A

And we're back here on Sex AGS Live presented by David Gardner's Jewelers, Rollo Insurance Studio or SEC Media Days coverage brought to you by Paragon Financial Advisors. Billy's with me. I'm David Nuno. And Drew Fabianich. Joining us from the Senior bowl, the executive director. How are you, sir?

B

Thank you guys. Appreciate you having me.

A

Thank you.

B

Always be always good to be back with somebody from Texas.

A

Yeah, exactly.

B

Because people ask me where you're from, I said, well, I'm a Texan. 23 years worth. I'm a Texan.

C

How long were you with the Cowboys?

B

18.

C

Wow, I didn't realize it was 18.

B

18.

D

Yeah.

B

23 total in Texas.

A

So talk to me, what's new with the Senior Bowl? How old have you grown?

B

You know, I don't know if it's so much how we grown, but we made the experience a heck of a lot better for the players, I thought. And it was the lowest drop rate of players leaving during the week than it had been in four years. And you know what we dealt with with the weather, getting those guys down there. Yeah, was, was almost pure hell because we had to get them done three days early.

C

Was that the ice?

B

That was the ice storm, yeah. So we flew everybody in from, from LA, from Dallas and everybody from Charlotte was 85 players. 85 players three days early. And you know, and again, it went off pretty damn well. Yeah. If we wouldn't have done that, I don't know if we'd had a game,

C

you know what goes into the increased retention, guys finishing the week, guys making it to the game, I think making

B

agents aware of the value. And I don't know if you, I don't know if you followed the Panini Senior bowl on X, but when we had the 15 top gainers from last year, and these are compared on four year contracts, just our 15, it ended up being $86 million in difference.

C

Oh, wow.

B

Just perfect. Like, perfect example was like Chris Johnson, he was rated as a high four. He goes in the first round. Caleb Banks was a high three first round, right. Caleb Keelan, Relics, third round. Goes in the first round on those guys. Jumps just on theirs alone on a four year contract, difference was $13 million. You know, so educating, you know, and letting these people know, let the agents know. And player, if you do this right,

D

you will grow your, you will grow

B

your draft stock exponentially.

C

How's it gone with the transition from Reese's, right. Reese's to Panini?

B

You know, it's good. Reese's was a great partner for a long time, but it's nice to have a sports related sponsor. Plus they have a lot of these guys signed already.

C

That's true. Some of them go back. Yeah. High school.

B

High school. They, I think they had Archer when he was like.

A

Right.

B

Coming out of high school. Yeah, they've got about 20, 20 players and I would think that they're probably going to play in our game if they' if they're good enough, you know.

A

Drew, how early do you start the evaluation process for the upcoming year? Like, is this something you do the year before? Is it starting, does it start now?

B

Well, the week after I strip the board and I leave the ones up that we had evaluated before didn't go like Trinidad Shambliss. He's exactly where we had him last year, you know, and I invited him last year, you know. Now again, I strip that and we start right then we start with everybody in house. There's four of us that go through every conference and every single player. And then we have nine scouts. They're scattered all over the country. And once we send them the list in August, then they're going to go to the games. They're also going to evaluate the number of players we give them. We go over those reports in October one by one because they're all in different areas. Then we cross check them. So the first time they're cross checking me and our in house people, then we're cross checking them and then we put the roster together right at the end of October and the invites don't go out until after Thanksgiving. And I did that purposely because I coached for a long time and I didn't want to be a distraction to coaches. So I want them to be finished with a regular season. Then the invites are there for the players then. And now I'm not, I'm not calling them, I'm not recruiting them. Yeah, I mean, we're just. Like I said, I'm being very cognizant of not being in the way of coaches because I've been there.

A

How do you balance between the best player in college and the best NFL potential?

B

I go by the best NFL potential because the league wants, the league wants to see 135 of the best players out there for the league. And again, we know, we know when we take, when we put out the rosters, we know where guys are projected. That's how I found out, you know, hey, you know, where's Keelan Rowledge going to be? He's top of the third Round.

C

Was he your favorite success story last year?

B

I think Caleb Banks.

A

Yeah.

B

You know, because, I mean, he played three games.

C

Yeah.

B

And he was hurt most of the season. I mean, and he comes down there and just tears it up and, you know, he's got a little bit of Chris Jones in him. You know, he's that big of a man, that same. So, you know, and he stays healthy, which I hope he does, because when it's a foot injury for a big man like that, and I love you, stick to Billy. But my God, I mean, he is enormous. And he's an athlete.

C

Yeah, he's.

B

Yeah. For. I mean, almost 6. 6 and 330 pounds. And I mean, it doesn't look 30 pounds, you know.

C

So at Florida, man, they have almost going to ask you about A and M. You know, they went from three draft picks to 10 and Mike Elkos. Thing is, we want to live there.

B

Yes.

C

And it'll be really interesting this year to see how many they have because they. I wouldn't say they went heavy portal, but they did some portal stuff. They've got veterans. I could see them sneaking up near that number again, certainly closer to that than three. But in Florida, I was like, bank, you have. There's so many guys on. On that. Are they a team this year that you look at in the SEC just knowing talent, you know, and they could surprise.

