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00:00:01
Episode 5: A Ballad of Milkmen and Elkolytes
302 Plays2 years ago
Things are cookin' in East Lansing. At time of recording, we were rumored to be down to two candidates and we deep dive into the two candidates. Zanjo's mic then goes AWOL (we stick to the brand) and by the end of the episode, the whisky takes over.
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Transcript
Anticipation for New Coach
00:00:00
Speaker
Alright everybody, welcome to another episode of The Search.
00:00:03
Speaker
I am Ali, joined by Spartan Ryan and Ben from Twitter, Zanjo.
00:00:09
Speaker
How's everybody doing today?
00:00:11
Speaker
Oh, I think we're about to have a new coach in the next few days, so can't really complain.
00:00:17
Speaker
Ben from Wi-Fi now, so what's that?
00:00:21
Speaker
Oh, yeah, I know.
00:00:22
Speaker
So, like, are you on dial-up?
00:00:26
Speaker
Yeah, man, I don't know where I'm getting in my cave right now, but...
00:00:29
Speaker
Are you in a cave in Afghanistan because you're hanging out with your fellow Texas A&M buddies?
00:00:39
Speaker
Yeah, dude, we're throwing oil money, trying to talk about how Jimbo was actually a failure, Elko's the next future guy, you know, all that shit.
00:00:50
Speaker
I mean, I thought Elko, from what I hear, Elko wants to have nothing to do with your friends.
00:00:55
Speaker
He's not going there.
00:00:57
Speaker
It's going to be trailers.
00:00:59
Speaker
That's fine.
00:01:00
Speaker
We'll build a bonfire or something and hopefully it doesn't collapse again.
00:01:03
Speaker
It's cool.
00:01:04
Speaker
I want Lane to go there so bad.
00:01:06
Speaker
I want Lane to go to A&M.
00:01:08
Speaker
All right.
00:01:08
Speaker
We're like two minutes in.
00:01:09
Speaker
We're already off the rails.
00:01:11
Speaker
Anyways, the reason we're shooting from the hip today, folks, is because for those that have been following, the search has accelerated significantly in the past four or five days, I would say.
Final Candidates: Elko vs Smith
00:01:24
Speaker
Probably more significantly in the past two, three days.
00:01:28
Speaker
So let's fill you in on what's happened.
00:01:30
Speaker
Basically, we're down to two candidates, just like it's the last episode of a season of The Bachelor.
00:01:37
Speaker
For those that have not been paying attention, those final two candidates appear to be Mike Elko out of Duke and Jonathan Smith out of Oregon State.
00:01:47
Speaker
And boy, holy shit, it does feel like a lot more hopeful around these parts than it was, say, like six weeks ago when...
00:01:59
Speaker
we started the losing streak or like for me, like four months ago when I realized, shit, like we haven't, we were going to have another three years of Mel Tucker.
00:02:10
Speaker
So, I mean, I'm over here sitting in, in Western Washington with my hope hat on watching after watching Oregon state football last week, despite them losing, being like, that guy is probably the guy.
00:02:29
Speaker
Let's start off.
00:02:31
Speaker
Let's talk about a future or let's talk about the candidate that will make us the milkman, a.k.a.
00:02:36
Speaker
Jonathan Smith.
00:02:38
Speaker
I'll start off with you, Ryan.
00:02:40
Speaker
All right.
00:02:41
Speaker
So, Smith, I would be excited about him, but...
00:02:48
Speaker
I mean, obviously he's a great offensive mind.
00:02:51
Speaker
He's had a great offensive line for the last couple of years.
00:02:55
Speaker
Um, Oregon state is one of the toughest places to win at in all of college football.
00:03:01
Speaker
Like how it's so hard to recruit kids to go play in Corvallis, Oregon.
00:03:05
Speaker
I mean, he's had a chance to win on Saturday.
00:03:10
Speaker
Right.
00:03:10
Speaker
They, they, every time I watched them play and I've watched a decent amount of their games.
00:03:16
Speaker
Um, um,
00:03:17
Speaker
They play tough.
00:03:18
Speaker
They play smart.
00:03:19
Speaker
They don't make stupid mental mistakes.
00:03:23
Speaker
They look like a well-coached football team.
00:03:26
Speaker
My only problem with Smith, in reality...
00:03:31
Speaker
And one, he said this earlier, and I actually have been saying this from the beginning when Smith, since we started talking about him like two months ago, he has no Midwest ties.
00:03:44
Speaker
So he would have to hire multiple guys that have Midwest ties to be able to recruit.
00:03:53
Speaker
And I understand that Midwest recruiting doesn't mean as much as it did, say, 10, 15 years ago, right?
00:03:59
Speaker
Because...
00:04:01
Speaker
The Midwest, honestly, the talent has went down in the last 10 to 15 years because a lot of people are going south and there's more population down there or there's more people on the West Coast.
00:04:11
Speaker
But you cannot completely neglect it.
00:04:15
Speaker
My issue with what Mel Tucker did, I understand.
00:04:20
Speaker
Yeah, I understand.
00:04:22
Speaker
He didn't... Ohio, the talent there has went down in the last 10 years, right?
00:04:27
Speaker
But he completely neglected it.
00:04:29
Speaker
And...
00:04:32
Speaker
Like, he tried to go after, like, the biggest fish he possibly could, and they didn't have backup options, and they got screwed.
00:04:38
Speaker
Yeah, where I think Tucker failed really was the plan B's and C's from the Midwest.
00:04:42
Speaker
Right.
00:04:43
Speaker
Exactly.
00:04:44
Speaker
So, I think, and I brought this up on Twitter today, I think that the one thing Jonathan Smith would have to do, I think he's got to retain Courtney Hawkins, right?
00:04:53
Speaker
Like, you can't not bring him back.
00:04:57
Speaker
I'll go one step further.
00:04:58
Speaker
I'll even say he's got to retain Barnett in an off-field role.
00:05:02
Speaker
just because that's familiar with the program.
00:05:03
Speaker
And I, I agree with that.
00:05:08
Speaker
That's my, that's my biggest reservation.
00:05:10
Speaker
It has nothing to do with football.
00:05:12
Speaker
It has everything to do with, is he a culture fan?
00:05:15
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with everything you said regarding him, how Oregon state plays, but I'll push back a little on how important Midwest ties are.
00:05:24
Speaker
Um,
00:05:25
Speaker
In my opinion, I think you can't build a sustained winner at MSU anymore by focusing on the Midwest.
00:05:32
Speaker
You're going to have to go national in some regard.
00:05:34
Speaker
I agree.
00:05:35
Speaker
I agree with that.
00:05:36
Speaker
You can't completely deflect it.
00:05:38
Speaker
That's the problem.
00:05:39
Speaker
Yeah, no, I agree.
Recruitment Strategies and Challenges
00:05:41
Speaker
Your plan B's and C's are probably just naturally going to come from the Midwest, specifically Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, just because that's the nature of MSU.
00:05:49
Speaker
But I think if he casts a wide enough net and he doesn't do what Tucker did and just refuse to recruit plan B's and C's, it doesn't matter if they're from Georgia or Ohio or California.
00:06:00
Speaker
You just need to make sure they're there.
00:06:02
Speaker
I think Tucker's recruiting strategy is actually long-term the way to go here.
00:06:08
Speaker
I don't love they completely neglected Ohio, but
00:06:12
Speaker
I do like the type of talent he brought in.
00:06:15
Speaker
And I think if he'd just been less arrogant, I guess, about his chances to land some of the top tier talent,
00:06:23
Speaker
He relied too heavily on the portal.
00:06:25
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:06:26
Speaker
And the thing with him is, and I guess we're kind of going off topic here, but the thing with him is he made bad staff fires, right?
00:06:34
Speaker
That is one of the big reasons why things were trending in the direction they were, because he made bad staff fires.
00:06:40
Speaker
Who was that recruiting coordinator they had for the longest time?
00:06:43
Speaker
Khalid.
00:06:43
Speaker
That guy was a total clown.
00:06:45
Speaker
Total clown.
00:06:46
Speaker
See, it's not just transfer portals to me.
00:06:48
Speaker
It's the fact that he thought that Pancake Concho was coming here and had no backup plan for when he wouldn't.
00:06:53
Speaker
I mean, look at – there was a stat in that athletic article today from Vanini.
00:06:59
Speaker
They had 36 dudes in on officials that summer, right?
00:07:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:03
Speaker
Only six of them signed here.
00:07:06
Speaker
Which, like, that is a horrible hit rate.
00:07:09
Speaker
It's a horrible hit rate.
00:07:10
Speaker
The fact that they didn't have any backup plans is ridiculous.
00:07:13
Speaker
That's the point.
00:07:15
Speaker
That's the real issue, I think.
00:07:16
Speaker
Like, six out of 36, you're looking at four or five stars coming off of, what, basically one good year in four years.
00:07:23
Speaker
That feels like an okay hit rate.
00:07:27
Speaker
It's the fact that you're not hitting on the high three stars after that.
00:07:30
Speaker
That's the real issue.
00:07:32
Speaker
It's like he had small classes.
00:07:34
Speaker
I mean, there were multiple dudes that he wouldn't take because of size restrictions.
00:07:40
Speaker
I mean, I understood it in theory, but a guy like Marcus Rush wouldn't have been at Michigan State if Mel Tucker was the coach.
00:07:52
Speaker
I don't like the way that he limited things.
00:07:58
Speaker
Right.
00:07:58
Speaker
Wow.
00:07:59
Speaker
Like what was wrong with Petrowski?
00:08:02
Speaker
Right.
00:08:02
Speaker
Right.
00:08:03
Speaker
The thing is you can't win at a high level here by relying on those guys.
00:08:08
Speaker
Of course.
00:08:09
Speaker
You don't want to take a lot of those guys, but neglecting it completely is ridiculous.
00:08:16
Speaker
It's like recruiting Ohio.
00:08:18
Speaker
Right.
00:08:19
Speaker
The one thing I do kind of like about Jonathan Smith is he comes from a program that's built by those guys.
00:08:25
Speaker
So I don't think we're going to have to worry about that going forward so much as someone like Tucker who came from Georgia.
00:08:32
Speaker
You know what I'm saying.
00:08:36
Speaker
And then Jonathan Smith's history is being at programs and working on staffs where they won with lesser talent.
00:08:45
Speaker
Maybe the exception might have been UW where he was the offensive coordinator where like –
00:08:51
Speaker
But even then, like, UW recruiting during that point wasn't even that great.
00:08:56
Speaker
It was similar to Michigan State's.
00:08:59
Speaker
I think Jonathan Smith is a lot more Mark D'Antonio in him and the way he recruits and the way he builds his program than he does, like, Mel Tucker.
