ACC Football Preview (Ep. 102): Clemson and Florida St. OVERRATED?! Kyron Drones and VT one to watch

Intro [Music] hello and welcome this is Fall start a college football podcast for everyone and everyone else I'm John buer staff writer fansided.com I'm joined today by a man who knows exactly what time it is even though it doesn't really matter in places like Duncan Bojangles and the all Coast Conference he does more than shoot hoops and turn left he goes to meetings Cody Williams content director fansided.com how the hell are you man I gotta tell you if it wasn't the ACC preview today I might be might have a little bit less energy like it's been a week I'm you know I'm pretty I'm pretty gassed as we speak but uh you know excited to talk about my ACC boys all Coast Conference we're here we're ready to mount up yeah I was just sitting there thinking like could needs like one of those Adam gase smelling salts to kind of get through this dude you're not kidding man I if you think I haven't already thought about investing in some smelling salts just for the desk like you're you're you're you don't know me well at all you know that's by my desk it's like some people do other things on their desk they drink coffee and other things and I do smelling salts and it's just Paul start look man you know I think that it's not the worst idea for me to have some smelling salts and then if someone to just John hindo slap me right right after I take a hit of the smelling salts like I think think that's the only way I can get up at this point I I feel that man yes the this could of parlays into something that happened to me yesterday so I'm back at my apartment midtown's 10 minutes away still doing the dog sitting so I want to go get some coffee yesterday because like there's little like K cup pods and like doesn't work for me I need a whole po pot of something delicious back here I needed that so I'm like you know what there's a Starbucks right around the corner I'm gonna go get there well they're renovating it and I'm like well s so I turn the corner and I go to Duncan and I look at this and I'm like do I really want to go to a like a standalone Duncan in the middle of midtown Atlanta I did and um that was an adventure I mean any anywhere in Midtown always has the chance of being an adventure but uh Duncan on on a Tuesday morning I uh some Adventure or Wednesday excuse me God see that's where my head's at I have no idea day of the week it is it could be any day but Wednesday morning like that's midweek everyone needs their Duncan I I walk in there and the people behind the counter were not amused and uh what made the matter worse was this guy came in there wearing a ironically enough North Carolina basketball Shore it's just a very popular brand um he looked like one of the weigh-ins brothers from Scary Movie and he was asking for you know free food or the bathroom they're like no no it's like well can you at least tell me what time it is and he goes like 10:38 he goes am or p.m oh my God hey you know what that's the vibe that's the vibe right there that's how I'm feeling is it AM or PM I have no clue man yeah but a Duncan like you can get whatever you want any time of the day same with Bojangles although um I I want to like fly you some Bojangles and just eat it up I think that would probably change your life like can I get you like a bow box for Christmas or something legitimately would love every second of it uh Bojangles I miss you sweetheart uh soon I'll be coming back to First & 15: Pretenders and Sleepers you yeah I know um I will make sure to gift wrap it with in the the Paul Finch satin Kimo yes we fall started a little bit here we're gonna go with some first and 15 this is the uh the fourth of our power for previews we'll do G5 on Monday's episode and then on Thursday we'll kind of do like a whole all-encompassing thing ahead of week one um we also are going to be going semi live after Georgia FSU on Saturday for three yards in a cloud of Punt GNA Marty Ball it with some run run pass punt it's going to be absolutely electric but yes uh the Paul Finch and the Definitely Maybe who needs a satin kimono and where were you while you were getting high on this team who is wearing the satin kimono for you in the ACC this year yeah it's someone who I think probably actually has a satin commo and that's daos Sweeney and the Clemson Tigers um I like like can you really rule it out that he has a sa in kimono I can't but I think that when you look at this team we there were a lot of people who were super high on Kade clubnet coming into last year there were a lot of people who thought oh he's a huge upgrade over dju giving his recruiting pedigree giving everything that we've seen from the quarterback position over the years at Clemson he wasn't it he wasn't it and I don't think he was that good I do think that I legitimately think that Phil mafa might actually be an upgrade over will Shipley like I think will Shipley's a good player but I'm not sure he was a great for the Clemson offense but I do think that they also lost a little bit on defense the defensive line still going to be good but I worry about the secondary a little bit losing Nate Wiggins is a big loss for that defense considering what I watched him do in the secondary in the ACC last year I think the defense might be a little bit worse I still don't have faith in Kade kumnick I maybe Garrett Riley is not the wonderin that we thought he was so like I have some real questions about this Clemson team and I will give Clemson some credit here this is a definitely M or this is a kind of every team at the top of this conference is threading the satin kimono Definitely Maybe kind of line like there's no clear separator in the ACC which is kind of wild yes um I had three uh satin kimono uh caliber people and Clemson was my tertiary I have them going nine and three six and two I have them losing to Georgia I have them losing to looking across at my win loss totals and I'm going to be writing that for fansided.com here that's going to be coming up this weekend probably right around the time time of Florida state Georgia Tech got to get that in there pretty quickly but yeah losing at Georgia at Florida State and at Virginia Tech all very losable games I like Phil MAA uh Kade kumnick is the uh the dju you have at home and I think really the big thing is Dabo is absolutely a CEO type he's he's he's essentially a more elevated version of uh Brian Hartline in some capacities yeah same sort of level of Coach they're both outstanding at what they do but like you know losing Jeff got getting him back now that he's been uh crushed by Tampa but you know losing Tony Elliot and Britt vinils doesn't help uh no Brandon streer didn't take now he's getting a rehabed under Kirby at Athens so it's like Garrett Riley and Wes Goodwin just not um it's not good no it's not it's not and then I think the other thing like you know you say davo is like kind of like Brian Harline in terms of being a CEO type there's one key difference Brian Harline has no problem going into the portal and getting what they need where Clemson obviously does not have that like we've watched this Clemson offensive line over the past few years suffer because they're not going into the portal they're not being aggressive and I think one of the things that frustrates me the most about Clemson like I have no love for Clemson let's be clear like I'm not a Clemson fan by any means obviously look at what I'm wearing but like I you know no love for Clemson coming from my end but at the same time like it's frustrating to see a program that should be better than they are just actively shoot itself in the foot like if Clon was a player in the transfer portal they could get just about whoever they wanted it's particularly in the Southeast footprint like you look at an Alabama transfer you look at a Georgia transfer Clemson would be in the mix for all those guys if they wanted to be they just don't want to be and it's actively hurting them that's what's most frustrating like they can Elevate I mean Florida State's elevating but like Clemson doesn't have necessarily the academic restrictions as others they have you know they're still in the midst of like arguably their best run to date I mean although Danny Ford back in the 80s was good too but like they they can do this it's not like you know Mike norel needs to use the portal to supplement the you know the crap that they couldn't recruit now they're starting to do a good job there but like he's using that to you know accelerate their uh their return to prominence whereas Clemson's just being insanely stubborn here but um so my satin kimono um another team I don't like the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets okay I think Brent is yes Brent almost said Brent Pride we'll talk about Brent Pride just a lot of BRS going on the the Brent in the ACC get me every time I have to take a second every time before I say one of their names I'm like is this the right Brent uh yes I think Brent key is the right fit for Georgia Tech I think Hayes King is a good player you know potentially a special player of the ACC schedule's awful schedule is horrific like I have them going five and seven losses to Florida State at Louisville at your boys North Carolina Notre Dame at Virginia Tech Miami and at Georgia that's brutal that's just absolutely brutal like this is a team that we think