Speaker 1: It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 2: That's right, this is Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's
Speaker 2: here on Sports Talk seven ninety taking you up until
Speaker 2: six o'clock, a game day edition of Coffee and Company
Speaker 2: Louisville and action tonight in the acc SEC Challenge taken
Speaker 2: on Chris Beard and Ole Miss. I mentioned this yesterday,
Speaker 2: but I don't know some of you may not have
Speaker 2: been listening towards the end of the show, but Drey
Speaker 2: Davis making his return to Louisville tonight, a guy who
Speaker 2: I was always a real big fan of, loved his game.
Speaker 2: He had a good run there at Seton Hall for
Speaker 2: seen Holloway, who I thought was really just a perfect
Speaker 2: fit with those two guys, and like a lot of players,
Speaker 2: he took advantage of the extra COVID year and the portal.
Speaker 2: And he's now at Old Miss so I know him.
Speaker 2: I would imagine his family is probably going to be
Speaker 2: here tonight to Indianapolis is their hometown, so I hope
Speaker 2: they lose tonight. But you know, I always always been
Speaker 2: a big Drey Davis Scott. I've also always been a
Speaker 2: big Seal Brown guy, and he joins us now here
Speaker 2: on Sports Talk seven ninety cl What I need to
Speaker 2: do first is say thank you.
Speaker 3: Okay, you know, do you know why I'm thanking you?
Speaker 4: No idea?
Speaker 2: You You helped me enjoy Thanksgiving by our conversation last week.
Speaker 2: So I'm a lunatic when it comes to Louisville and
Speaker 2: Kentucky the rivalry. I try not to make that as obvious,
Speaker 2: but I have a tough time.
Speaker 3: And we had a.
Speaker 2: Conversation last week and it was something you said that
Speaker 2: just kind of I don't know why, but it just
Speaker 2: it kind of brought me down to you know, reality
Speaker 2: and realized that, you know, Louisville really isn't they should
Speaker 2: have no trouble with Kentucky. Like I was just worried that, okay,
Speaker 2: they can't beat him this year, they're never going to
Speaker 2: do it. And you mentioned how okay Louisville defense. You know,
Speaker 2: they've had some games where they weren't great, but for
Speaker 2: the most part, they've actually been pretty consistent. Down the
Speaker 2: back stretch of the schedule, they've just been a much
Speaker 2: better team. And at that moment, I was thinking, Okay,
Speaker 2: you know what, He's right, like it would be the
Speaker 2: worst case scenario to lose to them under these circumstances.
Speaker 2: But it was just really not something that you could
Speaker 2: see happening, just considering how different the seasons were going
Speaker 2: for both teams. So I was still on edge, but
Speaker 2: I wasn't as stressed during Thanksgiving as I would have
Speaker 2: been had it not been for you putting me at ease.
Speaker 5: So thank you, cl I appreciate glad I could help out.
Speaker 5: I think I think a lot of what we said
Speaker 5: in that conversation it was like Pat Kelsey heard us,
Speaker 5: and Chucky Hepburn heard us, because I mean Chucky had
Speaker 5: his basically his his coming out in the Bahamas. You know,
Speaker 5: he stepped forward kind of like how he talked about.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I guess when it comes to I mean,
Speaker 2: did you you would know more than I would. Was
Speaker 2: there a conversation with him within like the staff or
Speaker 2: somebody he did mention Peyton Peyton Siva being somebody that
Speaker 2: he really has has has enjoyed having as a mentor.
Speaker 2: But the the talent that he showcased and just the aggressiveness,
Speaker 2: I mean, he looked sensational in those three games, especially
Speaker 2: the first two, and I don't think, you know, I
Speaker 2: don't think we saw anything close to that in the
Speaker 2: games prior to that, not because you know, he was
Speaker 2: playing poorly, but like he just as they say, he
Speaker 2: reached in his bag and showed some things that you know,
Speaker 2: I don't mean he played. What he did against West
Speaker 2: Virginia is one of the best performances you'll see from
Speaker 2: a guard so far this year in college basketball. And
Speaker 2: it was awesome and it's gonna be needed for sure
Speaker 2: the rest of the way. But like, I don't know
Speaker 2: where the hell that came from.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 5: I don't I'm not privy to any conversations that he
Speaker 5: had with maybe a staff member or somebody he trusts
Speaker 5: in basketball circles, even going back to high school or
Speaker 5: at Wisconsin. But he definitely took more ownership. I think
Speaker 5: I think this team essentially became his in the Bahamas
Speaker 5: and well as they.
Speaker 4: Moved forward, he'll be the guy they look too.
Speaker 5: And that was the thing I was wondering early on
Speaker 5: in that Tennessee game when Tennessee, you know, Louisville couldn't
Speaker 5: make a shot. Tennessee got off to a lead and everything.
Speaker 5: I was like, who's the guy, Like, who's who's the
Speaker 5: guy you give the ball to and say stop this run,
Speaker 5: get us a bucket to stop the bleeding. And I
Speaker 5: kind of felt like, I mean, it's the second game
Speaker 5: of the season, so I give him a pass on this.
Speaker 4: But I kind of felt like everybody was just kind.
Speaker 5: Of playing team ball and there was no like, Okay,
Speaker 5: I need to step forward here.
Speaker 4: It was everybody still kind of on the same level.
Speaker 5: So I think we got a level in the Bahamas
Speaker 5: at the Battle for Atlantis and watching Chucky hepburn play.
Speaker 2: No doubt about it, and he answered the question as
Speaker 2: far as who's going to kind of be the guy,
Speaker 2: and I think you said it best, like the team
Speaker 2: kind of became his team, and everybody around him kind
Speaker 2: of got I mean, I feel like it everybody got
Speaker 2: better from that he was he was taking the lead
Speaker 2: and in the half court they had to play a
Speaker 2: lot more half court than they probably wanted to. But
Speaker 2: when he's able to create for himself or for others,
Speaker 2: and really just I mean he was a pest defensively
Speaker 2: to where even if you're not you know, teams can
Speaker 2: try to slow you down, and I think a lot
Speaker 2: of teams are going to try to do that with
Speaker 2: louisvill because they just want to take him out of
Speaker 2: their comfort zone. But if he is hounding your opposing
Speaker 2: guard the way he has been defensively, you can try
Speaker 2: to slow it down, He's just going to speed it
Speaker 2: up because he's just going to be a pest. So
Speaker 2: you know, he was certainly one of the many bright spots,
Speaker 2: and I think two out of three games in the
Speaker 2: Bahamas was something that a lot of fans would have said, Okay,
Speaker 2: I'll take that.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 3: What you don't like is that you lose case In
Speaker 3: Prior for the year.
