SEC Media Days Narratives | Alabama Outlook | Florida Gators On Schedule? | LSU Brian Kelly Slander

narratives are running rampant right now so which ones do we believe which ones maybe is a better question to ask which ones should we not believe we'll unpack it today here live on radio row at SEC media days last day best day going to finish through the tape it is Thursday July 18th 2024 the last one on the face of the planet glad to have y'all dialed in we got Trey the man the M the legend anity off to my right we have a ton to talk about LSU just very quietly during media days gets themselves a five-star plus Corner in DJ picket huge huge win for Brian Kelly and that kind of got the gears turer for me a little bit there's been I think uh far too much Brian Kelly slander not just over the last six months I'm talking about really since he got the job at LSU which when you look at his resume and his track record over his time being college football coach much less at LSU doesn't really add up to me so we'll talk about that Florida they were here at SEC media yesterday we were fortunate enough to sit down with quarterback grah meron y'all I went into that excited to talk to him obviously because he's the quarterback of the University of Florida but I left that conversation being like okay if that guy's running the offense Florida's in good hands grown up adult confident comfortable in his own skin played a lot of college football it reflected in that conversation excited for y'all to hear that but Billy Napier made headlines yesterday when he was asked about his job security and like when you come to a situation like this where we're just talking for really more or less four days of course that's going to be something that we're asking about and I thought his answer was interesting Andy Staples talked about it a little bit on his show this morning he said you know to a degree we're on schedule I think a lot of Florida folks like on schedule brother five and seven in year two is not on schedule so I think there's more to that discussion than maybe what was said so we'll talk about that what's the outlook for Alabama for me yesterday it really hit me when kayin deor took the podium as the head coach to Alabama and not Nick Sabin that was a little bit weird kind of like a mouthwash and orange juice but nonetheless we we press on uh we'll talk about the outlook for B in 2024 and Beyond and then finally we'll finish this thing up sticking with narrative season sticking with Keep Your Head on the swivel season what are some things that maybe aren't being said now they're not being said probably for two reasons one they're unlikely to happen or two because maybe they are going to happen that'll make a lot more sense when we get there but we're glad to have youall a part of this man I say it every single show this is supposed to be for y'all that are watching or listening on podcast a break a reprieve from the normal life because there's a lot that goes on in your life you have kids you have work you have friends you got a lot on your plate college football in my opinion and a lot of people's opinions that are behind this show uh the greatest thing on the face of the planet so for the next hour or so we're just talking ball we are so close to the 2020 24 season getting rolling let's get right to it manam what are some narratives in 2024 that we just quite frankly aren't buying there's a lot of things that are said this time of year and some of them are said out of good faith some of them are said out of the effort to get clicks but what are some things that are being said that again they're kind of created a narrative that we're just not on board with and the first one that I think needs to be addressed is that Alabama somehow isn't still going to be Alabama all right now Nick Sabin it's it's very true he is no longer the head coach there it's been well documented not just throughout the course of this week with him not getting uh or not having credentials to walk into SEC media days on radio row which is essentially Fort Knox if you don't have your credentials but also over the course of I guess really since he retired like it's been a talking point for a very very long time but here's the deal man uh Nick sabbin as good a coach as he is and he's the greatest of all time Undisputed did he make any plays at Alabama he throw any touchdowns did he make any interceptions no right so what did Nick Sabin do that was really what allowed them to be so successful recruited at a high level that's obvious game planed at a really high level adapted with the game the biggest thing that I think he brought to Alabama which is hard to really pinpoint one but if I had to pick one it would be the standard setting and when I look at the intensity internally at Alabama from what we can gauge seeing Jayla milro during that Spring football game throw his helmet and again Spring football game now it's like a glorified scrimmage you're not really showing too much but he was he was pissed he was upset with their execution that last drive and he's the starting quarterback he's not battling for his job but he was upset with what they had done on that final drive which is one instance you know you're kind of getting a a peak into the house via the window instead of actually being in the house to kind of refer to what Dan Dan Lanning says about how we view football teams but like I think that point stands the same Jayla milro and the I would say overall feeling within that operation Tuscaloosa is still dialed into their Championship standard that Nick saan installed and I think kayin dbor is going to work to uphold so the idea that Bama's not still going to be Bama I have a hard time getting behind that one more thing I'll say here all those players that Nick Sabin brought to Alabama a lot of them are still there now some of them especially on the defensive side of the football having played quite as much Ball but doesn't mean they don't still have a whole lot of stars next to their name so Alabama not still being Alabama I'm not calling my shot to win the national championship right now but to say they're not going to factor in I think is a wild narrative that isn't getting too much traction but it is getting some air time we don't buy that narrative Bama I think will still be Bama in 2024 here's another narrative that Texas is in for a root Awakening in the SEC and this is usually coming from like the SEC home turfers is what I like to refer to this group as folks that really instead of being worried about their football football team are more worried about the patch they get to wear on their Jersey or the sticker on the back of the helmet that says SEC like they stand behind that logo as opposed to their own team's logo and I think it's honestly kind of an ignorance as Bliss situation because if you actually look at what Texas has on the roster and what they did a season ago and quite frankly what they did in tus loose Alabama last year that myself and Trey anity saw live and Living Color like Texas is not in for roote awakening now will they dominate the SEC I don't think that's necessarily something that you would aspire to your first day there but Steve sarkeesian kind of echoed that same sentiment yesterday when he took the podium at media days he said for us it's about respect like we want to respect this conference we want to respect everyone that is a part of this operation we want to respect how competitive this league has been but at the exact same time they need to respect us and so I think that's kind of the mantra for Texas from a internal standpoint and from a fan based level and we talked to J Baron yesterday on this show and uh will likely get that conversation to you here in the uh in the coming weeks but the overall I guess attitude for him was like Texas was not satisfied with last year and if you're a Texas Fan that should fire you up because in some way shape or form you could you could pitch the idea to me of well Texas they got to the mountain top of the Big 12 they got to the college football playoff they had a lot of folks grabb a microphon saying Texas is back great okay you can you can rest on your laurels there right no I think this team wants to do more than that and I'm excited to see what they do will they win the SEC again I'm not calling my shot right now we're going to do that here in the coming weeks but I do think that when you talk about Texas going forward they will be a top tier team in the SEC so I think there's there's a split opinion on Texas some think they're going to be in Atlanta some think that they're going to just be absolutely body bagged I have a hard time getting behind the ladder there I think Texas will factor into the SEC title race without a Shad of a doubt now speaking of factoring into the SEC title race this is another one that I think isn't getting enough love or maybe a narrative that's getting too much love is that LS U is somehow going to go quietly into that good night and they won't factor into the SEC Championship race currently in Vegas LSU has the fifth best odds to win the SEC I'm looking at Trey anity off camera fifth best odds to win the SEC now I'm not telling you that's an incorrect place to have them right now there's a lot of good teams in the conference but I mean you're telling me fifth best odds fifth I mean what that's telling me is you don't think LSU will factor in and that's fine believe what you want to believe but to me to make that kind of a bet is betting against Brian Kelly in year three there's several things in the sports world that would make me concerned if I were on the other side of the field and that was probably Carmelo Anthony when he had the hoodie on like hoodie mellow is a dangerous thing uh Kyrie Irving untucked Jersey would make me nervous and Brian Kelly in year three year three Brian Kelly is a dangerous thing he has proven on many occasions that he is in his bag in year three that's when his team really becomes his team for lack of a better phrase year three at Cincinnati we've said it many times made a BCS bow when Cincinnati was a G5 school year three at Notre Dame made the national championship year three at LSU to assume they're not going to factor into the SEC title race I think is just ridiculous look at the Slate they have not horrible you got Old Miss and Bama both in Baton Rouge you go to Death Valley anything can happen and then on the road you got some tricky ones at A&M and at Florida but overall like the draw isn't horrible if you're an LSU Tiger fan so they will factor into the SEC title race I said on the show with Matt mcone yesterday I think 10 and two was very