ITG 147 - Combine Week + Coaching Moves
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 In the gun episode 147 of your new favorite
00:09 WVU football podcast.
00:11 I am Wesley Euler and I've got the best teammates
00:13 in the business.
00:14 We got the signal caller Jed Drenning with us.
00:16 Oh, and he's got some duties he's got going on right now.
00:19 He might hop in here before we get out of here.
00:21 We'll see.
00:22 But I hope my microphone sounds okay.
00:24 My broadcast sounds okay.
00:26 Because if you are watching this in YouTube
00:29 and on YouTube and video fashion,
00:31 you will see that I am live on location in Indianapolis
00:35 in my hotel room.
00:36 And yes, if you are looking over my shoulder,
00:39 that is Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts
00:43 right behind us.
00:44 That's where our guy Zach Frazier will be working out
00:46 on Sunday and on Monday now as well too.
00:50 So hopefully everything goes all right here
00:53 in terms of my quality of broadcasting and internet
00:56 and all those different things.
00:58 We will get to some combine stuff and some indie happenings.
01:02 But of course, we all know this episode of "Bet Online"
01:04 brought to you in part by our friends
01:06 for this episode of "Bet Online."
01:07 This episode of ITG, pardon me.
01:10 You can tell I've been doing a lot of radio this week, Jed,
01:12 and I missed ITG last week.
01:14 So I got to sharpen my sword here.
01:16 Brought to you by our friends at "Bet Online,"
01:18 where the game starts.
01:20 Signal caller, how are we doing partner?
01:23 - For our friends on YouTube,
01:24 sorry for those listening on audio, we have to do this.
01:27 Wes showed me before we started taping.
01:29 This is an old camera trick.
01:30 Wes back us through it. - Very good.
01:31 - And then let's take a look on YouTube.
01:33 - So, and a shout out to my old broadcast journalism
01:36 professor, Gina Dahlia at WVU, who's still there.
01:39 She'd be very proud of me of this.
01:40 You're never supposed to shoot video into Windows
01:44 because when you have your subjects in focus,
01:47 it gets overexposed.
01:48 It almost looks like a bad white balance
01:50 and you could see it happening here right now.
01:51 So if you're watching on YouTube
01:53 or if you normally listen on audio,
01:55 just hop on YouTube real quick and check this out,
01:57 this portion of it.
01:58 Look when I'm in the shot,
01:59 look how good the stadium looks when I move out of the way
02:02 versus how overexposed it looks when I'm not.
02:04 Okay, here we go.
02:05 - That's like a magic trick.
02:09 It's like, first of all, for those listening
02:10 and not watching, the stadium is literally
02:13 through the window right over Wes's shoulder
02:15 outside his hotel room.
02:16 It looks like he's a couple hundred yards from there.
02:18 And every time he bends over,
02:20 the picture just crystallized
02:22 and becomes so clear and beautiful.
02:24 And the sky's blue and it's no longer this filmy white,
02:26 but what a trick.
02:28 And only a WVU professor could teach such a thing, right?
02:31 That's the kind of education you get in West Virginia.
02:33 - Shout out Gina Dahlia, baby.
02:35 - There you go, there you go.
02:37 - But yes, so let's get right into it.
02:40 A piece of breaking news here off the top, Jed,
02:43 you know, we've spent the last like couple months
02:45 ever really since the season ended
02:47 talking about how can't wait for the combine.
02:50 Wes is gonna get to talk to Zach, all this cool stuff.
02:53 And I get out here this week and I find out
02:55 that Zach doesn't speak until Saturday
02:57 and doesn't work out until Sunday.
03:00 And I'm leaving Friday.
03:01 So we got here Monday for work.
03:05 The Steelers booked me Monday through Friday
03:07 to be here for my job this week.
03:09 And I'm scheduled to leave at two o'clock on Friday.
03:11 So unfortunately to Zach and to Ray, his father,
03:15 who I said, you know, I'll be there at the podium.
03:17 I'll toss you some softballs.
03:18 I'll ask you about Fairmont and some of those things.
03:21 I'm not gonna be there.
03:22 So apologies to Zach, I'm bummed I'm missing it.
03:25 Apologies to our listeners.
03:26 - You said breaking news.
03:28 All us Steeler fans thought you were gonna come on here
03:30 and say breaking news.
03:31 The Steelers have announced if Zach Frazier
03:34 is on the board in the second round.
03:36 Okay, I wish, I hope, right?
03:40 Did you see, did you see, speaking of Zach,
03:42 I saw, of course there's a million mock drafts out there,
03:45 but this was one of the more respectable outlets.
03:48 I'm trying to remember which one,
03:49 but somebody had him going in the late first round
03:51 of the Lions.
03:52 Did you see that?
03:53 - Bucky Brooks or Daniel Jeremiah,
03:55 it was one of the NFL.com guys.
03:58 Like it wasn't some blog.com.
04:01 Yeah, me as well too.
04:02 And Jed, I'll tell you this,
04:03 on every big, not, I mean, I shouldn't say every,
04:07 but consensus on most big boards
04:10 before the combine started about a week or two ago
04:14 was that Zach was somewhere between the 36th
04:19 and 45th best player in the draft.
04:21 That was about where he was on,
04:23 if you went to ESPN, if you went to PFF,
04:25 if you went to the Athletic,
04:26 if you went to NFL Network, any of these things,
04:28 he was about 36 to 45.
04:31 - That of course doesn't mean square pegs,
04:33 square holes, 36 through 45th pick.
04:35 - 100%, 100%.
04:36 - I mean, that could be higher, lower, but go ahead.
