Congratulations to Kelly Lynch

This is The Drive with Josh Graham podcast. We're internet sensations, guys. Tune into The Drive weekday afternoons, 3 to 7 on WSJS. We've made it. To a Friday drive, it is WSJS News Talk Sports for the Triad.

Where we remind you that, heading into his 30th season as the voice of the demon deacons, Stan Cotton will be in this chair hosting the annual Wake Forest Athletics takeover of this show. That is on Monday. It's a show we always look forward to and you should do. But here's what's top of mind today. The Carolina Panthers' second preseason game is at the Houston Texans tomorrow afternoon.

And from a local perspective, There are three primary appeals to watch for. And it starts with this class of rookies. Can top 10 pick Teteroa McMillan be more consistent than he was last week? Sure, his first target was that great catch, dowed the right sideline against the Browns in Charlotte. But he only had two catches.

He was in well after the starters left, got plenty of reps. Had four targets his way, had that short drop in the end zone. You want to see more than a couple of catches from a guy that was selected as high as he was and has the skill set that we see in flashes during training camp. You have the two edge rushers that were taken in the second and third round. That's obviously, they're going to be relying on those guys in some form this year.

There's The story of Camp from a defensive perspective: undrafted corner Corey Thornton. Is he going to work again with the ones since JC Horn will not be playing yet again? Send me that cash up, family. That's worth watching. Then, of course, if It's our guy, Will.

Jimmy Horn Jr., or as we call him, Hemi Horn Jr., the sixth round receiver out of Colorado, that continues to make plays. during camp and Does so on special teams too. Good evening.

So you should see these rookies play From beginning to end tomorrow, you should see Some of them on the field at all times.

Next up, special teams battles. This week. Dave Kanowis announced that Austin Corbett had won the center competition. And that means pretty much every starting spot on offensive defense. Pretty much spoken for.

The one change you could see on defense is Nick Scott. Carolina has a waiver wire pickup that they feel is better, more solid than him across from Trayvon Merrig. Safety. They're probably not going to start the fourth round rookie out of Ohio State at that spot out of the gate, Lathan Ransom.

So where are the position battles for starting jobs? It's on special teams. The kicking competition, it's still on between Matthew Wright and rookie Ryan Fitzgerald. The rookie out of Florida State. Wright has been better at camp.

You don't want to call it because You kind of want Ryan Fitzgerald to win the job. He's a rookie. You could keep this guy around forever. He has such great upside. Might have been the best kicker coming into the league, best rookie kicker entering the league.

Punt returners become an area of interest. It was a roller coaster. Last week, you had. Raheem Blackshear tripping over his own feet. You had a muffed punt by rookie Trevor Etienne.

Somebody ran into him. It might have been Nick Scott, if memory serves. It was a roller coaster ride.

So you do have Black Shear as the starting punt returner. He also is the starting kick returner as well. But interestingly, on the second official depth chart or unofficial depth chart Carolina release, Hunter Rimfro second there.

So maybe you see more of Rimfro in that spot. Maybe you go shorthanded. That's the path for your punt return position. Lastly, third area of interest, zone of interest. The Panthers pass rush.

Houston starters could play a half according to D'Amico Ryance. Carolina, their starters are expected to play more than they did last week, which was about 12 snaps.

So they're going to play more than a quarter. Maybe they get close to the half. This is A weak spot for the Panthers. Against perhaps the weakest area of the Houston Texans. Projection saying maybe the worst offensive line in the NFL.

Carolina did not look great. In the joint practice. with their edge rushing unit. They weren't great last week against Cleveland either. That's going to be something to watch because it could be an Achilles heel area for Carolina the pass rush.

So there you go. Three primary appeals to the Panthers' second preseason game. It starts with the rookies, then it's the special teens position battles, and then it's. The pass rush. for Carolina.

Will Dalton is the executive producer of Today's Show. And after handing out W D's all week with Stan Cotton's help, Today Is the biggest award of the year. These are the WDs. It is the WD Award for best. Picture.

Will Would you please share the nominees? Leading it off. The color of money. These are all gonna be Tom Cruise movies, aren't they? Perhaps.

Okay. WD did tell me prior to this segment. prior to getting things started. Josh, there's gonna be an omission from this list that makes you mad. Days of Thunder.

Okay, that's the next one.

Okay, Days of Thunder, color of money. Got it. Cocktail. All right. Are any of these movies going to be post-1990?

Risky business. The answer's no. Why am I going to be mad about this? Color of Money, Days of Thunder, Cocktail, Risky Business. All Tom Cruise movies, predictably.

What is the one Tom Cruise movie that we've done, other than those, that's like. Massive success. Oh, Topka Maverick? Yep, not on the list. I do think Top Gun Maverick is one of I don't know if I included it on my list of the best movies of the century, but it's.

Up there. Yeah, a little surprising. It was between that and Days of Thunder. And listen, I just. I had to give Days of Thunder the nod.

