Speaker 1: Our old buddy from the PAC twelve days which a
Speaker 1: tier is now falling down my cheek, but always great
Speaker 1: to catch up with JB.
Speaker 2: Long On a Friday, JB.
Speaker 1: Larry David tells me, I have through today to wish
Speaker 1: you a happy New Year, sir, so I will do
Speaker 1: just that.
Speaker 2: Happy Friday.
Speaker 3: I'll curb it right back to you. Same to you.
Speaker 4: How can I set you up for success in the
Speaker 4: five o'clock hour? That's my primary concern here.
Speaker 2: Well, I would, I wouldn't want anybody else to do it.
Speaker 1: So I appreciate it because it has been a little
Speaker 1: bit and I do want to get to the rams
Speaker 1: in a moment. But of course a little college football
Speaker 1: because it is top of mind and you still exist
Speaker 1: in that space quite a bit. I just want to
Speaker 1: ask you, from a thirty thousand foot Macro viewpoint, now
Speaker 1: that we are seeing the twelve team CFP in front
Speaker 1: of us, what are your thoughts so far?
Speaker 2: Of course, four teams left standing as of now.
Speaker 4: Well, through my Irish tinted lenses, I'm happy for Notre
Speaker 4: Dame to be competing in this environment and to beat
Speaker 4: a true SEC powerhouse. I understand, George is not what
Speaker 4: they have been in recent years, but they were still
Speaker 4: worthy of being there, and so happy for my mater
Speaker 4: to show up on that stage.
Speaker 3: And win convincingly.
Speaker 4: I think my you know, thirty thousand foot perspective is
Speaker 4: a little bit cynical, but I'll offer it to you anyway,
Speaker 4: which is now that everybody has the chance to compensate
Speaker 4: players and attract them, if not equally, at least with
Speaker 4: you know, true financial incentives. It's probably not a coincidence
Speaker 4: that when you then put them in a broader playing
Speaker 4: field at neutral sites, that the SEC is not necessarily
Speaker 4: as dominant as they have been when the game was
Speaker 4: kind of catered to them specifically. So I think if
Speaker 4: that's the dominant narrative coming out of this year's college
Speaker 4: football playoffs, I'm right on board with it. I don't
Speaker 4: think the SEC is going anywhere. I still think they're
Speaker 4: the best resource. I still think they're going to win
Speaker 4: the preponderance of college football playoffs because of the bread
Speaker 4: and caliber of their teams and their coaches and their
Speaker 4: care factor. But I think this is a good place
Speaker 4: to start a new era of college football with the
Speaker 4: final four.
Speaker 1: That we have completely forgot and I knew that you
Speaker 1: were a Notre Dame alum. So let me take advantage
Speaker 1: of your knowledge and ask you about what stands out
Speaker 1: most when it comes to the job that Marcus Freeman
Speaker 1: has done. You know, I think I was caught off
Speaker 1: guard when Brian Kelly left, and all due respect to
Speaker 1: a man who I've never met, Marcus Freeman seems like
Speaker 1: a lot more likable. It's a more likable Notre Dame
Speaker 1: football team. What stands out most about this building job
Speaker 1: that he's done.
Speaker 3: A lot?
Speaker 4: I think the reaction to Brian Kelly leaving and him
Speaker 4: stepping back into that Notre Dame locker room said that
Speaker 4: he was a player favorite, But hiring a player favorite
Speaker 4: is not necessarily a formula for success in college football succession.
Speaker 4: I think there was plenty of reason to question how
Speaker 4: he would think or swim in this environment, and he's
Speaker 4: done nothing but thrive, and I give him a ton
Speaker 4: of credit for that. Both, you know, long lens and
Speaker 4: short lens like to stumble after beating Texas A and
Speaker 4: m a college station, to stumble against NIU and to
Speaker 4: kind of have egg on your face, and to play
Speaker 4: the long game and to win out and to be
Speaker 4: right there at the finish line. I think that says
Speaker 4: a lot about him individually and the personality that his
Speaker 4: team has adopted. I think Notre Dame has threaded the
Speaker 4: needle just perfectly between still being true to their roots
Speaker 4: but realizing that the NIL game is where the future
Speaker 4: is and if they want to play big boy college football,
Speaker 4: they need to not not just participate, but dominate it
Speaker 4: to the extent that they're able. And I never thought
Speaker 4: I would see a transfer portal era reach South Bend.
