Speaker 1: It's drivetime. It's a Wednesday afternoon. We are looking at
Speaker 1: about eleven minutes past the hour of two o'clock.
Speaker 2: It feels a little.
Speaker 1: Bit like July outside, and I'll take it on this
Speaker 1: really warm sunny Wednesday afternoon in September.
Speaker 2: But as it is every single day, it's going to
Speaker 2: have you along for the ride.
Speaker 1: Spence check h it's behind the mic, Porter Larson just
Speaker 1: to flew a few blocks away from each other today,
Speaker 1: Porters beyond the glass, making sure that we stay on air,
Speaker 1: making sure that everything goes well. We are out and
Speaker 1: about as we are wont to do from time to
Speaker 1: time with our good friends at beer bar. So it's
Speaker 1: right downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. It's one sixty one
Speaker 1: East two hundred.
Speaker 2: South, and it's popping this afternoon.
Speaker 1: We've got a couple of soccer matches on the television sets.
Speaker 1: We have a NFL game from last weekend being shown
Speaker 1: as well. And a little birdie just told me they're
Speaker 1: shooting a commercial right next to us.
Speaker 2: In bar x.
Speaker 1: So we might see a little Typerell today, we might
Speaker 1: see a little Nick Romando today. And we've already seen
Speaker 1: dunkin our guy Duncan and the good people down here
Speaker 1: at Beer Bar.
Speaker 2: I've been coming down here doing remotes for a number
Speaker 2: of years.
Speaker 1: It's a great spot if you're looking for something to
Speaker 1: do this Wednesday afternoon. If you happen to be off work,
Speaker 1: or maybe you work from home, come work from here.
Speaker 1: They've got over one hundred and fifty beers on tap,
Speaker 1: a bunch of bottled and canned beers as well.
Speaker 2: If you're not a drinker, they've got mineral water.
Speaker 1: They've got soda kombucha if you're in the mood for
Speaker 1: a little kombucha on a Wednesday. They've got amazing sausages
Speaker 1: and burgers. They got burntz fries, homemade sour dough bread.
Speaker 2: So it's a great place.
Speaker 1: It is the spot to come watch all the RSL games,
Speaker 1: every match. No blackouts here at Beer Bar, right downtown
Speaker 1: in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Speaker 2: So come on by and say hi.
Speaker 1: We'll be here up until about six o'clock tonight with
Speaker 1: a busy, busy show on a Wednesday afternoon, as we
Speaker 1: get you halfway through your work weekend.
Speaker 2: One day closer to the weekend.
Speaker 1: Good guest lists on the show today, really good guestless
Speaker 1: on the show today Wednesday, on this this little old
Speaker 1: radio program is when we kind of turn the page
Speaker 1: to the weekend ahead and leave what's happened behind us
Speaker 1: where it is no longer really need to dig into much. Obviously,
Speaker 1: there's a lot to do to get you ready for
Speaker 1: a big college football weekend, both locally and nationally. Of course,
Speaker 1: the University of Utah back at it coming up Saturday.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be a late kick.
Speaker 1: But the weather, my goodness, it's gonna be like seventy
Speaker 1: degrees seventy five degrees at eight o'clock eight fifteen when
Speaker 1: that game kicks off here in Salt Lake, Arizona rolls
Speaker 1: into town. Revenge on the mind of these utes. They've
Speaker 1: been talking about it all week long. A lot of
Speaker 1: this sound you hear from practice. A lot of the
Speaker 1: players and coaches certainly remember a year ago when Arizona
Speaker 1: got the best of Utah down at their place. And
Speaker 1: now it's Utah's turn here in Salt Lake. So linus
Speaker 1: moved a couple of different times as we talk to
Speaker 1: you today. Right now it's Utah minus eleven point five.
Speaker 1: At one point it was Utah minus nine. Utah minus
Speaker 1: eleven point five as we talk today, and the over
Speaker 1: under is forty seven point five. As Arizona rolls into town,
Speaker 1: I will talk to you football today, the latest on
Speaker 1: the quarterback situation, the latest on the overall health of
Speaker 1: the team heading into Arizona after starting the season four
Speaker 1: and oh and cleaning conference play with one win and
Speaker 1: zero loss.
Speaker 2: As the number ten team in the country.
Speaker 1: Resides here in Salt Lake City, Utah, BYU is gonna
Speaker 1: have a little brunch in Waco as they head down
Speaker 1: to Baylor to take on the Baylor Bears.
Speaker 2: Baylor, coming off a heartbreaking last.
Speaker 1: Second loss against Colorado, was a hail Mary from Sidor
Speaker 1: Sanders that led Colorado to that win over Baylor.
Speaker 2: Baylor looks better than they did a year ago.
Speaker 1: If BYU wants to prove to everybody, and by everybody,
Speaker 1: I kind of mean everybody, including you know, the BYU
Speaker 1: air quotes media members that just simply work for the school.
Speaker 1: There are a lot of people that are still a
Speaker 1: little bit wary.
Speaker 2: Of saying out loud.
Speaker 1: BYU is a legitimate Big twelve Conference championship contender just
Speaker 1: because of the advantageous dynamic of what happened against K
Speaker 1: State last Saturday night in Provo.
Speaker 2: Now, I've been very impressed with the coaches Kilane, Kelly Papinga,
Speaker 2: a Rod J. Hill. Their media this week.
Speaker 1: They've been very sometimes Papinga was pretty brutally honest about
Speaker 1: how fortunate they were to have the ball bounce their
Speaker 1: way and how many holes that they need to close
Speaker 1: before they can really say out loud they're a big
Speaker 1: twelve championship contender. But say whatever you want, Undressing K
Speaker 1: State the way they did is going to get you
Speaker 1: some national attention, which it has, so big weekend head
Speaker 1: for Utah, big weekendhead for BYU. We've got two really
Speaker 1: good football teams in our state. Utah States will be
Speaker 1: at Boise after they're bye.
Speaker 2: So they got smoked by Temple.
Speaker 1: It's not a great time up in Logan right now,
Speaker 1: unless you're excited about the PAC twelve, speaking of which
Speaker 1: we'll get to the latest with the conference expansion, latest
Speaker 1: on the Mountain West Conference and the PAC twelve.
Speaker 2: And they're jarring back and forth. We'll get to that
Speaker 2: on the show today.
Speaker 1: A story you want to dig into, we'll do this
Speaker 1: coming up at about three point thirty. Matthew Sluca has
Speaker 1: left UNLV over an nil dispute worth about one hundred
Speaker 1: thousand dollars. Now UNLV is undefeated, might be the best
Speaker 1: group of five team in the country, with Vegas odds
Speaker 1: favoring them to potentially get a bid into the twelve
Speaker 1: team CFP. This is a big, big story, so we'll
Speaker 1: get to some of this on the program today.
Speaker 2: All right, good guest, let's.
Speaker 1: Starting things out today on a Wednesday afternoon. We'll be
Speaker 1: Aaron Falk, the editor of the sports section for the
Speaker 1: Salt Lake Tribune, get the latest with the trips coverage
Speaker 1: of our local college football team to a little Utah
Speaker 1: hockey club as the new Utah Hockey Club, be writers
Speaker 1: on the ground, and then we'll bring in the head
Speaker 1: ball coach himself. Now, we do not get a lot
Speaker 1: of Utah players and coaches on afternoon drives simply because
Speaker 1: they're practicing when we're on air.
Speaker 2: Himself will stop by today, coming up at three o'clock.
Speaker 1: So set your calendars, set your alarms for that three o'clock.
Speaker 1: Kyle Whittingham on the drive today. Dalton Wasserman Pro Football Focus.
Speaker 1: Week four of Pro Football gets rolling tomorrow with the
Speaker 1: Giants and the Cowboys. Safe to say it must win
Speaker 1: for Porter's Cowboys. I don't think there's any doubt about
Speaker 1: that after the rough start this season. So we'll talk
Speaker 1: some pro football with Dalden Josh Pate. That's right, the
Speaker 1: emerging college football superstar media member will.
Speaker 2: Stop by today. The eyes of the college football.
Speaker 1: World will emerge, I should say, be extremely honed in
Speaker 1: on what's going on down in Tuscaloosa at Brian Denny Stadium,
Speaker 1: as Alabama is a home underdog for the first time
Speaker 1: since two thousand and seven. Georgia Bama Primetime, ABC, Tuscaloosa.
Speaker 2: So we'll get with Josh pay today on the program
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 1: So Aaron Falk, Kyle Whittingham, Dalton Wasserman, Josh Pate.
Speaker 2: Me Spence check.
Speaker 1: It's live at Beer Bar Won sixty one East, two
Speaker 1: hundred South, just a couple of blocks I guess that
Speaker 1: would be southwest of US is where we find Porter
Speaker 1: Larsen on a September day that feels like it feels
Speaker 1: like a July day.
Speaker 2: How's your Wednesday, buddy?
Speaker 3: It is quite warm out there. It does feel a
Speaker 3: bit like a summer day. Although we did officially transition
Speaker 3: just to a few short days ago. But it is
Speaker 3: fall in a football sense, and when Kyle Whittingham is
Speaker 3: on your radio show, that that is the case. That
Speaker 3: is the case today.
Speaker 1: Yes, indeed, so I look forward to catching up a
Speaker 1: coach with We get to do this once or twice a.
Speaker 2: Year on the program all Right Live at Beer Bar,
Speaker 2: Aaron Falks. Gonna have a lead off today.
Speaker 1: But before we get with Aaron, courtesy of our good
Speaker 1: friends at Standard Restaurant Supplies, Standard Restaurant Supplies.
Speaker 2: Your tailgate headquarters.
Speaker 1: Check them out online or check out their location for
Speaker 1: all of your tailgating needs.
Speaker 2: It is time now, on a Wednesday afternoon, for your
Speaker 2: opening tip to the Drive with Spence.
Speaker 4: Check its on Utah's number one Sports talk Now into
Speaker 4: the studio of ESPN seven hundred to set the scene
Speaker 4: for the show. The opening tip of the Drive is
Speaker 4: brought to you by Standard Restaurant Supply, your one stop
Speaker 4: shop to build the best tailgate in town. Standard Restaurant
Speaker 4: Supply thirty five hundred, Southwest Temple So.
Speaker 1: College football this time of year, both locally and nationally
Speaker 1: has proven to be really really fun, really really exciting.
Speaker 1: I say it every year. The best situation for us
Speaker 1: here locally. It's when Utah and BYU are really good. Now,
Speaker 1: as I talked about earlier, I think BYU has a
Speaker 1: lot of questions to answer for most people that cover
Speaker 1: the sport, most people that are in the sport in
Speaker 1: a way that Utah just doesn't because Utah has this
Speaker 1: brand that's been built up where coach wit like Kirby smart,
Speaker 1: like you know, some of the Ryan Day some of
Speaker 1: the bigger coach in the country. Kyle has a benefit
Speaker 1: of the doubt program because that's what he's earned, and
Speaker 1: that's what essentially, you know, two decades for coach with
Speaker 1: but a decade ish of like, okay, the Utah Utes
Speaker 1: are those guys every year. It's not about the name
Speaker 1: on the back of the jersey. It's about that. It's
Speaker 1: about that you on the helmet, right. That's what Kyle
Speaker 1: has earned, and that's what Kilani is trying to build.
Speaker 1: And I hope he gets there, and I think he's
Speaker 1: on his way. I know a lot of BYU fans
Speaker 1: questioned oftentimes whether or not Kialani was going to be
Speaker 1: the guy to get you back to where you were
Speaker 1: once upon a time. And I can't sit here and
Speaker 1: tell you today that that's absolutely the case. But I
Speaker 1: consider and tell you today that it does appear that
Speaker 1: progress is being made down south in a way that
Speaker 1: not a lot of people thought progress is being made. Now,
Speaker 1: having said that, when it comes to this game coming
Speaker 1: up on Saturday for BYU, we'll get to the utes
Speaker 1: in a second, I think it's going to be tricky.
Speaker 1: Baylor to me looks better than they did a year ago.
Speaker 1: And this is David Randa having a coach for his job.
Speaker 1: There's no doubt they all but had Colorado beat they
Speaker 1: should have won that game. They lose it on a
Speaker 1: hail Mary. You know they smoke air Force the week before,
Speaker 1: and you know the game in Utah. Obviously Cameron goes down.
Speaker 1: It's different with Isaac Hunner center. But they simply looked,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, better than they did a year ago,
Speaker 1: and we just have to kind of call it how
Speaker 1: it is last weekend for BYU, and as I referenced earlier,
Speaker 1: I've been very impressed with their coaching staff, whether it's
Speaker 1: Kilane or a Rod or Jay Hill or Kelly Papinga
Speaker 1: being pretty honest about what happened last Saturday night in Provo.
Speaker 1: Now you get the win. It wasn't close. You smoke
Speaker 1: a top fifteen team. There's nothing wrong with that. It's
Speaker 1: just simply the way it all went down, and how
Speaker 1: the bounces all seem to go BYU's way. And look,
Speaker 1: that's part of it. It's part of the deal. You know,
Speaker 1: if you're gonna win something special, if you're gonna win
Speaker 1: a big game, chances are you're gonna.
Speaker 2: Have to get lucky here there.
Speaker 1: And by the coach's own admission, they did get a
Speaker 1: little lucky. Now, K State built a lot like the
Speaker 1: University of Utah did gain two twenty eight on the ground,
Speaker 1: and BYU's run defense prior to last Saturday had been stout. Now,
Speaker 1: part of that was probably competition, but let me remind you,
Speaker 1: SMU hung a cool sixty six on TCU, and BYU
Speaker 1: you essentially held them to nothing, no touchdowns, fifteen points.
Speaker 1: So I do think year two under j Hill, the
Speaker 1: defense has been better. I think we'll see that manifest
Speaker 1: moving forward. But I still believe last Saturday night was
Speaker 1: too much of a combination of really good fortune and
Speaker 1: prepared skill for me to overly say today that I
Speaker 1: think YU is a big twelve championship contender.
Speaker 2: I'll be watching on Saturday.
Speaker 1: I think they have a lot to prove to a
Speaker 1: lot of people before we put them on the level
Speaker 1: of the University of Utah, who, like I said, Coach
Speaker 1: Witt has built up that benefit of the doubt Brandon
Speaker 1: program over the course of two decades, where it's not
Speaker 1: about the name on the back of the jersey, it's
Speaker 1: about the you on the side of the helmet. But
Speaker 1: Utah welcomes in Arizona coming up Saturday night. There's going
Speaker 1: to be an eight to fifteen mountain time kick. But
Speaker 1: the weather looks great. It's like seventy five degrees at
Speaker 1: eight o'clock eight fifteen, something like that, and I anticipate,
Speaker 1: you know, a really fun night.
Speaker 2: It is a blackout, so make sure to wear you're black.
Speaker 1: As I referenced earlier, Utah as of now is an
Speaker 1: eleven point five point favorite. And I've taught about this
Speaker 1: quite a bit because a lot of people were really
Speaker 1: high on Arizona.
Speaker 2: You know, the Tettiora McMillan kid is awesome.
Speaker 1: We've seen Norfafia do great things, but I don't know
Speaker 1: that they're built to handle the physicality of the University
Speaker 1: of Utah watching them against k Staate a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago. That was my eye opener when in my opinion,
Speaker 1: I was kind of off Arizona as a team that
Speaker 1: can compete in the conference. They're not good in the trenches,
Speaker 1: they don't have a good D line, their O line
Speaker 1: hasn't been great as of yet. And k State gashed
Speaker 1: them two thirty five on the ground. Avery Johnson went
Speaker 1: for one to ten, the Giddon's kid went for eighty six,
Speaker 1: and they average almost six yards of carry. K State
Speaker 1: did against Arizona, And when you look at what Utah
Speaker 1: has done ever since Isaac Wilson kind of took over.
Speaker 2: Even though Andy has opened up the.
Speaker 1: Playbook a little bit, they still want to run the football.
Speaker 1: Going for two forty nine against Okay State and Stillwater.
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna see a heavy dose of Mackai Bernard.
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna see a heavy dose if Mike
Speaker 1: Mitchell's healthy, if d Jon Stanley's in the.
Speaker 2: Mix, I think we're gonna see a.
Speaker 1: Old school coach Wit type offensive attack. Because I'm anticipating
Speaker 1: Isaac Hunter a senator Ken. I don't know where you
Speaker 1: guys are at with it, but that's just kind of
Speaker 1: where I'm at with it. We'll talk to coach with
Speaker 1: about the process this week coming up to see who
Speaker 1: ends up as QB number one. But a fun weekend
Speaker 1: ahead in college football, both locally and nationally. Again, nationally,
Speaker 1: the eyes will all be on Tuscaloosa as it's Georgia.
Speaker 2: And Bama five thirty Mountain Time. Georgia is a two
Speaker 2: point favorite.
Speaker 1: Alabama is a home underdog for the first time since
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven. All right, live at beer Bar today,
Speaker 1: come on down and say what's up coming?
Speaker 2: Up next? More hardcore football. Aaron falk is here.
Speaker 1: He is the editor of the sports section of the
Speaker 1: Salt Lake Tribune, so he's gonna be my first guest.
Speaker 1: Then we'll bring in coach with Dalton Wasserman and Josh Pate.
Speaker 1: Lot to do on Wednesday, Keep it right here Sunday Night,
Speaker 1: Granary Live a little national.
Speaker 2: Little War on Drugs.
Speaker 1: My next guest will be there, as will I. I've
Speaker 1: got to say I'm a little bummed out that the
Speaker 1: enough is what it is as far as who's going
Speaker 1: first and who is going second? Right, because war on
Speaker 1: Drugs is opening and National is closing.
Speaker 2: Is that correct?
Speaker 5: That's my understanding.
Speaker 2: Yes, that doesn't feel right to me.
Speaker 5: I mean there'll be a lot of sad dads either.
Speaker 1: Way, and I know what that term means. At this
Speaker 1: point in my life, I do know what sad dad means.
Speaker 1: Aaron Falk, the editor of the sports section for the
Speaker 1: Solid Tribune. Is it look the National has been around longer?
Speaker 1: Is that what it is? It just feels like these
Speaker 1: days war on drugs is bigger.
