This is the Drive with Josh Graham podcast. For internet sensations, guys. Tune into The Drive weekday afternoons, 3 to 7 on WSJS. A Thursday Drive. It is WSJS, News Talk Sports for the Triad.
Where today is the day I am finally ready to share the Christmas decoration. That I've been working on, the project I'd been working on all week long. We'll get to that. in about 15 minutes, but first we must mark a significant anniversary today. One year ago today Was one of the most surreal days in the history of sports in the state of North Carolina.
Bill Belichack was introduced. As the Tar Heels head football coach. Will Dalton and I were sitting in this studio because the press conference started at around two in the afternoon, if memory serves. And what we did was start flip the channels. And what we saw was.
ESBM went live to the presser. NfL Network went live to the presser. all four of our local T V stations were live. on Belichick's press conference. Colin Cowherd.
Who you could listen to on WSJS. He seldom has his show ever broken into. Broken into to go live. to Belichick's press conference. That's how big it was.
And it was surreal. Sitting here listening to some of the southern accents that have Ask coaches around here questions. For decades. ask those questions to a man that we've been listening to press conferences from afar and laughed at. for decades.
Yeah, well Bill, it's kind of shocking that you're here. We're on to Cincinnati. Wasn't ready for that. overlap. It was an ambitious.
Overlap. Fair to say that the Experiment hasn't gone very well. Since then? North Carolina. Went four and eight the first time.
The Tar Heels miss a bowl game since Larry Fedora's last year in 2018. And if you're looking for optimism. moving forward. This isn't the place for that. Bill Belichick is in danger now.
Of making the same mistakes, repeating the same mistakes that sunk his first season in Chapel Hill. For one, what did he just do? He signed a 39-player high school class. These are players. 39 players in the class.
Rank 17th according to 24-7. That's not bad.
Well It's not bad if you're A young coach is going to see it through for all those guys, like a John Somerall or a Matt Campbell, both of whom were available last year, but aren't this cycle, hired away by. Florida and by Penn State respectively. These are players that are likely not to impact next year's team. These are guys that There are there aren't any five-star players in this class. Handful of four-star guys, and that's good.
But Bill Belichick is 74, or he's going to be 74 in April.
So it's strange to see that Belichick is trying to play the long game here after he just had the disastrous season of 2025. And don't forget. One of the reasons why this Tar Heel team seems so disjointed. And s was so disappointing. was because there was no chemistry None of that was there.
No continuity because you had 70 new players. 70 newcomers. And Doesn't that seem like where North Carolina is trending towards right now? 39 high school players. How we'll see how many transfers.
And you have key players who are already saying we're out. Kamari House, for example, could have been a really helpful piece. At linebacker, he has entered his name. In the transfer portal. Another reason why you shouldn't be all that hopeful for change.
Have there been any staff changes yet? It's been nearly two weeks. Since the NC State debacle. Since the season ended. What's Bill waiting for?
Signing day's over. How come Freddie Kitchen still has a job? That would have been the easiest move to make. You promoted him from tight ends coach under Mac Brown to be in your OC. Do you have the budget?
To get something better than that. And even if Kitchens goes... Certainly not parting ways with Mike Lombardi at this point. The highest paid GM in all of college football. Or Mike Lombardi's son, Matt.
Who's the quarterback's coach, even though he's been nothing more than an assistant position coach at any level? prior to accepting that position a year ago. It's unrealistic. To expect a 74-year-old to adapt so much. for the results to be so much more different than what we just saw.
Genuinely, what is the case? for optimism next year. What is the case? If you wear. The most Argyle blue Glass is possible.
What is the case? What's the template? What are you looking at and saying, yep, that's it. There's the template. There's the path.
This is how North Carolina is going to be better than they were a year ago. This is how North Carolina is going to have a winning season. Because here's the other thing. The schedule It's not just tougher. It's brutal, man.
You have to go to Clemson. You have to face Miami. You've got Notre Dame on the schedule. You have TCU, not in Chapel Hill, but in Ireland. You've got Louisville.
You've got to go to Duke. Where are the wins? That you're looking at. He seems to be in danger on the one-year anniversary of him being hired and shocking everybody. of repeating the same mistakes that just sunk.
his first season in Chapel Hill. On X at Josh Graham Show and at WSJS Radio. It's where we're streaming video in addition to YouTube and Twitch. Will Dalton is the executive producer of this show. You know what today is, Will.
It's Coordinator Day. Oh, buddy. I didn't know what to do with myself last week. I didn't feel right. But now Got Brad Hitzig back.
The Giro Everett and Tracy's been I feel better. Feel good. Did you see our guest list today? I saw Brendan Marks on it, which made me happy. Brendan Marks from The Athletic will be joining us at 3:30.
We also have David Glenn. for his weekly visit on the program.
So we'll get his thoughts. on the direction of North Carolina football. But speaking of the Panthers, Tonight on WSJS. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers host The Atlanta Falcons. And even though...
Carolina is tied for first place in the NFC South. And you have not one, but two more meetings with the Buccaneers the rest of the way. Carolina could really use. A Tampa loss tonight. The Bucks, it seems.
Have the tiebreakers. with the Panthers. And it's because of the third tiebreaker that that's the case. See, in division tiebreakers, the first Tiebreakers head to head.
So if one team Wins both head-to-heads instead of splitting in the regular season. Congrats, you won the tiebreaker if you have the same record. The next one would be division record. Carolina and Tampa have the same division record, so If they split, if they both go three and one down the stretch and split against each other. Tampa.
And Carolina would have the same division record as well. And the third tiebreaker is what would be decisive between the two. Mutual opponents. Carolina and Tampa have had the same results. in a few games against mutual opponents.
But while Carolina beat the Rams and Tampa didn't, The Bucs have wins against both San Francisco and against the Arizona Cardinals. Which means that.
So even if it's even at the end of the season, it would be Tampa that gets the division title. And Carolina probably gets left out of the playoffs because they're too far behind to get one of those last wildcard spots.
So that leaves two paths for the Panthers, Will. Sweep the Bucs in the two games, and obviously that would do the trick. You sweep both those games, you're in the playoffs, you're the NFC South champ. If you split the one and one with Tampa. You're going to need Tampa to lose one more game.
