Rapid Fire topics include:
* Which Notre Dame player are you more confident will have a career year: wide receiver Jayden Thomas or vyper defensive end Jordan Botelho?
* We talked on Monday’s show about how Notre Dame should approach its future scheduling in an expanded CFP era. A listener said on YouTube that he thinks ND needs to have one of the top-10 toughest schedules annually to stay independent. He says he wants Big 10 teams like Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Ohio State on a constant rotation. Do you Buy or Sell more Big 10 teams on the schedule?
* The NCAA has approved allowing commercial sponsor advertisements on football fields for regular-season games beginning this season. Do you think Notre Dame will ever put sponsor logos on the field at Notre Dame Stadium?
* Thoughts on comments from Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer about rookie former Irish linebacker Marist Liufau.
* Fill-in the blank…Former Notre Dame baseball coach Paul Mainieri is expected to be named South Carolina’s new head coach and you are BLANK.
* USA Basketball officially released the women’s basketball Olympic roster today and they say they left Caitlin Clark off the team because they don’t think she has enough high-level experience. Do you Buy or Sell that rationale?
* After Oklahoma won its fourth straight women’s college world series and its seventh overall national championship since 2013, there have been some outcries to move the WCWS out of Oklahoma City. Do you Buy or Sell it?
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well Jess let’s not waste any more time are you ready for Rapid Fire it is you know why they pay me the big bucks that’s right all those big dollars to come in for this question which noted a player are you more confident will have a career year this season wide receiver Jaden Thomas or Viper defensive end Jordan Batello as much as it pains me to say this I have to go with Jordan batell at Viper because I believe this season is better teed up for him comparatively he has the starting role and it is essentially his position to lose right I think jayen Thomas is still gonna have a rather good season in terms of you know his productivity compared to his you know first few seasons at Notre Dame but the the realistic situation is the wide receiver room is a much deeper position than the Viper position there are more opportunities at the wide receiver position comparatively at the Viper position even if Jordan batell struggles he is going to be in a at least a Twan rotation maybe three-man rotation depending on how how bad his struggles are but he is going to have a lot of playing time comparatively right just because of what I was just outlining the wide receiver room has more depth there’s more bodies that can step up and I think just that’s the way I I chose to kind of analyze this question in terms of production so I have to go with batell at Viper yeah and it’s not a shot at at Jaden Thomas or his talent or anything else but because of some of the things you’re talking about because they went out to the transfer portal and and brought in some other guys from the portal who are also going to play outside the numbers game doesn’t favor Jaden Thomas you know like his worth e e ethic work ethic favors him but he’s also moved out exclusively to the boundary for the most part you his best the best production that he has had so far in his career when he’s been healthy has been out of the slot but I don’t think we’re going to see much of Jaden Thomas in the slot anymore because you’ve got Jaden grous and and Jordan fison who are going to be the primary guys there so Thomas is outside more the numbers that they’ve got at the position don’t favor him the numbers do favor Jordan Batello and look 32 tackles and four sacks last year I mean it’s not a extremely high bar for Jordan Batello like four and a half sacks as a reserve guy two years ago or or his career high so he gets to six sacks and even 40 tackles that’s an increase in production right there and I think it’s just going to be harder for Jaden Thomas to have a considerable bump considering all the things that that we outlined that kind of kind of work against him a little bit so I’ve got to go with patello as well yeah there’s just um you know there’s going to be an increase in output on offense this season No Doubt out it’s just there’s so many more people that the ball can go around to at the wide receiver running back position so I just like you were saying I just find it harder for Jaden Thomas to really get that sort of output that’s going to be shared amongst you know a larger group and then compared to batella where the bar isn’t set very high it’s it’s it’s very obtainable goals essentially so we talked on yesterday’s show about how Notre Dame should approach its future scheduling in the expanded college football playoff era which begins this season and a listener made a comment on YouTube on the video last night he said that he thinks Notre Dame needs to have one of the top 10 toughest schedules annually to remain in to basically to be able to remain independent he also says he wants big 10 teams like Michigan Michigan State Purdue and Ohio State on a constant rotation on Notre Dame schedule do you buy or sell more big 10 teams on the schedule and you can also address the top 10 toughest schedule you know that that’s that’s in there as well yeah I’m I’ll start with the top 10 um toughest schedule comment I do believe that nerding needs a a relatively tough schedule in order to order to remain a pendent because I think that’s the biggest knock that they’re going to face in the expanded you know playoff eras everyone else is is taking on a tougher schedule because these these power for conferences are beefed up right so what is not doing response I think in order to stay independent and and to stay