Speaker 5: Well, you know, the National, they've collapsed with Phoebe, with Taylor.
Speaker 5: You know, there's crossover appeal here, so you know, I
Speaker 5: think they are maybe a step above.
Speaker 1: That's fair, and you know, while we're in this space,
Speaker 1: of course, was it last year when Phoebe came downtown
Speaker 1: or two years ago?
Speaker 5: I don't remember, but I remember that we were the
Speaker 5: oldest people there.
Speaker 1: A young, very young person came up to me and said, Hey,
Speaker 1: aren't you Spence check Its? And I said yes, and
Speaker 1: he said, my dad loves you the Phoebe show. So
Speaker 1: I'm probably in for some more of this coming up
Speaker 1: on Sunday night.
Speaker 5: In a couple of years, it was like will Be,
Speaker 5: didn't you used to be Spence Technens, you know, and.
Speaker 1: Then kind of already feel that way. But you know,
Speaker 1: what are you gonna do? We're aging hope to see
Speaker 1: you guys on Sunday night. It'll be a great show,
Speaker 1: all right, Aaron. Let's start with a historic week for
Speaker 1: a couple of different reasons, some good, some bad. The
Speaker 1: bad is the capital city said goodbye to the Bees.
Speaker 1: After thirty years of Smith's Ballpark and almost one hundred
Speaker 1: years of history of minor league baseball in Salt Lake City,
Speaker 1: it now belongs to our friends out south at daybreak
Speaker 1: once to a couple of games this year. Wasn't able
Speaker 1: to make it out over the weekend. I know that
Speaker 1: you did. We talked to Tony Parks a couple of
Speaker 1: times to promote the games and also to recap them.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts now that it's official the Bees
Speaker 1: are moving down South?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I look at it. There are a
Speaker 5: couple of different lenses that I would look at this with,
Speaker 5: and one is like a very personal you know, Salt
Speaker 5: Laker like we you know, we live in you know,
Speaker 5: in the neighborhood roughlying and so you feel a personal
Speaker 5: connection to grew up going to those games. It's nearby.
Speaker 5: There's history there almost one hundred years, like the people
Speaker 5: that have passed through that block, you know, not that stadium,
Speaker 5: exactly what that block. It's kind of an incredible roster
Speaker 5: in terms of baseball history in Salt Lake City. And
Speaker 5: so to see that go is very sad. And then
Speaker 5: at the same time, I think, you know, if you can,
Speaker 5: if you can get outside of yourself and zoom out
Speaker 5: a little bit and you look at where's the growth
Speaker 5: in the valley, it's on the south end. I was.
Speaker 5: I was there. I was in an impossibly long beer
Speaker 5: line on Sunday with you know, thirteen thousand, five hundred
Speaker 5: other people, and a woman came walking through the concourse screaming,
Speaker 5: if you'd all been here every week, this wouldn't be happening.
Speaker 5: And you know what, maybe maybe, And so I think,
Speaker 5: you know, you look at at what the Millers have done,
Speaker 5: and yes, it is it is sad for me to
Speaker 5: see that go. But to move out to Daybreak, a
Speaker 5: younger audience, a different type of audience, a smaller stadium,
Speaker 5: you know, it may very well be what's best for
Speaker 5: a minor league franchise, particularly if they are truly serious
Speaker 5: about adding major league franchise in downtown, right, And then
Speaker 5: I think you look at it from a Salt Lake
Speaker 5: City standpoint in that neighborhood, which is, you know, it's
Speaker 5: issues just from a socioeconomic standpoint, and to go and
Speaker 5: maybe you know it sounds like the U is going
Speaker 5: to play there next year, but beyond that, you know,
Speaker 5: to have a place that's going to be active, it's
Speaker 5: probably gonna be shops, apartments, whatever.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 5: The city hasn't decided yet, but it's going to be
Speaker 5: active and sixty nights a year, right and not and
Speaker 5: not just for baseball season, and not just for six
Speaker 5: days at a time every other week. And so I
Speaker 5: think there there can be good that can come out
Speaker 5: of it.
Speaker 1: Still a bummer, yeah, it is. And I've said this
Speaker 1: ever since the news came down. I mean, we're all
Speaker 1: going to react to news like this based off of
Speaker 1: how it affects us. And the fact that I can
Speaker 1: get dismissed ball park in ten minutes without traffic is
Speaker 1: something that affects me. Now, I also go to four
Speaker 1: or five games a year, right, And so ultimately, I
Speaker 1: wonder what your thoughts are. I've never been a Daybreak
Speaker 1: not one time. I don't like going past thirty third.
Speaker 1: I prefer staying here. But I've never been a Daybreak
Speaker 1: one time. I've never been a Daybreak one time. And
Speaker 1: I wonder if you believe that this new club will
Speaker 1: be supported in its new home. I just don't know
Speaker 1: enough about the infrastructure kind of what it's like.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think that it can be. I think it's
Speaker 5: going to be a much younger crowd. It's going to
Speaker 5: be a different crowd right now. It's yes, it is families.
Speaker 5: It's also people looking to get a beer outside, right,
Speaker 5: And I think Daybreak is going to be very heavy
Speaker 5: on family youth. I could see, you know, like Little
Speaker 5: League Baseball teams filling that place up a lot. It's
Speaker 5: gonna be a much smaller stadium, right, something like eight
Speaker 5: thousand versus the fifteen thousand it is now, And it's
Speaker 5: gonna be different from what I understand. There's gonna be
Speaker 5: more of a beer garden set up and not like
Speaker 5: you know, it's not gonna be at your seat. So
Speaker 5: families that me feel uncomfortable in a I don't know,
Speaker 5: watching someone else drink a beer. I don't know. It's
Speaker 5: not me, but you know, there may be more opportunity there.
Speaker 5: And then you know whatever the Secret Lives of Mormon
Speaker 5: wives crowd that comes from from from that corner is
Speaker 5: gonna be there and they're gonna be doing tiktoks and
Speaker 5: they're gonna it's gonna be big. I don't know, it
Speaker 5: could be good.
Speaker 2: Are you aware that I'm related to a couple on
Speaker 2: that show?
Speaker 1: Which one I don't? I will not stay on air.
Speaker 1: We'll leave it off air for now. Okay, I'll tell
Speaker 1: you off air. I have not seen the show, nor
Speaker 1: will I. I'm not going to see a moment of it.
Speaker 1: But anyway, my head is all over the place with
Speaker 1: that breakdown, avoid the very appearance of evil Aarin.
Speaker 2: So they head on out to daybreak. Let's move over.
Speaker 1: Here though, because after the Miller's kind of announced the
Speaker 1: plan and it went through the process, Steve Starks came
Speaker 1: in a studio for an hour and on air we
Speaker 1: talked a lot about the plan, and then off air
Speaker 1: he opened up the books and showed me like, and
Speaker 1: they're ready, they're ready, you know, shovel in the ground ready.
Speaker 1: I just haven't heard anything recently about if there's progress
Speaker 1: being made because to your point, If the endgame of
Speaker 1: moving the B's to daybreak is a ball major League
Speaker 1: ballpark here in Salt Lake City and a Major League
Speaker 1: Baseball team in the capital city, I'm all for that,
Speaker 1: But I just what's you're understanding of where we're at
Speaker 1: that product, where.
Speaker 5: We're still ages away from a decision, you know, I mean,
Speaker 5: just looking at at what Rob Manfreend has said about
Speaker 5: Major League Baseball expansion, it's it's status quo, right right,
Speaker 5: we're waiting. We're waiting for I don't know exactly if
Speaker 5: Major Lead Baseball will wait until stadiums are built in
Speaker 5: Tampa and in Las Vegas or wherever the A's end up,
Speaker 5: because it's still kind of seems sketchy there. But you know,
Speaker 5: at this point, it sounds like maybe the earliest of
Speaker 5: whatever expansion team is playing, whether that's Nashville, here, Portland wherever,
Speaker 5: it's not gonna until twenty thirty months, right. We got
Speaker 5: a pretty big gap here.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And it's funny because Gary Bettman said the same thing
Speaker 1: about hockey expansion, and so I was operating off the
Speaker 1: premise like, Okay, Ryan wants hockey, Millers want baseball. We're
Speaker 1: probably looking at twenty nine thirty for both. That's what
Speaker 1: makes the hockey thing so crazy, because this is not
Speaker 1: an expansion team, it's a relocation. It's literally historic. We
Speaker 1: chatted with Bell. She's lovely, she's very good. You've hired
Speaker 1: a new b rider for the trip. We've seen a
Speaker 1: couple of preseason games, a couple of power play goals,
Speaker 1: a couple of power play kills. We saw in interference
Speaker 1: with a goaltender, which is like off sides in soccer.
Speaker 1: You only know it when you're trained to see it.
Speaker 1: It'll it's okay, you'll catch up. What are your thoughts?
Speaker 2: Hockey's here?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm I'm I'm I am learning, so okay, Okay,
Speaker 5: I'm going a pole good friend here. Yeah, so I'm
Speaker 5: learning the higher Belfraser is good for me because she
Speaker 5: knows a lot more about she's smarter than I do.
Speaker 5: And so I'm I'm learning through this process as well.
Speaker 5: But I've been encouraged by the excitement around. I think
Speaker 5: the interesting thing right now for me is, you know,
Speaker 5: just kind of being around the gateway and the arena
Speaker 5: the other night when when that game and I wasn't there,
Speaker 5: but you see so many different jerseys, you know, Bruins
Speaker 5: jerseys and Golden Nights jerseys, all these things, and I'm
Speaker 5: wondering how long before you know it's Utah hockey fans
Speaker 5: and not Utah hockey.
Speaker 2: Good point.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and that that's right now. It feels a little
Speaker 5: bit more like people are die hard for the sport
Speaker 5: and they're they're coming in and showing up versus having,
Speaker 5: you know, the team to really coalesce around. Given the
Speaker 5: season ticket deposits that we've heard about and everything like that,
Speaker 5: I suspect that's going to happen once you know things,
Speaker 5: once the lamplight's for real, there you go, I believe
Speaker 5: the bar will be electric.
Speaker 2: Look at you. Bell has been a good influence. I
Speaker 2: like this.
Speaker 5: But yeah, right now, right now, it still feels like
Speaker 5: I feel like people are just kind of putting their toes.
Speaker 1: Sure sure now the sweaters are pretty clean there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they are a lot of excitement around town about the sweaters.
Speaker 5: That's what I'm hearing. Yeah, and I don't actually I'm
Speaker 5: a fan. I mean, I you know, get nice and clean.
Speaker 5: Uh keep it simple for see, I have your Twitter
Speaker 5: pulled up.
Speaker 1: I haven't seen any tweets about how clean the sweaters
Speaker 1: are uh yeah, they're not there.
Speaker 5: I've been I've been liking them. You can't see the likes,
Speaker 5: can you not? Did Elon take away? Take away?
Speaker 2: The likes?
Speaker 5: You can like, you just can't see it. I didn't
Speaker 5: know that that protect a few people.
Speaker 1: That's good news for a few people in our market.
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about that. All Right, let's do a
Speaker 1: little We'll do a little jazz because I do have
Speaker 1: a well, we're gonna end with mostly college football after this.
Speaker 1: From my vantage point, this is as low of an
Speaker 1: excitement level as I can remember, like ever about a
Speaker 1: jazz season. Now, I wonder if the hockey team will
Speaker 1: be able to capitalize on that. Look, they're under one umbrella,
Speaker 1: so it's not like you're stealing business from one cut.
Speaker 1: It's the same company, it's the same ownership group. Do
Speaker 1: you think there's gonna be a dynamic and Look, one
Speaker 1: of the great things about sports, one of the things
Speaker 1: we love about sports, it's why we watch, is you.
Speaker 2: Never know what's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: Could Cody Williams pop in a way that no one's
Speaker 1: Maybe I'm not excited to watch the Patti millster U
Speaker 1: Banks pick and roll seven times in the third quarter,
Speaker 1: like it's just not there. And I wonder if you
Speaker 1: think the hockey club will benefit off of what I
Speaker 1: perceive to be a very low level of excitement for
Speaker 1: pro basketball.
Speaker 2: In our market.
Speaker 5: I'm with you there on the excitement level. I saw
Speaker 5: the email come out that you know, preseasons here, Ryan
Speaker 5: Smith Danny Ainge are talking to help the press on Friday,
Speaker 5: and I'm like, what do I care about right now?
Speaker 5: And it's long term. Everything is long term. I agree
Speaker 5: with you. You know, can Keyante take another step? What
Speaker 5: is Cody Williams? There are questions to be answered, but man,
Speaker 5: you got to be kind of a die hard to
Speaker 5: really care about those questions immediately, And so I agree
Speaker 5: with you. I don't think, you know, I think if
Speaker 5: the As we're a playoff team, then there's gonna be
Speaker 5: people that are diehard jazz fans. They don't give their
Speaker 5: attention to anything else, maybe just sort of out of curiosity.
Speaker 5: I think you're a sports fan in the Salt Lake
Speaker 5: market and football ends and you're watching a bad jazz
Speaker 5: team and you go, what's going on with this other
Speaker 5: thing that I hear that is winning? I think there
Speaker 5: I think it is an opening for the Utah Hockey
Speaker 5: Club to steal a little bit of a momentum that
Speaker 5: they might not have had otherwise.
Speaker 1: So you bring up a really good point, and I've
Speaker 1: honestly always wondered this, because you know, when you're in
Speaker 1: when you get in the business the industry, as they say,
Speaker 1: you have to become a little bit agnostic about cheering.
Speaker 1: And it probably took me to if I'm honest, it
Speaker 1: probably took me too long doing this to realize that
Speaker 1: I think I'm much better.
Speaker 2: At it now that I don't care about.
Speaker 1: I hate to say that, but if a team that
Speaker 1: I cheerfour loses, I have a sandwich and go to
Speaker 1: bed and I don't think about it again. And when
Speaker 1: I was younger, it was different. I had more emotional ties.
Speaker 1: It's different when you're raised and it's the family business
Speaker 1: and you know you're cheering literally with your heart and
Speaker 1: soul because it's what your family relies on to live.
Speaker 1: But as you move out of that, you do wonder,
Speaker 1: at least I do, how many of our citizens here
Speaker 1: in the community who enjoy sports just want to go
Speaker 1: see the jazz and they don't care if it's Keyante
Speaker 1: or if it's Donovan Mitchell, like, how many ultimate die
Speaker 1: hards out there are upset with lack of direction and
Speaker 1: how many people.
Speaker 2: Just want to go to a damn game. I honestly
Speaker 2: don't know the answer to that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think. I think if you have been through
Speaker 5: a period of jazz success, you know, at different points
Speaker 5: in your life, whether you are somebody you know, if
Speaker 5: you're we're around to watch watch the finals runs, if
Speaker 5: you were around to watch you know, Darren and Carlos,
Speaker 5: if you were around to watch this this Donovan Rudy era.
Speaker 5: I think maybe I think there are people out there
Speaker 5: that will have enough good memories that you know, hey,
Speaker 5: this is this is my team. I'm here through thick
Speaker 5: and thin whatever. I think. Casuals, sure, I mean, maybe
Speaker 5: maybe they're go because you want to get you want
Speaker 5: to get some jade dogs and and and hang out
Speaker 5: with your friends one night for one game. But I
Speaker 5: think there's a ton of young kids who already have
Speaker 5: a hard time getting into sports the way that we
Speaker 5: have had sports in our life growing up. They're watching
Speaker 5: highlights on YouTube and they're not really paying attention that
Speaker 5: if you don't have a winner, like you're you're not
Speaker 5: connecting with with that younger generation yet, and so I
Speaker 5: think that's that's sort of the misopportunity. But I think
Speaker 5: if you are somebody that's that's been through it, you
Speaker 5: can probably endure a couple of bad years here. We're
Speaker 5: nice fans, We are nice people, nice fans, and people
Speaker 5: will swallow it for a little while. But if you're
Speaker 5: if you haven't had it before, you're not going to
Speaker 5: be a twelve year old kid that goes to the
Speaker 5: Delta Center for the first time watch the Jazz get
Speaker 5: blown out by fifty. I think this is it for me. Yes,
Speaker 5: this is where I want to be.
Speaker 1: Right And that's the danger of having a rebuild go
Speaker 1: more than a few years. And to be fair to
Speaker 1: Xanik and Age and everybody else, most rebuilds go more
Speaker 1: than a few years.
Speaker 2: We just haven't had those happen here very often.
Speaker 1: And I suppose because there's this there's a general feel
Speaker 1: like if I'm watching an NBA show or if I'm
Speaker 1: listening to an NBA podcast, there's just this general feel.
Speaker 2: And Jason Kidd actually set it out loud.
Speaker 1: A couple of years ago during a MAVs playoff run
Speaker 1: when he said, you guys don't get it. We're millionaires
Speaker 1: cheering for each other. I'm like, dude, I know, but
Speaker 1: don't say that. The al was lifting, right, And you
Speaker 1: do get peaks behind the curtain every once in a
Speaker 1: while when Kevin Durant says, hey, nobody ever thinks about
Speaker 1: the fans just so you know.
Speaker 2: So there is this general feel like these guys are
Speaker 2: fat and happy.
Speaker 1: Had he stay hungry when you're well fed, and they
Speaker 1: don't really give a rip about anything other than their
Speaker 1: P and L statements, which are really healthy. And the
Speaker 1: fans keep showing up. I wonder if you think that
Speaker 1: stops at some point. As far as that building being full,
Speaker 1: it was full every I was probably there ten times.
Speaker 2: Last year was full every time. Yeah.
Speaker 5: I was just talking about that with with Andy Larsen
Speaker 5: and our staff yesterday. And you know, you look at
Speaker 5: the start of last season, there was there was the
Speaker 5: idea of hope right at the very start of last season,
Speaker 5: and so it makes sense that you have that going in.
Speaker 5: Things don't work out, it doesn't, you know, it turns
Speaker 5: it's worse than you expected, but it's still full. After
Speaker 5: the All Star break, after the trade deadline is a
Speaker 5: bit surprising. I mean, I my first year covering the
Speaker 5: Jazz was twenty thirteen. It's twenty five win team. There
Speaker 5: were a lot of green seats, you know, like I do,
Speaker 5: think it does stop at a certain point. You can't
Speaker 5: you can't rely on, uh, you know, on the past
Speaker 5: for forever, particularly when there are other opportunities to spend
Speaker 5: your dollars. He was good, b YU looks better than expected.
