And now we're joined by Josh Pate. You can find them over at Late Kick with Josh Pate on YouTube. You can find it on anywhere where your podcasts are found. If you're a college football fan, you probably recognize this face. Josh, thanks for covering on the show.

And now we're joined by Josh Pate. You can find them over at Late Kick with Josh Pate on YouTube. You can find it on anywhere where your podcasts are found. If you're a college football fan, you probably recognize this face. Josh, thanks for covering on the show.

What is all this? This is a beautiful setup you have here. Walk me through all of it if you have a spare hour.

What is all this? This is a beautiful setup you have here. Walk me through all of it if you have a spare hour.

All right, So there are a few things here. So this obviously an Oregon helmet. You can't see the Jaguars helmet that's signed by a bunch of my former teammates. Guy that's like my little brother here. His name is Pharaoh Brown. He plays for the New England Patriots right now. A couple shoes that I like. And then some cards because I collect cards. So I have a few of my favorites up there, some bowl rings, some books, things that you know, are you know, very.

All right, So there are a few things here. So this obviously an Oregon helmet. You can't see the Jaguars helmet that's signed by a bunch of my former teammates. Guy that's like my little brother here. His name is Pharaoh Brown. He plays for the New England Patriots right now. A couple shoes that I like. And then some cards because I collect cards. So I have a few of my favorites up there, some bowl rings, some books, things that you know, are you know, very.

Relevant to me? Matt, Well, same here, because what we have here is we have blinds.

Relevant to me? Matt, Well, same here, because what we have here is we have blinds.

That's it.

That's it.

Around this time of year, that's all I need my life. I just need blinds and I need people to be shut off from the inside world we have here.

Around this time of year, that's all I need my life. I just need blinds and I need people to be shut off from the inside world we have here.

Yeah, and I see that things are changing in your in your life, because one of the posts that you have pinned your Twitter account is basically your seven buck story that in the seventh buck story is the is the Rock story where he went from nothing.

Yeah, and I see that things are changing in your in your life, because one of the posts that you have pinned your Twitter account is basically your seven buck story that in the seventh buck story is the is the Rock story where he went from nothing.

To this I'm taking off here and making three hundred bucks a week. It worked out because I didn't give up. That sounds like motivational speaker talk, you know, it sounds like something your guidance counselor tells you. No, I promise you, guys, it works.

To this I'm taking off here and making three hundred bucks a week. It worked out because I didn't give up. That sounds like motivational speaker talk, you know, it sounds like something your guidance counselor tells you. No, I promise you, guys, it works.

And I noticed that you posted A lot of people don't necessarily always want to talk about that journey and how bad it was and everything like that. What led you to sharing that part of the.

And I noticed that you posted A lot of people don't necessarily always want to talk about that journey and how bad it was and everything like that. What led you to sharing that part of the.

Story, Well, because I think it's really relevant. I think I don't know. I mean, so the way I look at it, George, is if you're to have a platform, if you're blessed to you know, live out your dream scenario, which I get to do with my job, but it wasn't always that good. Why would you keep that story to yourself? If you know a lot of people could potentially benefit from it, Why would you keep it to yourself? So, you know, when I I always told myself, when I get to the level where anyone could hear my voice. I was going to let that story be known, and I don't necessarily tell it every day, but I've done it a couple of times on the show. And what you're talking about is on my Twitter profile where I just penned it, and it's what we were exiting twenty twenty three, we're going into twenty twenty four. As recently as twenty nineteen, at least financially, it was a really tough time and I was down in Columbus, Georgia doing local stuff and that was right before I got the call that I didn't know was coming from CBS in twenty four to seven. But the reason I put it out there is because I think there are a lot of folks who have the requisite talent level, they have desire, they're working hard, and they just feel like their their wheels are spinning and it may be the best thing in the world for you, because it was the best thing in the world for me that I didn't get a break for a long time, because you may only get one big break, and if it comes too early, you may not be equipped to handle it the right way. But also I put it out there to let folks know that just because you can't see over the horizon and it looks bleak doesn't mean there may not be something right over the horizon. It's a message I could have used at that point, so I put it out there so anyone else who could use it could have it.

Story, Well, because I think it's really relevant. I think I don't know. I mean, so the way I look at it, George, is if you're to have a platform, if you're blessed to you know, live out your dream scenario, which I get to do with my job, but it wasn't always that good. Why would you keep that story to yourself? If you know a lot of people could potentially benefit from it, Why would you keep it to yourself? So, you know, when I I always told myself, when I get to the level where anyone could hear my voice. I was going to let that story be known, and I don't necessarily tell it every day, but I've done it a couple of times on the show. And what you're talking about is on my Twitter profile where I just penned it, and it's what we were exiting twenty twenty three, we're going into twenty twenty four. As recently as twenty nineteen, at least financially, it was a really tough time and I was down in Columbus, Georgia doing local stuff and that was right before I got the call that I didn't know was coming from CBS in twenty four to seven. But the reason I put it out there is because I think there are a lot of folks who have the requisite talent level, they have desire, they're working hard, and they just feel like their their wheels are spinning and it may be the best thing in the world for you, because it was the best thing in the world for me that I didn't get a break for a long time, because you may only get one big break, and if it comes too early, you may not be equipped to handle it the right way. But also I put it out there to let folks know that just because you can't see over the horizon and it looks bleak doesn't mean there may not be something right over the horizon. It's a message I could have used at that point, so I put it out there so anyone else who could use it could have it.