Had to do it. That also might have tipped your hand a little bit. What? The award winner might be, because if it is Days of Thunder or Cocktail, it's just absurd, but knowing you, it probably will. This has already been pre-recorded, so you can't change it now.

Whatever it is, it is. Later in the program. These are the W D's. There was a report this morning. That Has not been confirmed yet.

But if true is a godsend for the Sharwood Hornets. And more specifically for this show. The report says He's back. Or mom. The report says That He Armando Baycotto intends To sign.

with the Sharwood Hornets. This would be a likely training camp or exhibit ten. Contract And They're really, this is a win-win, if it's true. We don't know if it's true yet. This is just circulating on social media.

He has yet to officially sign with anyone yet. We got excited just because of this report. The best case. for Baycott. He breaks in with the Hornets.

He was terrific. with the Memphis Grizzlies G League team averaging 18.2 points a game, 9.5. Rebounds a game. At times, he looks like a completely different player from what we saw in Chapel Hill. We're talking about fast-break dunks.

We're talking about threes he's knocking down. Plus, what do we know about the way Charlotte's roster has been constructed? Center? It's The lightest position that Charlotte has after Moving all their centers to the Phoenix Suns. It's the lightest position that's there.

So that's the best case scenario for Armando. The worst case.

So good to hear that again. The worst case for him is that he's an all-time popular Greensboro Swarm player. That is the absolute worst case. See, put him up there with Joel Berry, Marcus Page. And then you got Armando.

These are the That is mine. That is three. Of the five most popular tar heels of the last decade. Three of the five, the other two being R.J. Davis and Theo Penson, and Theo Penson.

His Trade rights were acquired by the Greensboro swarm this year.

Now, does it all shake out? Is this Armando news true? Is Theo Penson gonna end up appearing in Greensboro? We don't know the answers to that, but just imagine a world will. Where the Greensboro swarm is starting its season, and in their starting five is Baycott.

Theo Penson. And see on James. Man, wouldn't that be sweet? I'm there. Opening night.

Fire me. Up. With this organization So good right now. Did you want to queue up Mr. James?

Mr. James. Thought you might. I thought you might. Charlotte.

Think about it. They won the summer league after had never even made the summer league postseason before. Won the summer league, hashtag print the shirts. And Greensboro made it to the G-League playoffs. for the first time in their existence.

And now You might be talking about adding Armando Bakot and Theo Penson to the roster? Yo! As the kids say, gas me up. Or gas, no breaks. Let's hope.

That this is true. Let's hope that this is true. Let's get to some of the comments. You can chime in on YouTube, search of the drive with Josh Grant, Bruce Reitzer. Remember when Tar Heels were actually taken in the NBA draft?

Well Drake Powell was a first round draft pick. Shout out to him. It's fine. Brooklyn. Yeah.

Was anybody drafted the year before that? I don't think so. Harrison Ingram. Oh, that's a I was thinking that was two years ago or something. Yeah, it was.

Harrison Ingram, yes, Spurs. Harrison Ingram was drafted. No, I don't think he was drafted. He was? No.

Or Mac Ryan. I don't think they were drafting 26-year-old or 25-year-old. That's fine. I just don't think he was drafted. Was nobody from that team that was really strong that made the tournament other than Harrison Ingram drafted?

Wasn't there a really good freshman on that team? Yeah, time flies. Jay Davis writes: I never understood why a lot of people didn't like Days of Thunder. One of my favorite Tom Cruise movies growing up: Risky Business is the best. of that bunch that W D suggested.

I I think Color and Money is a better movie than Risky Business, but those are the two. Best. movies there. Fausto writes it. Swarm basketball.

This is swarm. If you're watching on YouTube, Twitch, and X, Dot A new addition to the studio. Got a swarm jersey behind me here. It's a number seven. That's Conka Nipple's number.

Don't know if he's going to be wearing that. In Greensboro. Doubt it. All right, let's go. Oh, I'm so excited.

And three, two, one. Go. Back to the drive with Josh Graham. From the Queen City, we visit with Will Pelagic, voice of Charlotte FC, dropping by with us. We'll circle back to Carolina Panthers' preseason talk in just a bit.

You know what? Let's actually hit on this before we get to.

Some of our normal typical matters with WilpoLogic. Game two, Panthers, Texans, tomorrow. On a scale of from one to ten, what's your interest level? One o'clock tomorrow in preseason game number two. I'm at about a seven.

I'm not as hyped about this one as I was the first one. I think there was a lot of intrigue going into the first one because there was a lot of unknown. It does seem like they. What's that? And we had the Shador.

That one didn't really do much for me. That's a mistrick.

Sorry. Um I'm I'm more. Less cautious for this one because I feel like Dave Canalis has, whether it's intentionally or unintentionally, maybe dialed back a lot of the expectations for this one. Because, and we see this happen a lot of times with coaches.

Sometimes they will see the work that gets done in the joint practice and they will curb what their initial expectations for a workload during the game might be. And I fully expect, you know, I think going into the preseason, we thought maybe the starters would get a quarter. I I maybe would think One to two series now, one to two long series for the starters. If, at least from the offensive side of things, they get their work in, they get their work in positively. I think so much of what we saw yesterday, and again, I'm hearing this again from more reports than anything else because I wasn't there, but it did seem like the work was very evenly distributed.