attainable for them and 10 and two just so we're all keeping track gets you in the college football playoff in a vacuum at least so we'll see what happens there another narrative we don't buy man we just kind of look at we laugh we chuckle that Auburn's gonna stay bad on offense the people that say Auburn's going to be bad on offense again in 2024 that take I would have to imagine if you said well hey why do you believe that well they they would probably start their sentence with something like this well pton Thorne and you can cut him off right there you say pton Thorne you mean the guy who did get spring practice last year pton Thorne the guy who got there with like 10 minutes to spare and said hey learn everybody's names and oh yeah you're going to start at quarterback for us is that really fair is that really fair I think where I'm sitting right now there's a lot more reasons to believe that Auburn will be substantially improved on offense than there is to believe they're going to be bad because you look at the one reason of why you would say Auburn's not going to be successful on offense you say pton Thor that's fine that's one take that's one person that's your prerogative but I'm looking at the mountains of reasons for why Auburn will be improved on offense and the first is Hugh frees like last year Hugh F's offense that was as bad a unit as he's had in his career as a head coach in his career he's coached a lot of football now to assume they're not going to get back to maybe the trend that he's had over the course of his entire career in college football to me that makes no sense pton Thorne get spring practice I've said that at nauseum but also he gets a walkie-talkie in the helmet and also he gets some weapons to throw the football to and he gets a Hugh freeze offense as opposed to being like a Hugh freze Philip Montgomery hybrid offense there's a reason there's not two captains of a boat there's a reason there's not two presidents of the United States usually you got to have one voice if you have two voices it gets confusing all right so to have some Unis and some alignment that's going to be massive I have a hard time buying that Auburn's going to stay as bad as they were last year on offense now what does that mean for them in the win loss column I don't know but I think it's a lot closer to eight wins than it is six wins last one here and this is one that's kind of to talk about because A&M's at media days today this is one that has probably persisted from a narrative standpoint not just this season not just this media days but really for the better part of the last couple of years and the narrative is that A&M should temper expectations A&M is an entitled fan base A&M is this A&M is that A&M every single year they got all this hype and then they underperform full transparency the last two seasons we have picked A&M to go8 and4 they went 5 and seven we picked A&M to go seven and five the next year they went seven and five so we are not drinking the A&M Kool-Aid nationally like I think maybe a lot of folks would accuse others of like we check the comment section every time we post a YouTube video and we see folks say I've heard this guy say this about A&M before I don't think so I haven't I mean I'm just going to say I don't I don't think those are the same videos that we're looking at here the narrative going back to this is that they are entitled they should be national champs they should be this they should be that and I'm not telling you the is going to win the SEC I'm not telling you A&M is going to be the national champions but to tell A&M fans that they need to turn their expectations knob down quite a bit to me I don't think it's totally fair because in college football one have not does not mean canot also you talk about A&M input really should equate to Output you look at the input for A&M I understand a lot of guys transferred out from some of those high-profile classes but there's still a lot of Talent on that roster from the way they've recruited they still hit the portal pretty effectively grabbing Nick scorton from Purdue is going to be a massive get for them they still have I believe a sneaky good wide receiver room with Noah Thomas and moose muhamad they got a good backfield like there's a lot of talent there's a lot of input on this roster to me that can make them really successful in 2024 I do think when you talk about A&M it is bake over microwave when you talk about Mike Elco and I said this on texags yesterday when I was sitting down with David Nuno like when you saw Nebraska last year with Matt rule the thing that we said a lot with them is culture toughness structure that's going to benefit Nebraska that's the same way I feel about Mike Elco at Texas A&M those things though you don't necessarily flip the switch you don't hit the one minute Express on the microwave and you have it working right away it takes some time typically for a team to adapt a coach's Persona way of doing things to be a Miko coach football team and so the point I'm trying to make here is if they do Buy in quicker than the average team A&M's going to be really hard to beat A&M's going to be probably in that range of a nine- win football team so the idea that A&M's entitled or they have expectations that are too high of course there's always that 15 to 10% of a fan base that is unrealistic but I think A&M fans for the most part are really just tracking the input they get to the output and they're like wait this this equation does someone check the math here I don't think the A&M fans are crazy I don't think that they're delusional I think that the input hasn't equated to the output just yet but I don't think that means it won't at some point in time so let me know the narratives that you're not buying when it comes to the SEC in 2024 a lot of narratives right now got to keep the head on the swivel we're going to do it together I'm excited to hear what y'all think also if you're tuned in live right now make sure you're subscribe to the channel I should have said that at the top of this show but man on the podcast and on the YouTube channel y'all been crushing it subscribe to the feed like the video all that stuff it just it helps us do more of what you want to see so thank you advance for that as I mentioned at the top of the show man I am not alone here on radio row I got the man punching the show live making it all happen and that's Trey the manity yanity what's up baby how we living oh what a nickname JD I've never heard that one and uh it's one of my new favorites what a week we've had it's been fun I mean it's been so much fun it's been so quick too it's already the the very last day we've heard about how horns down is going to be okay this year and uh about how Georgia is going to be um you know Finding their players based off of nil if they do speed or get in trouble with that kind of stuff um you know we've heard a lot about how Florida is right on schedule uh according to their head football coach um and you know what I think the biggest headline of them all Graham Merz all SEC juggling maybe the best jug in the entire SEC so it's been a a fun week JD um you know a lot of Big Time moments here and uh this is day number four now this is our last day and I think this is the dangers know of SEC media days because everybody's feeling loose you know maybe our questions are a little bit spicier today from our fellow media members and we get some some good responses but overall um you know another excellent SEC media is a bigger one with 16 teams now and um just a whole lot of fun a smoke them if you got them kind of vibe on radio row is what you're saying a little more YOLO vibe to our colleagues I like that I like that a lot here's a question for you Trey unrelated to the rest of the show we've done a ton of interviews you have run a lot of interviews in in tandem with River Bailey on Andy Staples show as well which if you're not yet subscribed to the channel another reason to do so because his show is every single morning every single weekday morning that is just bangers all the time uh do you have a favorite interview that you have been a part of to this point in SEC media days man you know and real quick I gotta say big shout out to our guy River Bailey for always just absolutely murdering the game and killing it again helping you know me as as we're remote this week um just a Monster job as always and uh our guy brick Nick brick as well there Jackson AET huge commitment last night on our Channel if you haven't seen that yet DJ picket LSU or Miami go check that out on on three recruits uh but you know through all our coverage this week I'd say my favorite interview man there's been some good ones I'd say johe yesterday from uh J Baron yeah fired up he was juic dude uh yeah you know some explicit uh words even you know with his thoughts on Texas and where things ended last year and what it's going to be this year really just got fired up I love that gr Merz um you know you don't necessarily get to see what these players are about when they're playing or when you know they're on camera or whatever but you know when you really get to talk to these guys a little bit what a personality and uh you know just so much fun a loose guy and I think that's going to help Florida a lot this year um that they have a veteran quarterback that also feels loose that's the the biggest thing I took from that and um probably all of our interviews this week he was so comfortable in his own skin like he he acted like a guy has played a number of years of college football already he acted like a guy who's been in media days before just a regular guy that got really good at football and uh it's just having fun one of us just having one of our guys yeah he's also a college football Socko uh that interview is coming a little bit later in the show so make sure you're dialed in here don't go anywhere we got that conversation coming for you in a second uh but at Tre you alluded to a uh a one recruiting win that LSU got last night on the on three recruits Channel and that was DJ pick it Five Star Plus quarterback given his pledge to the Tigers big time win for BK and Trey that got my wheels turning just a little bit here I think we need to unpack some of this Brian Kelly slander because there's been far too much of it and we don't stand for it unless of course the slander is warranted then you know you kind of charge to the game but I think for Brian Kelly man there's been far too much that's been said about him that just quite frankly does not check out so let's kind of unpack that together right now all Brian Kelly has done since getting to LS from where I'm sitting is