USC, Belichick, Florida State start seasons with wins & are NFL players coming back to college?

Yeah, yeah, you might want to download that Exxon Mobile Rewards Plus app. Yeah. Are you the Exxon Tiger? I am. Yeah, you know, new users can earn $10 in points, five bucks after your first purchase and five after your second. That's a lot. That's a whole lot. It is. Well, hey, you get on that download, buddy. I will. Loading. Download the Exxon Mobile Rewards Plus app and join today. Exxon. Trust the Tiger. For details, visit ExxonOffer.com. Everybody is talking about USC here. Oh, Clay, you like USC, man? This is the USC. That USC team looks different. People in Los Angeles are just not going to deal with that. It rains here and it's like Armageddon on the freeways. I'm going to give you your flowers out there. All of you college football fans that show up regardless, good for you and continue to do so. All right, we've got football to talk about. Welcome into the Joel Clash. I'm Joel Clash. This show is sponsored by Hilton. Hilton for the stay and we get right into it. We have actual games to talk about, which I cannot wait for. Well, we'll talk all things USC, UNC, some Florida State, some Memphis. We've got football and I can't wait to get into it. Also, I have not weighed in on all the eligibility issues, the saga, if you will. Over the last week, obviously, you've heard a lot about that. I'm going to weigh in on that. And then a huge announcement at the end of the show, you're going to want to stay tuned. Because I've got some news about our program right here and a big announcement for our program. Again, that's right at the end of the show. Let's start, though, right here in Los Angeles. Remember, I live in Orange County and here I am on the West Coast and USC opens up a week zero game against San Jose State and they win it 42-26. Okay, now they beat San Jose State by 16 and I can just hear immediately all the naysayers because USC has a lot of them. They've got a lot of detractors. And the detractors are out and they're wanting to talk about the fourth quarter and the lack of defense for the Trojans in the fourth quarter. They want to talk about the crowd size, all these different things. But I'm here to tell you that I thought that was a tremendous day for USC. They played outstanding. What should we take away from that game is that that USC team looks different. And this is exactly what I was trying to tell you during the course of the offseason. I think Lincoln Riley has a team that can actually go out and compete for a Big Ten title, compete for a playoff spot. And we saw evidence of that on Saturday. I'll get into the crowd and all that other stuff in a little bit, but I want to get into the dominance that we saw from the Trojans, albeit against San Jose State. But it was the control that they displayed of that game that impressed me. When I looked at that game and more specifically, the way USC has played over the last few years. And even if you go back to some of their really good years under Lincoln Riley with Caleb Williams, they almost go to the playoff. They almost win the Pac-12. They did that largely based on his brilliance. Speaking of Caleb Williams, eventual Heisman Trophy winner, eventual first pick in the draft, and obviously now the Madden cover in the National Football League with Chicago Bears. It was his brilliance. Yes, they ran the football decently, but he was the one moving around, doing all sorts of things, and they were an explosive team, and they lived off of his brilliance and explosiveness. That is not what we saw on Saturday. And I would argue that the version that we saw on Saturday against San Jose State has a lot more staying power, a lot more staying power, in particular with the schedule that they're going to see during the course of this season. So what did we see? Well, we only saw two plays over 20 yards. The longest was 33 yards, so they did not rely on the big plays. What did they rely on? Sustained line of scrimmage dominance. That's a difference. This is the difference that I was trying to point out during the course of the offseason of why I felt like this. Like this version of USC was going to have a chance to do something special this year. Look at their first four scoring drives, all of them in the first half. 13 plays, 77 yards. 8 plays, 43 yards. 12 plays, 91 yards. Then they get into that two-minute situation and bang, bang, bang, right down the field. Six plays, 80 yards. It was brilliant. It was brilliant. They go into the fourth quarter leading 35-3. That game was a rout. It was a 31-point rout. Totally dominated by USC. I don't care that the final margin was only 16. Another impressive part was the things that we saw that were question marks in the offseason. I thought that we would get great quarterback play, and we did. Jaden Maiava was brilliant. He threw for almost 90%, just a few incompletions, no interceptions. He was fantastic. Maiava is going to be a guy that is consistent, and he will continue to play well. One of the questions that we had, in particular on offense, was the wide receiver position. Obviously, they lost some great wide receivers into the draft, and there were unproven guys on the outside. Who was going to fill those roles? They started true freshmen at all three wide receiver spots and at tight ends. They started with four skill freshmen. These guys were brilliant. In particular, Trent