Tubby Smith & Wes Durham (9-1-20)

Welcome into a big ACC heavy drive.

The head coach of the reigning ACC champion Seminoles, Leonard Hamilton, will share his memories of Big John Thompson later this hour. And both Tubby Smith and Wes Durham will join soon after that. But we begin with college football because Robert, we've got ACC kickoff times for next weekend. Also, fitting with the trend of 2020, something that has never happened before seems to be inevitable to happen soon. College game day is almost a lock to make its first ever visit to the Triad for Clemson Wake Forest on September the 12th.

It's true. It's the only logical choice among the games being played on the 12th. Remember, the SEC isn't playing until September 26th. There are no Big Ten games unless the President of the United States pulls off a miracle.

More on that later on. The Pac-12 isn't going to be playing this fall. The Big 12 isn't playing conference games until a little bit later on in the month. So really, when you look at the calendar, September the 12th, there are only five Power Five matchups to choose between. Syracuse, North Carolina, that's going to be a noon kickoff time in Chapel Hill.

Hard pass. Duke at Notre Dame, okay, you got the Irish. Maybe you want to give them the spotlight, their first ever ACC game. It's going to be on NBC though. They have the rights to the home games.

Usually, if you're ABC, Disney, ESPN, you want to promote games that are on your own network, so I don't see that happening. Georgia Tech's playing at Florida State. Jeff Collins, second year, Mike Norvell, his first game as the Seminoles coach. Both teams are unranked.

I don't know if that's what you want to be highlighting. Then there's Clemson Wake Forest. All ready put in prime time, 7.30.

I know any company is trying to limit the amount of travel. Kirk Herbstreet, it's not abnormal for him in a normal year to go from one site doing college game day, say for an SEC game that's going to be broadcast by the folks at CBS, and then travel somewhere else later on that night. But if he's already going to be calling the game with Chris Fowler, why not keep him there? The number one team of the country, you can showcase that. I've talked to producers of the show, something they consider, something they value very strongly. Where haven't we been before? Well, they've never been to Winston-Salem, so it just makes too much sense that college game day doesn't come to the triad for the first time ever.

But here's what I'm getting on social media. Wake Forest fans feel like if they don't get a chance to go to the show, if they don't get a chance to watch the game, it was announced this morning, by the way, Wake Forest not going to have games or not going to have fans for their opener against Clemson on the 12th, they feel apprehensive about having college game day show up when fans aren't there to lift their signs and do what you do at game day. And I get that feeling. If you're a Wake Forest fan, I'd love to get your thoughts on the subject. 336-777-1600 on Twitter at sportsubtriad. It's almost like the Appalachian State game not being played. John Curry was on this show telling us the reason why we're looking at maybe moving off of that game is because it doesn't feel right to have the Mountaineers play the Demon Deacons, a rivalry game that matters around here without fans being able to attend it. So by the same logic, how do we feel about college game day potentially making its first trip to Winston-Salem with no fans allowed to attend it?

That's an interesting deal. I'm sure maybe there might be some fan interaction. Of course, you could do it virtually. Maybe you can socially distance a little bit and have the signs still held up.

Maybe you can submit the signs to somebody and then they can lift them up. Then you got a producer choosing which one's good and which one isn't. That kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it, Robert? Yeah, that's what I watch for is those borderline signs that maybe shouldn't have made it on the air, but nobody was there to say no. I think even without fans, it will be terrific for Winston-Salem and terrific for Wake Forest if college game day comes to town.

You still get Dave Claussen on the show in all likelihood. You're talking about a two-hour, maybe three-hour commercial for what Wake Forest is all about. It's the official start of the college football season when the Power Five starts playing, when Oklahoma is kicking off, and apparently they're going to charge in pay-per-view $54.99 for Oklahoma fans to watch them face Missouri State. Is that every week? Is that a one-time fee? I think it's only for this game. I think it's only for their game against Missouri State. That's pretty steep. I'd be worried about Karma. The last time I remember Oklahoma doing that, they played Army at home and they were supposed to blow out Army.

This was a few years ago. And it goes to overtime. So everybody's trying to find a way to watch this game because nobody's paying for the pay-per-view when you have all these options otherwise.

So it was one of the few examples of a game featuring a top five team in the country I couldn't watch because I wasn't going to pay pay-per-view to watch it. So getting back to Wake Forest though, it's going to be a big deal. Lee Corso, I think since he's never had the opportunity to put on a Deacon head, he should just do it. Just put it on.

He's 85 years old. There's no reason you can justify picking Wake Forest to beat Clemson, but just to stir something up since there are no fans and you're 85 bleeping years old Corso, just imagine, imagine what Corso would look like with that head on. He put on an NC State head before. I don't know for certain if he put on a Tar Heel before. I'd be willing to bet he didn't put on a Blue Devil at any point, but he's never had the opportunity to put on a Demon Deacon.

That would be great. I'm just curious though, with the Demon Deacon head, they have the bow tie that's stapled to the chin. Is that included on the helmet?