And I think they created the adversity on both sides of the football that they wanted to, which I think that's almost more beneficial to a team. As opposed to, oh, we just we ran everything flawlessly and had no issues, had no flare ups. I almost feel like they saw more of what they wanted to see from that perspective, more so than what they saw against Cleveland. Also, It was hot as hell and Usually, when you are competing in really, really hot conditions, you get worn down a lot easier. Yeah, but they got a dome there.

They're probably close to dome there. I just met on Thursday. It was hot as hell. They did not play in the dome.

So after that, maybe. You're talking about tomorrow, though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Will Pelagic with us here. Charlotte FC.

That Houston Heat, I lived there for three years. That Houston Heat does not quit. It does. It does not quit. Charlotte FC.

Tomorrow, Real Salt Lake. in the fortress. You can listen to the game on WSJS here.

So, Charlotte's won five matches in a row in MLS play. They've earned points in six straight. What? Has bit what has the crown discovered? During this run, like we hear this in all sports.

It's like, oh, we've found something, we've discovered something, and then you kind of go on this run. What has Dean Smith found?

Well, before last week, I would have said they found home, which they hadn't seen a lot of over the previous two months. They'd played 10 of the last 12 away from home at some very tough venues, and also had a lot of travel that was stacked up against that, and they also had injuries. But I also think, you know, when it comes down to it, if you loop in last weekend's Victor Ever Cincinnati, they found. Consistent play from both sides. It felt like there were some games.

Charlotte's had no problem scoring goals at any point during this season, but they've had problems outscoring their own defense. And I think that's been the big issue. I think you saw a definite return to form for Christian Kalina last weekend against Cincinnati, and you saw a return to the defensive discipline that we saw almost throughout the 2024 season under Dean Smith. I think Nathan Byrne being back is a big part of that. I think we've seen the best of Tim Ream as well.

Dilson Malanda, you know what you're getting out of him. And I'm very curious to see, too, how this works when they add Harry Tofalo to the mix, whether he ends up getting his visa and is able to plug right in there at some point during the match on Saturday, or whether it happens next week against the New York Red Bulls, because that's the one thing that's been missing consistently all season from Charlotte is that same lockdown defense we came so used to seeing a year ago. They're going to score, and again, unless they get clean sheeted. In each of their last eight games, which is no one's projecting, they're going to end up scoring more goals this year than they ever have. And they're scoring goals at a level that they haven't scored in their entire history.

They've scored in 21 consecutive games, Josh. And in those 21 contests, 14 of those have been multi-goal games. And I understand that this might be a league where teams score at a higher clip than, say, the Premier League or other European leagues, but that's a very, very impressive stat and something that's quite frankly unfounded in Charlotte FC's history. Will Pelagic, voice of Charlotte FC, listen to him and Anna Witty tomorrow as Charlotte FC faces Real Salt Lake.

So, Charlotte FC is one of your teams. Another one of your teams are the New York Mets. Oh, they've lost 13 of 15. The Atlanta Braves. You do this to me, Joshua.

Blown lead.

Well, you know, you guys take. G uh Soto and then Steal My Heart and Cedric Mullins and This is what happened. And last week you ended Gavin Williams no-hitter. During our show. You know, I haven't been, I had no issue with the Mets.

Until about a month ago.

Now I'm starting to have problems. I just need to know. How has this 15 game stretch of losing thirteen of fifteen affected your psyche. It has made me want them to miss the playoffs because I want the manager and general manager. Fired.

Whoa! Not only do I want them fired, I want them to crash out, and then I want to fly to New York in October and help them pack. That's how badly I want this season to end. I'm like so freaking done with the Mets.

So done. It's infuriating and excruciating to watch because I know what's going to happen. Their starter's not going to make the fifth inning. The offense is going to crap out at the most inopportune time. And the manager, whatever button he will push, it'll be the wrong one.

It's the worst baseball I can remember watching for a team that has talent. I've seen them play badly when they've been devoid of talent. I'm used to seeing that. I'm used to them seeing throw the ball all over the infield and have inept hitting and have. Seasons and rosters that are devoid of talent.

I have not seen a group more stacked with talent underperform so much. It's infuriating. I hate it. Is that what you wanted?

Well, I'm an Oriole fan, and all the things you said about your team, I could also apply to my team this year, except your team's still currently in playoff position. Same for WD as well. Yeah, well, you know. But you guys root for teams that are top three in payroll. WD, do you not feel the exact?

Did I not personify your exact same feelings? Like, if someone told you. You could get on a plane tomorrow and help Aaron Boone clean out his office in the Yankee clubhouse. Would you. Be not elated?

What would be your role in cleaning up? Like if you were like, if they took you up on that, they were listening, like, I need help moving. Like, where, where would you best help? Would you try to hit the shelf? I want to spray his office with a super soaker of lighter fluid.