Mosley. Now, Caden Dixon-Wyatt was very good. Tron Baker was very good. The tight end, Mark Bowman. I loved what he did at the line of scrimmage and in the passing game. This is an offense that didn't even have their proven wide receiver, Tanook Hines. He was out in this game. Defensively, they didn't have some guys on that side of the ball. Wide receiver, Terrell Anderson, not in this game. Yet still, they were clean, won penalty, methodical, won the line of scrimmage, and produced what I would categorize as an incredibly efficient passing game. This was a really good sign for USC. One of those true freshmen, I just want to point out. I thought Trent Mosley. Trent Mosley was spectacular. And I want to single him out because you have to understand, and I told you, I live down in Orange County, so south of Los Angeles. And this is exactly where Trent Mosley is from. He played at Santa Margarita. Santa Margarita Catholic just won the CIF, basically California's version of a state championship, last year. His head coach, former Trojan Carson Palmer. Now, Trent Mosley was not the highest rated wide receiver coming in in this class, which was, by the way, the number one class in all of college football. In fact, he was behind. He was behind two other guys that were more highly touted by the rating agencies. And yet, you have to understand, where I'm from, all anybody talked about, all offseason and all summer, was this guy Trent Mosley. And I saw exactly what they were talking about on Saturday in the Coliseum. They used to talk about the fact that this guy, once he gets the ball in his hands, he refuses to be tackled. He runs with an energy and a passion that far surpasses his actual size. You saw that in some of those clips that you're watching right now on YouTube, by the way. And if you're not watching on YouTube, go do it and subscribe to the program. Leave a comment down below. Mosley went seven catches for 118 and a touchdown in his very first game as a true freshman for the USC Trojans. That is a great debut. By the way, guess what he did late last year in the CIF playoffs going towards that CIF championship. Again, the state championship of California. He went 10 catches for 293 against Corona. He went 11 catches, 183 against Dallas. De La Salle. Like, the guy can play and everybody around here, that's all they wanted to talk about all offseason is they would say, Clatt, wait until you watch Trent Mosley play. And I'm watching number four on Saturday and I'm like, oh, wow. That is the exact type of player that Lincoln Riley can use to wreak havoc against defenses all season long. Let's hope he stays healthy. And he's the type of guy that can turn into a real threat for them. One of the points that I made during the course of the offseason was the fact that Lincoln Riley can, and wide receivers, he can develop wide receivers. And I wasn't as concerned with the lack of experience at that position. Turns out that's absolutely the case. All these young players stepping in and they did a great job. Now, defensively, this was a dominant performance for three quarters. Now, it was not in the fourth quarter, and I'll get to that in a moment. But for three quarters, they were totally dominant on the defensive side. Gary Patterson, former TCU head coach, now the defensive coordinator for Riley here at USC. I thought that they did a great job and they did what they needed to do. And particularly, I thought that they did a great job. They were popular in the trenches. Now, they were without one of, I think, their best defenders. Jakeem Stewart, defensive tackle. He's going to be out for the first few weeks. He should be back against Oregon. They're going to need him back for that Oregon game. They did not have a corner for them. Marcellus Williams due to injury. So, as they get healthier, they should get better on that defensive side. But it was the guys that were on the field that impressed me. They were dominant, again, in the trenches. They had a five-star, number one defensive end in the country in this recruiting class, Luke Wafel. And he showed some seriousness. He has flashes, including in the first, I believe it was the first half. Yeah, it was the first half. He gets in there. He's number 94. You can watch it on YouTube right there. And he beats his guy off the line of scrimmage. He goes and now, all of a sudden, the back is trying to block him. He's shoving the back right into the lap of the quarterback. Almost gets a safety. And I'm like, my goodness, for a true freshman, that is an incredible rush. That's exactly what they're going to need out of him during the course of the regular season to shore up and continue to solidify not only the front seven, but more specifically, the D. I thought he was very good in particular in his first game at USC. So it was solid. I give you all of that. They were totally dominant. They totally controlled the game. It's not a 16-point game. That's a 31-point game. At minimum, 32-point game. It's 35-3 into the fourth quarter, and then it got away from them. Their second-string defense did not play well. Their second-string offense did not play well. And then everyone wants to talk about the crowd. So the next game, it's going to be a three-point game. naysayers are going to seem like they have their day. Look, it's the same old defense. they couldn't play all four quarters, and look, there's no support. I don't buy it. I don't buy it. Now, if