Coaching Tier RANKINGS for 2024 College Football Season + Week 1 Sneaky-Interesting Games

I think we have 19 quarterbacks and DJ OU young is 15th among those 19 quarterbacks and I would say after watching him play Saturday he probably is the 15th best quarterback transfer [Music] right hello and welcome to until Saturday the Athletics college football podcast still week one we're still waiting on games but we are here we got plenty to talk about today start with Bruce Feldman coming on to talk to us about his coaching tiers article he did with my co-host Chris Vini talking where where does each coach stand coming into a season that I think is going to change a lot of narratives for plenty of coaches after that we're going to talk to Manny Navaro later in the show uh we're going to talk about some impact transfer portal players guys that are new faces and new places that you need to get to know and some under the radar games everybody knows about Miami Florida Notre Dame Texas A&M uscl LSU the big big games but there's still plenty of football that might not be getting as much attention and Manny and I are going to point that out so that you are well prepared for week one and of course we're going to De you a new segment Message Board Maniacs we love you not only because you are the reason that people like me get to talk and write about college football for a job but you're very entertaining and sometimes when things go poorly the entertainment Factor goes up and we'll close of course with crunch time and run through the news and notes that you need to know heading into week one so let's get started uh Bruce Feldman my guest you guys I'm sure know him from the athletic and of course the audible podcast with stendo I've been on there a few times with you guys Bruce Bruce thanks for joining us on the show today how are you preparing for week one I feel like I've been preparing it for like the last month um it's just been can't wait for the games to get here week zero was actually better than than uh I was hope anticipating so that was good um later this week head to morgant toown West Virginia we uh our big noon game is Penn State at West Virginia should be good so like you know you mentioned the story with um Manny myself and and Sam Khan also worked on it I felt like we were making calls about the impact transfers for like pretty much since training camp really got going that that turned out to be a great way to prepare for the start of the Season just because all the calls the Intel you're trying to get about who's looking good maybe who's needs more time to develop or fit in or transition so I thought it was a it was a fun uh fun exercise well Bruce you've been doing coaching tiers for a while coaching rankings where does this stand in terms of people getting angry at you where does this rank in the things that you do uh sort of temps for the season you know when Stu and I do the top 25 coaches every year we've been doing it now for like four or five years and him longer um that's feels like it's a little higher but the the tricky part on this and I'm about to throw Vini under the bus like there's definitely a few where I'd be like yeah that's how Chris feels about this guy I didn't win that argument or you know that kind of thing but there was one that I saw um you know one of the first comments I saw off of our story that somebody had had mentioned on social media was like hey you guys have the the reigning Big 10 coach of the year in tier six you know what is up with that and now first of all David Brun is a very you know he did a terrific job last year but it's a really small sample size the second part of it there's multiple National coach of the years in that same tier and a guy who was a former SEC head coach of the year and also coach of the year in a couple other conferences an ACC coach of the year and a pack 12 coach of the year so it's like you know you're not going to please everybody and I'm not saying we're right about everything because we're not um but there's a lot of stuff where it's like H you know like Chris and I would have our own little little debates in curently leading up to this and you could see it from from multiple sides and and you know there's definitely a give and take outside of I'd say Kirby Smart I don't think there was one coach who I was like oh yeah that's definitely a great fit because I'm sure you know not to give away if anybody hasn't read the story yet but like we had two tier one coaches Kirby Smart and dbo Sweeney and Stu probably spit out his Cheerios when he saw dbo Sweeny up there you know but you guys won two national titles and even if he's fallen off a little since nil because he doesn't embrac the transfer portal he still you know has quite a history and it's not like he's fallen off and Gone Gone six and six is it possible to start the the the chunk of coaches with tier three put Kirby in his own tier davo in his own tier because you are walking around the recruiting trail with two rings and then start um you know I could see that rationale the tricky part on this is I feel like some of the tier 2 guys are very close to to Dabo at this point right um one of the guys I was pretty passionate about you know pushing up in this list was Lance libold yeah he did an amazing job at Buffalo he won a bunch of national titles at the D3 level and he's worked miracles at Kansas you know so I'd make a strong case for him to be there um you know kayin dor was you know was amazing job he another guy similar to lipold where he had a lot of success at a you know off the radar as a head coach and then he goes through a program and Washington you know was down it wasn't like abysmal like Kansas was but you know he got them to the national title game with largely the exact same roster save for the quarterback who he coached at Indiana when he was an offensive coordinator you know so I mean those guys are are I feel like right on dabo's heels but then you get into like you know the the there's a cluster of like three guys they all they all have some overlap in Ryan Day Lincoln r and Brian Kelly from you know in their own unique ways where they've been really successful and especially in the case of you know Ryan day and Lincoln Riley they've they've taken over blue blooded jobs and and have won a lot of games especially Ryan but at the same point you know you gotta crack through that next ceiling you know talking through the two the tier two guys it's an interesting conversation because you look at most of the list Kyle Whittingham has has built and done some amazing things at Utah Lincoln Riley you know fixes Oklahoma's offense and has been disappointing but still has improved USC Mike noell gets Kansas State to the playoff we mentioned Lance Lao to dug Kansas out of this huge hole Brian Kelly obviously very accomplished at Notre Dame you know wins the SEC West in his first year at LSU wins a Heisman last year Luke fickle you know fixes the the situation that Cincinnati gets them into the playoff Kalin deer fixes Washington Ryan day though is a complicated figure in terms of assessing how he coaches on The one hand you do have the overall record which is like what what 44 and four at this point it's it's pretty impressive Ian more yeah yeah but he inherits a good situation the program seems to have backslid where where do you stand on Ryan day and how much conversation was was there about his place and how do you square you know the overall record in winning games and taking care of business and and avoiding some of the the eye popping upsets