SEC fall camp updates & how Dan Mullen would be preparing a team for the 12 team playoff

Intro all right welcome man Cube Show podcast college football podcast comes to you on Sundays uh a lot to get to with camp in full swing but have another interview for you today that I think you're going to enjoy I will give you some updates around fall Camp first and then we'll talk to former Mississippi State Florida head football coach Dan Mullen now with the ESPN I had a chance to catch up with him at uh our seminar last week uh it's always good talking football with him I think you guys are going to enjoy some of the things that we discussed today as you know always brought to you by wickles pickles wickedly delicious they are fantastic we love them we snack on them we've got them in our house if you need wickles find them in your grocery store if they don't have them ask them why not go to wil.com you can pick up some wickles pickles there uh wickles pickles on Instagram I'm telling you guys recipes different ways to use them and they are phenomenal everybody introduced to them says they absolutely love them so uh still got to get some up to Dan I need to need to get on that and ship those to him a couple practice updates a couple of things I wanted to hit first and foremost um I mentioned our seminar and I just kind of wanted to throw this out there because uh president of the NCAA Charlie Baker came and sat in front of us and this is basically um all the announced teams all the announce crew uh and then producers directors all the people involved with college football at ESPN he spent about 40 minutes in front of us and I know what the I guess thought process is when it comes to the NCAA I know what their image is I know what the mindset is for a lot of people and probably Charlie Baker as well uh but I just wanted to say I'm not going to share a lot of the details or intimate things or anything like that however I had not had a chance to really be around him talk to him hear him speak I was blown away and not that I think the NCAA is ever going to be in great hands because of what it is and what needs to happen and what they're going to face through litigation moving forward but I did want to say this that I think Charlie Baker is inred rible uh I think that he is the right man for the job I think if there are things that can be accomplished he will accomplish those things and I just feel like his vision his thought process his mindset his understanding of the different levels of where things are that not everything's the same that everything can't continue to operate the same way because it's always been that way he has a very forward thinking brain when it comes to a lot of this and a good understanding he ALS he has two sons that played D3 football he was a D1 athlete his wife was a D1 athlete so he's been entrenched as it he's lived it he knows it so just to understand that even though you go into it with a very negative perception of the NCAA and what it is Charlie Baker a guy is trying to do the right you went met with all 97 conferences at all levels wanted to individually sit down and talk to him I think that in of itself should show you that uh he's doing things in a little bit of a different way and has a different understanding of exactly how things are going to operate all right uh some Camp updates for you quickly before we get to Dan Mullen fun interview uh just a couple want to throw out there Arkansas ton green quarterback we have some question marks about him the consistency throwing the football uh I'm told that he's been special so far through camp that he's looked fantastic not just running the football but also throwing the football decision-making leadership all strengths of his Landon Jackson which is of no surprise I mean we thought Landon Jackson's gonna have a big year no surprise he's having a big Camp uh but a guy that obviously has been doing some things at a high level and going to continue to do so uh zaven Sor Georgia transfer at linebacker all the talent all the ability just mentally and emotionally it's got to come together got to be a good fit for the scheme and I do think Travis Williams is trying to sort of make that happen trying to meet in the middle a little bit just so they can get his talent on the field he's had a solid Camp as well uh over at Kentucky in Lexington they get Southern Miss week one linebackers again no surprise here Derek Jackson who's been there been playing been productive has stepped up that leadership role Jamon Duman Johnson you've already seen coach stops mentioned his name in a couple of press conferences that group sort of solidifying the defense and I'm told Brad White's unit is approaching this like a a major group of veterans like it has a real understanding of how to approach things how to handle things and that they have been solid on that side of the football uh good length on that side of the football as well something that I think people are going to look at as a strength for the Kentucky defense going into the season and then also uh Vandergriff apparently handling things very well so far through fall Camp there for the Wildcats wide receiver consistency has been a little bit better for the Wildcats remember they've got all the talent it's probably the most talented group that's ever been there it's just consistently being able to hold on to the football being able to do the little things that receivers have to do well to be considered to be great or Elite uh some of the others that have come in like jamori Macklin from North Texas uh and Fred F from UAB apparently helping some of those younger more talented players out uh LSU D tackle a major concern apparently a little bit ahead of schedule though Bo Davis coaching the guys up looking better than some people thought so far through fall Camp running back a little bit thin right now for LSU however uh with that offensive line in that group of tight ends it shouldn't really matter who's being handed the football and a quarterback and group of receivers are going to be able to move the ball as well uh Sean Washington apparently having a good camp the Georgia East Mississippi transfer also Don McKinley The Freshman defensive tackle monster uh looks the part acts the part has been playing like the part he's going to contribute to that LSU defense as fall over at Auburn pyton Dorne taking steps uh looks improved looks more comfortable big part of that is probably because of Cam Coleman who everything indicates to just continuing to be the real deal and continuing to be big time along with Perry Thompson and now Malcolm Simmons also pushing for playing time so this younger receiving cor at Auburn looks like it's going to be heavy contributors in not just one area but maybe two three different guys they're going to be on the field getting good reps right side of the offensive line apparently strong left side got a little ways to go