Bold Take Monday Is Back + 1 on 1 with Brent Brennan and Morgan Scalley | The BFW Show 10.26.26

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Hello, hi, Brandon Walker, College Football Show Monday. Looking forward to the weekend. Got a lot to talk about in college football. It is Bold Take Monday, of course. Let me say live now. Bold Take Monday with Liam Blutman. I am here. Welcome to everybody. I'm Liam Blutman. I'm in the chat. Please come watch. Please like, subscribe. If you watch, I appreciate it, but liking and subscribing helps the channel more. It means that Lukey Blutman can move out of his brother's apartment. Just kidding. He'd never want to do that. But anyway, welcome. We've got a lot to discuss. We have Bold Takes. We have my top 25. I imagine I'll be interrupted with the Tate of the Union at some point. We have voicemails. We have two interviews. And Liam, I'll bring you in right here. I talk lots of shit about a lot of programs. So I never know what I'm going to get with coaches, right? And I'm easily impressed. Like earlier this year, I talked to Bob Chesney. I came away like a little schoolgirl. And then Will Stein, I came away like a little schoolgirl, you know? And then today, I did two interviews. I first interviewed Utah coach Morgan Scali, and I came away just gushing. Just, oh my goodness, this guy. This guy is unbelievable. And then an hour later, I interviewed Brent Brandon from Arizona. And it was just even, like, I'm so easily influenced. Like, the last guy I talked to is always my favorite. But these are two impressive-ass coaches that really talk. I mean, they really lay out their vision for the program. We've got 15 minutes with Scali, 15 minutes with Arizona. I reached out to them because last week, I made waves on Bold Take Monday when I said the Big 12's overrated with three teams. So I had Scali on here. I asked him point-blank about me being negative about him. I asked Brent Brandon about it. So I went straight to the horse's mouth, and we see what they say. I know you didn't watch either one of them, Liam, but they were impressive. Well, I look forward to watching them tonight. I know you had a great weekend. You enjoyed your time in stores. It's crazy to me that you're not going to go back there, though, because the fans didn't really like you. No, no, no. That's not me. That's actually somebody else. I'll go back there. That was a weird place because it was one of the weird stops that liked me a lot. They did not dislike me. I don't know why. I don't know what I did to UConn where they don't dislike me, but everywhere else I go, I was throwing stuff at me. Everybody else was booing me, and UConn was like, we love Brandon Walker. That was crazy. There was a woman in the crowd who says, I love BFW. There was a woman in the crowd. There was a woman in the crowd, multiple women in the crowd. Great shirt for you, by the way. You like this, huh? Yeah. I got me a new shirt. I got me a new shipment of my T-Public shirts where I just go. It got me several. Brandon Noah Fafita deserves more respect. He's playing like the best quarterback in the country, says Smitty. Yeah. I mean, we talked to his coach a little bit later. Liam just learned that Dash Fafita exists, so we'll talk about all the Fafitas. Two news topics before we get to Bold Take Monday, and we also have a guest Bold Take Monday coming at 620. A guest Bold Take Monday. Liam, you have your three Bold Take Mondays ready? I did. I sent them over to you for approval. I heard nothing, which means they're good. Yeah. No, I knew that you sent them over. I was just saying for the effect of the audience. You got your Bold Takes ready? Yeah, I got them ready, Brando. I can't wait for you to see them. All right. Number one, it made waves today with the announcement of the November 7th, which is the next loaded, loaded, loaded day in college football. The November 7th TV schedule, a couple of people got mad. I think LSU got mad that their LSU Alabama game is at 230 and Georgia Ole Miss. Got the night slate. I don't think that matters. 230 and the night slate. It's one thing if you get relegated at 11 a.m., but I will say LSU Alabama feels more like a night game and Georgia Ole Miss feels more like a 230 game. That's just in my opinion. But the big one is that day, we get BYU Utah at noon Eastern, 11 Central, 10 Mountain, meaning when they kick off BYU Utah, the biggest game of the year in the Big 12. It'll be 10 o'clock local time. Thoughts, Liam? Well, in the biggest game in the Big 12 last year, Texas Tech, Utah, at that point, when did they play it? They played at 10 a.m. local and Utah was not ready for the start of that game. Texas Tech didn't look good either. The turnovers in that game, it was a turnover fest. It was gross. Teams both showed up slow and lethargic, why, like, it's one thing to put this game at 10 a.m. and it's like, fine, it's a fine time slot, you're not putting the best product out there to represent your conference. Yeah, but I mean, we have conditioned the nation to expect a huge game at noon, right? Like Fox Big Noon kickoff has been very successful and has conditioned the nation to believe there's a big game in every window. And to that point, I think it can be good. And I will say, like, it's not like either team gets an advantage. They're, what, 30 minutes apart, BYU-Utah? Now, would I rather see it at night? Would I rather see it as full splendor? Sure. But, like, I get it. I get why they did it. I'm sorry, I don't. Yeah, you do say there's big games at noon all the time, Big Noon kickoff rocks. Those games are played at 11 a.m. or they're played at noon. They're not played at 10 a.m. When the East Coast, when the Midwest, when they're playing at noon, they're not played at 10 a.m. When they're playing at 10 a.m. Central, when they're, like, where are we? Yeah. I'm just trying to make chicken salad out of chicken shit, man. You ain't going to make an appetizing one. Yeah, well, you don't know how I like my chicken salad. Probably not good then, bud. Speaking of Utah, we got Morgan Scali coming up. Another story came out of Utah this weekend. Pat McAfee hates them. Pat McAfee hates Utah. Doesn't want to go back, didn't enjoy his time. McAfee show. He basically said, yeah, it was a weird vibe. Didn't enjoy it. You know, the one thing was the young lady saying the $3 million, $1 million thing. But the biggest thing I think that got under his skin was the university itself on the Instagram at University of Utah put out a video saying, you know, Pat McAfee impressions. I sent you the video. Look, this is the video they put out. And this is the one that bothered Pat McAfee that they played it. And it came from the Utah Instagram. Play that. Give me your best Pat McAfee impression. I'd say like Pat McAfee. He's going to say a corny line. He's going to be like, Houston, we got a problem. Give me the Utah Utes. I would actually spend my money on on the odds of Pat ripping his shirt off this morning. I'm not ripping off my shirt. Bro, Pat. Bro, Pat, Pat, Pat. Pat, we love you, bro. But like, bro, keep the shirt on. No one's trying. We just see that. Like, we don't care. These are, these are college kids, bro. Like, keep your shirt on, homie. Go Utes! Pat McAfee impression. I can't do that. So that's the video that they put out on the Utah Instagram. And that, I believe, is what bothered Pat and had him saying today that he just wasn't comfortable there. Let me preface this with two very big disclaimers. Number one, I love Pat McAfee. I think he's awesome. I think he's great. think he's amazing at what he does. Uh, I don't think what he does is all that dissimilar from what I do. It's, it's kind of playing the heel in certain situations. He's just way more successful than I'll ever be. I put my head on the pillow at night praying that I could be as big as Pat McAfee. I'm, you know, so let's, let's, let's get that straight right now. Um, number two is I'm one of the most sensitive people on the internet. I block a lot of people. I block a ton of people. I, I, like I, I get up in my feelings when it comes to this shit. Um, and I've also gone to these universities and strode across that stage and had them all rain booze upon me. Uh, that being said, Pat is great at getting the crowd riled up and getting the crowd excited. The way I think he missed here is I don't think that video was kids really taking shots at him. I think the first kid says, yeah, Pat's going to say a corny line, uh, like Houston, we got a problem. I think he, he took umbrage at the word corny, but I think they get men in an endearing way. Like he's going to get up there and he's going to play the hits and he's going to speak to us and he's going to say a line that sounds. It's corny. Like Houston, we have a problem. I don't think he meant corny in a bad way. I think he just meant play into the crowd. And the, the rest of the kids, when they were like, don't take your shirt off and all that, they put microphones in front of drunk college students at 4:00 AM. Like those guys weren't ready for prime time. I, I didn't see that as those kids really insulting Pat McAfee. Again, I think Pat McAfee is great. Um, I just, I, I don't know what made him uncomfortable. If it was more than that, or if it was just the video and he's got a right to feel how ever he wants to feel, I just thought maybe that video wasn't the, the direct shot that it might've felt like coming from the, uh, the, the university's Instagram. I'm sure Utah has probably reached out and apologize, but, um, I don't know. I thought I think Pat's awesome. I think he, I think he might've missed on the reaction to this one, but I wasn't there. So I don't know. I wasn't there. Liam thoughts. Yeah. If that, if that video gets to you, the internet's probably not the place for you to be, but the internet, the internet, the internet's a place for Pat. I, I, I think he, he saw the, he saw the video, took it as an insult. And the fact that it came from Utah is what's really sticking in his craw. If that video comes from some normal per, uh, you know, one person, he doesn't get bothered, but I just think he's getting bothered by a video that wasn't that offensive in the first place. I don't think those kids meant wrong. I don't think those kids meant disrespect. I just think, uh, the one guy, I guess the word corny is what's kind of bothering him, but I think the guy just meant he's going to get on stage and he's going to play the crowd and he's going to say something and get us riled up. So that's what I thought that's, that's, uh, again, Pat's awesome. I, I, I mean, no disrespect. He's been, and every time I've ever met him, he's been nothing, but great to me. He's called me out on WWE TV. Uh, he's, he's given me my props. You know, he, he seems like a good guy to me. I've never heard anything bad. I just think he might've, uh, he might've whiffed on the reaction to it, but then again, I don't know. So there you go. I like this album for what it's worth. I didn't listen to it yet. I don't know why I saved it for it. For a weekend. Anyway. Um, Brandon, it's okay to be upset, man. I just, yeah, it's a weird place for me because I do the same fucking thing. I do the same fucking thing where I'm, you know, I get so goddamn amped up and fired up and I, I block people all the time. So it is what it is. That's that. That's what I thought about the Pat McAfee thing. Anything else to add? No. Okay. Stand by what I said. Yeah, no, I got you. Yeah. I got you too, player. Um, it's a bold take Monday. Anyway, are you ready for bold take Monday? Bold take Monday. It's the best part of my week. You okay? Are you dying? Choking up. Well, you, are you that upset about Pat in Utah? Yeah, I actually am. Uh, so we need to make a video calling Brandon corny ASAP with the