that kind of marred the urban tenure and sort of recognizing that he's fallen short of where Ohio State's standards are for this program yeah I think Ryan day is is a really unique situation and like the only one who has some some similarity is LIN andn Riley in that they were offensive coordinators and elevated to a really successful program and what they were able to do was keep some of the best parts of the old regime in Ryan day's case he CL kept Mickey maradi the strength Coach K Larry Johnson the line coach Mark pantony who ran the recruiting office so there was a lot of you know key things he kept in place now like like what you said he has like Ohio state has not stubbed its toe like you know Ohio state did before him you know Urban they had the you know bad loss to Purdue bad loss to Iowa there would be those times where it was that whereas Ryan Day hasn't really lost any of those kinds of games but he's lost to Michigan and he's lost three times in a row and that's really the gut punch you know but his record he is 39 and3 in the big and 56 and8 overall that's a staggering record right now and I don't think you can deny that I mean you know he's beaten a lot of good teams and by the way one of those years he lost to Lost to um Michigan he came within basically a misfield of winning a national title they were leading Georgia by two touchdowns going into the final quarter and then Marvin Harrison Jr you know gets knocked out of the game and then they comes down to a field goal their kicker misses it if not they play TCU and I don't think anybody outside of probably Fort Worth thinks they would have lost to the horn frogs so I think he is I think he has honestly a stronger case to be in that that second tier than a bunch of other guys um Bas off of that but I get it you know it's it's a um there's a lot of pressure on them now they've gone heavy heavy into nil as they probably should have but you know losing to Michigan you know kind of push them into that area but this is a you know I think you said it at the start of this there's gonna be a bunch of this is going to be like on a pivotal year for a handful of coaches and I think Ryan day is at the top of the list I don't short national title you know if they beat Michigan this year which I think they will um you know if they lose to Georgia in the national title game it's I I don't think you you know it's like not like his job is in Jeopardy but I just think that like that's that's going to be you know maybe not successful season whereas almost anybody else to get to the national title game unless you're Ryan day is probably going to be would be a big success the wh if questions uh I mean among recent college football wh ifs if that Ohio State kick goes in the narratives and Landscape of college football would be very very interesting in terms of Kirby Smart Ryan Day Jim Harbaugh Michigan all of these things would be would be pretty interesting before people get super angry at you and I'm sure plenty of folks already are with the coaching tiers what's what is you guys methodology because sorting coaches into tiers is a complicated uh process obviously there's a lot of things to consider uh a lot of Assessments and check marks and a coach's job is a lot of different things Talent Development Talent acquisition uh game management all those things what is your methodology for sorting the coaches into tears I think Vine and I probably have somewhat different rationale like well he'll he'll be here's what I'm thinking and then I'll take issue with some of them based off of you know what I'm thinking and we'll kind of hopefully meet somewhere in the middle I don't know if we always do but I think that's kind of the fun part of it I don't think we're like way off on anything there's like you can probably count on two hands how many coaches we disagree on you know a you know with some with some some venom venom in it like there's like there's a few where I'm like yeah you're right that guy should be you know kind of come into this land in the same place but I I think by and large our rationale is more similar than it's than Stu and I when we have our dueling top 25 you know I've joke Stu has like has like the attention span of a house cat if something happened like two years ago he doesn't think it happened you know he doesn't credit it and whereas you know venini is much more you know gives credit to what happened I was like you know these guys didn't just forget how to coach football you know whereas I feel like stu um you know Stu is much more reactionary with things where than I am and so look I still give James Franklin credit on his resume for doing what he did at Vanderbilt getting them into the top 25 in two or three years because they were horrific before he was there and they've been horrific after he left the only time they've actually been good was when he was the coach there for three years and I just don't think you just kind of like oh it was like a different guy because he's struggled he hasn't beaten Ohio State in whatever it is six years um I don't think you just completely I mean it's Ohio State almost nobody's beating them right so um you know there's no exact there's no um easy answers to these things you know a lot of people will point out and go oh so and so's a terrible game coach it's like yeah you remember anecdotally this or that but there's a bunch of really you know Kirby Smart you know he's the clear number one on our list he's had some bad game coach moments in his in his history too and a lot of people would say you know he's got way he's playing with way better players than everybody else or than most teams he's facing but you know to his credit he's he's acquired them and he's helped develop them you know and so I think there's a lot to be said for that two guys that I think I would have pushed to maybe move up and maybe I'm um maybe I'm biased because uh the way that you guys order them in the tiers maybe a little bit and I think one thing that makes it difficult with the tiers is assessing where is that coach and what is that program ceiling and how do those two things interact but for me the consistency that Mike Gundy has had at Oklahoma State and the consistency that Mark stups has had at Kentucky I think those are two guys that what people talk about like the best coaches in the sport don't probably get the love that they should you know you look at at what Mike Gundy has done obviously he had the the peaking years in in 10 and 11 where they won the Big 12 and even still um you know falling back uh you know a few years seven and six two years ago but they win 10 games last year in the year that a lot of people had really modest expectations for them we'll see about them this year am am I making a strong case for for Gundy uh or Mark stops to be uh included I think what people underrate how difficult it is to win at Kentucky for a number of reasons I think them recruiting in Ohio being a to win and doing so and shifting his staff as much as he did how much do you factor in uh the the the quality of the programs themselves a lot I mean look I I would also factor in you know in stops' case he's at Kentucky and he's not the basketball coach he's the football coach it's way harder to win there and you know at one point I forgot like I don't have this stat off top of my head but like he's had two double digit win Seasons recently whereas they they had like you know in the previous 50 years you know maybe won you know it's just like I know there's they play more games now than they did 40 years ago