Will you still have the bow tie at the bottom? Or when is the cutoff between what is a helmet and the rest of the Demon Deacon costume? These are the questions that I won't answer. I don't want the sports stuff. I want mascot questions.

So maybe they could like get him a Velcro bow tie and just a top hat, and he could be the Corso Demon Deacon and they wouldn't even need the hat or the mask rather. Yeah. I put this poll question out on social media.

I'm interested in your thought on it. What is the better sports studio show? College Game Day or Inside the NBA? Those are the two that go head to head for the sports Emmy almost every single year. Inside the NBA, TNT, Ernie Johnson, Kenny the Jet Smith, Chuck Barkley, Shaq, or College Game Day.

It feels like the answers here are going to be on racial lines. It does feel like that a little bit. Where if you're not a big NBA fan, you might be thinking, all right, it's college football. If you're not, you know, if you think if you're not a big college football fan and you only watch the NBA, it's inside the NBA. There are people who don't watch that show outside of the playoffs.

So they might not think of it. Well, every week of the college football season, there is real urgency. If a team loses, well, that could be it. I still think it's game day just because it's an event. There are far fewer College Game Day shows than there are Inside the NBA shows.

I would agree with that. But if it's something, if it's something I'm going to watch, then I would probably watch Inside the NBA. But if it's something on in the background of a tailgate, then yeah, I throw on College Game Day. Here's the thing.

Here's the thing. There's no personality on College Game Day I care to hear from more than Charles Barkley. But that's kind of the beauty of game day.

The appeal of the show isn't anybody on the show. It's it's the only pregame show that legitimately pulls off being the event. It's almost like a sport in its own right. Watching game day, watching the signs. It's the fans.

The fans are the ones performing for you, trying to pick out the signs, trying to see what they're going to do. The timing of it. You're waking up in the morning.

It's getting you ready for football while Inside the NBA. Hey, I just got off work. When's this basketball game going to start? I don't want to stay up too late. All right.

Shut up, Kenny. I just want to watch this game. Okay. I just want to watch game seven tonight. Utah versus Denver. When are you going to stop talking? You can vote on that poll at sports up.

Try it at Josh Graham radio. I got my ACC preseason ballot, my all ACC ballot that I'll share with you in about five minutes. And I just thought about something else. How are Notre Dame fans processing just the concept of a pre-season all ACC team?

Notre Dame fans. They are learning how to share in real time, learning how to share the spotlight. It's almost like moving in with somebody you've been dating for a handful of years. You know them very well, but you really don't know what it's like to live with this person until you do. I don't care how many sleepovers you've had.

I don't care how many nights out of the week you're hanging out. You don't really know what it's like to live with somebody until you do. And I think Notre Dame fans, they're going to learn that this year. Irish fans, I can't wait to see them. Friday when Packer and Durham are announcing the all ACC preseason teams, they get to get fired up about their field corner or punter not getting pre-season all ACC recognition. They're new to this. They've never had that feeling before.

Being independent, you've never been slighted in that way. You're Notre Dame, you've got your NBC contract. You don't have to share that limelight with anybody. Now you got to share it with Syracuse. I wish the Irish came to an ACC kickoff in Charlotte, like an ACC preseason event.

They wouldn't be the center of attention. I could see that bothering everybody involved with the Irish because Clemson, they're going to get more shine than Notre Dame. North Carolina, because it's in Charlotte, they are the flagship school, so to speak. Mac Brown, hall of fame coach. Brian Kelly doing radio row hits, getting annoyed with that. He probably hasn't had to do that since he was at Cincinnati. Oh, and then we get to hear from Irish fans alleging Carolina bias of the ACC.

Waiting for that. Oh, why do we have to play in Charlotte? We got to go up against Clemson or North Carolina in the championship game?

They have a chance to get more fans if there are fans for the championship game in December. Oh, league officials, they're all in Greensboro. Mike Bray, he learned that lesson last year.

The lines you can cross and the lines you can't when alleging preferential treatment there. Like I said, Leonard Hamilton, he's going to join us in a little over 15 minutes, but coming up, my ACC players of the year selections feature a Tiger and a Tar Heel, but none of them are quarterbacks. I'll reveal my ACC football ballot next on the drive. Everybody listen up.

You're on the drive with Josh Graham. I can't believe this. This is insane. Whenever we lose a figure that carries the weight of John Thompson's name, you can't really get the full breast of the reaction in just one day. Yesterday on the Adam Gold Show hearing from Roy Williams, hearing from Coach Boeheim at Syracuse, and we continued to get some more reaction as we're being joined by Tubby Smith, head coach of High Point, of course. Considering how long you've been in basketball, you have tremendous perspective on the sport and what certain figures represent in it. When you're thinking about John Thompson, with the news yesterday of him passing at 78 years old, Tubby, what do you ultimately think his legacy is? I think his legacy is about the beginning, being a pioneer, being the first African American to win a national championship, a black coach to win a national championship, and then how he set a standard of conduct. By that, I mean in the way you coach, the way you respond to certain things. He was always a guy that felt called to action, and that's what I always appreciated about him. He was a real role model and a hero for many young coaches like myself. I've heard a lot of great stories over the last 24 hours or so, speaking to how candid John can be, at times how profane John can be.