Yeah, And that's something I've noticed from people who have had success and something I noticed in my own life. The difference between I would say, you, me, whoever else people who have had success in life is just that, like sometimes there are some genius level people, you know, but for the most part, the people just won't quit.

Yeah, And that's something I've noticed from people who have had success and something I noticed in my own life. The difference between I would say, you, me, whoever else people who have had success in life is just that, like sometimes there are some genius level people, you know, but for the most part, the people just won't quit.

Like they just won't quit.

Like they just won't quit.

They just keep getting better and better and better. But do you believe being a I guess, would you still consider yourself an independent creator for the college football stuff or are you semi you know, like semi independent.

They just keep getting better and better and better. But do you believe being a I guess, would you still consider yourself an independent creator for the college football stuff or are you semi you know, like semi independent.

I would consider the spirit of my content independent because they really haven't changed much about that or the approach. I guess I've got the overlap of best of both worlds where I've got the backing of CBS. I'm employed by CBS, I get the resources of CBS, and we provide a big return for them on that investment. But one of the biggest trade offs is at every turn I got to give them credit. At every turn they've fulfilled their promise to me, and that promise was we're not going to interfere. Obviously the creative process works. We just want you to do it for us. And there's never been a single time in my four years now here, there's never been a single time where any kind of managerial or executive type has stepped in and said, all right, we're gonna need concessions from you now. You got to do it this way. So I think if you were to stumble on Late Kicking, you didn't know any better. The production levels really high, so it's obviously there's some money behind it. But I don't think if you listened to the podcast and didn't watch the visual, I don't think you'd even pick up on the fact that it's anything more than the same product we were presenting when I wasn't.

I would consider the spirit of my content independent because they really haven't changed much about that or the approach. I guess I've got the overlap of best of both worlds where I've got the backing of CBS. I'm employed by CBS, I get the resources of CBS, and we provide a big return for them on that investment. But one of the biggest trade offs is at every turn I got to give them credit. At every turn they've fulfilled their promise to me, and that promise was we're not going to interfere. Obviously the creative process works. We just want you to do it for us. And there's never been a single time in my four years now here, there's never been a single time where any kind of managerial or executive type has stepped in and said, all right, we're gonna need concessions from you now. You got to do it this way. So I think if you were to stumble on Late Kicking, you didn't know any better. The production levels really high, so it's obviously there's some money behind it. But I don't think if you listened to the podcast and didn't watch the visual, I don't think you'd even pick up on the fact that it's anything more than the same product we were presenting when I wasn't.

See I would agree with that. And so do you think that independent creators are the future of college football or just sports in general? Because there are more shows like mine, like yours, like popping up on the internet and people are watching and people are paying attention to it, and it seems like people are kind of shying away from the like the hot take machine as much wholeheartedly.

See I would agree with that. And so do you think that independent creators are the future of college football or just sports in general? Because there are more shows like mine, like yours, like popping up on the internet and people are watching and people are paying attention to it, and it seems like people are kind of shying away from the like the hot take machine as much wholeheartedly.

So I think that there is a format and there's a style that people have come to crave, and it was borne out of the hot take generation for a generation of time, for a five to ten year period, as we define generation and media that worked, the clickbait generation, the aggregation and engagement farming generation, that was something you had to go through to get to this part here. But now you'll notice there are still some hot take type formats out there, but the ones that are at scale were already at scale five years ago. No one has scaled a hot take platform, whether it be independently or corporately, in the past five years, because the interest has waned and the appeal has waned, and if you don't already have your audience baked in, you're not getting new audience that way. And I think the rise of digital media and the youtubes of the world, where anyone and everyone with an Internet connection theoretically could put their stuff out there, is there was more variety in content, and I think the content got smarter and a lot of people, maybe even myself included, who used to find themselves watching one form of content, realized there's something better out there for me. To each as in her own, but maybe for me, there's something better out there for me. And in a weird way, George, I think the COVID year as terrible as that was for fifteen other reasons. Strictly, if you zoom it into our lane, it started to filter out who was who and what was what, because you had some folks in that period of time that realized everything else in the world sucks. If I claim to be a college football guy, I'm just going to talk about college football. And there were other people who chose to deviate from that college football lane or Major League Baseball or NFL or whatever you cover, and a very big portion of the audience figured out, this person doesn't seem nearly as passionate about what they question about as I thought they were. I'm going to go over here to this dude who's just sticking to his content and sticking to what he knows best even in the most trying of times. We saw our audience scale really rapidly during that twenty twenty year, which was ironic because we didn't even know if we were going to get college football or any sports that year. Yeah, but I think what it did is it allowed an endearance of a new portion of audience to products and people and whatnot that they found to be authentic.

