Saban doesn't text

This is The Drive with Josh Graham Podcast.

Tune in to The Drive weekday afternoons 3 to 7 on Sports Hub Triad. There are local reports in Ohio that say Joe Burrow has already been notified by the Bengals he will be the number one pick tomorrow night. Obviously there's no surprise there, he's the safest bet in the draft, but who's the next safest quarterback on the board? The popular opinion seems to be Herbert because of Tua's hip of course.

However, I see it the opposite way. I think drafting Herbert is a far bigger risk than drafting Tua. I get there aren't many medical reports out there and teams haven't been able to get their hands on Tua, but he's in an NFL city working out. He's in Nashville. He's been working with Trent Dilfer.

Apparently he's gone through every checkup and pass with flying colors. In fact, here was Trent Dilfer on Fox Sports Radio a few weeks ago just telling us exactly what Tua has gone through on the medical circuit and what he has to say against criticism that Tua might not be as medically sound as many are leading on. You know, it's like politics. There's a lot of agendas at play.

There's a lot of people that use other people in the media to get their messaging out. I only can go off of what I know and I know that the doctors, one that the NFL uses to clear the hips have all cleared them. Dr. Kane, a surgeon, I never did anything with him. We never did anything with him before he cleared those tests. He's had multiple rechecks by teams that are interested in him, his combine recheck.

He's passed every benchmark with flying colors. In fact, most of his rechecks people have kind of dropped their jaws and said we could never have anticipated him being this healthy at this time. I'm not a medical expert, but I've watched video and I see the same quarterback I saw slinging it in Tuscaloosa the last handful of years.

One of the best quarterbacks I've seen come out in the last decade, maybe last decade or two. Also, the NFL has gotten significantly safer for quarterbacks. A lot of that due to rule changes. Remember Carson Palmer was hit low as a result of that. You can't hit quarterbacks near their knees anymore or it's gonna be quite the penalty dished your way and fine. Remember at the start of the 2018 season there was the controversial rule change where defensive linemen or edge rushers couldn't put their full body weight on quarterbacks.

It led to some penalties that looked childish, looked like it was pillow fighting out there, but the ultimate goal was to protect quarterbacks and it has worked. I've gone through every single quarterback that's been drafted in the last five drafts and has played at least five games starting five games in the NFL and there's 22 that I found. In the 22 quarterback cases the last five drafts who have started five games, only three of the 22 have sustained long-term injuries. Those quarterbacks Carson Wentz, Deshaun Watson and Trevor Simeon last year on Monday Night Football. But if you go through all the quarterbacks last year, Kyler Murray, Daniel Jones, Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lott, Gardner Minshoot. 2018, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, Lamar Jackson, Mason Rudolph. 2017, Mitchell Trubisky, Pat Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Deshaun Kaiser. 2016, Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, Dak Prescott, Cody Kessler. And 2015, Jamis Winston, Marcus Mariota, Trevor Simeon. That's a lot of quarterbacks and that's a lot of games started. Only three of them have sustained significant injuries. Two out of the three did so scrambling. Deshaun Watson his rookie year I think in week nine or ten and Carson Wentz who was scrambling against the LA Rams in a year he was likely to win the MVP.

The Eagles went on to win the Super Bowl anyway. Those are mobile quarterbacks who have gotten hurt with the exception of Simeon. And it's funny Herbert, the best comp I've seen out there for Herbert is Wentz. That's what he is. Big arm, comes out of a non-traditional pro style system in college.

Oh he has all the parts, he looks the part, he's big, he's mobile. Best case scenario Herbert is Wentz. And Wentz, while I love him, that's a quarterback I want on my team, he's one of the three quarterbacks who have been injured out of the 22 who have started five games among those drafted in the last five years. Also in evaluation terms the SEC is a far better league to gauge talent in than the Pac-12. You're just facing more NFL players. I don't think it's coincidence when you look at draft grades a year or two out from drafts usually the guys who are under draft to come from the SEC.

They are more prepared to transition to the league and have success early on because they're already playing guys who belong in the league that are essentially pro players. The Pac-12 isn't a strong football conference they've been down the last handful of years and he wasn't even dominant in that league either. Good numbers but Oregon not a dominant team. Good last year they upended Utah when they needed to at the end of the year.

If they didn't play Auburn in the opener maybe they're competing in a college football playoff game but I never thought wow Herbert is really dominating things right now. Never got that sense and I watch a lot of college football but if you're still hung up on the injury I just need to remind you this injuries are a part of football. Most of the great quarterbacks they've had at least one serious injury one serious long-term concern. With Brees it was his shoulder transitioning from San Diego to New Orleans in 2006. Peyton Manning he had the neck. Brady tore his ACL. Carson Palmer Donovan McNabb heck if you go outside of quarterback Frank Gore he tore up his knee when he was in college and he's still running around.

That was nearly 20 years ago. If Tua isn't healthy let's just say hypothetically the Chargers or the Dolphins take him and he's not healthy. History isn't gonna look poorly on the GM. I don't think anybody says oh man Sam Bowie that was a real bust. No Sam Bowie he dealt with a lot of injuries. Greg Oden wasn't a bust. No one drafted Greg Oden to think oh this guy he's gonna get injured.

No one could have foresaw that. If you get injured you're not a bust. RG3 he's not a bust. I don't put that in the same category as Ryan Leaf.