Speaker 4: It's so antithetical to what that institution has been all
Speaker 4: about for so many years. But the way that they
Speaker 4: selectively utilized transfers who are in good academic standing and
Speaker 4: could contribute to specific roles, there's no way they win
Speaker 4: that game last night, which is high school players that
Speaker 4: they had recruited.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like Notre Dame is capable of winning
Speaker 1: it all this year? You know it from my vantage
Speaker 1: point JB. A lot of people who I respect and
Speaker 1: cover the sport have always talked about all your long
Speaker 1: Ohio State's best being better than everybody else's best. It
Speaker 1: didn't manifest against Michigan, but ultimately they're kind of rolling.
Speaker 2: What for your alma mater. What do you think? What
Speaker 2: do you think the ceiling is this year?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 4: Sure, I think any of the four teams has the
Speaker 4: potential to win it all. I think for all that
Speaker 4: we I shouldn't say we, for all that some gripe
Speaker 4: about the first round of games, and we can talk
Speaker 4: about that too if you want.
Speaker 3: I think the final four.
Speaker 4: Are worthy and each of them, if they play to
Speaker 4: their highest potential, has every reason to believe that they're
Speaker 4: going to be the national champion. And you know, I
Speaker 4: think what we've landed on, correct me if you feel otherwise,
Speaker 4: is March Madness on grass in the winner when you
Speaker 4: expand the field, whether or not you saw upsets happen
Speaker 4: in the first round like we're used to on that
Speaker 4: first Thursday and Friday of March Madness. Ultimately you get
Speaker 4: to Sweet sixteen weekend, and if you've made it to
Speaker 4: that second week and you're for real and you've got
Speaker 4: a chance, certainly, if you make it to the final four,
Speaker 4: you're a contender. And I'm glad it took us too long,
Speaker 4: but I'm glad that this is where we are as
Speaker 4: a college football space, because whether it's Arizona.
Speaker 3: State or Boise State or.
Speaker 4: Even Indiana some of the others that fell by the wayside.
Speaker 4: I don't think just because you lost a one off game,
Speaker 4: especially if you lost in a true road game, that
Speaker 4: that means that you're anything other than a top twelve
Speaker 4: team in the college football this year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, those of us that remember the
Speaker 1: PAC twelve years certainly will always wonder what a team
Speaker 1: like Utah at their peak could have done in an
Speaker 1: expanded twelve team situation. But unfortunately, JB. Let's move over
Speaker 1: to where we find ourselves here. And we did visit
Speaker 1: with you, I believe, once during the college football season.
Speaker 1: But you're a guy that covered Utah football for a
Speaker 1: number of years, called Utah football games for a number
Speaker 1: of years since you and I last spoke. Coach Witt
Speaker 1: has announced he's coming back for year twenty one. So
Speaker 1: the succession plan in place, you know, Morgan Scaley is
Speaker 1: now being Logan Royd. He's not ready to hand over
Speaker 1: you know, the company to his oldest son just yet.
Speaker 2: And so that's on whole for one year.
Speaker 1: As of now, we have sixteen new transfer portal editions,
Speaker 1: twenty five incoming freshman, forty one.
Speaker 2: New players for the Utes.
Speaker 1: But based off of what you know about this program,
Speaker 1: do you feel confident that this disappointing season could be
Speaker 1: a one off as opposed to the new reality of
Speaker 1: Utah football.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a fair question.
Speaker 4: It's probably one that I would be speaking out of
Speaker 4: turn to answer too definitively, not being as in the
Speaker 4: weeds as I once was. But you know how much
Speaker 4: faith I have in that leadership and the resources around
Speaker 4: that program, and the commitment of the community to it.