videos I get and the stuff I get called. I corny would be a goddamn blessing for me. I stood up there in Iowa and had them throw beer cans at me. I've stood up there and, and had Ole Miss. People show me pictures of my fucking kids in the front row. So like, yeah, I can get rough out there. I don't know how rough this really was. Yeah. It was like a 0.2 out then. Yeah. Um, any who it's bold take Monday, bold take Monday. We're ready. We're ready to do, do the shit. Uh, we have a guest bowl taker coming at six 20. Liam, do you want to rip the first bowl? Take on bold take Monday after I tell you about draftings. Yes. Football has a way. Of turning one game into a full week of conversation and DraftKings keeps you close to all of it. The DraftKings sports app is now live in all 50 States. That means from Texas to California to Florida, every fan is in on the excitement. Follow the teams you love. Keep up with the biggest games and experience the excitement of football all week long. No matter which game you're watching, you're always connected with one app, one app, every sport, all 50 States, new DraftKings customer sign up with code Walker, spend just five bucks and get 200 and rewards within 21 days includes all markets. That's code Walker in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours. Bet with DK sports book gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER 1-800-MY-RESET Connecticut called 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of boot Hill casino in Kansas bet tax pass. You may apply in Illinois 21 and over void in Canada event contract trading with DraftKings predictions involves a risk of loss availability varies predictions offer void in New York bet to get bonus bets that expire in seven days trade to get predictions dollars that expire in one year $50 and rewards issued every seven days via click to claim for 21 days one One non-withdrawable reward redeemable. non with three days. Terms at DKNG.co slash offer. Limited time offer. Nationwide based on sportsbook predictions and free-to-play sports contest availability. Varies by state. Liam, bowl take number one. Brian Walker, there's been a lot of talk about the Heisman Trophy. Who's going to win it? Da-da-da-da-da. Malachi Toney's getting back up in the mix. Darian Mentz has been super accurate. Helps to have Toney, of course. Jeremiah Smith has been the clear favorite. He's been unreal. Issue is, doesn't have Julian Sane anymore. Doesn't have his quarterback who was underperforming, was fine. I want to look at a shot here. Bowl take Monday. sure true mess the maker has a signature win when they beat Oregon early in the year say what you want about Oregon that was Oklahoma State coming off a loss against Tulsa where all seemed wrong in the world and we are thinking are they gonna win three games again this is just North Texas with a there's a little bit better are they cooked are they dead in the water he's got opportunities he's got the opportunity against Texas Tech in a week he's been excellent excellent all year one of the best quarterbacks in the country he's 45 to 1 to win the Heisman if he closes this stretch out strong and Jeremiah's production takes a bit of a hit I could see Messamaker win the Heisman Drew Messamaker wins the Heisman trophy that's bold take number one from you don't don't hate it I don't know where he is on the odds I think he's fourth or fifth maybe I don't he's behind Mensah he's behind Tony he's behind Smith maybe still behind Chambliss I don't know behind cj carr chambliss legree tony jeremiah mensa he's now 40 to 1 okay 40 to 1 that's that is indeed a bold take my bold take number one we promise that we're all we're all friends here yep we promise that we're all getting along and and we're not going to take anything said over the next five minutes personal. As long as you don't call me corny. We promise that no matter what I say, we're not going to worry about it. We're just going to keep going because it's Bowl Take Monday. Yep. UCLA's undefeated season will end on Saturday, November 7th, where several playoff dreams have died this year. Michigan's playoff dreams died there. Iowa's playoff dreams may have died there, and UCLA's undefeated season will die there. And I, of course, am talking about Minneapolis, St. Paul, Minnesota. I say that because I don't remember which one it's fucking in. Minneapolis, St. Paul, Minnesota. There's no other way I see that undefeated run ending than PJ Fleck's latest crowd surfing slash whatever performative way he has to celebrate a victory. Minnesota has made a knack of winning annoying games this year. The Minnesota Golden Gophers knock off undefeated UCLA in 11 days' time. Thoughts, Liam Blumman? Well, I'm really happy that you're giving us the win against Nevada on Halloween. That means a lot to me. P.J. Fleck does the crowd surfing thing after they beat St. Thomas, Minnesota or like Penn. It doesn't matter if they're being Penn or Penn State. He always does a crowd surfing shtick, so good for him. I've had to hear Rico Bosco tell me this for 48 straight hours, too, through text nonstop. So you telling me it isn't going to make things go any differently. I'm focused on Halloween. You know, I do it for several reasons. A, I think Minnesota's going to win, but B, really, yeah, I'm starting to enjoy the fact that Minnesota's wrecking everybody that comes in there, and Mississippi State with a healthy Camario went in there and won by 30 points. Bold take. That's for your Heisman discussion. It's a little self-serving, sure. It's a little self-serving. What do you want me to do? I'll tell you. I think we've got the one guy at head coach in this conference that I think relishes the opportunity to go over there and beat them fair enough fair enough bold take monday luki has our guest joined yet nope and that's luki me nope don't know if y'all heard him so as soon as he joins you just pop him up on the screen and i will go to him okay um so bold take number two liam blutman this is on a caveat it's if they get into the playoff because i know you know it's going to be difficult it's going to come down to a bunch of geezers making the decision but they just had a great win saturday night after dark it's new mexico if new mexico gets in the playoff they're going to win their first round game the 12 seed against the five we could talk about the variables and who the five is going to be but why stop from new mexico they win at oklahoma and i get it it's oklahoma the offense ain't great new mexico's defense was superb in that game their defense is in a very impressive unit they're coached by one of the should be one of the most sought like jason neck to me as a guy that hey if you you got a question about your head coach you cut him and you you offer this guy a lot of money they're doing it with their backup quarterback i think they play such a sound complete brand of football then an era brandon where anyone we're talking about anyone could beat anyone it's going to be so difficult to separate uh the playing field how it's so i felt like why can't new mexico beat let's say they play kentucky in the first round let's say they play ucla in the first round let's say they play i don't know indiana it's it's a slugfest i'm just saying names in the 12-5 game but i think new mexico will be very competitive in that game and could win it and will win it if they get in yeah yeah i don't uh i don't take monday it's bold take monday it's bold take monday um and uh i will say bold take money's not just for us get maz off the cart says malachi tony will be another jsn jeremiah smith will be another marvin jr bold take sir that is a bold take in the chat i think it is completely fucking wrong but i respect the bold take i think it's crazy just to punish uh jeremiah smith with met with uh with marvin harrison jr's failures at the next level i think we probably overrated marvis and marvin harrison jr at this level and we are not overrating jeremiah smith it is not possible to do so i'm trying to think i i wrote down five i didn't want to give away five today and i'm saving one of them i'm saving one of them because i want to see if our guest takes this team so i'm going to save it the g the group of six spot will not go to new mexico it will not go to boise state it will not go to james madison it will not go to memphis it will not go to north dakota state who does that leave liam leaves oregon state utsa the oregon state beavers will win at boise state their win over boise state combined with their only two losses being two playoff contenders out of the big 12 will propel them to the group of six playoff spot and they will be the representative from the state of oregon this year in the college football playoff the oregon ducks came in as the heavy favorite to get to the playoff and the oregon state beavers will be the team from the let's see utah's the beehive state california is the golden state pennsylvania is the keystone state austin new york is the empire state florida is the gold sunshine state mississippi is the hospitality state uh tennessee is the tennessee state the oregon state will be oregon state that is my bold take liam blutman and you're so close why what am i close about i think it's just the beaver state is it the beaver state why don't we all move up there then good lord all right brian walker that is a bold take though that because they've got to go at boise state and then they're gonna have to beat boise state again i know i know i know so that's why i have new mexico going in because i think they'll win now i think these two teams will split it is time for our bold take monday bold guest of the week and i have simply given him the instruction please bring your boldest of takes and you may know him from wake up barstool the big boys club the wine walk i can't remember what your uh your your show was about wine and whiskey or something whiskey wine sure from the wine walk it is to bob hebert welcome t-bob to bold take monday uh my bad boys i thought i was in like a waiting room so when i was yelling and then y'all reacted to duck state i felt really bad yeah no no and and then i thought there was some dust that had gotten knocked off of some corner of my brain and i was like oh my god i'm gonna have to go to boise and i really thought i had it with friendship state oh what is it does anybody know yet it's beaver it is beaver it is beaver state so a good omen brandon for your bold take to be sure the state's literally named after the mascot what is your boldest take all right i was thinking about it um my wife's been at work just making steaks mashed potatoes i'm sorry i'm sorry t-bob what you heard was let me ramble on about every boring my life what i said was what is your boldest take well i'm trying to explain the process by which you arrive in the right headspace for a take this bold uh all right well okay whatever so not state i believe texas is going to lose to lsu they're going to win every other game they're going to get into the 12 team playoff as the first ever nine and three team and then they're going to go on a run and they are going to win every other game and they are going to win every other game they're going to win a national championship nine and three texas will win a national championship and i have reasons and i have reasons please it's bold take monday go ahead monday okay so there is an absence of a superpower which helps in all of this because a lot of the story that i'm writing is kind of copying miami's homework from last year a little bit and so like the absence of a fernando mendoza led indiana no no elephant in the room i think there's a power vacuum right so already we have a ton of different schools that we know can win texas right now is five and one in their last six games against top 