on people’s good side you naturally need to you know increase your schedule but if you look at Notre Dame’s track record they have annually a very you know tough schedule and so while I that’s actually something that you know people like to take shots at Notre Dame’s schedule but year in and year out this season is probably going to be a little bit different but year in and year out you’re right it it it actually Stacks up very well because of the way schedule right so I don’t think Notre Dame necessarily needs a top 10 I just think they need a top 25 schedule year in and year out and I think that’s what they consistently do right um and then moving on to the the next part of the question I do buy them actually rotating in more big 10 um opponents because to me it makes sense it’s regional right so you don’t have to travel very far when you’re considering Ohio State Michigan Michigan State Purdue and I don’t have any issue if if you want to start maybe looking at Oregon or if you want to maybe start looking at you know some of these other teams that have joined um the Big 10 but I think you can have a rotating schedule amongst the Big 10 where maybe one or two games a season you slot in two big 10 teams along with your four ACC teams or however that many turns out to be um you include you know USC’s in the Big 10 now so they get they get a part of that you know maybe one or two big 10 opponents every season um and then you know I don’t mind keeping Navy I think you could kick out a team like Stanford but I just I don’t need to see any more Tennessee States I think that was last year yes was a mistake um and especially with the expanded playoff um you know going forward I I don’t I I don’t want to see those sort of opponents on the schedule I wouldn’t mind replacing last year Tennessee state with you know a Purdue or Michigan State or someone like that the reason they they already had two by- weeks during the season there’s going to be two by weeks during this season as well because of when they play Texas A&M and the reason they played Tennessee state was because you’re coming back from Dublin I don’t know what obviously there are a lot of intricacies to putting together a schedule and being able to find teams that fit in place but it was essentially like okay you’re not going to take the bye early you’re going to take two during the season you’re going to compensate for it by playing an FCS team that you should be able to beat up on which they did and it and it allowed them to get you know like any jet lag factor and that kind of stuff but I agree you like I don’t want to see any more FCS schools um but you’re right I think that really you don’t have to necessarily be a top 10 schedule I would say top 15 to 20 like you said 25 and typically that’s what they’re going to be and Brent said you know Brent when we were talking about this the strength of schedule 2024 is the exception I mean we’ll see what it ends up being obviously these these teams that that maybe we’re not thinking as much of right now they could overperform this year and it could make it ultimately a tougher schedule that’s typically what happens and and that’s why I Notre Dame even though people look at the schedule and don’t always think that it looks that great and I’m talking more from the outside you know they take shots at Notre Dame schedule but what ends up happening is it ends it ends up being a very competitive schedule and it is typically waited because of the fact that they’ve had Ohio States and Georgia and you know Clemson ends up on the schedule you know three times in what the last six or seven years or or whatever it is but when you’ve got there’s no getting around the fact that when you’ve got four group of five teams on the schedule going in two Max and then two serviceis that should bring the strength of the schedule down a little bit this season so you know when you talk about it being an exception it should be I mean we’ll see who expected Louisville to be what they were last year we’ll see what it ends up what it ends up being in terms of the Big 10 teams when I first looked at this I’m thinking oh you know because I think uh somebody came on last night was saying they want four big 10 teams on the schedule every year I think that that would be a bit much even though USC is going to be included in the Big 10 so that’ll be part of that number as well I just I’ve never been that excited about Purdue and you know like when when they used to have Michigan Michigan State and Purdue and a lot of the times Boston College all on the schedule every year I never like that because what ends up happening is for teams like Michigan State Purdue and Boston College all stepchild type programs they they all essentially consider n Notre Dame a much bigger rival than Notre Dame ever considered them so there was just always more on the line it seemed like for them playing against Notre Dame so I definitely don’t want all of them on the schedule at the same time but I don’t mind as this says you know when I think about it more these big 10 teams in rotation you’re always going to have USC and again they’re going to be a big 10 team I don’t I definitely don’t mind a rotation of seeing some of these other big 10 teams coming on and off the schedule on a regular basis going forward I mean quite honestly I just kind of miss you know Notre Dame schedule from like 2005 to 2010 when it was like Penn State Michigan Michigan State you know you rotated in maybe a UCLA a Tennessee uh Washington was on the schedule a little bit I I think if they go back to that older format and you keep two big 10 teams per year one of them is obviously USC and then you kind of rotate that other one every year between Michigan Michigan State Penn State Ohio State and then you keep relatively the same schedule of your core ACC um your service acmy I don’t see why that