Speaker 5: RSL may maybe maybe a Cup.
Speaker 2: Contender, okay, and.
Speaker 5: And the hockey club right so so yeah, I do.
Speaker 5: I would expect that at some point this year the
Speaker 5: sellout streak ends.
Speaker 1: I think that's probably accurate. But there's a lot of
Speaker 1: trucks and tesla's as Camaradnie likes to say, that make
Speaker 1: their way up from the South to make sure that
Speaker 1: thing is jam pack.
Speaker 5: That's true.
Speaker 2: You brought him up.
Speaker 1: So let's do a little bit on RSL before we
Speaker 1: end with college football. I was on TV with your guy,
Speaker 1: Dave Fox, one of your mentors. We all look up
Speaker 1: to Dave for a number of reasons, and he asked
Speaker 1: me last night, are you more confident in them making
Speaker 1: a deep Cup run now than you were a month ago,
Speaker 1: and I said no, not as there was a month ago,
Speaker 1: because remember they went fifteen games unbeaten, fifteen matches unbeaten.
Speaker 2: Pardon me, they made a bunch of changes, kind of
Speaker 2: seem to be figuring it out.
Speaker 1: I think the keeper situation is going to stop them
Speaker 1: from winning anything special. That's kind of where I'm at.
Speaker 1: But I love playoff soccer, fall soccer. I think we'll
Speaker 1: get a home match. What are you expecting from RSL
Speaker 1: the rest of the way.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm with you. I mean I would thought after
Speaker 5: you sell Gomez, like there's going to be a natural
Speaker 5: dip just in terms of energy, in terms of other people.
Speaker 5: It seems like these additions have done enough offensively to
Speaker 5: maybe give you hope that, like you can go out
Speaker 5: and win a playoff game or two or whatever. But yeah,
Speaker 5: I mean, I think at this point it's not gonna
Speaker 5: surprise me to see McMath back in goal. And I
Speaker 5: I think, you know, Beaver's maybe maybe has a bright
Speaker 5: future looks a bit skeedtish right now. Yes, McMath has
Speaker 5: made a number of errors that were probably unforgivable to some,
Speaker 5: but he's going to be your best bet to win
Speaker 5: at this point. And I mean, if this you gotta
Speaker 5: have you gotta have your defense step up three three
Speaker 5: the other night is uh, that's a that's a sad ending.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is like that.
Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what if it's McMath between the pipes,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get on Twitter. I got to see some
Speaker 1: of those tweets flying man, because some people.
Speaker 2: Get really upset with it is true.
Speaker 1: All right, we'll move over with a few minutes last
Speaker 1: to college football. Now let me start here. You I'm
Speaker 1: a true Aggie. You are an Aggie Aggie. You are
Speaker 1: an alump. I did not do this smooching, so we
Speaker 1: I don't know what that means. We both have different
Speaker 1: ties and real affinity to our good friends up and
Speaker 1: Logan for different reasons. How does it feel that you
Speaker 1: are an alumni of a PAC twelve school?
Speaker 2: Congrat you TOAs state.
Speaker 5: Uh you know, watching this and I I don't really
Speaker 5: know how anybody feels about it. I think I think
Speaker 5: people feel I think Aggie fans feel better about it.
Speaker 5: On the level of yes, the PAC twelve has more
Speaker 5: prestige than than the Mountain West brand, right, at least
Speaker 5: did once upon a time. I think if you look
Speaker 5: at who who is in the PAC twelve and who
Speaker 5: is out of the PAC twelve even if you were
Speaker 5: just looking at you know, these are the Mountain West,
Speaker 5: uh extras. Right, it is the best part of the
Speaker 5: Mountain West that is now in the PAC twelve versus
Speaker 5: you know what is remains in the Mountain West. So
Speaker 5: I think you're you're probably feeling better that way. However, like,
Speaker 5: how could you not get to a situation where you
Speaker 5: don't just dissolve this thing, save save your war chest
Speaker 5: of one hundred and fifty million dollars or whatever, and
Speaker 5: figure out a way to merge it, like or if
Speaker 5: you're if you're going to do this, and I know
Speaker 5: maybe you know Utah States burned from whatever whatever we
Speaker 5: called it. They called it once upon a time, the
Speaker 5: plan when BYU and UH when independent, this was all
Speaker 5: this was all supposed to happen, right, So yes, Utah
Speaker 5: State was burned. Yeah, once upon a time. So maybe
Speaker 5: they just feel like, hey, let's get to higher ground
Speaker 5: and figure it out. But how do you not all
Speaker 5: come together figure out a way at this point? And
Speaker 5: then is it not what I'm you know, I'm not
Speaker 5: anti Mountain West, but figure out a way to dissolve
Speaker 5: the Mountain West and keep your money.
Speaker 1: It's it's a really good point, and I actually think
Speaker 1: part of that's still on the table if reasonable minds
Speaker 1: can come together. But now there are lawsuits being filed.
Speaker 1: Now they're banging heads with each other. I just can't believe, like,
Speaker 1: whoever gets college football right will be an absolute hero
Speaker 1: because it is such a great product with no leadership,
Speaker 1: nobody everyone's asleep at the wheel. Yet it is a
Speaker 1: multi billion dollar business every year without a CEO or
Speaker 1: without like a sound business plan or structure in place.
Speaker 1: You know, the quarterback leads NLV today, that's an undefeated
Speaker 1: G five team. A lot of people think they can
Speaker 1: go to the CFP. He's like, where's my one hundred k?
Speaker 1: The head coach is like, I didn't say that, we
Speaker 1: were gonna give you that. He's like, wait, the assistant did.
Speaker 2: And he leaves. He's their starting quarterback and he just leaves.
Speaker 5: It's it's an insane thing. And this is where I
Speaker 5: have a lot of like mixed feelings on the future
Speaker 5: of NIL and like how best to handle this.
Speaker 2: But you know we're talking.
Speaker 5: About He's like, O, where's one hundred thousand? Dollars, and
Speaker 5: then the report I saw was like, we're talking about
Speaker 5: three thousand dollars a month. So there's a gigantic gap
Speaker 5: in between like a lot of these numbers that are
Speaker 5: being thrown out there and what we think and maybe
Speaker 5: what's actually being you know, hitting bank accounts here in
Speaker 5: certain places. But I mean, you know, so the initial
Speaker 5: feeling is where are the guardrails who enforces this? There
Speaker 5: needs to be strict rules, but that doesn't happen in
Speaker 5: the real world. If you have a contract for a
Speaker 5: one hundred thousand dollars and unless you are the Mountain
Speaker 5: West and the fact you you know you have something
Speaker 5: that's enforceable to get your hundred thousand dollars right, But
Speaker 5: there's just so many backroom deals here that why isn't
Speaker 5: ink on paper for your one hundred k before you
Speaker 5: before you take.
Speaker 2: That's the bottom line.
Speaker 1: Matthew Sluka is his name, and according to Sluca and
Speaker 1: his agent, Marcus Kramarti, an assistant coach gave him a
Speaker 1: verbal promise that was quote.
Speaker 2: Come play here and we'll pay you one hundred thousand dollars. Kids.
Speaker 1: Get it in writing, Okay, just whatever it is. Get
Speaker 1: it in writing. Do whatever you have to do to
Speaker 1: protost ten k to be here for this hit.
Speaker 2: Porter Falk was promised, ten k, do you have his venmo?
Speaker 2: Can my assistant?
Speaker 1: Oh okay, get in writing ten k for a beer
Speaker 1: bar hit will be phenomenal.
Speaker 2: All right, let's move over here.
Speaker 1: So you know, I've been pretty honest about my opinion
Speaker 1: on the lack of information coming from the University of
Speaker 1: Utah about their quarterback situation. However, I'm also an adult
Speaker 1: and I understand what the deal is. And Intel Intel
Speaker 1: coach Wig gets that email from the Big twelve. It says, hey,
Speaker 1: you got a report. Okay, we're making everybody report Thursday night,
Speaker 1: Friday morning, whatever.
Speaker 2: It is, kind of like the NFL does until that happens.
Speaker 1: And by the way, let's pause here, that will happen
Speaker 1: all of these sports. Now, college football is not as
Speaker 1: front facing about being in bed with gambling companies as
Speaker 1: the NFL is.
Speaker 2: The NFL, you turn on a game and you can
Speaker 2: get live odds.
Speaker 1: While the game is going on, they give you a
Speaker 1: QR code to ruin your life if you're prone to
Speaker 1: a lot of dopamine hits with no reward. I don't
Speaker 1: love where we're at as far as these sports being
Speaker 1: in bed with the gambling companies. But because they're in
Speaker 1: bed with the gambling companies, who your starting quarterback is
Speaker 1: is information that's worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Speaker 2: So at some point the mandate will come.
Speaker 1: Until it does, Coach Wit is under no obligation to
Speaker 1: tell me or you or anybody else who is starting
Speaker 1: quarterback is. So I understand why here's aaron. What makes
Speaker 1: it different this year, in my opinion, well last year
Speaker 1: as well. If the reports are true, the Cameron Rising
Speaker 1: is being paid seven figures to play quarterback for the
Speaker 1: University of Utah, and a lot of that money comes
Speaker 1: from season ticket holders, boosters and alumni. The community is
Speaker 1: going to want to see him play football.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 1: My opinion is he's hurt and he'll be back when
Speaker 1: he's healthy. I honestly don't know, but there is this
Speaker 1: general feeling of here we go again with the Utes
Speaker 1: this year.
Speaker 2: What are your thoughts?
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, I think it is uh. I mean I
Speaker 5: heard you, you know before before the break say you're
Speaker 5: expecting Isaac under center unlesson until you see gam under there. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I think that's a reasonable position. To take at this point,
Speaker 5: right you know, I'm curious. I mean, I'm mixed on
Speaker 5: what the fans rowe versus what the boosters are owed,
Speaker 5: and also what the boosters will be willing to poney
Speaker 5: up next time when you know, when it's Isaac Wilson's
Speaker 5: turn for one hundred or for a million dollars or whatever, like,
Speaker 5: is there that same level of desire if you feel
Speaker 5: like maybe you didn't get you know, the truth out
Speaker 5: of somebody on this and I you know, obviously it's
Speaker 5: different this year and that and that this is a
Speaker 5: you know, this was an injury. We saw that happened.
Speaker 5: You know, it's not like he was hiding a knee
Speaker 5: injury for you know, in the off season or whatever,
Speaker 5: right Like, But I'm very interested in what people are
Speaker 5: what the value is of this quarterback or of a
Speaker 5: position or you know, an nil contract if you're going
Speaker 5: to be preserved this way, right like, who do you
Speaker 5: owe the who do you owe that's giving you this money?
Speaker 5: And that's that's where I'm really stuck right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And ultimately it will go the way of the
Speaker 1: pros where they'll unionize and collectively bargain and then we
Speaker 1: can have a conversation about whether or not, let's just say,
Speaker 1: can make a million bucks this year, is that guaranteed
Speaker 1: money like it is in the NBA and Major League
Speaker 1: Baseball and is growing towards that in the NFL.
Speaker 2: Or do you put stipulations on it?
Speaker 1: Like if you're a business and you decide you want
Speaker 1: to pay Cameron Rising two hundred and fifty grand this
Speaker 1: year to play football, because you're allowed to do that
Speaker 1: via NIL and he doesn't play in any games, You're
Speaker 1: just kind of like, well, what did I pay him?
Speaker 1: Like unless they collectively bargain and they make all these
Speaker 1: contracts guaranteed, then it doesn't matter. But guaranteed contracts in
Speaker 1: a way, I think it kind of in the NBA
Speaker 1: because of the load management stuff, it's complicated. But until
Speaker 1: they have the ability to collectively bargain after they unionize,
Speaker 1: all of these questions.
Speaker 2: Will be up in the air.
Speaker 1: We have a big day tomorrow, Like one of the
Speaker 1: ironies of this SLUCAS stuff at UNLV is on Thursday,
Speaker 1: the NCAA, the P four conferences and their attorneys must
Speaker 1: file a brief in the House Anti Trust Settlements and
Speaker 1: we're hoping to get a little closer and closer to.
Speaker 2: That being finally ironed out.
Speaker 1: With the direct revenue sharing and the schools being able
Speaker 1: to pay.
Speaker 2: But that's not even done yet.
Speaker 1: And until that's done, we're going to see the quarterback
Speaker 1: from ULV bounce. We're going to see kids not feel
Speaker 1: like they need to step up and play if they're
Speaker 1: being paid, because right now, nobody seems to know which
Speaker 1: way is up or which.
Speaker 2: Way is down. I don't know how it's gonna unfold.
Speaker 5: Yeah, my kids aren't getting their braces. I mean, you know, again,
Speaker 5: if it's you know, I think you know, unionizing is
Speaker 5: definitely the thing that's that's going to happen and probably
Speaker 5: be the best outcome for for athletes and frankly most
Speaker 5: parties involved, sure, because otherwise, if you have a congressional
Speaker 5: you know, intervention or it's the NCAA, there's still going
Speaker 5: to be a squeeze. We're still you're still not going
Speaker 5: to get like a truly fair outcome for your workers,
Speaker 5: your players, if if it's the billionaires in charge of
Speaker 5: it making making those decisions.
Speaker 1: One hundred percent, So you know, I believe we're high
Speaker 1: speed ahead to the day where college football is leaving
Speaker 1: the n C DOUAA to become its own governing body
Speaker 1: with a commissioner. But that's still a few a few
Speaker 1: years off. All right, final thing, and then we'll set
Speaker 1: you loose to to get back to it. What are
Speaker 1: you willing to say today about by U's four and
Speaker 1: oh start man Conference contender? Better than we thought? Like,
Speaker 1: what's what's the take as of today?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 5: For me, better than we thought? Uh, Conference contender feels
Speaker 5: that that feels like a big step. That was an
Speaker 5: outstanding game, filled with a lot of incredible things that
Speaker 5: you probably can replicate on a weekly basis. I mean
Speaker 5: to get those three takeaways to give Rett's laugh short
Speaker 5: fields three times in short order like that, that's that
Speaker 5: is the best possible outcome for a guy who was
Speaker 5: coming in maybe having a little bit of issues with
Speaker 5: with turnovers things like that. A punt return that's gonna
Speaker 5: be you know, it's the play of the year that
Speaker 5: you're you know certainly can't bank on that anymore. And
Speaker 5: and then you have a surprise in in Moa coming
Speaker 5: out and running people over that just probably nobody had
Speaker 5: on scouting report.
Speaker 7: Right, So.
Speaker 5: A great win. I think they can beat Baylor I
Speaker 5: think that I think maybe a good thing for v
Speaker 5: Yu now is the last time I remember like any
Speaker 5: hype is is that big Baylor win in Provo a
Speaker 5: couple of years ago, and there's there's excitement when you
Speaker 5: go to Oregon to get smoked, yeah, and every all
Speaker 5: the airs out. So I think even if you even
Speaker 5: if they lose to Baylor, it's gonna feel you're gonna
Speaker 5: feel much better than you did a couple of years ago.
Speaker 5: So there's a chance to rebound, to get back on track.
Speaker 5: But I Conference Contender feels really like a really far Stepithy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not there yet either. Very impressed.
Speaker 1: Happy for Klanie and those guys for sure to see
Speaker 1: the start. Dare we get weird and talk about an
Speaker 1: undefeated Holy War November the ninth in Salt Lake. It's
Speaker 1: always better when they're both good erin it's always better
Speaker 1: when they're both good.
Speaker 5: I mean, it's good for it's good for the schools,
Speaker 5: it's good for the fan basis, as much as they
Speaker 5: pretend they don't like it, it's good for us. I mean,
Speaker 5: let's let's have that. Let's self serving media, let's be
Speaker 5: the top of the power ranking.
Speaker 2: I love it, man, all right?
Speaker 1: How can people go support the good folks at the
Speaker 1: Solid Tribune.
Speaker 5: Hey, sl trip dot com, slash Sports. We appreciate everybody
Speaker 5: who reads subscribes. We could not exist without all of you.
Speaker 1: Woke all right, man, good to see it. We'll chat soon. Okay,
Speaker 1: all right, the Great Aaron Falk all right, rolling along
Speaker 1: on a Wednesday edition of the program. You know, oftentimes
Speaker 1: it's difficult for us to get access to you players
Speaker 1: and coaches. We love it every day, but they practice
Speaker 1: when we're on air, and practic. This is more of
Speaker 1: a priority than sitting down with me. Except for today,
Speaker 1: the headball coach himself, Kyle Whittingham, good enough to give
Speaker 1: us some time on a Wednesday coach with Happy Wednesday.
Speaker 8: How are you, sir, I'm new Willspince, Thank you.
Speaker 1: I appreciate the time. So I want to start with
Speaker 1: probably something you weren't expecting. But my father is writing
Speaker 1: a book right now and the working title is Championship Culture.
Speaker 1: And he sat down with Steve Kerk, he sat down
Speaker 1: with Nick Saban, he sat down with the All Blacks,
Speaker 1: obviously the rugby team from New Zealand Real Madrid. I
Speaker 1: could keep going and the whole ethos is try to
Speaker 1: get a definition of what championship culture means from somebody
Speaker 1: who's built a championship culture like you have. So, Kyle,
Speaker 1: when I ask you what championship culture means, what comes
Speaker 1: to your mind?
Speaker 8: Well, first of all, for us, it's it's all about
Speaker 8: family and you know, the close knit relationships and everybody
Speaker 8: pulling in the same direction, everyone on the same page,
Speaker 8: everybody in completely to what you're doing. I think that's
Speaker 8: really the starting point. And then being consistent. You have
Speaker 8: a culture of consistency and the players know what to
Speaker 8: expect every day when they come in the building. There's
Speaker 8: no peaks and valleys. It's very I don't want to
Speaker 8: see methodical, but it's a process that we adhere to
Speaker 8: and we believe in what we're doing and players believe
Speaker 8: in it, and it seems to self perpetuate.
