Roundtable time with Candace Cooper and Josh Graham!!

Camelot.

Camelot. It's only a model. Shit.

Candace Cooper will join us momentarily, but right now my friend Josh Graham, sports hub triad at Josh Graham Radio, he joins us. So right now it's just one-on-one. Mono e mono. But do you know that mono e mono does not mean one-on-one? Yeah.

No. What does it mean? I believe it means what?

Hand and hand. I don't speak Italian. Gourlami. That's not. That's Spanish.

Tarantino reference. Sorry. Okay. All right.

So let's start this. I need a definitive answer here, Josh. Do we really believe?

I refuse to believe. Do we really believe there's a ceiling on UNC football as a culture, as I mean, I know what history tells us, but do we really believe that it's just not possible? It's either that or North Carolina football is in the same place. Clemson was circa 2011, 2012, where the recruiting suggests that you can be a contender.

Some of the players you have and the way they go to the NFL and how often you're sending guys to the NFL suggests that it could be that. But then there was a thing called Clemsoning until there wasn't. They didn't win with DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins until those guys were gone.

Suddenly they did start winning. That could be an option for North Carolina. The reason why I'm skeptical that that's the case in Chapel Hill is because, well, Dabo Sweeney, if you notice, a lot younger than Mac Brown is.

Mac Brown's the oldest coach in all of FBS football. So if it isn't going to work out with that coach and that quarterback, when is it going to be more plausible that North Carolina can make a run and potentially be a playoff team? I guess maybe the conversation is different now in the future with the playoff expanding to 12. But in terms of being the legit national title contender, which is what it means if you are a playoff contender in the sense of it being four teams, it's hard to really believe it's going to get more plausible than this team. The truth is, is that Virginia should not have been the slip up, right?

You can make more sense that it would have been this week, right, than it was last week. I just there is nothing there is zero that is logical that tells me that it's just not possible because I keep hearing smart people tell me, well, there's just a ceiling on UNC football as we bring in the other half of this roundtable. We have a question from Candace Deek at Candace Deek Cooper on Twitter from the locked on ACC podcast. So I will ask you the same question I asked Josh Candace. Do we really believe there is a ceiling on UNC football? The roof, Adam, how did you start out so spicy?

Thanks for having me. I want to be a believer. And yet somehow, some way Chapel Hill always wants to throw a dagger in my football school dreams. So I wouldn't necessarily say there's a ceiling. Maybe we're just we haven't found the right coach.

That could be it. I don't believe that. I mean, when you have the players that they have had in the past, and even me, Drake May is going to be a top, no worse than a top five pick in this upcoming NFL draft. Tez Walker, they've got receivers. The offensive line has been, I think, very good. They have all the pieces.

I don't know what it is, but it's not a ceiling. There's nothing logical that tells me that they couldn't have competed for a spot in the playoff. But these three games shouldn't have been the problem. This one coming up against Georgia Tech, by the way, we know the reason why they lost to Virginia is because I dismissed it.

I am the problem, not UNC. And it's also why the kids go on break during that weekend. How dare they?

How dare they? That's a very good point. But the last three games were always going to be a problem. And it's simply hard to go undefeated in college football. Their teams have not gone undefeated. So let me ask you this, Candace, now what for UNC? They have five more games left. What are they playing for?

What is the potential for them? I mean, you only have one loss on your belt, right? I think you get punched in the mouth. How you respond is how I think they let everyone know that this is a different team, especially because you're going up against the Georgia Tech team who has historically passed a couple years, been worse off than you and still been able to punch you in the mouth as well and beat you. So I think how they respond to this one going down to Atlanta is really going to tell me whether or not it's full gold or whether they really are a team that's turning the tide. I think we already knew Clemson, Duke and NC State were going to be challenging games. You're not getting the same Clemson team, Duke. We don't know right where it's going to be.

NC State is definitely hot and cold. So I think there's a lot still in front of them. It's just a matter of like putting the head down, putting the work in and showing people why they shouldn't just write them off. But I think they still can be a really good team. I think they can maybe manage to get through the season, the rest of the season undefeated, if they just tunnel vision and take some accountability, Mac Brown. Wow, comma, Mac Brown.

Very nice. Josh, what's the rest of the season look like for UNC? It's a wins basketball season start, right?

That's the old joke that you have. I mean, when you lose to Virginia and you're favored by 24 points, it's hard to really have the argument. Like if they lost any other game but Campbell, then you can have the conversation of one loss. You can maybe still get into the playoff if you win the ACC championship. Because after all, let's not forget, TCU with a lot worse out of conference schedule last year did not win the Big 12 and they got into the championship.