00:09:05
Speaker
Well, both of these guys, honestly, both of them.
00:09:10
Speaker
I think Elko's got more of the blue blood type.
00:09:14
Speaker
He's got more of that, like, recruiting and high-level recruiting type thing going on.
00:09:21
Speaker
I think both of them have some similarities to Antonio, but I think Elko is much more similar to Antonio than Smith.
00:09:29
Speaker
I think Johnson Smith is, actually.
00:09:32
Speaker
I don't.
00:09:34
Speaker
Smith is a West Coast dude.
00:09:36
Speaker
He also built this program off tough power running, lowly recruited guys.
00:09:46
Speaker
A couple big players.
00:09:47
Speaker
They held UW.
00:09:48
Speaker
Sorry for interrupting, Zandra.
00:09:51
Speaker
They held UW to like 70 yards in the second half.
00:09:54
Speaker
Right.
00:09:54
Speaker
It's under 200 yards passing.
00:09:56
Speaker
It's some of the most insane high level.
00:10:00
Speaker
Like they should not.
00:10:01
Speaker
They have no business being this good defensively.
00:10:03
Speaker
I just want to throw that.
00:10:03
Speaker
And that is another point.
00:10:04
Speaker
That is another point I wanted to bring up.
00:10:06
Speaker
And you kind of brought it up for me, Ali.
00:10:08
Speaker
That.
00:10:11
Speaker
Jonathan Smith is a great in-game adjustments coach if you watch their games.
00:10:17
Speaker
I mean, he is really good.
00:10:21
Speaker
The only problem with that game on Saturday is they got away from the run on the last drive.
00:10:27
Speaker
They tried to put it in DJ's hand, and they could have just kept running the ball.
00:10:30
Speaker
Right.
00:10:31
Speaker
The only problem is the fact that they're relying on DJ as a quarterback to begin with.
00:10:35
Speaker
Well, and another point I want to make, he's got a really good quarterback.
00:10:42
Speaker
Yup.
00:10:43
Speaker
He does.
00:10:43
Speaker
Who can transfer.
00:10:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:45
Speaker
Childs, right?
00:10:47
Speaker
That's another thing where I'm like, oh, that's kind of intriguing.
00:10:50
Speaker
I mean, he got a top 100 kid from California to go to freaking Corvallis.
00:10:57
Speaker
Someone told me.
00:10:58
Speaker
That is insane.
00:11:00
Speaker
I saw today that I guess he was also Jake Browning's primary recruiter at Washington.
00:11:05
Speaker
I don't know if that's true or not, but.
00:11:07
Speaker
He's got some ties to Sam Levitt.
00:11:09
Speaker
He didn't offer him, but I guess he recruited him.
00:11:13
Speaker
Doesn't matter if we get Childs.
00:11:14
Speaker
That's where I'm at, too.
00:11:16
Speaker
I want both of them.
00:11:18
Speaker
I want them to battle it out in the fall.
00:11:19
Speaker
And here's a nice thing, the appeal.
00:11:23
Speaker
If we get Smith and then he can be like, all right, I'm going to bring the people that I want to bring over.
00:11:27
Speaker
He brings Childs over and be like, all right, hey, Childs, guess what?
00:11:30
Speaker
You can play in Southern California now.
00:11:32
Speaker
So two things.
00:11:33
Speaker
That's true.
00:11:34
Speaker
Number one.
00:11:36
Speaker
Regardless, and I kind of touched on this with bringing up the DJU thing.
00:11:41
Speaker
Jonathan Smith has done a terrific job getting the best out of every quarterback he's had.
00:11:45
Speaker
Jake Browning, DJU, the guy Oregon fitted before that.
00:11:50
Speaker
Regardless of who he brings over, I trust in his ability to have them playing at a high level.
00:11:58
Speaker
And number two is if he's hired,
00:12:01
Speaker
It has to include him bringing over his offensive line coach because holy hell, those guys rake, man.
00:12:09
Speaker
Those guys are incredible.
00:12:12
Speaker
The way that offensive line is coach is something we haven't seen here since the playoff year.
00:12:16
Speaker
It's genuinely... One thing about Smith that also kind of worries me, I guess this is actually football-related, but...
00:12:28
Speaker
I think if he leaves and he comes here, his defensive coordinator is going to get the Oregon State job.
00:12:35
Speaker
Yeah, I was going to say that too.
00:12:37
Speaker
That is one thing that worries me.
00:12:38
Speaker
Then you hire Jim Leonard.
00:12:41
Speaker
Yeah, Jim Leonard.
00:12:42
Speaker
Fuck, man.
00:12:42
Speaker
Patton Arduz might get fired this year.
00:12:45
Speaker
No, no, no.
00:12:49
Speaker
No, I'm not.
00:12:51
Speaker
I guess I'm not saying no, I don't want him.
00:12:52
Speaker
I guess I will say no, I don't want him as a DC because his system doesn't work anymore.
00:12:58
Speaker
I don't know, man.
00:12:59
Speaker
You can't run press coverage like that anymore.
00:13:01
Speaker
It doesn't work.
00:13:02
Speaker
Their defense is still pretty good.
00:13:04
Speaker
The problem they have there is he's a fucking arrogant little shit who thinks that offense doesn't matter.
00:13:09
Speaker
Their defense is still pretty good.
00:13:11
Speaker
He's not getting fired.
00:13:13
Speaker
He's still getting another year.
00:13:16
Speaker
Ex and all schematics aside, whoever... If Haller interviewed Jonathan Smith and did not specifically ask him, hey, what's your defensive coordinator plan?
00:13:27
Speaker
If
00:13:28
Speaker
if Bray stays at Oregon State, that's, I don't know what we're doing here.
00:13:34
Speaker
We need to have a good defensive coordinator lined up, and I think Jonathan started at some point.
00:13:38
Speaker
You don't want another Scottie again?
00:13:41
Speaker
Fuck Scottie.
00:13:44
Speaker
Yeah, no, what I think is if he doesn't bring the offensive coordinator in, that's your Midwest coordinator.
00:13:50
Speaker
You find a defensive coordinator with Midwest ties, and I think Jonathan Smith has an eye for talent, right?
00:13:56
Speaker
Because he clearly – he figured out he has a good offensive line coach.
00:14:00
Speaker
He was able to make – build
Midwest vs National Recruitment Debate
00:14:01
Speaker
a staff with that.
00:14:02
Speaker
Clearly has a good defensive coordinator.
00:14:05
Speaker
And he's an offensive mind.
00:14:06
Speaker
Like, the guy has an eye for talent, which he learned from Chris Peterson, who also has – yeah.
00:14:10
Speaker
So, like, I'm not worried about him not finding the right person if he can't bring him over.
00:14:16
Speaker
And maybe he'll be like, hey, I need someone that knows the area that can help me out with this here.
00:14:21
Speaker
But, yeah, no, I would agree.
00:14:23
Speaker
That would be hiring a couple of assistants, like, defensive staff.
00:14:28
Speaker
Jim Leonard's an option.
00:14:29
Speaker
Leonard's an option.
00:14:31
Speaker
Hell, you want to bring Mike Trestle back?
00:14:34
Speaker
Yes.
00:14:36
Speaker
I think I'd rather have Jim Leonard.
00:14:37
Speaker
I'm all for it.
00:14:38
Speaker
What?
00:14:39
Speaker
I'd rather have Jim Leonard.
00:14:41
Speaker
Going back to Mel, I guess, can we talk about, like, oh, I guess we don't really have to talk about it, but I just wanted to point out how stupid was he to retain Hazleton and let Mike Trestle walk?
00:14:53
Speaker
I mean, oh, my God.
00:14:55
Speaker
Talk about an ill-advised decision.
00:14:59
Speaker
Mike Trestle probably didn't want a cover for him when he was going out on his gambling and drinking trips.
00:15:04
Speaker
Do you want to hear my boiling hot take?
00:15:07
Speaker
I think Trestle's a fraud too.
00:15:09
Speaker
I think both of them are fraud.
00:15:11
Speaker
I know you have this irrational hate of money, Trestle.
00:15:13
Speaker
I am wrong.
00:15:14
Speaker
No, I mean, like watch.
00:15:15
Speaker
It's not completely irrational, man.
00:15:17
Speaker
Like look at 2019 and look at how Wisconsin's doing this year.
00:15:20
Speaker
They're not kind of great defense.
00:15:21
Speaker
Dude, do you know how many injuries that 2019 team had?
00:15:25
Speaker
They also quit.
00:15:26
Speaker
The 2019 team was still like a top 20 defense, man.
00:15:28
Speaker
They quit, man.
00:15:29
Speaker
Ridiculous.
00:15:30
Speaker
Sorry.
00:15:30
Speaker
We're going off topic.
00:15:31
Speaker
I'll argue with this.
00:15:32
Speaker
No, no, no, no.
00:15:33
Speaker
Let's go over some stats right now.
00:15:36
Speaker
Actually, yeah, let's go over some Wisconsin stats right now on defense.
00:15:43
Speaker
So – I should remember Cam Ward.
00:15:48
Speaker
Cam Ward's a good – not a bad quarterback.
00:15:50
Speaker
Yeah, that wasn't the own I thought it was.
00:15:52
Speaker
Cam Ward's really good.
00:15:54
Speaker
Wisconsin's 36th in total defense.
00:15:57
Speaker
Big 10 West.
00:15:58
Speaker
What?
00:15:59
Speaker
Big 10 West.
00:16:00
Speaker
Sure, but those numbers aren't bad.
00:16:02
Speaker
No, they're not bad.
00:16:05
Speaker
He's a good defensive coordinator.
00:16:07
Speaker
I wouldn't be mad if they brought him back.
00:16:10
Speaker
I would rather bring in someone like Jim Leonard, though.
00:16:13
Speaker
I think Jim Leonard's better.
00:16:15
Speaker
Yeah, sorry.
00:16:16
Speaker
I'm trying to find the 2023 cumulative stats and ranks.
00:16:25
Speaker
In the meantime, I just want to say, if anyone hasn't watched Oregon State yet, watch them.
00:16:29
Speaker
They're something special.
00:16:31
Speaker
They are fun to watch.
00:16:34
Speaker
I know Oregon's big-time favorites on Friday night, but also another interesting thing in all of this is that they play on Friday night, we play on Friday night.
00:16:47
Speaker
So this could get expedited real quick.
00:16:50
Speaker
Another really interesting thing about him is he's 1-0 against my favorite coach in the country.
00:16:57
Speaker
They beat
00:16:58
Speaker
And he's 1-0 because he ran the ball 25 straight times or something like that last year in the Civil War.
