College football roster, schedules, and jobs for the 2024-25 season

I I mentioned in our uh like pre-appe text that there's going to be some normal and then some silly I love yes so let's start with some normal um we are at the point of the summer because we're about uh what a a month and a half uh from actually getting into the nitty-gritty of they call it fall training camp but it ain't fall uh when they start um so I thought let's have a little fun with some hot seat coaches is there a coach on a hotter seat than Ryan day of Ohio State yes but his his seat's pretty warm but that's real job pressure and I know that you're an I on college basketball podcast listener and a few years ago Gary Parish introduced that idea and I think he was talking about John Calipari at Kentucky before Cal left to go to Arkansas a result of not truly being on a hot seat in terms of the way we think about it a risk to be fired right but facing so much job pressure from the fan base from the administration from the community at large that it would be untenable to be able to live in your skin in Columbus Ohio if you lose to Michigan for a fourth season in a row but I've never seen so much pressure for a head coach that has won as much as Ryan day has and oh yeah the the number of times that I used to argue for Jim Harbaugh and say in 2016 he entered the game with Ohio State he wins that game he probably wins the Big 10 in 2018 he enters that game with Ohio State he wins that game he probably wins the Big 10 now it has gone to the other side where Ohio State was number two in the country when it walked into Ann Arbor they lost by six points we think about it because it's three in a row because it's hor and because Michigan went on to win the national title but these are razor thin margins and Ryan Day in a way that I do think Urban Meyer did not he does a better job of getting the Buckeyes ready to perform at a mostly consistent level week in week out clearly falling short in the game that matters the most but yeah I mean if you would talk about real job pressure I mean this is uh this is Blue Chip ratio week there is not a team in the country that has recruited more four and five stars than two and three stars than Ohio State and that's not even taking into consideration that bringing in Quin Shaw Judkins the former SEC Rookie of the Year at running back from Old Miss Caleb DS one of the best overall players in college football or CBS Sports Rookie of the Year from Alabama know they have done such a great job of accumulating Talent then yeah you're right not competing for a national championship and to me that's making the semi-finals is an immense disappointment for Ryan day so does he face real job pressure absolutely I think other coaches are probably closer to you know getting fired and receiving their buyou um if they do not meet the expectations for the season we'll go through some of those in a second but I just want to uh you mentioned the way you looked at Michigan and uh I give I've given you credit for this forever you always changed the way I talked about it because there were so many people who thought well if Jim Harbaugh doesn't do this he's going to get fired um and I think you know this and you convinced me of it that Michigan's just different right as a university while Michigan has certainly aspirations of being uh a national championship Contender and being great I think more important to Michigan has been over the years kind of doing it a certain way uh being a higher acade I'm not trying to knock any other school but treating the college aspect of college football uh with the the proper level of respect so they have looked at other things a lot more than other schools have which is are you winning a lot or not are you competing for national championships I don't look at Ohio State as being that way so being a top five school year in year out but not you know beating your RI rival not playing for a national championship those things eventually add up I mean John Cooper averaged what 10 10 wins a year for 10 years couldn't beat Michigan and had to go I mean I don't think any coach has ever been fired with a better record than John Cooper at Ohio State so it hasn't been that long for Ryan day but obviously uh the clock is ticking so give me a coach at a major School that you think is on a hotter seat than Ryan Day that would be Billy Napier at Florida this is year three the there is this is year three correct correct yeah and their the thing that is so unfortunate is that their schedule is brutal their win total is four and a half what and yeah four and a half is their win total they are playing one of the hardest schedules in the country and they do not have the requisite roster to handle it and so when you are into the year three and you have all the tools of modern roster construction the criticism becomes okay you're supposed to be able to build a roster that even facing the toughest schedule in the SEC you're going to be able to get this team to a bowl game and that if you had the easiest schedule in in the SEC like Old Miss for example you would maybe flirt with showing up in Atlanta and the Gators just aren't there uh they've had a lot of trouble on the recruiting Trail I mean remember like we talk about the Jaden rashada lawsuit Jaden rashada was one piece of a string of decommits where Florida would get in on them early and something would happen and it'd fall apart down the stretch and they'd end up losing guys they have been under Billy Napier in the last few Cycles the kings of look we're up at top five in the 247 rankings in May right and then you know you start to get closer and closer to the early signing period in December and it kind of falls apart so I think that Billy Napier is in a very very difficult situation I thought he was a good coach at Louisiana obviously coming from the Sab tree but it definitely looks like this is going to be um difficult for him to win enough games to keep the Firing Squad at Bay all the other one I just want to uh for people who don't know the Jaden rashada he was a quarterback right that is the he's suing not the university but isn't he suing like the nil or Billy Napier specifically he's suing Billy Napier he is suing Billy Napier he is suing one uh booster figure and one other staffer who no longer works for the football program there are three defendants in the lawsuit over an nil deal that went bad right correct wow that's uh hey uh maybe we do need uh protection from the federal government just Kidd hey and do you remember how Tennessee got rid of Jeremy puit with