highly of in terms of like not being Jeff Collins and not being the end of what it was with Paul Johnson but like this is just probably probably the toughest schedule I mean one of the most toughest schedules in the ACC I feel Georgia Tech is kind of behind the eightball here and it's unfortunate but like you know maybe a a sheep and Wolf's clothing a sheep and Wolf's clo no I think you're absolutely right I think this is the kind of like the shiny example there's teams like this every single year that we see but like they're five and seven is not indicative of like a problem you know like if this team goes five and seven like you're projecting like yes it's going to suck to not make a bowl game especially after making one last year but at the same time like I imagine that even in those losses that you just routed off there's going to be some where they're super competitive you know what I mean like they're not going to be just getting blow the doors blown off every single week so like I think long term we're like optimistic about what Brent key is going to do at Georgia Tech but I do I'm I'm kind of right there with you that schedule's tough and like this is still isn't a roster that's where it needs to be to compete consistently in the ACC yeah I have been beating NC State but they got to beat your guys to get to BU eligibility with the challenges that that that sit there anybody else you have that was up for the the satin Kimo because I had I had one more besides clums set yeah so I feel weird putting this since it is a newcomer but I'm a little dubious of uh Smo SMU I'm just not quite sure they're there Preston Stone was fine last year but I think Preston Stone benefited quite greatly from playing in the AAC I think playing in the ACC it's going to be a little bit of a wakeup call I don't think the offense was nearly as good as what we've seen from SMU and then what really saved SMU and had them in the mix as one of the better group of five teams last year is they had a really damn good defense last year but they lost a lot of pieces in the transporter they lost some pieces to the draft so I think the defense is going to take a step back I don't have faith in Preston Stone to really elevate the offense so I do worry that SMU is going to have kind of a rude wakeup call to the ACC and looking at the odds they're the fifth favorite in the conference so like there are people who are high on this team yes this is another perfect example like Clemson where like you could put the Kimo or they could be definitely nabe it's it's right there uh the other one that I had for uh Paul Finch was Inc State again a very tough schedule I feel uh Grayson Mcall is a great quarterback we want to see you know what he can do in power four comp comptition we really like Dave Dorne but like there hasn't been this much like hype and support around Inc State uh probably since what after that really good sophomore year with uh Philip Rivers and Chuck Amato way back in the day so right yeah it's been a minute yes so we're gonna move on and I'm gonna give you my Definitely Maybe that's SMU I am all in on the I am all in on the ponies I have them going 11 and one I have them wow okay yeah seven and one um my thought is yes Preston Stones could be elevated Beyond like what he is maybe a bigger profile the two things that stand out to me with the ponies is I think Rett Lashley is a fantastic coach he knows his conference well having been at Miami Miami hasn't been the same since he left and um more importantly I think SMU wants to wants more than anything to move up at anytime anybody changes conferences and wants it like they want to like the PCU effect like PCU really wanted it and they got there whereas like if you're a reluctant partner maybe not so much but uh yeah I'm really high on SMU this season and I can't fault you there like there's a reason SMU wasn't my top pick because I truly don't know what to make of this team so like it could go like like you said like they are the T like they are the perfect example of they could go either way and it just kind of depends on what your Vibes are mine happened to be a little more negative but uh in terms of Definitely Maybe teams I'm going with Virginia Tech man I think Virginia Tech is damn good yeah um one of the things that has been sticking out to me the more I think about it this is a team that returns 21 of 22 starters from last year like that that type of returning production you don't see and that's from a team that I believe if I'm not if I'm not mistaken went seven and five last year in the a in in overall and so like you you ask a Young quarterback in Kiren Jones to build off of that you ask a team that is experien Laden to come in under a coach who we like and Brent pry who I think is the right man for the job in blackburg like I think this team has the experience level I think they have the upper Talent level particularly on that quarterback and also on the defensive side of the ball to really make some noise and really challenge some of these teams at the top of the conference that frankly we do have questions about you talked about NC State we have questions about them and their that's a tough schedule we talk about Clemson I'm down on them so like they have a chance against Clemson Florida State we don't know what this is going to look like with dju so like I do think that Virginia Tech has a window of opportunity yes I have them as my secondary Definitely Maybe I have the the hookies going 10 and two uh Brent pry is really building uh it's almost like I mean you don't like with Justin FTE it's like how do I sustain you know Beamer ball you know I retain Bud Foster I don't even know what he's doing anymore hopefully you're living your best life out there bud but uh yeah rip priz like okay I'm gonna go in there I'm gonna recruit the Tidewater region uh you know fantastic learned a lot of great things there from James Franklin at Penn State has the quarterback he needs uh there's a lot of hype on the hys and um I don't know if they were ranked in the top 25 but they're they're right there and yeah they're all in on the Hokey Stone plus you know I'll run to Lars with this team dude oh absolutely man so anybody else you have up for a Definitely Maybe I'm gonna be honest with you not not particularly uh you know the other teams are kind of like they're not Definitely Maybe I think they just are at the top of the conference that I would mention here and then I think there is a precipitous drop off to the the second tier of the ACC I'll pause it one more my tier Sherry was uh the Boston College Eagles again I Thomas casanas is special and also the same sort of thing I think um Jeff Halley always recruited very well or like developed maybe he got burn out by it Bill O'Brien's a hell of an offensive mind I think he just go into a place with like lesser expectations than the Houston Texans or the Alabama Crimson Tide or just that sad back of crap there in foxb I think uh BC I have them going a eight and four and five and three a conference play I think they're going to be a lot of fun and that's a good call by you I I you there's a world where BC definitely takes a leap up under Bill ACC coaches on the hot seat O'Brien for those reasons you mentioned yes and uh it may be cold up there in sh Nut Hill but it's getting hot in year what ACC coach enters the seat on the hottest enters the season on the hottest of seats who all else could be uh up for you know getting getting the axe here who do you have um for potentially going bye bye bye yeah you know bye bye bye uh unfortunately and this is probably the second or third year in a row that I've said this but Tony Elliott like it's it's kind of put up or shut up time like we've we've given Tony Elliott the proper amount of credit for how he's handled everything the tragedy that happened with this program the tragedy that the university and the program went through but at the end of the day like you're paid to win football games and they haven't been winning football games now we're going into the season where Anthony kandria the whoopsy daisy King uh he uh there's a chance he's not the starter after playing quite a bit as a freshman last year there's a chance he's not the starter which feels like a very weird call by Tony Elliott and I don't think Tony Elliott has necessarily earned the benefit of the doubt so if that quarterback decision goes wrong we're talking about a team that I don't think is going to be that good even if they started kandria but now you're like putting yourself behind the eightball I just think the pressure is really on Tony Elliott to at least compete for Bowl eligibility and I'm worried that they're not going to have the horses to do that yeah Tony helot it's my first choice I have them going three and nine uh their wins are Richmond Coastal and over your boys because that's a huge rivalry game for both teams so that's totally within the r of possibility but when you're going three and nine that's the opposite of 10 and two it's it's three it's nine and three but cross so you're even worse than 10 and two like you're not going anywhere with that so yes I'd be utterly shocked if Tony Elliott got a fourth year there in Charlottesville I also had I had four others listed uh Pat nzi Uh Troy Taylor Mac Brown and Dave Clawson I think Pat ardy if I if pit goes under 500 they got to make a change because it's just