Speaker 2: We find out that Korin Johnson is going to be
Speaker 2: out the entire season, going to have shoulder surgery, obviously
Speaker 2: a big blow.
Speaker 3: For Pat Kelsey in this team.
Speaker 2: Before we get into maybe who's going to be relied
Speaker 2: upon more than expected because of these injuries, just your
Speaker 2: initial thoughts on this, I mean, are you somebody that
Speaker 2: now just thinks this ceiling for this team is substantially
Speaker 2: lower than it was prior to these injuries?
Speaker 4: I do.
Speaker 5: I think Prior was the I mean, Prior was probably
Speaker 5: my favorite player in the rotation. And not because he
Speaker 5: was necessarily the best guy, but he just did a
Speaker 5: lot of things. The energy that he brought to the court.
Speaker 5: I did think he needed to stop taking threes, Like
Speaker 5: if I was Kelsey, I would have stopped him from
Speaker 5: shooting a long time ago. But he's still just such
Speaker 5: an intangible on the court with with the many things,
Speaker 5: the block shots he passed, well, you know, rebounding and
Speaker 5: the front court was the biggest question I had about
Speaker 5: this team coming into the season, and his absence means,
Speaker 5: you know, somebody's got to step up big time in
Speaker 5: the front court for this not to be a problem
Speaker 5: moving forward.
Speaker 4: But it's just.
Speaker 5: Just from a depth, depth perspective, I feel like it
Speaker 5: really hurts them, and you know, an energy perspective, just
Speaker 5: kind of having that person that excites not only his
Speaker 5: teammates but the crowd and you know what I mean,
Speaker 5: like having that guy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's he's a big part his personality. It's a
Speaker 2: big part of your of your identity as a team,
Speaker 2: and uh, you know that's going to be missed in
Speaker 2: a major way. And he's just I think to be
Speaker 2: able to I don't hear many people talk about it,
Speaker 2: but what I think really is special about him is
Speaker 2: his skill set and his ball handling. For a guy
Speaker 2: that big, you know, he's not he can make a shot.
Speaker 2: But I'm with you. I think he shoots. I mean,
Speaker 2: he shot the third most amount of threes on this
Speaker 2: team and is shooting fifteen percent. So you're not losing
Speaker 2: a guy who was really nailing threes efficiently for you.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean he's the guy. He is the
Speaker 2: prototypical guy that Pat Kelsey loves, the thought of, Okay,
Speaker 2: we don't need no outlet passes. He's going to get
Speaker 2: it and go and he's got the ability to do
Speaker 2: that and you and you've certainly lost you lost talent.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's probably one of your most talented guys.
Speaker 2: So there's really no way to minimize the loss of
Speaker 2: case in prior. But am I crazy to think that maybe,
Speaker 2: just maybe when Trey Or gets back whenever that is, like,
Speaker 2: he could he could help you defensively, he could help
Speaker 2: you on the backboard. He's a decent distributor as well.
Speaker 2: He's not casing Pryor, but I feel like if he's
Speaker 2: able to get back sooner rather than later, I mean,
Speaker 2: that could at least help him a little bit right,
Speaker 2: Like it's kind of you kind of don't really know
Speaker 2: what you're missing because he's only played in two games
Speaker 2: this year. But I do think when you look at
Speaker 2: what he did at Long Beach State and just kind
Speaker 2: of knowing, you know, what what his resume is, I
Speaker 2: feel like, you know certain areas where you're going to
Speaker 2: miss case and I think Treira could could kind of
Speaker 2: help fill that void a little bit.
Speaker 4: I think he could help the void.
Speaker 5: But I also think, you know, we don't know when
Speaker 5: he's coming back, Like that's the hard hard thing to
Speaker 5: kind of predict. And even when he does come back,
Speaker 5: you figure that it's going to take a few games
Speaker 5: for him to really get back acclimated into playing, you know,
Speaker 5: not only playing with his teammates, because he's only played
Speaker 5: two games this year so far, you know, just just
Speaker 5: the whole conditioning, everything that goes with coming back and
Speaker 5: playing at a high level, you know, in the in
Speaker 5: the ACC. So I I would like to see what,
Speaker 5: you know, somebody like Roots is gonna do, Somebody like
Speaker 5: James Scott, like, does does this mean he kind of
Speaker 5: obviously he's probably gonna have to log more minutes, but
Speaker 5: does he try to expand his role as well. It's
Speaker 5: got feel like it's going to be tough for them,
Speaker 5: you know, inside with with Scott and Waterman really having
Speaker 5: to take on a much bigger responsibility.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I hate saying this because it's gonna make
Speaker 2: some people think that I'm speculating that it's gonna happen.
Speaker 2: But in this new world of college sports, if it's
Speaker 2: January and that's when Trey Ore is back to getting healthy,
Speaker 2: I mean, it would not be a surprise if if
Speaker 2: he decided, Okay, I'm just gonna go ahead and red
Speaker 2: shirt this year as well so I can salvage another
Speaker 2: year and play here next year, play elsewhere and continue
Speaker 2: to make money. I mean, that's still something that makes
Speaker 2: people uncomfortable. That's that's that's where we are. That's what
Speaker 2: Colin Lacy did in football. He was injured late enough
Speaker 2: and realized, hey, I can I can take advantage of this.
Speaker 2: And again I'm not saying that that's what Trey Ory
Speaker 2: would do, but it it really wouldn't shock me. And
Speaker 2: I think that Pat Kelsey built this team to play
Speaker 2: a certain style and I think he wanted to really
Speaker 2: rely on depth, and now he doesn't really have the
Speaker 2: ability to do that, not because he's you know, he's
Speaker 2: got guys that can't play here, he's got guys that
Speaker 2: are hurt.