And throw a match towards it. Not with him in it. But just that. Huh? That'd be great.

Thanks for the clarifying note there. Aaron Boone just needs to come to Chapel Hill and join, you know, the Carolina baseball coaches. That's a good question. Will met Aaron Boone at a Duke Carolina basketball game and ever since. He was a coach, apparently, at one point.

Is that right? I saw a picture of that.

Well, everybody's been out there. Larry Fitzgerald was out there. Will he set the ACC record for ejections while there? Maybe. Maybe.

Just know that Will, this also applies both Wills. Yes. It's right there in front of you. Oh, yeah. What is it?

Right there in front of you. Willie P. Thought about you today while I was eating Bossy Beulah's for lunch. Hey! That's how I know I'm a great friend of yours.

Thanks for doing this. You thought about me during Bossy Beulah's. It's chicken.

Next time you come down to Charlotte for a Panther game, we maybe need to do a pregame meal at the Bossy Beula's right next door to. The stadium. See you, Willie P. There goes Will Pelagic. Yeah, I love that.

I do. We are friendly, even though I brought up his Metz there. That wasn't very nice. No. The Drive brought to you in part by our friends at Bristol.

Bristol, baby, Bristol. See, I just feel obligated to read this as if I'm Vince Vaughan's character in Swingers. But rather than saying Vegas, I say Bristol. You're so money and you don't even know it, Bristol. Bristol Motor Speedway.

It's Bristol, baby. Bristol. Tickets, get them. BristolMotorspeedway.com. For what you ask?

Oh, it's the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. Oh! Oh, Bristol Motor Speedway. BristolMotorspeedway.com. NASCAR playoff action, September 11th through the 13th.

Why will? 'Cause it's Bristol, baby. Bristol. You are so money and you don't even know it. We didn't plan for that.

Nope. Nope. This weekend. See, another reminder. I will not be in this chair Monday or Tuesday.

We've got the Wake Forest Athletics takeover. On Monday Show. And we got some Wake Forest. Coverage news, some future coverage news that we'll get to later this hour. I'm headed to the beach.

Emerald Isle. It's what I'm doing. It's gonna be fun. Have fun with that. Gonna find a peer.

And I was just gonna ask. Yeah. Think that might be the move. I don't know. I always find the pier at Myrtle Beach different.

Like, our house is right off the water. at Emerald Isle.

So it might be a little bit different of an approach. And uh baby Daniels, first time going to the beach? Don't know if that's going to be A good idea or a bad idea, we'll find out together. He's just now starting to crawl? Love that?

We'll see how that goes. Will as a dog? Taking her along too? She's part of the family, Will. Oh, excuse me.

Sorry. It's a quite a crew. This is it. Ready? All right, hold on.

All right, do it, do it. All right, listen up. This is the drive with Josh Graham. The moment has arrived. W D's week.

handing out awards. Best picture. Is the last award for us to hand out. The best movie. Will Dalton has seen over the past year for the first time.

Let's dig into it. Greetings and currents. Congratulations! WD has watched another year's worth of movies. This is starting to get impressive.

This is like a really huge deal. To celebrate the occasion and the best things he's seen on screen, these are the WDs. In review. You can catch A trend. As we did.

prior to the last two days where it got ridiculous. Monday. The best actress W D. went to Nicole Kidman for her performance in Days of Thunder. On Tuesday, Rebecca Demonet.

From Risky business. Won the Best Supporting Actress. W D Wednesday. The best supporting actor. went to a recent film.

Glenn Powell for his performance in Top Gun Maverick. At that point, we realize, yeah, they're all Tom Cruise-related movies.

So we'll. Steered right into the skit. He went all in. Yesterday He announced four nominees. That were all Tom Cruise.

All Tom Cruise performances. And the winner. For the WD. For Best actor. Was Tom Cruise?

In the color of money, right? Correct. color of money. Remind the people. what the nominees yet again were best picture.

which predictably were all Tom Cruise movies yet again. Days of Thunder Yeah. Got that. The color of money. Mm-hmm.

Risky business. and cocktail.

Okay. So I'm trying to figure out how your brain works.

Okay. And there are a couple of schools of thought. I'm trying to prepare. I'm trying to predict what you chose here. You might be a spread the wealth type of guy.

And say, I already gave, I already recognized. Days of Thunder with Nicole Kidman. I recognized Risky Business with Rebecca Dimonet. I recognized The Color of Money by giving Tom Cruise the award.

So I'm just going to give it the cocktail.

Okay? You also Said that You left Top Gun Maverick on the cutting edge or on the cutting room floor. In favor of Days of Thunder, which tells me that was the last movie in. Not Your favorite of the movie, so I don't think that that's your pick. You know what?

I'm just gonna go with my initial inkling. It's not the best movie. But that's not the point. Last year, Roadhouse. won over the Godfather.

We made I and Eagle say that on the air. I think Knowing you, and I feel I know you about as well as anybody. I think you chose cocktail. I think you're gonna make, just for the joke of it, You're gonna make cocktail. The best picture winner WD.