knock out narrative after narrative after narrative all I've seen him do because you got to LSU does the pep rally what was the first clip you saw of him it wasn't saying he was excited to be at LSU it wasn't him promising to win national championships or anything like that the first clip that hit the internet that went viral about Brian Kelly was him at the basketball game or on the basketball court rather in front of the crowd saying me and my family and people took I mean the internet is merciless dude internet is merciless and they jumped on him and said a this guy's not a fit I wannab be Southerner he's faking it this is not going to work he's not a fit and since then uh let's check the resume here Brian Kelly a guy that's not a fit in the SEC has uh beat Nick Sabin his first year on the job made it to the SEC Championship game when there was divisions and in two years has two 10- win Seasons last year had Heisman trhy winner playing quarterback for him looks like he's fit okay to me looks like he's fitting in just fine so far in Baton Rouge then the next narrative that we heard a lot of even when he got that job was that he's not going to recruit this came a this came just to call a SP a spade here the volume was pretty loud in southb Indiana about what he wasn't going to do on the recruiting Trail or maybe what he would refuse to do on the recruiting Trail uh so far again let's check the resume last night Five Star Plus Corner DJ picket massive win over a number of other big fish on the recruiting Trail uh Bryce Underwood the top player in America quarterback out of the state of Michigan committed to LSU uh currently the 2025 class LSU has the number three class in all the freaking country check what he's done so far on the recruiting Trail outside of this class he's got two top 10 classes working on his second top five class right now so if we're just going to be real here Brian Kelly has been just destroying these narratives left and right and to me like Leonardo Dicaprio and Brian have a lot in common Leonardo DiCaprio if he's in a movie the floor is going to be pretty high like is is it going to win an Oscar is it going to be you know the the movie of The Summer sometimes yes but often times it's going to be just a really good movie and you'll leave that movie and say wow I enjoyed that mostly because of what Leo DiCaprio brought to the table there that's Brian Kelly Universal approval rate high floor everything he touches usually has some improved value after he get get his hands on it that's Brian Kelly now remember though what was the knock on Leo DiCaprio for a long time man I had to slack Nick break to make sure I was right on this this morning didn't have an Oscar can he win the big one that was always the knock that was the knock that people had for him for a long time deserved or undeserved that was the knock Brian Kelly hasn't won an naty Brian Kelly still searching for his oscar but I think even when Leo was going through that stretch where he hadn't won an Oscar I don't think you could have asked anybody in the film community and said well hey is is that going to be a forever thing will he ever win an Oscar I don't think the majority of the people answering that question answered it with a no I think most people said yeah probably a matter of time probably got to get the situation right the circumstances right the things around him the Stars kind of have to align a little bit looking at Brian Kelly at LSU uh y'all LSU we've said it before is a rocket ship that's already been to the Moon they've won a national championship with Edward Ron and Les Miles two individuals that are phenomenal coaches in their own right based on that Hardware but also Brian Kelly from a win percentage standpoint has a better winning percentage than both those individuals so on paper I think it's fair to make the argument that the rocket ship that LSU is now has one of the best Pilots behind that thing than they've had previously and gone to the Moon with and so you talk about the future for LSU man the brand the resources the fertile recruiting ground talk about the stars aligning I've said it before I think it is a matter of win not if Brian Kelly wins that national championship and when he does that will this slander persist I don't know in the social media day and age we're in right now there's always some slander to be had regardless of who you are but I think that would really turn the volume down quite a bit on what he won't do can't do isn't a fit for the whole thing is he a fit is he not a fit that discussion is always funny to me because if you succeed at a high level you're a fit like does not matter does not matter and would I be a fit to go talk about English Premier League soccer I promise you no don't know the game not from there never played the sport I would not be a fit but if we were to work our tail off figure out all those things embed ourselves in those communities which would be a lot of work but we do it uh we could probably I believe find a way to put together a pretty solid product in the digital media space for English Premier League soccer I think we would succeed so would we be a fit on paper no but when we start succeeding at that point nobody really cares if you're a fit because you're winning now we're not going to do any EPL content anytime soon I apologize to the folks that were hoping for that uh we are exclusively college football but the point Remains the Same Brian Kelly is he a fit is he not a fit he's a fit he's a fit because of what he's done from a product standpoint on the recruiting Trail and from a wins loss perspective that's our piece on that uh Trey what are your what are your takes on the on the Brian Kell situation now at LSU are you as high on them as I am when it comes to like the the Long Haul for them and hoisting some uh some national championship Hardware I think that LSU is good of a chance as anybody to to do just that JD and that's what goes on within the football field and I don't think Brian Kelly does many wrongs when it comes to football itself the game of football recruiting the game of football coaching the game of football all of that is is incredible but um I don't know how many uh you know actors there are in the state of Louisiana and the Baton Rouge metro area whatever the LSU athletic department has to do to find the very best one that looks as close to Brian Kelly as possible to send them to every single event that is nonf football related do that luiana state um from the jump JD you talked about it the the basketball thing with the fake southern accent sure the weird spinning video uh with recruits that was just the next in line of wow this is going to be a disaster at LSU and then has a lot of success there has a Heisman winner you know exceeds expectations and all of a sudden gets here to Dallas for media days and then we're right back to it on social media with ridiculous videos of him riding a bull so much so that uh you know the top coach in the league if you want to say that Kirby Smart said there's no chance I get on that bll because I saw the Brian Kelly video so as far as the football goes I don't think there's many wrongs and you know the Leonardo DiCaprio didn't win an Oscar for a long time but ultimately JD he did and and uh Nick's going to probably get upset with me here if I don't say it right the Revenant or the rever yeah yeah yeah Revenant yeah Revenant Revenant yeah uh he did win an Oscar there now what did it take for Leonardo de Caprio to win that Oscar right I think he had to spend a night inside of a bear carcass was one of the things um you know had to L the Frozen River he did a lot for this movie my movie fans out there know how much it took to get that Oscar he did a lot to to Really um you know put himself in that role so is Brian Kelly willing to do that uh in a football sense you know what is sleeping in a bear carcass on a football field I mean is that you know winning against Alabama again is that you know winning your your biggest game on your schedule is that the the bear carcass for Brian Kelly whatever it takes that Oscar did come for Leonard DiCaprio and I think that National Title could easily come for Brian Kelly but you have to you have to sleep in that bear carcus at some point I love where you took this conversation can I say that I love where you took this conversation the bear carcass as I'm thinking about this I didn't know that first of all so that's really really interesting I that might not be a one for one fact it was something like that let's let's just let's pretend it's factual uh I think for him to do that the bear carcass in my mind is like can he get a top two class top two class because that means you probably had a better class than Alabama or Georgia or whoever whoever number one is is who number one is but if you I mean you're probably one of the top classes if not the top class in the SEC depending on who number one is that would be the okay now you have more jimmies and Joe's on your roster at the very least from a depth perspective right I mean that that'd be my bare carcass for him what do you think that's fair you know I think that you have to put the guys in place and we have the LSU top commits up right now look at this class Katie I mean you're talking about the number one quarterback obviously Doran Moore was committed to this class at one point he no longer is but you still feel so great about what's coming on offense you have the number one running back in the class you have a top two cornerback now in in DJ picket that committed with us last night Tyler Miller kis K you get on the list this class is loaded but you know we heard about it a couple days ago I guess that was Tuesday that LSU joined us here at SEC media days they feel really good about this roster obviously Garrett NM did not play a lot of football last year considering the Heisman winner was the quarterback at Louisiana state but you have a guy that's just so confident and the guy that I think is a little bit slept on in a sense in Garrett nesm because of what happened last year and because of you know what you return at LSU it's not um you know first round receiver in Mal League neighbors it's maybe not this guy this x this o but I think you still have a really good offens and of course the biggest piece is you have a much improved defense you know you're you had the he winner last year didn't really have a chance because your defense was so poor same with 2019 LSU I think this team maybe isn't the offense of 2019 or the offense of 2023 but you have a much improved defense which is going to help a lot fingers are crossed on that defense and Baton