Other than Atlanta tonight. The only team that Tampa faces other than Carolina twice. is a road game at Miami.
So Carolina is in a position that If they split with Tampa Bay, They're going to need Tampa Bay to lose. Also, Carolina's obviously got to handle its business against New Orleans on the road Sunday and against Seattle. in a couple of weeks. Coming off the Saints loss, you should probably. Oh, by the way, Will.
Do you want to present this scenario as well? Do you know there is a scenario that the Carolina Panthers could clinch their division?
Next weekend. With two weeks to go. Uh I didn't really think about that. But I guess Would that be a Bucs loss? Bucs loss tonight.
Carolina beats New Orleans. Carolina wins next week. If those three things happen, Carolina's your NFC South champ with two weeks to go. That is still possible. I like the sound of that.
But the Bucks are going to win the night. Coming off the Saints loss, the Bucs aren't going to miss their shot. Especially given the receiver news. You got Mike Evans returning to the lineup. The game's in Tampa.
Drake London's out.
So Tampa is going to win this game. Bye. touchdown. That's what we think. That's what I think.
What do you think?
Okay. I think I have Yeah, I th I I think I have. Tampa's winning tonight. I think I have Bucs as well. I mean, it's Mike Evans.
I would happily be surprised. It's Mike Evans' first game back. They're winning tonight.
So maybe he'll get in the at it I I got Tampa tonight, but I wouldn't be surprised if Atlantis uh upsets them either. You never know on Thursday night. Kirk Cousins action? Might. Might sling it around a little bit.
As we mentioned. The Christmas decorations that I've been working on. All week long, they're finally ready. To be revealed to you. And we'll do just that.
Next on the drive. It was time. Let's get the show going! It's the drive with Josh Graham. Hang on, whistletoe.
Friended Marks. from the athletic will be here 15 minutes from now. Usually, not a fan of Christmas music being played on a sports talk program. But Scrooge. This is an exception.
Maybe there's a different thing you'd like to call me. After We reveal what I had been working on this week. Sent you over some pictures. For those watching on YouTube, Twitch, and X, we will show those right now. My newest Christmas decoration on the house or inside my house.
has been completed. Inspired. By My child, or Sarah Bradford's childhood neighbor. in South Boston, Virginia. There you can kinda see it.
It is a Grinch. In Santa attire, including the hat. With a spotlight on its face. Overlooking the neighborhood. And I am in a prominent place in my neighborhood in Winston-Salem.
You've seen it where Everybody who enters and everybody who exits goes past my house. And it is Facing that road where you could see the Granche. I love the creativity. I'm a big Christmas decoration guy. How many pictures did I send you?
You sent me a couple of those.
So let's get a little closer look here at the decoration. Oh, would you look at this? It's got the spotlight on it. And then I Willow the dog got introduced to Santa Grinch. Did she like it?
She did. She was licking Santa Grinch, not trying to rip up Santa Grinch. Wasn't barking at Santa Grinch. Glad she wasn't scared of it. I was I was happy.
I was pleased. That's why we we sat Santa Grinch on the ground so that Willow can realize that It's uh Santa Grinch isn't a threat. And then very close up, there it is. I love it. Santa Granche.
Overlooking.
Now, here's the funny thing.
So Neighbors of Sarah Bradford. had created theirs. And I'd go visit her family on Thanksgiving and will right after Thanksgiving on Black Friday, sometimes Thanksgiving night. We'd look outside. Of where their dining room table's at, and we could see that house across the street, and the Grinch would be up on the spot, like a spotlight on it at the top, like in their attic, overlooking the street.
And I thought that was the coolest thing ever. And so I've been thinking about this for a couple of years. In fact, got their number, called them. How'd you guys do it? They actually built something.
So I went to Hobby Lobby. And I got all the materials. I got like a foam head, like you would put wigs on. I got like a foam ball that I would use, cut in half, and put cheeks, make it cheeks. I would I I would, I got green paint.
I was going to create it from the top up, like chest up, and then prop it up. And then I was looking to find like some bungee cords that I could use as the arms. And then put the shirt inside or put the bungee cords inside the shirt. I found all these materials. And then, less than 10 minutes before I'm about to check out, and Hobby Lobby is about to close, by the way.
This was after the show on Monday, I think, Monday or Tuesday. I see. A stuffed Grinch. Sitting right there. This would be a lot easier.
Let me just get the stuff to Grinch rather than having to build something. Like, no shade, but that looks really good for something you might have built. Like, that, that, that. That turned out really good. I thought so.
So there you go. That's the only Christmas decoration that I've contributed to. My wife responsible for the real tree. It's up in our house. My wife responsible for the lights in front of our house and All of that, I'm responsible for the Grinch.
I need more lights in my apartment. Do you need a Grunch? No, I just need lights. I like flashy stuff, so I just want lights everywhere. Make sure, I don't know if they have lights, but Atlantic Coast Sports has a lot of merchandise for you to capitalize on.
You like sports memorabilia? It's got pro sports. It's got college sports. Whatever you really need. And that's on the first floor.
If you want to go and make a day out of it, they got the loaded coat. Food-wise, and you know what? You can have some fun after that. Get inside the batting cages on the second floor, third floor, the green room, every golf course programmed into it. Atlanticcoastsports.com.
located in the heart of Mayberry. Downtown. Mount Erie. Believe it or not. Miami is not the college football playoff team that we are rooting for most.
When play begins in a couple of weeks, you would think, Josh, you got to root for the ACC team first. No, you do not. Do you have the sound, by the way? From last summer. a year and a half ago that might be relevant to this conversation.
Oh, I have the video of it. Oh, perfect.
Okay, just making sure we hadn't talked about this before. No. Indiana. is even easier to root for than Miami is. Around here.
There isn't a more lovable player in the country. Than Fernando Mendoza is. It comes through in his interviews even When he was being interviewed As an ACC quarterback at Cal while joining this program. Let's go back in time. Fernando Mendoza from Calvary with us here.