04:39 - Sometimes they have quarterbacks on their big boards
04:41 in the 20s and 30s as the true best players,
04:44 and they end up going in the top five, top 10.
04:46 So, but throughout this week already,
04:50 I've seen him moving up.
04:51 He is now in the 30 to 35 range on most of those big boards,
04:55 and he hasn't gotten here and really spoken to,
04:57 well, actually, you know what?
04:57 He's probably in town doing the first of that right now.
05:00 He should be arriving today.
05:02 He's either isn't here yet or has barely been here,
05:06 and it's February 29th.
05:07 Happy leap year to everybody, by the way, too.
05:09 Don't get to say that very often as we record this, Jed.
05:12 And-
05:13 - A leap and a 40 year, yeah.
05:15 - So wait till he meets with all these teams on Friday.
05:18 Wait till he speaks and goes to the podium
05:19 and does all those obligations on Saturday,
05:22 and then wait till he kind of does what he's going to do
05:25 in terms of us really seeing him do some workout things
05:27 that he still wasn't cleared yet to do at the Senior Bowl.
05:31 I, listen, it's tough.
05:32 It's tough to be a first round pick as a center,
05:34 just point blank here.
05:35 I mean, look at a guy like Creed Humphrey still
05:37 who didn't even go to the 50s, you know what I mean?
05:39 And you've got another really solid prospect
05:41 in Jackson Powers Johnson, the center out of Oregon.
05:44 But I think it's certainly a possibility.
05:45 I wouldn't have said that before I got here this week,
05:47 but I think it certainly could happen.
05:49 He could end up going in the first round there.
05:51 - Yeah, there's some high cotton at that position
05:53 in this draft.
05:54 The kid from Duke, really talented,
05:55 a lot of high end potential there.
05:57 But yeah, that's just it.
05:59 But we, a friend of the show, Drew Fabianich,
06:02 Drew talked about the fact that, look,
06:04 once these staffs have an opportunity to get him in a room,
06:08 get to know him, and just as importantly,
06:10 get him on a grease board
06:12 and understand the football intellect that he wields,
06:15 that is when you'll really see Zach Frazier shine.
06:19 Because he's gonna separate himself.
06:21 Once you get to understand what kind of person he is,
06:23 once you get to understand what makes him tick,
06:26 but also when you start to appreciate
06:27 and understand his football IQ,
06:29 that is where you're gonna start
06:31 to have some overlying coaches.
06:32 We always go back to the proverbial
06:34 pounding their fist on the desk.
06:35 Well, there'll be some desks getting pounded
06:38 once Zach Frazier's done with his work
06:40 here in the coming weeks.
06:41 - No doubt, no doubt.
06:42 I'm hoping I've got some, let's call them interns
06:46 of in the gun that I'm gonna have boots on the ground here
06:49 at Indy this weekend.
06:49 So I'm hoping we can still get some audio
06:51 and some stuff that we can use on the podcast for Zach.
06:54 But yeah, apologies after, you know,
06:58 kind of telling everybody that I was gonna be there
07:00 and be able to talk to him.
07:01 And then now I've got to leave town on Friday.
07:04 - But we did have him on the show.
07:06 - But we did, yes.
07:07 - And for those of you who have been hiding
07:08 under a rock for the last month,
07:10 the reception has been incredible.
07:12 For the first time publicly,
07:14 Zach actually told the story,
07:16 his perspective of the injury he suffered
07:18 that ended his career in the regular season finale
07:21 at Baylor.
07:22 It was jarring, it was stirring,
07:24 it was emotionally charged.
07:25 It was everything you thought it'd be and more.
07:27 We all sat in silence.
07:29 I told his dad, Ray, first of all,
07:31 it's tough to get Zach to talk.
07:33 He's just a very reserved personality,
07:35 a very reserved type kid.
07:36 He always has been.
07:37 That might be, I went back and listened
07:40 when I was listening to the show the first time
07:42 through the next day, Wes.
07:44 When we asked Zach that question,
07:47 when we set the stage, set the scenario,
07:49 all right, here's the situation.
07:51 Final drive at Baylor, yada, yada, yada.
07:53 First play of the drive, tunnel screen to Huddy.
07:56 Walk us through from there, what happened.
07:58 Zach talked for seven straight minutes.
08:01 - Yeah, yeah.
08:02 - Maybe for the first time in his life, literally.
08:05 Maybe for the first time in Zach Frazier's life,
08:08 he talked for seven straight minutes.
08:10 And we were hanging on every,
08:12 not just every word, but every syllable.
08:15 So what he shared was incredible.
08:16 If you haven't watched that episode,
08:18 I implore you, double back and do so.
08:22 It's everything that a Mountaineer fan would,
08:24 it's what we live on.
08:26 I mean, you want to infuse it into your veins, just go.
08:29 You know, it was terrific.
08:31 - It's a good shot by you.
08:32 And we'll close down this Zach Frazier combine
08:35 start of the show by saying two things.
08:37 One, the national people that I have talked to this week,
08:42 I mean, we've been pretty fortunate.
08:43 We've had Greg Cosell on the show,
08:44 Daniel Jeremiah on the show,
08:46 Synthony Freeland on the show,
08:48 some huge draft experts on those sides of the things.
08:50 If you're into that world,
08:52 guys like Trevor Sykema on the show.
08:54 Every single person I've talked to here
08:56 from a national perspective this week,
08:58 when they find out, and a lot of them know me already,
09:01 but when they, or if they find out I'm a WVU guy,
09:04 bang, Zach Frazier, oh my goodness.
09:06 How about the end of that game against Baylor
09:07 and want to talk to me about that.
09:08 So that's something everybody knows and is aware of.