10 schools so objectively whether you like them or not and that's still beating like a 10 and 2 vanderbilt last year that's ruining a and m season last year when they were 11 and oh like there's good wins there that's old miss last week oh i understand ohio state thank you at at tennessee right so like good wins and that's going to be how they vault in at nine and three is everybody's going to highlight their their big wins in the schedule they played and whatnot um so they've proven they can win the big game they've done those both on the road and at home we know from a pure talent standpoint they are they are the very talented you'll have colin simmons i'm guessing returning around playoff time maybe at the lsu game after the lsu game or something so you'll get this kind of defensive jolt already i think the defense is going to be the thing that carries them to a championship with colin simmons return he's going to go on a hellish just superstar run in the playoffs a la ruben bain and then like miami and like texas has figured out multiple times this year if they start asking arts to do less and they rely on running the ball their size up front leaning on people the running back they became a more run focused team takes pressure off of arch his mistakes don't mean as much because you're controlling the game more think about how they beat ohio state by that fourth quarter ohio state's legs were dead they ran all over them arch had the big fourth downs yes so he made his plays but they ran all over him go watch that game i've never seen a team so dead as that ohio state defense think about how they closed the game after got sketchy against soul miss six runs 80 yards touchdown lessens when they start to become more run first team take pressure over arch he can start to be more just that pure playmaker again we know he shows up in the big games and they're talented enough that despite all their warts might even losing at lsu they end up making the playoff at nine and three and go to the national championship so i'm with you on some of it uh i like them making the playoff at nine and three uh with the win over tech with the win over ohio state with the win over tennessee with the win over ole miss i like i get that lost me when you said we know arch plays well in big games i mean he was awful against oklahoma that was a big game that's fair but he has he has okay again five in one record but he's got he's got blemishes he's got like road losses to kentucky last year right or was it florida beat him two years in a row it went to overtime with kentucky last year and won but but yeah but yeah so yeah it's bold take monday and i like the bold take you just you just brought a bold ass take but i want you to sit there as i give my next bold take i'm going to skip the line here and of Liam because this is when I was holding Just in case you took this team bold take Monday, Liam, what is it? We'll take my, it's where Brown Walker gives us the boldest takes. It's bold. It's bold. Take Monday. The LSU tigers will be the last sec team standing in the college football playoff. The LSU tigers will fight back from early season losses. They will beat Texas at home. They will beat Alabama at home. They will beat Tennessee on the road. They will go 10 and two. They will get into the playoff and nobody wants to see that pass rushing menace. They've got, nobody wants to see Lane Kiffin's offense. Nobody wants to see that team get healthy. Nobody in America wants to see that team come playoff time. The LSU tigers will be the best sec team in the college football playoff. I almost said we'll win a national title. I think, I think there's a lot out. There that would have to happen to make that happen with Notre Dame and Miami and Indiana's defense. Like, so I'm going to stay a little bit South of that take, but it's still bold enough to say they will outlast Texas. They will outlast Alabama. They will outlast Georgia and they will be the last sec team playing this year in the college football playoff thoughts. Uh, okay. I obviously love that for a lot of reasons. Um, I don't want to be biased here, like talking about it, but I'm going to be biased here. Now, I think I'm a bit too close to the case. So, like, you have to, you know, you have to remove me. You got to take my gun and badge because I've just suffered so many times at the hands of, like, a big Alabama game where I spent two weeks. I spent the bye week, Bama's bye week, hyped myself up. This is going to be here. We're finally going to do it. And I'm going to do that all again. But I have been burned on that pot so many times. That said, Leavitt is playing out of his mind right now. He's cutting down on the mistakes. Dylan Jones. If you look up running back sets, Dylan Jones having a shockingly great season, both running and receiving, very akin to Keewon Lacey. Can I stop you there? Yeah. Don't you dare. And I mean, don't you fucking dare. Come on my show, a Mississippi State superfan show, and as an LSU fan say, oh, I have suffered so much at the hands of Alabama. Friend, you couldn't live the life I've lived, all right? You couldn't walk a mile in my shoes. You couldn't fucking – you couldn't last a fucking minute out here where I've grown up, okay? So don't tell me I'm an LSU fan, I've suffered so much to Alabama. Fuck you, okay? Okay, allow me to rebut here. Allow me to rebut. On a personal level, I have suffered my greatest single ever failure directly at the hands of Alabama. A perfect season, blown up, 21-0, and an absolute embarrassment against Nick Saban, in which I didn't even get to play a single snap in the game despite starting for three years. But even take that out the equation. But obviously, I'm working from a base of hatred. The metaphor I always use is that I spent my life climbing this mountain, and then right when i'm about to summit it nick saban just kicks me in the chest 300 style and i fall to my death and everybody applauds him for it well as i was at the base of the mountain looking up nick saban took out his cock and slapped me across the face multiple times and said get the fuck away from the mountain and i said yes sir that mountain's too tall for me anyway so the only other thing i'll say is so we lose that game we then lost for a decade straight we got him in 19 at Tuscaloosa that felt amazing kept on losing Jaden wins year one with Brian Kelly it's the only highlight of the Brian Kelly era that actually happened in Tiger Stadium which odd quirk of this rivalry if you go back to the Bear Bryant, Charlie Mack days LSU never wins in Baton Rouge when they beat Alabama for some reason even when I was there it was always at Alabama I have no idea why but yeah I mean you've beaten him two times since they beat us in that national championship in 2011 yeah and almost every year there's been a lot of stakes a lot of excitement and not every year but a handful of those years i really talked myself into it only to come out and have them have a completely flat and or dominated performance so so i'm not saying i've suffered the same extent that you have but i have suffered nonetheless and i am in my head about it nonetheless but if they pass that test brandon then i'm full steam ahead on board view because like i said dylan jones is great sam levitt's great why uh why am i blinking on our fucking receiver harris uh i don't know jackson wait liam help me out jackson harris hawaii stanford lcs okay i was confused myself yeah you're right both times he's really come on his wife's run iman miel you know who's a beast deuce gerald's the freshman d tackle number 99 kind of kind of getting the old lineage of great lsu back t-bob thank you for stopping by bold take monday as i will remind you guys his bold take was texas wins the national championship mine was lsu is the last sec team standing t-bob will be on wake up barstool tomorrow and i will see you wednesday for wake up barstool tech question here could y'all hear my kids banging at the door the whole time once One hundred percent, yes. You could? Once. Okay. Okay. Sorry. Okay. All right. I love you guys. I honestly thought it might have been my kid, so I wasn't bothered. Thank you, T-Bob. Love you guys. Lady, thanks for having me. Liam, after I tell you about RYOBI, get your next bold take ready. If you're looking to maintain your home field advantage this fall, check out RYOBI with over 400 cordless solutions across their 18-volt, 1-plus, 40-volt, and USB lithium platforms. RYOBI has what you need to tackle DIY projects. Clean up around the house, keep your yard looking its best, and even power your tailgate as the number one DIY brand and number one cordless outdoor power brand. Ryobi has you covered this fall and all year long. I love Ryobi. They have so many useful, handy, around-the-house things that are just, you pop that battery in there, you know, you got one Ryobi battery, you got one charger, and it can just handle so many different things. It's incredible. Go to ryobitools.com slash walker to learn more. It's only available at the Home Depot. Ryobi is available at the Home Depot. all go to ryobitools.com slash walker to learn more liam bold take monday what is your second bold take brandon walker we work at a company where the most important thing isn't how we do our jobs it isn't the relationships that we make along the way it isn't how we perform on our shows or social media it's is the block m winning is michigan winning that's what our entire lives revolve around whether it be for good or for bad that's dave portnoy's world that's living under his globe which we both do brian walker michigan is the epicenter of the universe i'm going to tell you this on bold take monday is michigan going to beat ruckers yeah they're going to beat ruckers and then they're going to lose to michigan state and then they're going to lose to oregon and then they're going to lose the ucla and then they're going to lose the ohio state and that's going to be a 5 and 17 brand walker and they are coached by a man who is going to be 67 years old at the end november who on december 12th 2025 stepped down and retired at utah said hey i'm done and His retirement lasts like five days. Sure. On December 12th this year, 365 days to a tee. Kyle Wingham's going to retire again. He retires again! 