but he's been able to do some things that nobody has able to sustain at at Kentucky I I think the challenge is like is that a I start looking around who's a tier three coach and I think you could probably argue you know Luke fickle um you know did really well at Cincinnati it's too soon to tell what he's doing at Wisconsin I think he'll get it going there like some of the other guys I feel like they've just either won at a higher level um you know comparing Ryan day Ryan Kelly and Lincoln Riley to those guys I think is is tough just because they're at really blue blood schools now Oklahoma State I would make the case and you've been there too you know in in the Big 12 they have some of the best facilities in the Big 12 you know it's like eating especially now especially now now with and Texas out you look at the other schools I mean they're competing with now Texas Tech has upgraded their facilities recently but like some of these other schools it's not like they're anything close to a you know it's Iowa State it's the Kansas schools it's TCU which you know only recently became like a power five kind of program so they're in there with with programs that like you know it's it's not the same to me it's not like they're in the SEC and they're they're really punching up all the time but he's you know gundy's had had a lot a long-term sustained success and you know he's another one that's like tough to you know he has has two really good years and then one year that's not so good but again he's at a place where it's he's not at Oklahoma um you know I think when I go through this I'm basically you know trying to look for a like coach and the like coach in this case is Kyle Whittingham you know and to me I would put Kyle Whittingham just the a a slight Notch above him uh whether getting texts getting calls uh comments uh Twitter whatever who have you seen the most push back on where you have him placed in the in the uh tier system um this year it's too soon to tell I'll be honest like in a time or two you get like a thanks man comment like you know it's like said with disdain um you gota wait till they get an upset in or pull an upset or get upset in week one before really want to start throwing rocks yeah you know we had this you know we worked on this last week but it you know kept on working on it through the weekend I mean I wouldn't have bumped Mike norell like we bumped him up a spot this year I wouldn't like overreact to one you know to to a loss to Georgia Tech I feel a little better about like our comments on on H Brent key again it's early him but he's had I think he's had a really nice start he's doing well in recruiting you know by all accounts and I think we probably had him higher than I think most people would have like expected him to be remember he wasn't the favor to get the job when he got the interim tag so you know it's these things are as they say very very fluid Bruce are you worried at all about getting black bald from a Colorado press conference for having Dion in in tier six uh I hadn't really thought about that and let's be honest I don't you know like it's not like I'm going to press conferences either right I hadn't thought of that um you know everything everything is is such like a microwave thing I watched some clip I don't know if it was yesterday it went up or or Saturday about a local reporter had asked Dion something and I was just like I listened to the response it was like two minutes and I'm like I'm not really sure how to feel on this in terms of the way it the question was brought up and then I listened to Dion's answer and Dion the way I interpreted the answer was like hey this is what dries me this is what and again Deion Sanders is one of the greatest football players in the history of the sport right and so when when he's talking up there I'm sitting there thinking yeah of course I get why Dion you know would be dismissive of anybody who's like who is either questioning him literally questioning him in a lot of ways just because you don't know what it what it took to do what I've done you haven't seen what I've done I get that I think the parts of that are kind of more more into a gray area are Dion's not wired like like most of the people who play college football you know it's they probably have different motivations they probably have a focus that's not the same they probably don't have the same work ethic um you know there's just a lot of different parts of it but I think it's like you know I'm I'm like I've been around him enough in bigger settings to listen and go like yeah oh I kind of now get what he's talking about but at the same same time I think it's it's such a unique and you've been around this way more than me it's such a unique um media like ecosystem there it's I don't think there's anything quite like it because you don't have anybody in terms of like in terms of the level of celebrity as a coach in terms of the level of success that they've had you know like all these guys to some degree were like a star at some point but they were not Deion Sanders you know I think what comes with that is really fascinating just if you take like two steps out of it but man you know you can't look away from any of this it's just it's just it's just very interesting on all sorts of levels you guys don't include first year FBS coaches so we'll leave them out of it but when you look at guys who you think have a season ahead where they might be moving up a tier or you could see a breakout EAS for them coming on anybody jump out to you uh on on guys that are moving up yeah um there's a few like look I I think John sura is one of the best coaches that's become a head coach in like the last five years what he did at Troy was fantastic I think he will do really well at two lane um I think he's one of those guys um you know I think there's a a batch like Bren key was somebody who were kind of like okay this is going to be interesting because like they've changed a culture of how how that place is and I just think is a little different from Jeff Collins in terms of like um I don't want to say Style versus substance but it does feel a little in those lines um you know I would say um Mike Elko has a chance to really spring up he did a really good job in his first couple of years there I also think the one that um I think is a really good coach and to me this is a year where people I think I think are gonna like oh yeah that guy is a really good coach is Matt rule I mean his his first two what's that I was gonna bring him up yeah yeah no his first two spots he was really rough year at Temple really rough year at Baylor and David you and I both covered Baylor down there like he took over an awful situation it was toxic yeah in Waco and I thought he did an amazing job not just on the field but Optics of how he answered questions and everything and um I have a ton of respect for him as a coach and as a you know as a leader in that capacity they struggled last year obviously no secret didn't make a bowl game they haven't been to a bowl game in a long time every you know the previous two times he got his team after a really dismal first year into a bowl game year two I think he's going to do that this year with Nebraska schedule's favorable I can see them maybe winning eight games and I think he will be a guy who um we will be moving up at least a tier or two um after this year I think so I I'm really intrigued I'm going to see them week two uh when they play Colorado uh I I I think you guys underst so what he did at Temple and what he did at Baylor getting