Speaker 3: He doesn't have the bodies.
Speaker 2: I mean, they already brought into scholarship guys that were
Speaker 2: out for the year before the season started. So, I
Speaker 2: mean you might have answered the question by mentioning James
Speaker 2: Scott and and and can I Russ, But my question
Speaker 2: was going to be who, Like, who is who do
Speaker 2: you feel like is more important now in a major
Speaker 2: way than they were prior to knowing about prior's injury,
Speaker 2: And of course Corn Johnson.
Speaker 4: Actually I'm going to go left, Okayvin Hadley?
Speaker 5: All Right, Hadley's ability to rebound is going to come
Speaker 5: into play.
Speaker 4: If he's going to be needed a lot more. It's
Speaker 4: not going to be like, you know, kind of not
Speaker 4: quite a novelty. But if he got thirteen what was it,
Speaker 4: thirteen rebounds against Winthrop.
Speaker 5: In Oklahoma, Like, if he got those big numbers in
Speaker 5: other games, it's like, oh wow, look at him rebounding.
Speaker 5: But now it's more like he needs to be consistently
Speaker 5: pushing double figures for Louisville to be in a good
Speaker 5: position on the boards and not just to be you know,
Speaker 5: losing both offensive rebounds in and overall losing the rebounding
Speaker 5: battle the teams. So he's gonna have to get in
Speaker 5: and mix it up a little bit more, especially against
Speaker 5: probably against guys that are bigger than he is too.
Speaker 5: In a lot of cases, he figure what Duke is
Speaker 5: gonna roll out? They basically have NBA sides in their lineup,
Speaker 5: you know, so that's that's gonna be a big test,
Speaker 5: a big challenge.
Speaker 4: I don't think Ole.
Speaker 5: Miss is quite the same in that respect, but you know,
Speaker 5: for from here on out, I feel like they have
Speaker 5: a thin margin of air when it comes to rebounding,
Speaker 5: and so everybody's gonna have to really be on.
Speaker 4: It as a team. And I think Javon Hadley might
Speaker 4: be might be the best of the bunch that Louisville has.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and when you in a perfect world, when you've
Speaker 2: got depth and everybody's healthy, you could have Hadley give
Speaker 2: you thirteen on the backboard and then maybe for the
Speaker 2: next night, and it's no big deal because trejore or
Speaker 2: prior was cleaning the glass and now it's like, Okay,
Speaker 2: you don't have anybody else that can go do it.
Speaker 2: So you got to you gotta come ready to work.
Speaker 2: And yeah, it's just the more I'm looking at the roster,
Speaker 2: the more I realize just I mean, prior he was
Speaker 2: he was a hybrid guy that gave you a little
Speaker 2: bit in the post. Obviously a good athlete, he would
Speaker 2: kind of just walk into some rebounds because of his athleticism,
Speaker 2: because of his size, and yeah, it's gonna be a
Speaker 2: gonna be a big absence, no doubt.
Speaker 3: So let's switch gears here and talk some football.
Speaker 2: Jeff Brohm, I think at this point has has done
Speaker 2: a pretty good job at adapting to the new world
Speaker 2: of college football, really college sports when it comes to
Speaker 2: transfer portal. Is it safe to say that right now
Speaker 2: he'd be one of I'm sure he's not the only one,
Speaker 2: but he'd be one of the coaches that if you
Speaker 2: are in the portal as an offensive players, especially that
Speaker 2: you could see him as a guy that could really
Speaker 2: help you finish out your career. Maybe it's for one year,
Speaker 2: maybe it's for a couple of years, because I think
Speaker 2: in both seasons at Louisville there have been some guys
Speaker 2: that really finished strong in their careers and not to
Speaker 2: say that it's all Jeff's doing, But Jeff gave him
Speaker 2: an opportunity and they fit well with what he wanted
Speaker 2: to do. I feel like in the portal Louisville's going
Speaker 2: to be should be an attractive school for a lot
Speaker 2: of players.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think if I'm an offensive skill player, especially,
Speaker 5: he would be someone I would I would look up
Speaker 5: because I.
Speaker 4: Mean, he's got a track record of it, you know,
Speaker 4: and the.
Speaker 5: Way that he's his offense can sometimes feature guys.
Speaker 4: And really put him out there.
Speaker 5: That would be intriguing to me if I was.
Speaker 4: In that situation.
Speaker 5: And these two years at Louisville, you know, you look
Speaker 5: at what he's done with quarterbacks, bringing them in. I mean,
Speaker 5: I don't want to talk down on Jack Plumber, but
Speaker 5: I was very surprised that he even made the practice
Speaker 5: squad for the Carolina Panthers. You know, I did not
Speaker 5: think he was an NFL quarterback. And because of the
Speaker 5: amount that that just throws at his quarterbacks and expects
Speaker 5: them to retain and and just the things that they
Speaker 5: can do in terms of pre checks and coming to
Speaker 5: the line of scrimmage. That that's one of the things
Speaker 5: where I interviewed Jack Plumber way back when in the
Speaker 5: summer during during their training camp. That's one of the
Speaker 5: things he said that the Panthers were most impressed with
Speaker 5: him his ability to just kind of make those reads
Speaker 5: and it was expected under Jeff Brohm. That's one of
Speaker 5: the things that that basically Plumber learned being in this system.
Speaker 5: So h and then you look at how he brought
Speaker 5: Tyler in, and you know, he defied these.
Speaker 4: Questions about can he stay healthy for a full year?
Speaker 5: And part of that was because obviously, you know, you
Speaker 5: had the best for tection and still get one shot
Speaker 5: to knock you out. But part of it is Jeff
Speaker 5: didn't put him in those compromising positions like Texas Tech
Speaker 5: did when he was running on some cases, you know,
Speaker 5: fifteen times a game. You know, he didn't put them
Speaker 5: in those positions where he's going to get hit and
Speaker 5: be in.
Speaker 4: A position to get injured.