Rouge without a doubt I love what you said about Garrett NM though he's just just talking to him you're like okay adult grownup handles his business understands what he get into understands what it is to be the quarterback at LS you now has he done it just yet not as a starter but like you mentioned the the offense last year was so potent and him getting to study Jaden Daniels and him getting to sit behind him and understand the work it takes to be successful I think that can only be good things for the folks in Baton Rouge Trey I love that for me brother I appreciate you adding in the uh the bear carcass take from the Revenant that's huge that's huge that's Leo and uh he doesn't get enough credit for what he went through there yeah I feel like that should be a more well-known thing but I digress uh so LSU they at media days earlier this week Alabama the Crimson Tide they were at media days yesterday and I think we got to kind of unpack the outlook for them in 2024 because for me yesterday and I said this top of the show it really hit me that Nick Sabin is no longer Alabama's head coach when kayin debor took the podium that was a pretty surreal moment in a lot of ways it felt like the official Changing of the Guard but nonetheless man you look at Alabama and what they have in front of them Vegas still loves Alabama they give them the fifth best odds to win the National Championship now the Alabama naysayers are saying well hey sabin's not there they lost a lot of production on defense I'll just say this for Alabama it is a different set of rules you play by when you assess that roster like new a lot of places or unproven equals H we'll see at Alabama there's still some wool sea baked into that but I think a lot more confident should be had because of how many stars a lot of those guys have next to their name I said the top of the show as well and our narratives were not buying segment did Nick Sabin catch any passes did Nick Sabin throw any touchdowns did he make any plays on defense no he was the head coach to Alabama what he brought to the table and what made them so successful from where I'm standing was what he did from a talent acquisition standpoint from a game plan and adapting to the game kind of standpoint and probably most importantly from a standard setting standpoint and so the question I would have then for Alabama as kayin dor has a different tone of voice when he talks to the media and probably to his football team period is okay well is a different level of intensity or a different volume rather does that changed the standard internally at Alabama and I had that question really for the better part of the early time when he was hired at Bama really all the way until spring football but then we got to that spring game and I watched Jayla Milo on that final series of the spring game in a glorified scrimmage where he's not battling for his qb1 job necessarily be just I mean furious at the way that drive finished in it's one instance you try not to pin too much on one snapshot of a of a you know moment but at the same time Jayla milro throwing his helment I was like man that's uh it's very Sab Andes that's very uh that's very reminiscent of those Alabama National Championship closing moments we got the quarterback in the center arguing on the very last Drive about snap count or execution or whatever when they're about to win the national championship like they are still pushing for more and so again it's one moment you're not trying to take too much away from it but if that is a peak into what Alabama's going to be internally that temperature is still cranked all the way up to Championship level now I think a lot of people and myself included had the question early on were like hey is kayin deor to normal to be the head coach at Bama and I don't think it's a fair thought to have it from the jump but when you start to unpack it a little bit more like I think that kayin deor and his communication style is tailored perfectly to where college football is and where college football is headed because where are we right now in this sport players both on your roster and on other rosters have more options than they've ever had before Mobility is at an all-time high and so if you are going to be the military Sergeant to me I might respond well to that there's also a chance that I don't respond well to that I think right now in college football being able to have a dialogue with your players being able to communicate in a way to where they feel valued and and respected not that Nick sain didn't do that I think that matters more than ever before and I think that's something that kayin deor quite frankly majors in and Nick sa even would probably attest to this and I think has attested this at different points he had to adapt his communication style he had to sort of evolve in that way and Nick Sab one of the best evolvers and adapters in the sport period had to do that and so for cayin dbor the way that he speaks to his and the way he communicates I think that's going to benefit him long term so the the two normal narrative it's a fair question to have to a degree but I also think overall again it's just going to favor him and benefit him as we move into modern college football you have to treat your players quite frankly like pros in the NFL you don't really scream at your players like that you don't really yell at your players to the same way that you may be used to in college football and I'm not telling you what right or wrong I think a lot of players respond well to volume but I think that we're trending towards that professional model professional professionalization period of of college football and the the player coach communication is another Factor that's I think going to play into that now you look at Alabama too I think one thing that benefits them long term too and benefits them in 2024 is The Edge this team has might be a little bit slept on we talked about on Andy Staples show this [Music] morning a lot of these guys now I'll rephrase that every one of these guys according to Jayla milro picked out Alabama like they didn't have the hay faucet graphic the same way that you do when you commit to a school but when Nick Sabin left Alabama every single one of these players had a chance to leave and so everyone who's on the roster right now had to recommit to Bama recommit to kayin deor and so you pair that with the way that last season finished for a lot of these guys on this roster they've been through some hard things that final snap in the Rose B for it to not go the way that you would have liked for it to go and to have some issues getting that ution done I guarantee you that was heartbreaking it takes a toll on you emotionally within your team it takes a toll like like failing to reach your goals and failure to achieve the Ultimate Prize like that's upsetting that hurts that can fragment a team a little bit if you don't handle it the right way you don't have the right standards and way of doing things in house in place to deal with that and so going back to what I was saying the difficult things they've had to go through has hardened them I believe and when you're able to become a hardened organization the way that I believe Alabama is right now all that breeds for them is going to be Poise it breeds Poise and Poise as we've seen multiple times throughout big games and especially in the national championships last college football playoff kind of setting that's a Difference Maker and look at Michigan last year they were able to I think be so successful in those big games towards the end of the year especially without their head coach because of the difficult spots they'd been in previously JJ McCarthy he had played in the college football playoff game before had struggled had failed I think that failure benefited him and the rest of this roster into what they wanted to do in 2023 and ultimately accomplish in 2023 so we look long-term at Alabama we look longterm at at what cayin deor is going to be there the metrics for success for him the key variables they're the same for him as everyone else on the sport can you adapt to where the sport is headed and can you sustain well you look what cayin debor has done so far in college football 1042 as a head coach you don't stumble into that like there's no yeah but like there's no asri next to 104 12 if your Ken theor so in 2024 I said at the top of the show bamama still Bama now what does that look like remains to be seen you're G to ask a lot of the defense that's the major hinge point I think for them ultimately winning the SC in 2024 but to assume they're not still B to assume kayin deor isn't going to have a really good chance to be successful just because Nick Sabin isn't there anymore doesn't mean Bama's not still going to be a force so the Outlook in 2024 for Bama the goals don't change not just from a fan based level with expectations but I'm talking about longterm I'm talking about at like at the at the internal level this team still expects to compete at the highest level and the internal temperature from what I can tell still reflects that and that is a good thing for everyone in Tuscaloosa Trey now you are a a graduate of the University of Alabama and credit credit to you whenever we have discussions about college football you are extremely unbiased so what is your unbiased take on Bama heading into 2024 right now anything that you want to get off your chest here on radio row well I mean yeah JD I'm a graduate of Alabama but uh I think I'm a student of the game constantly and uh this Alabama team's a lot different than the Alabama team that I was around but obviously Nick sain is still around this program to a a pretty close degree sometimes um you know what were our questions about kayin dor when this move was made and you know we landed uh you know from our trip to Houston I think this probably happened the Nick sa news you know maybe three or four hours after we got back to Nashville and so it was you know gave Alabama a long time to consider who the next coach would be Dan lenning wasn't the wasn't the guy that made that call didn't get a response the right way obviously you know you tested other waters but kayin dor was the guy that ultimately was the right fit that would agree to come to the university and I think everybody was nervous then and our guy Tim wats online made a really good point the other day that was January you know now it's July if you were going to tell anybody where they'd be at right now back then this recruiting class the buzz of the program the guys that have stayed you know one guy left and came back if you were gonna show somebody a crystal ball at