becoming toxic Matt m brown although I do have your boys going bowling uh he may just retire do whatever it is and uh I don't have wake having a good year I think I don't think they're gonna fire Dave Clawson but like they're going to be like okay okay maybe We've ran you know maybe the slow MH has run its course maybe it's just um what's what's slower than slow mesh just a a fence fence yeah it's a chain link fence the chain link offense and then with Troy Taylor it's like I don't think they're gonna fire him but I think Stanford's gonna have a rough year I think they're the worst team in the ACC next year it's definitely close the only other like so I had all I literally had that exact list as well the other one I threw on there and it it pains me and I'm sure it's going to pain you to here but Justin Willcox um just because like I think it is in the cards for Cal to have a rough year as well I mean c and Stanford like on top of not being high-end Pack 12 teams last year they're now going to have just absolutely brutal travel schedules this entire season so like you know all Coast Conference now they're having to travel to the east coast like two to three times a month like that's not going to be an easy thing to handle we like Justin willox I think Justin willox if he were to get fired is going to have a multitude of job opportunities both at the pro and the college level but I just think maybe Cal is might be searching for a change after this season potentially like I think he'd go be like a defensive coordinator pretty quickly like and then you know reinvent himself I mean hell come to come to Athens if Glenn Schuman leaves I would yeah right may not quite the fit there maybe maybe T Rob gets elevated or something like that but like he'll be it'll be like Tom Allen like he'll get hired immediately hire him at North Carolina if Matt Brown Fire gets fired hell yeah let's go baby um I do have cgo and seven and five I think they I think people are gonna really are gonna really struggle playing there for whatever reason and um there's also one player on their team that's really special uh Jaden a who I kept calling Zack a so Jaden Zack a Jaden Zack Jay-Z that's J out there at c h to the jizo to the but no you're right I mean like I'm not saying Cal's devoid of talent and like there is a world where they do have success I just I know what I saw last year from Cal they underperformed quite a bit on quite a few different occasions and you add in the travel schedule like I just worry about what it's going to look like and I think if they don't hit that seven and five Mark if they don't go bowling then Cal might turn up the pressure on Justin will Cox a little bit yeah we're talking like a third of the league could be could be fired here conceivably or Leto um any thoughts before we move on here I feel like that's pretty straightforward kind of coming up into here yeah I honestly I don't see a world where mat Brown gets fired but he's again one of the uh octos or near octos that we're talking about who could be like hey Mac there's the door would you like to go out of it but you can send a nice retirement letter on the way out like you know I think that's kind of how that would probably end up uh Bubba Cunningham walks in there says what if I told you I could get you something like a blue plate special better yet a Carolina blue plate special yes sir they're serving dinner at 4 let's let's head on over there that may make its way on to you know a future installment of graphic design is my passion the MC Brown Blue Plate special Ser dinner at four oh my God uh but as a proud North Carolinian what would be on the the Blue Plate special it's like it's like a meet in three what would that be uh so I'm gonna go country fried steak with uh gravy obviously you got to have that then we're going to have some green beans got to be cooked with the bacons and bacon and the onions or else it's not not good green beans and then I think you're probably going to throw some mac and cheese on there because we enjoy clogging Our arteries in North Carolina like that's just a big thing for us yes and then uh you green beans uh mac and cheese country fried steak you probably get a biscuit there oh you the biscuit was a given that's not you don't even consider that part of the dish you're just getting a biscuit you're just getting a biscuit this is this is Fall start and um I'm really excited for uh this weekend you know with uh football being back in our lives Heisman watch in the ACC and I'll be sitting live on a couch maybe not Eric Crouch's couch hopefully I'll have a Biscuit in my hand but um which three ACC players do you think are serious contenders for the Heisman Trophy let's kind of remove Riley Leonard from Notre Dame from the equation I think that like that's that's its own separate thing yes St like yeah that was going to be my that was going to be my question is are we including Notre Dame in this conversation I I think we're keeping Notre Dame a little bit separate from the ACC conversation for obvious reasons they're not in the conference but they do get lumped into that a lot but Ry Leonard would be one but my number one if we're not including Riley Leonard that's Cam Ward and I think that cam Ward is special the only thing that I think is going to keep cam Ward from Heisman conversation is Mario chrisal and that's just point blank 100% yeah and it's like that is not an indictment of Cam Ward like I think cam Ward is a tremendously talented player I think cam Ward is in a when you look at the roster a great situation but like is Mario going to want to go to a pass heavy offense we don't know like he's typically not wanted to do that like we saw it with Justin Herbert at Oregon like he was still like hey we're just gonna run the ball so and they have Damen Martin they brought Damen Martinez is which worries me there but I do think that in terms of talent cam ward has the chance to just Elevate himself over the rest of this conference and so I have to include him as a number one Heisman candidate yes he's my number one as well easy just didn't even have to think about it I'm like there's only two things that can slow him down Mario Christ ball and maybe some handoffs there to Damen Martinez I kind of feel that like it's interesting we didn't put Mario Chris Ball there on the hot seat it's like I think we're both like the talent's just too good like you'll have like a you'll have like the dino baber pop year where he goes like 10 and two it's just like it's like it would be utterly shocking like it could flip pretty quickly it's kind of like Ryan Day there with um Ohio State but like way way way more variant way more variant and then also like I know we talked about it previously but like his buyout is still pretty sizable even after this season so like it is one of those cases where I'm like are they going to cut like a favorite are they gonna you know cut ties with a favorite son for that amount of money given how he's recruiting as well like I don't know like I feel like before Mario would be on the hot seat it would be okay we're putting all your coordinators on the hot seat again like you're getting one more chance to get these hires right and if you don't then you're then you're gone then the pressure is on you but like I do think that like Mario is going to be given the longest leash possible at Miami specifically yeah I'm like I don't see the offense being bad under Shannon Dawson but yeah if it does like they they'd go with that I have no idea who Miami's defensive coordinator is right now but it's it's me either it's okay we we cover so many teams we're going to miss some like very obviously you guys are so stupid I'm like well yeah that's that's why we doing the show we're absolutely dumbest people on Earth uh Anthony no wa that's uh that's the Miami Dolphins it's some coordinator never mind the quick Google didn't work out for me the quick gos okay so you both got cam Ward one uh my number two is ky andron Virginia Tech quarterback that's who I've got I think that like we're gonna know his name I think Virginia Tech's gonna have a great year I know Brent pry is more of a defensiv minded coach but I think Virginia Tech is going to be they're they're getting better with every year whereas like the who are just stagnating there at just crap with u basically just flatlining there with uh Tony Elliott but yeah I think kyn Jones there with Virginia Tech uh could be a lot of fun yeah I also have Kon Jones at number two so uh I like I think we're both high on the hes this year and Kiron Jones is a big reason why like he came on and got better with each game last season and like he is obviously a tremendously talented player a versatile player and not only that but again he's coming back with so much experience around him like one thing that can hurt a talented quarterback is if you're just like having to like gain a rapport with all of your new teammates and all these new players they were going to be playing on the first team offense with you he doesn't have to worry about that he has an offensive line that's more than capable of protecting him he has skill position players who maybe not like the best in the country but like they're experienced and they're solid players and so like Kiren Jones is a very is in a very advantageous situation coming into the 2024 season I think just being on an ascending team in a conference