The Florida Football Insiders podcast is part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast
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news, analysis and insight from around the Sunshine Stage. This is Florida Football
Insiders, a part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcastwork, and here's
your host, Jason Cowers. All Right, welcome in Florida Football Insider's podcast,
our post college football Playoffs selection episode. We had some controversy obviously in
the college football Playoff selection. Florida State thirteen and Oer gets left out,
Texas Alabama gets put in. So we're gonna discuss the different scenarios which kind
of we think might have influenced the committee in making the decision that they made.
We are going to talk with Reenie in Golia. Renie is a ESPN
college football analyst based here in the Orlando area. Reenie Covers has covered many
of the State of Florida football teams this year. He's had a Miami game.
He's got relationships with Mike Norvel, Gus Malzon, Alex Golish. So
we're gonna talk to Reenie about the college football playoff selection process. We're gonna
talk to Reenie about the progress that he sees at Florida, at Florida Miami,
UCF and USF and such, and then we're going to talk to Reenie
about his career a little But he's had he had a very good college career
as a player. He's been a broadcaster for ESPN for numerous years now.
He even played in the World Bowl way back in the day. So we're
gonna get into into Reenie's career a little bit. And I said, you'll
enjoy our conversation. We're getting really in depth in why Florida State was left
out, some of the possible reasons, some of the scenarios of what happened,
and you'll get some really good insight from Renie on that whole process.
A couple things on the Florida State situation before we get into the Bowl matchups
with the State of Florida teams. A couple things to remember, in my
view, had Tate Rodimaker played well against Florida, they would have gotten the
benefit of the doubt against Louisville. Even though he didn't play in the Louisville
game road to Baker played very average at best and Gainesville, Florida State was
fairly fortunate to get out of that game alive. Remember they were down twelve
to nothing. They did give them credit, they did come back. The
defense played really well, but Rodamaker was very average. And here's another thing
about Roda Maker in the backup quarterback situation. Remember Jordan Travis got hurt in
the second quarter the week before against North Alabama, so Radamaker had an opportunity
to play basically two and a half quarters of the North Alabama game leading into
the Gator game. He did not play very well against Florida. In my
view, I think he threw for like one hundred and twenty five hundred and
thirty yards against Florida. You have to be able to do better than that
against a very, very very average Florida defense. I understand it was a
tough environment in Gainesville, but that's just a situation where you have to play
better. Had Rodimaker played better even though he got concussed, I think the
committee would have given Florida State the benefit of the doubt. Beating Louisville with
the third string quarterback. The other question I get is why didn't the committee
move down after the Florida game. Why did the committee not move down Florida
State out of the number four spot to number five or number six? If
you remember, nobody knew Tate. Rodemaker was concussed until about Friday before that
Louisville game that there was not a thought that he wasn't going to play in
the Louisville game. The Committee was going to give Maker another game against Louisville
to show that he had a command of the offense and that he could score
some points. I said on my podcast, the Powers on Sports podcast last
week, if Florida State did not score at least twenty four points against Louisville,
there was a real chance they could get left out. Remember they only
scored sixteen. Rodimaker was not ruled out of that Louisville game until Saturday morning.
Friday afternoon is win all the speculation really started to heat up that he
might not play. So on Tuesday night, when the Committee brought out their
rankings, their penultimate rankings, everybody was under the assumption Rodamaker was gonna play.
The committee was gonna give Rodimaker one more week to show that he could
move the offense and score a bunch of points, and obviously that didn't happen
because he didn't play in the third string quarterback really looked, really looked like
a deer in the headlights on Saturday night in Charlotte, which was on which
in an unwatchable game. Defense is really good at Florida State. No qualms
about the defense, but you cannot put a team with a potential backup quarterback
that cannot move the ball very effectively. To me, that was the reason
I don't have a problem with the committee's a validation of the other teams.
It was just it was a bad year for Florida State and that there were
five there were really six really good teams, including Georgia, and only four
spots available. And you have to take into account the Jordan Travis injury,
especially when Rodimaker does not play very well against Florida on Thanksgiving weekend, and
everybody says, well, they gave Ohio State the benefit of the doubt.
Well, Ohio State got the benefit of the doubt because Cardele Jones. Back
in twenty fourteen, the third string quarterback came in and beat Wisconsin fifty nine
to nothing, and he played really well in the game. So again,
had Rodimaker played well against Florida, Florida State would have gotten the benefit of
the doubt even though they didn't score a bunch of points against Louisville with the
committee in my view, So there's my analysis on Florida State. Again,
I'm a Florida State guy played there, so I have full empathy for the
program, for the players, But I think in the end, being objective
and this is what you know you have to do if you're gonna be in
this in this sports commentating where you have to be objective. Here, I
think they got the right four teams in the playoff UH, and the and
they rated And again the other question you're gonna hear is why did they rate
Florida State ahead of Georgia in the final rankings. Well, I think the
ultimate tiebreakord between Florida State and Georgia was Florida State won a conference championship.