but I I do know this through Auburn Camp right now the confidence being able to run the football is there with this group they feel really good about what they're going to be able to accomplish on the ground this season and finally at Florida Montreal Johnson tough injury um just a scope you're hoping that he's back early don't know exactly what the situation is going to be like for the Miami game week one uh but Shamar James TJ Cersei on defense looking pretty good so far through camp and Graham merge has been masterful from everything that I hear and that I'm told about what Florida's doing so far through fall Camp so little update on a couple different schools uh I think over to Alabama jayen milro had a pretty good scrimmage uh minus a turnover or two but also being able to connect on some deep balls and Ryan Williams looks like he's going to be that guy wide receiver going to find a way to get him on the field because he's been Dynamic for the Crimson Tide um offensive line at least The Middle's looking pretty good so I think that's something that you know you can build around you just go find a couple of targets on the perimeter and offense should be good to go so couple Camp notes things we're hearing um some folks that we've talked to about what happened over the weekend through a couple different scrimmages and whatnot um also brought to you each and every week by Blue Delta genes don't ever forget Blue Delta jeans custom fit for you they can do this digitally now as well just go to their website Blu Del jeans.com you get fit they send you your jeans and they are magnificent custom fit for you not too baggy not too tight in certain places and they're stretchy flexible breathable dress them up as well you will not want another pair of jeans after you own a pair of blue Deltas go to Blu delelta jeans.com today make sure you tell them you heard about him right here on Cube show and uh you're going to love what you get from Blue Delta jeans all right now let's get to coach Dan Mullen now with the ESPN uh been around him and covered him for a long time but cool to have a couple different uh discussions with him about some of this communication preparing for 12- game playoff how coaches are handling things in Fall Camp some formational things we get a little ex no heavy at one point but it's fun you'll enjoy it you'll like hearing from Dan How has the transition been Mullen all right happy to welcome in now coworker uh so I used to cover an interview on the sidelines but uh it was always gracious to me with this time and let me walk around and and get in his way during spring games um but now of cooworker at ESPN you'll see him doing Studio calling games this fall does a great job with Dan Mullen feel like you are a natural to just step right in and be in the media talking about college football it's it's been over a year now uh over two years now how how are you as a member of the media and how has the transition been for you you know what I really enjoy it one the benefit is you know sit there and say hey come on let's go talk some football and that's one thing I'm comfortable with you know at least in when you're joining the media to sit there and say we're going to go do something you know about out and just get comfortable talking about it um it's been a lot of fun it's it's been an adjustment I'll tell you everybody at ESPN you know I I must not have upset that many people during my years as a coach because everyone's been pretty welcoming I you know I do get nervous sometimes I'm like you know like you know you see people I'm like boy I hope I didn't rip them coming or they just had a bad day when I'm coming off the sidelines at halftime but you know what everybody's been gracious to me uh you know I work a lot with Matt Barry he's been awesome to work with kind of coaching me helping me through things uh you know and really learning the technical side of it I I think the one thing I really have learned and appreciated on the TV side of it is listen the talking baller asking what's going on in football's easy you know I can do that most people say hey that must be the easiest job in the world you just go and talk football there as you know there's a lot that goes on I me we whe whether it's you know the timing when to talk when when you're saying how to get a point across in 7 Seconds you know the nice thing about doing podcasts radio all you can we can ramble on forever but as you know as you know on TV there's someone in you while you're trying to make a point there's someone in your ear saying you have five seconds four three and you're like ah it's different yep but uh but everyone's been great to me and I've really enjoyed doing it all right so uh we were just at ESPN's college football The biggest problem in college football seminar and a couple of really cool things happened but you had a chance to be sort of a member of the audience when other head coaches were talking to us about today's college football I think the perception with a lot of fans is that nil is the big problem but when we get in that setting and we hear other coaches start talking about it it's the portal that's the biggest problem I've sit for a long time if we could figure out how to just manage the portal we would at least mitigate or minimize a lot of the other issues is that the biggest problem in college football right now I I think it's the combo of both and I think here's what's going on with the coaches and I think we you saw this with the coaches at least I did a lot of times people want to make the coach the coaches are the bad guys or the coaches are the problem or the coaches are complaining you talk the coaches look they sit there and they say okay what are the rules what what do you what how do you want us to what do you want us to do and we're going to find a way to figure it out right a coach's job is to take problems and find Solutions and that's really all coaches do all day long so you know I mean what what what's gone on with the portal with nil with all of this is cre more problems if you will for the coaches that they have to navigate and find solutions for and I think the biggest one and the biggest issue as as they as they brought it up it's the combination of both I don't think you'll find a coach that is anti- nil I don't think you'll find a coach that's anti- Portal I I think what you want from the coaches and what what we kind of heard from them is there's really very little definition there's no oh you know I mean if if you look and they say okay well the NF the pro players they're getting paid well their salary cap they're under contract there's times there's a very small window they're allowed to negotiate their contract they're under contract for multiple years you know how to manage and I I think what's gone on and I think the portal is the issue for the coaches is they're saying great let's have a transfer portal window after