B

I think they could surprise, but I think it. I think it rides on their quarterback. Yeah, I really do. If the quarterback can perform that. Florida has enough talent. I mean, and they had enough talent last year, too. You know, just the wheels fell off. And you're right about, you know, whether you have 10 draft picks, 11 draft picks. It's like when you look at that, if you have 10 to 15, okay, you should compete for a national championship. Yeah, you should. Yeah.

C

It's kind of the magic number.

D

Yeah.

B

And then Notre Dame, I mean, if everybody comes out, they may have 12.

C

Yeah.

B

You know, I mean, Texas, they may have 10.

C

It's interesting talking to the AG. Yes. I talked to the A and M captains a few weeks ago and did a little interview with them, all of them. And they were sitting there and the topic came up about a couple of the hits Marcel took against Notre Dame. And the other players are like, man, they. They were hitting Notre Dame was very physical. And I just. You don't hear that when you play through this in the last 15 years, when you play through this SEC schedule, you don't hear where you're going. Players talk about other. And that Gave me a whole new respect for Notre Dame is they were like, man, I mean, they're hard like that. That is an NFL.

D

Mm.

C

They're starting to look. Marcus Freeman has them looking more like an SEC team than I think they ever have.

B

Correct. Or he's done a better job recruiting than I've seen in 10, 15 years. You know, and again, if you do it right at the same. You should compete every single year. You should.

A

Well, and they go back to that comment about if you have 10 potential NFL players, you should compete for national championship. The problem with that is in the sec, there are several of those teams. Right?

E

There are.

B

There are. But again, it's also about, you know, how. What your depth is to.

A

Yeah.

B

And what you lose in the portal. Because a lot of times guys lose their depth and once those, you know, once that first teamer goes down, it's not. It's like the NFL, there's a drop off because you can't manage your roster because of the money in the NFL. Like if you put in that second left tackle, he. Not very damn good.

C

Yeah.

B

You know what I mean?

C

Yeah, there's a big drop.

B

And that's, that's what's happening with the NCAA now because again, if they're not playing right off the bat or if they feel like, okay, I can make more money being a starter somewhere else, they're leaving.

A

Right.

B

You know, so it's how they manage that roster and how they manage to keep them, I think is the biggest thing. Because you're going to lose eight to 10 players during the year. You are. Now, how do you manage that with the guys to back them up?

A

Before I let you go, anybody in particular on A and M's roster you got your eyes on?

D

Yeah.

B

I tell you what, I like both safeties. I really do. You know, I like. I like the quarterback. I think he should probably stick around for another year. That's just my personal opinion because I think he needs to develop, you know, physically. He's got enough arm. You know, I saw him down at the man academy look good. You know, it's. It's a good roster. It really is. Defensive lineman, I like to, you know, again, the backers, I mean, I do. I like both of them, you know. Now one of them should stay.

C

Yeah.

B

And one of them should go about

C

Saka from Northwestern and Ricky Gibbs, you know, the pass rusher. And then Ricky Gibson out of Tennessee. Those are two portal addition.

B

Yeah.

C

Isaiah Horton.

B

Yeah. Saga. Soccer is a little bit. A little bit stiff, but physical.

C

Yeah.

B

He'll be a good sub rusher. He'll. He'll probably play on rundowns, you know, the rest of them they brought in, I think some of them will start. I think some of them may end up being backups.

C

Yeah. It's interesting. Yeah. So many old linemen. I keep saying not all of them will start, but you'll get a couple

D

of them for sure.

B

Well, and put it this way. And Horton didn't have a lot of production, and if he just stuck around in Alabama, he probably wouldn't have a lot of production there either.

C

Yeah.

B

You know, now Cravens, wow, he's got juice, man.

C

He looked better in the spring than he did in the fall, which is saying something.

B

He stuck out like a sore thumb. It's Notre Dame. Yeah, he did. And that. And those are two real corners that. True that, you know, Notre Dame has.

C

Absolutely.

B

So now I. I've always got my eyes on Texas. Always. You know, because. And again, I'm gonna be up at. I'll be up at smu, TCU and North Texas. They're not going to speak that they're. There are three teams, you know, like in August.

C

I'll be interested to hear your take on those.

A

We.

C

We've grown distant from following them. It used to be so much, you know, with the old SWC and just. But now it feels like a different world. One's in the ACC, one's in the Big 12.

B

That's right. I was part of the Southwest Conference, too, when I was a Baylor, so.

E

Yeah.

B

Not many people remember that now.

C

I do. Yeah.

A

Joe, we appreciate your time, sir.

B

Thank you, guys. Time. I appreciate you having me.

C

Appreciate you.

A

Drew Fabianich here on Texas Live. The Senior bowl executive director will hit a break. We'll come. Jonathan Hutton. No, I didn't say it. I almost said it. Jonathan Hutton is now somewhere else, but I didn't say where he is. We'll hit a break. We'll do that. Right now we're talking Millikan Reserve farm to table community in College Station. They got farms, they got wide open spaces. And they have a mission to build a healthy community around nature. They're committed to trading lightly on the beautiful land that you can find. Millican Reserve on 2600 acres of open space. That place is great for families to cherish for generation after generation. You can come there to relax, to reflect, to explore, to discover. You can go hiking, you can go biking, you can go canoeing. You can do it all. Call at Millikan Reserve. Get a conservancy membership right now. You can learn more@millikenreserve.com that is milliketreserve.com the money machine.

