Hoosier Head Coach Curt Cignetti Joins, Strategy in the Swamp, Non-Conference Schedule Debate

Hey, man, where's that national title right now? Where's that trophy sitting? - It's sitting about five feet in front of me here. I'll make sure they get them out of here as quick as possible. I don't want to look at 'em too long, get soft. - What do you think? - Light it. (upbeat music) - The triple option is presented by Wendy's. Get yourself a $4 biggie bite, $6 biggie bag, or an $8 biggie bundle now at Wendy's. - Another edition of the triple option presented by Wendy's coming your way, Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram, the second Rob Stone here with you as always. Thanks for putting us in your ears and your eyeballs. We appreciate you being a part of the triple option family. - But it races and you ride that Apple Podcast Spotify wherever you get your podcasts, as well as across social media, three X-Option Show. You like that, huh, Mark? - Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. - Sure, sure, go with that Stone. New episodes coming your way on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Later on in the show, how about this for guests, guys? Indiana Head Coach, National Champion. - Ooh, who's gonna join the triple option? That's gonna be a fun conversation. I can't wait to catch up. Can't wait to catch up with him. I'm very curious to see what he's wearing as well. I feel like all I've been seeing from him lately is that red, three quarters zip, short sleeve thing. It's kind of different. It's not that normal look you would expect from a head coach, but it's working for Kurt. All right, time now for any given Saturday. A multitude of coaching changes in this off-season cycle, including where you once coached Urban in Gainesville at the University of Florida, the new head coach, John Summroll. I know you've spent a lot of time with him, you're very high in him. He comes in from Tulane into Gainesville and he's made an impression already imitating a previous national championship winning head coach, Chi, who could that be? Let's let coach Summroll explain. - Been earned a damn thing. Like, all we've got is our name, or we're gonna put our freaking name on everything. So to wear the Florida Gator logo, to wear the Gators across your helmet and script or to wear the Gator head man, you gotta earn that. - Sounds familiar, coach. - Love it. I agree with it. And I did it a couple of stops, bowling green. I did it, but we didn't have gear. We didn't have enough money to bike gear. Utah, we did it two degrees. - Wait, what did you withhold them? What did you withhold from them? - Oh man, that's been 150 years ago. So I'm a firm believer you have to earn it. And once you earn it, you really get rewarded. That's the way I was brought up and that's what I believe in. And also Mark, I grew up in a world military family and I studied special ops, Army Ranger, Navy SEAL Green Beret, and I just believe that's how you, that's how we ran our program. And when I went to Florida, they had a tough season. Not that bad, but let me start with this, that whenever you take over something, you can't cook, you cut it right. You know, you gotta say, okay, I took over bowling green. And I had to blow that up. It was bad. There was two in nine or one in 10 something and just a lot of stuff, a lot of bad grades and drugs. And so we had to, I mean torpedo that thing and start over. And we did. And then you went to, you taught, wasn't that bad? You know, Florida wasn't that bad. And actually Ohio State taken over for a guy like Jim Trussell. We didn't change much at all. He just kind of spray bottled a little bit and cleaned it up. So, but down at Florida, we took everything away and I wanted to prove a point. The expectations are national championship caliber team. That's what Steve's for you're doing. If you're not doing that, you're gonna hear it. And I expect that out of the staff. I expect it out of the players. And we took, they weren't allowed to wear Florida gear. And you earned it back. So, I was never a believer for example. There was a time where coaches would get a raise as a staff. I took that away. I was one of the first coaches to do that. And I said, we're not doing that. If you're a great coach, you get a bigger raise. If you're not a great coach, you're gonna not quite get the same raise. We don't do it as a group. You do it as individuals. And then same thing with a team. You don't just also get your stuff back. You earn it back if you bust your ass. So, Mark Ingram, place for me comes in. The Mark Ingram, I know he's gonna be wearing Gator gear quicker than the other guys. 'Cause he's gonna bust his ass, go to class, do the right thing. That's how I did it. I heard he was doing it. And I'm a big fan of his. But I'm a firm believer in meritocracy. You get what you earn. - Thanks. - Period. - Thanks. - It's just stuff though, right? Like, I'm looking at this from, I understand. I'm looking at this from an outsider, right? And I need you guys to explain it. 