Speaker 4: I very much agree with the sentiment you expressed that
Speaker 4: had Utah as a PAC champion been gifted not gifted,
Speaker 4: had earned the opportunity to host a first round playoff game,
Speaker 4: I think good things would have happened. I think a
Speaker 4: lot of your audience agrees with that. But the other
Speaker 4: reason why I'm hesitant to reply in any definitive manner
Speaker 4: is because what is January twenty twenty five tell us
Speaker 4: at all about September or November or December of twenty five.
Speaker 4: Imagine telling an Arizona State die hard, much less any
Speaker 4: of us kind of adjacent to that program, that Kenny
Speaker 4: Dillingham and Cam Scataboo would be in the first college
Speaker 4: football playoffs, And I think justifiably they should have won
Speaker 4: that game and been part of the final four. That's
Speaker 4: an absurdity to even ponder at this stage of the calendar.
Speaker 4: And yet in the era that we are in, you
Speaker 4: can cobble together a completely different team than the one
Speaker 4: that I saw in person in Salt Lake City last year.
Speaker 4: I think you probably remember that game, like I was
Speaker 4: worried the sun Devils weren't going to get out of
Speaker 4: there in one piece, Like they didn't have a quarterback,
Speaker 4: they had their tight end warming up on the sideline
Speaker 4: to take snaps. And here they are a year later,
Speaker 4: deservedly having a true argument to say that they should
Speaker 4: be part of the college football playoffs semi finals.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and to your point, only time would tell, because
Speaker 1: there's still another transfer portal window that will open. And
Speaker 1: I mean, look, they could lose a ton of talent
Speaker 1: between now and the fall an exercise and futility. But
Speaker 1: before we move on to the pros, you know, one
Speaker 1: of the conversations that we continue to have, not just here,
Speaker 1: but people across the landscape of college football media is
Speaker 1: what the future of the sport is going to look
Speaker 1: like with all of the lack of regulations the NCAA
Speaker 1: is not even allowed to offer any sort of guidance
Speaker 1: or punishment. They have been told that that's not a
Speaker 1: thing that they're allowed to do anymore. They had decades
Speaker 1: to try to figure it out, but they couldn't. And
Speaker 1: ultimately a lot of people believe we are high speed
Speaker 1: ahead to a pro model.
Speaker 2: I feel like that.
Speaker 1: Would solve a lot of the problems that seem to
Speaker 1: play college football. You know, allow the players to unionize collectively, bargain.
Speaker 1: I know administrators at schools don't want that. I feel
Speaker 1: like coaches do do you feel like? And you know,
Speaker 1: despite all of the off field issues, ratings are through
Speaker 1: the roof. Consumption is fine. So what I say, is
Speaker 1: the sport in trouble? The answer is probably no. But
Speaker 1: if you look in the Jblong crystal ball, what does
Speaker 1: the future of college football look like?
Speaker 4: Well, I hope that college football can find it's Roger Goodell.
Speaker 4: And what I mean by that is, regardless of how
Speaker 4: you feel about that name and his role in the
Speaker 4: National Football League, college football desperately direly needs someone with
Speaker 4: the authority to say yes, no, maybe, And right now
Speaker 4: there just isn't anyone not in Indianapolis. Not at the
Speaker 4: NCAAA level, Like it's a bunch of college commissioners who
Speaker 4: have all sorts of very difficult motivations. But I think
Speaker 4: we need to nominate a someone, and I don't want
Speaker 4: a committee. I want to someone who has the authority
Speaker 4: to take this what I think has the potential be
Speaker 4: a golden era of college football to its next iteration.
Speaker 3: And it's not to say that that's going to.
Speaker 4: Be some czar that has unilateral say, but he or
Speaker 4: she will speak for the key stakeholders who can voice
Speaker 4: their preferences and concerns to that person. But ultimately, there
Speaker 4: has to be something that connects Eugene to Salt Lake
Speaker 4: City to Austin, Texas, to Tuscaloosa to College Station and
Speaker 4: Happy Valley right like, right now that just doesn't exist.
Speaker 4: And I think we're seeing the fragmented nature of college football.