D

The Money. The Money Machine.

A

Back to school. Your next chance to win $5,000 begins July 27th.

D

That's unbelievable.

A

@sony1150.com I'm gonna bro you here, Jonathan. Throw something with us. I almost said the old place. I almost. It came close. I was like, Jonathan Hudworth. I'm gonna tell you the other. Well done. So where are you?

D

Hud and Withrow.

A

Hud and Withrow. That's the show for now. Yeah, for now. Huddling and Withrow. Well, I love it. It's the same team that you guys have been 15 years.

D

Yeah. This is year 15 with Chad.

A

Yeah.

D

Crazy. We started. Yeah. Right at the end of 2011, started 2012, and we. We've been dating that long.

A

Wow, man. So give me a Billy Lucci story, dude.

D

First off, you guys are the best. I love hanging out with all you guys from Texas. I'm a huge partier.

A

You know that about me, right?

D

Yeah, I know. Yeah.

B

We're.

D

We were hanging out last night here at the. At the hotel, and you were already in bed. Good for you.

E

Yeah.

A

Thank you.

B

Thank you.

D

Billy Lucci. First, let me start with a great. So he's responsible for me seeing in person my favorite college football game.

A

Is that right?

D

Yeah, it was in College Station.

A

4000, 138.

D

Yeah.

A

You guys did your show from our parking lot, right?

D

Yes, we did. And I was. I didn't really know why we were there that morning, because. Was it three losses for A and M or 2 at the time?

A

2. They had lost to Mississippi State and Arkansas.

D

And even. Even Clay was. He's kind of like.

E

Yeah.

D

Like, I wish the game was gonna be better. But he was doing big. Noon kickoff, and Bama came in, and I. Lucci, just rolled out the red carpet. First time I'd met him. Really?

E

Yeah.

A

I didn't meet you that time.

E

Yeah.

A

Yeah.

D

And we went to some country club.

A

I don't know what it was, but I'm assuming traditions.

F

Huge.

D

Okay. Huge dinner. Everybody was fantastic. Clay hadn't even gotten into town yet, and Billy just rolled out the red carpet. The dude knows everybody. Yeah. Here's this. Very rare. I think it's a. It's a tray. You can't learn how to do this.

E

He.

D

He's a lot like Dave McGinnis and others, where you meet him and you talk to him for five minutes, and he makes you feel like you've known him for five years.

A

He's great at that.

D

And that's with literally everybody. That's what I learned about Lucci. And, yeah, anytime I'm on, I want to give a story that I'll unveil and keep the names and protect the innocent.

E

Right.

D

But it's just where. Even in Nashville, when he joins us, he. He. We're walking down Broadway. He knows literally everybody that he needs to know to get around. It's awesome.

A

Well, Billy is unapologetically Billy. What you see on the air is what you get. The part you don't get to see is his caring side and, like, how he takes care of his.

D

Sure. I'm about to knock this over. Did you. Have you ever seen him wear short sleeves? I've never.

A

Very rarely.

D

Never seen him in anything but sleeves.

A

Very rarely. He's worn a polo a couple times over the last couple weeks because it is 100 degrees in Texas, so. Yes. But very rarely.

D

It's hot outside here in Tampa.

A

Yeah.

D

Yeah.

A

He's got freaking jacket on.

D

I know. He's got a shacket.

A

Yeah. Hey, so let's talk a little football for a second. All right. SEC media days. What do you think is an assumption out there about a team in the SEC that we will look at, I don't know, late October, early November. That was a foolish thought. Like some of these preseason narratives.

D

Well, I think the idea that teams are just going to go, you know, 11 and oh, to start to go 12 and oh, I just don't see that in this league this year. I think it's going to be a hodgepodge of teams that are three losses. You know, I do, too. And we. We're treating. Let's say we. I. I think of them this way, too. I'm treating Texas like. Like they're the. They're the top team. I'm not so sure about that, but I keep telling myself that because I'm. I'm trying not to have a group think with it.

A

Sure.

D

It's more than just Texas and Georgia. You know, I'm high on A and M. You are. I love Marcel Reed. But, like. And again, like, I think the. The defense, the secondary, there. There are aspects of the team that I really like. And then lsu. I mean, Kiffin's going in there. Kiffin's gonna win there. He's gonna win. And this early, though, maybe not if he could run the football. Yeah, if they can run the football. They were awful. They were last in the conference.

A

Yes, they were.

D

Yeah. I. If they can run the football. Yes. They're going to win some games this year.

A

Yeah. The thing I. I struggle. And this is really for everybody. All these holes you can pick at A and M. I feel like you can pick at most teams, right?

D

Totally agree. Totally agree. And it's like most teams, how good is the quarterback going to be on a week to week basis? You know, stacking some wins, overcoming a bad series or a bad loss?

A

Sure.

D

You know, playing through injury, there are intangibles. Like, Georgia's got that right. They've got that intangible. Texas should have that right.

A

Should.

D

Should. And if their offensive line is fixed now, Georgia's got some true freshmen coming in at offensive line, so that maybe. Maybe that plays a factor. I just, I look at A and M, I think they've got.