They're gonna put their five conference champions ahead of a team that didn't win a
conference championship. UH. In this scenario, Florida State was the fifth team,
the fifth conference champion. That's why in my view, they were rated
in front of Florida, I mean in front of Georgia in the final rankings.
They are gonna play Georgia in the Orange Bowl, which which is be
one of the Marquee Bowl matchups. Obviously, we don't know who's gonna play
from both teams as far as the guys that are NFL bound, the brock
Bauers, the Yeared versus of the world uh, Carson Beck potentially, so
we don't know which of those guys gonna play, but Florida will. Florida
State will play Georgia in the Orange Bowl. Other bowl matchups involving Florida teams
you got the uh you got out the Outback Bowl, the relya Quest Bowl,
Wisconsin LSU in the Boca Bowl, the Boca Raton Bowl, you're gonna
have USF making a bowl. Great job by Alex Golish getting the six and
six. Uh. They are gonna play Syracuse down in Boca Raton in mid
December. Obviously Syracuse going through a coaching chain, so there'll be an interim
coach there. But USF going down to Boca Ratone to play Syracuse, in
the Boca Raton Bowl, in the Gasparilla Bowl. Here in Tampa, it's
gonna pit UCF, who got Bowl eligible by beating UH in their last game
of the year. They won their last game of the year to get Bowl
eligible. They're gonna play Georgia Tech from the ACCUH. A lot of speculation
that they the Gasparilla Bowl was gonna pit USF and UCF to UH to play.
I think one of the reasons they did not do that was one I
think the bowls obviously part of the bowl. The Bowl, any bowl game
is you want to bring in fans from out of town to stay overnight in
a hotel for a couple of nights, whether it's one night, two nights,
spend a little money in the city and all that stuff. And I
think with bringing in Georgia Tech, you're gonna get some fans from Atlanta that
will come down for the either night or two before the game, spend some
money hotels. Whereas if you had UCF and USF, both those teams are
within an hour and a half drive. Obviously USF is here in Tampa,
so you're not gonna you would not have had any of the extra restaurant revenue,
hotel revenue, stuff like that that I think you would. You're gonna
get a little bit from the UCF and the Georgia Tech people. Even the
UCF people. Most of those fans will probably commute the day of, but
Georgia Tech will have will have fans. They have not been in a bowl
game, They've they in a little bit, so they'll bring some fans down,
stay in the hotel, spend some money, things like that. I
think that was unfortunately one of the reasons that that that game did not get
matched up u CF because it had been a great rivalry game. If you
don't know, USF and UCF are big rivals here. The War on I
four is what it's called. They're not playing now that the use USF is
out of that. UCF went to the Big twelve. So that would have
been a ticket seller from a ticket perspective. But now you got UCF and
Georgia Tech and the gas Parola Bawl Pinstripe Bowl is gonna pit Rutgers in Miami.
Interesting match up there. You got Chiano up at pitt I mean at
Rutgers, excuse me, Miami and Christobaul Tyler Van Dyke is under the transfer
portal, so he's he's moving on, so he won't be playing in the
game. So that Pinstripe Bowl, I believe that's in Yankee Stadium. I
believe. Uh. So that'll pit Miami and Rutgers. Uh that could be
a decent game. Obviously, we talked about your Bowl FSU and Georgia.
We don't I would expect Rodamaker to play, but we don't know the status
of some of the you know, the big players at Florida State at the
Keyon Coleman's, Johnny Wilson's, Jared versus those kind of guys, as well
as the Georgia guys Bowers, Carson Beck, some of the Georgia maybe defensive
players that might get drafted, So we don't know the status of them playing.
I would doubt they would not play. Would be my expectation for them
not to play because of their draft status and they're not really playing for anything
of note. But we will see how that goes. So there's your Bowl
matchups involving the State of Florida teams again overall, goodyear throughout the state.
Again, Florida State, you'll hear our conversation with Reenie and Golah talking about
all the different scenarios and things that factored into the Florida state decision. And
we will also preview the final four playoff games with Reenie Alabama Michigan and the
Rose Bowl and Texas Washington and the Sugar Bowl. So you'll enjoy that conversation
as well. So uh powers on, I mean excuse me, uh.
Florida Football Insiders podcast brought to you by the College Grid are Coast to Coast
podcast feed. Remember you can find you can find our video interview with me
and Reenie on my YouTube channel, Jason Power Sports Channel. You can find
me on Twitter and x at JPO Sports. Love to hear your comments.
I also do some uh again powers on sports podcasts as well, No Quarter
Given podcast if you're a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, and again you can uh
sports, I'm sorry. The press Box Radio Show is a weekly show I
co host. I'm on Friday this week, so Pressbox radio dot com it's
where you can find it. We're on at about twenty stations all over the
Southeast. But if you want to listen to it online or on demand.