them from where that program was to the Sugar Bowl um and that's pretty incredible I do think you know another guy that jumps out to me Alex goish Young coach uh hasn't really done a whole lot last year was his first you know year as a head coach at USF they got some pieces to really uh I mean they're going to score a bunch of points this year they bring back a ton on offense but I think he's a guy that the more he's in the spotlight um and the more teams play the more people watch his teams I think he's a guy that is going to be a a big time head coach very very soon was it you like so I'm with you on that like I had four guys who I'm trying to think if they were tier four guys tier Five Guys they were tier Five Guys I had four of them who I think will move up at least one spot next year Alex golish Ryan silverfield GJ Kenny Barry odm um I I want to say somebody in our Fantasy Draft took Byron Brown whoever that was I was like he's not gonna win the Heisman but he will put up big numbers in that system he's really talented I could it wouldn't shock me if he ended up finishing like sixth yeah I think it's definitely possible I mean they they got a bunch of dudes and uh it's they're going to be a fun team to watch in the G5 I mean all the attention obviously on boys and Memphis and you know you see some Fresno love out there and obviously people want to yell about Liberty but I'm with you I think Texas state with GJ Kenny and and USF uh with Al Kish you want to see some points they're they're gonna put them out they're two of the probably the most fun teams like if they're on I want to watch them so I'm were you um like I know you were a maou guy like you didn't overlap bar odm did you at all no I mean I I know him a little bit but um no I I've you know I I think I had moved I was covering Tennessee I think when he was at Missouri but yeah I know him a little bit but but not a ton I think he's uh making the most of his second opportunity and and I still think you know Bobby patrino leaving them in the cold and him bringing in Brennan Maran was pretty was pretty unbelievable and I think it definitely improved their Outlook a season ago and they were shocked to be able to keep him uh for a second year in Vegas yeah I mean look that was the best year unlv's had in like 40 years he has two young coordinators uh one on each inside the ball like I agree Brennan was you know pretty marketable and there were some head coaching jobs I think he you know sniffed around a little bit um they lose their starting quarterback who transfers to USC I know they have a really big- time receiver in Ricky White I think that they you know they get Boise at home I don't you know again I don't know if they're going to be the team that that comes out of out of the group of five but he I've known him for a long time dating back to like his GA days um you know 25 years ago he's a guy who I think has really learned after his first go round as a head coach and made some really smart um and thoughtful adjustments to how he runs a program and I could see him you know I could see him winning 10 games this year and then all of a sudden be a fairly hot commodity again on what comes open it's definitely possible well Bruce thank you so much for for joining the show it's always good to catch up with you I'm sure I'll see you on the road at some point this year you can see Bruce of course on big noon kickoff as well and on the fox networks as well as on the audible and on theathletic.com if you are uh if you want to read the entire athletic coaching tiers from my co-host Chris Vini and Bruce the link will be in the description so go check that out and we'll be back here in a second with Manny Navaro and our sneaky week one games as well as the impact transfer portal list which Bruce helped out with that as well been fun Bruce thank you for joining the show we'll see you again soon see you on the road David we are back joined by Manny Navaro I'm sure you've heard him on the feed if you are a longtime listener if you're not Manny is our AC expert but he hases a lot of other stuff for us as well and that includes recently looking at the 100 biggest impact transfers alongside Sam Khan and Bruce Feldman you heard from earlier in the show uh thanks for joining I think this is going to be a constant in college football I think the raw numbers of transfers will thin down as we get something close to uh normal seeing college football but for now keeping track of the new faces and new places across the sport is going to be a challenge and if you have not been paying attention or need a refresher this is a fantastic guy the link you'll find in the show's description but Manny what was it like trying to figure out who the 100 most impactful transfers of this season were going to be and sort through a lot of the reporting and and figuring out uh that list well first of all let me just give all the credit to Sam and Bruce who are probably as plugged in as anybody in college football uh being able to get coaches on the phone we we worked on this for about two weeks and it was a hall uh I did maybe 5 to 10% of the work they did the rest because they're so good at what they're doing uh but it's fun it's a you know calling these uh general managers these assistant coaches these staffers to get the hey what what do guys really look like uh on the team and not just hey what did they do last year and we're just going to project what they're going to do now um type questions is it's good it feels like real reporting it feels like we're getting to really understand the impact that some of these guys are going to make with their teams I just want went back and looked at our list now and I saw that I think we have 19 quarterbacks and DJ OU young is 15th among those 19 quarterbacks and I would say after watching him play Saturday he probably is the 15th best quarter that's I would believe that yeah I believe that go ahead no I I was gonna say it it's not a perfect science obviously uh David because some of these coaches have egos right and they think they can get more out of guys than maybe where they were at before so we may get a little bit of a fibbing right with hey we think this guy is top 10 top 20 in the country overall but I think for the most part it's an honest take yeah it's it's always an interesting exercise and and there's some level of guessing because you have new guys in new places and you guys had Caleb DS at number one on your list obviously going from Alabama to Ohio State one of the highest profile transfers probably the most Talent ented transfer but when you look at this list and you look at the transfers uh in the sport who do you think will have the biggest overall impact on their team's win loss record well it's it's definitely the quarterbacks I I mean I think obviously Dylan Gabriel uh Oregon was such a great program last year obviously with Bo Knicks didn't get to the playoff because they lost twice to Washington but uh people are expecting Oregon to make the 12 team field and they're expecting them to 10 for the Big 10 title uh and and the quarterbacks are going to have their ball in their hand so they automatically in my book are always going to be viewed as the most impactful camard at Miami is another great example Miami has a chance I think to win the ACC this year um you know Riley Leonard at Notre Dame um those are going to be the headliners those are the guys that that probably get in the Heisman discussion but there's so many other like really good you know defensive players receivers running backs uh