00:17:04
Speaker
And I think that's a really underrated ethic of a good offensive coach is the ability to see when something's working and not change it up.
00:17:11
Speaker
Man, I'm not going to lie.
00:17:13
Speaker
I'm not going to lie, though, man.
00:17:14
Speaker
If this happens, and it probably – I think he's gone.
00:17:17
Speaker
Like, how much does it suck to be an Oregon State fan right now?
00:17:21
Speaker
Dude, I feel so bad for them.
00:17:23
Speaker
I do feel really bad about it.
00:17:26
Speaker
Like,
00:17:27
Speaker
I don't feel bad about stealing Elko as much, but, like, dude.
00:17:30
Speaker
Oh, dude, screw Duke.
00:17:31
Speaker
I don't – I'm being serious.
00:17:34
Speaker
Jonathan Smith legitimately could have been their Mark D'Antonio.
00:17:38
Speaker
Right.
00:17:39
Speaker
It's really special when he's going there.
00:17:41
Speaker
He's an Oregon State alum.
00:17:43
Speaker
He wouldn't have left.
00:17:45
Speaker
He's never left the West Coast.
00:17:48
Speaker
Yeah, no, he was sticking around in the long run.
00:17:50
Speaker
Like, he would have seen that thing through.
00:17:51
Speaker
If they're a Power 5 school, he ain't leaving.
00:17:54
Speaker
And if they're Power 5 –
00:17:56
Speaker
I spit this take today on the RCMB and it landed, but I think he's a top three coach and you can make a legitimate argument that he's the number one coach in the Pac-12.
00:18:05
Speaker
Like I said, dude, I have no questions about his football acumen.
00:18:11
Speaker
I am just worried about the fit.
00:18:12
Speaker
That is the only problem I have.
00:18:14
Speaker
I'm going to ask you a question then, I guess.
00:18:17
Speaker
If you believe in his football acumen,
00:18:20
Speaker
Don't you believe part of that football acumen is an ability to understand your blind spots and fill them in with the right people?
00:18:28
Speaker
Maybe.
00:18:28
Speaker
But we don't know that for sure.
00:18:32
Speaker
But like I've said all along, and even with Urban, there was a little bit of risk.
00:18:36
Speaker
But other than Urban, you're taking a risk on a coach, dude.
00:18:39
Speaker
Yeah, but that's a coaching thing.
00:18:41
Speaker
Sure, but...
00:18:45
Speaker
I think the whole Midwest guys thing, I think that's a little overblown.
00:18:49
Speaker
I know we just agreed that I'd like to get plan B and C guys out of Ohio.
00:18:54
Speaker
But if we're being honest with plan B and C guys, they're kind of a dime a dozen.
00:18:59
Speaker
And they don't have to be from Ohio.
00:19:01
Speaker
They can be from California, Oregon, Washington.
00:19:04
Speaker
We can pull them in from the West Coast.
00:19:05
Speaker
We can pull them in from the South.
00:19:07
Speaker
Pull them in from Florida.
00:19:09
Speaker
And I'd be just so happy with them.
00:19:12
Speaker
As long as he's able to bring that team and that level of play on both sides of the ball that he's got at Oregon State right now, I think I'll take it regardless.
Local Talent and Sanction Concerns
00:19:23
Speaker
But the one thing that's super important for him, more than just Midwest guys, is being able to get three to four of the top ten players in the state of Michigan.
00:19:35
Speaker
which is more than doable with Michigan's amount of face sanctions.
00:19:41
Speaker
I mean, I think that's doable as long as you're not like jerking off on the phone, which I don't think if you jerk off, not, if you're not jerking off on the phone and actually focusing on the job you're paid to do, I think you can do that.
00:19:55
Speaker
And it sounds like Jonathan Smith is that kind of guy that actually like does what he's paid to do and whatever.
00:20:05
Speaker
And,
00:20:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:09
Speaker
Yeah, I'm more worried about getting – sorry, I was saying I'm more worried about getting good players in the state of Michigan more than I am about the state of Ohio or Pennsylvania.
00:20:20
Speaker
That should not be an issue with Michigan likely facing postseason bans.
00:20:26
Speaker
I agree.
00:20:28
Speaker
Which, by the way, while we're on this topic, oh, wait, motherfuckers.
00:20:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:34
Speaker
It's going to be a fun Saturday for us.
00:20:37
Speaker
Probably be hiring a new coach, and hopefully Michigan loses.
00:20:40
Speaker
Hopefully.
00:20:41
Speaker
If Michigan loses, it's going to be the best day of football.
00:20:46
Speaker
Off topic.
00:20:47
Speaker
Off topic.
00:20:48
Speaker
But those stats on their defensive performance since Connor Stallions was suspended, insane.
00:20:55
Speaker
It is wild.
00:20:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:58
Speaker
Insane.
00:20:59
Speaker
I'm like, oh, so I guess – I'm like – They're still a good defense.
00:21:06
Speaker
Yeah, it's not as – dude, they're a cult.
00:21:08
Speaker
If they are – is there really arguments in Nothing Burger?
00:21:10
Speaker
They're – They're every bit as cultish.
00:21:13
Speaker
Dude, if they're arguments in Nothing Burger, is there every bit as cultish as a kind of fan base would defend a guy who covered up four decades of sex abuse and crack a nut in his grave?
00:21:23
Speaker
Oh, no, that's actually them.
00:21:24
Speaker
That's actually them already.
00:21:25
Speaker
Never mind.
00:21:26
Speaker
The crazy part about all this with Michigan is they're going to wait last minute
00:21:31
Speaker
and Harbaugh's going to be gone, and they're going to get stuck like MSU was in, like, January, February, hiring a coach.
00:21:41
Speaker
They're going to promote Toronto.
00:21:42
Speaker
And it's not going to go well for them.
00:21:44
Speaker
No, they're going to promote more.
00:21:45
Speaker
Yeah, they're going to do more.
00:21:47
Speaker
Can you?
00:21:49
Speaker
With all the stuff that's about to come out?
00:21:50
Speaker
I don't think you can.
00:21:52
Speaker
I mean, depending on who all gets caught up in this, it sounds like more hasn't been yet.
00:21:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:59
Speaker
So, I mean, there's still a lot of time for this all to play out.
00:22:03
Speaker
Well, so, I mean, it looks like the entire defensive staff is probably complicit.
00:22:08
Speaker
So, I know somebody – I know a couple of defensive coordinators that will have open jobs in January that they might want to – Sherron Moore might want to look at.
00:22:16
Speaker
Especially one that might have a revenge vendetta against his former employer.
00:22:22
Speaker
Do you remember back when we hired Tucker and we were like,
00:22:26
Speaker
This defense can be legit.
00:22:27
Speaker
We have four defensive coordinators on this defensive staff.
00:22:31
Speaker
Yeah, we were... Do you remember that?
00:22:34
Speaker
Yeah, we were... Our brains were fucked from the COVID virus.
00:22:39
Speaker
Dude, late-stage D'Antonio really had us down bad.
00:22:41
Speaker
Holy shit.
00:22:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:45
Speaker
Like, I think, like, fucking... Here's the thing.
00:22:49
Speaker
Maybe we're digressing a little bit, but, like,
00:22:51
Speaker
God damn.
00:22:53
Speaker
The Tucker era lowered our expectations.
00:22:56
Speaker
It lowered them, I think, to a realistic level.
00:23:00
Speaker
Let's be fair.
00:23:01
Speaker
It's completely unrealistic to expect someone to walk in and be Mark D'Antonio.
00:23:06
Speaker
Yeah, dude.
00:23:07
Speaker
It's not reasonable to expect a 36-5 stretch.
00:23:12
Speaker
Right.
00:23:13
Speaker
And that's also kind of the reason why I pushed back against the whole, like, hey, we should recruit Ohio because we were good in Ohio.
00:23:22
Speaker
we were good and recruiting Ohio talent was part of that.
00:23:26
Speaker
Things have changed a lot since 2010.
00:23:28
Speaker
You don't get as many diamond in the rough guys.
00:23:30
Speaker
You don't get, you're not going to get a talent developer as good as Mark.
00:23:35
Speaker
A lot of people probably moved out of, a lot of people probably moved out of Ohio's financial crisis.
00:23:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:42
Speaker
But like you can hold it.
00:23:43
Speaker
Like the best case is someone like Jonathan Smith who,
00:23:47
Speaker
until I've seen otherwise, I don't, I think he's a really good talent developer.
00:23:51
Speaker
I don't think he's Mark D'Antonio.
00:23:55
Speaker
Who is Mark D'Antonio?
00:23:57
Speaker
Can you find another guy who has developed players like that?
00:24:01
Speaker
That's the thing.
00:24:02
Speaker
Like, he's, Jonathan Smith appears to be Mark D'Antonio at Oregon State.
00:24:07
Speaker
The question is, is could he be like Mark D'Antonio at Michigan State?
00:24:12
Speaker
Well, that's the whole point, though, is like, that's why I'm kind of like, hey, maybe
00:24:16
Speaker
prioritizing the Midwest, it'd be nice, but it's not necessarily the biggest deal to me.
00:24:22
Speaker
And I somewhat agree with you, but like I said, you can't neglect it.
00:24:26
Speaker
You've got to bring a couple guys on your stand.
00:24:28
Speaker
You can't neglect it because there's still talent there.
00:24:30
Speaker
You can't neglect it.
00:24:32
Speaker
Go ahead.
00:24:34
Speaker
He's going to recruit the West Coast, too.
00:24:36
Speaker
I mean.
00:24:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:39
Speaker
And you can now with this conference.
00:24:41
Speaker
And that's why I'm a fan.
00:24:42
Speaker
Because you can be like, hey, next year we're going to play Oregon.
00:24:47
Speaker
We're going to play UCLA.
00:24:48
Speaker
We're going to play USC or UW, one of these schools, and be like, you can come and play at MSU and your parents can come and see a couple games.
00:24:57
Speaker
And that's why I'm a fan of this guy.
00:24:59
Speaker
And that's why – Because he knows the new area that we're going to be playing, right?
00:25:05
Speaker
And the other thing is on the flip side, we're not going to be playing Ohio State every year.
00:25:09
Speaker
So we're not going to have those – The Big Ten East is gone.
00:25:13
Speaker
Oh, yeah, exactly.
00:25:13
Speaker
The Big Ten East is gone.
00:25:14
Speaker
So like one of the things that like the reason –
00:25:17
Speaker
maybe, I mean, I might be talking out of my ass, but like the reason the whole recruit from a lot of the recruit from Ohio thing worked in the early D'Antonio in, during the D'Antonio areas, because we were, we played Ohio state every year and those guys were fucking fired up to play against the school.
00:25:33
Speaker
That's fun.
