7-18-24 McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning Hour 3: SEC Media Days - Day 3: Sam Pittman, Laura Rutledge, Chris Doering
47:45 Share

My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career day and said he was a big ROAS man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend.

My friend's still laughing at me to this day. Not everyone gets B2B, but with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to LinkedIn.com slash results to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn.com slash results. Terms and conditions apply. LinkedIn, the place to be, to be. At your job, do you ever have to deal with a nose roller? How about a snub pulley?

Well, if you're installing a new conveyor belt system, dealing with the different components can sound like you're speaking a foreign language. Luckily, you've got a team ready to help. Grainger's technical product specialists are fluent in maintenance, repair, and operations. So whenever you want to talk shop, just reach out. Call, click Grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.

This Chalks94.5 podcast is brought to you by Millennium Satellite and Video. Log on to MSPNOW.com. TV excellence everywhere. That's Millennium. McElroy and Kublik in the morning starts now. Welcome back at McElroy and Kublik in the morning. Live from Radio Row, SEC Media Days, Day 4. Going right to the Buyer's Right Hotline, which I think this may be the first time we've done it all week.

Hey, Coach of the Hogs, Sam Pittman joining us on his way to SEC Media Days here today. Coach, how are we doing this morning? Guys, I'm doing great. How about y'all? Doing well? You still got enough gas in the tank? Just a little bit. We're having to dig deep. We got you coming today, Coach. Are you on a layover right now in Little Rock? Where are you at? What's going on? Why can't we get you in person, buddy?

I have no idea. I don't run that media stuff. I just say yes, sir. We've gone through our fourth quarter program, Coach, so we're good. We're going to be able to make it today. We've got a little bit left. I'm interested because of so much change, obviously, at offensive coordinator and through the transfer portal. And you've picked up some players that are going to be able to help your football team. Just kind of where are you on the temperature of your team right now? How do you feel about your group?

Yeah, I like them. I like the culture. I like the kids. I think our strength staff has done a wonderful job with these guys. And they were in there squatting yesterday and had a DJ in there. And I tell you, they love each other. And you win a lot of games that way. Obviously, you need talent, which I believe we have as well. But I really like this team. I think we went out and we had some problems that we needed to get fixed. And I really believe that we fixed them.

What have you really tried to emphasize throughout spring and now, obviously, a month or two into summer? What has been maybe the biggest point of emphasis you guys try to kind of grow into this offense that Coach Petrino's installing?

Yeah, well, I think the first thing is the entire team is about toughness. You know, a lot of times it's not as important about who you have on the team as who you don't have on your team. And we want to make sure that we have tough people on our team, guys that were going to be there in tough times, coaches and players. But Bobby...

You know, we want to be able to run the football, and we didn't do either one. We didn't protect it. We didn't throw it. We didn't run it well last year. So we had to go out and correct this portal. We had to correct our offensive line. I think we hit on three of our guys. We got Joe Moore. We don't know a lot about him yet, but he was the fourth addition because he came in late. But Bobby and I both, we want to run the ball. We want to throw play action.

And Taylor Greene has got leadership skills like no other and can throw and can run. So going back and watching all the spring practice, we got better each week. We installed each week, and I think we're right where we need to be through what we've done in OTAs this summer.

Coach, speaking of running the football, if you need somebody to offset a couple carries, you've got a freshman tailback named Braylon Russell coming in that's listed at .252. Now, you and I both know once you get over .250, the listed weight is usually being a little bit kind. Give us the story on Braylon Russell and how much could we expect him to see him actually carry the football this year?

I'll tell you what. I think he's going to be in perfect shape because, you know, I think we've got some older guys in front of him, and I think he's just going to continue to get more and more and more reps.

As we go, you know, confidence is a big thing, as you well know, and we certainly don't want to lose his confidence. So we'll probably start slow with him, but he's a big man that can run, and we're going to play him as needed. But I think he's going to have a hell of a year for us his freshman year.

Coach, with the offensive line, and you've addressed already how you've gone to the portal, hopefully Coach Petrino I think will do a great job of taking a little pressure off those guys and utilizing some things outside the tackles and do some pin and pull stuff, change the looks. I think Coach Petrino's really, really good. He is. I've always thought that, dating back to when he scored in three plays on us in 2010. Yeah.

Looking at kind of the offensive line, though, and knowing that the defensive lines in the league are maybe not what they once were, not that they're not good, but they're not as many dudes that can just flat-out kill you, how much has the offensive line position changed in your eyes over the last 10 years or so in college football and in particular in Arkansas? Well, I mean, you have to...

You have to build your own line outside. You have to have tackle. You also have to have a center. I think that's exactly where we went in the portal for it. I think we hit on all three of them. Obviously, you have to have depth.

I've gone, y'all know I'm an old line coach at heart, and I've gone from playing five in a year to playing 12. And obviously, you'd rather play five than 12 because that means you're healthy. But I think this, I think I was a big zone guy, zone guy, zone guy, and we still are a zone. But this pin and pull and this tossing the ball outside and this getting back in space,

You don't have to be quite as good up front, you know, move in the pocket, play actions. You don't have to be as good up front as a six-man protection. Your back doesn't have to be quite as good. So some of these things I think will help us get better just because of schematics.