So I think that there is a format and there's a style that people have come to crave, and it was borne out of the hot take generation for a generation of time, for a five to ten year period, as we define generation and media that worked, the clickbait generation, the aggregation and engagement farming generation, that was something you had to go through to get to this part here. But now you'll notice there are still some hot take type formats out there, but the ones that are at scale were already at scale five years ago. No one has scaled a hot take platform, whether it be independently or corporately, in the past five years, because the interest has waned and the appeal has waned, and if you don't already have your audience baked in, you're not getting new audience that way. And I think the rise of digital media and the youtubes of the world, where anyone and everyone with an Internet connection theoretically could put their stuff out there, is there was more variety in content, and I think the content got smarter and a lot of people, maybe even myself included, who used to find themselves watching one form of content, realized there's something better out there for me. To each as in her own, but maybe for me, there's something better out there for me. And in a weird way, George, I think the COVID year as terrible as that was for fifteen other reasons. Strictly, if you zoom it into our lane, it started to filter out who was who and what was what, because you had some folks in that period of time that realized everything else in the world sucks. If I claim to be a college football guy, I'm just going to talk about college football. And there were other people who chose to deviate from that college football lane or Major League Baseball or NFL or whatever you cover, and a very big portion of the audience figured out, this person doesn't seem nearly as passionate about what they question about as I thought they were. I'm going to go over here to this dude who's just sticking to his content and sticking to what he knows best even in the most trying of times. We saw our audience scale really rapidly during that twenty twenty year, which was ironic because we didn't even know if we were going to get college football or any sports that year. Yeah, but I think what it did is it allowed an endearance of a new portion of audience to products and people and whatnot that they found to be authentic.

Yeah. Now, let's get to the games this weekend. Because you were out at the Rose Bowl. I'm out here in LA and there's a lot of talk about I guess the Florida State situation because and they wanted to look at the result, Oh Alabama Michigan. They they went to overtime. That means that the committee got it right. So does the result of a twenty seven to twenty game, Does that justify what the committee did in leaving Florida stayed out?

Yeah. Now, let's get to the games this weekend. Because you were out at the Rose Bowl. I'm out here in LA and there's a lot of talk about I guess the Florida State situation because and they wanted to look at the result, Oh Alabama Michigan. They they went to overtime. That means that the committee got it right. So does the result of a twenty seven to twenty game, Does that justify what the committee did in leaving Florida stayed out?

I don't think it justifies him being wrong or right. And you could have gotten a forty seven to twenty final and I wouldn't have cared. I put it to you this way. This is the way I tried to explain it. So if I bring George in, and I bring you to my place of business, Peate State Enterprises over here, and we're hiring a new executive level director, and you fit the qualifications as I see it, and your resume checks out and your references check out, if you check those boxes, I'm going to hire you. Now. If you go and blow someone's car in the parking lot up three weeks onto the job, when someone walks into my office and says, see that's evidence you shouldn't have hired him, I would tell him get out of my office. I'd probably fire them because what they're saying is dumb. I didn't have the foresight to know what you were going to do when I hired you. All I have to go on is the information at hand, and I try and make the best decision I can. So the point is the resume as it relates to you making the playoff, or the resume as it relates to them placing you in a bowl. Pecking order is your regular season record, and if you're in a conference championship game, that is baked into it. Okay, that's it. So if you didn't think Florida State belonged, nothing about two days ago should have changed your mind. And if you think Florida State did belong, it shouldn't have mattered. If Bama won by fourty, it shouldn't have changed your mind. It is what it is, regardless.

I don't think it justifies him being wrong or right. And you could have gotten a forty seven to twenty final and I wouldn't have cared. I put it to you this way. This is the way I tried to explain it. So if I bring George in, and I bring you to my place of business, Peate State Enterprises over here, and we're hiring a new executive level director, and you fit the qualifications as I see it, and your resume checks out and your references check out, if you check those boxes, I'm going to hire you. Now. If you go and blow someone's car in the parking lot up three weeks onto the job, when someone walks into my office and says, see that's evidence you shouldn't have hired him, I would tell him get out of my office. I'd probably fire them because what they're saying is dumb. I didn't have the foresight to know what you were going to do when I hired you. All I have to go on is the information at hand, and I try and make the best decision I can. So the point is the resume as it relates to you making the playoff, or the resume as it relates to them placing you in a bowl. Pecking order is your regular season record, and if you're in a conference championship game, that is baked into it. Okay, that's it. So if you didn't think Florida State belonged, nothing about two days ago should have changed your mind. And if you think Florida State did belong, it shouldn't have mattered. If Bama won by fourty, it shouldn't have changed your mind. It is what it is, regardless.