that point tell them about what you know where this program would be now in July I don't think they' believe you and you know this is a question that I'm not going to ask and I think it's a crazy question uh but hypothetically yeah you know let's say you have a choice between Nick sa and kayin dor knowing what we know now for this new 12 team playoff knowing that Nick sain's probably gonna hang it up soon either way if you go up to somebody and say hey hang it up in two three years into this 12 team playoff and you know Nick sain goes out on whatever or he goes out with an excellent group a great season you bring in a new coach for this new playoff model for this new conference for new nil era etc etc and things go well to start I think most people probably take that it's not to say we wouldn't want Nick sa to be the head coach of this football team but I think knowing what we know now and understanding where the game is now and where it's going to continue to Trend I think you feel so confident as an Alabama fan with the steady professional nuanced head coach and kayin dor and you know as far as this season goes tough schedule for everybody I think Alabama our guy Andy Staples said it yesterday maybe has not one of the easier schedules of the big dogs in the SEC but this path isn't necessarily you know Gauntlet the whole way through so you feel good I think you feel really that's a very long-winded way to I love it I love it you feel good right now I think when you look at like I think you said it perfectly the question was can and will he recruit long way to go till signing day we'll see what this class ends up being when pen meets paper but right now I think the floor is pretty high for what they're going to be and the answer so far is like yeah he can recruit yeah he can recruit and that Bama brand that Bama logo probably doesn't hurt things either but yeah it's the the hypothetical you laid out is a fascinating one a fascinating one what's your what was your biggest concern JD for Kay and deor when he took over this program it was recruiting it was recruiting and I think there's probably also in the back of my mind a little bit I'm like okay thec is a different Beast 104 and 12 doesn't happen by accident I'm sure he's a tremendous football coach we've seen him be a tremendous football coach what is the external noise impact on a one kin deor that's probably a little bit unfair to ask that question as we sit here in July you know to to levy on him right now but it'll be a determining factor I think long-term success well and he hasn't gotten on any Bulls yet he hasn't done any rotating videos so a huge plus yeah um now that we're seven months into this and we from all accounts can tell that he can recruit at a pretty high level what is now your biggest concern for kayen dor is he get set to start this first season I think my concern is what happens when and if Alabama underachieves now what does underachieving look like 9 and3 10-2 is underachieving at Bama which is I mean ridiculous but when that happens like handling the kickback from a fan base like an Alabama who is DieHard passionate as it comes in college football handling that kind of Kickback will be a very different thing than he's ever experienced before I'm not telling you he can't handle it I think he probably can based on the makeup of who he is from what we can tell so far in the very very short time of him and Tuscaloosa but that's something where it's like okay how do you respond when the water gets a little bit hotter I think he'll be fine but that is one thing where I'm like that that will be a determining variable for success to some degree yeah no doubt about it and uh I think we were one in one with Alabama last year so if we are around them I don't think we're a good luck or bad luck charm but I'm so excited whether we're there whether we're not to see um what's gonna go on here and uh good to see Alabama yesterday good to see them man brought a good group uh of uh I guess veterans at this point now too so a lot of wellp spoken cats from alak kimore Tyler Booker Jayla milro like faces of the franchise kind of guys that uh probably Nob brainers when you were picking up picking up the lineup for the SEC media days crew probably I'd say yeah Pros Pros uh at that and now darn your actual professionals yes playing the game actually so actually and the uh and the fits reflected as much speaking of Pros pros and guys guys man we sat down with Florida Gator quarterback Graham Merz yesterday and we did a lot of interviews so far on radio row uh we don't have plans to be done have a few more lined up for today we'll see if we can persuade some SIDS into uh giving us a little time with these guys but grah Merz man I left this conversation so impressed by just how he carries himself like he's a quarterback for the University of Florida obviously but he carries himself like an NFL quarterback he's done the media Car Wash thing before from his days at Wisconsin another guy who's been through some adversity had a lot of things said about him from his days at Wisconsin quite frankly coming to Florida a lot of folks in the SEC were like are you sure that's the guy you want you sure that guy who had interception issues in Madison Wisconsin the guy you want to turn this thing around Billy Napier last year he was phenomenal 20 touchdowns of three picks darn near 3,000 yards I thought he was a really cool customer in some big moments you hate that he wasn't able to be healthy the entirety of the Season otherwise they probably beat Missouri and make a bowl game would have should have could have but enough of me talking about this uh here's our discussion and our conversation with the man that is the University of Florida quarterback Graham Merz here with Florida quarterback Graham Merz at SEC media days Graham you are a season veteran in the space you mentioned from your time that big 10 media days how does it compare now being at secc me today is for you yeah it's pretty similar I mean I think they keep you busy all day sure running around you're like a sheep just getting hurted all over the place so it's good though it's it's good it's good to see the amount of passion that I mean no no brainer SEC passion that's kind of my been my theme all day like what's the big difference I mean there's football is football but the passion from school to school is just it's strong it just means more it just means more there you go man it just means more and what was that transition like yeah it's right behind us right behind us you can see how about the awareness by Graham merch there checking out where the the it just means Moran is speaking of awareness college football 25 we talked before you got on the air here you're a college football sicko like from day one even before you were playing college ball have you had a chance to play the game yet and are you satisfied with your rating so yes I play I played the game twice I played the game we had a little team event and I just got done playing Danny warle in the back room how was that beat him 14 to6 um he ran it every play interesting yep he didn't know it was his first time playing I haven't played video games in a while so I'm getting back into the flow of it fair I'm about to have to put the controllers up in about a week and a half sure sure but uh it's fun man I mean I I grew up playing it played it with my dad like we' get home he'd make dinner we'd go on the game and play two games and like that that's how I grew up sure we were talking like I just grew up a fan of college football like back in the days where I think I had every I don't even know when the first year was of it but I had it all the way up to 14 I had 14 in my dorm room my freshman year college I was playing in there a little Road to Glory but uh it's a blessing that it came back it's incredible man I got to figure out a way to convince my teammates to stop playing it when the season comes around just to get back into it but no it's it's a good thing for for college football 100% man what's it what's it been like going into this season because here in coach Napier at the podium talking about the way yall have attacked the work and just kind of the edge this team has describe that from a locker room point of view and for you being one of the leaders of that that locker room yeah I think it we got a special group and I think there's there's power and a group of people coming together um not not really caring what anybody thinks uh we we know what we got in that room we trust each other we love each other um we all went through a very hard time together I mean you end the season you lose five games in a row like that's hard stuff especially in today's day and age in college football so I think you got a group of guys where you got young guys coming back that maybe it was their first time playing last year and now they have that new found sense of urgency on how I got to prepare my body my mind with the Playbook everything for the season when it comes so they've been doing that since January um and then uh I think we had someone said 13 I think it's 13 transfers came in and it's a strong 13 it's it's 13 guys that know what it takes to win uh they care about the team they're great leaders and I mean they came in hit the ground run and they've been rolling ever since so it's it's a fun team to be a part of right now it's a really fun team I got to ask you this cuz you mentioned kind of the end of the season and and going through hard things is there a is there a feel within the team that like hey maybe a little bit disrespected like there there's a lot of noise on the outside and people everybody gets social media is what I say that you everybody can have a Twitter account is there a disrespected feel in Gainsville right now I mean the thing is you are what your record says the the year before we went five and seven and that's that's what we were we we were not a fundamentally sound football team uh we we didn't execute on in certain games and that's why we were five and seven like that's that's our record that's that's what we were but that's not what we are right now and that's the thing where like you can people can write the story as much as you want but the ball's going to be put down it's going to be put down on the grass and there's going to be ball games played and then that's when as a team you have the opportunity to write your own story so uh yeah I mean it's kind of like a double-edged sword like yeah that's what we were but that's not what we are and I I think that's one thing that a gator Nation uh they're very passionate um and everybody just wants to win I I think that's