I don't put that in the same category as Kwame Brown. If guys are injured that's a lot different than somebody just missing in their evaluation of their talent. I think this pandemic that we're going through right now we're gonna remember this draft because it's gonna be like unlike any draft we've seen and if you miss on Tua because of medical evaluation if you miss on him and he's never really the player you thought he was gonna be resembling what you saw at Alabama it's a risk sure but I don't think it's big of a risk considering what we know now from Trent Dilfer and seeing him workouts as passing on him and taking this guy who's not as mechanically sound not as dominant of a player in a lesser conference and also somebody who might put himself in more danger as a mobile quarterback. On Twitter at sportsubtriad if you'd like to chime in Robert Walsh the producer of this show we've got Aaron Gabriel in here as well your thoughts welcome three three six seven seven seven one six hundred Jones Angel the voice of the Tar Heels gonna join us to 20 minutes we'll talk about Michael Jordan the last dance we're gonna spend time on North Carolina football recruiting because man Mac Brown it continues to roll on the success that the Tar Heels are having on that front top 20 class this year number two class right now in 2021 the NFL Draft it's going to go on as scheduled we've known that tomorrow it's gonna be the virtual draft Roger Goodell was on ESPN earlier today and there are people that have criticized the Commissioner for going on with this draft heck even inside the NFL anonymous people saying I don't know why we're doing this it doesn't make much sense we can't even go into the facilities and I loved this answer by Goodell talking about adapting during the crisis I think we demonstrated that here with the draft in our offseason programs that you have to be willing to adapt you have to be prepared to adapt you can't you can't expect or anticipate every move but you but your job is to try to be as prepared as possible yes everybody you and your home if you're listening there people who are salespeople in a time where economics are quite different have changed in the last two months everybody's having to adapt sports talk radio hosts they're having to adapt NFL GM's they're gonna have to adapt those who make the fewest excuses and go on with the process are gonna have the most success it worked out for the WNBA draft last Friday it worked out for the XFL the NFL has more resources more tests more safeguards to try and make this happen it's going to proceed just fine it's just not gonna be as good as a TV show like the spectacle of sports is sports greatest appeal in my opinion I always have to remind myself of that most people who watch live events who go to games aren't actually hardcore sports fans they they're there because you have an opportunity to cheer at something to boo at something you're there because it's a social gathering it's a social event it's something to do it's a story to tell in the office it's entertainment somebody wins somebody loses that doesn't mean you're a hardcore sports fan that cares about the X's and O's and really cares about how a team comes together in the drafts case the spectacle the TV show is what draws most people I think that's gonna be lacking but as someone who loves the NFL loves college football and loves the draft quite frankly I'm not gonna be bothered at all by this virtual draft tomorrow I cannot wait for it coming up the lowest point we've seen for sports evil Empire this is the drive we're now being joined by the voice of the Tar Heels Jones angel and there are a lot of things I want to talk to you about Jones because I thought last weekend what a big weekend it was for North Carolina where on Friday Mack Brown lands a couple of recruits from the Triad area right now the number two class according to 24-7 nationally only trailing Ohio State for 2021 after booking a top 20 class for 2020 then I see on Saturday coach Williams continues the lineage of Kinston players to Chapel Hill by landing a four-star point guard from out east on Sunday the last dance it debuts episodes 1 & 2 Roy Williams seemed to be throwing a hundred miles an hour in his brief appearances in that so there's a lot to get to and we'll start with the last dance what's the best Jordan Tar Heels story you've been told either from coach Williams Woody Durham or whoever being as connected as you've been to Carolina for what seems to be forever well you know Josh I don't know if I have one that is super unique or one that people haven't heard before I do think the one that coached talked a little bit about in the second episode that came on this past weekend about Michael Jordan coming to camp for the first time and how you know they had heard about him and they knew who he was they knew they were going to keep their eye on him but they really weren't sure what they had when he showed up and and then you know just a couple days later they thought that he was one of if not the best players in the country and somebody that they were going to need to prioritize immediately and I think it's so funny to think about Michael Jordan coming to a Carolina basketball camp I mean that that's not quite how recruiting works anymore these days those guys are going to much more specialized camps than just random kind of school camps although I guess Justin Jackson came to Carolina's camp as a young guy too but you just don't see that happen very often and yeah it was a great weekend for Carolina and I thought that gosh that the documentary itself so far is it's just terrific I think the the footage they have the people they've been able to talk to the way that they wove the story together and what kind of anchor being that that final season in Chicago but by telling a bunch of other stories around that it really was an enjoyable two hours I'm sure most people felt that way if they were interested in and watched it and certainly from the Carolina perspective there was some some great stuff there to show off the Tar Heels and show off Jordan's relationship there and certainly all positives for Carolina to be sure we were talking to Mac Brown about the fact that Carolina football is one of the few programs in the country that has Jordan brand gear and such and I'm seeing on social media the way that they're capitalizing on the last dance it has to give you a bit of a recruiting bump when everybody's at home watching MJ and you see coach Williams there you see Michael Jordan and oh yeah Jordan brand stuff it's still the most popular basketball gear but making its way in the football world as well but while we're talking about football what makes Mac Brown such an effective recruiter as somebody who has seen it grow because man I've always felt North Carolina it might be a bit of a sleeping giant considering all the resources that are there it just doesn't seem like North Carolina's had somebody of Mac Brown's quality there since I don't know Mac Brown was there in the 90s well I want to be clear about a couple things one yes Carolina has a lot to sell on the on the football side of things and I do think the Tar Heels clearly are have some positive momentum right now in Carolina regardless of head coach is a great place to be having said all of those things Mac Brown is unique Mac Mac Brown is an elite not just coach been an elite recruiter he is as good as there is in the nation in college football at doing just what he's doing and that is showing off his program that is connecting with both individual players and their families that is being able to clearly concisely and effectively state his message that is make sure that the people who are the best players that are closest to him really have to think hard if they if they want to leave this state or if they want to leave this area they've got to really think hard about it because he's gonna put on the full core press and as good as that it is anybody in the country he's built a terrific staff around him both who are great coaches but know this state know this University have ties to the area in one way or another Josh we I'm sure we talked about it when Mac Brown was hired that that part of his plan was to put together a staff that was not just good football coaches but guys who knew this area I mean Bateman had recruited North Carolina for example for years and years and years at other places even though he didn't have a direct tie to you and he knew the state of North Carolina Lonnie Galloway is from the state of North Carolina played college football in the state of North Carolina has recruited this state multiple years and so even if it's not a direct tie to you and see these guys area so when you add in that powerful staff of really good coaches who know this area who are great at relationships and you top it off with a I think the best head coach recruiter in college football that's a good combination especially when you're selling somewhere like Carolina that has a lot to offer both athletically and academically so it has been a perfect marriage in that regard for Carolina and I think you're seeing the results both on the field you saw the tutorials better last year and making growth and on the recruiting trail as well to go a step further though is it even more impressive to you that it's happening while North Carolina is in the same conference as Clemson and also just as close proximity to Clemson Clemson I mean they bring in Eric McLean they bring in Tanner Muse they bring in KJ Henry they bring in a ton of guys from the state of North Carolina to build this dominant program that they've had in the ACC and when I look at classes right now granted there's a lot of time between now and the early signing period in December but North Carolina has a ton of North Carolina click kids and Clemson hasn't been able to get any of them even though they've offered four of them I mean doesn't that make it even more impressive that they're going head on with Clemson which has been so dominant well I would say a couple things one is you're right there's a long way still to go and you know especially in football recruiting that it's not over till it's over and Carolina's coaches are aware of that and not just Clemson but other teams are gonna come after some of these guys because they're really good players and so Mac Brown his staff are aware of that and they're gonna make sure that they do their best to hold on to the guys that they have and then hopefully for their sake continue to get some more high quality players you know I don't want to sit here and claim that Carolina's is going you know it is surpassed Clemson at this point in any way Tigers along with Alabama have set the standard over the last several years in college football and Mac Brown has been very open and saying that that that's where the Torrioles want to be they have a very clear target to shoot at because Clemson's not very far away both geographically as far as conference is concerned or where the Torrioles want to be all those things are right there in front of them and they have a good example of a school that is not terribly dissimilar they're certain I'm not claiming Clemson and Carolina are the same they're they're not identical twins or anything but but they're not they're not so far on the spectrum that's that they're playing on a unlevel field so to speak and so I think Carolina has that target I think they understand that that Clemson's the one that they're shooting at and that gives them a very defined thing to go after and so when you are beating schools like Clemson or Alabama or some of the schools that the Torrioles have been able to beat for some recruits that's great that's a start but but you don't want to do that with one guy or two guys you got to start doing that with 10 or 15 guys if you want to get to that point that's not easy to do I think the Torrioles have taken those initial steps and have some really positive momentum but I think I would be wrong if I sat here and claimed the Torrioles are at the top of the mountain right now that they're climbing but they still got a long way to go.