that so up for grabs you know I think the not necessarily the brand name recognition for him is going to be uh there but like people are like oh did you see what drones did or k Jones like also you could stack it because it's this no never mind that's five letters and six we can't do math right now but it looks cool hey I'm just ready for the ESPN call of like him taking a deep shot and scoring a touchdown and they call it a drone shot like that's what you need like that's the that's perfect branding we're ready to go I feel so bad that RG3 couldn't say something dumb about this dude dude RP to RG3's ESPN tenure we shall miss you especially as Alex orgy becomes the starting quarterback at Michigan like come on man we're missing opportunities left and right yeah we are too it's like U it's unfortunate uh he's got that big penic energy probably go work for NFL Network they probably need to hire somebody so we'll see we'll see what happens there he's got that big croissant energy I don't know if you saw that picture from Paris but uh I think that I I don't believe in coincidence but I believe in correlation maybe there's something with that potentially know a little bit about French a lot of about Sons we we all right who do you have for three for three I've got Grayson McCall which again if you've heard me talk at all about NC State this year that should not surprise you at all but very high on Grayson McCall I think getting him in like into NC State getting him in this program where you have a guy like Kevin conceps on the outside who I think is one of the better one of more underrated receivers in the country I think that Grayson McCall is going to be better protected than he was at Coastal like we saw him get banged up over the past couple years and I think that was a coastal problem also losing Jamie Chadwell didn't didn't help him do any favors I think he's going to be in a much better situation and this is a player we've seen put up tremendous stats with much worse Talent around him so I think that Grayson McCall is now in a situation to kind of bounce back I don't think he's going to be an NFL draft prospect he's a little small he doesn't have the throwing mechanics necessarily but I think think he's a damn good college football player I'm really high on NC State we're about to talk about that I'm sure but like I'm very high on NC State and I think that the fact that NC State is going to be led to that point by Grayson McCall I think is going to do him a lot of favors in terms of a national conversation I'm not as high in N State as you I don't actually have him listed I felt really bad about it just because like if n State's n and four team like I I don't I don't I don't see it but I feel that like he'll be better than uh you know Deon Dennis liry uh for sure I think a good comparison for Grayson McCall is kind of how we feel about Michael Pratt with the Greenies now at the Packers where it's like oh the dude can play we've been telling you we saw him kick some serious tale at the G5 and like you know Michael Pratt's probably gonna be Jordan Love's backup because uh Sean Clifford's a walking stiff more than Kyle McCord who that's the only time he's gonna be referenced on this show today yep I did I I can assure you I did not list KY mcord as any type of Heisman candidate no sir U but yeah I didn't have race Mall there and I wanted him to but like it just I'm not the schedule's really tough for NC State um my third pick was Damen Martinez running back for Miami I think that like he'll probably be first team running back in the conference uh he'll be in contention for the do Walker I don't think he's going to be as good as like Oly Gordon II or Trevor etn or um know I'm blanking on somebody else too who's really good at pounding The Rock right now Jaden Zack but Jaden Zack yeah uh but yeah I think uh yeah Damien Martinez with the Pacific Northwest Step Brothers uh backfield is gonna be a lot of fun yeah I forgot trayon Henderson and Quin shot Judkins I'm an idiot uh Donovan Edwards too yeah Dylan Edwards Dylan Donovan Edwards Dylan Donovan Edwards yeah the Edwards is too much Edwards is sounds like a terrible babysitting Adventure gone R it sounds like a like a beist pearl dram TR track or something like that so funny story so in my neighborhood growing up a house that was couple couple of couple houses down where the Edwards is they three uh three daughters just Barbie hell and all all all the D all the dad wanted to do was just uh drink hor light and Grill and just Barbie's everywhere hey man that's how it always goes you know you get the you get the man's man and he's going to end up with three daughters there's no question about it may have invented cornhole I'm not [Laughter] sure all right who do you got for who do you got for fourth so for fourth I have Omarian Hampton who you did not mention but who is North Carolina running back and honestly if he wasn't on the North Carolina Tar Hills he would be higher on this list because I TR like legitimately not trying to even be a homer here he's one of the five best running backs in the country he is unbelievably talented and if North Carolina does anything this year it is going to be two things one is is going to be the defense improving under Jeff Collins which is a big if because I'm not entirely sure Jeff Collins knows what a football field or what a football team is but and it's also going to be Omar on Hampton carrying this offense on his back Dr May kind of overshadowed how critical how vital how good omaran Hampton was last year for the tar Hills but he was legitimately just a dominant Force like he had multiple 200 yard rushing games last season cleared a thousand yards comfortably and like kind of erase the narrative like the previous year Drake May was the team's leading rusher I'm Hampton put blew that out of the water because he is that talented he is that good he is going to be a bell Cal they are going to feed the rock he might touch like Derrick Henry levels of number of carries this year because M let's not forget Max freak and Johnson is the quarterback of this team so like we're going to want to run the ball so like I think like if North Carolina is able to get to a Nine and Nine win level which again that is very unlikely in my personal opinion as a North Carolina fan but they do have a relatively soft schedule I will say that and so like if they are to get to that point if they are to overachieve which that's also a North Carolina trait whenever they're expected to be bad whenever I'm expecting them to be bad they're going to overachieve the flip side is also true whenever you think they're going to be good like last year they're going to underachieve but when they over if they do overachieve I think Omarian Hampton is going to be the reason and get the credit for that yeah I did not have am Mariam Hampton on here fantastic player I just don't think North Carolina's gonna be that good I do have them going bowling at six and six uh right there so yeah you're G to keep that alive there but you know stay Staying Alive there in in Chapel Hill so I was thinking about this with Max Johnson like he's got college football pedigree he's the son of a Super Bowl champion and the nephew of the ultimate driving machine Mark rck that's right so like um I think North Carolina's offense is gonna be a little better but again just like losing Drake mayate and you're like I don't know if the uh the defense is g to be any good under Jeff Collins just like Jeff just the least confident way to spell Jeff like every time I see Jeffrey I'm like I is it Jeffrey or Jeff Ry and or is it Joffrey it's um that's why my name is John like I we don't we don't do none of that nonsense what if you spelled it g o h n would that is that would that work for you if somebody named their kid that they need to go to guantan Bay with baby gr's dad amen amen that so omaran Hampton is it om m a i o n is that it is indeed oh yeah you know what that's an anagram for what's that no Mario no Mario no Mario I Ram up no oh my God God this episode is so dpb but yeah uh my fourth pick was Preston Stone I think SMU is gonna have a great year uh Rett Lashley is a former quarterback you know he does a little more than a hurry up and run with Gus they throw the ball did good stuff there with uh Tyler van djk Derek King back in the day I think that's how that lines up but the point is like I think SMU is gonna have a good year and if SMU is going to be a top 20 team or so and they're doing doing work in the ACC I think he'd be in consideration like again this is just like at this point like none of these guys really have a shot of getting New York but like that could be fun maybe there could kind of wish they had the guy that is replacing um GN Shaw Judkins at uh at Old Miss what was the what's the running back's name Ulus Bentley the four Bentley yesul bent Julie Bentley four ulie Bentley fourth baby and um who Jeff for five yeah it's not Preston Stone I can assure you of that um but uh no it's uh it's dju and honestly if I'm being just full disclosure this felt obligatory like I had to get him in the top five didn't really want to I'm not that I'm not the biggest dju guy I think he's going to be a drop off from what we saw from Jordan Travis last year at Florida State but end of the day he is walking into a great situation end of the day he did show some level of progression at