schedule wouldn’t you know what I mean like I think that’s a solid schedule every year to be honest with you say that again I’m sorry I was looking at one of the comments no it’s okay so like having USC as your one obviously Big 10 Team every year right and then you rotate a second slot between either Michigan State Michigan Penn State Ohio State basically a regional Big 10 team yeah you keep your four i’ like to I would like to see Penn State get in the rotation here at some point yeah and then you keep keep your four or five ACC slots so now you’re up to you know six or seven games you have your two service acmy so then you’re up to you know seven seeven or like nine or 10 games and then you have you know whatever you want with the last two maybe a Max school maybe um keeping Stanford I I I think it’s definitely doable I guess what I’m saying and I I like the idea of Ro I think the main takeway is I like the idea of rotating a big 10 spot you know every two years basically you get a home home and then you move on to another big team home and home home and home and I think that would keep a lot of people happy yeah I agree with that I agree with that for sure and you know some people were saying get an SEC team on there every year John says beating an FCS team doesn’t help Notre Dame strength of schedule you’re absolutely right but you know like last year when you had the FCS team you obviously had Ohio State you had Clemson Louisville ended up being pretty good Duke was a good team as well so you know again the schedule like the this the schedule ended up kind of out kind of offsetting the fact that you were playing that FCS and a couple of comments from Michael Han as well he said Purdue was on it because they were the only original Big 10 school that didn’t boycott Notre name you know mov to Michigan organized it in the late 20s you’re right you know and again I’m not not hung up on something that happened basically 100 years ago at this point you know when you talk about Big 10 grudges at that point all those people are pushing daisies at this point so I’m not I’m not nearly as as hung up on that but you’re right and it was it like that was overlooked the fact that a lot of people talked about the Michigan series ending when in fact it was an intermittent series at best I mean there were large gaps breaks between Notre day and and Michigan ever playing Purdue and Michigan State played much more regularly than Michigan ever did and and there obviously is proximity there but again you know that’s that became much more like I just I I’m just I’m just going to be honest I don’t like dealing with the nasty Purdue fans who come to town when Notre Dame and Purdue play because they’re just flat out nasty most of the time now there are some like the locals you don’t hear it from as much but I just just not down with that just not down with it um because again it means more to them than it does to Notre Dame and you know Michael’s also right about the 20 4 strength the schedule is not Notre Dame’s fault because Miami should have been on it they screwed Notre Dame over you’re absolutely right we mentioned that yesterday it just it is what it is but there’s you know whether it’s Notre Dame’s fault or not Notre Dame is gonna have to deal with it this year I put it more on the ACC like you shouldn’t have just let Miami off the hook like you should have told Miami you can’t you can’t you got to get rid of that extra game it’s it it’s not on noted aim to do this you screwed it up you get rid of that extra game and you figure that out in the future that’s what it should have been but that’s not what they did so okay so the NCAA has approved allowing commercial sponsor advertisements on football fields for regular season games beginning this season do you think Notre Dame is ever going to put sponsor logos on the uh on the field at Notre Dame stadium so I looked up not Dame’s official sponsors official sponsors of nerd Dame athletics um one to make sure I had the right ones dig Sporting Goods is amongst them um tealing whiskey is another one Yeti is another one that’s what I want to see I want to see the teing whiskey down there Meyer Direct TV Howard Bailey uh which is a financial service All State obviously NBC um I think Coca-Cola is Coca-Cola still one of them they are not on the official uh sponsorship sponsorship they were for several years okay yeah Old Dominion Freight um and then of course Guinness so to me knowing that this is Notre Dame I think that list automatically gets condensed they’re not putting whiskey or Guinness on their on their uh unfortunately on their field so to me what this comes down to is I think there’s three like viable candidates I think that you could definitely see the NBC logo down there somewhere on the field um I think you could see the Meer logo well there’s already you know when it’s a Notre Dame home game there’s already NBC logos all over the TV screen so I don’t know if need any more of that necessarily but that’s that obviously is the biggest one what they’re getting from them and then I think don’t forget Under Armour though as well under armor yeah Meyer um Direct TV so like I’ll say I guess what I’m getting at is like if they were going to do it I think it’s a very small group of who it would be I think it’d be like all again it’s Plastering another NBC logo down there somewhere All State or Meyer um I don’t think they do anything fun is ultimately is what I’m getting at and I think it’d have to be like a very big Global brand essentially that that offers no sort of repercussion essentially well and I think that it would be either like you you ran through that list whoever it would be they would have to pay I think an astronomical amount of money to get Notre Dame to do it that you know what like Notre Dame has always resisted that and that was one of the kick you know