the season right and then when it ends I know in you know I know January 15th what my roster is if you will right for this next year or what I need to sign on the second signing day and to fill out my roster for this season and you know and and let's move forward let's go hey you know the the returning players have come in they've worked out nil deals uh you know if if you will that's the signing period for next year's team like you know if you compare it to the offseason there's free agency then there's a draft then they go y there's not after mini camps and OTAs right before training camp starts there's not another free agent Market in the NFL and I think that's what's gone on if you look the equivalency in college right now you after Spring ball there's another free agency period and kids are getting calls or supposedly getting calls I think they're worried about the tampering of saying hey you know what I might need this after Spring ball I realized I need this position I'm going to try to go poach kids and say we'll pay you this much money if you go into the portal and come play for us and so now you're at another window where it's hard for the coaches to figure out what's my roster you know and and who am I playing with and I I think that's the unhealthy combination I I think if they can figure out the schools paying the players and here's you know your salary cap if you will or your your your share and then here's when we're sign kids here's when the transfer portals open I just think those set dates in organization will not only help the coaches uh and the programs but will really help the players because I think there's players probably getting you know as we heard uh oh yeah we heard and not from the coaches we heard from the NCAA you know that that president of the NCA the kids are getting a lot of false information on what their market value is and they're entering transfer portal not getting that and now they're kind of stuck with nothing and it's it's I think we'd love to see a little bit cleaner solution to everything coach Mullen I I don't know how much we're supposed to Thoughts on Charlie Baker share or allowed to share yeah we buil it all right there but I but I did I don't and I just want to get your thoughts on this I left Charlie Baker president of the NCAA spent about 40 minutes with us which was really gracious I had I didn't really have I guess other than reading quotes of of his and things that he's done since he's been in charge a perception of him at all I hadn't really seen him heard much of him I was blown away I was beyond impressed with his vision his attitude his demeanor the realistic approach that he's at least trying to bring I'm just interested in kind of what what was your takeaway hearing him at least talk about what he's trying to do I I was impressed because you know I listen I'm the NCA and I I've have you know I might not be the biggest proponent of the NCA and the issues they've caused and the problem s they've caused and how they go about doing things um I think one of the things I think he was very open with is said there's problems we need to find Solutions and fix them and I I to me I think that's a very fresh take instead of hey the you know the coaches are the problems the players of the problems the rule it was hey you know there's some things that maybe should have been fixed a long time ago and I think everybody can agree you know the the NCA I think could have fixed a lot of things a long time ago there a lot of I was impressed with how like kind of what you're saying the self-responsibility of things that they've done in housee and and he admitted it he's like these prehistoric rules have got to go it just doesn't work like this anymore yeah and he took ownership of it and said we you know we need to find we need to move to the future I I I think in the past the nca's kind of buried their head in the sandone lot and said we're not the problem and you know and and I think you know Sports has evolved I mean Sports is as I mean college football has greatly evolved since when we were playing you know you and I were play I mean it's greatly evolved you know way past that when I started coaching it's greatly evolved since the last three years you know since I've been coaching and the NCA kind of you know they they stick with things that are like hey you know this is how we've always done it you know just because we've always done it this way doesn't make it the right way doesn't make it wrong but we need to really look to the Future uh you know I I think one thing that I like that he said he's really reached out to a lot of people you know and in you know whether players conferences I really hope he's reached out to a lot of coaches because I I do think as I said I I understand this as a coach coach people look and they say hey well the coaches are only going to worry about what's best for them and one of the hardest thing to get with coaches is get all the coaches on the same page right I mean you hear that all the time hey if the SEC thinks it's a good idea the Big 10 wants to reject it because if it's good for the SEC it must be bad for the Big 10 you know like every coach um so there're must be trying to get a Competitive Edge I don't think that's the case I think the important part about telling coaches is the coaches like I said are always looking for Solutions if you say hey we're going to make this rule we're you know we're going to open up up transfer portal right the initial rule is hey that's great all the paperwork's good a kid that doesn't fit or there's a coaching change problem at home he can go home you know hey we're going to do ni that sounds great but you talk to the coaches and say it's going to go way beyond that you know it's going to be recruiting guys off of from smaller schools to bigger schools it this is what it's going to be I remember when nil came out at a meeting and they're say hey it's only going to be market value for kids that deserve market value I I I like you couldn't have hurt a coach but that's the greatest thing for these kids ever you can't find anybody to disagree with that but I remember when it first came out my first thing it's going to be 100% about recruiting and the NCA I was in a meeting in the college football oversight committee and they said um coach it's gonna have nothing to do with recruiting it's only going to be fair market value for kids that can get make money off of their name IM like it'll have nothing to do with recruiting well here you go now you've combined nil with transfer portal you have constant free agency in college football which is what the coaches would have told you was going to happen but they didn't want to hear you know like it was kind of they don't want to listen to the coaches think oh you're just trying to better your program or you know take advantage of something and and they really aren't the coaches the coaches kind