Very well said. Jones Angel with us the voice of the Torrioles on Twitter at Jones Angel. I want to get to a basketball note before I let you go because I started looking at the way Luke May jumped from his sophomore season to his junior season and I see the way Garrison Brooks last year leapt from his sophomore season to his junior year in terms of productivity and now North Carolina is trying to they already bring in a great recruiting class it seems like on paper and you bring a lot of guys back as well which is gonna help certainly but who's a guy you look at that would that North Carolina would most benefit from taking a similar leap to other guys we've seen under Coach Williams? That's a good question Josh and it's a weird time right I mean it feels like it was forever ago because of everything that everybody's going through that that Carolina season ended but clearly the Torrioles need to make some growth I do think that the recruiting class that the heels are bringing in our guys who can help them immediately they're really got thinking improve their talent level in total and their depth with the group that they have coming in and that depth hurt them last year as we know with all the injuries that the Torrioles suffered they got really thin there in the middle portion of the year and that really hurt them as far as guys returning I really do think there's two and that's Leaky Black and Armando Bacot both those guys have played a lot of basketball in there for Leaky about a year and a half because he missed half his freshman year due to an injury and for Armando in the one year that he's been here and they both had some terrific moments but I think they both could really be more consistent and can show a lot of growth and their guys I think Carolina will will lean heavily on next season and of course I think when you're talking about the Torrioles also you always have to think about the point guard spot because that is so important for Carolina and what and what the Torrioles do and so you know whether that is Leaky Black playing some there or if it's the freshman Caleb Love who's coming in they're so highly regarded and seems to be just a terrific player if it's Jeremiah Francis getting a little healthier and starting to give Carolina some more consistent minutes there I think whoever is at that spot their growth not just between this moment and when the season starts but when the season starts and the season ends next year for Carolina I think that'll be really important as well because that is such an important position and what the Torrioles try to do.