Oregon State like he was a better player at Oregon State than he was at any year at Clemson so I think that there are some stars to that could align for him to elevate into something close to the player that we thought he was going to be when he was coming out of the high school ranks as a five-star recruit I don't think I'm not confident in that happening but I do think that like dju has elevated himself a little bit and he's now walking into the the best situation he's ever played in in my opinion I almost included him but I I chose not to I feel he's going back into a house of horrors like okay he's playing in tallah has it's a house of horrors for them from you know being at Clemson then he plays Clemson that's another house of horrors so like this is just this is just how I feel about Sam darnold in the NFL who I think absolutely sucks it's kind of how I feel about dju but not as mean again he's a he's still a kid so like I'm not going to like Harpoon him there yeah went on the uh the Simon and Friends Podcast and I just said just the worst things about the Vikings hey Sam darnold's basically still a kid dude's still only like 26 years old or something like that I know I'm just like I kind of want to give him a hug but at the same time likeo I've already gotten that before I think I'm immune to that okay cool cool cool the as I got that at like 19 years old versus 23 and not your rookie season in the NFL making out with God knows what try back Amen brother who hasn't been there who among Among Us and uh my fifth one was Thomas castian I feel he's gonna be a lot of fun there in Bill O'Brien's offense we saw he be the guy that got Bryce young to win uh be Alabama's first quarterback to win the highest trophy I think uh Thomas casanis is going to be a lot of fun so that's kind of who I've got there for my top five who was your sleeper so my sleeper I it was between Thomas castanos and Malik Murphy and I went with Malik Murphy and just because I think under Manny Diaz a guy that we have a lot of respect for and he's also inheriting a decentish roster like it's not the best roster obviously they they lost Riley Leonard and had to bring in Malik Murphy but I think that Mike OKO had the defense working in the right way Manny Diaz is someone who can continue that but I think Malik Murphy is just a really talented player and like we this is kind of Duke is kind of an unknown team in this in this ACC head coaching turnover quarterback turnover little bit of roster turnover like we don't quite know what Duke is going to be this year but Malik Murphy I mean he was a highly touted recruit the only reason he's at Duke is because a he's a smart kid and wanted to go to an academic institution he looked at his uh his transfer portal stuff when he was coming out away from Texas and it was like well these schools are don't really match his talent level he clearly wants to challenge himself academically and then but like he transferred out of Texas because they have Quinn ERS and Arch Manning like it's not because he's bad it's just they have two other great options one of whom is younger than him and Arch Manning so like it made sense for him to make the move so I am curious to what what he's going to do and if it makes Duke anything above what they're supposed to be then Malik Murphy is going to get some love for that I did consider Malik Murphy I have dukee going seven and five schedule's really tough they got to play uh Florida State Miami North Carolina State and Virginia Tech so like and SMU too like they got they got to play a lot of really they got to play basically the entire Upper Crust of the uh the ACC I think Manny Diaz is gonna be fantastic there at Duke and I think he's gonna coach there for three years and then he's gonna go to a bigger job like he'll go to like I'm not saying go back to Miami but like if nor maybe I think Florida State's actually a z moer so maybe he goes he goes there like manaz has got a raw deal with Miami and I I I still feel really bad about how that all transpired with him oh no and uh you know no I don't even know this is a bold take at this point but uh just go ahead and B Duke upsetting Miami that is happening this year that is absolutely on the table that's totally that's totally with him play with the the spite game I don't know if I went quite there but yeah I wouldn't be shocked if that happens um sh something U also uh I think Malik Murphy's better than Arch Manning I I've seen it's entirely possible like we what is Arch Manning we have no clue you know it's the same thing with Eli Manning like was he good well he's going to can yeah but was he [Laughter] good the the most attractive of the Manning brothers by far that's right the the lowest bar but yes correct so let's recap this and then we're gonna go on to like uh did you give your sleeper oh yeah my my sleeper is uh my my sleeper is uh Jay and Zack on yeah I feel really about them I was I was I was like yeah if I got C going seven and five why not so absolutely yes um my top five and sleeper were um cam Ward Kyon drones DAV Martinez we're doing fingers correctly today Preston Stone Thomas casanas and then uh Jade not yeah and so we had the same one too I had cam Warden Kiren Jones number three I had Grayson McCall number four Marian Hampton number five dju and then sleeper Malik Murphy so very I think this is very indicative of the acc's place in college football as a power forward conference this year they are definitely the worst Power Forward conference like if I'm being legitim legitimately honest with you Cam Ward is the only one of these players who I feel has a legitimate shot to get to New York and I honestly I'm not going to project project that because as you'll see very momentarily like I don't have Miami playing for the ACC Championship so like if that's the case then I don't see how he gets to New York I think Cam's got a really good chance New York we again we'll do we'll do our uh Heisman ballot this time next week where we'll just do our top three uh he's very close to making it for me I'm still trying to I think we both know who our number one pick is then try to round out the last two and we'll probably say okay who actually gets to New York with them yeah I think cam Wards got a really fantastic shot to get there uh if he kicks serus tail he'll be a he'll be a first round pick you know more than a more than more so than uh Conor Wegman yeah that's for Dam I'm sure I wonder what Matt Miller thinks of uh cam W he probably doesn't know he exists he only he only knows shador Sanders who is this Cameron Ward guy you speak up doesn't he play for the Carolina Hurricanes he's a terrific goalie I love him so much doesn't he have a brother God oh my God imposter syndrome uh doesn't exist so you can do anything you can do anything because Matt Miller does anything we love the all the all of you keep doing great work man I love I love the content you've got some good stuff there makes his thing but yeah DJ Daniel ACC Championship predictions, CFP contenders Jeremiah The Guiding Light for this move the sticks always move the sticks and uh we're gonna move the sticks because uh playoffs you're kidding me so who's who's going to Charlotte who's playing the ACC Championship um who else is a playoff Contender go ahead I think I know where you're going Cody it's NC State over Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game for me um I've been on NC the NC State train a while I understand their schedule is tough but I think that they're going to go into ACC play Battle tested week two is one of my favorite weeks of the season and one of the reasons is we have an NC State Tennessee game at a neutral site I am so excited for that game I think it's going to be a big test for NC State but even if they lose that game it's not going to prevent them from getting the ACC Championship game I just think that when you look at Dave Dorne and you look at this NC State roster even with the tough schedule I just have more confidence in them playing to their like to their ceiling more consistently like you look at what Clemson's done in recent years you look at what Miami has done under Mario chrisal ball and you look at the talent drop off that Florida state is going to experience from what they lost from last year I just think that NC State is in a much better position to maintain what they showed last year and potentially improve upon that with a guy like Grayson McCall coming into the building as opposed to a bron Armstrong which didn't totally work last year and they still found a way to do it even having a quarterback carousell they still found a way to be eight and four n and three team so like I think if you can Elevate from that with more consistency with Grayson McCall I think this NC State team is going to be hard to beat and we've already touched on Virginia Tech like most experienced team in the conference in terms of the returning starters Kiren Jones is a real playmaker someone who we have a lot of faith in I think that they I just have more faith in both of these teams even if they aren't the fav like neither of them are in the top two favores like that's obviously Clemson and uh Florida State and then you have Miami lurking right behind them like I just have more faith in both of these teams and What They're bringing back than I do in any of those top three favorites I like both of those teams they're both in the