The fact that you lose that game and it's at home and it's against perhaps the worst team in the league or at least two or one of the two or three worst teams, it's just hard to really reckon with that and still have optimism about what the last five games can be for this football team. When it comes to Mac Brown, the part that should really bum out Tar Heel fans is, OK, maybe it is on the coach. Maybe you do have a coach that should take accountability for it.

But then what? You're not going to find a better coach than Mac Brown to lead this program. The guy is legit a Hall of Famer already and we've seen it in two tours of duty, what he's capable of doing and recruiting in ways in between those two tenures. Aside from Butch Davis cheating, you weren't able to find a coach that can recruit the type of way that would lend itself to you being a contender.

So that's that's the problem. That's the place that should bum out Tar Heel fans more than anything else. It's yes, maybe this isn't the coach to get you to that point, but I don't know if you can find somebody better who's willing to take that job, especially as this becomes two conferences that everybody's trying to get to. And as of right now, North Carolina is not one of them.

Not yet. Just give it a year or so. Just Josh Graham and Candace Cooper here on the roundtable. One, I think it's crazy that Mac Brown is the best coach that Carolina could get. It's the coach that the boosters wanted. I think Mac's done a wonderful job, but do they have the best coaching staff that North Carolina could get? Mac is a great CEO of a football program.

He has proven to be that. Let's be honest, they careered it for a year or two years at Texas when you have all I mean every resource you could ever possibly have. They mean that should have been something that they were year in and year out fighting for a national championship. Again, not knocking Mac Brown.

To me, I think it's it's it's kind of nutty that that's the best. Oh, I mean, but then what is Texas done since then? It's easy to say Texas should win year in, year out. They hired nobody won before him for decades.

No one won. I'm saying that they have hired poorly. There are certain programs that are more interested in the name than they are in the guy. And I think Texas would fall into that into that category. I again, maybe it's the best North Carolina could do. But again, how many coaches in college football today can you name that have active coaches that have won a national championship?

It's not more than five like you can do it on one hand. So the idea that North Carolina should get someone better than one of the five guys that could say that just that that sounds absurd. Anybody, given everything we know with North Carolina. Anyone can win a national championship.

Then why haven't they? You just need luck. I'm not saying that Mac Brown's bad, but to say, well, he won a national championship, that means it makes him automatically one of the best coaches today. There was also a reason why I didn't coach for 10 years or however long it was. Again, I don't want to make this about me knocking Mac Brown. I'm not knocking Mac Brown. I'm just saying I just find it kind of silly that he's the best coach or whatever. I mean, I think he has done very well at UNC better than I anticipated. And there have also been moments where they should have been ready and they were not ready. Maybe that's just, you know, 19, 20, 21 year old kids.

All right. So Candace, let me throw this at you. Florida State, foregone conclusion. They might lose a game going on the way there. And if they do, they'll still get there. Florida State versus who in the ACC championship game in Charlotte?

Wow. Great question. Right now, if you had asked me before the Virginia game, I would have said Carolina, I think the hunt for second place between Duke, Miami and North Carolina and Louisville are certainly in the conversation. I think the fact that Carolina and Louisville don't play each other and sort of have the straight path, the Duke Louisville game is going to be huge this weekend.

I think those are two considerations. And it really depends on Mario and the boys down there and Coral Gables. I think everyone right now has an opportunity.

And we could see a dark horse come out of nowhere. Virginia Tech, you know, a bunch of people. Oh, please stop. Just stop with your Virginia Tech bananas. Pretty good last night.

I don't know. Yeah, they beat Syracuse, who was always the house of cards, but that's fine. Syracuse is 0 for 4 in the league.

Thank you. So it comes down. Miami's already got the second loss and Carolina owns the tiebreaker over them.

Carolina would have to lose three times for Miami to climb over UNC. Josh, you didn't give me an answer. You didn't give me an answer, Ken. I need an answer before I can ask Josh. Louisville. Louisville goes to schedule.

Josh, your answer is? I think it's because I think it's either North Carolina or Louisville, but I'll go North Carolina because I do think they'll beat Duke. I do think it'll probably come down to that game at NC State. And then you obviously have Louisville and Miami towards the end of the year. I think it might even be the last week that could decide it. Those two games are going to be super key. But I'll go with North Carolina with all that at stake. I think that North Carolina will win that game in Raleigh to get them to Charlotte.