09:11 And the second thing, and you'll get a kick out of this,
09:14 my favorite draft Nick Jed, okay?
09:17 So I'm talking the guys that just make their living
09:20 on the draft is Dane Brugler.
09:22 He is the lead NFL draft guy for the athletic.
09:26 He puts out a publication every year
09:27 that's 400 pages called "The Beast,"
09:30 where he talks to every prospect.
09:32 He talks to every prospect's
09:34 ninth grade social studies teacher
09:36 to figure out what makes that.
09:37 He is so thorough.
09:38 You can ask him about anybody in this draft,
09:41 anybody at the combine, or that didn't get invited,
09:43 and he could talk to you for a half an hour about them.
09:45 He's just incredible.
09:47 Last year when he was done with us, I said to him,
09:49 I said, "Hey, next year when we're here with you,
09:51 "you know, when we do our yearly chat here on Radio Row,
09:54 "we're going to be talking about Zach Frazier."
09:55 And so this year, you know, it was like,
09:57 "Hey, we're going to be talking about Zach."
09:58 I said to him when he left this year, I said,
09:59 "Dane, when we're here on Radio Row next year,
10:02 "we're going to be talking about Wyatt, all right?
10:04 "So I told you last year it was Zach.
10:05 "I called my shot there."
10:06 - Wyatt Miller, baby.
10:07 - I'll follow up with you in about 365-ish days,
10:11 366 maybe, 'cause it's a leap year,
10:14 about Wyatt as well too.
10:17 So been a lot of fun here, and all the best to Zach
10:20 as he gets into action here this weekend.
10:22 Like I said, he will be doing media
10:24 and interview stuff on Saturday,
10:26 his on-field workouts on Sunday, bench press on Monday.
10:30 I don't know entirely what he's going to do
10:32 and not do, obviously, but all the best to Zach
10:35 as he gets going this weekend.
10:36 Jed, another thank you here to our friends
10:40 at Toothman Ford, we all know cars cost less in Grafton.
10:42 Big shout out to JR, they do huge stuff
10:45 for our athletes, and NIL, make sure you're supporting
10:47 those who support the Mountaineers.
10:49 Big thank you to Toothman Ford
10:51 for being a part of this podcast,
10:52 since about its inception, if we're being honest.
10:55 Jed, some moving and shaking as it relates
10:57 to the WVU coaching staff, and a name
11:00 who is familiar to WVU fans.
11:03 Actually, two of these names that we're going to talk about
11:05 are very familiar to WVU fans.
11:07 The first, though, maybe not as much.
11:09 New defensive analyst for the Mountaineers.
11:12 Tell us everything we need to know about Trey Bell.
11:15 - Yeah, Trey Bell, I'll tell you what.
11:18 For a guy his age, pretty decorated coach.
11:22 He's going to be brought in to coach as an analyst,
11:24 not on-field, but as an analyst, work with the corners,
11:27 get work on the defensive side of the football.
11:29 Most recently, the last couple years,
11:31 he was the on-field cornerbacks coach for Akron
11:35 and produced some outstanding talent up there.
11:39 And before that, he was on staff at FSU as a grad assistant.
11:42 He's bounced around and he's starting to make a name
11:44 for himself at a very young age
11:47 and starting to help develop some talent
11:49 in his position group.
11:51 So I think he's going to bring a lot of value
11:53 from an analyst standpoint to that side of the football
11:56 for Jordan Leslie and his staff.
11:58 I think it's a tremendous addition.
12:00 I think Trey Bell has a bright future,
12:02 and I like the fact that his next step
12:05 heading toward that future is at West Virginia
12:06 on Neil Brown staff.
12:08 - I completely agree.
12:09 These type of hires get me excited.
12:12 The guy that seems like he's on that upward trajectory
12:18 in his career, maybe not a name that we're all familiar with
12:22 and know a ton about.
12:24 These are the kind of hires that when you're WV,
12:26 when you're not Alabama or Ohio State,
12:28 these are the type of hires that you make.
12:30 These are the type of hires that if you hit them
12:32 and nail this hire, they really elevate your program
12:35 to the next point.
12:36 And it's one of the things I always laugh about, Jed.
12:39 People always, you know,
12:40 sometimes when you hire younger up and comers,
12:42 some fans will think, "Oh, all right.
12:44 Well, if they're really successful,
12:45 they're just going to end up leaving us in a couple years."
12:48 If that's the case,
12:49 that means they really did a dang good job.
12:51 So, you know, let's hope that five years from now,
12:54 Trey is taking some massive job somewhere.
12:57 - You only do that when you leave a productive trail
13:00 of breadcrumbs.
13:00 - That's right, that's it.
13:01 - So you're going to take that trade every day of the week
13:03 and twice on Sunday.
13:05 Absolutely.
13:06 - He's played at a high level,
13:07 he's coached at a high level,
13:08 he gets big time football.
13:09 - Yeah, like it made me laugh
13:11 when WVU hired Neil Brown and a lot of fans were like,
13:13 "If he has success, he's just going to go to Kentucky."
13:16 Okay, yeah, if we lose our head coach to an SEC school,
13:18 that's great.
13:19 That means he probably did a really good job.
13:21 - That's right.
13:23 That's a good problem to have, you know?
13:25 And you know what, if you're in the SEC-
13:26 - Pit fans, Jed, real quick.
13:27 Pit fans, when they hired Jeff Capel
13:29 like four years ago, right?
13:30 It was like, "Oh, well, if he does really good here,
13:32 he's just going to go to Duke
13:33 and replace Mike Krzyzewski one day."
13:36 You realize if you lose your head coach to Duke,
13:38 how good of a, you might've won a national title in there.