Speaker 5: So I do think and I think Tyler's going to
Speaker 5: have a shot at making a roster in the league
Speaker 5: because he played here.
Speaker 3: Or totally agree.
Speaker 2: I mean, David blau is still in the league. I'm
Speaker 2: not even sure if you know who that is, but
Speaker 2: he was a quarterback at Purdue before Jeff got there,
Speaker 2: I think, and you know, wasn't lighting it up and
Speaker 2: wasn't a big time recruit, but he found some success
Speaker 2: and learned a lot about that position, and he's he's now,
Speaker 2: I think with the Commanders, And I just think this
Speaker 2: was a big year for Jeff to go get a
Speaker 2: guy like Chuck, because if you look around the country,
Speaker 2: there's so many other quarterbacks that ended up the bigger
Speaker 2: program and probably got a lot more money that wouldn't
Speaker 2: have looked at Shuck, and he probably had a better
Speaker 2: year than them, not just because Louisville wasn't eight and fourteen,
Speaker 2: but I mean statistically, I mean he was good. I
Speaker 2: mean he made some plays, especially when they played really
Speaker 2: good teams. I mean I kind of feel like he
Speaker 2: played his best ball when they were playing the better competition,
Speaker 2: which of course has to help you when it comes
Speaker 2: to being attractive to the NFL. All right, on the
Speaker 2: Kentucky side, obviously, they had a miserable season in football.
Speaker 2: And I'm really not trying to kick him other down here.
Speaker 2: I just I think it's a legitimate question at this point.
Speaker 2: But yeah, yeah, sure, yeah, I mean I am kicking
Speaker 2: him other down, but it's been a rough five six
Speaker 2: years when they just kept winning in football and it
Speaker 2: was just something I never thought i'd experience in my life.
Speaker 2: But I'm glad that's over and hopefully they never went again.
Speaker 2: But they got embarrassed against Louisville, and I think they
Speaker 2: honestly played their worst game of the season, like Louisville
Speaker 2: did enough to have a factor in that, but I mean,
Speaker 2: I don't know if they could. Kentucky was terrible and
Speaker 2: every aspect of the game, I feel like, and maybe
Speaker 2: that's what I should have expected because they were one
Speaker 2: and seven in league play going into the game. But
Speaker 2: you have Mark Stoops saying he's coming back. There was
Speaker 2: rumors that he was gonna lose Vince Marrow to Louisville,
Speaker 2: which I'm not sure if that was ever really gonna happen.
Speaker 2: Today there's players entering the portal and that happens everywhere.
Speaker 2: But when you have a bad season like this and
Speaker 2: the momentum is gone and it seems as if it's
Speaker 2: heading in the wrong direction, any little thing is going
Speaker 2: to be really under the microscope by fans. They're losing
Speaker 2: another offensive coach, a wide receivers coach, I think it
Speaker 2: is leaving to take the same position at Nebraska. So
Speaker 2: some of these things may just not they may not
Speaker 2: even be that big of a deal. But I kind
Speaker 2: of feel like this thing has snowballed for Mark Stoops
Speaker 2: to where I just I would challenge somebody to give
Speaker 2: me a realistic scenario where next year Kentucky fans feel
Speaker 2: like he's still the guy long term. I know they
Speaker 2: don't feel that way now, and he's going to have
Speaker 2: to prove it to him next year, but you know,
Speaker 2: I just think it's gonna be harder for him to
Speaker 2: get players than ever because of the lack of momentum
Speaker 2: they have right now.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's an interesting situation with Steups because I do
Speaker 5: still feel.
Speaker 4: Like he can get the job done there. I mean,
Speaker 4: what he's done in.
Speaker 5: His tenure is unprecedented at Kentucky, and you know, having an.
Speaker 4: Eight game I mean, an eight year bull streak.
Speaker 5: Is something that shouldn't be just taken for granted there,
Speaker 5: because if they made the wrong hire, got rid of
Speaker 5: suits and made the wrong hire, you know, who knows
Speaker 5: when they would be able to flip it and get
Speaker 5: on a run like that again. But I also kind
Speaker 5: of question and I don't know if this year is
Speaker 5: what did it for him, and he's having a four
Speaker 5: and eight year is going to rejuvenate him to where
Speaker 5: he's coming back stronger next year.
Speaker 4: I kind of.
Speaker 5: Felt like he's just in a place where the motivation
Speaker 5: and the juice just isn't the same, Like he's not
Speaker 5: stirred in the same way that maybe he was when
Speaker 5: he was, you know, younger and hungry if you will.
Speaker 5: I mean, I kind of compare it to like to
Speaker 5: like an entertainer, a rapper or a singer, like when
Speaker 5: they first come out, they're so hungry and you hear
Speaker 5: more mixtasting in it all over the place, and they're
Speaker 5: doing great things, and then once they had the big
Speaker 5: albums and the big success, it's like it falls off
Speaker 5: and it's like, yeah, the same drive from them, Yeah yeah.
Speaker 4: I kind of feel like Stoops is in that place now,
Speaker 4: So I.
Speaker 5: Don't know if there's something that that gets him back.
Speaker 5: And you know, I've li liken it to Patino when
Speaker 5: he was at U of L when he kind of
Speaker 5: had some I don't know there it is like he platts.
Speaker 4: Hold here and there.
Speaker 5: There was the team twenty ten to twenty eleven with
Speaker 5: Preston Nose kind of leading the charge. I've made this
Speaker 5: comparison before, and that he talked about how that team
Speaker 5: rejuvenated him because they didn't really have a star, but
Speaker 5: they played together, they believed in what he said, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean.
Speaker 3: Like you got the most out of that team.
Speaker 4: Sure, yes, And then he got it going again.
Speaker 5: He got his swagger back marks swagger again.
Speaker 2: What it sounds like is that I think Stoops just
Speaker 2: became and I would get I will say this, I
Speaker 2: can appreciate this about a guy in his position coaching
Speaker 2: at a place like Kentucky to where what she sees
Speaker 2: what you get. I don't think there's any strategy to,
Speaker 2: you know, be super happy or super set. I think
Speaker 2: he wears everything on his sleeve, and I think he
Speaker 2: really did not like his team this year. As far
Speaker 2: as the character, I know, Vince Mara was on one
Speaker 2: of our shows here earlier this week yesterday on with
Speaker 2: Matt Jones and kind of talked about how they started
Speaker 2: prioritizing talent more so than character and it backfired on him.