the push backs when they did the video board that they put in there was people were worried that there were going to be just a boatload of advertisements up there on that video board and they’ve resisted that and I just feel like Notre Dame doesn’t even put lettering in the end zones still you know they don’t put Notre Dame or Fighting Irish or a shamrock in the end zones they’ve still got the White Stripes in there if they’re going that route I have a hard time seeing them putting copious corporate logos out there well I like I guess ultimately that’s the way I would prefer it I I like the simple traditionalist type of look right and I think if you’ve already kind of set the stage or the standard that that’s what you’re going to do so I don’t believe there’s any reason to deviate from it you know I I I feel like Notre Dame um does their sponsors well I I think that they they don’t need more you know exposure or logo on the field there’s already commercials there’s already like you were saying the big board during the game um I I prefer the this the the field to be pretty simple I think they could add a few things here and there but it would be relative to Notre Dame and Notre Dame football I don’t think that they should Branch out and start adding more you know corporate sponsors essentially DK this might be like DK’s second best ever Point that he’s actually you know legit Point that he’s made on this show I have to give you kudos for that DK he said say they they do it on The Telecast where they just add them to the feed so essentially it’s like green screen basically they’re you know they’re superimposing a graphic on the screen just like the uh like the first down line or the red zone line or you know whatever it happens to be like it’s it’s a uh an extra package within the NBC deal what do you think about that do you think that they would act like that they would do essentially a graphic on the screen that only TV View ERS would see it’s not actually a logo on the field but yeah like the I mean the NBA does it when you see when you watch a baseball game I realize not that many people watch baseball games oh the Reds did that on their Mound they been I I’ve recognized they rotate the sponsor on their Mound there’s a lot or on most of the most of the signage that you see at a major league baseball game that shows up on TV you know like be like on the back stop behind the batter that’s actually just a green screen there and like stuff A lot of times NBA stuff as well it’s like a green screen type deal where they just put the ad up and you’re and you’re only seeing it on TV people who are at the game wouldn’t actually I would prefer that route because I think it keeps the fields and the in-game experience more genuine yeah I agree I I agree with that as well now and that and that involves your TV sponsor as well you know but but I think that having a guy like Pete Baka as your new Point man a guy with a TV background I think that things could get more creative along those lines where there’s something in it for both NBC and Notre Dame potentially so I think that that makes more sense that it’s it’s stuff that’s going to show up on the TV screen but it’s not actually going to be on the field itself so you’re not cluttering up your field and you could actually do more with that because then it’s not just one or two sponsors there are a lot more sponsors who could rotate throughout the course of the game that you would see on your TV screen if you did it that way that than if you actually plastered something on the field itself which again they’re still doing white lines in the end zone so I have a hard time thinking that they’re actually going to put something fixed on the field out there so here’s what new Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer had to say after working with former noted Dame linebacker Maris lefal quote number one he’s brilliant he catches on really quick he wants to be so good and so intense he’s almost too much at it right now the other thing is I think he’s a really good pressure player and I think having that with Micah Parsons and another pressure player that is a linebacker or he can move more somewhere else and Parsons can move somewhere else I think those pieces add to confus Fusion for the offense plus he’s a really good rusher end quote from Mike Zimmer on Maris lefel what do you think about that um you know I like to gloat every now and then so I think what I have to say about that first and foremost on this show I felt like I did a very good job of stating the pros and cons of Maris lefal and informing the masses that he is going to go higher and have an NFL Ro that that probably people weren’t expected to see right just because he wasn’t a great run stopping linebacker doesn’t mean that there’s not a role for him in the NFL and so Mike Zimmer outlined a lot of what I thought I said were his Pros he’s a good pass rusher he has good versatility he’s really smart um and he has the actually good in coverage as well never gave touchdown pass right very good he’s a he’s Elite coverage linebacker he can cover just about anyone out of the Back Field um and then you combine that with the you know the the want or the hunger to learn um the ability to not only learn a defense but probably teach a defense to you know other players at some point it’s it’s really an I Told You So moment and I think the part that I didn’t I didn’t think of I like how you’re just patting yourself on the back for all this you know like you’re not we can pull up the tapes if we really ultimately do you think this is actually like the thing that stands out to me is he wants to be so good and so intense he’s almost too much at it right now that’s a line that stands out to me like is that his his PS are out ahead of his skis a little bit you know like what what we saw of Maris Lee fou like he just