top uh third of the conference uh I don't have either of them going to Charlotte I've got Miami over SMU okay yes um Miami have one loss that's at Cal they'll lose like somewhere along the line I think that like just the offensive P fire the offensive py Firepower I can't talk right now it's early yeah we're already on the second cup of coffee in case you know that's kind of a run run bit here I'll always have two when I'm home but I'm never home right uh yes we are we are living our best life here but yeah I think just the the combination of uh cam Mor and Dave Martinez is just too much for really anybody else to you know sniff at in the ACC SMU I think just they wanton it badly and there's just kind of feels sleepy and like other they'll get people and they'll kind of knock other people down um I'm interested to see how many team you you think can actually make the playoff in the in the ACC so much like the big 12 it's who can conceivably make the ACC Championship because that's I I firmly believe even more so than the Big 12 the ACC is getting one team in they're not getting multiple bids we talked about it when we did the Big 12 preview it was do you think the Big 12 or the ACC is more likely to get multiple teams in I still think they both get one in only one in but I think the Big 12 is far more likely to have some at least a chance to get in but if we're talking about teams that can get to the ACC Championship game I have five and it's I'm not including as and I I you know what I'm not going to you know flog you for it but I think it's a wild pick to have SMU in the ACC Championship game but I love it you know we're here to get wild uh but you know Florida State Clemson Miami Virginia Tech and NC State I think those are the three teams that can win this conference or five team excuse me five teams that can win this conference and I think there's a drop off after those five teams like I think SMU is just a tier below them I understand that they want it I just don't think that wanting it's going to be enough yes I have the same five teams plus uh SMU obviously they're cut off after that is like the Boston colleges the cows and the Dukes and the uh Louisville and the the uncc's of the world then you get down to like Georgia Tech Syracuse wake pit Virginia Stanford just like oh this is just getting worse by the N second yeah the I actually wanted to bring up Louisville real quick like it's kind of wild that we have not mentioned anything about the Louisville Cardinals this year and it's Jeff Bram coach we're very high on Coach that we think is going to have Louisville really humming but like is is your I guess like middling like middling feeling about Louisville is that really Tyler shook related because it is for me I'm probably a little more bullish on Tyler shook it's kind of like you know Tyler Shook and alab Bowman are one of the same they've just been in college forever um I just kind of feel that like we're gonna keep discredit not discounting uh Louisville until they get back I just feel like they arrived a year early a lot of times when that happens it's hard to replicate that because you're not you know you're not um what's the word I'm looking for it like you're not come sneaking up anybody think back to my Atlanta Falcons you know I thought the year that they were going to really do it with 17 well 16 they went to the Super Bowl 17 they you know they were wild card team they lost the divisional round to the uh Eagles after upsetting the Rams but like it's just I kind of feel Louisville will be a bow Team for as long as Jeff Brams there but again like having to play Kentucky in the non-conference is tough uh I think they have a challenging schedule to looking at this um oh yeah they gotta play they gotta play Notre D Miami Notre Dame SMU Miami Boston College Clemson Kentucky Jacksonville State's not easy Georgia Tech's not easy so I mean you have to be yeah I was gonna say like I know you have Stanford as the worst team in the conference but they have to go to Stanford like that's not an easy road trip and that's after the Clemson game so like that's a trap spot like if Stanford wants to like wins where they can like knock someone off that's one that I would definitely have late in the season coming off the Clemson game team traveling across the country that's a spot uh for sure so yeah I think it's um I I think I have one more team making the potentially making the playoff than you net yeah and uh we're gonna add one more and we haven't even gotten to the uh the G5 yet that's still try to formulate that episode to do it right and not like it'll be a slightly different format than this on a on Monday show because we're not going to be mean we're gonna celebrate the gr of five that's right yeah we're we're not here to hate on the group of five we're we're true sickos we're not we're not Notre Dame's Playoff chances, upside here for that uh speaking of hate uh a lot of people hate Notre Dame so do host or do host speaking of a lot of people hate this team so do host or do host can Notre Dame win multiple playoff games look I'm bullish on this team I think they're going to be really good they're I think anybody who's doing a top 25 ranking like it's going to have them top eight like you're you're you have to like it's just it's too good uh we really like Roby Leonard we like the the Marcus Freeman we obviously like the fact that they got Mike Den Brock to replace jiren Parker defense should be pretty good um losing Charles jusa sucks and hurts the offensive line but like mid Dame's got a really high ceiling we think they're a playoff Contender and we think Riley Leonard's a Heisman Contender so that PES the floor anything else I need to add there before we dive into this delicious question [ __ ] uh they also have a tremendously easy schedule like it is it like Notre Dame not making the playoff would be every reason for everyone to just crap all over them because they with this schedule with the brand that Notre Dame has they should absolutely just Cakewalk into the playoff yeah um I have him going 12 and now yeah exactly like that's and like even being high on Notre Dame that says more about the schedule than it does about Notre Dame yes so we feel it's a 12-0 10-2 range I I don't think they can go nine and three they're too good so like just going through with this at Texas A&M that's up in the air you'll beat Northern Illinois you'll win at Purdue I like Miami Ohio a lot out of the Mac probably still win that game Louisville Stanford at Georgia Tech that could be sneaky you're gonna beat Navy you could beat you could play Navy underwater and beat them that that's such a waste of time you could put injured Charles chusa at quarterback and Beat Navy like you're going to be fine you could clone injured Charles chusa he could play all off every position you would still be Navy Ryan Newberry like we can't tackle this guy we're service Academy he's a big boy that's a big man you got Florida State Virginia at army again another easy win and then at the then you're at USC and at that point like Lincoln Riley will be he'll either re re reinvent himself or Jen Cohen's gonna tell him to kick rocks yeah exactly so like yeah I mean it's a cakewalk there so back to the original question Doos can they win multiple playoff games I'm actually gonna go Doos with One S and part of that is obviously we believe in this Notre Dame team what they're doing like yes the jusa injury hurts but I still think that this team still is going to have a high like a top half of the of college football offensive line I still think this defense under Marcus Freeman is going to be firing all cylinders we super high on Riley Leonard they've improved the receiving core but the big thing with the success we expect Notre Dame to have with this schedule I imagine them probably getting in as the five or six seed like that's absolutely and so they're going to get a home game in the first round that's huge for them and they're probably going to be playing like if they're the five seed they're going to be playing probably the group of five Champs so that's a that's one win and then you're going to be playing either the Big 12 or the ACC champ who are obviously who we've talked about they are the two worst leagues like Notre Dame was in the ACC they would be a lot for me to win this conference like I think they're better than every team in the ACC I think they're better than most teams in the Big 12 like them versus Kansas State if we have Kansas State getting into the three or four seed like yeah that could be an interesting game some things could happen but like they still like Notre Dame's probably favored in that game so like I think there is a chance I'm not predicting it I'm not saying they're going to but I do think that there is a world like that is very foreseeable very feasible for Notre Dame to win multiple playoff games yes uh I'm gonna go Doos with 1s as well uh for the exact same reasons you said they're going to be the five seed in all honesty with that schedule so you're GNA be 512 so you're gonna be hosting essentially the um the G5 winner still have no idea where I'm going to go with that I've kind of got my top 11 kind of figured out there for next Thursday's episode with this uh crazy exercise trying to put it all together you know again ranking teams is more that's more your specialty I'm more good at firing people um