Do you want to introduce him to what you have in front of you here in case he doesn't know? Because earlier when we were in the elevator, I asked if he knew what Bojangles was. You said you had heard of it. Yeah, so I'm from, I mean, being from the East Coast, like, I've definitely seen Bojangles. Yeah, from Miami.
So I've I've definitely seen Bojango, I've had Bojangos, but I've never had. The biscuit in front of you. Yeah, so this is a bowlberry biscuit. It's like a blueberry biscuit, but it makes it bowlberry because they put the icing on it. And it's like, it's amazing.
Makes you want to slap family members. They're noteworthy.
So we're going to give you to go. Yeah, yeah, because you're about to warm it up, low-key. It's best when you throw it in the microwave for about 15 seconds, let the icing drip a little bit on the side. You can have one of your teammates enjoy it with you. There's two left in there for you to enjoy it.
That's yours. You guys are the way out.
So when I have my suitcase here, we're Run to the airport because I know we have can't see who it is. Also, shout out the 97 viewers right now. That's it. You guys are on the right channel right here.
Okay, you guys know what you guys are talking about. That's it. Didn't it? What cool was that? Fernando Mendoza.
And we said after that, like, this dude has a terrific personality. And who knew? Who knew he might be a Heisman guy this year? A Heisman guy? He's going to win the Heisman on Saturday.
Heisman guy. You don't think Diego has a shot? No. Okay. No.
So he's got only the SEC honks are like, oh, Diego Babby. Fernanda Mendoza. is unbeaten. On the number one team in the country. And that number one team of the country is Indiana football.
Yeah, he's gonna win the Heisman over Ty Simpson and Diego Pavia and Jeremiah Love for Notre Dame. Kurt Signetti, this is another reason to get behind them. Such a badass. Long before Kurt Signetti went 24-2 in his first two seasons as a Big Ten coach. He was doing bi-weekly interviews on this show.
as the head coach of Elon. No, we don't have the tape from that. I'm glad. 2018's a long time ago. We are the longest-running daily sports talk show in the history of the triad.
And I remember lamenting having to do that. The GM at the time was telling me: we gotta serve our listeners in Burlington. We have a signal in Burlington. No, all right, fine, I'll talk to the Elon football coach. Every other week.
Not every week, but every other week. And it was Kurt Signetti. The last year he was there before leaving for James Madison. John Dell reminded us via the Winston-Salem Journal. That Kurt Signetti lost a D2 quarterfinal at Winston-Salem State.
in 2012.
So years later It's kind of incredible to watch. Him call his shot. And B Who he is? at Indiana right now. Again.
We understand wanting the route for the ACC. But in the end It is Indiana football we're talking about here. Do you know how many national championships Indiana has won in its long history. They don't have one. The answer is zero.
Zero point. Zero. Not even one of those weird claim titles that teams have. In fact, dug this up. If Indiana were to win the national championship this year.
It will be the sports. First, first time winner. The first time. College football hasn't seen a first-time title winner. Since 1996.
When Steve Spurrier won his won Florida's first national title. nearly 30 years ago. Ever since then, every program that's won Has at least one claimed national championship or won outright national championship.
So That would be pretty cool to see it from Indiana. It also would be cool to see it from other top five teams. Texas Techs never won. Oregon's never won. Texas Tech at four.
Oregon at five.
So the the rapid ascension This is what's cool. The rapid ascension of Indiana football. Should give. Any? P4 School Hope.
that you can win a national championship. If you get a higher right. And then you support that hire.
So if that coach shows you with the resources that are available. that he can win, and then you support him. And then meet. the bar for investment, you can win a national championship. Because Indiana football was a laughing stock two years ago at this time.
Two years ago. Laughingstock. Nobody took Indiana football seriously. Nobody. One of the least winningest programs there ever have been.
And now they're the number one team in the country going into the playoff, and it's been less than two years. Even last year, at this time, when they made the playoff, people were like, oh, they're just, you know, they're going to get their. the rear ends handed to him and Like that was the way they were talking about that team. It was almost like it was a charity case that they got in. And now they're they're the team.
They beat Ohio State. They did. On to more important matters. Is ACC basketball officially Back. We'll ask our friend Brendan Marks from The Athletic.
Next on the drive. You're on the Dry. With Josh Graham, W S J S Yes. The athletics Brendan Marks joins us. Where a year ago After the ACC was beaten 14-2 in the ACC SEC challenge, We were talking about a much different basketball league, a league that had just three teams ranked in the top 40 of the net.
Today There are eight.
So Brendan Marks. By the way. Key number as well, top 75 in the net. 13 of the ACC's 18 teams are top 75 in the net. Is ACC basketball back, Brendan Marks?
I would say it is on the way to being back. I don't know that we can go all the way to back, because I think when we think, when I think of back, and when I think a lot of your listeners probably think of back, they're thinking. ACC heyday, 9-10 teams getting in. We're not there, but to me, this is a league that pretty solidly is going to get at least five teams into the tournament. Could be as many as six or seven.
You have multiple national title contenders. You have multiple teams who I think have the potential to make the second weekend or beyond. You know, especially compared to last year, that that is back. It may never get back to what it once was, but all things considered, ACC fans got to be pretty happy. I hate what Will Dalton's done to me, where now every time I hear somebody say six or seven, I Do the thing.
It's not watched in the middle. It's not because of TikTok. I'm not on TikTok. It's because of him and only him. I blame only him.
Let's get to some of the teams in the triangle, which you pay very close attention to. Last night was perhaps the most impressive that NC State has looked under Will Wade. It's against Liberty. We'll use that as just, you know, a grain of salt, but. Good to have this type of game when Darren Peterson in Kansas are Visiting your doorstep Saturday afternoon.
They announced it's a sellout Saturday evening. A 5:30 tip at Lenovo Center. Where are you at? Limited samples still, but where are you at on Will Wade's pack? Yeah, I'd be lying if I told you that I haven't been a little disappointed in.
NC State's defense so far this year. I thought that this team would be a little bit more put together on that end coming out of the game. Gate. It's a team that I thought, especially after spending some time with them in the preseason, that they would be a. Top 25 team basically, you know, from the get-go.