Speaker 2: I would imagine he may go get some blue collar
Speaker 2: guys that are kind of cut from the same cloth
Speaker 2: Youngstown tough. That's sort of the brand that Stoops has
Speaker 2: run with for a long time to maybe that is
Speaker 2: what is what energizes him. But you know, you're right,
Speaker 2: he just kind of seems like he's been you know,
Speaker 2: he just kind of hasn't had the same level of like, Hey,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go prove you guys wrong. I mean, he
Speaker 2: was almost like it was he was letting people know, Hey, sorry,
Speaker 2: I know you want me gone, but I'm gonna be here.
Speaker 2: Maybe that's not the way he meant it, but it
Speaker 2: just kind of sounded like that on Saturday. But you're right,
Speaker 2: you know, to say that anybody when ten games at
Speaker 2: Kentucky and football is crazy. I mean I remember saying
Speaker 2: this after the second ten win season. Actually no, I
Speaker 2: think I said it after their first ten win season Understoops.
Speaker 2: If you'd told me the Kentucky football is gonna win
Speaker 2: ten games, I would have assumed that Nick Saban ended
Speaker 2: up coaching there for whatever reason. Like so he's he's
Speaker 2: done a phenomenal job, but man, it just seems like
Speaker 2: in a three year span, especially this past year, it
Speaker 2: really it really went uh went sideways for him. A right,
Speaker 2: I don't have a lot of time left, but I
Speaker 2: got to get your thoughts on this one.
Speaker 4: Go ahead, go ahead, Like the whole character versus talent
Speaker 4: thing is overstated.
Speaker 5: If they would have been winning games, nobody would be
Speaker 5: talking about.
Speaker 3: Care That's a fair point. That's a fair point.
Speaker 2: I think it's an easy thing to throw out there
Speaker 2: when you lose with good players, Right, that's a really
Speaker 2: good point.
Speaker 4: Was picking the wrong quarterback? Yeah, that's what.
Speaker 3: You are spot on?
Speaker 2: Better, you are spot on because however, if you yeah,
Speaker 2: when you say that, it's it's the one you know,
Speaker 2: it's the one cop out you have because there's really
Speaker 2: no reason to be as bad as you were, especially
Speaker 2: when they had good players that are probably going to
Speaker 2: either go to the NFL or transfer and probably be
Speaker 2: good elsewhere. So yeah, no, I think that would be
Speaker 2: a really good counter to that, to that that comment.
Speaker 2: All right, real quick, your thoughts on this Ole Miss
Speaker 2: team Chris Beard in his second season. They're off to
Speaker 2: a pretty good start. They won loss on the year.
Speaker 2: I think it was a close one to Purdue. Uh,
Speaker 2: just your thoughts on on this matchup tonight.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I think it's gonna be I know,
Speaker 5: Louisville's favorite, which I feel like that's all home court.
Speaker 4: I think it's gonna be tough.
Speaker 5: I got a lot of respect for Chris Beard and
Speaker 5: kind of what he's done in his stops. They definitely
Speaker 5: have these transfers that have come in and done well
Speaker 5: in his system, and they got you know, Virginia Tech
Speaker 5: transfer Padula, Taran Padula.
Speaker 4: Shoot a three point specialists basically, yeah, they got.
Speaker 5: I remember covering uh Jami and Braakfield when he was
Speaker 5: at Duke his first year.
Speaker 4: Back in like.
Speaker 3: One season.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, it's it's like that's what I was like. Dang,
Speaker 4: he is still playing.
Speaker 5: As you mentioned dray Davis earlier, you know, he's he's
Speaker 5: an integral part of their their.
Speaker 3: Team, is he not?
Speaker 2: Like dray Davis played for two guys after he left Louisville,
Speaker 2: and I feel like are perfect for him, Bo Shaeen
Speaker 2: Holloway and Chris Spirit. I feel like dray Davis is
Speaker 2: the kind of player that was like created to play
Speaker 2: for those two guys.
Speaker 3: Just tough.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you create some money in the video game, you know, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 4: so you.
Speaker 5: Know, I mean, I think I think it's gonna be
Speaker 5: a scrappy game. I'm looking at the big picture too.
Speaker 5: I think it's gonna be a blood bath for the ACC.
Speaker 5: Louisville is one of the games that I had the
Speaker 5: ACC winn and I had.
Speaker 4: The a CEC for like four games. I was looking
Speaker 4: at that.
Speaker 5: I feel like the ACC should win, and three of
Speaker 5: them are because they're the home team.
Speaker 3: But I just uh's gonna be tough.
Speaker 5: I think it's gonna be tough, especially just mentally knowing
Speaker 5: that prior isn't there and hearing the Corn Johnson news today, Like, mentally,
Speaker 5: the kids are gonna have to come in with a
Speaker 5: level of toughness, you know what I mean, knowing.
Speaker 4: That their guys aren't aren't.
Speaker 5: Coming back this season periods, So it's gonna be a challenge.
Speaker 5: But I also like to see these situations just to
Speaker 5: kind of see.
Speaker 4: How Kelsey reacts too, because you.
Speaker 5: Know, we're learning him as well as we're learning the players,
Speaker 5: and now they react in situations. So I want to
Speaker 5: see what kind of wrinkles he pulls out for this game.
Speaker 2: See all good stuff, as always, appreciate the time, keep
Speaker 2: up the great work, and we'll talk sooner, right brother,
Speaker 2: All right, appreciation it, Take care of that's Ceel Brown
Speaker 2: or the Courier Journal. Always appreciate him making sound for us.
Speaker 2: All Right, we got to get out of here for
Speaker 2: a quick break. We'll come back a couple of shorter
Speaker 2: segments here in the rest of the four o'clock hour.
Speaker 2: We still got a lot to go. We're halfway there,
Speaker 2: and trust me, there's a lot more fun to be had.
