome.
Challenges for New Big Ten Teams
00:31:52
Speaker
And then you go back to the original 14 of the Big Ten, like, the teams in the West, the teams in the old Big Ten West, they're booty.
00:32:01
Speaker
And, like, the allure of playing in the Big Ten is not – I don't – like, the way I see it is, like, if I'm a kid from the West Coast and I'm, like, being sold on the Big Ten, now I can go and play at this place instead of playing at fucking Iowa where my coach is racist.
00:32:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:19
Speaker
And then Michigan's going to be down next year too.
00:32:21
Speaker
Like their schedule's – they're losing everyone.
00:32:23
Speaker
Their schedule's pretty hard.
00:32:24
Speaker
So basically next year – And they're going to be a new coach probably, Shron Moore.
00:32:29
Speaker
And then, yeah.
00:32:30
Speaker
And Penn State's Penn State.
00:32:31
Speaker
So really like what – I don't think like –
00:32:37
Speaker
I don't think the situation is going to be as tough next year with the expansion as people make it out to be, especially these raise-the-flag people.
Strategic Considerations for MSU
00:32:46
Speaker
There's also a real thing in the NFL where, like, West Coast teams go East and they actually lose more games than if they just stayed West.
00:32:56
Speaker
There's a real thing about that.
00:32:59
Speaker
And likewise, I think when we go –
00:33:03
Speaker
In college, I think in college, at least the Big Ten teams, when they go out and play on the West Coast, they don't do that well.
00:33:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:10
Speaker
Like, in-season games.
00:33:11
Speaker
But, yeah, no, there's a – like, imagine, like, you have USC coming to play in East Lansing at, like, noon.
00:33:22
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, in October or, like, late – or, like, early November.
00:33:27
Speaker
Yeah, like, there's –
00:33:30
Speaker
I don't know.
00:33:30
Speaker
I'm just not as worried about these teams as everyone else is.
00:33:33
Speaker
And all these raise the flag people worried about Big Ten expansion are insane because we're replacing Ohio State and Penn State with USC.
00:33:42
Speaker
We're not adding these on to Ohio State
Historical Success and Expectations
00:33:45
Speaker
and Penn State.
00:33:45
Speaker
We're replacing those two with
00:33:48
Speaker
We're playing Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon.
00:33:52
Speaker
And then for home, we have at home next year, we have Indiana, Iowa, Ohio State.
00:33:59
Speaker
That's three tough games.
00:34:00
Speaker
We're already playing three tough games.
00:34:02
Speaker
And the other thing that's kind of weird, and I think I may have mentioned this last time, but the raise the flag people who believe Urban's the only guy who can win here.
00:34:11
Speaker
If Urban's the only guy who can win here, Urban was never coming.
00:34:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:16
Speaker
Urban only goes to programs he thinks he can win at.
00:34:19
Speaker
And the fact he's entertaining us kind of proves that a good coach can win here.
00:34:25
Speaker
And we know that because D'Antonio did the same thing.
00:34:27
Speaker
Yep.
00:34:29
Speaker
D'Antonio beat, like, Urban while he was here.
00:34:33
Speaker
In fact, D'Antonio never beat Urban – or D'Antonio never beat Ohio State in East Lansing.
Potential for Jonathan Smith at MSU
00:34:39
Speaker
He didn't.
00:34:41
Speaker
No.
00:34:42
Speaker
Big Ten Championship and then twice in Columbus.
00:34:44
Speaker
Like, Ohio State –
00:34:47
Speaker
He beat Urban's best team in my mind, 2015.
00:34:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:52
Speaker
He beat – both times he beat Urban, they were undefeated.
00:34:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:58
Speaker
So in 2015, we went to Columbus with a backup quarterback and beat Urban.
00:35:03
Speaker
So, like, maybe chill with the whole Urban's the only guy who can win your stuff.
00:35:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:09
Speaker
I guess that moves us on.
00:35:10
Speaker
Now that we're talking about West Coast, we can talk about the other dude that's kind of at our top, Jonathan Smith.
00:35:17
Speaker
Um, he's eight and two now actually.
00:35:20
Speaker
So he's got the best record other than better than urban because urban, every time he's on the same set as clay Travis, he's a loser.
00:35:29
Speaker
Uh,
00:35:32
Speaker
Smith is 8-2.
00:35:33
Speaker
His loss is to Arizona and to Washington State.
00:35:37
Speaker
But, like, they're fucking rolling.
00:35:39
Speaker
Like, they just dumped 62 on Stanford.
00:35:43
Speaker
And they play Washington this weekend.
00:35:47
Speaker
So that's going to be an interesting game.
00:35:49
Speaker
I have a take.
00:35:50
Speaker
And I kind of want to hear your opinion on this.
00:35:53
Speaker
We've been listing off the last few podcasts all these home run hires, these, like, whale hires, right?
00:36:00
Speaker
We've mentioned DeBoer and Lanning specifically.
00:36:03
Speaker
I think Jonathan Smith's every bit as good as those two.
00:36:05
Speaker
He just coaches at a way worse program.
00:36:08
Speaker
Yeah, I think he's better than those two.
00:36:11
Speaker
Honestly, if he's getting this kind of result out of like Oregon State, like I don't know if you've ever been to Corvallis, but it's fucking small.
00:36:18
Speaker
It's tiny.
00:36:19
Speaker
It's like Oregon State is like Toledo levels of money if it wasn't
Regional Ties and Hiring Decisions
00:36:24
Speaker
in the Pac-12.
00:36:24
Speaker
And not even Toledo.
00:36:25
Speaker
I would say like Bowling Green levels of money.
00:36:27
Speaker
I think Toledo is bigger than Corvallis.
00:36:31
Speaker
And they're still not out of the Pac-12 race.
00:36:34
Speaker
They're favored this weekend at home against Washington.
00:36:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:38
Speaker
Like, if they beat Washington this weekend, like, his name is just going to fucking pop up everywhere.
00:36:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:45
Speaker
There's a lot of people out there who seem to think that he's not that good of a coach for whatever reason.
00:36:51
Speaker
Or Elko or Leopold.
00:36:52
Speaker
They're not good coaches for some reason.
00:36:54
Speaker
I just don't understand because... He was the offensive coordinator during the first UW run of the last decade.
00:37:01
Speaker
Like, when they went to the playoff.