Speaker 1: How much of it, coach is intentional and how much
Speaker 1: of it is simply just consistency over time combined with results.
Speaker 1: Because people talk about wanting to build a championship culture
Speaker 1: all the time, but it's one thing to talk about it,
Speaker 1: it's another thing to do it, Like you have, how
Speaker 1: much of it is intense and how much of it
Speaker 1: is consistency and results over time.
Speaker 8: Well, I'd say it's a blend of both. And you know,
Speaker 8: we've definitely had some success through the years, and that
Speaker 8: certainly lends credibility to what you're doing. And the players say, hey,
Speaker 8: you know, if we buy into this and we do
Speaker 8: it the way that's outlined, and then it'll work, you know,
Speaker 8: and it's time to and so that's that's a big
Speaker 8: part of it. And then you know, they've got to
Speaker 8: come in with with the with the right in tent
Speaker 8: and the right mindset, and uh, you know, there's there's
Speaker 8: no shortcuts. That's another part of our philosophy here is
Speaker 8: you know, the process is the process. It demands and
Speaker 8: require certain things and and uh, it's a twelve month
Speaker 8: a year deal. It's not just in season. We have
Speaker 8: a plan for the entire year that we adhere to
Speaker 8: and and the players that have been in this program
Speaker 8: know exactly what the expectations are. And I think a
Speaker 8: big thing for us is the new players that come in. Uh,
Speaker 8: you know, we have a orientation period, I guess you
Speaker 8: could say, and part of that is, hey, when you
Speaker 8: come into this program, you will become us, we will
Speaker 8: not become you. And if you if you don't have
Speaker 8: that mentality and that attitude, then you're going to become irrelevant.
Speaker 8: So that's that's something that truly helped is the is
Speaker 8: the leadership on the football team, displaying and demanding from
Speaker 8: the from the new guys that we do things a
Speaker 8: certain way.
Speaker 1: So, over the course of both your life and then
Speaker 1: your career as a player and a coach, you have
Speaker 1: coached with, played for a number of captains of industry,
Speaker 1: you know, including Lavelle and your father, And I just
Speaker 1: wonder urban I could keep going, Ronnie Mack when it
Speaker 1: comes to your personal ethos of how you want to
Speaker 1: build this culture and how you have built the culture,
Speaker 1: how much of it is unique to who you are,
Speaker 1: and how much of it are things that you've learned
Speaker 1: from the men who you've coached with and played for
Speaker 1: throughout the course of your career.
Speaker 8: Yeah, great question. I would say it's a blend of
Speaker 8: all the above. I've tried to take the best of
Speaker 8: the you know, what I learned from each of those
Speaker 8: guys you mentioned, and and uh, what's you know what
Speaker 8: suits my personality and my beliefs And then add to it,
Speaker 8: you know, my own take, put my own spin on it.
Speaker 8: And that's kind of the you know, the result, the
Speaker 8: end result is what we got going here. And and
Speaker 8: I certainly don't claim to have all the answers. And
Speaker 8: I learned a ton from Lavelle, a ton from my
Speaker 8: father and coach matc as you said Urban, you know,
Speaker 8: as a master to organization and just having a master plan.
Speaker 8: And so yeah, you'd be dumb. But if you didn't
Speaker 8: take the you know, take what works and hang on
Speaker 8: to it and utilize it and then again add your
Speaker 8: own spin and put your own stamp on it. But
Speaker 8: you don't try to reinvent the wheel. You know, if
Speaker 8: things are working, then you know, if it's not broke,
Speaker 8: don't fix it.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I always find an interesting coach to talk to somebody
Speaker 1: like you who's been doing something at such a high
Speaker 1: level for so long, and ask you what keeps what
Speaker 1: keeps it going, what keeps the momentum going. I mean, look,
Speaker 1: I've been doing this for almost nineteen years, and there
Speaker 1: are days where I wake up I'm like, I don't
Speaker 1: really want I don't want to do it today, you know,
Speaker 1: And I think everybody has it even though the very
Speaker 1: successful people among us, like you make it look easy,
Speaker 1: it still isn't easy because, as you said, the devil's
Speaker 1: in the details, and it is about consistency, and it
Speaker 1: is about the work those days. If there are days,
Speaker 1: for Kyle Whittingham, when the alarm goes off and you
Speaker 1: turn around you say, you know, I'm not sure today, Like,
Speaker 1: what is it that get you going to make sure
Speaker 1: you win the day?
Speaker 8: Well, I've yet to have those days. I mean, I'm
Speaker 8: when I get up, I'm eager to get to work
Speaker 8: and get going, and and I think a lot of it.
Speaker 8: These players keep you young. I mean, it's kind of
Speaker 8: a weird dynamic where you know, the players keep cycling
Speaker 8: through and they're the same age. Their age means constant
Speaker 8: I'm getting older as we go through this, but I
Speaker 8: don't feel that because I'm around the young guys you know,
Speaker 8: all the time, and so it's in a way it
Speaker 8: keeps you young and keeps you revitalized and makes you
Speaker 8: look forward to coming to work every day.
Speaker 2: Jealous.
Speaker 1: I'm impressed and very jealous because there are some days
Speaker 1: I don't know that I have it. I just forced
Speaker 1: myself to do it, no matter what I wonder, Kyle,
Speaker 1: I wonder if you would share with us. Yeah, if
Speaker 1: there is a couple of boxes you want checked before
Speaker 1: you decide to ski and golf and hang out with
Speaker 1: the grandkids.
Speaker 2: Are there things out there that you really badly.
Speaker 1: Want to accomplish as a head coach in this game
Speaker 1: before you decide that it's time to go be grandpa.
Speaker 8: I think there's certainly things, you know, move into the
Speaker 8: new conference and wanting to win a championship in that conference.
Speaker 8: We were able to you know, do that in the
Speaker 8: Mountain West and the Pac twelve, and so that's another
Speaker 8: challenge is to try to try to repeat that in
Speaker 8: the Big twelve. And of course now with that would
Speaker 8: come an opportunity to be in the CFP, and so
Speaker 8: that would go hand in hand. You know, with CFP
Speaker 8: is obviously, in my opinion, our opinion, the next logical
Speaker 8: step in the programs evolution. You know, we've won championships,
Speaker 8: but we have not cracked that playoff system yet. And
Speaker 8: now with it being more accessible and with the automatic
Speaker 8: bid process, that like I said, becomes something that is
Speaker 8: really important to us.
Speaker 1: So let's move over now to the here and now
Speaker 1: I just don't want to ask you the same questions
Speaker 1: you're asked at your media presser on Monday, because I
Speaker 1: don't want to bore you. But now that we've had
Speaker 1: a few months of sample size, what are the main
Speaker 1: differences between your old challenge in the Pac twelve and
Speaker 1: the new one you have in the Big twelve.
Speaker 8: Well, still figuring that out. That's it's a work in
Speaker 8: progress now. Obviously we've got a lot of teams in
Speaker 8: the in the Big twelve that we know a great
Speaker 8: deal about, you know, they're in the back twelve with us,
Speaker 8: and so there's there is some familiarity, but there's a
Speaker 8: lot of unknown still and going to still Water, you know,
Speaker 8: and not knowing what to expect. I mean, it was
Speaker 8: you know, a phenomenal environment, great stadium, looked like it
Speaker 8: was a capacity crowd and so and then getting a
Speaker 8: feel for the personnel in this league of the teams
Speaker 8: that we have had faced before, and kind of getting
Speaker 8: an idea of how we match up. And you know,
Speaker 8: the first week I think went very well. We matched
Speaker 8: up very well, But every week's a new challenge. You know,
Speaker 8: this week will be an Arizona team we're very familiar with,
Speaker 8: it's a new coaching staff and new new schematics, but
Speaker 8: but very familiar with the you know, the key players
Speaker 8: on the team and and so it's it's a process.
Speaker 8: It's a learning process, and just just taking a week
Speaker 8: by week and I'll be able to give you a
Speaker 8: really good answer to the difference is in about eight
Speaker 8: or nine weeks from now.
Speaker 2: For sure.
Speaker 1: It's been a lot of fun to watch Isaac grow
Speaker 1: rapidly as an eighteen year old who enrolled in April.
Speaker 1: It's crazy that he is that young and he's been
Speaker 1: able to grow the way he has already. The question
Speaker 1: I'll ask today coach is with the situation with Cam
Speaker 1: and trying to get him back and then ultimately deciding
Speaker 1: on Isaac a week ago, what sort of complications is
Speaker 1: that bringing it practice as far as how you decide
Speaker 1: to delineate the reps with the ones with your two
Speaker 1: quarterbacks who you like right now.
Speaker 8: Yeah, that's the biggest challenge in the whole thing, is
Speaker 8: exactly that, and who do we prepare? And it's it's
Speaker 8: a projection. You just do your best to try to determine,
Speaker 8: you know, based on where we are today and project
Speaker 8: that out what three days from now, I guess is
Speaker 8: the way we handle it. We've got a plan in place,
Speaker 8: and I think this week, you know, things have gone
Speaker 8: pretty smooth. We're still taking it day by day, but
Speaker 8: I think coach lut has put a really good plan
Speaker 8: in place as far as how to divide the reps
Speaker 8: and and how the you know, how practices is run
Speaker 8: and you know, who gets what situations, and so I
Speaker 8: think we're I think we're getting pretty good at it, unfortunately,
Speaker 8: but but you know, cam Is is, uh, he's our
Speaker 8: guy when he's healthy, and we're just waiting for that, uh,
Speaker 8: you know, that's zip to come back on the ball
Speaker 8: and the and the you know, the velocity and the
Speaker 8: and the accuracy and and he's a proven commodity and
Speaker 8: there's won two championships for us. But as you mentioned,
Speaker 8: the young freshman's doing a great job and and getting
Speaker 8: better each week and and so we'll just have to
Speaker 8: see how things shake out this week.
Speaker 1: So it's not that I didn't think Mackay could run
Speaker 1: between the tackles. I had just never seen it. What
Speaker 1: what are you the most proud of as far as
Speaker 1: MacKaye's growth, Because the debate has been Who's gonna evolve
Speaker 1: out of that running back room. You've always said mackay
Speaker 1: is the one. Well, he looked like a bell cow
Speaker 1: last week. Coach, What are you the most proud of
Speaker 1: as far as the way mckaye has worked over you know,
Speaker 1: five six years to meet this moment.
Speaker 8: Yeah, what's there not to be proud of?
Speaker 6: Him?
Speaker 8: And the guy is such a such a team first,
Speaker 8: guy has been the program for a long time, as
Speaker 8: you mentioned, has never one time complained about playing time, carries, touches,
Speaker 8: none of that stuff. He just comes out and works
Speaker 8: hard every day. And one of the things I'm most
Speaker 8: proud of is the difficulty they faced last year with that,
Speaker 8: with that real tragic accident and injury, is that he
Speaker 8: was able to come back and you know, get himself
Speaker 8: back in shape and had that drive and desire to
Speaker 8: finish the deal here and finish his last year. And
Speaker 8: so far, you know, we're very grateful obviously and glad
Speaker 8: that he's with us and he's he's having a terrific
Speaker 8: season so far.
Speaker 1: All right, coach, before I say you loose your reference,
Speaker 1: Arizona got got last year.
Speaker 2: It happens.
Speaker 1: How much motivation is there As far as payback goes
Speaker 1: if there's.
Speaker 2: Anything there at all.
Speaker 1: I mean, ultimately, you guys have stayed clean in the
Speaker 1: non con, you've started out the conference.
Speaker 2: Well, you're in a great spot.
Speaker 1: So I don't know how much a year ago comes
Speaker 1: into play for Saturday night, But what's the mentality to
Speaker 1: make sure that you guys are ready to roll for
Speaker 1: a late kick on a beautiful night? Can't wait for
Speaker 1: Saturday night as Arizona's in town.
Speaker 8: Sure, Well, the main motivation is to play better when
Speaker 8: he had last year. We're more concerned about ourselves and
Speaker 8: our poor performance last year and getting that corrected and rectified.
Speaker 8: Then then any you know, revenge or grudge or anything
Speaker 8: like that. We just know that we went down there
Speaker 8: and and they outplayed us, and we were it was
Speaker 8: our poorest performance of the year, and and uh, like
Speaker 8: I said, very disappointing. And so we got to we
Speaker 8: had to try to you know, correct that and play
Speaker 8: much better this year. And and our players, you know,
Speaker 8: based on the first couple of days of practice, have
Speaker 8: a great mindset and are in the uh you know,
Speaker 8: we're doing things the right way to this point. And uh,
Speaker 8: but you got to put it on the field on
Speaker 8: Saturday night and can't wait to can't wait for kickoff
Speaker 8: in that crowd. You know that the Rice Cycles crowd
Speaker 8: is phenomenal, but at night it becomes, uh, you know,
Speaker 8: even another higher level and so we're excited to uh
Speaker 8: play in front of those fans.
Speaker 1: You allowed yourself to keep one eye open on that
Speaker 1: team down South? I'll say team down South. You don't
Speaker 1: have to say it today, but have you allowed have
Speaker 1: you allowed to keep one eye open on what what
Speaker 1: Kilani's doing with a decent start for b Yu.
Speaker 8: Well, I haven't had a chance to watch, but obviously
Speaker 8: they're heard, and you know it's very you know, obviously
Speaker 8: they're they're undefeated and doing a good job. But we're
Speaker 8: so focused on the task at hand and who's up next.
Speaker 8: That's where all our attention lies. But so far, it's
Speaker 8: good to see football in the city of Utah thriving.
Speaker 1: Thank you, sir, have a great week of prep. Best
Speaker 1: of luck Saturday night. Pulling for is always Kyle, Thanks
Speaker 1: so much.
Speaker 8: Okay, spender take care all right, there's.
Speaker 2: A coach wack. Kyle winning Im, the head coach at
Speaker 2: the University of Utah.
Speaker 1: On a Wednesday edition of The Drive more coming up
Speaker 1: next right here on ESPN seven hundred all I would
Speaker 1: live today here at beer bar right downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.
Speaker 2: Come on by and say hi.
Speaker 1: It's a great day outside, man, it's like eighty five degrees.
Speaker 2: Something like it.
Speaker 1: It's one sixty one East, two hundred South, downtown Salt Lake.
Speaker 2: The deck is open.
Speaker 1: People are outside having beverages, so come on down.
Speaker 2: They've got great sausages, great burgers. They're shooting a commercial
Speaker 2: next door at bar X.
Speaker 1: I've been very curious to witness who's walking in and
Speaker 1: out of that or right next to us. I've not
Speaker 1: seen Ty Burrell yet. Nick Romondo and the crew, I
Speaker 1: haven't seen anybody yet. But they are shooting a commercial.
Speaker 1: It's kind of hopping down here, so come on down
Speaker 1: and say what's up. One sixty one Eat, two hundred South.
Speaker 1: The parking out front is a little bit better than
Speaker 1: it has been for like, I don't know, seven years.
Speaker 1: The construction appears to be close to being completed, so
Speaker 1: we love.
Speaker 2: To see him.
Speaker 1: All right, We're gonna bring in Dalton Losserman coming up
Speaker 1: right at the top of the four o'clock hour. It'
Speaker 1: stock some Pro football week four of the NFL gets
Speaker 1: rolling tomorrow. You can hear Thursday Night football on our
Speaker 1: radio station. It is going to be Dallas and New York.
Speaker 1: It's the Cowboys and the Giants. Feels like a little
Speaker 1: bit of a must win for the Cowboys. Quite frankly,
Speaker 1: I don't think the Giants are thought to be doing
Speaker 1: very much this year.
Speaker 2: And then Josh Pate will join us.
Speaker 1: A lot to do today with Josh paid as the
Speaker 1: eyes of the college football world are on Tuscal Loosen
Speaker 1: coming up on Saturday. Josh will be down there with
Speaker 1: his college football pod. And so it's Georgia, it's Bama
Speaker 1: and should be a really really fun game as Alabama
Speaker 1: is a home underdog for the first time since two
Speaker 1: thousand and seven.
Speaker 2: All Right, in case you missed it, you know, this
Speaker 2: was a story that.
Speaker 1: Broke oh Man about four or four or five hours
Speaker 1: ago thereabouts, something like that. So UNLV, believe it or not,
Speaker 1: you ONLV is a really good football program currently, not historically,
Speaker 1: but they've got a good team this year. They've beaten
Speaker 1: two Big twelve teams on the road. They beat Houston,
Speaker 1: Houston's not great, but then they went and they beat
Speaker 1: Kansas at their house. They hung seventy two on Texas Tech.
Speaker 1: They're undefeated right now out of the Mountain West, and
Speaker 1: Vegas has them as the favorite to represent the G
Speaker 1: five group of five teams in the CFP as of
Speaker 1: right now, and this morning, they're starting quarterback who's played
Speaker 1: really well for them, kidnamed Matthew Sluka, who on the
Speaker 1: season right now is a QP about one point thirty seven,
Speaker 1: six touchdowns, one pick, he can really run it, two
Speaker 1: thirty nine carries, two fifty nine he's rushed for a touchdown.
Speaker 1: He's rushing for about six and a half yards per carry.
Speaker 1: Holy Cross Transfer and according to his agent, so Matthew
Speaker 1: Sluca has left the team, all right. This is the
Speaker 1: starting quarterback for an undefeated three to zero UNLV football
Speaker 1: team who right now appears to be in the driver's
Speaker 1: seat to be the G five rep in the CFP.
Speaker 2: And obviously there's a ton of football left.
Speaker 1: But when you look at the rest of their schedule,
Speaker 1: their biggest pitfall is probably Boise State, but they get
Speaker 1: Boise State at home. They've got a pretty manageable schedule
Speaker 1: the rest of the way. There's no reason to believe
Speaker 1: that this early season success would not have continued. But
Speaker 1: Matthew Sluca has left the team officially, he is out
Speaker 1: overclaims of an unfulfilled verbal NIL promise from a UNLV
Speaker 1: assistant coach, and ultimately this has been met with a
Speaker 1: lot of different reactions, and so I always like to
Speaker 1: read Ross Dellinger on this stuff. Ross writes for Yahoo
Speaker 1: He's kind of a north star on some of the
Speaker 1: nil and business of college football topics that we kind
Speaker 1: of deal with every single day with this sport that
Speaker 1: we all love but all we all love it, but
Speaker 1: it drives it's all crazy. As I talked about earlier,
Speaker 1: when Aaron falkstop I live here at beer bar. When
Speaker 1: they get college football right, I'm really really excited to
Speaker 1: see what that looks like, because this is such a
Speaker 1: massive behemoth business and such a phenomenal entertainment product without
Speaker 1: any tangible leadership or grown ups in the room that
Speaker 1: seem to know what they're doing. You get the right
Speaker 1: people in charge, you actually get college football settled in,
Speaker 1: you get it right. You take it away from the NCAA,
Speaker 1: screw the collegiate model.