A

That.

D

They've got. They've got a quarterback that can overcome some obstacles with the mindset that I know he has because, you know, it was playing right down the road for me in Nashville.

A

Well, the way I look at it is sustainability. So, Kirby, you know what you're going to get for the most part, right?

D

Yep.

A

You know what you're going to get from Lane for the most part. And I think we're starting to learn what you're going to get from coach Elko. I think we need another data point at A and M, but I think you're starting to know that.

D

Yeah. And I agree with. No, you say this and Billy says, you know, you need. There needs to be. This is a year where you want to go back to. Back to the playoff, you know, and start a consistency and expectation of momentum.

G

Great.

D

I think they can do that. You know, I don't. Is there an expectation for you with that?

A

My expectation is they should be knocking on the door of the playoffs again. Well, and I don't know if that means they get in, but.

D

Right. But like we're saying, I think that's the majority of the conference right now.

A

Yeah.

D

You know, I mean.

A

And I think that's what's hurting sec. It's great to watch from week to week, but when you don't have a truly elite team as of today, truly like. And I think Georgia and Texas are the closest based on. Well, Georgia based on history and what they've recruited. Texas, based on what I'm told by all the national media, what I should think. Right. But I don't know if there's a true top dog. Is there a chop dog in the big Ten that I don't follow.

D

That's what I'm saying. Like the top dogs of the Big Ten have been eating away at the SEC right now. Right. They can brag because they're winning. But even though it may not be a true elite team in the sec, they're better than the other teams are going to get in the playoff through the bottom half of that. Of the. Of the bracket.

A

Yeah.

D

It's just not going to be every team that's going to get in. Unfortunately. They should. Man. I, I'm intrigued to see how the rest of the conference like Tennessee, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, like what's going to happen because that's really what's going to determine the middle part portion. It will play a factor in the top half of the league. Those teams will get wins and suffer some losses that could end up putting a coach on the hot seater fire.

A

I agree with that. So for the Postseason, you think SEC is a 4 mid league. 5. They were 5 last year. But that 9th game kind of muddies

D

that water, I think. Let's see where Bama is. I think it's A and M, Texas, Georgia, and I think right there it's, it's lsu, Bama, Tennessee, somewhere in there. And I don't, I'm not expecting much from the balls. Obviously. I think eight wins is kind of the ceiling this year for them. So I don't think that's a three loss team, but I think I'm looking at a two, three loss position where this is a year to get the team in on the backside of the, of the playoff or the final position for it.

A

I'm intrigued by your answer there because I feel like all the guys I've talked to from the state of Tennessee that don't necessarily cover Tennessee have said, hey, don't sleep on the balls this year.

E

You, you.

A

But you're seeing a down year for them as an eight and four year.

D

Yeah, well, well, yeah, but that's, it's, you know, you know this like it's not if you lose, it's how you lose.

A

Yeah.

D

And they, they got pushed around by Vanderbilt that final game. Physically. That says a lot. You know, that's not against Bam, but Vanderbilt's doing that. Was doing that against Bama and Auburn and others.

A

Sure.

D

But I'm saying like that final game and they got blown out and pushed around and slapped her. That says where they were and where they have to be. They wasn't a step back necessarily because of what they went through with, with Nico at quarterback and Those. Yeah, but man, they, they swung and missed A lot of quarterbacks this offseason. You know, like they're going in with a. Either a true freshman or a retro freshman. And the guy that's been there for a year, McIntyre, doesn't seem like he's taking the, Taking the, the brass ring right now.

A

So. You just said something that I think is very intriguing. It's not that you lost, it's how you lost.

D

Yeah.

A

And I. Is that part of the reason Alabama, who won 11 games, won a playoff game. They got embarrassed by Indiana. And that wasn't the only game that was really a bad game for. But is that beyond the Nick Saban era? You know, is that the why?

D

Yeah, there's a standard to it and you know, you. The teams are going to suffer losses. You know, it's. Fans have expectations at Kentucky too. You know, it's like everywhere, but you want to, you want to see some consistency. Even in a tough game, if you suffer a loss, it's, you know, it's not like Georgia's getting crushed in those losses right there. They're right there. Tennessee again, the way they lost to Vanderbilt. Yeah, that spoke volumes. And why they. I mean, Hypo went out and got Indiana's streak of Disney guy and he was there the next day after the national championship. They have changed a lot based on what we saw.

A

You said you're high on Marcel.

D

You've seen.

A

Really kid.

D

I really like him.

A

How does he not take a step backward? Like, and there's no way to really tell you how not to, but because we've seen quarterbacks, Kate Clubnick last year, Garrett Nussmeier, that did not get better each season.

D

Yeah, I, I just, I think that A and M's built where they can help him out as long as they protect him, you know? Yeah, I mean, look, he. I'm thinking about from the. Maybe he takes a step back statistically.

A

Yeah.

D

I just like the moments.

A

Right.

D

And when you need, when you need a moment, who, which team has the quarterbacks that are going to step up and throw and make the play. He could do it multiple ways. I've seen him do it, Chad, and I have seen him do it at the high school level and the state championship level in the best league in the, in the state. Yeah, we'll see it this, this. And again, there's going to be two or three losses there. But I'm telling you, man, I like Coach's son. I just like the mindset he's not going to be In a situation where it's. It's too big for the moment.