00:25:34
Speaker
That's fun.
00:25:35
Speaker
Like three reasons why I think the Ohio thing worked.
00:25:38
Speaker
Number one is Mark D'Antoni was literally one of the three best talent developers in the country at the time.
Mike Elko: Defensive Strengths
00:25:44
Speaker
Number two is because it was,
00:25:47
Speaker
UK and UC and Luke Fickle weren't a thing at the time.
00:25:51
Speaker
So it was easier to find diamonds in the rough and you had to go up against less competition to get those guys.
00:25:56
Speaker
And number three is, like you said, we had the motivation factor of, hey, Ohio State didn't want you.
00:26:01
Speaker
Let's fucking get these guys.
00:26:04
Speaker
So, and I think we lost two and a half out of those three.
00:26:11
Speaker
It's a lot harder to find under the radar guys.
00:26:13
Speaker
It's a lot harder to...
00:26:16
Speaker
developed guys, I'm operating under the assumption that Jonathan says it's 90% of what Mark D'Antonio was.
00:26:23
Speaker
So if he can pull in top 30 recruiting talent, however he gets it, it doesn't have to be from Ohio.
00:26:29
Speaker
It can be from California.
00:26:31
Speaker
It can be from wherever.
00:26:33
Speaker
But if you can get that here, it's a massive win for us.
00:26:37
Speaker
And that's the other question I would have asked him in an interview.
00:26:41
Speaker
I know I said I would have asked him who his defense coordinator would be if Bray didn't come.
00:26:45
Speaker
The other question,
00:26:46
Speaker
the other question I've asked him is what's your plan to bring that kind of talent to Michigan state?
00:26:52
Speaker
How are you planning on bringing top 30 ish talent to Michigan state?
00:26:56
Speaker
Because we know you don't have ties locally.
00:26:59
Speaker
We know we're not going to have the same potent Southern California as like, I don't know, USC would.
00:27:06
Speaker
How are you planning on bringing those four stars that don't have, you know, great offers and those high three stars that do,
00:27:14
Speaker
How are you playing?
00:27:14
Speaker
I'm bringing them here, keeping them, and developing them.
00:27:19
Speaker
So I guess that probably then makes a good segue for talking about the other number two, or the other of the top two, Mike Elko, who I asked.
00:27:30
Speaker
Who is a great recruiter.
00:27:31
Speaker
Yep.
00:27:33
Speaker
He has the Midwest ties.
00:27:35
Speaker
He has a defensive background like D'Antonio does, but like...
00:27:43
Speaker
Jonathan Smith, he knows to find the right people for the other side of the ball, and they run a more modern offense.
00:27:54
Speaker
So the reason why Smith was number one and Elko was number two is because Smith has the longer track record of high-level success.
00:28:03
Speaker
Is that true, though?
00:28:04
Speaker
Yeah, because Smith has the 10-win season and the 9-win season, and Elko has the 9-win season and the 6-win season and the 7-win season.
00:28:11
Speaker
Well, I guess.
00:28:14
Speaker
So, Smith's showing he can redirect a program at Rock Bottom and bring it back.
00:28:19
Speaker
And we're not at Rock Bottom, but he's showing the ability to bring a program up.
00:28:24
Speaker
Duke was horrible.
00:28:26
Speaker
I know, I know.
00:28:27
Speaker
But, like, Cutcliffe had them in the ACC championship game.
00:28:31
Speaker
Like, they were bad, but I wouldn't say they were all.
00:28:34
Speaker
But, dude, at the end, they were horrible.
00:28:36
Speaker
It was bad.
00:28:36
Speaker
They were really bad.
00:28:38
Speaker
And you want – I'll give you that.
00:28:40
Speaker
I'll say that.
00:28:41
Speaker
Fine.
00:28:42
Speaker
Because Elko did turn Riley Leonard into legitimately an NFL quarterback.
00:28:48
Speaker
I'll say that.
00:28:48
Speaker
Fine.
00:28:50
Speaker
But Smith's shown the ability to win more games at that level than Elko has.
00:28:55
Speaker
At the number four school in the region, right?
00:28:58
Speaker
Like, in that region, it's Oregon, UW, Wazoo, and in Oregon State.
00:29:03
Speaker
I'd say number three.
00:29:04
Speaker
Wazoo is in a whole different clusterfuck right now.
00:29:08
Speaker
Wazoo for a while had a little bit more success.
00:29:12
Speaker
At least, like, better, like... They were like, yeah, with Leech, they were pretty good.
00:29:17
Speaker
When they had Leech, they were... This is a callback to the previous episodes we've had, but, man, Kick-Ticker sucks.
00:29:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:24
Speaker
He's probably, like, at this point, he's like, man, I wish I didn't get the vaccine.
00:29:30
Speaker
Dude, Leech is awesome.
00:29:33
Speaker
I'd feel so bad for Wazoo also if Leech was still there.
00:29:37
Speaker
But...
00:29:38
Speaker
They're in a position right now where, like, fully wrapped.
00:29:42
Speaker
I was going to say.
00:29:44
Speaker
I didn't want to say it.
00:29:45
Speaker
I didn't want to say it.
00:29:46
Speaker
But, yeah.
00:29:48
Speaker
But if Leach was still there and still doing what he was doing back when, with the space, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Minshew.
00:29:54
Speaker
If Leach was still there and he was doing what Minshew was there, like, I would feel every bit of that to them as they do for Oregon State right now.
00:30:02
Speaker
But they're kind of just – they're in a clusterfuck no matter how they look at it.
00:30:07
Speaker
Yeah, they're both on.
00:30:10
Speaker
Oregon State, I think, was in a better situation.
00:30:14
Speaker
Now maybe not because Smith's coming here, but if he was willing to stick around there, I think they would have been the playoff representative for the group of five for the next two or three years.
00:30:27
Speaker
Anyways, I guess Elko, he's got the Midwest ties.
00:30:34
Speaker
I mean, he's recruited at
00:30:37
Speaker
He's recruited at A&M.
00:30:38
Speaker
He's recruited at Notre Dame.
00:30:40
Speaker
He's bringing in top 50 classes to freaking Duke.
00:30:44
Speaker
I mean.
00:30:46
Speaker
He looks like a potato.
00:30:48
Speaker
Yeah, he's 46.
00:30:50
Speaker
He looks like he's like 65 years old.
00:30:52
Speaker
He looks like a coach.
00:30:55
Speaker
He looks like a football guy.
00:30:59
Speaker
Oh, the other thing I noticed, and I saw this posted in –
00:31:03
Speaker
the VIP board on RCMB or whatever.
00:31:07
Speaker
I think they're like in the top 20s in terms of penalty yards given up, whereas like Oregon State is like in the 50s, like a little bit lower.
00:31:17
Speaker
Well, lower.
00:31:21
Speaker
So I think it's like he runs a more disciplined – in theory, his ship is more disciplined.
00:31:26
Speaker
Okay, so they beat Clemson literally off coaching.
00:31:29
Speaker
Like they were so much –
00:31:31
Speaker
better with the fundamentals than Clemson was.
00:31:34
Speaker
And that is something that... Fundamentals, when you have at least one or two games in college, it's what Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern did so well while that thing was going for a while.
00:31:45
Speaker
Northwestern would never commit penalties.
00:31:46
Speaker
Yeah, because they're afraid of getting beaten.
00:31:49
Speaker
That's what Iowa does.
00:31:50
Speaker
Iowa does the same thing.
00:31:52
Speaker
Iowa does it really well, too.
00:31:54
Speaker
And that's what we did for a while, too.
00:31:56
Speaker
We never fucked ourselves.
00:31:57
Speaker
And...
00:31:59
Speaker
Well, and then Tucker came around and fucked himself in multiple ways.
00:32:02
Speaker
But, like, Duke doesn't do that.
00:32:07
Speaker
Duke doesn't fuck themselves.
00:32:09
Speaker
And that is a major, major skill to have at this level.
00:32:14
Speaker
That's one or two games right there.
00:32:17
Speaker
Go back and look at our season this year.
00:32:20
Speaker
If we don't fuck ourselves post Tucker fucking himself, we beat Iowa, we beat Rutgers, we probably beat Minnesota, we probably beat Maryland.
00:32:28
Speaker
We're all of a sudden going to eat four seasons.
00:32:32
Speaker
That matters.
00:32:33
Speaker
And the fact that Duke doesn't do it, that's a huge plus in Elko's favor.
00:32:39
Speaker
Add in the elite recruiting.
00:32:41
Speaker
Add in the elite defenses.
00:32:42
Speaker
He's turned on every defense he's been on.
00:32:45
Speaker
Every level.
00:32:46
Speaker
He's got to bring his offensive coordinator.
00:32:49
Speaker
Right.
00:32:51
Speaker
We talk about Bray at Oregon State, but I think they're off the court and might get the job at Duke if Elko leads.
00:32:57
Speaker
It's the same issue.
00:32:59
Speaker
I think so, yeah.
00:32:59
Speaker
I don't know.
00:33:01
Speaker
I mean, I think Duke would maybe go outside higher.
00:33:06
Speaker
I don't know, but...
00:33:07
Speaker
I know people have been looking at Duke's record.
00:33:10
Speaker
They're like, they're 6-5.
00:33:11
Speaker
I mean, if you look at the context of that, they've had a bunch of injuries all year.
00:33:16
Speaker
They're like as injured as MSU is.
00:33:17
Speaker
They're not another third-string goal.
00:33:18
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:33:18
Speaker
They're playing like 45.
00:33:20
Speaker
I don't really care at all.
00:33:23
Speaker
The Virginia game, bad look.
00:33:25
Speaker
I mean, that is not a good loss at all.
00:33:28
Speaker
Okay, Ryan, Ryan, is that bad, though?
00:33:30
Speaker
Because we lost to also MSU candidate Tony Elliott.
00:33:35
Speaker
Yeah, if we hired Tony Elliott, my season tickets would be dropped real fucking fast.
00:33:41
Speaker
He's on a third-string quarterback at 6-5, and he's 6-5.
00:33:45
Speaker
That's amazing.
00:33:47
Speaker
Yeah, that's impressive.
00:33:48
Speaker
What he's done is he genuinely... They embarrassed Clemson.
00:33:53
Speaker
They didn't just beat Clemson.
00:33:54
Speaker
They fucking embarrassed him.
00:33:55
Speaker
You know who...
00:33:58
Speaker
They're going to go 7-5.
00:33:59
Speaker
They're going to end up 7-5 with a third-string quarterback.
00:34:04
Speaker
It's better than what D'Antonio did in 2018 with fucking Rocky Lombardi.
00:34:09
Speaker
And a god-tier defense.
00:34:11
Speaker
So here's what Elko's first two years remind me of.