quick question do you have Texas State as your group of five champ like Brett McMurphy did because uh what a what a pull uh we do like uh GJ Kenny but like their in consideration maybe they'll play in like with the sunbell championship maybe but like we'll definitely talk about them on Monday but maybe not right yet but you know I may go more I may go a a safer route here with the G5 Champion here and there's about two or three teams I'm really considering for that and again I don't know if I'm going to break down every game wi or loss to that because you know I want to keep my brain right absolutely uh but yeah you're right Notre Dame is probably GNA be the five seed or the six seed this in most instances so 12-0 you're five if you're 11 to1 you're probably six you you'll get docked for not playing the uh the conference Championship but it would kind of be the same sort of thing like what's an 11 and one team I have making the playoff or something like that uh I did have to admit yeah I had Tennessee going 10 and two they're going to go to one but Tennessee would be a comparable thing there and I have a Tennessee probably like top eight or so in terms of like making the playoffs like yeah Notre Dame Tennessee is same sort of thing so if you're the five seed you're playing Liberty Texas State Miami Ohio Toledo Boise someone like that at home and then you're gonna go and play probably in either the U probably either the Peach Bowl or like the Fiesta Bowl depending on like if at the four seeds the um ACC will be it'll be the Peach Bowl if it's the big 12 it'll be the Fiesta Bowl and if you're playing like Miami NC State K State Oklahoma State Utah yeah I think you can definitely win that game so but then it's like then you gota play um like the georgas the Ohio States Oregons and the texases there and the simis uh probably in like either the orange or cotton bow and uh yeah because once again you're going to get to the National semi-finals and that's going to be it but yeah Notre Dame is definitely in a position to win a multip playoff games for sure oh yeah let me be clear when I say multiple I mean two like two is what I'm talking about like we're not talking about three or four we're not talking about Notre Dame National Championship but like multiple in terms of winning the first and the second game of the playoff they can absolutely do that yes just one other thought just come to me I think this is good so the top four teams we all kind of know who they are between Georgia Texas Ohio State Oregon of those four who could neame conceivably be like who could they conceivably upset if I'm I mean I'm gonna sound like a hater when I say this but Ohio state would be my pick because I think that we've seen Ryan day kind of I mean we saw Notre Dame almost beat Ohio State last year and obviously Ohio state has upgraded but so is Notre Dame Notre Dame has gotten better since last year as well and if they had 11 men on the line they may have won that game last year on in the final seconds like we talked about Mario in that not kneeling but like that was another huge blunder that kind of got overlooked and overshadowed by the end of the year last year but I you think that we've seen Ohio State and Ryan day kind of underperform in a lot of big moments over his tenure to this point the other thing that we've seen is we've seen Ohio State get pushed around Michigan specifically pushing them around Notre Dame is the type of team that can push you around so like if Notre Dame comes in there with that Ry game plan I think Ohio state is the one team out there but like you look at at Texas I don't think you're pushing Texas around you look at Oregon with the guys Dan landing's brought in there and the way Dan Landing is coaching them up I don't think you're pushing them around Georgia that's a given you're not pushing Georgia around no pushing georgeo around so like I think Ohio State's the one team that you can kind of push around potentially again I'm not saying it's likely but if you're making me pick up the four I think it's Ohio State I think that's the correct answer I think there's a clear lineation between one and two uh I think it's you're not beating Georgia and you're not beating Oregon I think that they're both too physical and too fast out in the perimeter we know that Notre Dame with their academic restrictions like unless you have a Kyle Hamilton going to a Catholic school in Atlanta Georgia like that's how you get him like unless you're getting players like that they're not going to another Dame they're going to go to Georgia Ohio State Texas and Oregon um I would say it's Ohio State because like chip the chip Kelli of it all I feel like he'll just medle and stuff I also wonder if uh will Howard can really throw the football there could be like being able to spread it I feel you know getting pushed around again like by the the michigans of the world and you know the organs potentially again they got to play in Eugene so that's going to be challenging for the Buckeyes as well you have the Ducks winning there I don't have them winning in you I have them winning in Eugene but yeah it's it's close the one thing with Texas is like again you know you wonder about the quarterback situation if ERS can stay healthy I also kind of Wonder like maybe like attrition maybe they're kind of banged up as well you know like I said losing um CJ Baxter I feel like there's a way not neily that SAR will Sark it up or anything like that but like yeah I just think that there's more bodies with with Georgia and Oregon to go spread and then just really uh really thwart Marcus Freeman plus I think there's just a massive coaching Advantage with you know with Kirby at landing and Sark whereas maybe Ryan day and uh Marcus is probably a little bit closer than expected yeah no I think that's that's a really good pull right there like I think the co there's a coaching discrepancy between the other three that's not necessarily there with Ohio State maybe one more thing about NRE Dame we can move on um maybe thoughts about Riley Leonard I think we probably need Riley L Marcus Freeman in general before we move on yeah so Riley Leonard I mean like I said previously I if if we were considering Notre Damon ACC team just for you know bookkeeping purposes he'd be the number one Contender to make it to New York as a Heisman c as a Heisman candidate because Riley Leonard at Duke was was Duke's offense like that offense was quite bad outside of him like they had a decent offensive line obviously had guys like Graham Barton up there but Riley Leonard made a lot of things happen and we saw that when riy Leonard went down and got hurt last year because dude just fell off a cliff after that point like they could not move the football because Riley Leonard was not on the team Riley Leonard is ultra dynamic as a runner but I think he's very underrated as a passer in a way that we truly didn't get to see at Duke because Duke didn't have the guy a receiver again I mentioned Notre Dame has improved their wide receiver Court I think it's going to be a big year for Riley Leonard I think Riley Leonard is going to end up in this year as a first round pick in the in the 2025 NFL draft like I'm that high on him I think he is probably like going to end up being in my top four quarterbacks if he does what I'm expecting him to to this year so like I'm I'm extremely high on Riley Leonard it's a guy who whenever North Carolina played Duke obviously big rivalry game I was terrified of every single time because he is the type of dude who can absolutely change a game by himself and when you look at nerd Dame they haven't had that guy in a very long time like yes they've had good college players like an Ian book and previously like in in more recent years but like we know that Ian book was not an ultra talented player RI ler is an ultra talented player who also has that gamer mentality so I do think the ceiling is just raised by having him at that position yes I think he's going to be a first round pick I think there's going to be about five depending on maybe six if Cam Ward really lives up to the hype there uh we'll see what happens with Jaylen milro as well but like you know it's like Beck you or Sanders those are all pretty much like first round blcks there I would say Leonard probably is as well ryy Leonard's probably qv4 for me I feel like he'll go to play for someone like the Jets or the Rams Seahawks someone like that who's like gonna be you know Fringe playoff team Steelers something like that like you've got you got me excited about him on the Rams him working with Shawn McVey learning behind Stafford like that could be something nice yeah he could be on your team too if you let that go I mean I know Trey Lance is really exciting too but he's going to a team like that this is not exciting to me brother I assure you of that no honestly just whatever just North Dakota State what if I told you the best North Dakota State quarterback to ever play there was East stick that's a tough beat for the Bison I'll tell you that right now it's bison with the z z the Bison F the bees there but yeah I I would say I feel like Riley Leonard is probably going to get to New York I would say if I we kick this out to five which we'll do on next Thursday I would say he's probably gonna make the cut there I don't know if he'll be on my ballot with the top three if I had one but like very