365 days after he retired from Utah. He's going to retire again from Michigan. I would do bonus Bull Take Monday points. He makes sure Jay Hill gets a job, which I don't know how you're able to make sure anything when this has gone so south so quickly. I think he's going to step back. This is just me observing from the outside. I think he's going to step back and really reconsider everything and say, man, you've said this, Brian, you've said this. Man, this guy could be out on the slopes right now just enjoying himself. This is a family man. He's got so much family. He's such a good guy. And you just look at Michigan. Oh, what a rut. What a disaster this must be for him. It's got to have him reconsidering everything. Cal winning him 365 days after retiring retires again. Also, if he had to do over again, and I'm just speculating, I don't know the man, but if he had to do over again, he could retire, play golf whenever he wants, he's rich as he needs to be, and he could hang around that Utah program and watch what Morgan Scali does and watch what it becomes and watch the fruits of his labor over the last 20 years and watch it if it grows even from here. He could be still not tied to it, but around it. And he could, now he belongs to somebody else and somewhere he may want to be or may not want to be. And he kind of inherited a situation that was a no win for anybody. So I don't hate the take. I don't know that I agree with the take. He doesn't seem, I feel like there might be an inner competitiveness that won't let him retire after one year, but I like your bold take. yeah i i battled that same thought as well but we'll take monday i want to take the shot i just i really think he sits back and really evaluates everything like is this why i want to continue like you said at utah he was a god he is well he's a legend a living legend at michigan he's a mercenary yeah he's just another piece of a million piece puzzle and he's a mercenary running a machine that can't kill anybody right like he's a you think mercenary he comes in to finish the job well they can't even get the job done so uh last guy almost got the job was that your third take yes so we both did three i hope they understood the joke they both we both did three all right and you've got a few left over i have two left over yeah i have two left over but i don't i'm gonna save one that way when kentucky fans share this video they can say look at brandon's cool shirt and not oh my god fuck brandon walker i can't believe he said that it's a cool shirt so um i will keep that bold take in my pocket and i will keep the next big 12 bold take in my pocket no i won't i'm gonna say it a week after having three top 10 teams and me making the very mild point that chaos has already come to the sec and it's already come to the big 10 big 12 fans ran all down my throat last week they i can't believe you said that you're just jealous you're an sec homer get that sec dick out of your mouth big 12 you're just mad big 12 is good i said no you just haven't really played each other yet and the chaos hasn't happened well the chaos is about to happen in the big 12 and we're gonna go from three top 10 teams in week eight to a one bid league it will be a one bid league when byu goes 10 and 2 when utah goes 10 and 2 when arizona goes 10 and 2 and the champion of that league will get in i'm not sure anybody else's resume is holding up so that's what i think i think it's a one bid league thoughts liam i almost want to be a one big league by the way byu has to win the conference because they could get in on the strength of their resume so let me clarify that go ahead i almost came here to bold take monday with a big 12 bold take and i did the mess maker once that i i was almost on here ready to say i think you might agree with this the conference championship will not be a one bid league it will not include utah it will not include byu it will not include texas tech well i said last week i think arizona is the dark horse to win this league conference championship would be arizona oklahoma state i still think arizona is a dark horse to win this league um i don't even think they're dark horse i just think they're in the thick of it yeah so there you go there's uh there's bold take monday bold take monday so that's that's our bold takes uh lukey if you want to get to our top 25 or my top 25 we can run through it real quick uh we don't have to make this a big deal because i did adjust i adjusted i had my top 10 this morning i had to do it for wub i did it when it was six in the morning uh so i did take i had alabama in my top 10 immediate uh at the beginning and i byu out now the more i thought about it like what's alabama done what what's alabama done beat the shit out of mississippi state so did oklahoma so did lsu like i i don't i don't know really what alabama's done they have the win over kentucky i guess that's the answer to what they've done they've beat the shit out of kentucky um but i don't know i dropped them behind byu so my top 25 is this right here number one i've got the miami hurricanes still at number one i have ohio state two and georgia three i slot ucla the number one undefeated team uh outside of miami at number four we got notre dame five and indiana six and i don't really know where to put those two teams because i don't know how good either one really is but i don't really know how good anybody is number one miami went to double overtime last week florida state so i don't know not knowing how good anybody is i'm just going by ceiling and vibes and feeling and i've got notre dame and indiana with those great defenses there at five and six i've got kentucky up to seven resumes good i got utah at eight byu sneaks back in at nine i took ls i took alabama out and put them at 11 lsu is number 10 followed by wake forest arizona is up at 13 for me that's way higher than the ap has them i have texas tech 14 15 is texas i dropped all miss to 16 you know their resume is just overblown at this point they beat louisville they beat missouri they beat uh lsu and that lsu game was just on emotion alone i think lsu is a better football team you got number 17 boise state you have number 18 houston uh number 19 smu 20 is missouri 21 is florida 22 northwestern 23 tennessee 24 new mexico and 25 the minnesota golden gophers and i really can't find a good reason they're not ranked thoughts liam i agree with that minnesota probably should be ranked uh their body of work speaks for itself they've been a lot better than i anticipated i think wisconsin should probably be in there for you i'm looking at the actual top 25 now this is me finding out live look last week there was one vote sorry there's one vote number one for texas tech somebody vote utah number one yeah they're the people don't deserve their votes smoking meth um utah has one good win and that's fine they have the good win now they didn't have a good win last week but they have a good win now against houston um i guess when when it came time i looked at the ap ap poll i made a decision why is wisconsin ranked in minnesota isn't i think both should be that's fine but i went with an either or scenario and i think minnesota's probably got a better body of work to this point what am i what am i missing i know wisconsin lost in our name they've beaten usc they beat penn state um am i missing another marquee victory minnesota's beaten iowa i think i was probably the best win out of either of those two teams yeah i think both should be in there i think you have ucla too high but that's okay you think ucla's too yeah i kind of think ucla is too high but what do you do with them i mean what what like so much of this is just it's based on conjecture and thought and feeling like i you can't just put these teams down on paper there have been times where you just put the teams down on paper and it kind of arranges itself not this year it's just too many moving parts too many teams have beaten too many teams too many teams have showed so many fatal flaws like ohio state i got number two we don't know what they're going to look like with their backup quarterback we don't have a clue the the playing field is i can't speak to you i could speak to me it's the most even playing field in my lifetime yeah somebody says wake forest best win is what four and three louisville wake forest best win honestly is playing well against miami wake forest ain't got a resume either i agree i agree but you you look at like the the bottom the the bottom 12 of that top 25 you're not just sifting through the best resumes in the entire world i mean everybody's kind of everybody's got problems and they're not just sifting through the best resumes in the entire world i mean everybody's got problems everybody's got holes everybody's got something wrong with them yeah i don't like i hear so much about the resume deal brandon nobody really has that grave resume kentucky might have the best resume in the country honestly doesn't texas have the best resume texas got a great resume with their wins yeah yeah when it comes to when it comes to portfolio of wins texas is the best they have ohio state ole miss and they have uh tennessee on the road like what's the miami resume they don't have the best resume they don't have the best resume they don't really have one what's the notre dame resume they don't really have one resume is the same thing as the ucla resume except they got lots of byu what's ducky's resume you go on and on nobody's got a great resume no i i agree i i agree um it's bold take monday it's bold take monday and where's spin facts let me uh let me let me do an ad and then uh maybe luki can interrupt me with music or something i don't know why that would be crazy um this episode is sponsored by better help if you thought about trying therapy with our long-term partner better help insurance options may be now available nationwide with an average co-pay for eligible members of just 23 per session your mental health does not know its world mental health day stress does not wait until october 10th burnout does not give any sort of warning and your brain definitely does not check the calendar before uh deciding when to when to spiral or when to sprial uh mental health is not just part of mental health is part of regular life therapy is not just part of regular life isn't just for life choices it can be a place to talk through smaller things the work situation taking up too much mental space a relationship we've all been there you can't quite figure it out uh or simply the sense that something feels off we've all been there as well if you've been wanting to start therapy better help works with more than 125 health plan networks eligible members have an average co-pay of just 23 per session with insurance don't have insurance or live outside the u.s you can still get 10 off your first month visit betterhelp.com slash walker to explore your payment options that's betterhelp.com slash walker all right let's move on to my next segment and i hope i don't get interrupted by music today's tate of the union on college football in a sport that is changing more than brandon walker's blocked list on twitter is to actually take a step back and listen to a roman proverb from the first century bc the grass is not always greener on the other side conference realignment playoff structure nil commitments decommitments head coaching carousel and of course the transfer portal my point today after watching utah move to 7-0 and becoming the favorite to win the big 12 and to make the college football playoff on the very same week that michigan fell to 3-4 as their program crumbled to the ground for the third time in three years is that maybe just maybe the grass is not always greener at a new destination maybe those four players and the six coaches that jumped ship thinking that better days were ahead of them are now realizing that they are missing out on what would be the best days of their lives. Dylan Raiola didn't just burn his bridge in Nebraska, he ruined his entire reputation in the state forever to go to Oregon, where Oregon fans now hate him. The Ducks season is over and Nebraska is still technically alive at 5-2. Minnesota is still alive at 5-2 as well, getting ready to play on college game day in Bloomington. But Coy Perich, the hometown kid from Minnesota who went to Minnesota and played as an All-American, decided to chase greener pastures at Oregon and he won't be involved. Instead, he will be sitting reading about how Oregon fans are calling him the worst investment in the history of college sports, except for Bryce Underwood, who also flipped for the money. Matt Campbell turned down how many job offers to finally go to Penn State and be 0-4 in the Big Ten, and Rocco Becht followed him and completely tanked any reputation or any draft stock that he had. Lincoln Riley won the Big 12 four consecutive times just to piss everyone off at Oklahoma to go to USC where he's about to be fired. Lane Kiffin could have had a statue at Ole Miss. Now they would piss on his grave, all so that he could go to LSU, and he still lost. DeMond Williams jerked around Washington until they sued him, only to then have to bench him. The list goes on and on and on of people who sought better opportunities when they had it pretty damn well where they were