needs to reel it in a little bit I think with Maris Le aoul he he expects Perfection out of himself and when he doesn’t obtain it it it brings his it brings him down and I think that’s what Zimmer is ultimately getting at is you’re not going to be perfect at this right now and so you can’t let let that know affect your play essentially I think that’s what he’s saying is too intense is he expects I think Maris expects himself to to literally pick it up in a day and be able to execute it the next day right and so I still think there’s a learning curve to being an NFL linebacker I can see the pass rush stuff for him right now I think we could all see that right now the pass rush itself but I I do feel like Mike Zimmer maybe has a very high level of expectation of what he’s actually going to get from Maris Leah that might be separated from reality a little bit unless they do these very specific things like you’re talking about if they’re if if they can because we we all know that in the NFL depth becomes an issue and if he’s forced into play you know just like last year you talked about how they played the safeties so much at linebacker well they had to because of you know they were they were thin and they didn’t have guys because of injuries and stuff like that if they play to Maris Lea house strengths that’s one thing but I I feel like the more he’s asked to do the more you’re going to see you know kind of some of the stuff that we saw here at Notre Dame like he’s a very situational guy at least early on um I think he can be an every down linebacker I just don’t think you I don’t think you’re asking like again it’s it’s all schematic right I don’t think you’re asking him to plug the A and B gaps on a run game like that’s just not what you’re doing with Maris Leal I think the thing that stuck out to me and Zimmer’s quote and something I hadn’t really thought of is the games that him and Micah Parsons can play off of each other as rushers because Maris Leal can get after a quarterback with good rushing speed right and so right when defenses are already worried about Micah parsons’s the ability to maybe you know drop Micah Parson’s into coverage because he can play linebacker and then bring Maris off the edge or vice versa find a stunt that allows both of them to be blitzing at the same time I think this only enhances Micah Parson Micah Parson’s game first and foremost most and I think Micah Parson’s being on the field is ultimately going to enhance Maris leal’s game as well because all the eyes the attention are gonna be on Micah parsons’s and Maris leow is a sneaky athletic linebacker right I mean Brent Brent’s yelling at you right now that he can’t fill I mean I think we all know that but I I I don’t think that that’s what you’re saying I don’t think that you’re saying he’s gonna be because like you basically said he’s not GNA be he’s not gonna be a Phil linebacker Gap linebacker a boundary off the edge type of linebacker so Mike Zimmer knows that and and maybe you know and who’s to say that Maris Lea can’t be taught some of his you know basically be coached up on some of his tackling deficiencies or his his filling the a gap deficiencies like he is still a very raw linebacker in my opinion and so I like the the the the first and foremost is his versatility what they can do with him moving him around he’s a pass rusher he can cover he can play off in coverage right like there’s a lot of stuff you can do with the athleticism that Maris Leal presents and I think that that’s what they see most of all is the athleticism and again the athleticism is always been there but being assignment sound has been the weakness but that’s also why I keep going back to if they if they are able to keep him in very specific roles that play to his strengths I think they’ll be fine early on but there’s there’s a learning curve and you know Brent says definitely not Dre green law or Fred Warner but again two really good athletes great athleticism there and you know I guess you know I would I would you know flip that back to were Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner when they showed up in San Francisco it was their little learning curve for them as well yes great athlete I think we all know that but a lot of people are think is is he gonna be a starter I just put it like this Jerry Jones doesn’t waste draft picks for guys who aren’t going to be starters he’s going to be out on that field you know like you know this very they are very proud of their draft picks and they are going to run them out there and they like Maris Leal is probably gonna I would I would guarantee that he plays at least 70% of the snaps on defense this season oh boy I don’t know about that I mean I don’t disagree that that that could happen but man concerns me a little bit fill on the blank former Notre Dame baseball coach Paul maner expected to be named South Carolina’s new head coach and you are blank uh I am I’m shocked but not shocked I I thought for sure that he was going to hang it up but a few years ago which is it’s already been like two three years I think at this point when they had that reunion at Notre Dame and he he had just kind of stepped away from LSU um he’d been out for about a year at that point he had been out you could just tell by talking to him he wasn’t the itch was still there you know what I mean and so I think he took a few years to simmer down a little little bit maybe gain back some of the health and really see if he you know still has it in him but ultimately at the end of the day he can’t stay away you know what I like that’s that’s why I’m not shocked because he’s just he’s just a baseball guy and I think that the more he stays away from the game the more it really bugs him and so the ability to kind of come back I’m most curious to see how this one goes because you know it was Notre Dame and then it was LSU I