Live and on demand, you can go to UH press Box Radio dot com
so and you can get a shout out to my guy Mike Grace. He
went through a little UH medical procedure this week. Hopefully he's doing okay as
well as a shout out to my guy Steve Carney, the executive producer of
the Florida Football Insiders podcast, gets us on the air every week. So
thanks to Steve, so we will for doing all everything he's doing with the
College of great our Coast to Coast podcast network. So all right, so
we will probably come back the We will be back next year for sure.
I won't say for sure, but we think we'll be back next year.
So again, appreciate your finding us on the college football the Florida Football Insiders
Podcast. We've had a great year of guests and analysis and again state of
Florida football is in good shape. We hope that Florida and Miami can get
back to prominence. Florida State obviously seems like they're back building programs at USF
and UCF and then FIU and FAU. Good job there by Tom Herman in
year one and Mike McIntyre in year two FIU. So look forward to talking
about those programs those players moving forward. Again, appreciate you finding us on
the College grid Iron Coast to Coast podcast feed. Go there for some great
podcasts this week. With Army Navy playing, go check out the Stars and
Stripes podcast on that feed, they'll have a full breakdown of that game.
You'll be able to several other podcasts related to acc Big twelve Pac twelve stuff
all over the country. I was on that podcast feed as well, but
definitely hit find the Stars and Stripes podcast. Steve Carney's the host of that.
He'll be breaking down in depth Army Navy this weekend from Foxborough. They're
playing up in Boston this week and you'll hear some good, great commentary about
that game and the pageantry that surrounds that game as well. So appreciate you
finding us. Enjoy Reenie and Gola in my conversation about Florida State and the
college football Playoff. We'll be back in just a minute. As we roll
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one four zero four. All right, welcome in to back to the podcast.
We are going to talk a little college football playoff, we're gonna talk
a little bowl season, and we're going to talk a little college football final
four here with mister Reene and Golia. He is an ESPN analyst. He
was a two time All American running back at University of Massachusetts back in the
day, back when I was even playing. He is even a two thy
and twenty four College Football Hall of Fame ballot consideration, meaning he can be
going to the College Football Hall of Fame next year. And he's a two
thousand and seven University of Massachusetts Hall of Famer Welcome into your debut appearance on
the podcast, Miss Reeney. Thanks for having me. Jason, it's my
pleasure. All right. Take me back to your days at U mass A
little bit playing running back. How fun? I mean, just talk about
the glory, not the glory, but just the enjoyment you had playing.
You had such a successful career, a two time All American at you Mass,
you were a nineteen ninety nine World Bowl champion professional football. Talk about
that world, that experience playing overseas. Yeah, I mean, first of
all, going back to you, man, I mean, obviously, I
think we can all degree college football is much different today than it was in
the early nineties when I played. You can say for the better, for
the worse. It's just different, right, I think we can all agree
on that. Listen. And you know I was pretty highly heavily recruited coming
out of high school in Rochester, New York. I tore my ACL my
senior year. So you do that in the late eighties early nineties, you're
just done. So the University of Massachusetts, smaller Division one school, was
the only school in the country that gave me a full scholarship, So obviously
I went there, got to start for four years, became in All America,
had a really nice career there. I mean, I owe everything I've
done in football and accomplished in football to that place. It's great. I
mean, I'm a huge supporter of them. Now they're going through a rough
patch. For those that don't know, they they're not in a conference.
They play independent. There's only one school that can live in the independent world,
and that's Notre Dame. And even Notre Dame, as soon as that
NBC money stops, they're going to get into a conference. And I you
know, I talked to the athletic director, Ryan Bamford this week. I
know he's working really hard for the athletic program there to get them into a
conference. So hopefully they will. But yeah, my playing days was great.
I you know, like all of us, you know, I missed
the relationships, the good The one good thing about social media, as crappy
as it is, when we you know, just hear the crappy things people
say, it keeps you in touch with people. Yeah, and so that
part of it's great. But it was good. I like to tell people
I had a couple and a half of coffee in the NFL. I was
with the Redskins for a season on practice squad. Then I was with the
Bills for a couple couple of seasons, made to the fifty three men roster,
and then finished it off as you said, in nineteen ninety nine played
in the NFL Europe won the World Bowl with a Frankfurt Galaxy. Jake Diloan
was our quarterback. So that's a great memory. The last time I ever
touched the football, we won a championship and I got to score a touchdown
in that game. So I always have that fond memory, and you got
to play with. Kind of the growth of football in Europe was just take
it off about you know, playing overseas and culture. Just talk about that
experience of playing in front of people who really didn't know the game very well
and just kind of teaching them the game as you went along. Germany loves
American football. They do they back when we've been. I don't know if
they changed it now, but they didn't call it talent getting. They called
it power partying because they can drink over there. So they love American football.
And you saw that the NFL finally went there this year. They'll definitely
go back to Germany, because it doesn't matter where Germany you are. They
really like American football, and let's face it, the NFL football in general
is the number one sport here in America. They have to try to grow
it, you know, in Europe, and I think they will and it
would not surprise me in the next four or five six years something like that,
for there's probably gonna be NFL franchises in Europe. They'll they'll make it
happen, There's no doubt about it. And that's where their growth is right
now. Speaking of partying or all the rumors true about how Amherst is a
is party central zoom mass Yes, it was, and so when I went
there, I want to say, when I went there, undergrad was about
twenty thousand. Graduate students was about eight thousand. I think they're now.