What's the best thing you've watched or the best thing you've read in the last month and change? Man I've there's been a lot of stuff I have read a couple of books which I've enjoyed kind of catching back up on that I've been watching a lot of The Office on Netflix that's been a lot of fun the Jordan documentary obviously that we talked about those were great I'm really looking forward to the next couple of weeks with those it's been fun both for some professional stuff that I'm doing and just for the heck of it I've been watching a lot of old Torrio games too some of my remembered and some of my didn't and so getting to watch some old games is always fun it's a great great treasure trove for those so I'm enjoying doing that too but as much as I enjoy doing all those things and I like everyone else and ready for things to get back to normal as quickly as they can I understand it's important not to jump into that too quickly and so hopefully we can all get through this year in the next couple of weeks and months. Right on Jones it's good to hear from you thanks for doing this. Always good to talk with you Josh talk to you soon. Likewise that's Jones Angel the voice of the Tar Heels on Twitter Pat Jones Angel. All right Robert we can go ahead and hit it he talked about Leaky Black he talked about Armando Bacot yeah a little bit of Tar Heel basketball plugged in here as well. One of the greatest coaches of our lifetime claims he's never sent a text or an email I'll tell you who that is next.

We never want to hear you're disappointed with our programming hell no let's avoid that so please keep it to yourself just know that you're on the drive with Josh Graham. So Nick Saban was on Dan Patrick this morning and said he's received text messages from players from the former assistant coaches from current assistants but he never has sent a text message he says he always calls when he gets a text to get back in touch with somebody he also claims that he's never sent an email but Robert says he has reporting that contradicts that statement. Yeah April 8th ABC and a couple other news outlets picked up a story about Saban learning to email and text during social distancing and it says that Miss Terry which is his wife fired herself from being his office manager and that he has had to manage his own emails and texts since then so I do not believe them this and this is back in April dude you can never tell me that this guy. It is April. This guy it is May right?

We're in April. Okay April 8th then whatever this quarantine is running together you can't tell me that this dude's never texted a recruit never said hey glad to have you on board hey how's it going it's not he's acting like it's rocket science the dude literally has the the most pro ready and complicated defensive scheme offensive scheme but he can't type letters and hit a blue key I don't buy that. You don't think Nick Saban ever sent that LOL text? That's what I'm saying he's definitely sent it he sent LOL IDK?