Sam Pittman, head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, joining us on the phones. We're live on Radio Road, SEC Media Days. When I look at your personnel defensively, Coach, and some of the guys that you grabbed out of the portal that we've seen play before, they've been players, it feels like versatility might be something that you might have to your advantage more so this year than you did a season ago.

Yeah, I agree with you. You know, a few years back, COVID came, and obviously you didn't know who was going to play on a Friday morning, you know.

So I think it taught us all a lot about, hey, if he can play boundary safety, let's make sure he can play free safety. Let's make sure he can play the hog position. We do have guys. Now, they have to have the bodies and the speed and athleticism to do it. But we have guys like Larry Worth. We got him in. I think he's an inside linebacker. I know he can play the nickel position. So you're exactly right. We have bigger kids.

That can run, and that gives us versatility to go from a three-man front to a four-man front to put other good players on the field. You know, when Barry was here, we were three-man front. We really didn't have that fourth guy. A guy can stand up or can go down. We do now. So I think it gives us a little bit more versatility on how Travis can call the defense as well.

Coach, when you look at just how the league has changed and how it's adjusted, and this is more off the field, I want to get back to Paul, but I'm just curious about this and haven't had a chance to visit with you. With the additions of Oklahoma and Texas, you're already going head-to-head against A&M for the last 10 years in the league.

How has that adjusted and changed your recruiting philosophy with having so many teams in close proximity that you're now recruiting against? You used to be able to flash that SEC badge and, hey, we got action. Now it's probably a little tougher, I would imagine. So how has that kind of impacted your approach?

Well, I think you still try to go out and you try to get your 17 to 20 high school kids. And obviously, I'm not for sure, guys, if Oklahoma and Texas coming in has affected as much as how much money you have in your NIL pot, you know, to be perfectly honest with you. So I think it's all about adjustments on how you're going to distribute money.

and whether your philosophy is what you're going to do with high school kids, you know, be...

or are you going to save money for the portal or save money for the guys on your team? So I don't know that bringing Oklahoma and Texas into the league has adjusted as much as what are you going to do with your revenue sharing in a year's time and what are you going to do now with your collectives and things like that and how you're going to use them. And right now, I think for us,

We won't do well in high school, but we also want to maintain the guys we have on the team and be able to get instant help from the portal. Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman joining us on the Biosphere Hotline. We're live at SEC Media Days. You mentioned running the football. Getting back to running the football,

We feel like some of it's coming back full circle a little bit collectively as a conference, but how full circle could this be coming back for you guys, be it personnel groupings, formations? You mentioned some of the play calls a little bit earlier that you might be going back to. How sort of, I guess, old school could this ability to run the football be for you guys this year?

Well, I guess you could go back to the OI formation because we sure as heck ran it this spring. You know, 21 personnel, rockin', stockin' robots. There's a place for that. And you have to have the personnel to do it, but there's a place for that. You can slow the game down. You can beat people up physically that way. And so I think, you know...

The better your offensive line goes, the more you can get creative in your running game. And I do believe that it's going to change. I think people are going to hand the ball off a little bit more now. Certainly, you know, the RPO game came in and it's very hot and still very good. But I think you're going to see people hand the ball off a little bit more.

Coach, you realize you've got a lot of people my age salivating when you say I-formation. A lot of people my age saying, what the heck is that? We did it this frame. The hell we ran iso.

43-44 let's go I'm here Coach you know what part of that is Think about the average weight of all these linebackers in this league Most of them 218, 221, 210 nowadays I doubt they've ever had a kid have a 7 yard head start And they've been told they've got to take them on head on

Well, probably haven't. And, you know, that was half an individual back in our days. You may not get out of there alive with a linebacker or a fullback, but you got tougher. Coach, we appreciate the time today. Hope we're able to bump into you at some point here at Media Days when you arrive. Thanks for joining us, and we'll catch up again soon. Love to see you all. Appreciate you. Yes, sir. Thank you, Coach. Sam Pittman joining us on the Buyer's Right Hotline. We're live at SEC Media Days.

Let's go to that for a moment, Greg, because now we have maybe even more evidence that some of this, at least offensively, could be coming back full circle. If you could find a way to pull that off personnel-wise, 21, maybe even 22, you had the guys.

I talked to a couple defensive coaches in this league and said some things like this. Different heavier formations are popping up, and there's now younger defensive position coaches in this league that have said, I've never seen that. You joked about it, but...

I mean, there are DB coaches, D-line coaches that haven't seen I-formation before. And you've got a bunch of lighter linebackers that have been asked to cover and run for a long time. Now all of a sudden you're going to say, oh, yeah, you've got to take that guy head on. He's got a seven-yard head start at you. Yep, come thumb. I don't feel like a lot of linebackers in today's football are going to enjoy that too much. No, they're not going to like that very much. I think that, and let's be real, would we be going in this direction if the defensive lines in the league weren't,

what they are. I don't think so. Defensive lines in the league compared to what I played against. That's why we spread it all out. 100%. And what we saw in the mid-2010s, it was just a different level. It didn't matter what team. I mean, you could go play a

The Mississippi State team win five games, and they have Fletcher Cox right in the middle of defense. It's like, goodness gracious alive. This is brutal. Or Jeffrey Simmons or whatever. Everybody had one or two that were going to play ten years on Sundays. And the league, as a result, said, why are we trying to run against a brick wall? I mean, I'm not Les Miles. I acknowledge the other team's good. We can't run on these guys. So the league became very spread-oriented.