And I think you look at Maui and their performance there, and that was really eye-opening, not just for me, but clearly for Wool Wade, too. Talking about a hostile takeover, wanting to completely sort of revamp the rotation, what they were doing defensively. Last night was much closer. Again, competition level included to what I expected from NC State's defense this year. And Kansas, I'm going to be at that game on Saturday.
That is the test, right? That is the one where you look at NC State's non-conference schedule so far. You have to get that win to have a leg to stand on in the non-conference. Like we just talked about, Josh. There are enough good wins to be had in the ACC that even if NC State loses on Saturday, it can still make it to the tournament.
That's not off the table, but it helps you tremendously if you can get this one done. And especially, I mean, that new defense is going to be tested. As well as it could be with Darren Peterson coming to town, because that dude can hoop. I'll see you on Saturday, Brendan Marks from The Athletic joining us here. Let's shift to North Carolina.
A week ago after the Kentucky game, my reaction was Give Derek Dixon more minutes.
Some took that as me saying That Derek Dixon should be the new starting point guard. I did not say that. He deserves more minutes. He got more minutes. And guess what?
After watching him Sunday against Georgetown, he deserves more. But the reality is, the guy had four points going into that final minute against Kentucky. And one game and one minute isn't enough to supplant somebody you paid more than $2 million for to be your starting point guarding Kyon Evans. How much more of a sample do you need to see as North Carolina has a four-way favorable or a four-game favorable runway till the start of conference play before you start welcoming the idea that there could be a lineup change in Chapel Hill?
Well, you know, it's funny that you mentioned this specifically because I think the larger perimeter. Rotation discussion is coming because North Carolina is going to get Seth Trimble back here in the next couple of weeks. And obviously, Kyan Evans and Luca Bogovat have been starting with Seth Tremble out. I think Jaron Stevenson has pretty clearly got a lock on that starting three spot, the length that he provides, the defensive versatility. Hubert Davis loves it.
He's talked about it since the preseason. I don't think it is inconceivable that both of the guards currently starting for North Carolina do not finish the year starting for North Carolina. I don't think it's out of the cards that. We're talking about by the end of the year, by March. A Dixon Trimble starting back court with Evans and Bogobots off the bench.
Who's disappointed you more between those two? I think Evans. Bogovats, I think Bogovats has still shown some really nice things, and I think that he's going to be one of UNC's closers. I think that his ability to handle the ball, to make good decisions in the pick and roll, he's still getting comfortable. We've got to forget, this is a guy who didn't come over until like late August, right?
Didn't get eligible, had that whole saga in the preseason. I think there's still a lot more runway for him. To me, the physicality that Evans has seen against high major teams, I don't know that he's handled it tremendously well so far. He has been more. Hot, you know, on and off than I expected.
The shooting hasn't quite translated like it did at Colorado State last year. To me, like, I think I still think we could have a situation where Dixon is your starting point guard by the end of the year, Trimble's your starting offball guard. But let's be clear: this is now a four-guard rotation. Whenever Seth Trimble comes back, Derek Dixon has forced that issue, and it'll be interesting. I do think that gives Hubert Davis more flexibility in the front court, too, because there are times when he doesn't have to have Stevenson to the three because he has guys who can hang there.
But but I do think we're we're heading towards a situation where Trimble's obviously going to be one of your starters. If you told me that in March, Dixon is the other one in the back court, I would not be surprised. Quickly on Duke, actually, this might not be quickly because you might get mad at me and then say that this is ridiculous. That has never happened. That has never, ever happened.
No, well, see, I think again, people might misinterpret what I say. They also never do that with you, Josh. They never misinterpret you. That's true. Never.
I Love how mentally tough this Duke basketball team is. I love. that Isaiah Evans After the team blows a 15-point lead and he hadn't hit a three, he's 0 for 7. Can hit the most important shot. When Duke's 7 of 14 from the foul line through the first 33 minutes at Michigan State, they hit 7 of their last eight and then figure out a way to close things out.
Two points and a half for Cambuser. He still finishes with 18 of 15 despite fouling out. I do think while last year's Duke team is more talented than this year's Duke team. Last year's Duke team was one in four in games decided by six points or fewer. And we saw how they collapsed when things got close against Houston in the final four.
Is there a case that this Duke team might be better equipped to play in close games in March when most teams, most times or not, are playing close games when that time arrives? I don't think that you can argue that the close games this Duke team has been in haven't helped them for the long run. Right. And that was what John Shire. Hoped for with last year's team when he designed the schedule.
It's what he hoped for for this year's team when he did design the schedule. Last year's team should not be faulted for being so good that they just giga-stomped everyone into oblivion. It's true. I mean, they were the Monstars. Like, we're going to be looking back on that team as one of the most talented in college basketball in the last 25 years.
They were that good. Um I don't think you can argue that the lack of close game reps hurt them. Because that one game they won by six points or less, that was the lane violation in the ACC tournament. That is true. That's true.
So, that game, you know, Barron owned the violation. Coke could go out of tea. You never know, obviously. I didn't even think of that. Last door, sliding doors moment, but I think undoubtedly John Shire.
He's the guy I look at for the point of comparison. I think a lot of people want to compare the teams. For me, I look at the coach. Last year, in all of those close game-to-win situations, he said, Cooper flag, here's the ball. Everybody else, get out of the way.
Let, you know, go make magic happen. And this year, I'm sure it was painstaking, but in the offseason, I'm sure John Shire washed back all of those games. And said, okay, how could I have been better? How could I have helped my team out more? And you look at the success that guys like Con Kinippler having now in the NBA, the success that guys like Cian James are having now in the NBA.
I think John Shire realized: look, I may have had the best player in the country, but I got a lot of really other good players too. And so, him giving Boozer an option at the end of the Florida game. Him giving Boozer an option late in the Michigan State game. That to me shows growth from the coach. And I think that is as important as it is with the makeup of the team.
Boozer is clearly a winner. He is dragging these guys to wins. He is. Yeah. What he's doing statistically is it's fantastic, and somehow it's even better than what I thought it would be.