at. I mean, even Lincoln Keenholz. And this isn't my only example, so don't just gravitate to this one. But Lincoln Keenholz took the money and the opportunity at Louisville when he was wanted back in Columbus. Now hindsight is 20-20, but Louisville is already out of contention, and Lincoln Keenholz would be the starting quarterback of the national title frontrunner with a chance to be a hero in Columbus if he stayed put. So credit to Jesse Legree for staying put at Oregon State, and credit to Kamario Taylor for saying he'll be back at Mississippi State next year. Because the grass is not always greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you water it. I know we're never going back to the days of regional conference play or a 2-4-12 team playoff, but coaches and players, be where your feet are. Stop chasing the next opportunity, and instead, be where you are. And if you're not, be where you are. And instead, make the very most out of the opportunity you currently have. Wise words from Tate. You know, often when Tate comes and does his spiel, I'm reminded of the fact that I disagree with him about everything that's ever been said. But his take that star quarterbacks should just stay where they are and continue to build and build and build the program where they're at. And star quarterbacks should enjoy their time and get a statue of their own. And I think that's a very, very fair take. I think that's an incredibly prescient thing to say to the young men of America. So I, for one, stand and applaud Tate for his bold stance that quarterbacks should stay where quarterbacks are, because that's what they should do. Thoughts, Liam? I think if I worked highly at a school, just hypothetical, Brian, if I worked highly at a school, maybe it's in Starkville, Mississippi, if they got a good college team. And I had a great quarterback and he was playing so well and he gets hurt and the drop off is just so significant. Hypothetically, I might consider, you know, there's a lot of talk about, should he stay, should he go? I might consider, hey, let's put a statue outside the stadium. Now, go ahead and do it now. Like now, like in December, like this is what we're doing in the off season. I mean, yeah, I think, I think I'll contact a statue. I'll contact a statue maker. Maybe it's in your name. Sure. Well, I think it would be in Camario's name, but, um, both your names, by the way, I did like a lot of what Tate said there. Yeah, he's right. Say in Lincoln, Keen Holtz should have turned down the offer to be Louisville starter. So he could be Julian Sands backups a little crazy. I don't think so. I don't think so. I even picked up on that. Yeah. Say in Lincoln, Keen Holtz should have, should have waited around for, for Julian Sands to get hurt. It's a little crazy. He had to get his Buckeye-ism in there somewhere. Respect. I earned him a sticker. Um, Lukey, 312-685-1889, 312-685-1889. That is the, um, that is the voicemail number. We will do voicemails right now. Lukey, how many you got? We got four today. We have four today. Lukey, you can play voicemail number one. Hey, Brandon, this was a pathetic, heartless, gutless performance from USC and Lincoln Riley. If Lincoln Riley still has a job here at USC at the end of the season, I'm, I don't know what I'll do. This is pathetic five years in, and this team is so far from contending. This is an embarrassment a great program like USC should not have to go through five years of pathetic coaching like Lincoln Riley has given us zero notes to add. I, I don't have much to add to that at all. I will say, um, in the last 50 years, last 40 years, my life, which I'm 47 USC has been great for exactly one stretch of that time. And they were absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely pissing on every rule. They could to get great. Um, they had one great stretch from like 2002 to 2008. Other than that, the amount of great USC teams that I've been through in four decades has been pretty minimal. So I think your estimation of your program might be a little higher than those around the country do the hiring, doing the hiring and firing, but your ultimate point of when you hire Lincoln Riley, did you expect more than this in five years? That is fair. You should have Lincoln Riley. All he did was take his soft coaching style to the West coast and turn USC into a soft team. Also, he ran from Oklahoma's move to the sec, just so he could be a part of USC's move to the big 10, which is an even nastier, more physical brand of football, especially in the cold of winter. So his style of play, wasn't going to work in the sec. It goddamn sure was never going to work in the big 10. Voicemail number two, please. Brady, what the fuck was that? I mean, Tennessee has this ball game. We're, we're fourth down. There's four minutes to go. And Josh Heupel doesn't kick the fucking ball. You would have had a two score lead. What are you thinking, Josh Heupel? And let's not even start talking about the fucking refs, man. You have an Alabama quarterback officiating a Tennessee game. Get this mess out of here. We, we, this is not, this should not be allowed in college football today. I don't give a shit who the referee, SEC fans are batshit crazy when it comes to what they think they have found out about officials. I I'm not, I'm not doing that shit. Um, I think you just blame your, don't you blame your coach for not developing a quarterback who can protect the lead. I would be frustrated too, if I'm a Tennessee fan, honestly, you, you had done some of the hard work to get yourself back in the playoff race, only to go lose to a South Carolina team that Kentucky and Mississippi state both won in Columbia this year. So I get it. I know why you're frustrated. Uh, some of the things you said were batshit crazy, but that's why we have the voicemail line. Voicemail number three, please. Who the fuck hires a failed offensive coordinator from Rutgers to run your fucking gold mine four and five star recruit offense. You hired a Rutgers offensive coordinator, Dan, one of the best tight end coaches in the country, but he can't run a fucking offense. What the hell was that shit? A cute little trick play after running the ball, running the ball, running the ball, trick play. Dylan Raiola is an embarrassment. What a waste of Osani. Good Lord. What? The actual fuck Kenny doing him. We'll say, and then drew, I hope you get the tarmac treatment marriage here. What the shit? Well, I would like to, uh, come in. And ever since we got this voicemail, there has been a positive update on that particular complaint for that man right there. Uh, right. Liam. Um, he is out as the offensive coordinator at Oregon. Yeah. He's out. And I said this on Saturday. I'd like to say it once again, because this voicemail is a good time to do it. Dante Moore was really only ever coming back. If Mayringer got the job, that's kind of why he got it. Yeah, I can see that. And, and, and I could see where Dan Lenning would have thought that could work based on that and why, why he wanted to bridge that gap. I will say based on rumors I've heard, we might be hearing something from the Oregon Dante Moore camp soon. Right? I mean, this is something that's been going on. Maybe a few minutes that we learned that we may have seen, I'm speculating. Maybe we've seen the last of Dante Moore in an Oregon uniform. I don't know. Voicemail number four, please. Hey, Brandon, it's Jake from Memphis. Uh, just want to ask your opinion on something. Did South Carolina just go in just a little less than a month from essentially being the number one opening in the nation to extending Beamer? Just a little something I thought about while I saw them rushing the field last night after beating Tennessee. I'll hang up and listen. Thanks. I like that. You know, you can look at it like that. If you're a negative South Carolina fan, you can look at it like, damn it, we were about to get to the coaching buffet, we're going to have our pick, and then Shane Beamer fucked around and saved his job. Or you can look at it and look at the fact that they're 4-3 and look and see that 8-4 is, like, super attainable, and the path to 9-3 is at least explainable. I don't think they can beat Georgia, but if I told you before the season in South Carolina you're going to go 8-4, I think you'd accept that. You might not giddily sign up for it, and you might have envisioned bigger things for the North Sellers, but, like, the path to 8-4, very much there. And you could be mad that he saved his job, or you could just be like, wow, he was facing his mortality. Turn it around. Let's see what he has next. I'm a negative bitch. I would probably be like, man, I can't believe he saved his job. But whatever. Whatever. Lukey Blutman. Did you know that Fox, it all goes down at noon? Big teams, big plays. Big Noon Saturday is streaming live on Fox 1. Rivalries, upsets, chaos, whatever happens, you're watching it live. Football at noon, streaming live on Fox 1. Watch three days free. We, of course, watched the Big Noon kickoff the other day. Indiana-Michigan, one of the more fascinating games of the day. Indiana, a fascinating team to me. Last year they were a complete team. They ran roughshod. This year they're half a team and might still win the national title. That's how good their defense is and how bad their offense is. We'll see. Big Noon Saturday live on Fox 1. Offers subject to change. See Fox 1 for complete terms and conditions. All right, Liam. That's a good hour for us. I know that we've got Monday Night Football World Series, but we have DJ B. West is prerecorded. You got me, DJ B. West. We prerecorded it. And I apologize for that. It sucks, but sometimes you just got to prerecord things. And I'm sorry. Which is ironic because now we have come to the prerecorded section of our podcast. We have two coach interviews from the Big 12. Last week I shit on the Big 12. I said, I think there's no way that you have three top ten teams. Well, now they only have, well, they have two, right? They have two top ten teams. One of them being Utah, coached by Morgan Scali, and another ranked team, Arizona, coached by Brent Brennan. We'll go Brent. Brennan first, and then we'll go Morgan Scali. We've got two, and I think it's possible these two play for a Big 12 championship later. But up first, from the University of Arizona, my interview with coach Brent Brennan. Liam had something. What? Oh, you got something? Well, you don't. You could have just gone to the interview. Yeah, I mean, we could have done this Wednesday, but I guess we'll do it now. Well, that was a real good setup. I just, let's see. For the sake of the program, fan base, just stop talking. Please stop tweeting. That's Cody Campbell. He says, there's no excuse or reason to lose a game like this. We have to be better. Cody Campbell says, how about for the sake of the program, everybody stops talking and doing interviews on. I'm not going to lie, Lukey. Very, yeah, good for bringing this up. I actually want you to bring things up. If you don't bring things up, I'll never say things. So maybe Cody Campbell could learn a thing or two about sometimes just keep Cody Campbell's thoughts to himself. I don't know that it helps when he goes after people like this, but whatever. What do I know? William thoughts on that? I agree. I just, not everything needs to be a tweet. You are for all intents and purposes. You are the face of Texas tech football. Keep those conversations offline. And I'm not sure that's good. Listen, there's a coach in place. There's a coach in place. There's stars in place. It is great that you are changing the complexion of that program. With your money and influence, but there's a coach for a reason. And he's a very likable coach. And he's a very, he, when he was the focal point last