13:41 Like you were at least flirting with one.
13:42 - I'm sure you've done something pretty good.
13:43 So yeah, and you know, if you're in one of these leagues,
13:46 if you're an upper tier, big 10 school,
13:48 if you're an upper tier SEC school
13:50 and you're having tremendous success,
13:52 you're worried about the NFL
13:53 snatching your coach and gobbling him up.
13:55 So that's just the nature of the beast.
13:55 - Jim Harbaugh just won a national championship
13:57 and went to the NFL.
13:58 - There you go.
13:59 - Yeah.
14:00 - That's the nature of the beast.
14:00 Sometimes that's the price.
14:02 These dalliances only come when you're successful.
14:05 So if Trey Bell has, look at this,
14:07 Trey Bell's barely on campus.
14:08 We're already talking about him taking a bigger job.
14:10 So let's hope it works out that way.
14:12 That's the natural progression of things
14:14 if they work as you hope.
14:16 - Yep, absolutely.
14:17 So Trey Bell, the newer name
14:19 that we'll continue to get more familiar with here
14:21 as WVU fans and as we roll along on ITG.
14:24 So moving and shaking for some much more familiar names.
14:28 Ryan Nealon, Clint Trickett.
14:30 Tell us what's up with a couple of mountaineer legends here
14:34 who come from some legendary mountaineer families
14:36 as well too.
14:37 - Yeah, I saw the new hire as the offensive analyst
14:41 and I was wondering, it's N-E-H,
14:43 how do you pronounce that name?
14:44 That last name, N-E-H-L-E-N?
14:45 - I don't know if it's Nelon or Nealon.
14:48 - Well, welcome back home, Ryan.
14:51 Ryan Nealon, of course he was previously on staff
14:53 a handful of years ago, did a tremendous job.
14:56 I mean, I'm telling you, I got a close up look
14:58 at some of Ryan's handiwork when he was here.
15:03 And he just from a scouting standpoint,
15:05 and on down the line, Ryan Nealon does good work.
15:09 He does good work.
15:09 He left to take a full-time position,
15:12 a full-time slot as a position coach at McNeese State.
15:15 Now he's back in the role of an analyst
15:17 in this new way of how the world works.
15:19 That's the next natural step up for him.
15:22 So I think it's tremendous to have Ryan Nealon
15:25 back on staff.
15:27 You can't get much more West Virginia than the name Nealon.
15:30 But even if his last name was Johnson,
15:32 I mean, Ryan Nealon does a tremendous job.
15:34 He's very good at what he does.
15:36 He brings great value.
15:37 And then of course, I was happy to see in the news today,
15:41 a very familiar name to Mountaineer fans
15:43 is the new tight end wide receivers coach
15:45 at Georgia Southern, Clint Trickett.
15:48 I reached out to Clint and congratulated him.
15:51 We were exchanging some texts.
15:53 I told him, hey, I've had my butt whipped
15:55 a couple of times down in Statesboro.
15:57 Let's go get after him.
15:58 So, you know, you got, look at the Trickett family.
16:01 Of course, Rick's doing what he's doing
16:03 with Coach Rod down at Jack State.
16:04 Okay. Look at Chance out with the Rams.
16:07 - Yep.
16:08 - I mean, he's now all of a sudden
16:09 becoming an acclaimed scout with the Rams.
16:10 He's an award winning scout with the Rams.
16:11 - Pretty good coaching staff.
16:12 Pretty good, pretty good staff there.
16:13 - And then you got Travis down at Coastal
16:15 doing big things as the OC down at Coastal.
16:17 And now you got Clint back, you know,
16:19 on staff at Georgia Southern.
16:20 So I expect some big things out of him as well.
16:22 Talented family.
16:24 Glad to see Clint land where he did.
16:26 But yeah, some moving and shaking going on
16:28 due with some names that West Virginia fans
16:30 are familiar with.
16:31 - Without a doubt.
16:32 Always good to see some of our own out there
16:36 doing good things.
16:37 And so obviously we're hoping for success
16:40 for Ryan Nealon and for Clint Trickett,
16:42 as well as Trey Bell,
16:43 as they all kind of get into their new ventures
16:46 heading into this upcoming football season.
16:46 - We can't understate them, overstate them, Wes.
16:49 I mean, in the modern game, I mean, think about it.
16:52 These larger blue blood programs that have resources,
16:56 these are the positions that are so oftentimes
16:58 being populated by former head coaches.
17:02 So if you want to be able to compete,
17:05 you're not going to get necessarily a former head coach,
17:07 like maybe Alabama is,
17:08 or maybe Georgia is to fill those analyst roles.
17:11 So the people you do hire matter in a big way
17:15 because they have to confer a tremendous amount of value
17:18 on your staff.
17:19 And I think that the additions that we made
17:21 will do that very thing.
17:23 - Well said, well said.
17:25 With that said, we will go to our first break here.
17:27 We come back on the other side.
17:29 We got some news as it relates to the auto bids
17:32 in the college football playoff,
17:33 the upcoming expanded college football playoff.
17:36 We've also got a Big 12 coach
17:38 who's got himself a nice new contract
17:40 that we will discuss as well.
17:41 Wesley Euler, Jed Drenning, you are in the gun.
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18:14 - For more West Virginia Mountaineer football content,
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19:56 - Back in the gun here as we roll along.
20:03 One of us in West Virginia,
20:04 one of us in Indianapolis, Indiana,
20:06 here on this edition of ITG.
20:09 And Jed, I gotta imagine,
20:10 listen, I can find a transition for everything, baby.