of know what the consequences of things are going to be that they're going to have to go deal with I've often said coach that the NCAA makes these rules and it's Constant free agency like you have to force yourself to go as far down the road to search for the underbelly of what that's going to be like the red the four game red shirt rule everybody thought oh this is amazing kids can play in bowl games they can actually play a little bit and then they save that red shirt and then the first year that happened I don't know if this happened to your crew we're out doing games and we're meeting with coaches and they're like um yeah backup receiver backup linebacker our third receiver and our second tight end they they might not play this week and we're like what do you what do you mean they might not play uh well they said they would practice but they've already played four games so they don't they they're saying they don't want to play in games anymore I was like they don't want to play and it even took me a little while to sort of figure it out and they're like yeah they want their red shirt year they're gonna leave they're gonna yeah they're going to save that year in transfer yeah I I think all of these the the the issue is you know unfortunately like Co coaches when you you pres like you present them with things they're going to look at all the problems it's going to cause right not just the great thing right it's like okay hey I drew up this great play all right what happens if the corner blitzes and we're hot what if this you know I mean like you're you just your whole life like is everything okay let's let's look at all the things that can go wrong to make sure it's perfect that way for us and I think that uh a lot when these rules come out that's where the coaches go to and I think that's where they get the answers but I will say you know president Baker when when he talked I was impressed with his ownership yes his desire to get out there his desire to say Hey you know not the it's everything's great we have issues that we need to fix and I think there's a that that was a fresh take and a good sign for the future of College athletics all right so I want to stay with with sort of along the same lines Communication in helmets here because I think you're the perfect person to ask this and I might be making way too big a deal about this because I've mentioned it on a couple of shows but speaking of something that everybody thinks is just going to be great and I'm not saying it's not going to be good I think there are going to be some real problems that come with it and it's going to be this communication in helmets for coaches I'm very interested in because you called plays and so you would be calling plays now and you're also a guy that like to go fast at times every now and then I'm just interested in because coach I have a little bit of an advantage doing UFL and XFL games I've heard some of this back and forth and it is not always positive and there are not always coaches that are happy with their players and players that are happy with their coaches so I got little back in here hey buddy what's the matter everybody okay you gonna go with them I'm gonna come over there in just a minute okay okay see that that right there is the best part of the media you just saw everybody right there if you want to know what the best part of media is you still get to be a dad all the time and that makes it kind that makes it fun you know when you're Co when you're in the office all the time coaching you don't always get to have those fun things but I'm interested to hear your thoughts because this thing it's going to cut off at 13 seconds 15 seconds whatever it is I think these coaches are going to be trying to cram way too much information into these kids they're going to try to be playing PlayStation run their own offense through the headset and you know it's not going to work very well that way a lot of the time well I think I think there's there's going to be pluses and minuses and everybody thinks oh this boy offens are going to go so fast well you know when you're going no huddle you can talk to the quarterback and then he can communicate to the o line someone's still got a signal out to the receivers so you're still gonna have all the hand signals you're still G to have the things I don't know I don't know that it'll Speed the game up a whole lot um I'll give you some the the I I think you might see some more huddling you know I think you might see some different things because easier communication now right the benefit as you're talking to get to the line and I'm I'm going to share this part with you that's going to be interesting there's a lot of quarterbacks that want some information you know I've I've talked to guys in the NFL about this and you know you say oh you can get up to the line of scrimmage and the coach can be talking to you well there's a lot that you know I think really good teams and you see good quarterbacks they know the information they want from the coach and that's it they don't want anymore like they don't want any more information after that right and so I think the the college guys are going to have to find this balance right now for how much information they can give now the benefit I think it could give is I want to be careful not to information overload quarterbacks if I'm calling the place but in the world of transfer portal right take cam war going to Miami right now and everybody's excited about watching him play it's his first year at at the U he hasn't I you know I always felt really the quarterbacks I have a great feeling as a coach going into year three they have a great grasp of the offense like the complete control right I mean I I don't need to check plays for him I can just you just let him go you know I mean I usually even tell guys once I feel they have that they have full autonomy to call any play they want at any time at the line of scrimmage they they can change anything they can call everything that we you know the world's their oyster you do whatever you want at that point um you know I don't that guys sometimes in their first second year have that grasp of the offense you know that that real why part of it um and so but I think that communication come with in the transfer world that you're in now you have a quarterback that might be a one-year player I think you got to be careful how much you give him but he can get up to the line of scrimmage and you can give him a reminder if that makes remember hey you're hot you're hot off the co you know like Hey we're g to call this play action you're hot on a safety Blitz right you know just just a little reminder on some things maybe some more advanced things right hey you you can get up there and you can call a play We're going to run an alert a check play right and you say hey here's the check play you might he might have that but there might be a kill that you