I just want to know if you have a funny or a good story you've thought of over the last day or so regarding big John Thompson. Well, every time we would come in contact with each other, I'm from Southern Maryland and he's from the D.C. He's from Washington D.C. originally, but he had relatives in the Southern Maryland area, and we would always discuss that. I always wanted a place on the Potomac or the Patuxent River there, and he has a place in Solomon Island, right off in Calvert County, and so my relatives, so I would always ride by there and say, look, man, I was over, look, John, I was over on Solomon Island.

I'll just be happy to cut your grass or do something just to stay a while, you know, so when I go home, I have a place to stay, but he always wanted to sell it to me, and when I was young, he said, well, you can afford it now, tell me, when I got the job in Kentucky, but we never, he never parted with that particular, I guess, little place that he would go to get away in Southern Maryland. So, but it was something that we, and when we have, as we discussed, I think we're related in some form or fashion, because his great-grandmother was from seven districts, Southern, from Southern Maryland, and so was, and then my great-grandmother was a green, his was a green also, so we're somewhere down the line, we're related, but he, he was always, I love John, because he was always, he would speak his mind, and when he, he was one of the innovators, the first guy to really start the Black Coaches Association, which we now, we call the Black Coaches United group, and we had him on a Zoom call, his son, John Thompson III, allowed him to speak to us just briefly and encourage us to, to get, to refocus and, and be a part of the change that needs to happen during this time. So we were, we were very fortunate to, to get to hear him speak just in the last month before he passed. Tubby Smith with us here, High Point basketball coach on Sports Up Giant. You mentioned part of his legacy is going to be, he's the first Black coach to win an NCAA men's basketball championship, but what always strikes me, and the video is very applicable, or accessible, I should say. Coach Thompson, when he was asked about it after that game in 1984, said he doesn't want that to be attached to him because it somehow suggests that he's the first Black coach who was capable of winning a title in 84, and he made sure to give a lot of love to, here in the triad, somebody like Big House Gaines, Winston-Salem State, and others. What does that mean to you as somebody who accomplished something similar, being an African-American coach who won a national title? Well he's like, and to get to that pinnacle and reach a championship we have done, you, you're so grateful for the opportunity, but you're also thankful for the people, and I think that's what he was, he knew that he, there were many coaches just like myself. There are a lot of great coaches that really never get a chance to win championships, much less national championships, but are doing great where they are, and leading the young men, and leading them to, to have successful careers and lives after basketball, because that's, that's why we got in, and I mean he was a high school teacher, and I was a high school teacher, high school coach, so those things are, and, and you didn't do it for the money, you do it because you love the game, and, and I think that's what John was saying. There were people like John McClendon who actually coached at North Carolina Central, and actually won two national championships at Tennessee State, and he was an inventor, innovator, as far as a fast break is concerned. He ended up being the 41st black coach in the NBA, so, and, and people like Al, you know, that, that coached around the area, and we mentioned Big House Gaines, who I was fortunate enough to be at his memorial service when he passed, and had a picture taken with John Thompson, and so a lot of great coaches that are African American black coaches, have coached in the state, and around the country, so he was, and that's what you appreciate about John Thompson.

He was always reaching and trying to give credit where credit was due, especially, and, and to inform them, listen, I probably shouldn't be the first black, but since, you know, but I, but I'm standing on the shoulders of other coaches of color that have, that led, that paved the way for him, and for people like myself, and John Thompson, and Nolan Richardson, and John Cheney, George Raveling, people like that, that really paved the way for many of us to, to get these opportunities. Tubby, appreciate you sharing the stories with us today on John Thompson. I hope the next time we catch up, we get a chance to talk about all those things you were talking about with High Point, and what you're trying to do, and getting the basketball season off the ground. Stay safe, and thanks so much sharing your memories of John Thompson. Well, I appreciate you, Josh, and you do the same.

Stay safe, stay healthy. You got it. That is Tubby Smith, High Point head basketball coach, national championship winner. When you look at the history of college basketball, there are not many coaches who are African-American who have won the biggest prize in D1 men's basketball. John Thompson in 1984, Nolan Richardson in 1994, there's Tubby Smith, his championship with the Kentucky Wildcats in the 90s as well, then Kevin Ollie winning it with the UConn Huskies in the last decade. Those are the four African-American college basketball coaches to win a national championship. It's a very exclusive club. Leonard Hamilton, we hope, will get his opportunity to win a national championship.

He's gotten close. If you missed our conversation with Coach Ham from last hour, you can find that on our podcast channel. It's where you can find the best of podcasts too. Just search The Drive with Josh Graham, and you can find on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, a really neat extended chat with Leonard Hamilton, who was incredibly close with the late great John Thompson. We'll talk with Wes Durham a little bit later on for the ACC network to get a look at ACC Player of the Year nominees. I'll give you my two cents on that in about 10 minutes. But coming up, why college game day coming to the Triad for the first time ever is almost a guarantee.

