REShow: Sonny Dykes - Hour 2

This episode is sponsored by FX's Fleischmann is in Trouble, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Claire Danes, Lizzie Kaplan, and Adam Brody. This drama tells the story of recently divorced Toby Fleischmann, who dives into the world of app-based dating with the kind of success he never had in his youth.

Then, his ex-wife disappears, leaving him with their two children and no hint of her return. FX's Fleischmann is in Trouble, now streaming only on Hulu. Tech insider Ian Rappaport coming up, TCU head coach Sonny Dykes, TNT's Inside the NBA host Ernie Johnson, plus actor and comedian Adam Ray.

And now, it's Rich Eisenberg. Our number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air, already had a great chat with Ian Rappaport, information about Justin Fields' shoulder and the Jets quarterback situation, which we'll get into in just a couple seconds here on the program and hot seats in the NFL if you missed it. There's not only our YouTube page, youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show, our Twitter handle at Rich Eisen Show, but there's also the Rich Eisen Show collection, which is right here on the Roku channel. Our entire show can be seen live on channel 210 between hours noon to three Eastern every day. Then when we're done, it re-airs on channel 210 all the way until tomorrow when we're back on the air at noon Eastern. And there's also clips and there's also the show on demand. Let's say if you just tune in channel 210, it's middle of the second hour, and you're like, I want to watch it from the beginning. You got that too. And hopefully you don't go high register, like I just did.

Not a great sell. Maybe we'll watch it from the beginning. No, you should watch it from the beginning.

You should watch it from second to one to the last. So anyway, long story short is we're on the air. Sonny Dykes of TCU football joining us at about 20 minutes time.

Won't that be great? And our number three, Ernie Johnson, will be here from Turner. We've got a doubleheader tonight on TNT. I broke out the bobblehead today. Very good. I appreciate you.

We got that from the Super Bowl years ago in Atlanta. There it is. There's the DJ and Shaq and Kenny and Charles and the bobblehead. Very good. Adam Ray, the comedian and actor will be here and podcaster will be here in studio hour number three.

He's a diehard Seattle Seahawks and Seattle sports fan. He will be on this program at hour number three. Won't that be great?

So look forward to that. Here's when you're a jet fan and you're expecting the trapdoor to open and I keep on convincing myself the trapdoor is not going to open. And Robert Sala is like, I've got receipts on people who don't believe in us. And when he came on the show, I asked him what the receipts are. He's just like, you know, I think he wants people to stop talking about the receipts.

All he wants to do is have people to believe in them. And I look at the defense and I'm like, that's the perfect example of trapdoors not opening. This is a great side of the football. Jets defense can hunt, can cover, and that's what Robert Sala's side of the football is all about. He is really building, as the HC of the NYJ, a terrific defensive team. And when they drafted Zach Wilson second overall last year, I did not think the storyline middle of the 2022 season would be Zach's holding the team back from making the playoffs right here, right now. Because the defense is ready to do it.

What a completely unexpected storyline. And the problem for Zach with the fan base is he had entering New York City, zero tape, buildup, knowledge already from the fan base. Because I got to be honest with you.

I don't know, I grew up in New York City, Staten Island. I don't know if I had ever met somebody who was from the state of Utah until I shook Steve Young's hand when I met him. I mean, I'm being honest. You sitting there on the East Coast, you don't know jack about BYU football. Nothing. You're not sitting there in the middle of the night saying, I got to watch BYU football.

Nothing. The typical New York sports fan diehard Jet fan was just like, OK, everybody's telling me on NFL Network and ESPN, hopefully in that order, you know, about this guy. All the analysts are saying how terrific he is. And he's young and impressionable, one would think. And OK, Jets think he's the second best quarterback and Joe Douglas, the new general manager, thinks he's the second best quarterback in the draft.

And and they wouldn't even entertain the phone call from the San Francisco 49ers. Robert Sala's old friends to swap spots with them in the draft that Zach's the guy. That's it. All right, we're in on it. We'll believe it. And we'll be patient because we know how you have to develop. And now here we are in the middle of a second season and. We're now like your biological clock is ticking out of control. My biological clock is ticking. You know, we're like Mona Lisa Vito right now saying what's going on?

And the problem is, is the patience does run thin when that happens and then the patience completely can wear out on the spot. When again, it's not like Trevor Lawrence. It's not like even Justin Fields. It's not even like Mac Jones. Trey Lance would have been in this bucket, too, because who the hell is watching football from the great state of North Dakota in New York City? Not all. OK, we'll just trust the evaluators that this is the guy who we're supposed to be.