Speaker 4: And just because it's great right now, Spence, I think
Speaker 4: there is a red blinking light that if we're not
Speaker 4: careful and if we don't act soon enough, it can
Speaker 4: go the wrong way.
Speaker 2: I do agree with that.
Speaker 1: That's why I talk about the issues as often as
Speaker 1: I do, because I love the sport. We care about
Speaker 1: it here on our stay with both Utah and Berg
Speaker 1: of Young and want to make sure that everything is
Speaker 1: in place for it to continue to thrive. All right,
Speaker 1: As you know, we are the unofficial home of the Rams,
Speaker 1: the La Rams here in Salt Lake City. Off and
Speaker 1: tell you because mcveigh's my guy. But look four or
Speaker 1: five to start the year, right. I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people thought that this was going to be a
Speaker 1: rebuilding year, but here they are. Man, you guys won
Speaker 1: the division. You're going to the postseason no matter what
Speaker 1: happens over the weekend. How has coach McVeigh been able
Speaker 1: to pull this off after such a rough start.
Speaker 2: Of the year.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know this is what you meant by saying
Speaker 4: four or five, but let me just spell it out
Speaker 4: for the audience. He may just be going about their
Speaker 4: day not dialed into exactly what you said.
Speaker 3: There.
Speaker 2: They lost four of their fives.
Speaker 4: Yeah you know, say for a walkoff field goal against
Speaker 4: the San Francisco forty nine ers. They were dead in
Speaker 4: the water at their bye week, just like they were
Speaker 4: a year ago, three games below five hundred. You know
Speaker 4: it was different this year is you know you just
Speaker 4: hadn't seen the team that they had built in its
Speaker 4: full form and if there was a reason for optimism,
Speaker 4: that was it. It's like, how can you judge this
Speaker 4: team before we see Pukainaku as year two? How can
Speaker 4: you judge Matthew Stafford until he plays behind at least
Speaker 4: four of the five offensive linemen that you invested in
Speaker 4: this offseason, so that latent potential was there, but still
Speaker 4: to cash it in and the clinch before Week eighteen
Speaker 4: was a scenario that I don't even think the Braves
Speaker 4: or boldest Rams fan would have gone out on a
Speaker 4: limb to say. But I do keep bringing it back
Speaker 4: to Sean and I think he is a unique force
Speaker 4: of football, and I think this is one of his better,
Speaker 4: if not best, one of his better coaching jobs, because
Speaker 4: it was so unique from even as recently as last year,
Speaker 4: when on paper they did the same thing, but if
Speaker 4: you lived at day to day, it was nothing like
Speaker 4: what they did last year.
Speaker 1: Of course, you have a local player that we've been
Speaker 1: watching since he was fourteen year years old in Pooka
Speaker 1: and Akoua, and some health issues early on, and then
Speaker 1: he came back and every single week you just kind
Speaker 1: of shake your head at what he's able to do.
Speaker 1: I think we all thought he had a chance to
Speaker 1: be a pro, but I don't think anybody thoughts that
Speaker 1: he was going to look and play like this week
Speaker 1: in and week out. I mean, I don't know that
Speaker 1: I have a question for you, just your thoughts on
Speaker 1: yet another unbelievable successful season year two for Pookin Akuah.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I don't know what higher praise I can give him,
Speaker 4: except he really improved from a record setting rookie season,
Speaker 4: and that's not easy to do. When you go from
Speaker 4: a running mate of Cooper Cup who shines in his
Speaker 4: absence and thrives opposite him, to someone who is now
Speaker 4: getting the full force of every defensive scating report and
Speaker 4: coverage and you get better. That's a testament to who
Speaker 4: he is and the work that he put in to
Speaker 4: take that leap, and it doesn't come easily because of
Speaker 4: how high he set the bar. But you know, if
Speaker 4: there was anything to pick at last year, it was
Speaker 4: that he had some drops Other than dropping the first
Speaker 4: pass that Stafford threw him after his return from injury,
Speaker 4: I don't think he's put another one on the ground
Speaker 4: since he's been spectacular. He competes without the football, which
Speaker 4: is something that he'll never get as much credit for
Speaker 4: as he deserves, but it's demanded of someone in his
Speaker 4: role within the McVeigh offense. So there's a lot on
Speaker 4: pookah shoulders and they're broad and they're strong, and thank
Speaker 4: goodness because you could say it one of two ways.