00:37:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:04
Speaker
And he also has a team that plays elite defense.
00:37:07
Speaker
It's...
00:37:09
Speaker
He's honestly – he might be my number one right now.
00:37:14
Speaker
If he had any ties to the Midwest, he would be everyone's
Recruitment Strategies in Midwest
00:37:18
Speaker
number one.
00:37:18
Speaker
But I'm not really worried about the Midwest thing either.
00:37:24
Speaker
Because I'm trying to – Honestly, I want MSU to recruit nationally regardless, so –
00:37:34
Speaker
Yeah, and I think a good coach, a good smart coach would understand, yeah, I don't have these ties, but I'm going to build them because this is what is good for this program.
00:37:44
Speaker
I think a good coach would be like, yeah, maybe I should recruit Ohio because it's next door.
00:37:50
Speaker
A good coach would also get a staff that knows the area somewhat well.
00:37:56
Speaker
So someone like Courtney Hawkins could stay on maybe.
00:37:58
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:38:00
Speaker
Barnett maybe.
00:38:03
Speaker
I wouldn't want him either, but for a couple years... Yeah, make Barnett a defensive analyst or some shit.
Oregon State's Competitive Challenges
00:38:11
Speaker
Yeah, someone to give you a path into Ohio and Detroit.
00:38:16
Speaker
But the thing is, yeah, I think the news that I saw yesterday or today that Washington State... Sorry, we call out here in Washington, we call Washington State Wazoo.
00:38:30
Speaker
But...
00:38:31
Speaker
So, Wazoo and Oregon State are looking into – because they're trying to keep the Pac-12 money for at least a couple of years.
00:38:41
Speaker
They're looking into a scheduling arrangement with the Mountain West.
00:38:46
Speaker
So, that makes that job even less appealing.
00:38:48
Speaker
I don't know, man.
00:38:49
Speaker
Like, yes, it's his alma mater and everything.
00:38:53
Speaker
But, like, I think the guy probably wants to win –
00:38:58
Speaker
But here's the thing.
00:38:58
Speaker
The other.
00:38:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:00
Speaker
I don't think that the alma mater thing matters as much when it's group of fibers, power five, if it's two
Program Appeal in Coaching Hires
00:39:05
Speaker
power five.
00:39:05
Speaker
And that's why I said UCLA kind of scares me a little bit there.
00:39:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:09
Speaker
That he's from Pasadena.
00:39:10
Speaker
So like that might appeal to them more, but I don't think the whole alma mater thing really matters.
00:39:15
Speaker
It's going to matter as much.
00:39:17
Speaker
Well, here's the thing.
00:39:19
Speaker
Sure, you're from Pasadena, but you go to a program and coach had a program where you can't – like you mentioned, I think, in the pre-show or earlier, UCLA can't fill up the Rose Bowl, right?
00:39:30
Speaker
Yeah, it's like a third full.
00:39:32
Speaker
You know who would fill up the Rose Bowl?
00:39:34
Speaker
MSU, when they go.
00:39:35
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:39:37
Speaker
When we go and play UCLA or when we go to the Rose Bowl, we'll fill that fucker up.
00:39:43
Speaker
But, yeah, I think like –
00:39:47
Speaker
If you were to choose between UCLA and Michigan State who are going to be in the same conference and you're a winner and you want to win, right?
Cultural Fit for Coaches
00:39:57
Speaker
I think between the two jobs, ours is definitely clearly more appealing.
00:40:01
Speaker
We have a fan base and boosters and institutions that are ready to support the program.
00:40:06
Speaker
And you travel less if you come to us.
00:40:10
Speaker
To a neutral coach, I 100% agree.
00:40:12
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:40:15
Speaker
But like I said, if there's a weird home aspect with Smith, that could be a little bit iffy.
00:40:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:28
Speaker
But think of it.
00:40:29
Speaker
Imagine this.
00:40:30
Speaker
Jonathan Smith coaches Michigan State to the 2026 Big Ten Championship.
00:40:35
Speaker
What the fuck could happen?
00:40:37
Speaker
He brings his dogs with him from his college days.
00:40:40
Speaker
Chad Johnson, TJ Houshmandzada just coming on the sidelines, right?
00:40:48
Speaker
As Sam Levin.
Fan Expectations vs. Program Realities
00:40:51
Speaker
You're making Jonathan Smith sound like Deion Sanders.
00:40:56
Speaker
I know, right?
00:40:57
Speaker
Jonathan Smith, for those of you that haven't looked at a picture of him or seen a picture of him, he just looks like the most average looking dude of all time.
00:41:04
Speaker
But he does milk his nipples.
00:41:06
Speaker
He does milk those nipples.
00:41:08
Speaker
All right.
00:41:09
Speaker
So, I mean, we think Jonathan Smith is a good coach.
00:41:13
Speaker
I guess moving on to the other person that a lot of us think is a good coach, Lance Leipold.
00:41:20
Speaker
Very good coach.
00:41:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:22
Speaker
Did not have a good week, but he's also in his third string quarterback.
00:41:25
Speaker
Yeah, I think he's a lot of people's number ones, and I think people are starting to, like...
00:41:30
Speaker
not be crazy about the whole 60, him being 59, 60, as long as like, I think people are like, as long as he puts MSU on like wins here and then puts on, on a trajectory to like, all right, like have a good succession plan on like D'Antonio, et cetera, et cetera.
Candidate Evaluation Process
00:41:48
Speaker
But here's the thing.
00:41:49
Speaker
He's 60, 59, 60 years old.
00:41:52
Speaker
And he's going to be coaching in what will probably become an easier big 12, right?
00:41:57
Speaker
Because Texas and Oklahoma are leaving, and all you're getting is Utah.
00:42:01
Speaker
But we can also give them a lot more money.
00:42:03
Speaker
Actually, this week's actually a big battle between two big-time MSU coaching candidates, Leopold and Kleeman.
00:42:14
Speaker
Oh, yeah, Kansas State.
00:42:16
Speaker
I don't even have Kleeman on the list anymore.
00:42:19
Speaker
But also, like, I feel like I don't even know if I want Kleeman on the list because I feel like if Kleeman or Dickert –
00:42:27
Speaker
are somehow hired, fucking Scotty Hazleton stays on the staff.
00:42:31
Speaker
That's a fair point.