what it comes down to like you you compete at this game you play this game to win football games and I I love the I got a question today it was like it was like what's your expectation for your record this year and I was like kind of stop for a second I'm like if you play this game you want to win every game of course and I'm like I don't think that's like any quarterback any person that plays on a team here today that's how they're thinking so I think you go into the year with that mindset uh if you're a true competitor so that that was funny today I was like I don't want to lose it all that's a tough question lose all yeah I mean that's like if you say even uh 11 and one had to go like you want to have yeah that's tough man uh what do you wish people knew about grah Merz man uh I'm a uh my whole whole team would just be like he's he's a goofball like I I think growing up with two older sisters I was always the young kind of squirly one um I just care about people uh I care about how every interaction I have with somebody um I just I love life I have fun doing what I'm doing uh I don't know yeah I don't know that's a great answer that's a great answer man I juggle you can juggle fully juggle like three objects at time do three two four oh yeah okay I feel like that'll come up in like the NFL draft stuff like when they sit you down and say what's your hidden do before games no kidding what just like hand eye stuff hand eye yeah no kidding it's like it's like I started okay Story Time everybody anybody that's watching fifth grade I had a social studies teacher the name was Mr Hastings the first 15 minutes of every class we would juggle and if you didn't drop them you'd keep going then you would have to go you wouldn't have to do class that day because you were everybody was counting your reps so that's where we would just keep repping out juggling for the entire class and it got to like the end of the semester and he was like all right we got to have class so that's where I started juggling Grant M certified athlete certified athlet that's what's up man that's what's up I got a question for you here a big talking point across media days and everyone's you know people like me have a microphone and we do lists and we do rankings and a big talking point is like hey who's the best quarterback in the SEC unbiased where would you put yourself unbiased man I so I spent a lot of time with a lot of those guys and it's it's a fun it's a fun group but unbiased I don't know people can put me wherever they want but I think that as a quarterback you got to have the confidence that you're you're the best one out there and that's kind of that's kind of where I that's where I think but I'm not going to go out there and be like I'm number one you know I mean yeah uh but I think that the cool thing uh you think about this entire the entire SEC just all the quarterbacks like it's just they're good guys like I don't know if you've been able to talk to I mean I'm sure talk to a lot of them like in the past couple of days but they're just good guys M like they like playing pool they like chilling they like throwing the football around I'm not a big Fisher or Hunter but there's a lot of them so I think in the end it's just like they're just good humans but can they juggle but can they juggle I don't know they can't jugle I'm not sure I'm not sure last question here who is the most football dude on FL do roster you know what when I say football dude like eats smelling salts or something crazy like that or like headbutts SL I don't think you should eat smelling salts for anyone watching I think that's all right all right I got one for you yeah hit me with it tell me so we got a few football guys but the number one definition of a football guy uh Joey slackman this guy comes from Penn yeah you P you open his locker up he's got three different smelling salts they'll go Friday mornings like it's just a Friday morning and we're squatting but that's like right identity of our team is we we squat low and we that we squat powerful Joey will walk in like the only person with like the full Rambo eye black headband on like just just loves the work and yeah he's he's he is a football guy that fires me up ivy league we're out here we're out here baby hey he's SEC now he's he's big time he's SEC let's go gr Ms quarterback for Florida juggler football sio man we appreciate your time so much fun how about that man Joey slack that that honestly fired me up the most out of the entire interview Joey slackman from Penn baby IV League we're out here all right so I understand there's a lot of pinkies up out there going on in the Northeast I understand that within that conference man a lot of football guys Joey slackman carrying the flag for all of us so Graham Herz is a dog as you have now seen from that interview but I think there needs to be a little more discussion about uh about Florida to begin with which is funny to say because there was a lot of discussion about Florida really since the season ended last year and a lot of discussion is going on around him and his job security him being Billy Napier so he was asked yesterday more or less about his job security and the way that he answered that question raised a lot of eyebrows he said basically I'm I'm paraphrasing here but the key phrase he said is we are on schedule to some degree a lot of folks heard that especially in Gainesville and they were like on we're on schedule we're on schedule William we're on schedule went five and seven last year in year two are you sure we're on schedule and that's a fair reaction to have that's a fair response to have but I think there's more to that than what meets the eye I'll flip this question on his head a little bit what's he supposed to say in that situation what's he supposed to say when asked about his job security yep I'm a little bit nervous no you don't say that you don't say it when it's a it's a talking festival and you're supposed to just give the people more ammunition no of course you don't say that you put on confidence whether it's real or not and I think to be clear I think it was real from Billy nap here and you just you keep on pushing forward that's all you can do in this situation I do think it's also worth noting that on schedule for a fan base can be very different than what's on schedule going on internally I don't even think I'm playing devil's advocate here to sort of make this statement like when Billy apier got there things were not good that is obvious when things are not good it takes some time to turn him around and Billy Napier said that as well so to be on schedule from a wins loss perspective could be very different than what Billy Napier is referring to I think what he was referring to is being on schedule to what they do in house and I've made this comp for a lot of teams over the years Texas being the most recent when you are trying to turn things around and you're trying to do things the right way whether it be in college football or in life there's growing pains when you're trying to get in shape for the first time after eating junk food and never exercising that first lift that you do that first week of eating meals you feel sick why because your body is going through intense change you're trying to do things the right way for the first time and I don't know how long that's Florida right now there is growing pains and so just for him saying we're on schedule doesn't mean he's speaking to five and seven I think he's speaking too we're on schedule with our progress in how we attack the work how we do things in house how we are attention to detail how we are culturally approaching this thing now the reality is for us as the college football public we're not privy to what's actually going on in house get a peek in the window we don't actually get to see the whole living room and what's going on at Florida and so we're kind of to a degree taking billion ap's word for it but gram mer echoed the same sentiment and it's SEC media days what are what are they supposed to say I get all that but I do think that maybe that should be a little more encouraging if you're a Florida fan than pointing to their wins loss column and saying well on schedule does not look like they're on schedule my first thought when I heard him say we're on schedule to some degree I was like okay well what the schedule built to do because a schedule is supposed to get you to some end result right like your schedule for a Saturday usually builds up to what you're doing that night I got the schedule of to-dos and then on the very end of that thing at five o'clock we're having a nice dinner with the family it's going to be great that's the schedule what's the schedule for Billy apier amounting to remains to be seen but again this whole deal here at SEC media days I love it because it means college football's almost here we love it as the college football public because we get to hear from these guys talking about the 2024 season and not about Spring ball and the portal and all that though some of that probably is baked into the answers they give you what's he supposed to say like th this situation this whole this whole uh apparatus that is SEC media days isn't built for a coach that's in the middle of some growing pains and trying to get things on the rails you're kind of trying to put your best foot forward and just hunker down till the season gets here I will say this talking about being on schedule from a wins loss perspective last year I said it many times you won six games in 2022 in 2023 let's see progress let's see seven wins and it's easy to piece back the schedule you know hindsights 2020 you stole South Carolina no way around that but in terms of games that if you're a Florida fan you feel like you probably should have won Arkansas probably should have won that game the game against Missouri Fourth and 17 your starting quarterback goes down like you probably should have won that game the game against Florida state they're playing a backup quarterback probably at certain points felt like you should have won that game and so all I'm trying to say here is I think if you're splitting hairs here a couple of plays make the difference between on schedule actually being true from a wins loss perspective but again I think Billy Napier is speaking to the internal ongoings at Florida and what that schedule looks like I'll say it again ma'am this is not built for bil apier this being SEC media days this is this is not a situation that you are probably walking into with a ton of excitement because there's going to be a lot of talking all there has been is talking since the season ended you need week one to