'Cause it's just stuff that you can buy a target, right? With a Gator logo on it, right? Like, why does that mean so much, Mark, to that player, to have the ability to wear your Alabama Crimson tie jacket or not have the ability to wear it? - As a fan, you can buy it. But as a player, you gotta earn that right. Stuff is earned. It's not given. So, for you to wear that script day, for you to wear that script Gator on the helmet, for you to wear that Gator. Like that, there's people who have played and come before you have represented that at a high standard in the right way. And for you to earn the right to do that, you have to earn the right to do it. So, I do admire what Coach Summara was doing at Florida. And I stand by it because that's what makes you take pride in your university. That's what makes you take pride in your logo. It's from the hard work that you put in. The sacrifice that you put in. The discipline that it required to be able to live up to that standard and elevate that standard. So, that's why it means that much to me to wear that script A. Because I know what it took for me to do it. And I know what the sacrifice, the blessed wedding tears that I have and my brothers should be able to do it. And the guys who came before me and after me, that held it to a standard. 'Cause we've all done the same thing. We all respect each other 'cause that's what it took. - Well, it's a psychological truth. The harder it is, the harder it is to let go. Navy SEAL training, there's 1,000 people applying 100 make it because it's hard. They try to eliminate some of the wash, some of the waste. And that's the same thing. I tried to run was a football program. I wanted to make it so miserable. I wanted to find out who was in and who's out. - Who wants in and who knows? - The harder the better. What's that? - Who wants in and who don't? Because it's gonna be time we run the 110s. It's gonna be times when you got SI run drills. It's gonna be times when you got blitz pressure pick up and it's hot in the two of days. And if you don't want it, you go quit. If you don't love it, you go quit. And you go eat out the grass. - Go eat out the grass. And you go had the dogs that rise to the top. - No, I get it. I get it. - The group hug. - There's something about wearing. - You tried hard, give 'em a shirt. - No part. - No part. - No part dissipating trophies at elite places. - Correct. Anywhere, anywhere. There's something about wearing the gear that you feel you earned. And it's a little different than what anybody else can get, right? I understand that. I would start around cold gate. Was my cold gate soccer stuff on, which was unique to me. And I love that. And if coach Mike Doherty took it away from me, I would be pissed as hell. And I would fight to get it back. I totally understand that. But coach, was there ever a point where you took the stuff away and you were like, shit, they really haven't earned it yet. But I gotta give it to them. Like at some point, they need this stuff. 'Cause when you take over program, you don't give it damn. I, you know, you're trying to make it as miserable as possible. And I guess I was fortunate. I had some really good kids when I took over. I mean, that this, you couldn't, I took over what was a bowling game. We won nine games. I think our first year from two and nine or one and 10 to nine games. And I turned out, it turned out that we had, arguably the best senior class I've ever had. Utah, we going to 22 and 24 and two, run after they had a losing season. So I was lucky that when you scrape and push hard enough, you're going to find out that cream rises to the top. And I was very fortunate. Mark, I had some dogs at Florida. Once we scraped that stuff off, I had some monsters. And they went on national championships second year. - Hey, of course I even said it, man, and best he said, high achievers don't like mediocre people. And mediocre people don't like high achievers. 'Cause of what it takes. - I love that. - You gotta reward the high achievers. - Exactly. - And the high achievers, if they are who you say they are, who they think they are, they bring the mediocre people up to their level. And that raises the entire team. 'Cause you're only as strong as your weakest link on the team. - You watch out for Florida, man. I think I'm buying that stock, right? - Do I buy that stock? - I'm buying it. That swamp is gonna be like a jet engine. - I didn't know, man. So you said like a Mark Ingraham, I'll be able to earn my gear a little earlier than somebody else. How do you know? How, what do you have to do to earn it? Like, what do you have to do to earn it? Like, is it your performance in practice? Is it how you carry yourself, is it a big play? Like, what is the requirement to earn the gear? - No, it has nothing to do with making, you know, performance on the field to a point, but just doing, right. Just going to class, if you have a, I took up a couple of places where they weren't going to class and smoking and all that crap. Just taking care of yourself. And then our strength coach became my right hand man. I'd actually listen to him. Say, who's earned it? And, I mean, that was the fun part of the job, especially if it's around the class. Players that were doing their right hand smoking too. (laughing) - Don't remind me. (laughing) - There's a lot of them still out there, man. - There's a lot of people that do it the right way. It just getting, feeling good at night. It's okay, it's nothing wrong with it, it's okay. - What the world has changed so much, Mark. Think about that, there was a time where, I mean, you'd lose sleep over a drug test coming. - Yeah. - As a coach and staff, you're like, what in the world is going on? - Crazy. - Crazy. - No, there's no more. - I