A

My brother always appreciate having you on. Thank you. Jonathan Hutton here on Texas Live. Right now, we're headed a break. We'll come back. I believe Josh Pate will join us.

D

There you go.

A

There we go. There's something special about the Aggie network. It's built on trust and relationships and people looking out for each other. And that's exactly like Aggie. How Aggie owned and operated Paragon Financial Advisors approaches their financial planning for all of their guys. From their headquarters in College Station, they serve individuals and family business owners nationwide with independent fee only fiduciary advice. So whether you're preparing for retirement, growing your investment, building your business, or planning for the eventual sale of that business, Paragon works alongside you through every stage of the journey. No commissions, no product sales, just personalized financial planning and investment management designed around your goals. Learn more and schedule your complimentary consultation@paragon-adv.com Paragon Financial Advisors. Aggie own independent serving clients nationwide. Spend your summer with his own.

F

Crank it up a notch.

A

This is great. We're sports.

D

It's a way of life.

A

So look, I'm just gonna say this. I got my boy Josh Pate here, right? Shout out to Academy sports and outdoors. When Aaron Murray was here, we talked about Ironmans. Because I've done halves. He's doing halves. And then when I get Peyton here in Pate State, we're talking about the gun show. We're talking about lifting and lifting heavy. What's up, brother?

G

Dude, I could never do what y' all do.

D

Yeah, every.

G

Everybody talks about, oh, lift and heavy. If you'd made me do half or a quarter of an iron, man, I'd be cooked.

A

I think you could, man. This is my. I've seen grandpa's do it. Okay. It's just you're a consistent college football reader viewer. You're consistent in the gym. All it takes is consistency. Nobody said do it good.

G

Oh, okay.

A

You know what I'm saying? Like, nobody said do it good. Like, I'm average as bleep at everything I do in life. Right?

G

So your words, not ours, but a

A

lot of people share. What's up, man?

G

Been good.

E

Yeah.

G

It's July, so that means our favorite season is right around the corner.

A

Yes, it does. It does. And I am every season. I think you and I have talked about this before. I have a harder time figuring out what I really think about teams based on the a. The league that we cover, mostly the the one we do is the sec. How? The changing of rosters, the changing of the guard. Like, I don't know what to believe anymore. I mean, there's certain. I believe in coaches. That's what I believe in.

G

So I just said this five minutes ago to somebody, I think the biggest lesson, like a young, young writer, and they said, hey, give me some advice. I said, just really don't say anything provocative in July. Don't nail yourself down on any belief, any prediction or whatnot. I know it's tempting. There's so many microphones around here. Everyone wants to get their bold prediction out. Because I'm like you. It's not that I study the game any less. It's not that I pay attention any less to the sport, but yet I get to July these days, and you're looking around saying, what do I really know? Because it. Because it feels like if you compress the league and everyone's closer together and the talent is more evened out, all it's going to be is a bunch of one possession games, right? Not quite like the NFL, but more like the NFL than it used to be. So, like, I've always watched NFL coverage, and I've thought, man, y'.

A

All.

G

Y' all have all this fun talking, all this fun predicting, but at the end of the day, it's just much of 23 to 20 games.

A

Yeah. Billy Lucci making an appearance. I don't know if he's going to join the show or not.

G

For you to show up while I'm here. What is. What's wrong?

A

He's got to do J.D. piccolo.

G

Okay. You do your thing. We'll do our things.

A

So if we ever do something with Hilly, he'll sometimes be there and sometimes not. Josh. All right, let's. I want to ask you something. You're actually the only one that I've asked this question of others, but I really want your opinion, because you said recently, and I'm trying to remember how you phrased it, that you don't think it's a bluff with the sec, what Greg Sankey said. Right. And then as we're coming closer to SEC media days, there was just like, I don't know if they're going to be able to fix this. Protect college sports, act on time. And then we start SEC medias, and there's a little more optimism, and now there's a little bit of holding, and I don't know. So what do you think right now about where we are with that whole world?

G

Greg's like 20ft from us right now. Just throw a mic over there. When I said I don't think he's bluffing, I actually think he did a really good job yesterday. I believe it was with Brandon Marcelo. He added more context to kind of what he talked about. Because what happens with Greg every year is he'll make his State of the Union speech on Monday. A bunch of people will take it out of context. A bunch of people will rip partial context headlines, and then he'll spend the rest of the week clarifying what he said. So when you're talking about the concept of a breakaway, I think it's not a piece of paper, it's a book. Because there are a lot of different layers to what it would mean to break away. Now, there's a couple things you could mean by that. You really could mean we're going to take the entire book, every page in this thing. We're going to do it ourselves, we're going to break away. Or this is kind of what he said. It could be a case by case thing. There could be certain layers, certain pages of governance that we take on ourselves, that we think we're more suited to handle than the NCAA itself. And it's a case by case thing. I think that's what he was talking about. Because really, when you walk through it, David, even think outside of football for a second, if you walk through what it would mean if a league like the SEC really did break away, what does March Madness look like? What does the College World Series look like? I mean, think about the other sports that are mainly tournament based, especially basketball. You don't even have. You have a March Madness, but it's absent one of the power conferences. It'd be so stupid.