you wanted to argue that maybe they don't have the depth that they need on defense, maybe you can have a case there. But that's not something we'll know for the next few weeks. And remember, they were without some starters and still played that well and that dominant in the first three quarters. Now, were they playing world beaters? No. San Jose State is not world beaters, but it was still exactly what you would want to see if you were a Trojans fan. It's exactly what you would want to see. This defense playing well schematically in the right spots, not giving up the big plays, and there they were doing what they had hoped, these fans had hoped they would do, which was play sound defense for a Lincoln-Riley team. That's the defensive perspective. Again, we will see about their depth during the course of the season because they will, I'm sure, have to rely on it at some point with that difficult schedule. And then you get to the crowd. Social media took off, man, and yeah, it was a sparse crowd. There's no doubt. I hate that I'm about to take this stance. Let's put it first and foremost. Is USC a blue blood? Absolutely. At most other blue bloods, does it matter who they play or when to fill the stadium? No. No, it doesn't. Does it matter for USC? Yeah. Yep, it sure does. And this is where, like, we in the Los Angeles area, in Southern California, are soft. I am as soft as they come. And I have now been here since 2013, and guess what? Over 90 is too hot. Below 56 is too cold. That's just what it is. I hate that I'm giving, and it's not an excuse. It just is what it is. Over 90 in the Coliseum. With some humidity, might as well be 130. It rains here, and it's like Armageddon on the freeways. It's not like other places. Why? Because 350 days a year is perfect. It's 72 and perfect. I hate that that's my thought, but it's true. It's true. If the temperature is different, there's definitely a different crowd. I also don't believe that it's indecent. It's not indicative of the support that this organization, this program, has. Remember, they just signed the number one recruiting class in the country. They also just built a football building. That took massive investment from a financial perspective. They financially are fine. Now, would they like butts in the seats? I'm sure. Are they happy about this? I'm sure that they aren't. But it's not indicative of the broader support. In fact, when I walk around here, it's all anyone wants to talk to me about. I can't do anything around here without someone stopping me, asking me about USC. It was actually one of the reasons. I didn't want to put them in my playoff prediction, which I did anyways, because I knew I would be stopped 18 times every time I walk outside anywhere in Southern California, in particular in Orange County, because everyone's like, oh, Clay, you like USC, man? This is the year USC. So the crowd was not indicative of what I'm experiencing when I'm just out in the community out here in Southern California. And the last thing that I would say is that this is also indicative of a need for better scheduling. We're going to have some dog games throughout college football over the first three weeks. Now, do we have some good ones? Yes. Do I want to see these games? Oh, no, I don't want to see these games. And I don't think you do either. This is one of the reasons why all the proponents of the playoff expansion want the playoff to expand so that they can get into some sort of scheduling agreement where we actually have, whether it's Notre Dame or some sort of SEC opponent, where we have more quality games. Week zero. Over 90. Do I think it's indicative of the support or the excitement around USC? No, I don't. Do I explain it away? Yeah, I kind of do. And I kind of hate that I do that. And by the way, this is even more of a feather in the cap for all of you fan bases out there that rain, shine, heat, cold, whatever it is, doesn't matter. You're there. I love that. And I love you for it. I love you for it. I'm not defending the LA sports fan. It's a fair weather sports fan, period. Sorry. Including the temperature and the quality of the team. And I'm going to give you your flowers out there. That means a lot to a former player. But am I concerned about it for USC? No. It just gave the naysayers kind of their deal. Yeah. Yeah. You might want to download that Exxon Mobile Rewards Plus app. Yeah. I am. Yeah. You know, new users can earn $10 in points. Five bucks after your first purchase. And five after your second. That's a lot. That's a whole lot. It is. I will. Loading. Exxon. Trust the Tiger. Hey, how about UNC? Bill Belichick and the UNC Tar Heels. All right. All right. To say I didn't expect that is probably, probably an understatement. This is a 4-8 team from a year ago that got absolutely crushed by TCU and their opener in Chapel Hill. We all remember that. Everyone was excited for it. You had all the alum from UNC excited about Bill Belichick. And here, all of a sudden, TCU comes in and just hammered them. Hammered them. And they didn't look good at all. And then you fast forward one year and you start to see the glimpses of what we expected to happen right away. Namely, quality defense. That's what Bill Belichick is known for. It's quality defense. Sound defense. And that defense was excellent. They did not allow a point the final three quarters of the game. The one touchdown was kind of a short field for TCU. They played