the NCAA issues where like the call was coming from inside the house let me this is a this is a Statewide program a lot of vs fans in North Carolina want to make sure allegedly right you know the call was coming from inside the house you don't want to pay the buyout but you want to get Jeremy puit out then hey we've got proof of these NCAA violations money and McDonald's B bags and the like allegedly man um meanwhile uh Florida State's trying to bully their way into the SC C uh this is probably not a good time for Florida uh to be allowing Florida State into the league cuz I mean all things being equal is Florida State a more popular school in the state of Florida or is it Florida I don't know if all things are equal no if all things were equal if all things were equal Florida State um definitely has a claim I I don't we have it's an interesting one right it is an interesting one to consider it is certainly um one that is more of a head scratcher than almost any other I guess the only other one that I would throw out there is Clemson or South Carolina all right well let me ask you about Mario christall what is uh what is his immediate future at Miami how important is this year we were talking about Miami and Florida State today on the cover three podcast look at um that Miami's roster is better and not one of us picked Miami to win that game Miami's roster is more talented right and there is so much of a coaching advantage in our eyes for Florida State right and the games at Hard Rock stadium which again we talked about home field advantage you know that's all the rage with the EA Sports college football 25 game you know toughest places to play HomeField advantage and Hard Rock stadium might be a negative you know you you factor three points in for HomeField Advantage negative one yeah you know there might be more Florida State fans there so much money has already been poured into this Mario cryst ball operation I don't think that they can cut bait after this year but good gravy if they go like seven and five that is a massive disappointment because again Clemson Florida State Miami just Raw on paper that is the top tier not one person who applies context is going to keep Miami in that top tier just because of the way we've seen that program and this staff and this regime in particular fall short time and time again now let me ask you about two Local Schools or two local coaches let me start with Mike Houston um who look for a long time Mike Houston was getting it done right at uh well JMU yep um it hasn't really happened at East Carolina I know there's been a lot of turnover uh the quarterback has been a problem the quarterback position has been a problem how are they set up how is he set up um to kind of keep this thing going and buy himself another year or two well he's got the anti-b Billy Napier because ECU has objectively one of the easiest schedules in the entire dagam country and I guess that's what happens after you go up to Ann Arbor and take a pun you know that you take your punishment from Michigan and I think the ECU App State game obviously I love that game and that I think app State's the sunb Bel favorite I think they're the best team in that conference and that would be a very very challenging game there are some some games on the ECU schedule that in terms of do I think ECU will win against the best teams in the American Athletic Conference I I don't I think that you would probably go three or four teams down but then there's eccu right in the thick of that conference they have an opportunity to stack wins in a way where it doesn't matter what the there's what it there's no pictures on the scorecard they can stack a lot of wins against teams that are worse than them and have the kind of final record that is going to you know give you that strong bounceback but no power five opponents a manageable draw in the American Athletic Conference um I still need to do my full digging on the the Personnel to get my final chip allytics number on the pirate but I the those top level surface level um stats that I'm starting to pull together for all my different projects at this time of year is definitely spitting out ECU as having one of the most favorable schedules so if you are you know facing real job pressure or a hot seat then at least you've got that because Billy Napier wishes he had that or Sam Pitman at Arkansas oh man might have hired his replacement by bringing Bobby patrino in as an offensive coordinator that' be so funny but remember a couple years ago Sam Pitman was winning games at Arkansas and we were like that's exactly what uh a school like Arkansas needs man a guy who just knows how to coach ball and then last year they were atrocious I think it was last year they were atrocious and everybody's like that's exactly who's got to get fired it's so quickly how that happens all right let me get to one more one more coach and I don't think there is a way on this Earth that his seat is hot but what is the immediate future I immediate is probably not uh the right way of saying it give me the short-term future of ma Brown oh this is one of the great challenges of his I don't even want to say entire coaching tenure but certainly um you know if I go to the end of the Texas run and the end of the Texas run was challenging let's say everything post 2009 because after McCoy breaks his leg that's kind of when the Longhorns start to lose their way that was still still at the peak of their powers 0509 teams I think that the two things that M Brown is going to be challenged to do as a head coach number one is going to be able to maintain and generate a confidence within a locker room that by his own admission was a little bit fractured when the struggles hit last year I remember him during weekly press availabilities talking about how some guys were um mad because they weren't playing or you know happy because they're winning and he he basically described the the there is not a unified uh Vibe among the players late in the year last year and there's not a lot of outside hype and there's not a lot of outside Buzz so I think it is a great coaching challenge for the Hall of Famer to try to get everybody on the same page and that includes his new defensive coordinator Jeff Collins who is used to working with Mississippi State and Florida athletes and it's different you know you you cannot make the same play calls and have the same game plan and I understand that the after the last couple years of Jean chisik this sitb back read and react everybody's like no we we got to go the other way on this and I I get that