D

Right.

G

And it's stupid to arrive at that point. And I'm not saying that about Greg Sankey. I'm saying the entire situation right now. It's so dumb that we get here, but yet you get here. There's no. There's no one in charge. There are a bunch of individuals in charge of things, but there's no, you know, centralized authority, which. Which has been what you and I talked about probably 20 times. Yeah. Since we've known each other on air and off air. So whether it's via collective bargaining, whether it's via Congress, it seems like something's got to come to a head here pretty soon.

A

Do you think it comes to a head here pretty soon? And by pretty soon, are we talking about by this recess or are you talking about the next five years?

G

I think it's closer to the next five months than the next five years.

A

Okay.

G

Because you see what happens is when you have. So this is. This could be a 20 minute answer, but I'll condense it. When you have conversations, like limiting the amount of teams that can move, just as an example, that's been one part of this. Well, anybody out there who had conference realignment on their radar knows our clock just got massively sped up. So anyone who was thinking we'll move in the next five years all of a sudden says we got to go now because if that law gets put into place, then we may not be able to go where we thought we

D

were going to go.

G

Okay, so that's part one. Part two is the minute that that Senate bill got presented, I said the entire purpose of this thing is really to. It's really to pull one over on the SEC in the Big Ten. That may not work, but what it will do is it will create negotiation. That's the way bills always work. It's just we don't normally worry about them because we're in the college football world. That's what's happening right now as you and I speak. That's what's in the process of happening. We'll see what that yields. We'll see. If the Big Ten and the SEC get enough of what they want to finally endorse the thing, then it has to pass the Senate, then it has to pass the House. Then we find out, does this stand up to legal scrutiny or are they just back in a courtroom again in two years? Fingers crossed. Hope not. We'll see. There's the other group out there that says no, only way to get sustainable change is to collectively bargain it. Well, okay, then how do you do that? What's the structure of that? Who serves as the players union? All sorts of things. And I've also had a third rail to that, which has been, is there any involvement from the NFL? Does the NFL have any responsibility in that? Do they have any place in it? Just a bunch of questions with no answers right now.

A

Josh, I'm going to play a game with you real quick. I'm going to ask you, this team will make the playoff if and. Or they will not make it. If it might be the same answer. Okay, so Texas A and M makes the playoff if and they don't make it.

D

Why

G

they don't. The why they wouldn't make it would just be inconsistency at quarterback. They would make it because the two hallmarks that I pointed out to you the day Mike Elko got hired. And every time we've talked since then of evaluation and development being a premium as part of the package you get with him, those shine through. So a lot of. Not the new faces on the offensive line and they just play like they're supposed to. Collectively, the output of that team reflects the investment in the talent roster. Now, Texas A and M is so funny because you guys know, anyone watching or listening to this knows the kind of investment there is in that. There's some good football players there, but it's weird how they're kind of anonymously good. Yeah, I think it's caused.

A

Is it their history?

F

I don't.

G

I think it's part. Partly that. And I think it's because if you look down the road, Arch Mannings down there. So that's just a name everyone knows. And I think at the end of the day, expectation is still tied to star names.

A

Yeah.

G

And outside of coach, because Mike won't play a down this year, I don't think it's. Do we know your quarterback? Well, people know Marcel, but their lasting image of him is those last couple of games last year. So they're not fully bought in on him. So if you don't have a bunch of stars as the public defines them, and you don't have the track record, which is the difference between an Ohio State and an A and M, Ohio State's replacing a ton, but since they've won a lot recently, you get the

A

benefit of the doubt, which is.

G

There's no problem with that.

A

Right.

G

Because ultimately words don't matter anyway, so. So I do think that. Yeah, eval, eval and development, if it's there, A and M will be in contention for everything at the end of the year.

A

Texas makes it. Why they don't make it. Why?

G

Well, if they make it, it's just because they overwhelmed people with what should be the best talent roster in the country this year and they just followed through on that offensive line and collective DNA of that team gained a notch physically. That needs to happen. If they don't, it'll be because Sark continued to struggle in those one possession type situations. We had a stat on the show the other day, it may be a popular stat. I never know which ones are and aren't known. I assume you guys probably do know this. His record in one possession, games against ranked teams.

A

Oh yeah.

G

What is it, like 6 and 12 or something like that? So that can't continue because even at your best, you're going to be in Especially if you make the playoff. Like you're going to be in a bunch of one possession games against premier teams or comparable rosters that could, that could challenge you and you just got to make one more play than they do.

A

Yeah. What Texas hands will point out as well beat A and M and they were a top ten team.

G

Okay.

A

And that's true. And A and M has to be better at the end of the year. But. Okay, let me ask you that. And we can kind of close out with that. A and M being better at the end of the year for everybody is winning that last game. That's what everybody wants. But what does A and M being better at the end of the year look like to you? Because I would maintain that A, the schedule got harder and also. But there were still signs of it in the, in the South Carolina game. Right. Signs. Even though the second half was great. So what is playing better at the end of the season with that gauntlet they're about to face look like in Josh Pate's eyes?