don't think they test anymore, do they, Mark? - In the NFL, they test, but they won't punish you for a negative test. - So why do we even test, what do we do? - Oh, I don't think they test anymore, Rob. - 'Cause they don't want to see the results probably. They don't slug it. - I have to have to have to have to stay. - 'Cause otherwise, we might have a problem here. Have to stay, you can go out with driver's license and buy. You know what I mean? In other states, you have a freaking aether on you. They want to take you to jail. - Yeah. - You know what I mean? - It is crazy. When we were out at Norman a couple of years ago, we saw a ton of shops around the campus. I was like, "Wow, I did not, I just wasn't used to it." And now you start going to other places. You're like, "Nope, there's that." - We are now, there's this body. - There's this body test. - Over there, yeah. - We need a cannabis sponsor. (laughing) - We'll let, we'll let Coach handle that one, Mark. - All right. - All right, all right. - Good luck with that one, guys. Good luck. (laughing) Can you even imagine Coach going into one of those shops and what he would do? And the questions, that would be-- - Our reads, our reads for the cannabis sponsor. Can you imagine that Coach-- - The hat would be nice and low, the sweatshirt, just kind of dessert. - Oh my God, this is great. That's a sitcom waiting to happen. - I told you guys, I smoked at one time. - Yep. - I really didn't. - At Calorado. - At Calorado. - You didn't? - At Calorado, right? - At Calorado. - Oh my God. - You got that contact high. (laughing) There was a lot of contact high in that show. - The wedges of the way and the whole studio section were smoking. - Oh my God, it was smoking out there. - I think the whole city caught a little buzz here. Coming up next, we clean up the show. The architect of one of the most impressive turnarounds in all of sporting history, national championship winning head coach from Indiana, Kurt Signetti joins us next on the Triple Option. - Light it. - Welcome back to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's Rob Mark Urban. Oh yeah, we got him. National Champion of the head coach, Kurt Signetti joins us. Hey man, where's that national title right now? We just finished up with a podcast local guy who used to run our collective. So I'll make sure they get him out of here as quick as possible. I don't want to look at him too long, get soft. (laughing) - Hey, thanks for joining us coach. And 30 years ago, I was at Notre Dame and you were at Pitt. Who bought dinner that day and when we were, did you buy it or did I, I can't remember? - I know, we both had nothing. - Cause he never buys anything. - Yeah. - But I remember that. I'll sort of remember you interviewing when you were at Colorado State for, I think we had a receiver job at Pitt with Johnny Major. - Oh, that's right. Yeah. Hey, so did you get to celebrate it? Or I know you're just a nut job like, a lot of the other great coaches. Did you just go right back at it? Or were you able, I saw you enjoy with your family, which is incredible. But did you take it all in or are you a little bit like I was, reflecting it when you're still at it is a little sign of weakness? But did you enjoy it? - I got to enjoy it afterwards. Once I was done with the media and of course the next morning, there's things to do and a press conference and then you could travel and back home. And then you're in the office the next day and I mean, you had 19,000 things going on. Getting ready for next year's coach's retention, player retention, you know, and all that good stuff. So it's been pretty busy. But I'm, you know, the old sign of date is coming up or nobody signs anymore, right? So, you know, for about the last five years, my wife and I have always taken about a week, going somewhere nice and sunny and looking forward to that. - Where you going? Coach, you got someone on the table coach? What are you going? They're going on St. Warts, buddy. - All right, got one more mark and then you run with it. So I've watched you now for two years and we did the Nebraska game when we were big noon and I kept watching your teams and I was like, you know, just the run fits on defense, attacking. You just never miscommunication on offense. You're perimeter blocking, which we all know that's where all those in yards are. And I watched, I walked out and I stood right next to your team and just the mechanics, you know, the way your team worked, the efficiency. Your staff, you've been very fortunate to have loyalty, consistency. One of the things that hit me right in the jaws, I start losing guys and you're two coordinators. I didn't realize I remember Bryant worked for me and then Mike Shanahan, tell me first, they're the most undervalued, other than players. They're the most important people in a coat and I can't say enough about your staff. Tell me about your staff and how do you keep them? - Yeah, you know, Bryant and Mike, I hired as part-time coaches at the D2 level for less than $100. Now Bryant was with me two years and then went to Cal Davis and they got let go and that's when I got the Elon job and I brought him back. And then when Cory Heatherman left me at JMU after three years, who's now the DC at Miami, I hired Bryant, who's a great coach. I mean, they both are. But Grant Kane's been with me probably seven years at least. Since I went to JMU, my