20:13 The DeKalb Triple Playoff, at some point,
20:15 will have some involvement with this stadium
20:17 that's right over my shoulder right here.
20:18 There'll be a national championship here.
20:20 There has been before.
20:21 The Big Ten Championship game is right there
20:24 in that stadium every single year.
20:25 That will obviously have a factor
20:27 in the college football playoff.
20:29 We all know this thing is gonna be expanding.
20:31 And with that comes the conversation of automatic bids.
20:35 How many does the SEC get?
20:36 The Big Ten, the Big 12, the ACC,
20:39 the group of five schools or the non-power schools
20:42 as these conversations and labels continue to evolve.
20:45 We've got the P4 now,
20:47 that the Pac-12 as we know it is essentially no more.
20:50 So where is this progressing to?
20:52 Where are the latest talks?
20:54 What's this looking like it could shape out to be?
20:56 Quick aside, and I'm gonna jump right into it.
21:00 I have to give you a shout out here, Wes,
21:02 'cause I can tell you have a production background
21:05 because here, I've been on location.
21:07 I've done shows when I was at the beach with you and Owen.
21:09 I've done shows in Charlotte.
21:11 I've been at different locations.
21:13 And when I do it, I'm in a hotel room,
21:15 but it's like a plastic houseplant behind me.
21:17 And that's all I can manage to do with my camera angle.
21:20 But yours is just immaculate.
21:21 I mean, it's immaculate.
21:22 You got Lucas Oil behind you, great view.
21:24 But yeah, in the news,
21:26 in the ever-changing landscape of college football,
21:28 only in college football can you have headline discussions
21:32 about the possibility of a 14-team college football playoff
21:35 before you even started your 12-team
21:37 college football playoff, right?
21:38 So first of all, we're segwaying out
21:40 of a four-team college football playoff,
21:43 which has been in place since 2014
21:45 when the CFP replaced the BCS.
21:47 This will be the first year, as we know,
21:50 of a 12-team college football playoff.
21:52 Skyler and I talked about that in an episode last week
21:55 and broke some of that down.
21:56 Well, now what's gaining momentum in discussions
22:00 is the possibility of a 14-team college football playoff,
22:05 which would start as early as 2026.
22:08 Now, Brett McMurphy on Twitter,
22:10 one of many to talk about this,
22:12 Brett McMurphy has said, and this is his tweet,
22:15 a 14-team model is under consideration,
22:18 and it would give automatic bids as follows--
22:21 three to the Big 10, three to the SEC, two to the ACC,
22:26 two to the Big 12, and one group of five team,
22:29 and three bids remaining to the highest-ranked at-large teams.
22:33 This is what sources told him, first reported by Ross
22:36 Dellinger.
22:37 So let's give Ross a shout out there.
22:39 It finalizes, as we said, it could start as early as 2026.
22:42 Now, look, I'm not an astronomist,
22:44 but I remember saying last year, I'm like, look,
22:47 I'm willing to make concessions as long as you give the Big 12
22:51 automatic access.
22:53 I'll give them more access.
22:54 I'll give the Big 10 and the SEC--
22:56 I'm not delusional-- I'll give them more access, more auto
22:59 bids, as long as you give us multiple auto bids.
23:02 That's all I can ask.
23:04 And some people were up in arms.
23:05 How dare you seek ground with the Big 10 and the SEC?
23:08 Are you serious?
23:08 Come on.
23:09 First of all, this is probably, in my estimation,
23:12 going to happen, and probably going
23:14 to happen as early as 2026.
23:16 You have 14 teams, but it's one more step
23:20 towards another change that's going to happen after that.
23:23 You're finally going to-- when the dust settles, yes,
23:26 of course, the in-the-cat bird's-eye
23:28 will be the Big 10, will be the SEC.
23:30 They'll have all the advantages.
23:32 They'll be in the position of leverage.
23:34 That's fine with me, so long as the rest of us--
23:37 by the rest of us, I mean the Big 12,
23:39 because who knows what the future of the ACC holds?
23:43 I mean, what's going to happen with FSU?
23:45 What's going to happen with--
23:46 and speaking of which, we're going
23:47 to have a guest on later in the offseason that's
23:50 in the know at FSU.
23:51 And we're going to talk about that very thing.
23:53 What's FSU's future in the ACC if there is one?
23:55 Clemson, what's going to happen there?
23:57 We don't know.
23:57 I mean, what I've said, the fundamental difference
23:59 to me between the current state of the Big 12
24:01 and the current state of the ACC is, when you look at the Big 12,
24:05 you're looking at the Big 12 as it will almost certainly
24:08 be moving forward.
24:10 Now, you're comparing that to an ACC that most likely--
24:13 or at least there's a fair chance--
24:15 won't look like this moving forward.
24:17 So what I think may happen, if you
24:20 see the erosion of the ACC at some point down the road,
24:23 you're going to have more auto bids gobbled up
24:26 by the other conferences, by other conferences,
24:28 first and foremost, I mean Big 10 SEC.
24:30 So long as we retain access on a reasonable level,
24:34 I'm fine with that.
24:35 I'm fine with the Group of Five team getting in.
24:37 I'm fine with all of it, so long as the Big 12
24:40 has reasonable access.
24:42 And under not just the 12-team model that begins this year,
24:45 but even the 14-team model that's being discussed
24:48 that we just talked about, both at least
24:50 supply the Big 12 with reasonable access.
24:53 So I'm fine with either.
24:54 And as long as that is maintained moving forward,
24:57 I don't care what it looks like, so long as we keep that.
25:01 I love that label, Jed.
25:02 And I can tell you right now, I'm
25:04 going to steal it moving forward as these conversations continue
25:07 to arise.