I think they're up. Undergrads they're up over thirty and with graduate students well
over forty thousand, approaching that fifty thousand marks. So yeah, it's definitely
a party school. I just wish. So the University of Massachusetts, we're
in western mass right Amherst, mass So it's kind of and it's the flagship
university for the state but it kind of just gets pushed out through in the
West because Boston is Boston, and I'm not afraid to say it is they
do not give the support that they need to to the flagship university, which
is University of Massachusets at Amhersty. You know when I went there, Jason,
I always looked at it that I said, Man, this could be
a University of Michigan, this could be a Penn State. They have a
Yes, they have all the room in the world to build a beautiful stadium.
That stadium, Warren McGirk Alumni Stadium was built in the sixties. They
haven't done a thing to it. Now they've upgraded to press box and they
put an end zone, football facility, their locker room, weight room which
is beautiful, the stadium in and of it stuff. They haven't done a
thing. They have to put money into that university and so hopefully the power
is to be in Boston do But to be frank, they just don't.
They don't care enough about the University of Massachusetts and they need to. Yeah,
they need You were there and weren't you there during the kind of the
heyday of Califari yep. Yeah, still talk to Marcus Canby today great basketball
program. The problem and it kind of it's an actual great question. The
problem that I think a lot of hardcourt University of Massachusets athletic fans, the
older fans, do they think about those glory basketball days, which is great,
Those days are gone. We live in a world where basketball is a
big deal. H Football's driving the bus. Basketball is on of us,
but football drives. It's just just the way it is. I didn't make
it that way. You look at TV money and what's going on. You
have to get behind your football program and then all the other sports will benefit
from that. And there's been people reluctant to do that. You know,
everyone talks about the Atlantic ten. The Atlantic ten was a great basketball convience.
It was. It's not what it used to be, you know.
So I think the athletic department needs to look elsewhere and just kind of look
at the look at the uh you know, the floor plan out there of
what's going on in college athletics. And I think they're doing it all right.
Let's get to the football now, let's get to the playoffs. The
playoff rank is obviously the state of Florida, big impact. Obviously, you
had, uh, Michigan one, Washington two, Texas three, Alabama four
obviously outside of the floor and we're going to get to the Florida state discussion
here in a second. Sure the top four, did you have any any
qualms with who was rated where in the top four? I did it,
and I did it, and I think the committee kind of boxed themselves in.
Uh, and I know we'll get into it. It's amazing that it
took ten years to happen what happened this year. It's ironic that it happened
the last year because we should be in twelve this we should, Jason,
we should be arguing about seedings this year now who's in and who's out.
But we'll get into that. Uh, I'm kind of going back fours,
right, and well you can get into that after. But they the committee
tied themselves, uh, Texas and Alabama together the way they did and head
to head matter, and so if one went in the other one was going
in. They had a seat correctly. But I think it, I think
it's right. I think they got it right in one through four, all
right, And yeah, that's that was and that's what I told people for
the last several days, is you're right the tie with it. Rarely have
we had a situation where two of the top four played each other, one
beat them, and then you had obviously the and they both won their conference.
So you had that that the dilemma of you take them both, you
take neither, and and all that stuff and and head to me, you're
right, head to head matters. You have to that. That's the result
that has to matter if you're gonna you're gonna evaluate these teams as a head
to head situation. All right, let's get the floor Orida state your thoughts.
First of all, the first question is does does an undefeated season?
Should that guarantee you a spot? No? And I mean, and it's
it's in there, you know if you look at kind of the bylaws of
the college football play now we can we can argue it, but in their
rule system, it undefeated has nothing to do with it, right, I
mean if you if if it did, Liberty would be yelling. And there's
other schools you know. So And as I said before, this system was
designed to leave a Power five program out right, there's only four spots.
There's five power program and five power conferences. This year Anyway, it's amazing
that this hasn't happened before. That's that to me. Listen, I feel
horrible for Florida State and the players. I know Mike Norvell. I've covered
him a ton when he was in Memphis. I have a really good relationship
with him. I think he did a great job this year coaching. If
you go back, I opened my season week one at Miami and we went
through, you know, the preseason selections for the ACC. And I said,
on that show, and I got tape of it, I believe this
is a year Florida State wins the ACC and makes it into the College Forball
playoff. They clearly would have made it based on the committee's rules. Once
Jordan Travis got hurt, they were done. And I knew, and I
knew that back then. I said, they're in trouble. They're in trouble
because I knew that caveat was in there, and I knew, and I'm
paraphrasing, if you lose a player, right, that could could adversely affect
what the team looked like and what the team will look like in the playoffs.