Speaker 2: You can see you can miss me entirely with that.
Speaker 1: Okay, the toothpaste is out of the tube, the genies
Speaker 1: out of the bottle.
Speaker 2: Use whatever cliche you want to use.
Speaker 1: There's no going back to amateurism, which was never real,
Speaker 1: and the you know, the the sanctity of amateur athletics,
Speaker 1: which is always a farce. They invented terms in order
Speaker 1: to not pay labor tax. Terms like student athlete that
Speaker 1: we all just regurgitated because we didn't know any better,
Speaker 1: was propagated into our lives. And if you love football,
Speaker 1: you speak the language, so we all use the terms.
Speaker 1: But when you realize what you know, the Wizard of
Speaker 1: Oz is really doing behind the curtain, then you start
Speaker 1: to get wise a little bit to understand what this
Speaker 1: stuff really is about. And right now, as much as ever,
Speaker 1: they've got to find a way to get leadership, and
Speaker 1: they need a commissioner. They need a breakaway from the NCAA.
Speaker 1: The good news is they have a business model that
Speaker 1: they can utilize for best practices, and that is pro football.
Speaker 2: It's the NFL, It essentially is anyway.
Speaker 1: But until they allow the players to unionize and collectively
Speaker 1: bargain now the question now, right now is who would
Speaker 1: they collectively bargain with?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 1: The House first NCAA settlement will be a couple of
Speaker 1: steps in the right direction. But this was thought to
Speaker 1: be finished months ago. And the dirty little secret is
Speaker 1: when lawyers get involved, they like to stack up those
Speaker 1: billable hours, so I'm sure they're not in a hurry
Speaker 1: to push this thing through. And the dirty little secret
Speaker 1: is Saturdays still feel like Saturday. So I can sit
Speaker 1: here in belly ache about what I perceive to be
Speaker 1: a sport that's broken. But then on Saturday morning, I'm
Speaker 1: sitting down like the rest of you with my coffee
Speaker 1: and my breakfast brito. I'm ready to watch games, I'm
Speaker 1: ready to go to games, I'm ready to cover the sport,
Speaker 1: and I enjoy it. So when I say it's broken,
Speaker 1: it's certainly the system and the business that's broken. But
Speaker 1: this is an example I think of one of the
Speaker 1: more invasive scenarios and situations that's happened that should really
Speaker 1: open your eyes to how crazy the chaos is starting
Speaker 1: to become and has been becoming for sometime. Like let's say,
Speaker 1: for instance, Utah's four and oh and let's say Cam.
Speaker 2: Has been able to stay healthy.
Speaker 1: He played in all four games, He's balling out all
Speaker 1: four games, Utah's four and oh their top ten, and
Speaker 1: Cam suddenly is like, I'm out. I'm leaving. It's not
Speaker 1: that I'm not playing this week. I'm leaving the program.
Speaker 1: I'm moving home because somebody promised me one hundred k verbally. Now,
Speaker 1: the reports that are coming out is the assistant coach
Speaker 1: is adamly denying this and kids, listen up, get it
Speaker 1: in writing. Okay, So there any Utah byu Utah State
Speaker 1: football players, athletes listening to this. First of all, what
Speaker 1: are you doing? Go live your life. Second of all,
Speaker 1: if you happen to be tuned in, get it in writing,
Speaker 1: get it in writing, period, moving forward. No matter what,
Speaker 1: verbal promises are way too easy to deny by people
Speaker 1: who don't have any moral code.
Speaker 2: And I don't know what happened.
Speaker 1: I was not on the phone with the conversation that
Speaker 1: took place between Matthew Sluca and the you it'll be
Speaker 1: assistant back all the way back when they were going
Speaker 1: through the recruiting process. According to Matthew Sluca's agent, Marcus Camardi,
Speaker 1: the comment that was made to Matthew Sluca was quote,
Speaker 1: come play here and will pay you one hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: That's their side of the story, but there's no recording
Speaker 1: of the conversation, there's no actual contract. This simply comes
Speaker 1: down to your word verse mind, and that's not enough
Speaker 1: proof to push anything through, especially when they're a six
Speaker 1: figure paycheck at stake. Now, again, this is a bigger
Speaker 1: deal than most people are making because this is in
Speaker 1: the nil and transfer portal world of college football. I
Speaker 1: think the folks that have been sounded the alarm have
Speaker 1: been proven to be more or less incorrect, because, like
Speaker 1: I said, Saturday's in the Fall still feel like Saturday's
Speaker 1: in the Fall. Top shelf. College football is still the
Speaker 1: second most popular sport in our country, number one, of
Speaker 1: course being pro football. And those dynamics haven't changed. Teams
Speaker 1: have changed conferences, and it's weird to see our former
Speaker 1: Pac twelve friends in the SEC in the Big ten,
Speaker 1: and it's weird that suddenly, you know, if you had
Speaker 1: a buddy that decided to move to Bali for four
Speaker 1: years and he's a sports fan, he came home and
Speaker 1: you're like, oh, hey, just so you know, Utah and
Speaker 1: by you're in the Big twelve and Utah States in
Speaker 1: the Pac twelve. Now, like yes, it's different, it's chaotic,
Speaker 1: it's crazy. There's plenty of money. They told us for
Speaker 1: years there was not enough money to pay everybody.
Speaker 2: There is. There's more than enough.
Speaker 1: It is a multi billion dollar business with very healthy
Speaker 1: P and L statements and revenue streams, despite no business
Speaker 1: acumen or leadership from the people who are actually in
Speaker 1: the seats that matter. It will be studied years from
Speaker 1: now as far as how could this have happened? How
Speaker 1: could a business with no tangible leadership, no really forward thinking,
Speaker 1: intelligent people in charge have created this scenario in this
Speaker 1: business and this product that millions and millions and millions
Speaker 1: and millions of people will consume, no matter how bad
Speaker 1: you screw it up, like they obviously haven't screwed it
Speaker 1: up that bad, because if they would, if you guys
Speaker 1: would not be watching, you would not be going. But
Speaker 1: TV ratings for both pro and NFL pro football and
Speaker 1: college football through.
Speaker 2: The roof, my understanding is attendance through the roof. There
Speaker 2: is a thirst for this game.
Speaker 1: There is a desire to consume college football games, college
Speaker 1: football shows, college football podcasts, radio shows, TV shows, whatever
Speaker 1: it is. This time of year, people are eating it up,
Speaker 1: and so I've never been an alarmist about the future
Speaker 1: and president of college football. I've never been a ring
Speaker 1: the alarm bell. This sport that we all love is
Speaker 1: in trouble. I don't believe that to be true, simply
Speaker 1: because the product is too good. You know, you go
Speaker 1: to see Pearl Jam. It doesn't matter where you see him.
Speaker 1: You love Pearl Jam. It's gonna sound like Pearl Jamm.
Speaker 1: Like things change, venues are different, drummers quit and other
Speaker 1: musicians are hired.
Speaker 2: If you love the product, you're gonna love the product
Speaker 2: no matter what.
Speaker 1: But today is from my vantage point, today's the first
Speaker 1: day a player straight up quit and a quarterback for
Speaker 1: a team that is off to an incredible start to
Speaker 1: the season just straight up quit because he claims a
Speaker 1: verbal promise was made to him that he was set
Speaker 1: to be paid one hundred thousand dollars. And on the
Speaker 1: other side of the story is they're denying that they
Speaker 1: ever made the promise. So tomorrow the NCAA, the Power Conferences,
Speaker 1: and their attorneys must file a brief in the House
Speaker 1: Anti Trust Settlement. Of course, a multi billion dollar agreement
Speaker 1: that would usher into the sport direct revenue sharing with
Speaker 1: athletes and more notably given this situation, provide transparency or
Speaker 1: binding agreements directly with schools. This is my guy Ross
Speaker 1: Dellinger kind of walking us through the whole thing.
Speaker 2: So both sides are spoken to this.
Speaker 1: Point, and we're not really sure exactly where the truth is. Coramarti,
Speaker 1: who's the agent for Equity Sports representing this young man,
Speaker 1: is saying, quote, it starts off with full transparency. We
Speaker 1: must allow these negotiations and these written agreements to happen
Speaker 1: and not put so many relegations on them. The school
Speaker 1: and coaches are negotiating, but you are allowing someone else
Speaker 1: to pay for it, hoping they get the money from Boosters.
Speaker 1: It's very messy.
Speaker 2: So essentially, if you read between the lines, this is
Speaker 2: Matthew Sluca's agent, Marcus Cremarti.
Speaker 1: What he's saying is their side of the story is
Speaker 1: an assistant coach simply made a promise and he was
Speaker 1: trying to write a check that he couldn't cash, and
Speaker 1: the promise that was made was contingent upon the one
Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars coming from Boosters, alumni donors and such,
Speaker 1: and the money never came. That's the side of the
Speaker 1: story from Kramarti and Sluka, and on the other side
Speaker 1: of it, UNLV just essentially is said that there was
Speaker 1: never it was never promised, so it was a one
Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars nil deal promised by an assistant coach.
Speaker 1: It was not made with the collective. This is according
Speaker 1: to Rob Sign, who's the CEO of Blueprint Sports. We
Speaker 1: talked about Blueprint on the show before. Blueprint Sports operates
Speaker 1: UNLV's collective, and so Rob Sign has come out and
Speaker 1: said the collective is not made an agreement to pace
Speaker 1: Luca one hundred thousand dollars. They did make a one
Speaker 1: time payment of three grand to Sluka as recently as
Speaker 1: last weekend, and according to the collective, which again that's
Speaker 1: the piece of this that really needs to come into
Speaker 1: play here, because if you kind of connect the dots,
Speaker 1: what we're seeing as the story unfolds is the assistant
Speaker 1: coach made a promise and he believed on the back
Speaker 1: end of the promise the collective would make it right.
Speaker 1: But it looks like the assistant coach did not talk
Speaker 1: to the collective before making the promise to the athlete,
Speaker 1: and therefore the collective today has said, you know, we
Speaker 1: never made this promise, but they were discussing a monthly
Speaker 1: payment of three thousand dollars before Sluca decided to leave.
Speaker 1: And he's going to use his red shirt, by the way,
Speaker 1: to leave the team. So players can compete in up
Speaker 1: to four games in a season and still use a
Speaker 1: red shirt. So I guess that answers the question as
Speaker 1: to why he left when he did, so he will
Speaker 1: utilize that red shirt. Like I said, he's a Holy
Speaker 1: Cross quarterback that's a lower level school. Didn't know much
Speaker 1: about him. He's played really well for UNLV this year.
Speaker 1: So Coramarti has actually gone on and say, quote the collective.
Speaker 2: So it's funny how this is going.
Speaker 1: So the collective chimes in, Camarti c chimes in, and
Speaker 1: Kmarti is the agent for Sluka, he said, quote the
Speaker 1: collective may not have agreed to the one hundred thousand dollars,
Speaker 1: but the coaches did.
Speaker 2: So the schools released.
Speaker 1: A statement now and again this is this is a
Speaker 1: really big deal because from my vantage point, this is unprecedented. Yes,
Speaker 1: players have left, Yes, players have transferred. Yes, players get
Speaker 1: disgruntled about playing time or touches or now maybe nil,
Speaker 1: but a starting quarterback for a team that's undefeated and
Speaker 1: the Vegas favorite to be a G five rep in
Speaker 1: the CFP has left the program over a verbal promise
Speaker 1: that was made him for one hundred thousand dollars, Like
Speaker 1: if this doesn't resonate with you as to why this
Speaker 1: sport needs not relegation regulation as soon as possible, and
Speaker 1: an adult in charge, a commissioner that knows the business
Speaker 1: of sports, a commissioner that understands the relationships between i'll
Speaker 1: say owners and players.
Speaker 2: In this case it's schools and players.
Speaker 1: But because my belief has been for a long time
Speaker 1: that we are high speed ahead to college football looking
Speaker 1: a lot like pro football, just kind of use the
Speaker 1: same verbiage, like you need somebody who understands the dynamic
Speaker 1: of employer employee in pro sports, of owner of athlete,
Speaker 1: of owner of coach, like you need somebody that understands
Speaker 1: the entire dynamic of the situation. And then you need
Speaker 1: on that side of the business a very good, solid
Speaker 1: infrastructure in place of smart, capable people, just.
Speaker 2: Like there are at the NFL.
Speaker 1: You could say what you want about Roger Goodell, the
Speaker 1: business of football is insanely good and then on the
Speaker 1: other side, you let the players unionize, they hire a
Speaker 1: players rep and then you collectively bargain and then.
Speaker 2: These kids sign contracts.
Speaker 1: And yes, you don't love that, because then it becomes
Speaker 1: more clear and present right in front of your face
Speaker 1: that it's pro. Guys, It's been pro for a long time. Okay,
Speaker 1: now it's just time to bring it out of the shadows.
Speaker 1: And I understand that you don't love that.
Speaker 2: I understand. I hear from a lot of you that college.
Speaker 1: Football doesn't land with you the way that it used to,
Speaker 1: because you loved the idea of players playing for the
Speaker 1: love of the game and a scholarship as opposed to
Speaker 1: a paycheck. The problem is, behind the scenes, there were
Speaker 1: several people getting wealthy building the business on the back
Speaker 1: of these employees. They didn't pay. It was blatant anti trust.
Speaker 1: You know, it was breaking anti trust rules. They were
Speaker 1: a serial anti trust violator. Judges told them that the
Speaker 1: Supreme Court told them that they were essentially kicked out
Speaker 1: of court, and the judge said, go figure it out.
Speaker 1: And Mark Emmer just decided to essentially ride out into
Speaker 1: the sunset, because that's the dude who was in charge
Speaker 1: of most of the botched years of decision making anyway,
Speaker 1: and now we're step by step trying to figure it out.
Speaker 1: But today is an example that as a college football fan,
Speaker 1: you should be a little bit concerned that they're not
Speaker 1: figuring it out fast enough, because today it's UNLV's quarterback,
Speaker 1: Tomorrow it could be Ohio State's quarterback. You just don't
Speaker 1: know if these promises are being made by folks that
Speaker 1: simply just don't know any better because they believe that
Speaker 1: their promises will be made right on the back end
Speaker 1: by their collectives. And obviously the communication structure here has
Speaker 1: been extremely flawed because you have four different people pointing
Speaker 1: in four different directions about how this actually all went down.
Speaker 1: But you allow the players to hire a players Union
Speaker 1: director like they have in pro sports, and believe me,
Speaker 1: there will be lawyers lining up to work for both
Speaker 1: the NCAA and the players, because lawyers like billable hours.
Speaker 2: Send your kids law school.
Speaker 1: Okay, So there'll be plenty of smart people lined up
Speaker 1: to participate in what I perceive to be a badly
Speaker 1: needed solution, and I've believed it to be a badly
Speaker 1: needed solution for quite some time. The problem is at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, the product doesn't suffer.
Speaker 2: You still watch, you still attend.
Speaker 1: The live TV rights continue to spike in value, and
Speaker 1: it's hard to stay hungry when you're well fed, right.
Speaker 1: I kind of alluded to that with my conversation with
Speaker 1: Coach Witt earlier in the hour. This is a man who,
Speaker 1: in his mid sixties has made more money than he
Speaker 1: could ever spend.
Speaker 2: He's won conference championship at every level.
Speaker 1: He's been like, what is it that motivates you to
Speaker 1: get out of bed every day? When you've accomplished so
Speaker 1: many things, and when the business of college football is
Speaker 1: still very sound, there will not be a sense of
Speaker 1: urgency from the people that quite frankly, should be urgent
Speaker 1: about their actions because things like this are going to happen.
Speaker 1: Key players from good football teams are just going to bounce.
Speaker 1: And oh, by the way, I haven't even touched on
Speaker 1: the bevy of lawsuits that has been filed will be
Speaker 1: filed against the nc against the NCAA. The latest was
Speaker 1: the lawsuit filed by Reggie Bush, who, by the way,
Speaker 1: is probably the one dude that should absolutely file the lawsuit.
Speaker 1: But they went back with the House settlement to essentially
Speaker 1: take care of athletes.
Speaker 2: I believe it was back to two thy twelve or something.
Speaker 1: I'll have to look that up because I want to
Speaker 1: make sure I get that information right. But the problem
Speaker 1: is plenty of lawyers will take your phone call and
Speaker 1: take your case. If you were a really good college athlete,
Speaker 1: like the year before, they're cut off point and just
Speaker 1: because you graduated in eleven instead of twelve, you're not
Speaker 1: you know, you're not able to participate in any distributions
Speaker 1: or settlements. They're going to continue to deal with these lawsuits.
Speaker 1: And I don't see what the endgame is. I really
Speaker 1: don't because at some point, I mean, they've already written
Speaker 1: out a bunch of checks, they've already tried to make
Speaker 1: a bunch of things right. And you know, with the
Speaker 1: house settlement, we'll see exactly when the dust settles, what
Speaker 1: the details are. But today it's Reggie Bush. Tomorrow it's
Speaker 1: the next guy who maybe at some point in his
Speaker 1: life has fallen on tough times and he's flat broke,
Speaker 1: and maybe he was a four year awesome quarterback at
Speaker 1: some decent school.
Speaker 2: And he graduated the year before.
Speaker 1: The rest of the athletes who are able to participate
Speaker 1: in the distribution graduated, he's gonna say, where's mine, and
Speaker 1: that's gonna be another lawsuit like this is such a case,
Speaker 1: an example of awful preparation, and how if you don't
Speaker 1: handle your business immediately and you procrastinate and you kick
Speaker 1: the can down the road, suddenly you're left with a
Speaker 1: tidal wave of problems and you don't know which way
Speaker 1: is up, and you don't know which way is down.
