Is This The Year These Coaches Turn It Around? | Others Receiving Votes

Praise the ghost.

Yeah, praise the ghost of Keith Jackson, but we are going to have football Saturday.

It is week 0, baby.

Uh, it's not a, you know, full smorgasbord, but by golly, the deli is open, and we can order sandwiches.

Let's eat.

And interestingly enough, I think we, we have 3 very high profile coaches in action who have seen better days.

They need something good to happen this season.

I won't use the words hot seat here because Gene is not a hot seat guy.

So, you can use them.

That's fine.

But, uh, we're gonna discuss all three and kind of where they stand, what we need to see, what's possible for them this season.

Start with the hoodie, Bill Belichick, North Carolina.

He once was winning Super Bowls, and now he looks like a guy who needs to maybe get a retirement condo on Marco Island.

Year 2, starting with the Tar Heels, he was 4 and 8 in year 1.

The offseason was bad.

They're opening in Ireland against the TCU team that on paper is probably better than them.

Uh , and we will pick games at the end of this, uh, pod, by the way.

It's not a big slate, but we will have some picks for, for you all to mock later.

But Gene, what are your expectations for the hoodie in year two?

What do you want to see from the heels?

Man, you really undersold.

The offseason was bad.

They, they lose their general manager, Michael Lombardi, to administrative leave.

They lose their defensive coordinator, Steve Belichick to medical leave.

So those are two seismic developments during the offseason.

What do I want to see?

I want to see with all these transfers that he brought into this program, if they can make a real difference.

Can they do better than they did last year, which was awful for them.

Yeah.

Uh, the schedule last year.

I'm trying not to be a schedule guy this year, but, um, the schedule was easy last year for Carolina, and what do they do, win 4 games ?

Schedule is a lot more difficult this season, and I'm not sure I see uh many more wins than 4 games this year.

Um, I think the defense, the defense is gonna be solid.

And I think there's potential on offense, but defense, You know, that's where Belichick makes his bones.

But can they score?

And they, they faced TCU in the, in the opener.

And just as a reminder, TCU, you know, boat raced them last year in the season opener.

And then if you look at the rest of their schedule, and we mentioned this last, last week, uh, TCU.

Uh, later on, they're at Clemson, then Notre Dame, at Pitt, at Duke, later face Miami, your hometown, Louisville, at UVA, NC State.

I, I just, I just don't see a lot of wins in that.

So, I, I wanna see if he's gonna make it to year 3, because the way it sets up, I, I don't know if that's gonna happen, but I would love just to see improvement, and most of all, some stability there.

Yeah, they clearly, as you said, the, the, the offseason sideshow has just been terrible, um.

The, the, the terrible predicament that they're in here.

Like This is, has taken on the overtones of a long-term rebuild for a guy who's in his mid-70s.

It doesn't compute.

They brought in a ton of freshmen, a big freshman class, and they have a lot of red shirt freshmen.

They're gonna be a young team.

A 74-year-old guy with a young team doesn't seem like a real good, uh, formula.

And as you mentioned, the schedule is really difficult.

So, like, I, I think they will quite likely start slowly and maybe get better, uh, and, again, that's the kind of thing where people are giving up on the team halfway through the season.

And halfway through Belichick's 2nd year, and it just becomes a, a really difficult situation.

Now, maybe they'll surprise us, maybe they will overperform, maybe, uh, Belichick will show some of the great coaching acumen that he had in the past, but it needs to happen right away, uh, for, for us to, I think, to, to have much confidence there.

Uh, secondly, Lincoln Riley, USC.

Gosh, Gene, I was looking up his, his, um, overall record, and I guess I had kind of forgotten.

He went to the playoffs each of the 1st 3 years, he was a college head coach, and that was the hard way.

That was when it was a 4-team playoff, but obviously inherited a great situation from Bob Stoops, but, but he did unbelievable work.

They lost a big lead in the Rose Bowl semifinal to Georgia and lost in multiple overtimes.

And after that, They've never been as good again, uh, under Lincoln Riley, either Oklahoma or USC.

They opened against San Jose State, they're a massive favorite.

What are you expecting from these Trojans?

I will be surprised if they aren't a legitimate contender in the Big 10 and for a playoff spot .

I think Riley has I, I think this program is, is finally truly pointed in the right direction.

I think the roster is built for a run now.

Does that mean it will happen?

Not necessarily, but Uh, I, I like the way it's trending.

Yes, I understand Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon, they're, they're the favorites.

But I think USC is the kind of program now that can make some serious, serious noise.

And, uh, I, I, I would sleep easy at night knowing Gary Patterson is my defensive coordinator.

Uh, that makes me feel good.

Uh, they've got, they've got an experienced quarterback.

They, I mean, the offense is, is built for speed.