Keep it here on The Drive. How was Bill Belichick on Sirius NFL Radio yesterday talking about Cam and how hard he works? And it's funny. When Cam initially signed with New England, the reaction the public had was the same reaction Cam did. How are we going to mesh together?

How is it going to look? Cam told Todd Gurley, Victor Cruz, and Odell Beckham that in a video earlier this summer. But it seems pretty clear, it seems pretty clear over the last month, Cam not only fits in New England, he's won over Bill Belichick.

Because in that interview, Bill Belichick, he gushed about Cam. What's the book on Belichick, Robert? He's rigid. He's crusty at points.

Old. And I don't know if he is older, but he's somebody who doesn't mind interjecting and giving you a short answer if he doesn't like a question. Even if you ask a good question, he's probably going to give you a short answer. When he was asked about Cam in this interview, he spouted off for two and a half minutes.

He gave a two and a half minute answer just talking about Cam and how much Cam has impressed him. I think what it comes down to is this. Belichick values hard work. His saying is do your job. The rest is window dressing to him.

He could care less about the rest of it, just as long as he knows you're somebody who's going to work hard and do your job. And that's where I think a lot of the media misses on Cam Newton. Even some fans misses on Cam. Because it's really easy to focus on that window dressing when Cam's dressing different than any quarterback we've ever seen, wearing all these outfits, the drip chronicles as he calls it. He has all this flair, doing the dab after first downs, the touchdown celebrations, the superman giving the ball to fans.

There are people who look at that and conflate that with not being a hard worker. When the truth is, the reason why Cam's that good, the reason Cam went to Florida, the reason Cam was awesome in college and awesome in the NFL, winning an MVP with Carolina M-15 was because he never ignored the work. He always put that in. That's why you haven't seen a teammate other than Kelvin Benjamin, maybe, calling out Cam Newton his entire time in Charlotte. Nobody's called out Cam. They love Cam. It's personal for Cam. Cam's not the most mature guy.

He gets along better with kids than he's ever gotten along with authority and adults. But that means he has a really strong relationship with guys in the locker room. The vibes that Cam brings to a locker room. It's perfect for what New England needs post Brady, I think. 2020, it's been a rough year for everybody. In the football context, though, is there a team in the NFL that's had a worse offseason in New England? The Patriots, not only do they lose in the first round of the postseason, the wildcard round, they lose Tom Brady and then nobody had more opt-outs than New England did about a month ago.

Yes, Robert? I would raise the Washington football team. That's true. The Washington football team won. The New England Patriots too.

That's a very good correction on your part there. But I wouldn't blame players for thinking, oh goodness, this is going to be a rough year. This is going to be rough. We don't have Tom anymore. He won all those Super Bowls.

He's the greatest. All these guys are opting out. Dante Hightower, for example, key players on this team.

What's going to happen? Well, then here comes Cam and he's cheery and he's dancing to music, dancing to Kirk Franklin, having a lot of fun. He's the perfect guy you want in that room. Working hard, former MVP, well liked by his players or by his teammates, excuse me, just a really positive vibe. Here's more from Bill Belichick.

We couldn't find the entire answer or play the entire answer because it would be too long, which is something I don't think we've ever been able to say for Belichick. But here he is talking more about Cam Newton and the vibe I was just describing. He's got a great personality. He gets along with everybody. He's very social and then has a great presence, whether it's in a small room of a couple people or in a bigger group. And he's highly competitive. He's very, very competitive on the field. He always wants to do his best and do better than the guys competing against. And you see that from everybody's competitive, but I think there are different degrees of it. And it looks like based on what I've seen, I would put him in the top echelon of that.

Woo! Cam Newton in the top echelon of competitor, of hard work. He's going to be the starter. Belichick, he hasn't beaten Cam Newton before.

I don't think that's a small thing. Belichick's always been impressed with Cam because he's 0-2 against him. How many quarterbacks in the league do you think can say, I've played the Patriots multiple times under Belichick and I haven't lost?

Cam Newton can. And those were great Patriot teams he went up against. There was that Monday night classic, you know, the Steve Smith, ice up son, ice up, to Aqib Talib. And then there was the game in Foxboro where Stephon Gilmore, before he became an NFL defensive MVP, he was getting carved up. Carolina had the game-winning field goal by Graham Gennell.

I don't think that's a small thing. I think Cam not only fits into England, Belichick, he's been won over by the former MVP, the former Carolina Panther great. All right, here's what I want to do before we get to West Durham.

It's going to join us from the ACC network, also doubles as the voice of the Atlanta Falcons as well. I want to play a game here. Let's knock out every NFL division, but rather than me being incredibly expansive on things which we can do when we have a four-hour show, let's do this. I'll give you five words or less, then I'll give you a short explanation why for each division. Each division, I'll give you five words or less to define the division.