I totally agree with that, and we ended up with no SEC team in the final. And it was funny because I was like, where is the math here?

I totally agree with that, and we ended up with no SEC team in the final. And it was funny because I was like, where is the math here?

People?

People?

Because so many people because I'm a message board troller, like I don't comment on it, but I go in there and read see what people say, look at it on Twitter, and they were like, Georgia was the best team in the country. They should have put Georgia in. And I was like, ow, how's way, how were they gonna put Georgia in? So but is the and you and We've had debates about this about the college football playoff expanding, but because of name, image and likeness and there there seems to be a parody coming in this sport, Like I don't think it's gonna ever be like NFL type, but with the perceived parody that seems to be coming where rosters aren't necessarily as deep. Have you rethought your playoff position and in expanding at this point.

Because so many people because I'm a message board troller, like I don't comment on it, but I go in there and read see what people say, look at it on Twitter, and they were like, Georgia was the best team in the country. They should have put Georgia in. And I was like, ow, how's way, how were they gonna put Georgia in? So but is the and you and We've had debates about this about the college football playoff expanding, but because of name, image and likeness and there there seems to be a parody coming in this sport, Like I don't think it's gonna ever be like NFL type, but with the perceived parody that seems to be coming where rosters aren't necessarily as deep. Have you rethought your playoff position and in expanding at this point.

In time, No, I don't think I'll ever rethink that. I think the first point you started to make is the one I've come to realize probably an area that I was a little I don't want to say flat out wrong in, but certainly I undersold the concept of was the concept that NIL and the portal was going to even out the talent pool. And while I always think the big will have the most talented rosters, I don't think that's gonna change. I do think that kind of the top of the canopy has been shaved off a little bit, and depth is certainly never looked like it used to in the past. I mean LSU, for example, yesterday they got a five star freshman at tackle who enters the portal, played all twelve games this year, and enters because he's projected to be the third tackle on their team. Because I got two that are entrench to starters that didn't used to happen, it does now. And so in the aggregate, what you've seen is you've seen the ability for us to have what we have now. We don't have a twelve team format yet this is still a four team format. And I've got something happening Monday night in Houston that people told me couldn't happen, and that is a team in Washington with a roster below fifty percent in blue chip BRIE, a blue chip rating all of a sudden to playing for a title and could win a title. And I was told that we needed a twelve team playoff to get that, And it turns out maybe the format of the playoff wasn't the key. Maybe dispersing the talent a little bit more was the key. And there are two things happening there. Portland Nil have a lot to do with it. But also, if you'll notice, I've talked to you about this before on your show, I have always thought the key to evening out the talent pool a little bit more in college football was teams in Florida recruiting their state better because Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan or not or Michigan, et cetera, but Ohio State clems in Alabama. Those teams were raiding Florida, just rating South Florida. And now it doesn't even matter if Miami's good on the field yet they're keeping some of their talent home. Florida is doing that and they're not good yet, Florida State is doing that. And so think about what it means for five or six more blue chip kids from Florida per cycle, not going to Alabama, not going to Ohio State. It doesn't make them eight and four all of a sudden, but what it does is, you know, in a key close game all of a sudden, when you think athletes are gonna make plays and talent wins a game, you don't have that extra five star receiver in the slot that you use to have, and instead you know it's it plays out, it plays out in those moments, it ends up playing out.

In time, No, I don't think I'll ever rethink that. I think the first point you started to make is the one I've come to realize probably an area that I was a little I don't want to say flat out wrong in, but certainly I undersold the concept of was the concept that NIL and the portal was going to even out the talent pool. And while I always think the big will have the most talented rosters, I don't think that's gonna change. I do think that kind of the top of the canopy has been shaved off a little bit, and depth is certainly never looked like it used to in the past. I mean LSU, for example, yesterday they got a five star freshman at tackle who enters the portal, played all twelve games this year, and enters because he's projected to be the third tackle on their team. Because I got two that are entrench to starters that didn't used to happen, it does now. And so in the aggregate, what you've seen is you've seen the ability for us to have what we have now. We don't have a twelve team format yet this is still a four team format. And I've got something happening Monday night in Houston that people told me couldn't happen, and that is a team in Washington with a roster below fifty percent in blue chip BRIE, a blue chip rating all of a sudden to playing for a title and could win a title. And I was told that we needed a twelve team playoff to get that, And it turns out maybe the format of the playoff wasn't the key. Maybe dispersing the talent a little bit more was the key. And there are two things happening there. Portland Nil have a lot to do with it. But also, if you'll notice, I've talked to you about this before on your show, I have always thought the key to evening out the talent pool a little bit more in college football was teams in Florida recruiting their state better because Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan or not or Michigan, et cetera, but Ohio State clems in Alabama. Those teams were raiding Florida, just rating South Florida. And now it doesn't even matter if Miami's good on the field yet they're keeping some of their talent home. Florida is doing that and they're not good yet, Florida State is doing that. And so think about what it means for five or six more blue chip kids from Florida per cycle, not going to Alabama, not going to Ohio State. It doesn't make them eight and four all of a sudden, but what it does is, you know, in a key close game all of a sudden, when you think athletes are gonna make plays and talent wins a game, you don't have that extra five star receiver in the slot that you use to have, and instead you know it's it plays out, it plays out in those moments, it ends up playing out.