get here you need Miami to roll into the swamp and to actually have the ball be set down and played that is what it's about for Florida right now that's the only remedy for anything to be positive for them and I'm not saying they can't put positive things out there on the social media page or they can't say positive things at the press conference but the things that will really turn the tide and turn momentum around is winning football games they have a good chance to do that week one against Miami here's the one more thing I want to say there's a lot of assuming with Florida in 2024 one reason why we've sit for a long time now we think that the narrative around them is incorrect over under wind tot is four and a half the schedule is just absolutely ridiculous the schedule I would not wish on my worst enemy let's look at November explicitly though are we sure that all of these teams that they have in November are going to be as good as they're cracked up to be now Georgia's Georgia all right so Georgia probably subtract them from the equation you're at Texas what do they look like late in the season I think Texas is one of the best rosters and teams in college football I love what they have at quarterback and chief sarkeesian what they how beat up are they from the secc because at that point you've played quite a few conference games how are they holding up I think they'll be good but how are they holding up I think that's a fair question LSU is the defense fixed I don't know we'll see we'll see they got to go I believe to Florida in that game oh miss is that transfer portal thing working how you want it to work again right now we're assuming all these teams are going to be pretty solid is that still the case in November because remember last year too we also assumed that Eli drink was on the hot seat fast forward the tape 11 10 football games beat Ohio State in the cotton B what's Florida state that last game when you go to Tallahassee 83rd returning production that stat has been well documented DJ you the new man behind Center for them in Tallahassee I like him but is he is he going to be able to answer the Bell I'm just saying here as tough as this schedule is how it looks in July and how it looks in November could be two very different things so on schedule I get why it raised some eyebrows I'm not telling you you're wrong for having the reaction that you did if you're a Florida fan but I think you talk about being on schedule as the head coach at Florida a little bit differently than you would as a college football fan trade did that raise eyebrows for you talking about biling apier and Florida being on schedule to some degree on schedule is just kind of maybe not the the phrase you would put to it but I don't think it's too too crazy what were your thoughts yeah I mean at very first of course JD this was uh something that you say okay that's just not realistic I mean that's what are you talking about are you know are you even watching your program uh play their games but then you know you just said it JD what's he supposed to say right so I think once you um you know you you look into these programs a little bit you think into the mind of a head coach that is exactly what I think we should have been expecting people want um answers when they're not winning right you know what's going on or are they feeling the heat do they feel the pressure like are things going to change this year and um We're not gonna find that out until September October November December maybe plus probably not for Florida this year but maybe maybe just maybe and so you know while it would be great for him to come here to Dallas and say well you know we started doing this this year we hired this guy and we changed this and I'm going to do this and he did a lot of that too I don't think that does much for anybody because that means nothing right now it just doesn't this is uh you know our talking season still this is like the the Super Bowl talking season so um you know there's only so much you can do with lip service right JD I think he understands that I think he knows if you were to really sit him down give him some TR serum put him on a lie detector test we weren't very good last year we're nervous I'm nervous about my job and what's going to happen this upcoming season and you know while I think Florida's schedule is brutal so much is going to change we're going to talk about you know what's going to happen this this year to close out our show today but um he said it JD what was he supposed to say it really is a no- win situation for anybody you ask the question because you're supposed to ask the question you have to ask the question it's a talking point right now around Florida if you're billion AP year however you answer that whether you say yeah I'm shook or you say no we're good I mean people are going to have intense opinions either way and so it's one of those things where again no win situation they need week one to get here they just need week one to get here is my opinion desperately I would it'd be fun to think about alternative answers to that question if he was gonna you know give us what we wanted well I think we're toast guys I think we're in trouble as a program right now what if he flips it and says what do you think what do you think about my jobs you know what if he just puts it back on them and says or he says what do you mean by that a true Jim Harbaugh kind of answer yeah that case or he just answered a different question like Jim Harbaugh when he was getting all the Conor stallions questions he just says yeah we're excited for this week he just didn't coach what do you think about Conor stallions are you guys worried about that we're excited for this week it's gonna be a great week guys are re-energized I'm happy to be here and it's just like ultimate deflector Jim Hara which you know it's crazy to say that JD that was not long ago and we haven't even played the next season yet I feel like most people have completely forgot about Conor stallions they've just moved on they've moved on crazy how that works man it's uh I think I heard not to get too off track here I think I heard Drake say this in an interview uh his mom gave him some advice about how to handle like bad PR or something like that it's like hey if something bad happens to you where you say something that people are up in arms about give it 72 hours 24 hours people won't really remember it in 48 hours they will have forgotten about it in 72 hours someone will have said something else that makes news I don't know if that's true for college football but maybe there's there's a kernel of Truth to be taken from that that shock to took to Thursday to get a drake reference out of JD yeah and he would know too I mean who's at a worst calendar year Conor stallion or Drake to be fair Drake in the 72-hour rule has not held true right now just if we're g try to convince people maybe that's bad advice yeah I don't know forget this I don't know well let's uh let's wrap the show up here in the spirit of narrative season what's not being said right now in college football what's what's not being said in the SEC now Trey and talking during the gr mer interview there's a couple of reason as to why things aren't being said this will make more sense as we dive more into it but if something's not being said one it's probably not going to happen so people are saying that's not going to happen I'm not going to talk about it the other thing that may be worth noting about topics that are not getting as much traction or air time is hey you know uh sometimes going against the grain sometimes swimming Upstream kind of salmon protocol that's Sometimes the best way forward when you try to break down the 2024 season so maybe just a couple of things that we believe should get some more traction maybe aren't being said near enough as we head in 20124 Arkansas they're SEC media days today I don't know that Arkansas is going to be a 10- win football team that would shock me in a lot of ways but I do think that Arkansas Bears some resemblance minor nonetheless Bears some resemblance to Missouri of last season cuz last season Eli drinkwitz was sitting down at SEC media days and kind of a similar situation to where Sam Pitman is right now and saying is maybe not quite as as uh as morbid of a talking point around him but there was question around like hey is he going to be the guy at Missouri long term is he coaching for his job this year a lot of people felt like he was on the hot seat people feel the same way about Sam Pitman right now and I think he'll address it head on here at SEC media days and Andy Staples kind of echoed that same sentiment that he thinks he'll talk about it but like there is nothing more dangerous in Life or in college football than someone with nothing to lose like Sam Pitman if he's going down he's going down swinging you hired a new OC and Bobby patrino who's had a lot of success throughout his career you went out and got an avatar to play quarterback for you and ton Green from Boise State who's 6'6 223 pounds and just jumps over people for fun so you got that at quarterback I'm just saying I don't know that they're going to be a team that makes to the cotton bow and makes as much noise as Missouri last year but there's some variance and some similarities between those two programs when you compare them year-over-year Mississippi State I'm not picking them to win the SEC I've probably said that about four or five teams throughout this show so I apologize we'll tell you who we are picking to win the SEC here pretty soon but Mississippi State they got Blake shaper from Baylor it's not being talked about nearly enough that they may have gotten the perfect quarterback for Jeff lebby system like if you if you've know anything about Jeff leby it's a wide open offense we're going to make you cover every single blade of grass I believe Blake shapen said yesterday at media days even if we don't have Superior Personnel I'm paraphrasing here we're going to beat you by making you have to align to us and if you're misalign we're going to make you pay I've told this story many times but I was in the building when Baylor played Oklahoma State for the Big 12 championship game Gary banan starting quarterback at B can't go Blake shaven walks out there in the biggest moment of his career Poise coming out of his ears just starts balling guy can deal the pill like a shady pharmacist we'll say that much so I love that for Mississippi State a bow win for them to me is what equates to success get to seven wins take some momentum on the recruiting Trail hit the portal get some weapons for Blake shap and let's keep a good