Let's find out together because you. Can't. Change The vote. The vote's in because Stan Cotton has the card. He's going to read it.

Let's see what's on that card. I predict it's cocktail. And the WD for best picture is Cockchase. Yeah! I solved the puzzle.

I solved the puzzle. And it was just the best movie. Superior to all of them. No, I mean, Risky Business and Color of Money are better movies than Cocktail. What a great movie it was.

There you go. You know what the silver lot? You know what the common thread between last year's winner, the first ever WD's best picture, and this one is, right? They're both like dude movies. No, no, there's an actual...

Common thread, and the answer is Kelly Lynch. Oh yeah. Kelly Lynch is. The love interest in Roadhouse and Kelly Lynch is is The smoking hot lady that Coglin's Laurel. Ends up.

With his wife in the movie.

So, what a funny thing. Congratulations to Kelly Lynch more than. Anybody. There you go. Perfectly stupid.

these W D awards. But there you go. Congratulations. Shifting things to the NFL. We've covered the Panthers preseason game with the Texans.

We won't go any deeper into that. But there are a lot of other games as well going on this weekend. And The central storyline. is going to be quarterbacks this week. That shouldn't surprise anybody, but there are quite a bit of storylines related to the QB.

that we're going to see play out. Here are some of the examples that you can Pay attention to. It starts. With Cam Ward's Titans facing the Atlanta Falcons tonight. Cam Ward, number one, picking the draft out of Miami, hashtag ACC Legend.

In his first preseason game, led an 11-play touchdown drive on his second series last week. Let's see how he follows that up. You can watch the game on NFL Network at 7 o'clock. That will be followed on the network by the Kansas City Chiefs at the Seattle Seahawks. But the most appealing storylines this weekend are the four tire fires playing out in real time that frankly you just can't look away from.

One o'clock. Tomorrow. The Indianapolis Colts. have the Green Bay Packers. Anthony Richardson is a disaster.

Didn't know how to pick up the easiest of blitz coverages from last week. Hurts his hand. We'll see if he even plays the game. If he does, that makes it more interesting. If he doesn't, Okay, is this going to be fully embraced the Daniel Jones experience in Indianapolis at the same time at one o'clock?

By the way, that's the kickoff time for Panthers, Texans, as well. Browns Eagles. NFL network, no Shador Sanders. Hurt with an oblique this week, but Well, you need to tell me 'cause you're the one that's more invested in this story than I am. What?

Are we going to see Dylan Gabriel or is he still hurt? Are we going to see Joe Flacco? Is this where we start to see Cleveland play some of its starters? They they did it last week. Kenny Pickett, what's his status?

Tyler. Hunley. We know who these QBs are, so there is appeal regardless of who's playing the position. But this might be a Dylan Gabriel get your face back type game. Maybe do what Shador did last week.

When you didn't play due to injury, maybe you play just as well while Shador's out.

Well, Dylan Gabriel sounds like he's I don't know. I read one report saying he's a game time decision. I read one report he's cleared to play.

Okay. My gut is he's gonna play because Flyo? Yeah. I doubt. No.

Give Dylan Gabriel the same opportunity Shador got last year. I mean, you should. That would be fun. That's the debate that everybody's got. That would be fun.

Let's see it. And I'd root for Dylan Gabriel to go off. Not because I have anything against Shador, it's more how dismissive people have been about Dylan Gabriel. If I have to choose college football or the NFL, I choose college football every time. The Shador.

And Dylan Gabriel was a superior college quarterback to Shador.

So, the way that people are dismissive, again, it's not against Shador, it's. The fact that people are dismissive of Dylan Gabriel because they don't watch Dylan Gabriel. They weren't watching Oregon last year. That's the part I take issue with. Jets, Giants later in the day tomorrow.

All four of the Giants quarterbacks played well last week. Jackson Dart looked great in his debut. Russell Wilson, six of seven passing. Jameis Winston, Tommy DeVito had... A touchdown pass, all the touchdown passes in this game.

We'll see what that looks like. And then the Saints, they face the Jaguars on Sunday. The Saints have three options at quarterback, and they're all bad options. You have Rookie Tyler Schuck out of Louisville, ACC legend. You got Jake Hayner.

From Fresno States. Second year, third year player, doesn't matter. Spencer Rattler. The Spencer Rattler experience is still under consideration for first-year coach Kellen Moore. But that's not the headliner on Sunday.

Sunday night. National broadcast on Fox. The Caleb Williams Show The Caleb Williams Ben Johnson Show. After not playing in the preseason opener, Caleb is expected to go against the Bills. And once again, not just hard knock cameras are going to be there, the hard knocks team with the Bills this.

Camp. Prime time. Sunday night. On Fox, not NBC. Not that Sunday night football.

Sunday night. Half the bow. Embies, none of that. None of that. Da da da da da da da da Or Chris Collinsworth slide again, saying, Mac, I like this Caleb Williams.

Here's a guy. Nope, we got Brady, I think. With Burghardt, Fox, Sunday night.