But John, to me, is the guy who you've got to talk about in this situation. Because if Duke is going to get back to the Final Four, and if it's actually going to finish the job this year, it's going to have to survive more of those late game situations. And say what you will about the players who have to execute it. It's the coach giving them the opportunity in those situations to actually go and win the game. And he's done that so far.
We know basketball is your forte. Brendan Marks. But on the way out, we need to ask you. with you being the guy who showed up at A house expecting maybe Jordan Hudson to pop up, but instead Bill Belichick appeared during the summer. Today is there's never been a better use of that face, WD.
That's correct. Today marks the one-year anniversary since the press conference that Bill Belichick was introduced. What. Snapshot. Or two stands out to you from the last year.
with this just surreal story in our state.
Okay. I was having a conversation with somebody a couple of days ago about. Belichick and the football program. And obviously, I'm not as involved there in a day-to-day basis as I am with basketball. Um And they asked me a question that I haven't been able to stop thinking about that I've posed to all of my UNC group chats from guys I went to college with, fans, et cetera.
And it is: if you had told UNC fans a year ago, this is what the first year would have been, not knowing where it could go it could get better you know it could all still work But if you told them a year ago what the first year was going to be like, do you think they still would have signed up last year? Mm-hmm. And I don't know the answer to that. I do think it's a fascinating thought experiment. You know, I think UNC fans specifically, like you think about, you know, first year success can be a killer.
I think Hubert Davis has kind of been a victim of it past couple of years, been chasing unreasonable expectations. Um The reverse, I think, can also be true. you know I do not know that it's going to get better for Bobelcek. I don't know that it's going to work. But it is fascinating to think about just.
This this year, I think, went worse than anyone could have expected. Yeah, he might um He might adapt even though he's 74 and he might do something different. After bringing in 70 newcomers, he's brought in 39 high school players without a five-star. And you know, and you got guys transferring left and right. How many weeks has it been since the state game?
Two weeks. Oh, no coaching changes. Either.
So, yeah, harder schedule. I'm sure it'll get better. Brendan Marks, appreciate you spending the time, my friend. I'll see you Saturday at the place people are starting to call the Lenny. Oh, are they?
Is that a thing now? It's happening. Is it? It's happening. You're going to hear it Saturday.
Some people. What up? We've got the Joel and the Lenny, but we're not going with the Dean and the camera. No, we're not doing that. The Lenny.
I like the Lenny. I don't hate that. It's still PNC to me.
Now comes the moment that you have all been waiting for. All right, whenever you're ready. This is the drive with Josh Graham. You go into the Duke's Mayo Bowl for your ala mater? Oh, I got to.
I got to find a way. I don't know what the wife has planned for that Friday, but I know what I have planned. I was the voice of Panthers offensive coordinator Brad Idzik. Talking about watching his deks in Charlotte. Friday.
January 2nd. That is the Duke's Mayo Bowl. Exciting. Facing Mississippi State. Will Dalton Tell me how many clips.
You have prepared. You listened to about a half hour of Panther coordinator sound. Brad Idzik, Agiro Everer, Tracy Smith combined. Twenty-eight minutes of it practically useless.
So we try to find the gems, or at least you do. You rummage in the sewer to try to find. Jim's. I've got five clips. From okay.
Yeah. How does that break out? Does that include the one we just heard? No, it does not.
Okay. So I got one from Brad Idzik. I've got two from Tracy Smith. And I've got two from Agiro Everer.
Okay, let's just finish the Brad Idzik division. What else do you have from him? He uh was asked about seeing more deep balls. From Bryce Young. And this is what he had to say about that.
The balance comes in both, are you looking for a completion underneath or are you taking it over the top? You know, you want to draw the defense in, well, you get some underneath completions. All right, well, when's the time to take that shot down the field? You know, you use the first couple drives in a game to feel out what's our best chance at just good clean execution, extending drives so we can continue to get things on tape, things on those still shots for us to study of how we want this game plan to go based on what the defense is presenting us as the game unfolds.
So definitely trying to create marriage in both the run and pass, but then also, you know, when do you need to have a couple completions underneath to draw them in? The guy loves marriage analogies. He made multiple. I only think that he loves his wife. Braded Zik.
Sounds like a great husband. He does. Bradidzek. Demon Deacon. Great Husband.
Panthers O. C.
Some titles we attach to him. Ajiro Everer. Generally is a mixed bag. He's the one that we struggle the most generally to find good stuff from. But you have more EJ clips.
Then you have Brad Idzit clip.
So did EJ bring it today? Kind of, sort of.
So he was asked about the win over the Rams. And again, used to be an assistant Super Bowl team. And so he was asked. what that was like because it's been a buy and that's a big win and they hadn't got to talk to him yet about it so here's what EJ had to say. I mean it's great.
You know like I talked about our last press conference there's a lot of people that I really admire there and I had a fantastic experience working there for five years.
So that being said it's almost like when you like you're playing your family members in like cards or chess or something. It's like you want to beat them just as bad as anybody else. Cards. Cards. I don't feel that way at all.
Now I think my wife would disagree with this. All right. My wife. uber competitive. To the point she doesn't like playing games with People.
'Cause she's competitive. Huh. She gets super there was an ordeal last year, Will. Uh-oh. During Christmas.
Do tell. Where? There was My Mom. I have two siblings, a brother, and a sister. My mom had a $25 gift card to Subway.
Very high stakes. that we're talking about here. And She said. They had uh They wa she wanted us to create Um A cookie. for our neighbor.
Right? Our neighbor but use like the the the the frosting We all make one, us three kids, for our neighbor to judge. And they'd pick the best one and whatever one they pick will. That is the one that wins the $25 gift card. Does that make sense?
I'm with you. You have the, they say who had the best artistic product? And it was the choice of the judges.
Now. My sister went all out and like decorating this thing and using multiple whatever. My brother. Kind of did the same thing. I knew.
My neighbors Massive rednecks. Massive. The biggest rednecks I know.
So I Just drew two eyeballs. A smiley face with some like buck teeth. and an appendage on it. And they're like, that one. That's the one that wins.
And my sister got so mad. She got so upset. She's like, whoa, Josh didn't even try, whatever. I'm like, and they tried. To take away the Subway gift card from me.