Robert, just throw them my way. Let's start with the Panthers in the NFC South. NFC South, best quarterback play in football.

I get Pat Mahomes is the best in the league, Lamar Jackson the MVP a year ago, but when you got Brady, you got Matt Ryan, you have that Drew Brees guy who's pretty good, and Teddy Bridgewater who I think is going to exceed expectations, it's the best quarterback play in the entire NFL. I'm still probably leaning New Orleans as the favorite in that division though until I see them knocked off. All right, what you got for the NFC East?

Wow, how about Fly Eagles Fly? Last year, they made the playoffs. Who is Carson Wentz throwing the ball to? Greg Ward Jr. Greg Ward Jr., former quarterback at Houston. He's throwing the ball to garden gnomes out there and cardboard cutouts and they're making it to the playoffs. I mean, that's who's carrying the ball for him too.

It's amazing. Boston Scott. Boston Scott, great Boston Scott. The Eagles, they're going to be healthier, knock on wood. I know Dallas is going to get a lot of the attention. I think Washington's going to be better than some people think. Fly Eagles Fly, I think it might be the most talented roster in the NFC.

Eagles already got bit a little bit with Andre Dillard with the injury bug, but they got Jason Peters, so I hear you. NFC West. Super Bowl hangover is real. I think Seattle is going to win this division. When you look at the last decade, the Super Bowl, the team that loses the Super Bowl doesn't go to the playoffs generally the next year. I'd be surprised if San Francisco missed the playoffs with the hangover since you consider there are seven teams making it in each conference now, but I think Seattle adding Jamal Adams, that's a really big deal. DK Metcalf going into year two.

Russell Wilson, the best quarterback in the league, not named Patrick Mahomes. So I think Super Bowl hangover is real. I like Seattle to win the division.

Who knows? It could be three teams getting in from the NFC West, maybe the LA Rams sneaking in. And wrapping up the NFC, let's go to the NFC North. NFC North, if four unpredictable football teams.

Who's the least predictable of those four, you think? I think it's Chicago. You were going to say the Lions.

No, I agree with you. I think it's the Bears. It went 8-8 last year. I could see them being improved from what they were, or I could see them being an absolute dumpster fire with Mitchell Trubisky and having to admit they were wrong halfway through the year. But if it gets bad enough, I think Nick Foles can play quarterback and do so serviceably.

Okay, let's knock these out a little quicker, Robert. That's on you, AFC South. Playall for bust for O'Brien. AFC West. Pat Mahomes is scary. AFC North. You know your directions, don't you?

Yeah, for sure. No more excuses for Baker. I'm done hearing them. No more excuses for Baker Mayfield. And give us the last one. AFC East? Sure, yeah.

Same old, same old. I like the Patriots to win that division. I think it's going to be New England beating the Bills out for that division.

I know it's the popular pick, but I think it's going to be Cam and Belichick. McDaniel's more motivated than he's ever been. Belichick more motivated. Cam more motivated than he's ever been.

All right, I want to get back to college. We'll talk John Thompson. We'll talk ACC football ballots. We'll talk about the schedule being out with the ACC Network's Wes Durham next on the Drive. Back to the Drive with Josh Graham on Sports Hub Triad.

37-yard field goal. This is it. This is it right here. It's already. Snaps good.

The hole. The kick is out. The Mountaineers are going to try to take it. John Thompson to the big outs.

30, 20, 50, 10. The Mountaineers have just beaten the Michigan Wolverines. 13 years ago today, the Big Ten Network launched at noon with a kickoff of Appalachian State beating the best team in the Big Ten, in the big house, Appalachian State, and that's David Jackson on the call. I forget who was on the color commentary back then. Dave Brown. Dave Brown. Dave Brown. No, Tony. Steve Brown. Steve Brown, the former quarterback. It's just great. I used to love listening to David Jackson go down to the sideline and say, Dad, what do you got down there? Which is great.

I'm just interested. I figure it's a great segue to get to an anniversary of sorts for the ACC Network. You guys just crossed one year with Packer and Durham, of course. But before we get into the ACC, has Roddy Jones or Dave Archer ever trampled on you like that during a play-by-play call?

Roddy, no. Arch and I tend to have ongoing conversations at times during the game. I mean, there's been times where plays have gone on and there's a line on YouTube, you can find that if you want to. It was a preseason game several years ago where I said that J.D. McKissick, who was trying to make the team ultimately, I think made it as a practice squad guy, later appeared in regular season play with Seattle. He had returned all these kicks in college, like punts and kickoffs for touchdown. And I said in the preseason, watching practice one day, I said, McKissick's going to take one back during the preseason.

And so Arch decided that he would come out of the break starting the second half with saying, you know, Wes has become a bit of a soothsayer, you know, at camp saying that J.D. McKissick would, you know, return a kick for a touchdown. Well, sure enough, Washington puts it in the air. They kick it to McKissick to start the second half and he gets to about the 35 and the gates just open, right? And I start laughing as he gets to the 40 and plus territory and Archer on the air starts going, oh my God, he's going to do it.