year, I was like, oh, I really liked this team. Now when Cody Campbell has taken charge of being like the, the out front guy, it's not as likable a situation. It just isn't. That's what I have to say about that. Anyway, we've got two coach interviews coming up. We've got Morgan Scali from Utah. We have Brent Brennan from Arizona taking away Brandon Walker, interviewing Brent Brennan from Arizona. And now. We turn to, I believe, and I said it last week, there were three big 12 teams in the top 10 last week. And I said, now, wait a minute, guys, there's one team out in the desert you're not paying attention to. They're five and one. If they win this weekend against Iowa state. Well, not only did they win, they won 39 to three. It's Arizona. So we got, we're bringing in coach Arizona, coach Brent Brennan to talk with us right now. Coach, thank you for coming on the show. Hey man, it's great to be on with the number one college football personality in America. Let's go. I'm ready. My headphones. Left off my head. When he said that I was like, what? Okay. Anyway. So coach last week after you won and let me get this straight. I've heard some nasty rumors about you. Did you go to the bar and buy shots for everybody at the bar after you guys won? I did. It was, it was homecoming week. Dirt bags is kind of an institution here, right? Right on the corner of campus. And it's been here for a long time. You know, my wife went to school here. My brother played football here. And so we had all these people back for homecoming. And so I went in, I bought a round for everybody, all of our alums and everybody in there celebrating homecoming weekend. And then I walked right out. How many people, how many people immediately showed up when you said this one's on me? It was no, it was already packed when we got in there. Cause Leah was after the game and after all the media stuff. So it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a popular spot. And so there's a lot of people there. It's fun. So second thing, uh, did I see that you bought a thousand tickets to, to give away in the community to make sure, you know, everybody's got a chance to come see the wildcats play. Absolutely. I think everybody in Tucson, everybody in America needs to take every chance they can to watch Noah Fafita play. You know what? I'm glad you're starting there. Cause I'm going to start there as well. Noah Fafita. I feel like, uh, for a lot of college football fans in this world of transfer portal. And is this guy there now? And he's where, and who's, who's this. And there's, you can set your watch by Noah Fafita being good out there in Arizona. And I feel like almost at this point, he's under the radar, underappreciated. I'm going to give you a chance to appreciate him. Right. Right now, national TV. I know that's not what this is, but let's just pretend it is national TV. Your quarterback man has been something for a while. He's unbelievable. Honestly, Brandon, I'll tell you this. Like he he's, he's the best story in college football. He's a player that continues to choose this institution, the university of Arizona. He chooses his teammates, his coaches. He chooses the city of Tucson, every off season, other programs across the country have tried to come and buy him and take him away. And he just stays loyal to the people that are here loyal to his pride. And I think because of that, you're seeing him play at an incredibly high level. I mean, this weekend he threw for 300 completed 79% of his passes. He's just a brilliant player. He's tough. He's a warrior. He's an absolute leader. And he's an incredible young man. I keep this, this guy is so special. I cannot tell you like, like I'm, I'm grateful for Noah Fafita being on part of just my life every day, let alone our football team. But it's so amazing in this day and age, again, when everybody's out and the instant gratification, everything you, when you came in, you had to reset a foundation. You had to build a foundation and know if a feeder has been, I assume a big part of that, you know, how tough would it have been if you had to go shopping for your own quarterback, or if you had uncertainty at quarterback, instead you built the house around a rock solid quarterback. How special has that been for you? No, I think it's incredible. And I think that's one of those things for, you know, young men that are going through this process of trying to be a great quarterback in college football. Like the grass isn't always greener and there's not always better, you know, situations out there. And what Noah has done is he's, he's made the situation here big time for him and for his family. And, and he's just tremendous. And so I'm so grateful for him. He's so much fun to coach. You should see this guy, the way he takes notes, the way he, you know, prepares the way he attacks practice practices every single day. And he practices his ass off. Like he does not shortstep any part of his process. He's just really, he's really special. I'm telling you, I'm going to go ahead and tell you right now, I'm responsible for watching 130 teams every week and no one, what I know and everything. But sometimes, sometimes I get surprised even by a little bit of college football. And the other day I'm watching, right. And you could have knocked me over with a feather when another for feet has showed up on the scene. And I'm like, I'm watching, I'm watching the game. And all of a sudden they're talking about this dash for feet. I'm like, what are you? Does he got a nickname all of a sudden? And you, you got a second for feet and you didn't tell nobody. No, man, we're, we're proud to tell people about dash, you know, like he's a, he's a true freshman and he's really finding ways to contribute. It's been a lot of fun to have him here. You know, just watching him play in California. He's just kind of tore up the, the Trinity league last year, you know, the last few years. And so we were fortunate to get him committed and, and love. I'm excited about his future here because he is a really fun athlete. He's a super tough kid, loves to compete. And I think a lot of people were, were scared off by his size, but I've already have, you know, I'm already working with one for feet of the people think is not tall enough. And he's the best I've ever been around. So I had faith in the second one coming through. So when you got there a couple of years ago, you know, it was a, it was a kind of a rough first year. And then last year you went nine games and now you're enjoying the fruits of everything. You had to, you had to build a foundation, right? You had to, you had to get it right and get it to where you want it. And 2024 is when this NIL and transfer portal was really, we were really trying to get a grip on it and try to figure out what it was. How did you go about building that foundation and getting, getting the ship steady for a nine win season last year. And then for whatever happens this year, I think just first of all, like, We've got a great coaching staff here. And so I have this incredible alignment with our, you know, inside the building And also with our administration, with Desiree and our president, I think that's one of those things that you're not going to build anything that's sustainable without great alignment from top to bottom. And, you know, once we decided how we were going to move forward here and try and right the ship coming out at 24, which is just incredibly hard and disappointing, it was really simple. You know, we just felt like we're going to go out and find tough kids that want to be at the University of Arizona. And if they don't want to be here, we're going to let them move on. Or if they don't want to come here, we're not going to talk them into it. We want them to be excited about playing at the U of A. We want them to be excited about coming to school in Tucson and want them to be excited about going to the University of Arizona. So we just made it really, really simple. Do they like to kick ass on the field? Do they want to come to school here? And are they going to love football? And that is like where we started and that's what we've been staying with. Do you feel inside your building that you guys are underappreciated nationally at all? Because I feel like nine wins last year. Again, you're six and one this year. The rankings are starting to rise. But I. I almost feel like the rankings have been slow to reflect how good you guys are. Do you feel that or do you ignore it entirely? It's funny. I'm glad you said that. I do. I ignore it because all that matters for us is this week. And we've got a big time football game on the road at Texas Tech. You know, they're defending Big 12 champions. And so like for me, like there's how do I keep us on track? And that part of it is I don't control that outside stuff, man. But I can have some influence on what happens, you know, in this building. And so that's where me, our coaching staff, the leaders on our football team, we're just driving this thing forward about, you know, let's handle right now. Let's attack this opportunity right in front of us. I'm going to say some numbers for people that are watching. The number one team in margin of victory within conference play are the Arizona Wildcats. They've won 34 to 7. They won 39 to 3. They won 52 to 31 inside the conference. If you want to talk about a balanced team across the board, they're top five in the Big 12 in offense. They're top five in the Big 12 in defense. Coach, you know, a lot of teams when they build, maybe they build a great offense. Or they have to cut some corners here on defense or whatever. You're balanced across the board. Was that something that you set out to focus? I don't want to get one above the other. I'm just going to build a football team first and worry about the rest. Yeah, it was more like kind of a holistic approach. And I do think I'm in a unique situation with Danny Gonzalez and Seth Dagey as our coordinators because they're both unselfish. And they're both willing to work with each other as we're building out our roster. And whether it's we're attacking high school recruiting or players in the portal, trying to balance. The resources and how all the money and all that stuff works. Those guys have to be willing to share and work with each other to make it work. And I think I'm really fortunate that way just with that alignment that I spoke of a couple minutes ago. And then also just what great people both of those guys are, that they're willing to work with each other and really try and help each other build the best defense and the best offense we can. And I think that feeds off each other and we have a lot of fun in the process. It never becomes us against you. You know what I mean? That happens. On football teams sometimes where it's just like, you know, the defense hates the offense and the offense hates the defense. And I just think it's hard to build a true brotherhood, a true football family that is all moving the same direction, committed and convicted to kick ass every Saturday. If you have one side of the ball, you've got friction between those things. And I think Coach Dagey and Coach G do a great job of that. By the way, I haven't decided if the bookshelves behind you are broken or if you're just fashionable. I can't. I don't know if they're supposed to be like that or if they broke and you're just like a coach and you're like, I don't care. I'll fix it later. You know, it's funny. That's how they were when I came in. I think that's by design. All right. Fair enough. What are the bowling pins, by the way? Is that something I should know? One of them is from when we became bowl eligible a year ago. Okay. All right. And then the other ones, we have an event at a local place here called like a team event, main event. They got