00:42:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:42:34
Speaker
Like, I think that – unfortunately, yeah.
00:42:37
Speaker
So, I think that brings us to our next one.
00:42:40
Speaker
Ryan Dickert out of Wazoo.
00:42:45
Speaker
He was high on our list earlier in the season.
00:42:47
Speaker
He's not anymore.
00:42:49
Speaker
I'm pretty sure he hasn't won a game since we started podcasting.
00:42:53
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:42:55
Speaker
I think since he started showing up on the MSU list, he's fucking tanked.
00:43:00
Speaker
And it sounds like, according to you, I think you mentioned in our group chat that he might have lost the team already.
00:43:08
Speaker
Yeah, there's a big rumor that he may have
Regional Dynamics in Coaching Decisions
00:43:10
Speaker
lost the team.
00:43:10
Speaker
There's a big rumor that he may – there was a weird thing on a Wazoo message board where they thought that he took the MSU job already, which obviously wouldn't have happened.
00:43:24
Speaker
possible during the bye week or something, like he may have interviewed, and the team doesn't – it's really weird when you lose six games in a row, including losses to, like, Cal and Stanford and Arizona and get blown out by Arizona State.
00:43:37
Speaker
That's all I'm going to say about that.
00:43:39
Speaker
Yeah, those aren't good teams to lose to.
00:43:42
Speaker
He was a.500 coach before that with a bowl loss to Central Michigan.
00:43:46
Speaker
So, like – and Central Michigan may have had his signs, but –
00:43:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:43:52
Speaker
Oh, I mean, Central might need a new coach soon.
00:43:56
Speaker
Do you think they'll compete with us?
00:43:58
Speaker
Everybody in the free press thinks that we're going to be after the same candidates.
00:44:03
Speaker
They can get Barnett.
00:44:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:05
Speaker
I think that should be their punishment.
00:44:07
Speaker
I think their punishment for colluding with Michigan and having Stallions on the sidelines is that they have to take our staff at the price that we pay them.
Impact of Fan Sentiment on Searches
00:44:18
Speaker
They're such cucks.
00:44:19
Speaker
They didn't even benefit from their cheating, man.
00:44:23
Speaker
They didn't even benefit from their cheating.
00:44:25
Speaker
No, even when they're cheating, Noah Kim looked like a pro against them.
00:44:29
Speaker
Noah Kim looked like a world beater.
00:44:31
Speaker
Jeez.
00:44:32
Speaker
If you're going to cheat, at least win.
00:44:35
Speaker
I think that's – I think that – I mean, honestly, like, if we get their $1.2 million back, like, if we get that, we should, like, then pass that on to Mel Tucker as, hey, here's your buyout.
00:44:46
Speaker
Here's your settlement.
00:44:47
Speaker
We'll pay you for the – yeah.
00:44:50
Speaker
But, yeah, so I think Dicker is – I don't think Dicker is a candidate anymore.
00:44:56
Speaker
I don't – He only is because of what Harns said about him definitely having been reached out to.
00:45:04
Speaker
But,
00:45:05
Speaker
He's not getting the job, man.
00:45:07
Speaker
He's not getting the job.
00:45:10
Speaker
Um, do you want to light a candle?
00:45:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:13
Speaker
So she had had, uh, Jason can't, uh, had a Toledo beat writer on his, uh, podcast this morning.
00:45:20
Speaker
Fuck man.
00:45:20
Speaker
I mean, I might be getting talked into him a little bit, a little scared.
00:45:25
Speaker
I, I didn't, I didn't listen, but, um, shout out to, uh, Kyle Sheehan.
MSU's Market Position and Strategy
00:45:29
Speaker
Uh,
00:45:31
Speaker
I don't know if he knows that.
00:45:31
Speaker
Matt Sheehan.
00:45:33
Speaker
Matt Sheehan.
00:45:34
Speaker
Sorry.
00:45:34
Speaker
Why did I say fucking Kyle?
00:45:36
Speaker
But shout out to Matt Sheehan.
00:45:38
Speaker
Indirect friend of the pod because he's friends with Greg Wead on last week.
00:45:44
Speaker
He's also friends with like six people I grew up with.
00:45:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:49
Speaker
I didn't listen to the episode today.
00:45:51
Speaker
I saw it pop up on my feed.
00:45:52
Speaker
But yeah.
00:45:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:55
Speaker
Why do you think – I remember you were adamant.
00:45:58
Speaker
Like you were – you're on record as saying if we hired Jason Candle, I will no longer be a fan of this team.
00:46:05
Speaker
Fuck Jason Candle.
00:46:07
Speaker
I mean you were very adamantly against this and now you're warmed up to it.
00:46:13
Speaker
So in my defense, I don't think he's lost since then.
00:46:19
Speaker
They're 10-1.
00:46:20
Speaker
They're finally having a year that would kind of look like a good – he's still playing C at best on my list.
00:46:29
Speaker
But he's got a good offense.
00:46:33
Speaker
He's – he apparently fired his defense coordinator.
00:46:36
Speaker
His defense is better
Concerns over Jason Candle
00:46:37
Speaker
now.
00:46:37
Speaker
They're 10-1.
00:46:37
Speaker
They're kind of looking like a good team.
00:46:41
Speaker
They have an outside shot of a New Year's Six Bowl.
00:46:46
Speaker
I'm not going to try to convince anyone because –
00:46:50
Speaker
Like I said, he's at best fifth on my list, but there's definite interest from MSU on there too.
00:46:55
Speaker
And I'm a little worried that he might be the next coach.
00:47:02
Speaker
Like he might be the most likely out of all these guys.
00:47:06
Speaker
Like that's a reality we need to live in at this point.
00:47:10
Speaker
Like I'm okay with hiring coaches out of like –
00:47:15
Speaker
The Mountain West or like Conference USA or the Sun Belt or lower level Power 5 teams.
00:47:25
Speaker
I don't think based on past history, like recent history, we should hire a coach out of the MAC.
00:47:30
Speaker
I don't think we should either, especially when we have Power 5 options on the table.
00:47:34
Speaker
I think Jonathan Smith should be your top.
00:47:36
Speaker
I don't know if we're into the Power Rankings now.
00:47:38
Speaker
Yeah, we're going to Power Rank soon.
Realistic Timelines for Hires
00:47:41
Speaker
Yeah, but I think Jonathan Smith or Lance Leopold should be your top two if Elko doesn't want to come here.