thing going or uh or whoever the quarterback is next year from Mississippi State I guess is a better way to put it but Mississippi State they got the perfect quarterback for their system right now I love that here's kind of a more more of a what if than a what's not being said nearly enough but like everyone talks about how good nicoo eam malava could be and probably will be at Tennessee long term what if in 2024 nicoo malava is statistically speaking the best quarterback in the conference now Trey and I were talking about this before Jaden Daniels was statistically the best quarterback in the SEC last season I believe and you know LSU went nine and three but I'd be surprised if Tennessee had aund and something ranks Total Defense in college football so I'll leave that there the point I'm trying to make here is if Nico hits the way that I think a lot of folks believe he could hit is Tennessee getting to Atlanta I don't think it's irresponsible to assume so now the path ahead of them is Isn't Easy by any stretch the imination but I do think that with how talented Nico is it might be worth the thought that if he hits the ground running and we've said that a lot of times but if he hits the ground running to where he walks out there he's fivar Nico right away like Tennessee could very easily be a team that plays in Atlanta and makes the college football playoff that's a massive if for a first year starting quarterback but as highly touted as he was coming out of high school being the number one ranked recruit period in the class 2023 worth a note I think it's worth keeping an eye on what more I want to talk about here that's not getting enough love and maybe not getting talked about enough here what's not being said is Kentucky if 10- two is the threshold to making the college football playoff Mark stops every third year or so pops for a 10- win season or in that neighborhood at least this is that third year right now for Coach dupes the stars in a lot of ways feel like they're kind of aligning for Kentucky so I'm not calling my shot for Kentucky to be a college football playoff team but I think it deserves maybe a little bit more attention with Dan key and Barry and brown two of the best young receivers two of the most explosive receivers in the sport Brock Vandergriff a five-star quarterback transferring over from Georgia with a lot of ability that pushed Carson Beck for that job of season to go in Athens the draw isn't horrible for them either they're adal Miss Auburn out Tennessee are all tricky but Georgia and Texas are the two that you really Circle that you know being the most difficult from a roster Talent perspective to deal with but if those are your two losses Georgia and Texas two of the best teams in college football I'm just going to say quality losses is a word you hear a lot around Kentucky if they get to that 10 and two threshold and I think that could make them a college football playoff backdoor kind of team so this isn't us calling our shot but just in the spirit of narrative season the big narratives get all the talk and that's fine but just maybe keep keep a side eye keep a keep a peripheral view on some of these different things going on in the conference because I think that it's worth us discussing a little bit more as we move into the college football season Trey last year man there was a lot of things that we did not see coming South Carolina having a let down Missouri popping for double digit wins LSU having the best offense in college football we talked about that actually a little bit this time last year at media days I don't think we predicted it by any stretch of the imagination but anything that comes to mind for you or any other thoughts on the maybe things that aren't being said in the sport right now something is going to happen that um we're not planning on right now J that's the nature of uh of sports in general so you know if I had to pick one want to take just a random stab at it um Texas winning the SEC I don't think they're going to be our favorite today uh as the media polls I think that would probably be a surprise to some people and I think for for me that's um I just see that coming I don't know that's been my one narrative that I want to run with this week so if we're talking about what's what's not being said I think a a year one sec championship for Texas would be the one thing maybe that is being said though so I don't know if that's uh in-depth enough there for you but um no it's you know this is this is July JD it's like the NCAA tournament um you know everybody fills out their bracket right and we're sitting there thinking okay well you know take the projectile on this and if we do the math on this team and how many points did they whatever and you can try to predict things as much as you know you can with math and all this other stuff but at the end of the day players make plays and um you know when that first ball is kicked off in August late August um everything could change like that and we're going to I think read too deeply as we always do Miami Florida whoever wins that game if it's Florida oh wow Florida's back and Billy's saved and Graham's and you know if they lose that game okay well he's going to be fired by week two or three you know I think this year Missouri um or I guess this year's Missouri could be Arkansas you know maybe it's South Carolina they were disappointment this past year you we had high hopes for a team that that really let everybody down they have a great young quarterback they have great young skill players like NYC Harbor our guy and Dylan Stewart you know huge power on the defensive side now too maybe they're your Missouri this year um overall JD I think that uh this SEC is so much fun not just because of all the nuances you know 12 team playoff and nil and more parody in general but the fact that um you know we don't have Nick Sabin anymore in this conference and you know we don't necessarily we haven't seen Georgia wi an SEC title we've seen them in what won in the last 27 years so who knows if they are you know next in line for being that SEC Dynasty but um we just have so much parody so much quality across this conference um this is going to be a whole new game I think we're looking at this year JD and I'm just excited man I almost I have two thoughts one I am almost disappointed in myself for not making the comp between South Carolina and Missouri as opposed to an Arkansas and Missouri because I think what you said about Nick haror special player Lenor sellers special player is he Luther buron yeah that's kind of the big question which is a which is I mean that's a tough tough comp South Carolina's uh schedule is brutal so maybe that's why you feel okay about Arkansas but e either way both of those schools are ones that we have to watch I love that comp in South Carolina Missy I love that a lot second thought I believe with us being here at media days I think everyone on radio row will get a vote for who's going to win the SEC will your vote and feel free to to say I'm not going to answer that right now will your vote be Texas to win the SEC wow no question no hesitation it's Texas to win the SEC it's Texas to you know at that point there'll probably be a one two or three seed Texas to win their quarterfinal game it's Texas to win their semi-final game it's Texas to win the national championship this year for me JD boom I boom that's my take let's go dude I of course had Nebraska win in the national championship on this very show a year ago so did did you say that on air I don't know if you said that on air if I didn't I I should have because that was the take and maybe they do this year but I don't know that that did you I don't think you really were thinking that though were you was that really the take no I was I mean you know you have Matt rule a guy that can come in and change things quickly and um a lot of returners on both sides of the the ball and that's going to be the case this year we're not going to go down the the Nebraska rabbit hole on the last day of media days but um we have Texas that is now a part of the we'll go down that rapid I think Texas is your National Champion I think Texas is is your SEC Champion I will say your odds to make that pick like your your pick of Texas winning the the SEC and the National Championship uh substantially better odds than the take of Nebraska last year just just speaking from Vegas alone from vas alone so um's see what happens there where's the that's the big question it's a it's value game it is a value game well Trey man this has been a blast I know we got a few more things we're going to button up here on radio row here from a different uh conversations with them f with some folks but uh and this has been awesome dude thanks for holding it down thanks for jumping on the mic thanks for punching the show live like you've been a absolute weapon this week dude so we appreciate you man jie thank you so much for having me on I mean this is just such a blast uh so fortunate to to not only be around you and get to work with you but get to do stuff like this with you as well and um and everybody else watching you know today yesterday uh our coverage all the time our guy said it Nick break just such a good job River Bailey um you guys support us you guys help us continue to get to do what we do and um you know make this stuff great so thank you to everybody watching commenting you know whatever the case is and thank you JD for for having me on the show again this week of course man producer Mafia holding it down in Nashville right now Jackson o that River Bailey Nick you know him heavy hter he heavy hitter heavy lifter break uh appreciate y'all making the show happen as well we appreciate y'all making this show happen everyone tuned in that's watching right now everyone that's listening on podcast man y'all make this show go go cannot stress enough it's that time now if you weren't in that mode before and a lot of youall that are watching right now have been in that mode since college football ended I put in quotation marks if you're watching on YouTube or listening on podcast in Houston when Michigan won the natti uh need you to get back in that mode though got a dial in here no more time to miss shows no more time to miss podcasts it's about that time now college football season is upon us SEC media days is the reality let's go man let's have a great year we love y'all we appreciate y'all next time we're back on the air it'll be in our home studio in Nashville Tennessee at on 3hq man we will see y'all then going to keep this party rolling for myself j p and Trey anity on the ones and twos we will see y'all next time