00:34:14
Speaker
And this is a name.
00:34:16
Speaker
This is a name that people bring up because he's a name.
00:34:19
Speaker
Not because he's a great coach.
00:34:21
Speaker
But he's shown a record of being a really good coach at the NFL level.
00:34:24
Speaker
It reminds me of Bill O'Brien's two years at Penn State.
00:34:27
Speaker
The first year, the four loss year, amid some horrible, horrible situations.
00:34:33
Speaker
And the second year went 6-6 because they had like 50 scholarship players because of said situations.
00:34:43
Speaker
And he went to the NFL and turned out he was a damn good football coach.
00:34:47
Speaker
And that's kind of what Elko reminds me of a Duke.
00:34:49
Speaker
He's working with mid-major talent.
00:34:52
Speaker
He's had the same first two years success run, right?
00:34:55
Speaker
Four losses in year one, six losses in year two.
00:34:59
Speaker
And he's just showing an ability to keep that thing going, keep that thing persevering through it.
00:35:05
Speaker
And that's a skill in and of itself.
00:35:06
Speaker
They don't beat themselves.
00:35:07
Speaker
They don't do anything stupid like that.
00:35:08
Speaker
That's
Comparing Coaching Impacts
00:35:10
Speaker
a pretty huge point in his favor.
00:35:13
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, he's...
00:35:16
Speaker
He's a guy who people on his staff, they know what their job is, right?
00:35:23
Speaker
Like, he doesn't, like, delegate.
00:35:29
Speaker
I mean, he delegates stuff, and he lets people do their jobs.
00:35:32
Speaker
Which is a skill in and of itself, by the way.
00:35:34
Speaker
Right, exactly.
00:35:36
Speaker
He's not a control freak, in that regard, at least.
00:35:40
Speaker
And...
00:35:42
Speaker
One thing about him, and I guess you could say this about Smith too, what if like a big-time job opens up?
00:35:48
Speaker
I guess that's a good thing, though, because that means they've been successful here.
00:35:52
Speaker
I don't worry about the big-time job thing.
00:35:54
Speaker
I don't worry about it because, number one – Well, I'm more worried about it with Smith more so.
00:35:59
Speaker
What if something like USC opens up?
00:36:02
Speaker
USC is the only job I'm worried about.
00:36:04
Speaker
Okay, so let's look at our last two coaches.
00:36:06
Speaker
DeAntonio turned down Texas.
00:36:08
Speaker
Tucker got paid $95 million when LSU sniffed around.
00:36:13
Speaker
So I'm not worried about losing these guys.
00:36:15
Speaker
And honestly, if LSU can lose their coach and if USC can lose their coach, like, or I'm sorry, if Oklahoma can lose their coach and if Notre Dame can lose their coach.
00:36:24
Speaker
Notre Dame can lose their coach.
00:36:25
Speaker
Right.
00:36:26
Speaker
Like, we can't worry about that.
00:36:28
Speaker
We only control what we can control.
00:36:30
Speaker
And what we can control is that we can keep these guys around as long as we need to because we have the financial backing too.
00:36:37
Speaker
Also, I'm going to put this one out there.
00:36:39
Speaker
Oklahoma lost Lincoln Riley and then they had that one season in between and then I think they got better.
00:36:45
Speaker
Dude, I think Oklahoma's in a better spot going forward than USC is.
00:36:50
Speaker
Brent Venables made Dabo.
00:36:54
Speaker
I'm just going to point that out there.
00:36:57
Speaker
I disagree.
00:36:58
Speaker
They have problems with whoever the quarterback were made Dabo.
00:37:02
Speaker
The defense is still pretty good, but Venables is a good coach.
00:37:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:06
Speaker
Like, Oklahoma lost Riley to USC, and I think they got better.
00:37:13
Speaker
I don't think Riley's going to make it to USC.
00:37:14
Speaker
I think USC's going to try firing him.
00:37:16
Speaker
He's going to run to the NFL, bro.
00:37:18
Speaker
Or he might just fire.
00:37:20
Speaker
And which is why, like, the thing is, like, which is why, like, you were here because you were off having sex, Ryan.
00:37:26
Speaker
But, like, Zendro and I were talking last week, like, I'm not really afraid of the new teams coming in, except for maybe Oregon.
00:37:34
Speaker
Oregon.
00:37:35
Speaker
Oregon's good.
00:37:36
Speaker
Morgan's the one.
00:37:37
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, USC is going to... They're losing Williams and I don't think Riley's going to be there.
00:37:44
Speaker
Ryan, you can't say USC is losing Williams, man.
00:37:46
Speaker
That's like saying, hey, we're losing 55 starters.
00:37:50
Speaker
USC's entire team is Caleb Williams.
00:37:53
Speaker
Exactly.
00:37:54
Speaker
Oh, for sure.
00:37:55
Speaker
Their defense is just a fucking embarrassment, but...
00:37:58
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Washington's losing Michael Penix and most of their wide receivers.
00:38:04
Speaker
And UCLA is just a fucking poverty program.
00:38:08
Speaker
Like, Washington's replacing all these guys with, like, three stars.
00:38:13
Speaker
I like Kalen DeBoer.
00:38:14
Speaker
He's done a really, really good job there.
00:38:15
Speaker
But holy crap, man, his recruiting is awful.
00:38:21
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know, man.
00:38:23
Speaker
Like, at least...
00:38:24
Speaker
You know, these schools, like, really scare me.
00:38:26
Speaker
The one thing I'm hoping for, and I brought this up to Zanjo earlier, I don't know if they're going to fire him now, but I really hope UCLA doesn't fire Chip Kelly.
00:38:37
Speaker
Yeah, I think if Chip Kelly gets fired, Jonathan Smith will go.
00:38:39
Speaker
If he gets fired, Jonathan Smith is going to UCLA.
00:38:43
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think he's getting fired now because he beat USC.
00:38:46
Speaker
Thank God.
00:38:46
Speaker
That's the other thing that changed just the last episode is that UCLA beat USC, and that was going to be the thing that gets them the fire chip Kelly.
00:38:55
Speaker
And then now it's like, nope, nope.
00:38:59
Speaker
I'm still – I won.
00:39:00
Speaker
I beat their ass.
00:39:01
Speaker
Thank God.
00:39:02
Speaker
They didn't just beat USC.
00:39:04
Speaker
They kicked the shit out of USC.
00:39:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:06
Speaker
They sent him into the fucking shadow realm.
00:39:08
Speaker
Holy shit.
00:39:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:09
Speaker
God, USC's defense is just a total fucking embarrassment.
00:39:16
Speaker
Chip Kelly, when he has job security, Chip Kelly, when his job is on the line, just doing numbers in his head in 4D and playing 4D chess.
00:39:26
Speaker
Ali, I think you're looking at it wrong.
00:39:28
Speaker
I think with the real issue that Lincoln Riley just basically lifts Kingsbury with better talent.
00:39:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:36
Speaker
Yeah, and uglier.
00:39:37
Speaker
Yeah, way uglier.
00:39:40
Speaker
By the way, I think they were Texas Tech at the same time, so it fits.
00:39:44
Speaker
Yeah, I think they all were on Mike Leach's staff.
00:39:48
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:39:48
Speaker
They all played for Mike Leach.
00:39:50
Speaker
Yeah, they all were.
00:39:52
Speaker
They all played for Mike Leach.
00:39:53
Speaker
They're all quarterbacks for Mike Leach.
00:39:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:57
Speaker
Graham Harrell, too.
00:39:58
Speaker
Graham Harrell, too.
00:39:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:00
Speaker
Where's he at right now, anyway?
00:40:02
Speaker
He's at, uh, shit.
00:40:04
Speaker
I was watching the game.
00:40:04
Speaker
He was the OC, so I can't remember where it was.
00:40:07
Speaker
It was some, like, shit program.
00:40:11
Speaker
West Virginia.
00:40:12
Speaker
Yes.
00:40:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:14
Speaker
No, no, no.
00:40:15
Speaker
Purdue.
00:40:16
Speaker
Purdue.
00:40:16
Speaker
Oh, wait, what?
00:40:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:18
Speaker
He's the offensive coordinator at Purdue.
00:40:21
Speaker
He left USC for.
00:40:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:23
Speaker
He got fired from USC.
00:40:24
Speaker
Wow.
00:40:25
Speaker
Oh, he got fired.
00:40:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:26
Speaker
He was there.
00:40:27
Speaker
He was there when Helton was there.
00:40:30
Speaker
And then he went to West Virginia for a year and then went to Purdue.
00:40:32
Speaker
Yeah, he was at Brownstaff last year.
00:40:36
Speaker
That's right.
00:40:38
Speaker
They got the QB transfer from USC.
00:40:40
Speaker
What the hell was that dude today?
00:40:42
Speaker
He went to West Virginia last year.
00:40:45
Speaker
JT Barrett?
00:40:46
Speaker
Daniels.
00:40:47
Speaker
Daniels.
00:40:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:50
Speaker
I don't know.
00:40:55
Speaker
I guess, yeah, I mean, both of them have their –
00:41:00
Speaker
I mean, I'm really excited about the prospect of either of them.
00:41:03
Speaker
I think the thing I like about Elko is just like, yeah, what we talked about.
00:41:06
Speaker
Everyone on the team knows what they're supposed to do.
00:41:09
Speaker
And I think at a power five level, that's important.
00:41:13
Speaker
I think having a disciplined team is –
00:41:21
Speaker
a change from what we've had the past couple of years.
00:41:25
Speaker
And like you mentioned, Zanjo, like a disciplined team would have gone eight and four this season.
00:41:32
Speaker
So the way I look at these two coaches specifically, Smith's red flags are, we don't know what he can do.
00:41:37
Speaker
We don't know if he can recruit at a high level at Michigan State.
00:41:41
Speaker
And Elko's red flag is he hasn't had that high level success that Smith's had.
00:41:49
Speaker
That's the way I kind of look at these two.
00:41:52
Speaker
Elko's got the recruiting that I really, really like.
00:41:54
Speaker
Smith's got the actual talent development and high-level success that I really, really like.
00:42:00
Speaker
Plus, I watched Duke a couple times.
00:42:03
Speaker
I love watching Oregon.
00:42:04
Speaker
I've watched Oregon State three or four times.
00:42:06
Speaker
I love watching Oregon State.
00:42:07
Speaker
I just love the way they play.
00:42:09
Speaker
That game on Saturday was awesome.
00:42:11
Speaker
The style translates.
00:42:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:42:14
Speaker
I don't know about Duke.
00:42:14
Speaker
I can't say because I haven't watched them a ton.
00:42:18
Speaker
I think that style translates, too.