So there are the quarterback angles that we're going to be watching. I won't be here on Monday to talk about it, thankfully. I'll be at the beach on Emerald Isle, but... Quarterbacks will be the central story. This is hard to do, but we're going to try to do this.

We're gonna try to address storylines with all four of the ACC Big Four programs in the state of North Carolina, football programs. And to help us do that, help us have that discussion. The great David Glenn joins us next. We're more than halfway to Margaritaville. On this Friday.

But when Jimmy Buffett plays, that means David Glenn is joining us. Earlier today, he was telling me that he spent a lot of time on the coast this summer. I need to catch up with him, and I plan to do my darndest. This weekend. I'll be out on Monday and Tuesday.

We got the Wake Forest Athletics takeover of the show on Monday.

So I'll be out in Emerald Isle. DG. You do look a little tan. You look pretty good. How much beach time did you get?

A lot. I mean, you know, the many reasons that I and we love this great state. I spent time in a lot in Wilmington. A lot in Wrightsville Beach. A little in Emerald Isle, a little in Oak Island.

South of the border, a couple of trips to the Greater Myrtle Beach area. I'm headed to Hilton Head, South Carolina. I got up to Nantucket, the island off of Massachusetts, to visit one of my best college buddies. And I just spent a weekend on kind of the Jersey shore, so to speak, on a trip to Philadelphia. I've been spoiled this summer.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, though. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Then you might be the most equipped person to answer a viral internet question that was asked a week or two ago, getting into the nitty-gritty of Emerald Isle versus Carolina Beach versus Ocean Isle versus Nag's Head. You've been to them all. Is there a tier one beach in David Glenn's mind?

It is for me because You know, I've worked at UNC Wilmington. I got married in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.

So, Maria and I were literally looking at the Atlantic Ocean as we exchanged vows. And now I have a lot of business partners in Wrightsville Beach. And I also remember, you know, my wife, the lovely and talented Maria, as we call her, she's originally a New Yorker.

So, if I took her to the Outer Banks or another small beach town for a too extended period. She would run out of things to do. Through the eyes of a New Yorker. When you're near a major city like Wilmington. Where there might be 25 different restaurants and multiple concert venues and a lot going on, you never run out of things to do.

And there are only so many cities at the beach. I mean, I like Mantio and I like the outer banks and I like some of those beaches that you mentioned, but I love both the benefits of the small beach riceful But right across the bridge, you've got the what Wilmington's one of the What, six or eight biggest cities in the state of North Carolina?

So you got the best of both worlds when you do it that way, at least in the Glenn family. Let me give David Glenn a proper title other than beach expert, which could go right next to on the screen, ncsportsnetwork.com. David Glenn, nobody knows the ACC as well as he does, especially when you limit the scope to our state's team.

So, gridiron or otherwise, let's hit on all four schools that make up the ACC big four in our state. And let's actually start in Winston-Salem with the Deeks. This seems to be the storyline I'm hearing and have heard multiple times from Wake Forest Camp. They don't know who their quarterback is right now.

However, they hope to know by next Wednesday, according to Jake Dicker, earlier in the week. But the reason they don't know right now is because neither Robbie Ashford nor Deshaun Purdy have been impressive enough to separate. That's the bad news. The good news is that Wake's weapons are improved around the quarterback. You got DeMon Claiborne and Micah Mays back, particularly at receiver, and the defense looks improved.

They've looked really good in camp.

So it's almost a philosophical question, DG. How good can your team be when the overall roster you feel has improved, but the most concerns you have happen to be at the most important position? I don't think you can be great. If one of your biggest questions is at quarterback. Unless you are one of the machines of college football.

You know, Ohio State and Alabama in an occasional year will have a second-tier quarterback and still win 10 games or whatever. I don't think that can happen at Wake Forest. I think The toughest part of the Deacon season is going to be finding not a capable quarterback. I think that's possible. But a quarterback that makes a difference for you.

I'm not sure they have that guy on that roster. And that's a bummer in part because Jake Dickert, who did good things at Washington State, brought a bunch of good players with him from Washington State. But his quarterback at Washington State signed elsewhere. I mean, he'd have been a plug-and-play guy if Wake had managed to get him. Yeah, well, he was in the news this week for other reasons: that John Matier.

True. To me, the goal is makeable. If you make a bowl, then Jake Dickert deserves a lot of credit in year one with the Demon Deacons. Getting to the tar heels. I'm tempted to ask you about the Hornets adding Armando Baycott to their roster earlier today.

Right up our alley, an opportunity to play that drop. But let's actually talk about another off-field headline related. Sue, North Carolina. It was announced last night that other than the first episode of the season, Bill Belichick will not be featured on the North Carolina Weekly Coaches Show, ending a long-term tradition for Tar Heel football and basketball coaches being featured on Top of the Hill or in other iterations, as we've seen during COVID and having chances to tape the show. Usually, you'd see Hubert Davis, you'd see Roy Williams, you'd see Mac Brown, you'd name it.