special teams guy, John Miller, and there's a number of them. And of course, I did lose my strength and conditioning guy there going. And you know, that's a key guy. Then he was with me six or seven years, went to Tennessee, so we're going through that right now, but hired a great guy to run that thing. So my, but you know, the staff makes it happen and we're on the same page. And you know, that's key to drill. Getting everybody to think of like, especially when you're in season every single day and then on game day, the players included. And when you've got people that you've been with for a while, it's easier to get that done. You just got to make sure complacency doesn't set in, which when you're successful, that's the daily deal. And how do I keep them? I don't know. I'm a little different than a lot of guys. I don't practice a long time. I'm a 25 minute walk through guy on Monday and Friday. And we're about an hour or 30 to an hour or 42, say, one, say, Thursday, home, it's shoulder pads. Wow. I'm in the office by coming in early, organized the day. When we're done with practice, those coaches, they can go home if they want to. And you know, if their work's done. And now some of them stayed, some of them don't, but I don't walk the halls to see who's here and who isn't. So the one thing I would say is we're pretty efficient in everything we do. Like, we don't waste time when we're here. We, you know, we're working. So I'm sorry, Mark. So you're the grind days are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, those guys, when you're done practice, because you're so efficient. And when you roll in the next morning, you watch the, you don't watch a practice film afterwards? No, we watch it in the morning. I like to watch a practice film when I'm fresh. And I'm a morning guy. So Monday is a late night because we meet with the players at five. And we start, we start our walk to around seven, 30. And then everything else is like two, 15, right? And we're done by five, 30. So, you know, those guys, if they got their work done, you know, they go home, see their kids. Wow. That's awesome. I love it. I love the efficiency at the time, coach. But no, coach, I remember after we went on our national championship, you know, in Pasadena, we flew back to Tuscaloo, so the next day. And I remember we had a team meeting. And Coach Saban was on our butt right away like, now it's all about what can you do when you're at the top of the mountain everybody's shooting for you, you know, et cetera, et cetera, he was on us right away. When did you guys have your first team meeting when you got back to the Hoosiers? And I know it's obviously different with roster retention and roster turnover. But when was the first team meeting? And what was your message to the team? Yeah. Well, we actually didn't have a team meeting. I did meet with the portal guys, again, met with the new high school guys together, and met with the returners together. We have not had a team meeting yet, you know, they're down there in the weight room now working and this and that. But I thought it was really important, I get in front of the portal guys and the high school guys, because they had been on campus for seven, eight, nine days. You know, we're preparing for the national championship, and we kept them separate from the team. Just to lay down the loss, so to speak, and kind of the reaction where we're heading. So let me ask you, I remember Lou Holtz when we won, and I was at '06. And it's almost like the, it's so relieving. And then we did it. And then reality sets in. And I think you're going to feel it. I mean, everyone else I've talked to at some point, you'll feel it that they am climbing them out like Mark said a minute ago. Holtz used to say this to me, is that it takes passion, energy. But when you're on top, it just, it seems like everyone's swinging at you. In Indiana, I know you know this, but every big 10 conference school and everyone you're playing has got your game circled. You're a signety and you're the Hoosiers now, as opposed to the old Hoosiers. So, you know, have you felt that yet? Probably not, but, you know, be prepared for, you know, maintenance is a bitch. Yeah, climbing a mountain's fun, you know. I mean, you know, it's hard to get to the top of the mountain. Right. And so, and the very few teams have done it back to back. You know, to me, it's all about us still, you know, are we meeting the standard on a daily basis? Are we meeting the standard consistently? Like, my message really isn't the things I believe in are not going to change. My message to the team might change daily based on what I see and how we're doing. Usually if we're doing pretty good, I may not even talk to the team after practice. But if I don't like what I see, I am going to talk to them. Now, it's not going to be long, but they're going to understand what I'm saying. (laughing) - Facts. Hey, Coach, one of my favorite plays in the game was when Fernando Mendoza, obviously, goes four on four down, runs the four linebacker over, dies into the end zone. That set the tone, game on mental, help you guys finish the game. What was the, what was the play call for that play? And what went into your decision to go four on four down from the 12th? - Yeah, well, you know, you got to play the win. I mean, get to have confidence in the players. And sometimes I, you know, I always remind