Alright, before I give you the correct answer, which is an absolute sign that I think both of you are wrong. What did you think of the first three quarters Saturday night in Tallahassee? Josh? Well, I was sitting in the stands at Tiger Stadium at LSU just following it on my phone and I thought, oh, Riley Leonard, he must have it. And there's no way that Duke's not going to cover 14 and a half.

Well, that didn't really work out. But rewatching the game, it is kind of amazing how much attention Riley Leonard gets and how inconsequential he might be to the overall strategy of what Duke does, as was evident against NC State and the way they won dominantly. It's just so impressive the way that Mike Elko has built this team to win in the trenches. I was on the field during the Notre Dame game. And somebody on Notre Dame staff that I know was telling me this is the first time we've played an ACC opponent in the last four or five years, not named Clemson, that we legit are getting our butts beat up front on offense and defense. And that's just a huge testament because that's what Notre Dame does to the rest of the league. So that piece of it through three quarters, we saw that hold up in Tallahassee, which has me worried about, I mean, just in terms of a health standpoint, how they're going to be able to do that back to back weeks on the road at Louisville. Candace, what do you think of the first three quarters?

I thought it was excellent. I thought it was just very on brand for what Mike Elko has done for the Duke program. And I think, you know, I'm someone who's very high on Duke football. A lot of people laughed me off when I said that Elko was going to come in and shake things up. And I think now that you're seeing that it wasn't just a fluke year, especially with the battle of the trenches and honestly, making your verse look kind of crazy from that, you know, Graham Barton and those boys in the front offensive line. So, you know, I think Duke is definitely one where if you told me, yes, Duke is going to be an AC championship.

I'm not I'm not going to argue with you. I have a bet going on that they're going to get 10 wins that season. So I'd be perfectly content with that. But I certainly feel like whether or not Riley plays going to be a huge factor because Henry right now is a little bit struggling.

Yeah, I think the future of Henry Bielen is very good, but the present is is not as daunting. I can Florida State beat Duke twice because they're going to have to beat the Duke Blue Devils twice. I think the Blue Devils somehow eat this out, whether Riley Leonard plays or not. And then Carolina's last home game. I'll just leave it. Dot, dot, dot. Carolina's last home game of the season.

Dot, dot, dot. Yeah, a lot of faith in that dude's run game with Jordan Waters having a great year and all the things. And Jaquan Moore, Jacquez Moore, they are really good. Duke had one better wide receiver than Jalen Calhoun.

They would be a really, really good offense. All right. Final question we have to we have to go. Does. The battle of the rookie quarterbacks matter. Candace. The battle rookie quarterback. Yes. C.J.

Stroud versus Bryce Young. Does it matter? I say no, because, you know, health being all things factored in, I think they're both going to be fine. And you just kind of chalk one year up.

And there's a lot that can be said for years to come. So now it doesn't matter. Does it matter? Josh Graham, does it matter? It does because of who owns the Carolina Panthers.

And in the sense of I the criticisms loud on the outside right now, and it's only going to get louder. C.J. Stroud beats Bryce Young. I agree with Candace completely.

It should not be viewed that way. But look, it owns the Carolina Panthers if they lose on Sunday and they lose next week to the team that fired Frank Reich a year ago. While they have a backup quarterback in Gardner Minshew, that's when you start getting into Nate Hackett territory. Urban Meyer territory where people are asking, are you going to win a game?

Again, it's not unreasonable when you're talking about David Tepper and how hands on he can be with these things. If you lose these two games at home in the C.J. Stroud Bryce Young bowl on Sunday and then Frank Reich's former team in a backup quarterback.

That's when that conversation starts to begin. But I don't think it's going to I think it's going to be a moot point. I think Caroline is going to win the game. So do I. I think they're going to win a game win the game as well. David Tepper is going to be this. He's always going to be the lightning rod. And I'm here for it because I don't think he's been a very good owner at all. Hey, at least Charlotte FC made the playoffs.

Yes, they they they got smoked by Red Bulls, but they made the playoffs. Candace Cooper at Candace Cooper locked on ACC podcast. Josh Graham at Josh Graham Radio Sports Hub Triad, as always. Thank you both very much. We'll do it again. Thanks, guys. For the ones who get it done. The most important part is the one you need now. And the best partner is the one who can deliver. That's why millions of maintenance and repair pros trust Granger, because we have professional grade supplies for every industry, even hard to find products. And we have same day pickup and next day delivery on most orders. But most importantly, we have an unwavering commitment to help keep you up and running. Call click Granger dot com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.