It's going to be Michael Lombardi every week, other than the first week where Bill Belichick is featured. This comes a couple of weeks after he was the first known footballer men's basketball coach to completely bail on Radio Row out at ACC. Uh football media days ACC kickoff. How disappointed does it make you that a lot of these traditions are being rolled back? By Bill Belichick, and how far would he have to go for fans to actually care about it?

Would it have to be his weekly press conference that he somehow dips out on? I think it's bad for the fans. And I'm of the mindset as a guy who negotiated a lot of things as an attorney for a long time. All these things have to be discussed as much as possible on the front end. In other words, if on the front end, as you're ironing out, of course.

Your $10 million a year compensation package, and you're ironing out how much. NIL money, or now they call it revenue sharing money, you have. And that's in Bill Belichick's. Contract. He gets 13 million or more to spread among football players from that 20.5 million out of UNC's athletics coffers.

To me, as long as you discuss it up front, You can't get mad at the coach. If Bill Belichick during the negotiation process said, I'm only doing the bare minimum. When it comes to media, and I saw you were with me in Charlotte, Josh. Bill Belichick Dropped into the conversation at least a dozen times that he has been on double-digit booster club appearances. Like he he just wanted to make sure everybody knew.

That he'd been making the rounds on UNC's version of the rubber chicken circuit during the offseason. I've also been told. That he no-showed. At a couple of those events.

So he's trying to give himself credit for doing it. But he also has not been user-friendly in that regard. Either. You know the bottom line includes: if he wins enough, all this other stuff disappears. If he doesn't win enough, all this other stuff.

gets pushed under the microscope. And people start to ask: why are we given this kind of money? Why should we go to this coach's show? Why should people go to Radio Row? if more and more people opt out.

There are examples in your time covering this stuff. In the latter part of Mike Shyzzewski's career at Duke. He was so famous, so accomplished.

So proven. He decided to farm out things that had been for my entire career. The responsibility of a head coach.

Some of that is as simple as who's going to talk to the reporter on the way to the locker room at halftime, right? ninety nine times out of one hundred, it's one of the two teams' head coach.

Well, late in Mike Szyzevsky's career, it became Jeff Capel or John Shire or one of his other prominent assistant coaches. He also created his own radio show. And had times where he was not. You know, they called it something different than the Coach K show, right? Because it was going to be a rotating lineup of other guests.

So, Bill Belichick's approach to this is not unprecedented. He hasn't been completely anti-media. I mean, I did the pigskin preview with him. I'm on stage with Dave Doran, Manny Diaz, Bill Belichick. Showed up to that.

I don't think that's in his contract.

So he did it.

So he's trying to find a happy medium, but nobody should be surprised that the media part of his job. that ranks pretty low on his list of favorite things to do. Getting to Duke Football Nine wins last year for Manny Diaz, second time in three years for Duke football. They hit that mark the middle of those two nine-win seasons was an eight-win season. But there's one stat I just can't get out of my head with Duke that has me.

cautious in talking about optimism for the blue devils and that is six One score wins last year. That football is oblong-shaped. It bounces some way sometimes, and it seemed the blue devils benefited from some bounces and some breaks. Probably the best example of that is racing a twenty to nothing deficit against North Carolina, figuring out a way to win games. Usually those things correct back to the mean.

What is more likely in your mind for Duke? Another nine-win season or us talking about the Blue Devils barely becoming bull eligible and winning six. I believe more likely between those two is another nine win season. I think this is a rock solid bowl team. And I can't remember many years in my thirty seven seasons covering the ACC Where, if you and I, I know that's your lifetime, but if you and I had the preseason conversation, some of those with Josh and Diapers, if we had that preseason conversation, there are not many years.

Where we would say of all of our in-state FBS programs, Duke. Has the most proven commodities before the first game is played. And Chandler Rivers, their cornerback, is a future NFL player. And Terry Moore, their safety, is a future NFL player. And Brian Parker, their offensive lineman, is an all-ACC caliber player.

And Darian Mensa, their new quarterback from Tulane, is absolutely a proven commodity.

So, those are just four examples. But could we list for Four over-the-top proven commodities at UNC right now? I don't, not from not proven commodity at the power four level. I don't know if we could list four at Wake Forest. Who's your four best at NC State or App State or ECU?

I think Duke's Foundation is the strongest of our in-state teams. Nine will be hard to match. I'll give you that. But they're not a fluke. They're incredibly well coached.

They have significant talent back, even beyond the four guys that I just mentioned. And I think they believe in themselves. They believe in each other. There's more continuity in that program. Carolina has 70 new players.

Duke has minimized both the outgoing transfers and the incoming transfers. And I think that allows them a better chance at having a back-to-back, really good season in year two under Manny Diaz. David Glenn with us here, NC SportsNetwork.com. Kind enough to join us. That leaves us with the Wolfies and Raleigh.

In large part due to last year's disappointment. Also And Part due to the excitement surrounding Will Wade's hire in basketball, taking up oxygen from the summer conversation. When's the last time you remember this little buzz? See, you're very close to it in Raleigh. When's the last time you remember this little buzz surrounding an NC State football season?