They take that and just as much consideration as head to head as conference
champion, and when that happened, I said, they're in trouble. And
ultimately that's what happened. And this was a rare year too, because most
years that had worked itself out, somebody would lose when they weren't supposed to
lose. This was a year where you had legitimately six really good teams for
four spots and five really good conference champions for four spots. And I'm almost
to the point. I mean, I think what really tests Florida State fans
off is once Jordan Travis got hurt in that North Alabama and oh, by
the way, and again I'm a huge Florida State fan, and no one's
talked about this. They were down thirteen nothing Oat Alabama, yes, not
even a good FCS school, forcing Florida State to kind of put the gas
pedal on, and that's ultimately where he got hurt. I'm not saying that's
why he got hurt, but you're down thirteen nothing. That game should have
never been there, right, I don't think they went into that game with
the right mindset. I watch that entire game, and even though they end
up scoring fifty something points and blowing them out, Florida State did not look
good in that game, went through the motions, went through them, not
look good in it. So but I think we're when when Travis got hurt
by the committee leaving them and then ultimately the next week I think put them
back into four. That's what really hurt, you know, bothered people.
And I'd agree with that. You know, you look back at what Ohio
State did because there was a precedent there with the injuries. Right, they
put a new quarterback in Cardile Jones, Cardinal Jones, he goes off.
They went fifty nine to nothing. If Rodamaker has a really good performance against
Florida, yes they get I don't think we're having this conversation now. Where
my qual is with the committee is if they kind of knew and Arima Tea
leaves, what could happen if if Alabama beats Georgia after that Florida game,
they probably should have dropped Florida State back one or two spots, keep them
in, you know, reached, But they didn't. They kept them in
the forcepot. And I think that's what's hard for people to fathom. So,
you know, I am almost like we haven't even talked about Georgia Georgia
six. I mean, if Georgia beats Alabama, they could have still knocked
Florida State out and put Texas in. I think Diorama would have been the
team out. So I guess we'll never know that again. Should have never
came down to this. We should have been in the twelve team playoffs this
year and then we could have been outraged about seedings, which is much different
than getting left out. With that said, I think if you're a Florida
State Van Jason, you still have to understand, Hey, you're going to
New Year six, You're going to the Orange Bowl, You're going to a
huge game, and you're playing Georgia. That I mean, that's actually your
gift from not making in, which is nuts. And then you know,
but who plays in these games? Right? Who opts out? Who does
that? But you still have a you still have a chance to really go
there, and you know, you go there to the Orange One, you
knock off Georgia, then that makes the committee look bad. Right, So
that's what you have a chance to do right now. Two points on Floriday,
and I want to make that again. A lot of people don't don't
realize had like you talked about had Rodemaker played well at Florida, they they
would have. And the reason they stayed a four, I think is because
we didn't know till Friday before the Louisville game that Ronamaker wasn't gonna play.
They were to give rona maker An their chance to play well against Louisville.
Had he played well against Louisville, I think they would have found a way
to keep Morter State in. I mean, and say what you want,
you can't go for one hundred and thirty yards at Gainesville with your backup quarterback.
It's hard to against a not a very good Florida team. That's just
the bottom line. And they were not good. No, I agree,
And you know the other thing I lost with Tran fought but looking at the
college Football Playoffs and their criteria, and I've said this forever because I'm on
TV and there was a lot of confusion this year, and I don't know
with a lot of the pundits, deserving versus best deserving is not a word
that the committee considers. I mean, you got there's there's seven or eight
teams deserving. You just deserving is honor. It's the four best Now we
can argue who the four best is, but guess who gets to say who
the four best are? The thirteen committee members. I mean, that's that's
the way the system was set up by the college presidents and the commissioners,
and they went through it. And you know, I know it's hard,
and I live in Florida. I'm right here in lan Yeah, and I
know who you are too, and I know in a lot of Florida State
fans and I'm friends with texting me and I said, listen, I know
it's hard. But without Jordan Travis, the committee got it right. They
put the four best teams in, right, they just did. And you
can argue, well, Georgia is still on the top four, and I
believe they are, but by losing head to head in the conference championship,
they lose that data point up conference champion, and so you have to put
Alabama in there. And then we already talked about Alabama and Texas being toped
together. We saw what Texas getting their championship game, and so that's what
the committee did, and I ultimately I think the committee got it right.
It sucks for Florida State, I get it. You do everything you're asked
to do thirteen to oh, you win your conference championship, but when it
comes down to the top four teams, you lost your starting quarterback who is
phenomenal, who was arguably in the race as well, and you put your
backup in and that's what you get. The committee saw that, you know,
and it's just it's unfortunate. No, I'm with you, and I
give the committee credit. Is the easy thing to do with Florida State at
four. I mean we've always complained, well, President, President, President.
That doesn't mean the president was good the last nine years. I don't
think. I didn't think they were gonna do it either, but I but
I think, but I think they got it right with what they were working
with on their system. They got it right. And here's the other scenario
that's never happened, but easily could have could have happened one year. What
if all five Power Conference teams went undefeated, Well, somebody would get left
out again that system was set up to fail like that. Amazing that it
took to this last year. I just cannot wait till we get to twelve
because I just think it's gonna be fantastic. It's gonna bring more more teams
into the equation. It's gonna bring the little guy's gonna give the liberty chance.