Believing in is our next savior. Broadway, Zach, right? Zach's Fifth Avenue, I think was the the phrase we were saying here at any rate. When he plays like this and then he showed up to the podium to say, you know, did he let the defense down? And he goes, no, no. And all of his answers were just like, I'm just going to give you the rote cliched answers so I can get the hell off this podium and not stand there with my chest out and go, I stunk today. And the offense needs to do better and I'm going to lead him. OK, everybody.

I've got this. Instead, you just wanted to get off the podium because all of the questions that were being asked of him were being infused or had the subtext of you're not doing well. You didn't want to hear it.

That's the feeling I got. Chris Long, two time Super Bowl champion and former number two overall pick himself, said yesterday is zero sympathy for Zach. Less than zero, because that's not the accountability you want to see from your quarterback. And I said, at least the coach is going to get this. They got the right people to handle this.

The coach being one of them. I, however, when I said that, did not expect Robert Sola to appear at a press conference within a couple of hours. By the way, two hours late for it, because he was in meetings, having one would think a conversation on this very subject matter, showing up and saying this. Robert, can you start off by just stating what your quarterback plans are for this week and explain why? I've just been dealing with so many different things right now. I'm going to get to the tape and just evaluate everything and I'll leave it at that. We're keeping everything on the table over the next couple of days. So you're not committing to Zach as your starter for Sunday?

Not right now, not until I'm done evaluating everything. OK. And so this is a number two overall pick from last year that they told the 49ers, keep your first round draft picks. We just we want to go with this kid. And that takes Cajones to even faint in that direction. And this isn't like let's keep Eberflus and the Bears guessing. This is serious. Like Zach Wilson has pissed off the boss.

Now, my analysis from my seat here all the way across the country is this sounds like to me. Something that Susie and I do. And Chris, I imagine you will do in cages of an age to get it like counting to three. Don't make me get to three with your kid.

OK, I do that with adults and I'm counting. I'm counting to three, Zach. OK, so when we tell you plant your feet, make your throws, when we tell you there's a certain way this offense needs to be run. When you are showing on tape that you're not only not listening to us, it looks like you're nonchalant and not caring about it. We know different because that soundbite we played here played everywhere else in the same press conference. You know, Salah did Cape for Zach saying he wants to win more than anyone else. It's not like he doesn't care about winning, but he just seems to be caring about his. Feelings and reputation a little bit more or just as much.

Where in New York, it's so simple, just say I'm owning it. I stunk. We're going to come back. We just beat the Bills.

That's the team we're going to do. And I'll be better. Like instead, just no, no, I'm not.

We didn't let the defense down. And then, of course, he's going to speak at some point and hopefully he will say the right things and believe it. Certainly when there's new reporting coming out, like, say, from Albert Breer, who, you know, will definitely Cape for Justin Fields anytime he can. But he is a guy who's in the know. He just tweeted this out before he came on the air in hour number two.

Little Nugget I picked up. Bears quarterback Justin Fields apologized to his teammates after Chicago's loss to the Falcons in the locker room postgame. Told them the defense gave the offense a chance and the offense didn't get it done.

Went a long way with guys after he played hurt. Yeah, this is a quarterback who might have a season ending shoulder injury. Third straight game, they've scored twenty eight points or more.

They've lost all three. Taking accountability to the other side of the ball in the locker room saying, sorry, I screwed this up or really? Now, that's the guy that Zach Wilson will need to beat if he does go out on the field this weekend. And we're meeting his defense to help in that process. And I think he's going to get the chance.

It could be. The shot across the bow. And the problem is, and all of us jet fans are thinking, the problem is, is when we look back on this, say, two, three years from now, right? Are we going to just remember the week of Thanksgiving after Zach?

Screwed it up so royally, not only on the field, but at the podium after the game that it forced Robert Salah to not even commit to him as the quarterback against the Bears because they have a chance to win. And they feel that he's holding them back of a team that's arriving sooner. We all thought Zach would grow with the team and they would grow together into a winner. Not that they grow faster than Zach. And they're looking at him saying, when are you going to catch up to us?

That was not part of the plan here. That will we look back on this as the turning point moment for Zach Wilson to finally reach his potential and be the quarterback of the New York Jets? Or do we just read the writing on the wall? Just 20 starts in here. What a big week for Zach, and I think he will get the chance. I just feel it. But if Mike White trolls us, strolls out there against the Bears, wow, I don't think there's any looking back.

I don't think this is an overreaction at all. That's my two cents on this subject matter right now. How about that? Justin Fields going in the locker room. I've put up 28. I'm clearly blossoming. I'm doing what I got to do best I can, but I'm sorry it wasn't enough. And the other guy's like, yeah, nine completions, ten punts.

Let them down? No, no. I see that. I see that soundbite. And every time I see it, I'm like, what's he thinking?