25:07 Reasonable access.
25:09 And I think as it's laid out there,
25:11 the Big 10 and the SEC get three, the Big 12 gets two,
25:15 I think that's reasonable.
25:16 That's not astronomical.
25:17 I think that's reasonable.
25:19 I think that's well stated by you.
25:21 I think that's perfect.
25:22 And I think most reasonable people would agree.
25:24 I agree.
25:25 And I'm excited to get the 12-team started.
25:28 To me, people are saying, well, one
25:31 of the things they like about it is
25:33 they like seeing Notre Dame take some arrows.
25:35 And Notre Dame's not in a conference,
25:37 so with the 12-team format, they won't
25:39 be one of the top four teams getting the bye
25:41 because you have to be a conference champion to be
25:43 one of the top four teams getting a bye.
25:45 And I'm like, are they really taking arrows?
25:47 I mean, yeah, they got to play the extra game.
25:49 But one of the downsides to being the top four teams,
25:51 if there is one, you don't get the home game
25:53 in the opening round.
25:54 I think that's the coolest dimension
25:55 of the whole new playoff is the on-site, on-campus home game.
25:59 The first time to me--
26:01 Pretty lucrative home game.
26:02 That's easily the part of the new playoff format
26:04 that I'm most excited about.
26:05 Easily.
26:07 Now, once you get past that, you get
26:08 into the bowl structure and bowl system,
26:10 playing the teams that have the byes and all that.
26:12 But look, I'm fine with the 12-team that's
26:15 going to be in play this year.
26:17 That's definitely a step forward and toward a greater resolution
26:21 than what we've seen with the 14.
26:22 But if you want to have a conversation about 14,
26:24 I'm fine with that, too.
26:25 It's just you're still within range of hitting the sweet spot
26:29 without--
26:30 if you get to way too many teams, 24, 32,
26:34 whatever the number might be.
26:35 I mean, I could even entertain a conversation as high as 16.
26:38 You could talk me into it, but probably not much higher.
26:41 Because I do believe on some level,
26:43 you need to maintain the integrity of the regular season.
26:46 Now, if you get beyond 16 teams, it
26:48 becomes more difficult to do that.
26:49 But if it's less than 16, I think
26:51 you don't just maintain the integrity
26:53 of the regular season, you enhance it.
26:55 Because one of the things Skyler and I talked about last week,
26:58 with 12 teams this year, you will
27:00 say more meaningful football games played
27:02 in the month of November with teams jockeying for position
27:05 and jockeying for a higher seed than we have seen maybe ever.
27:10 So it enhances the value of November regular season
27:13 football.
27:14 It doesn't diminish it.
27:15 Let's just make sure that part of it stays in place.
27:18 And you can't go much higher than 12, 14, at most, 16,
27:22 in my humble estimation.
27:23 But that's where we're at.
27:25 You and I are completely aligned on this.
27:27 Once again, I completely agree.
27:29 And I think that's perfectly stated.
27:31 Another thank you to our friends at Fortis and our guy Rick
27:34 Lewis for roof performance and financial security, guaranteed.
27:38 You got to visit fortis.us.com.
27:42 All right, Jed, one last topic to get us out of here
27:44 as we wrap this thing up before I head to my fancy team meal
27:48 tonight here in downtown Indianapolis.
27:52 Lance Leipold, pretty sizable new contract for the Kansas
27:55 football head coach.
27:56 We know he's done fantastically there.
27:58 He's been rightfully so mentioned
28:00 around some promotions, bigger opportunity
28:04 jobs in the coaching world.
28:06 Well, Kansas, he's got a contract there now
28:09 that's going to be--
28:10 it's going to be hard to pry him away from Lawrence.
28:13 It is.
28:14 It puts him in the upper stratosphere of Big 12 coaches
28:18 in the new Big 12, the 16 team, new Big 12.
28:21 The thing that surprised me most was, when this came out,
28:25 it puts him in the ballpark of $7 million a year.
28:28 Excuse me.
28:30 But the thing that surprised me most,
28:31 I didn't realize how much he was already making.
28:35 He was, what, 5.7 in the ballpark of 5.7 a year already.
28:40 So they were already serious about making
28:43 a push to retain him.
28:45 Now, yes, Kansas likes to pride itself as a basketball school.
28:49 But I think Kansas also sees the big picture
28:51 and all the money is in football.
28:53 And they recognize the fact that they've
28:56 been selling out games at the booth for the first time
28:59 since Moby Dick was a cuppy.
29:01 That's changed the entire dynamic of Kansas sports
29:03 or Kansas athletics.
29:05 So they see the value of Lance Leipold.
29:08 They appreciate what he's done and what he can do.
29:10 So what I like about this, it starts a conversation
29:14 about, when you start looking at the different tiers
29:16 of the salaries of Big 12 coaches,
29:20 because a lot of these are coaches that,
29:21 why would we be paying attention to what the head coach at
29:23 Arizona or Arizona State's making in the past
29:26 when they weren't part of our conference?
29:27 So let's look at what we kind of know.
29:29 I mean, I did some quick digging.
29:31 This is wildly unofficial because some of these
29:33 might have even changed in the last six or so months
29:35 since I looked at this or since the articles were published
29:38 that I saw this in.
29:39 Starting at the top, the highest paid coach,
29:43 and I would argue deservedly so, in the Big 12
29:46 is, no surprise, Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State.
29:50 Now, he's also the longest tenured head coach
29:53 in the Big 12.
29:55 What's interesting, he's making $7.6 million a year,
29:59 which puts him at number one, even in the new Big 12.