Speaker 2: If you don't believe me, stick around and find out.
Speaker 2: How about that for a tease. You'll miss out if
Speaker 2: you don't stick around, So don't go anywhere. It's coffe
Speaker 2: and but if fuel about Thorton's on Sports Talk seven.
Speaker 1: Ninety, you're listening to Coffee and Company with Nick Coffee
Speaker 1: on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2: Apologies for the poor clock management once again, but we
Speaker 2: can sacrifice a couple of shorter segments to wrap up
Speaker 2: at four o'clock hour if that means we get a
Speaker 2: lengthy conversation with the one and only cl Brown. Good
Speaker 2: stuff there as always from cl And he's right when
Speaker 2: it comes to the comment made and I'm paraphrasing here,
Speaker 2: but I know it was said something like this as
Speaker 2: far as prioritizing talent more than character. Vince Mayer said
Speaker 2: something similar to that when he was on with Matt
Speaker 2: yesterday on KSR. And you know, I don't think that
Speaker 2: that's really you know, it's not crazy to say that
Speaker 2: that is that that you know isn't real, because I
Speaker 2: think they did have some internal stuff going on and
Speaker 2: the culture just hasn't been good. But at the end
Speaker 2: of the day, the culture is the responsibility for the
Speaker 2: core is the guy leading the program and that's Mark Stoops.
Speaker 2: But see, how is exactly right Kentucky. I think they
Speaker 2: you know, I don't know. I don't have a clue
Speaker 2: what goes on like behind the scenes, But like, I
Speaker 2: think they've always acted like they've had a sense of
Speaker 2: entitlement that really I don't know where that came from.
Speaker 2: I don't know what they like, I don't know what
Speaker 2: would make the Kentucky football program internally have this sense
Speaker 2: of worth that like isn't there.
Speaker 3: And again I'm I'm I don't. I mean, I'm trying
Speaker 3: not to.
Speaker 2: Make it about a rivalry thing here, but I think
Speaker 2: they would beat Louisville and feel as if they were
Speaker 2: a lot better than they actually were. And you know,
Speaker 2: to be fair, that's on Louisville's that's Louis's fault for
Speaker 2: not beating them, you know. But I think what he
Speaker 2: said is so true when it comes to the lack
Speaker 2: of like if they if they acted the way they
Speaker 2: acted and everything was going on the way that it had,
Speaker 2: Like if they were winning and everything else was still
Speaker 2: the same, you wouldn't hear about the culture problem and
Speaker 2: about guy that Stoops is basically going to say, I
Speaker 2: don't need to have a conversation with you.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you you need to leave.
Speaker 2: And you know, you know this, this isn't going to work.
Speaker 2: So you know, that is a little bit of a
Speaker 2: cop out there. But which what I think your you know,
Speaker 2: coaches are going to learn is that like put it
Speaker 2: this way, Mark Stoops, when he had a lot of
Speaker 2: six when he was when he had success at Kentucky
Speaker 2: to where they started to break through and no longer
Speaker 2: be the worst team in that league and in the
Speaker 2: bottom tier of Power five football. Yeah, he brought in
Speaker 2: some good players, But I feel like Mark Soops is
Speaker 2: the kind of guy where he's going to get the
Speaker 2: most out of a three star that has talent, right, Like,
Speaker 2: you can't expect a two star that nobody's heard of
Speaker 2: to come in and be really good in the sec
Speaker 2: Like you need to bring in talent.
Speaker 3: Recruiting matters, and you're never going.
Speaker 2: To bypass a five star recruiter, a four star recruit
Speaker 2: that wants to play for you, that you feel I
Speaker 2: could help you. But it may be a compatibility thing, right,
Speaker 2: these guys that are big time recruits, maybe they're divas
Speaker 2: prima Donna's. Maybe they got a bunch of nil money
Speaker 2: because they transferred to you, and they're not willing to
Speaker 2: kind of conform to your culture that you want. I mean,
Speaker 2: I'll give you the best example, Rick Patino. His best
Speaker 2: type player was a guy that was talented. Trust me,
Speaker 2: you need talent, but not the guys who were already
Speaker 2: propped up as one and done's no matter what happens
Speaker 2: in college, the you know, the.
Speaker 3: Five stars or the forest.
Speaker 2: And he didn't get many five stars, but the five
Speaker 2: stars he did get, it just didn't work out. Like
Speaker 2: they didn't like they couldn't handle Rick. Maybe they didn't
Speaker 2: know what they were getting themselves into. They weren't as
Speaker 2: hungry and they weren't willing to do what it takes
Speaker 2: to play for Rick Patino, which I've never played for
Speaker 2: a Patino. But I know people who have and he will.
Speaker 2: He will bring more out of you than you knew
Speaker 2: you had. He will challenge you in a way that
Speaker 2: you never knew possible. And to this day that I
Speaker 2: mean Donovan Mitchell's killing it in the NBA right now,
Speaker 2: and any chance he gets when he's asked about sort
Speaker 2: of you know, I guess his success and everything, he'll
Speaker 2: he'll find a way to sneak in his time at
Speaker 2: Louisville playing for a Patino because Patino challenged him in
Speaker 2: a way he didn't know possible, and it brought out
Speaker 2: the type of player he is now that like maybe
Speaker 2: he didn't even know he could be so. Terry o'zeer
Speaker 2: another guy, he wasn't a top ten, top fifteen player,
Speaker 2: but he was a high four star who was really
Speaker 2: good and really succeeded. Taekwandan, Francisco Garcia. I mean, these
Speaker 2: are guys who again had other options. They were talented.
Speaker 2: It wasn't like a you know, Russ Smith is a
Speaker 2: diamond in the rough. Ruff Smith's a guy who nobody wanted.