myself that before the game begins, I'll put some things on paper, how I want to coach the game and whatever. And like I told the staff and the team a few times, the last couple of games, you know, you win your hero, you lose your bumps, so cut it loose and play the win. Right, you can't play not to lose. And I didn't feel real good about trotting the field goal team out there, and just getting a six point lead and kicking the ball off. You know, they were moving the ball a little bit on us in the second half. And we had an opportunity to go up the two scores. And even if we didn't make it, they were gonna be pinned down pretty good, right? We were gonna have to hold them anyway. So, you know, we went forward earlier in that drive on fourth down. - Great, that shoulder to Charlie Becker. - That's right. And, you know, playing the win, man, you got to have confidence in the players. They've been making plays all year long. Quarterbacks have been making plays all year long. Let's go. - Yeah, what was that play call you could share it or not? - It was just quarterback draw. I mean, we had to call it a little different 'cause we turned the line different than we had all year long. - Did you have an RPO with it? In case it was a six in question? - There were RPOs, yeah. On the outside, two inside states and hitches. But we were anticipating the quarterback would run based on what they did the play before and what we thought they would be doing in that situation. And it worked out that way. He broke a few tackles now. - He did that. - I wanna change the subject real quick that this whole world of, you know, Dabo coach Swini, you know, the NC right now, you know, it seems to me that this is a slam dunk investigation that doesn't take four and a half years to get. Are you experiencing this, I talked a lot of friends still and you say, well, Wild West, are you personally experiencing that nonsense, the tampering with the Indian roster? - Well, yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, we had a guy last year offered a million dollars by A.B. Shock at the school. And, you know, it's going on this year. Guys, welcome to my office and talk to me. And, you know, it's tough, man, it's hard. I mean, you know, we've got these Asians calling everybody across the multiple. How do you like to play those guys? - We tried to do it the right way. It's tough, but it's tough. Coach, let's pivot forward, right? We're all about moving forward right now. You go to year one in your transition from James Madison, Indiana. You leaned heavily into the transfer portal. Year two, last year, it felt like it was a little bit less, but the portal was still important. So here we are, now year three. Kind of take us to what the composition of this team is for year three and what do you want it to be building it out a couple years? Yeah, I think year one, we took 32, year two, we took 22. This year we took 17. So you see that number going down as the high school recruiting builds up. And now that we're winning, the high school recruiting's getting better. It still takes those guys a little while to develop. And, you know, so they can play winning football. I don't care, you know, 24-year-olds going to play better in a 18-year-old. So I don't think you're ever going to see the day where you're not dabbling in the portal. And, you know, maybe next year, we're at 14, who knows. But you always have critical needs and you always got to win every single year. That's just the way the business is now. So the foundation of the house is the high school recruiting and, you know, that's picking up and getting better and better. But you got supplemented with portal guys. Year three and three different quarterbacks. Can you sustain that? You know, or is that a model that you like going forward? We have up to this point. I mean, since 19, Vendonucci was player year in a conference. 20 Cole Johnson player year in a conference. And then Todd Senteo, when you're transfer player year in a conference. And Jordan McLeod, when you're transfer player year in a conference, encouraged work. He was not player year in conference because Dylan Gabriel won the Iceman, but he led the country in QBR. And then this year for Nanda Mendoza obviously. So, you know, now we got Josh Hoover and built around the quarterback in the offensive talent and getting to kind of play the way you wanted to play and get him better. And, you know, it all starts at that position. Coach, man, you know, we've heard a lot about like different spring games, traditions and how people are doing it. Do you plan on having a traditional spring game this season? Or how do you plan to know adjust your office season program with the spring transfer portal? No spring transfer portal? Yeah, we'll play a half. That's what we've done the last two years here. Now, I think I did that my last couple of years of Jam YouTube. You know, on a Thursday night, we'll play a half. They've got something here called the little 500. It's like a bike race model, 500. That's two days later. And, you know, we'll practice 13 times. I've never practiced 15 times in a spring yet. That's just 25 times in a fall camp. So, we'll get enough done in 13 days. Is that right? Yeah, never. And an hour half on the field, you said. Yeah, but, yeah, spring ball may go 150, you know, that's going to get players there off that off that schedule. You're keeping them