Speaker 4: The Rams go as far in this postseason as Matthew
Speaker 4: Stafford can take them, and I think that's true. But
Speaker 4: Matthew Stafford's you know, first look and last look is
Speaker 4: going to beat a puka nakua through the year because
Speaker 4: that's the best thing the Rams have going offensively.
Speaker 1: So Vegas tells us that the Chiefs are still the
Speaker 1: favorite to win the Super Bowl, and you know, it has.
Speaker 1: It's been a razor's edge for them. Where on one hand,
Speaker 1: it's pretty remarkable to watch Patrick Mahomes kind of evolve
Speaker 1: into this intellectual quarterback and Andy Reid to just simply
Speaker 1: coach them to win games.
Speaker 2: However they need to.
Speaker 1: And on the other hand, you look around at the
Speaker 1: litany of talent and really good teams in Pro football
Speaker 1: and you say, can you survive that come playoff time?
Speaker 1: Do you think this is Kansas City's to win again
Speaker 1: for the third straight time.
Speaker 4: Yeah, probably probably. But like I think last time, I
Speaker 4: ducked this question by saying, if you were to give
Speaker 4: me Kansas City or the field, I would want the field.
Speaker 4: What if I narrated a little bit and I said.
Speaker 3: Just specifically to the AFC.
Speaker 4: Would you rather have Kansas City or Buffalo and Baltimore?
Speaker 4: Can I take Buffalo and Baltimore?
Speaker 3: I think I'm with you because I think.
Speaker 4: Either one of them that gets a shot at Kansas
Speaker 4: City has every reason to believe they can win that game.
Speaker 4: But I think the reason why the Chiefs are still
Speaker 4: the favorite, besides having to coach the quarterback and the
Speaker 4: home field advantage, is I think what they did this
Speaker 4: year to win fifteen games as they look to three pete,
Speaker 4: that's nearly impossible. Like to maintain that edge, that competitive
Speaker 4: edge when you know the only thing you're going to
Speaker 4: be judged on is January and February. What a testament
Speaker 4: to everyone within that organization is that's one of the
Speaker 4: most impossible things I've ever seen done in my lifetime
Speaker 4: of covering this sport. And that's probably hyperbole, but I
Speaker 4: sincerely mean it.
Speaker 1: What stands out most to you because as you know,
Speaker 1: as we've talked over the years. I'm a long suffering
Speaker 1: fan of the New York Jets. I do not have
Speaker 1: a question about the Jets. We're not gonna waste our time.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to waste my oxygen. But I will
Speaker 1: ask you about Sam Darnold, because over the past decade
Speaker 1: or so, every time the Jets have drafted a quarterback,
Speaker 1: Sam was the only one where.
Speaker 2: I said, Okay, that's the guy.
Speaker 1: And of course it didn't work, but you have to
Speaker 1: just I mean, it's unbelievably impressive. Yes, it's a very
Speaker 1: good team, it's a good coaching staff. He's surrounded by talent.
Speaker 1: They've got a decision to make. I don't know how
Speaker 1: you say goodbye to him after what he's done, but
Speaker 1: the Sam Donald Viking story is one of my favorites
Speaker 1: of the year.
Speaker 2: Give me your thoughts.
Speaker 3: JB.
Speaker 4: Well and Kevin O'Connell was with the Rams when they
Speaker 4: won the Super Bowl, and he'll always be someone that
Speaker 4: I think very, verrely highly of, and he's someone that
Speaker 4: Sean McVay really entrusted and I know is happy to
Speaker 4: see get that opportunity. Donald's not exactly like Rock Purdy, right,
Speaker 4: this is not mister irrelevant. This is a number one pick,
Speaker 4: and whether he had to go through a couple of
Speaker 4: cycles of finding himself or finding the right circumstances, probably both.
Speaker 3: It's not like the guy that lacks for talent. What
Speaker 3: I really.