Nick scon I think at Texas A&M who we ranked third um might be the best past rusher in college football this season with Mike Elko as coach um didn't really have a lot of support around him at Purdue when you think about it and now Texas A&M he's gonna have better players around them so um you know you could take your list but I I I think ultimately we're going to be sit here talking about quarterbacks at the end of the season you know it's interesting when you look at the impact transfers there's they're not package deals but there's kind of a few onew punch guys and and there's one very close to you in cam Ward and Damen Martinez they've played a lot of football they are guys who would be playing in the pack two uh or the Pack 12 if it had not exploded um but when you look at those two guys there's been a lot of attention paid to them what do you think people can honestly expect out of that offensive Back Field that there's a lot of pressure on them there's a lot of expectation but what what those two guys going to bring to Miami well I think a lot of a lot of it from cam Ward is leadership um you know we've talked on this show previously last week not too long ago we did our ACC tiers uh about Ward and just being the alpha male right and how much Mario crystal ball loves all that kind of stuff Miami didn't have that with Tyler Van Dyke he was more of a quiet behind the scenes guy cam Ward is the alpha right and and and we've seen how that can make an impact on some teams maybe we make too much of it a sports Rider right maybe it's too much of a romantic idea oh he's such a great leader and that's why this team is here but I kind of buy it I I do i' I've been around this you've been around this long enough where one guy at a certain position if he is you know the alpha so to say and he's a great player he can lift other guys around him to much better Seasons than than they're probably normally capable of and so I look at cam cam Ward and that ilk and and I certainly think Damen Martinez uh could end up being the best running back in this class I know people are automatically going to say well you're crazy it's it's quinan uh Judkins at Ohio State but there's so many great Playmakers at Ohio State that I I just think Damen Martinez could potentially have better numbers at the end of the season than Judkins he's got you know trevan Henderson in the backfield with him Damen Martinez has a as a secondy year talent and Mark Fletcher behind him it's not the same thing so I think Martinez and Ward at the end of the year could put up huge numbers and be the reason why Miami uh especially after what we just saw from Florida state is really in the running for the ACC Championship you the other package deal I think is really interesting is you go out to Oregon we kind of know what we have in Dylan Gabriel you you've seen him you know at UCF we saw him at Oklahoma Evan Stewart is a little bit more of a conundrum because we've seen flashes from him at Texas A&M but we've been talking about him you know for a while and in the offense last year there just was not a lot of um you know opportunity for him to shine he made some plays uh but but he he wasn't necessarily the the big time talent that we were hoping to see in this offense with an experienced quarterback and picking up Dylan Gabriel I think gives Oregon a real opportunity to not have any fall off at all going away from Bo Knicks and going to Dylan Gabriel what what do you think we're gonna see out of Evans Stewart because I really think we could see you know with TZ Johnson also there I don't know that you're gonna have the gigantic 17 1800 yard seasons but 13 15 I think is somewhat possible am I too high on Evan Stewart or what do you think this is going to look like for him in this offense where you know they kept will Stein as well as OC yeah I mean look Oregon I think you know they're going to average well over 40 points again even going to the defensive minded Big 10 let's think about this we're talking about how these Pack 12 teams former Pack 12 teams are going to have to adjust to playing in the in the you know defensive Big 10 I don't know that the Big 10 has seen this kind of consistent speed every single week that they'll see from Oregon right and and just being able to fling the football around and and have such a diverse attack I mean who's really that kind of an offense Ohio State maybe right we don't even know if Will Howard uh is is necessarily going to be as good necessarily as Dylan Gabriel at his position with even with all those Playmakers so uh Oregon adds a whole new wrinkle I think you're going to see them uh just have a ton of success and I and I watched Evan Stewart last year uh when Texas A&M came to Miami he didn't have a humongous day in that game and Miami ended up winning that game but he still made an impact and and he still look like a special receiver so the fact that we've got him in our top 10 is is deserving in my opinion he's he's definitely a top 10 transfer we'll get to some more guys in a little bit but when you look at this list and and you know the conversations that you've had who's an under the radar guy that hasn't gotten the offseason headlines some of the guys that we've talked about that you think may may or may not be a household name come you know November October but it's going to have a lot of impact on his team's bottom line that it isn't getting enough attention coming into the season I think Dion Burks I mean we have him in our top 10 uh good at Purdue last year but the the talk on him uh from from Folks at Oklahoma is he is a dude like like he is going to seriously break out on this Oklahoma team and look 47 catches 629 yards seven touchdowns last year Purdue did not play in on prime time uh Oklahoma's in the SEC they're going to be on TV every single week everybody's gonna see Oklahoma and Jackson Arnold I think is a really gifted quarterback might be one of the best if not the best in his class uh we'll see if what Nico has to say about that over at Tennessee but I think Deon Burks is going to put up huge numbers and that's a that's a dude that when I look at uh that offense and just the way that they want to attack downfield like he's he's going to be a huge weapon I don't think most people know too many players that were on fdu roster last year just like scouton right like we know it because we're football guys but I don't know that the Casual fan has heard of of Deon Burks and and the kind of impact that uh he had a Purdue and so he he'll be on the scene this year I think he'll have uh a big season um as I as I go down the list there's certainly certainly more guys that that were sort of in smaller uh programs that uh that I think will make an impact I think Silas Balden uh coming over from Oregon State to Texas uh little little guy uh 58 155 pounder not huge but he's dangerous Texas needs a lot of receivers to step up they lost their top three pass catchers uh at the end of last season so there's a lot of opportunity to come in there he's somebody that we had uh ranked really really high um there's a bunch of guys Marcus Harris I know the guy's a cal Marcus Harris is a quarterback from Idaho um that the Cal coaching staff when when they brought him in they they liked him um but I think when he got on campus it was one of those whoa wait a minute he might be our best cornerback and always good when that happens yeah it's always like wait a minute this guy's a lot better than we thought he was he's got runs a 4-3 in the 40 um I I I think he's got a ton of speed NFL potential