I think he's saying before that before his wife fired him so to speak he's starting to figure it out now but before that he hasn't sent any text or emails. He sent text I I'm gonna look and find players that have like yeah Saban texted me I'm gonna pull that because this is this is baloney I don't believe it. It sounds like me and Saban are cut from the same cloth I'm not a big texter I'm all about the phone call here's a popular Josh move I get a text and I'm doing something so I pull it up and read it and I don't respond but I still have my read receipts on so then somebody gets mad at me later on hey why did you text me back how'd you know oh shoot I have my read receipts I still haven't turned those off yet I don't know why like I've had internal conversations with myself yeah I probably should turn off read receipts but I've never done it you two strike me as people who are smarter than I am that have the receipts turn off am I right on that yeah I've got mine turned off you don't even know if I've seen it or not Aaron yeah mind your business 336-777-1600 all right Robert grab yourself a pack of cards in here real quick Julio Jones I'm telling you he has sent a text before give me the context so goofy Alabama's flurry of elite prospects manned by Julio Jones says he was texted by Nick Saban he's been texted by him yeah so Nick Saban he might have lied this morning to Dan Patrick it's possible okay Robert has found him out so every week we open up a pack of trading cards I don't know what our last brand was but we got a new brand of cards here oh ten cards it says rookies and stars that's what we've got here and we go head-to-head in a trading card clash Roberts already opened up his cards Oh Blake Martinez let's dive headfirst into the imaging this means war it's cool let's go this means war what does it have to do it means something else okay you dirtbags this means war all right let's come up with categories here here are the five I have written down the categories that we need to slot five of our players into most likely to get catfished most likely to win the Hunger Games most likely to run off and join the circus most likely of snap I wrote one twice best snap chatter is among the five that I have here and most likely to win in dancing with the stars how are you feeling about your pack of cards right here right now Robert I haven't got to check them out yet but supremely confident Aaron's gonna judge them this is a pretty good pack it might be the brand where we have less no names on here even though who is little Jordan Humphrey oh I think he played at Texas he's actually not very little at all what it says little Jordan I know there's little Jordan on the car yeah that's it Jordan that's his actual name I remember him from last year's draft but he is not very little I think he's like 6-4 yeah I've got a ton of rookies like a ton I don't gosh do you think we should do best snap chatter or worse snap chatter let's do worse okay I have familiar names but it's difficult to try and figure out where to put them here hmm right that's that's where I'm struggling with it's like where to put these guys all right I got the worst snap chatter for sure most likely to get catfish like what kind of traits does that even entail desperation ah that makes a lot of sense if you're desperate odds are you are likely to get snapchat or a catfish desperate and lonely make for make the catfish face so look for your cars find the most desperate lonely looking fuck Robert did you ever think you got catfish before I don't think so but when I was in high school I actually created a fake dating account to talk to older women and I catfished people and it was my friends would come over and we would it sounds messed up but it was actually a lot of fun that makes it worse all right do you think you have enough slated right now to get this thing started no but for the sake of radio I will say yes all right I feel pretty good about where I'm at I'm gonna start with most likely to get catfish and I'm gonna throw to the table Amari Cooper Amari Cooper he could disappear in games Rex Ryan said he's a turd so Amari Cooper is most likely to get catfished in my mind I'm gonna go with Andy Isabella here he's a smaller dude so he's not gonna get the same attention that the other large wideouts would get and when I say he's white he's pasty white but he's also very fast which makes me think that he would feel like he deserves more attention so he would be willing to jump in with the first woman he meets online as an NFL prospect Aaron Isabella or Amari Cooper due to Amari Cooper star power and him being a Dallas Cowboy I'm gonna go with Andy disability oh he's a star he's not gonna get catfished don't you think there's more opportunities for him to get catfished no he's a high-profile Dallas Cowboys yeah he's gonna ask for a FaceTime and picks off the bat I had to look up who Andy Isabella was that doesn't help you man number two most likely to win the Hunger Games gosh I had two that really qualified for this one you have Ray Lewis I'm gonna go with Nick Chubb I went running back to I went James Connor for this one I feel like James Connor he beat cancer he could beat anything the dude Chubb is shredded this guy is huge and I mean I've loved him since he was back in college at Georgia I'm all about the Chubb's man Bradley and Nick everybody can be shredded but until you get shot in the calf with an arrow it's not gonna matter you're gonna need that perseverance from James Connor Aaron where are you going Chubb or Connor James Connor survived cancer James Connor this happens every week I jump no it's always it's always Robert getting I'm never gonna win this game because Aaron oh whatever number three that's fine number three most likely to run off at the circus I'm going little Jordan here little Jordan he would be a midget I'm going little Jordan Humphrey you think he's small place for the Saints in case you don't know I'm going Calvin Ridley I feel like he would be a tightrope Walker he's small he can keep his center of balance pretty even and he's like the lesser-known wide receiver in Atlanta so I feel like he would just run off and join the circus because Julio is stealing up all his target Ridley or little Jordan go a little Jordan here all right I'm on the board thank God most likely to win Dancing with the Stars I'm going Alvin Kamara he's if you've seen any of his postgame interviews when he wants to turn it on he turns it on and he's a versatile guy can catch it he is great footwork both receiving and running I think Alvin Kamara great for Dancing with the Stars see this is where I ran into the not having enough talent in my deck I'm gonna go Jamal Adams here I think he's just enough of a star to get invited but also has just enough athleticism to actually have an efficient run at Dancing with the Stars running backs do really well on Dancing with the Stars Emmitt Smith Marshall Faulk they stand out so I'm going Kamara in my regard who do you got I've seen Alvin Kamara in an actual dance commercial or he was actually dancing in a commercial so I got to go with Alvin Kamara last up this is what's gonna decide it all worst snap chatter Robert you go first who do you got you went first this whole time Phillip Rivers Phillip Rivers is the worst snap chatter you can find he's got bolo ties he doesn't know what he's doing there's 11 kids or 9 kids running around the house Phillip Rivers were snap chatter see I think kids can be good content sometime whether they knock some stuff over I feel like if you can work be okay if you can operate well he has a lot of them so I think he can do it I have Russell Wilson who I think is going to be an awful snap chatter he's gonna send you pictures of his big forehead or he might send you videos of him and Sierra in bed that that wasn't a snapchat that was for the Seahawks if mine as well a bit if you snap Russell Wilson you're gonna get a picture of his big forehead with one word like hey him laying on the couch I think Russell Wilson is the worst snapchat and this pasty white bolo tie nine-time dad versus the guy who's married to Sierra both these guys are insanely corny and sane and cheesy but like they both would send me inspirational Bible verses in the morning gotta pick one gotta go with uh gotta go with uh Philip Rivers and that's been the NFL trading card war you were just all feeling like I would never just let you win like I'm not an impartial judge he's trying to get us off the scent goodness gracious you are listening the WSJS Winston-Salem WCOG Greensboro WMFR high point WCOG Greensboro I've already said that yeah those those signals make up sports up try it everybody listen up you're on the drive with Josh Graham I can't believe this this is insane before B dot takes me to grammar school a couple of housekeeping notes to knock out the Carolina Panthers have announced what jersey numbers the newest Panthers will wear PJ Walker Houston Roughnecks legend is going to wear the number six will Greer changes his number from number three to number seven which he wore in college but that number was taken by Kyle Allen when he arrived Kyle Allen now a Washington Redskins Pharaoh Cooper from Eastern North Carolina wide receiver number 14 Seth Roberts number 15 Keith Kirkwood rounding out the wide receivers in the slot number 19 and the premier acquisition this offseason Robbie Anderson is gonna be wearing number 11 the same number he wore with the Jets as for Teddy Bridgewater he's gonna be wearing number five I don't think there's any surprise there but that also means that Michael polarity is gonna have to change his number he's gonna be number two to hear Whitehead wore number 59 with the Oakland Raiders needless to say he's not gonna be wearing that with the Panthers why that will be wearing number 52 all right we got is it Bobby that I'm talking to here what do we got on the line I told you before we got in and I forgot all right who wants to comment on North Carolina how many years it would take for the Tar Heels to become a football school designation versus basketball school who are we talking to here on the line yeah this is Bobby oh we got Bobby Bobby how many years would it take it would never happen just like you guys said um I've got to be a young man who made that comment I bet he's not even 25 years old Aaron is 34 years old it'd be 34 okay well I will say this it would never happen and you you have example you go from like an early mid 90s to 2006 2007 Alabama football was mostly terrible they weren't very good they were winning three and four games a year yeah but that's a football school and the fans are not gonna leave them they'll be upset but they're not gonna leave them Florida won back-to-back basketball national championships it was never a basketball school even winning back-to-back national championships yeah so it would never happen and Carolina basketball wouldn't stay down that long and if it does if it did go five or six years whenever it came back it would immediately they would forget all about the basket the football I don't care if they're winning ten games a year thanks for the call Bobby I'll give you an even better example a more recent one Florida State Leonard