G

It looks like taking care of business in February when no one's watching. It's taking care of business in July when no one's watching. Do you remember that Baylor Oklahoma State Big 12 title game A few years ago? It came down to the last play.

A

Oh, yeah.

G

And it's a, it's a. I think Oklahoma State has the ball. It's 21:16. Oklahoma State has the ball. It's first and goal inside the five yard line. They have four shots at winning the Big 12 title. Comes down to fourth and short and it's a sprint out.

A

Yeah.

G

And the Baylor kid has. Has a fraction of enough step to make sure that that kid doesn't get the pylon. That play is a perfect microcosm of the cumulative effect of individual days where you handle your business. Because that kid never knew that it was going to come down to that moment. Their entire season was going to come down to that moment. But yet he took care of his business in February. He didn't show up late to voluntary workouts in July. It's not like one day you do good work and all of a sudden you're capable of this or that. It is a very small cumulative effect. It's like watching an ice cube freeze in real time. There's no one moment, it's frozen. It's just all of a sudden you look an hour later, oh, it froze.

A

It froze.

E

Yeah.

C

Yeah.

G

That's how you win close games late in the season. It's a process.

A

My brother thank you.

B

Absolutely.

A

Great seeing you. All right. Yes, sir. That's the great Josh Pate here. We'll hit a break. I think we'll run something as I run over to the A and M interviews. But right now we're talking Caldwell country Chevrolet, Highway 21 in Caldwell and online at caldwellcountrychevrolet.com if you're looking for a new vehicle called World Country Chevrolet is the place to go. If you've got a vehicle and you're thinking about a trade in, why don't you go there? They're always looking to add to their lot, which means they pay top dollar for your vehicles. Good people got Aggies all over the place there at Caldwell Country Chevrolet. They're going to make sure that you get the best customer service possible. And every purchase comes with that free oil change for life. Remember, it's about a 15 minute drive the edge of Bryant to the beginnings of Caldwell. Short conversation away, but you'll see the difference when you step on the lot and do business with the good people at Caldwell country Chevrolet, Highway 21 and Caldwell online. Caldwell Country Chevrolet, the Houston Astros. The Houston Astros play on the play on the zone. Thanks to Kelly Bird Dozer,

E

presented by David Gardner Jewelers here in Tampa. Where are we? How's brain Fart there? We're in Tampa. It's presented by Paragon Financial Advisors here live on Digital Drive. The rest of the crew, they're off to the local media scrum for Texas A and M. So keep posted on tech sags, on Twitter, on our website, Instagram. The crew there has got you covered. They left me here at Radio Row all by myself and I know you don't want to listen to that. So what we're going to do is play you a little bit of our interview with Cole Kublick. He stopped by the booth yesterday. So he and David Nuno chatted for about 13 minutes. So here, check it out. Here's Cole Kublick and David Nuno.

A

All right, welcome back into Tech SAGS Live SEC Media Days, brought to you by Paragon Financial Advisors. Cole Kublick of the SEC Network and ESPN with us. Cole, what's up, buddy?

F

How much money is Paragon spending? Because no one brings more equipment than Texags and people. I think the, the SEC Network, Texags, cbs.

A

Yeah.

F

And then, I don't know, take your pick of some maybe local radio show. As far as money spent to get here, how many bags do you guys have to check to get all this junk here is what I need to know.

A

First and foremost, I will tell you this little tidbit. Paragon Financial, one of their head Honchos is Stephen McGee, former A& M quarterback player, really good player. He's on our show every week. So Steven's kind of spearheading this SEC trip. And of course that includes probably part of Billy's per diem and his spending at night.

D

Got it.

F

Where is Billy? He's scared to come on the segment.

A

True story. I think we told him, right? Yeah, we told him. He's at the beach.

F

Doesn't care. Cole coming with you?

B

So what?

A

It's always fun with Billy on here and you guys, but I wanted to start things off with A M's offensive line. I know that first off, I don't know what we call it on Twitter or X appointment viewing, but you. When you break down teams every week during the season, it is appointment reading on my behalf. And I've got a brand new offensive line. It might be some studs that have been growing up. It might be the transfers. What everybody worries about is gelling. So if you could start us off on how, how it takes an offensive line, if you got the talent in the SEC to jail, like how that works if they're new to each other.

F

The first thing is reps. You have to get reps together. And that's one of the things I think is it might be the most difficult thing in today's college football. You'll hear me talk about leadership, experience, continuity, togetherness. If there was a word that I could roll all that into as one, that's what I would try to do. I don't really know what that word would be. The only way to get good at blocking and tackling is to do it against people that are trying to make you look bad. In other words, do it full speed. Now, sometimes that's not taking a running back to the ground, or sometimes that's not full tackle, but it's got to be pretty close to full speed impads. It can't be out there in helmets, shuffling around trying to get in people's way. Now, I will say this schematically. There are some things you can do to aid in that. And that could be just remove some thought from the system, call it, and run it, so to speak. So, hey, we're running inside zone on this play. Now, you can check it to the right or to the left within how your cadence or what you do or just based on the look, but simplify things to where you can allow those guys to fire off the football. And know, hey, we're working this combo block. You're coming off to that linebacker. There's no if and bus. Let's just do that, try to get good at that. It takes time to do it because not only are these players not together for three, four, five years anymore, we've removed so much of the full pad practice in the physical practices that honestly, I use the first three weeks of the season as part of my measuring stick of what these teams might end up being. Because it's really extended practice a lot of times. And I don't mean that as to who the level of opponent is or anything like that. I'm talking conference games. You're still trying to figure out what you have and who you are and who you can be. The good news for the A and M offensive line, you're bringing in a lot of guys that know the story, speed, know the physicality. Just know what it takes to go out there and do it. As you stated, it doesn't mean it'll be good right off the bat. But I do think there's some inherent advantage that guys that have at least been in the battles in this league, they're going to come be a part of that offensive line. And then with Neighbor right there in the middle, I think that's a great starting point to say, hey, this is how we've done it here and he can probably be that leader to be able to solidify things moving forward.