but again he was at Idaho right so we didn't pay attention to him at all he could be one of the best cornerbacks in the ACC this year as Cy makes the transition over there um I mean there's so many guys that's why I would tell you um and encourage our our listeners and readers to read this story because uh between Bruce Sam and I and the amount of work that we put into this we got a lot of neat little factors John Pas uh The Edge rusher from William and Mary nobody knows who John Pas is right he's at Wisconsin now um you know Elite FCS player 63 250 the coaches at Wisconsin were telling us that he's going to lead the team in socks this year people I'm telling you right now people who who didn't watch Wisconsin last year uh or or or you know brief tune into one of their games they're going to look at John P like who the hell is that guy where did he come from oh he's from William and Mary so there's going to be a lot of those moments because I do believe there's a lot of FCS and lower tier FBS guys that were a group of five schools that can make the jump up and have impactful impacts like big big- time impactful impacts on their team and I think Pas is another one to watch out for as far as the big names you know Walter Nolan is an interesting uh name a guy that was a former number one recruit one of the more interesting recruitments that we've seen kind of bouncing around kind of figuring out what that was going to look like goes to Texas A&M kind of a little bit similar to Evan St showed some flashes didn't really work out now he's at at Old Miss after Jimbo Fisher gets fired are you in or out on him as a guy that can just start being a monster like people thought he was going to be in the recruiting process he gets a little bit older he has a change of scenery I think if Old Miss is going to be a playoff team and make good on a lot of potential they have they're going to need him to Star are you are you buying Walter Nolan stock at this point I am I am because I think you know first of all when he was at Texas there were so many other good players with him let's not forget that that class that Jimbo put together had some really good defensive linemen uh that were five and four star guys and I think for Walter noan just it was sort of a matter of okay when is he really ready I think he's ready now this is year three for him uh in college football I think you know some guys bloom a little bit later than others he's Uber talented I think his body 63305 the explosion that he's got um everything we've heard is that you know at Old Miss he is going to be the dude he is going to be the guy in that defense and everybody's expecting ol Miss obviously to uh contend for a playoff spot this year potentially win the SEC uh and I think he is going to be at the center of it all for that defense uh and we're going to be talking about him all year long you know the people made a lot about the quinon Judkins move and I I think the the word is out from running backs I think you're making some money but you're not making NFL money and I think running backs understand the less tread on your tires when you get to the pros the better and for all the noise about the quinon Judkins you know move to Ohio State and what's waiting there at for him at Ohio State with trayon Henderson those guys splitting those duties and and Judkins being a little shiftier also I I think it's going to work out pretty well for both of those guys because you don't have a lot of drop off um you know either way even though they're not going to maybe have the numbers that they would have if Judkins Was An Old Miss and if uh Henderson was still uh the the lead back and and really the only guy at Ohio State which he's not anymore but I think it's going to work out for them long term but when you look at you guys list and and maybe some guys that earned a lot of headlines are there anybody that you think people maybe have too high of expectations for whether that be production or impact or anybody that people might want to calm down a little bit on that's a great question uh I'm going over the list right now as as we're looking guys that I personally think were a little overrated or maybe that we that we put a little bit uh too high uh that's a good question um wow you know I I think Aiden Charles at Michigan State look I know he's talented but I think it's tough to expect a second-year guy to come in and all of a sudden um you know especially somebody like Charles who who played just some at Oregon State it wasn't like he played a ton to come into the Big 10 and have a lot of success he could be very good by the end of the season but like instant impact like all of a sudden Michigan State's gonna win eight n game that's not GNA happen with Aiden Charles like there's going to be growing pains with him he doesn't turn 19 until next month and while I I think he's super super talented um I I thought putting him at 14 like we did on our list was probably a little too high just because uh it's G to take a while for him to get there um but there's you know there's other guys that you could sit here and point out um that that are just you know new to a new conference you never know when you change conference I think it's almost better when you go when you stay in conference because at least you have a little bit of fam familiarity with your opponents uh Charles was in in the Pack 12 and coming over to the Big 10 which we talked about earlier was a great defensive conference I think there's going to be a little bit of an adjustment period for him well Manny let's shift gears and let's look at some of the under the r radar games for week one everybody knows about Notre Dame Texas A&M uscl LSU and Vegas um you know even Penn State West Virginia uh will be an interesting ball game lots of uh big headline games even though there's not the the mammoth Showdown you know Georgia Clemson probably doesn't qualify but there's a bunch of good football games we're going to talk about the big big games uh later on this week but let's look at some under the radar games uh that that people might not be as excited about but they should be I'm going to start with Oklahoma State and South Dakota state if you weren't paying attention to the FCS polls South Dakota State enters the season ranked number one overall Oklahoma State opens the season as one of the favorites for the Big 12 it's going to be an interesting game South Dakota state has definitely been in this position before they have beaten some FBS teams before Oklahoma State famously gets punked by South Alabama a year ago still wins 10 games they lost to Central Michigan a few years ago they've had some some odd results Manny when you look at this game what stands out to you um about uh what we're going to see in this ball game and what Oklahoma State can show us and you know if if Oly Gordon actually ends up getting 60 carries in this game yeah I mean first of all uh eight of the top 13 tacklers for South Dakota state are back from last year's championship winning team um so yes Oly Gordon I don't think is just going to run all over this team by any stretch he's probably going to have to work it it work it pretty hard um look Oklahoma state is is definitely a big 12 contender in my mind I got them going uh to the conference Championship this year but this is definitely one of those games that I would tune in to watch just because you've got the whole David versus Goliath thing right San Diego State playing for an FCS program we've seen it before we saw appalachin State uh back when they were at