Yeah, so you end up with Washington versus Michigan. Washington is below the blue chip raiding of fifty percent. But when we've seen other teams, like we see when we saw TCU play Georgia, that was a total mismatch. When we've seen Cincinnati when they played I think Alabama mismatch. But this doesn't feel like a mismatch. Even though Washington is favorite, I mean Michigan's favorite. I like Washington in the game. Their their trio of Doonsay, McMillan, Polk and then Pennix at quarterback. I think that that's gonna be tough because their defense is not good. But it is. But the part of their defense that's bad, which is their past defense, is not what Michigan does anyway.

Yeah, so you end up with Washington versus Michigan. Washington is below the blue chip raiding of fifty percent. But when we've seen other teams, like we see when we saw TCU play Georgia, that was a total mismatch. When we've seen Cincinnati when they played I think Alabama mismatch. But this doesn't feel like a mismatch. Even though Washington is favorite, I mean Michigan's favorite. I like Washington in the game. Their their trio of Doonsay, McMillan, Polk and then Pennix at quarterback. I think that that's gonna be tough because their defense is not good. But it is. But the part of their defense that's bad, which is their past defense, is not what Michigan does anyway.

Yeah, so a couple of things there. I agree with everything you said on the front end, so I won't repeat that. But the second part is I don't think a lot of people have watched Washington. Just if they're honest with themselves, they could tell you Michael Pinnix, they could tell you the head coach's name. They could tell you Washington throws the ball a lot. They don't know. Well, George, I don't think half the country even knows they just won the Joe More Award. I think they have any concept about how good that offensive line is. But that's okay. I didn't either. At one point I continued to pick against them, but I went and watched them up close in person and got a couple of really tough lessons dealt my way and understood, no, it's not a TCU situation because they're not going to get dominated at the line of scrimmage. It's not going to happen. And so I think the trap that some fell into in this Washington Texas game was looking at talent level and talent rating and the team talent composite, and of course Texas had the more talented roster. Well, that's not the way a game's played. You don't take two pieces of paper and rub it together, and that's a football game. You have style, you have matchups, and in some cases, if you have a dominant room, like a wide receiver room in Washington that can take over a game, and you've got a good enough offensive line and you've got an assassinate quarterback, that's the game. It's over. It doesn't matter that you have three outside linebackers more highly rated than their highest guy. It doesn't matter if you have a free safety that was a number two at his position coming out of high school. If the matchups dictate that, they end up dictating the style that the fight's going to be fought, and it's over, and I see.

Yeah, so a couple of things there. I agree with everything you said on the front end, so I won't repeat that. But the second part is I don't think a lot of people have watched Washington. Just if they're honest with themselves, they could tell you Michael Pinnix, they could tell you the head coach's name. They could tell you Washington throws the ball a lot. They don't know. Well, George, I don't think half the country even knows they just won the Joe More Award. I think they have any concept about how good that offensive line is. But that's okay. I didn't either. At one point I continued to pick against them, but I went and watched them up close in person and got a couple of really tough lessons dealt my way and understood, no, it's not a TCU situation because they're not going to get dominated at the line of scrimmage. It's not going to happen. And so I think the trap that some fell into in this Washington Texas game was looking at talent level and talent rating and the team talent composite, and of course Texas had the more talented roster. Well, that's not the way a game's played. You don't take two pieces of paper and rub it together, and that's a football game. You have style, you have matchups, and in some cases, if you have a dominant room, like a wide receiver room in Washington that can take over a game, and you've got a good enough offensive line and you've got an assassinate quarterback, that's the game. It's over. It doesn't matter that you have three outside linebackers more highly rated than their highest guy. It doesn't matter if you have a free safety that was a number two at his position coming out of high school. If the matchups dictate that, they end up dictating the style that the fight's going to be fought, and it's over, and I see.

I think the difference though Pate though, is that when you look at talent ratings, they're looking off for recruiting rankings, where Washington has potentially four first round picks on their team. I think that that's the part that's been ignored, is that their talent rating is not what the stars were when they came in because they have been developed. In Kaitlin de Boor, he's done something that coaches are now telling you that can't be done, which is to work with the homegrown talent. Because when Jimmy Lake got fired, he didn't go on and just rehaul the entire roster. He didn't portal kids out and all of that, Like, this is largely kids that he did not bring in. Aside from the running back and Johnson and Michael Pennix Junior, the majority of that roster was already there. So is Kaylin Debor teaching a lesson on how to build a roster or did he get lucky with just having them wide receivers and tackles and everything else there.