Speaker 2: And I honestly don't know how this plays out.
Speaker 1: I'll just repeat what I've been saying on this program
Speaker 1: now for five years. The sooner you can get to
Speaker 1: the pro model, the sooner you have a commissioner in
Speaker 1: place on one side, in charge of the business affairs of
Speaker 1: the league.
Speaker 2: And yes, I'm going to call it the league because
Speaker 2: it will be one league of like forty teams.
Speaker 1: This is not a new take. You guys have heard
Speaker 1: or read all about this stuff. It will be one league,
Speaker 1: thirty five forty teams. So the commissioner is in charge
Speaker 1: of the governing body of that league. And then you
Speaker 1: allow the players to unionize, and the players can unionize
Speaker 1: if they're in the league, of course, not the other
Speaker 1: teams that will be left out, which is an UH
Speaker 1: which is an unfortunate piece of collateral damage that is unavoidable.
Speaker 1: The players are allowed to unionize with a player's association president.
Speaker 1: They have that in the pro leagues. Every pro league
Speaker 1: has it. And then you collectively bargain. Okay, you open
Speaker 1: up the books. What are the revenue streams? What exactly
Speaker 1: are you bringing in as a result of everything that
Speaker 1: this new league entails, TV rights, ticket rip, merch, food
Speaker 1: and bev.
Speaker 2: All of it. Okay, And then then you split the pie.
Speaker 1: And you know, usually in pro sports it's split almost
Speaker 1: fifty to fifty. Typically there are a couple of percentage
Speaker 1: points in the way of the athletes because they are
Speaker 1: the product.
Speaker 2: I think the last NBA.
Speaker 1: Revenue split was like fifty four forty six or something.
Speaker 1: It's close to fifty to fifty, but percentage points skewed
Speaker 1: towards the athletes because they are the product and their
Speaker 1: shelf life as an employee is much shorter than a
Speaker 1: Roger Goodell who can do his job for fifty years.
Speaker 2: So take care of the players.
Speaker 1: Allow him to unionize, pay them and yes, they signed contracts,
Speaker 1: and guess what that will do? That will aid the
Speaker 1: complications of the transfer portal. I know you hate it.
Speaker 1: I know it's uncomfortable to say out loud. Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: a University of Utah fan and they're gonna sign their
Speaker 1: next quarterback to a four year, twenty two million dollar
Speaker 1: deal or whatever. I know that's uncomfortable, But that's capitalism,
Speaker 1: that's America. That's the reality of where this business is.
Speaker 1: And the players should have had a piece of the
Speaker 1: pie long before this, and if they did, instead of
Speaker 1: being lied to by bad actors and Charlatan's, we wouldn't
Speaker 1: be in this mess where.
Speaker 2: We're at today. But I will reiterate my bottom line.
Speaker 1: The product is still great, and the games are awesome,
Speaker 1: and Saturday's in the fall still feel like Saturdays in
Speaker 1: the fall. But this situation with Matthew Sluga Sluca, excuse
Speaker 1: me leaving UNLV. They're starting quarterback after they start three
Speaker 1: to zero with two wins over Big twelve teams, and
Speaker 1: they're the Vegas favorite to be the G five rep
Speaker 1: in the CFP, and he bounces. Guys, he's not leaving
Speaker 1: for a day. He's not saying I'm not playing this week.
Speaker 2: He left. He's using his.
Speaker 1: Red shirt to sit out because of a verbal promise
Speaker 1: that he said was made to him for a one
Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars check that was never made right by
Speaker 1: the collective. Just another example of the lack of leadership
Speaker 1: and direction when it comes to this unbelievable product. And
Speaker 1: whoever gets college football right will cash in in a
Speaker 1: way that I don't think anyone's ever really dreamed of.
Speaker 1: That's how fruitful and profitable this sport could be from
Speaker 1: a business standpoint, even more so than it is now
Speaker 1: with the right person in charge, as opposed to kicking
Speaker 1: the can down the road and saying we'll deal with
Speaker 1: it later.
Speaker 2: Guys, later is here, Okay, deal with it now.
Speaker 1: Move closer towards that pro model and do it quickly,
Speaker 1: because it actually would alleviate a lot of the problems
Speaker 1: that people complain about. If Matthew Sluca signed a one
Speaker 1: year deal with UNLV to play quarterback, if he's sign
Speaker 1: the deal, if it was in writing, we.
Speaker 2: Wouldn't be dealing with this today.
Speaker 1: And you nav football fans, I don't know how many
Speaker 1: there are, but you want to be football fans, wouldn't
Speaker 1: be bummed out because they're not historically good in football
Speaker 1: suddenly he did a couple of Big twelve teams on
Speaker 1: the road.
Speaker 2: Vegas has them as the G five favor to make
Speaker 2: the CFP.
Speaker 1: You get pumped and boom, you wake up and your
Speaker 1: quarterback left because of a quote unquote verbal promise that
Speaker 1: was made to him. Sign a contract. You don't have
Speaker 1: to worry about it. Sign a contract, don't have to
Speaker 1: worry about transfers. A lot of this, a lot of
Speaker 1: the issues with college football right now would be alleviated
Speaker 1: instantly if you just.
Speaker 2: Went to a professional model.
Speaker 1: And I know it's not comfortable for a lot of you,
Speaker 1: but at this point, what's your alternative, because what's happening
Speaker 1: now it's just the definition of insanity. You're doing the
Speaker 1: same thing over and over again and you're expecting different results.
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Speaker 1: Live today at beer Bar. Come on down and say
Speaker 1: what's up. It's one sixty one East, two hundred south.
Speaker 1: Beautiful day, man. Come on by if you're getting off
Speaker 1: work early, you want to get your Wednesday afternoon started
Speaker 1: out the right way.
Speaker 2: One sixty oneies, two hundred South, downtown Salt Lake.
Speaker 1: All right, we're live today right downtown Salt Lake City.
Speaker 1: Beer Bar is where we're at, as we are often
Speaker 1: on remote.
Speaker 2: One sixty twenties, two hundred South. Come on bye.
Speaker 1: We've got some football replays going on, both college and pro.
Speaker 2: Little fantasy football show. On my left.
Speaker 1: They're doing the top fifty NHL player countdown on the
Speaker 1: NHL Network, So we've got a lot going on. They've
Speaker 1: got one hundred and fifty beers on tap, fifty beers
Speaker 1: and cans and bottles, sage, sausages, burgers, brats, friesat Come.
Speaker 2: On down and say what's up.
Speaker 1: We'll talk more football now, our buddy, Dalton Wasserman Pro
Speaker 1: Football Focus back on the drive, Dalton, Happy Wednesday, man,
Speaker 1: How are we doing?
Speaker 7: Happy Wednesday? Pretty good? I'll tell you what you mentioned.
Speaker 7: All those other things on the TV there, but we're
Speaker 7: squaring the hard of football season, now.
Speaker 2: Aren't we Yes we are, Yes we are.
Speaker 1: So I want to get your take on a situation
Speaker 1: that we've discussed on the show so far, and that
Speaker 1: is and this is I don't want to say I'm
Speaker 1: not an alarmist. I'm not saying it's a really bad omen,
Speaker 1: but it really feels like kind of a first. UNLV
Speaker 1: is three and oh they've being a couple of Big
Speaker 1: twelve teams. They're the Vegas favorite to represent the G
Speaker 1: five and the CFP, and their starting quarterback left the
Speaker 1: team this morning over a one hundred thousand dollars nil dispute. Ultimately,
Speaker 1: this is a promise that Matthew Sluca and his agent
Speaker 1: are claiming that an assistant coach made via a telephone call.
Speaker 1: Vegas is denying that that promise was ever made. So
Speaker 1: we'll get to games, We'll get to all the things
Speaker 1: you want to break down. But I view this as
Speaker 1: a pretty big deal, man, give me your thoughts, Dalton.
Speaker 7: It's a huge deal because just on the football field,
Speaker 7: Sluca was playing excellent, just like he was at Holy
Speaker 7: Cross for several years, and UNLV was a legitimate threat
Speaker 7: to win them mount in the West and a legitimate
Speaker 7: playoff threat. And now you take you know, you bring
Speaker 7: that into question now if you're starting quarterback Leaves who
Speaker 7: was playing really good and to get two Power five
Speaker 7: wins already over Kansas and Houston, and possibly they got
Speaker 7: Syracuse coming not this week, they got a big game
Speaker 7: with President State this week, but Syracuse next week at
Speaker 7: Hame who with sloga, you couldn't put it past them
Speaker 7: winning that game either. And if they had won that
Speaker 7: game and had three Power five wins, you almost have
Speaker 7: to you would have had to consider them the favorite.
Speaker 7: And they still could be, maybe with Hodja Malik Williams
Speaker 7: or whoever's going to play quarterback there. But it's a
Speaker 7: huge deal, and it says so much about just the
Speaker 7: lack of regulation and what's going on in college football
Speaker 7: right now. There's so many, so many battles to be
Speaker 7: fought and so many, so much gray area that just
Speaker 7: has not been and handled properly so far, but by
Speaker 7: just by anybody involved. There's just no oversight and no
Speaker 7: regulation for this sort of thing right now. So I
Speaker 7: understand certain things from both sides on this, and it's
Speaker 7: hard to really it's hard to really make judgments when
Speaker 7: when at a higher level that this is not the
Speaker 7: first or the last time that we're going to hear
Speaker 7: about this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's certainly the first time.
Speaker 1: It seems to have kind of unfolded the way that
Speaker 1: it has with all the different dynamics. But yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's, it's it's a tenuous time. The product is
Speaker 1: still the product which I always talk about, Saturday's in
Speaker 1: the Fall still feel like Saturday's in the Fall and
Speaker 1: TV ratings for college football very healthy attendance through the roof.
Speaker 1: So the product itself, Dalton is still the product that
Speaker 1: we all love.
Speaker 2: But whoever ends up getting this thing right, whoever ends.
Speaker 1: Up getting college football right? You know, the product product
Speaker 1: is amazing. It's a multi billion dollar yearly revenue stream
Speaker 1: business without legitimate leadership. Whoever ends up kind of this
Speaker 1: thing right and studying the ship is going to be
Speaker 1: looked at as some crazy hero for a long time
Speaker 1: because even though the product is what drives the business,
Speaker 1: which means you have an excellent business, it does badly
Speaker 1: need the right guys in the right seats in charge.
Speaker 7: Yeah, absolutely, I mean, and a lot of that comes
Speaker 7: down to, you know, at the NCAA level where they're
Speaker 7: just going to have to figure out some sort of
Speaker 7: solution to this, because the lines were always blurred us
Speaker 7: as to whether these players were actually amateurs or semi professionals,
Speaker 7: or they should be paid or what. And then eventually,
Speaker 7: instead of finding a solution for all these years, it
Speaker 7: just broke down and the walls came down and they said, well,
Speaker 7: it's pretty much pay to play at this point, but
Speaker 7: there's no rules to it, right, so, you know, and
Speaker 7: for and it makes life harder for teams and for
Speaker 7: coaches and to find success.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 7: It used to be where, well, we're the program and
Speaker 7: we have the notoriety, so this is where people go.
Speaker 7: But you know, I can't remember we had on our
Speaker 7: PFF College Football show a while back, months ago, we
Speaker 7: had Mac Brown on the show, and one thing he
Speaker 7: had talked about was recruiting used to be one road
Speaker 7: of just battle right, high school recruiting. Now there's three.
Speaker 7: There is high school recruiting, there is bringing transfers in,
Speaker 7: and then there's what you have in this case of
Speaker 7: keeping your own players happy and paying your own players
Speaker 7: enough so they'll stay. So it's only gotten harder at
Speaker 7: all levels to regulate this thing.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move over to oh hello, let's fix
Speaker 1: those levels. Let's move over now to some college football.
Speaker 1: We'll end with a little NFL. But you know, around here,
Speaker 1: Utah continues to do what Utah does, and that's win
Speaker 1: games regardless of who's under center.
Speaker 2: It's about that you on the helmet, not the name
Speaker 2: on the back.
Speaker 1: And no Camon Rising last week and still Water and
Speaker 1: they still were able to get it done. Got a
Speaker 1: little dicey at the end, but Utah off to a
Speaker 1: four and zero starts after beating Okay, Stayton, Stillwater.
Speaker 2: Where you at with our Utah this way, Daldin.
Speaker 7: Look, that's a huge win because I think one of
Speaker 7: the concerns for Utah for me last year was the
Speaker 7: difference between kind of the home and road splits and production.
Speaker 7: But it's a huge win to go and beat one
Speaker 7: of the bigger contenders in the Big twelve. And Utah
Speaker 7: they just look, they almost defy the metrics and the
Speaker 7: analytics and stuff. They just find ways to get it
Speaker 7: done right. And they played good defense, and the run
Speaker 7: game works, and even without their quarterback. We saw it
Speaker 7: last year with several different quarterbacks. They find a way
Speaker 7: to win games. So another huge game this week with Arizona,
Speaker 7: but at home, coming off a big win like that,
Speaker 7: and maybe rising will be healthy this week. You have
Speaker 7: to think they have an advantage here.
Speaker 1: So let's stay in the Utah space for a moment.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about this Arizona game. Arizona thumped them a
Speaker 1: year ago and the players have all talked about it
Speaker 1: a lot this week.
Speaker 2: Coach who had joined the show earlier, so.
Speaker 1: I asked him how much payback is on the mind,
Speaker 1: and Kyle gave a Kyle coach his answer, But they're ready,
Speaker 1: you know, they want to get this thing done. And Dalton,
Speaker 1: I can't shake what I watched when k state it's
Speaker 1: not that they beat Arizona, it's that they bullied them.
Speaker 2: They bullied them in a way that Utah wants to
Speaker 2: bully you.
Speaker 1: I don't really have a lot of anxiety for Utah
Speaker 1: football this Saturday night.
Speaker 2: Either are an eleven point favorite.
Speaker 1: It's a late kick eight to fifteen, but it's gonna beautiful, sex,
Speaker 1: seventy degrees.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be an awesome night. Cannot wait. I'll be there.
Speaker 1: But what should what would you say to youth fans
Speaker 1: about the challenge Eliza ahead, what are your thoughts on
Speaker 1: Utah Arizona.
Speaker 7: No, I mean I think you should have a lot
Speaker 7: of faith going into this game because Arizona look on
Speaker 7: top of getting bullied like you mentioned against k State,
Speaker 7: Arizona doesn't have the depth on offense like they did
Speaker 7: last year. Right now, they need to find playmakers other
Speaker 7: than Tetro McMillan, because he may be the best receiver
Speaker 7: in the country, but their offense right now is struggling
Speaker 7: to manufacture yards and points in ways that are you
Speaker 7: know that go the boat where the ball goes away
Speaker 7: from him. Right he accounts for a ton of their
Speaker 7: receiving yards, a ton of their total yards. But last year,
Speaker 7: when you look at Arizona's team, they had Jacob Powing,
Speaker 7: they had Michael Wilie, they had Jonah Coleman, they had
Speaker 7: other guys that were able to support them. So right
Speaker 7: now the entire offense is centered around McMillan and Arizona
Speaker 7: doesn't have a ton of other threats that we've seen
Speaker 7: through the first three games.
Speaker 1: Tell me what your impressions are of this young freshman
Speaker 1: quarterback as you've watched Isaac Wilson really grow a little
Speaker 1: bit over the past few weeks. You know, he was
Speaker 1: able to get some run week one against SUU Southern
Speaker 1: Utah because Utah was thumping him and it didn't look great.
Speaker 1: And he really has from my vantage point, improved week
Speaker 1: to week to week. Now, we still don't know the
Speaker 1: deal with Saturday Night as far as who is under center.
Speaker 1: Coach Witt on the show just about thirty minutes ago
Speaker 1: said that both are going to get reps with the
Speaker 1: Ones this week. I don't love that, if I'm honest,
Speaker 1: I feel like, if you know who the guy is,
Speaker 1: he needs all the reps with the Ones. Scott Mitchell
Speaker 1: jumped on the show yesterday and talked about that very dynamic,
Speaker 1: like if you're going to be the starter on Saturday, you.
Speaker 2: Want the reps with the Ones all week.
Speaker 1: But they're still hoping that Cameron's going to be healthy
Speaker 1: on Saturday, but keeping Isaac waiting in the wings as
Speaker 1: a contingency. Tell me what your impressions have been as
Speaker 1: you've watched Isaac Wilson now for about three games.
Speaker 7: I think you see from Isaac is he's one. He
Speaker 7: looks really young, right, He looks like a young freshman
Speaker 7: quarterback out there, and part of that is ball security.
Speaker 7: I believe in this game. It was a three turnover
Speaker 7: whethy plays I think he had in this past game,
Speaker 7: and they were able to work through it and lean
Speaker 7: on the run game in the defense. But ball security
Speaker 7: is a must that you have to get better with.
Speaker 7: You don't want to give Arizona short drives where they
Speaker 7: can just get some easy access points, because that was
Speaker 7: a big thing with Arizona last year. They got ahead
Speaker 7: in this game. But Wilson, it's ball security. But he
Speaker 7: is gutsy. I will give him that much. It's not
Speaker 7: easy to start on short notice like that in such
Speaker 7: a high pressure environment on the road in big games.
Speaker 7: So I think it kind of it kind of goes
Speaker 7: along with that correlates with the rest of the Utah
Speaker 7: team where it's just like it's it's gutsy and he
Speaker 7: finds a way to have enough success to win a
Speaker 7: ball game. But there's definitely a lot of things he
Speaker 7: could improve on.
Speaker 1: So there might be a chance, Dalton, that we have
Speaker 1: two really good college football teams in our state. And
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not ready, at least as of now,
Speaker 1: to say that BYU is a legitimate Big twelve you know,
Speaker 1: conference championship contender, but Dave State clean, they're four and zero.
Speaker 1: They get their first conference win as a result of
Speaker 1: just a curb stomping of k State.
Speaker 2: Like that game was.