It gets worse. What's he thinking? No, no. Meaning what? Like, I'm doing enough? No, I think what it is is, you know, I'm the guy here. I kind of like, trust me, I have thought so much about it.

Like, what does go through? And I think it's just he doesn't think it's right for him to be criticized. That's what I'm thinking. I forget who had it, that it kind of doubled down on it, too, that Zach was walking around the locker room after the game like he's not the problem.

And it was rubbing the defensive guys the wrong way. I forget who tweeted that. Well, and I'll tell you what, and that would definitely lead Sola to say, I'm not done evaluating the situation yet. Hell no.

And so kudos to him for having his finger on the pulse and then for, you know, Joe Douglas and Woody to basically say, you do it. Go ahead. Go ahead. You want to potentially start down the road of a redo on the number two overall pick from last year? You want to open that door here in New York City 24-7, 365, longtime listener, first time caller situation.

You want to do that? Go for it, because you have our back. We shouldn't have picked them to start with. Come on. Well, I mean, that's the way you can look at it right now. But we remember we had discussions and debates about this for months leading up to the draft.

Like you always said, the kids from Utah. Do you remember the day the Niners made the trade with the Miami Dolphins to move up to number three overall? It was Zach Wilson's pro day and NFL Network was covering it.

And there was a throw at his pro day where he moved to his left and threw all the way down the field. And it's just like amazing. What?

Like sixty five yards in the air. It's like, what? Yeah. Yeah. But it's true that most guys in their pro day with no pads and no. No, I understand that.

It's like that throw. Correct. It's pro day stuff. Right.

I totally I hear you. It's pro day stuff. But it's still scouts going, oh, OK. So you have the arm strength, you have the ability, you can move out of the pocket, you move really well. And you don't see that with the Jets right now.

You don't see it. I mean, Elijah Moore, who in the Mike White experience and then even when Zach came back last year, he flashed, he flashed. And you do have to remember Corey Davis and Elijah Veritaker and Breece Hall, who Joe Flacco had. Zach Wilson doesn't have. And the defense and the offense will definitely be diminished because of it. The issue is, is Zach's not fully formed enough or potentially not mentally tough enough or potentially not ready enough to overcome that sort of stuff. Certainly when Belichick is the one defense, you know, coming up with the evil to throw your way. And the problem is, as I said yesterday, the coaching staff can't go, you know what, let's just take the. The guardrails off, let him do the stuff that we saw at the pro day, let him roll out and do that sort of stuff.

The problem is, is that he can't you can't do that if he doesn't do the easy stuff. You saw that last night, too. You saw that last night. And and you heard Buck and Aikman talking about when McCoy in the first half was operating the Cardinals offense and getting the ball out on time.

You heard that you knew. And at one point you even you even heard Aikman go, see, that's that's what we were talking about, about the ball getting out on time. It sounded like that was something they got from the pre broadcast meeting with the coaching staff talking about how Colt gets the ball out on time.

That's something subtext that Kyler perhaps doesn't do like Colt. And obviously when the offense does sputter, you could use a skill set like Kyler Murray's to get it done. And that has been part of the problem for the Cardinals, certainly in the first six games when DeAndre Hopkins wasn't there. It was too much Kyler just taking the ball and running with it. I bring all that up to say is that you need to gain the trust of your team and your receivers and your coaching staff and the film room by getting the easy stuff done by not going broke because you can't make the profit.

Guys open, plant your feet, hit it. He didn't do that against New England. And again, I know this is just a New York team at six and four, but as Ian Rappaport said, you know, when he said what he said at the podium, it made it a national story.

Everybody sees that and goes, oh, well, really? Because now you're talking about a potential locker room fissure, which might lead a defensive minded head coach in year two to basically say, I'm not committing to you just yet. In year two, middle of year two, and the team's got a chance to make the playoffs. Didn't see this storyline coming, man. Jets ready to win. And Zach's not with them on that learning curve.

Not there yet. As a matter of fact, he's dragging the learning curve down. Didn't see that as a storyline. Also, Richard, I don't know if you watch Hard Knocks, if you've seen it, you brought up Colt McCoy getting the ball. That was something on Hard Knocks season two or episode two. The Cardinals defensive players were watching him and they were making note of the fact that, like, they were in awe about this guy gets the ball out quick. That's why he's lasted so long in this league. He knows where he's going when the play starts, you know. So that's funny that you brought that up because that was a whole thing on Hard Knocks.

Well, they were bringing that up last night in the subtext is is like maybe Kyler can do that a little bit better when he gets back in there. Isn't that more of an instinct, wouldn't you guys think? Like, can you teach somebody that? Yes, you can teach it.