I mean, they are gonna score points.

Um, the schedule, admittedly, tough.

Though they do get Oregon, UW, and Ohio State, uh, at the Coliseum, Penn State and, and your, your guys, Indiana, on the road, but they should be 4-0.

Uh, when they face Oregon.

And so, if they're going to make this jump, you're gonna have to beat some teams that you're not favored against.

And I think they're good enough to maybe pull a surprise or two and make a real run at this thing.

Yeah, uh, I, I agree with you.

I think that, that they finally put it into place.

I do.

I, I, I'm with you.

Uh, it is, it's one, I will make one point.

You said the schedule is tough, not as tough as it could have been if they're still playing Notre Dame.

Exactly.

It's weird to look at that schedule now, not see Notre Dame.

You're right, isn't it though?

Yeah, your mid-October game, actually they're off October 17th.

That would have been the date they play Notre Dame.

Good point.

Oh well, for that.

But anyway, no, I, I, I went to practice out there , um.

Uh, about a week and a half ago now.

And you look and you see now a team that looks like it's got all the pieces it should have, right?

They've got not just a good set of offensive and defensive linemen, but multiples, you know, they've got backups, they've got depth, they've got receivers for days.

A lot of them are young.

But, uh, I really like the quarterback Jaden Maeva, um, you know, they've got playmakers.

There's not much, there is no excuse, I don't think.

Uh, you, you did say, yes, the schedule is tough, but you're USC, you entered the Big 10 with your eyes wide open.

Exactly, stand up there and, and compete for a championship.

So I'm expecting it.

I, I think they're gonna be really fun to watch, a lot of fireworks, and the Patterson edition, as you mentioned, I think, is, uh, Could be really important and pay big dividends to him.

Uh, also, uh, by Rob Ryan, too, running around there, the brother of Rex Ryan, uh, with, you know, the, the super long hair, and God bless him, the bowling ball belly.

He, he casts a, uh, quite a, quite a, a, an aura on the practice field.

Um, all right, the one, the third, uh, coach I wanted to bring up to you, Mike Norvell, Florida State.

Oh my.

You know, before Jordan Travis broke his ankle, and before the college football playoff committee said, no, you can't go in 2023, this guy looked like one of the next big stars in the profession, and since then, it has been an express train to hell.

I mean, two terrible years in a row, and I think fairly low expectations for this year.

They do open with what should be a rollover game against New Mexico State.

Uh, so , same thoughts, Gene, what do you expect?

What do you need to see to believe that Norvell can turn this around?

I, I don't see it happening.

I, I just think if um.

If it goes sideways, even just a little bit, the, the patience level in Tallahassee right now for Norvell is in negative integers.

There's, there's just no margin of error, uh, or even margin of support, uh, for him when it comes to, um, you know, turning around the ship in the, in the middle of the Panama Canal.

And, and, I, I, I mean, Robinson's gonna be, Fun to watch at wide receiver, he's, he's incredible.

I think the offense will be respectable.

I think the defense is gonna be a work in progress.

I think the schedule's tough .

Um, and I just think that if, if, um, if they encounter more adversity, we're gonna have a lot of empty seats, a lot of, uh, stories about how, you know, donors are putting together the buyout package, you know, for Norvell.

You've, we've seen those stories a million times.

I, I'd like to think maybe he could win 6 games, but, but will that be enough?

And I just don't think it will be.

I think they're still gonna be on.

Did you call it the express train to hell?

Yeah, it's a tough situation, and I, I think the only reason he kept his job is cause the buyout was so big, and Florida State has tapped donors and resources to redo the stadium, and they just flat Don't have the money or really the, the interest in, in paying a $50 million buyout.

Now, it'll drop after this year, and a third straight losing season would be intolerable, and that's when you just come up with the money.

Uh, they're up against it, I think, and schedule, I know, I'm sorry, I'm gonna.

Week, Virginia, which played for the ACC championship, uh, October 3rd.

Louisville team that starts in the top 25 October 9th, archrival top 10 team, Miami, October 17th.

Uh, and then the last four weeks, you got, you got two difficult games, then you got the rivalry game against Florida at the end.

Seems like a lot of losses to me.

And you know how these rivalry dynamics work too.

The, the higher Miami flies, the more unhappy Florida State fans get and say, we, we, we need to compete here.

So, uh, I think, and how about if Florida gets it going?

Yeah, right.

If John Summerall gets it going and Florida fans are sitting there and saying, see, we dealt with our issue.

You guys sat on your hands for another year, you're that much further behind.

Uh, so, the, the comparison game is legitimate there, and we'll see.

Norvelle's gonna, gonna have to try to pull this out.

They again changed coordinators, you know, some moves there.

I don't know whether it's enough.

I'm, I don't have great optimism for the Seminoles this year.