Speaker 1: It was crazy, it was bizarre, it was weird, but
Speaker 1: it wasn't close. A lot of people in Provo say
Speaker 1: that's a statement. I kind of say, that's a combination
Speaker 1: of unbelievable fortune and prepared skill and Aaron Rodger capitalizing
Speaker 1: on his red zone opportunities. They get touchdowns, not field goals.
Speaker 1: That defense is so much better than it was a
Speaker 1: year ago, year two under j Hill.
Speaker 2: There d C.
Speaker 1: Kalani is a guy who cut his teeth under Kyle,
Speaker 1: so he knows defensive football. What are you willing to
Speaker 1: say about who you believe BYU football is this year
Speaker 1: as of today.
Speaker 7: I gotta be honest, it's hard not to look at
Speaker 7: him at least having the possibility of contending because that
Speaker 7: wasn't some miracle last second field goal win, you know,
Speaker 7: And I know there was a little bit of luck
Speaker 7: obviously the punt return and all of that, but that
Speaker 7: was a three phase beatdown and you rarely see that
Speaker 7: over a team, over a Kansas State team that's very
Speaker 7: fundamentally sound generally, and their defense is definitely better. Jake
Speaker 7: Restloff has definitely improved from what he was last year
Speaker 7: for a few starts, and I just think the overall
Speaker 7: physical nature and the well rounded nature of that team.
Speaker 7: If they as long as they avoid a letdown against Baylor,
Speaker 7: and we saw Baylor play a fun game with Colorado
Speaker 7: last week, as long as they avoid a letdown coming
Speaker 7: off a big win like that, I think they could
Speaker 7: contend because they're very well rounded and they're very physical.
Speaker 1: Before we move off the Big twelve, let me ask
Speaker 1: you the question, and again, just as of today, everything
Speaker 1: could change as of next Monday. How many teams do
Speaker 1: you believe as of today on this Wednesday can actually
Speaker 1: win this conference.
Speaker 7: Let me count this out. Utah absolutely, Kansas State can.
Speaker 7: They can rebound. They need a big rebound, but the
Speaker 7: Kansas State can still rebound. They're not dead out of
Speaker 7: it BYU if they can, if they can keep up, Look,
Speaker 7: you bk State like that, you at least have a chance.
Speaker 7: And I'll tell you something. I think the most fun
Speaker 7: game of the week this UCF Colorado game. I'm gonna
Speaker 7: be honest with you. I think this is this is
Speaker 7: a bit of a pole position game. I think these
Speaker 7: are two very good teams. UCF is a fourteen point favorite,
Speaker 7: and I don't think it should be that wide. I
Speaker 7: think people are under they're underestimating the progress being made
Speaker 7: in Colorado's front seven and their run defense. If Colorado
Speaker 7: goes out to Orlando and they prove they can slow
Speaker 7: down a run game like UCF. You know, the last
Speaker 7: two weeks they've been good but lighter run games Bailor
Speaker 7: in Colorado State. If they can prove their run defenses
Speaker 7: for real against UCF and come out of Orlando with
Speaker 7: a win, that's a huge win for Colorado. To put
Speaker 7: them on the inside track is We've got a couple
Speaker 7: of teams like Kansas and West Lawn and Oklahoma State
Speaker 7: who I don't think are what we expected them to be.
Speaker 7: There's probably five, five or six teams in there. But
Speaker 7: that Colorado UCF game is going to be a really
Speaker 7: important game. For that question you just.
Speaker 1: Asked, all right away from the Big twelve, but sticking
Speaker 1: with a little college football for a moment, We'll end
Speaker 1: with a thought or two on the pros. Last year
Speaker 1: for me, Daldon I can only speak for myself. It
Speaker 1: was hard to know who Michigan was because early on
Speaker 1: they didn't play anybody and they were thumping everybody, and
Speaker 1: a lot of people believe that they were one of
Speaker 1: the best teams in the country. I just didn't really
Speaker 1: see that because they weren't playing anybody.
Speaker 2: Are we dealing with the same thing.
Speaker 1: With Ohio State right now, because it feels like everybody's
Speaker 1: talking about Texas, everybody's talking about Tennessee.
Speaker 2: We'll get to Georgia Bama.
Speaker 1: But Ohio State, in my opinion, on paper, is as
Speaker 1: stacked as any of them. But we're not talking about
Speaker 1: them because all they do so far just beat up,
Speaker 1: beat up dud teams. Are we kind of dealing with
Speaker 1: the same dynamic this year with Ohio State as we
Speaker 1: did with Michigan a year ago.
Speaker 7: I think it is similar, and they have They have
Speaker 7: a little more of a real challenge this week against
Speaker 7: Michigan State, although I still think they should take care
Speaker 7: of business. Look, we're gonna learn all we need to
Speaker 7: know about Ohio State in a couple of weeks against Oregon.
Speaker 7: October twelfth, they go to Oregon, they go to Austin Stadium,
Speaker 7: and play Dylan Gabriel in that team. We're gonna warn
Speaker 7: everything we need to know about them and then how
Speaker 7: they readjust after either a win or a loss from
Speaker 7: that game. You're absolutely right though. They're loaded with talent.
Speaker 7: They've got a boatload of defensive talent. I think they're
Speaker 7: the best pair of running backs in the country with
Speaker 7: Trayvon Henderson and Quinn Shawn Judkins. The true freshman receiver
Speaker 7: Jeremiah Smith is just amazing. I mean, he doesn't look
Speaker 7: like a freshman at all. The question will be at
Speaker 7: quarterback in Big Spot, is will Howard the guy who
Speaker 7: can get him through a game like the Oregon game
Speaker 7: or the Michigan game or the Big Ten title game. Right,
Speaker 7: it's going to be the quarterback. But everything aside from
Speaker 7: their quarterback situation looks absolutely elite and at the very least,
Speaker 7: we're seeing them get through these games and take care
Speaker 7: of business.
Speaker 1: Tell me what what that win? If this did anything
Speaker 1: for you at all? Because I actually thought Tennessee was
Speaker 1: going to go down and smoke Oklahoma pretty good. I
Speaker 1: just had not been impressed with it sooner so far,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't as much of a lopsided game as
Speaker 1: I thought it would be. They're going to be at
Speaker 1: Arkansas and then home Agan's Florida before they see Bama.
Speaker 1: What are you Daldon today willing to say about the
Speaker 1: star that we've seen from Tennessee?
Speaker 2: What? What?
Speaker 6: What?
Speaker 2: Cold? This act do they live in right now?
Speaker 7: They absolutely should make the playoff, assuming they don't have
Speaker 7: any major slip ups, and if they actually it sounds funny,
Speaker 7: but they're two best players that we thought were gonna
Speaker 7: be their two best players coming into the season, quarterback
Speaker 7: Nico Imaalayava and edge rusher James Pierce Junior, and neither
Speaker 7: one of them is dominating. Yet they are dominating with
Speaker 7: the rest of the football team, with Dylan Stampson in
Speaker 7: the run game, with the rest of their defensive line,
Speaker 7: with the receivers. If they get those two superstars going,
Speaker 7: the actual two biggest names on the team, if those
Speaker 7: two guys get going at an elite level, because I
Speaker 7: don't think we've seen Nico's best football yet. We've seen flashes.
Speaker 7: The one touchdown throw against Oklahoma was amazing. The kids
Speaker 7: got all the talent in the world. But they're actually
Speaker 7: doing this with a team wide effort, and actually it
Speaker 7: slipped from my preseason expectation of them, where I thought, Okay,
Speaker 7: the quarterback and the star power is going to carry them.
Speaker 7: But right now the depth of their team is carrying them.
Speaker 7: And they're doing this, I could argue without even playing
Speaker 7: their best football yet. So there's still quite a heavy
Speaker 7: range of outcomes you could see with Tennessee. But they should.
Speaker 7: They're very close already to being if they go ten
Speaker 7: and two at least locked into the playoffs.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move over to some games this weekend,
Speaker 1: and let's just head on down to Tuscalusive because why
Speaker 1: not where Alabama is a home underdog for the first
Speaker 1: time since two thousand and seven.
Speaker 2: Georgia is getting too. They're George's two point favorite.
Speaker 1: And the conversation this week, Dalton, as you know, is
Speaker 1: does Kirby Smart have.
Speaker 2: A Bama problem? Or does he have a Nick Saban problem?
Speaker 1: I mean, I watched Kaylen Debor out coach Dan Lanning
Speaker 1: twice last year and I'm not saying he's Saban, but
Speaker 1: you know we've seen what Kaylen de Bor can do.
Speaker 2: What do you make of this matchup coming up?
Speaker 1: I mean it is the conversation is, you know, does
Speaker 1: Kirby Smart have a Bama problem or a Nick Saban problem?
Speaker 1: How do you think Saturday is going to play out
Speaker 1: down in Tuscaloosa?
Speaker 7: Weok, Honestly, I think what you have is Alabama is
Speaker 7: just one of the few teams that is on a
Speaker 7: similar talent level to Georgia every year, right And look,
Speaker 7: And I know Nick Saban was saymous for beating all
Speaker 7: of his assistants, right, I think I don't remember if
Speaker 7: you I think he was what he went like years
Speaker 7: and years without losing to an assistant before, what Jimbo
Speaker 7: Fisher did it? I think it was. I can't remember,
Speaker 7: but it's I think you just have teams of such
Speaker 7: similar talent that the margin of error is so small
Speaker 7: in these games. Personally, I have picked Alabama to win
Speaker 7: this game. I don't love what I'm seeing from Georgia's
Speaker 7: passing game right now. I think I think this game
Speaker 7: is going to be decided in moments when George's in
Speaker 7: third and seven, third and eight, third and ten, and
Speaker 7: if they can drop back in obvious passing situations and
Speaker 7: make things happen. I don't love what they have going
Speaker 7: on at receiver and a tight end right now. In
Speaker 7: the passing game. Georgia really needs to lean on their
Speaker 7: run game, lean on play action to stay in this
Speaker 7: or Alabama's secondary could take over on third downs.
Speaker 2: Baylor are two point favorite over BYU.
Speaker 1: Let's go back there real quick, because I didn't ask
Speaker 1: you about that game. How do you think it plays
Speaker 1: out in Waco, ten am Mountains on kick?
Speaker 7: It's very odd to me that BYU is the underdog
Speaker 7: after what they just did. So I don't know if
Speaker 7: somebody knows something that we don't, but BYU looked fantastic.
Speaker 7: They look well rounded last week, and you know, maybe
Speaker 7: it is it a letdown spot. I don't know. I
Speaker 7: know it's a road game now and you know you're
Speaker 7: getting away from Provo and the friendly confines there. But
Speaker 7: I think BYU should win that game. I mean, I know,
Speaker 7: I know Baylor played a good game with Colorado last week,
Speaker 7: but they are just They're one of the lower tier
Speaker 7: teams in the Big twelve, and if BYU is looking
Speaker 7: to contend, this is a game to have to win
Speaker 7: first of all. But I do from what I've seen
Speaker 7: so far, and they've grinded through the first three games
Speaker 7: and then a huge win last week. I think BYU's
Speaker 7: a better football team.
Speaker 1: All right, Before I say you lose, just a couple
Speaker 1: of quick NFL questions. First of all, thurs in that
Speaker 1: football look, I don't think the Cowboys will lose, But
Speaker 1: what's the conversation sound like if the Cowboys can't beat
Speaker 1: the Giants tomat night.
Speaker 7: You're gonna hear, You're gonna I think you're gonna hear
Speaker 7: about Mike McCarthy. I just I just think. And the
Speaker 7: Giants look, they look better with Molik Neighbors. Their defensive
Speaker 7: line looks great. They they they really really put a
Speaker 7: good beating on the Browns the other day. The score
Speaker 7: was closer than a lot of that game was because
Speaker 7: they fumbled the opening kickoff. But no, this is I'm
Speaker 7: in the boat where this is the must win for
Speaker 7: the Cowboys or you really start questioning them. But honestly,
Speaker 7: there's been a lot of talk about their run defense,
Speaker 7: but they need to be better upfront on offense too,
Speaker 7: And the Giants are a tough team to block with
Speaker 7: guys like Dexter Lawrence and Brian Burns up front, so
Speaker 7: that game could absolutely be tight. The Giants looked really
Speaker 7: good against the Browns this past week, especially upfront, they
Speaker 7: could cause the Cowboys issues. But I think if they
Speaker 7: lose this game, you start you're gonna start hearing Mike
Speaker 7: McCarthy's name in some conversations.
Speaker 1: All right, but before I set you loose, let me
Speaker 1: just ask the question this way. At this point, when
Speaker 1: you look at the at the way that things have.
Speaker 2: Have played out.
Speaker 1: I mean, I talked to you when you first joined
Speaker 1: us preseason that Vegas is telling us Chiefs Niners. If
Speaker 1: you're gonna beat on a Super Bowl winner, bet on
Speaker 1: Chiefs Niners. They're the two most elite teams by far.
Speaker 1: Injuries happen, things change. Who else now lives in the
Speaker 1: same neighborhood as the Chiefs and the Niners that you
Speaker 1: think will be in at come February next year.
Speaker 7: I think the Buffalo Bills have obviously said a great
Speaker 7: three weeks, and you've got a quarterback playing the way
Speaker 7: Josh Allen is playing at an MVP level, you can't
Speaker 7: take the Bills out of it. I think I'll tell
Speaker 7: you what I think. The Green Bay Packers getting these
Speaker 7: two wins with Malik willis installing until Jordan Love can
Speaker 7: get back. I think that's huge and I think that
Speaker 7: shows you something about the rest of our football team.
Speaker 7: I think the Packers and the Detroit Lions, and they've
Speaker 7: got Minnesota spanning in front of them right now in
Speaker 7: that division. You know, the Lions are starting to figure
Speaker 7: some things out. They're trying to get back to their
Speaker 7: roots a little bit. But I'm so impressed with these
Speaker 7: team wins that the Packers have gotten the last two
Speaker 7: weeks that I think they're a team in the NFC,
Speaker 7: especially with the Niners. The Niners are kind of limping
Speaker 7: a little bit. You've got McCaffrey. I read something that
Speaker 7: he might be out till December, Javon Hardgraves out for
Speaker 7: the year, and that's not a great Roaston. They just
Speaker 7: had to the Rams. So I think the NFC is
Speaker 7: pretty wide open, honestly.
Speaker 2: All right, man, thanks for the time, great football weekend ahead.
Speaker 2: Can't wait for it. We'll get you back on soon.
Speaker 6: Thanks Dalton, absolutely appreciate you, all right.
Speaker 2: Dalton Wasserman.
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Speaker 1: a month.
Speaker 2: We have statements. We have statements flying around.
Speaker 1: Tim Buckley, the NCAA Senior vice President for External Affairs,
Speaker 1: just to release the statement for the NCUBA basically saying
Speaker 1: there's nothing we can do. The collective at UNLV is
Speaker 1: statement as well regarding the decision by Matthew Sluca to
Speaker 1: well essentially leave the program.
Speaker 2: He's gonna utilize his red shirt.
Speaker 1: We'll get to these statements, but our next guests, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna take a little sip here. I'm gonna do a
Speaker 1: little paper pop. I do not have immunity, but we
Speaker 1: welcome him in. The Great Josh Pate from Josh Pat's
Speaker 1: College Football Show Back on the Drive, Josh, Happy Wednesday.
Speaker 2: Man, how we doing?
Speaker 6: I guess I'm doing good. I thought we were gonna
Speaker 6: wake up this morning. I thought I was gonna come
Speaker 6: on the show a little bit later today, and I thought, man,
Speaker 6: we got a big week of college football coming up.
Speaker 6: And then Log Behold, we get the old UNLV bomb
Speaker 6: dropping our lap and now we're talking about everything but football.
Speaker 6: I'm not saying us, but in general, that's been the
Speaker 6: talk all day.
Speaker 1: And certainly I want to get to the games more
Speaker 1: than anything else. But I do view this, Josh, to
Speaker 1: be a pretty big deal because it's never happened before.
Speaker 1: Now we've been talking about it all day, and I've
Speaker 1: been talking about this for years. I'm sure you have
Speaker 1: been too, about a product that is so incredible. Despite
Speaker 1: the inability of leadership to direct the product appropriately, it's
Speaker 1: still consumed at an incredibly high level where it's the
Speaker 1: second most popular sport in America, only to Pro football.
Speaker 1: But what is the Josh Pate take on Matthew Sluka
Speaker 1: leaving ULV three and OHO start Vegas favorite as the
Speaker 1: G five team to make the CFP.
Speaker 2: What's your take on the decision that came down today.
Speaker 6: There's probably blamed to go on both sides on the
Speaker 6: immediate front, but larger it's so appropriate in the NCAA
Speaker 6: steps up and says, yeah, nothing we can do. In totality,
Speaker 6: this is absolutely on them. It's always been on them.
Speaker 6: It's just been year after year after year, a chronic indecision,
Speaker 6: lack of a spine, No one's stepping up in a
Speaker 6: leadership position, and so then you get to I mean,
Speaker 6: I had an NIO. I had a guy who runs
Speaker 6: an NIL operation for a major program reach out today
Speaker 6: and say, hey, all this is probably true, but just
Speaker 6: an fyi. Our legal counsel came to us last year
Speaker 6: and said, we do not advise you to enter into
Speaker 6: any contractuble agreements with players. Just let it be verbaled,
Speaker 6: not to mislead them, but because we don't even know
Speaker 6: what's legal and what's not, so we're not even totally
Speaker 6: sure how to advise you. He said, We've got similar
Speaker 6: agreements with guys right now. We've got coaches that promised stuff.
Speaker 6: We've got we try and track it, but we don't
Speaker 6: even know. Everyone's flying by the seat of their fans.
Speaker 6: Rules are never the same over a twelve month period,
Speaker 6: and that's the result of people not taking action years ago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's the bottom line.
Speaker 1: I mean, when you kick the count can down the
Speaker 1: road long enough and you procrastinate long enough, it's a
Speaker 1: tidal wave and you're not prepared for it. And man,
Speaker 1: I don't know, it's a sport that we all love.
Speaker 1: It's a sport that we all consume, but the lack
Speaker 1: of leadership and oversight for years has been just ridiculous.