He's going to do it. And by the time we get the poor kid to the end zone, we're both, you know, bent over laughing in the booth that the kid has run a kickback. So if that's trampling me, yeah, that's trampling me. But no, most of the time when we are on the air and we end up talking over one another, it's because something's happened in the game or, you know, and it's, that's kind of the, when you work together and blessed to work together as long as we have, that's, that's part of the thing that happens when you, when you get going like that. The big news of the day in the ACC, we have kickoff times. We have games and we have kick times. We have kickoff times. North Carolina, I guess you can't really complain about a noon kick if there aren't going to be any fans or tailgating. That's a noon kick against Syracuse, Duke at Notre Dame, a 230 kick, an NBC.

USA, by the way, South Florida. Oh no, Duke at Notre Dame. South Florida the next week's on USA, I guess. Yeah, Clemson's at Wake Forest, 730 ABC. At this point, I would be... That's the Herb Street Fowler game, by the way. That's right, ABC. I would be surprised if College Game Day isn't making their first trip to Winston-Salem.

I know, I've put this out on social media today and just... It's one of the schools they've never been to. Right, it's just a pouring response from Wake Forest fans saying, don't come, don't come because we want the first time.

We want to be there for it. But, I mean, when I'm looking at the schedule, there are only four games featuring Power Five matchups. It's Q's, UNC, Duke, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Florida State. And then there's Clemson and Wake Forest.

And I know, I know producers from that show who love going to places they've never been before. Why not Wake Forest and Clemson for that game on September the 12th? It makes a lot of sense. Clemson preseason number one, obviously, in the AP poll, which is the... And there's plenty of questions about kind of how this is all going to go down. So why not take the number one team in the country and face off against a Wake team that, by the way, is in a pretty good stretch here. I mean, despite the bowl loss a year ago, Dave Claussen's done a fantastic job.

So I could see where there would be a lot of interest both ways. And especially the fact that you're one of two leagues really playing on the surface that day. In terms of the conference games, Syracuse, Carolina, the noon game on the ACC Network seems to be the one of intrigue because Carolina's figured to be one of those. Had Virginia Tech, NC State held serve, that to me probably would have been the game that potentially drew, at least from a conference perspective, one. But when you look at Clemson and Wake Forest, that makes a lot of sense. And it's actually, you know what, regardless of how you look at it, Josh, from a standpoint of fans or no fans, it's a really good idea to go ahead and showcase two teams like that if you can.

Yeah. And also, Lee Corso, you're 85 years old. If you're going to be there, God willing, I hope we have Corso putting on headgear and such. I think if I'm Corso, I just want to put on heads I've never had a chance to put on before. Just put on the Demon Deacon. Just do it. You're 85, put on the Demon Deacon head.

I know nobody is going to pick the dekes that beat Clemson, but hey, you could say you did it. And I'm just curious if the bow tie that's stapled to the Deacon's chin, if that's included on the helmet. I don't think he's going to put Wake on, but it's a good thought. I don't know what he's going to do, but we'll see. Do you have assignments yet? I do not have anything confirmed.

No. No, we've got the schedule. I saw the schedule the same time you guys did. Usually we get it 30 minutes earlier, but this is 2020, man. You got to be prepared for anything at this point.

Okay. This time of year, on Friday, do I have this right? On Friday, you guys are going to announce the All-ACC preseason team?

Maybe later this week? Yeah, you're getting information. Again, I got that information about 30 minutes ago. So yes, we are going to announce the All-ACC team on Friday. Here's what I find compelling about this announcement that's going to come out of your guy's mouth on Packer and Durham later this week.

All right. Notre Dame fans, they're dealing with this for the first time. I'm used to people getting mad about their punter, their kicker, their corner, not getting the love that they want. That's right. When it comes to a preseason All-Conference team. Right. How do you think Notre Dame's going to handle trying to share some of the spotlight year? Well, I look at it like the precedent that's being set.

You can say one thing or another, but how about this? Whoever, whether it's Kyle Hamilton in the secondary or Jafar, whoever, right? I mean, somebody in the offensive line, Tommy Cramer would be a good selection.

He'll probably be first team All-ACC if somebody's reading their analytics. He had one of them. Yeah. I mean, he was certainly one of mine. I think you're looking at, and I jokingly said this with Pete Sampson, the athletic who was with us last week. Hey, Pete, somebody's making history from Notre Dame this year because they're going to be the first ever All-Conference player. I mean, you can have your Johnny Lou Jacks and your Paul Hornings and your Frank Leahy's.

I got your first ever All-Conference player. So it's going to be interesting, but it's also one of those things too where, let's see how it unfolds once we get the storylines developed, Josh. Let's see what happens once we get, to be honest with you, the way the season can go here.

How's it going to look on paper? What's it going to be like with conference games and by the way, the occasional throw in non-conference game, that kind of deal. So we'll see here.