the FCS level knock off Michigan uh in the big house so to me I'm tuning in to watch this game for that yeah I I'm in uh on this ball game it's going to be pretty interesting pretty exciting if you haven't watched South Dakota State before you should uh they were Electric in the playoffs last year another interesting game not a ton of expectation for Houston in year two in the Big 12 but they do have a new coach and Willie Fritz and UNLV I think is a team that people are sleeping on in the group of five competition they lose jadeen mava everybody writes them off but they still do have Ricky White we talk about him a little bit with Bruce earlier um as well as Brennon Maran Barry odm and his defenses this is a team that I think can really surprise some people and and if you go if you're in UNLV and you go out in week one and you beat a big 12 team that's that's pretty uh that's a nice little uh you know plaque you can hang on your wall to start your season and if you haven't watched a lot of UNLV what Brenan Marian does with the go- go offense is incredibly entertaining uh and Willie Fritz also you know as a a very entertaining offense himself a lot of triple option Concepts in there a lot of triple option Concepts in in Brennan Marian's go go offense with a lot of vertical routes that are paired with that uh it's going to be fun I think you're GNA see a lot of points I'm in on this game Manny where do you uh how hard are you going to be pushing to get UNLV Houston on one of your screens uh I mean listen uh Houston you you you mentioned them being a power four team like are they really like have they really recruited I look at the big 12 roster they're they're in the Big 12 they're in the Big 12 standings I promise you I checked they're still there yes but but but are they legitimately a big 12 team like do they have a power for offensive and defensive line like look Houston's always had players they always recruit well because there's so much talent in the state of Texas they're always going to have dudes but to me I still view this as a group of five gamees because Willie fit just got there he's going to have to need a little bit of time to upgrade the roster I have no doubt that he's going to make Houston a good program and the Big 12 is wide open I don't know that there is a dominant team that somebody's just going to take the league by storm and win it five out of the next six years so I think Houston can become a contender but Willie frit just got there like pump your brakes on this P I just think it's gonna be fun football I love fun football I think it's gonna be very fun I don't know how high my expectations are for Houston I think UNLV can win that ball game I'd probably take UNLV uh in that ball game but it's going to be very very fun to watch my uh next one on the list I I want to see what you got I want to see what you got Michigan debuts Fresno State a team that a lot of people are kind of throwing in that G5 sleeper a team that might be in the mix for a playoff bid Michigan we don't really know what they're going to look like post Harbaugh you know I think people people really expecting Alex orgy we don't really know how well can he throw the ball Donovan Edwards in a starring role is he going to be uh the guy that you know people hope that he is how what are their offensive line and defensive lines look like I think defensively they're going to be really really good offensive L are still replacing a lot they got a lot to prove and it's a game against Fresno State that you know Fresno might if that's a game that's like 13 13 at halftime I don't know that I'd be all that shocked I think if they can win that game I'd be shocked but I could see maybe Michigan stumbling out of the gate a little bit where are you on on Fresno going up to the big house Manny yeah I would watch this game for sure in in large part because I just want to see what Michigan looks like coming off of that Championship because that alone in itself is intriguing um you know I I picked Michigan to make the 12 team playoff this year uh in in the preseason prog prognostications but presno State's a good test like that's a that's a team that could definitely go in there and and we could have a game in the fourth quarter if Michigan is not uh sort of on the ball and God knows they certainly have a lot of distractions right uh with everything going on off the field so top 10 this week they will be in the Netflix top 10 so yeah I'm I'm watching this game I would tune in for this one uh my next game not far away in East Lancing uh Manny despite hating on Mr Aiden Charles Michigan said I really want to see what what Jonathan Smith does in his debut i expectations are moderate for them but they get Tom Herman cam fer and the Florida Atlantic owls I think this is another one that's going to be a fun game I think Michigan state is a pretty proud program and seeing them fall off you know late in M Tucker's tenure and then you know last year you know once he was gone that was tough to watch I felt bad for Michigan State fans and now without a lot of expectation you might have a little excitement I I want to see this game I think it's gonna be a fun game you know Tom Herman still kind of climbing trying to reclaim uh a little bit of respect of his own at Florida Atlantic I'm in on this one Manny you're not far from Florida Atlantic what are we going to see out of the owls here yeah about an hour drive away from from Boer Ron so I I love going to that campus by the way they've got an oncampus Stadium that's nice it's got a beautiful view you can see the ocean not too far from there so I like going to fau's campus but this game is going to be played up at Michigan State and they're nowhere near the ocean so I would expect that uh you know uh Michigan state would win this game I know Tom Herman is still trying to sort of rebuild this thing cam faner is going to help uh but they're still not there yet FAU as far as where Lane kein had them a couple of years ago I I looked this at this roster they're not ready they shouldn't be ready to beat a big 10 team so I would watch just because I kind of like the owls and like I said they're close by but I expect Michigan State to win this game and I wouldn't say convincingly but without a problem Manny if you if you need any time shares or anything in bokeh Manny's your guy so that's right make sure never forget I'm selling hit him up on hit him up on Twitter for all of your real estate needs and and finally Manny we have two teams that I think are are going are surprising teams Miami of Ohio picked to win the mac and Northwestern who won people were talking about them is this gonna be the worst Power five team you know ever last year and then they go and win eight games uh and a bowl game really really impressive year we'll see what what David Brun has for year two Chuck Martin also made some news last week uh tossing some tampering allegations we talked about on the show I mean I'm sure there's probably some truth to it proving it is difficult uh you know and defining tampering is difficult but either way this is gonna be a fun game and I think this will be a game where both these teams if they can win will feel pretty good and if you lose it you're gonna there's going to be some disappointment there people are sleeping on this game I don't think anybody's going to be super fired up to watch it but they should be there's going to be more on the line than people think Manny can you buy into a little bit of Midwestern ball I I I'll buy in and part of it is because I want to see