have in like a three-way check that you're not always going to call for the whole offense you can click up and just hey reminder if it's zero Blitz let's kill to this you know and and I think you got to be careful because you don't want to play I I think if you try to do too much controlling you're going to see some quarterbacks that almost become robotic yeah and you'll see uncomfortableness in what's going on and a lack of you know they're kind of waiting to hear and then all of a sudden it gets cut off and they're kind of like you know you see them looking at the sideline or something I think there's going to be a fine line and adjustment for Co for coaches to finding what it is but I think they're going to find ways to help the quarterbacks with friendly reminders I hey you might call two run plays in the hle a four down one's against four down linemen one's against three down linen or one's against you know two or away from safety rotation and what you could do is remind of the quarterbacks of those checks like you know hey let's go outside Zone check you know we're going to run outside Zone check here hey remember it's away from safety rotation so he boom he calls the play and as he's going up the line of scrimmage it's away from safy hey I'm GNA I'm going to stop talking now I'm not going to tell him what to do I'm just going to remind him of what those things are um because I I think that gives him more Comfort on the field that's what Sark said at SEC media days he's like you know I learned my lessons Better Business Bureau in the NFL Rich Ganon was 12 years older than I was when I started calling plays first series he came to the sideline he goes hey buddy I I got it the play and get out of there okay but he said the exact same thing you just did he goes I might tell him hey remind the back if if that DN that Dean's coming outside he needs to Chip he needs to stay a little bit in help or like you said we get a corner crash here throw this route checked it just for those reminders but as you know some guys aren't going to do that and it's going to quarterback's going to melt down and they're going to be looking around wondering what the hell's going on so it's going be interesting to watch also don't want you to forget about the Better Business Bureau of Central and South Alabama now what you're going to get here is a way to draw more people to your business over 1,400 accredited businesses already in line with the Better Business Bureau of Central and South Alabama hubbed right there in Birmingham offices in Birmingham and mobile you're going to be able to get in touch with people that are going to drive you business more foot traffic more web traffic if you need help designing a web page Better Business Bureau of Alabama can help you with that what about digital billboard space where to do it when to do it how to do it they can help you with all these questions if you're looking for different ways to better your business or to drive more traffic to your business the Better Business Bureau can help go to bbb.org plug in your ZIP Code Central South Alabama and they're going to be able to help you in a multitude of ways to be able to drive traffic to your business and help you become a better business leader in your community if you're out there looking for different ways to have more success try the Better Business Bureau of Central and South Alabama they want to help you drive web traffic build a web page know how to advertise know where to advertise digitally and in traditional ways go to bbb.org and plug your ZIP code in today iPad on sideline um how much would the iPads on the sideline have helped you out being able to go over there and watch coaches copies of actually what was happening from a video perspective well for for some of for me that would help me out you know I'm a I'm a I'm a scheme guy a little bit I I love to to design plays I love that stuff I I think it would help out on seeing little things right you know and here here comes the deal is it where it would help the the team's adjustment to you right is when you put a game plan together well the defense going to put a game plan for you so you know what they're doing but they're going to have a couple of curve balls they're going to throw at you and now you can go in and you can really see the curve balls or you can see they're giving you something you know what I mean they're giving you a throw that you're not really like that's really kind of an off the radar throw you know um I I try to make it simple for everybody look you know a lot of times you you'll get into an empty formation right and that receiver all the way out to the field by himself you play you know you you go play a team A lot of times they're going to cheat the corner way inside to kind of help everybody else and off and they're kind of gonna almost uncover that guy sometimes well you can show that to the quarterback now it can get you in trouble because if I the problem is is if I tell them hey they're not really covering that guy out to the field he he's gonna throw it to him the next time we're on the like I mean he's th like he's like coach you told me they like if you can show it to them on the iPad hey there when sometimes you know when they're playing this look you know when they run a linebacker out as manto man don't worry about him that we've eliminated that guy but if they're playing Zone in the corers way off that might give you a quick hitch you can go steal out there to keep them honest um I think things like that will be would be such a huge help uh I I I see a huge benefit you know I mean I was always scratching my head well you go to a high school game and high school guys have the iPads on the sidelines watching it and here we are in the the Southeastern conference and like no definitely not doing that you know on the white board over there still the NFL is still all still shots and I'm kind of like you know I mean just just watch the video I mean like high school kids are doing it like like if they can figure it out we can figure it out I'm interested something you just said there I want I Moving pieces kind of wanted to get into you a little bit with anyway uh you are the master of moving your pieces and winning with formations in different Personnel groupings and people in different places I think what's happened is is even though more people are doing it what's happened is we are seeing the people who aren't doing it are really not able to be as successful so that's like becoming a glaring weakness for some folks can you from a very Elementary perspective just try to explain what it does for an offense when you either get a nub formation into the boundary you get a three by one into the boundary just how much that helps you either be able to steal yards or get the coverage you want or quite honestly coach it's like why other people screw that up defending it when you do those kind