It's going to be interesting though. There's no question. West Durham's with us here. Shoot them a follow at West Durham, listen to Packer in Durham, watch Packer in Durham, 7 to 10 in the mornings on the ACC Network.

Before we get to John Thompson's passing yesterday at 78 years old, we had a chance to, we've had great voices on to reflect on his passing, Tubby Smith an hour ago, Leonard Hamilton before that. I want to put a bow on the football discussion with North Carolina because we had Mack Brown on the show yesterday and he says, expectations haven't changed much except for the fact in the spring we set a goal of winning the Coastal Division. Well now the Coastal Division isn't a thing anymore. If you do the adjusted poll of the AP, the Tar Heels are the 12th ranked team in America among teams that are expected to play this year. With 10 of 11 starters back on offense, a quarterback and a coach that seem to be very well respected across the entire sport right now and Chaz Surratt who's a tremendous defensive player, what is a fair expectation for the Tar Heels following 7 and 6? Well given kind of the way the second edition schedule fell for them, you know I'll be honest with you I would say there's nothing wrong with thinking about 9. There's nothing wrong with thinking about 9 and 2 in my opinion.

That's a year. It is and but look here's the thing and I'll go back to what I say on air sometimes, you're only asking them to get a little bit better on defense. I mean you're not asking I mean offensively you know Pac goes with 18 gazillion 18 gazillion yards for Sam Howell but you're really not asking them to do a whole lot more than what they're doing. I mean you got two great backs, you've got four back in the offensive line, you got a kid with a cannon at quarterback, I think you've got three of the better receivers in the ACC and one of them gets no love whatsoever in Bo Corrales. Oh my god and I think Bo Corrales you know and this is nothing against Daz Newsome and Dayami Brown.

This is just having them once last year. I thought Bo Corrales was the most impressive of the three because I think Bo Corrales understands space in the red zone. I think he understands kind of where to go, how to use his body, the whole bit. I mean I've talked to people you know in and around the next level who are really impressed with the way he's developed. So look I think if they can get a little better on defense then yeah and with guys like Storm Duck and Woolfolk and guys like that they got a chance and you know just don't get ahead of yourself and that's probably the one big benefit I think coach Brown brings to the table. But see here's the cute thing about the ACC Josh, we got three or four teams like this. I mean you you can say the same thing about Louisville, can can Malcolm Brown their defensive coordinator get them a little bit better on defense with CJ Avery and some of those guys Dorian Etheridge who was banged up last year. Because again offensively and Scott Satterfield's talking about Mikel Cunningham being one of his best quarterbacks ever. I mean you saw some of the app that were pretty solid now. The guy who maybe won that game in 2007 was decent.

Absolutely, yeah no kidding. So let's start thinking about where Louisville might be and again how does the schedule work for them. And then you know at some point in this uh Dark Horse Pittsburgh, Florida State improvement, Miami to tell the truth with Miami is going to happen this year.

I mean you've got an explosive guy in De'Eric King who quite frankly was responsible for about 50 touchdowns two years ago. I mean he can really play but Miami and Florida State have both suffered from the ills and the offensive line the last couple years. So look I think that Clemson's the favorite. Carolina and Notre Dame will be number two in the preseason poll okay. Carolina should be third. The question is Virginia Tech, Carolina, Florida State, Miami, Pittsburgh, Louisville.

I mean here again I'm rolling off a bunch of teams. That's a good thing for the ACC by the way. That's not a bad thing that I'm sitting here talking about Clemson, Notre Dame, and then a bunch of other teams. That's a really good thing and you know why it's a good thing because we have it in basketball and everybody talks about how good it is right.

So when we have it in football it can't be a bad thing. You follow me? I follow you.

It's something that people do hey if there's a lot of depth. If Wake Forest is somehow high up in the standings you have people mocking the league for it but you don't attach the same things for basketball. Wes Durham with us here and I'll add a stat here when it comes to quarterbacks. There were only three quarterbacks last year in college football who threw more touchdown passes than Sam Howell did. Joe Burrow, Anthony Gordon, Washington State, and Justin Fields. None of those quarterbacks are going to be playing college football this year and here's what makes it next step. Well wait a second the big ten you need to check with Robert. We could have had another big ten announcement here in the last hour.

We'll check with Dan Patrick because he's trying to put on his reporting hat in the last few hours but here's what's more interesting than that. Sam Howell is number four on that list. Number one among guys returning expected to play.

Number five and number six Trevor Lawrence and Ian Book. Right. So a lot of firepower coming back at the quarterback position. And don't forget Mikayle Cunningham is one more pass completion from being one of the top-rated passers returning in all college football because he would have qualified for that. So it's all that stuff that comes together man. A lot of really good quarterbacks.