Really? And my wife interjected: No, he earned it. He knew what the rules were, he knew who the judges were. I eventually got it. But my wife, so competitive on my behalf, I believe that, said that I deserved that Subway gift card, and I got it.
She seems like the type in that type of situation you just described. She ain't having it. No. She ain't having it. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
You just said they picked the best one. That's fantastic. They choose which one they think's best. And I I won. Good for you.
What were we talking about? Giro Everett. Giro Everett, and how playing your team cards. I guess he's right. What's the next DJ clip?
Uh so the Saints have Have had some nice games this year.
Well, for one, they beat the Panthers, so they know it firsthand. But they beat Tampa Bay last week, Tyler Shuck. Shout out to him.
So he was asked, E. J., about The Saints offense and how they've been coming along. This team has kind of found their identity. You know, they played tough on defense and then on the offensive side of the ball, they're committed to running the ball. They're involving a quarterback in the run game.
They have featured guys in the past game like Olave and Mr. Johnson that they're trying to get the ball to. Yeah. Nothing fills me with joy more. Than him.
Inexplicably. Just adding a mister. On someone's name, like He could have just said. He didn't say Chris Olave's first name. He didn't call him Mr.
Olave. He called him Olave. He could have just said Johnson. I don't know why he did that. Mr.
Boodle. I'm trying to think of the most noteworthy player he's had this year where he said their last name. It was somebody on the Cardinals, but I can't. No, he's done big guys before. I I think he's done like Mr.
Mayfield. Mm. Are you sure? I'm not. But I feel like he's done it with even quarterbacks.
To throw us off the scent, I have no doubt that Ajiro Everett is a. What's up, guy? Handshake person. Sup, buddy. Yeah, yeah.
If he forgets your name. Yeah, he just rolls with it. He's like, what's my guy? What's so my guy? Hey.
That's a Giro Everett. I have no doubt. If we have EJ on this show. You should have him specifically to ask him to listen. We listen to you every week.
Are you just like not good with names and remembering names? Why do you say Mr.? I might ask him that in the locker room if I see him. We never see him in the locker room. See Tracy Smith walking around, and I'll use that as a segue to Tracy Smith because generally he's the highlight of this.
He's the special teams coach. He doesn't get as much attention except in this segment. I like talking to Tracy Smith. I like hearing from Tracy Smith. Tracy Smith makes a smile.
What do you have from Tracy?
So they're playing the Saints for the second time this year. And I I think Mike Kaye might have asked about the similarities of the Saints now versus then.
So we have Tracy Smith for 20 seconds explaining to us how divisions work. You're generally playing the same team with the same players, so there's some familiarity there. Yeah, there's a comfort level for sure in playing them so frequently. Tampa's twice in a short span as well. That happens on division games, you know, if you get them almost back to back.
Or within the case of a a month and a half, yeah, the the Saints are essentially the same team. That's great. And I bet he thought he was throwing gas. Probably. I tell you what does 98 on the paint with that answer.
Where he does throw gases, talking about special teams, talking about kickers. And the Saints, they had this new kicker from the Gaelic. Football league or something, and some international pathway thing the NFL has. Here was Tracy Smith on that. I did not watch his Gaelic football highlights this year.
I did see him when they first started, but I've talked to Charlie several times because that program kind of puts us in contact with those guys quite a bit. And he's been practicing for a year and a half, so he doesn't have game kicks, he just has the two games plus the six preseason opportunities. And he's done a nice job so far. All we can go on is his most recent opportunities, which is the same as you would for even a kicker who's been around for a long time. and see how he does indoors.
Hadn't seen him in the dome yet. He does seem like a guy who watches some weird stuff. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Do you think he's into anime?
Yes. Or a hundred percent, which is why I need to talk to him. Does Tracy Smith play video games? I'm gonna say that's Tracy Smith a dad. Oh yeah.
Or is he just a single bro? I don't know. I'm sure he's got I don't know. I mean, I'm not gonna assume, but he might just be a single bro living his best life. He does give off like single bro chilling at the house by just kicking it.
doing whatever he has a son uh I think he has Two sons and a daughter. You look at this guy on our YouTube audience and tell me you don't see, like, my guy's just chilling at home.
Something that I would want to say. I'm not going to say, though. That man. Mm-hmm. That has been Panther coordinator sound.
You did it well. Made it happen. You're on the drive with Joe. Scramble. W U-S-J-S.
Well, we've certainly taken our shots at Notre Dame this week. This piece is undoubtedly true in their defense. And any fan base would be upset. If they saw those rankings go up for a month and they're in, And then without having played. they are jumped by a team that had not played either.
they would feel upset. And that is recognizable.
However, at the same time, Notre Dame doesn't have the strongest case to advocate for their football team's resume over the teams that got in the field, in my opinion, to help us make more sense. of how Notre Dame has reacted and The fallout from the college football playoff. It's our friend David Glenn, NC SportsNetwork.com. What have you found most interesting about the last four days? Yeah.
Probably the over-the-top emotional bordering on childish reaction of Notre Dame's athletic director. Because what you just said is accurate. Any fan of any school. under the circumstances you just described, would be really, really upset. That the only rankings that matter are the ones where they got the rug pulled out from under them without losing a game.
Right? And without Miami. you know, doing anything to leapfrog the Irish. Even though that part is unfair.
Somebody like Pete Bavakwa. Although he is very new to the athletic director role at Notre Dame, and that should not surprise anybody because only a newbie. would do what he did. Also, I'll add a guy who Is not like Nina King, Bubba Cunningham, Bu Corrigan, who all have ties to Notre Dame, great 80s in our state. This guy came from NBC Sports, a vice president of NBC Sports, which is a different background.
Correct.
Now, he does have a tie to Notre Dame from long ago, but in his professional career, yes, he's a TV executive. And there are plenty of TV executives now getting hired at athletic directors. That's not unusual. But Peep of Aqua knows that when you're near the cut line, whether Selection Sunday in basketball, or in this case, the 12-team college football playoff. Two things are going to be fundamentally scrutinized.
How bad were your losses, and how many are there? And how good were your wins?