Hamilton's taking that program to the elite eight to the sweet 16 ACC champs for the first time this year while Willie Taggart has been awful the last few years that football program hasn't been the same the last five years anybody think the Florida State is a basketball school I don't think so all right let's go to grammar school Josh Graham has his own way of speaking in high school he didn't play sports but he did wear a helmet and just when you think it can't get any worse my English teacher wanted to flunk me in junior high thanks a lot next semester I'll be 35 Josh is going to attempt to learn B dots vernacular I'm from the old school I got a street knowledge you know what I mean you know what I'm saying it's time for B dots grammar school I would fire the secretary for keeping horrible stats on last week's numbers but I am the secretary so with that being said I don't know what your score was last week I won he passed did he pass last week I passed Sarah Bradford then called in okay took me to the woodshed talking about my Seinfeld watching practices she did watch the last dance with me on Sunday did she enjoy it she said it exceeded her expectations however I looked over a couple of times and her eyes were closed it seemed she was asleep last week I think you got I'm tight take the L and want the smoke messed up with the trap and gassed up that's correct this week your first word what is a set s-e-t I have lifelines you do have lifelines Aaron Robert and if anybody wants to call in and be my who wants to be a millionaire help for this game three three six seven seven seven one six hundred is the way to do that a set I think about a set in the gym context mm-hmm where you know sets of ten you do ten reps in a set so I'm gonna go ahead and guess that is a set like all right you do a certain amount of repetitions over and over again in the gym that is a hundred percent incorrect Josh the logic here is just that you went for like a literal definition yeah I had two things I was like getting set in spades or I had no idea spades definitely you could get set in this regard I just met your neighborhood where you rep what you rep when you rep your set your set is your neighborhood your set is your crew your set is where you're repping you rep sports hub that's your set and West for sight and West you don't second word for you you have to get three out of five your second word it's sauce I'm at Forsyth County I don't rep West Forsyth it did not go to school there sauce sa you see I know this one being around the Panthers as long as I have okay cam Newton every time I'd ask him about some of his outfits he'd always say oh man that's sauce that's sauce which is like some nice clothes it's like your gear yes it's its style that's what it is style constant swag that's your sauce good job good job good job yeah Josh what is a side piece uh-huh side piece huh it's more importantly who is it I also have a caller on the line that would like you to answer that I got a feeling you don't actually have a caller I don't have a caller on the line and again this would be a girl that you're hanging out with who isn't your significant other that is correct she is the other woman now for a bonus point can you tell me the side chick holiday oh I thought you were gonna say for a bonus boy can you tell us who your side piece is can you tell me the side piece holiday side piece holiday now this is where you would think a little logically okay Valentine's Day you have to be with your significant other all day we go together but we ain't like peanut butter jelly Valentine's Day let me think let me think let's see if I can give a second guess out here uh I have no idea February 15th oh the day after Valentine's Day got it I got you now I clean up on discount candy Josh what is work w-o-r-k work I can win it right here you can win it right here come on Josh you be listen to some ugk I think it's like taking a run at a girl right like putting in work that would be like work you're putting in work work is drugs Josh it's usually crack cocaine that's usually what work yeah yeah so somebody says you got that work do you have the crack cocaine Josh I hope you can say crack I didn't see that I didn't see that coming final word here this is for the win you're too too for the win what does it mean to flex f-l-e-x flex I feel like I know this I feel like you should it's to show off like I saw Teddy Brewski earlier today at his home doing a hit on ESPN he's in his set I think and there are a bunch of board games in the background like it was a weird flex but he was flexing the fact he's got a bunch of board games showing off yes that is exactly what it is flex is to show off in a very non humble way and I'm gonna can I give him another beam for saying weird flex because that was very well used right there good job yeah good job okay now for your homework what's the homework but all of these words in one sentence Lord to tease for your next segment okay okay let me let me think I'm think about this give me give me 30 seconds or guys talk amongst yourself words are set flex sauce work and side piece okay Don I had this for you were you actually defending to baby on Twitter the other week or yesterday were you saying that he shouldn't change his flow up or try to evolve or I'm thinking but see here's the thing this is my question with changing your flow of versus evolving Robin and correct me if I'm wrong changing your flow up is changing your delivery evolving is changing your subject matter do I think he could possibly change up his subject matter when he starts doing different things then yes the subject matter will change to that but his flow his delivery I personally like the baby's delivery and I don't know why so many people give him a hard time about it all right Oh Robert what do you say what you say Rob I don't I don't have any problem with his music I thought this album just was very repetitive he's put out three albums in a year and a half yeah and it just kind of runs together for me like if I want to hear quintessential the baby song I'll just listen to sug or something like that like he impressed me with 13 tracks 34 minutes and I like maybe three or four tracks the Miami Dolphins have had interesting recent history with the draft I mean one time they drafted the player the day of the draft he had that work with Laramie tonsil and a gas mask but now they have all the pics I mean they are flexing on teams with everything they have there and I'm interested to see who the Dolphins are gonna take I mean everybody thinks it's gonna be one specific person they're gonna take but there might be some side pieces there I mean the Dolphins they're flexing they got some sauce I don't know our players gonna be dressed up when they get picked I don't think so I don't think you're gonna be showing off their sauce everybody's gonna be in their set I'll tell you why it's actually a bigger risk for a team to take Herbert then to a next on the drive providing you with a kind of sports programming that makes some people laugh but most people just wits ooh you're on the drive with Josh Graham there's been a lot of breaking news during our show today in women's basketball one of the best coaches we have Muffet McGraw of Notre Dame she retires or she labels it as stepping down after having the worst season Notre Dame's back and Notre Dame basketballs had in a while it just seems like yesterday Ariki Agumbawale was hitting the game-winning shot for Notre Dame to win a national title down season for Notre Dame Muffet McGraw retires and the Boston Red Sox we've been waiting to see what their punishment was going to be after the Astros got hammered and the sign stealing saga not a heavy punishment Ken Rosenthal reports it's a loss of a 20-20 second round pick ban of replay operator JT Watkins through 2020 and the playoffs and he can't have the same job in 2021 Alex Cora who's already been fired by the Boston Red Sox he is banned from baseball through 2020 and the playoffs but that's only for his conduct with the Astros so I'm not gonna say it's a slap on the wrist but it is that compared to what Houston received remember they lost a manager lost a general manager lost a lot of draft picks had a heavy fine and they're the ones that are gonna be remembered as the ones who really steered this scandal that's one of the bigger ones we've seen in sports in the last few years now being joined by Ed Harden our good friend from the Greensboro News and Record a lot of stuff happening right now we'll get to the NFL Draft and the Panthers in just a bit but I want to talk about what Mac Brown and North Carolina football has been doing on the recruiting trail right now because it's crazy the 2020 class is top 20 in college football according to 24-7 the 2021 class which consists pretty much all of North Carolina players in this state on this in this class right now they're seen to be the number two class according to 24-7 the only class better Ohio State Clemson right down the way is the fourth ranked class did you think Ed that North Carolina could get to this point is North Carolina the biggest threat to Clemson we've seen in the ACC let's say in the last five years I mean potentially if Florida State and Miami are gonna keep spinning their wheels then yeah Carolina does kind of emerge that sleeping giant we've heard about for the last you know 40 years but you know I don't know I think what's happened is what Mac Brown did the first time he was here he locked up the state and the kids that were all going to Georgia and Virginia Tech and you know Penn State all these crazy programs coming in here and stealing our players Mac locked up the state again this year so you know I don't know how he did it it doesn't it doesn't make sense that Caroline would be the second best recruiting class in the country unless this was just that odd year where North Carolina had that much talent because I don't I don't know that these kids know who Mac Brown was I don't think it's that so it's either that he's got the state high school coaches locked up again or there's something nefarious going on which is always the possibility of college football the thing that is more startling the North Carolina having the number two class is that they have a higher class than Clemson none of the players in Clemson's class right now they had the number three player nationally decommit yesterday for 2021 none of the players in Clemson's class right now are from the state of North Carolina four of the players Clemson has offered has chosen to commit to North Carolina that's crazy when you consider the proximity there I think it is too you know and I think there again for whatever reason Mac Brown seems to close the border to Clemson and everybody else but he's also closed the borders that NC State and Duke and Wake and ECU and ASU know this was a this was a wild wild west of recruiting in this state for the last ten years I mean we couldn't keep the best players in nobody in the state could establish a foothold within the state that let them get away from everybody else and then Mac Brown comes back and does it in a year so I don't know either he's a miracle worker or you know something else is going on.