You can teach it. It's maybe just turning your instincts down a notch. That's pride messing with your mind, to use the phrase from Pulp Fiction is just like, just. Yeah, I mean, and you know who's got that in absolute draw? I mean, it's Mahomes. It's Mahomes. It's Mahomes, man.

And not even he is completely perfect, but. If Zach Wilson thinks he's Mahomes, guess what? Mahomes hasn't lost a road game in division yet.

By the way. He won his first. Remember, they gave him a little cup of coffee in Denver his first year while Alex Smith was was getting ready for the playoffs week 17, 17. That was at Denver. He won that. And then he's won three road games in division every single year to this point, including this past Sunday. Isn't he also undefeated in November and December? As a professional, I don't know, as a professional, I think they're on some sort of particular winning streak. I saw that too. Yeah. And then they're at Vegas to end the season.

And if somehow, some way they drop that to end the streak, I'd be surprised. Eight four four two oh four rich number to dial right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Sonny Dykes, we will take the phone call of the TCU head coach when we come back right here on the program. Two thousand two thousand eight twenty twenty two. When it comes to the economy, those are some scary years dot com crash housing crash and the roller coaster we're kind of going through right now.

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Elizabeth, the first the podcast wherever you listen. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show terrestrial radio outfit talking about what the Niners might do with Jimmy G and. You know, they still have Trey Lance there.

And so. What a phenomenally so, Jimmy, fascinating subject matter, because do you think that to the Niners, look at Lance and see what's going on with both Zach and. And Mac and say, Trey, Trey, Trey, you know, just we don't want a piece of this action where the rest of the team's ready to win and we're waiting for the quarter, the young quarterback to go matriculate here.

But you did buy a ticket on that, right? As I said, the minute that you trade all your draft choices to go up to the third overall expensive first class ticket. Or you're you've got an ownership that is totally in your corner and a general manager that is fully. Planted and isn't looking over a shoulder and a coach that is fully planted, not looking over the shoulder and just say, OK, so we missed on that.

And let's go find a guy that we can. We're not going to get fired. We're not going to get bounced.

They're not going to get everything else is fine and ready to go here. And so Jimmy's 31 when the Niners after this draft, the Niners are done with whatever they've paid to go draft Lance. And what if they have a trophy in the case anyway?

Right. They should build a statue for Jimmy if they win the Super Bowl this year. If they win the Super Bowl this year, what are you going to tell Jimmy?

Thanks for the memories. We got to we got to we got Trey Lance ready here. When you turn him into Jordan Love. Can't do it. Can't do it. Jimmy's team, if they win the Super Bowl. Come on.

I think it's I think it's it's Jimmy's team now, man. This is it. I mean, you'd really have to have a significantly understanding leadership council if you turn to them and say, yeah, we're just we're just got to go with the kid here. I mean, I'm serious.

I am not being facetious about it. I don't know. I mean, then what does Jimmy do? Jeffrey in the Bay Area while we're waiting for Sonny Dykes, he just finished his press conference there in the state of Texas. What's up, Jeffrey? Hey, how's it going, Rich? We're kind of chewing up the subject matter.

What's on your mind, sir? Yeah, I was actually just going to bring that up was I watched the game last night and I see Trey Lance walking on the sidelines, walking now. And yeah, I was just really thinking, like, what would the Jets look like if they had Jimmy G? Yeah. And or somebody that knows this offense and is fully equipped to run it. And despite whatever warts he may have, it is clearly light years ahead of what Zach Wilson is currently doing right now.

And, you know, you saw it last night, right? Hemi G is what is what a kid will refer to James Garoppolo as and, you know, Hemi Guap from Deebo Samuel. You know, and Trey Lance bless him is sitting there trying to get back in the mix here. And thanks for the call. This is a fascinating subject matter when you've got a team like the Jets that is already considering benching Zach Wilson 20 starts into his career. And the patience.

I was counseling patients. Just let him cook. Let's see what's going on. But when the team is six and four and has a chance to make the playoffs now and haven't made the playoffs in forever and a day since the Rex Ryan administration. Before the Rex Ryan administration fell, fell apart.

You've got to look at that. And if you're the Patriots, what do you think? Bill's like, OK, we use the first round on him in year one. And, you know, he's we love his moxie.

We love his grit. But Derek Carr is available. Jimmy G is available. You know, who else might be available?

You know, you could sit here and say, well, they're getting up in years. Well, what happened with Rich Gannon? You know, Ryan Fitzpatrick is a guy that, as we all know, could wing it around and and be some form of a playoff catalyst. Jimmy just turned 31 a couple of weeks ago. Derek Carr will be 32 next year.