00:42:20
Speaker
But I know Oregon State does.
00:42:21
Speaker
The whole power running, dominate the line, that whole shit.
00:42:25
Speaker
It's a modern power run.
00:42:26
Speaker
Dude, they were running the ball down.
00:42:29
Speaker
Washington's got really good – historically, they've had really good defensive tackles.
00:42:33
Speaker
Oregon State was just pounding the ball.
00:42:35
Speaker
Last year, Oregon pounded the ball right down their throats.
00:42:40
Speaker
25-something straight times.
00:42:42
Speaker
Their offensive line is so good, dude.
00:42:44
Speaker
Like, it's –
00:42:46
Speaker
And they held them to fucking 70 yards in the second half.
00:42:49
Speaker
I was like, all right, I was on one Saturday and I was just like making fun of the race, the raise the flag people, which I, I have that in the next segment.
00:42:58
Speaker
We can talk about that for a little bit.
00:43:00
Speaker
I have, I have some rantings for a few minutes, but, uh,
00:43:06
Speaker
I was like, this guy is – this guy's defense is holding this team that dropped 41 on us in a half, holding them to fucking 70 yards, holding the Heisman candidate, probably the leading – I think he's the leading Heisman candidate, but holding him in the offense to 70 fucking yards.
00:43:29
Speaker
Jonathan Smith coached at Oregon, or if Mike Elko coached at, I don't know, Florida State,
00:43:36
Speaker
These guys would be considered top 10 to 15 coaches in the country.
00:43:40
Speaker
Dude, I've been reading all these Panic 12 message boards and shit.
00:43:46
Speaker
Johnson Smith is undisputed.
00:43:48
Speaker
They are all – all of them are like, this dude is like –
00:43:53
Speaker
Jonathan Smith is one of the best coaches in the country.
00:43:56
Speaker
I'll say him.
00:43:57
Speaker
Top 10 to 15 coach in the country.
00:44:00
Speaker
Mavs' dad says the same thing.
00:44:01
Speaker
Mavs' dad is an Oregon State alum.
00:44:03
Speaker
Sports writer, former sports writer for the Oregonian.
00:44:08
Speaker
He thinks Jonathan Smith is one of the best coaches in the country.
00:44:10
Speaker
I say 15 to 20, but you can make a legitimate – 15 to 20 conservatively, top three in the Pac-12 conservatively, I think he might be the best coach in Pac-12.
00:44:21
Speaker
And if it's not him, you have a real argument between him, Lanning, and DeBoer.
00:44:24
Speaker
Like, all three of those guys are fucking awesome.
00:44:28
Speaker
And imagine the three of those, like, the three of those come to the Big Ten next year, right?
00:44:33
Speaker
Right.
00:44:34
Speaker
And I really hate getting some of Elko's
00:44:36
Speaker
the time we wanted to spend on Elko to more pimping a Jonathan Smith.
00:44:40
Speaker
But man, like that guy.
00:44:42
Speaker
I mean, that tells you where our vibes are at right now.
00:44:44
Speaker
Right.
00:44:44
Speaker
Right.
00:44:45
Speaker
And just wait, guys, just, just wait, guys,
Speculation on Coaching Decision
00:44:49
Speaker
the bottle.
00:44:49
Speaker
Fuck this shit up.
00:44:50
Speaker
We all seen this fucking story before.
00:44:53
Speaker
I know you, I know you like, I know, like, I know you like milking your nips or being alkalites and alcoholics, but have you thought about lighting the candle or,
00:45:03
Speaker
God, I am going to be so mad.
00:45:08
Speaker
I can't believe I was down so bad last week I defended that guy.
00:45:11
Speaker
Yeah, because you're desperate.
00:45:12
Speaker
We hadn't beaten Indiana yet.
00:45:14
Speaker
No, like I never, I never said I was okay with Jason candle.
00:45:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:19
Speaker
You weren't here at the pod last week.
00:45:20
Speaker
So that's kind of what happened.
00:45:22
Speaker
Oh God.
00:45:23
Speaker
So your name is attached to that now.
00:45:26
Speaker
No.
00:45:26
Speaker
So it does sound like Michigan state is zeroing on Jonathan Smith specifically as the number one candidate.
00:45:33
Speaker
And I know, like, that's what the news that came out today was.
00:45:37
Speaker
Like, football scoop or someone reported that.
00:45:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:41
Speaker
So, it does sound like everyone's vibes collectively seem to align.
00:45:45
Speaker
Dude.
00:45:46
Speaker
If you can't get Urban Meyer, getting Jonathan Smith is such a good fallback option.
00:45:51
Speaker
Dude, these two guys.
00:45:52
Speaker
Holy shit.
00:45:53
Speaker
These two guys have been in my top three the whole entire week.
00:45:57
Speaker
Same.
00:45:59
Speaker
Like, once you get past the ridiculous tier of, like, Mike Norvell, which is a complete fucking pipe dream.
00:46:04
Speaker
Yeah, that was never going to fucking happen.
00:46:06
Speaker
You're just a crazy bastard.
00:46:08
Speaker
Right.
00:46:09
Speaker
But, like, hey, dream big, right?
00:46:10
Speaker
No, like, the realest – it's just really funny.
00:46:13
Speaker
This whole fucking coaching search could have just been better than an email because the same guys who were at the start are basically the same guys at the end.
00:46:19
Speaker
It's Mike Delco.
00:46:20
Speaker
It's Jonathan Smith.
00:46:22
Speaker
So, I guess that leads us to the –
00:46:26
Speaker
We can put a button in this segment because now I'm going to ask you guys, since it's essentially a coin flip now, who do you think it's going to be?
00:46:34
Speaker
So I'm going to give it to you, Ryan.
00:46:39
Speaker
You know, I'm going to guess the UCLA job isn't opening up.
00:46:43
Speaker
I'm going to think, I'm going to say that Smith is introduced as the next 10 coach on Monday.
00:46:48
Speaker
It doesn't start with the UCLA jobs opening up.
00:46:50
Speaker
It's all the big donors want to keep Chip Kelly.
00:46:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:46:55
Speaker
What about you, Zanko?
00:46:56
Speaker
No, it's going to be Smith.
00:46:58
Speaker
It's going to be Smith.
00:46:59
Speaker
Barring something completely catastrophic.
00:47:02
Speaker
I think we're done with Elko.
00:47:05
Speaker
Let's put it that way.
00:47:05
Speaker
I don't think that.
00:47:08
Speaker
I don't think we're done with Elko.
00:47:11
Speaker
Let me elaborate.
00:47:12
Speaker
What I mean is we're either going to hire Jonathan Smith on Monday or we have fucked up so badly that Elko is out of the picture.
00:47:21
Speaker
because Elko doesn't want to be here anymore because of how badly he fucked up.
00:47:25
Speaker
It's going to be either Jonathan Smith because we want him as a plan A or it's going to be like Jason Gandal because we fucked up so horribly.
00:47:36
Speaker
I don't think there's any situation in which it ends up being Mike Elko.
00:47:40
Speaker
Dude, if it's Jason Candle, I am going to want to burn shit down.
00:47:44
Speaker
Like, dude, oh my god, that is my fucking nightmare.
00:47:49
Speaker
You can burn it down with that candle you're lighting for Jason Candle, so... Oh, god.
00:47:55
Speaker
But if all the media reporting so far and all the insiders and all the scoops and all that shit are lining up the way that they are and they're all right, it's going to be either Smith or a complete clusterfuck.
00:48:07
Speaker
I think, yeah...
00:48:09
Speaker
I think it's going to be Smith.
00:48:11
Speaker
And that's not the same.
00:48:12
Speaker
I wouldn't want Elko, by the way.
00:48:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:15
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:48:16
Speaker
Shit, man.
00:48:17
Speaker
I'm cool with either one of them.
00:48:19
Speaker
Yeah, I know.
00:48:19
Speaker
I would fucking love Elko.
00:48:21
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:48:22
Speaker
Both of them are fucking great.
00:48:24
Speaker
I would even throw Leopold and Fish on that list of guys I'd be totally cool with.
00:48:27
Speaker
But it sounds like that's just kind of the same.
00:48:28
Speaker
My only problem with Fish is the Stallion shit.
00:48:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:32
Speaker
My problem with him.
00:48:34
Speaker
Sure, but he's also –
00:48:36
Speaker
Sure, but he's also turned around Arizona without stalling.
00:48:39
Speaker
Oh, I'm not saying he's not a good coach.
00:48:41
Speaker
I'm just worried about if he's going to get implicated in all this stuff that's going on.
00:48:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:48
Speaker
Yeah, he's tainted me.
00:48:50
Speaker
I think it's going to be based on my reading of the tea leaves and the vibes and that I've spent most of the last two days on RCMB and Shaw Lane and reading 24-7 sports and just not –
00:49:06
Speaker
working, I think it's going to be Smith.
00:49:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:11
Speaker
War's been really weird this week, hasn't it?
00:49:13
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, tomorrow's a holiday.
00:49:15
Speaker
Happy Thanksgiving.
00:49:16
Speaker
So I think on Monday – Yeah.
00:49:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:20
Speaker
So I think on Monday, we're going to have a new coach.
00:49:23
Speaker
It's going to be Jonathan Smith.
00:49:25
Speaker
But anything can happen between now and then.
00:49:27
Speaker
And who knows?
00:49:28
Speaker
Maybe, like, they're just fucking – maybe Alan Haller is playing 40 chess with us, and he's got Mike Elko on lockdown.
00:49:36
Speaker
Maybe it's Urban Meyer.
00:49:38
Speaker
Who knows?
00:49:40
Speaker
By the way, I have –
00:49:43
Speaker
Gained more confidence than Alan Haller since that report came out that he won with Kyle L. Tucker before the season
Culture Fit and Expectations
00:49:50
Speaker
started.
00:49:50
Speaker
Dude, between the way he's run this coach, if we end up with John Smith and that report, I think my faith in Alan Haller has never been this high.
00:50:03
Speaker
And if we sell out the game Friday night and we win the game, it's going to be over the fucking moon.
00:50:09
Speaker
Are we going to sell out the game?
00:50:10
Speaker
Because it doesn't look like that.
00:50:11
Speaker
Probably not.
00:50:12
Speaker
But if we win the game.
00:50:13
Speaker
Even I am not going to this football game.
00:50:16
Speaker
I'll tell you all you need to know about this.
00:50:18
Speaker
I'm even not going to this.
00:50:19
Speaker
I thought you were planning on going to that game.
00:50:21
Speaker
Nah, dude.
00:50:22
Speaker
I'm going back home tomorrow.
00:50:24
Speaker
I'm not driving back down to fucking Detroit on Friday.