of things well one of the things you're always trying to unlock the defense right so you you sit there and you say okay hey if if if I put our formation into the boundary so you know if you look at the the balls to the short side of the field and we're going to put our receivers over that side what's their adjustment to that you know and then all of a sudden I motion a guy back to more of a balanced regular formation there's a lot of defenses they'll have checks for those things and right so hey every time we go to the formation into the boundary and we motion to the field if the nickel stays still they're going to play cover three well that's a great so what we want to do if we want to play a a a play run a pass play that's really good against cover three we're gonna you know we're going to dictate the defense we're going to get them into this and we're going to motion the guy across now if he runs with them it's always covered to well that's just a good little tidbit maybe for the quarterback yeah and or he runs over and we know it's going to be covered to we might alert it to our cover two play we'll call hey let's call a cover three alert cover two play we'll change it that way um the other way in making it really Elementary is let's say you have two great wide receivers and what we'd like to throw one of those two guys the ball uh maybe one of them is a tight end I don't know however it is we have two two two our two best players well in in certain plays we're going to have this is the primary this is read one or you know you hear about progression hey he's going from his first read to his second read well on a on a given play let's put our best player at the first read and our second best player at the second read chances are they have a better they're they're going to get the ball in their hands and so I think a lot of people if you do that as you're moving things around you're trying to D take matchups defensively right there there's a lot of times I say I could put three receivers to one side especially if I put it in like in a certain formation they have to go defend that I'm gonna put one other guy on the other side well I might get if I get a one-on-one matchup I want my best player in that one spot over there yeah and so the only way they're going to stop him is by covering him with two people well if they're going to cover him with two people everybody else now has got they're good matchups and we're going to take advantage somewhere else so I I think when you're moving the pieces around you are trying to either dictate through motion and formation what the defense is going to do to get them to play the defense you want or identify what they're doing defensively for the quarterback or you're moving the pieces around and it happens both to better the chances of your good players getting the ball or you're trying to create a great one-on-one matchup for one of your players and if they're going to take that away that's good but because they're taking that away they need two players to take that away and now i' I've balanced numbers for everybody else and created a mathematical Advantage with the rest of everybody else on the team for myself so one one defense that you had consistent success doing those New Alabama defense kind of things with and I go to the SEC Championship Game Kyle Pitts comes to the next year the game in Gainesville the defense was misaligned often it's me saying that not you saying that and you guys were able to to get some yards and get some advantages that way so a lot of Alabama fans are curious how different the defense is going to be uh you you have faced Kane wk's defense you know what that defense is compared to what they had before just structurally schematically how do you view the new defensive scheme in Alabama compared to what they had before well I I I'll start with this one we did have unfortunately Nick is one of the few people I'm sure maybe we played somebody once or twice that I even through all those years even though I had success we still weren't able to beat him so in in the end even though we had a lot of success and we spent a lot of time figuring out and trying to unlock all the little secrets and keys and create the matchups and score some points we got awful close a bunch of times and um still never were able to get it done so but but as you're saying I I think this I think they one Kane W the really good defensive coach learned a lot from his dad really really good defensive coach um really good scheme causes you lots of problems now it's a different scheme than Nick's defense and you know and and Coach Sav defense so the problem I I listen the scheme works if there was a perfect scheme everyone would run the same defense over and over and over again you know youd only everybody just run one defense so the scheme is you believe in it you have the answers you put your personnel right you know I mean you're going to run what you believe in and what you know my concern for them and and having seen this through the years and in in many years in coaching well the anybody that went to Alabama where believes you know in the Bible they you know they believe on their on their defense defense is the Bible like we we we are believers uh and so they're going to sit there and say well the scheme coach Sav scheme is the best scheme you can run it there's other great ones but it's the best and K W's gonna come and say no no no we're going to do things differently and those players are going to look and say do you see all the banners do you see all the championship do you see did you walk through all the trophies those were run one running a different scheme so there's going to be kind of that Jedi Mind track and mind trick for the players and the meld now the benefit I think that coach wac has is he has one of the greatest defensive coaches of all times sitting down the hall yeah and you know I I mean listen when when I was at Florida Coach fer had an office in there and trust me I any time if if he walked into a meeting we didn't sit and say hey we have all the answers we're good we don't need to hear what you have to say um we all stopped everyone sat down and he'd come in and say hey you know I've been thinking about some things and what about this and we everybody has their notebook out taking every note of everything he has to say so I think it's going to be interesting with the Evolution for Coach wack of his defense what he knows what he's comfortable with how he knows it working with Coach Sabin and how to meld it in to not have the team look and say you know why are we changing in things that we don't need to change a lot and and that's going to be the interesting part more than the actual scheme itself I I don't know that it's going to be hey we're throwing out the old scheme and only running the new scheme I think there's going to be a little combination of both okay uh Preparing for playoff