00:47:51
Speaker
So, yeah, what are your power rankings then?
00:47:54
Speaker
So, Urban number one.
00:47:56
Speaker
If you want to throw his name out, then I'll say Elko.
00:47:58
Speaker
I'll say Smith, Elko, Leopold in that order.
00:48:02
Speaker
Top three.
00:48:06
Speaker
Maybe Cleman number four.
00:48:11
Speaker
Probably a couple of guys in between.
00:48:12
Speaker
Like, I think I like Jamie Chadwell or someone in between and then probably Jason Candle, but I don't know how many of those guys are going to come here or take a different job or stay at their current job.
00:48:28
Speaker
So we have to kind of, in my opinion, we kind of have to deal with the reality that Jason Candle is a possible outcome.
00:48:35
Speaker
Oh, here's the thing.
00:48:38
Speaker
All right, so mine are Alco Smith Leipold.
00:48:47
Speaker
There's a possibility that if Smith wins out, and that's definitely a possibility, we won't be able to have him until like... December.
00:48:58
Speaker
Three weeks from now, yeah, because then he'll go to the Pac-12 championship, right?
00:49:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:04
Speaker
And if he goes to the playoff.
00:49:06
Speaker
He's not going to the playoff.
00:49:07
Speaker
He's not going to the playoff.
00:49:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:09
Speaker
If he goes to the Rose Bowl.
00:49:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:12
Speaker
Is the Rose Bowl one of the New Year's Six this year?
00:49:15
Speaker
It is.
00:49:15
Speaker
It's a playoff bowl.
00:49:17
Speaker
It's a playoff bowl.
00:49:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:18
Speaker
I think Rose and Cotton are the playoff.
00:49:19
Speaker
Or Rose and Peach are the playoff bowls this year.
00:49:22
Speaker
Do you think he would stay if they went to a New Year's Six?
00:49:26
Speaker
No, I don't think.
00:49:28
Speaker
And I don't know if that's me being a spoiled state fan or whatnot.
00:49:32
Speaker
I don't think New Year's six bowls mean jack shit.
00:49:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:36
Speaker
I think if it's between him having to pick coaching, like the fiesta bowl or coming here and putting together a recruiting class, I think is coming here.
Strategic Outcomes in Market Conditions
00:49:50
Speaker
Um,
00:49:52
Speaker
I think maybe – like I know that at some lower-level schools, like some of the MAAC schools, like if their coach got hired to go – sometimes they've been able to work out, like I'll coach in this bowl.
00:50:04
Speaker
But I don't think that would happen.
00:50:09
Speaker
I'll be coaching this bowl, and then I'll take the job.
00:50:12
Speaker
But, yeah, I think like the thing is if you get like –
00:50:16
Speaker
I think if you get Alco or Leipold, you get them right away in December.
00:50:21
Speaker
And then our national nightmare is over.
00:50:25
Speaker
I agree.
00:50:25
Speaker
I don't think Smith's – I think we're going to know by the first week of December or the last week of November who the coach is regardless.
00:50:34
Speaker
And the only reason we'd wait to the first week of December is because we're targeting Jonathan Smith or we're targeting Jason Candle.
Tom Herman as a Candidate
00:50:45
Speaker
So there's a pretty big extreme there.
00:50:48
Speaker
So basically, if it is November 27th and we don't have a coach yet, it's probably because it's going to be one of those two.
00:51:01
Speaker
If they're still playing in their conference championship.
00:51:03
Speaker
That would be my guess.
00:51:05
Speaker
That's what it seems like they're trying to do.
00:51:07
Speaker
No, we cannot hire a fucking coach from the MAC.
00:51:10
Speaker
God damn it.
00:51:12
Speaker
Here's the name.
00:51:13
Speaker
And I kind of want to get your thoughts on him.
00:51:14
Speaker
I know...
00:51:15
Speaker
Another guy a lot of people have been linking kind of on message boards and stuff, below that Elko-Leopold-Smith tier, but kind of on that Jamie Chadwell tier, is Tom Herman.
00:51:31
Speaker
He won at Texas.
00:51:33
Speaker
He's the reason Texasisback.com had them as back for a good year, but he's also four and five at Florida Atlantic right now.
00:51:40
Speaker
So...
00:51:42
Speaker
No.
00:51:43
Speaker
No, man.
00:51:44
Speaker
I don't – I don't – no.
00:51:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:49
Speaker
Hard pass.
00:51:50
Speaker
I don't think he would want to come back up here.
Hiring Up-and-Comers vs. Experienced Coaches
00:51:52
Speaker
I don't think he'd want to be up here anyways.
00:51:54
Speaker
I don't either.
00:51:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:57
Speaker
Not a name for me.
00:51:58
Speaker
I think like – I think –
00:52:01
Speaker
I think one of the qualifications I have for a coach is that they need to be an up-and-comer.
00:52:06
Speaker
He's only 44, I think.
00:52:09
Speaker
No, but it's not just up-and-comer.
00:52:13
Speaker
I want to have a preference for somebody that hasn't failed before.
00:52:17
Speaker
I agree.
00:52:18
Speaker
Yeah, I think, like, we're not fucking Arizona.
00:52:21
Speaker
We're not FAU.
00:52:24
Speaker
We're not, like, the whatever.
00:52:27
Speaker
We need somebody that's demonstrated that they're trending up.
00:52:31
Speaker
And if you go from being fired at Texas to going 4-5 at FAU, you're not whatever.
00:52:38
Speaker
Yeah, the 4-5 at FAU scares me more than getting fired at Texas for being a dick.
00:52:42
Speaker
Yeah, because, like, fucking –
00:52:45
Speaker
What's his nuts at Mississippi?
00:52:47
Speaker
Lane
Jed Fish's Turnaround at Arizona
00:52:48
Speaker
Kiffin.
00:52:48
Speaker
Lane Kiffin actually did all right at FAU.
00:52:52
Speaker
Lane Kiffin only won 10 games there.
00:52:54
Speaker
I think I put Jet Fish actually at fifth on my list, now that you mention Arizona.
00:53:01
Speaker
I've seen him on names too.
00:53:03
Speaker
I've seen his name on list too.
00:53:06
Speaker
It's really impressive what he's done out there.
00:53:08
Speaker
I think you – I think – Yeah, Arizona's ranked, right?