Well, Notre Dame's losses were great. I mean, Texas A ⁇ M and Miami, those are, if you're going to have to lose two games, those are pretty high quality losses. That's not why they didn't get it. But the other element, how many great wins did you have? And the answer for Notre Dame was one: Southern Cal.
But whatever you think their second best win was, was not great. Nice, but not great.
So it's the same old rule that kept the Irish out, and but for the circumstances that you laid out. The complete flip on selection on selection day, basically. This would have been the run of the mill. Leave them out. And do I feel bad for Notre Dame's coaches and players and fans?
Yeah, I feel bad for BYU too. They had a very good resume. In the current format, there's only room for seven at-large bids. And overwhelmingly, the teams that got in. Had either the head-to-head win that you need, Miami over Notre Dame, or more great wins, Alabama, for example.
And none of that is new in this decade plus long era that we call the college football playoff. Here's who I feel bad for. I feel bad for the committee. Because It's, I felt they got the final rankings right the last two years. But Picture Selection Sunday in college basketball.
Every year you have people who are upset they didn't get in, but it's distilled to one day. And then college basketball games start on Tuesday and people have moved the hell on, right? In college football. They invite this. They think it's good to have discussions about whether or not a team should be bumped down because their coach took a job, because you have.
A show where the committee chair is required to give ratings and then justify those rankings on television each and every week. Going back to why it's understandable Notre Dame is upset. It's because of a structure that invites. having to put rankings out each week. and have a committee chair give logic that can later be contradicted.
That is part of the problem. If these rankings drop without any other rankings on Sunday, is Notre Dame a little upset? Sure. But is Pete Bavakua going on this tirade? Is Notre Dame skipping out on a bull?
The answers to those questions might be no. Yeah, and you know, you put your finger on something that happens a lot in life. In any situation where there's a close call, you know, how do we do this or that? If it's a close call, that means one approach has one set of upsides and downsides, the other approach has a different set of upsides and downsides. The upside of doing it the way they've been doing it is it increases interest in college football.
The more you're debating, wow, this week's rankings, I can't believe they had this team so high. I can't believe they had this team so low. I can't believe they have this team outside the top, whatever. I can't believe they're placing so much weight on. Uh you know Number of losses or versus big wins, or I can't believe they're leaving out head to head when those two teams have the same record and are so close.
That debate, generally speaking, is good for a sport. But the downside is, and I know this as an attorney. Why do people with legal backgrounds speak very carefully? It's because they know. That if you say something one week, those words can and will be used against you later.
in ways that might be hard for you to explain your original words. I would not want to be that committee chairperson. And I know how to choose my words pretty carefully. But in that case, to me, it was obvious. Yes.
I mean, they they just messed up from the beginning. If they were both six and two, not yet ten and two, but they had the head to head result, I mean, there's just no better criterion than head to head. And six and two, Miami should have been over six and two, Notre Dame. They weren't. And and that is what ended up being, you know, the The painful reversal that again, Notre Dame has every right to scream about.
But yeah, permanent damage and, you know. I can't believe the ACC did this to us. The two quick responses to that are: one, ACC didn't pick out Notre Dame randomly. That's the opponent that Miami beat and was being compared to. They didn't just pick Notre Dame out of a hat.
To put their resume next to Miami. And part two, of course, if you want all of the benefits of being a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, well, how about becoming a full member of the Atlantic Coast Conference rather than this status? where you have been treated. With kid gloves for the most part, as the one and only school in the 73-year history of the ACC that has been allowed so many advantages of membership without all of the commitment of membership. Yeah, and getting a full vote, which means by one vote, Cal Stanford and SMU get in, which you made a huge stink about, and getting rescued, by the way, by the ACC in 2020.
Yes. I see the revisionist history. It's amazing some of the cases that Notre Dame fans will make on that front. And then, yeah, here. And by the way, giving Notre Dame's non-football teams a place to play, which when Notre Dame asked the Big Ten for that arrangement, they got laughed out of the building.
The ACC said yes to something that others would not give them.
Okay, and that's one more reason to. Not stab the ACC in the back when, of course. They were not randomly going after Notre Dame. They were advocating for one of their own members whose resume happened to line up right against Notre Dame and whose head-to-head win happened to be over the fighting Irish. Oh, is it our fault that the teams aren't so great?
Yeah, when you are independent and you schedule the entire, you know, it's almost like a format was created to protect power conferences in case their league might be down with the advent of automatic qualifiers. And if you don't like automatic qualifiers, take it up with one of the four men that helped create it in the managing group. Oh, wait, that's your former AD, Jax Warbrick, who handpicked, who designed this format himself.
So anyway, that's enough about the Irish. David Glenn's with us here, NC Sports Network. Today is the one year anniversary of one of the most surreal days in all of my years covering sports. The introduction of Bill Belichick at North Carolina. It's been one year.
Thirty-nine players signed in a high school class. All year long, we've talked about how having 70 new players. has its disadvantages. And it seems North Carolina is going down that same path again at having that much turnover. And as we sit right now, Haven't heard a lot of changes being made on the 73-year-old staff.
But I'm going to try my best, DG, to be optimistic. It's the holidays after all. What is the most optimistic case you can make for North Carolina football in 2026? The most optimistic case is tricky because the schedule is going to be harder. uh one of their best players who had the option of returning Kamari House, really good linebacker, has entered his name in the transfer portal.
So there's more negative than positive, but. to answer your question, I will give them credit for this. They are getting high-caliber high school players from high-caliber high school football states. And for those who don't know. It is not.
Talent is not randomly distributed among the 50 states in the United States of America when it comes to high school football. Every player is unique. But it is a good sign. when they were an elite player in a state like Florida. Georgia, Texas, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, even New Jersey.
A lot of these states have richer, deeper high school football traditions. of high caliber players going against other high caliber players. And on average, They end up producing a lot of really good college players and a lot of NFL players. And the Tar Heels got from those states and others players that the in-state schools wanted. Oddly enough, the Tar Heels did not get a huge percentage of the North Carolina high school seniors that everybody wanted.