30:03 So I was curious, back when he was hired in 2005,
30:06 how much was he hired at?
30:07 What was his salary?
30:08 It's 7.6 million right now.
30:11 So he was hired in January of 2005.
30:12 - I'll guess a little over a million dollars.
30:15 Like 1.2, 1.3 million dollars.
30:19 - Good guess.
30:21 I shot a text to the one person that I knew
30:23 would immediately know.
30:25 And that's of course,
30:26 the iconic and legendary Barry Trammell.
30:28 He's so well-known in Big 12 circles.
30:31 He's a legend in Oklahoma,
30:32 the beat writer for the Oklahoma, the Daily Oklahoman.
30:35 Took Barry two minutes to text me back.
30:38 Guess what?
30:39 If you're listening out there,
30:40 Wes says a little over a million.
30:42 Guess what, guys?
30:44 He was hired at, in 2005, $700,000 a year.
30:48 And now it's 7.6 million a year.
30:50 So you talk about the change in the amount of greenbacks
30:55 that have made their way into college football
30:58 across the landscape.
30:59 - No doubt.
31:00 - I mean, those are the types of numbers that really,
31:03 you know, you take pause and you start to understand
31:05 and assimilate, wow, look at that.
31:08 I mean, we talk about the numbers have grown
31:10 in the last 10, 20 years,
31:11 but wow, the numbers have really grown.
31:14 - I think if you're a place that,
31:15 in this new era of college football,
31:17 even when you're Kansas, even when you're Duke
31:20 and you're North Carolina and you're Kentucky,
31:23 you are dumb to not invest in football.
31:27 You can still admit we're a basketball school.
31:30 This is where the money is, man.
31:32 Like, and it's the classic, it's the oldest cliche
31:34 in the book, probably literally,
31:36 but that's because it's true.
31:37 You get what you pay for.
31:39 You invest in football,
31:40 you're gonna make money in football.
31:41 I mean, it's-
31:42 - What's the old saying?
31:43 A bad football program pays for everything.
31:44 A good basketball program pays for itself.
31:47 - Right.
31:48 - Right.
31:49 And think-
31:50 - I mean, that's just the nature of it.
31:50 - Kentucky and North Carolina
31:52 have been pretty consistent for a while,
31:53 but think of Duke and Kansas
31:55 and how much better their programs have been lately
31:58 than they were historically.
31:59 - Well, I always go back to this,
32:00 do you remember when the Big 12,
32:02 right before West Virginia came aboard,
32:04 when you had the departure of Missouri and A&M to the SEC,
32:08 the Big 12 was for a handful of months there
32:11 on absolute life support.
32:12 I mean, you had Oklahoma and Oklahoma State
32:15 looking to bail, Texas was looking to bail.
32:17 Nobody knew what was gonna play out.
32:19 So all these teams that were left behind
32:21 were fending for themselves, picking up the phones.
32:23 The ADs were working the phones.
32:24 Hey, will you take us?
32:25 They're calling the Pac-12.
32:27 They're calling the SEC.
32:28 They're calling all these different leagues.
32:29 Will you take us?
32:30 Will you take us?
32:30 Well, the school that could really get somebody
32:32 to return the call was Kansas.
32:34 - Right.
32:35 - Because Kansas' football was in dire straits.
32:38 And they're like, we don't care about basketball.
32:39 There's not enough money in it.
32:41 Look at your football program.
32:42 It's an embarrassment,
32:43 which in 2010, 2011, it absolutely was.
32:46 But that just really speaks volumes
32:48 as to the fundamental difference
32:50 between the financing that football provides
32:52 versus basketball.
32:53 But looking at these salaries, let's go through the list.
32:57 Again, this is unofficial.
32:58 It's just what I can find.
32:59 The two that are available because they're private schools,
33:02 Sataki at BYU, Sonny Dyches at TCU.
33:05 So you'd have to guess with those.
33:06 But working top to bottom,
33:08 Gundy, okay, leader in the clubhouse at 7.6 million.
33:11 Now, Lance Leipold, by my math,
33:13 this puts him at number two at 7 million.
33:16 So they're very serious about what they're doing
33:18 from a football standpoint in Lawrence now.
33:20 Number three, you have a guess?
33:22 In the new Big 12.
33:24 In some ways surprising, in some ways not.
33:29 It's not who I'd have guessed.
33:32 - When you say new Big 12,
33:33 it makes me think it's one of the newcomers.
33:36 - Okay.
33:39 - But I've got no clue who it might be.
33:41 That's all I got for you.
33:43 - Oh, yeah. - Deion's number three.
33:45 - Duh, I should have known that.
33:46 That's a big, that's a- - I would have guessed
33:47 Whittingham.
33:48 If anybody's earned it, it's Whittingham.
33:50 - Sure, sure.
33:51 - Okay, so Deion's number three.
33:52 Again, this is not official.
33:53 It's just my math from what I can find.
33:56 Chris Klineman, 4.75 million, number four.
33:59 Kyle Whittingham at Utah, number five, 4.7.
34:02 Willie Fritz, the new hire at Houston.
34:05 Brand new hire at Houston, 4.5 million.
34:08 So he's next on the list,
34:10 followed by Joey McGuire at Texas Tech, 4.1 million.
34:14 Okay, so that puts us at three, four, five, six.
34:17 So Joey McGuire at Tech is seventh with 4.1 million.
34:20 Again, we don't know about two.
34:22 Maybe they're making more, maybe they're making less.
34:24 So next on the list, which would make him number,
34:28 okay, I said seven, number eight.
34:30 This is where it's interesting, Wes.
34:31 Matt Campbell at Iowa State, 4 million a year.