much in consideration there I guess the last thought about this with NRE name is Marcus Freeman is he gonna take this team to where it needs to go like he's got a cool Factor but like I kind of Wonder though like with Brian Kelly I kind of felt like there there's a little bit more um maybe not season maybe season is the right word but like more control like when it's good like he doesn't like the variance isn't too much there like Notre Dame wouldn't do dumbass and I feel with Marcus Freeman there's a little bit of a Shane Beamer dumbass there no and I do think that there's good reason for that like we saw the first year Marcus Freeman and it didn't not go well and then we saw last year which it went well but there were also still those moments like I've already mentioned the Ohio State game where on the biggest play of the game you send out 10 defensive players on the defensive line at the goal line so like there is a little bit of that factor But ultimately I do think Marcus Freeman's just a good coach like we've seen him recruit at a high level and I think the big key is like it's not Mario chrisal where he's getting guys into the building and then not developing them not making them into something he's shown a real ability to do that like he even last last year like one of the things that really impressed me is I think Sam Hartman had a harder time adjusting moving on from the slow mesh than most people realized and Ne Dame was able to mask that quite a bit and like that a lot of yes that comes down to partially offensive coordinator but like at the end of the day it's also the head coach's decision to change things up and put Sam Hartman in a position to succeed so the fact that he's able to adjust and make those adjustments on the Fly is really it makes me more optimistic about Marcus Freeman than probably I should be but I I'm a I'm a fan yes I believe uh Jack swori had a lot of confidence of hiring him from within and then um Pete Baka yeah I remember how to say that like they got they got a good one there again he's he's like Kirby he's learning how to do this on the Fly there's just it presented itself like he's he's gonna be a stud here I think everybody that played with him at Ohio State knew this guy was gonna be a stud you know with u with Notre Dame having the type of season that we all think it's going to be uh I I certainly hope Antonio Banderas Bowl of the Week so but you know we're going to move on from one F male to another yes it still moves we are bringing back the Antonio Banderas bowl of the week baby I am so epic excited dude week zero the honestly the best thing about week zero for being real honest like it's it's the thing I'm most excited for so I gotta tell you the last we saw Antonio um he was just wandering through Ashlin Oregon we didn't know where he was going we thought it might be gone forever we honestly we didn't know if the segment was going to happen because we didn't know if Antonio but couple weeks ago I was driving down to Albuquerque and on the side of the road I saw a figure and I was like that guy looks familiar have I like you know I don't know many you know gypsies vagrants that are walking down the road I was like who is this guy wearing a poncho and I pulled over and it was Antonio and he just looked at me and he said Yer and I said Jones and he said Hill and he said he's just looking for Jerry kill and I was like well brother he's in Nashville now with your boy Diego Pavia and so he hopped in the car we've got Antonio back we're ready to ride man yeah I know um we just ran into him and know he flew back from Albuquerque to Atlanta before we uh we crossed the pond so he crossed the pond of dirt and he's GNA cross the pond again so we did try to say like we're not gonna go to Nashville because you know birthday but we'll go back there at some point I'm sure um but I was sitting there saying like okay you got your passport ready I got mine Arizona State podcast needs to get hers uh fixed here soon uh because we can't go to Mexico we get that figured out correct but I'm like how are we going to fly across the pond with uh this anthropomorphic blowup doll who's just absolute party annibal and then I realized well he was born in Spain or manufactured in China but the point is like the the EU or brexit whatever yeah I guess Ireland's part of the EU so I guess we can go over there but uh he's all about it dude I I barely know American politics whatever's going on in European politics that's above my page grade so yes we are going to be going to Ireland for the Air Lingus game between the Florida State simal and the Georgia Tech yella jackets to kick off week zero we thought about going to Delaware State uh but at a Hawaii but um the poor Hornets couldn't even fly across the pond and then across an ocean yeah we I mean if the Hornets can't do it then we had no chance so you know we couldn't we definitely couldn't do that yes so we're trying to refigure this uh this whole thing with Antonio B so basically like for those at home who don't understand what this is so we were trying to come up with a segment of like okay we want a sickos committee sort of Bowl but if there's a big game where it's like it's very obvious that we would want to go there we're going there and the Antonio Banderas bowl of the week is like you want to go to this game you're excited about it nobody else does so you need to call our pool partner so you get your Antonio vandas blowup doll you know from um South Park and and they just go have a good time and then Antonio became a a party animal but um what did he tell you about Ireland what's he excited about with Ireland um so the first thing he's excited about is I think walking through Albuquerque he may have had a run in with the cactus I saw some patches on the uh on the blowup doll and uh he's just excited for a lot of grass you know grass is harmless and we we know Ireland's green green as can be so I think he's excited for the landscape the scenery he wants to frolic a little bit you know he's a frolicker that's what I've always said about him and uh yeah I think I think that's probably number one up there but you know I'm sure I'm sure there's more than that that he's not letting on which scares me yes there's there's a couple of things he told me number one he's excited to take a bath he saw the Irish Spring commercial and he's like Bulldog Bulldog the other thing is um you know he's a big fan of Finn Lizzy with Whiskey in the Jar and um that's autobiographical for him the thing is like he doesn't actually die he didn't end up in a prison uh fighting people on the the Cork and Cary mountains if you will but uh yes what a Legend um the other thing is he really likes the uh the brown milkshake beer but he can't say it the one with the G how does he say that Cody uh oh that's uh that's gwynnis he he loves the gwynnis um and uh you know God bless him he's trying but yeah he uh he he hit he splits the G every time it's kind of unbelievable uncanny how good he is at it on his first sip splitting the G on the on the Pint glass but yeah I um we're gonna have to we're gonna have a work cut out for him limit limiting him on the Guinness I honestly think we're probably going to be unsuccessful I mean he's gonna be over served and um he's gonna be I try to explain to him like okay there's completely different Dynamics here okay so if you want to party like you're gonna have a good time with both Georgia Tech and and Florida State peeps those people people are good yes but like do you want to wear a uh a bandan for a shirt or do you want to you know wear a lab coat and you got to figure out which side you're on there I mean honestly he's probably just gonna keep the poncho on for like that's that's more his Vibe he is a sigma new Poncho guy after all absolutely man but yes I'm really excited about this game again we're going to be coming to you semi live after with three yards in a cloud of Punt we're gonna do two things called we're gonna do a Marty Ball so run run pass punt run is like we're each GNA have like something we're running with like yes pass for like H and then pun we're just gonna get out of there so we have no idea what we're gonna be talking about on Saturday but it's gonna be an absolute blast um I don't know if we're gonna refence San Antonio maybe a little bit more we're still in the midst of what's going on we got some debauchery that may happen after the game and hopefully we don't have to bail them out that would suck yeah Irish prison um High key not really where I want to be spending any time and I'm hoping Antonio feels the same I know dude this was episode 102 of Fall start you can follow me John buer on Twitter or the X bu118 you can follow Cody Williams at the sizzle 20 like rate you follow the show at cfp fallar to yeah I always forget that you can also like rate listen subscriber view on Apple Spotify anywhere there's podcast we're on YouTube now all four of our three about to be four of our preview shows are up there we'll have G5 and we'll really get into the season so glad that Cody was able to figure this out and he's goingon to teach me things but the problem is one of us has to be inebriated because that's the only way we could teach our learn in this working relationship 100% dude like if we're yeah we we can't go into this sober no not not at all no way if I should fall from Grace with God and this is false [Music]