Ooh, you know, maybe when Dave Doran first got there. I think everybody thought that that initial campaign, what are we now? Was that 13 years ago? Oh, it's kind of nuts when you look at it that way. After his first year, he won three or four games, maybe three.

So maybe year two of Dave Doran. I don't know. Yeah, that first year, there was little buzz just because everybody knew he did not inherit a stacked cupboard, so to speak.

So it might be more than a decade that there was this little buzz. I mean, the superstars that we think of. Two years ago, Peyton Wilson, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers. One year ago, I know it wasn't a great statistical year, but KC Concepcion, the wide receiver, transfers to an SEC school. Who's the Wolfpack?

Who are the Wolfpack's best players? When we played that game at Duque. Right out of the gate, we listed four dudes who are absolute decision-you know, difference makers. CJ Bailey, Hollywood Smothers, Justin Jolie. Maybe Grimes at receiver.

Yeah, four on defense, four. Maybe one of the linebackers.

So there are good players. The coverbud is not bare. And Dave Doran's trademark includes. Being smart, tough, and well coached at the line of scrimmage. Even his lesser teams usually have been that.

And things have gone sideways in the lesser years because of quarterback problems or execution problems or defensive backfield problems, et cetera.

So I think they're going to be tough and smart and well coached at the line of scrimmage again. But do they have enough difference makers at the skill position? Is CJ Bailey. who's only a true sophomore. I mean does have starting experience under his belt.

Is he ready to be good? I think so. Is he ready to be great? I'm not sure. And that's, I think, one of the reasons that there's a little.

Less buzz around Wolfpack football than there has been for most of the last decade. I do think there's a basketball piece to this where. This This offseason, I I don't think it could have gone better. The moment Kevin Keats was fired. NC State fans said we want Will Wade.

And then Will Wade knocked out the press conference where he's talking next year we want to be an NCIA tournament team. And then you arguably get the best player in the portal. And earlier this week, DG, they announced their non-conference basketball schedule. And DG. Like If Will Wade was reading the biggest NC State fans diary.

It would be exactly like, could you ask for more on a non-conference schedule? Hey, we'd like to have a big marquee home game.

Well, here's Kansas coming to Lenovo Center, and you don't have to return the trip because Kevin Keats already did that for you. WD pulling it up on our screen now. Like, we want to test. We don't want the first true road game we play to be when ACC play starts. Oh, you can go to a Final Four team, go to Auburn and the ACC, SEC challenge.

Hey, how about locals and fun regional games? Central hasn't played NC State in over a decade.

So you open up with that. There's UNCG, VCU, that's fun. You got a Reynolds game mixed in. I mean, they've been reading my diary, DG. They're playing in Greensboro against Ole Miss.

There's Asheville, Liberty. And when you look at the Maui slate, there's no heavy hitters. You get Seton Hall, but hey, Shamanade, Washington State, Texas, USC. You could actually compete and win the thing in Maui. Could this offseason have gone any better for Will Wade and NC State?

Not much better. I mean, I would have liked to have seen them get one more superstar. You know, like Williams from Texas Tech, that that's. That is the rock that Will Wade is going to build upon in year one. He's a proven commodity.

He's going to be an all-ACC player, assuming good health. But one of the many reasons that you do your job so well, Josh, is that you're circling something. That is especially impactful at NC State. Because as long as you and I have been around, if we were asked, and we do out-of-state TV shows, out-of-state podcasts, we're asked to help the rest of the world understand our great state, our great programs. There has never been a debate at UNC.

About where that fan base goes first in terms of its passion. It's men's basketball. That's not debatable. It's not debatable at Duke, men's basketball. It's not debatable at ECU, it's football.

It's not debatable at App State, it's football, right? NC State has been a fascinating pendulum. Where in a given year, the greater, more intense scrutiny, passion, excitement, whatever, at some times, I mean, I remember the peak of the Chuck O'Matto Phillip Rivers era, the answer was absolutely football for a while. But of course they're a two-time national champion. Long time ago, but still a two-time national champion in basketball.

The Kevin Keats run to the Final Four was magical, unforgettable. The pendulum can swing in either direction at NC State, unlike most of these other schools. And right now, the pendulum is way on the side of first-year coach Will Wade in men's basketball. I think folks are curious about what Dave Doran will do with this team. I don't think we have to assume they'll be bad or mediocre.

They have enough pieces to be competitive. But I see the same things that you see in either Wolfpack friends of mine or people we interact with at the North Carolina Sports Network. You can get them to talk a little bit about football, but if you bring up basketball, man, you better be ready to listen for a long time because they are jacked up and ready to go, even though that season is a little bit further down the road. David Glenn, thanks for what you do. NC SportsNetwork.com.

Thank you for making the visit as well. We'll talk to you sometime next week. Thank you. Enjoy the beach, my friend. Have fun.

Come back with a little of that color if you can. See you, bud.