00:50:27
Speaker
Fuck that shit.
00:50:28
Speaker
How far away do you live from Detroit, if you don't mind me asking?
00:50:30
Speaker
I live in EL, but my whole family is from, like, Traverse City.
00:50:34
Speaker
Oh, shit.
00:50:34
Speaker
That's right.
00:50:35
Speaker
That's right.
00:50:36
Speaker
I am not driving all the way.
00:50:38
Speaker
There's no way.
00:50:39
Speaker
I'm not driving.
00:50:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:41
Speaker
I'm in the middle of Cowfields right now, so, in Grand Rapids.
00:50:44
Speaker
Yeah, that's Cowfields.
00:50:47
Speaker
It's a fucking cow town.
00:50:49
Speaker
But anyway.
00:50:51
Speaker
But, yeah, I think, like, I think,
00:50:56
Speaker
I think – I know he wanted to fire him.
00:50:58
Speaker
I wonder if, like, if it was the board being stupid or if the board was just like, no, no, hold off.
00:51:03
Speaker
We need to be able to fire him for cause.
00:51:08
Speaker
I refuse to give the board the benefit of the doubt.
00:51:10
Speaker
I think it's stupid.
00:51:12
Speaker
I do have to say, we haven't heard anything about it in, like, about Tucker in, like, a month and a half.
00:51:20
Speaker
So it seems like, dude, I don't know if he's sued or not, or if they're still working.
00:51:25
Speaker
No, we would have heard if he had filed a lawsuit.
00:51:28
Speaker
I don't think he has yet.
00:51:30
Speaker
He was going to, but he hasn't done it yet.
00:51:34
Speaker
Well, so, yeah, I think we're all in agreement that the tea leaves say it's going to be Smith.
00:51:40
Speaker
I think, like, yeah, I think most of us are in – the three of us are in agreement that, like, Howler's actually run this pretty well and that, like, we're not getting random-ass leaks all the time.
00:51:49
Speaker
Like, Zanjo might not be the one that breaks the story this time around.
00:51:54
Speaker
But I think this hire's going to be better than that last one.
00:51:59
Speaker
I think this hire is going to be better than that last one.
00:52:01
Speaker
God, I sure as hell hope so for my own sanity.
00:52:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:52:07
Speaker
I think, I mean, either of these two guys, I don't think they're going to have a 58 fucking page book on their brand, nor have a fucking NFT named after themselves.
00:52:18
Speaker
Should I just throw another really hot take?
00:52:21
Speaker
I don't really mind the brand thing because I think that actually helps with recruiting.
00:52:27
Speaker
Uh...
00:52:29
Speaker
No.
00:52:30
Speaker
No, that shit's corny, dude.
00:52:34
Speaker
He was such an inauthentic person.
00:52:36
Speaker
The fact that most of us didn't see through it is kind of insane to me.
00:52:43
Speaker
I think we started at the end.
00:52:46
Speaker
I started questioning things that summer.
00:52:49
Speaker
That's when I was like, yeah.
00:52:51
Speaker
Keon transferred is when we all kind of just, the whole thing kind of blew up.
00:52:55
Speaker
Yeah, right.
00:52:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's when it started for me.
00:53:01
Speaker
The staff not changing at all kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
00:53:04
Speaker
That Indiana game should have just been – that should have been the biggest red flag, right?
00:53:13
Speaker
I think the way the staff did transfer, we were all joking about what they had on him.
00:53:19
Speaker
Yeah, they had shit on him.
00:53:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:53:21
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:53:22
Speaker
Oh, they definitely had shit on him.
00:53:24
Speaker
There's no way they didn't know what was going on.
00:53:27
Speaker
Just zero fucking shot.
00:53:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:53:31
Speaker
Well, that chapter's over.
00:53:32
Speaker
Thank God.
00:53:34
Speaker
Oh, my God.
00:53:34
Speaker
Do you guys want to talk a little bit about a chapter that will never happen?
00:53:38
Speaker
You're my one?
00:53:40
Speaker
Yeah, who wants to raise the flag?
00:53:42
Speaker
I mean, I still want him here, but he ain't coming.
00:53:44
Speaker
And by the way, anybody that's...
00:53:47
Speaker
refusing to get on board with either one of these two guys because a freak, because Urban's not coming here, you're a fucking moron.
00:53:53
Speaker
Dude, imagine, imagine sacrificing a good coach.
00:53:57
Speaker
Imagine being mad at a good coach because you want a guy protected and employed a convicted domestic user.
00:54:06
Speaker
Like,
00:54:08
Speaker
Hey, but I still want him to be the coach here.
00:54:10
Speaker
Oh, no, no, no, no.
00:54:11
Speaker
Let me walk.
00:54:12
Speaker
I would love Urban Meyer here.
00:54:14
Speaker
I would love him here.
00:54:15
Speaker
Don't get me wrong.
00:54:16
Speaker
He's my plan A, B, and C. I'm not selling out all my fucking hopes and dreams for 1%.
00:54:23
Speaker
For a less than 1% chance of something happening.
00:54:26
Speaker
There was some guy today...
00:54:30
Speaker
I was arguing with her on fucking Facebook.
00:54:32
Speaker
That was my first problem.
00:54:33
Speaker
I was arguing with somebody on Facebook.
00:54:36
Speaker
Arguments are for Twitter.
00:54:38
Speaker
Arguments are for Twitter.
00:54:39
Speaker
I mean, yeah, pretty much.
00:54:44
Speaker
But this guy was like talking about how Smith would just not fit here in Oregon State.
00:54:50
Speaker
It took him five years to be decent.
00:54:54
Speaker
Dude, you and I realize that Oregon State is like the toughest job in a fucking America.
00:55:01
Speaker
Corvallis is the Mount Pleasant of Oregon.
00:55:05
Speaker
It really is.
00:55:07
Speaker
The fact that he's able to get anybody worth a damn to go to school there and play there is just an accomplishment in itself.
00:55:15
Speaker
That job is so hard to win at.
00:55:19
Speaker
I want to hijack the State real quick.
00:55:21
Speaker
So Richard Johnson, as a thing he constantly says, and the thing he says is always, fit is just who your coach is.
00:55:32
Speaker
I kind of believe that.
00:55:35
Speaker
Like, we say Jonathan Smith wouldn't be a fit.
00:55:38
Speaker
Dude, the first time he has, you overachieve.
00:55:41
Speaker
It's the first 10-win season he has here.
00:55:43
Speaker
We're going to be all in on milking our kicks.
00:55:46
Speaker
It's going to work.
00:55:47
Speaker
I will be making gifts of myself.
00:55:49
Speaker
I'll grow man.
00:55:50
Speaker
I'll increase the size of my man boobs.
00:55:52
Speaker
And then just think, like, you know, when the band does that, you know,
00:56:01
Speaker
milk those tits and everybody the entire student section will just be like milk and no oh my god it is a fucking culture fit you know why it's a culture fit because we are a fucking ab school we have like the most land farmland for a campus in the fucking country we have we make our own ice cream with our own fucking milk like
00:56:24
Speaker
milking your titties is on fucking brand for this university.
Reflections and Relief at Process Conclusion
00:56:27
Speaker
There is no better fit than a guy that makes his part of it shtick, like rubbing his titties on the sideline and milking them.
00:56:36
Speaker
Like that is peak Michigan State.
00:56:38
Speaker
That's kind of what I'm saying though is that like if you look hard enough, you'll find a fit.
00:56:42
Speaker
It's not – anyone who argues something is not a fit, they're just –
00:56:50
Speaker
I don't totally agree with that.
00:56:52
Speaker
I mean, you look at somebody like John Allen.
00:56:54
Speaker
Mel Tucker wasn't a fit.
00:56:56
Speaker
Mel Tucker wasn't a fit because he didn't win games.
00:56:59
Speaker
He wasn't a fit.
00:57:00
Speaker
He was a fit.
00:57:00
Speaker
He wasn't a fit because he got a big contract and became full of himself.
00:57:04
Speaker
He was fine.
00:57:05
Speaker
I thought he was fine before that shit happened.
00:57:07
Speaker
John Allen said he went 11-2 and then it's 5-7, 5-7.
00:57:09
Speaker
John Allen's not a fit, I mean.
00:57:14
Speaker
So the John L. thing, right?
00:57:15
Speaker
Like, if he got 10-3, 11-2, like, we would not be complaining right now about how big of a fit he was, about him climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
00:57:23
Speaker
But he didn't.
00:57:25
Speaker
That's my point.
00:57:26
Speaker
Well, that's the thing.
00:57:26
Speaker
He didn't.
00:57:27
Speaker
If he had.
00:57:29
Speaker
We could talk about Jonathan Smith not being a fit.
00:57:32
Speaker
If he wins games, we don't worry about that.
00:57:34
Speaker
Of course, but we don't know if he's going to do that for sure.
00:57:38
Speaker
We don't.
00:57:39
Speaker
I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what.
00:57:41
Speaker
And I'll say this probably because we're blocked by this person, both the podcast and myself and Zanjo and maybe Ryan by association.
00:57:50
Speaker
Oh dude, Ryan's so banned by this guy.
00:57:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:53
Speaker
This, this not respect to Brett.
00:57:57
Speaker
Like I'm pretty sure at this point, maybe it's a, I'm not sure with Brett, whether it's a bit or not, like chief of propaganda.
00:58:04
Speaker
I don't know if it's a bit, uh, cause his thing has always been a bit like, cause
00:58:08
Speaker
It's always been like a gimmick, so maybe it is.
00:58:11
Speaker
But this other guy, this guy is like, sounds like he's going to jump off a fucking cliff if we don't hire Urban Meyer.
00:58:18
Speaker
All right, so back to what I was trying to say.
00:58:21
Speaker
The year is, picture this, the year is 2026.
00:58:26
Speaker
Jonathan Smith holds the Big Ten trophy in his hands.
00:58:32
Speaker
All right?
00:58:33
Speaker
To his side, Chad Johnson, TJ Houshmandzada,
00:58:38
Speaker
being the celebrity guest, being guests to the game for him because they're in town.
00:58:43
Speaker
All right.
00:58:43
Speaker
He's holding up the fucking Big Ten trophy.
00:58:47
Speaker
We got a home playoff game.
00:58:50
Speaker
We got a home playoff game in the expanded college football playoff.
00:58:56
Speaker
And then this guy who seems apoplectic that we're about to hire somebody not Urban Meyer is going to be crying on Twitter and be like,
00:59:08
Speaker
That's not enough.
00:59:09
Speaker
If we had Urban, we would then fucking promote it to the NFL.
00:59:15
Speaker
Raise the flag.
00:59:16
Speaker
Anyways.