Ed Harden's on Twitter at Ed underscore Harden reading stuff and the Greensboro News and Record. What do you think the ceiling for North Carolina football is? Well it's never been anything more than what we've seen you know it's just a it's a sleeping giant yeah it's it's it's a program that's never fulfilled what should be its destiny if you can win national championships in basketball why can't you win football so there's there's always been that that strange friction I mean he Mac Brown left the first time because of Dean Smith he never could win the win the fans so to speak and I don't think that's changed I don't think they're I don't think they're that great a football fan fan base in fact I think it's one of the worst so we're gonna see if that happens if Mac Brown can turn that around then yeah Carolina could could be somebody.

Yeah and I'm fascinated to see if attendance follows suit like last year pretty much all the games are sold out and now well they have this buzz yet again having a quarterback having a star coach that people know I think it all comes down to coaching I really do where North Carolina I don't think they've had a Hall of Fame quality coach since Mac was here last time but Mac didn't have the cachet at that time that he does now having coached Vince Young, Colt McCoy, Cedric Benson, Ricky Williams he's a Hall of Famer he was on television for five years the parents know who he is as John Dell's pointing out here on Twitter to us and also the kids know who he is because they saw him on TV and they probably know that Texas team as well yeah I think there's a little bit of that but I think this comes down to his recruiters going in and introducing themselves to the high school coaches again because the previous coach had zero relationship with the high school coaches in the state and that's that's what cost him his job. Okay so let's try to figure out what the hell's happening with Wake Forest basketball right now because we haven't heard from John Curry on that front he did speak to Chris Lee of WRAL last week but he was told we saw on Twitter not to ask about basketball Connor O'Neill was told in a story this past weekend for the Winston-Salem Journal that he he wasn't gonna talk about basketball heck a quote wasn't even produced of a I'm not gonna talk about basketball from John Curry we see Chaundy Brown say yes Danny's gonna come back we're gonna win and all these things paraphrasing of course that tweet gets deleted and Chaundy now is gonna try ahead to the draft and if he doesn't keep his name in the draft he's gonna transfer somewhere else other than Wake it's just very strange you would think at this time there wouldn't be any more of an exit interview process we'd be past that and a decision would be made one way or the other on Danny Manning what do you think is happening right now? Well in terms of players leading particularly Chaundy Brown is the exact same thing we've seen every year for whatever reason they can't keep their players and this is just another example of it they were stunned by Chaundy's decision they did not they did not see it coming nobody else did so you're now in a situation where they almost have to talk to let people know what's going on but what Curry told Connor was he can't talk about not that he won't talk about it he can't talk about it wow so that suggests to me that there's something else going on it suggests to me that the process might still be going on or not we don't know but it very well could be in the hands of someone other than the basketball people there may be some sort of contract negotiations still going on they're still trying to raise money I'll tell you that. I have a theory they don't talk about contracts at all but I do know there have been at public institutions cases where a coach would get fired in the month of May or they would wait until after the NCAA tournament because there's stipulations and deals that if you fire a coach past April 1 or May 1 the buyout could go down as much as $500,000 a million dollars maybe even in some cases two million dollars and if that is the case May 1 comes around and you're saving that much money I mean if you're AD why not wait think about Thad Mona for example he gets fired in the middle of May I'm led to believe there's cases where coaches have been fired because there's contract language that says it could be cheaper if you do it at different points in the calendar. I mean that could be the case it's a private school we don't know they don't have to talk. No and they're not going to.