00:53:11
Speaker
Yeah, they're like top 15, I think.
00:53:12
Speaker
I think anyone, Jed Fisher, above could walk an MSU next year win nine games.
00:53:17
Speaker
Eight or nine games.
00:53:19
Speaker
Fourth in the Pac-12.
00:53:21
Speaker
He goes, yeah, we've been sleeping on Jed Fish.
00:53:25
Speaker
I think Ryan brought Jed Fish up a few episodes ago.
00:53:30
Speaker
And I think a lot of us have been sleeping on it because they're just quietly winning a bunch of games on Pat 12 Network and nobody's watching them.
00:53:37
Speaker
But like, they're like... With a backup quarterback too.
Arizona's Competitiveness and Market Dynamics
00:53:44
Speaker
And who do they have left?
00:53:45
Speaker
They have Arizona State, NL.
00:53:49
Speaker
And then...
00:53:51
Speaker
Yeah, who do they have?
00:53:52
Speaker
Tell me.
00:53:53
Speaker
Wait, what?
00:53:53
Speaker
Arizona.
00:53:54
Speaker
Not Washington.
00:53:56
Speaker
Oh, they have Utah.
00:53:59
Speaker
So that's a big game.
00:54:00
Speaker
Yeah, they're going to have Utah and Arizona State.
00:54:02
Speaker
So they should win at least one of those.
00:54:04
Speaker
Yeah, and so then they win.
00:54:05
Speaker
They go 9-3, man.
00:54:06
Speaker
Or 8-4, 9-3, what is it?
00:54:07
Speaker
They can go – yeah, they can go 9-3.
00:54:10
Speaker
They can go 7-2 in the conference if they win out.
00:54:18
Speaker
That's pretty impressive.
00:54:19
Speaker
They'd probably finish fourth in the conference, wouldn't they?
00:54:22
Speaker
Or third, actually.
00:54:24
Speaker
Fourth?
Pac-12 Dynamics and Coaching Decisions
00:54:25
Speaker
I don't know.
00:54:29
Speaker
They would be tied for second because then if Oregon State wins out, that makes Oregon second place as well.
00:54:38
Speaker
Oregon would go seven and two.
00:54:40
Speaker
Oregon State would go to the back 12th title game in that case.
00:54:45
Speaker
Oregon State, yeah, because they would have the tiebreakers over everybody.
00:54:48
Speaker
Wait, no.
00:54:49
Speaker
Oregon State lost to Arizona.
00:54:53
Speaker
If Arizona goes 7-2, Arizona's going, yeah.
00:54:55
Speaker
Yeah, because, like, Oregon would have lost to Oregon State.
00:55:01
Speaker
I don't think they play Zona.
00:55:04
Speaker
Yeah, they don't play Arizona.
00:55:06
Speaker
Wait, so... Oregon... Where the fuck is this?
00:55:13
Speaker
Oh, right here.
00:55:14
Speaker
Yeah, they don't play Arizona.
00:55:16
Speaker
So, I think Oregon... I wonder...
00:55:18
Speaker
I think Arizona would go, actually, in that case.
00:55:23
Speaker
If it's UW.
00:55:24
Speaker
If they win out.
Media Narratives and Candidate Perceptions
00:55:26
Speaker
Oh, but if Oregon State.
00:55:28
Speaker
Oh, yeah, because Washington will be 8-1.
00:55:31
Speaker
Because they would have lost, too.
00:55:33
Speaker
Yeah, Washington's going to matter what.
00:55:35
Speaker
Because even if they lose to Oregon State, they're going to beat Wazoo.
00:55:40
Speaker
That game is in Seattle this year.
00:55:44
Speaker
Oh, fuck, yeah, I'm going to the Apple Cup.
00:55:48
Speaker
I'm going with Mabes.
00:55:49
Speaker
That'll be fun.
00:55:52
Speaker
I went with him to the Washington-Oregon game.
00:55:56
Speaker
That was a riot.
00:55:59
Speaker
I do have some videos of me telling people that we're going to hire Kaelin DeBoer.
00:56:03
Speaker
And they're like, fuck you, Ollie.
00:56:05
Speaker
Stay away from our coach.
00:56:07
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:56:08
Speaker
It'll be Utah versus, honestly, one of Oregon, Oregon State, or Arizona, depending on how things are shaking up.
00:56:14
Speaker
We have been sleeping on Jed Fish.
Jed Fish's Potential Fit
00:56:20
Speaker
I don't know why.
00:56:20
Speaker
I think a lot of people think he's going to the NFL.
00:56:24
Speaker
I'd still pick him.
00:56:27
Speaker
Oh, because he coached at Michigan.
00:56:30
Speaker
Well, that and also because I think he was really bad the last couple of years.
00:56:34
Speaker
But he's thrown that thing around.
00:56:36
Speaker
It's really impressive what he's done out there.
00:56:38
Speaker
Yeah, he was 1-11 his first year, 5-7, now 7-3.
00:56:40
Speaker
It's been a hell of a turnaround.
00:56:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's – we'll see.
00:56:50
Speaker
We'll see how they do.
00:56:51
Speaker
I mean, we'll see how they do.
00:56:54
Speaker
They did beat – yeah, they did beat Oregon State.
00:56:56
Speaker
So – and they took USC to the wire, but he did make some dumb fucking mistakes that are very Ross Owls-ish.
MSU's Search Scope and Criteria
00:57:05
Speaker
And I think that's like – Well, that's the crazy thing is they've actually gotten better every week.
00:57:10
Speaker
Like they started out, I think, like two and two.
00:57:13
Speaker
They lost to Mississippi State.
00:57:14
Speaker
They lost to USC with a backup quarterback.
00:57:17
Speaker
And then they've slowly just kind of turned into this, like, juggernaut.
00:57:21
Speaker
Well, yeah.
00:57:22
Speaker
Well, I guess, yeah, maybe Jed Fish will be our number fives.
00:57:26
Speaker
But fuck hiring someone from the MAC.
00:57:29
Speaker
And so, I guess, like...
00:57:33
Speaker
we can talk about like stuff in the media.
00:57:35
Speaker
I heard David Hards has David Hards has a list and we are anybody that we haven't talked about is on that list or what?
00:57:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:44
Speaker
Dave Flosson, Wake Forest coach.