I think the difference though Pate though, is that when you look at talent ratings, they're looking off for recruiting rankings, where Washington has potentially four first round picks on their team. I think that that's the part that's been ignored, is that their talent rating is not what the stars were when they came in because they have been developed. In Kaitlin de Boor, he's done something that coaches are now telling you that can't be done, which is to work with the homegrown talent. Because when Jimmy Lake got fired, he didn't go on and just rehaul the entire roster. He didn't portal kids out and all of that, Like, this is largely kids that he did not bring in. Aside from the running back and Johnson and Michael Pennix Junior, the majority of that roster was already there. So is Kaylin Debor teaching a lesson on how to build a roster or did he get lucky with just having them wide receivers and tackles and everything else there.

So I've talked to a couple of folks who were on the staff before he got there at Washington, a couple of folks who were responsible for recruiting a lot of those offensive linemen for example. And sure enough, they tell you, when we brought those guys in, we thought they had potential to be studs, but they weren't going to be that as freshmen, and they probably weren't going to be that in their second year. So they always projected them multi year down the road. Guys. But it's a let me turn my phone off, but what you just said. So that's a really good point because it goes back to what I've thought about a lot. If you're trying to run a database model, for example, and you really care about talent level, you have to value recruiting rankings. But what you would be foolish to do is continue to value the recruiting ranking two, three, four years into a guy's career, because by then, if you're any good at what you do, it doesn't matter what he was as a seventeen year old anymore. If he's twenty or twenty one years old, you've watched him play college football, you should have your own unique talent rating on him as a college football player. And so you know, if you've got your data model here, your recruiting value should go down over time and your college evow should go up over time, and that's what should define you as a player. That's certainly how you know an NFL draft scout would look at you. I think a lot of folks either don't pay attention to Washington, or they've been too lazy to do that, or they don't trust themselves to evaluate talent, which no one have these folks is probably a proper way to go through life. And so they're still counting on the fact that these were a bunch of three stars out of high school. Yeah, but they're twenty two years old as well, So they're not three stars seventeen year olds anymore. Yeah.

So I've talked to a couple of folks who were on the staff before he got there at Washington, a couple of folks who were responsible for recruiting a lot of those offensive linemen for example. And sure enough, they tell you, when we brought those guys in, we thought they had potential to be studs, but they weren't going to be that as freshmen, and they probably weren't going to be that in their second year. So they always projected them multi year down the road. Guys. But it's a let me turn my phone off, but what you just said. So that's a really good point because it goes back to what I've thought about a lot. If you're trying to run a database model, for example, and you really care about talent level, you have to value recruiting rankings. But what you would be foolish to do is continue to value the recruiting ranking two, three, four years into a guy's career, because by then, if you're any good at what you do, it doesn't matter what he was as a seventeen year old anymore. If he's twenty or twenty one years old, you've watched him play college football, you should have your own unique talent rating on him as a college football player. And so you know, if you've got your data model here, your recruiting value should go down over time and your college evow should go up over time, and that's what should define you as a player. That's certainly how you know an NFL draft scout would look at you. I think a lot of folks either don't pay attention to Washington, or they've been too lazy to do that, or they don't trust themselves to evaluate talent, which no one have these folks is probably a proper way to go through life. And so they're still counting on the fact that these were a bunch of three stars out of high school. Yeah, but they're twenty two years old as well, So they're not three stars seventeen year olds anymore. Yeah.

I think that's a good point. I got one more for you, bit before we get to rice or wrong real quick. Bowl season featured a lot of opt outs, Right, you had the Florida State Georgia game, You've had, you know, other games that just haven't been competitive. How do you think that we fix Bowl season? And both Seed and the Bowls already give out gifts two players, why not pay them to play?

I think that's a good point. I got one more for you, bit before we get to rice or wrong real quick. Bowl season featured a lot of opt outs, Right, you had the Florida State Georgia game, You've had, you know, other games that just haven't been competitive. How do you think that we fix Bowl season? And both Seed and the Bowls already give out gifts two players, why not pay them to play?

Well? I think you and I talked about this three years ago. I mean that's always been pretty common sense to me, and it's now that, now that it's biting advertisers in the pocket, I think we're going to see something along those lines happen to where either you've got to enable a revenue sharing distribution system from the Bowl payout, or you've got to do something even more radical like move Bowl games to Week one of the following year. Yeah. If you think that's radical, allow me to present the alternative. The alternative is keep what you got now and allow it to erode even further. At this point, it's untenable. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, so you have to do something else.