fresh. You're keeping them ready to go efficiency. Well, that's what I'm trying to do is keeping them fresh and healthy. Because nobody has depth and I've never had a team that had enough depth. You know what, that was awesome. Second is you talked about your dad. I'm just kind of jumping off script here, but you talked about your dad. And you never got to go to the Hall of Fame until you were down there for that and see his name up there. And found out that morning that the press conference was at the Hall of Fame. Unbelievable. What, what, that, that warmed the heart. I mean, I can only imagine that. Yeah. That's pretty cool. Good for you, man. Thanks. Coach, coming up on the show, we're going to talk about scheduling and off-season schedules and non-conference foes. This year, your non-conference schedule, North Texas, Howard, Western Kentucky. What is your scheduling philosophy that at least that you can control? I'm going to play who the AD says we're playing. In North Texas, 12 and 2, Western Kentucky, 9 and 4. So, you know, then we played nine, how many, nine big 10 teams? Yeah. And so, you know. So what's your AD's philosophy in it then? I think right now, the prevailing philosophy is the SEC's gone to nine, right, conference games. 10s at nine and okay, what you do in the big 10 really matters a lot, why make it harder on yourself? It's facts. It's facts. Hey, coach, I need to know, man, what that ping pong game talking about in a long time, brother. Hey, man, I'm coming to get my get back on you, you know, wait, wait, wait, did you get them? I think we split, you know, honestly. I know we got him. Hey, coach, man, tell him, man, what do you remember about flying in the Flint Michigan? I know it was cold and coming to see me recruit me that first time. He was the first person I saw from Alabama. I'm like, okay, okay, I'm doing something now. I got coach, coach Cnadi in the Crimson Tide here in Flint Michigan. Tell him, man, what do you remember most about that first visit we had? I remember two of them, I think, and it was snowing like hell, one time you were to track me. And then the other time I think we ate pizza in your living room. Yeah. The first time was the pizza living room. The second time you brought coach Burns up there, y'all is at the indoor track meet. Yeah, I remember that, I remember that. I was flying. Yeah, coach Burns liked me then when he saw me running that track meet. Were you at Alabama in the 14? No, as there's seven, eight, nine, and 10. Okay. Yeah. Coach, we on the outside, we see a different perception of what Indian is. Obviously, you're in the weeds with it, right? So we see the touchdown at Penn State, right? We see what happened with Mendoza going airborne in the national championship game. Those are probably the images that are stuck with us with most of the people. What's the image or images of what's transpired the entirety of the season through the celebrations and the celebrations back in Bloomington? What are those little mental snapshots that you have that are going to stay, that are going to resonate with you for the rest of your life? Well, those were two iconic plays and great moments in Indian football history. What I'm going to remember about this group is just how consistent they were day in, day out, weekend, week out, how they approached their work and then put it on the field. A lot of great leaders on this team, a lot of really smart guys are going to do well in life that we're really probably closer maybe than any team I've ever had. You know, generally when you win big, you got pretty close to you. But boy, these guys really were tight and played with a lot of confidence. When did you allow yourself to celebrate and take it in and smile? As soon as I could, you know, it takes a while with that age up every time you win one of those playoff games and then, you know, maybe you got to do big 10 network or Fox and finally get in that locker room and crack one open. Hey, thanks for joining us, man. You're great. And we, uh, much, please, please share your staff from an old coach. Much respect, man. Those guys did a hell of a job. Yeah, you got it, buddy. Coach, dignity. You're awesome, man. Congratulations again. We are so, so proud of what you and what Indiana was able to create. National Championship winning head coach, Kurt Signetti. Thanks coach. Urban Mark Rob back here with you. The triple option presented by Wendy's time to go three and out, guys. We're going to discuss non-conference schedules, right? So the 2026 calendars have been set for all the big programs. We're going to try to find the three easiest non-conference schedules. We talked to Kurt Signetti about it earlier, coach and Indiana, maybe at the top of your list. It is. And I like the fact that the coach's dignity was very clear. Who cares? I don't want to paraphrase them too much, but which is, I mean, I get it. I respect it. I actually respect a person who just says that. He said the big 10 conference playing nine games. They played Kennesaw State, Old Dominion, and Indiana State. I'll never forget that when I heard those three teams they played and they won a national title. I think, I think, unfortunately, because I do like those non-conference big games. I used to like it as a coach, and I love it now, just watching. But I think those days are over, Mark. With that said, the three, I'm going back to the