And as a result, the athletic aspect of playing defense has grown significantly. I can see it coming back. I mean, there's not really five defensive linemen in this league that scare me to death anymore. There's really not. Especially inside. I mean, scare you to death. We can't move that guy.

Yeah, I'm with you. I think you'll be all right. So I could see it reverting back to little I formation, downhill, you know, ISO, lead, toss sweep, boss schemes, back on secondary support. Make you rep it in practice. Make you prepare for it. Make you defend it.

And as we've talked about, you know, with this whole communication situation, some of that's going to become discombobulated. We look at it as this giant advantage. You and I had a different angle of it. We had XFL-UFL games, and we heard how it can be confusing more than it can be helpful at times.

if the quarterback or the defensive player is not ready for it. And so that's going to be a feeling out process, too, of just, well, hold on a second, Coach, I have formation. How do we get lined up for this? We don't have the personnel for that. We don't have time to change the personnel for that. Who do you want to walk inside and how are we going to play that? Some teams play exclusively nickel. Most. And they're Husky, Rover, Star. How many depth charts do you see that have three off-the-ball linebackers listed?

How many depth charts do you see with three off-the-ball linebackers listed that are over 240? Not many. Zero. There's none. I mean, the NFL draft, the heaviest linebacker that we looked at was like 234.

All right, we'll continue discussing it. Chris Doering is going to come stop by with us in a few moments. We'll talk Florida football with him, talk to him about these teams coming up here today. You have to wait for CD. But one thing you never have to wait for is your dental care. That's because Family Cadena has you taken care of. They're the urgent care office where you can be seen the same day. They have four locations to make it easy on you in Hoover, Fultondale, Homewood, and Alabaster. They can also get you in on Fridays and Saturdays. They are there for your convenience except to patients of all ages.

and most insurance plans as well. Give them a call today at Family Cadental, 874-9605. That's Family Cadental, 874-9605. I'm just going to give you a name quickly. Tied in at Arkansas, 47 Maddox Lassiter. Keep your eyes on him. You like him?

For some of the things we were just referencing. Back with more Mac and Cube right after this. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kubrick in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than a player, right? Like the myth of Bo Jackson. Like, rate, and download the show from the Jock Gap or wherever you get your podcasts.

All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kubelik in the morning, live on Radio Row. Chris Doering with us now. You're going to get me an actual photograph of it, but our producer, John Saber, just shared the picture with me when I hopped on with you and Peter Burns this morning. It looks good, right? It's my side-by-side with Champ Kynes there.

Of Anchorman. That's up. I mean, it's close. Was that the vibe you were going for, or is that just by chance? No, no. Yeah, we both have fat faces and cowboy hats on and wearing ties. I need the more old school tie and shirt combination there. Would you ever go with a, what do they call this, bow lay tie? Absolutely not. Yeah, that's kind of a joke. Can't do that. We talked about bow ties and that yesterday, because Hester was talking about how Phillip Rivers does it. There's no way. I don't know.

I've never seen somebody wear that that I thought, that's a good look for them. No. It's not a thing. I want to vouch for you, though. Bow tie. The bow tie can work. Some people can pull off the bow tie. The bolo thing? G-Mac, you wouldn't try to pull off a bolo tie, would you? No. No, no, no. Those things are goofy, right? No, that's too much. Yeah. When you do that, you're just trying too hard. Yeah. What about bow ties? No, because I do think that bow ties, like I do have a...

A good friend that almost exclusively wears bow ties. Like real ones that he ties or the clip-ons? I mean, like, instead of wearing, like, a traditional tie, he wears a bow tie. Like, that's, like, his, that's kind of his. Yeah, but I'm saying, like, you know, you could tie those things. Like, Luther Burden the other day, his was an actual clip-on. Yeah. Like, you know. Is he under 180? 180 pounds? Yeah. Luther Burden? No, the guy that has the, your friend with the bow tie. No, big boy. No. I want to vouch for you yesterday. I'm thinking, like, 310.

Hell no. Yeah. But it's like his thing. He just prefers the look. To me, I don't have a problem with bow ties. Bolo ties, you're trying to be that guy. You know what I mean? I kind of agree with you. You know what I'm saying? I'll tell you who would be wearing a bolo tie. Billy Lucci. No, no. T-Bob.

As a joke, though, he wouldn't try to rock it. He wouldn't think it looked good, I don't think. No, he would not think it looked good. Nobody else would ever do this, so I'll do this. Exactly. That's the guy that's rocking a bolo tie right now. Can we let Chris give me credit now? Because no one's done this all week. I'll give you credit. Your boy...

He was talking about his fat face a minute ago, but I saw you grinding in the gym. I went up there last night, dude. You were getting after it. I've tried to get at least something in. I don't know about the sideways press machine that we were using yesterday. It was a little awkward. When am I going to get my left pec a workout because it was tilted to the right? All right. First, Florida, quickly. You and I have talked a lot about them.