uh Miami of Ohio's kicker like Miss five field goals in this game would be the reason they lost yes because I just press conference from Chuck us yes I want to hear that I want to hear him really go after Alabama for taking their kicker you say see what you guys did to me you allowed this to happen and that's why we lost this game I don't know Miss four extra points is probably better than five field goal like something real easy and that's why they lose I love it I I'm excited for week one uh we got plenty of picks coming later in the week but now Manny you know what time it is let's go for it it's time for a new segment uh and we are going to go with Message Board Maniacs uh our producer cam uh of course Message Board genius is always good at uh at mining some of the best uh social media posts and listen here's the deal with this I love insane fans I love the reactionary nature that's sort of the sport this sport has been driven by opinion for so long that's what the polls were still now you're got 13 people sitting in a room deciding who the teams that just that get to play for a national championship bar and fans opinions are not always as levelheaded and we had some results on Saturday that left people searching for answers and and running to the message boards Manny I like the crazy fans they help give people like us jobs they make our jobs more entertaining and so with that said it's time to look at our first few posts Manny our first post comes from the nolles 247 Tampa null 1993 says I saw this one we are now locked into a 10-year contract with a guy who straight up can't recruit high school and tries to duct tape a team together in the portal each year eventually it was going to bite us and we saw that tonight Manny I forgot can you remind me how many games in the regular season Mike norell lost last year was it was it zero I think it I think it was Zero um but listen he goes undefeated last year and you go to Ireland across the Atlantic Ocean you lose to a Georgia Tech team that's probably gonna win 7 eight games where you at on the on the on the bees Manny I I think they are probably right on that Mark right around seven eight wins they still got to play Georgia at the end of the season so I I'm never going to go over like with nine wins and get crazy but seven eight wins is doable so you lose to that team and all of a sudden you're a bum such as life in college football as entertaining as it is for us I would recommend coaches and players please stay off the message boards although if you want to post you know have that it my favorite Message Board notes were uh uh the time when they figured out I forget what his job was but they figured out that like someone very high up in the White House was consistently posting on Tech sags or I think he was at the department of energy or something along those lines you never know who's posting this stuff so hey you know it is what it is our next post comes from uh the SMU game over the weekend on the Pony Express Pony fan 81 a well-known member says really wish I'd stepped away from my fandom and put my entire net worth on under 8.5 for the season a lot of Nevada disrespect here uh I think Manny you'd have to refer I remember but did they win that game yeah they came back and won believe it or not I think SMU won that game these are didn't cover the 28 point spread though these are the thanks you get for winning your season opener on the road in Reno Nevada listen SMU looked not great definitely sloppy but a win is a win and you know who would love to be one and0 right now Manny the Florida state seminal the Florida state seminal as 247 uh poster law whve sure I is that backwards or something I don't know that Florida State put the asss and embarrassing they did they did at the end of that game good guys I listen I you can't lose that game but let's come on come on if that game happens in October I feel like you know people are are not as fired up about it uh either way thank you message board posters you add flavor to college football it is a thing that is is Holy unique to college football you know there's college basketball you know uh message boards a little bit it's not quite as culturally ingrained for whatever reason these things have not penetrated the um NFL sphere I think there's some some soccer ones you know from the Manu people some big fan sites but oh and I gotta send you somebody posted this on Twitter but it was a photo this is a Florida State fan it was a photo of a of a car window and the glass was broken and they I saw this saw this one where you say somebody broke in and put four tickets to the BC game in my front seat I I I not in on Florida State this year but like they'll be fine and their coach went 13 and0 last year and then you know we won't talk about what happened after that but uh I love the lack of perspective it's very entertaining and I think the funny thing about message Bo posting is you can look at it and say these people are crazy but I'll tell you you talked to enough boosters you get to know boosters you talk to administrators to deal with them there's a lot of these people that might not post on the message board but they have the message board brain and they are deciding coaches Fates in more more instances than you might think about or the more than you think so 100% it is a very real thing and God bless Message Board posters I love you I think we're going to be featuring some of our favorite Message Board posts uh sort of intermittently through the season we're going to be having a bunch of running segments but me Message Board Maniacs will be a new one I look forward to uh digging through the Treasure Trove that is angry fans uh I think Manny I feel like if there's Vegas odds on texags making an appearance on this show if Texas Anam loses to Notre Dame very strong I feel very strong uh we're gonna have a can we get Mike Elco and send him back to Kmart or all I feel like I feel like there's a lot of potential here if they lose in their first game after uh the Jimbo experiment did not go well we got a what $125 million for this if they lose that game there's a there's a lot of potential there so folks it's going to be great I'm excited for it thank you guys for tuning in if you are not subscribed to the show you need to change that immediately subscribe to us on Spotify Apple podcast wherever you get your podcast we are there leave us at five star review on uh Apple podcast as well and the show notes you can see all the links the stories we talked about today in Spotify we have our Spotify poll as well And subscribe to us on YouTube you can see our smiling faces you can see my favorite time share salesman at the athletic Manny Navaro with his headset uh talking to us we always appreciate you coming on and uh thank you guys without you we wouldn't have a show so thank you subscribe do all those things leave us a review thank you for tuning in we will see you guys on Thursday for our PX show with Chris Vini with Damen Harris it's going to be great we are relaunching the show and uh we're back three times a week football is here so thank you for Manny Navaro for Bruce Feldman I Am David ubin thanks for tuning in to until Saturday and of course Manny we got to bring back the turnover chain one day you'll find it and you will be wearing it on an appearance and I will want to give you a hug to the screen if Miami wins the ACC I'm gonna find it and bring it on the show for sure that sounds beautiful and my dream will come to fruition thanks for tuning in we'll see you guys on Thursday [Music]