Like, I would take both of those guys next year. What if you if I asked you that question 12 weeks ago? Right. I mean, it is it's unbelievable. And then we need to see what's happening 10 weeks from now. I mean, this is great fodder for conversation while we're waiting for Sonny Dykes to hop on the phone line. Question.

Maybe you guys can help me out. We talk about all these big time college programs, right? So you've got Justin Fields and you've watched him at Ohio State University. You've seen what he's done against seemingly the best competition college has to offer.

How do you get it? I mean, do these scouts overthink sometimes? Because you then you pass up on this kid to take a kid from BYU, who, as you've said since day one, no one.

East of wherever I'd ever watched this guy play. How do you have someone like Justin Fields who played big time college football at one of the premier universities in the country? You still ask them.

It's a very I don't understand how this works. I also I mean, look, one thing is about big time college competition. Sure. But Josh Allen didn't have the big time college competition. Right. And he's might wind up being the the best choice out of that draft, with all due respect to Lamar Jackson. But when you look at Josh Allen, you see a kid six, five to 30 with a cannon of an arm. This kid also has that, too. Zach, look at that pro day throw, man. The ball jumps out of his hand.

The question is, is can he make the on platform throws to trust him to do that for him to make the off platform throws? And it's just I and then you have to question what the hell was going through his temples when it's a simple thing to say my bad, even if you don't believe it. Honestly. Yeah, that's true.

And that was my concern. It's just the bright lights of New York City like that. My gosh. Joining us here on The Rich Eisen Show, Mercedes Benz Van's phone line is a man who is the head coach of the fourth ranked TCU program, playing some big time football, staring down a college football playoff berth. He is Sonny Dykes here on The Rich Eisen Show. How are you doing, coach? Good, Rich. How are you doing?

I am doing great. Let me just jump into this conversation with you about your history. Are you a you know, I know your dad being a football coach, but you're a baseball guy, right? Aren't you a baseball guy too?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I played at Texas Tech. I mean, you could say you could use the word played loosely. I was on the team hung around, you know, but but yeah, I kind of was a was a below average high school football player. My dad was coach at Texas Tech at the time and, you know, got into baseball really. We had a new baseball coach, Texas Tech, Larry Hayes, and was starting the program, kind of starting over and getting things going.

And so they let me go out there and hang around for a couple of years. OK, so give me give me your best A.B. against somebody I would know.

You got one? You had nobody. I did have to be somebody on the Texas Tech team. Mark Brandenburg, you know, made it, I think, pitched in the World Series for the Red Sox. I think the year that they broke the curse of the Bambino. So he was he was on our team then and it was a good player.

OK, very good. And now let's jump into the I guess your coaching ranks. When you were coaching at Texas Tech, right, you spent a few years on the staff. There was, if I'm not mistaken, Danny Amendola. Was he one of your receivers at the time? Yeah, he was.

Yeah. So I had kind of an interesting deal. Started out as a high school coach, went from high school to junior college to graduate assistant. Went to Kentucky in the late 90s with Hal Mummy and I was Mike Leach's G.A. And then Mike Leach retired. My dad retired at Texas Tech. Mike Leach took the Texas Tech job and hired me to be the receiver coach at Texas Tech. And then we had a really good run of receivers at West Welker and had Danny Amendola and Mike Crabtree and had some really, really, really good players. So we were lucky to recruit some guys that ended up being good players. All right. I need your best story of being the G.A. of Mike Leach. You've got to have one. Oh, God.

What do you got for me? It would have to fill hours. I mean, it would be like this would need to be a podcast.

Well, I mean, partly hours. This is this is a podcast. This is a podcast, too. And we're live radio and TV at the same time. But you got you got a good one.

Just something that you made. Well, yeah, I mean, Mike, Mike was funny because, yes, he liked to go out, let you go out. We would stay out late. And whenever we would go home, we'd always hit up this fast food, you know, whatever it was, whether it was, you know, White Castle in Kentucky, which, by the way, is terrible. But that or it was Whataburger in Texas Tech, which is actually, you know, in Texas, which is actually really good.

Yes. We would hit up the fast food place late. You know, you're you're driving the car and Mike goes, hey, orders the food. And then you get to the window and you're like, OK, coach, you got your money. He's like, oh, I don't have my wallet.

Oh, wow. So Mike, you know, Mike's making like four million dollars a year and I'm like making like 40 bucks a month, you know. So it's on you? Well, don't get me wrong, Mike always took care of me. OK, yeah, but it would be on me for a while and then he would he would pay me back at some point.

He'd make you whole. OK, fantastic. Now and by the way, now now look at what what you're what you're doing right now, coach.