Yes, so I cannot wait for that next year. All right,
what do you give me a quick synopsis? What do you think in the
semi finals? What do you think in the matchups Alabama, Michigan and then
Texas and Washington. Yeah, I just think listen, how about this Rose
Bowl matchup right in Michigan Alabama. Did you see when they had the camera
on Michigan when they found out Alabama was in and out Florida State? Oh
boy, because that's a team that's listen. I was down on them early.
I didn't thought Milroe was playing Yeah, not good. I just didn't
think it was. I didn't think they were close to an Alabama team that
we've seen in the past. This is arguably Nick Saban's best coaching performance ever,
what he's done with this team, and I think they're peaking at the
right time. I think Milroe has got I give the kids so much credit
because of what he went through and then how he just kept building and getting
better and better and better. With that said, I like Alabama in that
game, and then you know, Texas and Washington. Listen, it's a
shame we haven't even talked about it. Arguably the best year that Pack twelve's
had in a long, long, long time, and now the conference is
going to put thank you TV money and football driving the bus. We already
talked about that. Right with that said, Texas is for real. I
think Texas's defensive line, offensive line. You know, I'm an old school
guy, Jason. You already talked about how old I am playing back what
I did. I don't care how fancy your offense is, up tempo,
you know snap. You know USF and Tampa snapped the ball every seven seconds,
go quick. I don't care what kind of offense you run. The
game is won and lost at the line of scrimmage on both sides. It
is just it just is. To this day, it still is. And
that's where I give Texas to the advantage over Washington. So I think we're
destined to see a rematch Alabama Texas in the championship. I think I'm with
you. That's the one part of what Texas program has elevated under Sharkisian or
the defensive lines and offensive line of scrimmage. The toughness and the physicality they
didn't have with other coaches. I agree, and so and how ironic is
it? Also? I mean, so really we have with QUASI this year,
we have two SEC teams and two Big ten teams in this thing,
you know, because obviously they're they're going into the conferences next year. And
the last point we'll move on to a little a little more State of Florida
flavor. The ACC commissioner was the guy against going to twelve teams this year.
Yeah, but it had twelve this year. Yeah, and so listen,
I get it they were upset, but it was kind of like,
you know, you know, we're upset that Texas and Oklahoma's going and so
this is what we're gonna do. But like it ultimately didn't better anyone.
And so now we look at it. His team doesn't get in the PAC
twelve, doesn't even have a conference anymore, you know what I mean.
So it's just it's kind of and then you know, the Big Ten was
sitting there in good shame, and I don't know what the hell they were
thinking, but yeah, it's kind of crazy how things end up. Let's
go to the State of Floor a little bit a couple of floor points.
Give me your thoughts. You're right there in Orlando. Give me a thought
or two about UCF's first year in the Big twelve. Just a transition,
and you know how Gus handled that and the program transitioning. You know a
lot of people ask me. I said, if they can go six to
six, seven and five, get to a bowl game in that first year,
that's a success. Okay, fans in college football off fans, just
not UCF fans. They can get a little delusional, right, Oh,
we're gonna come right in. We're gonna win the conference first year. This
it's great to hope that and think it, but you also have to be
realistic. I mean, just in college football in general. Someone said this
the other day and I could not agree more. When teams have ten win
seasons, we kind of like scoff at, oh they didn't win the championship.
Like if you look at an LSU, they win their bowl game,
they're gonna win ten games. They're gonna be ten and three. That is
a phenomenal season. We don't give teams enough credit, yep for getting ten
wins or like a UCF transitioning into a Power five conference, getting to a
bowl game. Now, listen, the Baylor game just derailed their season.
They were I thirty five to seven in that game at home. You can't
lose that game. They ultimately let that title wave into a couple more losses,
but they fought back really hard at the end of the season, got
to bowl eligibility. Good for them. And listen, they're gonna be playing
in Tampa, the Georgia O'Leary Bowl. They're playing Georgia Tech. They get
a good opponent. They can really finish their season off with a with a
strong win. So if you're a UCFN, ultimately, yes, it could
have been better by a couple of games, but you got to a bowl
game. You're gonna build on next year. I think you're in a really
good position. So if I'm a UCF man, I'm happy gush Mal's the
guy for that job. You think long term, yeah, he's not going
anywhere. I've had conversations with him. He likes to say, uh,
he's on about he's on the back nine and he's on about the sixteenth pole.
So however long it takes him to play sixteen seventeen eighteen, I think
he ends his career at UCF. I don't. I don't think there's any
question about that. Let's go to USF year one, Alex Golish, what
a job turning that around getting Bowl eligible? Uh? You know they lost,
maybe lost a game or show they maybe shouldn't have lost. But again
they take Ali, they play Alabama really tough. We talked about the struggles
I was, I was in the building that day, played them really well
for three and a half quarters. What are your thoughts, Alex Goleish?