but it is just going to be such an immense uh challenge for him to get everybody on the same page to generate that positive momentum now that said North Carolina schedule's not super daunting either no and the overall quality of the team I'm expecting to take a step back not just at the quarterback position but a few other places as well but it's a team that could sneak around and exceed your expectations you know if they are able to get everybody on the same page so the immediate future for m brown at North Carolina is something I'm fascinated to watch because I think is one of the great coaching challenges of uh his post 2009 coaching career uh I you know it's it's it's funny um Mac's done a lot I mean so much good to elevate the program back to really where it you know to the to like a baseline of where it needs to be you know he certainly hasn't elevated Beyond where it like what Dave Doren has done at NC State to me is way Superior than what m brown has done at UNC cuz I think the Wolfpack program is on much more stable FL like I know what they're going to be basically every year I they're going to they're going to play great defense um they're going to try to run the ball probably too much uh but I mean they their their offensive ideas are a little bit too conservative but I'll give uh you know I'll give the the new regime another year to to to to push further forward but I mean what were they working with last year you know you get you switch over to MJ Morris and then he red shirts himself and then you're throwing Brennan back in there right I mean there's there's definitely a good bit of and even even the year before the quarter the fact that NC state has won some of these games seemingly playing left-handed I think speaks to what you're talking about which is the Player Development and the focus on the Lin scrimmage Trend I love I love I love what Dave Dorne has done there all right now I know you guys just talked about this so I'm pulling it although I haven't listened uh uniforms right you guys just did this in the on the cover three podcast correct correct uh who's got the best uniforms in college football and these are these are specific oh man uh LSU yellow tigers with the helmet that has the little tiger and the LSU over top oh okay I'm I'm I don't know if I'm familiar with that one I'm just familiar with the L tiny it has a tiny tiger on the side of the helmet and then the letters LSU over top of the tiger yellow white yellow for LSU correct correct that's the that's the best version of the LSU uniform I did not list that uh my favorite in all of college football is Clemson's all orange I dig thank goodness you didn't say purple I'm out on the purples I don't mind the purple they never wear the purple for for a big game which they shouldn't you you should wear your best uniform for your big games well what they've done is they've made me have to care about it because they always wear the purples for military appreciation all right you can't disrespect the purple uniforms then they're like you're disrespecting the troops so it's not camo yeah look that dabo's got the camo on the side right that's true yeah that's that's the one I always like when the coaches um get their alternate fit in midseason and like it so much they just keep it going um Jerry kill was the head coach at New Mexico State last year and they did their military appreciation in like early October and he just kept wearing the same gear from military appreciation the rest of the season that is incredible uh I like Texas in the I love Texas helmets and I'm I'm a big white I'm a big white helmet fan by the way it's one people like NC State uh I mean white helmet white NC State helmet for me just with the S although I dig toughy um red and white it's my favorite state look uh but Texas's white burnt orange white I think that's the one of the cleanest looks in football do you like the all whites for Texas I do I do dig all whites for Texas I like the all whites for Texas too um so I think that in the Dan Lanning era right he has reigned in some of Oregon going over the top with the combos um it is not quite as much of a like random number generator as it was back in the day and this is what I love he's leaned into the kelly green and yellow the old yes yes like Mike balot Oregon very nice the Oregon has been yeah they'll still throw out you know the fancy Nike stuff every now and then but it does seem and to your point for a lot of big games uh the Ducks are coming out there in something that's a little bit closer to almost an old school Oregon look so do you have an all-time favorite college football uniform it's LSU well I me that's it okay see mine's s the traditional Southern Cal uh maroon or whatever they're calling burgundy I don't know what do they call their uh uh their their their dark uh their dark color with the gold the yellow pants I was I was just a fan gr growing up a fan of watching that team play and that's my favorite un for that to me says college football well I am biased um because as a br and high school graduate any purple and Gold's going to speak to my heart in a deep deep deep deep deep way tot totally uh totally understand that and I like another big 10 school I love the traditional UCLA traditional Big 10 School uh with the uh with the gold helmet and the pow the you know I guess it's powder blue uh and then the gold pants I loved it I used to love when Southern C and UCLA would both wear their uh their dark uniforms their colors yeah gosh give me that in for rivalry games like as much as I loved Gio Bernard's punt return it bothers me that they were wearing whatever that and I loved it I just didn't love it for a big game for a rivalry game was it the chrome helmets the Chrome and the Navy I'm like man why are we doing this for a rivalry game powder blues you know the old Miss powder blues those are pretty good yeah I dig those yeah I like something little bit we you can have a traditional taste you know with USC but I didn't hear a lot of Alabama and Penn State out here see I like those they're just I mean I'm I'm more of a plain uh college football guy when it terms to the more traditional college football uniforms uh but they're not my favorite but I dig Alabama just plain number on a helmet Penn State nothing right it actually bothers me that they put uh Stripes around the collars and around the slaves just if you're going to do that if you're going to wear practice uniforms wear practice uniforms who cares uh all right chip Patterson you're the man I appreciate your time as always sounds good y'all be well