feel like this is his big leap of faith at this point in his career he could ride off into the sunset and really just enjoy retirement enjoy all the accolades that he done with his career I think it’s a big again a big leap of faith to go out and say I can come back to uh you know an program be you know play in SEC baseball and still be at that level that I want to be at and it’s interesting because now LSU is LSU it’s arguably the biggest brand name in all of college baseball but when Paul maner took it over in 2007 they were bad they were you they didn’t make the NCAA tournament the year before he got there just like South Carolina didn’t last you know didn’t make it the last I know they didn’t make it this year but they were back-to-back National CH it’s been longer than I thought it was it’s 2010 and 2011 but what I’m saying is he’s taking over a program that even though they’re not LSU they were they were Elite for for quite a while as well under Ray Tanner who’s now going to be his boss there and what’s two of the most interesting things to me is pulmanary is not going to go into the he’s gonna go into this in a better situation from an assistant coach standpoint that he went into with LSU even though one of the guys is going to be the same he took his pitching coach Terry Rooney with him from Notre Dame to LS Terry Rooney was just at LSU last year as their recruiting coordinator and moner is going to take him to South Carolina to be his pitching coach again that’s a guy who has head coaching experience and you know Elite recruiting experience and moner is also going to have Monty Lee on his staff he’s a former head coach at Clemson who was an assistant coach the last couple of years at South Carolina so you’ve got he’s going to have two assistant coaches with head coaching experience and recruiting experience in that footprint he’s going to be in down there at South Carolina so I think you can definitely argue that maybe it is a little bit bigger challenge turning that thing back around but in a transfer portal era in an nil era I think that they’ve got a really good chance with you know you’re talking about a Hall of Fame head coach with two assistants who have been head coaches themselves who are going to be under him so I think it’s h of Fame director as well you know like exactly the combination of them four is going to get something done and I I actually didn’t I thought Paul was older than what he is he’s only 66 which in I I think in in terms of Coach coach coaching ages you and Co you know just like being the head football coach at Notre Dame ages you being the head baseball coach at LSU ages you CU he you know no offense to Paul obviously but uh he you know he aged in his time down there at LSU because there are big time expectations but there are going to be big time expectations at South Carolina as well there’s some people there there’s some you know South Carolina people who who don’t like this they think oh you’re bringing this old man out of retirement and all this stuff again Ray Tanner the guy who used to be the baseball coach at South Carolina is his boss and he’s the one who hired pal minary you know they had a great relationship back when they were coaching against each other Ray Tanner has coached against maner and he’s seen him recently he knows exactly what he’s getting so I mean I think that you’re looking at a guy his assistant coach Mark Kingston took over for him last time when Tanner moved from from baseball coach to athletic director I think you’ve got the right guy making a hire like this and and you’re bringing in a great head coach who I think has still got a lot left in the tank I think he just needed kind of some time you know with some of the the physical stuff that he was going through there with the neck surgery and stuff like that to of step away and I think that his his juices are definitely recharged because like you said when we talked to him a couple of years ago and he was at Notre Dame you could see him sort of needing to scratch that itch he’s gonna have a chance to do that again now I mean we’re talking about a guy that won the the whole thing in 2009 he’s got four SEC regular season championships six SEC tournament championships four Big East regular season championships and five Big East tournament championships with you know multiple Coach of the Year Awards if I’m South Carolina I I don’t know what what more that you want right because this guy has a proven track record you’ve been crap ever since Ray Tanner stepped down and Ray Tanner you know this this is a guy that Ray Tanner competed against and you would probably call a rival at some point and so to me the ability to you know recognize game as game and hire Paul moner and set aside everything else I think should show that you know if if Ray Tanner can believes in Paul Maneri and can set aside you know their rivalry that dates back to LSU in South Carolina that he probably made a good business decision on behalf of South Carolina yep absolutely and again I’m impressed with the staff that he put together in a pretty quick amount you know now again he’s inheriting Monty Hall or not Monty H he’s not a game show host Monty Lee but again Lee was the head coach at Clemson had solid success at Clemson before it kind of tapered off toward the end but the fact that you’ve got two assistant coaches who have been head coaches and a guy like Lee who’s recruited that area down there for an extensive amount of time to have that kind of guy with you know the recruiting ins and all that kind of stuff I think that that it’s a really good situation for maner so I’m really curious to see how quickly they’re they’re able to uh turn it around I don’t think it’s going to be very long so USA Basketball officially released the women’s basketball Olympic Rost and they say their reason for leaving Caitlyn Clark off the