Hoosiers. Again, they play a good North Texas, but still North Texas. They play Howard and they play Western Kentucky that I believe one nine games and Sig let us know that. Indiana, Houston, playing Oregon State, Southern, and Georgia Southern. Wow. I know. Every get directions involved. Coach, I know. I know. And then my old Utah team was playing Idaho and then Arkansas team that's, I heard there are shell of themselves and Utah State. So the old scheduling philosophy that we used to live by big dog, medium dog, little dog. There are a lot of little dogs out there. A lot of little puppies barking out there. Little dog, little dog, mini dog, smart, cool, you're three. Who's got the best mini dog schedule out there? Sure. Right. Now you got to go, Pistate. Pistate got Marshall, Temple, and Buffalo for that last year too with them. They also have no Oregon and no house, they and no Indiana. So you talk about easiest, not conference, maybe easiest conference as well. You know, when you talk taken out Oregon or how to stay Indiana, those are the three best teams in the big 10 this year. Then you got to go Texas Tech. We got Abilene Christian sounds like one of the high school, you know, Christian academies right here by me, no offense, Abilene Christian, by the way. And then they got also Sam Houston State and Oregon State, who was absolutely, haven't been doing anything lately, Oregon State, at least to add a little caveat to it. But I can. Oregon State. The past. Welcome. Hey, pack 12 was back, baby. The pack. Pack. Pack is back, man. Pack is back. Full state scores. Yeah. Let's go. Okay. Yeah. So yeah, Texas Tech, Penn State, and then who we're going to Georgia Bulldogs. Tennessee State, Western Kentucky. And well, we can't always just throw Georgia Tech in there. I mean, I think that's not a conference, but. It is not a conference end of season Tennessee, stay in Western Kentucky. Hey, his king is gone. Yep. It'll be a different. A Mendoza. Mendoza could be running, running the ship for Georgia Tech. All right. So those are the non-conference schedule. I want to go totality, Mark, you kind of hit on it as well. If you look at the totality of Penn State schedule, Matt Campbell, I guarantee he looked at that before he signed the papers like, you know what? I could deal with this the first year. This is an easy entry back into the Big 10, right? We already talked about Marshall at Temple Buffalo, no Oregon, no Ohio State, Indiana, the toughest stretch. It's two Saturdays in a row. It's home to USC and then at Michigan, only one West Coast trip that goes out to Washington. So I think Penn State, you know, assuming they can sort themselves out with all the new bodies and the new coaches coming in, Rocco Becht is going to be their QB. I think this is an easy entrance, if you will, for Penn State. Listen, Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame, if you don't make the playoffs with this schedule, something's wrong. Now, when we say out of conference schedule, it's hard to say it's easy because they only have five quote unquote conference games, right, from the ACC. But looking at the totality of it, open up with Wisconsin, Akron Bay, then two other big 10 teams, but it's Michigan State and Purdue. So you're talking teams that are middle to the bottom part of the big 10, right? You got rice and right, rice is their, they're gimme the ACC games at North Carolina, Stanford, the two big ones are both home, Miami and SMU. They also have BC and Syracuse. So seven games, that's, that's the wrecks to credit. They go seven games, then to buy after that BYU game. So, and then they, and then they have another neutral game with Navy at Foxboro. So I think the totality of Notre Dame schedule looks extremely manageable. Irish, you need to make the playoffs. Again, you only need to be in the top 12, and you'll be in the playoffs. Texas Tech, interesting as well again, totality, no BYU, no U talk. We talked to Mark about the three out of conference teams. And then they host maybe two of their more challenging teams, Arizona State and TCU five games, then to buy when they have Arizona State at home. I think Texas Tech is primed to get themselves back into the college football playoff picture. That was your fresh take of the week, presented by Wendy's get yourself a $4 biggie bite. $6 biggie bag and an $8 biggie bundle now at Wendy's, all right. You know what? We love biggie bags and we love biggie bundles. And we love Super Bowl Sunday as well. You guys are road tripping it. I'm, I'm going to go be a cheer dad in Orlando. So I'm missing it as this kicks off our two-minute drill brought to you by Fandall visit Fandall.com/triple option to download the app and take advantage of a 50% profit boost today. Again, that's fandall.com/triple option. Time to make our picks for the Super Bowl. Seattle guys favored by four and a half the over undermark is 45 and a half. Doos Doos. First up, who's taking it on the Super Bowl? Four and a half is a lot for us Super Bowl, you know, but it hasn't seemed small to me. Yeah, but to me, I'm going to lay the points here. You know, I think, you know, I respect, I respect the Patriots and what they've done this season, but there's something about the Seattle Seahawks team. They just got a lot of juice on offense. You talk about Jackson Smith and Jigba. It looks like the best receiver in the league right now. You talk