Speaker 1: But let'spend the rest of our conversation talking about actual
Speaker 1: college football, and let's start out in our footprint, Josh,
Speaker 1: where we have both Utah uh and surprise surprise BYU
Speaker 1: at four and oh.
Speaker 2: And one and zer on conference play. We'll start with
Speaker 2: the Utes.
Speaker 1: They go to Stillwater, no Cameron Rising, they get it done.
Speaker 1: Okay State comes back a bit at the end. It
Speaker 1: was never really that close. Number ten team in the country.
Speaker 2: Josh. What do you make of the Utah yout right now?
Speaker 6: Yeah, that was a game where I saw the final
Speaker 6: before I was able to watch the replay of the
Speaker 6: game because I was at the Oklahoma Tennessee game. So
Speaker 6: I see the final and I think, oh, wow, dogfight man,
Speaker 6: good for Utah. I go back and watch it and
Speaker 6: I realize, oh, that's the real story on this game.
Speaker 6: It's a big indicator. Man, win it without Cam Rising too,
Speaker 6: is a big indicator of basically what Kyle Winningham said saying,
Speaker 6: of course we won our starting quarterback. But you know,
Speaker 6: reading between the lines, We're not a quarterback centric team.
Speaker 6: We are a program that is best when it has
Speaker 6: its starting quarterback. But don't think for a second we
Speaker 6: can't get the job done without him. And you can
Speaker 6: say that a lot of programs say that, or less
Speaker 6: of them can actually put it in practice, and they did.
Speaker 7: So.
Speaker 6: Now I'm interested because I mean, that was test one
Speaker 6: in the Big Twelve, and now I'm really interested to
Speaker 6: see you because it may very well be that we
Speaker 6: just see separation between Utah and the rest of the field.
Speaker 6: I still think it's too early to say that, but
Speaker 6: it was a It's not a game that stood out
Speaker 6: on the national radar, but I think in many ways
Speaker 6: it was a statement win because they had how they
Speaker 6: had to go about getting.
Speaker 1: It sure, and also Mike Gunny doesn't lose in Stolewater,
Speaker 1: you know, he just does not lose there very much.
Speaker 1: So I think it was a really good win for
Speaker 1: a team right now that is still in a pretty
Speaker 1: ambiguous space about who will be under center coming up
Speaker 1: this weekend.
Speaker 2: My question for you, Josh is.
Speaker 1: I think I still believe for you Todd to win
Speaker 1: the Big Twelve, the Cameron Rising has to be under
Speaker 1: center for most of the year. But I also think
Speaker 1: I've seen enough from Isaac and the defense. Look, it's
Speaker 1: just a classic coach with a team. It's just the
Speaker 1: way Kyle's built this thing where it's about the you
Speaker 1: and the helmet, not the name on the back of
Speaker 1: the jersey.
Speaker 2: And they they find ways.
Speaker 1: To win games even if it doesn't feel like they're
Speaker 1: going to be able to base off the talent or
Speaker 1: skill set. But if Cameron Rising is compromised and unable
Speaker 1: to play very much this year, do you still think
Speaker 1: Utah can win the Big twelve?
Speaker 2: Can?
Speaker 6: Yeah, wouldn't be my pick, but can Yeah, they absolutely can.
Speaker 6: I agree with you. Your take is basically my take
Speaker 6: in the interim.
Speaker 7: They can get by.
Speaker 6: They obviously just prove that. I think they need him
Speaker 6: long term to fulfill, you know, on their potential. But
Speaker 6: I'm not about to sit here, having watched what I
Speaker 6: just watched them do, and having known the profile of
Speaker 6: that program for a long time, I'm not about to
Speaker 6: sit here and say they can't do anything. I mean,
Speaker 6: if they were playing in the SEC, I may be
Speaker 6: more defenditive, but that's a conference that's it's winnable for
Speaker 6: Utah just less than your percentage chances. But that's common sense.
Speaker 6: Everyone knows that, so yeah, they can absolutely still do it.
Speaker 1: Any I don't really have a lot of anxiety for
Speaker 1: Utah coming up on Saturday night with Arizona, and to
Speaker 1: k State didn't just beat them, they bullied them. Case
Speaker 1: State played Arizona the way that Utah will play Arizona.
Speaker 2: I'm going to.
Speaker 1: Go off the premise that Isaac Wilson is under center
Speaker 1: just until I see cam because we went through this
Speaker 1: crazy charade a year ago every single week, so I'm
Speaker 1: just kind of landing on Isaac until I see Cameron,
Speaker 1: which I believe means.
Speaker 2: They're going to just run it down Arizona's throat.
Speaker 1: Arizona great quarterback wide receiver duo, one of the best
Speaker 1: in the country, but I just don't think they have
Speaker 1: the dogs in the trenches to keep up with Utah.
Speaker 1: What do you think of Utah Arizona coming up on
Speaker 1: Saturday night here in Salt Lake?
Speaker 7: I'd agree with you.
Speaker 6: I do an upset pool with one of the stations
Speaker 6: I do a weekly hit on, and you always want
Speaker 6: to get the dog that's big enough, but also the
Speaker 6: one that you think's got a shot. And I think
Speaker 6: some people are going to be tempted into looking at
Speaker 6: Arizona there. I think it's terrible matchup. And like you,
Speaker 6: I don't have to go too far back in the
Speaker 6: memory bank to remember what can the State did to them.
Speaker 6: And so yeah, crazy things have happened. It would very
Speaker 6: much surprise me in lieu of like three turnovers or
Speaker 6: something like that. It would surprise me if that things
Speaker 6: really nip and touch in the fourth su quarter.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move over to BYU, who welcomed in
Speaker 1: k State to Provo and just curb stomped him. It
Speaker 1: was the biggest margin of victory for a BYU football
Speaker 1: team in the history of that program over a top
Speaker 1: fifteen team. So Josh, for me, it was a combination
Speaker 1: and just kind of a confluence of a bunch of
Speaker 1: different factors. And a lot of it was good fortune,
Speaker 1: a lot of it was prepared skill, and they called
Speaker 1: the kill shots in the red zone when they needed
Speaker 1: to to score touchdowns. And that defense is ten times
Speaker 1: better than it was a year ago year two under
Speaker 1: j Hill. Obviously, Klonnie cut his teeth under coach wit
Speaker 1: here in Salt Lake as a defensive coordinator. But my
Speaker 1: question for you is you know a lot of folks
Speaker 1: around here excited. You know, do we have two big
Speaker 1: twelve contenders in the state. I'm not there yet. With BYU,
Speaker 1: We'll see what they do. They're at Baylor this week
Speaker 1: ten am Mountain Time kick. What is Josh Pate willing
Speaker 1: to say on this Wednesday about BYU's four and oh start?
Speaker 6: Well, first off, I have profited off of it. I
Speaker 6: will tell you that I've ridden them every single week.
Speaker 6: I think that you have to when you're talking about
Speaker 6: a conference title contender, you have to scrutinize the statement
Speaker 6: a little bit more than if we're just trying to
Speaker 6: talk a team into Bowl eligibility. Cause, if we're just
Speaker 6: trying to talk about getting six good wins, Brigham Young's
Speaker 6: looked that point. Okay, if we're trying to talk about
Speaker 6: them in more lofty conversation, that's when you run the
Speaker 6: fine two comb through them. So what I'm about to
Speaker 6: say is not exclusionary. What I'm about to say is
Speaker 6: more conditional. When you go back, for example, on the
Speaker 6: Kansas State game, it is very rare that you beat
Speaker 6: someone by four scores and they outgain you by one
Speaker 6: hundred yards. But it was just the way the game
Speaker 6: played out. So that means nothing more than what I
Speaker 6: just said. It counts as a win, it's a conference win.
Speaker 6: If we're talking about future predictability, a lot of times
Speaker 6: what you learn is those kinds of results you throw
Speaker 6: them out, not because they don't count, you throw them
Speaker 6: out as it relates to trying to figure out what
Speaker 6: you're gonna do down the road. That is why, for example,
Speaker 6: in odds making World, Brigham Young is a three and
Speaker 6: a half point dog at Baylor this weekend. That would
Speaker 6: otherwise make no sense. Kansas State wouldn't be a dog
Speaker 6: against Baylor, But yet Brigham Young is why is that? Well,
Speaker 6: that's an odds maker world telling you. We saw the result,
Speaker 6: we just don't necessarily think it bakes them very well
Speaker 6: in a predictive model. So all that means, all that
Speaker 6: jargon means is Brigham Young just has to keep proving
Speaker 6: people wrong. I haven't bought into him as a Big
Speaker 6: twelve title contender yet. Okay, but I've been wrong before.
Speaker 6: So all that means is, you just go keep proving
Speaker 6: people wrong, you.
Speaker 7: Just keep playing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, well said, well said?
Speaker 1: All right, one more Big twelve question then, of course
Speaker 1: there are some massive games this weekend. Your pod that
Speaker 1: you released earlier was really, really good, so I did
Speaker 1: want to do a little Georgia Bama. How many teams, Josh,
Speaker 1: it's you know, we're coming up now now on five
Speaker 1: weeks of college football. How many teams do you really
Speaker 1: think legitimately can win the Big twelve?
Speaker 6: Oh, buddy, half a dozen or more? If you just
Speaker 6: started rattling them off, there aren't There still aren't a
Speaker 6: ton of no's. Ironically, I'm going to tell you this now,
Speaker 6: I've got serious doubts about Oklahoma State. Mathematically they're still
Speaker 6: in it, but I've got serious doubts because everything I
Speaker 6: thought would be a strength about that team is not.
Speaker 6: Utah's obviously there, Kansas State's still there. My Iowa State
Speaker 6: Cyclones are in there. Iowa State one of the most
Speaker 6: interesting teams to me because they've got good pieces, they're veteran.
Speaker 6: It's kind of a Spike Yer for Matt Campbell. So
Speaker 6: Kansas out of it, I think, not mathematically, but realistically,
Speaker 6: want to see what TCU is able to do. I
Speaker 6: want to see if they're able to turn it on.
Speaker 6: So we've shortened the list a little bit, but there's
Speaker 6: still quite a few of them that I would.
Speaker 5: Their contenders for sure.
Speaker 2: All Right, moving off the big twelve, let's talk some
Speaker 2: big picture college football here. Last year it was tough.
Speaker 1: I kept hearing a lot of really smart football people
Speaker 1: who I respected saying that Michigan was among, if not
Speaker 1: the best team in the country, but the first month
Speaker 1: of the season they just beat up on dog teams,
Speaker 1: and so it was hard to really cooperate that statement.
Speaker 1: Are we dealing with the same situation with the buck
Speaker 1: Eys with Ohio State, who a lot of people think
Speaker 1: potentially the best team in the country, but we just
Speaker 1: don't over the first month have a great matchup test.
Speaker 1: Is that kind of a similar thing that we're dealing
Speaker 1: with Michigan a year ago Ohio State this year?
Speaker 7: It could be.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I try and figure out as much as I
Speaker 6: can about a team in the preseason, and if I
Speaker 6: think you're good, you're gonna get benefit of the doubt
Speaker 6: with me until you play quality competition. Same way, if
Speaker 6: I don't think you're good, you go beat a bunch
Speaker 6: of teams. You haven't proven anything to me until you
Speaker 6: beat quality competition. So is that bias is that fair.
Speaker 6: I don't know. It doesn't matter, but I'm there with
Speaker 6: Ohio State right now. I've watched them. I think it's
Speaker 6: a really good defense. It may be one of, if
Speaker 6: not the best defenses in the country. I think people
Speaker 6: are painting it to be this impenetrable force.
Speaker 7: And not quite.
Speaker 6: That's just a bunch of really good players, so someone
Speaker 6: will score on them eventually. I also don't know that
Speaker 6: the verticality is there in their past game with Will Howard,
Speaker 6: which is not a shot because it wasn't there when
Speaker 6: he was at Kansas State. So they're I mean, they're
Speaker 6: gonna have flaws, just like any other team does. They're
Speaker 6: a really good team. I haven't necessarily changed my opinion
Speaker 6: defaulting off what I thought about in preseason. But if
Speaker 6: someone does think that, I could understand why.
Speaker 1: All Right, you were at Memorial in Norman, Oklahoma, and
Speaker 1: it feels like most everybody now is on this Tennessee
Speaker 1: hype train. I've heard a few people, maybe hot take artists,
Speaker 1: say that they can win the national championship.
Speaker 2: You've seen it up close. What's what you the same question?
Speaker 1: What are you willing Josh to say today about Tennessee
Speaker 1: After seeing them up close.
Speaker 6: Well, they're in that conversation. I mean, I'm gonna obviously
Speaker 6: stop well short of saying they're my pick, but they
Speaker 6: are in the conversation. They have not been there before.
Speaker 6: This is the first time they will have been there.
Speaker 6: Big difference in this team in the twenty twenty two
Speaker 6: team is obviously defensively they're at different level, But I
Speaker 6: just want to point out to people athletically they're a
Speaker 6: different caliber. They had the number one scoring offense in
Speaker 6: twenty twenty two. They had to win against Bama. Everyone
Speaker 6: forgets they went down to Georgia a couple of weeks
Speaker 6: later as the number one team in the country and
Speaker 6: they were not competitive physically. So they are this year.
Speaker 6: And it's ironic because they get Bama and Kneeland again
Speaker 6: this year, and they go to Athens to face Georgia
Speaker 6: again this year. That trip to Georgia is the one
Speaker 6: I have circled. That's the one I am most intrigued
Speaker 6: by because I think the athletic and physical profile and
Speaker 6: depth profile of that team matches Georgia a whole lot
Speaker 6: more readily than it did two years ago. I have
Speaker 6: seen Texics in person. I'll see Bama Georgia this weekend.
Speaker 6: I've seen Tennessee. The Tennessee's not really taken back seat
Speaker 6: to those teams. They may they may not quite be,
Speaker 6: you know, shot for shot recruiting wise, what Georgia and
Speaker 6: Alabama have been, but they are they are not miles
Speaker 6: away at all, and they can absolutely compete with them.
Speaker 6: And it would not shot me at all to see
Speaker 6: them in that final four national title game kind of conversation.
Speaker 1: All right, as you reference, you'll be in Tuscaloosa first
Speaker 1: time since O seven, dam is an underdog at home.
Speaker 1: George's a two point favorite. The eyes of the college
Speaker 1: football world are gonna be on this game. Man, It's
Speaker 1: gonna be massive five thirty times. So what's the take?
Speaker 1: How does this play out? And kind of set the scene?
Speaker 1: What do you think it's going to be like down
Speaker 1: there at Brian Denny Stadium.
Speaker 6: It's gonna be one of the best environments of the year.
Speaker 6: Keep keep I got I got a buddy who's more
Speaker 6: a pro football fan, he's kind of gotten into college football,
Speaker 6: and I try and tell people like that this setting,
Speaker 6: this kind of game is bigger in its scale than
Speaker 6: the college football playoff games and national title games, which
Speaker 6: is not the way it is in the NFL. You
Speaker 6: won't mind a better environment than this kind of game
Speaker 6: in the regular season. I don't care what the playoff
Speaker 6: or national title game does for you. I am really
Speaker 6: interested to see what Bama can do running the ball.
Speaker 6: I think they'll have a fair amount of success running
Speaker 6: against Georgia. Georgia is getting some guys back in their
Speaker 6: defensive front, but even getting those guys back, they are
Speaker 6: not that vintage, you know, elite run stopping unit. They're
Speaker 6: just pretty good by Georgia's standards, which is still great
Speaker 6: by normal standards, but you had the Jaln Milroe mobility
Speaker 6: effect in there as well. I think they'll be able
Speaker 6: to do some business on the ground. They've got one
Speaker 6: of the best young receivers in the country and Ryan
Speaker 6: Williams scores virtually every time he touches the balls. But
Speaker 6: I want to know where does the explosivity come from
Speaker 6: in Georgia's offense. Because you haven't seen it so far
Speaker 6: this year, that doesn't mean it's not there. It's a big,
Speaker 6: big point to make. It's week four, it's week five,
Speaker 6: it's weak six. Like that point in the season, every
Speaker 6: single year, you see some guys start to pop that
Speaker 6: didn't necessarily show up right out of the gate. And
Speaker 6: I don't know who it's going to be, maybe for
Speaker 6: either one of these teams, but I think someone or
Speaker 6: a couple of someone's step up in this game that
Speaker 6: aren't on the marquee pregame that end up deciding it.
Speaker 1: All Right, Josh, before I say you loose, we got
Speaker 1: to revisit a conversation we had maybe two months ago,
Speaker 1: I think it was prior to the season starting, because
Speaker 1: I asked you, as your star rises, you know you're
Speaker 1: gonna be able to go around to all these places
Speaker 1: see a lot of great robbery games. And I asked
Speaker 1: you if you were overly familiar with Utah BYU in
Speaker 1: the Holy War that takes place out here. And we
Speaker 1: talked about if things fall into place, could we see
Speaker 1: a Josh Pate siding here in Salt Lake City on
Speaker 1: November the ninth. So I'm going to hold your feet
Speaker 1: to the fire and say that if over the next
Speaker 1: four weeks, because they both are gonna have a buye
Speaker 1: as well, both Utah and BYU intern November ninth at
Speaker 1: eight and oh and Utah will They're already a top
Speaker 1: ten team. If they win their next four games, it
Speaker 1: might be top six or seven BYUS creeping up towards
Speaker 1: that top ten if they handle their business. Can I
Speaker 1: get a at least a loose option of considering the
Speaker 1: Josh Pate Show rolling into Salt Lake for Utah B
Speaker 1: y U November ninth, if both teams are undefeated.
Speaker 6: Yes, yes, I'm ready to commit verbally that that is
Speaker 6: on the radar I'm looking for right now. Yes, that's
Speaker 6: on the radar.
Speaker 1: I feel like I need this in writing based off
Speaker 1: the news that happened in UNLB today. Oh man, All good, buddy, Hey,
Speaker 1: thanks for the time. Keep up the great working with
Speaker 1: chat too.
Speaker 6: Appreciate it, guys.
Speaker 2: All right, the great Josh Pate.
Speaker 1: Get him on Twitter at Josh Pate CFB, host of
Speaker 1: the Josh pay College Football Show.
Speaker 2: I always appreciate his time on this Wednesday