Alabama will be one of those teams that essentially kayin deor is going to be preparing to go to a 12 team playoff because they're a team that people think is going to be in they have the players will be able to do it if you were sitting here 20-some days away from the season wherever we are just getting into pads in Fall camp and you thought you and your staff thought hey we got a good shot to be in this playoff you hadn't didn't have to worry about that in previous years what are you doing different now to prepare for a season knowing that you may have a couple extra games in the postseason as opposed to maybe what you would have been doing before you know I don't know if they're you're doing a whole lot different you know you're because your your goal is this let's get let's go win a conference Championship because you don't want to leave it up to a vote right I mean and and you look last year Florida State they did everything they possibly could do still didn't get in so I think your focus is let's worry about what we can control what we can control right now is going to win a conference Championship right get to the conference Championship game then let's try to go win it um you know I I think what's going to be really interesting for everybody is the back end of the season you know once you kind of hey we can't play for a conference Championship you know it and if you're sitting there if you were a team that was let's say you're n-2 or eight and three going into that last game of the season you're kind of if you've been eliminated from your championship game you're ranked number nine you're not going to the playoff now chances are your last game's a rivalry game it means a lot but you're not jocking for bold position because there's guys been like well I'm opting out I'm not even going to play I'm not going to do this I think it makes those games much more meaningful down the stretch and I think that's going to be the approaches there going be a lot of lot more meaningful games as the season goes on um for the coaches but I don't think your your vision or your focus of how you're preparing how you're about to go through the season changes I think the biggest change is going to come once postseason hits because postseason you know now has been you play in a championship game and if you are we're in the four playoff you know you're at about a preparing what is it like five like a month five week you know it could be about a month to prepare for that game and then there's a quick turnaround for the national title where you probably would you know you're preparing for the semi-final but early on you're going to have everything broken down on the other two teams and every you know that that you would play in the championship game for the quick turnaround you're ready to go I think the postseason routine is going to change because a lot of times you know those first couple weeks get getting ready in whether it was bowl or whether it was a college football playoff or a national championship game you know you're getting guys healthy you're working in some young guys development you you know you're kind of balancing things now you're kind of into a mode immediately of let's get into the playoff mode because we could have um you know I think the the being one of those four teams to get the first round by is a is a big deal right now huge you know I mean you're you're looking now saying okay we get that first round we got to win two games to get to the championship if you don't you got to win three to get to the championship I you know say the battle is still to get that game and get the get the two games not the three games to get there absolutely uh I I want to get your thoughts because you've Big 10 teams B in people see the helmets behind you Bowling Green Utah and then obviously people know your time in the SEC uh for Texas Oklahoma coming in for Washington Oregon USC UCLA coming into the Big 10 I'm not one of these guys it sits here and says that it's this insurmountable mountain of you know blery that they're just not going to be able to handle but that grind is going to be different and you know like I do it's not just the line of scrimmage it's also the pressure the noise hearing from other people other fans hating on you the stadiums you're going to play in the environments are going to be different on a more consistent basis it's a lot of mental wear and tear and emotional wear and tear like it is physical wear and tear how different will that be for the those teams that are coming into the Big 10 in the SEC this year well I think you look at those teams Texas and Oklahoma start with them I mean so much Success Through The Years and you know if you look um in the Big 12 and there's a lot of really good teams in the Big 12 and and let's be honest look back I mean it's not like they just both of them just won every Big 12 game over the last six years and nobody could compete with them but if you look at the talent on the roster week in and week out they generally had the most talented rosters in that League over the last several years and they're going to come in now to an SEC League where I think they're going to look and that Talent is it's not just the one game it's the week in week out so if you're at Texas where you always had in Oklahoma they when they were the team that had the Target on their back right so their deal was we had to show up because everybody wants to go beat us right when they were in the Big 12 and now they're coming into the SEC I've always believed this it's not the one game can they play with anybody in the SEC absolutely but it was never about the one game in the everybody in the country any any there's not a big there's not a current Big 12 team that can't play with anybody in the SEC I mean Utah Utah can go play with anybody in the SEC yeah but it's week two and then it's week three and it's when you know hey on consecutive weeks hey we just played then you know we had a year at Mississippi State in 2014 we played the number six ranked team in the country the next week we played the number four ranked team in the country and the following week we played the number two rank team in the country um we won all three and they let us be number one and that was a fantastic deal right but it was but it's like I was say it's not about the one game it's fortunately we had a Buy in there to catch our breath but it's the multiple week after week after week after week and the grind of the talent you have to play and as you go look I I think winning a championship one you got to have a great team you know you have to have talent you need to have some depth right you need to have be well- coached disciplined team with the right mindset and attitude it also helps if the schedule works out pretty well for you yeah and you stay healthy and you know I think that is such a big part of it as because as you see it's you those teams