No and they're you know they're possibly hiding behind that too and there may be something in that contract we don't know what we've never been able to figure out what was in that contract. How surprised would you be if Danny is the coach for next season? I wouldn't be surprised at all I think that's where we're headed I don't think there's a way out I don't see I know for a fact they couldn't get it done and they tried for the second straight year and they couldn't get it done for whatever reason so I just don't think anything's changed I really don't I don't think they're in a position to make a move right now and if they are boy it's gonna be cold that's gonna be one of the coldest decisions in basketball history if they let him go in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak. Yeah what is a better look at this point is it I don't think there is one I mean what which one's a worse look I guess is the better way question to ask firing a coach and agreeing to a 15 million dollar buyout reportedly or during the coronavirus pandemic or bringing Danny Manning back when this team has no chance to win. I mean there are no good outcomes and when you look at it that way it's gonna cost the school money that it doesn't have or it's gonna cost the school even further discord with its fan base which is completely fed up with the basketball program and the athletics department for that matter. John Curry was expected from day one to make this move and for whatever reason he can't and he can't talk about it.

I want to go a step further though. Wake Forest what makes it such a difficult situation for the Deacs is it that they don't have as deep of an alumni base they can tap into to try and get this done say like the Rams Club or somewhere else or is it something else I'm not considering? It's the size of the school and the size of the alumni base. If you took every living degree earning alum of Wake Forest in the world it doesn't even fill a football stadium. There just aren't that many alums. So first of all you're dealing with the smallest fan base on earth it just is and they're playing in the best league in the history of college basketball and you can get it up and going. I mean Casey had it up and going. You had when Skip was here, I mean good lord, he had top recruiting classes in the country. Dave Odom was the number one in the nation. Dave Odom was a genius with what he did but what we see is if you lose traction at Wake Forest if you get just a little bit behind you're gone.

You disappear for a generation. It's so hard to get it back once you've lost it at Wake Forest. It's just it's almost unheard of that they can get it back but they've always been able to. There are ways to but there's sometimes it doesn't go everywhere with the old alums when suddenly you get really good in some sport. It makes them nervous because generally that means you've lowered the gate and you've lowered admission standards. It's a funny balance at Wake Forest.

A few other things. Ed Hardin with us here from the Greensboro News and Record. Who do you view as the best-case scenario for the Panthers tomorrow night? I mean everybody thinks they're gonna get this kid from Auburn and I guess that's the case. They've got to fix that defensive line. They've got to fix the defensive in general. I mean they're praying that Isaiah Simmons somehow falls to them but they'll probably have to move up and they need picks more than they need particular players. I just think they sit there and pray for Simmons to follow and just assume they're gonna get Brown and then they're just gonna have to pick off corners and and linebackers and whoever else they can get to shore up that defense.

It's gonna be an interesting draft but I don't think it's a one-year fix. How much fishing have you done? Not enough I'll tell you that but I'm getting ready to go out here in just a minute. Fish are biting. I can see them popping on top of the water right now.

Oh yeah? How many are you gonna catch tomorrow? I would say between five and ten. Depending on how long I stay out there. All right well I'll hold you to that. I'll have a friendly wager. If you catch more than six fish I'll set the line at five and a half. If you catch more than five fish then I'll buy you lunch next time I see you. All right I'll hold you to that. All right that's Ed Harden for the Greensboro News and Record.