Let me let me get to hit the little wayback machine. I got to be honest with you. I'm watching the end of your game against Baylor. And I thought to myself, why is this man running the football right now?

Can you walk me through the way you ended that game and why? And Baylor, please. Yeah. Yeah.

You know, OK, so it's funny because, you know, you get you get people that kind of reach out to you via social media or interviews or talk to people. And, you know, we had we had a plan that we kind of put together, obviously, before we had the ball and before we got the ball. And Garrett Riley's, our offensive coordinator, did a great job of being patient on that last drive. And, you know, we needed to kick the field goal.

We have a ton of confidence in Griffin Kelleher, our field goal kicker. And so, you know, for us, we felt like we needed to get down to about if we could get to the 20 yard line, we feel like we had a great opportunity to make it. And the thing that we wanted to do was get on the middle or the right hash on about the 20 yard line. So that was kind of our objective when the drive began. We got about a minute and three seconds left and no time out.

We spent all of our time out. Yes, sir. So there's a lot of things that can go wrong during this course of events. You know, the thing you can't do, you can't get sacked, obviously can't throw an interception.

You've got to be able to convert. And so, you know, we were pretty patient moving the ball down the field. And then we got down to about, you know, 40 or about 50 seconds and we ran the ball to try to get a first down. Okay. Then we that took about 10 seconds and we clocked it. And then, you know, we had about 22 seconds left for third down.

Okay. We can our objective again was to get the ball on the right hash right about the 22 yard line or the middle of the field. So at that point, we said, okay, look, what can we do? We could throw a pass here.

The may or may not be complete. We may or may not be on the right hash. Let's let's guarantee we're going to get the ball where we want it. Let's run the ball.

Let's make sure we have our field goal team ready to go, which we call bazooka field goal. We practice it every Thursday. So we handed the ball off, got the ball to the right middle, ran our team off. We practiced it every week with with about 15 seconds.

And this whole series of events began with 17 seconds. So had we had a long run and converted the first down, then the series would have gone different than it would have been. Okay, we clock it. And now we figure out, okay, now what do we want to do? Now if you're probably going to take a shot at the end zone and do what you want, then kick the field goal. So anyway, it kind of worked out exactly the way we had planned.

And I think there was a lot of people that were kind of like, you know, what in the world are they doing and why are they doing it this way? But we had practiced this very situation over and over and over again. And we felt like our players were comfortable with it. And we're going to be able to go execute it.

And that's what I played out the way it did. Bazooka field goal? That's what it's called? Bazooka?

Yeah, yeah. A lot of people call it May Day. A lot of people call it whatever. We call it Bazooka.

I don't really know why. But that's what our special teams coach calls it. That's what we do. Oh, it works.

Bazooka works. That's for Dawn Shore. It did. Yeah, and like I said, it didn't look great. I mean, our field goal kicker kind of ran on the field a little bit late.

Oh, boy. And it's kind of just what he does in practice every week, too. He kind of goes out there late and doesn't mark his steps off and just kind of eyeballs it and kicks it. We had done it. I think we went back and looked. We had done it 15 times this year.

We practiced Bazooka field goal. He had made it 14 of the 15. And thank goodness, obviously, this was one of the 14, Coach Sonny Dykes, because you are currently going into Thanksgiving week. A ranked fourth.

I'm assuming that this is where you're going to wind up when everything is announced. Going into Thanksgiving week from the college football playoff committee. I'll be honest with you, just getting a sense, seeing how Tennessee was lingering there. They're now dropping off, and I'm assuming USC will be right there. Do you get the sense the playoff committee is itching to get somebody else in there other than you? Do you get that sense, Coach? You know, I don't know.

I mean, I think, you know, I really have no idea. I mean, I appreciated them ranking as fourth, you know, when it came out a couple weeks ago. I think we went from seventh to fourth, or maybe sixth to fourth, whatever it was.

And we've kind of held steady there. You know, luckily, I wasn't here at TCU in 2014. I was getting my brains beat in at Cal at that time. But, you know, TCU, when I defeated that year, got as high as, I think, third in the playoff. Won their last regular season game to 55 to 3, I believe. By 52 points, it went from third to sixth. And so there's been a history maybe of that happening to TCU.

You know, I don't know. I think it's a different time. I think it's a different league. I think the Big 12 has a different level of respect maybe than it's had in the past. But at the end of the day, I mean, really, look, we're going to have to beat an Iowa State football team this week.

It's really good. And then we're going to have to win a Big 12 championship game and beat somebody that we've already beat, which is really difficult to do. So we've got mountains in front of us left to climb.

You know, and our hope is that if we can do those things, that the committee will certainly recognize, you know, the achievement that our players have had this year and put them in the playoff. And that's kind of out of my control. And so I choose to worry about things I can't control. Right. And obviously, you know, you do have a one game at a time mentality when you're a coach.