Not many people are on both sides of this. Most people are on the ridiculous 3-4 win train. Why can Florida be better than people think in your mind? I'll be honest. Last year we were here, I thought Florida was a 5-win team, and they ended up being a 5-win team. This year I think people aren't expecting much more, but I like Florida.

where they are after doing the spring game. I like the talent that they brought in through the portal. I like the experience that young guys got last year. Love Graham Mertz. I don't know how you feel about Graham. I think he's really solid. I think he was one of the best acquisitions through the portal last year. I still don't think people are giving him enough credit. Obviously, you lose Ricky Pearsall. Trey Wilson is going to be the de facto replacement there, but

But the real test of what's going to determine how much better they're going to be is going to be with the defense. They were awful on that side of the ball last year. But you go back and look, 25% of the snaps on the defensive side were taken by true freshmen, which is a recipe for disaster. Those guys will be better from what they went through last year. And I do think Florida wins seven games this year. I think they're going to be so much better than people realize. It's just hilarious to me. People act like they have the roster of an FAU. It's like, dude, this is still Florida. I mean, it's like...

It's unbelievable. I just look, too. People are so caught up in the schedule. It's not as bad as everyone's making it out to be. I mean, you're telling me Florida can't beat Miami at home? You're saying they can't beat LSU at home? I mean, come on. You don't think they can win those games? A lot of people think that Napier's on the hot seat. I don't believe that. I think there's going to be a lot more rope there from Scott Strickland.

I love the fact that a guy that could be on the hot seat in some people's minds is saying, hey, instead of downplaying and taking the schedule and saying how hard it is, making an excuse, he's embraced it. He's like, really, the schedule's not much different than it was last year. Instead of going to Utah, we get Miami at home. Instead of playing LSU and Baton Rouge with a Heisman winning quarterback and two first-round receivers, those guys are gone. They come to Gainesville. We don't have to go to Lexington. They come to Gainesville. We play a Jordan Travis-less Florida State team with a new starting quarterback. So,

I'm with you guys. I think a lot of people look at the logos, and they are projecting what those teams were instead of looking at what they are now. And I think that's another reason. The key is, I talked to one of the Florida players who said, we've got seven home games this year, which is going to help us. Well, you lost to Arkansas at home last year, so you can't assume that you're going to win your games at home. But starting fast, the schedule is back-loaded, so you've got to win early, and you've got to win your home games. Look at it. Four teams are going to be here today.

positive, who surprises you the most this year? Oh, um... Yeah, it's interesting because I think all four of these teams are kind of being...

overlooked a little bit. Maybe that's the nature of being the fourth day group of teams coming through, but I think Texas A&M could be better. I think Mike Elko obviously knows the culture there, was part of the resurgence of that defense when he came in under Jimbo Fisher. I'm excited to see Connor Wegman back and what he can become. Auburn, I was at your alma mater, Cole, for their spring game.

And the confidence that Hugh Freeze has in Peyton Thorne by not going out and getting another portal guy, by allocating those funds, as you talked about on our show today, to other positions, I do think that the thing I'm most excited about is seeing Cam Coleman. But are there other guys around him that can be the reason why that passing game is better than what it was last year? What about Arkansas? I'm having a hard time seeing them...

have a crazy high ceiling, but I think they can be a real problem for folks. For instance, I hate it if I'm Texas, knowing I've got to go play up there in mid-November. It might be three degrees and sleeting sideways, and I've got to go play against a team whose Super Bowl is this. Looking at Arkansas, how dangerous can they be? We just sat with Sam Pittman on our show, and Sam Pittman's not one that's going to be rattled. PB asked him, are you feeling the pressure? He's like, I don't

feel the pressure at all. They've had success there. They feel like they can have success again. Key hire, obviously getting Coach Petrino back there. Taylon Green is the guy that I think fits well in what they want to do with his athleticism. Again,

To me, the success they had early, I think he's a victim of too much success too soon, and they set the bar really high for Arkansas after turning that thing around. It was because of the defense. The defense had tremendous leadership on that side of the ball, and I just wonder, are they going to be able to replicate some of the success they had? Barry Odom was obviously a large part of that early couple years there in Fayetteville, and they just have not had the defensive success without him.

Shane Beamer kind of laughed at it earlier this week. You and I sat with Billy yesterday. He doesn't seem rattled at all. Is it the buyouts? Is there real pressure with these guys anymore? I mean, Jimbo's going home to what? An extra 60 mil that they still owe him? I think the money's obviously tremendous and a motivating factor, but you don't get to this level without being a competitor. I'm not saying that they don't care about not winning, but the pressure, like the...

building up that anxiety with some of these coaches, has that removed a lot of it, do you think? I guess maybe if you look at it through the lens of it being a profession, but to me it's more a lifestyle, you know, and like, who knows...

Shane Beamer, Sam Pittman, these guys were kind of odd choices in a lot of people's minds for their respective head coaching jobs. If you don't succeed there, do you get another chance? Did Sam Pittman ever get another chance to be a head coach? He's already said, as soon as he gets done, he's going to the farm and have himself a Coors Light. Shane Beamer wasn't even a

a coordinator and got to be a head coach. Does he get another chance? I do think there's still a lot of self-imposed pressure, even if the money takes some of that away. I think that there is a sense of urgency for a lot of those guys. Still want to win, for sure. Of course, yeah. Greg has Texas in the SEC Championship game. McMurphy settled this a little bit earlier and gave us a lot of reasons that Texas and Oklahoma will not be very successful this year. He said competitive, yeah.

Texas or Oklahoma in the title game? I'm going to say no, just because I think there is an acclimation period coming to the SEC. This idea that you can just drop those two teams in and they're going to understand how to navigate the difficulty of an SEC schedule. You guys all know what it feels like when you get to the end of the year, the cumulative effect of not only the physical wear and tear, but the mental grind, and

I think it's going to be... Texas played a lot of close games last year. I don't think you can play close games in this league and count on winning all of them. I would take the under on the win total for Texas, but why are we not talking about Oklahoma as much as we are Texas? I understand. The schedule is...