team is because they didn’t think she had enough highlevel experience do you buy or sell the rationale um that is a 100% sell for me and you know whether or not you want to say she’s not ready because of talent I can completely buy that right but there’s no reason that Caitlyn Clark can’t sit on a bench and just practice and develop with the USA team even if she’s not a starter even if she’s not getting sizable minutes like she is still but do you want that distraction of all the questions being about that if she’s not getting all those minutes considering everything that’s come in the last month since she’s been in the WNBA yeah because I think it’s a lot it’s it it takes away it’s a strategic decision that ultimately is going to all Al the future of women’s basketball and that’s what you know women like they have been trying to repair the image of women’s basketball they have been fighting to get you know all these things on behalf of women’s basketball and I think when you don’t include Caitlyn Clark on the most national stage you’re just basically saying you don’t care about you know her and what she’s doing for the sport ultimately so I get it that yes it could provide a distraction but she’s still again one of the most popular players in the league and it’s not like her skill is that far off she was the number one draft pick in the WNBA to me and maybe this is a little bit of a you know this comparison is a little bit too much but like it would be like saying you know the the number one draft pick in the NBA can’t be on the the you know the essentially the USA roster like imagine had the USA left out Carmelo Anthony if they’ left out someone like Kobe Bryant LeBron James and I get it these players are probably a little bit better more prominent than what LeBron James as a rookie I don’t think you would have like if the Olympics were that year I don’t think you’re taking LeBron James a rookie I just I understand the she’s gonna be on an Olympic team at some point but see and that’s why I I I don’t think that it hurts her just to wait four years and be on it four years down the road I just think that she is such a lightning rod and there is already all this jealousy that we’ve talked about from these other players when you’re only talking about the select 12 players in you know that are going to be on this roster I think that it would have gotten even worse than what it was and I think the other side of this is they’re they’re going to shut down the WNBA is going to shut down for a month while they’re while they’re over there playing in the Olympics and I don’t think that that’s a bad thing for Caitlyn Clark either after playing an entire like like just like we had Hannah doggo on earlier and they’re doing their summer workouts right now and then when school starts they’ll be you know they’ll be doing workouts and they’ll get into official practice and then they go through basically a five and a half month season and then she got a couple of months or a couple of weeks break Caitlyn Clark did and went straight into the WNBA training camp and then straight into the season she’s she and the Indiana Fever have played more games than anyone else because they’re already using her as a marketing tool for the WNBA I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world that that Clark just gets to her body for a little bit I think she’ll be fine I think four years from now she’ll be one of the stars of the US Olympic team but I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world that she doesn’t go right now I see I I guess I didn’t think of that perspective of the distraction when you’re trying to play at the on the highest stage essentially right because you don’t want to be going through Olympic practices and reporters continuously asking you why isn’t Caitlyn Clark playing right because it should be focused on the team and what they’re trying to accomplish and so I do see that side of things and and another part of it is when you’re trying to you know formulate a a 12ers roster is you got to realize that that pretty much gives you two players at each position right and so is Caitlyn Clark a top two guard in the league right now I would say no right but to me the the reason why I was so on board or so I guess in disagreement is because of again she is still the future of the sport and I didn’t think there would be any harm of at least letting her develop and practice with these kind of players and those sort of things but I do see what you’re saying that it can also be a distraction so I’m I’m really truly stuck in the middle I don’t know if there is a right answer at the end of the day I’m a little bit in the middle e you know as well and you know like when we do these shows like being in the middle typically isn’t good but I do think that there are too like I can see like there’s a very good case for her being deserving of being there and for when you’re still trying to bring more exposure to the game of of women’s basketball and I mean there’s definite like I can definitely see why NBC would want her there but does NBC’s needs match up with USA Basketball needs obviously not but you know they to win gold they don’t care how many people are watching yeah exactly and like there’s like Michael was saying we talked about this yesterday there’s I think an even bigger case for arque agumba w being there just with what she is producing right now averaging 26 a game but she’s left off the team but you know you do have a couple of other Irish guards on there and and that’s great Notre Dame has great representation from that aspect but that and and that’s my point I just think that there are you know like there’s there’s just as big a case I think for why is d Diana terasi even on this team you know like if you want to talk about that’s what I mean you know so there’s like are we truly Diana terasi need