00:57:47
Speaker
So I think what he said was that, um, he heard that four people were MSU reached out to, and there's going to be more, there's going to be at least 10 people interviewed.
00:57:57
Speaker
Um, but the four that he heard, um,
00:58:00
Speaker
That MSU for sure was good interview.
00:58:02
Speaker
Dave Klaassen of – I'm Dave Klaassen, and I didn't know that I had Kenneth Walker on my team, Dave
Evaluating Prospects on Performance
00:58:08
Speaker
Klaassen.
00:58:08
Speaker
That Dave Klaassen, yep.
00:58:09
Speaker
Dave Klaassen of – I run the absolute most gimmicky, shitty offense on the planet.
00:58:16
Speaker
That Dave Klaassen.
00:58:17
Speaker
Dave Klaassen, my star quarterback, transferred away to Notre Dame.
00:58:21
Speaker
Dave Klaassen.
00:58:22
Speaker
Yep, that one.
00:58:24
Speaker
Actually, I did look at his draft record.
00:58:25
Speaker
It's not as bad as you would think for a guy who would let Kenneth Walker walk away.
00:58:30
Speaker
He's made seven straight bowls there or something like that, which is not an easy thing to do.
00:58:36
Speaker
I would not.
00:58:37
Speaker
He'd be pretty low on the list, but... Late stage, Mark D'Antonio still made bowls.
00:58:43
Speaker
He won 11 games there, too.
00:58:46
Speaker
Anyways, what were the names besides Dave Klaassen?
00:58:50
Speaker
Dickert, Klaassen...
00:58:53
Speaker
Leopold and Smith.
00:58:58
Speaker
So the fact Smith's on that list is kind of a big deal to me just because that shows he's willing to lead more than a slate if needed.
00:59:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:59:07
Speaker
Well,
00:59:09
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that seems about right.
00:59:12
Speaker
I mean, it doesn't have any of the dumb shit names we heard from the beginning, like Pat Narduzzi.
00:59:18
Speaker
You know we're dumb.
00:59:19
Speaker
You know, I'll give the media credit.
00:59:21
Speaker
They've gaslit us so damn hard with names like Pat Narduzzi and Pat Shermer that I'm out here trying to spin Dave Klaassen as a good coach.
00:59:31
Speaker
Yeah, no, exactly.
00:59:34
Speaker
It's manufacturing there.
00:59:35
Speaker
Manufactured consent.
00:59:37
Speaker
Gotta build that consent for those shit names.
00:59:39
Speaker
Put little Sparty back in their place.
00:59:41
Speaker
Motherfucker goes 8-5 at Wake Forest.
00:59:45
Speaker
And I'm like, that's pretty good.
00:59:46
Speaker
I guess the...
00:59:53
Speaker
Other media narratives I kind of wanted to get into and wanted to get your thoughts on.
00:59:58
Speaker
And I know you're probably pretty vocal about this, but you're still banned from Twitter because free speech
Strategic Positioning in Coaching Market
01:00:03
Speaker
is illegal again.
01:00:03
Speaker
Thanks, Elon.
01:00:06
Speaker
Yeah.
01:00:08
Speaker
What's your thoughts on why – I want to hear your take or thoughts on why the Texas A&M lists are always better than MSU lists.
01:00:17
Speaker
Because they bought their coach out for $75 million, which –
01:00:21
Speaker
makes sense when you ignore the fact that MSU would have done the same thing.
01:00:28
Speaker
Yeah.
01:00:29
Speaker
So I'll give you, I'll give you the, so I brought Andy Staples lists for MSU and A&M.
01:00:37
Speaker
So here's the, here's the A&M list.
01:00:40
Speaker
And you tell me if you notice the difference between this.
01:00:42
Speaker
So the A&M list is Elko, Dan Lanning, Mike Norvell, Kalen DeBoer,
01:00:50
Speaker
Lance Leopold, Jonathan Smith, Jet Fish, Jeff Traylor, Urban Meyer, Sharon Moore, Dan Campbell, Dan Quinn.
01:01:05
Speaker
Which, take Dan Campbell's name aside, that's basically the list I wanted for MSU.
01:01:11
Speaker
Yep.
01:01:12
Speaker
Those are people that we've talked about.
01:01:14
Speaker
Dan Lanning, DeBoer.
01:01:16
Speaker
Yeah, those are people I think could all –
01:01:19
Speaker
get because I think we could double their salary if needed.
Financial Dynamics in Big Programs
01:01:24
Speaker
Here's the MSU list now.
01:01:27
Speaker
Sharron Moore, Brian Hartline, Alex Adkins, Dave Klaassen, Willie Fritz, Jamie Chadwell, Sean Lewis.
01:01:44
Speaker
So not a single power five coach, by the way.
01:01:47
Speaker
I just want to throw that out there.
01:01:49
Speaker
except for Dave Clawson.
01:01:51
Speaker
So like, I don't even think the MSU list is qualified to take over the Northwestern job.
01:01:57
Speaker
Yeah.
01:02:00
Speaker
I think because people think – because these are – Andy Staples is a national guy, right?
01:02:04
Speaker
Yeah.
01:02:06
Speaker
I don't think he is – because, like, to him, this is the Michigan State of 2001 where we didn't want to spend money.
01:02:14
Speaker
We let Nick Saban go because we didn't want to spend money on football.
Role of Boosters in Coaching Decisions
01:02:18
Speaker
And –
01:02:19
Speaker
conveniently, probably Andy Staples was probably, I don't, I don't know much about him, but like, I would assume he's probably one of those people that made fun of Michigan state for giving Mel Tucker the a hundred million dollar contract.
01:02:31
Speaker
Everyone fucking did.
01:02:33
Speaker
It's the dumbest thing.
01:02:34
Speaker
But then completely forgets that we just fucking did that.
01:02:38
Speaker
Right.
01:02:39
Speaker
And then it was like, oh, no, Michigan State, puddle program, doesn't want to spend money on football.
01:02:45
Speaker
Best they can do is these, like, rejects and up-and-comers.
01:02:49
Speaker
They're going to use the program as a stepping stone.
01:02:52
Speaker
Like, also for fucking – also forgetting that A&M's never been to the college football playoff.
01:03:00
Speaker
A&M.
01:03:02
Speaker
I don't think they've won a conference championship after 9-11.
01:03:08
Speaker
Last one was 98 in the Big 12.