A

What about being at the right place? So, you know, you talk to Alabama fans, they weren't so happy with Wilkin Formby. What they saw on film, Tron Boss coming from South Carolina, the fact that Adam Cushing's done a good job at A and M with some homegrown guys, but also some transfers in the mix as well. How much could that play a role in this?

F

I would say to Alabama fans, and I get it, but you're probably happy when you signed him.

D

Yeah.

F

Because of what his rating was coming out of high school. Trayvon Baugh, I have heard multiple South Carolina coaches, offensive line coaches, rave about his talent and his ability. So as you stated, a lot of times this is. I'm trying to get away from the word fit because we've seen so many coaches that look like the exact fit in certain places and it just didn't. There's no better fit for Arkansas than Sam Pittman. There's no better fit for LSU than Ed Ordron. And they just didn't work right. We everybody thought Hugh freeze me a great fit at Auburn it didn't work. But I do think comfort is something that's real, that you can talk about, and that is how you're being coached, how you're being communicated with, what the expectation is. You may have a coach that says, hey, our meeting's at 8, and all of a sudden he's one of those guys that if you're not 10 minutes early, you're late, and you just don't jive with that, or you might have a guy that grabs you every once in a while by the face mask, whatever it is, and that's just not your speed, not your cup of tea. You're not going to be okay with that. Other players may thrive on that environment. I think Elko is going to have that from the top down of, this is how we run our program. This is the expectation. This is what we want you to do and expect you to do. And a lot of the players can share that with others. It's one of my big concerns about what's going to be gone from this football team is I think you had some guys that knew that, that sort of live that in that uniform. You got to make sure you go find more of those or more of those develop within your program. But I think the expectation of how it's going to be wherever you are, and I talk about this with head coaches all the time, relatability, you've got to relate to today's player, and that can be technique, fundamentals, coaching that can be when to jump a guy, when not to jump. Guy like that. Relatability goes further than just, hey, do you like talking to me in recruiting?

A

Right. A couple years ago, we did an interview when Elko was hired, and you were high on him. So after two years, one playoff berth, has he exceeded your expectations about what you thought? What's your read on Elko?

F

Yeah, I'd say let's not be Alabama fans.

B

Okay.

F

Because they want to fire Caleb DeBoer for winning a road playoff game last year. All right, so we were in the playoffs. We're happy with that. I understand that unless you get a national championship, none of us can celebrate anything in college football anymore. I get it. He's by far exceeded expectations. I thought things would be good. I thought that they would be competitive. I thought there would be aspects of it that we really liked. He's in the College Football Playoff last year and going into what, November, had a chance to be a much higher seed than he was. So he puts himself in play in one of the best spots in college Football at the end of the year, last year. What more can you ask for now? Yes. Go out and beat Texas. Want to see that? You know, beat Miami at home in a playoff game. Of course, it was great. The environment was still incredible. I think the weather played some factors in that game. Couple bounces didn't go your way. But I think he's got this pro, the high school recruiting. I don't follow it closely, but from the way that I do, it looks like it has not fallen off much with him. I'm not going to say it's gotten better because Jimbo signed the class of the decade, whatever it was. But the portal recruiting, he's had a lot of hits through the portal. That and here's what I love, is when you get a portal guy that maybe not everybody was just licking their chops over and he comes in and helps your program be better, that's when you know that the understanding of evaluation and what your program may need is at a high level. And I think Coach Elko's got all those things aligned right now.

A

Well, people did not know Cassius how. And you know the guy was the best player, right?

F

I mean, yeah, that's. I love to see a coach that says he fits what we do. We think we can make him better in how we do it and then it works. So. And he's been able to do that. He did it at Duke. He done it A and M. So, yeah, I would say ahead of schedule for sure.

A

And then Marcel Reed, a lot of people point out what happened at the end of the season. I like to talk about the total body of work. What did you see from Marcel throughout the year?

F

Explosive, exciting, dynamic, lacked some consistency. And if that comes along, he can be a very special college football quarterback. I think he's already a very good college football quarterback. But we start talking of the elite status in the discussion for best in the.

A

You want the rest of that?

E

I pulled a David Nuno. I put on the wrong headset. That's embarrassing. If you want to catch the rest of that Cole Kubelik interview, it'll be on tech sags.com we got to go. Louis Bellina up next. But keep it Posted on Tech sacks.com and all of our social platforms for everything you need from SEC media days,

A

we'll catch you tomorrow.