to be there and then you know like when you talk about the development of a player like Caitlyn Clark and what she’s going to be potentially for Team USA for the next 16 years or yeah I mean are we letting Diana terasi play on the team because she’s one of the best players or are we just letting her right off into the sunset and get one more Olympics under her belt right there’s more deserving players than Diana terasi skill skill levelwise that that that could be on that team yes exactly exactly okay so after Oklahoma won its four straight Women’s College World Series and its seventh title overall since 2013 there have been some outcries to move the Women’s College World Series out of Oklahoma City because of it being an unfair HomeField advantage for Oklahoma do you buy or sell moving the Women’s College World Series out of Oklahoma City I sell it the only reason this is an issue is because a team is winning if you want to stop that then beat them it doesn’t matter where you’re playing at at the end of the day again it if if Oklahoma wasn’t good and another team was dominating this thing every year in Oklahoma City it wouldn’t be an issue right if you want to beat a team um and you want to take down what what I would consider a dynasty right now in college softball you just got to beat them and so people always throw a fit when you start beating them and you start beating them consecutively and consecutively and consecutively people start whining and crying and trying to find excuses to why it’s unfair no get better players and beat Oklahoma you know like that’s that’s the answer to me at the end of day this is a big sell to me I completely agree you know there was there was I mean it’s been 20 or so years ago but the Nebraska baseball team made it to the College World Series a couple years in a row when Jaba Chamberlain was their star pitcher and all that he ended up with the Yankees but you know they packed Rosen blat when Nebraska was there because obviously it’s in Omaha and they didn’t talk about you know they now they didn’t win the World Series but at the same time they weren’t talking about moving the World Series out of Omaha because you’re getting bigger Nebraska crowds in there and I just I feel like especially in in in softball and baseball I don’t feel like HomeField Advantage is that big a thing and the fact that in these sports like even when you go to a Super Regional they basically flip a coin to determine who’s going to be you know you have a three- game series they flip a coin to determine who’s going to be the home team like they alternate just because you’re hosting doesn’t mean you’re the home team and you get the last at bat and all that stuff I mean you’re just going through a period right now where Oklahoma has just become this dominating Juggernaut their only other National Championship came came all the way back in 1982 so this is you know it’s a recent phenomena they’re not going to stay dominant forever so you’re I can’t see moving the the sports biggest event out of the city that happens to host it just because the team that’s winning right now happens to be a few miles away so big sale for me too all right are you guys going back and forth here on something still you and you and Brent chirping at each other I just uh him and or Brent and Irish gordian not we’re going at it I just had to give my final two Brent was asking earlier if you if you’ve uh lost some lbs I would say probably naturally I mean the summertime is really busy for me I play in a softball league I play in a sand volleyball league I coach a team that has practice once a week and I throw like an ungodly amount of pitches and then I I throw to I we have games on Saturdays and then I’ve been walking every morning at 6 does your arm get locked up you know like after throwing all those pitches you it’s definitely sore I mean going from you know throwing 150 pitches on Saturday to playing in a softball league on Sunday my arm definitely feels it by um you know by the time it’s all said and done but you know just the summertime I just naturally more active getting a lot of walks in people were making fun of my cardio last week so had to make sure need to run those stairs more often right I guess there’s a hill by our house that we’ve been that we’ve been working on a little bit so you got some sun on your face too you look like you’re feeling it a little bit right now yeah how much golf has been involved in that that’s also you you even you I totally forgot that out I play golf once at least once a week probably golf 18 to 27 holes every week so just when the summer time comes around it’s just all the Athletics come out that’s right all right good stuff appreciator as always jet I I don’t know if you saw we celebrated our two-year anniversary yesterday I saw that can’t believe it’s already been two years I know you were getting some love there on the Champions Lounge so really in the show here a little bit I guess I gotta go read it yeah y good love all the way around it’s been a fun two years appreciate you uh being here as always and um thanks to Hannah hongo for joining us earlier today if you missed that that of course will be uh you can find it your wherever you get your podcast we’ll have the uh specific YouTube video up later on of the interview with Hannah hadalo as well thanks to Ryan he had a lot of good recruiting information at the start of the show as well Jesse put a little lotion on your face the nose is a little burnt hydrate all right thanks for being here hit the like button and we will talk to you you tomorrow on IB Nation Sports Talk mailbag
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Two big 10 teams like USC and Purdue?
I would like to see us play Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Oregon, Nebraska, not always Meat chicken, The Suckeyes, USCum, Penn State or Purdue…