34:36 Actually, it's like 4,000,000, okay, a year.
34:39 Technically, it's like 4,537,000.
34:43 I bring that up for a reason.
34:44 Neil is right behind Matt Campbell, $537 a year behind.
34:51 So, okay, so that's one, two, three, four, five, six,
34:56 seven, eight, nine, puts Neil at nine.
34:58 So if we can collectively as a podcast
35:00 come up with $538 for Neil Brown's salary,
35:03 that would put him in the top half of the-
35:05 - If anybody wants to sponsor that,
35:08 if anybody wants to sponsor that,
35:09 you know where to get at.
35:10 - Yeah, who wants to sponsor that?
35:11 We're looking for $538 to move Neil Brown
35:13 from ninth to eighth, which would be the top half
35:16 of the new Big 12 coaches.
35:18 Okay, and then you have Dillingham at Arizona State, 3.85.
35:22 Dave Miranda, Baylor, 3.8.
35:24 Satterfield, Cincinnati, 3.5.
35:27 Brennan at Arizona, 2.7.
35:29 Gus, I'll tell you what,
35:30 did Gus recently get a new deal that I missed?
35:32 I don't know.
35:33 This list of Gus, of course, he was a group of five guy,
35:35 but now he's a power four guy.
35:38 Gus Malzahn at UCF was 2.3 million.
35:41 So out of the ones listed, Gus is by far the lowest.
35:44 I would think that would have to change.
35:46 But anyway, that gives you the pecking order
35:48 of where things currently stand,
35:49 but hats off to Lance Leipold,
35:51 Kansas serious about what they're doing.
35:53 They see the value.
35:54 Now, bear in mind, when you have success,
35:57 when you overachieve to the point where you have success,
36:00 much like Kansas has in Leipold's tenure there,
36:02 you're gonna see,
36:04 it's gonna be difficult to keep things together.
36:06 So what have we already seen?
36:08 Andy Kotelnicki, who is an incredibly talented
36:11 O coordinator, who had a long history with Lance Leipold
36:14 as his offensive coordinator,
36:16 all the way back to their Buffalo days,
36:17 all the way back to their division three days,
36:19 what happened to him?
36:21 He's now at Penn State.
36:22 So when we break Penn State down for the preview next year,
36:25 we'll be talking a lot about what Kansas did offensively.
36:27 I'm already starting up looking into some of that.
36:29 - I'm sure you are.
36:30 I know you, I'm sure you are.
36:31 - So it's gonna be difficult
36:32 when you have that kind of success
36:33 to keep your staff together.
36:34 So I think Kansas, to their credit, is recognizing that.
36:37 So not only do you see the bump in Lance Leipold,
36:40 but I bet you, if we investigate further,
36:42 you're also gonna see some salary, staff salary bumps
36:45 for his assistant pool as well.
36:47 I bet you anything that's part of the same deal.
36:49 If I had to look, I haven't found it yet,
36:51 but because they wanna keep the rest of that staff together.
36:53 He's happy with the staff that he has.
36:55 He doesn't wanna lose any more key pieces.
36:57 - Sure.
36:57 - So interesting point of conversation,
36:59 but yeah, that's where things are.
37:02 - Well, that's a good way to close it down.
37:03 If you're looking and still watching on YouTube,
37:05 the sun has basically set now.
37:07 And so you can much clearly see,
37:09 it's not overexposed, Lucas Oil,
37:11 the nice red sign in the background there.
37:13 A very nice full crescendo there
37:15 for everybody to check out on YouTube.
37:18 A final thank you to our new friends at Johnston Equipment.
37:21 Make sure you're checking out their new location,
37:24 Route 33, outside of Weston.
37:27 - There's one last thing we gotta say.
37:28 - Okay.
37:29 - Remember the text I sent you a little bit ago
37:31 in the group thread?
37:32 We gotta give a shout out there.
37:33 - To... - You remember?
37:36 - Oh, to Casey Vance. - The mine safety team.
37:37 Pull it up, pull it up, yeah.
37:39 - To Casey Vance? - The mine safety team.
37:41 Yes.
37:42 Where is that?
37:42 It was in the group thread.
37:44 The mine safety team at West Virginia
37:46 finished number one in the country.
37:48 We gotta find this.
37:49 - Oh. - Okay.
37:50 - Oh, I thought you were talking about the Casey Vance
37:52 tweeting with Charles Wesley Godwin.
37:54 - Yeah, Casey gave us a shout out
37:55 because he got a shout out from Charles Wesley Godwin.
37:56 - What you're talking about is the WVU Mine Rescue Team
37:59 were crowned champions of the 2024
38:01 Mine Emergency Response Competition.
38:04 First place in four of the five events,
38:06 beating out other colleges from the United States and Canada.
38:10 - My dad was a miner. - World champion mountaineers.
38:12 - My grandfather was a miner.
38:14 My father-in-law was a miner.
38:16 To me, that might be the coolest thing
38:18 we talked about all night right there.
38:20 Hats off again, helmets off.
38:22 - Helmet off. - And congratulations.
38:23 - That's right, that's right.
38:24 - Eyes and gals, yep.
38:25 - I love it, I love it.
38:27 Big shout out to our producer Skylar
38:28 for throwing this together for us.
38:30 We'll be back with you next week with more to talk about.
38:32 We'll have some stuff from Zach as well too.
38:35 So for the signal caller and the beer truck,
38:37 I am Wesley Uler reminding you to be an ear and tell an ear
38:41 about your new favorite WVU football podcast.
38:44 Take care, everybody.
38:45 We'll talk to you next week.
38:46 You've been in the gun.
38:48 (door opening)
38:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]