I think two schedules. We talk a lot about Florida's schedule. I don't think people talk enough about Oklahoma's schedule and what a large part they'll play and who ends up going to the college football playoffs with that last four or five weeks that they play.

And then also Georgia. I think just because Georgia's so good, we dismiss the fact that they have probably one of the most challenging schedules as it relates to teams we expect to be in the mix to get to Atlanta at the end of the year. I just look at Georgia, and Georgia's the one that I'm puzzled by because it's like we just assume because they have the best personnel, like,

They're going to go unscathed. Dude, that schedule is the hardest schedule in the country. I don't care what anybody says. When at Kentucky is your seventh toughest game, it tells you all you need to know. I mean, that's a beating, whether it's at Texas, at Bama, at Ole Miss, Clemson in the neutral site.

Florida in the neutral site, it's a gauntlet. I don't see how they don't go 10-2. I think they're going to lose, too. I just don't know which ones. I don't know how you survive. I agree with you, too. They're still in the playoff. That is beside the point. PB and I have talked a lot about pressure on teams and on coaches. I think Lane Kiffin probably has the most pressure on him because of where the bar has been set with their success recently and needing to take that next step forward.

But even though Georgia and Kirby Smart have won two national titles in the recent years, I feel like there's a tremendous amount of pressure, particularly because the one thing that kept them from winning more was Coach Saban. Well, Coach Saban isn't there anymore. What if you go to Tuscaloosa and lose to Coach Saban's replacement? I just think there's a lot of pressure on him to get

back to the national championship game and win a third title here in the last four years. So who is it? I'm assuming you think George is in the SEC championship. I like Ole Miss, man. I believe in Ole Miss. Their schedule is more manageable than some of the other teams that are kind of in that mix. More manageable. I feel like that's a little bit of an understatement, but yeah. It's overly kind, you think? Well, Greg brought up a really good point yesterday about Missouri, and I think it's applicable to Ole Miss.

is if you're Missouri, like we all just sit here and say 10-2, you're in. Missouri goes 10-2, there might be a real conversation about what's your best win? And do you deserve to be in at that point? And maybe if you sliced it a certain way, Ole Miss could fall into that category. I think you're right, but I think the success both of those teams had last year kind of gives them the benefit of the doubt. If you hadn't have done that before, maybe it looks more like a one-off.

I don't know, though. When you're starting measuring against, like, all right, Missouri's 10-2 against, let's say... Florida 9-3. You got Florida 9-3? I'm saying if they were. If Florida was 9-3... That's true. Florida's 9-3, hang a banner. Like, that's freaking incredible. Oklahoma 9-3. Like, you're taking Oklahoma, right? You got a head-to-head, but... I would. I mean, you got a head-to-head, so that would impact a lot. But I'm thinking more, like, outside the conference. Like, you got a... Let's say you got 10-2 Missouri...

with losses at Bama, at A&M. And what's their best win under those circumstances? And then you're measuring them potentially against, say, Florida State, who loses to Clemson,

in the ACC championship game, and they're sitting at 11-2. If what you just said would be accurate, you're going to need Auburn and Oklahoma to probably be pretty good at that point, to have quality wins on your schedule. To lose at home? I mean, that to me is not a feather in your cap. You lose at home, that's bad ball. It's just an interesting thought. What about Alabama this year?

Yeah, I think that's an interesting storyline. It just has felt very different. We had Tyler Booker on yesterday, and he talked about how the feeling in the facility is a little bit different. There's maybe a little bit more player influence on what's going on there with the coaches. But you know better than I do, G-Mac. I mean, that was a – I don't think in all of sports at all times there's ever been a more difficult –

to try to replace than coaching, having Nick Saban the greatest to ever do it. But I think they did as good of a job as you possibly could. I believe in Kalen DeBoer. I believe in his success. I believe in his ability to develop quarterbacks. I'm excited to see what he can do with Jalen Milrow. I'm excited to see how he tweaks his offense to cater to what Jalen does well. But it is funny because I don't think we're talking about Alabama quite as much. I mean, if you guys...

I think we probably all agree that the SEC gets four in this year, probably, as you think. Would you three to four? I think four. I think three for sure. Four is going to be a little dependent on what happens elsewhere. So how many teams in the SEC do you think are legitimate contenders for those three to four spots? Nine. You think so? That deep? Yeah. I had an eight. I'd probably be more in the eight range, but I could...

I can see it getting there. The one that would be ninth for me is A&M, right? No, I'd have A&M as top eight. Nine would be like Oklahoma. It's really close. I'm excited about the Oklahoma trip to Jordan-Hare, man, and what that's going to mean for them. They get Tennessee coming to Norman, but that'll be their first real SEC road test ever.

I think that's going to be a welcome to the SEC kind of moment. Where it falls, a couple of under-the-radar, like difficult non-conference teams that you play first, and then one of, if not the biggest regular season game in school history before you take that trip is going to be a lot.

C.D., thanks for the time, man. Yeah, good to be with you guys. It's been a fun week, man. I look forward to a good season. When did you and Peter release the pictures from yesterday? We released some that were approved by HR. There was some that didn't make the cut. Not surprising that they didn't. See you all, boys. Chris Turing joining us right here on Radio Row. Before we head to break, I'll tell you about our friends, Gusty Goulas and the Gusty Goulas Group.