really well. They tackled well. They were in position. And I'm watching that game and it dawns on me. I'm like, this is what we expected right away. Maybe it was unfair of all of us to expect that right away and then write them off. And we should have just given them time to implement what they wanted to do at UNC. Now, do I think that this is evidence of staying power and a great season? I don't know yet. I'm going to refrain from making a conclusion too far out. But what I will say, for one game, that was an excellent performance from UNC. Jelani Thurman, the tight end, transferred from Ohio State. He played well. A few of those transfer guys played well. And again, maybe this is just the process that they had to take. We all want things right away. And Kurt Cignetti has ruined, ruined every single head coach's first year at any school that he gets hired at for the foreseeable future because he succeeded right away. We want to see that. Hey, transfer portal, NIL, you should succeed right away. It's not always the case. Maybe it's the case that this was more of a slow build and they're getting to a point where they'll play much better this season. That performance, it wasn't a great performance. They didn't blow the socks off of me. And TCU, while I thought that they were a good team, they did not impress me that much. What I did love to see, however, was that defense playing really well. I thought that they did a really good job. It's not a great sign for TCU. I thought and others thought that they had some potential as a dark horse in the Big 12. I don't know if I sense that now after that performance. They've had some turmoil in the locker room. They had to kick one of their transfers off the team. They were counting on him. They kicked him off the team for punching a player in the locker room. That was a couple of weeks ago. Don't love what's going on right now at TCU. I thought that they would come out. And play much better. I really did. So we'll see what Sonny Dykes is able to do to kind of turn that around here over the next couple of weeks. How about a really, really good performance in the ACC? And it wasn't just UNC. Virginia. Virginia. No one's going to talk about Virginia because it's not USC and it's not Bill Belichick. But man, Virginia was impressive. They played an ACC game against NC State. And hammered them. Hammered them. Physically hammered them. Their quarterback, Bo Pribula, he transferred from Penn State a couple of years ago. Passed it 11 times for 155. He ran it 15 times for 110. As a team, they were brilliant on the ground. Ran it for over 250 yards. So they were physically dominant against NC State. And then you start to dig a little deeper. And maybe this was just an oversight on my part. But I'll take it and I'll wear it. This is as an experienced team as there is in the country. In fact, Virginia is the most experienced team in the country when it comes to career snaps. So you got a lot of veteran players out there for a Virginia team that, by the way, was in the ACC championship game last year. They lost to Duke. That was a couple of weeks after they had beaten Duke. And they ended up winning their bowl game. And this was an 11. Win team last year. No one talked about them in the offseason. Nobody. And here they come out and they give that type of performance. I overlooked them in the offseason. I overlooked them when we were talking about potential teams that could get into an ACC championship game and maybe get themselves into the playoff. I thought that was an SMU and Louisville conversation. Maybe flirting with Clemson in that conversation. It clearly now involves Virginia. Clearly involves Virginia. I thought. we made a mistake and it was proven. out after year one of Kurt Cignetti at Indiana, a lot of us thought, I don't know, it's going to come back to earth for Indiana. They go out and win a national championship. I don't think Virginia is going to win a national championship, but with an experienced roster like that, veteran players like that, a team that has gone out there and they have done it in that conference with a schedule that lines up nicely for Virginia, look at their schedule. This is a team that absolutely can play for the ACC title. And they just proved that they could be dominant against an ACC foe and NC state. There's their schedule sets up really nicely. They don't play Miami or Louisville, and they only have one ranked opponent on their schedule. And that's that game against SMU, October 17th. So they've got West Virginia. That game's in Charlotte, by the way, at Florida state more on them in a second, because yikes that game against SMU they're ranked. And then their last three involve Cal UNC and Virginia tech. Now Cal UNC and Virginia tech that way. That might be a really tough stretch. I'm not sure. Tosh LaPoi is the new head coach at Cal. They could be very improved. There's a lot of energy around that program. Look at what North Carolina just did to TCU and you got James Franklin and Virginia tech. So we could have a totally different type of ACC than we thought we were going to have. I think SMU is going to be good. I, well, I really predict them to be good. They've got everything returning that you need to have returning. I like Rhett Lashley a lot. Louisville should be very good. That could be a very deep conference as it relates. To trying to be the number two team in that conference to Miami. Miami is