01:03:11
Speaker
Yeah, and then they, like, I redacted their fan base in a bonfire.
01:03:19
Speaker
I'm going to edit that one out, too.
01:03:21
Speaker
Fucking Christ.
01:03:21
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going to edit that one out.
Aligning Coaching Priorities with Goals
01:03:29
Speaker
Yeah, it's like...
01:03:31
Speaker
And you're dealing with like the worst boosters.
01:03:35
Speaker
Like you're, you're dealing with like people that are going to get up all up in your shit, all up in your business.
01:03:42
Speaker
Like,
01:03:43
Speaker
Yeah, like we have weird billionaires and like we have like one of our billionaires like hires all of his basketball friends, all of his teammates from the 2000 basketball team to be motivational speakers for his company.
01:03:58
Speaker
I fully understand that A&M has more money than us.
01:04:01
Speaker
And I fully understand that if it comes down to a bidding war with us and A&M, they're probably winning.
01:04:06
Speaker
But you know who doesn't have more money than us?
01:04:10
Speaker
Florida State, Ole Miss,
01:04:13
Speaker
And Washington.
01:04:15
Speaker
So why is it that A&M gets linked to these guys while I'm stuck hearing Brian Hartline's name or Jim Leonard's name?
01:04:22
Speaker
And I'm glad we kind of finally moved past that and at least like respectable and like Lance Leopold and Mike Elko.
01:04:28
Speaker
But come the fuck on, man.
01:04:31
Speaker
Yeah.
Program Reputations and Media Narratives
01:04:36
Speaker
I guess the other thing is like maybe giving them the benefit of the doubt.
01:04:41
Speaker
Like, oh, these teams are coming to the Big Ten anyway.
01:04:43
Speaker
These are coaches and teams that are coming to the Big Ten anyway.
01:04:46
Speaker
Why would they make a lateral move when they can go to the south like where the football is better?
01:04:52
Speaker
I can see like Dan Lanning wanting to go back to the south.
01:04:55
Speaker
I think Dan Lanning is the only name on there that A&M is – it's probably significantly more realistic for A&M than for us.
01:05:02
Speaker
But I don't think it's realistic for A&M either.
01:05:05
Speaker
Yeah.
01:05:06
Speaker
I will say that I do think that Urban Meyer being rumored here kind of changed people's perceptions on us for a minute.
01:05:14
Speaker
So even if they didn't think Urban Meyer's coming here, they at least decided to start giving us respectable names instead of fucking Jason Candle.
01:05:22
Speaker
Yeah.
01:05:24
Speaker
But now they're getting us Jason Candle again.
01:05:26
Speaker
Yeah.
01:05:28
Speaker
Well, we still have the other names out there.
01:05:31
Speaker
I will say, I think the reason why this is happening is I love Mark D'Antonio, but man, we really, really, really beat home that Lesbeth Mort thing.
Impact of Historical Success on Hiring
01:05:42
Speaker
Like our Rose Bowl team was full of two stars, like Danico Salon and shit, but our playoff team was full of three, like high three, low four stars.
01:05:48
Speaker
It was like a top 25-ish, top 20-ish almost roster by talent.
01:05:54
Speaker
People have this idea of us as the little engine that could, well, A&M's pulling like the number one recruiting class, which...
01:06:01
Speaker
Fine, if you want to say they're a better job than us, but we're not some kind of just poverty program.
01:06:06
Speaker
It's not like Rutgers made a college football playoff.
01:06:10
Speaker
By the way, didn't the one guy that transferred out of A&M...
01:06:18
Speaker
and that number one recruiting class came, didn't he come here and now he's back in the transfer portal?
01:06:23
Speaker
Yeah, the defensive lineman, right?
01:06:24
Speaker
Yeah, Tudemisa at LA or whatever.
01:06:26
Speaker
Something like that, yeah.
01:06:28
Speaker
I don't think that number one recruiting class amounted to much.
01:06:31
Speaker
It didn't, but I think the fact you can pull that class to begin with is what's
Competitive Nature of Coaching Market
01:06:35
Speaker
impressive.
01:06:35
Speaker
But, like, we're not some, like, little sisters.
01:06:37
Speaker
Like, my whole point is,
01:06:41
Speaker
If you think a coach could go to A&M, there's a 95% chance that that same coach could come to MSU.
01:06:49
Speaker
Yeah, especially with the money that we're going to drop.
01:06:51
Speaker
Right.
01:06:52
Speaker
I think we deserve a list closer to that of a top 20-ish job.
01:06:56
Speaker
Like a job like Washington or a job like UCLA or something like that.
01:07:01
Speaker
And we got the full Big Ten payout.
01:07:03
Speaker
Yeah, we're definitely in a better position than some of these programs that are coming in for sure.
01:07:08
Speaker
I would say though, Oregon is definitely in decent enough shape because they still have Phil Knight money.
01:07:15
Speaker
And I think like I did get into an argument with this with some of my UW friends about Caitlin DeBoer and their money.
01:07:22
Speaker
And we're like, oh, yeah, no, we got money, man.
01:07:24
Speaker
We got tech billionaires.
01:07:26
Speaker
We got Gates money.
01:07:28
Speaker
They have money.
01:07:29
Speaker
I just don't know how much they want to use it or spend it.
01:07:31
Speaker
So like Oregon State, one of their biggest graduates is actually the CEO of NVIDIA.
01:07:35
Speaker
He's not spending goddamn shit on the rest of the time.
01:07:39
Speaker
He probably doesn't even know that, like, yeah, Oregon State has a fucking football team.
01:07:42
Speaker
Right.
01:07:42
Speaker
He probably spent all of his time in the engineering building.
01:07:45
Speaker
Right.
01:07:46
Speaker
If having a rich alumni was the precursor to having a good football program, Stanford would be the best football program in the country.
01:07:51
Speaker
Yeah.
01:07:52
Speaker
I mean, like, Bill Gates isn't going to spend money on fucking football.
01:07:55
Speaker
He's spending money on, like, buying up all land in the U.S. and shit and, like, focusing on birth rates in Africa.
01:08:01
Speaker
Yeah.
01:08:02
Speaker
A very strong focus on – a very weird focus on birth rates in Africa if you ask me.
01:08:09
Speaker
But yeah, we can – I don't want to digress.
01:08:13
Speaker
I'm not going to touch that one.