Speaker 4: Commend is the stuff between the years, and I would
Speaker 4: put Baker Mayfield in a very similar category that those
Speaker 4: two guys are likely you know, leading playoff teams and
Speaker 4: NFC contenders, given where they've been at various depths of
Speaker 4: their career, including together side by side. It's probably you know,
Speaker 4: a Neon Green Vegas sized signed to the National Football
Speaker 4: League that we give up on and we write the
Speaker 4: narrative on especially that position too quickly. Now, whether that
Speaker 4: applies to an Anthony Richardson or a Justin s Fields
Speaker 4: or whoever's next trying to, you know, hopefully reclaim their
Speaker 4: career as a once highly touted draft prospect at quarterback.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 4: It could be unique to those men and their grit
Speaker 4: and determination. It also, I would say, for certain depends
Speaker 4: on having someone like Kevin O'Connell and Justin Jefferson and
Speaker 4: all the other good things that are going on organizationally
Speaker 4: in Minneapolis, because it can't happen without that, all.
Speaker 1: Right, before I say you loose and again your heart's
Speaker 1: with the Rams. I understand that, But the Lions have
Speaker 1: a litany amount of injuries, litany of injuries on the
Speaker 1: defensive side of football. Philly just seems to get in
Speaker 1: their own way with the locker room chemistry issues.
Speaker 2: The Rams won five straight.
Speaker 1: So I'm not saying that the Rams can't do anything special,
Speaker 1: because I'm sure they can.
Speaker 2: We've seen that coach, You've seen that team.
Speaker 1: Who's the team though that there's your peer in the
Speaker 1: NFC that you would be most afraid of. On the
Speaker 1: other side if you ran into them.
Speaker 4: Well, I think the raws nerve is probably Saquon Barkley
Speaker 4: and the Philadelphia Eagles having done it in face to
Speaker 4: face at SOFI Stadium, and it was just a total
Speaker 4: thorough beat down.
Speaker 3: It was a blowout.
Speaker 4: It was a low point and the season that had
Speaker 4: very few of them. So to the extent that Philadelphia
Speaker 4: doesn't have to leave their home stadium until a potential
Speaker 4: NFC championship game. They're the team man, both in terms
Speaker 4: of accomplishment and roster. I'll share something with you that
Speaker 4: Maurice Jones. Drew said, you know, he walked down to
Speaker 4: the field before that game and he came back to
Speaker 4: the booth. He said, JB, that might be the biggest
Speaker 4: football team I've ever seen, and he was talking about
Speaker 4: the way that that organization has poured into their trenches.
Speaker 4: I don't think if every GM was injected with Trusserum,
Speaker 4: I don't know that that thirty one their organizations wouldn't
Speaker 4: trade rosters with the Philadelphia Eagles. The only question you
Speaker 4: could possibly have is do they have the best quarterback
Speaker 4: in the ring? Do they have someone who can beat
Speaker 4: you not only with their system and with Saquon Barkley
Speaker 4: and with his ability to extend plays, but beat you
Speaker 4: from the pocket because we're at the time of year
Speaker 4: where you've got to be able to beat teams from
Speaker 4: the pocket. And that's probably the only hesitancy that anyone
Speaker 4: should have with Philadelphia, even though Hurts has taken them
Speaker 4: basically to the finish line save for Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 1: Great time of year, man, enjoy the call over the weekend.
Speaker 1: It's been a lot of fun. From one to four
Speaker 1: to for two division champs, quite a story. So you
Speaker 1: know we're pulling for you. And I always appreciate the time.
Speaker 3: Okay, all right, thank you for the invitation and happy
Speaker 3: New Year.
Speaker 4: Tall the fighting Pukinakua's and those who love them in
Speaker 4: your zip code.
Speaker 2: And there's plenty of them. There is the great JB.
Speaker 1: Long, the voice of the La Ram spent a number
Speaker 1: of years with the Pac twelve network, does college basketball
Speaker 1: for Turner and ESPN. Also does some football for the
Speaker 1: TEND Network. He is a busy guy and he's very talented.
Speaker 1: At JB Underscore Long is where you fight him.