and even with you know Oregon and Washington you us UCLA who have again more sometimes more talented teams in their league with they're going to show up week in week out now against Ohio State Michigan there's more teams with equal talent that they're going to go face and it's not the it's it's the multiple times you have to do that and consecutive weeks you have to do that and um you know I mean there's a lot of times I I I I always remember you go back to a 2006 National Championship team at the Florida Gator and we had to play Ohio State and people were saying boy they're unbeatable and they but they rolled through everybody in the Big 10 the Big 10 was a little down that year we had a tough stretch of schedule and there was all of a sudden in November we had guys not practice just in games where you know we had guys just we were limping through the back half of that season well all of a sudden we had six weeks before the national title and we were 100% healthy going into that game yeah and we rolled I remember watching Ohio State and they rolled most people so they were healthy throughout the whole season and so it's like boy they're they're going to outmatch them I think what teams are going to see and that's why I say that is we we were so banged up we got in some tight games fortunately we're still able to win I think these teams are going to have to see of that getting beat up week in and week out and learning that you're going to have to find a way to play without practicing we're going to find the depth we're gonna have to find the guys that can get through playing week after week after week after week Superior Talent great talent and finding ways to win all Offensive trends right I'm going to leave you with this one um maroy and I have talked about this a bunch we feel like that there's a part of offense that's kind of come in Full Circle uh for a couple reasons one the usage of tight ends and multiple tight ends is everywhere now it's not like a little bit of a trend everybody's doing it I think the offensive lines in the SEC collectively are ahead of the defensive lines for the first time since I don't even know when it everybody usually has two three four guys that can just take over game on defense I don't see all those guys right now and I think we got some pretty good offensive lines across the board in the league um we heard Sam Pitman say they're going to run I formation at Arkansas couple other teams uh are going to focus on running the football and maybe even from a little bit more of a traditional sense is that part come in Full Circle and add to it do you see like an offensive Trend it's either coming back or a place that you think we're going to go next with sort of offensive football at the college level yeah college is the football Cy cyclical right I mean I mean we we started running boy all this single wing quarterback run stuff well I mean they were doing that in the 20s uh not not the 2020s the 1920s we actually at one point tried to get Notre Dame shift film you know what I mean like we're were trying to find that from you know let's see what is there something we can pull from that so you know if you go back to the early 2000s the spread offense you know I Urban Meyer and I were kind of inventing this spread offense that we ran Rich Rod had one you know um that he was kind of doing um you know there was you know Kevin Wilson's version there were some different versions of it that were going out there but you're in the shotgun spread and you're doing Zone reads and you know there's you know option motions off of it and all this shotgun Play that was new and that was hard for defenses to adjust to and you know because kids are saying hey all right this defensive end hey I'm used to rushing the pass or taking on an niceo lead block now we want you to shuffle and you know you're going to shuffle down the line and and and read to see who has the ball the running back back or the quarterback out of the shotgun that was foreign and it really slowed players down but I think in in today's I mean in high school football like they've seen it you know the the hardest thing to teach a quarterback is how to take a snap under Center quarterbacks I mean you very most kids coming to college don't know how to take an under Center snap so you got to teach them how to do that well I think we we went to one of your old stomp ground early last year and we had Mississippi State week two and I asked Will Rogers when was the last time took a snap under Center he said he did it one time in high school yeah this is really weird it was on the goal line coming out for whatever reason he's like we fumbled it than got it in our own territory he said but that's it that's the only time I've ever done it in high school or in college it's crazy and so you know what we sical is you sit there and say okay you know if you go into a defensive meeting room you know back in the day they would start day one they drop the eye formation and here's how our defense fits and then if they adjust the twins they put two you know two receivers over and now it's there's it's all nickel is the base nickel's the start so I think the sickal part is you'll see people hey let's let's get into some I've tighter formations let's get back under Center kids on defense aren't used to seeing that that's now an anomaly under Center huddling an anomaly under Center quarterbacks an anomaly multiple tight ends or Bunch formations eye formation that's an anomaly they're that's something they have not seen and are not used to so heck let's get going with that I mean if I went back coaching I don't know I might I might get back I might get into some under Center I'd be like under Center I'm going to go recruit a right they're you're going to 105 scholarships right now I'm gonna throw a couple I'm gonna go find a couple fullbacks we'll get in the ey formation and go find way at some people I uh I asked a couple linebacker coaches when I heard that and one of them said I'm going to be honest with you Cole I've never coached my guys how to fit the run against the eye formation never never our guys have never seen it he's like so I guess we got to go got a scout team that can show it now cuz remember it used to be you know the the mobile quarterbacks do we have a guy that can mimic that now do do we even have a fullback and a a quarterback like you said that can take a snap under Center for our scout team they can even show it and it's crazy it'll be weird so so it's gonna be fun to watch I hope we get more of that but thanks for the time coach it was awesome stuff I love talking football with you uh you're one of the best football Minds that I have ever been around and uh look forward to catching up with you again this fall can't wait can't wait enjoy it enjoy enjoy the games I'll I'll be watching all your work from that studio all day every Saturday absolutely thanks coachs appreciate it