And there's no question, though, that you also have, as you say, a lot of road in front of you. Do you play the nobody believes in his card? Do you play that with your team, coach, a little bit?

You know, it's funny. No, we haven't really because, you know, we were picked sixth or, excuse me, seventh in the preseason poll. And so, you know, our players knew that.

And we never felt like we didn't need to talk about it. I mean, I think we felt like that when we came out of fall camp that we were a good football team. You know, but we had to prove it by going and playing well every single week. And, you know, and I think we played Oklahoma early and had a really good game against those guys and had an impressive win. And I think at that point, our guys kind of came off the field and were like, wow, you know, we can be pretty good. Let's do everything we can to give ourselves a chance to win. And then, you know, everybody kept saying, well, just wait till this happens or just wait till they got to play Oklahoma State and Kansas State back to back.

You know, just wait till they get down. Well, we were down 17 against Oklahoma State and rallied. We were down 18 against Kansas State and rallied. And then it was, okay, well, wait till they go to West Virginia. They haven't won a West Virginia since, you know, 2012 or whatever it was. Well, we kind of did that.

And then it was like, okay, well, they're going to get exposed when they go to Texas. You know, and then, and so, you know, our guys hear all that stuff. We've never talked about it one time. You're not going to believe me, but we have never talked about the conference standings. We've never talked about what anybody else says about us because, you know, they thought we were terrible in the beginning.

And we were not going to listen to them when they start telling you how great they are, how great you are. And so we try to treat it all the same and just go try to win a game every Saturday and see where we end up. Do you hear from L.T., LaDaney? Do you hear from him every now and then? Yeah, LaDaney's around quite a bit. Yeah, he's been, he's got a nephew that plays for us who's a heck of a player in one of our corners.

Okay. And so he's around all the time, and man, he's been, and it's been great. He's been real inspiring to our players, and he's been a great supporter at TCU. How great is that, man? You got L.T.

around now. Yeah, no, it's awesome. It's awesome when you get, you know, one of the all-time greats that really loves the university and loves the team, and it's great to have him around. Thanks for the time, Coach. I know you went straight from your press conference right to here, and you've been talking quite a bit, and I'm sure you've got other things that you'd prefer to be doing, but I appreciate the two cents and two time to a couple minutes here. Good luck to you down the road, and let's connect again. Greatly appreciate it. Okay, Rich, again, thanks for having me, man. I really appreciate it. Right back at you.

Sonny Dykes, the head coach of TCU football. I mean, it's tough to basically say, you know, hey, nobody believes in us when the team is believing in itself, right? And it's tough to say, hey, you know, one game at a time, well, you've also got to be politicking. Yeah. But the undefeated record speaks for itself.

It does. And there seems to be a yeah-but team every year. Last year, that was Cincinnati. And TCU might be that team this year.

Yeah, they're not sexy. I don't think nobody really knows a lot about them. They don't have, like, a player up for the Heisman or their coach isn't well-known, all due respect, and it's like, okay, let's get them out of here. Let's get USC in there.

Let's get the Michigan-Ohio State loser in there, but, you know, whatever. They deserve it. Who says that? Who says what?

I don't know what you're talking about, sir. Well, let's be honest, like, those four teams are way more sexy. So, you know, not that TCU is not deserving, but... Man, I can't wait for the college football playoff to be expanded so we just can end this conversation. That said, you know, obviously, Michigan-Ohio State would have a different vibe to it if the loser just only might have to start the playoffs, you know, in their home stadium as opposed to having a bye week. Yeah, that's for a home game or a bye week instead, you know. I have the top five storylines of Thanksgiving week, a couple you might not have heard of, and an extra one that's dynamite.

That's coming up next right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Don't go anywhere. The World Tournament of Soccer happening in Qatar is finally here, and with all the weird kickoff times and all the other sports happening simultaneously, it can be kind of hard to keep up. So to make sure you're up to speed, be sure to listen to Qatar Kickaround for the daily wrap-up of all the action from the tournament.

From the group stage all the way to the final, Andy, Lars, and Peter are here for you with recaps and opinions of what happened that day in Qatar. Everything can be found at thekickaround.com, the Cumulus Podcast channel on YouTube, or wherever you listen. Because you've got 16 body types, you've got a choice of that. You've got a choice of a gas or a diesel engine, thousands of ways to customize it.

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Don't wait, unlock your potential inside a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. I've got a top five list. Let's go. Top five most intriguing Thanksgiving weekend storylines. Here we go. Number five on this list. We forgot about him because he's on a bye.