clearly the best team in the ACC, but man, Virginia hat in the ring. That's a potential ACC championship game type of team in particular with that schedule. So good on them. My one word of caution would be, and I, and I, I threw this out last year after OU beat Michigan at home. I said, Hey, that was a great performance by John Mateer. And it clearly puts him in the Heisman category. But you can't do that every week. And I know it's an ACC game, so I don't think that they'll have to do this with Bo Pribula, but throwing it 11 times and running at 15 is not the recipe for success. I don't think he makes it through the entirety of the season healthy if they use him that way. So in the games that they don't have to probably needs to go in the different direction. All right. Time for a little weekend check-in time. This is presented by Hilton. When you need a winning team on and off the field, it matters where you stay. So our weekend check-in is presented by Hilton. How about a couple of teams that didn't love what I saw? Didn't love what I saw. UNLV. UNLV was a team that a lot of us saw from last year coming into this season as a team that could compete for that spot, the best spot or the group. Group of six spot in the playoff is what I'm trying to say. And they were hosting Memphis and get beat at home 27-21. They were up 21-14. They've got Jackson Arnold, a former highly recruited quarterback from Oklahoma. And I think, what was it? Auburn. And now he's with Dan Mullen at UNLV and Memphis goes in there and beat them on the road. And now all of a sudden you have to shift your focus because we thought that UNLV could be a team that could compete for that spot. To represent the group of six. We also thought a team like Boise State could be a team to represent the group of six. And now all of a sudden here's Memphis and Memphis is coached by a guy that I really admire and like. And I think he's a heck of a football coach, Charles Huff. Charles Huff is on his third team in three years and he is showing he's a great coach. I knew this back when he was at Marshall. Then he was at Southern Miss. Now he's at Memphis. Marshall played at Ohio State and it was a game that Gus and Jenny and I called and we got to meet with a team that was really impressive. And I was impressed with him. Listen, truth be told, everybody, I'm not impressed with every coach that I meet with. Sorry. It's just, it's just the truth. I don't know if I should say that out loud, but it's the truth. And I respect you, the fan, enough to give it to you. I'm not impressed with every single coach that I meet with. Just is what it is. Could be personal preference and that's fine. It doesn't mean that every coach is bad. It's just that I'm not impressed with every coach that I meet with. I was very impressed with every coach that I meet with. I was very impressed with Charles Huff. Okay. He, he knows how to build a roster. He does a great job getting the guys to play hard for a greater cause rather than themselves. And he's won. Okay. And now he's at Memphis. And now all of a sudden, do I say that correctly? I know that in the comments, dang it, you YouTube commenters are getting me right now. Do I say, is it all of the sudden or all of a sudden? I don't think it's all this. I say all of a sudden, just hit me up. The comments down below, regardless. Um, here's what I was going to say. They play Boise in a couple of weeks. Memphis does. They just beat UNLV. And so now you have a situation where there's two teams that a lot of us thought could compete for the group of six spot in the college football playoff. And Memphis has a chance to beat them both early in the season. The group of six is always wide open because it's very hard to predict why that level gets pillaged by bigger programs. Leave. And so the rosters are incredibly difficult to evaluate going into the college football season. Now I know all of you that are like fans of a singular team, like, no, I knew my team was good, whatever. Like that's, that's fine. Now Memphis out of the American, they've got this win under their belt on the road against UNLV. They've got to go on the road against Boise state. If they were to win both of those games and then go through and win the American, you could be looking at Memphis being the group of six, uh, candidate or highest ranked group of six that gets included in the college football playoff. That's how big that win was. And I know a lot of you probably even didn't realize that it was going on more on the weekend. Check in. How about, um, a concerning performance for Florida state now, USC wins by 16 over San Jose state. And I'm, I'm lauding their performance and telling you how great it was. Florida state, they go out and they beat New Mexico state by 14. No, no, no. Wait, what are the, sorry. My math is all off. Uh, 14, seven, uh, 17. They beat them by, by 17. Sorry. I thought it was 31, 17. It was 34, 17. So the margin is right there with USC. Totally different game. 17, 10 in the third quarter, not dominant, not pulling away. This was not a case where a team caught up late and made, the score look differently. Listen, if Florida state was up 34, three going into the fourth quarter, I would have said the same things about them that I did about USC, but that wasn't the case. It wasn't the game that we saw. And, and now I'm concerned for Florida state based on that performance, struggling with New Mexico state. You