Year one Alex Golish is not getting enough credit nationally on what a great job
he did coaching. You know this, Jake, So look at the program
the three years before he got there. Was it three wins total? Right?
I think four? But four? But maybe two Division one wins,
two FGS wins. Correct, he comes in, gets in the Bowl eligibility.
I mean to me, that's Coach of the Year stuff. Now.
I have a good relationship with the American Athletic Conference. I was in I
was in New Orleans for the Chancemanship Game this week and I was talking to
some people and they said, oh, yeah, I brought this up,
and they said, oh, we know the USF fans are hammering or hammering
us on social media, and they know what a great job Alex Golish did.
So if you're a USF fan, you are through because you really didn't
know what you were getting with Alex Golish. You mean, before they hired
Golish, there was rumors about Deon Sanders, and there's no doubt, you
know, from what I hear, Dion was interested in the job. But
you know Dion's salary and his laundry list of wishes you A lot of schools
just can't do it. Another another one that I thought was going to come
to us HAF and I think they were interested in it and would have been
a great hire was Jamie Chadwell. But you go to Liberty. Liberty is
paying them four and a half million dollars. USF can't do that right now,
So you get Alex Golish. Think it ended up this based on this
year slammed off home run. Now, now, if you're US, you
got to put your money where your mouth is. You got a coach,
they got you to a bowl game, he said. I all, I'm
on social media. They're going to break ground this summer on their football center.
They already have a beautiful indoor facility. I saw it this year when
I went out there and did a game, and you got to break around
on that stadium first, That on campus stadium has to get done. When
they do that, they're going to be a force to be wrecking with because
it's gonna up their attendance. It's really easy for the fans. The students
used to walk over. They showed me where they're putting it. They're putting
it in a beautiful spot. So now now it's you know, full foot
forward supporting that program. But I could not say enough for great things about
what Alex Goltis did this year. Now we'll see they get a great opponent
too. They get to go down to the Vocal Ble, they get to
play Syracuse, who's transitioning a new coach. They can really cap the season
off with a winning record, go seven and six, and that'll really catapult
them into next year. I'm surprised that the gas Griller Bulls didn't pit USF
and UC if that would have been a I understand why they didn't do it
because they want people traveling into town a little bit, and I get that,
but that from a state perspective that had been a hell of a to
rekindle that rivalry. A lot of people want on the scene. And remember
remember when you see I played Florida last year. Yes, they sailed it
out. They sold that stadium out, So uh yeah, that would have
been That would have been a good one to see for sure. But I
like the two matchups, not the last for both those programs. Give me
a thought on Miami. Obviously, Miami with the disaster is no kneel down
situation that really turned there. Not that they were going to be a national
title contender, but at that moment they were undefeated and had some momentum.
What are your what are your thoughts Van Dijke's leaving as the quarterback? Kind
of another Socio Mario coaching wise, what do you think is going on in
Miami? I agree with you one hundred percent. So I did their opener
against Miami Ohio or they looked decent. But I also said on that broadcast,
when you look up, this Miami Ohio team is gonna have eight,
nine, ten wins. Oh, by the way, they ended up with
eleven. I think they ended up eleven and two won the match. I
knew they were a good team, Uh, Miami was actually improved this year,
and I know the record was only improved by a couple of wins.
But the Neil, the lack of the Neil down just crush them. That
cost them to me to win. So would they end up seven and five?
Right? I think they probably should have been a nine and three team
and they probably would have ended up there. Mario is on a big he's
on a three year plan. Okay, he is. He has said that.
So you know Van Taye ended up going through what he went through.
So the transfer portal for the quarterback position is unreal. I've never seen anything
like it, never seen anything like it in my life. Have your check
book ready ready? You know, my wife asked me to today. I
said, oh, DERI was leaving Oklahoma. She's like, he is,
what's he got one year left? Yeah? Said, someone's gonna buy him
for a year. Someone's probably gonna givehim two million dollars to go play for
a year. And I l ended up getting tied to the transfer portal,
which that was an unintended consequence. So they need to fix that and I
l and transfertal in and of itself is okay. Think they need to tweak
the portal a little bit too. I had some ideas about that, but
we'll see what they do. But but with that said, uh, Miami
going in the right direction. I don't think anyone can argue that they they
And the other thing too, Mario is doing a hell of a job.
And you knew he would do this recruiting right, he's keeping kids home in
South Florida. That they were losing, that's a big deal. He shared
up his offensive defensive lines, which we talked about. So they're they're going
in the right direction. There's no doubt about it. Just yeah, that
that that the fact that they didn't take that kneel down and lost to Georgia
Tech the way they did kind of an excuse me, it's an excuse it
is. That's an excusable all right. Give me a thought on Billy Napier.
Kind of another tough finish, lose five in a row. I think
the losing five in a row is the hard part. At the end there
they were more competitive. They played competitive in a few games that they lost,
and give him credit. But next year, I think he's definitely on
the blazing hot seat. So I think the best thing for Billy Naper and
I covered Billy Napier a ton in thet when he was in Louisiana. I
think the best thing for BILLI Napier is what Mike Norvell's doing down the street
at Tallahassee, because remember Norvella was getting who's this guy? Who's this guy?