So the thing I've heard a lot of. I heard Roy Williams on our station with Adam Gold yesterday sharing how close the bond was between him and Big John but more so commenting on how close coach Smith was, Dean Smith was with John Thompson. It seems to be notorious a really close relationship that they had considering how close you were to that program even at that time and your dad as well. Just how close did you know Dean Smith to actually be with Big John? Well I think that the first indicator was is that you have to remember that coach Thompson was the guardian of a player named Donald Washington and I'm sure Roy talked about this you know in his comments earlier. The first interaction that coach Smith had with coach Thompson was in the recruiting of Donald Washington. John and his wife Gwendolyn were the guardians of Donald Washington and Donald Washington came to Carolina.

He had a star-crossed career. Injured for most of it but Donald Washington kind of you know bridged that friendship if you will. So then when the Georgetown program and people who aren't old enough are not going to remember this but Georgetown used to play in the McDonough gymnasium on campus. This is long before they went to the capital center and started playing okay. They used to play in McDonough gym and they had a player named John Duren, Bebe Duren and Georgetown in fact you can see it in the 82 national championship game. It almost looks like an inner squad game because Carolina's wearing their white jerseys and Georgetown's wearing their light blue right.

Yeah. Well Georgetown's jerseys originally were light blue and white like Carolina. A lot like Carolina.

Side panels on the shorts and everything else. Well coach Thompson used to work coach Smith's camps in the summer when he was early in his Georgetown career and there was a coach at DeMatha, an assistant coach named Frank Fuqua that used to come down and work camp and coach Thompson was there. I mean I can remember that happening and then the first year I went to camp was 76 when the Olympic team was in camp at Granville Towers and coach Thompson was there and the Olympic team would practice and coach Thompson would be at one of the gyms. Now he wasn't going to be at my gym because I was at the like the 9, 10, 11 gym or whatever but you know John Thompson was around and you kind of got to see coach Thompson and I remembered him as the guy coach Georgetown who was on TV because Georgetown's games used to be on old WTTG Channel 5 in DC which was on the cable in Cary, North Carolina for some reason. But just chose to show you how that bridge of friendship got built and it was easy I think for coach Smith and I coach Smith felt I do know this my dad told the story after New Orleans in 82.

Coach Smith look he wanted to win the national championship but he was he was uncomfortable with doing it at the cost of his friend. So two years later when Georgetown beat Houston in 84 at the Kingdome in Seattle I remember my dad that summer saying that you know the part about the 82 but then on that degree when Georgetown beat Houston nobody was happier for John Thompson than Dean Smith. And the Carolina staff was thrilled for the Georgetown staff right?

Yeah. And it just shows you the respect that coach Smith had a major influence in you know Patrick Ewing went to Georgetown he didn't go to Carolina. They had some of the same guys I mean look they recruited J.R. Reed both schools did they recruited Alonzo Mourning both schools both schools recruited Patrick Ewing but some went to Chapel Hill some didn't and at the end of the day their friendship was really grounded and coach Thompson and coach Krzyzewski I think were two of the guys in the industry who were closer with coach Smith after he retired than maybe when they were coaching. They still had great respect for one another but they became closer in terms of their friendship and then when coach Smith got sick I think coach Thompson you may recall a year or two before coach Smith passed away John Thompson came to Raleigh to do an NCAA regional and as I understood he spent time with coach Smith then and then coach Thompson was obviously supposed to speak at the memorial service and was unable to to make it to Chapel Hill and that's when JT3 showed up. But yeah I the respect and the friendship there was as strong and as good as you can have in this industry and really inspiring when you think about it because I think John Thompson realized that you know Dean Smith was a guy who wanted really a lot of the things that people want now and you know I've been thinking about coach Smith a lot especially in all the stuff that's been going on because coach Smith was one of those guys who who thought about that stuff in the 1960s because of the influence of his mother and dad who were both teachers growing up in Kansas. That is amazing storytelling as always Wes and I appreciate you sharing it with us I look forward to hearing what you have in store 7 to 10 tomorrow in the ACC network. I can tell you Brendan Armstrong tomorrow is Brendan Armstrong is signed up to be on the show tomorrow. The quarterback at Virginia just was named the starting quarterback his first game is going to be the commonwealth cup that is EJ Manuel will be with us and we're going to do some we're going to do some what I call news and information segments and we've had one already some of those Bob Weissman was with us last week from Duke to talk about you know the decision making process not having fans what have they gone through type thing Brad Wortham of Virginia Tech is going to join us tomorrow along those same lines of okay you're going to have a thousand people what's all that mean you know how does the marketing work for this how do you you know how do you decide ticketing plans things like that and then at some point in the next four or five days we're going to talk to a sports information guy in the ACC about the world they now live in because covering games and media information and all the things that we just kind of accepted as the status quo Josh yeah that's that's not status quo anymore bro no it is not and I've been learning that over the last few days I look forward to hearing which lucky SID is going to be on Packer and Durham all right my man thanks for doing this it's good to hear from you man anytime take care always good and Robert's doing an outstanding job of keeping you in the harness all right Robert how much did he pay you how much did he pay you to say that the money is in the mail I think Robert just needs to look at the contract terms that's all he's got it's not here yet there well okay take care guys see you soon all right be well from Cartersville Georgia that is West Durham