look up at their schedule and you start to season. Their schedule is incredibly difficult based on that performance on Saturday. There is a real possibility that Florida state is two and six at some point. Their first six games are very difficult. They're going to have SMU coming up, Alabama coming up. Then they get kind of a little sisters of the poor and then home against Virginia. Just talked about them Louisville on the road. That's a ranked team at Miami. That's a ranked team home to Clemson. Yikes. I know they won this game, but it does not look good for Florida state. That's all kind of entering November. And I looked up and if Mike Norvell is let go by Florida state after the Clemson game, they will own $51 million. And so you have to start to think to yourself, what in the world were they doing with these contract extensions? This is just a bit of a tangent right now, but obviously Florida state is not in a good position. And we'll get into those reasons in a moment, but you've got to look at these contracts. They were held hostage because Alabama was open. And that's the only reason Mike Norvell is making over $10 million a year. Since they beat Alabama last year, they're two and seven against power, four teams, two and seven. That is not a very good football program. And we saw that play out against New Mexico state. It's a 1710 game in the third quarter. Again, it's so different than the USC game, USC handling San Jose state, Florida state having to play hard all the way into the fourth quarter. That is a football game, a real football game. And their schedule sets up for a daunting road ahead. They have got to get tangibly better right away. So, so how did this happen? How do you go from a team that was undefeated and left out of the college football playoff in 2023? And granted a lot of, listen, a lot of people don't like what happened. I totally understand, but Mike Norvell gets a contract extension. He's not going to be able to play because of that. Alabama opens up, he gets a contract extension. Okay. Part of the problem is, is that they try to repeat that success of an undefeated season by taking a big swing in the transfer portal. They brought in 17 players that year, then 23 players, then another 23 players. So those are the last three seasons. That's too many transfers for a top level program. Now you might be saying, no lane Kiffin was able to do it all miss and maybe, and maybe lane Kiffin can of doing that, of constantly being on the miracle round of the transfer portal is that if you miss, you've got to rebuild the entire roster. A miss is a death sentence in college football. And the cycle goes fast. It goes so fast. If you're making your decision as a high school athlete right now about where to go to college, you're 16 or 17 years old. And the last time Florida State was good, you were 13, 12, 13. Do you really care? Did you really know? Did you really pay attention when you were 12 and 13? It goes another year and all of a sudden you were 10. And now you have to realize that these kids making these decisions, they might remember Jameis Winston and Jimbo Fisher, but they definitely don't remember our Florida State. When we as fans think about these programs, we think about them as the glory years. Nebraska falls into this. Florida State falls into this. Florida State has only finished ranked twice in the last nine seasons. That's not a very good program right now. They got on the transfer marigold round. It didn't work. And now they're behind the cycle. How do you convince kids to come to your program when Miami is doing what they're doing in recruiting with Mario Cristobal? You'd probably, you might want to go play for Florida at this point. You're not getting a Georgia kid. That's for sure. You're not getting an Ellis, a Louisiana kid. You're not getting a Texas. Where are you getting your players? That's the trouble for Florida State. And they're in deep trouble. In particular with that schedule, again, SMU, Bama, Louisville, Miami, Clemson, Virginia, all coming up. Those all are going to be very difficult games for Florida State. And certainly, I mean, I would pick the other teams as of right now. All right, we move on. Now I got to give you my thoughts on all this eligibility issue. I haven't really broached this subject yet. And I wanted to make sure that we had more complete information because listen, this was never going to be just some quick ruling one way or the other. And let me start with your perspective, the fan perspective. And I totally understand this. And by the way, I'm probably in your boat. It's a huge eye roll. Nobody wants this. Nobody. You think about the philosophy of the sports bar. If you walk into a sports bar and there's 100 guys or sports fans, sorry, ladies, sports fans. There's 100 fans watching college football. And you ask each one of them, hey, do you think like players should be able to play? Do you think they should be able to go to the NFL and come back and play in college football? Every one of them would say no, maybe one. So like, let's just give it margin of error is 1%. This is a 99% issue, 99% issue. Now it is not that simple. So let's get into where we're at. And I just want to, I pride myself on this program of trying to give you complete information in a complete picture, which possibly others don't. So let's start with this. The NCAA tried to draw a line on eligibility and change that line on