Well? I think you and I talked about this three years ago. I mean that's always been pretty common sense to me, and it's now that, now that it's biting advertisers in the pocket, I think we're going to see something along those lines happen to where either you've got to enable a revenue sharing distribution system from the Bowl payout, or you've got to do something even more radical like move Bowl games to Week one of the following year. Yeah. If you think that's radical, allow me to present the alternative. The alternative is keep what you got now and allow it to erode even further. At this point, it's untenable. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, so you have to do something else.

I didn't even consider the putting the bast season in the first week. That might be a great idea, But now I want to get to rights or wrong, Pete, this is five quick questions that you could answer, and you know, and give me a quick one. So there will right or wrong. There will never be another Nick Saban, including Nick Saban, because now he's gone three years without a championship, which is the longest run since he's been at Alabama.

I didn't even consider the putting the bast season in the first week. That might be a great idea, But now I want to get to rights or wrong, Pete, this is five quick questions that you could answer, and you know, and give me a quick one. So there will right or wrong. There will never be another Nick Saban, including Nick Saban, because now he's gone three years without a championship, which is the longest run since he's been at Alabama.

Oh that's one hundred percent right. I mean, if Nick Saban were to re emerge today and had to go based on the here and in the future model of college football, I don't think anyone's doing that. You can't stack a roster like that. You're gonna have probably more competitive balance and just randomization when it comes to injury and stuff because you got to play more games. So I think that's absolutely right.

Oh that's one hundred percent right. I mean, if Nick Saban were to re emerge today and had to go based on the here and in the future model of college football, I don't think anyone's doing that. You can't stack a roster like that. You're gonna have probably more competitive balance and just randomization when it comes to injury and stuff because you got to play more games. So I think that's absolutely right.

All right, Next question, Jim Harbaugh will coach where next season.

All right, Next question, Jim Harbaugh will coach where next season.

I think he's going to be in the NFL. But everything's just kind of everyone's kind of assuming that, and I am too. I'm reading Tea Leaves. I certainly haven't had anyone at Michigan say, hey, this is happening. So I mean, I just I feel like the organization and the fan base has always looked at this year as D year. We got to get it done and then whatever's over the cliff will handle that when it comes time next one.

I think he's going to be in the NFL. But everything's just kind of everyone's kind of assuming that, and I am too. I'm reading Tea Leaves. I certainly haven't had anyone at Michigan say, hey, this is happening. So I mean, I just I feel like the organization and the fan base has always looked at this year as D year. We got to get it done and then whatever's over the cliff will handle that when it comes time next one.

Reggie Bush is the greatest college football player of all time.

Reggie Bush is the greatest college football player of all time.

Oh man, you had a guy at Auburn that was pretty good in twenty ten. Do I need to go multi years or can we just have like a moment in time?

Oh man, you had a guy at Auburn that was pretty good in twenty ten. Do I need to go multi years or can we just have like a moment in time?

Like moment in time, I think i'd go.

Like moment in time, I think i'd go.

I may go Cam Newton. I may go with a guy who played the most important position and put the team on his back. But I remember Reggie Bush, and I remember watching that, and I remember I remember like it it wouldn't matter if us he was playing Fresno. If you knew they were coming on at ten thirty at night. I'm living in Georgia at the time, and say, hey, hey, where y'all watching Reggie? Where y'all watching USC tonight? What this is Harris County, Georgia. It's gonna be ten o'clock before they come on.

I may go Cam Newton. I may go with a guy who played the most important position and put the team on his back. But I remember Reggie Bush, and I remember watching that, and I remember I remember like it it wouldn't matter if us he was playing Fresno. If you knew they were coming on at ten thirty at night. I'm living in Georgia at the time, and say, hey, hey, where y'all watching Reggie? Where y'all watching USC tonight? What this is Harris County, Georgia. It's gonna be ten o'clock before they come on.

Don't matter.

Don't matter.

Reggie? Were watching Reggie to night? Yeah?

Reggie? Were watching Reggie to night? Yeah?

Yeah, And by the by the way, Dwyer was down and Blank is most responsible for the disintegration of.

Yeah, And by the by the way, Dwyer was down and Blank is most responsible for the disintegration of.

The PAC twelve.

The PAC twelve.

Larry Scott, Yeah, I call him Larry Michael Scott because he ran it. Dounder Mifflin paper. Wow, what would happen. Let's just I know it's a fool's errand now, but what happens if we put a different decision maker in his seat seven or eight years ago, god or even George even is recently is like two or three years ago? What if they just out maneuvered the Big twelve and nothing else than that, they'd still be afloat.

Larry Scott, Yeah, I call him Larry Michael Scott because he ran it. Dounder Mifflin paper. Wow, what would happen. Let's just I know it's a fool's errand now, but what happens if we put a different decision maker in his seat seven or eight years ago, god or even George even is recently is like two or three years ago? What if they just out maneuvered the Big twelve and nothing else than that, they'd still be afloat.