830 five-star Google reviews. Just Google Gusty Goulds Group or call 205-542-1996 or go to gustygouldsgroup.com. You can do that on your phone right now. You'll see a button at the top of the page. Click that button. You can get information about how much your home is worth in a very short amount of time. Maybe you want to go ahead and put it on the market with Gusty Goulds and the Gusty Goulds Group. Brokered by EXP Realty. Served more than 3,000 home buyers and sellers in the greater Birmingham area.

Go to gustygoulasgroup.com. They've helped family members of mine. They can help you. 205-542-1996. 205-542-1996 for the Gusty Goulas Group.

Back in media days in just a moment. Laura Rutledge still coming up later this hour on Jocks 94.5. The capital of the sports talk nation. This is Jocks 94.5 and jocksfm.com. Hurry and... All right, welcome back in. McElroy and Kublik in the morning. I just realized I do horns up or down incorrectly. I do hang loose.

I got to start doing it with these two fingers, right? Yeah. Why would you do the hang loose? It's very different than... Because in my day, that was the cool thing to do. That's South Carolina. Yeah, that's... I guess. They kind of try to do that thing. But yeah, I got to get my horns down right. How to get my horns down going. Yes, correct. Laura Rutledge with us now on Radio Row. Laura, how are you? How's your week been? Good.

I brought your bag. Are you leaving soon? Well, I'm going straight to the airport, but I couldn't leave without talking to you guys. It's about time you had me on. I did Radio Row. You're very important. No, not true. Thank you for letting me try on your cowboy hat. I'm not doing the ESPR thing. I'm sorry. I can't.

My friends will come talk to me when they have a chance. Well, here I am. And I couldn't leave without it. I feel like I've been with Ruddy the whole week. Yeah, I can't get rid of Greg. I've seen her more than anybody else and I've done 12 hours of radio with you. I'm like, what is going on? Yeah, I've had enough of Greg. I'm sick of him. Right?

been a little, I guess, low-key, drama-free this week, but has anybody sort of given you something that surprised you, or have you greatly changed your opinion on a team or a coach or a player since you've been here? It has been low-key, really. I would say...

One of the things that was interesting to me is the confidence that Tennessee came with. And I think they're a team that could be one of these kind of like six or eight teams that we talk about potentially contending. But Josh Heupel wasn't backing down at all. And, you know, they're unproven at quarterback but talented. I just think there's a lot there that we could be overlooking. And he made me feel I was buying what he was selling. So I would say Tennessee probably stepped up a little bit in my eyes this week.

I think that's a good one for sure. I didn't get to visit with him as much. I didn't get to visit as much with Oklahoma either. I wish I would have spent a little more time with Venables, but it is what it is. You would have gotten a question or two in. Yeah, right. Exactly. If I had 30 minutes, I'd get one question. He gave us the entire three deep of their defense. Roman asked them one defensive question and literally went through every position. Stop. Did that really happen? It was amazing. It was like a 17-minute answer.

It was great. Oh, my. But it was just thorough. We had some filibustering this week. Oh, no question. Across the board. No doubt. Even on our set. The other one that I feel, and it feels like forever ago now, but LSU, I got a much better vibe from Brian Kelly. Yeah.

And we were with him on set. And he feels really bad about his death on his roster, which would have been a massive concern of mine coming in. So, like, you look at his track record, year three is when they break through. But Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Central Michigan, that's when they break through. So are we not talking enough about LSU? It's a good point because I think they're better at quarterback than we want to admit to. I mean, I realize that Garrett Nussmeier is –

Somebody who hasn't played a whole lot, and you can't look at some of these times when he came in or even the spring game and say, oh, yeah, he's going to be great. I think he's going to be really good, though, and he's got a really strong arm. The way that they handle him is going to be important. I do think that opener against USC is huge for them. They haven't won an opener in, what, four years, maybe more? I think it's four. It's his 2019 opener.

They've got to win that game. And that sounds silly because we're in an expanded playoff. They could lose a couple, and it'll be fine if they don't. But I just feel like to see the progress that we want to see and the depth that we want to see after what they lost after last year...

That would be important. Their defense is going to be better. And the thing I liked about what Brian Kelly said to us, he wasn't shying away from it. He was like, I know, I had to revamp the entire defense. I had to rehaul. I had to change the staff entirely. What they did, getting Blake Baker from Missouri, there are so many things about that team that are going to be markedly better. And they were already pretty close last season with an all-world offense but a terrible defense.

You mentioned kind of this logjam of either if your Tier 2 is larger or your Tier 2 is small, kind of Tier 3, if that's bigger, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma, maybe even Ole Miss if you don't have them towards the top, Tennessee, Texas A&M.

Who does separate, in your opinion? Like, minus the Bama-Georgia, even if you have Ole Miss up there, that's fine. But, like, who's the other team that kind of takes the leap between that group? Yeah, I would say right now I kind of have Georgia, I have Texas, I have Bama. Then I think Ole Miss is right there, kind of right behind Bama, maybe even with Bama. Then I would say LSU.