eligibility to more of an age-based eligibility. You have five years to play five seasons and they tried to make it cleaner. Why did they want to do that? Because they wanted to stop with all of this medical transfer, all these different waivers that have taken place for so long. There was a COVID year. There was so much ambiguity in eligibility that they wanted to clean that up and they wanted to do it in an age-based philosophy. Now I applaud. The decision in and of itself is fine. They also had a decision to make as it relates to the class of 2022, which would have been their fifth year this year in college athletics. So why did they exclude the 2022 class and just try to make this a hard line and sorry, it's unfair for you. And we're just going to take place for everybody else. So if you're 2022, you don't get the fifth year. If you're 2023 graduating high school, then you do get your fifth year. Doesn't seem fair. That's probably accurate. Truth be told, that's probably accurate. One of the reasons why they made that decision, however, is because that every, every eligibility ruling in college football since COVID and maybe even just before COVID has given extra time and space for college athletes. Well, what has that done? It is totally decimated high school recruiting in every sport. And I'm not just talking about college football. I'm talking about soccer and tennis and you name the sport and they're having problems. High school football is a great sport. It's a great sport. It's a great sport. It's a high school athletes don't have spots anymore. It's a huge problem. I see parents reach out to me all the time and ask me like, well, what should I do? How do I get noticed? All these coaches want is transfers. If you're a high school golfer, it's hard to get a golf scholarship. Why? Because all they want is transfers. You either have to be the elite of the elite, the number, you know, one through 10 recruit in your class, in your sport, or there's really no other spot because everybody just wants transfers. Why can they do that? Because all the eligibility rules has allowed college players to just stay there. So they wanted to clean that up and every single rule has favored the college athlete. And they finally made a rule that was like, Nope, we're going to make a hard break and we're going to move on. Okay. So where did that leave us? Well, the NCAA clumsily draws a line on eligibility. They exclude the 2022 class. Is it probably unfair? Yes. Yes, it is. I think they, they, they had a good intent, but yes, it's absolutely unfair. That unfairness is immediately exploited by athletes through the court system. And because there's no overarching governing body that has any enforcement power, because the NCAA can't enforce anything. We know that they're just going to get taken to court. We see all of these court cases and they're all different in all the different States. So you have one ruling over here and one ruling over there and it's a mess and it's a mess. So now the court systems are slowly trying, trying to come up with a line. But by the way, that line is likely arbitrary based on the jurisdiction of that court. So where does that leave the conferences? Well, the conferences then sit there and they're like, well, we better step in and we have to draw the line on the eligibility. So the NCAA clumsily draws the line. Then all these athletes below them say that's unfair. We're going to take this to the courts and that's drawing lines that are all over and squiggly and who knows. And so the conferences come in, they say, we need to govern our sport and we need a new line. So that leaves us with essentially four different types of players. Bear with me here. And I think you'll understand it. You have four different types of athletes. And by the way, this is every single sport for athletes. You have athlete, a player, a class of 2022 just wants clarity and fairness. Fair enough. Player B, a current student athlete sitting in a locker room right now in college wondering what their competitive spot is going to be, if their roster spot is going to be there, if their job is going to be there based on some sort of eligibility ruling that is taking place in the court. Is it fair to them? Certainly not. Player C, the high school athlete who's looking up saying, I just want a spot. Where are the opportunities in intercollegiate athletics? There are none. Please define a path. Please create a clear eligibility line so that people start to exit college athletics. So we have an opportunity to take place or take our spot in college athletics. And then the fourth player, player D, class of 2022, exploiting this process after going into a pro league. Where does that leave us? Did the NCAA unfairly penalize the class of 2022? The answer is yes. Do they probably need some sort of special category to keep those players involved in college athletics, but not take roster spots away from current athletes? Yes. That's probably the case. Is that nuanced and a clean, some sort of clean rule? Probably not. Is that a clean solution? Probably not, but it's a solution. Then you have, should entering a pro league, competing in a professional league in your sport, prohibit you from ever competing in college athletics again? The answer is yes. That is a clear, bright line. And that's all these conferences are trying to do. If you actually read the language of some of these conference rulings, what