Speaker 2: He lied to Rick about a scholarship offers when he
Speaker 2: was being recruited by Rick and he almost left, and
Speaker 2: to be honest, Rick didn't try to stop him, and
Speaker 2: I think he understood at that time if you wanted
Speaker 2: to go home and play at Manhattan for Stevie Mass,
Speaker 2: I get it. So, you know, coaches are having to
Speaker 2: learn about themselves later in their career than they ever
Speaker 2: would in a previous world. But the new world is
Speaker 2: going to give you a big mixed bag of players,
Speaker 2: high school kids that you know you're hoping develop grown
Speaker 2: men playing it in the fifth and sixth year of
Speaker 2: college because of the new rules in the COVID year,
Speaker 2: and you're just gonna have to find a way to
Speaker 2: make it work. I think getting the culture you want
Speaker 2: in your program is probably going to be more difficult
Speaker 2: than it's ever been for coaches because again, you're bringing
Speaker 2: like example, Jeff Brom, there were some dudes they brought
Speaker 2: in that are that enrolled last year in January that were, uh,
Speaker 2: you know, I hate using this word because it's a
Speaker 2: it just it shouldn't be used in something that's not
Speaker 2: as serious as you know, cancer. But they were toxic,
Speaker 2: if you will, They were toxic to the locker room,
Speaker 2: toxic to the culture, Jeff Brom snipped, it out, packed
Speaker 2: their bags and told them to get the hell out
Speaker 2: of here. And that's exactly what they did because he
Speaker 2: could sense that, hey, this is not going to be good,
Speaker 2: and you know, you got to be able to and
Speaker 2: it's and it's tough because you know, you got to
Speaker 2: really keep an eye on that kind of stuff and
Speaker 2: you really got to do your due diligence to figure out. Okay,
Speaker 2: I know what I'm bringing in as far as talent
Speaker 2: and production from the portal, But what's this guy like
Speaker 2: between the ears?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 3: What is he? What kind of guy is he?
Speaker 2: Is he a good guy that's going to be somebody
Speaker 2: that can fit with what we want to do, because
Speaker 2: you can't have guys come in and they start establishing
Speaker 2: a different culture than what you want. So I always
Speaker 2: say this all the time, and I know it's sound
Speaker 2: like a broken record, but we are in a new
Speaker 2: world college sports. When I watch college basketball, like I'm
Speaker 2: going to tonight, when I watch college football on Saturdays
Speaker 2: between the lines, it's the same thing, right, We're watching
Speaker 2: the same sport. And maybe every now and then you'll realize, damn,
Speaker 2: that guy's still in college and that's when you realize,
Speaker 2: oh yeah, they can transfer, they get all these you
Speaker 2: know they I forgot about this guy. Well he's been
Speaker 2: at three schools in four years or something. So occasionally
Speaker 2: you'll see it something, you'll see it and you'll realize, Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: this is different. But everything else outside of when you
Speaker 2: watch the sports, when it comes to just roster management,
Speaker 2: off season talk everything money like in il, like your
Speaker 2: collective's hitting you up, wanting you to not only support
Speaker 2: the university and buy tickets, but give them money too.
Speaker 2: Like it's such a different world and everybody's trying to
Speaker 2: find their footing. Some have been able to adapt better
Speaker 2: than others, and some have just left the industry. Rights.
Speaker 2: That's what's happened. So all right, quick break, Sorry for
Speaker 2: the short segment. We'll come back, wrap up the four
Speaker 2: o'clock hour. Talk a little bit about tonight's spreads. We've
Speaker 2: got some, I mean, we've got an unloaded amount of
Speaker 2: college basketball games to bet on. And I feel like
Speaker 2: a real I feel like a real ace right now
Speaker 2: when it comes to college hoops, because last night, you
Speaker 2: know what I did, Rhode Island minus three.
Speaker 3: And a half? Got it? Oh, how about UT Arlington
Speaker 3: against somebody I don't remember Moneyline one B twenty. Never
Speaker 3: a doubt, Never a doubt.
Speaker 2: But there are some good games tonight that I'm looking
Speaker 2: forward to betting on because it's teams you know that
Speaker 2: I've actually watched a little bit, because you know they're
Speaker 2: from real leagues. All right, quick break, don't go anywhere,
Speaker 2: let's ride, let's do. It's Coffee and Company. I'm Nick Coffee,
Speaker 2: he's Austin Montgomery. We're taking you up till six o'clock.
Speaker 2: So hang out right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Coffee and Company with Nick Coffee on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: Man, I gotta be honest with you, but I'm looking
Speaker 2: here at the the lines for all the college basketball
Speaker 2: action tonight. I mean, I mean the most intrigued. I
Speaker 2: mean the play I think is to fade the ACC.
Speaker 2: And I'm not trolling anybody, but I did get a
Speaker 2: lot of pushback on the text line about what I
Speaker 2: was saying about the ACC, And again, I think it's
Speaker 2: a reminder for me that I'm not like I don't
Speaker 2: I'm I want the ACC to do well because I'm
Speaker 2: clearly a Louisville fan and that the better the league
Speaker 2: is the better it is for Louisville. But I'm not
Speaker 2: like a fan of the ACC. Again, it's almost by proxy.
Speaker 2: It's by default because that's the league that Louisville's in,
Speaker 2: you know, But I don't have any I don't have
Speaker 2: any love for a league like I do my team,
Speaker 2: and I think most are the same way.
Speaker 3: But I guess I don't know. I mean, look, if
Speaker 3: you there's.
Speaker 2: No benefit at all, if your league isn't good now,
Speaker 2: potentially you could take advantage and win a lot more games.
Speaker 2: But you know, if you're winning a league that nobody
Speaker 2: thinks is good, there's not going to be as much
Speaker 2: value there. So when I talked about it earlier, which
Speaker 2: we can reset it in the five o'clock hour, the
Speaker 2: ACC is a basketball league has fallen off substantially. And
Speaker 2: I'm not bringing it up to clown anybody. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's just the truth. And yes, I'm aware that Louisville
Speaker 2: is one of the biggest factors in the league not
Speaker 2: being now what it was eight ten years ago, But
Speaker 2: I mean, it is what it is. It's not really
Speaker 2: a debate, I don't think. I mean, you can find
Speaker 2: whatever data point you want to try to convince yourself otherwise.
Speaker 2: But NC State making the Final four last year does
Speaker 2: not mean that the ACC is just that good of
Speaker 2: a league.
Speaker 3: It doesn't. You you can tell yourself that.