And the best thing that Florida State did was they had patients. They
let it work itself out, they let him coach, and then now look
where he's gotten them. So I think if you're a Florida fan, you're
looking, let's be a little more patient because these teams, these programs don't
have the patients. I think they give him the patients. Ultimately, he
can do it. But we just talked about it with the transfer portal,
with everything that's going on, you you can lose some key pieces quick,
but you can also gain some key pieces quick. So I think if they're
patient with him, he'll get him there. Listen, he runs a different
style uh program, different style offense than I think Florida is used to.
He runs the football in a little different way. Ultimately, though, Jason,
if you win, I think fans will buy into it. You gotta
win, and you just talked about it. All those losses at the end
really hurt. So but we'll see. I think that next year, though,
is here is big. It's a big year for him. All Right,
we'll get you out of here to talk. Gives a little forecast in
the future. I know you got a couple of bowl games coming up.
Give us a little of your of your schedule here the next month. Yeah,
so I will know after this week either Friday night December fifteenth or Saturday
or yeah, Friday night December fifteenth or Saturday, December sixteenth, and both
season kicks off. I'll start off with an FCS semi final, which I'm
looking forward to. So the one seed in South Dakota State they won last
year. Two seeds Montana. I think they're gonna hold for them. So
I'll either be up there in Montana or South Dakota State. So I'm looking
forward to that bowl. That next week, I'll have a post Christmas Bowl.
I got the Military Bowl. Good matchup two lane in Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech out of the ACC. Brent Keith did a nice job. And
then of course we Tulane. You know, does Michael Pratt state as he
opt out and that plays a lot into that bowl game. I got a
feeling knowing that young man he's gonna play in that bowl game. But we'll
see, and then I'll fly back home Orlando the Pop Card Bowl, which
is a really good matchup North Carolina State Kansas State. Of course, Kansas
State's quarterbacks already in the transfer portal, so again nuts just went to Texas
A and m the sport. Yeah yeah, I mean, you gotta keep
trying. It's just so hard. But I'll be doing that game for ESPN
National Radio, so that's always a fun one, so that I'll end my
season with that one, just like I did last year. I ended it
last year. It was called the cheez It Bowl, but it was the
same bowl. It was Oklahoma Florida State, if you remember. In Florida
State got that win propelled themselves into this undefeated season. So we'll see which
of these nine to three teams, Kansas State and North Carolina State can do
the same. Dave Dorms had a not really nice year in North Carolina State,
by the way, I don't think he's got enough credit as well.
Last all, I'll get Jenner you cover the AAC in two lane. Tell
the audience in the country, what a great coach Willie fritz is going to
Houston. Now, this guy's done an unbelievable job turning around that two lane
program. Phenomenal job. And you know he would have ended up he would
have been at Georgia Tech this year if Brent Key in the interim role didn't
win a couple there at the end. There's no doubt about it. He's
got So think about Willie Fritz is and he's a little older. And I
say older, he's like sixty two. But you know sometimes that gets called
against these guys. So I thought, oh, man, are they gotta
not give this guy a Power five job because he deserves it. Great thing
for him is he's got ties to Houston. He's got ties at Texas.
He coaches Sam Houston and he said it in his press conference. You look
at him every team, every level he's been at, he's won, develops
players, developed two and three star guys. I wanted a chance to do
it at the Power five level. He gets a job. I think it's
a great hire by Houston. He'll get that program going in the right direction.
A great guy, great coach. Goal in man awesome, awesome analysis
twenty twenty four College Football Hall of Fame ballots a maker miss. That's an
unbelievable accomplishment for you. Do you, by the way, me and you
were about the same age. Remember, do you remember a guy back in
your day played at FCS school, Arnold Mickens from Butler. Absolutely I do.
And a matter of fact, I know Arnold. I know the name
well because Prolin had transitioned from Division three to FCS and Nickens rushed for like
two thousand yards, and so I always saw his name in the rushing list.
And the reason I mentioned that when I was playing at UAB the coldest
I've ever been in my life. We played at Butler in December against Mickens
in a snowstorm on campus at Butler. Never been colder in my life,
standing out the side lives. But oh, by the way, you know
I had UAV this year too, Trent Dilford another slam dunk higher for them.
I think he might probably move some instance around, tweak, some things,
bring some different coaches in. But good program in a great conference,
great facilities, He's gonna do good stuff there. I got you all right,
reading and goalie, I have a great holiday, have a great Bowl
season. On the call ESPN Analysts, you'll see him all over the platforms.
Have a great holiday. We'll talk soon. Thanks Jason. Thanks for
listening to the Florida Football Insiders podcast as part of the College Gridiron Coast to
Coast podcast Network. Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review if you've
not already done so, and you can reach out to me on Twitter at
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Florida Football Insiders Podcast