bowling and video games. And we do, we get out there a couple of times a year as a team and just have some fun and bowl and talk trash and enjoy each other's company. So yeah, that's cool. It's my ability to focus on the task at hand that sets me apart from everybody else. I see some bowling pins. I'm like, what? Let's talk about that now. Anyway, last week there were three top 10, big 12 teams. I feel like a guy like me, I went out there and I said, I don't know about three top 12, big top 10, big 12 teams. I don't know about that. And then a couple of them lose, but whatever. Do you think the big 12 needs more respect nationally from idiots like me? I think, I think the big 12 is an outstanding football conference. And I think that's the thing that's the unique, to me, the unique thing about the big 12 is the depth. And if you don't show up every week, you're going to get your ass kicked. And so I think that, that makes it fun. I think it's exciting that five different teams have won the big 12 the last five years. I think that's exciting. I think that gives your fans hope. It feels more, I don't know, more like the NFL that way where like, every season, everyone's got a chance, every game, everyone's got a chance. There's, you know, that part of it. And so I think like, I really enjoy that part of the big 12. Um, you know, what people choose to like or not like about certain conferences or whatever, that's their own stuff. All I care about is university Arizona football and this team and this program, and we're, we're trying to do everything we can to build something people can be proud of here in Tucson. Your last five games, you mentioned the road trip to Texas tech this weekend, Texas tech coming off a loss at Cincinnati, you've got Texas. Tech, TCU, Utah, Kansas state, and then Arizona state. Your last five are nothing friendly. I mentioned the stat earlier. Uh, you guys have, uh, are leading the country and conference margin of victory, but the next five will test that a lot, you know, how do you keep your team centered and where you need them to be for this last little leg of the season, which five tough games. No, you're right on. I mean, I think that's the true challenge is that, you know, when you're going into this thing and you come into the November, November's at a time, you know, that's the. The place where, you know, every game is week to week and everything shuffles so much and everybody outside is worried about the rankings and the conference race and, and all this other crap that you have no, no influence on, but what matters is what's happening in your building and inside these walls and how ready you're getting for that next opponent, because it's a one week season when you get to this month of November. And I know we play them on Halloween, but it's still, to me, this is November football and November football is about toughness and physicality and finding ways to get it done when you're beat up or when you don't feel like your best, or you don't want to practice. No one wants to hear it. No excuses. Let's get our asses to work and go attack this morning, practice or attack this lift. I mean, that to me, that's the mindset you've got to have right now. So what's what's football in November in Arizona. Do you, do you brace yourself for the cold weather when it drops down to 74? Yeah, it's funny. You know, you get spoiled being here when it does drop down to 74, you end up putting a hoodie on. Yeah, it's, it's a place I couldn't. You're a better man than me because if I coached in, uh, you know, if I coached in Tucson or if I coached in Phoenix or anywhere out there, I just want to play golf every day. I hear you. And there's a lot of people that enjoy Arizona for that, but I'll tell you this, uh, I've had a golf membership for three years since I've been here and I've never played it. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Again, you're a stronger man than me. So, so, uh, going forward, you know, I know things are good, right? Nine wins last year. This year is going to be what it's going to be. You're six and one right now in the top 25 and you get to the end of the season. What a success. What does success look like for you in this program? I think any head coach that you talk to that tells you that they don't want to play for the conference championship is full of it. Yeah. But I also know that I'm, you know, looking down the barrel of what the next five weeks are like, we need to go to work. Like we need to continue to find ways to improve. And that's not just coach speak. That's reality. When you get to this time of the year, the margins for victory are so tight and so narrow that if you're not on it every step of the way, it's not going to end well for you. And in the big 12, as you know, I think the statistics I, the statistic I saw a year ago was that more games in the big 12 are decided in the last eight minutes than any other power for conference. And so these are all four quarter games. They're all bangers. The road trips we have are tough as hell and the home games we have are tough as hell. So to me, it's just like, okay, how do we get us focused on what we have to do today and how do we attack today? And I know that sounds like coach speak, but to me, that's where it is, man, because this is this time of year is about mental and physical toughness and attack. It takes real mental toughness to be able to attack your process every single day. Well, coach, I appreciate you, man. Thank you for your time. I know y'all got practice probably soon or whatever. I don't know how you coaches do it on Mondays, but good luck finding the third for Fita and good luck finding as many for feeders as you can. Again, it's great to be, you know, on with the number one college football personality in America. So bear down. And we'll see you soon. And that's why he's my new favorite coach. Thank you. That's Brent Brennan, Arizona Wildcats. All right. Before we get to our, our next coach interview, another great big 12 coach. This episode is sponsored by Tony's famous Cajun kick. It's got less salt, more garlic, a clean hit of heat. I use it for my chili. I'm going to use it for a lot more. I make some pasta. I make, I make other things. I don't cook everything in my house, but when I cook, I like to have that little bit of boom, that little bit of pop and Tony's Cajun kick famous Cajun kick is exactly right for that. You can use it in place of salt and pepper. It comes from Tony's shastries, but has more attitude. It's not replacing the original Tony's store locations. Look forward to your local, H-E-B your Rouse's your Kroger's and Kroger and associated grocers, Walmart associated wholesale grocers, and Amazon Cajun kick currently only available in select stores. So use the product locator on your website to find a location near you. Meet the all new Tony's Cajun kick. Turn up the heat, turn up the flavor. Tony's Cajun kick brings bold spice, zesty garlic, and just the right burn to wake up anything on your plate. Shop now at Cajun kick.com slash barstool. All right, here we go. We got the coach interviews last week. Of course, I made a stink saying, I'm not sure of the big, 12 deserves three. top 10 teams I'm not sure I need to see him go beat somebody well guess what Utah did they went and beat somebody they went on Saturday night and beat Houston at home and now because of that well not really because of that because he's a he's a decent guy and he's charitable his time we have first year Utah head coach Morgan Scali who has not lost a game out there Utah coach thank you for being here thanks for having me I appreciate it well before we get started can I just tell you uh I'm going to tell you a piece of personal information do you know who my first podcast co-host is the first time I picked up a mic in 2014 oh man no reason for you to know that his name is his name is Chad Bumpus I I hosted a podcast called the slant with Brandon Walker and Chad Bumpus do you know who Chad Bumpus is now he's our wide receiver coach I was going to ask you about that I knew you're a Mississippi State dude and so I was wondering if you could run into Chad oh I've known Chad in fact I was texting with him last night and unrelated to me texting him uh my first question is can you give Chad Bumpus a raise the way his wide receivers are playing you bet no I I uh I've known Chad for a long time the legitimately the first time I ever got in this business and sat down did a podcast was with him and now he is your receivers coach and he loves it out there in Utah uh my my second question and this is more am I an idiot because last week I was like I'm not going to be a receiver I'm going to be a receiver I'm going to like hey guys I don't think the Big 12 deserves three top 10 teams let's let the whole thing shake out and then the Big 12 fans came for me so coach Scali am I a moron no you're not a moron uh I I think you know and everyone loves college football so everyone wants to be able to dissect it everyone has an opinion on on who's who that's but that that's why the game's played on the field uh that's why I'm such a proponent of expanding playoffs and allowing teams to speak for themselves by the way they they play uh I still don't believe people really know who's who I you know uh once you get down to maybe you know uh two or three games left the scene you don't know if a team's going to get hot you don't know if a team's dealing with injuries um but my you know my job is not to uh my job is to prove it on the football field and and fortunately that's what our guys are doing right now we've also got some big games coming up so I mean as long as we take care of business uh we're going to be able to do it and we're going to be able to do it and we're going the rest will speak for itself so you like the direction we're headed with the expanded playoff and and kind of more seats at the table more opportunity for teams to prove it on the field I do I think what you know what has to happen is you have to get um a you know feel maybe it's just your your power for teams and and you know because you want good against good you want competitive matchups um and so you know whether that's 64 and and then you know you have a percentage of that just like the NFL NFL you know has 14 teams out of 32 make the playoffs uh just as long as there's a good enough representation that you can play good against good and prove it on the field at barstool ever since I've been here I've been on a show with Dave Portnoy and Big Cat we're talking college football and we all have all agreed there's something different about Salt Lake City Utah on a Saturday night the red of the uniforms pops there's some sort of clarity to the screen there's a there's an energy in that stadium that isn't isn't present everywhere else in college football I have a hard time putting my thumb on it because everywhere in college football does great like it's but there's something different about Salt Lake City on a Saturday night can you put your finger on it what is it about Salt Lake City on a Saturday night that makes it so awesome well we've definitely got uh passionate fans and you've got good football it didn't used to always be this way I I was uh recruited to McBride was the head coach and uh I went on a mission to Munich Germany came back 2001-2002 played with under Ron McBride and um I don't know that I could say we had a stadium moment like that we were a basketball school Rick Majerus was the head coach uh then uh come 2003 you have Urban Meyer show up and Urban made it uh his mission to feel the stadium and you know first couple games three we were competitive lost to A&M on the road but uh you know we had an ESPN game coming up against Cal uh Aaron Rodgers was the was the quarterback not the starter at