00:59:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:59:20
Speaker
I just, I mean, I had to get that out of my system.
00:59:22
Speaker
Cause like I'm watching and I'm taking over the rant right now.
00:59:27
Speaker
I'm watching Oregon state do things to Washington that no other team except for Oregon is
00:59:34
Speaker
has done to them.
00:59:35
Speaker
I actually, I don't think, I mean, I was also pretty drunk during the Oregon UW game, but I think like Oregon state was doing things to UW's offense that no one else has done.
00:59:47
Speaker
Right.
00:59:47
Speaker
And I'm watching and I'm on Twitter and I'm seeing this dipshit go like, Oh, Oh, rings the flag.
00:59:54
Speaker
I'm like, dude, you are so dead set on this thing.
00:59:57
Speaker
Like, did you buy like 300 flags?
01:00:01
Speaker
Did you buy 300 flags or something and trying to offload them?
01:00:04
Speaker
Like what's going on?
01:00:07
Speaker
Yeah.
01:00:07
Speaker
Anyways, he'll never be happy because he was wrong and the rest of us will be, and he'll be crying about it on Twitter.
01:00:15
Speaker
He'll have like Mel Tucker apologists on the show.
01:00:19
Speaker
Yeah.
01:00:19
Speaker
Anyways.
01:00:22
Speaker
Yeah, like.
01:00:23
Speaker
Bless him.
01:00:24
Speaker
As Odell was saying, was it Odell or was it Landry Jones in that season of Hard Knocks where he's talking to his haters.
01:00:33
Speaker
He's like, bless him.
01:00:35
Speaker
Bless him.
01:00:37
Speaker
Bless him.
01:00:38
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I've got a serious issue with people that, like I said, can't come around to a different person because Urban isn't coming here.
01:00:48
Speaker
I mean, come on, guys.
01:00:49
Speaker
Like, what are we doing?
01:00:51
Speaker
Right?
01:00:52
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know, man.
01:00:57
Speaker
I think I was talking about raising flags or burning flags.
01:01:01
Speaker
I think...
01:01:03
Speaker
I think they need to surrender like Germany 1945 to the oncoming Jonathan Smithing of the world.
01:01:10
Speaker
Like, oh, you know who has the same initials as Jonathan Smith?
01:01:14
Speaker
Joseph Stalin.
01:01:15
Speaker
And this motherfucker, JS is going to liberate fucking Europe, a.k.a.
01:01:22
Speaker
East Lansing, from the clutches of bad football.
01:01:26
Speaker
And this five-year, four-year disaster that this world has experienced –
01:01:31
Speaker
This long worldwide nightmare is going to be ended by Jonathan Smith and his milked nipples.
01:01:40
Speaker
Yeah, but these guys will see like Urban wearing like a green pin on Saturday when he's like just filleting OSU and talking about his like good old days back there.
01:01:49
Speaker
And be like, that's a sign.
01:01:51
Speaker
That's a sign.
01:01:52
Speaker
And then basically they're going to –
01:01:55
Speaker
They're turning into the MSU version of QAnon.
01:01:58
Speaker
They're waiting for like a Q drop or a U drop.
01:02:02
Speaker
They sound like Michigan fans.
01:02:04
Speaker
Yes.
01:02:04
Speaker
Yes.
01:02:05
Speaker
When they say raise the flag, it's a Michigan State fan.
01:02:09
Speaker
They're like, ooh, raise the flag.
01:02:14
Speaker
Okay.
01:02:16
Speaker
You take your Harlan Barnett hate a little bit too far, though.
01:02:20
Speaker
No, I think – no, no.
01:02:22
Speaker
I'm going to disagree with you on that one, Zanjo.
01:02:24
Speaker
I think just like the bet is – raise the flag is the same as bet.
01:02:29
Speaker
Yes.
01:02:31
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
01:02:32
Speaker
The Harlan Barnett stuff, like the tweets that you see are like, you know, I really hope they give Harlan Barnett a chance.
01:02:40
Speaker
Those are people that are still living in 1984.
01:02:41
Speaker
Yeah.
01:02:44
Speaker
but he's a loyal Spartan.
01:02:45
Speaker
I'm like, yeah.
01:02:46
Speaker
And that stuff matters.
01:02:48
Speaker
Like in the eighties, maybe like when like no one at MSU thought that we'd ever wear the Rose Bowl again.
01:02:53
Speaker
Does anybody actually believe he's a good coach?
01:02:57
Speaker
I mean, Oh my God.
01:03:01
Speaker
Yeah.
01:03:02
Speaker
Yeah.
01:03:04
Speaker
Yeah, no, like college football is not like what it was 10 years ago, 20, 30 years ago.
01:03:12
Speaker
But here's the thing.
01:03:13
Speaker
Michigan state is not like what it was 20 years ago.
01:03:16
Speaker
I have tasted from the chalice of greatness.
01:03:19
Speaker
I have been to Pasadena.
01:03:21
Speaker
I want to go back not for playing UCLA, but we're playing in the fucking playoff.
01:03:26
Speaker
I want, I want to taste greatness again.
01:03:29
Speaker
I want to be at the top of the fucking world.
01:03:31
Speaker
Harlan Barnett,
01:03:32
Speaker
Nice guy.
01:03:34
Speaker
Great guy.
01:03:35
Speaker
Horrible coach.
01:03:36
Speaker
Horrible coach.
01:03:37
Speaker
He will not take us back to promised land.
01:03:40
Speaker
I'm going to quote the Bible here.
01:03:41
Speaker
He's not going to take us back to Israel.
01:03:44
Speaker
And I'm Palestinian.
01:03:45
Speaker
And I want to go to Israel.
01:03:47
Speaker
Hey, you should tell him why you couldn't go to that game too.
01:03:52
Speaker
Why couldn't you go to the Rose Bowl?
01:04:01
Speaker
yeah but like does your family in India understand the importance like of the Rose Bowl the Rose Bowl is the American Taj Mahal just be like yo dude it's like it's like going to the Rose Bowl is like going to see India at the cricket world cup except it lasts for four hours instead of four days
01:04:24
Speaker
No, but like I remember when I was a student like 13 years ago, the guys that we would tailgate, my friend's uncle, my roommate's uncle, we'd go to his tailgate.
01:04:36
Speaker
And they were like in college during Pearlis, like early Pearlis.
01:04:41
Speaker
And then I remember like his uncle telling me, he's like, yeah, man, like I remember when we went to the Rose Bowl in 87.
01:04:48
Speaker
I didn't go because I thought we'd go again next year.
01:04:51
Speaker
And I'm like, that's not going to happen to me.
01:04:54
Speaker
I'm going to fucking go anytime it happens.
01:04:58
Speaker
Yeah.
01:04:59
Speaker
And Harlan Barnett, he played in the Rose Bowl.
01:05:01
Speaker
He coached in the Rose Bowl.
01:05:03
Speaker
But he's not going to bring us fucking back there as an assistant coach.
01:05:08
Speaker
Or as a head coach.
01:05:09
Speaker
I was going to say.
01:05:15
Speaker
Yeah.
01:05:15
Speaker
Yeah, like an assistant head coach.
01:05:17
Speaker
Like, give him the D'Antonio role that D'Antonio has right now.
01:05:22
Speaker
Yeah.
01:05:23
Speaker
And be like, yo, like, this is how it works around here.
01:05:26
Speaker
You see that board of trustee?
01:05:28
Speaker
She's a puppet.
01:05:29
Speaker
She's a basketball of Joel Ferguson.
01:05:33
Speaker
Who's Joel Ferguson?
01:05:34
Speaker
Well, let me tell you about this guy.
01:05:36
Speaker
Who's... Oh, my God.
01:05:41
Speaker
I'm really glad you said it for him and not anybody else.
01:05:48
Speaker
I mean, like, okay, like...
01:06:01
Speaker
yeah uh so anyways like uh burn the flag i think like i don't know so i don't know if you guys have seen i think you should leave like the tim robinson show but like
01:06:14
Speaker
The guy that is leading the raise the flag charge is that guy in that sketch that's trying to sell the 300 toupees giving away at a birthday party or something or the fake cigars or whatever.
01:06:31
Speaker
That's him.
01:06:32
Speaker
Just trying to get rid of that shit because he bought into his own bullshit and now he's stuck holding the bag.
01:06:44
Speaker
Yeah.
01:06:49
Speaker
I mean, like, yeah, like back to what you said earlier.
01:06:53
Speaker
I mean, these guys are like the guy that's like, I've been turned down by this.
01:06:56
Speaker
I've been ghosted by this girl on Tinder that I never actually met, but she just stopped replying to my messages.
01:07:05
Speaker
But if I keep on messaging her and send out signals and then go find her and then find her LinkedIn profile, she'll maybe say yes.
01:07:18
Speaker
Yep.
01:07:21
Speaker
Cool.
01:07:22
Speaker
Yep.
01:07:25
Speaker
Yep.
01:07:26
Speaker
So anyways, probably should wrap it up there.
01:07:30
Speaker
Unless we got, I don't think we have anything else.
01:07:34
Speaker
I go lions.
01:07:37
Speaker
Happy Thanksgiving.
01:07:40
Speaker
I am thankful that this is almost over and a new chapter is going to start in East Lansing and it's going to be led by somebody that I'm actually not going to be unsure about.
01:07:52
Speaker
Like I'm actually going to go into it with a little bit of confidence more so than I did the last time.
01:07:58
Speaker
What are you... Amen to that.
01:08:02
Speaker
What are you thankful for, Ryan?
01:08:05
Speaker
I am thankful, just like you, this coaching search is almost over.
01:08:10
Speaker
So I don't have to read as many stupid fucking things on the internet anymore.
01:08:19
Speaker
That was kind of our rag segment.
01:08:25
Speaker
Oh my god.
01:08:27
Speaker
That is...
01:08:39
Speaker
I also, yeah, I will say this.
01:08:43
Speaker
I feel bad for Oregon State fans because this conference realignment stuff really, really, really screwed them.
01:08:50
Speaker
But Duke, it sucks and I feel bad for them.
01:08:56
Speaker
But also,
01:09:00
Speaker
I don't feel bad for Duke fans.
01:09:01
Speaker
I don't feel bad for Duke fans because fuck you.
01:09:04
Speaker
You guys suck.
01:09:05
Speaker
Yep.
01:09:06
Speaker
Yeah, I'll sign off with a good old fuck Duke.
01:09:09
Speaker
All right.
01:09:11
Speaker
So on behalf of the Surge, see you guys next time.
01:09:16
Speaker
Maybe we'll have an emergency pod.
01:09:17
Speaker
Who knows?
01:09:18
Speaker
But happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
01:09:20
Speaker
Happy Thanksgiving.