And then in that next category, you know, are we overlooking A&M? I don't know. The one thing I would say about Missouri is their schedule's favorable, so I would probably slot them up. Like, I think they're going to kind of mow through that schedule and be in a really good position. Whether that means they're a better team than some of these other teams, maybe not. The schedule is such a big factor, especially this year. I mean, some of these schedules we're looking at, and Greg's going to get mad at me because he's, like, saying that we're all making excuses on these dang schedules. Right.

But some of them are really hard. You pointed out Georgia's schedule. It's brutal. People are saying Florida has the most difficult schedule. It's brutal. They're not in that necessarily contender group anyway. But I do think Missouri's schedule could lend itself to allowing them to kind of rise out of that group of six or whatever it is behind your obvious contenders. Trust me. We sat next to the schedule maker last night.

He wasn't having any of it. How did that go? Fantastic as always. Amazing as always. Looking at the teams that are not expected to contend this year, the South Carolinas of the world, Vandy if you want to go there, Arkansas, Florida, those that are kind of viewed or perceived as a team that is at the bottom portion of the SEC, which of those teams do you think could potentially rally up?

This is not a biased answer, but it's Florida. Graham Mertz is a good quarterback. They have more weapons. They have a better plan. Defensively, they have to be so much better. Their defense has been such a problem. I know with a young defensive coordinator who you kind of make a bet on in Armstrong, it didn't work out last season. But let's see what he brings to the table with a little bit of veteran leadership that's now brought in from Auburn. So I think...

Look, they know their backs are up against the wall. I think the hard part is going to be, do they look enough better even in losses that you can say, all right, this is working and progressing? And Florida fans are so tired of hearing that, right? It's just like, come on. But what I would say I'm concerned about is, let's say they make a change. God forbid it doesn't go well for Billy Napier and it's another 5-7 season. Who's going there? Who are they getting? That's where I think it gets...

to try to think through. But I'm going to live in the world of a little bit more optimism than that because, you know, we can spit out some hope right now. And I think Florida will maybe get some surprise wins here and there, some wins that they were close to getting last season and just didn't do quite enough to finish at the end. Okay, you had kind of a front seat to the debut of Nick Saban as a media member for SEC Media Days. What is your best Nick Saban story from this week?

Oh, my goodness. It was so much fun, you guys. Like, it really was. Greg was with me for a lot of it, too. Obviously, he's familiar with Coach Saban in a way that I'm not. But I think what was so fun overall was just how much he cared about all these teams. He spent so much time talking to each coach. He watched their spring games. You know, he did all of this. It's not surprising that he wanted to be so prepared, but he really does. My favorite story is after day one.

He went to all of us. We were kind of pow-wowing after it. We were like, all right, coach, this was great. He wants a lot of coaching, which is hard to do because he's really good. So there's really not much that he really needs to change. But he said, well, I'm not working enough. We were trying to manage his schedule. We're like, we don't want to overdo it here. Come on. Bite off more than you can chew. He's like, what do you mean? I'm not working enough.

I got to go sit up in my room. I need to work more. So we actually added more to his schedule after that first day because he was upset. He didn't think he was doing enough. He said, I came here to work 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. That's what I thought this was.

And he was, like, upset. But, I mean, geez. And then my other favorite story is when he absolutely buried Greg at the end of SEC Now last night. I mean, he killed me last night. Last night? He called you soft, Greg. He told me that, and I missed that part. Actually, I saw he and Coach early on listen to the Alabama players talking about Coach Saban, and it was when I got back from dinner, and so I turned it off because I had to go to sleep. I hate that I missed that part. We'll find it. We'll close it off. I'm so mad at him. I'm so mad at him.

Look, and that one I did not see coming. I know he's going to kill me. He kills me all the time. That's just our relationship. But I did not see that one coming. No, it was so random how we got there. It was so random, and I was just so unprepared for it. It's the last 30 seconds of the show. Your day is done. I'm already at the restaurant for dinner. I'm not even there. I'm on the set, but I'm not there. I had no comeback. I had nothing.

We were like filling time, too. And all of a sudden, you know, we're talking about Greg's making a nice point about he can't wait for the expanded playoff and the home games and the first round of the playoff. And then Coach is like, if you're going to be to go play in like Ann Arbor or Notre Dame.

And he's like, oh, if you went to Ann Arbor and Notre Dame, we'd have to cancel the game. Soft. I mean, you and Snow, oh, soft. I'm like, look, Coach, you can say a lot about me. You can say I can't run, can't throw, can't see the defense, have terrible vision, terrible feel in the pocket. I don't care about any of that. That I can't control.

You cannot question my toughness. I'm good about everything. Like, if you want to question my character and or my toughness, those are the only two things that are off limits. Everything else I'm fine with. He's freaking nerd. I was going to say that. Oh, I'm so mad. It's pretty hot. Oh, I'm so mad. Coach Saban knew exactly what he was talking about. Oh, he knew it. Because he was just so happy. He's like, I just finished my week with an absolute burial of my budget.

Sark had told us, he was like, hey, watch out. He'll kind of seem like he's complimenting you or seem like he's just having a nice point, and then he'll hit you just right with a haymaker, right when you don't expect it. That was the haymaker. It just, none of us knew what to do. We had to just say goodbye and get off the air. So mad at him. You also got a little bit more of a peek into what Alabama football will be now.