Last time we saw him, though, he showed the Germans how to play football. Tom Brady and the Bucks are taking on the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland. Are they back? Are the Bucks back?

One word. Is Rashad White the guy at running back? Did we see this passing game start to look like the Super Bowl season, the defense? Can they play like that again when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers go ahead and get back on the football field and visit the Cleveland Browns in their last game, by the way, with Jacoby Brissett as their quarterback because then they'll go on a bye and it'll be Deshaun Watson time. Are the Bucks back?

That's number five. Number four, when the entire weekend is over, all three Thanksgiving day games are over. The college football day of Saturday, Michigan, Ohio State and everything else. Craziness going on is over the entire Sunday.

Early and late window slates are over. It'll be time to sit down for Sunday Night Football and the Philadelphia Eagles will have the answer to this question. Number four. Does Rogers and Green Bay, do they have one last gasp in them?

No. Sitting at four and seven. Can Rogers win this football game? Because if they go to four and eight, I bet you that thumb, that throwing thumb might need a little bit of rest, might need maybe something done to it.

Four and eight. That is not where the Packers saw themselves. But maybe, just maybe, Christian Watson goes into Philadelphia where Chris Carter, all he did was catch touchdowns.

Maybe he does that, too. That's a big game on Sunday night. Number three on this list.

Hop it up right there, Mr. Hoskins. Sneakiest good game, Bengals at the Titans. We all know the Bengals bounced the Titans in the divisional round last year and the Titans are the ones who sacked Burrow all those times and it didn't matter. And while we're sitting here wondering who's going to be the team to start threatening the Chiefs or maybe the Bills or maybe the Dolphins, who's going to say, you know, we're here, too? The Titans are well on that road with seven wins, but here come the Bengals.

Jamar Chase expected back. That is a sneaky best game of Thanksgiving weekend that people aren't talking about enough. That's on the list, number three.

Number two, it's a national conversation right now and we will see it. The Jets and the Bears. Are the Jets potentially really two and done with Zach Wilson? Is number two going to get two and done, two season and done? Will they sit him down? Now, obviously, it's possible to sit him down and then bring them back, build them back up. Will they really bench Zach Wilson? And if they don't, will it just be a half a football?

Because if he goes out and has the first half against the Bears and it looks like the game against the Patriots and they are going nuts in the stands and met life. Do they go ahead and pull him? What an amazing storyline this is. And then number one on the list is the middle of Thanksgiving Day. We're all going to be pulling up. It will set the ratings record for the season. No question about it in my mind when the Giants and the Cowboys sit down on Thanksgiving Day and it is, quite frankly, the Odell Bowl.

That's it. Can the Giants go ahead and beat the Cowboys, save their opportunity to win the division? Because don't forget, they have yet to play the Philadelphia Eagles. And can they go ahead and beat the Cowboys, avoid the season sweep, stop the Cowboys' momentum right dead in their tracks, their loss to the Lions, wipe that away and tell Odell, what about us? Because if not, the Cowboys sweep the Giants and what a great way for basically then they can grab that turkey leg and tell Odell, there's us here. You should be with us. Certainly if those are the two teams that he's looking at, what a huge Thanksgiving game that is.

The Odell Bowl and those are your top five most intriguing storylines for Thanksgiving weekend. So what's that? Is that it? Do you think we need one more? Alright, we'll get one more. Oh yes, there's one more. There's one more. Because the Washington commanders are taking on the Atlanta Falcons and you can sit here and say, oh, okay, Tanner Honecky's playing so well, he's got the start and the Washington commanders are above 500 and they could be a playoff team.

Oh, and the Atlanta Falcons went ahead and they won a game and they still in the mix for the NFC South. No, no, no, that's not the storyline. Here's your bonus storyline. Year 10 for the boy. Year 10 for the... Let's go.

Let's go. Somebody didn't give up. Somebody has no quit in him. Somebody's a dog. Determined.

Somebody is the dog. Because we're born and raised in Compton. Disciplined. Will Compton would not give up on his dream. And year 10 for the boy.

This guy, unlike his bus, has a motor. Yes, indeed. And I'll tell you what, Will Compton, I am rooting for you. That is a top storyline for Thanksgiving weekend. Shout out to the boy, man. Shout out.

Shout out to Will Compton. Way to go, sir. Way not to give up.

Let's go. I wasn't sure if he was serious when he put that video on. Was this a joke?

And then halfway through I was like, oh, yeah, he's back. As of right now, we don't know if it's the practice squad or the full 53. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. Year 10. Well done, Will Compton. The boys are back in town. Yeah, Will. And that is the end of my storyline list. In our culture, everybody tells you how to save, but nobody teaches you how to spend it. Something you should know wherever you listen.