And the thing I'm thinking right now is, I know everyone's talking big two sec, big ten, but to me, it's about buying yourself time to stay alive yep, because you never know what could be coming. Like you, as long as you're at the table, you never know when the kitchen door may open and something comes through and gets put on the table none of you could have ever expected, and you can't reap it unless you're at the table.

And the thing I'm thinking right now is, I know everyone's talking big two sec, big ten, but to me, it's about buying yourself time to stay alive yep, because you never know what could be coming. Like you, as long as you're at the table, you never know when the kitchen door may open and something comes through and gets put on the table none of you could have ever expected, and you can't reap it unless you're at the table.

Yep, yep. Last one, the biggest lie in college football is.

Yep, yep. Last one, the biggest lie in college football is.

You are what your record says you are, and that'll be proven even more of a lie in the coming years. When you have a disproportionately strong Big ten and sec just strength of schedule wise versus what's gonna exist in the ACC or the Big twelve or elsewhere you know there's gonna be I'll give you an example. I don't think Florida is gonna be good next year. But let's say Florida was good. Let's say for the sake of argument, they were the tenth best team in the country. George, They're gonna play five teams in five weeks at the end of the season that just finished top ten. So there's a world where a legitimate top ten caliber Florida is a nine and three team, yep. And there's a world where you've got an eleven and one in another conference. Well, is that committee gonna have the stones to understand how to interpret strength of schedule? Are they gonna well you are where your record says you are, Because if they fall victim to that, I'm gonna tell you what I would do. I do what Michigan just did. I'd load up on cupcakes as much as I could, and I'd understand that, Hey, even if you leave me out of the top four, you're not gonna leave me out of the top twelve. So I'll just I'll completely use it as a twelve week preseason, and then I'll go in the playoff on fire, and I'll be healthy because I will have rested my starters half the year. So you are what your record says. You have always been a lie in college sports. But it's gonna be even bigger a lie in the coming years.

You are what your record says you are, and that'll be proven even more of a lie in the coming years. When you have a disproportionately strong Big ten and sec just strength of schedule wise versus what's gonna exist in the ACC or the Big twelve or elsewhere you know there's gonna be I'll give you an example. I don't think Florida is gonna be good next year. But let's say Florida was good. Let's say for the sake of argument, they were the tenth best team in the country. George, They're gonna play five teams in five weeks at the end of the season that just finished top ten. So there's a world where a legitimate top ten caliber Florida is a nine and three team, yep. And there's a world where you've got an eleven and one in another conference. Well, is that committee gonna have the stones to understand how to interpret strength of schedule? Are they gonna well you are where your record says you are, Because if they fall victim to that, I'm gonna tell you what I would do. I do what Michigan just did. I'd load up on cupcakes as much as I could, and I'd understand that, Hey, even if you leave me out of the top four, you're not gonna leave me out of the top twelve. So I'll just I'll completely use it as a twelve week preseason, and then I'll go in the playoff on fire, and I'll be healthy because I will have rested my starters half the year. So you are what your record says. You have always been a lie in college sports. But it's gonna be even bigger a lie in the coming years.

Oh that makes me want to throw up thinking about more bad schedules. But you guys, he's Josh Pate. Find him over at Late Kick with Josh Pate on YouTube. Find him on CBS Sports. Find him occasionally in a suit. Now now that now that he's a company man, Josh.

Oh that makes me want to throw up thinking about more bad schedules. But you guys, he's Josh Pate. Find him over at Late Kick with Josh Pate on YouTube. Find him on CBS Sports. Find him occasionally in a suit. Now now that now that he's a company man, Josh.

White T shirt on. After all this, this is what it comes to.

White T shirt on. After all this, this is what it comes to.

Hey man, you went company, I had to take over to white team.

Hey man, you went company, I had to take over to white team.

That's probably the most stinging sentence you've ever thrown my way. It'll take me a couple of weeks to get over that one.

That's probably the most stinging sentence you've ever thrown my way. It'll take me a couple of weeks to get over that one.

Thanks of coming on all right, man, thank you guys for joining me for the new rebranded Unafraid show where it it's about us. Make sure that you guys leave a comment, tell a friend about it, most importantly, share, and come back next week because we got a surprise for you. Actually, i'm gonna tell you right now. Reggie Bush will be in the building and you guys don't want to miss it, So tell a friend, subscribe, get the notifications, everything in between.

Thanks of coming on all right, man, thank you guys for joining me for the new rebranded Unafraid show where it it's about us. Make sure that you guys leave a comment, tell a friend about it, most importantly, share, and come back next week because we got a surprise for you. Actually, i'm gonna tell you right now. Reggie Bush will be in the building and you guys don't want to miss it, So tell a friend, subscribe, get the notifications, everything in between.

Get you next week.

Get you next week.