the time but it was going to be a big game on ESPN and Urban went out on the streetcar system he went to malls and he was he was making sure that he was doing everything he could to pack that stadium so that we had a great atmosphere and we win that game uh in uh dramatic fashion late touchdown and from then on you know we we just we kept winning we won our first outright conference championship we went undefeated the next year and it became a football school really quick Kyle Whittingham took it over and continued to to roll and uh our fans just love football they're they're you know high football IQ they know when to cheer when to be quiet although they had to be shushed by our PA guy on Saturday night but um it's it's just a ton of fun because the the fan base is awesome I want to ask you about a moment from that game you know you know you know you know you know you know you know I'm watching it you guys are up 14 13 in the fourth quarter yeah I believe you punt it back to Houston I think Houston has got about three minutes uh to go the length of the field to try to beat you and so many coaches I believe so many defensive coaches I feel like in college football will get conservative maybe go shell in that moment and on a first down you guys dialed up a corner blitz and ended their drive before it even started uh what goes into a decision like that I thought it was a brilliant coaching decision to send the blitz right there on first down kind of shell shocked them and boom the game's over right now right there I thought it was an awesome call coach well credit to Colton Swan our defensive coordinator uh had a really good game plan going in uh some of that is you know attacking the tendency the tendencies that they give you uh whether you saw you know the formation but we're we're a pretty aggressive defense uh and you know we feel like we we want to be on the attack uh we want to force quarterbacks to make tough decisions to throw the ball before they're comfortable throwing it we want to get hits on quarterbacks and that was uh that was a pressure that uh fortunately hit home and and we were able to flip the script and end the game you know talk quarterbacks let's talk your quarterback talk about a senior that came back uh it's been there a couple of years now and you know that was a game where scoring points was tough there for a while and you guys stuck to it stuck to it stuck to it ended up winning the game 21 to 13 but uh you guys have a quarterback who's as steady as there is in college football how big of a bonus is for that for you that's huge because he's a great person too he's a leader he's a guy that can go into the locker room when you haven't scored any points and he doesn't panic he's like guys we got this uh you know a guy that owns up to to making bad mistakes uh you know he turned the ball over in that game and but he also uh you know ran for 150 yards and threw for 150 yards and the guy is a flat out competitor that knows football and we're lucky to have him you know i know you're in your first year as the head coach and you're in your first year as the head coach and you're in your first year as the head guy and you know it's your program now and i guess you're doing things in in the way you want to do it now but have you had a moment this year at any point where you're like wow this is this is my program now it's on me or it's like different than you thought it would be as the head man have you had any like welcome to head coaching moments um i i think it's mainly um understanding that i don't i don't pass anything off anymore it's not you know i'm basically the final decision makers oh okay i didn't didn't anticipate that but uh the fun part has really been establishing the culture team-wide and then watching it uh on the football field that's what's been the most fun i've got an unbelievable staff it's not you know this is not the morgan scally show this is the university of utah football show and we've got a great staff a ton of people that that help you know put these young men in a situation to to compete at the highest level so i'm i'm blessed for sure still learning and i'm going to be a part of that so i'm going to be a part of that so i'm going to be a part of that so i'm going to be a part of that so i'm growing i'm going to make mistakes along the way and uh you know the fortunate thing is we've got a great uh administration and and ad mark harlan that believe in what we're doing and so uh definitely definitely blessed i was kind of poking fun at myself earlier but uh should people respect the big 12 more do you think that's coming along uh you know i know four or five years ago the conference changed so much and now it's kind of built back up and you've got these teams that are they're rising up with it you know kind of more of a football power and i think that's going to be a big thing for us and i think that's going to be a big thing for us and i think that's going to be a big thing for us and i think that's going to be a big thing for us and i think that's going to be a big thing for us and i think that's going to be a bigger power than people anticipated it be a bigger power than people anticipated it be a bigger power than people anticipated it being this quickly should people respect the being this quickly should people respect the being this quickly should people respect the big 12 more nationally um well yeah i don't know that my job is to have an opinion on that my job is to my job is to prove it on the football field i i believe that there are very good coaches in the big 12 very good teams um but again it should be proven on the football field so i like you know uh scheduling uh my we got miami next year is the second game of the season i'm all for uh bowl games being at week zero and putting good against good in different conferences and and improving on the football field but i i do believe in the quality that we have quality of teams that we have in the big 12 the parity and the depth that we have and uh but you know anyone can can talk a whole lot but it's it's about proving on the football field speaking of i mean your last four games i mean i i know you're you're in the top 10 right now things are going good you're undefeated your last four games i look at it it's a monster on the schedule how do you keep the team you have the big win against and the other night now you got you got cincinnati coming up like how do you keep the team at the level you need them to be at to get through this last four five or however many it is yeah i mean well just realizing that you don't play all five at once it's one at a time you can't control what people say you can't all you can control is what does the film say on saturday how can we improve how can we get better where are deficiencies and you know get better week after week we're we're the lone team in the big 12 uh sole possession of first place and you have to have a championship mentality um that you don't give that away you know and you got to prepare throughout the week with one game in mind and that's it what does it take to be a utah football player like like i know when when coaches go out they want to find the most talented guys but it's also a character element you know so when you sit down to evaluate a guy to come into your program and play for your football team what are you looking for first well we we believe you got to recruit guys to your culture that that already live your culture or at least that you feel like can can develop into that guy if you come into our facility and ask what's your culture any anyone will tell you rsmb relentless smart nasty ball hawks and and within that there's uh you know smart is an acronym for situationally intelligent mentally tough aware of what you're putting into your body rest and recovery and technician nasties an acronym for no excuses attack the problem starts with me team first mentality and yes or communication so i mean a lot of it is just going out on the road i've recruited houston texas my entire time that i've been here in salt lake city and it's great because i get to watch and practice i can see guys get yelled at how do they handle that how do they handle hard coaching uh how do they handle adversity are they a me guy bad body language uh because it's all about the team teams win championships not individuals if you're a selfish player if you're a me guy uh you won't cut it here at utah we want guys that want feedback and coaching not guys that want to be told how awesome they are and and you know 15 offers hashtag blessed woohoo hooray me um so yeah um and that's that's what i think a lot of coaches are looking for we're looking for the same guys but uh that's very important to us and we want to make sure that uh you know make as little mistakes as possible see that's the difference in how you and i run our programs i want to be told how awesome i am at all times that's pretty much the only if you want a job on the show just tell me how awesome i am uh i i thought that was fascinating you have an acronym that is over your entire program but then you have acronyms inside the acronyms uh do you have an acronym department of your coaching staff or did you come up with those on your own we in 2016 my first year as a defensive coordinator i was a defensive coordinator and i was a defensive coordinator um i i was able to listen to um an hour-long keynote address given by tim kite he's since passed away uh just unbelievable uh man that taught leadership what leadership looks like and uh and as part of that he talked about culture and what culture is what it's not and i had all our guys listen to it 2017 that's where we we came up with what we felt were the behaviors that led to a team that we were going to teach that and coach that and everyone was going to speak the same language well now uh you know fast forward to me becoming the head coach we wanted that to be team wide not just a defensive thing but an offensive thing special teams thing uh and all they are it's it's skill sets and mindsets that you teach that that we believe make elite championship teams and elite championship men it's not just about becoming a better football player it's becoming a better human if all we teach is to be a better football player it's becoming a better human if all we teach is to be a better human if all we teach is to be a better human if all we teach is to be a better human is how to become a better football player we're failing you um so that's that's kind of how it came about that's impressive uh last question because i know your time is very valuable i appreciate you giving me your time uh last question you know let's fast forward five or six games we get toward the end of this thing what does success in year one of your program look like to you that that we're still uh living the culture that the culture shows up on the film you got guys running to the football guys finishing guys celebrating the football game running together not having you know celebrations by themselves hooray me moments is what we call them uh because if you do if you really believe in it the results should speak for themselves and uh you know there's going to always going to be a more talented uh group of guys that you face but are you a more talented team uh and so that's what that's what we're interested in okay well if the day ever comes you have to fire chad bumpus just call me and let me do it please i'd like to be there probably not going to come back i'm not going to be there i'm not going to be there i'm he's a great guy great coach uh but anyway uh thank you very much for your time just a delight to talk to you uh good luck to you in the future i appreciate it man thanks so much for having me on all right thank you that's coach morgan scali the utah utes