But I'm a little surprised that they're spending so much of their revenue sharing money on high school guys that can't possibly as much as they would be, as much as they'd like to have left for this year's transfer portal editions. Which will happen, you know, in early January this year.
So. You have to trust Bill Belichick and Mike Lombardi's talent evaluation skills, where they do have a much more healthy. A cycle to evaluate players than being hired one year ago today when a lot of that work had already been done. That is quite a case. I don't know.
That is DG putting on his lawyer hat and making the case. How about something a little bit more easier to justify? The I don't know if you're with me on this. But the ACC Looks like, smells like, tastes like being back in basketball where. You look at the net rankings.
The first one came out last week, and I said, Hope, pump the brakes. Let's wait till after the ACC-SEC challenge when most, not all, most of the marquee non-conference games will have been played at this point. And then. A lot of it's going to be baked into the pie. And the key numbers are being top 30 and top 75.
If you're top 75, then a win home. Uh or on the road. Against it, that will be a quad one win. If you're in the top 30, home or away, a win will justify a quad one win. And that's what the ACC has lacked in past years.
Last year it was Duke Louisville, and at times Clemson was in the top 30, and that's pretty much it. Right now. Seven teams are ranked in the top 31 of the net.
So SMU just on the outside at 31. And how about this right at number 75? is Syracuse The 13th team. Top seventy-five. That's a pool of teams.
If you're top 75 here on what, December the 11th? That tells me that you are in the mix to potentially be an NCAA tournament team. How many of the 13 get in? I don't know, but the answer is probably more than four and probably more than five as well.
So I put it to you, David Glenn, who's covered this league for close to 40 years. Is the ACC back in basketball? I'll say the ACC is halfway back. How about that? Because, you know, when I think of back, I think of 2019, man.
You know, UVA wins the national championship. Cavaliers were a number one seed. Tar Heels were a number one seed. Duke was a number one seed. Florida State was a high seed.
Virginia Tech was a high seed. Louisville was in the tournament. Syracuse was in the tournament. I mean, That's not only a well-represented league in terms of how many of your 18 members got in, that's well represented with some mega powerful seeds. And of course, some of them did great damage once the big bracket got underway.
So There's no doubt this year's picture looks infinitely better than the picture of one year ago at this time for ACC basketball. But do I see anything like 2019? I do not. But I think the glass half full outlook for ACC basketball. Is that if you and I agreed on, let's say, nine of the 18 as legitimate candidates for the NCAA tournament, and maybe seven or eight of them end up getting in, that's a heck of a step in the right direction for an ACC that's been stuck on four or five NCAA tournament participants in recent years, which when you're an 18-team league, is just an embarrassingly low number.
Here's the other case for it. We talk about this in football. Our reason why the ACC has been down is because. The big dogs aren't eating. Miami They are.
Clemson, Florida State, Virginia Tech.
Okay, they seem like they're on their way with James Franklin, but they hadn't been in the last handful of years. There are four teams ranked in the top 25 right now from the ACC. They happen to be the four programs that have won national championships. Yes, we're counting 2013, Rick Petino, in the last dozen years. It's Duke, it's Louisville, it's North Carolina, and it's Virginia, which.
Quietly, DG. 10 games they've played this year. Nine of the 10, they've exceeded 80 points scoring. It's a new day. in Charlottesville.
So I I think the ACC Is back to maybe not what it was in 2019, which I think, even for back ACC standards, is a bit of an aberration when you have what, three of the top four national seeds. I think this is back to normalcy of what we're seeing for this conference. But focusing on Duke, I'm just a glutton for you disagreeing with me.
So I'm going to find out another thing. I'm going to throw another thing at you that nobody's with me on, but I'm sticking to at least for now. Last season's Duke team. was more talented than this Duke team. I believe that.
I think that's true. That team was a circus last year. But that team was also one and four. And games decided by six points or fewer. And we saw the lack of mental toughness in how they collapsed at the end of that game against Houston, where it mattered most in the final four.
Watching them up close against Florida and how they executed late and how they overcame. A ton of adversity. Same thing for the Michigan State game. Seven of 14 from the line through the first 33 minutes. Hit seven of their next eight.
Isaiah Evans, a big play. Caleb Foster, a big three. This Duke team is winning tight games and I see a team that looks tougher and maybe. might be better equipped with their defensive versatility. Of winning close games in the NCAA tournament?
Is there a case to be made for an unbeaten team, which is Duke's first at this point since 2017, 2018? maybe being better equipped to win a championship than last year's duke team There's a case to be made and I'm especially impressed that John Shire has done all those things you just said. with a rotation. That has only two guys who are juniors and seniors. Malik Brown, the senior, Caleb Foster, the junior.
Everybody else is a freshman or sophomore. It's really impressive to have that grit you described to win those close games, especially early in the season with so many freshmen and sophomores in the rotation.
So, yeah, I mean, Cameron Boozer could be the national player of the year. The year after Duke has a true freshman as the National Player of the Year Cooper flag, we would never say Cameron Boozer is that level. But he's one of the top candidates. And by the way, to your earlier question. If you and I made a list of the 10 best true freshmen in America, this bolsters your case of the ACC being back.
Three or four of the top five would be from the ACC. I mean, it's not just Cameron Boozer, it's Caleb Wilson of Carolina, it's Michael Brown from Louisville, and there are others. And if we made a list of the highest impact international signees who are new this year, the ACC would have half of that list. And that's like the majority has somebody who Who was playing professional basketball in Europe last year? Whether it's Luca Bogovatz at Carolina or Dome Saar at Duke.
Musasanye at NC State, the list goes on and on. Almost the two best players, the two best big men at UVA. are brand new European imports. But back to your due question, the answer to me is yes, in part because they have so much time to grow, right? They were young last year.
They did get better in many ways. They're young this year. They need to get better at point guard if they're going to win a national championship or even match what last year's group did. But that's the only weaker link in the chain that I can see for John Shires' team right now. I'll take it.
I'll take it from DG. That makes me feel good.
Some agreement on the back end there. David Glenn, NC SportsNetwork.com. Really appreciate you doing this as always. We'll talk next week. Always fun, my friend.
Keep up the good work.