How do you feel? What's your level of confidence of it being close to just continuing what it has been? Yeah, I mean, like I was saying, I put them in the top three of the SEC, which means they're probably a playoff team, you know, unless things don't go well. If they get really injured or something like that, right, which is true for everybody, I

I think Jalen Milrow is going to take a big step forward. And, and Kalen DeBoer is so good with quarterbacks. He's so good with instilling confidence. I think that's big for Jalen, but it's worth remembering. And, and I think everybody did a really good job about this this week, reminding everybody, you know, this time last year, he was in a quarterback battle. He lost his job. Everything was falling when they lost a Texas. I mean, it was like the, the world was over. They go to South Florida. They have that terrible performance there. It,

That was his world, and then he rebuilt it with the help of many around him to have a moment where you've got the gravedigger play that gets you to be able to continue on. You beat Georgia, but it was all precarious, right? If you think of even the...

situations that allowed for his success. It was because of a lot of failures. So I think he's kind of been through a gauntlet. I think he'll be better. And then they're, they're really good at some important spots, right? So, um,

I think Kalen DeBoer is going to do a great job. Greg said something I was watching, you know, one of the rare times we weren't on together that I thought was really good. Kalen DeBoer is striking the perfect chord in the following of Nick Saban. He's being very respectful, very classy about all of it. And you had to find the perfect coach who was going to do that. And I was impressed by that this week, the way that he's handled everything. Laura, thanks for stopping by. I know you have

to finish some work and get to the airport. We have one more break, so we have to go now so we can get that in before we wrap up today. But we appreciate you coming down. Because this is kind of a death march for you down Radio Row. Yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do, guys. She pretended to be on the phone. That was my strategy. Yeah, your low-key outside walk there, and I was like, she knows exactly what she's doing. No, it's a good thing. Put the phone to your ear. I'm looking back. Pretend you're on the call. This way over here. Come behind. Okay, I'm going to go behind here. But look, that door right there, you can cut straight across to the green room right there. Hey, if I get stuck...

I'm going to look back at you two, and I'm going to send you a horns down signal. You'll be all right. Is it going to be that horns down? One horn. Hang loose. One horn. It's going to be one horn. You know the horn you're getting, okay? Hang loose means you're really in trouble, and I'll get over there fast. All right. Last break of the day. We'll finish up on Radio Road next on Mac and Cube in the morning. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kubrick in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than...

a player right like the myth of Bo Jackson like rate and download the show from the jock cap or wherever you get your podcasts all right welcome back in McElroy and Kubelik in the morning live from Radio Row Auburn's annual kickoff Birmingham presented by the Greater Birmingham Auburn Club Thursday July 25th at the Finley Center in Hoover huge Auburn pep rally bring the family kids play area face painting join Albie and Andy Burcham silent auction to bid on unique items a

Big send-off for the Birmingham Area Auburn Freshmen. VIP ticket upgrades available. Food, drinks, swag. Corporate sponsorships are available. Proceeds go to fund scholarship for Birmingham Area Auburn students. Thursday, July 25th, right there at the Finley Center in Hoover. Go to kickoffbirmingham.org. Wrap it up. Media Day coverage. Been a great day today. Billy Lucci, Greg Sankey.

Brett McMurphy, Laura Rutledge, Chris Doering. If you missed any of those, go to the podcast at joxfm.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify. You can catch up on all of them there. Bill Svenduk, GMC, is the GMC dealer there, the national champion of GMC dealers. They sell more GMCs than anyone in the entire Southeast the last couple years, and they will likely do it again this year because nobody can match them on their deals. You can get a GMC Sierra SLT $1,500, $13,000 off the sticker price, under $55,000. It's unbelievable the deals that you can find online.

when you shop at the biggest and the best GMC dealer in the country. So take the short drive up to Coleman. You'll be glad you did. 75% of their business is repeat customers because you have a better experience when you shop with Andy Cole and Jonathan Yeager and all the wonderful people at Bill Smith Buick GMC. You can also shop online at billsmithbuickgmc.com. All right, we're going to catch up with Hugh Freeze in a few minutes. You'll hear that on the show tomorrow. But anything you want to hear from Hugh Freeze, hope to hear from Hugh Freeze today, G-Mac? I'm kind of excited to hear about the new receivers and just how that –

chemistry in the passing game is continuing to progress. I'm with you. Defensively, I want to hear if some of those transfer defensive tackles are going to be real, going to be able to step up and help. How DJ Durkin's scheme may be coming into form there for the Auburn defense as well.

We've got Kentucky, Arkansas, Auburn, Texas A&M here at SEC Media Days today. You're going to get a slew of interviews throughout the course of the week. Multiple SEC head coaches and players from Greg and I coming up tomorrow on the show. Keep it locked for more Media Days coverage next as three-man front rolls along on jocks. This is McElroy and Kubelik in the morning. At your job, do you ever have to deal with a nose roller? How about a snub pulley?

Well, if you're installing a new conveyor belt system, dealing with the different components can sound like you're speaking a foreign language. Luckily, you've got a team ready to help. Grainger's technical product specialists are fluent in maintenance, repair, and operations. So whenever you want to talk shop, just reach out. Call, click Grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.

Passion, drive, and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more. Whether you're into speed, power, or style, eBay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for.

And with eBay Guaranteed Fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back. Because with eBay Motors...

You're burning rubber, not cash. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. See ebaymotors.com. Named one of the best personal finance podcasts, The Stacking Benjamin Show with Joe and his friends makes financial literacy...

Find out more by searching the Stacking Benjamins podcast wherever you listen.