Speaker 2: But just just like if a team wins thirty games
Speaker 2: and loses in the first round of the tournament, that
Speaker 2: doesn't mean that team's not good. It just means they
Speaker 2: got upset and in college basketball, were weird. I wouldn't
Speaker 2: have it any other way, but it makes no sense that,
Speaker 2: like we you know, what makes it weird is what
Speaker 2: makes it all so special, is that, like your thirty
Speaker 2: wins mean nothing if you lose in the first round
Speaker 2: to a fifteen seed, right, I mean, doesn't mean the
Speaker 2: team's not good, but you didn't show up when it
Speaker 2: mattered the most. And it really makes people not care
Speaker 2: at all about what you did for the previous three
Speaker 2: and a half months. It's not it doesn't make sense,
Speaker 2: but it is just the way we are in college basketball.
Speaker 2: So anyways, tonight you've got This is not a part
Speaker 2: of the ACC SEC challenge. Uh, But Austin I like,
Speaker 2: I like Cincinnati minus three and a half at Villanova.
Speaker 2: Villanova has fallen off substantially and they did what a
Speaker 2: lot of these other ACC teams did where when their
Speaker 2: coach just decided to walk away, they just gave the guy,
Speaker 2: gave a guy the job who has been around, And
Speaker 2: what's the guy Kyle Neptune at Nova. I mean, I
Speaker 2: don't know how he survives the rest of this season
Speaker 2: or even you know, he'll probably spot the rest of
Speaker 2: the year unless he gets terribly bad.
Speaker 3: But Cincinnati's got a good team here.
Speaker 2: Wes Miller has done a really good job and feels
Speaker 2: like this is the year where they finally broke through
Speaker 2: to where he's got Cincinnati in a pretty good place,
Speaker 2: the ranked number fourteen in the country right now. But
Speaker 2: I think minus three and a half is the play
Speaker 2: here in that one. And then I don't know how
Speaker 2: much you've watched as some of these other teams in
Speaker 2: the UH, in the ACC, in the SE but have
Speaker 2: you seen much of cal in Arkansas?
Speaker 6: I just know that it's he's kind of becoming a
Speaker 6: mad man and a lot of a lot of Arkansas
Speaker 6: fans aren't really in favor of it. But I haven't
Speaker 6: actually watched them play.
Speaker 4: Well we are.
Speaker 2: You're not missing much because it's really the same. It's
Speaker 2: the same type of team, and I don't mean, well,
Speaker 2: it's not the same type of team because he doesn't
Speaker 2: as good players. He had three NBA player, I mean
Speaker 2: he had more than three, but like last year they
Speaker 2: had three insanely talented guards with Reeves and Shepherd and Dillingham.
Speaker 2: But at Arkansas he's playing the same style and it's
Speaker 2: just I mean, it's with DJ Wagner running the show
Speaker 2: and not those three guards I mentioned, which you know,
Speaker 2: I'm not picking on the guy, but like DJ Wagner
Speaker 2: at best is like a second team All Conference player
Speaker 2: by his senior year. He's just not that good. And
Speaker 2: then Nellie Davis, the transfer from FAU who was the
Speaker 2: number one or number two guy in the portal depending
Speaker 2: on where you looked. He's averaging like eight a game
Speaker 2: and has not done anything to look anything other than average.
Speaker 2: So Miami they've been bad too this year. I mean Laraennega,
Speaker 2: I mean that guy. He took a team to a
Speaker 2: final four that they paid for, and they paid good
Speaker 2: money because they got to a final four with Isaiah
Speaker 2: Long Nigel Pack. And then I can't think of the
Speaker 2: guy's name who was at Miami for two years and
Speaker 2: now he's actually a Baylor. But man, Miami, you know,
Speaker 2: they don't have the talent they've had in previous years.
Speaker 2: They just still love Nigel Pack and they're three and
Speaker 2: four right now with losses to So I can't say
Speaker 2: that I trust Miami to cover against Calipari in Arkansas.
Speaker 2: If Miami wasn't as bad, I might Are you.
Speaker 6: Signed four and a half for years on that game?
Speaker 1: Yep?
Speaker 3: Yep? So, by the way, check this out.
Speaker 2: Miami got three wins to start the season against Fairleigh, Dickinson,
Speaker 2: Binghamton and Coppin State. Since then, an eleven point loss
Speaker 2: to Drake, a double digit loss to Oklahoma State, a
Speaker 2: seven point loss to VCU, and they lost to Charleston
Speaker 2: Southern over the weekend.
Speaker 3: Wow. So like Miami is Again, I didn't even.
Speaker 2: Know this before I talked about the ACC sucking, so
Speaker 2: I'm surprised now. I want to just hammer Arkansas minus
Speaker 2: four and a half because Miami's that bad.
Speaker 6: Good God, I like the under in that game. I'm
Speaker 6: seeing one five. I like under.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's way too many points. Yeah, I'm with
Speaker 2: you on that. I'm gonna crunch. I'll look at the
Speaker 2: kin Palm numbers.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I like that.
Speaker 2: I like that. We might have just built our first
Speaker 2: parlay together for college basketball on the show. It kind
Speaker 2: of feels like it kind of feels like we're having
Speaker 2: a moment here. We're taking Cincinnati minus four and a
Speaker 2: half and then the under in the Miami Arkansas game.
Speaker 2: Let's ride, baby, let's do it.
Speaker 4: I like it.
Speaker 6: What about what about Northwestern to cover five against Iowa?
Speaker 2: I don't know enough about him. Northwestern has been in
Speaker 2: closer games this year against bad teams, but I think
Speaker 2: they've avoided big upsets. And then with Iowa, I don't know.
Speaker 2: That's to me, that sounds more like an under. But
Speaker 2: I'll have to look at the number. But we'll keep building.
Speaker 2: We'll keep building, baby Big n conege back. So far,
Speaker 2: we got another hour to go, So all right, five
Speaker 2: o'clock hours next. A lot to get in here before
Speaker 2: we wrap it up and call it a day.
Speaker 3: So stick with us.
Speaker 2: We got one more hour to go right here on
Speaker 2: Sports Talk seven ninety mm hmm