01:08:15
Speaker
Yeah.
01:08:17
Speaker
Thankfully, we only have like five listeners.
01:08:20
Speaker
But yeah, I agree with you.
01:08:22
Speaker
I just like – yeah, I mean people are just going to like –
01:08:25
Speaker
like national media is just going to give us shit and
MSU's Strategic Goals and Initiatives
01:08:29
Speaker
shit names and all that stuff.
01:08:30
Speaker
But I mean, fortunately, like we've been like,
01:08:35
Speaker
We've been without a coach now for two months.
01:08:38
Speaker
I think the hiring committee has had plenty of time to do their research on all these people.
01:08:45
Speaker
And the thing I'm looking forward to is that we're showing that we're going to spend the money.
01:08:50
Speaker
And we did that with the masturbator extraordinaire.
01:08:57
Speaker
The rumor is that $5 to $7 million is what they're going to aim for for the next coach.
01:09:02
Speaker
Okay.
01:09:03
Speaker
I think we hired Tucker in six.
01:09:05
Speaker
So, that's kind of right on par with that.
01:09:07
Speaker
Yeah.
01:09:10
Speaker
But, yeah, I mean, I'm sure they're right.
01:09:14
Speaker
So, you know what's really wild is that we're two and ten or we're going to go three and nine or whatever the fuck on our job somehow.
01:09:19
Speaker
We might go four and eight.
01:09:20
Speaker
We might go four
Future Outlook for MSU's Search
01:09:21
Speaker
and eight.
01:09:21
Speaker
Oh, you know, I hope we'd be that clown.
01:09:23
Speaker
Dude, we could be the bullet in Tom Allen's career too.
01:09:26
Speaker
Yeah.
01:09:27
Speaker
Harlan Barnett would be.
01:09:28
Speaker
I would go from hating Harlan Barnett to loving Harlan Barnett if you could put it on Tom Hell's career.
01:09:35
Speaker
But we're going to go 3-9, 4-8, and our job in front of the national media somehow improved, like our standing.
01:09:42
Speaker
It's kind of weird, but I guess I'll take it.
01:09:46
Speaker
Damn, Flowers is – I'm watching the Thursday night football game right now.
01:09:51
Speaker
Flowers just pulled off a huge run.
01:09:54
Speaker
Oh, flag.
01:09:55
Speaker
No, it's coming back, holding.
01:09:56
Speaker
Oh, are you watching the pit game or the NFL game?
01:09:59
Speaker
NFL game.
01:10:00
Speaker
Oh yeah.
01:10:01
Speaker
No, I think, yeah, I, we're, we're not, we're, I have a little bit of faith that we're going to do the due diligence and hire, uh, we're going to do our research on the coach that we hire.
Potential for Emergency Podcast Episodes
01:10:15
Speaker
I don't think we're going to, we're, we're in a good spot and that we're not going to rush into it.
01:10:22
Speaker
Yeah.
01:10:22
Speaker
And I think there's like plenty of, there's there, we named off three to four good candidates.
01:10:27
Speaker
Um,
01:10:28
Speaker
that are not only good, but also realistic.
01:10:33
Speaker
I think like the next week or two, next two weeks are going to be pretty fun.
01:10:37
Speaker
And I think we might have some emergency pods coming
Reflection on MSU and College Football Landscape
01:10:42
Speaker
up.
01:10:42
Speaker
Though one thing I will say also is that Haller's had a pretty good track record hiring coaches in non-rev sports.
01:10:51
Speaker
So just based on that, I –
01:10:55
Speaker
do tend to be a little bit more optimistic about who we're going to hire this cycle.
01:10:58
Speaker
Yeah.
01:10:59
Speaker
And if we do go off the board and hire someone like Jason candle, I have, I have, I'm going to be unsure about it, but I have seen enough of a track record from the people making the hire to maybe be a little bit optimistic about it.
01:11:17
Speaker
Right.
01:11:18
Speaker
So just full on nuking the program.
01:11:21
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, if they go and hire Jason Candle and say, all right, we're going to give you a shot here, but we're unsure.
01:11:27
Speaker
We're going to pay you $4 million a year because it's more than what Toledo is paying you.
01:11:32
Speaker
But here's a buttload of money for assistance because we're going to give you a shot, but we want you to go and get the best assistance you can buy.
01:11:40
Speaker
I don't know.
01:11:44
Speaker
We'll see.
01:11:45
Speaker
He has to get a new offensive line coach.
01:11:48
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
01:11:50
Speaker
So yeah, I think like moving forward, since we're in the, I know we haven't been exactly...
01:12:02
Speaker
punctual with uh episodes but that's because the content drops haven't been frequent but as the news heats up you will probably be seeing more of us uh maybe an emergency pod here there maybe some shorter episodes to uh discuss hot button topics uh we don't know anything gonna happen but it could be a basketball version of this podcast
01:12:28
Speaker
Yeah, if we fire Tom Izzo, because we're not going to fire him.
01:12:35
Speaker
But I think the shtick might be wearing out on a lot of people, especially with – I don't know.
01:12:42
Speaker
I haven't been – I'm not getting – I haven't been upset about basketball like other people are.
01:12:48
Speaker
I'm like – I've been very disconnected from sports lately.
01:12:51
Speaker
for reasons that if you follow me on Twitter, you'd probably understand.
01:12:56
Speaker
But yeah, I think like moving forward, we might do like shorter episodes as the news drops, more reaction episodes, more emergency pods, that kind of stuff.
01:13:08
Speaker
We have lives, so we can't give you two hours of content every time.
01:13:12
Speaker
But yeah, I think we're going to wrap it up there.
01:13:16
Speaker
I'm Ali and we got Zanjo on the other end and Ryan is getting it on right now.
01:13:23
Speaker
Maybe.
01:13:23
Speaker
I hope whoever... It's going to be like that scene in American Pie with that one foreign chick.
01:13:31
Speaker
I hope whoever Ryan's on this date with will never listen to this podcast.
01:13:35
Speaker
I mean...
01:13:36
Speaker
Bless her heart if she makes it to the end of this episode, if she does.
01:13:40
Speaker
But I don't think she ever will.
01:13:44
Speaker
But yeah.
01:13:44
Speaker
Anyways, I'm Ali.
01:13:47
Speaker
On behalf of The Search, we'll see you next time.