they're, what they're singling out is those players that are not just wondering and, and trying to generate some clarity and fairness of the 2022 class. They're trying to single out the players that are exploiting who have taken place in, who have taken part in professional camp. And now we're trying to come back. I don't love it. I don't love it. And then you have then this perspective. of course it's Lane Kiffin at the center of this. Of course, last year when he left Ole Miss, I told you that a coach, his number one currency is his credibility in front of his team. And that that was going to be hurt by the way that he left Ole Miss in the lurch before the playoff. So now he goes to LSU. And you might be saying like, well, Joel, all he did was get mercenaries because he brought in a bunch of transfers and they in turn were transactional. They know that he is transactional. So this shouldn't surprise anybody or any of them that he's trying to bring somebody in five days before the start of the regular season. But I'm here to tell you like trust is a big deal. Credibility is a big deal. If you're sitting there and the locker room is worried about who's going to be here and who's not, do I have a job or do I not have a job? This is not what I was promised. This is not what I was told. And the only thing that the head coach can say is like, well, of course we're going to do this. I'm just trying to be better. Better by how much? I would say that this is the law of diminishing returns. If you think that bringing one tight end back from the NFL is the reason that you're going to take some sort of jump, then your $45 million that you already spent on that roster is probably not well spent. The diminishing returns is sitting there, and I'm thinking to myself, why would I welcome in a problem that's not going to take us over the threshold, and all it's going to do is distract our locker room? Again, the choices that are made, I don't get it. I don't get it. The distraction is not worth it for a tight end, and by the way, not even a tight end that's likely going to be your starter. This is very different than the Rams waiting for Aaron Donald to make his decision about playing this year, which apparently has made the decision that he is going to play. This is different than the Steelers waiting for Aaron Rodgers, or back in the day when those teams were waiting for Favre, and they're like, well, is he going to play or is he not going to play? Those players can tangibly raise your ceiling. It's different. It's different. It's different. Is a backup tight end going to tangibly raise your ceiling? No. So why hold the entire team hostage based on this one decision? I don't get it. I think it's crazy, and again, I'll just say this. If you have participated in a professional sport, your eligibility is up. Sorry. That's just the way it goes. Now for the announcement, a huge announcement. Boom. We are going back on the road with a brand new live edition of the Joel Klatt Show. I cannot wait for this. We are coming to Ann Arbor, Michigan. That's right. September 10th, the Thursday night before the Michigan-Oklahoma game, we are going to be live at the Cirque Bar. All right? Now, there are limited spots here, so here's what you need to do. Tickets are free on Eventbrite, so go check that out. But seats are first come, first serve. The first 100 people are going to get in. The overflow room, there's some availability, but it's going to be a really intimate setting. We've got great guests. We're going to have an incredible program for you. Head to the link below in the episode description to grab tickets. You can get those tickets. And then we will see you there. Again, that is Thursday night before the Michigan-Oklahoma game. That is September 10th at the Cirque Bar. Go get your tickets at Eventbrite. Description down below. I cannot wait. These live shows are a lot of fun, and it's going to be fantastic there in Ann Arbor in preparation for what's going to be one of the best games of maybe the college football season and certainly a defining game in the college football season. If you haven't subscribed to the show, please go do that right now. Just click that button down below. You can rate, review. If you're listening, wherever you get your podcasts. And then if you haven't followed us on social media, go ahead and do so. Because here we go. We're ramping up. College football is here. We're going to begin our three episodes a week. So we've got this episode on Monday. Then we're going to have Wednesday, Thursday. And remember, all year, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, you're going to have a new Joel Klatsch show. So make sure you follow us at Joel Klatsch show. Subscribe. Do all those things. And get your tickets if you're going to be in Ann Arbor for that live show on September 10th. Thank you for listening, everybody. And it's here. It's finally here. Football is here. I'm glad. And I know you are as well. The wild world of college football continues Labor Day weekend. On Saturday, East Carolina looks to shock Alabama. And Baylor and Auburn battle it out in Atlanta in the Aflac kickoff game. Then Clemson hits the road, looking to spoil Lane Kiffin's Death Valley debut. Sunday night, it's Louisville versus Ole Miss in Nashville in the inaugural Liberty Mutual Music City kickoff game. College football Labor Day weekend. continues Saturday and Sunday on ABC and the ESPN app.