about the addition of Rashid Shaheed, how dangerous he is as a part returner, kick returner, and a wide receiver. Then you talk about Kenneth Walker, who I think is coming into his own in this postseason. He's running the rock. He's catching a football. This offense has a lot of juice. Then you talk about Sam Donald, the evolution of him or what he has come from since he was with the chest. They talk about he was a bus. He was with Carolina. He was backing him up. They talk about he's a bus. You know, Sam Donald to prove me right. I mean, to prove me wrong this year and have a, have a bad stretch. He hasn't had a bad stretch all year. He probably had one or two games out of 16, 17, 18 that that weren't up to par. So Sam Donald was playing at a league level high level. There's defense. They rush you before. Drake May has been sacked a number of times in this playoff. I think 15 times in this playoff. And so you have a defensive front with led by a, a DeMarcus Lawrence, who can get to you with a Russian for people. If you could rush for people and cover for seven, that's the rest of people's success. So with this team, I got too much juice on offense, a strong defense. I'm laying the points for and a half. I'm a lady's points with Seattle. I think Seattle has the momentum and they just got too much juice. I'm laying the points. I'm going with Seattle here in this one. Coach, how do you see it? I'm going to take the X factor and Vable. He's been there. He's won three Super Bowls. He's seen the best one of the best teams, you know, Dynasties and NFL history with the Patriots and how it's done. And I, I got a lot of respect for Seattle, but I just, I think the X factor is the guy running the charge and one of the great turnarounds in NFL history if he wins his last game. So I'm a Mike Vable fan. I witnessed it. I would go visit the Patriots when he was playing and watch that team work. And I just think the X factor will be Mike and his experience and Super Bowls and having a plan of attacking out to go win that game. So they're not for going for that points is a lot. I think they're going to cover, but I actually, I'm going to pick the, and there's a little bit of personal bias because I love variable to see him do this. Have you been watching Jackson Smith and Jibba? Oh, I've been watching it for years. I think that's so good because he got overshadowed by Marvin Harrison Jr. now. Yes. And he was the, he was the number two receiver at our state. Think about that for a minute. He's a dog monster, a dog. Have you watched Jackson Smith and Jibba? Have you watched Kenneth Walker the f*ckard? Have you watched Rashid Shaheed aka doose, doose, get in loose? Here. I'm. But we got Rob. We see Seattle. Oh, I got Seattle by at least seven. Yeah. That's how high I am on the. I love the Brable story. I love New England winning on the road every game this year. And I know there's a neutral site game, but keeping it away from Foxboro, it is an awesome story to turn around. And like, as soon as the Patriots hired Brable, weren't we all saying, what a great hire? Like how smart. Why do teams give up on great coaches? I know sometimes you just need to, to mix it up, right? And, and change the locker room or, or the mentality. But what, what a steal. What an absolute steal for the Patriots and, and Drake May, man. If the patch are going to do it, it's going to be with May's wheels, right? I mean, all those big first downs, he picked up by, by doing it himself. That kid's a gamer, man. I love him. He's also a tarhill. So there might be a little bias there. All right. The triple option and our good friends at throwbacks. You guys are going to be up in the Bay Area for Super Bowl weekend. We don't miss you. We love you. We love you. I know, I know. Listen, I'm going to miss you guys too. I'll downright sour about it, but I'm going to be a good cheer, Dad. Hands, you guys have a chance to hang out for free with three college football hall. This free is for me, three, three, three, three, exactly. This Saturday, the seventh, you can watch a live crossover episode at five Pacific. Coach will be there. Mark will be there. Our good friend, Matt Liner, Jerry Ferrer, and A. Gar will be there. Plus other guests. Come on out. We talked about it. St. Joseph's art society. You guys get to hang out at an art society. I like art fancy. How fancy of you guys 1401 Howard Street in San Fran for the block party doors open up at new music, meet and greets live shows. Not just the triple option, not just throwbacks. There's some soccer. There's some college basketball. There's some NBA learn more at AMP, AMP sports block party dot com and the key. You said what? The key is it's for free is for free and it's a free sports block. Block party dot com. Please send me pictures yell at me. I am going to be sitting in some place at Disney, staring at lots of. Wow. Do. Wow. This is for me. It's for what? It's for me. I'll take three. Follow. Subscribe. Rate us on YouTube. Apple podcast. Spotify. Wherever you get your podcasts as well as cross social media at three X option show. Thanks again to coach Kurt Signati. He joined us and what an awesome interview that was. He's the best man. So happy for that program. You guys have a good, fun, safe, artsy trip to San Francisco. As always, thanks to our partners, Wendy's and Fandall. We will see you again next time right here on the triple option.